THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



311 



springs will be reserved by the government for the use 

 of the general public, a bill having passed through con- 

 gress reserving 160 acres of land for that purpose. This 

 same bill reserves townsites at Poison, Reman, Ravalli, 

 Dixon, Arlee and St. Ignatius. Coming away from the 

 Hot Springs we travel north and east and pass through 

 a rolling grazing country with some nice locations for 

 ranches, with 50 to 160 acres of agricultural land around 

 the spot. We now come back to the arm of Flathead 

 Lake, where there is quite a settlement along the north 

 boundary of the reservation. 



"The Pend D'Oreille River, which drains Flathead 

 Lake, falls 200 feet in the next three miles, after leaving 

 a point about one mile from the outlet. This we have 

 one of the finest water powers in the west, totally un- 

 developed at present, but when the reservation is opened 



blizzards, cyclones or bad storms, neither too hot nor to 

 cold, and always cool nights in summer. 



"We have never had a total failure of crop. 



"We can work out of doors all the year round. 



"We have fine hunting and fishing, and the most 

 magnificent scenery in the world, including glaciers 

 within thirty miles of the city of Kalispell, where there 

 is perpetual ice. 



"We raise the best apples, plums, pears, cherries 

 and small fruit, without irrigation, that are raised in 

 any country. 



"And we have as good a system of schools as you 

 can find anywhere. 



"In 1888 there was no town in the valley with 

 more than 100 people. Probably 100 homestead entries 

 and squatters' claims were in existence. In 1890 the 







A Scene on the Banks of Flathead Lake. 



it will no doubt be utilized for electric railroads, milling, 

 smelters and irrigation. 



"It is remarkable what little rainfall is needed 

 here to raise good crops. The average rainfall has 

 about been 16.5 inches during the year, but we have 

 a heavy dew, coming from the precipitation after the 

 evaporation from the large surface of water in our lakes 

 and rivers. There is also more or less sub-irrigation all 

 through the country. 



"I would like you to answer one question: Where 

 can you find a country with the combination that we 

 have here ? 



"We have the finest agricultural land in the United 

 States. 



"We have the largest body of growing timber in 

 Montana, enough to last fifty years. 



"We have gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, coal and 

 petroleum in abundance. 



"We have the finest climate I ever lived in; no 



first advertising matter about the Flathead valley was 

 published, known as "Flathead Facts," and next year 

 the railroad (Great Northern) came through the coun- 

 try, and settlers commenced coming into the valley more 

 rapidly. The city of Kalispell was started in 1901, and 

 now has a population of about 5,000 inhabitants, and is 

 a modern town in every way. At that time land could 

 be purchased for $10 an acre. Today the same lands 

 are selling for from $40 to $60 per acre, according to 

 local conditions. You cannot tell, when looking over 

 the country, that there is any difference between the 

 looks of the farms here from what you would see in 

 Iowa or Illinois. Lumber has been cheap, and the im- 

 provements are good. The soil is wonderfully pro- 

 ductive and the markets are always good. We have 

 about forty school districts, twenty-four sawmills, splen- 

 did roads all the year around, the lands are well fenced 

 and well cultivated. Our two national banks in Kalis- 

 pell have $1,300,000 on deposit, showing that most of 

 the farmers are well to do." 



