THE IBRIGATION AGE. 



371 



to reservoir No. 1. This ditch is twenty-two feet wide 

 on the bottom, thirty-five feet at high water and carries 

 water five feet in depth. It is about twelve miles long. 

 It has a drop of about eighteen inches to the mile. All 

 of the irrigated land lies south of this ditch. A concrete 

 dam is now being constructed on the Big Sandy at the 

 point where the water is being taken out, equipped with 

 gates through which the supply for reservoir No. 1 is 

 taken. The water for irrigation is taken from reservoir 

 No. 1, through a tunnel at the south end, where it flows 

 into the main canal in district No. 1. 



The irrigated tract is divided into four districts 

 as may be seen by reference to the map. District No. 1 

 contains all of the land lying between the Big and 

 Little Sandy rivers; district No. 2 contains the land 

 lying south and east of the Little Sandy river and north 

 of the section line running east and west, and crossing 

 the junction of the Big and Little Sandy rivers ; district 

 No. 3 comprises all of the land lying south of this line 

 and east of the Big Sandy ; district No. 4 is all of the 

 land lying west of the Big Sandy river. 



It is expected that all of the land will be irrigateu 

 and brought under ditch as fast as possible, except tne 

 land in district No. 4, concerning which the company 

 has not yet announced its plans. This land cannot be 

 irrigated until the Leckie reservoir or some other sys- 

 tem of storage has been completed. 



The company is now completing the canals that lie 

 east and south of the Little Sandy river and expects to 

 finish this work late this fall, in plenty of time to deliver 

 water to the land next spring. All of the ditch work to 

 be done by the company in district No. 1 has been com- 

 pleted and laterals for irrigating the land are now being 

 built by the owners of the land. 



The canal which waters the district south of the 

 Little Sandy river will be carried across that stream by 

 means of a flume, the ditch being brought close to the 

 banks of the stream and the flume supported by con- 

 crete abutments. 



Eden Valley is a high table land or plateau, lying be- 

 tween the Wind Eiver mountains on the north and the 

 Union Pacific railroad on the south, about midway be- 

 tween the two. To the east of the valley is a low range, 

 called the Jackamore Hills, and on the west is the high 

 rolling prairie, similar to the Eden Valley tract and 

 extending to the Green river, which is about fifty miles 

 away. 



For many years Eden Valley has been the summer 

 range for vast herds of sheep. Excellent grass is found 

 here all summer. The land generally is covered with 

 a thick growth of sage brush of several varieties, the 

 black sage predominating. This brush, however, is only 

 twelve to eighteen inches high, having been browsed off 

 by the sheep. The method of breaking the ground i? 

 to plow it with a sulky plow, harrow, rake and burn 

 the sage brush, when it is ready for seeding. This is 

 comparatively inexpensive as the ground plows easily, a 

 three horse team breaking from two and a half to three 

 acres per day. The cost of clearing and breaking, where 

 it is contracted for, ranges from $5 to $7 per acre. 



Farming on a large scale has not yet been accom- 

 plished in Eden Valley. The settlers who moved into 

 the valley this summer planted crops and have had good 

 success where the ground was properly prepared and 

 water was secured at the right time. One field of oats, 

 owned by the Wright Brothers and about eighty acres 



in extent, made a good yield. The grain was of good 

 quality and very heavy. Potatoes planted late in June 

 made an excellent crop and farmers who sowed alfalfa 

 secured a good stand. The season in all respects was 

 a very backward one and farmers were late in getting in 

 their crops. Field or Canadian peas made a good growth 

 when sown early and well cared for. 



The season in this part of Wyoming is a short but 

 intense one and grain should be sown early, even as 

 early as April and May to do well. Through July and 

 August the days are hot and dry and excellent weather 

 for grain, potatoes and sugar beets, the latter crop prom- 

 ising to be one of the leading crops of this section. 



The nights even in midsummer are cool, but the 

 temperature sometimes rises to one hundred degrees 

 during the day. The heat is not oppressive on account 

 of the altitude, which is slightly over 6,000 feet. 



The soil in Eden Valley is of a reddish tinge and 

 very fertile. The surface soil is a sandy loam, varying 

 from a few inches to several feet in thickness, is more 

 sandy in some places than others, a condition which does 

 not seem to affect its productive qualities, however, 

 wherever water is supplied. Below the red soil or sandy 

 loam there is a subsoil of gravel and sand from eighteen 

 inches to two feet deep. Eock is found at from thirty 

 to fifty feet. At this depth good water for domestic 

 purposes has been secured, the deepest well that has been 

 sunk in the valley being sixty-one feet. One well fifty 

 feet deep has twenty-six feet of water. 



The majority of the settlers who are coming into 

 Edan Valley are from the central states which border 

 along the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, although a 

 number from the irrigation districts of Colorado have 

 bought land here. They are a very intelligent class of 

 farmers and will undoubtedly develop this part of Wyo- 

 ming as rapidly as conditions will allow. At the present 

 time the nearest railroad is at Eock Springs, but the 

 surveys of both the Chicago & Northwestern and the 

 Chicago, Burlington & Quincy railroads cross this tract, 

 and it is believed that one or both of these roads will 

 build through within the next few years. 



The Union Pacific railroad has surveyed and will 

 build this fall or next spring a branch road from Eock 

 Springs north to within about twenty miles of the valley. 

 This railroad has located coal mines on the branch. 

 These mines have been opened up and are now ready to 

 mine the coal. 



Eden 'Valley is believed to be underlaid with coal 

 and while no veins have been opened on the irrigated 

 tract, cheap coal can be had at Eock Springs and will 

 be much nearer when the railroad has been opened. 

 Native lumber can be secured in the mountains to the 

 north, the nearest point being about thirty miles from 

 the north end of the tract. 



The irrigation company owns and operates a hotel 

 located at the junction of the Big and Little Sandy 

 rivers near the center of the tract. The town of Eden 

 has been located here. There is a postoffice at the hotel. 

 The townsite which is owned by Mr. F. P. Knott of 

 Denver and which has been set aside will be thrown 

 open for settlement in the spring. A number of pros- 

 pective merchants have signified their 1 intentions of open- 

 ing stores. There will undoubtedly be a town at this 

 point, as it is the most central location on the tract, 

 and that within the next year. A quarter section of land 

 has been set aside for the town of Eden. 



