92 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



Wyoming 



Counsel for the settlers on lands 

 which the Wyoming Central Irriga- 

 tion Company contracted to reclaim, 

 but which it did not reclaim, have ad- 

 vised the rejection of a proposal from 

 holders of $146,000 of the bonds of 

 the Wyoming Central to transfer 

 those bonds to the settlers for $48,- 

 666.66, which is one-third of their par 

 value. Counsel for the settlers ad- 

 vise that if the settlers acquired the 

 bonds they would be merely acquiring 

 questionable claims against them- 

 selves. 



rigation district suit will not be 

 reached until April or May. 



Texas 



The San Antonio Land & Irrigation 

 Comapny and Frederick R. Swift, as 

 trustee in bankruptcy of the company, 

 have appealed to the United States 

 circuit court of appeals from the de- 

 cision of Judge A. N. Hand, of the dis- 

 trict court, who recently declared that 

 the adjudication of the company as a 

 bankrupt was void because its princi- 

 pal place of business was in Texas. 



The receivership of the San Benito 

 Land and Water Company, involving 

 about $1,000,000, will soon be termi- 

 nated. Judge Waller T. Burns of the 

 United States court has just author- 

 ized the issuance of $79,000 receivers' 

 certificates to take up a maturing is- 

 sue of the same amount. The author- 

 ity was granted upon application from 

 Edward D. Rowson, receiver. The 

 petition of .the receiver explained the 

 arrangements pending to wind up the 

 receivership. It is understood that 

 there will be no objection to the bond- 

 holders' petition filed last September, 

 asking foreclosure. Foreclosure of 

 $350,000 bonds out of original issue 

 of $1,050,000 is understood to be the 

 method agreed upon. Should this oc- 

 cur, the St. Louis Trust Company and 

 Thomas N. Dysart, trustees, will ob- 

 tain possession of the big irrigating 

 svstem of the company around San 

 Benito. The property includes thirty- 

 seven miles of canals and 100 miles of 

 laterals. There are 52,000 acres in- 

 volved in the irrigation enterprise, be- 

 sides 16,000 acres of the company. 

 Petitions are now being circulated in 

 the San Benito territory asking for the 

 establishment of an irrigation district. 

 If such a district should be formed, 

 bonds could be issued to pay for drain- 

 age and irrigation. The plant of the 

 company could be purchased and a 

 movement to that end is on foot. 



The state land board has passed a 

 resolution incorporating a tentative 

 proposal for the reduction of the Twin 

 Falls-Oakley Carey act project to ap- 

 proximately twenty-one thousand 

 acres, a reduction of about ten thous- 

 and acres from the original size. The 

 resolution provides that the entrymen 

 under these canals shall be paid by 

 the Twin Falls-Oakley Land & Water 

 company for sucb improvements as 

 they have made, and that these set- 

 tlers shall have the right to make se- 

 lections of lands in those portions of 

 the segregation as shall be unoccu- 

 pied, acre for acre, for their holdings 

 in the abandoned portion of the tract. 



Purchase by the United States of 

 the King Hill irrigation system in this 

 state and its completion by the re- 

 clamation service, is the object of a 

 bill introduced in the present congress 

 by Congressman Robert M. Mc- 

 Cracken of Idaho, who seeks to have 

 this Carey act enterprise purchased 

 at public auction by the state and 

 placed under federal jurisdiction. The 

 act is now in the hands of the commit- 

 tee on irrigation and arid lands. Con- 

 gressman McCracken is a member of 

 that committee, a fact favorable to 

 the measure. One investigation of 

 the project has already been made, 

 it is probable the committee in pos- 

 session of the bill will authorize a fur- 

 ther investigation of the project by 

 the reclamation department. 



Colorado 



The survey of the big ditch for the 

 Moffat Irrigation district, from the 

 point of diversion in the Rio Grande 

 river to the foot hills north and east 

 of this place, is complete, being 51 

 miles in length. The ditch has been 

 ma oped put with a fall of 3 feet to the 

 mile, which is considered to be a good 

 slope for a canal of that size. The 

 ditch survey work has been done un- 

 der the direction of John E. Fields, a 

 member of the state land board. 



While it will be impossible to en- 

 gage in actual construction work for 

 several weeks, the Utah Construction 

 company engineers are engaged in of- 

 fice preparatory work on the Big Lost 

 River irrigation project in Idaho, ac- 

 cording to the announcement of W. 

 H. Wattis, president of the company. 

 After a year of negotiation the local 

 company's contract for completing 

 this immense project was approved by 

 the Idaho land board a few days ago. 



Field notes on the project were 

 taken by the company's engineers in 

 a complete survey of the project about 

 one year ago, according to Mr. Wat- 

 tis. These field notes are now being 

 worked up in the local offices of the 

 company. By the time the first de- 

 tailed plans are drawn Mr. Wattis be- 

 lieves the snow will have sufficiently 

 disappeared to permit of actual con- 

 struction work. 



As outlined at present, the main im- 

 pounding dam will be located four 

 miles north of Mackay, Idaho, but 



. there will also be several smaller di- 

 verting dams. The company will use 

 the unit plan in completing the pro- 

 ject; the first unit to be used a season 

 to test the amount of water available 

 before additional work is taken up. 



. It is estimated that the first unit of 

 the main dam and distributing system 

 will reclaim about 30,000 acres of land. 



Idaho 



Because of illness or absence from 

 the state of leading attorneys in this 

 case, Judge Bryan announced that 

 conclusion on the Farmers' Co-opera- 

 tive Ditch company vs. Riverside Ir- 



Black canyon settlers of the vicinity 

 of Notus are actively at work in sup- 

 port of proposals for extending the 

 government project on the north side. 



Falls Irrigation company's project 

 seems assured in the action taken by 

 the company before the state land 

 board when their bond for $45,000 was 

 renewed. It is pointed out that the 

 renewal of the bond presages imme- 

 diate work on the project, in that the 

 bond will be forfeited should work not 

 be begun by July 1. 



Work on the Wickahoney, or old 

 Bruneau irrigation project, is to start 

 as quickly as the weather will permit 

 this spring. This was the assurance 

 given Governor Alexander by David 

 'Miller, of Kansas City, who will make 

 Boise his headquarters while the work 

 is in progress. Mr. Miller is presi- 

 dent of the Wickahoney Land & Wat- 

 er companv. He announces a survey 

 of the proposed ditch has been made 

 after expending $10,000 for prelimin- 

 aries. A total of close to $1,000,000 

 will be spent putting the irrigation 

 works in for this project. 



Washington 



With little blowing of horns an ir- 

 rigation system for Yelm prairie has 

 been constructed and it is reported 

 that it will be ready to turn water on 

 the land in May for this year's crops. 

 The operation of this system will be 

 closely studied by residents of cities 

 as well as residents of the country. 



Forty users of water rights for the 

 irrigation of their lands in Walla 

 Walla county have filed a complaint 

 with the public service commission 

 against the Attlalia Land company, 

 charging that the company contem- 

 plates abandoning its gravity system 

 which has supplied them, and ask for 

 a hearing and relief. 



Lewis A. Thompson, a land owner 

 in the Grant county tract to be 

 brought under the proposed Quincy 

 irrigation project, has secured signa- 

 tures of Spokane land owners repre- 

 senting 27,760 acres asking congress- 

 men from Washington to back Sena- 

 tor. Miles Poindexter's plan for the 

 opening of Priest and Rock Island 

 rapids, as a preliminary in getting 

 water upon the tracts. Mr. Thomp- 

 son expects to tour the entire district 

 and secure the signatures of resident 

 land owners to the petition. An ex- 

 penditure of approximately $7,000,00& 

 will be required under the present 

 plan, in contrast with the maximum 

 $40,000,000 expenditure proposed in 

 the bond issue plan which was de- 

 feated by referendum two years ago. 



Definite steps were taken at a meet- 

 ing of the farmers of Aeneas and 

 Bonaparte valleys toward the forma- 

 tion of an irrigation district under 

 state laws. The district proposed will 

 irrigate 5,000 acres along Aeneas and 

 Bonaparte creeks and on the upper 

 bench east of Tonasket, the canal 

 lines running several hundred feet 

 higher than those of the West Oka- 

 nogan valley irrigation district, which 

 also waters land in the immediate 

 vicinity. 



New life to the West End Twin 



Marvin Chase, who for the past 

 two years has been engaged in pro- 

 moting the Whitestone Irrigation & 

 Power company, expects to have the 



