THE CONQUEST OF ARID AMERICA . 



thus able to begin settlement in the spring of 1870, and 

 to bring to the test of actual experience the social and 

 industrial plans set forth in the prospectus. A party of 

 eastern people, most of whom came from cities, they en- 

 tered cheerfully upon the task of adjusting a high ideal 

 to the untried conditions of a country which had previ- 

 ously known only the Indian, the hunter, and the cow- 

 boy. Their experience for the next twenty years has a 

 larger significance than merely local history, since the 

 community is one of the landmarks in western life. 



Mr. Meeker having refused the use of his own name, 

 the new town was christened " Greeley," and this name 

 was popularly applied to the colony also, in spite of its 

 incorporated title. The first severe test of the co- 

 operative principle, which had been relied upon for the 

 larger enterprises, arose in connection with the building 

 of canals. There had been no misconception as to the 

 need of irrigation, but it was supposed that the works 

 could be quickly constructed and the new methods of 

 agriculture readily learned. The original estimate of 

 cost was twenty thousand dollars. The actual outlay be- 

 fore the works were completed reached four hundred 

 and twelve thousand, or more than twenty times the es- 

 timate. For resources to meet this unexpected demand, 

 the colony had only receipts from the sales of property 

 and the subscriptions and labor of its members. The re- 

 sult was not reached without serious dissensions and 

 some desertions, but the works were built, and the commu- 

 nity survived with its co-operative principle intact. It is 

 not to be believed that a private enterprise could have lived 

 through a similar experience with the same slender finan- 

 cial resources, for it was the public spirit and pride which 



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