THE CONQUEST OF ARID AMERICA 



trinity. They were grimly determined to accomplish 

 what they had undertaken. This spirit, and this alone, 

 kept them from going to pieces during the first five years, 

 and laid the foundation for their permanent prosperity. 



Both Colorado and the arid West owe much to the ex- 

 ample of Greeley. It lent an impulse to the develop- 

 ment of their civic character, and made a deep and last- 

 ing impression upon their agricultural industry. The 

 influence of the community on its immediate surround- 

 ings is yet more plainly visible. Its success resulted in 

 largo irrigation developments and numerous settlements 

 in Colorado, Wyoming, and western Nebraska. A com- 

 munity without a pauper or a millionaire, Greeley has 

 yet had a surplus both of men and of capital to con- 

 tribute to the making of new districts. The colony of 

 to-day is a well-built town of comfortable homes and 

 substantial business blocks, surrounded by well -culti- 

 vated farms connected by a comprehensive canal system, 

 which is the property of the land-owners. Although in 

 periods of general business depression it has felt the 

 heavy hand of hard times, few communities in the world 

 possess a better assurance of a comfortable living in the 

 future, while none has better educational and social ad- 

 vantages. 



Horace Greeley followed the colony's development 

 with the closest interest, writing frequent letters of ad- 

 vice, and even finding time to pay a hurried visit. His 

 Jast letter to Mr. Meeker, written six days before his 

 death, was as follows : 



" FRIEND MEEKER, I presume you have already drawn on me 

 for the one thousand dollars to buy land. If you have not, please 

 do so at once. I have not much money, and probably never shall 



90 



