THE REVOLUTION ON THE PLAINS 



try had won no general recognition. Thousands of 

 farmers were persisting in the delusive hope of rainfall 

 farming, and public sentiment was distinctly opposed to 

 those who sought to include Nebraska in the arid re- 

 gion. 



All this was changed by the events of 1890. In that 

 year crops were ruined by dry weather and hot winds 

 throughout a large part of the State, and the people in 

 the western counties generally acknowledged that it was 

 useless to longer persist in the effort to cultivate the 

 soil without artificial moisture. Strangely enough, they 

 seemed to draw a new inspiration from their blighted 

 fields. Irrigation conventions were held at many county 

 seats. The study of water resources, of methods and 

 laws essential to their utilization, became earnest and 

 general. The popular agitation rapidly crystallized into 

 a permanent and organized movement which has gath- 

 ered strength with each passing year. Comprehensive 

 laws were enacted by the legislature and the office of 

 State Engineer created. Meanwhile, large amounts of 

 private capital were invested, many canals constructed, 

 and the despised western counties began to rise in pub- 

 lic esteem. 



It is now clearly apparent that the very lands which 

 refused to yield a return for the industry of the first set- 

 tlers will sustain the densest population in the future 

 and give the most absolute assurance of permanent pros- 

 perity. Already the time has come when a State irriga- 

 tion fair can be held in western Nebraska and make a 

 striking exhibition of results, and when a commonwealth 

 which ten years ago resented as a libel the intimation 

 that its rainfall was deficient, can proudly claim to rank 



115 



