THE RECLAMATION OF THE WEST. 839 



United States. It Ava.s a rare experience. AVe Avould ))e sailing under 

 a good breeze at an exliilarating rate, and everybody would be gay, 

 when suddenh^ we would slide up on a mud bank; then all would go 

 overboard to tug and finally push off into deeper water, and then on 

 until we brought up in another nuid bank. 



Plate IV shows where it will be possible to build dams similar to 

 those built by the British engineers on the Nile. The river, although 

 a quarter or a half a mile wide above, here 1)ecomes narrow, hardly- 

 wide enough for a steamer to pass, and at this point it would be possi- 

 ble to erect dams holding back the water. The great difficulty is the 

 fact that the mud carried ])y the river would till the reservoirs verv 

 rapidl3\ 



Another project under consideration is in Arizona, on Salt Kiver. 

 This dam, if constructed, will be one of the greatest in the world, 

 being 230 feet from foundation to top. The lands to be reclaimed 

 along the Salt Hiver are in the vicinity of Phoenix and are capable of 

 a high degree of cultivation, producing crop after crop throughout 

 the year. There are sometimes as many as seven crops a year raised. 



In southern Idaho are vast tracts of desert land, to which water 

 may be brought from Snake River. At the head of this river is 

 Jackson Lake, situated at the foot of the (rrand Tetons. By closing 

 the outlet of this lake all the water can be held, storing a sufficient 

 supply for tens of thousands of acres along Snake River, in Idaho. 



Under present conditions the water supply in Snake River dwindles 

 to such an extent that during the summer the channel is dry at points 

 along its course. This river, which appears to be inexhaustible, is, 

 as a matter of fact, nearh^ dry at points in eastern Idaho for several 

 months when the water is most needed. 



In a portion of the course of Snake River in southern Idaho it has 

 1)een found practicable to divert the water upon vast tracts of fertile, 

 level land. Here, near the railroad station of Minidoka, it is pro- 

 posed to build across Snake River a substantial masoniw dam and take 

 out water on both sides with gravity canals, irrigating the sagebrush- 

 covered plains. A large amount of water can be allowed to pass 

 through or over the dam, and it is proposed to generate power, util- 

 izing this to pump water to some of the higher lying tracts which can 

 not be reached by gravit}-. 



A great project under consideration is that of taking water out of 

 some of the tributaries of the Columbia. Millions of acres suscep- 

 tible of irrigation are below the level of the headwaters of Columbia 

 River, but in order to convey these waters to the dry lands it is neces- 

 sary to traverse mile after mile of steep side slopes. The cost of the 

 project runs up into the millions of dollars; so that Avhile the Govern- 

 ment may execute it in the future, the })roject of reclaiming the great 



SM 1903 ott 



