228 National Geographic Magazine. 
There are many similar and even better opportunities for 
irrigation development, such as the construction of a canal from 
the West Gallatin River near Bozeman. This canal would require 
no expensive diversion line, as its waters would become immedi- 
ately available at the headworks, and by appropriating the 500 
second feet of water flowing in the river, would reclaim at a 
minimum cost 50,000 acres, or twice the amount of land now 
cultivated there. Storage on the Upper Gallatin River would 
greatly increase the amount of reclaimed land. 
Storage reservoirs can be easily constructed on the headwaters 
of the Beaver Head River, whereby at least 150,000 acres could 
be added to the 25,000 acres now under cultivation in the Beaver 
Head Valley near Dillon. 
A canal requiring no diversion line can be taken out on the 
east side of the Missouri River near Toston, which will irrigate 
all of the good land in the Missouri Valley, at least 100,000 acres, 
This canal would require some fills and aqueducts in crossing the 
various side steams such as Deep and Duck Creeks, and Confed- 
erate Gulch. 
Detailed surveys have been made during the past summer on 
the Sun River which indicate that storage will add some 250,000 
acre feet to the amount of water in that stream now available for 
irrigation. There are at least 600,000 acres of good agricultural 
land between the Dearborn, Sun, and Teton Rivers, which must 
forever remain barren of cultivated products unless provided. 
with water by means of storage on these streams, and the 
surveys above alluded to indicate that by this means 160,000 
acres of this land can be reclaimed by the Sun River alone. 
Mention might be made to many more similar projects, such 
as the construction of a simple canal from the Missouri River 
to irrigate Chestnut Valley, south of Great Falls, whereby 
120,000 acres would be reclaimed; or one from the Upper 
Madison River whereby 230,000 acres of the Madison Valley 
might receive water, but the foregoing will suffice to show the 
possibilities of irrigation development in Montana. . 
It would be doing the resources of a great and vast area of 
Montana injustice if reference were not made to the Milk River 
country, the great Indian reservation of 17,680,000 acres in the 
northern part of the State which has recently been open to 
settlement. This region has not been examined by the author, 
but from conversations with a number of its well-informed inhab- 
