THE SPIRIT OF THE WEST 



The Wonderful Agricultural Development Since the 



Dawn of Irrigation 



By C. J. Blanchard, U. S. Reclamation Service 



THE spirit of the West is optimism 

 and progress. It is the spirit that 

 fired the hearts of our forefathers 

 who erected in the primeval forests of 

 New England the superstructure of the 

 greatest nation on earth. It is the op- 

 timism and faith which imbued their 

 descendants who carved an agricultural 

 empire of unparalleled richness from the 

 Mississippi Valley. 



Once a wilderness so unpromising that 

 it evoked derision in the halls of Con- 

 gress, the West has become today the 

 land of fortune and opportunity. In this 

 land of boundless distances the altitude 

 is stimulating, the air is a tonic, giving 

 health to the infirm and courage to those 

 who have failed elsewhere. Its constant 

 sunshine encourages optimism and cheer- 

 fulness. The glories of its opal-tinted 

 dawns, the indescribable beauty of its 

 sunsets, and the nameless witchery of 

 its twilight softly melting into night are 

 the work of a divine painter. 



There is mental and spiritual uplift 

 in its mountains, whose summits are in 

 regions of perpetual snow. Its sapphire 

 lakes, excelling in beauty those of Swit- 

 zerland, open up a wondrous field of 

 interest and pleasure to the sight-seer and 

 those in search of rest and recreation. 

 The monarchs of its forests cast their 

 shadows on the earth before the coming 

 of the gentle Nazarene. 



Its canyons, sculptured during un- 

 counted centuries by wind and wave, are 

 unrivaled in their wonderful and varied 

 coloring and in their awe - inspiring 

 depths. 



Its deserts, in vastness of area, in po- 

 tential wealth of soil and climate, and 

 in rivers of constant supply, are sleeping 



* For previous articles on this subject by 

 February, 1906 : Millions for Moisture," April 

 April, T908: "The Call of the West," May, igoQ: 



empires awaiting exploitation and de- 

 velopment. Here nature oilers to every 

 man his birthright — a wide sky, the sun- 

 shine, the wind, and a sure reward for 

 intelligent efllort. Here things are writ 

 in characters too vast for human pen. 



It is our own land of mystery and 

 enchantment, of crumbling ruins, and of 

 lost races which have vanished utterly. 



On the lofty mesas of the painted 

 desert are "tribes whose ceremonies 

 bridge the years between ages of stone 

 and steam," living antique lives in a 

 modern day. Their houses are fortresses 

 erected a hundred years before Columbus 

 sailed the unknown western seas. On 

 their walls the watchman still holds vigil,' 

 and in their kivas strangely clad priests 

 recite their prayers, which may antedate 

 those of our own religion. 



The late Governor John A. Johnson 

 well said the West symbolizes "homes 

 for the homeless; food for the hungry; 

 work for the unemployed ; land for the 

 landless ; gold for the penniless ; freedom 

 for the enslaved ; adventure for the rest- 

 less ; dangers for the brave ; an unknown 

 world to conquer, and room for all." 



Irrigation has wrought its miracle, and 

 13,000,000 acres reclaimed are annually 

 producing harvests valued at more than 

 $250,000,000, and supporting in homes of 

 their own more than 300,000 families. 

 The wealth of that portion of the coun- 

 try which great statesmen in Webster's 

 day were wont to declare worthless is 

 greater now than that of the entire nation 

 in i860. 



In the swift march of national events 

 during the past decade, the development 

 of the West has focussed the attention 

 of the world. It furnishes one of the 



the same author see "Winning the West.^' 

 , 1907; "Home-making by the Government," 

 Nat. Geog. Mag. 



