262 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 



a scope of country as possible, the cost per acre will often be less than 

 that of the lower lands where each farmer digs his own ditch. Hence it 

 is not to be presumed that a man of small means, who is seeking a home- 

 stead under the law, will attempt to settle in a place where such an 

 outlay as this is required; and yet these lands when irrigated and culti- 

 vated will generally prove as productive as the bottoms which skirt the 

 streams. ISTo more likely is he to do this than he is to settle in a bog that 

 must be drained at a heavy expense before it can be rendered tillable. 

 Therefore, while I believe it is proper and right to give every possible in- 

 ducement to actual settlers of "mall means, that they may have permanent 

 homes of their own, I also oelieve that the chief impetus that can be 

 given to bring about the settlement and development of these Terri- 

 tories will be byjudicious land grants to colonies and railroad companies. 

 I know there is a strong prejudice growing up in the minds of a large 

 portion of the people against such grants, and probably not without 

 reason ; yet, while striving to avoid one extreme, an evil is seldom cured 

 by running to the other. And while I would advocate limited and judi- 

 cious grants in sections where irrigation is necessary, I do not include 

 the giving of aid by money or subsidies, for these in the end generally 

 do more harm than good, sometimes absolutely retarding that develop- 

 ment of the' country which would be made through the efforts of these 

 companies without such aid. ISTor, as a general thing, is it best to make 

 grants to railroad companies along the valley of one large stream for 

 any great distance, if the price of the alternate sections is thereby in- 

 creased, as this would abridge the privileges of settlers and purchasers 

 of* small means. It would also present a strong temptation to the com- 

 pany to purchase the remaining sections and put up the price, and thus 

 fail to accomplish the very object for which such grants should be made. 



I believe the true policy, so far as the country immediately east of 

 the Rocky Mountains is concerned, is to grant inducements to the con- 

 struction of roads north and south, at such a distance from the base of 

 these mountains as to compel the companies to cut canals of considera- 

 ble length in order to bring their lands into market. For example, a 

 very judicious grant might be made for a road from some point on the 

 Kansas Pacific Railroad east of Denver, (fifty or one hundred miles,) 

 by way of Cimarron Pass to Albuquerque, in New Mexico, if not allowed 

 to run too close to the mountains. But the question may be asked, 

 Why prevent it from running near the mountain base? Because here 

 the land is easily irrigated, and will be settled without this aid, and, 

 therefore, not only is such a grant unnecessary to the development of* 

 this section, but it abridges the rights granted under the homestead 

 laws. ISTor is it good policy, on account of the importance and influence 

 of an intermediate town or locality, to bend to any great degree to meet 

 this demaud, for the importance of the place will ultimately give it a 

 railroad connection without Government aid, thus increasing the rail- 

 road facilities under the same grant. 



South of Albuquerque, any aid given should be for roads running 

 east and w r est, rather than north and south, as here the general course 

 of the streams is south instead of east. It would be improper for me, in 

 this report, to attempt any lengthy argument to prove this position; 

 nor is it necessary, for the careful study of any good map of this part 

 of the West, by one not interested in land grants or railroads there, 

 will convince him of the correctness of my position, if he takes agricul- 

 ture as his stand-point. 



Another judicious grant might be made for a road running from 

 Cheyenrfe, or some point on the Union Pacific Railroad east of Cheyenne, 



