INFORMATION FOR EMIGRANTS. 3 



^of the United States, making in all one half of the entire country, 

 excluding Alaska. * 



Most of this region is destitute of timber, and the water supply is only 

 sufficient for irrigation to a very limited extent. 



Hon. Carl Schurz, Secretary of the Interior, says, in his Annual 

 Report for the year 1877 : 



A large majority of the lands west of the one hundredth meridian 

 are unfit for agricultural purposes without artificial irrigation, and the 

 -area on which artificial irrigation appears possible is very small. 



The following respecting Colorado, is also true of the larger portion 

 of the region west of the one hundredth meridian : f 



A very large portion of Colorado is too high for agricultural purposes ; 

 so that a rnajority of the best and most productive soil must necessarily 

 always remain idle. In other localities, where altitudinal conditions are 

 more favorable, the want of an adequate supply of water prevents suc- 

 cess in agricultural pursuits. 



In 1876, Gen. W. B. Hazen, of the United States Army, prompted 

 by a duty to humanity, published a communication on 



"Our Barren Lands."t 



This publication should be carefully read by persons wishing accurate 

 information about the region west of the one hundredth meridian. 



Gen. Hazen has recently been appointed Chief of the Signal Service 

 of the United States, and no one's opinion on the subject treated is enti- 

 tled to greater weight. The following are extracts from Gen. Hazen's 

 publication: 



With the continued discoveries of gold and silver in the Rocky Moun- 

 tains, and immense immigration to the Pacific coast, came the demand 

 for more expeditious and more frequent means of communication. 

 Railroads were exploited in many directions across the border. Some 

 of these were justified by commerce — more were cheating schemes for 

 the purpose of getting subsidies of land from the United States. Once 

 in possession of this land, every effort, honest and dishonest, was made 

 to induce persons to purchase it and settle upon it. And so, suddenly, 

 by means of that magic power, the press, those "bad lands," "sandy 

 plains," "wasted deserts," "el llano estacado, " "basins of salt," "black 

 hills," and so on, became fruitful as the vale of Cashmere. Here were 

 "homes" for the "homeless," and "lands for the landless." These 

 and other catchwords were used to ensnare the unwary. 



* For information in detail, the reader is referred to Plate V of Walker's Statistical 

 Atlas, to be seen in all public libraries. 



t Tenth Annual Report of the United States Geological Survey of Colorado and adja- 

 'Cent Territories, 1876, page 116. 



t Robert Clarke & Co,, Cincinnati, Ohio, 1875; price fifty cents. 



