2 BULLETIN 402, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
DESCRIPTION OF THE DISTRICT. 
The district here described includes northeastern Colorado and 
small adjacent portions of southeastern Wyoming, southwestern Ne- 
braska, and northwestern Kansas. The results presented are believed 
to be generally applicable to similar soils in this district. The river 
valleys and sand hills present very different conditions. 
HISTORY. 
The district described formed part of the Great American Desert 
in the early history of the trans-Missouri West. It was the feeding 
ground for the bison and antelope. The bisons were exterminated 
by hunters and only a few antelopes remain. The bisons were suc- 
ceeded by large herds of cattle. Vast areas were controlled by the 
few cattlemen who held the scattered water holes or owned the ad- 
joining river land. 
With the building of the railroads up the valleys of the Platte 
and the Republican Rivers and of other lines to the south came the 
first real farm settlement. The free Government lands brought 
thousands of settlers who did not understand dry-land conditions. 
Many did not remain long enough to obtain patents to their home- 
steads. Many of those who did remain borrowed money on the land, 
and later the mortgages were foreclosed. The result was that a wide 
strip of land on each side of the railroads soon came to be controlled 
by nonresident owners. This condition is gradually being changed, 
but the land far from the railroad is often the most thickly settled, 
even at the present time. 
Farm experience and scientific experiments have built up a system 
of agriculture which promises to make possible the profitable reoccu- 
pation of lands held by nonresidents. 
TOPOGRAPHY. 
The district is a rolling prairie, bounded on the west by the foot- 
hills of the Rocky Mountains and on the east by an imaginary line 
located somewhere near the one hundredth meridian of longitude. 
It extends south to the high divide between the Arkansas and Repub- 
lican Rivers and north to the divide between the Platte and Missouri 
Rivers. The Platte is the only important river traversing the dis- 
trict, and during the summer months its waters are often reduced to 
the proportions of a creek. The altitude varies from 3,500 to 5,500 
feet. The topography of the section is shown in figure 1. 
The water supply is almost entirely from wells. The depth varies 
from a few feet to several hundred feet. In some localities water has 
not been located at any depth. New settlers should make sure that 
a supply of good water is available. 
