By F. M. KIMMELL. .
ALL HOME PRINT.
IRRIGATION IN NEBRASKA.
Description of the Various En
terprises Now Under Way
in the State.
A COLOSSAL UNDERTAKING
In Four Western Counli'ss.-Splendid
Progress in the South west.-A
Hopeful Showing.
4 The legislature of 1889 , large
ly through the efforts of Hon.
Henry SiEayner of Sidney , pass
ed a law designed to encourage ir
rigation enterprises in Nebraska.
Although that Jaw has deiocts
which must be" remedied , nnd al
though its provisions mast be
widened in several directions in
order to meet the uerids of the
subject , almost everything thus far
accomplished is due to the legisla
tion passed by the last fusion. It
is the object of this article to des
cribe what has been done uudc.r its
provisions. It will bo th object
of another to discuas how it must
be still further adapted , by revis
ion and amendment , to the needs
of a growing problem.
Every step thus far taken in the
development of irrigation enter
prises in Nebraska has been in
the face of great difficulties. The
projectors have had to contend
with nearly every obstacle that
u conceived oi except lacj
of water and sterility of soil
They have had to convince a slo\
and skeptical public. They huv <
had to raise money for costly en
terprises in districts sparsely set
tied and with a people who were
generally poor. They have had tc
contend with the discouragemenl
of successive crop failures , whicl :
more often drove settlers a way
than nerved them to greater effort.
When they have saddled bonds
upon precincts and counties to
gain the financial aid not to bo ob
tained from incredulous.capitalists ,
they have sometimes been robbed
by boodling contractors , who have
irrigated their arid banks accounts
with money stolen from a strug
gling people. Furthermore , ihej
have been handicapped by lack of
expert knowledge in the construct
ion of canals and ditches and the
husbanding of the water supply. In
face of these manifold difficulties ,
and without powerful friends 01
ample financial resources , the men
who believe inthe , ultimate desti
ny of the arid and semi-aric
regions have kept steadily and
bravely at work. They are today
at the threshold of success. When
they have gone a little further anc
demonstrated the absolute feasibili
ty of their plans , prosperity wil ]
come with a rush , for the world
has a way of lifting its hat to the
rising sun.
1. OPERATIONS OF THE NATIONAL
GOVERNMENT.
Secretary Busk and his assist
ants in the department of agricult
ure are doing all they can , within
the limits of their power and
means at their disposal , to develop
irrigation interests in.Nebraska
and various other western states.
At the first session of the present
congress $40,000 was appropriated
for the purpose of mailing prelim
inary surveys and actual experi
ments in testing the underflow and
the extent of the water supply.
This is all the settlers ask of the
national government , except the
passage of the Herbert bill trnns-
fering the arid lands to the con
trol of the states , and the enact
ment of legislation to prevent the
7nonopoly of water rights by cor
porations.
Mr. Nettletou chief engineer of
the irrigation department , and
Prof , jftobert Hay , chief meteorolo
gist , arrived in Nebraska early in
October and began a series of sur
veys and experiments. Their op
erations are chiefly devoted to
the investigation of the underflow
in the beds of shallow streams and
to a study of the possibilities of the
artesian system , with which Sec.
Busk is impressed. Prof. Hay
also visited the Frenchman river ,
in Hitchcock county and examined
the large enterprises there under
way. He expressed the opinion
that the underflow of the Bepubli-
can could be utilized and that the
government would sink an experi
mental well at that point. The
work of the professor and Chief
Engineer Nettleton extended over
TT
a considerable portion of'the arid
region and will be resumed in the
spring. They are assisted by
Prof. Lewis E. Hicks of the state
university , who takes a warm
interest in the subject.
In describing the progress of ir
rigation in the state I give first
mention to the work of the nation
al government because it is im
portant to understand how much
and how little is to be expected
from this source. The govern
ment can contribute to the success
of irrigation enterprises , but it can
not , as some people appear to
think , construct reservoirs and ca
nals as it does internal improve
ments of a different nature. It
has a vast field to deal with. All
it can possibly do is to mark out
general lines on which the plan
can be made to succeed. Private
enterprise and capital must do the
rest' This , however , is a very
useful service. The great difficulty
has been to convince capitalists
that money can safely be invested
in these undertakings. The gov
ernment has attempted to do this ,
not only in a general way , but
with reference to particular locali
ties. If the expert engineer , sent
out by the agricultural depart
ment , reports that a certain
amount of money will construct a
ditch , water a certain number of
acres and pay a certain per cent as
dividends on the amount invested ,
; he battle will be more than half
won. Under such circumstances
ample means can be secured to
oromote the work.
This is the important work the
government has undertaken in
Nebraska , and all that is asked is
ihat it will do it as rapidly am
extensively as the case demands.
. II. ACTIVITY IN WESTERN
COUNTIES.
It is many years since it dawnec
upon the people living all the waj
from Lincoln county west to th <
Colorado line that irrigation was
an indispensable condition of pros
perity. But it is only in the pasl
three years that the deterrninatior
to secure it became firmly rooted ,
and it is even more recently thai
these efforts began to crystallize in
the form of great public eiiter-
prises.
Ogalalla. the capital of Keith
county , nnd once a famous cattle
point , has been for some time past
the center of a lively irrigation
* i Q
spirit. It is one of the largest
towns of the frontier and contains
enterprising men. After witness
ing several private experiments a
company was organized to attempt
a large undertaking , with a view
to supplying water power as well as
irrigation. The South Platt is
tapped at a point in eastern Deuel
county-ind the Avater conducted
through a wide and shallow ditch
to the bluffs overlooking the town.
It is not understood that results
commensurate with the labor and
money expended have yet been
realized , but these Avill come , and
thousands of acres will be watered
by this means. , An interesting
feature of this enterprise is the
fact that it has demonstrated be
yond question that the underflow
of the South Platte is perennial ,
and that it can be used for irriga
tion or water power.
During the past year between
sixty and seventy-five miles of
ditches have been constructed in
Keith county alone , and the num
ber will be considerbly swelled by
next spring. "Wherever any of
these have been in operation large
crops have been raised and the
farmers have realized big profits.
On one ranch in the western part
of Keith count ) ' a noteworthy ex
periment has been tried. The
owners decided to be iiidependeut
alike of rainfall and surface
streams , and made use of an ir
rigation pump having a capacity
of 800 gallons per minute. The
plan proved entirely practicable ,
and it is likely that several farm
ers will avail themselves of it next
*
season.
In Deuel county the farmers are
at work this winter on a large
ditch designed to water the table
lands between the North and South
Platte rivers. It is a very large
undertaking and will cover a terri
tory from sixty to seventy-five
miles in length when completed.
The pioneers of Scott's Bluff
county early saw the need of irri
gation , and haveperhaps been the
first people in Nebraska to enjoy
the blessings of it. In that county
on the north side of the river ,
ihere is a canal nearly forty miles
! eng , constructed at a cost of about
590,000. It is twenty-four feet
[ vide and three feet deep and dis-
: ributes a large body of water.
Numerous smaller ditches have
also been built in the upper North
Platte valley , which is fortunately
situated with regard to its opportu
nities for irrigation. The number
and size of the streams render it
much easier and less expensive
to solve the problem of prosperity
there than in other parts of the
arid regions. Farmers are at
work this winter on another large
ditch in Scott's Bluff , on the south
of the river. The experience of
one farmer in this county during
the last season furnishes a strik
ing instance of the value of irriga
tion. He sowed 200 acres under
the ditch and several acres above it
to wheat. From the irrigated laud
he harvested 50 bushels per acre.
The crop on the land above the
ditch was so poor he did not cut it.
Another instance , which is none
the less striking because it is ludi
crous , may be found in the fact
that two years since several farm
ers in this locality were made an
gry by reason of their lands being
flooded by an overflow from the
first large ditch constructed in the
county. They began suits against
the company for damages. Before
they were settled they disposed of
the land to the company at $5 an
acre. The next season the lands
"mined" by the flood produced
phenomenal crops and earned a
profit of $5 an acre. The result
was that several of the aggrieved
farmers bought back their farms
and paid 315 an acre for them.
Banner is one of the most en
thusiastic irrigation counties , and
already has a few ditches. Kimball -
ball county waits patiently but
hopefully for the great public im
provement that shall turn he ;
grazing lands into fruitful farms
There the people desire to mak <
use of the waters of the Lodg <
Pole and voted 320,000 bonds foi
the enterprise. They anticipate
keeping their farmers busy wit !
the work during the present win
ter , and having the canal read1
for business in the spring. Bui
it is Kimball's misfortune to be sc
well adapted to grazing that the
cattle companies do not want to
lose it , and the result was that the
Union Pacific found an excuse to
block the undertaking with an in
junction. It looks to an impartial
observer like an agrivated case of
injustice , dictated by averice and
elfishness. But this difficulty
will be overcome in the course of
time , and then there will be a jol
lification meeting in the village ®
senate , over which Mine Host
Schooley presides , in the smoking
room of the Hotel Marthia.
Cheyenne county is enthusiastic
for irrigation and ready to concen
trate every dollar of her capital
and every ounce of her energy up
on the promotion of the splendid
efforts now made to develop west
ern Nebraska. While her main
hope it based on the great enter
prise of the Belmond-Froid com
pany , she has numerous small
ditches under way. One of them
Avill be brought to completion next
season in time to get water for
this year's crops. This comes out
of the North Platte about four
miles north of Camp Clark and
follows the foot hills down the
river about forty miles. It will
irrigate 60,000 acres.
Perlans county has held numer
ous meetings and appointed com
mittees to confer with those in
other localities. Citizens of Per
kins are especially interested in a
proposed ditch which will tap the
South Platte twelve or fourteen
miles above Sterling , Col. , at Me
rino , and extend at least as far as
range 30 , in Perkins county , a dis
tance of 150 miles.
The large canals already com
pleted at Kearney and Gothenburg
and the one under way at Loup
City , were primarily undertaken
for water power , rather thim ir
rigation , but should be included
in a list of such enterprises. They
have cost hundreds of thousands of
dollars , and all of them may be
traced to the fertile brain of Col.
AV. W. Patterson , the pioneer of
Kearney. It was he who first saw
the feasibility of such undertak
ings , and who discovered and
preached the value of the under
flow of the Platte and other rivers
when the idea was regarded as too
visionary for serious contempla
tion. It would be useless to at
tempt an enumeration of the many
private ditches in various parts of
the state where irrigation is not
generally known to exist at all.
Lincoln county is one , of these
localities.
Among the steadfast friends of
the irrigation idea who have kept
alive and largely accomplished
what has been done are the editors
of the western newspapers. Gary
of the Sidney Telegraph , Morgan
of the Campbell Begister , Beard
of the Kimball Observer , Day of
the Big Springs Journal , and
others , are representatives of a
class , numerous all over the arid
region , who have kept persistently
at work in the face of difficulties
that discourage men not deeply
in earnest.
III. A COLOSSAL UNDERTAKING.
If western Nebraska has hither
to confined its efforts at irrigation
to local enterprises , and erred on
the side of too much caution in the
formation of its companies , it has
at last embarked on an undertak
ing of the largest magnitude and
sought to unite four great counties
by a chain of prosperity.
The Belmont and Froid canal ,
will be , when completed , the
largest , irrigating ditch in the
United States , if not in the world.
It will cost 33,700,000. It will
be the joint achievement of west
ern pioneers , Omaha capitalists
and eastern investors in irrigation
bonds. It will be nearly two hun
dred and fifty miles long and will
water 1,040 square miles , or 685 ,
600 acres. It will redeem an em
pire from the desert and make it
fit to sustain thousands o pros
perous farmers , where now the
jack rabbit finds life hardly worth
living.
This splendid dream of progress
now about to be realized , is the
child of agitation. Perhaps L. B.
Gary , editor of the Sidney Tele-
< rranh. and a restless and
ive spirit on general principles
may fairly be called its father. H (
at least was one of the earliesi
and most untiring of its friends
To enumerate a list of the friends
that have now gathered in its trair
would be to republish the census
of the localities it traverses. The
officers of the company are as fol
lows : 3" . B. Andrews , president ;
P. J. Gerhart , vice president ; W.
TV. Sharp , secretary ? Oscar Liddle
treasurer ; the same and A. F.
Froid , D. C. Onstatt , P. Peterson ,
John H. Abbott and N. Nickelson
directors.
The source of supply for this
great canal will be the North
Platie river , which rises in the
Wind mountains in western Wy
oming and is fed by numerous
springs and tributaries throughout
its course. The canal will tap the
river in Laramie county , Wyom
ing , ten miles west of the Nebras
ka line , run east along the valley
until the table lands are reached ,
then traverse Scott's Bluff , Banner
Cheyenne and Deuel coimtiesflow- ,
iug back into the North Platte in
the last , named county. At its
head the canal will be 8 feet deep
and 200 feet wide across the bottom
tom and will narrow down to sixty-
five feet at the end of the first five
miles. Numerous small ditches
will distribute the water over a
wider field than could otherwise be
reached.
The benefits of this great enter
prise , when it is fully in operation
as it is expected to be within the
next two years , will be incalcula
ble. The amount of energy and
money already expended upon it
are sufficient to guarantee its suc
cess. The state as a whole has a
large stake in the completion of
the Belmont and Froid canal.
More than any other one thing the
success of this enterprise would
carry with it the complete triumph
of irrigation in Nebraska.
IV. IN SOUTHWESTERN NEBRASKA.
The tier of counties in south
western Nebraska have Driven much
o
attention to the subject of irriga
tion. With the tripple oportuui-
ties afforded by the reliable sur
face flow in the Frenchman river
the well-ascertained underflow in
the Bepublican , and the addition
al possibilities of artesian wells ,
southwestern Nebraska has every
\i
assurance of successful irrigation
on the largest scale.
The most important project now
under way in this section of the
state is the Culbertson canal ,
which taps the Frenchman at a
point near Palisade , on the bound
ary between Hitchcock and Hayes
counties , and runs through the
former for a distance of seventy-
five miles. At Culbertson the
averflow is utilized for a beautiful
lake and water power , as is also
lone at Kearney and Gothenburg.
The completion of this immense
undertaking insures a splendid
impetus to irrigation in a section
that has sorest need of it. Doubt-
ess Bed Willow county on the
jast and Dundy on the west will
soon have similar enterprises un- '
ler way.
JS&r
THE McCooiTEIEMK
OFFICIAL CITY ND COUNTY PAPER.
v V"W < ' 'WW' S * * W-WX" * SSS * > W S * * * * * * t * J * + Nrt N * V * N
f
TO. BUSINESS MEN GREETING :
THE TiUBUNE is a zealous , nctivn re
presentative of your interests and ol'
every worthy interests oi' the - city. It
aims to iiivu McCoolc onn of the husf.
newspapers in Nebraska. From a finan
cial standpoint ici.s lining all that it van
do to keep McUonk wl-crc tliu eit-
rightfully belongs , in the very front
rank of the enterprising young cities of
the state. It It ever doing more than
it can afford to do. It therefore asks
the support of every business man , be
it much or little , in order that it may
continue during the coming winter
months to keep up its standard of ex
cellence that has been .so frequently al
luded to and complimented by the press
of the state. It is common among
ing Out Sale
DRY QOODS ,
Hitchcock also has several other
ditches , some of them large ones.
If any important irrigation en
terprises now under way are omit
ted from this description it is an
oversight and not intentional.
In next week's article I will
trace the development of irrigation
in the adjoining state of Colorado
and show how , in the past few
years , our neighbors have raised
capital and supplied energy and
skill to overcome difficulties simi
lar to our own.
WILLIAM E. SMYTHE.
merchants to discontinue their adver-
ti.sing , or nearly PO , at the begining of
the year , : i mistake from u business
point of view and a policy of f-orioun /
import to newspaper business. THE
TiiiBUNK , with the leading circuJation
in the city , offers actual inducements to '
advertisers , and believes that it can
make it appear to their advantage to t
pursue : t comparatively liberal adver- il
tising policy during the next ninety ( *
day. THE TRIBUNK can give you good 1
value for your business , and will thereby - .
by be enabled to promote your business
interests , and the interests of the city
generally by means of support that will
make it a power for good in and for
the community.
LESS THAN COST ,
14 Ibs. Gran. Sugar , Grand Island , $1.00
15 Ibs. New Orleans Sugar for 1.00
1 can of 2-lb. Corn , .10
1 can of 3-lb. Tomatoes , .10
1 Ib. Plug' Tobacco for .25
We Sell GROCERIES Cheaper Than Anybody , and
Save You 25 Per Cent.
Cash Buyers and Sellers.
In addition to my line ofDfRYGOO DS , CLOTH-
IMG , ( BOOTS , SHOES , MOTIONS , Etc. , I
have just laid in a stock of
I have determined to sell all " , ny goods at "hard
times" prices. Call and see me at the old Op =
penheirner stand in the ( Babcock = Morlan build *
ing , and I will do the square thing by you.
\7 K > "R T Qi'HP
rv xL r v Jix JL \ > ± .
FRESH AND SALT
MEATS ,
BACON. BOLOGNA.
CHICKENS.
. . .
TURKEYS , & .C. . &c.
R , A. COUPE & CO. , Props.
SEXATOU KUXTZ of Hayes coun
ty. Representative iMocli of Red
Willow county and Representative
Ruggles of Dundy county Lave
been constituted a committee of the
legislature to attend the irrigation
meeting to be held in McCook ,
January 28th.
YORK count } ' makes the best
showing of any county in the state
as regards farm mortgages , and
there never has been a saloon in
the county for any length of time.
THAYER is a s-Thayer.
