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Show LOTS Townsites of Heybnrn and Rupert, Ru-pert, Ida., to Be Up at Auction Soon. VAST TRACT RECLAIMED IN SNAKE RIVER VALLEY Idea of Government Is to Make Section Fine Region, for the Fanner. Special to The Tribune. WASHINGTON, D. C, Aug. G. Undo Sam will appenr in Uio unusual role of an auctioneer in the latter parL of this montli, when, through his :ic-i :ic-i rcdited agent., he will oiTer at public sale., in 8outhorn Idaho, town lots embraced em-braced in the two townsitcs of ilcyburn and Rupert, uitunlcd in the Minidoka irricution tract. This tract embraces 1.10,000 acres, lying on both sides of Snake river, which the Government, ,hns been .it much expense to reclaim. The land wns all public domain, and the Govem-inont Govem-inont engineers of the reclamation bu-reau bu-reau planned the system to establish an agricultural settlement thereon. Hl Three townsitos were created near the center of the tract, and along thu pro-7osed pro-7osed lino of tbo Oregon Short Line railroad. Tho agricultural lands were subdivided iuto farms of forty and eighty acres. The farm unit was do- Hj signed to create a densely populated ' 1 agricultural community. The Govern- HJ mont engineers aro convinced that tho water supplj' for irrigation purposes, fitrniBhod by tho reclamation works, will be unfailing. Will Be Valuable Tost. Tho rcclamatiou of tho Minidoka 1 tract by the Government will bo MmBl watched with great interest, as afford- 1 ine a fair illustration of tho utility and value of reclamation work gen-erally. gen-erally. When the Government began the work of reclamation tho country ' 1 was uninhabited and was a sage brush HJ desert. Tho Snako river was safely ensconaed iu a canyon far below the surface of tho soil, rendering irrigation by individual effort utterly nupraetica-j nupraetica-j ble. It required tho vast expenditure of Government mono3r, expert onginoor-ing onginoor-ing skill, and an engineering project H, of mammoth proportions to utilize thu waters of Snako river. One of tho first projects attempted under tho authority of tho reclamation , act of 1002 was the Minidoka enter-' enter-' prise. A surveying party was sont to 1 'Jdalio to -look into tho feasibility of mWi utilizing Snake river to irrigate tho Hb surrounding country. The obstacles presonted by nature seemed insur-. insur-. mountable to everybody oxcept one J Government engineer. After a season of investigation ho prepared and pre-j pre-j Eentcd plans for a comprehensive sys- Mmmi tem of irrigation. His plans were 1 adopted, bids invited, and tho contract for construction awarded. jM Building Groat Dam. Among tho difficulties to bo encoun-1 encoun-1 tered in tho work was the proposition 1 to lift the Snako river from its bed. nnd to accomplish this a dam was laid j across the stream at Minidoka rapids, L fifty feet in height, constructed of rock, LWM and 650 feet long at the top. This ' structure raised the water surface forty-Bovon foot nt flood level, and 1 1 backed it up for thirty-five miles. This Mmmi i dam, now noaring completion, will cost approximately half a million dollars. 1 The plan of oporating this project will , be to lift tho immenso gates' in tho ( diversion channel and allow the flood I i of water to pnss into the high lino 1 canal qn both sides of the river, and . be led from them through the man3' I miles of laterals, running like great Arteries through the agricultural dis-' dis-' tricts. As soon as the Government project was fairly under way settlers wcro at-H'' at-H'' ' tractcd to the former desert lands, and hoou every available farm tract was H( ' filed upon. While the Government wns building its irrigation works, the sct-1 sct-1 . i tiers were building houses. Towns l sprang up to supply tho needs of tho settlers, and newspapers were a ncccs-' ncccs-' sary incident, followed by doctors, Hll ' lawyers, and finally banks. In all, a i 7opulation of 4000 peoplo iu already I embraced within tho former desert 1 ( . tract. Two lines of railroads now di- ' vide the Minidoka country, l j Sal Opens Soon. mWt j. j The salo of town lots at lJcvburn will occur August 20, vnnd at Rupert, 1 A (August 27. Nearly all tho business and H, mercantile establishments are now lu- rated on lots that belong to tho Guv-H Guv-H , j crnmont, and the occupants nro merely f J tenants by sufferance. In tho third town-j town-j , site, Shcrrer. the sale of lots will not j v I occur until later. No doubt is enter- tained by the Government engineers 1 that tho lands embraced within the' i irrigated tract will, as a result of tho , success of the reclamation work, bo- come a rich and fertile community. An-L An-L 'other feature which has not been ' overlooked in considering tho possibili-i possibili-i I tics of the region is the magnificent power possibilities that may grow out of the development and transmission of power from the Minidoka dam. Tt is estimated that all tho power necessary for tho development of the towns ami their municipal enterprises can bo developed de-veloped at tho Minidoka dam and I transmitted t economically to all parts of tho roclaiinod tract. -" Bg Coflin Gates Through Which Waters of Snake River Will -be Led by Big Canal on North Side Lands. |