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Show l: Story l' tirowfu of Coiniiry Is H; Full of Strange and Ko- H ' in a 11 1 i o Interest. KISIXESS INSTITUTIONS ARE K0ONDKD ON ROCK H' IMenl.v of Wafer for Irrigation, and .Steamboat Lino Is H Planned. I1 H Strange and f"11 of tD0 Tomantia in- tercst -which distinguishes ma,ny newly ! developed Western cities is the story : or" Green Biver, lying in .1 UtUo valley. H; st by tho s'ulo oi' tho -wonderful river, H) from which il. lakes its name; and un- til rcconilv known principally bocnuso H .( constitutes Iho site for a small rail- road station on tho Denver & liio rr.indo railroad. Four years ago the station at (Jrccn ' River paid about. $100 a month, tho amount being collected mainly Trom the H. fheep herders. Today, tho same sta- , lions pay about $10,000 a month, large- iv from tho results of fruit cultiva- non in tho locality, and Hie compile HL resources of Iho placo are far from '.ully realized. Hi Something of tho manner in which tho present situation was brought about is told iu picturesque fashion by 1 . f Wimmer, one of tho early pioneers ol t. place, who has had much lo do. l with tho recent wonderful development m nr u,o locality. Mr. Wiiumer had been 'f in the sheep business in tho vicmuIv H' 0f Orecn River and had purchased a ranch there for uso na headquarters 1 :md a enmp. Little consideration was ieu to auv possibilities ol develop-1 develop-1 merit alone 'linos "llicr tlnn those ol the sheep industry. A good (leal ot H , excellent fruit was raised, but Iho jj greater portion uf it was led lo the Hi bogs and the other livestock. Winuuor's Chance Purchase, H. Bv chance. Mr. Wimmer was oft'ered H, a large randi bv one of tho first set- tiers, known as"" Duddv" Fairer, lor i .$3,000. Not having the ready money 1 in his pocket and considering the whole H, matter something of a joke. Mr. Wim- j mrr handed his would-bc creditor a big H silver dollar, suggesting that he be 1 l'ivoii a bill of sale as soon as possible, urith the dollar to bind the bargain, 1 nnd thus went away and thought Ii- Hf tin of what, he supposed was inere.iy an Hi attempt to "plav" him for a "suck- Xot long after this affair, Mr. Wim-mcr Wim-mcr went to Palisade, one of the most important fruit raising districts of tho Graud .Junction . fount ry. and learned that, good fruit laud in that vicinity was wort h $-'t.o0n an acre. Mr. Wiinmor 'had a hunch" right awav and ro-turned ro-turned to Green Kiver to see if his "chance' contract was still in force. Satisfying himself on this score, tho pioneer proceeded to Salt Lake and j procured tho money with which to Hl finance his new deal. Tho newly acquired ranch was promptly laid out into a fruit farm and is now one of the finest in tho HH locality. The success mado by Mr. H1 Wimin'cr attracted notice at once; other scitlcrs turned their attention to the fruit, industry; new people came into tho place, among them E. T. Morritt from Chicago, with a number of other Easl-em Easl-em capitalists whom ho had interested l in the project of developing the conn- Hi try. ana the onward movement of t.ho little settlement, was started. All has Hi not been smooth sailing, to bo sure; the H' destruction of a big dam erected across tho river abovo tho town for irriga-tiou irriga-tiou purposes brought about failure of rho crops, and in turn tho little bank which had been established lo provide tho fruitraisors with financial securities failed, and the wiseacres shook their heads and said. "I told 3011 so." H Pounded Upon Bock. This was little moro than n year ago, ""and. following (he panic of tho fall of Hj 1907.. was regarded by manj' iieople ?imnly as a phaso of the fniuiicial sit- H uation. That tho institutions of the placo were founded upon rock is ovi-dent ovi-dent from the manner in which they Continued on page Twenty one BIG DEVELOPMENT Wm WWW FOR CiREENRJVER MM Continued from page Twenty. IHv I have now mado good. Tho bank tins 9 P J T 1 resumed operations; every debt has ilnl-'it' ll been paid off. dollar for dollar, and laliiifMll ll the locality is well on the way to be- izlfiMfei 1 come a rival, of the best fruit-produc- isllf-t: ) I 1 ing lands in the entire countn. Itfli 'ii 4 ll These things belong to the' Green iffli'L' ll River of the past. Many of the un- ij J j M dcrtakins v,-hich have been accom- jj C jj plished were at first thought impossi- lupf ' a-H 1 ble. Careful attention to engineering IfflJ 'l ! t ij H conditions, however, has produced as- ImW l'i ' tonishiug results. It was thought im- llmt''!' 1 possible to build a bridgo across the iififtH 1 1 ' '1 river without difficulty and expenso liPll'i Mi 1 that made the consummation of tho fitlili V 1 project appear unwise, yet funds have IlKB iii'i''1' ll been raised by bonding, and, within a IfP'if'f' '1 year, one of the finest wagon and Jli !j '$ H passenger bridges in tho West will span illx t i M 1 the stream, at a cost of about $27,000. jjp'Jt a i fV The first dam built across the rivet 13 Fr f pf was' carried away, and it was thought jjlMt '-'Ku 1 that it would be impossible to con iiPi lH 1 struct one that would stand, yet on- mri'I 'IlN IH gincers are now at work on the new MM structure, which, U1C3' declare, v.'ill stay ftSi&l as long as the river Hows ftjSjjj i jjf H Water Facilities Good. f At the present there arc in opera- t j nil tion many automatic water lifts for jJJ 'lyim supplying water to the fruit, farms. Mnthi These are a great improvement over m (j M p i H the old gravity ditches, which failed 1 1 ifcfa jR ! when the water supply of the river fllr VMI was low. Three immense power plants, I 1m, tB which will care for tho entire locality f H$ iliil fF for years, arc in process of construe- ilfiy 'vck'k tion. : m, U There arc now under cultivation feiurl rj 2,500 acres of land on both sides ot if t ! &U tho river, and more lands are constant- iutMij'& ly being taken up. The time when tsWftir'U IH ''Daddy"' Farrer and his sons fed the iltrtJ i apples to tho hogs and cattle, when If!1' tl Mj the orchards were so overgrown with !i Sill ' ' 11 1 weeds that it was necessary to wear jjui 'lj (f M leather "chaps" to protect one's leg! (fBSf "j , jH irom the briars, has passed. The fruit 'li BE' f IBBa farms are now the finest in the 11 s' (j HBH world. Ji.I.!'1 sheltered bv towering bluffs, iu some ' pt'J'l BbI instances 2,000 feet high, the fruit - fKfl-'i is matured with absolute protection and. ( i 'O , failure of the crops from frosts or from M. t H weather ditticultics is unknown. Iittlc jj ' jj ' wonder that the homeseokers wlio came : f iMi " V from the l'"ast were delighted with what ) ifiY '' f k V tlicy saw iu the valley and decided ,J, 'H o remain. Theso people wero not wan' ifj,pir dcrers, but came to tho Green Eiver ' Ijj'J ' ; BaB valley, knowing that it required a I fr I ' C ' BBh number of years to produce a fruit j HHiji'' orchard, and they constitute the high- i r . I, ' est type of eitiztMis. j jtjjVl, U$ Steamboat Line. ! , The pcoplo aro depending not alono jfc' $ on the eulturo of fruit. Plans are i 'i, ' now under v.-ay to establisha steam- S.mf. j 'I boat line on the Green and Grand tiv- JUSi f-jii BBJ ers from Green River to Moab. It, fc'mj jC BBBB has been said that this can not. be i hM,' lu done. yet. the enterprising settlers of " I'lii'' u BbV (his locality- are demonstrating thai it, J fl.'ij X.I HBV can be done if set about iu the right MfW if way. and there are at the present ten S ffijP ' ! BBHI large motor boats on tho river which I : Vm ' flBvi make trips to the cataracts and to f'M , ' i . .HHl Moab. Tlie Denver & Hio Grande rail- jj .'(jt I !H road has promised to feature tho trip & , gjjjl ,. ! f" lH as a side excursion, and tho company jj !.'''w' !('' Bvai is already preparing to purchase tho ' - bH boats for freight and passenger service .ft, , jH between tJroen 1'ivcr and tho littlo I i ' jH citv on tho Grand. j I "'! t BffAl |
