| Show UINTAH BASIN gnp E ill FO SETTLE settlement ITI r N T the east Is beginning to notice this G great reat undeveloped empire about the last of the cheap irrigated land in the west is to be found in the uintah indian reservation er in duchesne and uintah counties utah R S collett of roosevelt has pointed out that the former uintah reservation er Lr contains great valleys of semiarid semi arid lands in the basins of the duchesne and green rivers these valleys valles are broken into separate topographical divisions by the bad lands breaks but the soils of the valley are deep and when touched with irrigation produce great crops by extending the canals from the rivers to the irrigable lands the latter are made possible of high cultivation and this has been done at a very reasonable cost five large rivers flow i from tile uintah mountains on oil the north to the drainage ba sin in the south and ea east stand and ful ly acres of land have already beers been brought under irrigation n canals the government allotted some acres to indians living on the reservation of irrig irrigable abl farm lands there was also also set aside for foi the use of the indians deans acres of g grazing razing lands the balanco balance of tho the reservation cr er containing some soma 2 acres was thrown open to settlement the government cal expended nad ar approximately proximately to construct can canis canals is for irrigating ga I 1 the e indian I 1 J allotments lck men s it YRs vas discovered that a great many ra ol ah xh tha a indians allotted were nvere no longer longcr to be found and many more had become incompetent and ia the I 1 a department docia decided d to dispose of these lands the interest t they hey lear bear in the canals together with the water rights at ant public lands land sales ales to the highest bidder for cash per acre the sales are advertised the lands to be sold described the min minimum I 1 I 1 murn price prica at which the ian land will be sold and the terms of the sale the latter usually being in four payments 25 per cent cent down at the time the bid is accepted and 25 per cent in three annual p payments bear t rig 6 percent inte hite the land i not bid on it simply stands where it was before and may he be offered again the title will bass pass from the govern government men t directly to the purchaser when the payments are completed these lands together with the canal and water rights are being offered at from 12 to aa 20 an aero and any chizen of the united states may pur r chase the same at these sales the sales are re held at ft du chesre utah ut ih they are ard now nov discontinued for this season but will be offered again it is understood in may 1916 there is little government land that is ia susceptible gation to be entered in the basin after the opening of the lands in 1905 there were thousands thousand of homestead entries made at the end of five years from the date of the opening what lands had bad not been entered were offered I 1 at public auction in provo I 1 and hundreds of thousands of acres were purchased so that any desiraye desi rabe lands to be had now have to be purchased aside from what the government I 1 has expended in building canals the settlers have spent about so there is now n 11 approximately P aces acea of lands under canal within the basin towns and villages ha have VO been laid out and there are arc some 25 post offices and commercial centers within the former reservation er there are district schools in all of these centers land and there is a high school at roosevelt there are denominational high gh schools it at vernal some idea of the magnitude nia I 1 of the irrigated acreage may be obtained L when it is understood that utah has outside of this basin less than acres under irrigation that the seven prosperous counties of the state north of salt lake city have but acres of land under irrigation yet they sustain a population of more than people from agriculture and its kindred industries besides the acres under canal in the basin at this time Ume 00 acres act es more have ca canals naia projected for irrigating the lands making a total irrigable irr ga acreage of the lower valleys produce fruits including peaches plums and even grapes while tomatoes yield prolifically p ro potatoes sugar beets and binl all the root crops grow much honey is produced this being one of the large items of export the honey is the fine the alfalfa variety much alfalfa seed and sweet clover seed is exported as well as wool beet beef and mutton there are ranges for cattle and sheep they range on the mountain forest reserves in the summer and in the bad lands in the winter transportation is the main drawback the terminus of but one road the uintah railway at watson is within the basin there is daily automobile service from this point to vernal 53 miles and to roosevelt 70 miles mile mail service from helper on the t he D IL G to duchesne 50 miles and on through myton roosevelt ft duchess a and vernal good automobile roads connect the basin heber provo and salt lake city railroads connecting this section with salt lake city and denver are projected christian science monitor boston mass |
