Report on the Lands of the Arid Region of the United States, with a More Detailed Account of the Lands of Utah. With Maps. Page: 37
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THE LAND SYSTEM NEEDED FOR THE ARID REGION. 37
to irrigate the unreclaimed land shall thereupon lapse, and any subsequent
right to the water necessary to the cultivation of the said unreclaimed land
shall be acquired only by priority of utilization.
The provisions in the submitted bills by which the settlers themselves
may parcel their lands may need further comment and elucidation. If the
whole of the Arid Region was yet unsettled, it might be wise for the Government
to undertake the parceling of the lands and employ skilled engineers
to do the work, whose duties could then be performed in advance of
settlement. It is manifest that this work cannot be properly performed
under the contract system; it would be necessary to employ persons of
skill and judgment under a salary system. The mining industries which
have sprung up in the country since the discovery of gold on the Pacific
coast, in 1849, have stimulated immigration, so that settlements are scattered
throughout the Arid Region; mining towns have sprung up on the
flanks of almost every great range of mountains, and adjacent valleys
have been occupied by persons desiring to engage in agriculture. Many of
'the lands surveyed along the minor streams have been entered, and the
titles to these lands are in the hands of actual settlers. Many pasturage
farms, or ranches, as they are called locally, have been established throughout
the country. These remarks are true of every state and territory in
the Arid Region. In the main these ranches or pasturage farms are on Government
land, and the settlers are squatters, and some are not expecting to
make permanent homes. Many other persons lave engaged in pasturage
enterprises without having made fixed residences, but move about from place
to place with their herds. It is now too late for the Government to parcel
the pasturage lands in advance of the wants of settlers in the most available
way, so as to closely group residences and give water privileges to the
several farms. Many of the settlers are actually on the ground, and are
clamoring for some means by which they can obtain titles to pasturage farms
of an extent adequate to their wants, and the tens of thousands of individual
interests would make the problem a difficult one for the officers of the Government
to solve. A system less arbitrary than that of the rectangular
surveys now in vogue, and requiring unbiased judgment, overlooking the
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Powell, John Wesley, 1834-1902. Report on the Lands of the Arid Region of the United States, with a More Detailed Account of the Lands of Utah. With Maps., book, 1879; Washington D.C.. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc125/m1/53/: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.