As another Lame Cherry exclusive in matter anti matter.
As Christian Patriots, no American or Republican minded Citizen of any nation, can simply sit back and wait for Jesus to return nor expect the regimes of this world to do anything but rob, impoverish, threaten and imprison the Citizen. The People, must instead take the initiative and extract what is best for themselves in such a body, that their confiscation is not thievery, but legally protected robbery as the IRS or any cabinet post does from Interior to Agriculture.
Americans deserve and have every right to their public lands to exploit them for their personal good and the national common good. In this 21st century, the Lame Cherry visits 1890 AD in the year of our Lord in the below article by Lt. General Nelson Appleton Miles in building upon the Homestead Acts and laying the foundation for measures Theodore Roosevelt started enacting as President.
It was United States Government policy to build dams for water reservoirs all through the west, to turn arid lands into gardens. This was derailed by California interests who desired to keep a monopoly on their truck farms and it has devolved into the cartel enabled environmental movement stealing land from Americans under the guise of "endangered species".
The precident in America was always for the PEOPLE TO BUILD THE WASTES INTO PROSPERITY for the landowner and the nation. Thomas Jefferson advocated this. George Washington advocated canals to be built. Theodore Roosevelt started a process of damming up rivers for irrigation and California is proof of this, as much as the major impoundments of Hoover dam and the reservior system on the Missouri River in Montana and North and South Dakota.
River water is run off and it is a sinful waste. In the article below the Lt. General lays out an entire vision for America, which is a 21st century vision for Americans to revitalize America in homesteading on these waste and grasslands.
It is a matter that where 40 acres are required in some areas to graze one cow calf unit, a 21st century homestead could on 160 acres produce not 4 calves a year, but 20 to 40, with irrigation, moving toward environmental betterment, by turning these arid wastes into garden farms.
Literally there are truck farms of 4 acres which can produce enough wealth in nursery seedlings for three families. Literally in the Israeli state their greenhouses on a few acres produced millions of dollars in florest revenues worldwide.
There are many advancements from 1890 in drip irrigation to the genetic advancement of crops to use less water to produce a crop.
What I advocate upon the Nelson Miles plan is to turn arid public lands over to individual homesteaders again for the price of their turning a waste into productive land in 7 years, and hopefully shelter upon that land.
For the environmentalist who is true, this is not destroying some desert, with a few insects, small mammals and perhaps one large mammal in every 20 square miles, but a vista for wildlife where agriculture not only farms for a living, but farms to benefit wildlife to increase their numbers.
I am not speaking of pivot irrigation, vast grain or cattle farms, nor of corporate housed cows of thousands of cattle never seeing the light of day nor a million chickens never breathing fresh air, but of family farms, and those families living among nature they have enhanced to the betterment of those children in their moral happiness.
Asia at this moment, has 3 billion hungry people. Imagine if instead of one California Valley that America had 100 such valleys, using wasted run off water. Where California created a few billion, the entire American vista would create hundreds of billions of dollars.
There was a destined evolution for America, from Indian terrorist nomad and buffalo, to the rancher of beef, to the farmer, but it has been aborted there, where it was to continue to vineyards, gardens, truck farms, orchards and a people united to the land as Thomas Jefferson envisioned.
I advocate this as Americans first and last in receiving this homestead action, not for recent immigrants or illegals, but for Americans who have been put upon and suffered enough, and deserve to reclaim their opportunities and rights.
Foreigners do not have to come to America in burdening this nation. There is Siberia, the Gobi, the Sahara and vast swatches all through Europe, as much as most of Australia which can be terrafirmed.
The peoples simply need to demand and take back their lands to grow food on it.
The benefits in increased tax revenues and production will be immense, as much as the first taming of the American wilderness. Only in this venue, we can now craft this watered empire to perfection in water conservation, wildlife perpetuation and the responsible freedom for individual happiness fulfilled.
If you would like decide your own destiny. If you would like to make a change for the better in this world on your own land feeding people, growing happy children and helping nature. If you want to leave a positive legacy on this world by something you did with your own hands in God's Grace, then study the Nelson Miles article and take it for yourself and have others join you.
The land is there from BLM, to reservations not productive and all it requires is the Citizen to take possession of lands which are already their property under the precident of when America was still governed by a people, of a people and for a people.
nuff said.
OUR UNWATERED EMPIRE
By Brig.-Gen. Nelson A. Miles
From the North American Review of March, 1890.
THOSE pioneers of American civilization who had the fortitude and enterprise to cross the Atlantic and plant their colonies upon the inhospitable shores of this continent in order that they might be free from the tyranny of monarchical governments and better exercise the rights and privileges of independent life; who for generations contended against a savage foe, felling the forest, clearing and cultivating the fields to obtain sustenance for themselves and their families, and who early established institutions of learning for the benefit of all classes, and eventually inaugurated and established a most perfect system of government, must of necessity have had within themselves the heroic elements of character which have made people great and pre-eminent in all ages of the world.
Possibly if there is one moral influence that has contributed more to the success of that people during the past three hundred years than any other, or which will warrant their prosperity and perpetuity in the future, it is the home life of the settlers of this country. Nothing could be more beautiful and sacred than the traditions, memories, and influences that are embraced in that one word, "home "; and immeasurably is this the fact when it is blessed with the assurance of independence and competence which characterize the homes of our country. Loyalty to American institutions is assured by the bonds of citizenship, and the actual ownership of that blessed portion of earth, however humble it may be, that can be called an American home. The simplicity and purity of such a life is one of the glories of our country. The free air of heaven inspires pure thoughts and noble actions, industry without avarice, luxury without intemperance, economy blended with charity and generosity; and it is these associations and surroundings that have contributed to our physical and moral worth as a people and a nation.
In contradistinction is that unfortunate class of people who have sought this country either for a place of refuge or an asylum, crowding our cities and towns, inhabiting the alleys, breathing fotd air, and living upon limited and unwholesome food, their idea of life contaminated even beneath its natural sphere by the associations and influences constantly before them and surrounding them. Hence, any measure that our government can adopt that will, in the main, promote the general good of the people, by which the true American character and spirit can be sustained and encouraged, is indeed worthy of careful consideration.
As we review the acts of our government for the public good, prominent among which appear the improvements to our great natural water-courses and harbors for the welfare and benefit of commerce, and the interchange of products of our country for those of others, although there may have been unwise discrimination used in such appropriations, yet, in the main, they have undoubtedly been of national benefit. The Homestead Act, by which the vast public domain has been surveyed and subdivided into small tracts and placed within the reach of an industrious people, is, perhaps, the most judicious single act of which our government can boast. Next in importance may be mentioned the Pre-emption Act, similar in effect and with restolts as far-reaching and beneficial. The Timber-Culture Act is another, and one of more benefit than most people realize, for the rapid destruction of our forests must in a few years produce a timber famine if it is not counteracted by the cultivation of forests; and as these are developed the disastrous effects of drought, tornadoes, and cyclones will be diminished.
Another commendable act of the government has been the appropriation of vast tracts of our public domain to the establishment in each State and Territory of agricultural colleges, by which most useful knowledge has been disseminated to every portion of the United States. Last, but not least, has been the aid given by the government in the way of land subsidies for the construction of the great transcontinental railways, by which the nation's loyalty and unity are bound by iron bands, and the people of one section are enabled to communicate readily with those of another, not to mention the benefits that have been assured to the commercial interests of the country; and while these methods have been criticized, and in some respects condemned as injudicious, it must be remembered that the country at large has been greatly benefited. The price of every alternate section of land held by the government was immediately doubled, and the government realized $2.50 per acre instead of $1.25 for every acre sold; and the value of such lands was increased fully 100 per cent, over what it would have been had they remained remote from any means of communication.
In view of the fact that there are vast areas of public domain still remaining unoccupied, which seem to require an intelligent and judicious system of improvement by the government in order that the best results may be obtained in their settlement, and in order to prevent a small percentage of the people from taking possession of the water-courses and holding them exclusively for their own benefit, thereby shutting out all others from the occupation of a much larger portion and practically controlling the use of hundreds of acres of public land where they are entitled to one, it might be well for the government to inaugurate some system by which these lands may be utilized and colonized for the benefit of the home builders, who constitute our best population.
There is another view of this matter which should not fail to be duly considered. Within the last few years we have witnessed the terrible results occasioned by drought, and half crops have been reported throughout many of the States and Territories. We have also noticed that this has resulted in a very large percentage of land in several of the States and Territories referred to being placed under very heavy mortgages; and should this impending evil continue for a series of years no one can anticipate what may follow. That good results can be produced by a scientific and judicious control of the water-courses of the Western country is a fact so well established that it does not require argument. We may have reached that period in which attention should be drawn to this important subject, and it is not surprising that the question of water storage and irrigating works in the arid regions of our Western country has been engrossing the attention of the people of the United States, especially the citizens residing west of the one hundredth meridian, more in the past few years than ever before.
While the people of nearly every State and Territory west of that meridian have carefully considered the question, and their legislators have enacted laws bearing upon it, the Federal government but recently took up the matter by act of Congress authorizing the investigation of this subject to ascertain to what extent the arid regions of the United States can be benefited by irrigation. It stipulated that $100,000 be appropriated for topographical surveys for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1889, or any part thereof, to be used by the very able Director of the Geological Survey, Major Powell, with the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, for the purpose of ascertaining the feasibility of providing reservoirs of water with a view to establishing a system of irrigation of the lands in question, and Major Powell was directed to make his report to Congress at as early a date as was practicable. Upon his report and the recommendations of the Secretary of the Interior, the $100,000 was supplemented by an additional appropriation of $250,000 during the last session of Congress by the passage of an act for the further investigation of arid regions. A committee of Senators was appointed to visit the arid regions of the different Western States and Territories the past summer. It completed its work of investigation; was on the road some fifty days, traveling in that time about 12,000 miles, and taking the testimony of hundreds of witnesses.
These were the first Federal steps toward the utilization of what is commonly called desert land. The bill reserves all lands that may hereafter be designated for reservoirs and ditches, and the lands to be reclaimed by irrigation for such reservoirs, from the date of the passage of the act; and provides that the President may from time to time remove any of the reservations made by the bill, and, in his discretion, by proclamation, open any portion of all the lands reserved by the provision to settlement under the homestead laws. This, however, should be modified so as to fix the price of such lands, improved by the general government, as will compensate it for the expense of such improvement. The sums appropriated, it is hoped, are but the commencement of necessary appropriations for irrigating purposes, as they will scarcely cover the amount requisite for preliminary investigation, without in the least considering the vastness and extent of the work to follow. The engineers employed in the work are required to measure the various streams and sources of water supply, select sites for reservoirs and other hydraulic works necessary for storage and utilization of water, make maps of arable lands surveyed, and furnish full information for the use of Congress in considering further legislation on the subject. They are at present engaged in their investigations and surveys.
The Japanese have practised this improved system of agriculture for thousands of years, although their country is blessed with as much rainfall as the fertile valleys of the eastern slope of our continent. They viewed the matter in its most practical light, using reservoirs and catchment basins for the storage of water when it was at flood, thus preventing destruction to growing' crops, and diffusing the water so stored to the lowlands by a regular flow in periods of drought. Even the Chinese have been able, by careful, intelligent, and patient husbandry, to retain the fertility of their soil for thousands of years.
The natives of India, by their system of wells, tanks, and reservoirs, have contended against the calamities of nature for ages. They store the water brought by the monsoon, and husband it for use throughout the whole year. In some of the districts they have formed large artificial lakes by obstructing the rivers in the valleys at the most available points. The English government has spent millions of pounds sterling in furthering the interests of the cultivators of the soil in India by making permanent channels, which carry off the water, secured by means of dams, at all seasons of the year, and by obstructing the bases of the valleys so as to form immense reservoirs; conducting the water from them over the fields by means of canals, from which the government derives a valuable revenue, and by which the droughts, formerly so frequent and fatal, causing famine and disease, have to a great extent been obviated.
Not only have these judicious measures benefited the two hundred and fifty millions of people of that country, but their prosperity has seriously affected the market of the American farmer. Although irrigation in India has been maintained for generations, the English government saw the necessity of improved works, and right liberally has it appropriated funds for the various improvements. The outcome of it has been the increased number of square miles now under cultivation, in excess of what was cultivated before the improvements were projected, results mainly from the utilization of land formerly devastated by drought and flood. In a great portion of India the population depends entirely upon irrigation.
The Spaniards and Mexicans in the southwestern Territories and in southern California, many years before that part of the country came into the possession of the United States, brought the much-needed source of life to their lands generally from small streams, by their system of acequias and zanjas. There are to this day in the Salt River Valley of Arizona what appear to be the remains of an immense system of canals, which no doubt existed a thousand years before Columbus discovered America, and aided in the production of enough vegetation to sustain a population many times the number at present in that Territory. The engineers of today are running the lines of their channels along the water routes of that prehistoric race.
This has been a prominent question in the history of all the Western States and Territories, and by being brought to the attention of the general public the necessities and usefulness of irrigation may in time be extended to all needed parts of the country. In some parts of the country the system would prevent the desolating effects of drought, and in others, by the use of reservoirs and dams for storing the waters, the disastrous floods that almost periodically destroy growing crops and injure routes of travel and commerce would be rendered less frequent and destructive. The small amount of work necessary for making lands bordering on a live stream proof against any drought occurring in any part of this country is remarkable; and it is even more remarkable to witness with what passiveness the agriculturist sees his crops withering, blasted for want of water, almost every summer in the different parts of our country, when the remedy is so near at hand. There is not a piece of land sold in the West in regard to which the judicious purchaser does not look well into the question of how many inches of irrigable water go with the land, as it is the most important factor to be considered. The water right, the number of miner's inches that can be used, and the cost price per foot per acre are all matters to be considered.
History teaches us that irrigation is the oldest and surest method of intelligent agriculture. It was understood in the earliest days of semi-civilized races, and practised in Egypt, Persia, and Assyria ages before the Christian era. The richest and most productive regions of the earth have been cultivated for thousands of years in this manner. The valley of the Nile, various parts of Europe, and a great portion of India have always depended upon it for the product of their soil. Some portions of Egypt which the Nile did not irrigate were watered by canals, filled by taking to them the waters of that great river, and the people were impressed with the necessity of keeping these canals free and unobstructed and always filled with living water.
The following resolution was presented in the platform of one of the political parties in a Western State some time ago as an important measure:
''Resolved, That the waters of the State belong to the land they irrigate, and we favor and will aid in maintaining a broad and comprehensive system of irrigation that looks to the benefit of the irrigator as primary to the assumed rights of the riparian and appropriator; a system controlled by the government, free to all, under the control of no class of persons, and established and maintained by a revenue derived from those whom the system will benefit. We believe the water is the property of the people, and that it should be so used as to secure the greatest good to the greatest number of people."
The government of our country has an important mission to perform, now that it has once taken charge of the work, and it is presumed that it will continue until a time when the whole irrigation system will be under its control, with one simple law governing it alike in all States and Territories.
Otherwise, there is danger of confusion and clashing of interests. As to whether it will be taken charge of by the Federal government remains to be seen. The enormous amount of money required to place the desert lands in a productive state would have to be furnished by the government, as it would be impossible for the States and Territories to complete such a system as is in contemplation; and the funds expended should, by a well-matured and comprehensive plan, revert again to the treasury of the general government from the sale of its lands thus improved. The people of California interested in irrigation, at the State Irrigation Convention in 1887, presented the following propositions in the form of amendments to the State constitution :
"First. The declaration that every natural stream and water source is public property.
"Second. That the appropriation for beneficial uses of any such stream must be made under legislative enactment.
"Third. That all water so appropriated in the State is declared to be a public use.
"Fourth. Rates and rents for use are to be fixed by public authority, but must not exceed seven per cent, on capital actually expended in constructing irrigating works."
The Legislature of Wyoming Territory has adopted the water legislation of the State of Colorado, which is considered the best in use by any of the States and Territories. The subject has been discussed at length in the various reports by the Governors of different Western States and Territories, and all the Western States have fostered and cared for irrigating enterprises; and their citizens have invested millions of dollars, the revenue from which makes it a very profitable investment and benefits the people and the country adjacent to the plant.
Now let us consider the area of the region wherein the surveys are to be made. The area of our country consists, according to the records of the Agricultural Department and other sources, of 1,500,000 square rniles of arable land, and an equal amount equally divided in pasture land and in mountain and timber, Alaska not being included in the estimate. Of the arable land it requires a little over 300,000 square miles to produce all our grain, hay, cotton, sugar, rice, and vegetables. The extent of the territory west of the one hundredth meridian is estimated at 1,300,000 square miles, of which over one-fifth will not admit of cultivation, owing to its rugged, mountainous character, while the remaining area requires only water to make it serviceable for either agriculture or pasturage. Of the 1,000,000 square miles that can be made productive, it is estimated that 150,000 can be redeemed, being equal in area to one-half of the land cultivated in the United States. It will be seen at a glance what a vast population the land in question will be able to support, and the immense benefit that will in time accrue to the government and the people.
The precipitation of water in the mountainous portions of the arid belt averages about 20 inches yearly, although in parts, in some years, as much as 75 inches have fallen, causing floods in the streams, frequently creating destruction in the arable lowlands, and the most of it disappearing in the sandy wastes, where the average rainfall is scarcely 5 inches. The lesser amount falling on low desert lands and the greater in the mountains, the plan for obstructing the mountain valleys or canons, wherever it can be done to advantage and at small cost, should in all cases be pursued to completion. Where natural catchment basins exist—and there are any number of them in the mountains—the government should reserve them for future irrigation purposes.
Private enterprises, mindful of the advantages and large returns for money invested and the indifference shown by the Federal government, have taken up many important sites for reservoirs which drain areas many square miles in extent, and control the water for vast districts. On the surface of the arid regions it is estimated that about 15 inches of water falls annually, most of which can be utilized for the 1,000,000 acres estimated to be productive for pasturage and cultivation, by the use of reservoirs, canals, and artesian wells. As over four-fifths of the 1,000,000 square miles can only be used for pasturage for the immense herds that now roam the valleys and mesas, this will require very little water when compared with the land to be cultivated. Nearly all of the arid region embraces arable lands favorable for agriculture in all its phases, from the cultivation of the products of the north temperate zone to those of the tropics.
Where irrigation is used in the North the season for watering is generally not longer than three months, btit in the South it embraces at least eight or nine months of the year. As much water is used at a time as would result from a day's severe rain. A practical knowledge is requisite, as too much water is liable to produce more injury than benefit. While the irrigated farms are larger generally in Colorado and Utah, in southern California 20 acres is as much as one family can well care for when devoted to the cultivation of vines, fruits, and alfalfa.
That eminent journalist, statesman, and scholar, Sir Edwin Arnold, recently passing over the continent, made this observation:
" Nothing has struck me more in my visit to America than the slope of your Sierras. Your orchards and vineyards were a revelation to me. You will be the wine-growers of the world. Then, in your sage-brush plateaus you only need irrigation to make them fruitful. The land I saw in Nevada is almost exactly like what I saw in India and Arabia, which has been made so productive."
Dividing the area to be reported upon by the Geological Survey into three divisions, the first would embrace the land whose eastern limit would be near the one hundredth meridian and its western bordering the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, near the one hundred and fifth meridian, while its extent would reach from the Rio Grande in Texas to the Canadian boundary. The second division would have its eastern limit near the one hundred and fifth meridian and its western boundary the Sierra Nevada and Cascade ranges of mountains. Much of this division is a mountainous country. The streams of the West find their sources near the summits of the mountain peaks covered with eternal snow, and derive their main supply from the rains and snow that fall within the great basin through which they course to the sea; and it is on this vast mountain region that the lowlands and foothills will have to depend for the water to make them beautiful in the garb of nature. Its canons can be formed into great catch basins for retaining the rains in their season, while natural lakes are numerous throughout its length.
The State of California, blessed with prosperity derived from its irrigating works, comprises most of the last division, and it is fast being populated with an intelligent class of agriculturists, brought thither mainly through the richness of the soil, the public enterprise and success of irrigating works, and the assured prosperity of the country. The changes wrought in places in California which not long ago were considered valueless have been indeed wonderful. Where once it was thought nothing but sage-brush and cactus would grow the land has been cleared, ditches have been formed, trees planted, crops cultivated, and the land placed in a higher state of cultivation than many favored localities of the Eastern and Southern States. In ten years villages and cities have sprung up where before coyotes starved.
In fact it is impossible for one to conceive how much a country supposed to be utterly worthless can be benefited by the use of water, unless he has seen such effects. To pass from the hot, arid regions into the fertile valleys of California is as gladdening to the eyes of the beholder as the sight of an oasis is to the traveler in the desert. To see the countless acres of trees with their ripening fruit (for some kind of fruit is always in season in that region), the unlimited acres of grapes, fields of wheat, barley, and alfalfa, and everything breathing life and health, is to see the blessed use of water, husbanded and cared for and appreciated in all its worth. From land valued at less than one dollar an acre it has increased through the medium of improvements of land adjoining, and the benefit of a sure supply of water, until one acre is worth as much as one hundred would have been had not the systems of irrigation been established. No part of this country has attained such success in irrigation as this. The practice of it has spread from this part of the country to all parts of California, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and other States and Territories. Without irrigation, except in certain moist lands, these beautiful valleys and lowlands would once more revert to desert wastes.
It is a well-known fact that after land has become thoroughly cultivated by irrigation less water is required; and it is safe to assert that thousands of acres of so-called desert land may become adapted for agricultural purposes without the continued help of irrigation. Immediately following the establishment of an irrigation district, after the canals with their lateral ditches have been completed and the cultivation of crops has commenced, the planting of trees should be encouraged.
The eucalyptus variety is mostly planted in California, and the Cottonwood in Arizona and New Mexico. The former is of very rapid growth, and as a wind-break and a protection to crops it is used extensively, although it is very exhausting to the soil. Coincident with irrigation should be tree planting, which would in a short time not only change the appearance of the country, but supply the wood which is necessary for fuel. It would hardly be possible to estimate the value of trees in their usefulness toward reclaiming arid lands, and too much cannot be said in urging the profuse planting of them. In fact, it would be well for the government, in selling land reclaimed by it through the irrigation works to be established, to make it compulsory on the purchaser to plant a portion of his acreage in forest trees. They would only require thorough irrigation during the first year, less the second, very little the third, and none at all thereafter. Tree culture, especially the planting of trees indigenous to the country, should by all means be encouraged.
As we review the past we notice the action of the unscrupulous and the insatiable following in the wake or hanging upon the flanks, and very often seen in a position far in advance of any humane progressive measure which may be adopted for the benefit of mankind or to promote the welfare of a
worthy people. It is wonderful how difficult it has been to ward off the schemes of these avaricious creatures; and in a measure of this kind, which has in view the welfare of the entire people, safeguards cannot be too strongly applied to protect it from such contaminating influences. It is a fact to be regretted that many of our most commendable measures, whether municipal, State, or national, which have given us avenues of commerce, works of art, and many improvements for the public good, whether patriotic, humane, or beneficent, have been embarrassed and contaminated by the touch of these creatures, and the purpose of the designer has often been marred and debased by contact with those who see nothing in any public or progressive measure other than the opportvmity to gratify their craven and selfish desires.
Moreover, it should be distinctly understood that there are hundreds of square miles of public domain where it would be utter folly to spend more money than the amount necessary to ascertain the fact of their worthlessness. Dangers of this kind should be avoided, and the government should systematically improve what property it possesses worthy of such expenditure and divide it up in such a manner that it can be cultivated by an industrious, enterprising, and intelligent people who build for themselves and their posterity homes that will adorn and beautify any State or Territory, thus encouraging and sustaining the true spirit and character of American citizens, and promoting the general welfare of our entire country. As we can point to the past with just feelings of pride, it is hoped that our future may be as bright, .prosperous, and progressive.
Miles, Nelson Appleton, 1839-1925. Serving the Republic
agtG
