The Big Dry flows through a sandstone country, and the soil is mostly a sandy loam. The north side of the valley is cut up by numerous creeks, having a general southeasterly course. In none of these is there permanent water, except in occasional springs, which run for a few hundred yards before sinking completely. This slope contains considerable clay, mixed with the sand, and wherever the clay occurs sagebrush is found. In all these creek bottoms there are tracts where the soil is good, and the topography such that small storage dams may be put in and the floods held to reclaim from 100 to 2,000 acres. The hills furnish fair pasturage much better to the west than to the east, and better near the heads of the creeks than near the Dry. On the south side the sagebrush gradually disappears as the tributaries are ascended, and grass takes its place. The water supply is better than to the north, Sand Creek and Little Dry having a little running water, besides occasional living springs, and there is undoubtedly considerable underflow, for water always stands in holes along their beds. Along the courses of Sand, Little Dry, and Timber creeks are many large bottoms, which can be easily reclaimed by private individuals or associations, and much bench land can also be covered, as the south side is not as badly broken up as is the north. When not overstocked, the natural pasture on the hills is abundant and very nutritious.

The bottoms along the Big Dry itself are badly cut up by the course of the stream. Storage dams will be difficult and expensive to build and maintain. There is little inducement to settlement until the floods are controlled by storage along the tributaries. The main stream has a considerable growth of cottonwood scattered along it, but trees are infrequent on the side streams. While timber is scarce, stone occurs for building material in many places, and lignite coal of an excellent quality for domestic purposes occurs all through the region in beds varying from a few inches up to 8 feet in thickness, thus solving the fuel problem.

The Redwater heads in the Sheep Mountains, a short ridge of high buttes having an elevation of about 4,000 feet above sea level, and flows northeast for about 100 miles to the Missouri. These mountains are not high enough, nor of sufficient extent, to hold much late snow. Consequently the stream has a considerable flood in the spring and is practically dry in the summer, except for its middle stretch, where there is always a small flow, which sinks in the sandy country a few miles before reaching the Missouri. There are springs in many places in the hills and it is probable that water may be obtained throughout the valley by digging wells. There is very little sagebrush along the Redwater or any of its tributaries, and the country is well covered with grass.

On the east of the main creek the soil is a sandy loam which will not generally hold water well in storage reservoirs, judging from surface indications and the observations of the few settlers now there. But much of this porous soil will raise crops without irrigation in ordinary years.

On the west side, between Redwater and the Dry, the soil is less andy and will hold stored water excellently. The valleys of the side streams slope out gently to the hills and have large, flat bottoms, as is the case along most of the main streams. Reservoir sites occur at frequent intervals, suitable for privat, enterprise, and the greater part of this section can be reclaimed in this manner. There should be abundant flood water capable of storage to reclaim this tract, for it is a country that needs little irrigation to make farming a success. One good watering each year will guarantee a crop.

There is no timber on the west side of the Redwater, and very little along the main creek, but in the gulches at the heads of the eastern forks is a considerable growth of ash, cottonwood, and some cedar. This whole valley contains lignite coal in abundance.

The country draining into the Missouri between the Musselshell and the Dry is H. Doc. 44, 58-2-23

very broken, being mostly "bad lands," and in many places impossible to cross for miles, even afoot. There is very little water in this section, and very little opportunity to store the floods, because the fall of the country is too great, averaging about 100 feet to the mile. Also there is very little land to use the water upon if it were stored, and the quality is usually poor, being adobe clay.

There is a good deal of timber in this section, mostly lodgepole pine, some of which is suitable for sawing into rough lumber. There is also some fir and red cedar, suitable for fence posts and general ranch purposes. The timber occurs on the side hills and in the gulches and is heaviest along Snow and Seven Blackfeet creeks. All along the Missouri bottoms is a heavy growth of cottonwood.

East of the Dry the slopes toward the Missouri are gentler, the country is not as broken, and there is more water. But most of the water is controlled at present by scrip locations of big cattle ranches. Ultimately these big holdings will be broken up as it becomes unprofitable to run cattle on the range and there will be a good many openings for the small stockman to store the floods and irrigate the bottoms for hay, while pasturing stock on the hills.

The Redwater and some of the forks of the Dry can be made a country of small farms irrigated by individual or community effort. The main Dry and the broken lands sloping westward to the Musselshell and northward to the Missouri never can be thickly settled, but offer many good opportunities for the small stockman.

There is no large storage basin to hold the excess floods of the Musselshell, nor is there enough irrigable land in a body to warrant the expense of the diversion even were a reservoir site available. Nor is there any reclamation project in that region of sufficient magnitude for Government construction. It is preeminently a country for the settler to reclaim, and the Redwater Valley alone can give support to two thousand families, probably more. The rest of the area under examination should

maintain at least as many more.

At present the country is very much overstocked with both sheep and cattle, owing to scarcity of feed in the southern part of the State, and to a craze which occasionally cause people to flock into the same section. But a hard winter, the settling of the country, and fencing of the water will reduce the numbers to those the country can reasonably maintain.

There are two drawbacks to settlement, both of which will be overcome in time: First. The country is all unsurveyed and the settler hesitates to make valuable, permanent improvements until certain where his boundaries are, and, inside the Northern Pacific Railway land grant, which covers about one-half the area, he is uncertain which is vacant and which is railroad land. The surveys should be pushed from the south and east as rapidly as practicable.

Second. Much of the country is a long distance from a railroad. There is a big river without bridges between it and the Great Northern, and a big river with only two bridges between it and the Northern Pacific. Ultimately there will be another railroad built up the Missouri to the mouth of the Redwater. It must go up that stream, for, from a short distance west of that point all the way to Great Falls, the south side of the Missouri, and much of the north side, too, is an almost unbroken stretch of bad lands and cut banks. Continuing up Redwater, the route would lie around the head of Little Dry, down Rattlesnake to Musselshell, down that stream to Flatwillow, up that and McDonald to the gap between the Snowy and Judith mountains, through the Judith Basin and the gap between the Little Belt and Highwood mountains to Great Falls.

The climate is good, the winters not severe as a rule, and the prevalent winds are from the northwest. As many of the streams run northeast, shelter from the wind can be easily obtained in most cases. The country is broken and rolling enough to cut off much of the wind, nor does it blow as hard as near the main range of the Rocky Mountains and on the plains farther east.

INVESTIGATIONS IN NEVADA.

By L. H. TAYLOR.

TRUCKEE-CARSON PROJECT.

During the year 1903 the surveys begun under the direction of L. H. Taylor, engineer, in the summer of 1902," were continued in the basins of the Truckee and Carson rivers. Following is a brief summary of these surveys:

(1) A preliminary survey and plotting of Truckee River"high line” canal to 25 feet above and below grade line was made on a scale of 100 feet to 1 inch with 5-foot contours. This survey covered 37.5 miles of main canal and 113 miles of lateral and alternative canals, commanding 73,000 acres of land lying north and northeast of the town of Reno, in Lemmon, Hungry, Prosser, Spanish Springs, and Warm Springs valleys.

(2) A preliminary survey and map was made, on a scale of 100 feet to 1 inch with 5-foot contours, to 25 feet above and below grade line, of Lower Truckee canal, from Truckee River, about 10 miles above Wadsworth, to Lower Carson reservoir site. Length of the preliminary line is 39 miles.

(3) A preliminary survey and plotting was made of Pyramid branch from Lower Truckee canal to the north of Wadsworth, a total length of 39 miles. This branch will command about 27,000 acres of land.

(4) A reconnaissance was made for Lovelock branch from Lower Truckee canal at a point about 14 miles east of Wadsworth. This work extended over a distance of 78 miles.

(5) Lower Truckee canal was finally located and cross sections made. The total length of the canal is 30.9 miles.

(6) In Lemmon Valley 34 square miles of irrigable land were mapped with plane table on scale of 1,000 feet to 1 inch with 10-foot contour interval, and 32 square miles east of Wadsworth were mapped with 5-foot contour interval.

(7) In Carson Sink Valley 335 square miles were mapped, on scale of 4 inches to 1 mile, with 5-foot contour interval.

(8) In upper Carson Valley 48 square miles were mapped in cooperation with State engineer, on scale of 4 inches to the mile, with 5-foot contour interval.

(9) The 110.6-foot contour of Lower Carson reservoir site was surveyed with level and transit.

a First Ann. Rept. Reclamation Service, pp. 226-228.

355

(10) Preliminary survey and plotting was made of Lovelock branch from Lower Truckee canal, on scale of 100 feet to the inch, with 5-foot contours, for 25 feet above and below grade line. This branch will command 85,000 acres of land in Carson Sink and Lovelock valleys. Seventy miles of this line were completed.

(11) Little Truckee reservoir site No. 1 and Henness Pass reservoir site were surveyed with plane table.

(12) There were located 21 miles of distributing ditches from Lower Truckee canal to deliver water to lands immediately east of Wadsworth.

(13) There were located 9 miles of main canal for delivery of water to lands in Carson Sink Valley, from point on north bank of Carson River about 3 miles below Lower Carson reservoir.

(14) In retracing township and section lines and restoring lost and obliterated corners 331 miles were run.

The Truckee-Carson project contemplates the utilization of the waters of Truckee and Carson rivers for irrigation purposes. Each of these rivers has its collecting basin on the eastern slope of the high Sierra Nevada, mostly in the State of California, in a forest-clad region, which ranges in elevation from 5,000 to over 11,000 feet above sea level, and in which the precipitation, mainly in the form of snow, is heavy.

Upper Truckee River has a general northerly course and flows into Lake Tahoe, which has an elevation of 6,225 feet above sea level, and an area of 193 square miles. From the lake the river continues in a northerly direction for a short distance, receiving a number of tributaries, after which it turns eastward. After passing Verdi the river, entering what has been called the lower portion of the Truckee River Basin, continues eastward for a distance of 45 miles, passing through Reno Valley and Lower Truckee Canyon to Wadsworth, whence it turns northward, flowing about 20 miles farther and discharging into Pyramid and Winnamucca lakes.

The east and west branches of Carson River have a general northerly course, and after debouching from the main Sierra Nevada, cross the California-Nevada boundary, and unite in Upper Carson Valley near Genoa, forming Carson River. This stream then flows northeasterly, traversing Upper Carson, Dayton, and Churchill valleys, and three intervening canyons, a distance of about 80 miles, to a point in Carson Sink Valley between Leetville and Fallon, where it divides. into three branches, one of which discharges into Carson Lake; one, Old River, continues northeast a distance of about 18 miles to Carson Sink; and the third, New River, flows easterly into Stillwater Slough and thence northeasterly into Carson Sink.

a See also First Ann. Rept. Reclamation Service, pp. 228–258.