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79 stories matching arid
- The Water Belongs to the People—Not the Syndicates
A.M. Stevens of Ellensburg warns that handing arid lands to the states is the first step toward private control—and argues the federal government must build the reservoirs.
- The Great Reclamation: How the Feds Are Remaking the West
A rare, detailed look at the massive engineering projects intended to turn arid public lands into thousands of small, self-sustaining family farms.
- State Irrigation Association Formed in Yakima
Delegates from across the arid belt met in Yakima to demand federal land grants and the opening of the Yakima Indian Reservation to white settlement.
- The Commissioner Who Wouldn’t Hand Over the Books
A state auditor comes to Yakima to shut down the arid-land office. Col. Howlett says the law is on his side—and politely keeps the records.
- The Water Rights Dispute That Reshaped Kittitas County
A landmark court decision in Kittitas County clarifies the complex laws of water appropriation for arid Washington lands.
- The Oasis in the Arid Belt
How irrigation transformed the Yakima Valley from desert to a model of agricultural productivity and speculative ambition.
- The Desert Bloom: Engineering the Yakima Valley
A detailed technical vision for transforming arid plains into a high-yield agricultural engine via irrigation.
- The President's Visit: Roosevelt, the 'Mysterious Syndicate,' and the Fight for Pasco’s Soil
In May 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt toured Walla Walla, drawing massive crowds and sparking local fears of land speculators. While his speech at Whitman College praised pioneer virtues, a parallel editorial warned that a 'Seattle Syndicate' was hoarding arid land near Pasco, betting on federal irrigation projects to inflate prices for settlers.
- The Desert to Blossom: Yakima Makes Its Pitch for the Agricultural College
A local argument frames the arid climate of the Yakima Valley not as a weakness, but as the perfect scientific laboratory for the new state’s experimental college.
- The Desert Blooms: Bringing Irrigation to the Selah Valley
A ambitious engineering effort to bring water to 50,000 acres of arid volcanic ash soil promises to transform the North Yakima region into a premier agricultural hub.
- The Great Irrigation Shortchange
Washington's arid lands remained parched while millions of dollars in federal irrigation funds, contributed largely by Washington and Oregon, were diverted elsewhere.
- The Desert to Bloom in Sunnyside
A major irrigation project backed by the Northern Pacific Railroad promises to transform 60,000 acres of arid land.
- The Desert Blooms in Mozee Valley
A bold irrigation syndicate strikes an artesian well, promising to transform 200,000 acres of arid Washington land into a fertile paradise.
- The Desert Blooms
A massive irrigation project, years in the making, promises to transform Yakima's arid landscape into a fertile garden for hundreds of families.
- The Case for an Irrigation University
Yakima boosters argue that the arid environment makes the city the only logical choice for the new state Agricultural College.
- The Desolation of the Arid Belt
A pioneer reflects on four decades in Washington and Idaho, warning that unchecked grazing and timber harvesting are turning fertile mountain valleys into sagebrush barrens.
- The Fight for Clear Water Rights
A new commission report proposes sweeping changes to ensure farmers and businesses can finally secure legal titles to their water.
- Ambitious Irrigation Project Promised for Yakima
Chief Engineer J. D. McIntyre plans a million-dollar canal to redeem 100,000 acres of arid land.
- Transforming the Arid Yakima Valley
A progress report from the Department of Agriculture on the potential to irrigate 200,000 acres of land in Washington.
- The Railroad’s 160-Acre Bet on Cotton in the Columbia Basin
The O.R.N. set aside land near Wallula to test cotton, sorghum, peanuts, tobacco, and more—with and without irrigation—and invited farmers to copy the results.
- The Desert Bloom: Yakima’s Irrigation Dream
A visiting irrigation expert predicts that 150,000 acres of arid Yakima Valley land will be transformed into a garden through large-scale canal projects.
- The Bureaucratic Standoff Over Yakima Water
State Land Commissioner S. A. Calvert returns from D.C. after hitting a wall with the Interior Department over irrigation rights.
- The Million-Dollar Desert Dream
A new Idaho-led corporation plans to divert the Palouse River to irrigate over 120,000 acres of arid Washington land.
- The Fight for Arid Lands
Washington commercial leaders organize to reform state irrigation laws, a prerequisite for federal intervention in arid land reclamation.
- The 30-Mile Tunnel That Would Have Turned the Big Bend Green
Federal reclamation engineers looked at damming the Spokane River to water two million acres of dry Columbia Basin land — and then said the money wasn't there yet.
Also about this, in other words
- The Desert Land Rush of 1903
Speculators and settlers stake claims in the arid sagebrush near Pasco, betting that irrigation will transform the wasteland into a garden.
- The Bold Scheme to Irrigate the Desert
Local entrepreneurs hope to redeem 15,000 acres of 'worthless' land through an ambitious artesian well project.
- The Great Reclamation: Opening the Interior
How a 1877 federal law sought to transform the 'Great American Desert' of the Yakima plains into a productive landscape.
- The Desert Transformed: A Correspondent's View of North Yakima
A visiting writer discovers that irrigation is rapidly turning the 'arid' sagebrush plains into a lush, productive garden of fruit and hops.
- The Desert Drill: A Quest for Water in North Yakima
A bold territorial experiment to strike water in the arid landscape of North Yakima hit a snag as machinery languished on the wrong side of the mountains.
- Desert Land Dreams Turn to Dust
A failed irrigation scheme in Franklin County leaves thousands of acres of claims in limbo after a scathing government report.
- The Desert Bloom of Ainsworth
A skeptical traveler discovers a German immigrant coaxing bountiful gardens from the dusty sagebrush plains of the Snake River.
- The Desert to Bloom: Federal Engineers Back Massive Irrigation Plan
A definitive federal study deems the Columbia Basin project physically and economically sound, signaling a potential turn in the state’s agricultural future.