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<br />be obtained for making improvements for the common good--
<br />such as the building of a church, a town hall, a school
<br />house, and for the establishment of a library - - - -
<br />Whatever professions and occupations enter into the
<br />formation of an intelligent, educational, and thrifty
<br />cOffilDunity, should be embraced by this colony, and it should
<br />be the object to exhibit what is best in modern civilization.
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<br />"In particular, should moral and religious sentiments
<br />prevail; for without these qualities man is nothing."
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<br />What was called the Union Colony was organized on December 24, 1869,
<br />at a meeting in Cooper Union; in New York Oity. The announcement of the
<br />projected colony had been made in the papers, and a crowd of interested
<br />people was on hand. The meeting was addressed by ~eeker and by Horace
<br />Greeley, and the organization was perfected. The Locating Committee con-
<br />sisting of N. C. Meeker, R. A. Cameron of Indiana, and a Mr. Fisk of .
<br />Toledo, was authorized.to go west and select a site. The committee came.
<br />to Colorado in February 1870. They tried to get into the San Luis Valley,
<br />but they were blocked out by deep snows. They examined the sites at
<br />Colorado Springs, at Platteville and Evans in the Platte Valley, and the
<br />Poudre Valley. They selected the poudre Valley site largely because a
<br />large tract was available on which there were no settlers. A few 'came
<br />out in April to begin construction, and most of the men of the colony
<br />arrived early in May. Not one man in the group knew anything about
<br />irrigation, but many of them had developed an unusual capacity to learn.
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<br />Among the men who became pro~inent in irrigation beside Meeker, were
<br />General R. A. Cameron, Max Clark, B. S. LaGrange, Solon and Henry Martin,
<br />David Boyd, and E. S. Nettleton. The wisdom and foresight of these men
<br />was not always apparent. Mr. Meeker in his Cooper Union speech.at the
<br />time the Union Colony was formed, said, "The cost of irrigation is per-
<br />haps equal to fencing, and is a work that is to be extended from year to
<br />year." Horace Greeley, at the same meeting, spoke in the same vein. "A
<br />little water goes a great deal farther than people generally suppose.
<br />In California they use much more than is necessary."
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<br />In the budget t.20,000 was set aside to build four ditches tr,a..t l,ere to
<br />irrigate appr~ximately 110,000 acres of land. Greeley Number Three ditch,
<br />coming out of the south side of the Poudre about 6 miles west of Greeley
<br />was the first ditch 'completed. . Its purpose was to supply water to the
<br />gardens and orchards in the town. It was intended to irrigate 5,000
<br />acres, but it failed to carry sufficient water to irrigate 200 acres. It
<br />was enlarged in 1871, 72, and 73 before it carried an adequate supply of
<br />water. The estimate of the cost was 1.6,333, but the final cost was not
<br />less than !, 25,000.
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<br />Greeley Number Two was a much bigger undertaking. Its head gate
<br />came out of the north bank of thePoudre about 6 miles southeast of Fort
<br />Collins. It was to irrigate all the farming land north of Greeley. The
<br />failure of this ditch to deliver as originally planned, was almost fatal
<br />to the colony. About 2,000 acres of crops'were put in, in anticipation
<br />of the completion of the ditch, but the water was so inadequate that
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