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3. Settlement. - The first settlers moved into this region in the early 1880's and took up claims under the Homestead. Timber Claim, and Preemption Acts. Prior to this time only a few scattered ranches were located in the area. Cattle were often trailed through Cheyenne County from Texas to the Platte River whence they were shipped east by rail. Lack of transportation facilities and an unfavorable climate-- emphasized by recurring drought throughout the Great Plains rcgion--have retarded the growth of this area. Cheyenne County, Kans., which lies just east of Bonny Dam, reached a high in population shortly after its organization in 1886. However, drought soon brought a decrease which lasted until 1900. Another peak was reached by 1935 but was followed by a decline until after World War II. Postwar conditions have brought about a slight "back to the farm" trend. 4. Agricultural Development. - Northeastern Colorado and northwestern Kansas have, since settlement by the white man, been almost entirely an agricultural region. The general area of the S1. Francis unit, which lies just below Bonny Dam, is used almost exclusively for agricultural purposes. It joins the short grass country in east- ern Colorado, and is a cash grain and livestock region. The predominant crop is wheat. and dry farm methods are used. More forage crops for winter feed ~re produced on the river bottom lands, consequently more livestock is raised there. ALfalfa, wheat, and forage crops are predominant in the bottom area. " In the 70 years that this area has been settled. private individuals and groups have devoted much time and money to investigations and actual construction of irriga- tion projects. Several attempts were made to irrigate directly from the streams and a number of canals were built as early as 1889. With the exception of a few small canals, these projects all failed because of destructive floods, sandy soil, lack of an adequate water supply, financial difficulties, or a combination of several of the above obstacles. The construction of canals, however, did furnish much needed employment for many of the homesteaders during the critical years between 1889 and 1904. At one crucial pe- riod in the economy of the area, wooden flumes aod other irrigation structures were chopped up and used for firewood. At present there is but little irrigation in the area. There are three small irrigation ditches in Colorado that will be affected by the construction of Bonny Dam. The largest is the Hale ditch, which has irrigated 520 acres in a 6-mile-Iong strip of land on the south side of the river starting at a point 2 miles west of Hale and continu- ing northeast to Sand Creek. This ditch has a poor structure for diverting water from the river. The land under this ditch produced excellent crops when first irrigated, but yield has declined and now the soil is leached and easily eroded by wind. Recently. yields of corn grown in this sandy land have been only slightly above the yields of ad- joining dry lands. Alfalfa produced fairly good yields but stands are hard to establish on sandy soil. Bonny Dam will provide an outlet which will supply the Hale ditch di- rectly from the reservoir. The Newton and Barnes ditches are located on the south side of the river in the upper part of the Bonny reser.....oir area. The Newton ditch was constructed by a ditch company in 1894 and diverted a waterflow of about 9 cubic feet per second. The Barnes ditch was constructed as a private canal in 1907 and diverted approximately the same amount. Both of these canals were out of operation for 3 years after the 1935 flood de- stroyed the headgates and upper canal sections. A few farmers betv,.:een Hale. Colo., and St. Francis, Kans., irrigate small tracks of bottom land from recently developed wells. When Bonny reservoir begins to store water, the Newton and Barnes ditches will be abandoned. The land served by these ditches has been purchased by the Bureau of Reclamation but the water rights are still subject to purchase or cancellation. .. 5. Industrial Development. - Industrial production within the area is, with few exceptions, limited to processing locally produced materials for consumption. During the first two decades following the settlement of the area, there were several attempts to establish new industries. Interest varied from sorghum mills to broom factories and the manufacture of corncob pipes. Lack of capital. power, and raw materials caused most of these industries to relocate elsewhere. At present there is a small cement block factory and a gravel pit operating at St. Francis, Kans. There are no known mineral deposits in the reservoir area of sufficient grade to warrant exploitation, 6