Laserfiche WebLink
<br />OOlo~;~ <br /> <br />The opening of the West to settlement was brought about by <br /> <br />the so-called Homestead Act of 1862 by the U,S, Congress. <br /> <br />This <br /> <br />~lt% <br />~.::~~? <br /> <br />act permitted settlers to acquire farms of 160 acres practically <br /> <br />free of charge, <br /> <br />However, it was soon recognized that the terms <br /> <br />of that act were not suitably adapted to conditions in most areas <br /> <br />west of the 100th meridian, for private irrigation systems were <br /> <br />beyond the means of most settlers; and if the land were to be <br /> <br />used for grazing, or even dry farming, a quarter section was not <br /> <br />an economic unit, What followed was the Act of July 26, 1866 (17 <br /> <br />Stat, 251), granting rights-of-way for canals and ditches on <br />public lands to holders of valid water rights, Then the first <br />Desert Land Act of 1877, and New Mexico's 1887 enactment of a <br /> <br />statute providing that: "any five persons who may desire to form <br /> <br />a company for the purpose of constructing and maintaining <br /> <br />reservoirs and canals, or ditches and pipelines, for the purpose <br /> <br />~i~~ <br /> <br />of irrigation <br /> <br />and for the colonization and improvement of <br /> <br />lands in connection therewith ", shall make and sign articles of <br /> <br />incorporation '" "--whereupon they were empowered to raise money <br /> <br />through the sale of stock and to conduct surveys for water works, <br />construct the works, divert unappropriated waters and condemn <br /> <br />lands and materials that may be necessary for the uses and <br /> <br />purposes of the companies, <br /> <br />Progress was still slow and limited because the surface <br /> <br />water supply from the river was limited without storage of that <br />supply, The task was one of such magnitude that only the Federal <br /> <br />Government could cope with it, as men throughout the West were <br /> <br />.,''';,;;., <br />h~t~::~ <br />.... ~:: ::~ . <br /> <br />14 <br />