Report on the Arid Region of the West

Today's Assignment: I am a writer for the Bays Fork Libertarian in 1878. The editor has only given me six sentences of space in the paper. I have to sum up John Wesley Powell's report on the arid region of the west.

If the Arid Region was unsettled, it would be wise if the government would undertake the parceling of the land and hire skilled engineers to do the work for them. Most of the surveyed land near the minor streams has been entered, and the titles are in hands of settlers. Farmers are making a fuss so they can obtain titles to land that the animals are grazing on. It is better to let the people divide the land among themselves-not so that a man can take as much as he pleases, but so the settlers can protect each other from the greediness of others. The land is of little value and cannot be used for growing crops. All in All, the land has no value without water, and to use the water it must be taken from its natural course often miles from where it is to be used.