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285 ...the result twenty fold, for the amount may easily be reached when American flock masters & herd master shall have taken possession of the plains, & parcelled them out into manageable ranches, turning the whole of the surface to account. There are a great many streams, small & great, which carry the drainage of the mountains across these plains to the unclear; & in places where there are no streams, water may be obtained by sinking wells. Wherever I went I made inquiries on this subject; & looked myself into the wells, & I found that water was reached in the Valley of the Platte, & on the Plains from Cheyenne to Denver at a depth of about thirty feet. Water for the flock might be pumped from such wells by horse engines or wind-mills. In the northern part of the Plains, in most winters there a a very short spell of very severe cold, & it is possible that this ground may for several days continuously be covered with snow. Both of these difficulties may be met: the first by enclosure that will keep the cold wind from the stock, the water being of wood or wood and adobe, or of any material that is the cheapest on the spot; & the second laying up a store of Prairie hay. This is already done by Wells, Fargo, and Company, on these very Plains, for the purpose of supplying provender for the horses of their numerous coaches. They have it cut by the hay-cutting machine that is getting...