Huntley Project Museum

History of the Homesteaders

Centennial Celebration

June 26,1907- 2007

June 26, 1907

Opening of Headgate by Interior Secretary

             Bureau of Reclamation

 

             By the late 19th century, many saw irrigation as the solution to the vast “desert” that was the Plains.  In 1902, the U.S. Congress passed the Reclamation (or Newlands) Act, establishing the Reclamation Service (later  the Bureau of Reclamation) to carry out the design and construction of irrigation systems throughout the West.

 

             The area of the Huntley Project had long been considered perfect for irrigation.  After negotiating with the Crow Indian Nation, the government purchased the land for $1,150,000.  The Huntley Irrigation Project was authorized by Congress on April 18, 1905.  Construction began almost immediately on the main canal and laterals, which are small ditches from the main canal to the farmlands.  The land was opened to homesteaders in 1907.

 

             Centennial Celebration

             Come join us this year for special events, as we celebrate the landmark achievement of the Project still thriving as a productive farming community one hundred years later.