The total bond issue was about thirteen dollars per acre, and a warrant indebtedness of four or five dollars existed shortly alter. The engineering difficulties getting the canal through

HISTORY OF WESTERN NEBRASKA

Spillway Pathfinder Dam. Nebraska's X

HISTORY OF WESTERN NEBRASKA

the bad lands north of the mountain, were no small matter. Private local enterprise made some attempts but the finishing and completing of the successful canal was finally in the hands of T. C. Henry, of Denver.

At one time there was some dispute as to the amount due Mr. Henry, and he declared he would quit the job unless it was paid. The local people stood their ground and Henry left the room in high dudgeon. He took to the middle of the street, his long thin legs and arms jerking like piston rods. When he had gone far enough to see that his spectacular departure did not cause the people to relent, he stopped short, his head at an angle indicating concentration upon a profound problem. He wheeled about, marched back jn the same jerky piston effect steps, entered the building, completely capitulating to the popular will. It was not conceded on his part that this was right -- no indeed -- but the pride of achievement, the desire to finish the job. inspired to the sacrifices he was about to make.

The Gering debt seemed like a heavy load, for a time, but in the growth of years and the knowledge of what irrigation can be made to do in the fertile lands of Scotts Bluff county, the amount now seems of little consequence, a mere fraction of the vast benefits received.