CHAPTER XXIV. ΜΟΝΤΑΝΑ. Area, 143,776 square miles. Population, 39,157. DURING the Presidential career of Thomas Jefferson, and upon the recommendation of that great man, an expedition was fitted out, at the expense of the Government, to trace the Missouri River to its source. Captains Lewis and Clark were in command of the adventurous little party of some twenty-five men. They sailed from St. Louis on the 14th of May, 1804; and after inore than two years of perilous life and privations, and when their friends and the Administration despaired of their returning ever more, they appeared at St. Louis on the 23rd of September, 1806, with tidings of the source of the Missouri, and its marvellous leaps over rocks and cliffs-of lofty mountains rich in treasure; of valleys beautiful and fertile within what is now Montana (mon-tah'-na) Territory. This embryo State borders on the Dominion of Canada on the north, Dakota on the east, Wyoming on the south, and Idaho on the west. It spans the main chain of the Rocky Mountains; and the rivers which rise within the Territory flow into both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Tributaries of the Columbia drain the western region of Montana. The Yellowstone and Missouri, with their numerous feeders, bisect that expanse of country lying east of the Rocky Mountains, until the two rivers unite at Fort Union, on the confines of Dakota. The whole Territory-including the main chain of the Rocky Mountains consists in a succession of mountains rich in minerals, and valleys suitable for the cultivation of cereals, vegetables, and fruit. It is estimated that there are 9,000 square miles of arable lands in the valleys of Bitter Root, Deer Lodge, Hell Gate, Round, Bigg Hole, Beaver Head, Stinking Water, Jefferson, Madison, Missoula, Gallatin, Boulder, Prickley Pear, Helena, and the great Missouri valley. Gallatin and the Missoula valleys are fertile in soil, and the most favored by climate; they occupy opposite slopes of the Rocky Mountains. Millions of acres of this rich country await the emigrant's coming: the land may be had either by purchase at the Government price of $1.25 per acre, or by settlement under the Free Homestead Laws. Owing to the absence of rain and moisture, farming cannot be successfully carried on in this Territory without irrigation; but streams that may be utilized for this purpose are generally available. The hills and valleys of Montana are rich in native grasses; and large herds of cattle thrive upon them. Stock-raising is one of the most profitable ventures of the Territory. Timber is scarce in many of the valleys, but abundant on the mountains, and especially on the Pacific side of the great range, and also on the foot hills and along the water courses. Fir, pine, and cedar predominate. Montana is rich in the precious metals, as well as in coal, iron, and copper. Coal has been found on the Big Hole and Madison rivers, in Summit district, near Virginia city, and on the head of the Yellowstone River. Iron ore exists along the feeders of Madison River. Copper on the Mussellshell River and on Beaver Creek, near Jefferson city. Gold and silver abound throughout the mountain region of the Territory; notably in the Madison Range, on the Jefferson and Hell Gate rivers, Prickley Pear, Ten Mile, and Boulder Creeks, in the vicinity of Helena, Argenta, and many other points. Gold was discovered at Bannock, in 1862, and thousands of gold-bearing lodes have since been found and worked with profit. The Madison range is very rich in these lodes. The total production of gold and silver in Montana, from their discovery until the end of last year, was 50,000,000 dollars. The products of 1879 were as follows: Gold...... Total........... .$2,500,000 2,225,000 $4,725,000 In the production of precious metals, Montana is only excelled by California, Nevada, Colorado, and Utah. I shall here introduce extracts from a letter addressed to General Meredith by Professor Swallow, whose investigations of the resources of Montana are therein reported. Mr. Swallow says: "The results already obtained in cultivating the soils of our valleys are such that there can be no reasonable doubt of the entire success of agricultural pursuits in the Territory. It certainly is one of the finest stock countries on the Continent. All the more important domestic animals and fowls do remarkably well; horses, mules, and neat cattle, are more hardy, and keep in better condition on the native grasses than they do in the States on hay and grain. As a general rule they winter well on the grass of the valleys and foot hills without hay or grain. The small grains, wheat, rye, barley, and oats, produce as large an average yield as in the most favored grain-producing States. Of the native fruits we have strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, serviceberries, chokeberries, haws, currants, and gooseberries, and there is every reason to believe that apples, pears, cherries, plums, quinces, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, currants, and gooseberries, can be cultivated in our broad valleys as successfully as in any of the mother States. All the more important root crops, such as potatoes, ruta-bagas, beets, carrots, turnips, radishes, and onions, and all the more important garden vegetables, are cultivated with great success. Timber is abundant on the mountain slopes and in some of the valleys. Five varieties of pine, two of fir, one of spruce, two of cedar, grow on the mountains and in the mountain valleys and canons; balsams, poplars, aspens, alders, and willows on the streams. The pines, firs, spruce, and cedars, furnish an abundance of good timber for building, mining, and farming purposes. The purest waters abound everywhere in cool springs, mountain streams, meadow brooks, and clear rapid rivers. Hot and mineral springs also occur. Beautiful lakes and magnificent waterfalls and cascades are numerous in the mountains. Veins of gold, silver, copper, lead, and iron, are found in great numbers in nearly all the mountainous portions of the Territory. So far as discovered, they usually come to the surface on the foot hills and sides of valleys and canons. A large portion of the lodes are true veins, cutting through granite, syenitic porphyry, trap, gneiss, mica slate, hornblende slate, talcose slate, argillaceous slate, sandstone, and limestone. These veins vary in thickness, from a few inches to 50 or 60 feet. The gangue or vein rock, called quartz by the miners here, is very veinable in character. In gold-bearing veins it is usually a whitish quartz, more or less ferruginous -often nearly all iron. In some veins it resembles a stratified quartzite; in others is a syenitic; pyrites, hornblende. calc-spar, arsenic, antimony, copper, and tellerrium, are found in these veins. In the silver veins the iron, so abundant in the gold veins, is usually replaced by oxide of manganese. Many thousand lodes of gold, silver, and copper have already been discovered and recorded, and a large number of them developed. In conclusion, it may be stated with safety that Montana has the agricultural capacity for sustaining any population which her mines, salubrious climate, and glorious scenery may attract to her fair land. Her mines are more numerous and more diffused than any other equal area on the globe, and they will prove as rich, and yield as large profits, as the most productive in this or any other country." The climate of Montana is excessively hot in summer, and exceedingly cold in winter; but the atmosphere is dry and invigorating. The water is excellent; and the Territory is free from the influence of malaria. The average temperature of the seasons, taken at Helena city, is as follows:-Spring, 33.76°; summer, 70-28°; autumn, 49.94°; winter, 19.16°; annual mean, 43.04°. The chief rivers of Montana are the Missouri and Yellowstone, and their many tributaries, and the Columbia. Commercial intercourse is chiefly carried on by river navigation and wagon trains. Shipment of goods to and from Montana are principally made by steamers on the Missouri via Fort Benton, St. Louis, etc. The principal towns are:-Helena, political and commercial capital, Virginia city, Bozeman, Deer Lodge city, Bannock city, Fort Benton, Radersburg, Diamond city, Fort Shaw, and Missoula. This young community is exerting itself nobly on behalf of education. It is safe to assert that wherever a Yankee plants his heel a public school will rise. Montana spent $65,505 for educational purposes in 1878. Montana has twelve counties, which, with their populations, are as follows: Beaver Head, pop. 2712; Choteau, 3058; Custer, 2510; Dawson, 180; Deer Lodge, 8876; Gallatin, 3643; Jefferson, 2464; Lewis and Clarke, 6521; Madison, 3916; Meagher, 2744; Missoula, 2533. The legal rate of interest in the territory is 10 per cent.; any rate is allowed by contract, and no penalty is inflicted for usury. Wages are high in Montana. Farm hands recieve $31 per month by the year, and $54 during the harvest months, with board and lodgings. Women are scarce; female servants get $50 per month. Working oxen cost $150 per pair; horses, $160; mules, $190; milch cows, $61; and sheep $9 each. Fare from a British port to Helena city :-Steerage and emigrant train, £20, 10s. |