The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1869-08-27
MONTANA.
fvsrrrrN FOR THE NEW NoRrH-wBsr.1
NUMBER ONE.


A anything tlnt throws light upon the
climate and many and varied resources Of
our young, and, ~ yet, almost unknown
and unspprcciated Territory, 10 Of value to
the community st large, will try to give
the results of my somewhat desultory Oh
servations during the past twelve years.
Our climate, like the face Of the country,
Is varied, and possesses many peculiar fea~
lures. 1t Is exceedingly changcable, yet
such Is the dryncss and purity Of the air
that these sudden alterations of heat and
cold are scarcely noticed, and do not have
sny injurious effect on man or beast. 1t is
not unusual for the thermometer to rise 80
and 400 between morning and noon, and
fall rs much between noon and Or. n, IN
both winter and summer, the ttactustions,
however, being greater in winter than In
summer. The days in winter, with few OK.
ccptions, arc not too cold to render outdoor
labor pleasant and agreeable, (so far IS cold
Is concerned only, for nothing on earth could
ever make labor of any kind pleasant and
agreeable to some parties in this country,
but rs soon rs the sun goes down the cold
air from the mountains settles down and
fills the vallies, thus rendering the nights in
tcnsely cold. The same process takes place
in the summer, making the nights dcliciously
cool, and 80 enabling one to get his n'ghts
sleep in solid chunk, and not q in the
States in small fragments, between lighting
mosquitoes, swearing and sweating. This
il the best, the very best country in the
world for sleeping; person gets in a. much
sleep in single night here, as he can in any
other place in two, and gets up in the morn
ing feeling at least two days younger than
he did the night before; and, therefore, when
we speak of any one getting old, we only
use the expression in figurative sense, for
there is actually no limit to the age one may
attain here, unless cut off untimely in some
little difficulty" or by accident. IT'S .
common saying that We have to kill s"mc'
body to start graveyard, and il is matter
Of fact that all the gravcyards In the country
were started in that way.
When first saw "Old Manuel" the old
Spanish mountaineer, some twelve years
since, he was, as believe, fully one hundred
years old, and now when I sec his quick
lively walk and spry actions, am convinced
that Mt this time he is not over ninety, and
that he has succeeded in turning the corner
somehow and IL now gradually working
back to where he started, and is getting
younger every day. In any other country
than Montana this would seem to need sub
sanitation, but here the facts are ~ patent
to everybody that proofs are deemed super
fluous.
But 'reoenons nos na0utons," as the fcs-
tive Frcnchman has it, (meaning thereby
that ''he felt little sheepish at having got
50 far away from the subject.) The whole
Territory is prc.cminently well grssscd with
the famous bunch grass, which grows lnxu.
riantly everywhere, except in the bottoms
along tho streams. It grows all over the
noun aains wl.oro they AFRO not timborod, even
up to the limit of vegetation on the high
peaks. This grass, owing to the dry eli
mate, cures a. it stands, retaining all It's nu-
triment throughout the winter, and appa-
Tcntly for many years in succession before It
decays. It undoubtedly possesses more fat
tening qualities as 1t stands on the table
lands in midwinter, than the best hay from
the bottom lands. and in wet years the
growth is 50 luxuriant that much of tho
table or bunch lands are mown for hay, the
quality of which is but little, if any, inferior
to sheaf oats 1t possesses the very remark
able popularity of coming to life again each
spring, although perfectly dry, and appa-
rently dead during the winter, as the sap
rises in the stems they become green and
fresh, only little of the tips of stems and
blades dropping off. New shoots come up,
however, every year, until the ground is al
most entirely covered. The growth for tho
first year, after being burned off, is very
light and fur apart; the second year 1t sends
up new shoots in addition to the old, and
presents better appearance, and in the third
year ii seems to have about rec0 vered its for
mer density and height; although as above
| stated, it seems to increase in quantity for
~ indefinite termof years without decayins.
1t takes about three years after having been
burned off to become thick enough to burn
again, from which infer that burning, ex-
ceps at long intervals, {and perhaps even
them, is injurious to it. The grass in the
bottom lands resemble, if il is not Identical
with the pnIrie grass in the States, and
| from j, il cut the most of the hay used.
Considerable wild clover grows among it,
and timothy, when sown, does very well.
The abundance of these grasses and their
extraordinary fat,ening qualities, in connec-
ton with our mild winters, (which do not
necessitate the feeding of stock during more
than every fourth or fifth winter, render
this Territory one of the very best on tho
continent for raising stock of all kinds.
This Territory is much better timbcred
than any of the Territories lying south of
it, the southern portion of it being little
out Of the course of the moist winds from
the Pacific, is somewhat deficient, but there
is enough to supply the demand for many