Bozeman avant courier. [volume] (Bozeman, Mont.) 1872-1882, 1874-03-20

read, and knows all about it. By river
Fort Butord is over 400 miles abov,
the Northern Pacific Railroad, and a
the nearest point the surveyed lines
are nowhere less than 1870 miles s:Ht!!
Of that point. It il g curious itlea thai
some entertain, that the isotlcrma
lincs, with their ki:xs and bends to
wards the north west, were placed or
the maps at tbs instigation of Jay
Cooke. The mean Summer and Win
ter temperature were cOllated by the
military authorities from years Of Oh
se1vation at the several posts, and the
lines were draVn Il: the first instance
in Washington, some years ago, and
have the sanction of Lorin Blodgitt,
the greatest clilnatolcgist of the coun.
try. Gen. Hazcn, therefore, when he
disputes tEeir correctness, qualrels
with his own figures, and the figures
of the whole of the army surgeons in
the country.
Further on, he presumes to condemn
Montana and Idaho Territories, and
portions Of the road many hundreds
Of miles away from his quarters, of
which, doubtless, he has not the
slightest personal knowledge. Had
Columbus landed OH the Jersey coast
in mosquito time, he, no doubt, would
have published America as one great
sandy desert, utterly worthless. Thus,
Gen. Hazcn says: "Respecti,.s the
agricultural value of this country, af-
ter leaving the excellent wheat crow
ing valley Of the Rel River of the
North, following westward !, ,GOOO miles
to the Sierras, excepting the very linn
tied bottoms of the small streams, as
well rs those Of the Missouri and Vel
loWstone, from a very few yards il.
breadth to an occasional water-washcd
valley of one or two miles, and the
narrow valleys of Montana already
settled, and a small area Of timbered
country in northwest Idaho (probably
One-fiftieth portion of the whole, this
country will not produce the fruits and
cereals of the East, for want Of suf1i-
cient moisture, and can in no way be
irrigated; and most OF the land here
excepted Will have to bc irrigated ar
tif}cially. I write this knowing full
well it viii meet with contradiction,
but the contradiction will be u false
hcod.'
Certainly such statements, so much at
variance with the trrtl, will meet with
contradiction. Not a twentieth nor a
onc-lundrctlth part oc the arabic land
i'll Montana is settled; and where ir-
rigation is required to start crops,
water III superabundance can be found
and utilized at little cost, owing to tic
favorable clay OF tie country" Z
made special inquiry into the subject
OF areas Of arabic land, and gauged the
volume of the principal streams OIL
both sides of the main range, and sat
isfied myself fully in regard to this
matter.
My conclusions were, that the val
leys within sixty miles Of the proposed
route Of the railroad through Montana
would produce, at much lower aver
age yield per acre than that now pro-
luced in the Gallatin or Prickly Pear
valley, at least 125,O0O,0O0 bushels of
wheat per annum-equal to the pro-
luct of any State in the Union, though |
t is the grazing and mineral resources |
If that Territory that is claimed to af.
ord the best and most certain pros
,ect for business on the railroad.
There is little to note in passing
long the river in the neighborhood of
Fort Buford. Still find in my notes
;ome things perhaps worth mention
ng as disputing Gen. Hazen's state
aents regarding the grazing in that
'icinity.
May 23-7:30 p. m.-Passed Fort
3ufOrd, three and a half miles below
he mouth Of the Yellowstone, of the
eft bank. Quite village, quarters,
tc., well built; timber used said to be
ottonwood, but well painted andneat
Doking. This upper river cottonwood
GEMS to be more servicable timber
han that along the lower Ohio. The
vellOwstone and Missouri unite in the
1iddle of the valley; the neck or
oint between them for q few acres in
xtent is open, back which is a belt of
Oung willow. About q half mile
bOve the mouth of the Yellowstone
ye had a beautiful sunset view of its
alley, for many mile1 The immedi-
tc Galley Is a beautiful bottom corered +
18th lMruyiant grass, sloping from the
w, rolling hills on the left bank to
he dense timber growth, which works,
/ a general way, the course of the
'ellowstone. Its valley is about four ,
liles wide from hill to hill," ETC., etc.
We had in sight at least twenty
luare miles of "luxuaiant grass,nl .
one of which was more than six or .
ght miles from Fort Buford. At 20
luare miles there would be 1880 ]
cres, which, at half ton to the acre {
o be reasonably, there was certainly j
OF less than 6, 400 tons of hay to be !
ad for the cutting. At the time of |
y visit the grass wasabout ten inches ,
igh, beautifully green, not having at
lined it's full growth. General Hazen1 {
as certainly never at the spot, or he {
ould not have credited the story of {
le contractor. who reported the ut /
ost difficulty in providing nine him. 6
red tons of. hay for the post, after er- t
mining 9, 400 III square miles Of terri j
~ in the neighborhood. My journal {
1 the folio wing morning, passing the I
Outh of the Big Muddy a few miles {