Helena weekly herald. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1867-1900, 1874-03-19

not to mention tha; fact, but have it appear.
as il has in the press that he is on the line OF
the road. and knows all about it. BY river,
Fort Buford is oyer 400 miles above the
Northern Pacific Railroad, and ut the nearest
point the surveyed lines are nowhere less
than l3O miles SouM of that point. 1t is
curious idea that some entertain, that the
isothcrmal lines, with their kinks and bends
towards the northwest. were placed on the
maps ut the instigatiOn of Jay Cooke. The
mean Summer and Winter temperature were
collatcd hv the military authorities from
years of observation 1T the several posts, and
the lines were drawn in the first instance in
Washington. some years ago, and have the
sanction of I.orin BlOdgitt, the greatest eli
matologist of the country. Gen. Hazen,
therefore, when he disputes their correctness,
uuarrcls with his own figures, and the figures
Of the whole of The army surgeons in the
country.
Further on. he prcsumcS 10 condemn Men
,ana 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 Co.
lun,hus landed on the Jersey coast in musQul-
to time, he, no doubt, would have published
America rs one great sandy desert. utterly
worthless. Thus. Gen. Hazen says Res
pccting the agricultural value of this country,
after leaving the excellent whcat-grOwing
valley of the Red RverOf the North. follow
ing westward | 600 miles to the Sier;as. en-
ccpting the very limited bottoms of TIE small
streams, as well rs those of the Missouri and
Yellowstone, from II very few yards il breadth
to an occasional watcr-washed valley of one
or two miles, 2nu the narrow valleys or Mon
tana already settled, and II small area ut TIM
bcrcd country in northwest Idaho (probably
~ 1,N1nA
try will not plOiucc the fruits and cereals of
the East. for want Of sufficient moisture, and
can in no way he irrigated; and most ot the
laad here excepted will have TO bc irrigated
artificially. write this knowing full we'll it
will meet with contradiction, but the contra
diction will he a falsehOod.
Certainly such statements, 81, much ut vari-
ancc with the truth. will meet with contradic-
ton. Not twentieth nor onc-hundrcdth
part Of tho arabic land in Montanai is settled;
and where irrigation is required to start
crops, water in superabnndance can be tound
and utilized at little cost. owing to tho favor
able "lay of the country" l made special
inquiry into the subject Of areas of arabic
land, and caugcd the volume Of the principal
streams on both sides Of the main range,
and satisfied myself fully in regard to this
matter.
Nv conclusions were, that the valleys
within sixty miles of the proposed route of
the railroad through Montana would produce,
at much lower average yield per acre than
that now produced in the Gallatin ar Prickly
Pear valley, at least 12J, ,OOO, 600 bushels Of
wheat per annum--eQual to the product of
any State in the Union, though it is the graz
ing and the mineral resources OF that Terri
tory that il claimed to afford the best and
most certain prospect for business Oh Ill"
railroad.
There is little to note in passing along the
river in the ncighborhoOd of Fort Buford.
Still find in my notes some things perhaps
worth mentioning as disputing Gen. lIszcn's
statements regarding tho grazing in that
vicinity.
Nav 2s-,:3O y. m.-Fassed Fort Buforti.
three and 4 half miles below the mouth Of
the Yellowstone, If the left bank. Quite u
village. quarters, etc, we'll built; timber used
said to be cottonwood, but well painted and
neat looking This upper river cottonwood
seems 10 bc more scrviceablc timber than
that along the lower Ohio. The Yellowstone
and Missouri unite in the middle of the val
lev; the neck or point between them for
few acres in extent is open. back of which is
a belt Of young willow. About half mile
above the mouth of the Yellowstone We had
A beautiful sunset view Of its valley. for
f;fw 5ottom corrred triM iururtanf grass,
sioping from the low. rolling hills on the left
bank to the dense timber growth, which
works. in general way. the course 0t the
Yellowstone. Its valley is about four miles
wide from hill to hill, etc, etc.
We had in sight at least twenty square
miles Of the ''luxuricnt grass, none OF which
was more than six or eight miles from Fort
Buford. At 90 square miles there would bc
Il. 800 acres. which, at half ton to the acre
Ito be reasonably, there was certainly not
less than G.4OO tons of hay to be had for the
cutting. At the time of my visit the grass |
was about ten inches high. beautifully green.
not having attained its full growth. General
lIazcn was certainly never at the spot, or he |
would not have credited the story Of the con- |
tractor. who reported the utmost difficulty IN
providing nine hundred tons Of hay for the
post. after examining 9, ,4O0(?) square miles Of
territory in the ncighbOrhood. My journal
on the following morning, passing tho mouth
of the Big Muddy few miles above men
tions excellent grazing" and further on
s'grass northward as far rs the eye can reach,
etc. etc.
All the buffalo We saw were quite 1at, and
they were returning from the north in British
America, where they winter in vast numbers.
At the mouth of the Musclcshell. the deep
est snow had been only seven inchcs; horses
and cattle had grazed out the winter previous
1918. General Halen disposes Of oil the
military officers who write contrary to him
a. ''enthusiasts," /" though some that he men.
.iors 49, ,u, j: uc~c extended experience in
ihe -egions u question.
THc1Aa r EOByR!s
.'Ir-~sl RCs Fstrsxy ~ 2sis
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