Smyrna times., 1879-02-05
TOT IHE NWyINU 4tHte'
Letter from Montana Territory.


know how the other half lives, perhaps it
would be Of interest to some Of your many
readers to know something about this
country and the habits of the people who
live here.
Bitter Root is a valley in the western
part Of Montana and contains about the
same number Of square miles as Delaware
1t lies on the western slope Of the Rocky
Mountains, and the river, from which it
takes its name, and which flows through its
whole length, finds its way into the Pacific.
| 1t has a population of about five hundred
whites and half as many non-treaty Flat
head Indians.
There are only two settlements in the
valley, viz: Stevensville and Corvallis.
The former is the larger of the two and
consists of two stores, five dwelling houses,
one hotel one blacksmith shop and three
saloons The amount of business transacted
in this little village is truly astonishing
the two stores doing an aggregate business
of over seventy-fve thousand dollars per
year.
AS yet no mines have been found in the
valley, and the people are consequently
employed in ranching and stockraising, ex-
cept during the winter months, when the
male portion is zealously engaged in the
Murphy movement, by trying to drink up
all the bad whisky so as to leave none for
anyone else. This and gambling with an
occasional fight, make up the sum total Of
amuscments to be found here.
A more beautiful valley one can scarcely
conceive of, but space forbids me going
into details. 1t is so entirely shut off from
the outside that it forms little world al
by itself; the only road to it from the out
side being over high mountains and through
rocky canons. Here one is carried back t.
primeval times, money being almost un
known and never forms any part of busi
ness transaction. Bitter Root Turn is
synonym, in this country, for any trade il
which no money is used. However ther
seems to be a strange fascination about tn
= valley; for many, who, during the past fiv
J" years, have left literally cursing it, hav
ultimately found their way back 10 stag
( And yet not one in ten has made expense
here-a person out of debt is an anomal
> and he feels so lonely that he leaves, con
mits suicide OF rushes frantically into deb
, The country itself is not behind the il
. dividuals who live in it, as its bonds hav
> gone to protests and this, too, when take
g are thirty,fve mills on the dollar.
= Occasionally a man gets shot, hor;
~ thief is found swinging from the limb of
tree, a person freezes to death, just in ord'
- that we may not forget what the countl
~ once was.
~ Speaking of cold, the thermometer h
rs ranged from five to twenty-five degre
- below zero for the past six weeks
l. Persons, who have never lived in an
:; thing but old communities, can not co
10 ceive, without seeing, how people c;
bring themselves to live in these ne
- western countries. Large families crov
- themselves in small log huts, which mt
- of necessity be dirty on account Of the mi
or chinking: this after the valley has felt t
:. ciuilizing influence of the white man ov
80 twenty years.
On Christmas Eve, prompted by curiosit
wended my way to the Catholic Missic
:. situated about quarter Of a mile frc
- Stevensvile, to attend mass. Very ann
was I repaid for my walk through the bit
cold, for the sight l beheld was weird
sor the EXTREME room about 20 by 80 feet
tly at one end the paraphernalia to be fou
ek at such missions, figure of Mary holdi
ce. the infant Christ Ill her arms, &c. Th
nd were surrounded by wax candles, VIII,
,ht dim and uncertain light added much to
of effect.
eek The whole room was filled with dus
at forms with blankets drawn tightly arou
e a them, crouching on the floor. At
les signal from the officiating priest Il
md struck up chant that was SO wild and
ier- earthly that many of the white people {
furtive and anxious glances at the dc
Just when they had every one worked
ouO bang, went gun at the window and ev
'0'' one jumped to their feet thinking
hce Indians were on them. This was kept
ies' for some time, broken at intervals by
tne exhortation from the priest, until fin
'"'' becoming weary from standing I withdr
e"' This mission deserves great deal Of cr
"ny for the good it has done among
Ilo1 Indians.
Sof' While on this subject l will mentio
custom, instituted by the Indians m
;4od years ago and religiously observed by tt
49, ever since. On New Years day they
r themselves in their best blankets and
,n,or around in great bands shaking hands '
1rod the white people as a token of friend
lrod for another year.
.I, An exhortation to the young mel
a. come west shall close this long le
Come west, young man, come west, bu
sure you bring enough to go back on.
mage SAGE
en-" JAN. 10th, 1879.
elled
1t is rumored at Lansing, Mich,
Idol Senator Christiancy will resign his SCI