The river press. [volume] (Fort Benton, Mont.) 1880-current, 1880-11-03
A FIGURING MILL.
lat's What the People in the South Fork
Want Concluding Reflections
on the Valleys Future.

on the Valleys IuIuIb.
Wherever we went, we heard a universal
preston for an increase of population,
saying there is yet plenty Of good farming
I'D vet unen~tered--land as fine as any IN
ontana-for the use of the incoming settler.
hey feel q painful sense Of isolation from
le things and doipgs Of the world. Their
ais, twice g. week, are slow and unsatlsfac-
ry, and there is not yet the smallest ap-
roach to a store Of any sort that would rem
ar a s%ojourn in the valley less irksome or
obalesome, and the people are obliged to 60
) Fort Shaw and Sun River for even the
nallest of life's necessaries, a distance Of
.om thirty-fve to fifty miles, according to
ne point of residence in the valley.
Yet there is in this district the nucleus for
ne of the happiesta and most hourishing COM
lunities in Montana, and there is nothing
tcking now except the few adjuncts which
luster together in a little country village
le inevitable church, and store, and school
ouse, and perhaps g. little hotel with q ga
led roof-a kind suggested by this quiet,
ecluded and romantic valley, which will
yer recall the valley Of Sleepy Hollow in
he Catskills, Nick Vedder, dog Schneider,
nd the venerable Rip.
The residents Of this valley offer many in
lucements to anyone who would 60 in there
nd build q small grist mill. A single flour
ng burr and a small one for grinding feed
would be sufficient for its needs for several
7ears; and none of the expensive machinery
Incident to new process grinding would be
necessary here, for the character of the wheat
grown is soft, starchy, and more def
Gent in gluten than most Eastern varieties,
and besides, wheat is SO cheap and interest
IN money so high that the gain of four or
i've per cent. in the product would not re,
pay the outlay. The water power afforded
by the South Fork of Sun River i" inexhaust-
ible, and it's fall and surroundings are so ia
that the cost Of the necessary by
works would be comparatively small,
and the people offer to assist largely in the
construction of these. Timber is handy from
he upper part Of the valley, and the sawmill
enterprise of MIR. Pate renders its old avail
ability still more useful. The farmers of the
also agree to contract to raise any Civ
number Of bushels up to the point Of the
capacity. The cost would not exceed
IS, 900.
Such an enterprise would be apaying in
vesfment after the first year, and the only
drawback that can be urged is q limited mar
zet. In fact, q miller would be dependent
upon a purely local demand, which would
probably extend over q country Of fifty miles
'adius. But the incoming Northern Pacific
will not pass more than q days
to the southwark, and as there are
Four other trans-continental lines projected
through Montana, and the resources of the
are such as to make it to the interest
railroad men to pass through this valley,
feature of isolation will soon be lost.
The customary milling toll is one sixth.
1t is q fact that is not SO generally known
i should be that a very large proportion
Dc the great plateau Of Northern Montana is
susceptible OF cultivation without irrigation.
From Sun river %northWard to the British
line, and from the Rocky mountains to lake
Superior, is included a region with sufficient
humidity for the favorable growth of root
and cereals and the fact is being dem
with every years experience. Even
at the altitude Of the South Fork, and SO
close to the mountains that it would be pre-
sumed they would interfere from their rela-
lively lower temperature to prevent rainfall
On the plains beneath, the farmers have had
excellent success with all their crops, with
out other watering than that afforded BY
mother nature, and that, too, in a season
which has been an exceptionally dry one.
But now we must leave this delectabie val
.ey, and note IN our way the few whose path
and ours is one. Chas. Carey has a pref
" piece Of property, and those that follow
ne not less SO, ell being perfectly level,
bounded or one side by the bluffs and on the
other by the river. Stephen Barube, Fred.
Thompson and Mr.. Bozill have all good
'anches, IN q good state Of development, fol
owed by Mr.. Howard and Fred Shepard,
both new corners, the first from st. Louis and
he last from Minneapolis, and whose pleas
family engaged our passing moment with
rue homelike social converse. Mr. Lippen-
colt and Mr.. Sanders are the last in the
South Fork, the latter keeping q dairy ranch,
butter for the Fort Shaw market.
BE is milking thirty cows. Mr.. Lippencott