The weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1878-1881, 1880-01-06
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But he was lonesome, and my coming opened
.h FAX lSes saRt ahr 9P s THere %as % a f ton so Of voice as,o and and
expression of eye that implied command, and |
and then remarked in u stentorian tone, .Stran-
ger, mebby youdon't know who ! am as
the arrows of misfortune since my earliest rec
ollection, and considered myself especially SO
o IN hax'mg SO . s Eoef here rels sirsnre mek saia he's he's .: as,
nonsense with me. l won't stand it.. I'm all
the way from Pike county, Missouri, dashed II
amt, an l won't stand no nonsense. stranger,
dashed if I do. I come to this country thirteen
years ago. stranger, and IN them days there
Nobody stood no nonsense them. days, and If
you think you can run on an old timer, boss,
planned that / was OF poor but hcrest parents,
and since my early childhood 1t I'd been my
a that he w .e bee sef q so me, % I feit lt that f mS ii Ses a a%.
bition was satisfied. and said You're boss;
he said, as he held out q hand of six by ten
inches. .Shake on that. pard. You bet II man
had to rustic in them days, and you bet did not
did; do your" i thought not. II can jest buy
and sell you twice, pard, dashed if can't. We
You Jest get Off that billed shirt if You expect to
rustic around here. stranger. that's advice.
Mebby you think L amt got no wealth; Wei,
what you are" Here 1 asked HIM for a chew,
and he pulled out a plug of tobacco and a dan
two. and gave me hall. Take it. pard. you
will want it jest when N3a ant get get any ny It
was WIN cOISlUeTdDIe uIIllCuIty LII Ic CNeI-
else of tact that 1 could break away. from my
rough, but withal good hearted friend, without
The traveller will meet a good many people
who removed to this country from Missouri.
Malicious tongues will insinuate that they
came to avoid the issues of the war. But l have
put this up as a vile SANDER, for II Drawer. more
honest Or a more open-hearted people do not ex-
list. They have drought their anti-slavery pre-
JUDGES with them, and do not appear to have
forgotten anything. They are the old free-heart-
ed, generous people which one would find all
through the SOutl before the war, AS for avoid
ing the "issues'' of the war, l concluded long ago
that that was the safe thing 10 do.
DEPRECIATION.
had not been in Montana long before l be-
of people who. in their salient features are
radically different from those above noticed.
mission it is to relieve the unsophisticated the
improvident and the unfortunate of such sur
plussage Of goods and cash as they can conven-
iently reach without positively putting them
selves under the ban of law. Sharp practice,
sharp bargains, and faithless execution of con-
and they are the hangers on of the larger bust
ness institutions, anu they pick up the crumbs
They are purely adventures. and do not care to
become identified with the permanent interests
Of If the country.are purely birds of passage &C.
country is to do no business or make no con-
tracts with any but firms and business %institu-
lar methods. The gentry hold out strong in
ducements to the stranger in the way of supe-
flOf cncaDnoSS IN une 1ulHllllenIo vi OlitTdCIS,
paid dear for his whistle.
ALL FLESH IS GRASS.
AS I passed downward with the Beaverhead
river, and into a well watered country, the harsh
and barren aspect previously noticed became
softened and Nor. fruitful, and an occasional
thrifty-looking rancho proclaimed that here, at
least, was no desert. Large herds of cattle oc-
cupied the sole attention of the people. Long
before coming to Montana l had heard wonder
full accounts of this Territory in its capacity to
! S1stnin In roc haF,1S hrnnph the winter without
other expense than the cost of herding and a
small per %centage of loss from natural causes.
and when l saw the matted punches of dry, yell
low-loOking grass. apparently as deficient IN
nutritive power as u boiled shirt, l placed them
in the category of piscatorial fictions. But l
soon found that this dry, dead-looking stuff not
only kept the stock alive, but Kept them fat
The beef produced by this grass Is more tender,
juicy, and of finer flavor than the best blue
ter is of better flavor and the milk much richer
than | have ever seen elsewhere.
APPRECIATION.
1t has been a question with me, since | have
had opportunity for observation, whether the
wealth of Montana is the more dependent on her
rich and varied mineral resources, or her mex
haustible stores of bunch grass and now. and
for years yet to come. l believe the balance will
incline toward the latter. All that has been
said favorably of this country as a herder's par
sources for stock-raising. cannot convey to the
mind OF one an approximate idea of
the real value of this country: 1t must be seen
and carefully studied before it can be properly
appreciated.
THE STAFF OF LIFE.
Further down the valley, l had occasion to
notice the agricultural capacity of the soil of
this Territory. This can hardly be equaled any
where. The wheat berry is bright and clean,
large and well filled in every instance coming
under my observation; The amount proiu eed
been accustomed to look upon II bushels to the
acre as a good average crop, and in exceptional
90 n DE 1t,chnIc Vlnf hnrn 7 f0IIy,1 that M 4
and so bushels per acre was looked upon as a
fair average, with possibilities for 60 to even 90
wheat has splendid Touring properties. and may
be reduced to double extra grade much cheaper
tinous wheat OF many sections of the East; it
does not make so much middlings.a and where 1t
is desired to use the new-prOcess, it will not re.
quirc nearly SO much machinery to make 1t eff
fective.
A MUCH SURPRISED
at the enormous size and richness of the vege-
tables produced by the influence of Montana
four to six inches in diameter had an irresist-
ible tendency 10 turn themselves inside out, and
the inside was always white. rich. and mealy.
The only watery potatoes I have noticed Were
raised at an altitude SO high that they could
the best in the world. they are often cooked in a
manner so eXecerable that they resemble a piece
of flour spar more that the light and puffy
The famed onions of Bermuda, and the cab
bages of Flanders; the caulifioWer Of France
and the tomato of the Levant will each here find
its own typc magnifed beyond recognition.
WELL POSTED.
l was most favorably impressed by the high
average of intelligence displayed by every class
of people with whom | came in contact. The
amount of reading done by Montanians is enor-
nous. In every house the more prominent Ter
ritOrial paper are found, and usually several
Eastern papers and magazines in addition.
Books are circulated in a neighbOrhOOd com
prising many square miles in extent, with a
celebrity and freedom that is astonishing. The
number of papers supported by the 10000 peo-
pie comprising the population of Montana is
legion, and is in itself a splendid Indication of
high average culture.
BRIGHT, KEEN BLADES.
There is a certain and generally received opin-