The river press. [volume] (Fort Benton, Mont.) 1880-current, 1881-12-28

for richness and fertility Of soil by any in tn
United States. These are the valleys Of I'll,
Teton, the Marias, Shonkin, Belt and High
Wood, 70 which may be added the Arrow
Creek, Milk, Judith and Missouri, portion,
OF ell Of which are tributary to our toWn ane
within the boundaries Of Choteau county. q
which our town is not far from being The
geographical center. The increase of settle.
ments on the banks Of these rivers has beer
remarkable.
On the south side of the Missouri, where
only a few years ago Were two or three set
Elements are now fifty or sixty. On the Te-
ton, within this township. eighteen months
ago were only three or four. claims, now ey-
cry spot Of land for seven miles is taken up.
The whole valley Of the Teton, from its
junction with the Marias river TO its source,
IS thickly dotted with farm houses. Some of
these are handsome houses, costing two or
three thousand dollars. The soil is remark
ably fertile, and forty to fifty bushels of
grain to the the acre is not an uncommon
yield. Owing to the rapid descent Of this
stream irrigating bitches can be taken out at
little expense. For one hundred and fifty
miles the bottom lands are nearly two miles
wide, and with its branches the valley con
tsins one hundred and eighty thousand acres
Of arabic land, sufficient to support q popula-
ton Of ten thousand people. Lumber is
found on this river, and many are taking
advantage OF the timber culture act and are
preparing to set out cottonwood and other
trees, which, by t%heirTspid growth, will pay
q handsome ~recompenaa for the time and Ia
Dor spent.
The proximity of the Indian reservation
has somewhat retarded settlements on the
Marias river, yet a surhrisingly large number
Of people are occupying the large and rich
bottom lands Of this stream. And when the
reservation lines are removed, as they will
be when the people Of Choteau county show
they really want them removed, we will find
on the Marias river and its. tributaries room
for four thousand ranches.
Nobody can follow the shonkin to it
sources to-day without finding q comfortable
Farm house at every bend of the creek, near
ly all having been built within two or three
years. Not content with raising enormous
crops Of the. ordinary kind, some are already
engaged in the cultivation of strawberry
plants, and the Benton market may expect a
good treat in the line ofsmall fruit IN the
next season. From one offsthese gardens of
the Shonkin over two thousand dollars worth
of garden vegetables were sold last season.
The fame of the HighWood and Belt rivers
and their tributaries is not the least exagger-
rated. These valleys are. receiving their &C.
cesslons Of settlers every week. The Big
Sag, the bed evidently of an ancient river,
running from the Highwood to Arrow creek
for q distance of fifty miles, is also we'll filled
with farmers, who cluster around the num-
erous creeks in the rich bottom lands. Here
in this vicinity are ranches which yield two
and three thousand dollars worth of grain
and potatoes yearly. Here, as in all parts Of
the county, are ranches which two years ago
were sold for q few hundred dollars and now
bring two or three thousand.
There is not time in this hasty sketch to
speak Of these in detail, nor to more than
mention the Sun, Judith and Milk rivers.
There are fifteen thousand square miles, in
round numbers, of land in Choteau county,
or ten million acres, nearly twice as much
land as il the State Of New Hampshire,
which supports a population Of three humid
red thousand. OF this two million acres is
tillable land, unequalled in fertility by any
soil in the country; land enough 10 give q
farm to each of twenty thousand families.
and leave plenty for grazing purposes land
which, if titled, would yield an income Of
of dollars annually.
We should not, however, at this day, throw
aside as worthless the bench lands. Humid
reds Of square miles Of these lands contain a
rich soil which needs only water to make it
produce grain in abundance. This soil is
pronounced by experienced judges to be
and deeper by far than the famous
farms of Dakota. With the incoming
IF capital it is no idle dream to expect that
means Of artesian wells or irrigating can
als the bench lands may be made to bloom
ike gardens, and hat one-half Of the area
# this county may be cultivated. The his
CRY Of Colorado and Utah prove this con-
ecture to be reasonable and probable.
But laying aside the consideration of these
probabilities, let US turn to facts. ~Itrequires
title study to show us that in the last five
ears the population of the county has treb-