The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1882-09-08
THE NEW SOUTHWEST.

fHE NEW SOUTHWEST.
a ..a -ls9e9 aa1ss.
Across the Rockies m Mo Mont #
s.ons Pop,Y. +. r. snal,ey Century Magazine.
The order Of developing new regions ~
The ives. 10 reversed since tbs railroad err
began. Formerly The country was settled
first. and the towns grsv up 70 supply tps
need, Of tbs rural popaiatioE. Now inc
towns sre created by speculatos far IN 90
vance Of the farming settlement; and oy inc
convenience they afford for selling crops, ana
buying supplements, lumber, and household
supplies, they attract farmers 70 their vicin'-
Nv. Each new frontier town 10 an adverise-
msnt of thu surrounding country, upon the
settlement of which 1t must depend Tor its
existence. The towns-folk are untlring ID
their praises Of the soil and climate, ana u
YOU believe them the next grade OF human
felicity to living In their raw little village Is
DO live upon . farm In the neighoornooo.
Whatever happens In the way Of disagreea-
bic weather, they assure you II isgooo TOT
the crops. III IL SHOWS In May or halls I'D
June, they come up smiling, and remark
blsndly that II Is just what the crops need
Tine creation OF new town ON line OF rail-
road pushing its track out into the vacant
trseless spaces OF the far West, 10 an inter-
ssting process TO observe. A Spectator, OF
= company OF speculators, look over the
ground carefully Hfty or hundred miles In
advance of the temporary terminus Of Inc
railroad, and hit upon site which they
think has 'special. advantages, and Is Tar
enough away from the last town. They
make treaty with The railroad company
for section OF land, agreeing, perhaps, 70
share the prospective profits on the sale OF
lots. Then they ..'scrip" the adjoining sec
tioss OF Government land, or take 1t up with
de.sr land claims A large amount Of lanc
scrip il a1ost on The market issued IN pur--
,usnce OF Indian treaties, Agricultural Col
lsrs grants, old Military Bounty Land ACTS
and other peculiar features Of our complies
ted Public Land System. TIE speculator
with his pocket stocked with scrip IL sole to
pick out any choice sections not occupied Dy
Homestead OF presumption claimants. nav
1nx thus obtained . sufficient body OF land 10
operate with, the founding Of the new town
n trumpsted In the newspapers and In oil
tho fron.ier region for hundreds OF miles
there il stir Of excitement about the COM COM
Ing city. Billings, on the Yellowstone Is >
good example lof town made by this pro-
cess. IA few months ago IL had no existence
save In the brains of It's inventors. The bare
.r.lrIe was staked ont IN streets, avenues,
and parks, vn scale for = chg o. twenty
thousand inhsbi, ants. map was engraved
and within few weeks. after the place got
its name, the .Billings boom" began 70 be
talked Of ~ farl east 4, ST. Paul. Billings
,ots were advertised In every town from St.
Paul 10 Miles City, and whole blocks were
cold Id Chicago and New York. The pur--
chase re-, u = rule, knew no more about the
VALLEY or the Yellowstone than about that o.
the Congo, and few Of them could have pull
their anger on spot npon . map within
hundred miles or Billings. They heard
there was boom, and we're eager TO take
their chances for prof. or loss. 1t was enough
for them to hear the place spoken Of - the
future metropolis Of The Yellowstone Val
lev. within sixty days from the time when
Billings got local babitation and name
lots TO the value OF 1920, 700 were sold with.
In 10 limits, and before thirty days more had
elapsed the purchasers had advanced the I'm
.eInary value of their holdings from one
hundred TO three hundred per cent. b.
Charles Dickens once said that the typical
Amer,can would hesitate about entering
heaven. unless assured that DO could 80 fur
ther West. Going West 10 still ? potent
shra.e TO stir the blood Of the enterprising
and adventurous, and the farther West you
70 the greater seems 70 be Ito power. The
men who lead the advance OF The army Of
civilizasIon on the frontier skirmish line do
mot come from the rear. They are Away.
the scouts and pickets. The people Of the
xix .weeks-old town do not come from Tue
East. Az rule they are from the one-year-
cid and two .year-old towns . little further
back. Most Of the men ] met In the fei-
lowstone country were from Eastern Dakota
or the Black Hills region, or from Western
Minnesota. When asked why they LETT
homes 20 recently made In new country,
their reply was invariably that they wanted
to get further West. n
We came upon Billings one sunny day IN
Nay-dropped upon II, might say; for u.
ssr 1 ten m,les' drive across = high ana
windy plateau, the immense dazzling range
Of the Big Snowy Mountains looming up IN
front, the groand fsll away abruptly and the
town lay y ont feet In : broad, green: valley
The yellow-pine houses, untouched BY paint
slistensd In the sunlight like gold. The
valley, hemmsd In By PERCEPTIONS cliffs on
the north, and black, bare hills beyond the
muddy river on the south, stretched away 70
the west to distant mountain slopes. Under
the shadow OF huge sandstone butte 10y
the little hamlet Of Coulson, now quite ous
Of Spirits because Of the new town mile
further on. Old Coulson, IL b called, though
] believe III ass ID only three years. u ha'
made scsne money buying buffalo robes q
the Crow Indians across The river, and sell
ing shifting. grocsnss, and whisky TO few
herdsmen whose cattle Craze In the Mussel
shsii Rsngs. Now II must abandon ~
score or ssshscln" and shAntiss or move them
spis Billings. The new town, when Wis
lied II, ,consistedr yof perhspsr my schssI
structures scattered' over . square mile o
botsom-iand, but the number may be In
creased tspsoid by The Tins this article !
printed. Many people were living IN it'll
4 tenrs or 10 their canvas covered wagons
waiting Tor lumber 10 arrive With which y
build houses. Sixty dollars thcusand w
the prics Of : poor quality Of green stu
brought nom i mill twenty miles, up th
Ysllowstone. All articles Of food, excer
besf, were frightfuily dear. Potatoes wer
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