The Billings herald. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1882-1885, 1882-07-20
KING CATTLE.

KING CATTLE.
The Relation Of Billings to the Great Mon
tana Industry.
What Stockman had to say to Re-
One week ago yesterday a wandering re-
porter of a st. Paul journal encountered a
Montana stock raiser, who on condition
that his name should not be revealed, con
scntcd to give for publication his views re-
garding the cattle interests Of Montana. 1t
was, of course impossible To discuss the
subject fairly without. dwelling al some
length upon the merits OF the town Of Bill
lings. The first allusion to the place was
in response to question by the reporter as
to where would be the principal shipping
point for Montana cattle, the reply to
which was emphatic and prompt, "At Bill
lings," because ':thc richest stock country
| in the Territory, and one of the largest III
extent, was naturally tributary to Billings
| 1t was so situated that it was the only
point tn which cattle could be driven with
advantage. This had been recognized by
the cattle men, and they had secured tho
construction of large stock yards, which
were already in process Of building and
which would be forty or fifty acres i'll cx.
tent They would be ready in time to ac
commOdatc the fall shipments which
would be of great extent, as preparations
had already been made and contracts enter
ed into for the purpose OF making largo
shipments to eastern cities. Said the Mon
tana man, | know no place on the entire
line of the Northern Pacific that has such q
promising future before it as Billings.
was there for a couple of days on my way
here, and became SO highly impressed with
the place that bought considerable pro-
| pcrty there, and which ! regard as one OF
the best investments / ever made. No one
| who has been on the ground and seen its
situation, and the enormous extent of coun-
| try that must necessarily be tributary to it,
necessarily SO on account Of the confgura-
ton of the land, but will agree that it is
bound to become point of great import
ance. AT the same time, it was stated that
great many extravagant statements had
been made with regard to the place. in
the enthusiasm caused by its situation, the
great energy and enterprise displayed by
its citizens, and the large amount of capital
that was seeking investment there, and the
improvements projected, some people had
imagined that it was bound to become q
city of 10, 600 Inhabitants within the next
year. That, of course, was absurd. No
growth like that could possibly take place.
There were now about 100 houses erected,
and many people We're living under cali
vass, many Of them business men, who
had with them stocks of goods. and were
unable TO get buildings erected. The
greatest drawback to the place was
the impossibility of procuring lumber for
building purposes. The demand through
out the entire Territory was greater than
the supply, and the seven or eight small
mills in the vicinity of Billings We're totally
inadequate to meet the requirements of the
case Relief could only be afforded from
this state of affairs by the arrival of the
track at Billings. which event was expected
to take place about tie 1st of August.
With the arrival of the first train will COM
mence season of great activity, and he
said, the fall of the present year will un-
doubtedly see Billings with population of
from $500 to 5000 inhabitants permanent
" located there, besides the usual transient
floating population that was always to be
found at such places. \ steady growth
would of course, take place, but it would
be long ere the town would be entitled TO be
likened in importance to Denver To be
sure it occupies more or less analogous
position, and the development of the i'm
mense mining resources of the Clark s
Fork and Maginnis districts would add
greatly to the importance of the place, In
estimating the future Importance of a
place like Billings the great influence OF
capital was to be taken into consideration.
Capital can do much for place. 'Whenev-
er capital chooses point for investment, in
a place like Montana, that point is bound
to become place Of Importance. This is
so from the fact that, unlike any other part
of the United States, where the lines of rail
road are dotted with numerous flourishing
villages, in Montana the country is of such
a nature that larger towns at longer dis
tances apart will be the result, and capital,
although it cannot overcome disadvantage
Gus location, will decide where these towns
of importance are to be. So that, as Bill
linss is the best located town in the Terri
ritory, and is backed by immense capital,
it's future is necessarily assured. Its
growth, too, will be much helped by its Sc
lection by the railroad company as the
place where machine shops, car shops, and
Immense round houses are to be erected.
fact that Billings is located at the foot of
the mountain grade. A few miles west OF
there the grade rapidly increases every
mile, so that large number of engines will
have to be kept there, to add to the trains
going west The stock interest, of ITSELF
would cause quite fiourishing place to
grow, as it was intended to kill large guam
titles of beef and ship by means of refriger-
ator cars, which is cheaper method than
shipping OH the hoof. This, in turn,
would Undoubtedly lead to the establish
ncnt of packing houses like those of KAN
sas CITY. and. said the stockman, if l want
ed 70 compare the future Billings with any
other present town, should liken it to
Kansas City, as it will undoubtedly owe a
great deal of its future Importance to its
stock yards and packing houses