Helena weekly herald. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1867-1900, 1882-10-19
SENATOR BAYARD'S GEYSER
TRIP.

Senator 7. T. Bayard was interviewed on
the same trip by Horld reporter, at his
home in Wilmington in Delaware yesterday
The Senator has come back as brown as
berry from constant exposure to the sun and
0 wind but he is the picture of health and ap.
) parently in the finest Of spirits. The change
from the atmosphere of Washington to the
bracing air of the Rockies has given him. he
says, a new lease of life. During this month
. of September" he said, Il have travelled
! 1882 miles by rail, and considerably over 4OC
} miles on horseback. Lieutenant Commander
, GOrrlnge and myself purchased couple OF
: saddle-hOrses and their outfit, and began our
ride from the present terminus Of the North
ern Pacific road at point about five miles
beyond the town of Billings. The two ter
mini of the Northern Pacific road, going West
from one side and coming East from the
other, are now within the Territory of Mon
tana, and even the incompleted part is graded
for miles and miles beyond Billings. The
progress of the road does not seem to be ar
rested when they come to a difficult point.
When blasting and tunneling becomes neces-
Sary they have quarrymen at work and with
out waiting for these distractions to be
cleared away send other gangs of men far
ahead to 90 on with the enterprise. When
the meadows and prairie lands form the bed
Of the track, they use eXcavators on wheels
driven by horse power, which fill and empty
themselves with great rapidity. | found the
prosecution of the work in all its various
features singularly active and it is carried on
with great vigor. ! am told that this time
next year the through trains will be running
or, ba a iru
the railroad at Billings we took our horses
and rode down the valley of the Yellowstone,
until we emerged at Beaver Canyon Oh the
twenty third day of September. We were as
long in the saddle accomplishing these 400
miles as we were on the railroad accomplish
ing 5000 miles, and there was no day in
which we rode less than thirty miles. The
country from Minneapolis through Dakota is
one continuous wheat farm, the land is un-
dulating without being hilly, the climate is
wonderful, and whatever may be its effects
upon other products, it has a marvellous
capacity for the production of wheat, barley
and oats. What may be called the growing
and producing season lasts about ninety
days. The cold is so severe in winter that
frost penetrates to the depth of si> feet. In
ploughing for grain it is only necessary to 60
from two and half to three inches in depth,
the soil is so rich, trlable and loamy. | be-
lieve that by the first of June the young
wheat is often scarcely visible, but the hot
suns that bask upon the lands for the next
ninety days warm it from above. while the
body of frost below melts slowly and sup
plies the roots with cool and abundant
moisture. These are the two forces that lit
orally make wheat in Dakota and Montana.
The vicissitudes Of the climate throughout
I wi IN,
through the Park ] found that the middle of
the day was always hot, while water froze
every night in the camp pals. On the 18th
and 10th of September we rode all day in a
snow-storm, the snow falling to the depth of
seven inches. / was continually struck by
the illimitable space, the unbounded terri
tory which lies all along the Northern Pacific
road for the production of wheat, barley and
oats. Appreciating the value of this locality,
the largest and finest Touring mills in the
world have been built at Minneapolis, where,
with the immense water power of the Mis-
sissippi at the Falls of St. Anthony, they are
producing by a new process of rolling the
finest -four known to commerce. | might
say in this connection that the adoption of
the water power of the falls for these pur-
posess has been accomplished by Government
appropriations. These combinations of water
power and mechanical improvement in mill
ing, in propinquity to such endless wheat
fields, are wonderful combination and nat
urally productive of great results. The prog
ress Of a railroad through such a country is
like an artery of life, and this is attested by
the numberless towns that seem to spring
out of the earth all along the route. Even a
passing traveller cannot fail to be impressed
with the tone and air of unquestionable con-
fidence in the growth and prosperity of the
region, which makes itself evident in every
man you meet. There is a large Scandina-
vian population settling throughout this
section, and / am told that they are a very
hard-wOrking frugal people, strongly resemb-
ling those who inhabit the German districts
in Pennsylvania.
| This land can be bought from the railroad
company or from the United States at So 80
per acre in sections. The scarcity of wood
lands is very notable, and the culture of
trees is an obvious necessity in all this coun-
try. The adaptability of these lands for
grazing purposes have said nothing about,
but I noticed that the grass seems to cure
upon the root and remain nutritious and
sweet after it has turned yellow and is ap-
parently dead and dry. The appearance of
| the animals and stock throughout the entire
region shows the nutritious properties of the
grass; they are round, plump and in good
condition.
THE GLORY OF THE GEYSERS.
THE Yellowstone Park is simply land of
wonders and surprises. Such photographs
as I have seen totally fail to give the slight
est conception of it. There is nothing like it
in the world; the Swiss Alps appear small
and insignificant to me after seeing these
mammoth sulphur springs and geysers. They
are literally indescribable. Their extent,
their variety, their infinite irregularity, must
be seen to be realized. Their incrusted forms
seem to have law of their own construc-
ton, imagine series of huge basins formed
as regularly as the fountains in European
city, leaning over each other hundreds OF
feet in height, and each varying in color
from a dull lake-red to snow-white. There
are high hills of beautifully crystalized sui
phur. countless geysers of hot sulphur water
that throw up jets and columns from twenty
to 200 feet AS great sanitarium it seems
to me the Park will some day be national
resort. 1t is bountifully watered by clear
streams that abound in fish, and game is
plentiful Except the Marshall House, a
rude frame structure, there is no place OF ac-
commodation there as yet, and while the
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