The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1882-08-04

/
pretty village, with neat houses, and well.
dressed people, who read the eastern papers
aud magazines, get their carpet and furni-
ture from Chicago, and know what Is going
on in the great world which seems to you SO
far of, quite as we'll as yourself.
The rolling prairies Of Northern Dakota
have All elevation Of nine hundred feet about
Lake Superior aud Of about one thousand
five hundred feet above the sea.level. They |
are absolutely treeless, and The fuel problem |
would be a serious one TO settlers were IL not |
for railroad transportation. A ton Of PENN |
sylvauia anthracite Is sold at ia mestown for |
$3.50, and the soft, crumbling Ignite coal,
mined west Of tue Missouri River, Is deliver
ed there for about S.. Stoves have recently |
been invented TO overcome the difficulty Of
burning lignIte,-a matter of longer fire.
boxes aud closer grate.bars ouly,-and the
fuel which abonpds In Western Dakota and |
Eastern Montana is fast coming into general
use. Lumber is brought from the praries OF
Northern Minnesota. The lack Of timber is
the most serious drawback Of the whole e
gion. Perhaps the sentiment in favor OF
tree planting, growing stronger aud stronger
year by year throughout the West, aud show
| ing itself in the formation of local societies
| TO encourage forest culture, will in genera
| ton or two change and beautify the bare
plains with patches of woodland and rows of
trees by roadsides and around farmsteads:
| Much Is being done in this direction from
| selfish motives under the stimulus Of the
law Of Congress, which gives one hundred
| and sixty acres TO anybody who will plant
| ten of them Ia trees and protect the growth
for eight years. Important and beneficial
climatic changes will PROFESSIONALLY bel pro-
duced by the culture just begun, but we will
have to wait half a century for their full eff
feet. The high winds Of spring aud autumn
which sweep over the whole vast interior
plain from Manitoba TO the Gulf Of Mexico
will perhaps be abolished, and the terrible
blizzard of the northwestern winter, which,
under the name of the Norther is almost as
much dreaded in Texas, may be robbed Of its
force and tempered to an ordinary gale.
The Dakota blizzard usually blows for
three days from the north, aud then shifts
about to the south and continues for three
more. II drives The dry snow before 1t with
such force that the PARTICLES sting the face as
though a storm Of needles was raging. II is
impossible to see any object a dozen rods
away. While the storm lasts people shut
themselves in their houses aud all business
In the towns comes to stop. The whirling
J snow filling the air and bombardng the eyes
Is so binding aud so confusing to the sense
of locality that there have been Instances of
7 farmers losing their way in attempting TO go
from their dwellings TO their stables, and
} wandering about OIL the prairies until they
. persisted. In the course of a winter in North
/. ern Dakota there are usually five or six bltZ-
yards. Last winter there was but one, aud
b IL did not come until March. The cold sea-
. son when the blizzard does not blow is, by
p all accounts, much more agreeable than in
8 the Mississippi Valley or the Atlantic coast
e region, the dryness Of the atmosphere modi-
e flying the effects Of low temperature 10 such
+ an extent that there is less discomfort IN be-
= ing out Of doors with the mercury al 20 on
a even 40' below zero, than is felt in The East
l. when II ranges between l0' and 90 above
3 Wrapped in big coat of buffalo skin which
70 reaches TO his heels, and with fur mitten'
l. and fur cap, the Dakoten laughs at cold
y weather, If it is only still; for the blizzard hi
d has respect, aud at the first sign of its ap'
n proach he takes to cover.
| - L Ill
lie from 1t as a deep blue line upon the horizon
10 are the Coteaus. The name suggests moth
D. ing definite to the mind consequently 1t
IS rare to find anybody even In Eastern Dakot
b. who has any correct notion of what the Co
Iy teaus are unless he has traversed them. Th
q general notion seems TO be that the tern
,e designates a broken and sterile country.
n. is case Of giving dog bad name. Th
in Coteaus is not the full name OF the region
g, on the larger maps the term is Plateau
a Cot,au du Missouri. Here we have mean
ing and one that is not misleading. The re
- sion is a high plateau, about eighty mile
20 broad, which skirts the Missouri River a
b, the way around its great bend for distanc
err of about four hundred miles. From th
III James River the ascent to the highest poii
'u on the plateau crossed by the railroad
about five hundred feet, and the averag
&c elevation of the plateau above sea-level
- about one thousand eight hundred aud hfL
~ feet. This elevation is by no means TO
n. great for successful agriculture, and the que:
er ton of the value of belt Of country en-
it bracing over thirty thousand square mile
I'd will soon become one of Importance.
i" doubt whether there are now five hundre
To people living upon the whole of this grea
IA territory. The broad band Of settlemei
pushing across Dakota along both sides {
The Northern Pacific Railroad has alread
" reached its eastern slope, however, AL
few adventurous settlers, discoverin
NJ that the soil ON the Coteaus Is just as goo
IN as on the rolling prairie below, have opene
ee farms this season, encouraged by the succe
az last wear of three ssbonanza wheat farms,
on the Troy, the 81 eele and the Clark, at eae
SIX of which nearly two thousand acres are vi
der cultivation.
to If the surface of the Red River Valley n
IL minds one of q sea In dead calm, that
ge the Coteaus invites the smile of sea lasht
~, by q storm with gigantic waves, aud chang'
Ia. in an instant by miracle to solid turf-co
cred EARTH Nothing less noble than wat
of swept by strong winds can convey an idea
on the myriad different outlines OF these b
tn. lowy hills. Even the foam on the crests
,m the waves Is initiated by the masses OF loo
he boulders on the crests and submits OF .
ew ridges and peaks. On the slopes and In 7
lon little valleys the land is all good brow
es. loan, about eighteen inches deep, resti
he upon dry subsoil. Only the heights
elk, barren, aud they are valuable TO the settl
. for the stones caught by them from the g
the ciers In the great ice period. The who
the Coteau belt Is destitute Of trees aud oil ru
. In ming streams. All the drainage runs u