News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1883-10-18
Oregon Letter Continued.

| rocks and sand; all are dull buff, vel
| low, or drab. At intervals along the
river, and on islands, there are clumps o
gnarled cottonwood trees. These are
| the only green things to be seen. except
! the people who have come out here eX
! pecting to make their fortune in year OF
! so. There are very few attempts made
at general farming. and those that are
made would be ridiculous were it not
pitlable to see to what cNtrPmitieS people
are put for livelihood. | do not be-
lieve there is the making of five hun
dred farms along the whole length of the
valley. And the best proof is that eV-
erything eatable, except meats. is inn
ported in tin cans. But then. we are told
that it is not an agricultural country that
1t Is magnificent stock raising region
destined to supply, etc. in the usual cant
of railroad circulars. There is no dOdbt
but that it is a good stock country, but
old timers, after they find that it is i'm
possible to sell you anything, will tell
you that the country is carrying very
nearly all the stock that it is able to.
But the best ranges are being rapidly cX-
hausted; eaten out. Last winter hun
dreds of cattle died when the streams
trOZe up, from want of water. too weak
to dig dried grass enough from beneath
the snow to keep themselves alive. The
bellOWings of those that lived through
were pitiable to hear. There is more
brute suffering from cold. hunger and
thirst in Montana than the comfortable.
well housed and we'll fed stock OF Yer
mont ever dreamed of. Some men have
made big fortunes stock raising, and hun
dreds have started in with few head of
cattle and lost them all.
In Dakota we had ten new sawed board
shock for a dwelling. In Montana
the native mansion is a log howell. These
log houses are about six feet high. with
one door. one window and flat roof of
straw and mud Glendive used to be
called "HelldiVc," but it has a better rep
utatiOu now. Miles City. near FIT. keogh
is the metropolis of Eastern Montana.
1t has about 1000 inhabitants. The rail
road track keeps on the south side of
the river as far as Belleys. where the
river sweeps close into the bluffs on the
south side and the road is notch cut in
to the bluffs along the edge of the river
Going along these nOtches you can get
off and walk behind the train, if you are
tired of riding, for they proceed with
great caution, and occasionally mass of
the soft rock Will slide down and ill up
the track. As it is impossible to tell
where or when these slides will occur Il
safety. Two hundred miles or so west of
Miles City is the next city, Billings.
which is the grandest fraud in Montana
\ year ago it was "bOOm city" and
now it is as dead as Samuel J. Tildcn. 1t
Is at the end OF the passenger section
which means where the train changes Ell
gineS and the passengers get Il poor sup
per at a dear rate. Probably there are
more old fashioned, 1lat-fOoted lies told
about Billings than any other town in
the Territory. 1t was to be Il great cat
tie shipping point, railroad center, an
agricultural centre, the Denver of Mon
tana. Many have lied about it, real estate
men lied about it. railroad men lied
about it, the western papers were full of
it. People rushed in there farmers. la
borers, doctors, lawyers, mechanics,
gamblers, and saloon keepers. and all
except the two latter classes. found moth
ing to do. II. Clark Il Co.. the boom
ers' of the Town, however, pocketed
about $500. 900. and were out for adver-
Using, perhaps $50. To-day you can't
find a word printed about it, and the
name of the town on the railroad map is
larger than the town itself. The men
who bought the lots got left Lots
25Xl00 feet, with hundreds of miles of
waste land north, south. east and west of
them, brought from $1,000 to $500. To-
day they can't be sold. About 100 miles
west of Billings is Livingston. Here a
branch road 60 miles in length goes to
the National Park, where President Ar
thur and the high dignitaries of the ma
ton have been junketing lately at Uncle
Sans expense.
From Livingston the road begins to
climb the Rocky Mountains. The grades
in some places are tremendous, 200 feet
to the mile, and more. At Helena. the
capital of the Territory. the railroad of
ticials 60 crazy and do not recover until
you get 10 or Il miles beyond. All is
confusion; nobody knows anything !;
trunks are hurled out of one car into an
other anC back again, then upon the plat
form, and finally left altogether. Change
everything at Helena. | didn't know but
we should be obliged to change boots and
hats. \ train OF empty cars would be
backed up to the platform, the crowd
would rush in only to be ordered out
again. and the ears would dart off some
where empty as they came. There was
no depot, no refreShment rooms, no hO-
tells, nothing but platform, lot of ears.
sand and mountains. After half a DAYS
delay we got off, however, and struck
into the very heart of the Rockies Here
- Illt IOllScSG JuIllltl Oh Tie ROAD. ANA Is
not yet quite completed, so we went over
the mountain, over shaky looking trcstle
work. and around curves where the rear
brakeman could whisper confidcntially to
the fireman that he was mortallv afraid
for his life.
Western Montana, Idaho and Eastern
Washington are all alike, set up on edge
The mountains are covered with timber.
most of it too small to be manufactured
into lumber. The great mass of the trees
Will not average more than six or eight
inches ut the butt. There are said to be
rich mines in these mountains, but they
manage to keep themselves undiscovered.
Around Lake Pend d'Orille there is some
fine looking country. | consider that to
be one of the finest points on the line
After that Is passed and we strike the Co.
lumbia river some of the most lonesome
looking land ever seen, Is passed. 1t is a
good place to go to sleep for about IS
hours. Gradually. however. as we near
the Pacific coast, things look better The
surface is rough, but the valleys are fine.
and the timber magnificent. The road
connects at Wallula Junction with the
Oregon Railway and Navigation Compa-
ny, which is also principally owned by
Mr.. Willard. 1t is proposed to build from
AinswOrth. on the Columbia. across to
Puget Sound. but the work is not vet
begun, and the only way to reach the
sound now is by way of Portland. 1t is
not yet settled where the terminus will
be on the sound. Several places claim to
be the spot and are 'bOOmimg' themselves
accordingly. The railroad managers
keep quiet and let the terminus people
fight 1t out. but will put the end of the
road where it will do themselves the
most good. 1t is thought there will be a
great city somewhere on the sound. a
second New Y DIRK or San Francisco. |
doubt this very much. The road will
probably run the whole length of the
sound and there will be number of
good towns, but no great center. The
vallies of Oregon are good agricultural
and fruit lands, and the hills are well
timbercd, but only a small portion of the
state can be cultivated. | have not been
up on the sound yet, but am going soon.
and will give you my impression concern
ing the place. Portland was decorated
and Illuminated in honor of the Willard
party. The illumination was very cred
table. Thousands OfChinese lanterns and
lots OF Chinese walking about under
them. 1t rams here good portion of
the time and the inhabitants are said TO
be web footed. 1t takes a good rainy
day to make business lively Then the
ladies come out shopping and the streets
are full OF hustle ono pun intended.
Fine days people are gloomy and discon-
tened, and only cheer up when il clouds
over, which II does very soon. This cOun-
try was settled by Old 'mossbacks'' from
Missouri, who came here, cot rich and
went 10 sleep. There are number Of
live men now rushing in from the east
Il l,n, |, Il toll,