The Benton weekly record., 1883-03-24
LOCAL NEWS:
A Trip to- the SElsnsx5n.

On the afternoon of Sunday last. 4 re--
porter of the RECORD, having previously
fulfilled his religious duties by attending
divine service in the morning, left Fort
Benton by private conveyance bound for
the shonkin. The name Shonkin has been
generally supposed to be derived from
some Indian word. This derivation, how
ever, is incorrect. Some fifteen wears ago,
| near the headWaters of the stream resided
an old Dutchman, who had son John, Of
whom he was very proud. Tradition says
that John was very proficient in feats of
strength and in the performance of such
other feats us ranchmen pride themselves
upon. When, therefore, the old Hollan-
der heard of the performance of any re-
markable act he would remark sMy son
Shon kin do it," or, "Shon kin DO it," In
this way it became common in the neigh
borhood, when any impossible thing was
suggested, to remark "Shon kin;' and
hence the name of the creek.
A fourteen mile drive over a road which
a few box culverts would maken very good
one, brought the journalistic advcnturer
to the ranch of Mr.. Geo. d. Patterson.
Mr.. Patterson has one of the finest
ranches on the Shonkin. lie has under
his management over five thousand sheep.
belonging to the company which he r4p-
resents and in which he has large inter
est. About fifty imported bucks fn Mr..
| PattarsDnss corral attraota3 tI,o y,,,c,+r,,: I
wanderers attention. These rams are alf
recorded in stock books and are doubtless
recorded on the rampage. Mr. Patterson'a
residence from an exterior view is not mn
usually attractive, but the interior is fittet2
up in style of barbaric splendor. The
orna,eness of the furnishings aroused the
suspicious ofthe scribe, but Mr.. Patterson
''deniged' vigorously. On Monday
morning the adventurous reporter assisted
Mr.. Patterson and Mr.. c. E. Griffith to
survey some land, that is, he sat down by
a quarter section stake and held it down
while the other parties surveyed Mr..
Griffith was kind enough to remark that
III long experience as surveyor, lie had
never seen person stay by Il stake more
faithfully.
The Journalistic splinter was unable 10
visit the ranch of Mr. John Patterson.
distant some six miles from Mr. Geo. Pat
terson's. John has three thousand sheep
under his management, belonging to
another company. The reports as to his
having lost large number of lambs this
spring are not true, as he has not lost tie
usual percentage.
The ranch Of Milner 6 Boardman situ..
ated one mile above mir. Patterson's on the
creek, was next visited land the quill Singer
was greeted there with the hospitality,
which always oharacterizes the gentlemen
who own the ranch. Messrs Milner e
Boardman have about Thousand head Of
oattle-some of them blooded stock-unon
one of the finest ranches in Northern Nor
tana. The scribe was favored with a ride
behind their fine Ryswlck- -Hambletonian
stallion. phis horse, although he has had,
as Mr.. Boardman explained, but little
training, and was hitched to- common
blackboard with two men in it. took y
three minute gait with so little exertion as
to convince the RECORDS explorer that.
with proper training, he may yet establish
a record to be proud of.
Some miles further up the creek. Mr.
Peter Cobelle has about 125 acres of land
under cultivation, mostly devoted to oats.
he rich, black earth, cleaning under the
sun light, as the scribe saw IL from tile
hillside, made very pleasing spectacle.
There are other fine ranches upon the
shonkin which the pen driver had not
time to visit, and he returned to Benton
convinced that the Territory had not many
valleys which excel the valley of the sbon.
kin.