The river press. [volume] (Fort Benton, Mont.) 1880-current, 1884-01-02

post. Divine services are held every
Sunday morning, which are said to be
we'll attended. The general reading
room of the post, under the charge of
Adjutant Bates, seems to be well supplied
with newspaper and magazine litera-
ture, and to be we'll %patroniZed by the
men. There are also several company
reading and library associations which
must do much good in disseminating
useful knowledge.
The buildings of the post are insured
against the fire iend by a good system
of waterworks. A Blakis steam pump
lifts the water out of Beaver creek into
an elevated reservoir, having a capacity
of 81, 500 gallons. The water is carried
all through the post IN iron pipes and
in case of fire the water could be thrown
either by the force Of the engine or the
pressure of the water in the reservoir
clear over any of the buildings. The
large brick buildings used in the COM
missary and quartermaster's department,
also the stables and teamsters' quarters
lie behind the soldiers quarters and s
can not be seen in the accompanying
view. r. l.. Culloh's fine residence
and the large stone building of Broad
water, McCulloh & Co.'S are not shown,
but Assinaboine would be a dull old
place without the store, restaurant, sa-
loon and club ROOM, which are all under
one large roof. ae
One thing that gives the post such a
citified look is the material with which
the buildings are notwithstanding all
brick, with the single exception Of the
stone guard house, which, from its use,
is built with a view to solidity. AS logs
and Montana shingles are the building
material for most of our forntier struc-
TUE: by a large majority, it is rather sur
prising after a long ride of seventy miles
through a lone country with nothing
but three stage stations the whole dis
tance to run upon such a cluster of inn
posing brick structures. It took 7,OOO,-
900 brick, which were made of clay near
the post, to pat up the buildings. Good
wood for fuel is found in the Bears
Paw mountains, which lie to the south
Of the post. Very fair timber, for lum-
Der, is also procured there and sawed up
at the post mill. The immense coal
fields of the Milk river country, not far
from the post, will doubtless revolution
ize the fuel question, or should do so at
least, as the quantity of accessible tim
Der in the mountains is limited, while |
from all accounts the coal supply is prac- !
tically inexhaustible. Future settle |
ments in that country will need all the
timber for fencing and building, and it |
should be left for that purpose.
The country in that vicinity is one
vast stretch of slightly undulating table
land cut only by depressions for the
streams running from the mountains to
the Missouri and Milk river, with their
cut and deep coulees as you approach
the larger streams. These plains were
nee the pasture land of the buffalo, !
whose bleached Uranium is still a famil-
lar sight all over the "Great American
Desert" as the maps of our school geog-
raphies used tehave this country tabled.
A few years hence and droves of cattle
and fiscks of sheep will fatten, the year
around, on the nutritious bunch grass
growing everywhere in luxuriance.
Fort Assinaboine will probably for a
long time be n of the permanent posts
of our country as it's position near the
British line makes it a necessity. Row.
ing bands of Indians find it quite easy
to lay claim toa choice band of horses
and decamp with them across the inter-
national boundary line. They know
that there they are safe from pursuit un-
less the authorities of the other govern
ment wishes to take the matter up and
punish them.
Col. Coppinger, who has been appoint
ed to the command of this important
ten company post, to take Col. Ilges'
place, probably will not arrive from the
east before spring, and in the meantime
Major Klein is in command.
A@-
If the military would scare some of
the horse thieves off the reservation as
well as the honest folks that are their to
hunt up a home they would have the
thanks of all the surrounding country
who suffer from their lawIess raids.
Parties in from the reservation tell us it
ia not safe To frust a rood horse out of