The Bozeman weekly chronicle. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1883-1889, 1884-01-30


came the definite location of the roa
through Bozeman then ground ".
broken for the tunnel, then little arm
of men swarmed across the pass. gradin
the road bed. Then came the day. whe
all Of Bozeman streamed down into NJ
Adow's field to witness the laying of til
track and hear the first engine whist
its shrill greeting to Bozeman. The
: came the driving of the last spike, the
f the completion of the Mullan TUNE
and to-day, by the opening of the Bozt
r man tunnel. the last link is rivited in tn
great chain, which binds together tn
old and the new Northwest.
But, although fully approaching tn
, Importance of the tunnels, / am glad tina
l have had the privilege Of crossing tn
overhead lines l think no one coul
see them without admiring the audacity
l might almost say apparent rash
ness, with which they were bull
which could spring only from conf
dence, born from the highest engineering
skill on the part of the engineer VIII
planned them. Another example, per
hals not so CONSPICUOUS, but almost eq
ually striking, might be witnessed in tn
tunnel we have passed through to-day
There two crowds Ofmen have been bur
: rowing their way for nearly two year
from two sides Of the mountains, appar
emily independent of each other, ant
yet 50 doing connected by an invisible
line, drawn by the engineers across tn,
mountain, that when they met the othel
day, the centers of the two parts of tn.
tunnel were only hairs breadth apart
So small was the difference that it coulC
only be discovered by the finest engin
eering instruments.
We have all been pioneers together
pioneers IN settling Montana, and pio
neers Of the railroad. But now our pio-
neering day are about over. We may
say without boasting that our pioneer
work has been well and faithfully done
We Lave laid the foundation for state
and we have laid it deeply, broadly and
firmly. 1t is based on individual enter.
prise, individual freedom, individual de.
velopment. We are now about to enter
on a higher, more far-reaching, perhaps
more difficult task, to build the walls of
the foundation, well and faithfully laid,
to weld together all their elements into
one homogeneous mass, to learn to SUBJ
ordinate the interests Of the individual
to those of the cOmmonweal. g.
But that we are able to enter upon
this work we owe largely to the railroad
engineers who have brought this higher
civilization to us. do not know wheth-
err the engineers, with whom it has been
our privilege to come into contact, rep
resent fair average of railroad engin-
GERS, if SO. the average of that body is
certainly very high one ; but do know
that our relations have always been of
the pleasantest, and that wherever they
90, be it north, south, east or west, to the
snowy depths Of Kicking Horse Pass on
the Canadian Pacific, or to the tropical
climes OF California or Arizona, our good
wishes go with them. May their lines
lines fall in pleasant places. Gentlemen,
drink to the health of the Chief Engineer
ofthe Rocky Mountain Division, Col. J. F.
Dodge and his staff
COL. DODGE THEN AROSE,
and replied. The veteran engineer terse-
ly explained the survey Of the present
route over the Bozeman Pass recounting
the difficulties he and his engineers I'M
derwent, the different routes taken off
and examined, the cost and elevations
and their final determination to cross the
belt range and come to the town already
established by reason Of the cost. He
said the route examined up Shields
river to Sixteen-mile creek, developed an
illimitable field for townsites. He then
repeated the instructions he gave engi-
neers Becker and VanVleit, paid high
tribute to the skill and energy of these
gentlemen. In reply to Mr.. Koch's
praise he said that what he done lie
tried to do well and at the least expense
possible. And concluded by paying a
tribute TO Col. Muir and said that the
e ncineers were under deep obligations to
the gentleman for his uniform kindness
courtcsey, skill and good nature. He
ted Of the difficulties encoun-
tered by the tunnel builder, who labored |
for long time at personal loss of
and concluded by expressing a
wish that the city of Bozeman would
profit by the railroad.
\ telegram just received by the mayor,
who was absent, from SheriifC. P. Blake
ley, was then read The sheriff sent his |
regrets and asked the party to drink a
toast to Col. Muir, the builder Of the |
Mullan and Bozeman tunnels: "Long
may he wave" Where upon
"
W. W. Anderson, editor of the Courier
answered for the gentleman, in a neat |
speech in which he said that the colonel |
was man Of deeds rather than words. |
Spoke of the great good that would arise
from the completion Of this great work. |
1t would bring our eastern friends closer
to us. He spoke of the high regard in
which Col. Muir was held by the Boze-
man merchants and the colOnel's appre-
citation of the courtesies extended by the
Bozeman banks and merchants. He
facetiously added that the bore was big
ger than he was tonight.
The toast to Mr. Becker and assistants
was responded to by Mr.. Becker, who
gave history of the tunnel, the time
occupied on the work, the dimensions,
the height of the pass. the names of the
two men who had worked from the COM
to the completion of the tun-
mel. He thanked the merchants of Boze-
man for the kindness extended to him
and his corp. He concluded by stating
that while great deal of praise had been
bestowed on him he wished to state that
the protiles OF the overhead line at
Bozeman tunnel, the wonder and admi-
ration Of thousands, was the work Of his |