The Mineral argus., 1885-07-02
~ ,.J;.s.hahs 0siaion q LIE !" M,r'.ra

The Liverp"ol Weekly Nc,cury OF
afay 2,d, contains 4 long letter from
the pen oil an tnglisnmar, now set
lied III Dakota. on life in. climate.
industries and society OF. Montana.
As perusal will demonstrate, II is
pungent, with many facts vet us rehec-
hons on the ca,ilemen and cowboys.
and the statement that the better
classes a;e banded together for sell
protection Is bosh OF the "cenderfoot"
stripe lie finds many of the cow
boys gentlemen oy birih and edica-
tion," which with Engiishn,.r means
blue b!ood"--a passport 10 the best
society, eic, you know-yei ualess
boosters OF English lineage can catch
On &c our western Style and Prove
;hem.elves rus,iers this country and
rs people have no time nor use for
them. The writer shows limited know
ledge OF ca'ilemen and their methods,
IN fact does them an injustice. The
letter says
':he state Ct society IN Montana has
not improved in the last two years, but
the reverse culrages 10y Indians
have increased, and also guaIrels among
themselves: but the worst feature has
been the spread of horse thicving and
the preparation of horrible murders
BY white rr!.ans. Some OF the ''cow-
boys" also have used their weapons
for purposes for which they are not
intended, and no, for protection and
self-defence, They are very mixed
lot, these cowboys, many of them gen
.le,nen by birth and education, but all
bold and reckless 20 a large extent.
The state of things is SO bad that the
respectable inhabitants are banding
themselves together and will soon find
a remedy The cowboys lead a very
solitary. and, for young men, very
unnatural life. Cattle ranges are gen
orally of large extent, and the ranches
are situated at considerable distance
from each other so there is absolutely
no society. There is no legal title to
these large ranges. but the "cow
kings" respect each others territory
an! combine to keep ia traders out.
No public land in Montana has We.
been offered for sale by the United
States government, and it can only be
acquired to a limited extent either by
purchase from the Northern Pacific
railway, whose grant includes each
alternate square mile Of width of so
miles on both sides of their line, or
under the homestead or presumption
acts. What the cattlemen do, there
fore, when they have found water and
a suitable location, is to get what land
they can as above mentioned, and to
take it in such way as to keep other
people away from the water, for the
possession of water virtually gives the
control of the surrounding country SO
far as cattle raising is Concerned.
Should the cattle grower wish to boz
row money or to get up company, he
=ngrayes nice map, colors upon it
blue or pink, patch as big as York
shire, and calls that his range" bu,
as I have explained he has no legal
title to the land. There would be
something patriarchsl about this life OF
cattle king in Montana, reminding
one Of Abraham and Lot and THEN
herds, but that there are two great
points of difference; one is that there
IS no family life at the ranches, moth
ing but lot Of cowboys living in 4
half savage style, and the other tina.
Abraham had no Chicago market to
send his stock to.
n summer the climate Of Montana
must be charming, though no doubt it
may be pretty hot in some OF the val
leys. There is one drawback. how
ever, in the fact that rartlesnakes,
especially in certain districts, are Very
numerous. \ gentleman whom | met
told me that though there were none
where he lived, the 'boys" at his
ranch, a few miles of, killed some
nearly every day. and that one OF them
and also one Of his horses had been
bitten by the snakes. | asked if the
bites had been fatal ana he replied no.
and that TIE remedy they used was
punc,ur.n5 round the wound and rub
bling in ammonia The popular cure
Of course, is drinking whiskey; bu;
this arises from faith In the