Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1886-07-01
THE NORTHWEST.

GRAND Forks. june 10, 1886.
Editor Belment Chronicle:
We had no rain during May, and that,
with late severe frost, made our wheat
in the Red River Valley look sick, but
the rains during the last ten days have
saved it,and now there is a prospect for
good CROP The way that grain RECEIVERS
from a drouth in this country is almost
In 'S3 We had but one rain |
after the wheat was seeded in the spring, |
until July l0-farmers were discourage |
ed-they expected nothing, but after the
rain it seemed to grow up and ripen in a
little over a month, and we had a good
crop. This forenoon l drove through |
wheat fields close by the city, which
promise a yield of 35 to 40 bushels;
this, of course, will not indicate the ava |
erage by any means, but it shows good
farming backed up by good soil. Farm
ers are fast learning 10 diversity their
interests, and not to depend on wheat
altogether-so the stock industry is i'm
proving, and we find that stock can be
grown as profltably as in more southern
countries. We have grass that cannot
be excelled for nutriment, not even by
the famous kentucky blue grass; cattle
do well on it.
l have just returned from trip to the
the Moose River country, and rode a
great deal over the ranges, carefully OBJ
serving the grasses. In some localities
the celebrated buffalo and bunch grass
of Montana would be found-then red
top, blue-j0iDt, prairie grass, &c. No
wonder the cattle looked we'll on such
feed. In the sand hills, where grass is
very short and thin, and only good in
pockets, there is species of rush.
which comes up early in the fall. and
remains good until grass starts in tue
spring. These rushes also grow in little
pockets among the hills, and possess
good deal of nutriment; they seem to
ans wer the purpose of turnips. and stock
are fond of them, as the rushes can be
found plentifully when the grass is
gone, and before it comes in the spring.
We have no boom, but settlers are
coming into the country fast enOugh,and
with their prairie schOoners and little
punches of stock. are to be met with at
least 100 to $50 miles beyond the rail-
road, hunting for a location and fu
ture home. These kind come to stay
they are not the tender-feet, but the
the class that helps largely to build up
new country.
A new branch of industry, which
gives plenty of employment to the new
settlers, but more especially to the half
| breeds" is the bone business. The half
breeds start out to gather bones, taking
usually their entire family--women,
children and dogs, using generally for
conveyance the old Red River cart.
These carts used to be the only means
of transporting freight from St. Paul to
Winnipeg, but have been superseded by
The railroad, and are almost out of date.
they are made entirely ofswood; a large
hub with fat spokes and heavy felloes,
| fastened with wooden dowel-pins, com T.,
prise the wheel, two crooked saplings,
trimmed little, for shafts, with small
rack built on the heavy end, the whole
resting and pinned on to wooden axle,
comprises the cart; they carry 600 TO 500
pounds, and are drawn by ponies or oxen.
1t is quite common TO see 2-year old
steer, weighing about 700 pounds, hitch
ed to a cart, followed by another drawn
10y an OK weighing perhaps 100. then
another drawn by Il small pony, and so
On through the train. 1t is novel sight,
and when many of these are on the road
they make a squeaking noise that can
be heard for miles, They use no grease
on the aXles, hence the noise. The baf
falo we're wantonly slaughtered, until
they are almost extinct, and now their
bones are an article of commerce, and
stacks of them may be found piled up on
the prairie like immense hay ricks, even
so far as 100 miles beyond the railroad
terminus. OF course, the traders who
Duy them try to get as near to the sup
posed line of the road as they can. Some
make as high as S4 per day gathering
them, but others will have perhaps 20 to
80 miles to market them, and may not
make 80 cents; they get from S4 to SS
per ton-the price being regulated by
The proximity to the railroad. Only a
few years ago the buffalo roamed the
prairies in vast herds from the Gulf of
Mexico to the boundary line, and far in
to the Northwest Territory-soon even
their bleached bones will not be found
lying on the sod to indicate that such an
animal ever existed. Without some
protective game law it won't he long be-
fore all our nice large game will disap-
pear like the buffalo. Most of the Terri
tories have good laws, which prevent
the wholesale slaughter of game by the
white men, but it does not apply to the
Indians, for the reason that it is hard to
catch them at it. Only short time ago
IA party Of Grows were caught in the
Park slaughtering game on the Gev'G re-
serves; of course they were ordered off
and back to their reservation, but that
didn't restore the game they killed. A
small band of perhaps dozen Indians
came down off the Big Horn Mts" last
summer and asked settler living near
the trail for some meat for their supper ;;
when asked if game was plenty up in
the mountains, they said "Ye es, we killed
over 200 elk in one of the parks" Yet
that night they had to beg something to
cat. do not doubt the truth of their
Statement,for | have seen fully thatmany
elk in one herd up in those parks, and it
is quite easy for the Indians to surround
such bunch; they can era Nl through
The grass like snakes. and once they get
them cornered few ever escape. Of
course they can't eat all they kill; they
don't even use the hides. and at that sea-
son of the year their horns are of no &C
count. being quite soft and in the velvet.
A white man is usually satisfied when
he kills one or two. or just about what
he can use; but the Indians kill as long
as there is anything left to shoot at.
While going up the Powder River In
Wyoming, last July, near to the mouth
of the Crazy Woman, we came upon an
abandoned Indian camp. Judging from
the number of skeleton tee,pees and
beaten paths there must have been at i
least 1000 Of them. Cottonwood trees
had been felled by the squaws for their
ponies to browse on the bark. so they
must have staid quite late in the winter.
1t was great game country, but they
made terrible slaughter of it. 1t was
estimated by settler who had cabin
some II miles up the Crazy Woman, that
they must have killed from 1000 to 5000
deer while in that locality. Before the
Cow Boys started on their spring round
up, they were oLt of there. and back to