The Great Falls leader. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1888-1900, 1889-01-08
IRON MANUFACTURES AT GREAT
FALLS.

That Great Falls is to become central
point for the reduction of the gold, silver
and copper bearing ores of the Belt
Mountain mining districts, is already an
established fact. And yet, large as this
immense business is certain to become at
Great Falls, that it will be surpassed in
magnitude and importance by the iron
industry here, scarcely admits of ques-
ton. We have entered upon pre-emi-
nently iron age.
Wood is rapidly giving place to iron in
the construction Of ships, Of bridges, of
fences, and especially in the construction
of large buildings. A few years ago iron
buildings were rarely found in the great
business centers of the United States
Today there are tall tire-proof structures
in every city in the Union having popu-
lation of more than 25,O0O, and in all
these buildings the interior is mainly Of
iron. In a few years more the railway
ties of the whole country vii. be made Of
iron, and in all probability iron will soon
be used freely in the construction of
dwelling houses throughout the land.
Iron aud steel, to meet the increasing
demands Of the American people, will be
manufactured east and west wherever
the greatest natural advantages exist for
the making of it.
Birmingham, Alabama, where few
years ago was great forest, has sprung
to the front among the iron centers of the
land, because she possessed wealth of
iron ore, coal and limestone. In respect
to these advantages Great Falls is scarce
ly second to Birmingham, while it has
what Birmingham has not-an immense
and steady water-power. The advantages
possessed by Great Falls for making iron
and steel will, in short time, be appre
ciated by our western people; but they
are now understood by few men only, who
have been quietly investigating the coal
and iron resources of this locality for the
past three or four years. 1t will be a
surprise to many to know that in Sand
Coulee, within eight miles in direct
line from Black Eagle Falls, are found
coal, iron ore and limestone, all of excel
lent quality and so situated that all can
be loaded on the same train of cars.
In this Sand Coulee valley the lime
stone is pure and the iron ore, called
spathic iron ore, is of excellent quality
and carries but small trace Of phos-
phorus. These three essentials, coal,
iron and limestone, are. found in this
valley sufficiently extensive to supply the
wants of the great West for centuries to
come.
Beyond Sand Coulee and within forty
or fifty miles of Great Falls on the pro
posed line Of the Manitoba railway to the
mining camps Of the Belt mountains, are
found everywhere immense leads Of
magnetic iron ore, especially adapted to
the manufacture of Bessemer steel.
The fact that all this essential material
is found within half an hours haul from
Great Falls, renders it absolutely certain
that capital and labor will unite in max
ing this one of the most important iron
and steel producing towns in the United
States. In treating gold, silver, copper
and iron ores and iu the mining of coal,
we venture the prediction that at least
five thousand men will be employed at
Great Falls before the expiration of three
years from this date.