The Great Falls leader. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1888-1900, 1889-01-06
A PILGRIMS IDEA
Of tortlerl Montana.
IHE MILK RIVER VALLEY A
REMARKABLE LAND.
THE CHINOOk--GREAT EA1Is
THE CHINOOk--.GREar r.,.s
correspondence OF Troy IN. Y Daily r,nos

THE CHINOOk---GREATr ra11s
t'orrespondence Of Troy IN. " Daily Times.
81 Montana is full l-grown countryso +,
as size is concerned. It is nearly as lars
as Dakota, and includes a tritle over 1A3
ooo square miles. Until the present ses
son no railway had penetrated the broa
oe1t lying between the Northern Pacifi
failroad and the Canadian boundary linz
ana that vast district was, practicall
speaking, uninhabited, save by a fe,
} hardy herdsmen and several tribes n
homadlc Indians. West of Dakota wa
the great Milk. River Indian reservation
with its almost limitless area of rrazin
ana arabic land and its large tracts O
timber. Beyond and still further Wes
extended the basins and table lands j,
the Marlas, the Teton and upper Missouri
rivers.
TIE MILK RIVER VALLEY.
But the construction and the operatio,
OF the Manitoba railway marked the re-
treat of the Indian from that country,
when civilization comes in the aboripinf
goes west every time. The rule is inyar
lable; and there was no exception in the
case OF the immense Milk River district
Negotiations were successfully conducted
with the Indians and their title to the land
extlngulshed, and last summer the goy.
enment, through proclamation of the
PRESIDENT, announced the opening 70,
settlement of 10000 square miles. Dc
you comprehend how much that isi
Nineteen million acres Of land! Well II
| is country over six times as large AS the
state OF Connecticut! Following the
MILK River valley, as we did for many
miles Oh the railroad, we were given an
excellent opportunity to examine the
region, and the undivided opinion Of orr
party OF Irojans was that no land more
attractive at cursory glance was seen by
us III the far West. The valley through
which the Milk River runs. first ON ono
side and then winding its way to the low
hills on the other, varies in width from
four to ten miles and makes !; favorable
Impression at once upon the mind of the
traveller, whether tourist or practical
farmer. All of the vast country in the
Milk River valley not already occnnied
and but little Of it has yet been taken
up--is subject to entry under the national
land laws, and anybody complying with
the provisions of such laws NAV secure
for himself a home,
VAST PROPORTIONS.
Perhaps Il better idea OF the magnitude
OF the country recently opened for settle
ment by the government may be obtained
when our readers are informed that it
extends 800 miles east and west, and with
an average width north and south Of
fully 100 miles. Indeed, in the Milk
River valley alone the Manitoba railroad
has laid its rails nearly 100 miles. The
management wisely foresaw the inevita-
bic result OF the construction of the road
through such fertile valley; its projec-
tors knew the Indian would be compelled
to vacate. and with the opening Of the
for settlement to white men
would naturally follow an immense traffic
for their company in passenger business
and freight on cattle, horses. sheep, grain
and metals.
\ REMARKABLE LAND.
We heard many marvellous stories of
the productivencss Of the land and Of the
Of the climate. We were told
the winters We're less severe than in
Dakota, owing to the ''chinook" winds |
which, blowing east from the Pacific |
ocean over the Rocky mountains, greatly |
temper and mollify the cold season.
Wondrous tales were related to us OF the
at farming recently made by
sqiatter farmers, who declare that on
entire farms the average yield Of wheat
had been forty to fifty bushels per acre,
siXty-two to sixty-fve pounds
10 the bushel; and that in oats a single I
acre would produce from eighty to 100
bushels. weighing from forty-tive to fifty
pounds per bushe1. This portion of Mon
ana seems especially adapted to the
growth Of barley, which yields an average
Der acre from forty to sixtytive bushels.
l'he aut,mns are bright and dry, and the
quality of this cereal producedis the very
incst In fact. the claim is made that the
barley grown in this part Of the territory
5 worth to the brewer from ten to fifteen
,cr cent. more than that grown in other
ocalites farther south. And such tur-
lips! Why, they affirmed. the soil in
hat valley grew them, in some instances,
,yer three feet in circumference. AT any
ate. whether all these stories we heard
we're true or not. there was no question
# the attractive appearance Of the co,lll-
ry as we slowly passed through it. The
ank growth Of vegetation in wild grasses,
he river and streams and the presence of
IL abundance of water all made /, favor
BILE impression on our minds. and were
We to surrender our citizenship in Troy
nd settle Oh vacant government land in
he far West, there is no doubt every
member Of our little party would elect to
lie his claim in the beautiful Milk River
alley.
HAIRY ESTINt;. II
T. in+A n E,nn |