Omaha daily bee., 1890-02-03
The CAPITAL OF MONTANA.
Helena Now Catering Upon an Era
of Prosperity.
FORMERLY LAST CHANCE eULcA,
Now the Main Street or n Great City
Lin n with Beautiful Busin ess
buildings A Distributing
Point for Trade.


A-~ N'~N th'Nf@ - N"S SfNNAN@
until 1900. when a permanent location shall
be made by the votes of the people,
There remains but little to remind one OF
the aspects of the place q quarter OF a cen.
fury ago. In fact the only thing which sug-
gests that period is the Chinese quarter, in
the upper end of the town, where there are
still TO be seen many OF the original nuts,
the citizens of which are certainly not su-
perior to the original Inhabitants. The
principal street now crooks and turns along
what was then known as Last Chance
gulch," which was the repository of the gold
dust washed down from the mountains rising
1000 or 1900 feet above the city. Every
cup full of soil and gravel in this long, tor.
tuous and busy street has been washed over
and over again, From this little valley
some $40, 900, 900 worth Of gold has been
taken. The treasure is by no means ex-
hausted yet. Wherever cellar are dug, or
sewers laid, the sparkling ore is found.
often in considerable quantities. One man
has a tract Of land near the depot, keeps
Cinnamon at work shovelling over the stones
and earth, which are then replaced, and
cheap buildings then erected; and it is said
that he is getting a goodly sum of money as
a return for his perseverance,.
Although placer mining is a thing of the
past, Helena Is lar more prosperous today
than was Last Chance gulch twenty years
ago. 1t has become, and will still more be-
come the entrepot for supplies for all Mon
tana. Her four national banks have more
money on deposit and in reserve, in proper
tion to the population, than those of any
other city in the United States. With all its
thrift and all its possessions, however, He
lena is conservative when 1t comes to specu-
lation in dirt. There has never
been an undue initiation of the real estate
market very many f tho old cpttiara atill
hold on to their possessions. They encour-
age Immigration, they boast of the growth
OF the city, yet real estate can be had at
reasonable prices. II one wishes for a taste
OF fancy prices in real estate he must go
down to Great Falls, a hundred miles north
east OF here on the Missouri river, where is
a town of 1000 inhabitants, and choice inside
property is quoted at from 5000 to 800 per
front foot, with an lllimitable expanse in
every direction. 1t Is said that no man has
ever lost u dollar by investment in Helena
ground. The city has a steady growth and
shows year by year marked and permanent
Improvement. The crooked gulch now
known as Main street, is building up sub
stantially and beautifully. There are half o
hundred buildings on this street which are
substantial and preteutious structures. There
are half u score now nearing completion,
from five to seven stories in height, which
compare in materials, architecture and con-
venience with the bank buildings of Omaha.
There are three or four churches that have
a metropolitan look, with preachers who &C.
cupy no second place when compared with
those Of Omaha and Lincoln. There is a
great number Of handsome and expensive
residences. The county court house in
which the legislature aud state officers are
accommodated, is q large and handsome
building, a state house IN miniature. With
the location of the capital permanently fixed
at Helena in 1900, a couple of million dollars
can be expended on a state house, in keeping
with the population ana wealth CT the ten
year-old state.
The city now contains about thirty thous-
and inhabitants, which will grow to 700,0 900
by the year 1900. TIT population must con-
tinuaily and stesdily increase. There is
more money in Helena than the development
of the country and the demand of business
now requires. The big mines are adding to
the permanent wealth year by year. But
the rapidly growing country will in a few
gins to have a conservative and wholesome
effect on the public morals. The city is be-
ginning to outgrow the "tough'' period. The
gambling halls, each of which bears the in
scription licensed gambling'' conspiciously
over its door, will in a few years be things
of the past, or be relegated to comparative
obscurity. The saloons which are always
open, nights and Sundays, will by and by
yield to q better and more peruasive public
opinion. and respect the time of rest and of
worship.
Among the most progressive and vet con-
SENTATIVE institutions of the city, the Mon
tuhu Siuo " ally tdSttTu
city might be proud OF such an organization.
Several hundred of the leading bankers and
business and professional men belong to this
club. 1t will this year put up a building for
its own exclusive use, as Denver has done,
one of the finest in the city. Iu place of the
old granite block'' in which the house holds
its sessions, a seven story building will be
built, in which q fine modern thsater will
find place.
During last year, Colone. Broadwater CON-
pleted one Of the finest hotels in the country.
The special feature Of the establishment,
which IS three miles out Of the atty, is a
mammoth bath house one hundred and TWEEN
~ by three hundred feet, aud covered with
glass, which is supplied with warm water
from hot springs some miles away in the
mountains. They throw 1000, 900 gallons
daily over a natural fall forty feet in height.
The temperature of the water, originally 100
degrees, 1t sufficiently warm for use when 1t
reaches the reservoir. The grounds, which
are covered with native trees and are forty
acres in extent, are Illuminated at night by
electric lights enclosed In colored globes.
The building is of Moorish architecture, the
interior is finished In hard woods. In the
surrounding grove are flower beds, fountains
and winding walks.
The Northern Pacific road runs through
the city, with branches radiating to the min
ing camps. The Montana Central, which
runs from Butte to Helena over @ route fully
as picturesque as that of the Pennsylvania
west of Altoona, passes on down the Mis-
souri, TO Great Falls through a beautiful re-
gion ana on through Dakota TO st. Paul. This
road will within two years have It's line
completed to Spokane Falls. Wash, and on
TO Il point on the Pacific coast. 1t is said
that the proposed route will effect q saving
in distance between here and the coast of
some three hundred miles.
The law library at Helena has over five
thousand volumes, and the miscellaneous
library over three thousand volumes. The
historical society of the state is gathering a
collection Of great value. The librarian is
busy securing the adventures of pioneers,
written r ports of the fur traders, and hap.
penings at the military posts, and has copied
a number Of diaries written by persons vino
crossed tine plains and mountains in early
days.
While Helena is not distinctly a mining
camp, yet some OF the principal mines
are within q few miles OF the city. AT
| Whitlock is a group which have produced
10000 0O. AT Marysviile 10 the great Drum
Summon which has paid in dividends some
$1,000 900. The jay Gould mine has within
three years paid S400, 00O in dividends. The
secretary of the board of trade informs me
that aggregate dividends of more than
8 5000, QUO are paid annually by mines tribu-
tary to Helena, and that a monthly payment
OF $3.50. 900 10 workmen finds its way into Cir
culation in various ways.
To the north Of the city Is a magnificent