Jamestown weekly alert. [volume] (Jamestown, Stutsman County, D.T. [N.D.]) 1882-1925, 1890-04-17

Col. COnnclla Writes an Inter
esting Account of his trip
to the Coast.
Sizes up the Cities and Country
and Tells About Former
,yaneStOWnitcS.
VI. j. McGcc Still Playing Prac-
tical BOkcS--DakOtan'S Adj
viscd to Stay Home.
\ Trip to tho Coast.

NiSctl lo stay IIoShSs
\ Trip to the Coast.
TACOMA. WASHINGTON, April 9-EDITOI
ALRRT:--As per agreement, for the ful'
tillment of which bond was asked and
Indignantly refused, will now attempt
to do for The Alert my trip from Fargo
to the Pacific coast.
Leaving the Red river metropolis at
half past three in the morning is some
thing of a hoodoo IN itself and a mans
Dormal good nature is not restored until
he encompasses himself round about a
good breakfast between Grand Forks
and Devils Lake. I travelled as far as
Butte, Montana, over the Great North
ern}. The Dakota country as far west as
Minot is the theme of an old familiar
atory to your readers and 1 will not weary
them with Il repetition. From that
point to Fort Buford, where the orb OF
day sank behind the western hills, as the
amateur reporter would put it, the
country is sparsely settled. Shacks are
as rare as oysters are alleged by tradition
10 be in the average church sociable
stew and yet the casual observer invol-
unfairly wonders why 50 many people
have exiled theselves to such a bleak
wilderness of desolatlon. One encour-
aging evidence of that sections possibil-
tiles, however, is the coal blossom, which
is seen quite frequently. Several mines
have been opened up along the route and
the dumps were heavily loaded with the
best quality of Dakota coal. Notwith-
standing tue mildness of the past winter
and the repeated reports that cattle had
stood the season remarkably well, hun
dreds of decaying carcasses polluted the
air for hundred or more miles. The ice
had disappeared from the Missouri river
at Buford (April 2ndD and except in some
mountain shaded streams, no more was
seen on the entire trip.
\ sandy Desert.
The above mentioned orb of day
showed mp again, about the time ASSN
aboin, Mon ANA, was reached. From
!here on to Great Falls the country ira
yersed again came under my searching
scrutiny and T. hereby withhold my ap-
proval. II it were not for the anchorage
afforded by the not very luxuriant grass
roots, the whole surface of the earth
would have been swept away long ago by
an estray Manitoba zephyr. 1t is a long
series OF undulating sand banks that
were never intended by the original de-
sign to be cultivated. And yet. in the
vicinity of Fort Benton, as far as one
can see, newly built shacks dot the
prairies, showing that recently there has
been large immigration into that
country In striking contrast to these
fragile frame shanties are the occasional
substantial log corrals OF the early-day
stockmen built to resist the attacks of
the insinuating blizzard and the turbu-
lent Indian, alike.
It was an admirable piece of nerve in
the Manitoba road to build across this
vast uninhabited unproductive area. It
was, however, doubtless acting upon the
promise conveyed in the hackneyed eX
preston: beyond the Alps lies Italy
In tins case the PROMISE is surely fulfilled.
The Rocky mountains are Il source of
ineXhaustibIe wealth to all who seek it
intelllgently.
The we'll known Fargo contractor.
George Foley, of the firm of Foley Broth
ers, accompanied me as far as Great Falls,
where he went to take charge of a big
railroad job. He informed me that his
firm has Il contract to build Il road north
from Great Falls to the Canadian Pacific
OF course he didn't say who he was
drawing his money from, but the natur-
al conclusion is that this is still another
branch OF the Great Northern soon to
be, il not already, the greatest railroad
on earth Even here on the Pacific
coast, the all-absorbing topic of specula-
ton is where this line will tap the sea
board.
/, didn't stop at Great Falls, as I had
intended got ''hunch" not toso can't t
give any estimate of the town. Two
large smelters are in process of erection
and when they start to run at full capac-
ity, will support a good-sized city them
selves. l understand that at present the
gamblers there are all playing solitaire,
which is the most discouraging report
heard of the place.
Shortly after leaving Great Falls, the
Rocky mountains are reached and the
4 rest of the way to Butte is continuous
panorama OF enchanting scenery. The
4 tram whirls around the brink of a yawn
4 ing gorge, glides down a lovely valley,
disappears in tunnel and emerges again
to repeat the same general but ever
varying program.
Former Jamestownites in Bate.
From Great Falls to Helena had the
pleasure Of Capt. Hicks company. He
was travelling through Montana on some
private business enterprise. He enqu1r-
cd ,aart;c11larly ren.l rd1nu ca II and tho