The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-05-06
The W[ALTHOF MONTANA
Director Spalding, of the Union
Pacific, Tells of the North
vests Resources.
The Possibilities OF the Country,
Now In It's Infancy,
Immeasurable
Srhe IGNORANCE OF the Average Eastern
nr.r Al,naed To-Montana's Capacity
for Self support.

Jesle Spalding, government director OF
&ha Union Pacific railway. has looked ovei
che northwest with a critical eye and the
ras.lt IA embodied in a four-column report
"a Hhe board Of directors. He visited every
aeotion. carefully looked into the resources
and the result is the most comprehensive
c~roupinp OF them ever made by a Union
Pacific official. His reference to Montana
"a peculiarly truthful one, n ~justlhes
his advocacy of the extension of the Union
pscifo system to such an sxtens IN Mon
Tina as will give the 0 a larger share OF
the traffic Of the state. In his report MI.
6eslding says:
~ first Impressions Of the great west
and the new northwest were communicated
70 the secretary of the interior more than a
wear ago in a report which had the honor
10 make regarding my observations during
\ trim through the vast expanse of territory
&ributary to and served in part at least by
the Union Pacific system. That report pre-
scented my personal observations and gave
plainly and fully my personal opinions re-
rardinp the country through which l had
passed, the towns and cities which l visited,
the evidences of pluck, progress, and in
tellipsncs which ! beheld, and to the extent
that il was an expression Of views resulting
from q careful and conscientious inquiry
on nv part. and a desire to get at the facts
and lay them before the public as l foun
them, l have no reason to regret 1t. First
impressions, ! Am aware, are apt to be mis-
leading, but having gone over the same ter
ritory and over the lines of your system a
second time / see no reason why the opin-
ions which I then expressed should be
The fact is it would b. difficult for IN
thoughtful man to say more for the present
and future of the west and new northwest
than the subject r%ightfully demands. The
possibilities Of the country which lies be-
tween the Missouri river and the Pacific
ocean are immeasureble. 1t is scarcely
upon the threshold of its destiny. Where
there are tens to-day there will be thous-
snds shortly; where there are thousands
there will soon be millions. Nothing is
likely to occur that will seriously check the
development Of q territory that Is simply
awaiting the settler before it will give up
its riches to humanity. Not all Of this
country is dependent upon the great sys-
tenn Of railways which you have in charge,
although a vast portion Of it is. The more
Won look into the plain condition of sfairs
beyond the Missouri, the more you study
the lesson which the last few years has
taught, the more you inquire into the
growing demands of the present, the more,
/ believe, you will be impressed with
you are called upon to assume. You are
not only expected to meet the requirements
OF the present day, but you must make
reasonable provision for the immediate
future. While your first duty unquestion-
ably is to guard the immens property in
terests of Your company, you must take a
broader view of the situation than you can
obtain ftofnh glance over the annual re-
ceipts and expenditures of your lines.
There will be in the west and northwest
what there has been from time immemoriai
in all parts of the world, waves of prosper
ity alternating with periods of depression;
but in my opinion the story of western pro-
gress will be interrupted only at intervals
and for brief seasons. / believe that the
ously checked for generations to como, and
that the demands which are being made
upon you now, in order to keep pace with
this development, will never be less exact
ing nor less imperative. People speak flip
PANTY of the west and northwest. How
few there are who appreciate to
their full value ae what these Csc
AAOdAs loW low VI 10 AOuAAEo IL
magnitude of the country 80 easily de-
scribed! 1t is not many years ago., as we
count time. since a traveller, destined for
the city Of Buffalo from the city of New
York, was popularity supposed to be gong
out west. It is not many years since Hi
nois and Missouri were in the far west.
Now the center of population in the United
States is found in the Mississippi valley,
and is moving westwardly every year.
We Can all remember when the Missouri
river was the recognized dividing line be-
tween civilization and an unknown wilder
ness. Our biographies taught us when l
wen to chool that there was nothing be
yond the Missouri but barren plans, buffa-
10 herds, and painted Indians. The north
west up to the last decade was supposed tc
be that part of the country which is com
posed of the states of Illinois, Iowa, Wis
consin, and Minnesota. But when We
speak of the west or the northwest now We
must shift our locations from 600 to 2,00(
miles farther toward the setting sun. We
do not begin to breathe the genuine west,
ern atmosphere until we are at the end of 6
days journey west of the Missouri river.
1t is not SO much as to the location of thu
west or northwest as it is to the immensitJ
of these regions and their resources thai
the greatest Ignorance is displayed by the
people of general intelligence. The we'll
informed eastern man h has not givsl
some OF his time to an inquiry into tn,
subject may be able to tell you, for in
stance, that Nebraska is a great state ly
ing west of the Missouri river, north o
Kansas and south of Dakota, but does b
understand that it has a superficial area O
76,647 square miles, nearly every foot O
which is susceptible of cultivation, an,
that it is capable of supporting a popula
ton of 10000? Does he understand tina
Colorado has ar area of 1O4, 600 suuar
miles, or, if he does, is he capable of rea
LIKING that beneath the soil of that stat
there are mines of untold value vet to
developed? How much does he know {
Wyoming, with its IOO,O 900 square mile
and beneath whose soil there are counties
millions of tons of coal and countlesss mil
lions OF barrels of petroleum-all waitin
the enterprise and energy of the settle
Does he know that Montana, with its 1900
square miles, has even at this early ds
in operation some of tho greatest min
ever discovered, and that wei
ii isolated from all the rest of humanity j
own products would be sufficient to ne
every requirement of the race and make
people not only comfortable but wealth
Would he be able to take in the fact Tia
the infant state of Idaho covers &c.
square miles, and that of thist territory /,
highest class, while 100000 acres 4
covered with forests, almost virgin in tn,
character, and only awaiting the arrival
the industrious Immigrant to yield h
shelter AID fortune? How much does
know of Oregon with its 3d. GOO square mil
or OF Washington with it's 10000 squs