The weekly tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1891-1894, 1892-10-21
GREAT FALLS
THB QUEEN
IN Montana'> Hive Of Cities
No Place on Earth Possessing Such a
Combination Of Advantages.
Cities Grow Along The Water Ways, But
None Compare With Her.

City building is one of the most nat
ural and universal instincts of the hu-
man family. From the earliest history of
the race disposition has always been
shown by men to band themselves into
communities. first for protection from
natural enemies. and. later on. for the
| purpose OF close communication and in
tercGurse with their fellows. This
naturally developed into conditions
which have IN more recent generations
let to general commercial exchange and
to the building Of the great commercial
ccnters of modern times.
IT it is to be conceded that the earliest
inhabitants of Europe were the lake
dwelIers, the faculty for association will
be found even in this primitive race. and
also the other leading propensity which
is to be noted in the building of cities -
viz, location on the banks of rivers and
lakes. This tendency has been common
among all races of men. and it is found
in coming over the names of cities that
almost without exception those OF every
contin>nt and people are situated on the
banks of streams or other bodies of wa
ter. In the list of world famous cities
there IS not ii single exception to this
rule. The ancient cities of Asia. which
is supp sed from biblical history to be
the cradle Of the human race. were all
on the banks of the Tigris or the Eu-
pirates. Later came the cities on the
Jordan. the Nile. the Tiber, the Seine,
and the Thames. Indeed there is not
city that can be named either in the old
or new world which is not on the banks
of river or a large stream or lake In
Asia it is pre-eminently the case. In
Europe not Il large or famous city can be
named that is not on river bank. a sea
port, or lake, and in the new world it
is seen by the merest glance at the map
that no city that has attained any i'm
portance is situated far from the water.
Before the erd of railroads and tele-
graphs the notion Of building cities on
rivers was dictated to some extent at
least by the facilities for TRANSPORTATION
offered by the streams. In fact it may
be said that this was the chief considera.
tion. After this vas the need of water
supply for the use of the inhabitants,
and probably the greatest OF all consid-
erationS was the natural sentiment and
sentimental regard which all men feel
for flowing stream. However this may
be. the fact is undisputed that cities
thrive best on the banks of rivers and on
water ports which receive the commerce
Of other places and distribute the COM
modities of the country adjoining them.
In the development Of the western
part of the United States the same ten.
dency which moved the earliest inhabi-
tants Of Asia is found to be an important
factor in the building Of cities. Chicago.
Minneapolis. Duluth, st. Paul, st. Louis.
Omaha, Kansas City, New Orleans, Den
yer. Salt Lake City, Sacramento, San
Francisco. Portland, Seattle Spokane
and Great Falls are all located near the
water: and even the minor towns, such
as Davenport, st. Joseph, Quincy. Sioux
City. and all other town of any note are
on the banks of streams.
1t stands to reason that in order to
DeCoilc great CITY must nave Otncr
qualifications and resources besides the
mere fact of location on river bank.
and the purpose of this article is 10 show
that Great Falls. while possessing every
advantage that Is possible from the
mere matter of location. is also sur |
rounded by the most varied. complete |
and magnificent re sources in the world !
and she has for perpetual use the most |
extensive, powerful and easily controlled |
natural water power in the world. This |
would appear at first sight to be a some |
what startling assertion but it can he |
easily demonstrated that this assertion |
is not exaggerated. In the first place it |
does not take long TO inquire into the |
water powers of the world. The largest
and best of Europe as compared with
the Missouri at Great Falls are as flies
to elephants. and in the United States
there is nothing which approaches the
Great Falls power. Niagara is undoubt-
edly the greatest known single water
fall in the world, but it is not all avail
able for running machinery and only
very small portion of it can ever be
utilized. With the falls at this city it is
entirely different. 4 conservative esti-
mate places the horse power of these
falls al one million, every pound of which
can be utilized by the simplest engineer
ing feats. SO that without fear Of sue.