The weekly tribune., 1893-11-10
THE WEEKLY TRIBUNE.
MONTANA FOREVER.

One of the brightest and most logica
thinkers and writers of the state is Dr
A. II. Hersey of the Anaconda STANDARD
staff In recent issue he contributes
an extensive article on the material re
sources of Montana which should b
widely circulated to the end that peopl'
Of the east may learn that this grant
state has multiform and multitudinoul
stores of wealth beyond the question o
the silver industry. He says:
I'm the face Of tho situation now con
fronting the state it becomes opportunt
to estimate those resources which art
left to us and upon which we must rely
for the future right to exist. These are
so many and so immeasurable that wher
we take account of them in detail the
wonder is that the alarm which has pre-
vailed should have been so widespread
and so deep or that we should have been
led at any time to place so low value
upon our assets as to believe that we
might by the overthrow of a single inter-
est be left leaning upon broken staff.
The truth is strikingly to the contrary,
and we are in fact more richly endowed
than many of the old commonwealths of
the cast.
1t is altogether probable that Montana
has today more wealth in gold than any
other division of the union or, perhape,
the world. Its yield of placer egold has
been phenomenal and has never been
matched in any part of the globe since
the days of King Solomon" n
In copper production Montana leads
the world; lead is source OF substan-
tial profit; zinc, arsenic, antimony, sui
phur, asbestos and mica are found
in vast quantities. Lime, building stone,
sands for glass making, ,.etc., are enumer
ated as atfording,bases for ceaseless in
dustry. The writer lays especial stress
upon "two essential elements in the
genesis of the worlds, industrial life
iron and coal. These two alone promis
mighty growth and majestic future fer
Montana.
There is in Cascade county alone
iron ore, absolutely free from phosphorus.
to supply the founderies and mills of the
United States for centuries should all
other sources fail. In the region Of the
National park, in Park county, there are
mountains of hematite iron and, indeed,
the metal is found in almost every part
Of the state in one or theIother of its
forms in greater or less profu5ion.
He mentions the great coal deposits at
Red Lodge, those in the Belt mountains,
Trail creek, Timberline, Gallatin county,
and about Livingston in detail. "At
Sand Coulee, near Great Falls, in Cas-
cade county, one Of the largest systems
OF coal mining in the world is being
operated upon an apparently inexhaus-
tible supply. In the same vicinity an
unbroken field is said TO lie at varying
depths for miles only to be interrupted
by the colossal barriers of the mount
aims"
Stress is laid upon the agricultural
wealth. The Gallatin valley is compared
to the Nile in fruitfulness, and other Sec
tions are duly noted.
In this great field We nave scarcely |
yet made a commen cement. yet we are
seif-supporting as result Of the small
effort Experience has proved beyond
cavail the superior qualities of the eroded
soils Of the mountain counties; they are
far richer in the mineral constituents |
ti,an those Of other regions. as they are
composed y the dissolved materials of
crumb.ing rocks Of every kind
Cereal farming is to bee one Of the
first industries Of our future, and in root
crops We are not outdone by California
The brewing business. following upon
the high quality Of the barley we pro-
luce. is certain to be largely transplanted
to Montana in course Of time Beet
sugar and starch factories and paper
mills are among the first possibilities.
"ln livestock growing Montana has
rom its infancy had high place.
"Sheep husbandry in this state is a
little short OF the marvellous. The lau-
rels won by Montana horses in recent
turf contests in the east show this high |
and dry region to be pre- emlnently the
home of the horse. Extensive breed
ng ranches for the purpose of develop.
NO a high class of roadsters will be an
,arly realization OF the future