The weekly tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1891-1894, 1893-08-10
Greatest Water Wer-lrOn Coal,
Minerals, Farming.
From Every Point of View Great Falls
is Unique-It Offers Untold Advan-
tantages to Capitalists, Settlers and
All Kinds of Enterprise.

City building is one of the most nat
ural and universal instincts OF the hui
mar family. From the earliest history
Of the race a disposition has always been
shown by men to band themselves into
natural enemies, and, later on, for the
purpose of close communication and in
~tercourse with their fellows. This
naturally developed into conditions
which have in more recent generations
led to general commercial exchange and
TO the building of the great commercial
centers of modern times.
II it is to be conceded that the earliest
inhabitants of Europe were the lake.
jewellers, 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
continent and people, are situated on the
banks of streams or other bodies of
water. In the list Of world. famous cities
there is not a single exception to this
rule. The ancient cities of Asia, which
is supposed from biblical history to be
tho craI1a Of tha h,p,nn r,na rnr oil m
the banks Of the Tigris or the
Euphrates, or those Of China.
Later came the cities on the Jordan, the
Nile, the Tiber, the Seine, and the
Thames. Indeed there is not a city that
can be named either in the old or new
world which is not on the banks of a
river or a large stream or lake. In Asia
it is prominently the case. In Europe
not a large or famous city can be named
that is not on a river bank, a seaport, or
d lake, and in the new world it is seen by
the merest glance at the map that no
city that has attained any Importance is
situated far from the water.
Before the era 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 consider
alton. After this was the need Of water
supply for the use Of tine inhabitants,
and probably the greatest of all consider
atoms was the natural sentiment and
sentimental regard which all men feel
for a 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
tendency which moved the earliest in
habitants OF Asia is found to be an i'm
portant factor in the building of cities.
Chicago, Minneapolis, Duluth, st. Paul,
st. Louis, Omaha, Kansas City, New
Orleans. Denver, Salt Lake City, Sacra
mento, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle,
Spokane, and Great Falls are all located
near the water; and even the minor
towns, such as Dave port, St. Joseph,
Quincy, Sioux City, and all other towns
OF any note are on the banks Of streams.
1t stands to reason that in order to be-
come great, a city must have other
qualifications, and u besides the
mere fact OF location on a river bank,
and the purpose of this article is to show
that Great Falls while possessing every
advantage that is possible from the
mere matter Of location is also surround
magnificent resources in the world, and
she has for perpetual use the most ex-
t~ensive, 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 be
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 witch approaches the
Great Falls power. Niagara is un-
doubtedly the greatest known single
water falls in the world, but it is not all
available FOR running machinery aud
only a very small portion Of it can ever
be utilized. With the falls at this city
il is entirely different. a conservative
estimate places the horse power N these
falls at one million, every pound n which
can be utilized by the simplest
engineering feate. So that without fear
~ successful contradiction, we may Hafe-
lY aEsert tLat Great Ealla rnannepnR the