The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1895-10-12

Fargo. Sept. 23.-There are but few
Indians seen along the line of the North
ern Pacific railroad and it is claimed
those are mainly engaged in agricul-
tural and industrial pursuits. The ex-
tindtion of the buffalo has rendered
them more susceptible to the civilizing
influences brought TO bear upon them
than formerly. At the various agencies
good crops of grain are now being
raised. The soil Is very fertile and well
adapted to both grazing and tillage.
Custer Is reached after run of
eighty-fve miles, passing eight unim-
portant stations. 1t is a station on the
Crow Indian reservation, deriving it's
name from Fort Custer which Is thirty
miles southwark. reached by stage over
a good government road daily. This
military post Is the largest in the west,
and Is situated near the scene of the
Custer massacre of June 20, 1876. A
further description may be given later
Before reaching Custer we cross the
turbulent waters Of the Big Horn river
about two miles from its mouth by q
bridge 600 feet in length and soon enter
ing tunnel over a thousand feet long,
emerge into the valley of the Big Horn,
made memorable by repeated conflicts
with the Sioux.
TYPICAL Indian Reservation.
The Crew Indian reservation is To-
Gated here. 1t extends along the south
side OF the Yellowstone river for 80
miles. with an average wld'ah of Is miles.
This Is said to he the most fertile ard
best watered area in Montana, covering
n territory as large as the state of
Massachusetts,. The Crow Indians are
friendly to the government and to the
whites. They are considered. however,
far inferior to their old enemies. the
Sioux (who have given the government
so much trouIble), in intelligence, handi-
craft and bravery. They number now
5000 all told, who gather about the
agency In winter subsisting on govern
merit beef and -four, and spend the sum-
Iner in roaming about the country. They
own 10000 ponies and are very rich
tribe, and In proportion to their num-
bers, the richest in the world, their
wealth aggregating $500 per head.
This Is, however. due to the natural in
crease Of their live stock, chiefly ponies.
rather than to their own industry and
thrift. In 1892 they ceded to the gov
ernment for handsome sum. in cash,
a strip of country forty by sixty miles in
area, on the western end of their
domain, which embraced the Clark 8
Ford gold and silver mines that have
proved So valuable.
The Crows in the early days Of mining
settlement in Montana, served as bar
rier to protect the mining camps from
the hostile Sioux. and in the military
campaign for the conquest of the Sioux,
they proved of great value as scouts and
allies to our troops.
POmpey's Pillar.
Westward from Custer. twenty-five
miles. Is Pompey's Pillar, a mass of yell
low sandstone rising abruptly to a
height of 400 feet, its base covering near
ly an acre of ground. About half way
up the side, Captain William Clark, the
explorer, carved his name July 25, 1906,
in letters three feet long, and
eighteen inches high. The Indians
have also carved the figures of
animals and other objects on the
sides OF the rocks. After a run of
% miles through stock raising country
we reach Billings, the beginning of the
Montana division OF the road. Here
are the roundhouse and car shops con-
nected with the road. besides extensive
cattle yards. for Billings is one of the
principal cattle shipping points and Sec
ond only to Miles City in Montana. 1t
Is the largest wool shipping point in the
state over four million pounds of wool
was sent from here in 1898, and that
was increased in 1894. AS a natural
locality for manufacturing 1t has nc
| superior. The Yellowstone river affords