The Madisonian. (Virginia City, Mont.) 1873-1915, 1895-06-22
Il MADISON VALE
FRED GIBSON WRITES EX-
H~AUSTlVELY.
To an Eastern Magazine Concerning
The Wonderful Resources Of this
Valley-Am Artistic Descriptive Pen
Picture

MEADOW CREEK. Mont. June IT,
Especial Correspondence THE follow
ing article, descriptive Of the Madison
Valley, appeared recently in the North
west Magazine:
Down in the southwestern part of
Montana, between two grand and i'm
posing mountain ranges, lies a beauti-
full and %pictuetque ~valley-the Madi-
son, one of the first settled of the state.
This valley consists of three basins:
the upper, middle and lower, and al
though separated from the Gallatin
merely by a single range of mountains,
the Madison is comparatively unknown
to the outside world, while the fame of
the Gallatin is nearly world. wide. The
Madison river, 20 named by Lewis and
Clarke in honor of Secretary Madison,
has it's source far up in the Yellow
stone Park. the Firehole river being
its principal tributary.
Here. from the wonderland of the
continent, it rushes swiftly along until
it reaches the wider portion of the val
ley which bears it's name-the Madison
valley ~proper-where it glides smooth
ly but rapidly in long: sinuous wind
ings, past beautiful fields and green
meadows till the Madison river canyon
is reached, one of the most interesting
objects of scenery in the state. Prof.
Hayden says that the Madison valley
up the river from the canyon sis a
marvel of picturesque beauty" Ac-
cording to eminent %geOlogists and
a~rchaeologists, the Madison valley was
once a great inland sea. This immense
body of water. ceaslessly surging and
wearing against the mountain barriers
that held it captive. finally forced an
egress through what is @ the Mad
ison canyon. The canyon is twelve
miles in length, with overhanging
walls from 800 to 700 feet high. Pass
ing along the narrow detile through
the canyon, where a misstep would
hurl one down into the rapid waters.
and looking upward at the O%verhang-
ing masses of rock, one is compelled to
think of his OWL littleness and ''how
wonderful are the works of God" n
railway line has been surveyed through
this canyon. and if ever carried to cCm-
pletion it will be quite Il noteworthy
feat of engineering.
The river hulries rapidly through
the canyon until it energies and again
flows past valley. hill and plain Until it
joins the Gallatin and Jefferson at
Three Forks. to mingle with tie
waters of the 'Great Muddy and fin
ally through the Father Of Waters''
to be carried to the ocean,. But to re-
comprises the farming communities is
about fifty miles long by seven or eight
wide. On the east side Of the valley is
the beautiful Madison range, dividing
Madison county from Gallatin county.
This range has been said by competent
Judges to sulpass in grandeur an
beauty the Swiss Alps. and indeed the
most p~rosaic person would be moved to
enthusiasm on seeing the hues and
tints reflected upon its snowy crests by
the evening sun. From the mOntains
come the numerous streams which az
ford water for %irrigating purposes
Wolf creek. Bear creek, Jackass creek
and many smaller ones give abundance
of water for all needs. The names o
these creeks might strike the uniniti
ated as rather odd, ranging as they d.
from the ferocious wolf down to the pa
tient and dOcile iackass.