The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1896-02-29
AT FULLER SPRINGS
The Cattle Have Wintere1 Well in the
Ranges Near There.
SENATOR METZEL'S RANCH
Placer Feds in The CraveIly Range
bitches to he Constructed
Prospect Of an immense
electric Power liant.
speclal Correspondtnce Of the standard.

Special Correspond of the Standard.
Fuller Springs, Feb 26.-The stock
men in the Upper Ruby valley are
quite jubilant this year over the con-
dition which cattle are in at the open
ing of spring. Seldom, if ever, have
they passed through the winter with
so little loss. or come out at this time
of year in as good form as they are
now. The foothills are almost denuded
of snow, and pasturage is good in all
of the ranges. A good deal of this
state of affairs is due to the fact that
the stock growers of this section drive
their cattle off the home ranges in the
summer and feed them up in the Red
Rock country and Centennial Basin.
This gives grass a chance to grow and
mature here, and when the snow drives
them out of the places mentioned, they
come down and winter where but lit
tie snow covers the ground the year
round.
Senator Alex Metzel has lately i'm
proved his herd of shorthorns by the
importation of carload of young bulls.
some of them full-blooded Crui5shanks,
and the remainder shorthorns of the
finest breeding, and with pedigrees that
carry their ancestry back into the royal
families of British 'bovinedom The
senator has a splendid stock farm here.
range which is practically limitless
In extent extending, as it does. several
miles back into the rolling hills on the
west side of the Ruby river, and
thanked on the north and south by
bluffs which render it inaccessible to
9ther stock without breaking through
his enclosure
Mr.. Metzel has occupied Lock ranch
for something over a quarter of a CEN
fury, and in all this time has devoted
his energies TO the improvement of the
cattle herds of the Upper Ruby. those
OF his neighbors receiving almost as
much OF his attention as do his own
The natural result is that i'm this sec
llon are to be found cattle which are
unsurpassed in size and form by those
OF any other part of the state. and
thelr owners find no difficulty in find
ing good market for their animals
when they wish to sell
Fuller Springs is, or has been. one of
the famous health resorts of Southern
Montana, and of all the thermal waters
in the state there are few which sur
pass these in restorative and reiuve-
natlng properties. When they were
nrst opened to the public they were the
Mecca of rheumatic and diseased peo-
pie from all parts, and many owe their
present robust condition to the bene-
ncial effects of these springs In this
respect they are as good now as ever
out their isolated position, situated
some 10 miles from the nearest town
has been a drawback to them. and but
lew except residents of the near neigh
Dorhood avail themselves of the health
giving qualities of their waters The
MOTEL is closed, and only one of the old
attaches of the place remains to take
care OF the baths and guide visitors 10
SUCH accommodations as the place af-
fords.
BESIDES the stock growing business.
which is the principal industry at this
end OF the Ruby valley. but little else
mas been engaged in of late years.
just now, however, a good deal of in
terest is felt in the prospective rich
ness of the Gravelly range, which laws
TO the southeast of here and i'm which
considerable prospecting has been done
IN the last year or two. IL is known
that the gulches which empty into the
Stinkingwater in this neighborhood
contain large beds of auriferous gravel
and In many places these deposits have
been made to pay good wages. even
win the primitive means of gold saw
ing which were employed. and the linn
tied amount of water which was OH
talhed Tor slulcinS. Barton's, or Need
Sulch, as IL is sometimes called has
been worked for n number of wears nv
Hugh King. who is still working and
making wages near its confluence with
the Ruby, and Alex Garrett and Others
are huming the upper part of the gulch
with varying success. In Idaho guIch.
good prospects have been obtained
and with n good supply of water IL
could be made TO pay handsomely. The
same may be said of Warm Spring,
gulch, where the late Capt. J. II. pa
Wis is said to have made from So TO SO
a day during the spring months. with
scarcely more than n rocker head of
water from Lazy Mans creek
AS these. with several Other. oa1l,baS
are offshoots from the Gravelly range.
the explorations which have been re-
Gently made there have aroused the
interest of the settlers herea bouts. and
several of them have taken up claims
lately which they would have hardly
looked at for gold mining purposes a
few years ago. The scarcity of water
is. or has been, the great obstacle i'm
the way Of development and probab bly,
will continue to be so as far as the
main range is concerned. But there is
n large scope of country over which
several thousand inches of water can
be carried at very little cost, which. il
is claimed. will yield handsome returns
for the outlay. There are several claims
here which. if consolidated and placed
under the control of one person or COM
pany. would afford work for a large
number of men for an indefinite Pc
Rod.
The Standard is informed that steps
are being taken with a view 70 such a
consolidation. and that a ditch has al
ready been surveyed from the Ruby
river 70 Warm Spring creek. a distance
of five and one-half miles. for the pur-
pose II conveying water 70 work these
gravel beds. The survey was made I'M
der the direction OF Fl. l.. Childs.
well-known mining engineer and eN-
pert Of Virginia City. and in his report
the feasibility Of bringing a good work
= D.
longest season is fully demonstrated. /
In fact. the whole of the Ruby river