The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-05-31

I reached only by going some hundreds of
| miles out of the direct course How are
| you going to apply steam? Have you
| made anything like an estimate of the
| cost OF railroad running from here to
| The mouth of the Columbia? Why, all
! the wealth of the Indies would be in
sufficient! You would have to tunnel
| through mountains 500 or 600 miles in
extent. With a bankrupt treasury and
depressed and suffering people, to
| talk about constructing a railroad to
| the western shore of this continent
manifests wild spirit of adventure
| which L never expected to hear
| preached in the senate of the United
| States Of what use will this be for
| agricultural purposes? I would not for
| that purpose give a pinch of snuff for
| the whole territory. / wish to God we
| didn't own it. / wish it was an inn
| passable barrier to secure us against
the intrusion of others. Who are we to
send there? If any man who is to go
to that country was my child, would
say to him for Gods sake do not go
there. But if + had a son whose con-
duet was such as made him fit sub
iect for Botany bay, l would say. in
the name of God, go. Is there man
here who supposes that the wealth or
power Of the United States will be in
creased to the amount of one solitary
cent by all the colonists that may be
prevailed upon to go there? No, sir,
not a cent! I do not wish to tempt
people to form settlements there. I
thank God for His mercy in placing the
Rocky mountains there. You cannot
civilize men if they have an indefinite
extent of territory over which to spread
| their numbers, for so long as they
spread their numbers instead of be-
coming civilized, they become semi
| savage"
! Some Unkind Comment.
| In 1874 the National Intelligencer
quotes approvingly from the Louisville
Journal an editorial saying 'Of all
countries upon the face of the earth,
Oregon is one of the least favored by
heaven. 1t is the mere Kidding of Gre
alton. 1t is almost as barren as Sahara
and quite as unhealthy as the Cam
pagna of Italy. Russia has her Siberia
and ENGLAND has her Botany bay, and
if the United States should ever need
a country to which to Danish her
rogues and scoundrels. the utility of
such a region as Oregon would be dem
onstrated.' If Oregon, in which were
our fertile valleys of the Deer Lodge,
Bitter Root, Missoula, Flathead and
Kootenay, We're thus esteemed, the ex-
coriaton of the regions east of the
Rocky mountains were thrice depre-
catory. All this literature was summed
up in few words by Mr.. Webster:
What do we want" said he, with
, the vast worthless area, this region of
| saveges and wild beasts, of deserts,
of shifting sands and whirlwinds of
dust, of cactus and prairie dogs? To
what use could've ever hope to put
these great deserts or these endless
mountain ranges, impenetrable and
covered to their base with eternal
snow? Mr.. President, ! will never vote
one cent from the public treasury to
place the Pacific coast one inch nearer
to Boston than it is now"
Such was the opinion civilized men
entertained of this great region, now
so prolific of all that nature can sup
ply for the comforts of it's Inhabitants.
From the Platte river to the SaSkat-
chewan, none but occasional advent
urers had penetrated its Businesses, and
had not given it to the geography Of
mankind. None comprehended the fer
tility of of its soil, the benignity of its
climate, the wealth of its forests and
mines or it's capacity to minister to
the happiness of man. A single voice
through all this deprecatory history
was raised in its behalf. chief of
the Crow Indians, Arapooh, with an
enthusiasm creditabe to his intellect
and conformable to the Judgment of a
multitude of Anglo-Saxon observers in
our day, in language characteristic of
his race and tribe, spoke thus of the
region in which we are assembled
THE Grow country is a good coun-
try. The Great Spirit has put it
exactly in the right place; while you
are in it you fare we'll; whenever YOU
go out Of it, whichever Way you travel,
y0 fare worse.
IF you go to the south you have to
wander over great barren plains; the
water is warm and bad and you meet
the fever and ague.
ITO the north it is cold: the winters
are long and bitter, with no grass; you
cannot keep horses there, but must
travel with dogs. What is a country
without horses?
''On the Columbia they are poor and
dirty; paddle about in canoes and eat
fish, Their teeth are worn out; they
are always taking fish-bones out of
their mouths. Fish is poor food.
ITO the east they dwell in villages;
they live WELL but they drink the
muddy water of the Missouri-that is
bad: Crows dog would not drink such
water
About the forks of the Missouri is a
fine country. good water, good grass,
plenty of buffalo In summer it is al
most as good as the Grow country, but
in winter it is cold, the grass is gone,
and there is no salt weed for the
horses"
Those Who Were Here.
Neither Washington Irving nor Cap
tain Bonneville gave credence to the
Indian whose home was upon these
lands, and who spoke them thus fair.
There is no wonder that on such benign
ant lands, with such prolific waters and
fertile meadows, this abode of game was
coveted by the native races, who had in
habited it from time immemorial. The
threat
ened to dispossess them of so fair a
domain, and they resented the intrusion
from motives of selfishness as well as
motives of affection. Here their an
cestors had abided through centuries
in contentment and peace. Here they
had been born and had buried their dead
and grave approximations filled their
minds rs the onrushing tide OF clvili-
cation rolled from the Atlantic towards
the Pacific sea. Our civil commotion
had given new impulse to migration,
and a great cloud of people Joined in