Daily inter mountain., 1900-12-21
LAND OF BIG RED APPLES.
MAGNIFICENT FRUIT CROP OF RAvALLI COUNTY-GREAT FOR
ESTS ARE THE FINEST IN THE WEST.

streams and float the logs down the Bit-
ter Root to the mills, but last year, under
the advice of Supt Totmaa, a logging
railroad was built which allows the
lumber jack" to go further from the
streams an attack the forest giants in
their inland fastness. This logging road
by the way, is constructed in a manner
much more substantial than one would
imagine 1t would be if only intended to
be temporary. 1t is standard guage,
with Il solid roadbed. and many believe
it will We prove part of regular and
permanent line across the mountains
into the Clearwater country Of Idaho.
The Hamilton mills closed down last
week for the season. and the logging
train has also stopped but two, perhaps
three logging camps VIZ run all winter m
the timber. preparing logs for next seas
sons run. The mills here cut up %, ,O0O,-
GOO feet of lumber the past season. and
their product is the best and clearest in
the state.
MINES ARE PROSPEROUS.
The fact is just now being established
that in addition to lumber and garden
truck Ravalli county is also rich in
minerals. What is known as the Min
Just over the line into Idaho, but reached
only from this side, and covering an area
of some fifty square miles, is proving to
! be very rich in gold, silver and copper.
although few locations have been de<
Veloped to any extent mainly because
of the great difficulty of getting sup-
plies in But recently good wagon road
mas been constructed by private parties
at cost of several thousands of dollars.
and on one mine the Monitor, a concen-
traitor and other ma machinery are about
| completed. This mine shows very rich
ore, the vein is very large one and the
Monitor and others in the same district
will soon set the mining capitalists to in-
| Vesting in this section. The once famous
| Curlew mine. near Victor is in RavallI
county, and VII resume it's place among
the paying propositions of the state,
| While near 1T are many good prospects.
! Hughes Creek, on the West Fork of the
Bitter Root, is very rich placer district.
and as it is opened up good paying mines
are shown some paying as high as $50
per day to the man. Placer ground that
shows pay dirt is also found in the foot
hills of the range back of Corvallis, and
! paying placer mines have been worked
| for some years in the hills back of Three
| Mile. Large deposits of coal have also
been found in the Hughes Creek coun-
| try and copper discoveries have been
made on the west side. not twenty miles
| from Hamilton. Pottery clay has also
been found in Ravalli county, and sans
pies of pottery made from it show that il
is just the right stuff
PEOPLE AND POLITICS. =.
Ravalli county has population OF
| /
il is steadily growing, many from outside
! coming in every year and investing in
| homes. The vote of the county last
month was 2,045, showing an increase Of
over $50 since 1898. In politics the par-
ties are about evenly divided between
the republicans and democrats, the re-
publicans having a shade the best Of
it. In the recent election the republi-
cans made clean sweep of every county
office, besides electing their two repre-
sentatives. The newly elected officers
of the county are as fol,oySs Sheriff,
Jas. D. Watts; county clerk, Howard D..
Smart; treasurer, Chas. H. Buck; as
SCISSOR, Chas. NJ. Johnson: clerk of the
district court, J. F. Cone; county attor-
ney. w. p. Baker; county superinten-
dent, Miss Kittie Ostermeyer; surveyor,
Louis Lacrossiere; public administra~
tor. J. D. Miser; coroner, w. D. Guns
ingham.
The assessed valuation of the county
| is $2,9lS, ,499 and the rate of taxation is
2a1a mills. The county seat of the county,
from it's creation to 1898, was at Stevens
Vile, but in that year it was removed to
Hamilton where a handsome new court
house and Jail, to cost in the neighbor-
hood of 100000, are nearly completed, on
half block of ground donated for the
purpose by the townsite company, and
which will be ready for the new county
officers by the middle of February.
Hamilton, the county seat, Is the
largest town in the county, and has a
population of about 1000. Lying next to
it is the famous Bitter Root stock farm,
founded by Marcus DAILY. on which some
OF the most celebrated horses of the de-
cade have had their homes, and from
which many have gone to carry the cop
per and green colors to victory. The
glories Of this farm, however, are about
to depart and the kings and queens OF
the running and trotting turf such as
Hamburg, Tammany, Ogden, Montana
Bathampton, Inverness, Prodigal, China
Silk and others will all go under the
hammer.
The other flourishing towns of the
county are Stevensville, Corvallis. Vic.
tor, Florence and Darby, and all have q
{ fine and prosperous country tributary
to them.
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES