Fergus County argus. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1886-1946, 1906-05-25


is and Clarke, in 1904, were the first
to set foot on any part of Fergus
County and it was probably not till
after the middle of the nineteenth
century that white mans eyes looked
upon the ground where Lewistown now
stands. Think of the Judith Basin be-
fore that time. The mountains AMI
the valleys and the prairies had re-
manned just as they are today, while
hundreds of years had rolled by. Hun.
dreds of times the green grass had
appeared in the spring upon the hill.
sides; hundreds OF times the wild
flowers had blossOmed in midsummer
Jpn the prairies; hundreds of Indian
summers had come and passed; hun.
dreds of times the SNOW storms had
come from the northwest. covering
all with their layers of white, accun.
ulating during the long winters to
melt again in the spring time. Here
lived in peace the buffalo, the antelope,
and the noble elk, and at night the
air was stirred by the howl of the
wolf. Some times a tribe of Indians
would wander through or perhaps live
here for a few years. hunting and
fishing.
Finally came the white man. The
first was the trapper, the employee
of the big fur companies, finding
here the beaver. mink and otter skins
which he hunted Not far behind was
the sturdy prospectOr and then came
the stock man bringing the hundreds
of cattle and thousands of sheep
which were to eat down the bunch
grass that before had grown higher
than the buffalo's knee. This industry
brought into existence the distinctly
western characters, the cowboy and
the sheepherder. Soon, very soon, all
these were forced aside by the flood
of immigrants from the east and today
we have railroads and the country
in possession of the small farmer and
the rich mine owner. 1t was not more
than thirty years ago when the first
metamorphosis as has taken place
in the development of our west is
without parallel in history. Man is
master of the world and in adapting
it to his uses, some of the changes
he makes are truly marvellous.
To the old pioneer who knew this
country as it existed one or two de-
cade ago, and to his sons and daughters
who loved it as it was in their child
hood days, there is just bit of sad
ness in the thought of the changes
which have taken place. Here, where
before. only the touch of Gods hand
had been known, man has come and
taken possession; he has killed the
beaver and slaughtered the buffalo
that he might sell their skins for mon.
ey: he has divided up the valleys and
the prairies by means of his barbed
wire fences that he might sell them
and become rich; he has plowed under
the bunch grass and planted wheat
which would bring him profit; he has
even claimed the mountain sides that
he might dig into them and secure
their treasures. Never again will this
land be the great free wilderness
that it was.
But of course such thoughts a.
these have no place in the life of to
day, and the men who braved the dan
gers and sOlitudes of the unknown
west realize as well as anyone how
much more the Judith Basin is worth
to the world now than it was thirty
years ago. They realize. too, that the
development has but just begun and
that the most vital, and perhaps the
most interesting chapters of the Rom
ance of the west" are yet to come
They see that the destinies of this
county, henceforth, are to be in the
hands of educated men, and to that
end they have trained their children,
/ Armed with the best mental equip.
ment that modern educational insti.
tutlons can give him, the pioneers son
is going to continue the DEVELOPMENT
OF this land which the pioneer learned
to love and for which he has sacri.
feed much.
RALPH TAVENNER, 'O6.