The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-06-21
IT'S RAPID DEVELOPMENT
FROM "A BORDER TOWN
Irrigation Has Made the Lands in
It's Vicinity Enormously Pro-.
ductive, but It Has Also Become
a Great Trading Center.
BY HERBERT vANDERHooF.

ITO1N ~ 20 20 per cent g. year.
On Thursday OF last week registration
for lands in the Crow reservation was
opened, and Billings Is today filled with
thousands Of prospective homesteaders.
men and women, who have staked their
'alp' in order to try their luck at the big
lottery that will be drawn by the gov
eminent officials .next month. Billings
up to the present influx of homeseekers,
had population Of some 1000 or 5000
souls Today, there are over $4,000 people
there or in its vicinity, and probably one
fourth or one third Of this number will!
make their permanent place of abode in
the city of Billings.
Not so many years ago Billings was
looked upon as a wild border town. To-
day she is considered second to none in
the state Of Montana, and to the outside
world the word Billings means a city of
hustling, busy men and women; men and
women deeply devoted to the advance
ment Of their city's interests financially,
socially and educationally.7
When you sit down to cogitate as to
whether or not you deem it advisable to
settle at Billings or whether or not the
people there possess the thrift, heroism,
and daring that succeed in business, !
would call to your attention the awful
price paid by the men who lmmigrated
| from the east years ago to settle this
| country. Only a short distance from Bill
lings stands a monument dedicated to the
| memory of little band of 800 American
soldiers, who gave up their lives In de-
| tending the settler, the immigrant-Majoi
| General Custer and his men. The price
| tana in the early days was tremendous,
| but the descendants of those men are to-
day the backbone Of western industries
! and western progress. This is the ma
terial that the eastern man can expect to
meet with when he comes to Billings.
Is City Of Progress. -
Years ago there were no such things
| known in Montana as irrigation canals,
for there were then but the wide. arid
pans re fba and sn
city of Billings. at first a few huts, but
today she stands pre- eminent in eastern
Montana as a city of progress:
| There are thousands who believe that
| Billings is far from being home city
| But let me say right now that there are
thousands upon thousands Of cities and
towns in the eastern states with the same
population as Billings which cannot dis,
play for an instant the home comforts
| that may be found at Billings. Here
there is general air of happiness, pros
may roam the city from one end to the
other and not find the squalor that is to
! be found in the tenement districts OF
i larger cities. ,<
True it is, the city is new and growing.
but nevertheless the people are happy and
i prosperous. Probably there are no $780,
4 900 mansions to be found there, but In
this district there are quite few men
I capable Of erecting such homes did they
wish to. The houses are those OF men
in comfortable circumstances, we'll kept
and pleasing to the eye. The streets
and thorofares are we'll kept beautifully
11a cd ha w n a
prosperous suburb Of some large city.
From civic standpoint Billings is
again all that you could wish for. There
which has at all times the interests Of
the city at heart. and there lis now ii,
course of construction at Billings a county
BUILDING 8, >. that at when finished, will cost
IT, solIdIty of Billings Banks.
T One of the prides of the city of Billings
is her banking institutions. At present
there are deposited in the banks Of the
city Of Billings $3,225,0o0, tremendous
amount Of money for so young munich
pality. That you may be more impressed
with the financial stability of the banks
Of Billings refer y sSa to the great f1nan
e fal disasters So Of 1892 when banks fen
country, but at Billings the banks rode
calmly thru the sea Of disaster and not
a single failure or embarrassment was
recorded. .--. +.:~r ....*
Of Billings has been tremendous. With
the influx of immigrants to- eastern Mon
tana the deposits at Billings have in,
trading at Billings and the known stabil-
ity Of her banking institutions they have
placed her second to no city in the state
At the present time Of writing there are
one being in sound condition.
The general business Of Billings; is ia,
above the average The city has become
clearing port for all the cities, towns
and Villages dSa in eastern Montana; and las
year $4,000 900 pounds of wool passed
thru the freight houses at Billings. ST,
thousand head Of horses passed thru here
! en- route eastward in 1904 and 1000 heat
OF horses were shipped in 1905 The cat
away up into the hundreds of thousands
Aside from the exact business instnc
OF the people Of Billings commercially,
Billings and its immediate vicinity AS
have already stated. years ago Montana
was was nothing hin but plain, and in part al
eminent engineers have been engaged il
i Harvesting the waters of the YeI!oWston
and the Big Horn: bridling those water
50 that they would serve the farmer an,
render him good service.
% Growth Of Irrigation System.
Today the entire country in the vicinit,
4 Of Billings Is honeycombed with thes
irrigation canals, all Of which water tn
4 lands and which in turn produce goo
i crops. In making these irrigation canal
4 one of the engineering feats was in drill
q Ing bore thru mountains Of rock 1874
4 feet long. which carries an immens
4 amount Of water Great difficulty bese
\ the engineers in this work, but, like tru
Americans, they stuck at the job unit
\ the problem was solved and the result
4 is fertile lands in and around Billings.
+ The principal industry Of Montana
mining, SO that there is an excellent HON
s market for garden truck. The lands ar
h we'll adapted to the cultivation OF thos
4 things necessary for the table. and thos
4 men who have seen far enough ahead t
be on the field today are the men VIII
4 are reaping the harvest But Billings
g growing town !; a fast growing town
and there is room for more men, for NOR
4 market gardeners 4
Within the past few years the sl,ea
s beet industry has attracted the attentio
4 Of farmers thruout the country, and til
experiments made In other states set til
department Of agriculture Of Montana t
thinking. Experiments were made. an
the result is that there Is now COMPLETE
In the city Of Billings and ready for occu
pancy the largest sugar beet factory
the state, capable OF handling 1000 tor
e t.of sugar beet daily. This means the
II there must be grown in and around Bi
lings thousands Of tons Of these beet
, vided for this section Of the state. An
there are plenty Of other industries the1
a5I to Considerable growing, coal mnin,
2 sheep raising, farming, dairying and fru