The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-06-16
He Land of HiaUatha, Today.

prises brought into being, the deserts
 drenched, the wilderness penetrated,
 and the mountains pierced. in short,
 the millions of homes made for the
 hahitation of man by what may be
 called pioneer lines. make up an
 overwhelming reputation of the new
 contention that the railroad is a non-
 producer. In the matter of opening up
 new territories, 1t is the first the pio-
 neer producer, which can claim credit,
 wholly or in part, for everything from
 the first cleared field and the saw mill spur, to the fine farm and the city
 for the finished products. which are civilization.
 Probably nowhere on this continent
 have the natural riches of forest and
 mine lain dormant at the very door of an eager and venturesome civilization so utterly unknown as have the riches of New ontario, which touches the re- public just west of the lakes. Here within sight, almost, of Uncle Sam, are
 vast forests, rich gold fields, and noun tains of iron ore, and all practically hun untouched until the railway reached it's Tsteel fingers into the forest on the way to the wheat fields of the Far West.
 We are constantly learning, forget ting and finding out again what was demonstrated by the building of the first Pacific line to cross this continent namely, that it is not through traffic
 but local business that makes up the
 revenue of the railway and renders it's | operation possible. Here, in New On tario, where the hand of nature seems
 to have hurriedly smoothed out the earth as it rose from the deep, leaving 1t gnarled, twisted and tangled, rock ribbed. uninviting at first glance, and often impenetratble at the second, the road builders have found a p.th for the steed of steel, and in so doing have traversed pine forests, found wide fer
 tile fields, and uncovered millions in
 mineral wealth, so that what appeared to be a vast waste Is providing homes for thousands employment for hun | dreds of thousands of men and women and millions of money. Capital, nc 1 longer timid. now that the richness o1 | the country has been demonstrated, fol. l lowing in the wake of the pathfinders 1 Is opening mines, building stamp mills I saw mills and flour mills. harnessine | the rapids and developing energy tc turn the wheels of commerce.
 Already at Fort Francis. there is in 1 operation one of the most complete lumber manufacturing plants in Canada and all along the line are new indust- ries that have been made possible by l the, building of the railway. The reg | ion is not all rocks and lakes and iron
 mountains. As early as 1857, Govern | ment reports called attention to the
 richess of the soil and the abundance
 of Indian corn grown by the natives 1 of the northern forests.
 l In 1875 much of the land along the rivers was laid out in long narrow | plats to give each settler access to the
 river over his own ground. A few set | tiers came in about the time of the | al 41@ It,A l lonely land, remote from older settle
 ment. and utterly without railway communication with the outside world I with all it's native wealth, failed to 1 furnish the necessary compensation fol l ths sacrifice of civilization to attract
 and hold settlers to any great ex- | tent Now. however. within the past | few years, homesteaders have been | hooking into the new fields In such
 numbers that the land Is fairly well 1 taken up. back ten to fifteen miles from l the railway. Roads are being opened
 and every convenience possible to pion-
 eo ing is to be had.
 l Here are to be seen the ancient Hud-
 sons Bay buildings. into which the
 trappers for a century and a half have i gone with their skins, and From which
 tho have emerged with tweeds and to- I bacco. tea and contented minds Here ! the Jesuit Fathers fought the good l fight according to -neir faith. and in
 tn ,se wilds the feuds of the fur compa-
 nies were fought out Tn the years
 when the Hudson's Bay and the North | West Company were contending for 1 the control of an empire that was
 asleep and whicl Is only now. after 1 the lapse of a century. stirring to life
 Here. after all tLese years, stands the old H, B. Post. monument to the
 pluck and perseverance of The Gov
 elnor and the Company Gentlemen
 Adventurers trading into Hudson's
 Bay" antedated only by the mounds
 made therei by the ancient mound build,
 CTS. these and the rock and rills are
 older than the HuGsons Bay Com
 pany.
 So, as we wind along the banks of
 the Indian-named rivers, we are wind
 ing through a labyrinth of natura
 wealth, soon to be brought forth for i the use of mankind. And so by these
 river passes we come to the shore oi
 what e Ojibwas called the Big Sea- l water" And so by this new>but at-
 tractive trail, We come to Port Arthur
 which is often called The Gateway to 1 the West"