The Daily Missoulian. [volume] (Missoula, Mont.) 1904-1961, 1909-09-21
BUTTE MAN PRAISES
RESERVATION
FLATHEAD COUNTRY MAKES 4
HIT WITH FORMER CLERK
or SILVER BOW.

recorder of Silver Bow county and
who drew one OF the lucky numbers in
| the land drawing which entities him
to a selection of a homestead well to-
/ ward the head Of the list. has returned
to Butte after spending two weeks on
the reservation. He is most enthusiasts
tic regarding all that he saw and
thinks that the lands on the reserve
are among the finest that ever lay out
Of doors. THE Flathead reservation
is the garden spot of Montana he is
quoted as saying. The soil Is rich,
1t is well watered by lakes and
streams. IL abounds in beautiful seen
cry and on all sides good hunting and
fishing may be found within easy dis
| lance of any principal point.
.'The land of the Flathead is a re-
gion of noble mountains. fertile val
leys and splendid forests. The noun
tains are nearly all clothed with tim
Der and the foothills and valleys. as
a general rule, are of prairie land. The
Pend d'Oreilie river. one of the head
waters of the Columbia river. flows
through the center of the reservation.
and 1T Is fed by one Of the largest
bodies OF fresh water in the west
the Flathead lake. This lake is 30
miles long and averages II miles i'm
| width. One of the pleasures of the
trip through the reservation is the
steamboat ride on the lake. / tried IT.
The day was bright and the water
calm. and l enjoyed an outing which
was worth the ionses; journey to OBJ
tain. There was scarcely ripple on
the water, save those caused by the
| little steamers paddle. To the right
as we sped along could be seen the
rocky foothills which surround the
lake. These We're clothed in green
and mirrored in the CLASSY smothness
of the water. These seemed to pass us
by In a great panorama. the hills
meeting their mirrored pictures in an
endless scene of beauty. 1t was a
majestic review that we witnessed
near Somers and Big Fork. the many
summer cottages and Angel hill. Pic
tured Rocks, Wild Horse island and
| Friendly point. all points II interest.
| greeting us as we swept along in the
staunch little boat.
Among tho places worthy of atten-
| ton pointed out to us on the east side
of the lake was the orchard owned
by former State Senator Brennan, who
has 1880 apple trees the greater part
i'm bearing. These will bring him in
at least $500 this season. and offer
promise for tho future which means
comfortable income as long as the
senator lives. In addition are cher
ries, plums, peaches and other fruits.
all growing to perfection.
James ]. Grant. formerly captain
of police of Butte. has a good ranch
on the lake shore. Inelads4l i'm his
| holdings are 800 acres of AGRICULTURAL
| land and 100 acres of timber. A fine
lake is also on his property. A num-
Der of other former Butte people have
| good properties adjoining the Grant
holdings.
"One of the finest valleys In all
Montana Is that of the Mission river
As the visitor reaches the great crest
of little divide the valley seems to be
lying directly under his feet. 1t is a
gem. and seen during favorable condi-
tions when the grass is green and the
weather sunny. no prettier picture can
be imagined. On the left are the ma
| jestic Mission mountains. their slopes
green. changing from blue to purple
| I'm the distant haze which the en-
chantment of distance adds to their
glory. Rising far above the plain, and
with its peak lost I'm the clouds at
times. Is majestic Mount Mcdonald
/ 1t is 1000 feet above the plain below.
and its summit is ice-crowned always
Far up ON the mountain side can be
/ traced Elizabeth falls. cataract
which has fall of 1000 feet. So far
away Is this cataract that the mighty
/ stream of water looks like a ribbon
and the tremendous roar of the water
/ cannot be heard.
/ AT st. Ignatius mission agriculture
has been praeticed for many seasons
past. inteliigently. too. They raise
everything down there. Father Fall
man told me that from $50 trees he
had picked 1.400 boxes of apples: from
three~fifths of an acre he had dug 4s0
sacks of potatoes: the finest kind of
wheat. oats and barley have been
raised here and alfalfa also does we'll.
Il made the ride across the reserva-
ton on one of the big six-hnrse stage
coaches now in use and was fortunate
To get the seat with the driver n
much coveted honor. The ride was IS
miles to Poison. at the foot of the
lake, and I enjoyed every foot of it.
No ranehman can live on scenery, but
there is plenty of it on the reservation.
In addition there are some of the finest
lands that lay out of doors Much of
the ground near the lake shore has
been allotted to the Indians. but there
are thousands of acres of good lands
still left for the settlers. and few who
drew numbers within the first 1000
will be disappointed. They will surely