The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1909-11-25
Letter from Montana.
montana Weather." Missourians and
Mules. Soil that Needs no Fertilizer.
A Ride to Rocky Canyon.


BOHEMIAN, MONTANA, November 10,
1909. We are having our first touch of win
ter now, after perfectly delightful fall
which the loyal residents Of Bozeman
will tell you is regular Montana wealth
err" And by the way, unless you would
be picked out for ''tenderfoot" imme-
diately you must learn to pronounce the
name of the State as if the second sylla--
BILE was the shade 'tan." That seems
to be one of the tests by which an
fastener is spotted" Differences in
pronunciation are to be expected here,
surely, for North and South and East
have all contributed their quota to the
making of this part of the West. Among
the original settlers here, however, were
a great many Missourians, and that may
account in measure for the number OF
mules used in this section. Mule teams
are no novelty here, and several OF the
delivery teams about town are drawn by
them. Double teams are the almost in
variable rule, and as horses are so much
more plentiful than men, what they call
''trailers" are used good deal. A four
horse team will draw two loaded wagons,
thus saving an extra driver, for help is as
scarce here as it is in the East, and dur
ing the harvesting season it is almost an
lmpossibility to secure men. The traction
engines that go putting and snorting
about the streets are novelty to eastern
eyes, and not long ago regular train
passed our house. The engine was fol-
lowed by water tank, the threshing
machine, cook wagon, and a wagon con-
tanning the tents, poles, ETC., used while
the outfit is camping
Of course everybody in this country
rides, and one sees children of five and
six years of age riding spirited horses
with an ease and assurance envied by the
tenderfoot. AS they begin to ride almost
as soon as they begin to walk, the young
people are as much at home in the saddle
as on foot, and they ride like centaurs.
AS this is not ''cow country" one seldom
sees the ''real things" in cowboys here,
although an occasional one, in chaps and
wide brimmed hat, bronzed to the Vir-
ginian's shade, is seen in the town.
This is one of the richest valleys in the
State, and the rich, black loan is spe-
cially adapted to wheat and oats, so that
the ranchmen turn most Of their ener-
gies in that direction, but not to the
entire exclusion of stock and horses.
The soil is so rich that no fertilizer is
needed. 1t is ideal for farming, but it is
far from ideal for road making, and the
unpaved streets are very nearly impas-
sable after storm, as the mud is so
deep, slippery and Shiny that it resem-
bles black glue. The city is gradually
compelling system Of cement sidewalks
that are most satisfactory, and one of
their advantages to the stranger is that
the names of the streets are sunk into
the walks at each corner, so that if one
looks down, and not up, one cannot get
lost.
One thing that strikes stranger as
bit peculiar is the extent Of the gum
chewing habit here. Men, women and
children, on the street, at home, at lee
lures, concerts, and even in church, keep
up an incessant chewing. One sees
whole families at lecture, for instance,
chewing with an abandon and whole
hearted interest that speaks volumes for
the strength and durability of their jaw
muscles, if not for their sense of harmony
and rhythm, and one longs for a day
when the schools will institute a course
in systematic and concert chewing" so
that the members of the family will at
least keep time with one another. Not
only people whom you would expect to
be devotees of the american habit"
chew, but you may meet a lady who
charms you by her manner and cultivat-
ed accent and in conversing with her
may suddenly become convinced Of the
fact that she is chewing gum-and as
likely as not it is spearmint!
Last week we drove out to Rocky Can
yon, about eight miles to the east. The
famous old trail, through Bozeman Pass,
which was the connecting link between
eastern and western Montana for many
years, is through this canyon, where the
tracks of the Northern Pacific are now
laid. Instead Of going over the Pass,
however, they have tunnelled quite ex-
tensively, and now the smothered roar
of the Iron horse" echoes through the
canyon walls that have looked down up
on many strange and historic scene. 1t
was through this pass that Clark went
after traversing this valley on his way
to rejoin Lewis at Three Forks in 1906,
and it was through this pass, years be-
fore, that Indian hunting parties came
for brief tarry in the wide and fertile
Gallatin valley. 1t is a matter of some
speculation why there were no perma-
nent Indian settlements here, in what
seems an ideal location from their point
of view; but it is a fact that since 1900,
at least, there were no Indian villages
here, and in all the length and breadth Of
the valley there is but one place, on Mid