Judith Gap journal., 1909-12-31

ditiOns had come. Steam, which in
the early days of the last century
was scarcely known and the great
possibilities before it, unrecognized.
was destined to revolutionize COM
merce and industry. Similarly also
it was destined to solve the problem
of opening up the great west to the
people of the east and south intent
upon bettering their condition and
who, with true AnglC-SaxOr spirit of
conquest, vearned to possess the great
plains and mountains of what is now
Montana, and the other states of this
splendid northwest. Without this
agency Of steam the problem could
not have been solved. The great nav
igable rivers of the south, as we have
seen, made settlement easy. In the
northwest the streams did not possess
navigable waters up which the set
tiers could sail their boats and found
settlements. Therefore the great
need was the railroad that should
penetrate in various directions and
open up large tracts of undeveloped
land to the settler. 1t is curious
and suggestive fact that while in the
east and south, because of navigable
waters, settlement preceded the rail
road. here in the north and west the
railroad preceded settlement.
This is curiously seen in the push
ing back and ultimate obliteration of
the frontier" Previous to the last
twenty years there was always a
FRONTIER" but each succeeding year
saw it gradually pushed farther west
as the railroad spread out its steel
tentacles to seize and open up for the
the thrifty and intelligent newcomer
additional tracts of land naturally
fertile and only needing the skill and
handiwork Of man to cause it ''to bud
and blossom as the rose" Now there
is no frontier" The Great Ameri-
can Desert, that great bugbear of our
fathers, has well nigh disappeared
and what is left of it but needs the
energy and resourcefulness of man to
change into fruitful orchards, fields
OF ripening grain, the busy mining
camp and the populous and character
which form the real city.
Take this state. Montana. What
erroneous views once prevailed con-
cerning it. 1t was widely believed at
the time the south and east were be-
ing developed, that this section could
never he anything but vast wilder
ness Of mountain and plain over
which the wild beasts and the still
wilder Indian would roam unmolest-
ed. Except for the ventursome fur
hunter-the emissary Of the Hudson
Bay Company-the prospectOrs, or
the restless explorer, it's soil was un-
trod by the foot of the white man
from the day when Lewis and Clark
forged their way westward in the in
terests of science and the territorial
advantage of this nation, until the
new era Of economic conditions Of
which we have spoken and make pos
sible the opening Of this section to
the settler and forever swept away
the misconception that had been
formed as to the character OF the soil,
climate and natural resources.
The Montana of today with it's vast
area i'll which several eastern states
might be comfortably hidden, which
could enfold all the British Isles and
leave room to spare, Montana with
its enormous tlocks and herds. it's
rich and various mineral deposits,
especially of copper, in which it about
equals the rest of the United States.
it's magnificent stretches of valley
and plain yielding we'll nigh fabulous
crops of grasses, grains and fruits,
it's unparalleled water power easily
available for manufacturing, mining
and agricultural purposes, it's vast