The enterprise. [volume] (Harlem, Mont.) 1899-1926, 1911-03-02

and damaging story ABOUT MOntana
makes it's appearance in some paper
outside the state. A sensational
article will be paid for and published
while one setting forth the salubrity
of the climate, the great inflow of
population, and the marvellous crops
produced will not be accepted, even
if we'll gotten up and offered free.
Our state having superior advantages
is drawing population from the older
states and this may be a reason be-
sides the love of the sensational for
the appearance of such articles.
AS sample of the unjust and SEN
sational advertising Montana some
times gets, | reproduce an article
published in the st. Paul Dispatch, i,
Feb. 3. 1911.
Snow Starving Montana Stock
Crust On Surface Keeps Thousands From
Grazing on Blackfoot Reservation
Much Snow At Ribbing. Snow This Week
Spreads Thick Blanket Owes Big Area
In The Northwest
Helena, Mont. Feb. 3.-With from
three to four feet of thickly crusted
snow covering the grazing land of
the Blackfoot Indian reservation,
and one of the coldest spells in the
history of that section of the state
prevailing, hundreds of head of cattle
rarnrfo6 fn hn hipr ht1n
grave fears are felt for the safety of
thousands of others.
Fifty Thousand head Of range cattle
are at large on the reservation, and
nnless the present cold spell, which
has lasted since December %, with
but one break OF a few hours, that
served only to crust the snow, Is re-
placed by a chinook wind before
many days, a large percentage of
them, it isfeared, willstarve or freeze
to death, according to A. +. McFat-
eredge the Indian agent in charge of
the reservation. Eighty head of
steers, which had ti"undered in
single drift, were. counted by him
from the train which brought him to
Helena from Browning yesterday.
Driven by the blizzard, thousands
Of cattle were seen along the right Of
way, and several times the train was
brought to a standstill. while the
cattle, half starved and half frozen,
were driven from the tracks. Live
stock companies, allowed to pasture
cattle on the reservation by virtue
Of special permits, it is said, will
suffer heavy losses. Of the 5000
head of range cattle owned by the
Sun River Land and Livestock COM
pany, it is feared hundreds will
perish. Officers of the Floweree
Cattle company. which also has ap-
proximately 5000 head of cattle on
the reserve. fear severe loss. AL
though the Indian rangers disposed
OF much of their hay last fall, most
Of them still have enough on hand
to carry them for some time. Many
Indians, however, have large herds
ou the road and for these fears are
he1d-Friday, Feb. 8, 1911.
In reading this article your atten-
tion will at once be drawn to the fact
that the writer at Helena is far dis
tant from the Blackfeet Reservation
and can have no first hand knowledge
of his subject. Also the Blackfeet
reservation is not typical of Montana,
it being a high country near the main
range Of the Rocky Mountains.
Another consideration is that the
United States Government is in con-
troll of the reservation and no cattle
can be brought into it except on
leases issued by it's authority or be-
longing to it's wards. If cattle are
to remain where they are un-
able to get food the responsibility
rests with the government officials.
No one in Montana believes that
any considerable loss of cattle will
result from the snow conditions in
the reservation. lam informed, also,
that some of the cattle in distress
have drifted across the line from
Canada.
My objection is that such sensa- !
tional articles create an unfa vorable |
opinion of Montana generally. Con-
ditions in the mountains of New
Hampshire or New York are at times
bad, but such places are not taken as
typical of those states.
The conditions in the Blackfeet
Reservation are not representative
Of the range conditions in Montana;
and surely such reports are libelous
If they lead people to believe that
similar conditions or anything like