The Republican journal., 1916-03-16
"Reminiscences OF
Western Travels.
A Week IN Montana.
BY HELEN m. TODD.

The train that afternoon over the Ore
gon Short Line was very crowded, and
as we made ourselves comfortable in our
section, and listened to the complaints
of our fellow-passengers, many of whom
had been compelled to take upper berths,
we were thankful for the letter of in
PRODUCTION to the Salt Lake City agent,
that had made it easy for US TO secure
accommodations. The most impressive
Dit of scenery was observed about dusk,
as we passed through the Bear River
Canyon, where the river tumbling through
its rocky gorge, and the extensive irri-
cation project there under construction,
made an interesting subject for pho
sograph.
That evening party of young fellows
on government surveying party board
ed the train, and kept things lively for
awhile. If berths had been scarce at
beginning they were decidedly minus
quantity by this time, and those of the
boys who could not get chance to sleep
two by two in the few uppers there were
left sat up in the smoking room until
morning. 1t was well after midnight
when peace and quiet finally descended
upon the sleeper, and it seemed only a
few moments before our travelling
alarm clock reminded US that we must
change at Butte at quarter of seven, if
the train was on schedule time. 1t was
on time, or very nearly so, and the local
for Bozeman was held long enough to
permit our scrambling aboard with only
a hurried glance at that portion of Butte
visible from the station. Even that
passing glimpse gave US mental pic
ture of dingy, unattractive city, where
the paraphernalia of mines and mining
held the most prominent place in the
landscape. We were told later that it
would be a most interesting town to
visit, since it is unique from many stand
points. In buying houselot in Butte
one buys the surface of the ground only,
and down below the shallow cellars, the
ceaseless mining for copper and iron
goes on.
The beauty and fertility of the Gala
sin Valley was a most welcome change
after the desert vistas to which we had
become accustomed, and former Boze
man resident, and of course a most en-
thusiastic booster" added greatly to
the pleasure of our journey by his de-
scriptions and stories of the country.
The ride to Rozeman was not a long one
and shortly after ten o'clock we were
alighting from our taxi and receiving the
heartiest of welcomes from Professor
and Mrs. Schoppe, to say nothing of Bill
lie. who was as enthusiastic as his eld
ars. We had made better connections
than had been thought possible, and had
arrived almost as soon as the telegram
announcing the hour of our arrival.
Tongues were soon flying fast, especial
" those of the feminine portion of the
party, if one may believe the statements
made by Will in letter written home
that evening.
After dinner to which the hungry
travellers did full justice, the whole fam
ily started for a walk to see bit of
Bozeman, and incidently to search for
wild flowers. These we found in great
profusion, and nearly all the different
varieties were strange to Eastern eyes,
and later necessitated a prolonged study
of convenient book about wild flowers.
From a bluff we gained some splendid
views of the Gallatin Valley with it's en-
circling ring of stately snow-covered
mountains which seem to shut out the
rest of the world. This valley is aptIy
called the Egypt of America, but the
remarkable fertility of its soil is in some
degree offset by its early frosts and con-
sequent shortness of its seasons.
Like all the res t of the Western cities
we had visited BoZeman had had an
Unusually" rainy season, and during
our stay the weather exhibited all the
tcaprices characteristic of a New Eng
land April. Despite the radical differ
ence of Eastern and Western ARCHITECT
ture, the atmosphere and general APP
pearance of Bozeman seems more home
like than that of any town we had hith-
erto seen. Had it not been for the cot
tonwood trees, which our imagination
could easily convert to the New England
maples they somewhat resembled in size
and outline, we might have persuaded
ourselves that we were no farther from
home than the New Hampshire hills.
Fortunately for our good opinion OF the
cottonwuods, we did not see them at the
stage when their disa greeable propen-
,sity for indiscriminate distribution of
white "cottony" fuzz makes them the
bane of the careful housewife.
A trolley ride up the valley to Sayles-
vile, over an enterprisine road that OPP
Grated but two round trips daily, was
most pleasant experience, and helped US
to gain an excellent idea of the charac-
ter of the surrounding country and the
nearby ranches.
The main attraction for one day of our
1