The Bozeman courier. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1919-1954, 1925-09-30
immOrtalized

or the direct course, 1mmOrtal1zed
himself by inquiring:
"Well, now, what are you going
to do in such a case? How IRE you
going to apply steam? Have you
made an estimate Of the cost of a
railroad to the mouth of the Colum~
bia? Why the wealth of the Indies
would be insufficient. OF what use
would it be for agricultural pur-
poses? 1 would not, for that purpose,
give a pinch Of snuff for the whole
territory. 1 wish the Rocky noun
tains were an impossible barrier. If
there was an 'embankment Of even
five feet to be removed, I would not
consent to expend five dollars to re-
move it and enable u population
to go there. I thank God for his
mercy in placing the Rocky noun
tains there"
The ignorance of our statesmen re-
garding this western country, is at
tributed by some historians to pro-
paganda Of the Hudson's Bay COM
pany. If so, it's agents were more
successful here than in England, for
had the truth concerning it been
/ credited there, the Canadian line
might now have been lower. It
took several exploring expeditions,
and the reports of those who were.
familiar with the region, to make
our government understand that on
both sides of and including the
Rockies, lay a vast empire Of untold
wealth; then the vision of a connect
ing railroad became an actuality.
Now, with automobile loads Of tour
lists "whizzing'' across the continent,
the East is becoming acquainted with
the West as it is today; but these
s%ightseers who speed over our ma
tiOnal highways, can W. imagine
, the tremendous difficulties sur
mounted in taking the first wagon
, through the South Pass. The piOn-
GERS who followed the Oregon Trail
at a snail's pace in covered wagons,
could form some conception of it,
but even for them the way was made
comparatively easy by the knowledge
gained from that initial trip.
Time, as we know, Overcame op-
position to the building Of a rail-
road to the Pacific, and East and
West were inextricably bound to-
gether. Engineers solved the prob
lem Of the "depTessions" by means
of passes and tunnels, and the pre-
dicted impOssibility was accom-
plished.
Scarcely were we accustomed to
the fact Of the Union Pacific before
the Southern Pacific was building
followed by the Northern Pacific
three great lines stretching to the
western limit Of our country. But
opposition did not with the
construction Of the first. I was II
Helena When the legislature had IN.
der consideration the Northern Pa
cffic question, and I we'll recall on,
speech made at that time by,
think. q native Of Missouri, who wa.
decidedly opposed to encouraging
any railroad to enter the state. III
said he had never seen a railroad
nor did he want to; and then added
in a trembling voice, that if a rail-
road came here we should hear th.
children crying for bread.
The Central Pacific crossed th
Rockies at Evans's Pass, at an alti
r tude Of over 5000 feet. The North
= ern Pacific followed the route out
lined by Mullan, through the pas
bearing his name, and nearly 800
feet lower than It's central rival
trifle over $500 feet.
i left Helena before the N0rthor
Pacific entered &c. and was living &
the getty Of the Future, as orea
Falls was then den0minated, when