The Bozeman courier. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1919-1954, 1926-11-26

1t Of the pioneer has been demonstrated
in every section Of Montana during the
turbulent days of this empires cOnstruc-
ton. Men came here, found new areas to
their particular liking; they chose a home.
site; they builded cabins, titled the soil
and started towns; they cleared the trails
and made simple the work allotted to later
The Flathead Country
In no part of what is now Montana, dur
ing the days of the stalwart pinoeer, was
the work Of empire builders laid in the
midst of more picturesque scenes than in
the Flathead region. Perhaps in 10 other
section Of this commonwealth did the pi-
Oneer manifest greater courage and faith
than in the territory Of which Kalispell
is now the metropolis.
If you have ever traversed the trails
that lead north from Missoula, around
Flathead lake and into the upper Flathead
ture the seeming insurmountable task that
confronted the first pioneers to enter that
part Of the country. Yet, in those days,
men were men, and q task akin TO LIE on
the frontier, was something to be under
taken as a part of life, and to be brought
to "a successful termination, dangers and
hardships Notwithstanding. With that spir-
it, the pioneer came to the Flathead re-
giOn, broke his. own trail along a rock
bound, densely timbered lake shore and
established the promising little city of
DemerSVille.
DemersviIle, during the late eighties and
the early n~ineties, was the metropolis Of
the upper Flathead valley. During its
palmy days, the citizens there harbOred
fond and w~ell-fOunded hopes for a city that
would become a mighty mart Of trade and
commerce. The town was established in
! 1887, by I. j. Demers, who died two years
after the tOwnsite was plated. With the
establishment Of Kalispell in the nineties,
Demersville lost it's glory and gradually
cities.
head Facts" a booster" magazine, pub
lished by the MissOula Gazette in 1890. The
entire booklet was devoted to IN eXplOita-
ton of Demersville and the Upper Flathead
country. 1t has evidently been published
Jointly by the citizens of Demersville and
the Northern Pacific Railway company,
with a view to interesting prospective set
tiers. The booklet, which was formerly
of the firm Of Clifford & Stannard, who
plated the Demersville tOwnsite, said in
part:
Geographical and Typographical
"The Flathead country must be seen to
be appreciated and all manner of descrip-
ton cannot do justice to the section here
attempted to be depicted. The visitor to
that locality is astOnished at it's magni-
ude and leaves the country so favorably
impressed that he at once cOntemplateS re-
turning to it and investing in its landed
North of the junction of White river
with the north fork of the Flathead river
at Bad Rock canyon, out little is anthem
tically known of the country, but enough
is known Of the rivers and lakes to warrant
the assertion that all maps of this country
are decisions and a fraud and have been
drawn from the imaginatiOns Of the map
makers with little regard to truth or the
topography of the country. .
1T will be hard for the student of geo.
graphy to believe that the South fork OF
the Flathead river and Sun river head
nearly together between the Sheep Horn
mountains and the Main range Of tho
Rockies. It is a fact, nevertheless-the ont
taking a s0uthwesterly course for over ont
hundred miles, and the other a northeast
erly course, cutting through the maiI
range Of the Rocky mountains, and turn
ing it's volume Of water over Sun rivel
/ falls.
about one mile above the peint WHERE
- the South fork of the Flathead river emp
ties into the North fork, it is met by TIT
Middle fork, and the waters Of the tive
rivers cOmingle and contribute to the vas
volume of water carried by the NOrtl
fork of the Flathead river. This magnifi
, cent river rises in the British possessions
and it's general course is south through tn
' mountains and lakes, and just before it,
- turbulent passage through Bad Rock can
yOn, it receives the waters of White river
= 'thrO' the woodland and meadow then GU
, they come and go to join the Brimmin:
e river This splendid river, after passing
through the canyon, is fOaming and viOle
until after receiving the waters of Mapl
= or White Ash and Saltwater rivers from
the north, a distance of some forty miles