The Bozeman courier., 1927-10-21
By MRS. NJ. E. PLAssMANN

eagerly sought by jewel experts. They
possess-at least some of them do-the
desirable, but unusual quality of being
more brilliant under artificial light than
they are by day. In color they range
from that Of a diamond, for which gem
they are frequently mistaken by the
uninfOrmed, to the rich blue of the
oriental sapphire, which they surpass.
We, of Montana, may we'll be proud Of
our sapphires.
When white men first came here, it !
was the desire for gold which made them /
undertake the long and dangerous jour !
ney to this remote country. 1t was all
they expected. or cared to find, although
silver soon shared with gold in popular
ity The effort to secure these led to the
discovery Of copper, hOmely metal deS-
tined to contribute more to the pros
perity of the state than either gold or
silver.
Gold. silver and copper could not be
eaten. and the cost of imported vegeta-
bles to feed the miners who continued to
pour into Montana in ever increased
number, was little short Of prohibitive.
So high were food prices that it occurred
to some men that there was more than
one way of taking wealth from the earth
that the spade and shovel could be
used to good advantage in tilling the soil.
They learned from the Jesuit Fathers
that the land was not without fertility
in the Bitter Root valley, and II there,
they reasoned, why might it not be so
elsewhere? AS the result Of this question
ing, a few began to take up ranches with
the idea Of their agricultural possibilities,
while a greater number went into the
stock industry.
This latter business was another con-
tribution to MOntana's standing in the
commercial world. Strange to say, how
ever, on many Of the great cattle ranches
they never attenmted to vary the fare
of their employees by raising vegetables
lion CO q
lived year in and year out on what was
produced elsewhere.
It is not very long ago, and quite
within the memory OF many OF our citi-
zens. that considerable skepticism was
expressed regarding the possibility OF
raising here certain kinds Of vegetables
and flowers now common in our gardens,
and fruit raising was held to be visionary.
Some, with more faith in our soil and
climate, undertook to put in fruit to
be amply rewarded for the experiment.
Montana, a region formerly thought
valuable for the fUrs it sent to market,
now had valuable and enduring mines;
was known to be possessed OF a fertile
soil where grain, vegetables and fruit
would grow in abundance, and 1t was a
profitable stock raising country. It's be-
ing well watered was another Of its mani
fest advantages, in the way OF trriga-
tion-waterpOwer as commercial asset
here was not then dreamed of, nor for
of the poet,
"Desprit rivers run about
A-begging folks to dam EN-"
This has been done to a certain extent
nothing to what the future will show
if Steinmetz' prophecy is realized, that
eventually even little mountain rivulets
will be harnessed to work for man, or
his explOiters.
What I am striving to make clear is
that we are continually finding in Mon
tana new sources Of wealth, and the end
is not yet no one can say what tomor-
row will reveal. All about us lies hidden
treasure, if we have the eyes to discern 1T
Sapphires were here always, but II
needed one skilled in gems to realize
their value. AS 1 have before noted on
the assertion of no less an authority
than Professor Morrison, for years before
the sapphire mines were discovered, min
ers were making collections Of curiously
shaped pebbles they called Montana dia-
monds, without the slightest idea they
were worth anything They were moi
looking for gems, but for gold, and otter
threw away the temporarily boarded con-
tents of the bottles where the singular
pebbles were stored. Countless number:
must have been washed into the Mis-
souri, and other streams, and this through
Ignorance.
I have recently seen it stated that the
sapphire is the only gem found in Mon
tana, the writer probably meaning L
was the only gem at present marketable
Yet this is not the fact. Plenty Of mos
agates are found in Montana and sold
We do not begin to know what preciou
stones may be mined here in the future
In the Little Belt mountains Quanti
ties Of garnets can be picked up by th'
observing. The garnet, while a beautiful
stone does not bring a high price.
have never seen large garnets that wer
found here, but an abundance Of small
ones.
Professor Morrison tells Of seeing quar-
bottles filled with sapphires and rubie
also at Cave Gulch, FL Dorado, and Amer
lean Bar. They had been collected b.
the miners working there, were larg
stones, and therefore extremely valuabl
The ultimate fate of these gems is un
known. 1t is likely they were thrown
away, as have before stated, when tn
miners left. The ruby, be it understood
together with the emerald, rivals tn
diamond. Yet here we see they hav
been treated with as little regard as S
much sand. RUbies are found in Mon
tana. They have been picked up in JET
fersOn, Lewis and Clark, Cascade, Madi
son, and BeaVerhead counties and frag
ments Of what is thought to have bee
a phenOmenally large ruby were discov
cred in the mountains Of Silver Bo'
county. A ruby was found on the ban
Of the Missouri near Great Falls. 1t ma
have been washed down from above.
Montana rubies are more like the Cey
lon than the Burmese in color, and g
in the former country, are associate
with SapphireS. It is possible our rubiC
may be spinels. Spinel rubies comman
a large price, as may be inferred frol
learning that the great ruby in til
imperial state crown is a spinel. 1t W;
the gift, in 1867, of Pedro the Crue
king Of CASTLE, to Edward, the BlaC
Prince Henry wore it in his helmt
at the battle Of Agincourt, where '
narrowly escaped destruction" stat
Encyclopedia Erittanica. This stone WI
valued at a half million dollars.
The emerald is another precious stoI
of which our state can boast, good spec
mems Of these having been picked up
the mountains.
The amethyst is one Of our gems tn
is deserving of more than passing motto
It is the stone of pure love, and
mourning, and because it is supposed
protect its wearer in battle, it is CALI
the soldiers stone" The farmer al
finds in it a charm against hail al
locusts. Nor is this all Of it's claim
consideration; it is likewise the gem