The Bozeman courier., 1927-09-30
Bv HERBERT N. PEET

FTEN you hear it said that if a
a persons foresight were as goOo as
his hindsight, he would be sue
cessful man That is only another
way Of saying that he should profit by
his experience. Few people get through
life without making mistakes, and the
most successful persons are those who
turn their errors to good account. That
goes for farmers as well as merchants,
manufacturers and laborers.
Montana is Just emerging from pc
riod of depression which, when 1T was
at its lowest point, brought despair to
thousands of men, women and children.
Many lost all they had and were forced
to uproot themselves from a locality
to which they had become attached and
go out into the world to start lie anew:
It was tragedy, pure and simple ana
caused hundreds of persons to condemn
the Treasure state.
Seven and eight years ago. it was fire.
Quently asserted that Montana should
be turned back to the Indians; that
chances for making a living here from
the soil were few and precarious. Not
only did those who had failed spread
this message around, but eaSternerS who
owned mortgages on Montana farm land
or had investments dependent upon
Montana agricultural production were
loud in their condemnation Of state
that had promised so much but yielded
so little in the way Of financial returns
Added to all this were magazine articles,
such as Garet Garetts Pain in the
Northwest" which held this common
wealth up to the scornful gaze of older
and better established states.
Let it be said right here, however
that time will vindicate the good name
of Montana. Few, if any, Of the flOwery
promises made in her behalf, even in the
boom" days when railroad companies
real estate operators and homestead To-
in law
ish and exaggerated phrases, will go un-
fulfilled. For Montana is-and for many
years will be-trUly the Treasure state
where men of industry, foresight ano
ability will be able to get a bigger return
for their efforts than in any other spot
on Gods fOOtstoOl.
About the Days OF Tragedy
Montana herself-that is, her soil anC
climate-was not altogether to blame fol
the tragedy of 1918-1922; in fact, in year!
to come we will see that had we knowI
in 1913 what we will know ultimately
we would have gone through the perioC
of depression with hardly a casualty
The contributing factors to our hare
times were: First, seasons of slight rain
fall and hot winds for which we wert
not adequately prepared, and which W.
did not know how to meet when the.
came upon us; second, the postwar de
preston which hit all sections Of thi
country and affected all lines Of indus
try, and, third, the class Of people wht
made up our rural population.
To avoid misunderstanding, I will elab
crate upon the last named factor first
It was inevitable that the opportunit
to get public land by homesteadin
should attract many persons who wer
by temperament and training unfit 70
the rigorous life Of a pioneer, even
they had honest intentions of becomin
one. Many Of Montana's homesteader
were misinformed as to physical hard
ships they would have to go through t
successfully prove a claim" They ha
been told anybody could make none
here with less effort than anywhere els
and they had assumed that all it woul
be necessary to do was to scratch tn
surface Of the soil, throw on little see
and reap a bOuntiful harvest. The faC
that many of them were able to do tn
very thing back in 1914, 1915 and 191
only made the situation worse when til
real test came.
Then, among the homesteaders, thel
were thousands of persons who had ha
farming experience in other states an
they, innocently enough, had though
that farming was farming, no mattt
where you might be located, and the
proceeded to do in Montana as the
had been trained to do in Iowa, Mime
sofa, Illinois, Ohio or New York BI
they found that New York methoC
could not be successfully adjusted
Montana conditions. Some of the
learned this too late.
1t is unjust to say that because a ma
was a school teacher, a mechanic, a ba
Der or a deep-sea diver before coming
Montana, he was doomed to failure
a homesteader.
Mechanic Makes Good
Among my personal acquaintanc
there i sa man in northern Montana WI
was born in Holland, came to this coul
try when a boy, became a mechanic al
worked for many years in Chicago al
during the homestead era moved to Mo-