The Bozeman courier. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1919-1954, 1927-06-03

1t is the glory and the misfortune Of
France to always lead the van in the
march of civilization, without having the
wit to profit by the discoveries and the
sagacious boldnes5 Of her children. On
the unknown roads which she has opened
to the human mind and to human enter
prise she has often left the fruits to be
gathered by nations less inventive and
less able than she, but more persevering
and less p~erturbed by a confusion of
desires and an incessant renewal of
hopes"
France Lost An Empire
And, what Guizot herein said. has
never proved more true than when in
1853, France secretly coded to England
all French possessions east Of the Mis-
sissippi river from its source to its
mouth, except the City Of New Orleans;
and all the territory west of the Missis-
sippi Including the district of st.
Louis) to Spain. Thus France let slip a
magnificent future empire which m
braced the site Of the present wealthy
and popUlous city Of st. Louis, Mo,
home Of the now famous Captain Lind
bergh.
At this same old city of ST. Louis,
when the truth Of young Lindbergh's
achievement had been made known;
when factory INC locomotive whistles
sirened an accompaniment to the bells
of Christ Church cathedral (Which lat
ter are rung only upon civic occasions Of
A~0%1@8 II &&A@@I 49, $1,000 @~~@o
which followed was reminiscent of the
celebration in that city last fall at the
time the Cardinals won h city'S first
baseball pennant in thirty-eight years.
More than that, it harked back a little
less than nine years to the memorable
day when all America rejoiced at the
cessation of armed hostilities at a time
when this same France and the United
States had Joined forces against a COM
mon foe.
xvaI1 yoiob+ Ct To,,ie ra4Oica. for pavf
to Lindbergh's, hers was the honor. The
conception of the fight was in st. Louis;
it was financed by ST. Louis capital; and
it was a St. Louis hier and a Missouri
National Guard officer who had achieved
unprecedented success. Along with the
rest Of the nation, Montana shared the
happiness and pride of st. Louis; and, if
there may be any n part Of the coun-
try which is entitled to have a greater
interest than others in those things
which affect the metropolis of the Mis-
sissippi River valley, that section is Mon
tana.
MOntana's Wealth and st. Louis
st. Louis, one of the proudest and
wealthiest of the great American cities
rich in history n tradition, was found
ed to nc small extent upon Montana's
natural OF FUR and mineral
wealth. That city's first Importance, be-
ginning to be felt a little more than 9
century ago, was in the role of the great
center Of the immense northwest flu
trade. Even in those earliest days, of al
the fur country tributary to st. Louis
M~ontana's mountains and plains were
the richest, and the first captains of in
dustry of the fur mart on the Mississippi
made their money in Montana and spen-
it in ST. Louis.
Silver and Gold
But the greatest single factor in TIT
upbuilding of ST. Louis was the vast stort
of silver and gold-estimated at between
$40, O00, 600 and $50, 600, 000-which wa
taken from the mining camp of Philips
burg, in Granite county, Montana, anC
used as capital in constructing grea
buildings, in developing huge manufac
turing and commercial institutions anC
banks, in paying taxes that improved tn
city's parks and erected and equipped
libraries and museums.