The Bozeman courier. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1919-1954, 1927-04-01
(By A r.

my DhN LNs OON Wall
(This is the second Of a series Of four
articles having to do with Navigation on
the Uppe Missouri River.)
r OOKING across the great Mis-
souri, valley in North Dakota, one
early autumn day, a few years
ago, 1 could see the beautiful squares
of green alfalfa, the fields of golden
hued, ripening corn, the hillsides
covered with buffalo grass, turning
brown in the warmth of the fall sun
shine. The leaves on the belt of tim
Der that fringed the big Muddy"
were taking on the various hues of
beauty, so admired by the artist and
eXtolIed by the poet, that come with
Indian summer. Lowing cattle were
vending their way along deeply worn
paths that led to pastures, and pigs
in the alfalfa were calling loudly for
their morning ratiOns. What a beau
tlful pastoral picture! Turning to-
ward the rising sun, I could see in
It's beautiful setting along the banks
of Muddy creek, the city of Willis
tor with its church spires, its schools,
It's banks and stores, mill, creamery
and railroad depot and yards; in
fact. all that goes to make up a COM
mercial emporium.
What a splendid picture of civilization
these scenes made! Then, as my eye fol-
lowed the windings of the MissOuris yellow
torrent, my thoughts travelled back across
almost one hundred years that lave passed,
to the time when the play had not turned
a furrow in that part of the country. l
could see in these same plains and these
hills of Dakota, Gods great park-a panO-
rama surprising anything that art or
wealth of man has made. My mental pic
ture of this vast upper Missouri river
country in ifg DrimpVql condition iG fO mo
the most beautiful and interesting of all
on earth, especially. that portion of the
plains from what is now Fort BENTON,
Montana, to the central DakOtas.
One Hundred Years Ago
Here was a land of timbered rivers.
streams of water fed by springs and Rocky
mountain glaciers, broad valleys, rolling
hills covered with luXuriant buffalo grass,
sandstone cliffs sculptured by nature in
the form of ruined castles: mOnOliths
cyclOpean walls and myriad cOlOred can
yOns.
A century ago, over this enhancing land
roamed countless numbers of bison. elk,
antelope and deer. Along the timbered
streams, colonies of beavers built their
waters edge. Glossy black turkeys were
as common as the chickens that today
flock the farm yard. Eagles scared aloft
and prairie chickens, sage hens and an Oc-
caSiOnal cOvey of grouse whirred past. OF
ter. lynx and lion; badgers and prairie
dogs; and everywhere the big gray wolves
anu ullNlCdl tOyOttSs SubSlSlluS III Lut
weaker things. On every side was animal
life with no one to disturb the harmony OF
nature except the occasional bands of no
madic Indian tribeSmen of the wilderness
who claimed the country as their own from
the time when man first inhabited the
earth. Nature here supplied all things
their needs required, free to all alike. Such
is my picture OF the upper Missouri r1VeI
valley as it was when the free trapperst
the traders and mOuntainmen found it q
century or more ago.
The "Big Thunder Canoe
Along this great river sounds a whistle,
its message borne on the breeze, it's must
cal notes reflected by the hills. A mighty
moment is transporting and its story is to
go down in embOldened letters on the pages
of American history. Romance has clasped
hands with commerce and the hrst great
step in the transformation of the wilder
ness has been taken. The steamer "Yel
lOwstOne" is drawing close to her destina
ton at Fort Union.
Just what effect this accomplishment O