Plentywood herald. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1908-current, 1928-05-11

l1tAHhAf DNdt> HUN Df tlt TtAtl mere e.
the river in 1872. that BOATS some day wo
Great Falls and vice versa has not vet bt
than this company was able to spare.
They only killed enough game for their
w consumption. and nothing is said
OF their attempts at fishing.
AT first after leaving Three Forks the
river was 500 feet wide. flowing between
low hills. with channels generally from
six to eight feet deep" At six and a
half miles below the Gallatin they
reached Eagle Rocks. where they
stopped to lunch. Here Mir. Roberts
found gold bearing sand, but did not
locate a claim, the cost of bringing a
flume there being prohibitive,
Predicts Great Development
Having come to this decision, Mr.. Rob
erts reelected that the gold already found
here has served rs an excellent adver-
tisement for Montana, and he states that
this advertisement will be sufficiently
remltnerative. for a decade will not pass
before her iron, coal, copper, silver, graz
ing, and agricultural Will be
furnishing employment to tens OF thou
sands of settlers, who this day have no
more idea of their destiny to labor in
these fields, than they have OF making q
~ aAAC NA@H N+AN $1,000
coming to pass"
This prophecy of Mr.. Roberts has al
ready been fulfilled. but not so speedily
as he believed. He also had a faint
vision of the Great falls of the Missouri
as a water power.
Fifteen miles from their starting point,
the boat entered q canyon to which was
given the name of Red Rock. Half way
through this enters Sixteen Mile creek
from the east bank. Here were found
the petrified stumps of three trees
broken off even with the ground. At
Ella island they saw what they thought
were elm trees. but did not have the
opportunity to examine them. Camp was
made that night at Indian Creek ferry.
Black Rock canyon was entered at the
end of the 64th mile. Here the curious
form of the rocks was noted. They are
of great size, and piled over each other
like tiers Of cannon balls to the height
of five or six hundred feet throughout
the passage. From the crevices large
yellow pines stand out. adding pictur-
esqueness to the grandeur of the scene
At French Bar was witnessed hydraulic
mining, where the earth along the sides
of the hills was washed out and carried
away through the fumes, the gold being
caught in the little pools of mercury In
the bottom of the bed rock hume. II
was here / first saw hydraulic mining In
1878.
Entertain OFFICIAL Party
During their short stay at French Bar
the chairman of the Indian commission
ers and his party took tea with the boat
company, and complimented their cook
upon his fine rolls which. had he but
known it, were bought at the hotel. The
ladies of the party felt greatly disap-
pointed at being unable to pick up gold
from the ground.
Leaving French Bar, the BOAT and
crew entered Eldorado canyon, and al
the seventy-third mile passed the mouth
of the Big Prickly Pear creek, wher
ahead of them was the Belt range
through which there seemed to be nc
passage; but on nearer approach they
sighted the canyon Lewis and CfHfR
called the Gate OF the Mountains"
Mr.. Roberts was impressed with this
canyon, of which he has left a glowing
description. High up on either HAND
were colossal statues, carved by the mas.
ter, Time. in the niches of this gigantic
winding hall, five miles long. The walls
rose majestically six hundred, eight hun
dred, and one thousand feet high, ano
in places seemed to rest against thu
white LIQUIDS above, which completed thu
arch over our heads. The sides afforded
nc lOOLDOlQ LOT iildH VI ptdot, tAScPbHit
occasionally At one place in the can
yon the rock wall overhung the river
and a rock dlslodged from the summit
would have hit the little craft beneath
Shortly afterwards, notes MIR. Roberts
Although not a breath OF win was stir
ring, we all noticed sudden changes In
the temperature, as from time to TIME
we passed through strata of air nov
warm and now 20 degrees cooler which
atmospheric phenomenon we could moi
account for"
Suddenly they were alarmed by hear
ing a rustling in the rocks above fol
lowed by earth and pebbles falling in the
water about them. They feared this was
the ~run of an avalanche which
would summary end their journey wher
looking up, they saw a mountain sheer
on the side of the cliff. stamping his feet
in defiance because CT this entrance into
his domain The rifles were brought into
action with no other result than to
awaken echoes.
See Bears Tooth
Emerging from White Rock canyon
they obtained a fine view OF the Bear
Tooth" Here they saw many deer anc
mountain sheep, and when they campeo
that night. were amused at watching the
beaver in the river below.
The next day they followed a SEMI
circular bend in the rear OF Bears Tooth
where the mountains were covered with
slide rock. This they named Sliding
Hill Bend, there being no bend or blum
OF a similar character on the entire river