The Wolf Point herald. (Wolf Point, Mont.) 1913-1940, 1929-08-23

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inch deep" 1t was slightly NOR
than one inch deep and conside:
ably less than one mile wide, an
if the dry weather has continue
there it has probably reached tn
powder stage by this time. Jus
out of Miles City we crossed tn
Tongue river, which with it's nun
erous branches rises in the snow
tipped heights of the Big Horl
mountains.
Irrigated Fields
Irrigation projects, dry LIANT
farming, live up and coming towns
and towns that were ghosts o
their former prosperous selves
passed in panoramic review as we
continued southwestward. A
what a contrast the irrigated
farms with their cool leafy fields
of beets, fragrant alfalfa meadows
or fine looking grain, presented to
the shorter, scantier grain on the
dry land farms. And almost equal
ly great a contrast was shown be-
tween the poorly farmed dryland
fields and those which had been
well farmed. We could almost
pick the fields that had been sum-
merfallowed last year.
We had intended to continue to
Billings and spend the night there,
but a newspaper man in Hysham
told us of a short cut that would
take us to Hardin that night so
we took it. 1t was a dirt road
that followed an attractive valley
with prosperous farms along the
creek bottom.
Hardin appeared to be a live
up-and-coming town in the heart
Of a large wheat country. It is
on the Custer Battlefield highway,
and on this highway we continued
south. From then on, with the
exception of a very few miles we
enjoyed excellent roads all the
way to Cheyenne.
Custer Battlefield
The Custer battlefield is about
fourteen miles south of Hardin.
There is a national cemetery there
in which are buried not only
Clusters soldiers, but a number of
others, both soldiers and civilians
who lost their lives in opening up
southern Montana to white settle
ment.
The bodies are buried in this
cemetery, but scattering markers
struggling up the hill show where
Clusters soldiers fell. The last
stand was taken on top of a hill
that was the highest in the vic
unity and commanded a view for
miles around. There the Indians
rode down Clusters men and
trampled them into the ground,
after the soldiers ammunition had
given out. The caretaker of the
cemetery, Eugene Wessinger, who
was one of those sent out to bury
the bodies, and who has lived near
the battlefield ever since a year
following the massacre, gave a
dramatic recital of the story of
the battle as it was told him by
Curley, Clusters scout, who was
the only eyewitness to escape.
Curley was Wessinger's scout for
two years. The story Mr.. Wessin-
ger told there on the scene of the
battle pictured more graphically
than could any written descrip-
ton, what actually took place.
South of the battlefield there are
a number of sidings bearing
significant names - Benteen and
Garryown and the like. Garry
own was the tune to which the
soldiers went into battle.
From the Custer battlefield we
got the first glimpse of snow on
the Bighorn mountains in Wyom-
ing, some fifty or sixty miles
away.
Coal Towns
Northern Wyoming in the foot
hills of the mountains is beautiful.
Before we reached Sheridan we
passed through a number of coal
towns s, Manchester, Kleenburn,
Kooi, etc., where is mined much
of the Wyoming coal which is
SHIPPED into Wolf Point. Wyoming
claims to have the greatest coal
reserves of any state in the
Union.
Ranches and Ranches
Sheridan is a beautiful city al
most hidden in trees, and set
against a background of mount
aims. Ranching, both cattle and
dude, flourishes around Sheridan.
Near here the Eaton brothers es-
tablished the first dude ranch 25
years ago.. Now there are dozens
of dude ranches located in the