Plentywood herald. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1908-current, 1929-05-30

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on our labor saving devices. The ac-
tivity in mining in the west resulted in
scarce and high-priced labor, every
man was his own employer, and the
incentive was great TO provide a sub
stitute for manual help. This tendency
speedily spread to other industries than
mining and today America stands IN
the front rank as a producer OF. labor
saving machinery. The impetus given
to all lines of mechanical manufacture
is shown by the fact that there is not
an iron works or a machinery house Of
consequence in the west today which
did not begin with and does not still
derive a large share OF its revenue from
the manufacture OF mining and metal
lurgical machinery. and today, mining
machinery manufactured in the west,
or else in the east by western trained
men, is to be found in every mining
camp on the face of the globe, from the
Equator to the most northerly point III
Alaska or Greenland, and from the tor
rid zone to the fringe of the Antarctic
circle.
Mining Stimulus to Science
las a stimulus to progress in mining.
the most important scientific bureau IN
the world, the United States geological
alvey iioo aNidtQ AiliiiSAASSis = liz
worlds knowledge of geological science
by its Investigations in the mining re-
gionS of the west.
with the demands of the miner for
the treatment of refractory ores, chem
istry and metallurgy have advanced to
a point even within recent years, where
ores, which 10, even five years ago, were
pronounced incapable of local treat
ment are being handled at a profit.
Last of all and greatest OF all, the
contributions which mining has made
to the development Of our western en-
plre has been the men and the women
TOR we are all too apt to forget that
the women were Of even greater in
fluence then than now who paved the
way that we might come after.
of the California argonauts it was
said: The towards never started and
the weaklings died on the way
And the frank, breezy honesty OF
the west, the straightforward directness
and the open-handed generosity and
enterprise of the west, the lack OF
which makes u dissatisfied and I'M
comfortable when we visit our eastern
friends, are also u heritage from the
mining immigrants.
ITO attempt to enumerate all OF the
results which here followed from these
early discoveries of placer gold would
be TO write an encyclopedia on the de-
velopments and industry OF the west
ern states.
Briefly what happened was this,
that in 1847 with the decline of the
fur trade the future of the west looked
black indeed, and If figures we're avail
able, I am satisfied the population of
1847 would be less than hat OF 1910.
Gold Rush Begins
Then came the California gold rush.
THE population of the western states
including California in l847, has been
estimated at q 5000 souls, today it is
approximately II, 900 900. That this is
largely due to the gold rushes is evil
denced by the fact that when the dis
coveries in Oregon, Washington, Idaho
and Montana were made III the i've
years following 1859, there was an east
ward moving frontier made up of a
coast population which had been at
tracted to California, the eastward
moving frontier and the western NOV
ing met on the eastern side of the
Rockies at Virginia City and Helena.
Another important feature was the
final ~subjugation and p~acificatlon OF
the Indians, who resented the presence
of the miners more than they did that
of the trappers and hunters-Without
this S~ubjugation the west was no coun-
try for a man with a wife and chill
dren.
Transportation, first by boat, by
wagon train, by railroad across the
isthmus and finally by the Southern
Pacific followed naturally in the heels
of the California discoveries.
1.-THE gold excitement near Colville.
Wash, in 1855 and the consequent need
for transport facilities for troops with
which to meet the hostilities of the
Yakimas and other Indian tribes leo
congress in 1858 and 1859 to make APP
preparation for the construction of the
the Mullan road from Fort Benton tC
Walla Walla.
"Concomitant with the completion OF
the Mullan road in 1860 came the first
steamboat, the Chippewa, to Fort Ben
ton. Steamboat navigation was already
we'll developed on the lower Columbia
and in the same year, the first steam
boat was launched above The Dalles
Steamboat navigation was begun with
in a year or two of this or the Frazier
river, furnishing transportation to the
mines of CASTER and Caribou. Bridges
and toll roads were built throughout
the west. Stage coaches and freight
ing trains made up Of two or three
wagons with some IL to SO horses car
ried supplies to the mining camps.
Time does not permit me to speak
of the remarkable development of COM
munity law and self-government which
took place in all the western placer
camps. The story of the VigilanteS In
Montana is a familiar one to all of you
1t is interesting to note hat Hezekiah
L.. Hosmer was appointed chief justice
of Montana territory and went to hold
court in Virginia City. He was told by
one of the most responsible citizens
We have a number of civil cases here
for you, Judge, but you better leave
criminal matters to the community
Came to Mine, Stay to Farm
"Of the development of agriculture
I have spoken already. Men came to
mine and stayed to farm.
THE gold production itself attained
stupendous proportions. Exact figures
are difficult to secure, but 81, ZOO, 900 ,00C
worth of gold is a conservative esti-
mate from the placers of California;
500, 000, 900 for Idaho and between
SIPS, 900 900 and $3.50, 600, 900 for Mon
tana.
1.-THE production per capita affords
an interesting comparison: Ohio and
Kentucky had a surplus production in
1882 Of about Is million, which was
about the gold production of the north
west states in 1865. Ohio and Ken
lucky, however, had a combined popu-
lation OF over a million and a half,
whereas the entire population Of the
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