Plentywood herald. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1908-current, 1934-04-26
GETTING DOWN TO
BRASS TACkS''
A NEW BEAUTY SPOT
(by Tom Moodie)

&113 1S&&19 -
The span itself commands about az
majestic a view as there is III all The
western country. Buttes on bouI
sides of the river are tipped with
pink scoria, giving a most impressive
effect in color. AT the western ap
preach OF the bridge there is a com,
manding view up and down the river
that is nothing less than stately ma
lestic. You are far above the river.
Across on the west bank are ragged
bluffs. Along the bottoms Is a con.
siderable growth OF small trees. The
river swings in TO the bridge from
the west and out from it toward the
east. East OF the west approach is
a log cabin of the kind Charley
Russell has made famous III his we'll
loved pictures. Undoubtedly there is
a set of deer antlers above the door.
1t is a big, tranquil Gene. 1t is rest
iul just 10 look at 1t, and the ali
there is refreshing as a glass OF
champagne.
Standing on that bridge you can
readily understand why the west
! erner loves this country. II is big,
colorful, the land of lots of room.
Civilization has not spoiled it yet
along the bottoms with ramshackle
buildings or other evidences OF its
all too often .unloyely created environ
ment. This place Is yet largely as 1t
has been for a million years. The
bridge itself lends color TO the scene.
In it the mind Of mere man is OBJ
jectified. He has thought a way
across that sturdy river. His thoughts
are Interpreted in terms OF concrete
and steel sup~erstructure. They are
in rivets and beams and construcs
tiof, every Unit of which bears some
relation to the other. Destroy any
one of them and the structure would
be incomplete. Mere man or rather
the mind of man, here has challenged
and is c%onquering great forces OF
Nature. Every unit IL some mans
dream. The completed whole will be
something more than a mass OF steel.
1t will be a symphony of dreams
come true. The handcraft of the
engineer is always fascinating TO
contemplate.
For millions of years those old
hills have looked down Oh that big
scene. They are rock ribbed and
ancient as the SUM-" in truth and in
TACT. They are lnanimate, however.
They cannot think. They are the
naturalization Of vast forces opera
fs,f. hrr,. Y,sIIinnc nf rc q rfhnt
gives them charm. There is some
thing restful about them and certain
iy they are beautiful. Around their
base today mere men are scurrylng
about doing things. None OF them
will be here In another hundred
years. But those hills will be here In
all probability for another million
a or more. II those hills could
speak what a romantic story they
could tell.
Their scorio peaks meal that long
ago fires ragged there and great
groWths were destroyed. Forests
passed away and their ashes mingled
with the earth. Other forests were
underneath the Ice. Now they
are coal. What strange animals
roamed about here in those days OF
long ago. Were there men here!
Probably, but time has wiped out
The last trace of them. Indian relics
are found, but it is doubtful IL there
were Indians here in that long ago
period, unless they were OF the Toltec
or Aztec strains, finally forced south
changes of climate. Or this there
is some evidence in mounds that
possibly were shaped by human
hands.
What savage caravans n~avigated !
that old river in bull boats OF but
skins. What herds Of antelope,
deer and buffalo roamed there in that
great game pasture. Lewis and Clark
in their journals recall that at about
that point on the river they encount-
cred thousands of elk only about l30
years ago, so tame that they hardly
up from grazing as the cortege
passed. Early pioneers recall days OF
long age when riding up the Valley
Of the Yellowstone, deer were every
and paid little attention to the
passing traveller.
And down that river within the
last 100 years came Gauche, the
Assiniboine chief, rich in horses, to
trade robes with Kenneth Mckenzie
at old Fort Union and to drink fiery
liquor and begin the processes OF
disintegration which were
a big influence In the decima-
tation of his people. Gauche, it is
rrecalled, once became 81 enamored
Of Fort Union that he decided to kill
Kenneth Mckenzie and his retainers
and take their trade goods. Mckenzie
.outsnarted him. He learned OF the
Indians plan. He prepared a great
banquet. Before each plate he set a
stand of rifles. He dressed in his
r~egimentals. Gauche looked and went
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