Montana oil and mining journal. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1931-1953, 1938-10-01

w HE SUN river valley In its virgin
state was 3 sight 20 behold. From
the mouth Of Sum river 30 III
source i'm the sun river moan
tains was q haven of rest amd
cOntentment for all kinds Of game.
This famous valley with its wealth Of
bunchgrass waving in che breeze for 4
distance of As or 50 miles, and IT'S
great sheIserbeIt Of heavy bluffs and
deep gulches bid defiance TO winter
storms and low temperatures.
In the early seventies about ga years
ago, this beautiful valley was the home
of the buffalo, the monarch Of the
plains, while large bands Of antelope,
with eyes like the lens Of a fieldgiaSs,
inhabited the uplands of this great
region; the Whitehall deer were plenti-
full in the timbered valley and black
tail deer were at home in the noun
tainS.
Few Settlers
At this early date there were few
settlers in this vast region. well re-
member the first trip made up the
Sun river in company with the late
Ike Clarke of Fort Benton. We had q
few ponies that had wandered off dur
ing the winter months. We were told
by hunters the next spring that our
horses were on the upper Sun river.
We found our stock in fine condition.
we hlSO 1ON1tN 4UAsC - Va QbAlGA
horses on that range branded with the
letter u" on the right hip. While we
were cutting out our stock, two half
breeds rode up and wanted to know
what we we're doing with the horses.
We told them we had some saddle
horses in the bunch and were trying
to cut them out. The men seemed to
be suspicious Of us and held their rifles
In a handy position for business.
We finally convinced them we were
all right and told them our names and
asked their names. One was Charles
BeIlenger, the other Charles jackson. !
Clarke told Jackson he knew his
father, Thomas jackson, in Boise, Ida, |
when Charles was a little boy This /
us they had cabin and corrals close !
and volunteered to help us roundup
our horses and cut them out at their I
home corral.
The day being well spent, jackson
invited us to leave our stock in the
corral till morning and hang up with
them for the night, which we did. Both
men had squaws. The Indian women
were quite neat in their way. They
were OF the Nez Perez tribe and could
understand English, but they were like
most Indians those days and would
not speak English. After a hearty
supper of buffalo meat, fried in bacon
grease and a fair supply of Sourdough
bread, we played cards for a while,
then jackson stepped into a shed and
brought out an armload of buffalo
robes for our bed. We spread the robes
outside on the ground and turned In
for the night. We slept very soundly
after a hard days ride, till we heard
q voice saying the next morning,
''Fellars, do you ever eat anything?"
We arose and stepped down to the
river where we had fine refreshing
wash the bill Of fare for breakfast was
the same as it had been for supper.
After the meal was over Clarke and
Jackson had a long talk about Idaho
and his new home in Montana. Jackson
stated that he was laying the founda-
ton for a home and a horse ranch.
I believe this place was situated in a
natural paradise for the stock industry.
Plains covered with luxurious grass,
knee high as far as the eye could reach
and open spring water both winter and
summer. This surely was the land filled
with milk and honey for the early
pioneer This was the real western life,
where wild fresh meat was available
when needed, and the hides of the an
tmals killed were used to make bedding
and clothing.
As we left this beautiful valley, I
told Clarke someday expected to see
the valley settled with fine homes,
where the stock industry would make I