Montana oil and mining journal. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1931-1953, 1938-04-09

growing city or BILLINGS va.
- boosted by It's founders as I
second Denver" an enterpxkxxn,
transportation company e84ah.
| lished the city's first and only stree
car Hne-a line which created q con.
siderable amount OF excitement for ons
summer. A. X. YerkeS one Of the earl.
est newspaper publishers In this region
and now editor Of 1.-THE Argus" weekIy
newspaper Of Seattle, Wash, recalls The
days of the Billings street railway la .
recent issue Of his paper. Writing in q
column entitled, Gas / See It." Yerkes
said:
"a note from an old friend, q. s.
Robinson Of Olympia, recalls the early
days at Billings, Mont, where Is
sued the first newspaper published in
Yellowstone county and young Robin
son came along shortly afterward to
manage the biggest mercantile estab-
Hshment in that region. In the same
mail came clipping from a New York
daily which described briefly the early
street car service between Billings and
what is now ghost town, two or more
miles away"
Brewery Remained
The Billings street car service was
originally designed to give transporta-
ton between the two new towns Of
Billings and Coulson, but as Yerkes
reports: About the only building re-
naming at Coulson when the street
cars reached it was the brewery. Every
one and everything else had been hur-
riedly transferred to Billings, now a
city OF over thirty thousand people"
Perhaps If the street car line had
been established a little sooner, Coul-
son and Billings would have remained
separate communities, gradually grow
ing into one city as they expanded
However, in those days, each COM
munity OF the west sought to attract
public attention and the resulting new
Settlers-both items being needed for
rapid growth.
Publicized Billings
In order to obtain this publicity, |
YerkeS reports that, 1.-THE two street |
ears loaded on flat cars at Chicago,
lid not reach Billings until several /
months after they were purchased by
he townsite owners. The cars were
AIKEN for ride that covered much of
he western country. Hither and yon,
With banners flying, they announced
he fact that the cars were destined
or Billings, Mont, the fastest-growing
nd most promising embryonic city in
he west a coming Denveri'"
~ throughout the western United
tateS, stock was sold locally to finance
he project. The stock sale was big
uccess, according to the files Of The
laily Herald Qater the Gazette) for
.prl 8, 1883, reporting that Billings
treet railway stock commands q pre- (
mum. Mr.. Kennard recently offered a
beral advance on the par value of
Ome shares held by him, but wisely {
efused to sell. He knows when he has
good investment"
Laying the rails for the street cars [
as started on April 5, and rushed to
1mpletion. When the cars arrived,
owever, Coulson was a dead end. All
its residents had moved to Billings
nd the big problem was what cosld
e done with the "inter-city' street
ar line.
City Greets New Cars
Despite this somewhat trivial prob
m, arrival of the street cars was
'eeted with much rejoicing in Billings,
nd on the day the first street car
n, The Daily Herald solemnly
armed, Those who have the occasion
traverse Minnesota avenue after to-
~ would do well to exercise great
ire, as 1t is currently reported that
e street cars will be placed on the
ack this afternoon"
The first street car run was an
ent as The Daily Herald duly re- I
rded on May %, 1888. Yesterday q
rs day long to be remembered, the a
port stated, "as on it the first of our !.
lie Of street cars made its trial trip. .