Glacier County chief., 1940-05-03

ties these freighters delivered goods
that year at the rate of Is cents
pound.
In 1864 and 1865 trains were also
coming in from st. Joseph, Mo, and
Leavenworth, Kan. These, however,
on the trail and charged on the aver
age 20 cents pound. Pack trains were
arriving from Walla Walla, carrying
such merchandise as teas, clothing,
gum" boots, and other light goods
for 60 cents pound. These pack ami
mails averaged 300 pounds apiece, so
, each animal made its owner $50 per
trip.
About this time the firm of King
and Gillette built a toll road through
Prickly Pear canyon and in comment
ing dozen years later on the opera
ton of this road; the 1879 edition of
the Montana Business and Historical
directory states: We must say that
such thing as a smitten conscience
could hardly have existed in those days
as this firm displayed that wonderful
amount of flesh called cheek 10 charge
only the very small sum OF only $40
per wagon passing their toll gate
This state of affairs continued until
1867 Then methods of transportation
shifted and almost all OF the goods
came up the Missouri river to Fort
Benton and were frelghted overland
from there. That year rates were u
cents from ST. Louis to Fort Benton
and cents from Benton to Helena.
This rate continued i'll force until the
close of the 1869 season.
With the Union and Central Pacific
railroad completed, competition be-
tween eastern and western merchants
for MontanaS business increased. Al
the opening of the 1870 season, the
wit n q
cts cutting rates TO 81 cents a pound
to drive out all competition. In spite
of this. much shipping was done by
teams from Corinne, Utah, a station
on the Central Pacific, at rates aver
aging 6 cents a pound. This distance,
between Corinne and Helena. was 449
miles via HenryS fork and 466 via
Beaverhead, the trip requiring about
45 days Actually this was nothing but
an experiment and while a few who
carried their own freight did very
we'll, for the most of them II was q
losing proposition. This continued until
! 1871 when the Far West Co. was or
ganized amid blazing OF trumpets
TO do business with Montana. but the
Far West was not success and ii
folded up at the end of the season.
BY 1872 competition had forced the
rates down to where goods were being
delivered in Helena from Corlnne for
| as low as 3 cents a pound by the
remaining few who had managed &c
| stay in business and new concerns who
| had started freighting outfits. Con-
Sequently freighting was so nearly di-
vided that it was difficult to deter
mine whether most of the goods were
actually coming overland from Corinne
or up the Missouri. But business men
| enjoyed the war and profited every
time somebody gave the rates a shove
I Wv
constantly reducing rates. offered the
cheapest transportation but were hay
ing little or no success in completely
forcing the others out of business:
1t was cutthroat competition: but in
spite of rate reductions by. the river
interests, the overland freighters were
! helped by the railroads. The Union
Pacific was adding a little to its north
ward narrow gauge branch each year
and the closer the rails came, the
shorter the freighters' haul.
At the same time the Northern Pa
cific was rapidly building across the
Minnesota and Dakota prairies. but
due to a panic. was forced to halt
work for awhile at Bismarck and 1t
war as the Union Pacific. However
the arrival of both lines was eagerly
awaited and residents could soon boast
in their letters back east of the ter
ritory'S two railroads. With merchan-
disc easier to obtain and the freight
rates on the skids, the cost OF living
was rapidly coming down into line
with other parts of the country
With the shortening of overland
freighting distances the Missouri river
companies were putting on larger and
faster boats so that in 1878 the rates
had fallen to a point where some con-
tracts were made at S2.75 per hundred
pounds from Pittsburgh to Helena.
That was dirt cheap when compared to
the 6O-cent rates of the old pack trains,
but even at that the river interests
and the overland freighters were later
forced out Of business by the railroads.
In 1873 six Montana concerns ex-
ported on the Missouri river 3,659a