Browning chief. [volume] (Browning, Mont.) 1941-1953, 1941-05-30
By WHCHEY

The country now embraced with
IN NE ssates Of Montana and Wy
omtng, lying along the eastern
sSoDs Of the Rocky mountains, was
first revealed Itself to the eyes
q the early white explorers nearly
l5o years ago, and IL was, for half
. century thereafter, . paradise for
hunters that has been equaled by
few regions Of the earth. Even the
menace from hostile Indians failed
70 keep big game hunters from
wonders, and for a hundred years
most Of the noted sportsmen Of
The world came once or more to
Kill buffalo, elk, antelope, bear,
moose, goat, sheep, mountain lions,
lynx and other game which
abOunded
The home of these wild things was
characterized by the huge backbone
and lofty attitudes of the main range
Of the Rockies and numerous spurs,
and by the vast, free sweep of prairie
mat rolled away eastward to the hori-
ION. 1t Is land of splendid distances,
and so clear is the air that, by NOON
light on fine night, the rugged con-
tour of the greater mountains can be
clearly seen at distance of l25 miles.
Winters Were Longer
1t Is now tradition in this region
that century ago the winters were
longer and more rigorous than now,
with heavier snowfall. The great noun
tain ranges were sheathed in glacial
ice; their flanks covered with dense,
sunless forests Of giant cedar, many
varieties OF fir and pine. tamarack,
larch and spruce. bringing the myriad
rivers and their smaller tributaries
were groves of silver-leafed cottonwood,
quaking asp and willows. OF course,
the trees and the flora of the noun
tains are the same today as then, but,
due to the pillow and overstocking of
the ranges with cattle and sheep, the
prairie has suffered an unbelievable
change IN this respect.
In the spring and summer the
mountains and foothills Of the Rockies
are never-ending garden of bloom.
Kinnikinnick. the tobacco of the primi-
tive Indians, weaves thick. green mats,
patterned with crimson berries, over
the ground. Under the heavy shade of
trees in the forests, in the rich noun
variety of flowers = sweet-perfumed
lily bells OF pale pink. known some
times as twin flower; briar roses,
shading from white to crimson. grow
in fragrant thickets. Purple clematis
loops its garlands from limb to limb
ana the QellCate VlOlet-colOred BIOS
SONS sway in the breeze Wild holly
hook. tall and stately tufted with
masses OF pale pink and lavendar
blossoms, form jungle beneath the
protecting and over-lacing boughs of
the great forest trees. There are also
orchids Of many kinds. forget-me-nots
bluebells, purple and yellow asters,
brown-eyed mountain lilies, pale
queens cups, gentian flowers. colum-
bine, violets, white and yellow; pink
syringa, flaming Indian paint brush
and white summer SNOW fields" of
cone-shaped squaw grass. Another love-
ly flower OF the Rockies Is the bitter
root, which grows close to the ground
and has an exquisitely silver-rose-
colored blossom and root which was
much esteemed by some Indian tribes
as food.
Cushions Of Moss
Each season each degree of altitude
is marked by its changing bloom First
one variety is found in sheltered val
leys; later it is found on the slopes
of hills. Then. as the warmth of the
sun increases. it goes higher and
higher until its last elevation is reached
near the timber line. Even on the bald
mountain peaks are found green
cushions of moss with fairy flowers
of white and pink
In addition to the trees and flowers
there are many kinds of edible berries.
Wild Strawberries. huckleberries. rasp-
berries, buffalo berries, choke cherries,