Browning chief. [volume] (Browning, Mont.) 1941-1953, 1942-05-22
State Woolgrowers Have Prospect
OF Surprising Production Record

gusville. after Minnie and Gus. a
couple prominent in the annals of that
place. They we're people of great de-
termination and of no modesty what
Soever, for they insisted on naming
their home what they pleased and
they pleased to name it in their own
honor. Later on, after Minnie and Gus
had their last quarrel with other mem
bers of the community, man named
Peter WibauX came to the settlement
and through his efforts the town be-
came large enough to be incorporated
as city. When this incorporation took
place, the inhabitants insisted on
changing the name to Wibaux, in
honor of their most prominent citizen.
Dream of Paris Gibson
Paris Gibsonis Dream City," is a
name often given to Great Falls, and
it recalls to mind the idealistic pio-
neer who saw such wonderful oppor-
tunities for town on the land where
Great Falls stands today He it was
who visioned the hidden power in the
falls of the river, who could see in
his minds eye the sweep of a city,s
boundaries against the blue of the
water. His dream was realized after
years of toll and service, and to his
city Paris Gibson gave the name of
Great Falls. There are several lovely
parks within the town, and one of
these, Margaret park, was named for
Margaret Hardness, the first white
woman to set foot on Great Falls soil.
She came there after her father a
trader from Fort Benton, and she too
did much to help in the settlement of
the city.
But Great Falls is fortunate in hav-
ing for its historical background a
sentiment so inspired as that of Paris
Gibson. Not all of our towns were
given such noble push forward. Take
Virginia City, for instance. Its name
was born from strife and hatred. The
town was, when first settled, inhabited
by strong Union and Confederate SYM
pathizerS. At that time the Confeder
ate men had the upper hand, and the
town was named YAKIMA, after the wife
of Jefferson Davis, president of the
Confederacy. Later on, when Judge
Bessel. hot-headed Unionist, came to
the bench in YAKIMA, he declared that
mo such name as YAKIMA shall dis
grace my law records" and forthwith
he arbitrarily changed the name to
Virginia City. AS the strong feeling be-
tween north and south died out in the
years following, no Confederate SYM
pathizer had the nerve or desire to
change his towns name again and
Virginia City it remained.
Springdale, Mont, came into being
in 1882. for in that year, a pioneer
named Hunter, while exploring in that
region, discovered numerous hot springs
two miles distant from the nearest
point of the Northern Pacific railroad.
There Springdale was born to serve as
the gateway to Hunters Hot Springs"
a resort established there by the ex-
plorer.
To David Thompson, British eX-
plorer, does Thompson Falls owe its
name. He was exploring the Clark's
Fork of the Columbia river, many years
ago, and gave his name to the falls
in the Clark's Fork river. Later on,
when a town grew up near there, it
too took the name of Thompson Falls.
Naming of Helena
One eventful day some rs years ago,
meeting was called in settlement
in western Montana to decide on a
name for the place. John Somerville,
an influential man of the community,
was chosen as chairman. All that day
the men and women flocked to the
meeting, but after hours Of wrangling,
no decision as to a name was made.
Finally, as a last resort, Somerville
rose, and in a powerful voice, beloved
out, Il am citizen of the best coun-
try in the world, America; I am q
citizen of the best state in the country,
Minnesota; come from the best coun-
ty in that state, and the best town in
that county; the towns name Is Hell
ena, and Helena I'm going to call my
new homel" The fierce old man was