Democratic Sentinel, Volume 18, Number 5, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 February 1894 — A RIVAL OF NIAGARA. [ARTICLE]

A RIVAL OF NIAGARA.

MIGHTY WATERS HARNESSED FOR HUMAN USES. Wonderful Betonrooo of a New RegionTeat Industrie* Springing Cp— How the Maaonrl'a Swift Cnrrrnt I* ttUixed— Young end Promising Cltj. Marvels of Montana. Great FaUs, Mont., correspondence: It was not until the return of Lewis and Clarke from their remarkable journey, covering two and a half years, to the Pacific coast, in the first years o? she century, that any definite knowledge was obtained of the Falls of ihe' Missouri. The intrepid explorers spent many months rowing and poling their heavy batteaux against the swift current of the muddy river, which became clearer as they left the bluff deposits of the prairies and plains and neared the falls, above which the water jg gs clean and pure as it 3 sources of supply In mountain springs and snow, We wish our B{.aco would permit reprinting but graphic descriptions given cl this wonderful series of falls, in America's greatest river, around which the exploring party spent nearly a month. From the highest point of land, 350 feet above Black Eagle Fall, on which now stands a smokestack 200 feet high, as prominent an object as the Washington monument, the top as high above the furnaces as that noble shaft, Lewis and Clarke looked for the first time over the site of the present city, but then temporarily occupied by a herd of buffalos, and later, in an encounter with a wounded ope. Lewis was chased into the water opp: site the town, where the river is 2,800 feet wide, and compelled to swim to the other shore.

A new edition of “The History of the Explorations of Lewis and Clarke” has i'ust been issued under the direction of -’rof. Elliott Coues, of the Smithsonian Institution. It is a recital of a most important event in our history, and brought down to date by numerous foot notes. It is dedicated as follows: To the People of the Great West: Jefferson gave you the country. Lewis and Clarke showed yon the wav. The rest Is yonr own course of empire. Honor the statesman who foresaw yonr West. Honor the brave men who first saw your West. May the memory of their florious achievement be your precious herlagel Accept from my heart the undying record ot the beginning of all your greatness. E. C. According to Eastern ideas of calculation, this is a very young city, but undeniably it is one of the most promising in the West, and is bearing out the predictions of the explorers, that an important industrial" city would spring up here. The first settler, Hon. Paris Gibson, an honored and still active citizen of the sturdy young giant with over 12,000 population, and as enthusiastic over the future as ever, with much now to back up his opinions and prophecies, broke ground for the first house about ten years ago. Its growth was slow until the first railway, the Groat Northern, reached there four years later. Now railroads reach out in various directions. The reader will naturally inquire what there is in the Northwest to make great States and cities. Is not this country in the American desert the Bchool books used to tell about? Yes, but the desert has since been chased hither and thither, until it is now located in spots among the lava beds and high ranges of the far Southwest, and what there is of it contains borax, salt, and resources of value to man, and there is no such thing as the “Great American Desert.” What made the older States of this Union wealthy? Pine forests, iron ore and copper mines supplied the raw material upon which Northern Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota was built. Coal, iron and oil made Pennsylvania great. Corn and hogs brought riches to lowa and Illinois. An extract of corn and rve distinguishes Kentucky. Wheat has given prominence to Minnesota and the Dakotas, and so on through the list. Montana is a new State, and but little known, except as a grazing region and producer of precious metals. Stock shipments last year exceeded $6,000,000 worth. Herds of cattle and flocks of sheep are brought into this State from the country south as far as Texas, to fatten on the ranges for Eastern markets. All the conditions here, grass, wfiter and climate, are conducive to the highest development of physical life. The State prodigies horses of large lung power and endurance, much sought after by the War Department for cavalry purposes. Budd Doble feeds his horses on Montana hay and oats. It was too far west, so stockmen said, to raise wheat, but a roller flouring mill with 500 barrels daily capacity, located here, is making high-grade flour from native wheat, and this immediate locality supports two agricultural papers. Those who.have not been West have little idea of the possibilities and elbow room of a State like Montana, a region larger than all of New England, and then with country enough left over to include several of the Middle States.

Standing by the tall smoke stack of the copper smelter, we looked down on the mighty river, with its rapids and cataracts, and saw waters fall with quick descent, furnishing power to turn wheels to crush ores, to generate electricity, to grind flour, to make hot fires hotter, and agreed with the builder of the marvelous wheel at the World’s Fair, that where there was such enormous water power an industrial city must arise. The monthly pay-roll now exceeds $l6O, t 00 for labor, and is to be largely increased. The electrical energy possible at this point is beyond reasonable comprehension. It is already used in multiform ways: To refine metals, to run machinery and strest cars, to cook food, and for heating purposes. Five ranges of mountains are in eight, clothed with forests and veined with precious metals and iron, and valleys between seamed with beds of coal. Fertile lands slope back to grassy plains, where plowmen and stock raisers are already busy. All these potent and varied resources are within boundaries that make them tributary to a common center, and that location is one of destiny, for men see these natural forces, and are beginning to utilize them. With all these things, there is indefinable hopefulness and keen alertness in the air; every breath one draws is a pleasure, making it indeed a land worth living in. In this energetic climate so conducive to longevity, a few of the early fur traders still linger. We remember meeting a year ago old Hugh Monroe, who spent ninety years in the Northwest, dying a few months ago at the age of 108 years, and old man ROndout, who lives forty miles east of here, is in his hundredth year, coming to what is Montana in 1835, then as unknown a region as Africa. The country and conditions give men an opportunity to display their abilities. Robert Williams, modest and quiet, is better known in scientific circles in the East and the old world as an ornithologist and botanist than he is as a citizen of this city, His collection of birds is large

and rare, and of gramea alone he haa more than eighty kinds, with flowers, ferns, etc., in large numbers. Prof. O. C. Mortson has catalogued over 300 different kinds of metals, minerals, cres, rocks, etc., found in this region. In company with Prof. Mortson, we today visited the chief copper smelter, and saw the brown metal by car loads and learned that by the electrical process used in refining over 200,000 ounces of silver are extracted monthly from the copper output. Nine hundred men are employed, and with the proposed wire and sheet copper mills c m pie ted, the force will be largely increased. Along the double banks of the river for eight miles, the water everywhere can be harnessed to wheels and turned to human use. With millions of pounds cf wool marketed here every year, it is only reasonable to assume "that this will become the site of woolen mills, as it has of silver and copper smelters. With iron ore and coal, it is natural to think that furnaces, foundries and rolling mills will spring up in close association with tho raw material. descending grade frpm the gold, silver, copper and iron mines to this point, perforce of circumstances concentrate the smelting interests of a vast region along ttr’s available series of falls. Our space will not permit us at this time to say more about this interesting and resourceful region, and we must cl. se with a brief reference to the recent discoveries made by Prof. Scott and a party of Princeton College students. They found in the Smith Biver Valley, south of here, whole skeletons cf the camel, rhinoceros, and other tropical animals, comprising in all fortytwo species and twenty-two genera. Several specimens of the three-toed horse were found. The remains are petrified. lying in indurated clays and protruding from the baqlia or sides of the valleys or Coulees. The ArPow Creek Bad Lands, at the foot cf the Highwood Mountains, east of Great Falls, is another interesting section, full of wonderful formations and abounding in fossil shells and remains of sea lizards and ancient reptile life. It is a fantastic region, with deep coulees and rocks twisted and bent into odd and fanciful shapes. A lofty cliff exists in this same locality, well filled with petrified fishes. The Little Rockies and Eear Paw Mountains are also rich in fossil remains. This city is the natural outfitting point for scientific, geological, sketching, exploring, hunting and fishing parties. We are under obligations to the energetic secretary of the Board of Trade lor printed matter and personal attention, and prompt consideration will be given to all in-

quiries.

J. G. JONES.