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R. N. SUTHERLIN, Editor. it;IUR S)AY, MARCH 8, 1877. LAST week's dailies brought us excitinq news from the Yellowstone. Five hun+redl Sioux warriors were reported to be advane ing luponl the Crow Agency, and fears were entertained that they would attack the set tlemnenits. 'This is but a repetition of the old story familiar to us all.. Every spring .since the settlement of the country, there have been -,ore or less alarming reports about Indians attacking our frontier. This time it is much earlier in the season than usual, and the number of the hostiles is far more formida ble than has been reported heretofore. Like former alarms, it is perhaps greatly exag gerated', but the evil effect upon the country will be none the less serious. It gives great uneasiness to men who have families., Wo men and children are frightened almost out of their wits, and although the enemy may never come, this living, in constant dread is, to say the least of it, very unpleasant, and c fuses our settlers to involuntarily cry out. lHnow long, oh ! how long must this state of things exist?" We have heard of promise after promise being made by the Government to the effect that the nmuch-vexed Indian question would be settled at once. We were told that last sumner would end it, but the campaign closed, leaving the lindians victorious. Thlen it was asserted that the proper time to can. turo the Sioux was in winter,, and that a winter campaign would bring them to terms. But spring has now come,,and the wild, un daunted savage is. still-supreme monarch of his realm, and his war-whoop is still the ter ror of the pioneer. One account has it that they are in a half starved and destitute condition. So much the worse for the people of Montana if this iS true, for, with plenty of horses, ammuni tion and supplies, they are likely to remain on their own hunting ground, but if desti tute, a raid upon the settlements may be ex pected at any time. We have been told so often that they were to be brought to terms, and that in another year the immigrant could travel with lhis wife and little ones in perfect safety from the States to Montana, directly through the Indian country, and have been enabled. to see so little to indicate a.state of affairs of this. character that we are beginning to have serious doubts that the Government will ever accomplish this until there is an entire change of. policy. No INDUSTRnY has been more neglected in Montana than fruit-growing. There has ever been a feverish and' unsettled feeling pervading the minds of the farmers. Their homes being so isolated from the rest of the world, that but few have calculated to re main long, and have therefore made no at tempt to provide these conveniences and luxuries that go so far toward making home happy. There is not a better small fruit country anywhere than Montana. A great variety of berries. grow wild everywhere along our mountain slopes, and there is no good reason why every farmer should not grow fruit in great abundance. It matters snot whether he come here to make a tempo r.ry home or for life. It is a duty every tiller of the soil owes to the country, to his children, to plant out a fruitgarden. Gcose berries, raspberries and currants will bear the second year after being set out, ifsprop erly awred for. The cost of obtaining a start in sut fruit is merely nominal. Roots and' a~ttings can be sent through the mails at a small cost, and those who have experiment ed with bushes and trees shipped in this manner pronounce it perfectly safe. The small sum of $25 expended this spring for fruit trees and bushes, would enable anyone toplant out a nice little orchard, and next summer the farmer could begin to get a re ttur for his labor. On the Bitter Root val ley nearly every farmer is getting a start of fruit, and: Mr'. ,Bass' orchards would do credit to any, country. The chief reason why Bitter-Root-is so far ahead of our other volleys is tlrmt this partieulaur-vtlley is so. far from the mines.that thir-prodnots have only brought a small piee, atd' they, have been forced to live as much as possible on their own products. If the people in ou' other vldleys would learn this, and :set to ,work to grw.suh f1at.t ais is adapted to our cliwate, they would not only live cheaper, butt bet ter. NMontana grown fruit cannot be excell ed in flavor. and every housewife may easily put up enough to abundantly supply the culinary (lepartment the entire year. '£here nre several responsible firms, ad'vertisin gin .our columns who are prepared to furnish custowurrs with hardy varieties, suitable for this climate, and we hope there will be no further delay in making a beginning.. Money and labor cannot be more profitably expend ed.. Fine horses, fine cattle, fine barns and line dwellings are all very nice, but a good orchard of small fruit's insures a table well supplied with luxuri's, which is better thin all. Do not wait another year; but com mence to make preparations without delay. T'lrnm: is apparently a very wide differ ence-of opinion among tbhe differeat papers of the Territory as to the time fixed for the completion of the Northern Pacific railroad. In verification of its statements, the Iude pe;udent publishes the act: of Congress ex tending the time, which is- as follows:: Be it resolvedby the Senate and:Iouse of Replresenltatives (,f the United Sta.tes of America in Congress assembled, That sec tion eight otf an Act entitled An act gran ting lands to aid in the construction of a railroad ani: telegraph line from Lake Su perion to IPuget Sound, on the Pacific coast," is hereby amend(le( to read as follows : That each anld every grant, right, and privilege herein arl so made and given to, and accepted by said North Pacific Railroad Company, to and upon the following con (litions, namely : That the said com;pany shall commence the work on said'road with in two years from and after the secondl day of July, 1868, and shall complete the whole road by the fourth day. of July, Anno Domn ini, 1,77 Approved July, 1st, 186S. Thus it would seem that after all the Northern Pacific will lose their immense land grant unless their time is extended be tween this and July 4th, which is not at all probable. We have looked with great anxiety to this road, but it now appears that it must stop in the midst of a vast unsettled-waste. Could the road have reached the settlements of Montana, the increase of business, etc., would have enabled it to-make way, slowly but-surely, to the Pacifit. But it would be idle-to hope to see it revive and cross the vast plains between Bismarck and the fi on tier of Montana without Government aid. THERE are some who are short-sighted enough to regard the grasshopper plague as a blessing in disguise to tle Montana farmer. Nothing could be more erroneous than this conclusion. It would be far better to sell a large amount at a fair profit, than a small quantity at a largo one. When the tiller of the soil gets an abundant return for his labor he is cheerful,his teams are fat and strong, and capable of, doing good work; his table is well.supplied; he grows his own pork, keeps a good stock of fowls, and has eggs and chickens in abundance. On the other haud ;when the grasshoppers demolish his crops, and he raises only a few bushels in stead of hundreds, his teams must subsist, for the most part on hay and grass.. His hogs are killed before they are fat to save feed ; his poultry are half fed and become -unprofitable; his table is poorly supplied and his brow is shaded with care. What matters it if the few bushels raised bring a fabulous sum, it is barely enough to keep the wolf from the door. Oceasionally there is one who escapes the caltnmity and does well, but for the general prosperity, of the country, it would be far better if farmers. could raise good crops every season. Agent Mitchell, of Ft. Peck, reports that there need be no apprehensions in (riving sto.k to Bismarck the coming summer, if the prapper route be selected. IHesays that droverashould keep on the north side of the Missouri all: the way. This certainly will be goeodnews to our stock men. as it will open an avenue to market that will not only be cheaper, but much shorter than any other route. It is-estimated that the distance from Helena to Bismrrok is about 800 miles. At Bismarcd stock can be shipped to eastern cities .much cheaper thban from Corinne, and we do notd(loubt that many hundred head will be driven. over:this route the ensuing summer, as there are vast number of beef cattle in the Territory, while, the demand is very small' and prices very. low. It must also be a good 'and safe route for.immigrants from the nothIern States to take. to reach Montana.-Ii dependent., We have always looked 'upon this route as a practicable one for our stock-men. The feed is good, and the country easy to drive pver,. Tle,only trouble likely to be experl enceie, except from Indians, is the frequent large herds of buffalo which often throng this region. yet this would not deter its gen eral adoption if the Indian question was set tled in a manner that would guarantee safe ty to 1iMe and property. But we want great er assurance than the bare assertion of the lageiLt at Ft. Peck. flle may be perfectly reliable, but we have no assurance that the road, if open and free from hostile Indians now, would be so a month hence, and stock men cannot afford to take such chances. Neither will the immigrant peril the life of his wife and little ones until the Indian troubles are more definitely settled. But there is uo question but this would prove a valuable route it the general Government offerel the require(ld protection. MIR. .. V. BOGERT, the spicy correspond ent of the New o orth-West, and former ed itor of the Bozeman Times. has assumed editorial charge of the Avant Courier. TiHIE 3Minnesota Senate has just passed a 1bill appropropria:ting $00,000 for the destruc lion of grasshopper eggs. The Legislature of -tontana refused. to provide sufitciently for the protection of the feathered' tribe, the natural enemy of tlha locust. IF you want a good family journal't:replete with agricultural, live-stock, and choice household reading, subscribe for the ROCKY MOUNTAIN IIrUBANDMAN. MBI. EDI'rTO: Tihe Helen;t COngress, at its late session, passed an act to aid in the construction of a railroad, andivoted $1,700, 000 worth of bonds to build it, and ask the dear people to ratify t-h'eir action on the 10th day of Aprii; provided our very liberal offer is accepted; which undoubtedly will be the case, for there is a chance for a magnificent. steal in it. Now, had we not better look before we leap? Some one that is good in figures take a pencil and reckon up the problem. We will say there is a population of 20,000 in Montana, one-third of v:ilol are taxpayers,. (which is a safe estimate, as a good share of our transient population are never in one place long, enough to pay any taxes).; and there are 7,000 taxpayers--mostly farmers.. The road is to be built in three years form next July.. Allowing one hundredoliiles to be-built per year, how. many nills on the dollar will our taxes have to be increased the-first year to pay the interest on.$i00,000 worth of bonds at,7 3-10 per cent.. per an nrum? Then, at the end of the second year how many mills will have to be added to pay- tax on $500,000 more,. or, as our debt has increased to $1,000,000, and the road one hundred miles away, values gradually les selning on account of our burdensome in debtedness anti excessive taxation? At the end of the third year the road reaches the " Hub," with an indebtedness of $1,700,000, a load heavy enough to swamp a half dozen such Territoribsas ours. Several more mills on the dollar for -taxes will have to be added for the last $700000. Very little wealth has been added to the Territory in the-meantime except the roadnbed and" stock. Emigrants will shun us on account of hightaxes ; cap italists will give us a wide berth because they can invest in other places- where taxes are lighter; miling- machinery cannot be shipped'here- as it would be eaten up by taxes ;the "tHub" will be bankrupt, and farmers will be closed out for taxes, and tlose who do survive the storm will have the privilege of being owned,}body and soul, and paying enormous taxes.: to a soulless corporation for the next fifty years. The idea of Montana buiding two or three hundred'miles of railroad through the sands and sage-brush of Idaho-a country that is sterile and' barren of resources-for $$,000 per mile, while the Mormons -would(reap all the benefits while the road was beidg built, by following it up with their wares-and pro duce, is just about as silly as Abe -Lincoln boring-a hole in the bottom of his- flat-boat to let the water-out. The delittof the Territory is enormous now, and the people groaning under'oppres sive taxation, bMa.-how will it be-ifawe be come responsibie. for $1,700,000' worth of bonds for a road, thfrough the wastes of Ida ho, which will niamount' to $20(0000,000 'be fore we receive a-dolkir's worth'of benefit from it, aa:l which" is more than the valua tion of -all: the real. and personal property of all the, farmners in the Territory to-day, or will be three years hence, and the interest semi-annually and:.icets..of, litigation, and other incidental expenses, will amount several millions more before the debtislt ui(ated. Will some one please tell us .i many dollars on the dollar our taxes will when this monstrous fraud i} ill g healthy operation. Would it not be the most supreme toll for the farmers of this Territory to v01q tarily incur this immense indebtedness, th would stick closer to them than the lice Egypt, just for a little, narrow handa.a traul-w'ay that it is likely will not assu any importance other than as an exeus outfit ftor the Diamond R, National ball and lHelena Mutual Mammoth Swindli: company in the sweet summer time. Then we must bear in mind it is mg likely to become a monopoly every timet overland jerky runs short of oats; and for freights and heavy loads, well. the t payers are supposed to carry the loa while the excursionists ride in the ears.t., vis with a charmer, chew cassia buds ;lndl a slithermaree around their necks, with ihe handkerchiefs a leedle out, philopena style Tay-payers, reckon up tthe cost befo)re y vote, and when you do vote, let it be X0 and South railroad aid--no. FAli,,R. Boulder Valley, March 2. 1877. TERRITORIAL NEWS From rthe'Helena Independent, March, 4. ,rh'. R. McNeil informed us yesterdtl that Mr..'Pitem had made a rich and impor. tant strike on the Park lode. For some tinu past work has been' prosecuted in cutting through a fault in thle vein. some twenty feet in extent. When the lode was finaly reached it'was found rilly four feet thick, and' the whole body will mill $50 per tone1 an avenrage. This strike will enconrap others to-persevere, and'we' confidently ex pect to see Park andld Uhionville thriving camps ere the closing; of the coming sunt. mer. What renders the above strike of more than ordinary significance is the fact that it was found at a much greater depth than hasI heretoforebeen attained on th lode, proving that it is a true veiin Henry M. Parchen, writing from Salt Lake to his partner, Harry A. D'Aetleul, says: Salt Lake is full of Montanians, nd they are unaninous in declaring that if Montana gets the North and-South Railroad they will all return to the Territory. 'They say" that" with a rail'.ad Montana is the gem of the American content;- its climate, mis eral wealth, and' grazing- an' agricultural resources are unsurpassed, and with a r.i6 road they want no better country than Mon tana. Witlha railroad, r agree with them in overy particular. From the Madisoniin, March, 1. Mhjor Maginnis sends us the following special, which will he glad news to every citizen of Eastern Montana, and shows that our deligate is-alive to every measure calcu lated to benefit the people he represents: .ASHINGTON. D. C., Feb. 26, 1877. To the Editor of the MIrdi.4oniiran The Department has ordered a daily mail from Virgina City to Bozeo n, also a daily service to Pony. . MARTIN MAGINNIS. The Masqurade Bail at the Grange ull Madison Valley, on last Tuesday nigh, k reported by those who attend as a splendid party. '?he Madisen, Valley, folks always make theii parties ,useh . A stabl. belonging to R. P. Bateman, at Sheridan, was distroyedlby frie last week. There were a numberot horses in the'stable at the tihineit was discovered to be onefits all of: which were geti out,- except, flOe young stallion belongieigto Mr. Johlit gar rison, which was burned'to death.. ·Tleieloi was ennsiderable butt.ww hkve. not' 1Wartd theamount. From the Missonlismn,. Feb, 28. At the fire meeting Wednesdays nighbl' by-lawvwnas adopted `fixing a file off eents-on every member who neglects to *a tend thefiie meeting;and a fihe of.8 00S o every member who aeglects to beppesePt at a:fire. From the Ndw.N6rtVWest, irch, 2. Three hundl'ed lnd seventyfiVe pounds of sil.er from the Dexter millH are in the Ex press offi.e here. . D. L. McFarlhnd, Strveyor, having c00o pleted his Beaverhead 'surveys, expects it about three weekki with Frank Marsh. to cemmence a small'contract on the YellowG stone about Shield's River. Meantime he may make some mineral surveys at, Butte.