Montana farmer-stockman. [volume], March 01, 1954, Image 1

About Montana farmer-stockman. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1947-1993

Image provided by: Montana Historical Society; Helena, MT

                
£Cö® KD 1 TP R 3
1
March 1, 1954
CP
H
C
O
■i
-n
x
ras©
.
;
19
?o
m
■
■ -■
rC>
m z r
iH
z h
'1/PP
/
Z°
mm
>2
y
y
•f
;
-
I
Uj
m
i
hr
A
$ L
'i
V H
n
\Uf"
0
'//
v
Çr
■•'er'
jr *
' y
[ ;
'A
AAA
a
'>V
/ *
m
4
w.
V
*
,L
/
■t*
i
é
z
/
V
h.
i
VL
À
uii
r
uiSn
m
*
*
*
m
A
i
»,
■
(
}
3
Ilf
W
■j
V
A
hi
>
y* r
lliF
'- vf; ■> '
Ik
%
y
M /
<
to,
t *iÿ
jäduci V V • /
*
< " "/iî, a,
U (/'llI %vwmm
- , n t( f sêY
'into,"",'! Wt
I '
\v
t
? &mm
%
H
ih
<
FIRST 100
YEARS
ine handout
ume
By A. W. ERICKSON
A PPROPRIATELY today Montana calls
herself "The Treasure State," but few
people within or outside its borders know
of what this treasure consists.
Treasure is usually associated with pre
cious stones or minerals such as diamonds,
silver and gold. Montana still abounds in
silver and gold and there is yet ample room
for the mule-propelled, hunch-motivated
prospector as well as the airborne, Geiger
equipped scientist but there are treasures
more easily found and uncovered with far
less speculative risks.
These treasures are being uncovered
every day with the moldboard and disc
plows propelled by internal combustion en
gines and driven by men who can coax more
gold out of a section of land in a year than
a mountain prospector can wash out in a
lifetime.
With the remarkable productive quality
of her soils and the Missouri River forming
« Natural waterway for the white man to
move his artifices, culture and mode of liv
ing in and out of the state's very center, it
may be interesting to note why wheat cul
ture was so late in reaching its present pro
portion.
The North American continent was set
tied by two motivating factors—search of
gold and freedom of thought. Even the
latter noble aspiration seemed to burn a
wee bit brighter when there was hope of
acquiring a little yellow metal with the
freedom.
country, especially with cold winters, can
easily be traded for gold, furs became the
motivating factor in bringing the white men
As furs, the first products from any new
to this area. Even as early as 1805-6 there
was a long and hazardous transportation gap
between the fur-bearing animal and the fur
wearing object of man's protective instincts.
It was this gap which gave furs their market
price.
For some time the quality of Montana's
furs kept the possibility of agriculture in
the background. There is no question about
this quality to which both Lewis and Clark
attested with reports, using such terms as
"unusually large," "very large and fat," and
again, "the finest I have ever seen," when
speaking of the beaver and beaver furs,
Supplies, trappers and fur traders moved
up and down the (Please turn to page 32)