784 



TERRITORIES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



granted to railroads ; and that the consolidation 

 of Indian tribes, with a Territorial form of gov- 

 ernment, shall be recommended by them to 

 their respective councils. 



Montana. Like Idaho, this Territory presents 

 great inducements to emigrants, and her popu- 

 lation, estimated at considerably over 30,000, is 

 composed, in a great measure, of the men who 

 built up Colorado so rapidly, and who, upon 

 the exhaustion of the surface deposits, left that 

 Territory for the richer diggings just discovered 

 in the north. "When her placers become ex- 

 hausted, of which there seems no immediate 

 probability, Montana must undoubtedly expect 

 a temporary diminution of her population ; but 

 in the development of her gold-bearing quartz 

 veins, of which the number is almost incalcu- 

 lable, she will have the elements of a steady 

 and permanents increase. The population at 

 present centres around the mining towns of 

 Virginia City, 10,000 inhabitants, Helena City 

 8,000, and Diamond City 4,000. 



One of the most surprising geographical facts 

 about Montana is, that it is reached by steam- 

 boat from St. Louis. Travellers and freight are 

 now transported by steamboat, and without 

 transshipment, from St. Louis to Fort Benton, 

 in the heart of Montana ; and freight, in the 

 proper season of navigation, may be got to 

 Montana quicker than to Denver City. This 

 cheap mode of communication will be of vast 

 importance to the new Territory, and light- 

 draught boats are now building at Louisville 

 especially for the Montana trade. These will 

 supersede the boats now used, which are some- 

 times delayed on the upper waters. The river 

 voyage from St. Louis to Fort Benton is now 

 made in twenty-eight days, and freight is car- 

 ried at the price of ten cents per pound. 



Among recent discoveries in the Territory 

 was that of a rich gulch on the eastern slope 

 of the Eocky Mountains, called the " Last 

 Chance," near which there sprang into exist- 

 ence, in a few months, the populous mining 

 town of Helena City. The gold discoveries 

 next extended across the mountains, to the 

 bead-waters of the Blackfoot, where some im- 

 portant deposits have been opened. East of 

 the Missouri River, during last summer, dis- 

 coveries were made at Confederate Gulch, 

 where Diamond City, now containing four 

 thousand inhabitants, has since gathered. It 

 is reported that the deposits there are of great 

 richness. Gold lodes occur everywhere in 

 connection with gulch diggings. One of the 

 best gold lode-mining districts is on the Mad- 

 ison River, in what is called Hot Spring 

 district. 



The ores of Montana are reported by scien- 

 tific men to be richer than those of California, 

 which yield an average of twenty dollars per 

 ton. The great majority of the lodes of Mon- 

 tana promise an average of more than four 

 times the above amount. There are few sul- 

 phurets of iron and copper, carrying gold, in 

 Montana, such as prove so troublesome in Col- 



orado. This is owing to the fact that the 

 formation is so open and perforated by water, 

 that the sulphurets have been decomposed. 

 For the same reason miners in Montana are 

 not troubled with water, and are saved the 

 heavy expenses of pumping. 



The silver ores are in the form of argentifer- 

 ous galena, which must be smelted as Western 

 lead ores are, and the silver separated from the 

 lead ores by cupellation. The silver ores are 

 much more trustworthy than those yielding 

 gold ; and experience has already shown that 

 silver mining will be, in Montana, more profit- 

 able than gold mining. The veins are more 

 uniform in the yield, and last better. The 

 large and constant supply of water is of im- 

 mense benefit to mining operations in Montana, 

 as well as the facility of movement ; the coun- 

 try everywhere abounding in natural roads, 

 which do not easily become broken up. 



The veins of copper ores have been traced 

 for a great extent, and the ores are found to 

 yield from thirty-three to sixty -five per cent ; 

 but little attention is as yet given to this metal, 

 as gold and silver monopolize the attention of 

 the people. 



Sidney Egerton is the Governor of Montana, 

 and if. P. Torrey, Territorial Secretary. The 

 capital is Virginia City. An election for dele- 

 gate to Congress was held in September, which 

 resulted in the choice of Samuel McLean, the 

 Democratic candidate, by a majority of about 

 a thousand. 



Nebraska. Unlike the Territories lying along 

 the slopes of the Rocky Mountains, Nebraska 

 has few or no deposits of precious ores in her 

 soil, although iron and coal are believed to ex- 

 ist in great abundance. As a grazing country 

 it cannot be surpassed, and the soil produces in 

 abundance all the cereals of the West. Besides 

 being a fine agricultural and stock-raising coun- 

 try, Nebraska is also the great starting-point 

 and highway for travel over the Plains, whence 

 her lands are much sought after by emigrants. 

 Fine lands can be taken under the homestead 

 law, in the immediate neighborhood of good 

 settlements, where the settler will have all the 

 advantages of churches and schools already 

 established. Improved farms can be purchased 

 in tracts of one hundred and sixty acres, with 

 from forty to eighty acres under cultivation, 

 with small dwelling and outbuildings, for from 

 $2.60 to $5 per acre. As a general rule, farms 

 can be bought at less than the cost of the im- 

 provements, owing to the constant emigration to 

 the adjacent gold mines of Colorado and Idaho. 

 The Territory has adopted a liberal free-school 

 system, which will furnish a free school in a 

 short time the year round in every school dis- 

 trict. At the present time the schools are free 

 on an average about six months in the year. 

 The population is now estimated at 50,000. 



Nebraska is traversed through its entire 

 length by the main trunk line of the Union 

 Pacific Railroad, the completion of which is des- 

 tined to develop very considerably the resour- 



