734 



TERRITORIES OF THE UNITE!) STATES. 



The sessions of the Legislature being bien- 

 nial, the latest report on the financial condi- 

 tinn of the Territory is for the year ending 

 November 80, 1872. At that date the total 

 indebtedness was $135,495, of which $77,255 

 was bonded. The principal of these bonds 

 will become duo in January, 1875. The chief 

 industry of Idaho is mining. Gold was first 

 discovered, in paying quantities, on Oro-Finc 

 Creek, a northern tributary of the Clearwater, 

 in 1860. The Boise Basin mines were dis- 

 covered in 1862, and the Owyhie mines the 

 following year. The product of the Territory, 

 prior to 1868, is stated, by J. Ross Browne, at 

 $45,000.000; the subsequent yield, according 

 to R. W. Raymond, United States Commis- 

 sioner of Min in -. has been as follows: 

 1868, $7,000,000; 1869, $7,000,000; 1870, 

 $6,000,000 ; 1871, $5,000,000, making the total 

 product, to the beginning of 1872, $70,000,000. 

 The gold deposited at the various United 

 States mints and assay-offices, to June 80, 1878, 

 amounted to $18,389,785; silver, $300,401. 

 A United States assay-office was established at 

 Boise City, in 1872. The production of the 

 precious metals in Idaho, in 1873, is thus re- 

 turned: Gold-dust and bullion by express, 

 $1,171,131 ; gold-dust and bullion by other 

 conveyances, $234,226 ; silver bullion by ex- 

 press, $938,297; total $2,343,654. Governor 

 Bennett recommends the appointment of a 

 commissioner of immigration, "whose sole duty 

 it shall be to employ all the means which ex- 

 perience has proved efficient, to induce people 

 to settle among us." lie says: "We have all 

 the necessary elements to make this a pros- 

 perous and growing Territory, and speedily to 

 become a State. Here is a soil which pro- 

 duces in abundance all the agricultural prod- 

 ucts, awaiting only the labor of the husband- 

 man ; here ore vast mountains of mineral 

 wealth, only needing the labor of intelligent 

 beads and willing hands; here are boundless 

 ranges of pasturage, whore all kinds of stock 

 multiply and fatten ; a climate unsurpassed for 

 health and pleasantness; and on every hand 

 are seen the beauties and grandeurs of Nature 

 to attract the eye and inspire the heart. And 

 yet we have not the people to develop nil 

 these immense resources." Bois6 City, the 

 rapital of Idaho Territory, and of Ada County, 

 is situated on the north bank of the Bois6 

 River, about 520 miles northeast of Sim Fran- 

 cisco, and 285 miles northwest of Salt Lake 

 Oity. In 1*70 it had a population of 995. It 

 contains a penitentiary, a United States assay- 

 office, a national bank, three grist -mills, and 

 three newspapers. It is reached in two days 

 by stago, from Indian Crook, Utah, on the 

 Central Pacific Railroad. The place was for- 

 merly a trading-post of the Hudson Hay Fur 

 Company ; it now commands the trade of the 

 miners on the western slope of the Rooky 

 Mountain*, and of the surrounding agricultural 

 country. 



IHDIAX THBiromr. This Territory ia ex- 



clusively set apart for the occupation of various 

 tribes nt' Indians, who ore in a semi-civilized 

 condition, with forms of government, indus- 

 tries, schools, etc., of their own. An act-mint 

 of the various tribes was given in the pneed- 

 ing volume of this work, and there has been 

 no movement of importance during the year 

 to be recorded. 



MONTANA. The present Territorial govern- 

 ment is as follows : Governor, Benjamin F. 

 Potts; Secretary, James E. Galloway ; Chiet- 

 Justiee, Decius S. Wade; As-oriate Ju-- 

 Hiram Knowles, Franklin G. Service ; District 

 Attorney. Mortimer C. Pago; Snrveyor-(!en- 

 eral, John E. Blaine ; Superintendent of Indian 

 Att'airs, .Ia-per A. Viall ; I'nited Stat<-i- ('uin- 

 inUsioncr, E. W. Carpenter; Auditor. William 

 II. Rogers : Tri-asun-r, Uiehard O. lliekmun. 

 Tho capital is Virginia City. 



According to the message of Governor Potts 

 to the Legislature in January. 1*74. the total 

 registered indebtedness of the Territory was 

 $128.7<'>2, including bonds to the amount of 

 $104,300, bearing interest at the rate of 12 per 

 cent, per annum. The decrease of the r 

 tercd indebtedness during the year was $13,- 

 786. The reported indebtedness of the several 

 counties was $432,987. The reports of several 

 of the conntiesdo not include the accrued in- 

 terest on the debt of such counties, which will 

 increase the aggregate county indebtness be- 

 yond the amount stated. 



Tho total amount of taxes assessed for terri- 

 torial purposes for 1878 was $3!),-J14. 



The number and value of the stock in the 

 Territory are reported as follows: 



Six hundred and twenty thousand three hun- 

 dred and ninety acres of the public domain 

 have been taken np under the laws of the 

 United States by actnal settlers, and 818,089 

 acrc>s arc under cultivation. 



During the year ninety schools were open, 

 and attended by 1,881 pupils. The superin- 

 tend, nt says, that ''the provision" of the pres- 

 ent M-hool law, which requires that the edu- 

 cation of children of African descent shall he 

 provided for in separate schools, practically ex- 

 cludes them from oil opportunity to obtain nn 

 education." Tho Governor recommends that 

 the law be so amended "a to afford an op- 

 portunity for each child in the Territory, with- 

 out distinction, to enjoy all the benefits that 

 are to be derived from a system of free schools 

 established, and supported by the people.'' 



The penitentiary at Oepr Lodge- City was 

 transferred on the 15th of May by the United 

 States to the Territorial authorities. 



During the year an extra session of the 

 Legislature was held, beginning April 14th. 



