THE TREASURE STATE 





7 : 



Harvesting a Portion of Montana's Big Grain Crop. 



herds of cattle and sheep which find a market at ever increasing prices. Its rivers 

 and streams are capable of producing electrical power sufficient to turn the indus- 

 trial wheels of an empire and this power is being rapidly developed and placed in the 

 service of mankind. Its forests and streams abound in game and fish, offering a 

 veritable paradise for the sportsman; while its scenic attractions, although but yet 

 comparatively little known, are such as to inspire the admiration of world-traveled 

 tourists. 



Montana, with its more than 147,000 square miles, is capable not only of supply- 

 ing practically its every want but is also capable of exporting immense quantities of 

 the staple products of commerce. As has been well said, it is an empire in the 

 making and only those of far seeing vision can yet dream of the Montana which is 

 to come. 



The year 1915 dealt with Montana with a lavish hand. Not only has this 

 State produced the greatest crops in its history, but these crops have been marketed 

 at prices which give good profit to the husbandman and encourage him to larger 

 efforts. The mineral production of the State, estimated by the geological survey at a 

 value of eighty-seven million dollars, established a new high record and the present 

 high prices of copper and zinc, which are Montana's chief metal products, indicate that 

 the output for 1916 will greatly exceed that of the year just closed. 



During the past year a new, and it is thought important, industry was added 

 to Montana's varied activities. Natural gas, in commercial quantities, has been 

 developed in a half-dozen widely separated portions of the State, while along the 

 southern border prospecting for oil has resulted in the opening of a number of wells 

 which are even now on a paying basis and there is every indication that the pro- 

 duction of petroleum is soon to be one of Montana's chief industries. 



The past year also witnessed the first utilization, by a transcontinental rail- 

 road, of electrical power for motive purposes, when an entire division of the 



