••• 





T H i: T li E A S I R E STATE 



101 





Rain's Horn Lake on the Upper Gallatin. 



than 3,500 square miles, while across the park at Yellowstone, Montana, is the west- 

 ern entrance, now vieing in importance with its older rival. 



The pride which Montana takes in these two great national playgrounds is shown 

 by the building of a magnificent automobile highway, which connects Yellowstone and 

 Glacier National Parks, and which incidentally gives the tourist an entirely new con- 

 ception of the phrase "See America First." 



Between these two parks, this great roadway runs for over four hundred miles 

 along the "backbone of the continent," giving an ever changing vision — the majesty 

 of towering mountains, the sublime of primeval forests, the romantic glamour of 

 great cattle ranches, the busy activity of thriving cities and great industrial enter- 

 prises, and the quiet prosperity of rich farm and meadow lands. 



Along this highway may be traced the history of the commonwealth. By the 

 roadside may yet be seen the placer miners sluicing gold as the Californian of '49 

 washed it from the native sands. There may be seen some of the deepest mines 

 and some of the largest smelting and reduction plants in the world. There may be 

 seen the woodsman felling the giant trees and the sawmills which cut them into the 

 lumber of commerce. There may be seen the harnessing of swift and turbulent streams 

 and their conversion into the mystic power which turns the wheels of industry all 

 over an empire teeming with life and activity. There may be seen great traction 

 engines breaking virgin sod that it may be sown to grain, and further beyond may 

 be seen the shack of the homesteader — Montana's newest citizen. And if you care to 

 stop by the side of the road you may angle from the sparkling streams the gamest 

 trout known to the disciples of Isaak Walton, or wandering into the forests you may 

 treat yourself to the spectacle of the greatest and most varied collection of wild 

 game which yet remains in America. 



