WEST CENTRAL MONTANA 111 



Hell Gato canyon, near the city of Mis.suiila, was the easiest pass throiij^h which 

 the Flathead, Nez Perce and other tribes could go to the hunting grounds for 

 buffalo on the eastern slopes of the nioiinlaius. The canyon was given its name 

 by trappers interpreting the Indian word for a place of fear, as it was here that 

 the Blackfeet ambushed the western tribes. In 1S60 a trading post was started 

 five miles below the city of Missoula and the same year the county of Missoula 

 was created by the territory of Washington. In 1865 the trading post was 

 removed to the present site of Missoula. A grist mill and a saw mill were also 

 built, the former to grind the grain of the pioneer farmers who had settled in 

 the district. Placer gold discoveries on the Kootenai in 1864 and on Cedar 

 Creek (now in Mineral county) in 1869 brought in people, many of whom turned 

 to agriculture. First surveyed in 1853, the line of the Northern Pacific was finally 

 opened in 1883 and lumbering began to de\elop, steadily growing in importance 

 with the expansion of mining and agriculture in other parts of Montana. 



Missoula county lies in west central Montana. The Idaho-Montana boundary 

 defines the border of the southwestern corner. Lake county acquired the north- 

 western quarter leaving, Missoula an inverted ,«J in shape, with a maximum 

 length east and west of 60 miles and a maximum breadth north and south of 66 

 miles. The northeastern stem of the county extends from the crest of the Mis- 

 sion range on the west to the Flathead range on the east and takes in the head- 

 waters of Swan River, flowing north, and of the Clearwater River, flowing south. 

 This part of the county lies wholly within national forests. 



The Missoula and Grass valleys near Missoula, containing 70,000 acres, the 

 lower Bitter Root, of which 20.000 acres are in the county, and the lower Blackfoot 

 of which about 20,000 acres are also in the county, are the 

 Big Industry principal farming areas. Soil types range from sandy and clay 

 Is Lumbering loam in the valleys and on the lower benches to coarse gravel 

 at the higher elevations. In the Big Blackfoot valley the prin- 

 cipal crops are grain and hay. Considerable stock is also raised. In the other 

 agricultural districts small grains, alfalfa, apples and bush fruits, potatoes and 

 garden truck are the principal crops. Dairying and hog raising are well estab- 

 lished. Sugar beets, grown experimentally, have done well. Irrigated farming 

 is the dominant type. 



Missoula has the largest saw mill capacity of any county. Much timber 

 from other counties is made into lumber in them. At Bonner, seven miles east of 

 Missoiila, is a plant with an annual capacity of about 100,000.000 board feet; at 

 Milltown, close to Bonner, is another plant with a capacity of 40,000,000; at 

 Missoula another plant with a capacity of 20,000,000 feet, and there are smaller 

 plants in the county with a capacity of about 5.000,000 feet. AYhile there has 

 never been any large scale mining in the county it has commercially produced 

 gold, silver, copper, lead and some coal. It also has barite, brick clay, pottery clay 

 and a variety of building stones. 



Other industries besides lumbering include car shops and roundhouses of 

 the Northern Pacific Railway, several large wood-working plants, metal working 

 plants, brick, tile and concrete products, flour and cereal mills, creameries, and a 

 number of other manufacturing plants. In 1923 the Missoula Chamber of Com- 

 merce started work on an industrial survey to ascertain what industries are best 

 adapted to the natural resources of the region and to the markets available. 



The main lines of the Northern Pacific and of the Chicago, Milwaukee & 

 St. Paul traverse the southern half of the county. Branch line trains of the 

 Northern Pacific, out of Missoula, run south through the Bitter Root valley, north- 

 west through the Mission valley to Poison, on Flathead Lake, and west to Coeur 

 d'Alene mining camps of Idaho. The Milwaukee has built a branch a short dis- 



