CHAPTER VIII 



THE PROSPERITY OF MONTANA 



MONTANA is a State of magnificent resources. The 

 first white men who ever saw it French explorers in 

 the middle of the eighteenth century called it "The 

 Land of the Shining Mountains." The appellation is 

 true as well as poetic, for it is the possession of its snow- 

 capped ranges, reflecting the light of the brilliant sky, 

 whtch differentiates Montana from the adjoining prairie 

 States of the Northwest. It is the mountains which hold 

 the wealth of waters and minerals and make the charac- 

 ter of the climate. 



Montana ranks third in point of area among American 

 States, and third in the value of its annual mineral out- 

 put. It is yet too early, by many years, to estimate its 

 final place in extent of population and agriculture. To- 

 day mining is the first of its industries, stock-raising the 

 second, agriculture the third. Mining gave the impulse 

 to its settlement and is the backbone of its prosperity. 

 The forty millions of dollars annually taken out in cop- 

 per, lead, gold, and silver make it one of the most pros- 

 perous of western communities. The discovery of new 

 mining districts steadily continues, and the flow of wealth 

 from this item of the State's resources will endure in- 

 definitely. The conditions of the stock industry are 



222 





