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James Cox - My Native Land
bountifully provided for our native land by an all-wise Providence. It is seriously proposed to attempt
this revival by aid of whaleback steamers, and if the project is carried out, the success which will attend
the effort is likely to agreeably surprise even the most enthusiastic among those who are now advocating
it.
CHAPTER XX. THROUGH THE GREAT NORTHWEST.
The Importance of Some of our Newest State - Romantic History of Montana - The Bad Lands and their
Exact Opposite - Civilization Away Up in the Mountains - Indians who have Never Quarreled with
White Men - Traditions Concerning Mount Tacoma - Wonderful Towns of the Extreme Northwest - A
State Shaped like a Large Chair - The Falls of Shoshone.
Within the last few years new States have been admitted into the Union which, in themselves, form a
magnificent empire. We allude to the great Northwestern Territories which have become States within
the last decade, and which have added so much luster to the escutcheon of our native land. The utmost
ignorance prevails as to these States, and as to the northwestern corner of the United States proper, a term
generally applied to this great Republic, with the exception of Alaska.
Every now and again the report comes of a great forest fire in the Northwest, and occasionally the world
is horrified by reports of a terrible calamity of this character, involving great loss of life and property.
Owing to this fact there is a tendency to look on the northwestern tier of States as one huge forest, ever
offering a temptation to that terrible destructive agency - fire. People who profess to have made tours
through the country, add to the complication by enlarging on this one characteristic, and omitting all
reference to the other features, in which the great Northwest towers head and shoulders above
competitors, and teaches the entire world a lesson in productiveness, fertility, and, we may add, industry.
The World's Fair served to very largely disabuse the public mind concerning what is destined to become
one of the wealthiest sections of the United States. The elegant State buildings that were erected on the
shores of Lake Michigan, and the gorgeous displays of fruits, grain, ore, and different products, must
have convinced the average visitor that there was a great deal more in the far West and Northwest than
he had dreamt of. Many were induced in consequence of the information they received, to blend their
fortunes with the young States, and although the financial condition of the country has not been
calculated to expedite the fulfillment of their Aladdin-like hopes, most of them have done well enough to
be able to congratulate themselves on the change in the location and occupation.
We can only speak of some of the most remarkable features of this great section, greater, indeed, than
several Old World nations combined. Helena is the capital of one of these new States, to which is given
the euphonic name of Montana. The name is very appropriate, as it signifies "belonging to the
mountains." The Indians had a very similar name for the territory now included in the State, and Judge
Eddy called it the "Bonanza State" because of its mining sensations, a name which has clung to it with
much fidelity ever since. The arms of the State are significant and almost allegorical. The present is
linked with the past by means of a retreating buffalo, significant of the extermination of this interesting
and valuable species. The great mining resources of Montana are shown by a miner's pick and shovel,
and in the rearground the sun is setting behind eminences of the Rocky Mountains. Montana was first
discovered by Canadians, some two hundred years ago. The first permanent settlement was early in the
present century, and, until within the last fifty years, all goods and utensils used in it were dragged up the
Missouri River from St. Louis, a distance of nearly 2,000 miles. When the war broke out, the Territory
was occupied almost entirely by Indians, with a few daring fur traders and a number of missionaries,
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