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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (June 10, 1906)
40 THE SUNDAY OREGONIAN, PORTLAND, JUNE 10, 1906. JfJ iEXT' '-BI& FARMS WORTH :$ 2.0.000 OOO ON THE FLATHEAD RESERVATION TO BE GIVEN AWAY IN5t0OO PRIZES ALL ABOUT THE FINE VALLEY IN WESTERN MONTANA, THE AGREEABLE CLIMATE AND FERTILITY OF ITS SOIL . . -?n? . c mr- AL.ISPEL.L.. Mont., June 4 (Special j Correspondence of The Sunday Ore " Rontan.) I have come to Kalispell to toll j-ou something about the land of the Flathead. This great Indian reser vation, one of the moat valuable left In I ho United States, has just been sur veyed by Uncle Sam's land officers, and the plats are now In Washington to be pa.-sKCd upon by the Government. After they are approved the Indian Commis sioner will arrange as to the allotment of certatn lands to the Indians and a com mission will be appointed to classify the balance, after which they will be thrown open tnr'settlers. This work will be done rapidly, but It is safe to Fay that It will be a year from now before the great rush to this country begins. The Rush to Kallspel. When the lands are opened applicants will register at the two chief land offices near the reservation. One of these is at Missoula, on the Northern Pacific Rail way, at the far south, and the other is here at Kalispell, on the Great Northern Railroad within a short distance from Flathead L,ake and close to the upper part of the reservation, which, I am told, contain." by far the best lands. The Great Northern Railroad already runs from here to the head of Flathead lake, and it has secured the right of way for an extension of 70 miles skirting the eastern shorrs of that lake and running between It and the Mission JVIountains, so as to connect with the station of TJIxon and the Northern Pacific on the south.- This road will open up the whole eastern part of the reservation, and will make Kalispell the natural entrance to it. It will cause most of the homeseekers to come here to' register, and the prospects are that there will be between 50.000 and ino.noo here at that time. The laws pro vide that would-be settlers must come to the nearest land office In person and file their claims. Registration may he made within GO days from the date of opening, and as soon as President Ftopsevelt announces the time the rush wHI begin. - t'ncle Sam's BIr Lottery. The names will be set down In the order of their registration and each person will be given a number. At the end all the numbers will be put In a wheel and Uncle Sam's officials will run the lottery. Those whose numbers are first drawn will have the first chance to pick out their land, and the lottery will go on until all the tracts are disposed of. "Every one will have an even chance at the drawing, and the last man registered may get the first prize. This will be far better than the arrangements which prevailed , at Okla homa, where the man with the fast horse and the bully with the big gun were able to outdistance or force their ways into the best lands. . , Five Thousand Big Trizes. There will be 5000 big prizes in the lot tery. The farms given to the settlers will comprise about RflO.OOO acres, and there will be altogether about SO00 quarter sec tions. For these the Government will charge a nominal price, and It Is safe to say as soon as the land is allotted It will be worth $25 per acre above Uncle Sam's charges. This will give each farm a value of $4000. or a total of $20,000,000. Did you ever hear of such a lottery, with such prizes? There is nothing like It on record. In addition to this, there will be other lands less valuable. The reservation alto gether contains 1.500.000 acres, but about 300.000 of these are to be given to the In dians, and there are in addition about 500.000 acres covered with timber. There are also mineral regions and hot springs, about which will grow up a health resort; and the Pend d'Oreille River, which drains Flathead Lake, has . an enormous fall, which will be valuable for the generation of power of all kinds. The lands are to be divided up Into five classes first and second class agricultu ral lands, grazing lands, mineral lands and timber lands. The timber lands are of enormous value, and they will prob ably bo sold at auction In 40-acre tracts to the highest bidders, and the money held In trust for the Indians. The min eral lands will be subject to the same regulations as in other parts of the coun try, and the agricultural lands will prob ably be appraised at about S3 per acre, which was the appraisement as to the Rosebud reservation, open to settlement a year or two ago. The Paradise of the Rockies. , . The Kalispell people call this region the paradise of the Rockies. Accord ing to them it is a Garden of Eden, where the gun always shines, the crops never fail, and apples superior to that of which Eve gave Adam the core can be grown by sticking? a.-twig In the ground. They laugh at the idea of Flathead lands being worth-only $25 an acre, and say they will bring 150 and upward, whicn Is the price of good farm lands about here. And, indeed, Flathead County Is rich. I have driven for miles up and down the valley through fine farms all the way. There are big barns and comfortable homes. The land is well ... - W : W LjT TO J M jT V if 1 rW i V -nut S I use : Bt& fenced and some of the fields contain 100 acres or more, The soil Is a black loam, from one to eight feet deep, resting on a subsoil of clay: I am told It is as rich as guano, and the board of irade here says that it is now yield ing a million bushels of oats and a half million bushels of wheat every year. One of the queer features of this lo cality Is the climate. It is a land of warm Winters and comparatively cool Summers. On the eastern side of the Rockies the thermometer goes down to HO, 30 and 4J degrees below zero. Here the average Is 15 to 40 degrees above that point, and the Summer nights are always cool. On the Reservation. The Flathead lands are said to be especially flue. They are well watered, and there are parts of them where Ir rigation is possible. Flathead lake, one-half of which lies In the reserva tion, is about 3 miles long and from 8 to 16 miles wide. It now has a steamer upon It, and one can go by the Great Northern Railroad to Somers and thence by boat the full length of the lake to Polfon, where a stage line will take him down through the reser vation to Ravalli, on the Northern Pa cific. The lake is noted for Its pure, icy cold water. It is full of fish, and so clear that the speckled beauties can be seen swimming scores of feet be low the surface. The Pend d'Oreille River, which drains the lake, pours out over a succession of rapids and falls, four miles in length, furnishing an immense water power. The valley of the river is about 30 miles long and JO miles In width. It Is a level prairie Intersected by four clear streams, fed by the Mission Mountain Range. The land is treeless, . although the moun tains are covered' with timber. Below the river, in the southern part of the reservation, some of the country is semi-arid, but it can be used for grazing. The slope of the country Is such that the waters of the Flathead River could be conducted over-it, making it one of the most val uable parts of tbe reservation. The Indian Allotments. The Indians are to have the first pick at the lands, and they will take some of the best. Many of them, how ever, already have farms which are fenced and improved: and It is hardly probable that they will give these up to take other tracts. The Indians like wise prefer lands with some timber V ! r i . ii in in-1 im. i,i vt ur. i wmiim hirsm?t vtk. xw.' ? v. i i i ii in in i n u wiiiiiiriBMi'ir: c i 1 i i i 11 1 i 1 1 u v i rrns i ,7 iv s i turn 1 m.' . 11 i 1 www u v-. j ts- ti TWO YOUNG FLA THEIDS !rr!PVw;Jfr:: m 'mi upon them and they will pass much of the black prairie .by and choose farms near the foothills. After the reserva tion has been opened they will have the right to lease their lands to the whites, and will probably rent them out on 21-year contracts. After that time they can sell; and eventually all the lands will belong to the whites. The Mountain Markets. One advantage that the, settlers here will have over those of . other new re gions will be the markets of Montana. This dtate is largely devoted to min ing, and there is a strong demand for j 11 kir.ds of food crops at high prices. 'J1 aotJiy hay, for instance. Is now iing here at $15 or J16 a- - ton. and oats bring a cent a. pound. Wheat sells at extraordinary prices to the lo cal mills, and the most of that raised o 'V ii -e. A 30lLISPELL IS NOT WILD is made Into flour for home consump tion. The remainder goes to the . Pa cific Coast, where It is especially prized for making crackers and pastry. The Hot Springs Region. This Flatheajl country is already a health resort. It is visited by tourists during the Summer, and there are farm ers who are settling here on account of the climate. The reservation has eight hot springs, which have been used by the Indians for generations to cure various diseases. As it is now, hundreds of white people visit them for their health. They camp out in tents, drinking the water and bathing in it. Some of the springs are too hot for this purpose, others are heavily impregnated with sulphur and other minerals, and some are springs of boiling mud. which are said to be good for skin diseases. It is not known just S -WS! THIJS FMVLY OF 1 ' . , ... . I 'C:72E l I re. 1. L ""X,' ' fi 'V' ! . " ' sv if II ' r -t- J 1? 4, ! .if''Ut FLATHEAD S WILL 01 v" x NOR WOOLLY how these springs will be treated in the allotment. They will probably be reserved by the Government, and may be sold at auction or disposed of in some other way. But let me tell you something about the Indians who own these lands. They are called Flatheads, but their craniums are of the same shape as those of other In dian tribes, and there is no evidence that they have ever' flattened their heads by having them tied to boards when they were babies, as did some of the. Indians of the lower Columbia River. They are really good looking people and are espe cially friendly with the whites. They were well spoken of by Lewis and Clark when they made their expedition across the con tinent, and it is one of their boasts today that they have never shed the blood of a white man. , The Flatheads are not many in "number. They have never exceeded 2000. and there 4V t Flathead Lake. are perhaps just about that many today. In the allotment they are to have 80 acres each, which" will give every family 200 or 300 acres. Wild Horse Island and Its Buffaloes. . Most of these Indians are engaged in farming. Nearly all own more or less stock, and there are several who are now raising buffaloes and crossbreeding them. There Is an island in Flathead Lake known as the Wild Horse Island. This Is a great grazing ground for the buffalo herds. The animals are taken to it on steamers. They are loaded by means of a windlass, which gradually drags them up the gangway and on to the deck. This is no easy ma,tter, for buffaloes are won derfully strong, as in shown by" a bull which recently thrust its horn through a six-by-six-inch guard rail while loading. One of. the largest herds of buffaloes here la owned by a man named Pablo and the heirs of a half-breed Indian named Allard. It contains 300 buffaloes, and it Is tiaid to be the largest in the United States. It was started with six calves, which were brought- across the Rockies and add ed to. from time to time. ' ' ' Raising Buffaloes for-Profit. ' The men who have this herd have gone into a regulaf business of breeding buf faloes for profit. . and I am told that It pays very well. The animals are wanted for the various zoological gardens and also for city parks, and good-sized ones will bring from-$250 to $300 apiece, the animals are brought to. Kalispell for ship ment, and sent out by express in crates. Just as prize sheep are crated for the same purpose. The Conrad estate has about 0 buffaloes, which it keeps Inside fences, handling them like domestic cattle. The animals are quiet and safe enough If one does not venture near them on foot. From these two herds Kalispell now and then gets a feast of buffalo meat. This is usually the case at Christmas, when the local butchers will buy a buffalo to kill, retailinr the meat at 50 cents a pound. The meat has all the tenderness and Juiciness of a well-bred shorthorn, and at the same' time the flavor of the wild deer of the Rockies. In dditlon. the hide brings in at least $100," tnd the 'buf falo head sells for $60 or $75, so that a single animal thus killed pays very welL I have been told that these people are crossing the buffalo with domestic cattle. Not) Wild Nor Woolly. The Eastern tenderfeet who expect to make a rush for the Flathead lands can come to this place without revolvers or bowle knives, and they will be as safe as In any New England town, where the curfew Is cried every night. This valley is largely settled with Eastern people, and Kalispell is as quiet and orderly as any place of its size in Ohio, Indiana or Illinois. It Is a thriving town of 6ono souls, with good stores, fine homes and paved streets. It has a public library, a theater, churches and schools. It has electric lights and waterworks, as well as an enterprising Board of Trade and a lot of real estate agents who regret that the dictionary has not bigger words to express the real glories of their coun-. try and its resources. How Justice Smith Made $20. Indeed, times have changed here since the rush which took place 15 years ago when the Great Northern came in. At that period the chief town was at the head of the lake. It was known as Dem- ersville. and it boasted about 10P0 popula tion and 73 saloons. Gambling wii com mon and there were all sorts of sharpers. Among the latter was a Justice of the Peace whom I shall call Smith. Judgff Smith was fond of the bottle, and thedol-.. lar. and he made no fcones of taking both on every occasion and on any pretense. At one time a stranger was shot by mis take while walking the streets, and Jus tice Smith was called In. The body was still warm, but Smith at once began to go through the pockets. In one of them he found a knife, a bunch of keys and a $20 gold piece, and in another a pistol. As he raised the latter he straightened up and exclaimed: "Why, what ts this? Carrying concealed weapons! That ts contrary to law. As Justice of Peace I fine this man ?20." And he thcreuon put the coin in his pocket. (Copyright. 1W).) FRANK G. CARPENTER. Christian Science Cathedral Continued From Page 3 9. compare favorably with those of the older denominations. It is said that when funds are no longer needed for the completion of the Mother Church, a large number of buildings will be commenced in different . parts of the country Christian Science Practice. Having noted the criticism that Chris tian Science is a menace to public health because of the attitude of its practition ers In regard to the quarantine and treat ment of contagious cases and Its attempt to care for children, pains have been taken to investigate the conduct of Chris tian Scientists with regard to these mat ters. It has been found that the children of Christian Scientist parents are to say the least, quite as strong and healthy as those of other people. They are less sub ject to disease, they have less fear and manifest a high degree of happiness and contentment. On the subject of conta gion an authority writes: "Practitioners of Christian Science are usually careful in the observance of quarantine, for they are anxious to avoid the risk and extra labor which is Incurred by allowing their patients to mingle with the public. The Christian Scientist is aware that so long as the luw of contagion exists It cannot be Ignored, but must be wisely dealt with. When necessary the Christian Scientist follows the same course "which Is followed by those who believe In med icine, namely, ho calls an experienced medical diagnostician to examine the case, and if he finds it to be a contagious dis ease, he is counselled by Mrs. Eddy not . to assume charge of ft. It Is affirmed that Christian Scientists are less liable to contagious diseases than they were be fore they became Christian Scientists, and that they manage contagious, cases so successfully that they have contributed largely toward minimizing the fear .of., contagion and thus toward the abolition of epidemics." - Whenever this question of contagion comes up. Christian Scientists refer to the following unequivocal statement by Mrs. Eddy: "On ther subject of reporting contagion I have this to say: I have always be-, lleved that Christian Scientists should be Iawabiding: and. actuated by this convicr tion. I authorized the following state ment: 'Rather than quarrel over vaccina tion. I. recommend that if the law de mands an individual to submit to this process, he obey the law: and then appeal to the gospel to save him from any bad results. Whatever changes belong to this century, or any epoch, we may safely submit to the providence of God; to com mon justice, individual rights and govern mental usages.' "This statement should be so interpret ed as to apply, on the basis of Christian Science, to tbe reporting of contagion to the proper authorities when the law so requires. When Jesus was questioned about obeying the human law, he de clared: 'Render under Caesar the things that are Caesar's," even while you "render unto God the things that are God's." Attitude Toward Their Leader. Christian Scientists are particularly careful to deny the allegation that their attitude toward Mrs. Eddy is other than that of grateful, and loving recognition of their debt to her and respect- for her undoubted ability. In a-' recent letter to the directors of the Mother Church, Mrs. Eddy herself says: "'Now is the time to throttle tne lie that students worship me, or that I claim their homage." In keeping with this thought. Mrs. -Eddy issued the following statement, which ap peared in the Christian Science Sentinel of - April 28, 1906:" "" ' "To the beloved members of my Church, the ' Mother Church, the First Church of Christ. Scientist, in Boston: Divine Love bids me say: Assemble not at the resi dence of your Pastor Emeritus, at or about the time of our Annual ileeting and Communion 'service, for the - divine and not the human should engage our attention at this sacred season of prayer and praise.' . , A casual observer cannot fail to recog nize that to the skill of Mrs. Eddy as an organizer and to her genius as a religious leader is due the present impetus of the Christian Science : movement, and the completion of thv' splendid edifice dedi cated in Boston, may be counted among her most brilliant ae!iwments, "for the funds which were thus expeucfeu Iiavc been given as an expression of apprecia tion and love for her no less than In recognition of the needs of this great movement, the credit for the Inltation and successful guidance of which. js due this-remarkable woman.