The universal geography : earth and its inhabitants

;>[I1XTAX.V. 423tions of the Gros Ventres, Piegana, Crows and Blood Indians; lastly inthe south,between the course of the Yellowstone and the Wyoming frontier, the Crowspossess another enclave watered bj' the Big Horn Eivcr. It was here that thedetachment of 437 men commanded by General Custer was annihilated in 1876.Cheyennes, the Modocs, and the Assiniboines have also little sepirate territoriesin the same region. But the white settlers are yearly growing more impatient ; tthe presence of these natives, manj' of whom seem to be really incapable of adaptingthemselves to the requirements of a higher culture. Hence closer contact mustalmost inevitably result in further encroachments and the confiscation of all theIndian lands in the near future.Meanwhile, however, there is plenty of room for the white inhabitants, whobefore the year LS'Jl had brought only about "2(3,000 acres under cultivation. Atthe census of 1890 the density of the population fell short of one person to thesquare mile. Even after its annexation this region long continued to be frequentedonly by the Canadian voyageurs, trappers, and peltry dealers. At thutThetime the warlike tribes of prairie Indians, more especially the Crows, Dakota ,andBlackfeet, occupied the eastern slopes and plateaux, while the more peacefulFlatheads (Selish) and Bannacks were confined to the western uplands.AlthoughJlontana was organised as a territory under its present name in the year 1801,it continued at first to attract so few settlers that the total pojjidation scarcelyexceeded 20,000 in 1870. At the next census of 1880 it still fell short of 40,00(»but it was nevertheless admitted into the Union in 1889, before it was officiallyknown to contain the required number of inhabitants. The census of 18, 0,however, showed a jjopulation greatly in excess of that number.A few villages, trading stations, and military posts follow at great intervalsalong the banks of the Yellowstone and Missouri Rivers ; a few mining towns,connected by branches with the transcontinental lines of railway, nestle in thesheltered nooks of the river gorges. Helena, the capital, lies in the heart ofthe mountains at an altitude of 4,000 feet on the Prickly Pear Creek, whichdescends to the left bank of the Missouri below the "Ilell Gate Passes."At the neighbouring station of PrieLli/ Pear the first discoveries of auriferoussands were made in 18-j9, and rich gold-mines were discovered in the same districtin 1804, after which Helena began to attract numerous settlors. About 18 mileswest of Helena the Northern Pacific Railway pierces the chief range of the RockyMountains by a tunnel under the Mullen Pass. Bitttc City, about 65 miles southby west of the capital, owes its name to the granite "buttes" by which it issurrounded, and from which it extracts gold, silver, and copper ores to the annualvalue of over ^20,000,000. Including the neighbouring camps of the miners ithad a population of over 35,000 in 1890, and was the most important miningcentre in the north-west between Minneapolis and Portland. But the largestgold-mine in the state is found about 20 miles north of Helena at Drum Lummoii,a place of quite recent foundation. On the other hand Virginia City, formerlya flourishing mining centre, has now been nearly abandoned. It stands near theContinental Divide about 110 miles due soutli of Helena at an altitude of over