filing (himself or by an attorney) a declaratory statement, and within six months thereafter filing his affidavit and application, commencing settlement and cultivation, and continuing the same for five years, less that time he served in the army or navy, but such time in no case to exceed four years. His widow can take advantage of the above. In case of his death in the army, or discharge therefrom on account of wounds or disability incurred in the line of duty, the term of his enlistment is deducted. In case of the death of the soldier, his widow, if unmarried, or in case of her death or marriage, then his minor orphan children, by a guardian duly appointed and officially credited at

the Department of the Interior, shall be entitled to all the benefits given to soldiers under the homestead laws.

Under the desert land act, any citizen of the United States, or persons who have declared their intention to become such, and who are also residents of the state or territory in which the land sought is situated, may file a declaration, under oath, with the Register and Receiver of the land district in which any desert land is situated, that he intends to reclaim a tract of desert land, not exceeding 320 acres, by conducting water upon the same, within four years. At the time of filing this declaration a fee of 25 cents for each acre of land proposed to be so reclaimed must be paid.

At the time of making the declaration the land taken up under this act must be particularly described, if surveyed, or, if unsurveyed, must be described as nearly as possible. The party shall also file a map of said land, which shall exhibit a plan showing the mode of contemplated irrigation, and which plan. shall be sufficient to thoroughly irrigate and reclaim said land and prepare it to raise ordinary agricultural crops, and shall also show the source of the

water to be used for irrigation and reclamation. At any time within four years, upon making satisfactory proof to the Register and Receiver of the reclamation of said land, and the expenditure thereon for improvements of $1 an acre each year for three years, and proof of the cultivation of one-eighth of the land, and upon the payment of the additional sum of $1 per acre, a patent shall be issued. A claimant must also file with the Register during each of said three years proof by the affidavits of two or more credible witnesses that he has made such expenditures. He may, however, prove up earlier whenever he can make the required proof of reclamation, cultivation and expenditure to the aggregate of $3 per acre. All lands, exclusive of timber and mineral lands, which will not, without irrigation, produce some agricultural crop, are deemed desert lands. Residence on the land is not required.

Under the timber and stone act, any citizen of the United States, or one who has declared his intention to become such, can acquire not to exceed 100 acres; land must be chiefly valuable for timber or stone, containing no valuable deposits of gold, silver, copper, coal or cinnabar. Applicant is required to file sworn statement with Register and Receiver that he has made no prior application; to designate the tract required by legal subdivisions, setting forth its character as above, and that it is for applicant's own use and benefit. Such application will be published sixty (60) days when the applicant files further proof of the character of the land, paying $2.50 per acre therefor. Married women can purchase in Montana.

There are United States land offices at Miles City, Custer county; at Lewistown, Fergus county; at Bozeman, Gallatin county; at Helena, Lewis and Clarke county, at Missoula, Missoula county, and at Kalispell, Flathead county. The homestead affidavits can be made before the clerk of the District Court at any county seat, or before any United States Commissioner in the state, and the journey to the land office be saved.

There are over twelve million acres of timber lands in the state, not counting the smaller disconnected bodies and the lesser belts that fringe the several streams. The forests that contain timber that is of commercial value are'in the mountainous mineral districts. Nature appreciated the necessity of an abundance of heavy timber in all mining operations and placed it in greatest plenty and finest quality about every point of consumption. Aside from the valleys, all the counties lying along the Rocky mountains and west of the ranges, are heavily timbered.

The fuel supply of the state is more than abundant, the coal measures being the most extensive in the west. Beds of an excellent quality of bituminous coal have been developed in nineteen of the twenty-four counties of the state. In several of the counties, notably Cascade, Carbon, Park and Gallatin, very extensive mines have been worked for some years and others are being continually opened, and there are extensive coal measures in Teton, Choteau and Fergus counties that have not as yet been more than prospected to ascertain their extent in a general way. It is estimated that in the coal fields of Cascade county, where there are several large coal camps turning out hundreds of car loads of coal every day, that the average yield to the square mile is six million tons. As there are thousands of square miles of

coal lands in the state it is apparent that scarcity of either domestic or commercial fuel will not be a question that will bother this or the next generation.

The first discovery of gold in Montana was made in what is now Deer Lodge county, in 1852. The creek upon which the precious metal was discovered was named Gold creek, and bears that name now. Six years later other gold discoveries were made in the same neighborhood by the Granville Stuart party. In 1862 the Stuart-Anderson party developed placer claims. near the present location of the town of Pioneer. The rich returns of their mines was really the incentive to further prospecting, discovery and the de

velopment of the mines of Montana. Following the opening of the Pioneer placer claims, came the discovery of rich ground at Bannack, Alder, Ophir, Last Chance, now the location of the city of Helena, Confederate, Pilgrim Bar, Silver Bow, Bear, Elk, Cave, Lincoln, Cedar Creek, and several hundred other places, all of which produced lavishly of the coveted metal, and in the course of a few years added hundreds of millions of dollars to the gold supply of the world. During this period of placer mining, discoveries of the other metals that are abundant in the mineral districts were made, but there was little development of the deposits until the advent of transportation facilities. Allen & Arnold are credited with reducing the first gold quartz in Montana in a mill erected at Bannack, Beaverhead county, in 1862-3. It was "homemade," the lumber and iron being obtained from dismantled wagons that had been brought "across the plains." It had six stamps, of 400 pounds each, and was successfully run by water on free ores from the Monitor lode. The first clean-up was made in October, 1864. The first steam quartz mill, 12 stamps,

was built and operated at Summit, at the head of Alder gulch, Madison county by the Idaho Mining Company, commencing operations December 28, 1865. The first quartz mill was established at the present location of the town of Philipsburg, in 1867, and the first successful silver smelter was erected at Argenta during the same year. There were too many obstacles to overcome, however, and the silver industry did not become of any importance until 1876, when the recorded output was $1,132,976, and the annaul production did not reach the two-million figure until 1879, but after that year there was a steady and rapid increase until the output in 1892 was $22,432,323. The production of silver for 1899 was 16,850,754.85 ounces, and at a coinage value worth $21,786,834.52, but at the market value, which has been the only value since it has been deprived of a monetary value, was somewhat less than half of that figure. The production of silver is now almost wholly a byproduct of other metals, such as gold, copper and lead.

The first discovery of copper was made in 1864, by two prospectors who were in search of gold in the vicinity of the present "Greatest Copper Camp on Earth"-Butte. The first practical development of a copper prospect was made in 1866, in the same locality, a shaft being sunk on what is now the Parrot mine, and during the fall of the same year, a furnace was establish ed. The wealth of the copper deposits at Butte was first recognized officially by United States Commissioner of Mining and Statistics Raymond, in his report of 1870. From this date to the present time the development of the copper deposits has been rapid, and at this writing the state contains not only the richest copper mines in the world, but also the largest and most modern reduction plants, employing thousands of men and turning out millions of dollars' worth of refined copper annually.

And notwithstanding the great mineral production of the state as shown by tabulated statements that appear on other pages of this volume, the mineral development, and even the mineral prospecting of the state has scarcely commenced. Only a few years ago it was generally believed that the Butte district contained the only valuable deposits of copper, but within the past several years copper has been found in a dozen other districts of the state, and their present development warrants the assertion that all of them will prove to be rich in the profitable metal. This may also be said of gold, silver and lead. And it must be borne in mind that while the mineral belt of Montana reaches from the southeast corner of Carbon to the northwest corner of Flathead county, spreading over very nearly one-half of the state, that but little of this great area has been even superficially prospected.

The state financially is on a cash basis, having no stated outstanding indebtedness, and on the date of this publication had over half a million dollars in its different funds, the distribution of which may be seen in the detailed statement of the treasury department, in the statistical pages of this All warvolume, where also may be found the sources of the state's income. rants have been called up to date. The permanent school fund has $340,495, of which $119,417 is in cash, and the balance is invested in interest-bearing securities. The reader may search the reports of every other state, but he will not find another with as good financial standing and condition.

There is no state in this Union; there is no country in any continent, that

presents so inviting a field for everybody of whatever calling, for the investment of capital or of energy, or of both. Attention has been called in a general way to its multiplicity of resources, and now if the reader desires, he will find these more specifically mentioned in connection with the particular localities in which they are located.

MONTANA'S RAILWAYS.

For a mountainous state, and one that has been going through the process of active development for such a short period, Montana is well provided with railway facilities. The Northern Pacific is the pioneer line and traverses. the center of the southern part of the state from east to west, and has fifteen

branches that extend north and south into different portions of the state, all heavy feeders for the trunk line. The more important of these branches are the Rocky Fork line, that runs from Laurel to Red Lodge, with a spur to Gebo from Willets, traffic for the branches being furnished by the extensive coal mines of these towns; the Cokedale branch, that runs from the main line a short distance to the coal mines and coke ovens of Cokedale; the Red Mountain, that connects the rich mines of Rimini with the main line at Helena; the Boulder branch that runs south from Helena to Boulder, the county seat of Jefferson county, tapping the rich and highly cultivated Boulder valley, and furnishing transportation for the wood that is taken from the neighboring mountain sides and marketed in the smelter towns and other cities of this part of the state, and an extension runs from Boulder to Elkhorn. The branch that connects the Yellowstone National Park with the main line runs from Livingston to Gardner, at the northern line of the park. The Butte line is