Dusting Off the Old Ones (155)
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(Created page with "'''155. Seeing Miles City''' While browsing through the files of the Montana Historical Society in Helena a few weeks ago, Shade Tree Bill ran onto a booklet put out by the M...") |
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While browsing through the files of the Montana Historical Society in Helena a few weeks ago, Shade Tree Bill ran onto a booklet put out by the Miles City Chamber of Commerce in 1915 to advertise the resources of this section of the Treasure State. This piece of literature was titled "Seeing Miles City" and was written by our old friend "Buck" Buchanan in the form of letters to an eastern friend called "Bill", and contained photographs of many local scenes, and in which "Buck" portrayed, as only he could, the advantages to be found in this fair city of ours. "Buck" further describes these letters as "The Johnny Wise Letters after Three Years in Montana." In the first one of these letters, after friendly greetings and salutations, Buck went on--and we quote: | While browsing through the files of the Montana Historical Society in Helena a few weeks ago, Shade Tree Bill ran onto a booklet put out by the Miles City Chamber of Commerce in 1915 to advertise the resources of this section of the Treasure State. This piece of literature was titled "Seeing Miles City" and was written by our old friend "Buck" Buchanan in the form of letters to an eastern friend called "Bill", and contained photographs of many local scenes, and in which "Buck" portrayed, as only he could, the advantages to be found in this fair city of ours. "Buck" further describes these letters as "The Johnny Wise Letters after Three Years in Montana." In the first one of these letters, after friendly greetings and salutations, Buck went on--and we quote: | ||
| − | "Who was it said something about letting the dead past bury its dead? Anyway, this always strikes me as good fatherly advice when applied to the western town that boasts of a more or less picturesque past. I wasted several pages in my previous letters over the glories of the old days, but that was because I was a tenderfoot and fell a ready victim of the glamour and witchery of the past. You are a stranger in Miles City, my dear Bill, and I take it that the story of how the noble Cheyenne once lit his smoke signal on Signal Butte, or how Big Nose George and other distinguished exponents of high finance held high revel in the lobster palaces of Park Street in early days would not arouse your enthusiasm nearly as much as the cold statement of our monthly bank clearings expressed in dollars and cents. It is not that I lack in sentiment for the stirring days of the seventies and eighties but that I consider Miles City too progressive and virile a town to bother much about the slouch-hatted, bespurred and gauntleted past. The present and future hold too much in store for us, so with these apologies we'll consign the days of '83 to the novelists, the space writers and the movie men. They can coin it into great money." | + | "Who was it said something about letting the dead past bury its dead? Anyway, this always strikes me as good fatherly advice when applied to the western town that boasts of a more or less picturesque past. I wasted several pages in my previous letters over the glories of the old days, but that was because I was a tenderfoot and fell a ready victim of the glamour and witchery of the past. You are a stranger in Miles City, my dear Bill, and I take it that the story of how the noble Cheyenne once lit his smoke signal on [[Signal Butte]], or how [[Big Nose George]] and other distinguished exponents of high finance held high revel in the lobster palaces of Park Street in early days would not arouse your enthusiasm nearly as much as the cold statement of our monthly bank clearings expressed in dollars and cents. It is not that I lack in sentiment for the stirring days of the seventies and eighties but that I consider Miles City too progressive and virile a town to bother much about the slouch-hatted, bespurred and gauntleted past. The present and future hold too much in store for us, so with these apologies we'll consign the days of '83 to the novelists, the space writers and the movie men. They can coin it into great money." |
In another letter, Buck describes some of the agricultural accomplishments of Montana under the heading "Four Great Expositions" as follows: | In another letter, Buck describes some of the agricultural accomplishments of Montana under the heading "Four Great Expositions" as follows: | ||
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There is no other town in the state that has gone so extensively into providing parks and public playgrounds. Riverside Park, located at the foot of Main street, is reputed to be one of the finest public parks in Montana. These ancient cottonwoods afforded shelter for Indian tepees long before Miles built the old cantonment across the river. This natural beauty spot has been preserved and the added charm of winding walks and floral beds give the finishing touch. | There is no other town in the state that has gone so extensively into providing parks and public playgrounds. Riverside Park, located at the foot of Main street, is reputed to be one of the finest public parks in Montana. These ancient cottonwoods afforded shelter for Indian tepees long before Miles built the old cantonment across the river. This natural beauty spot has been preserved and the added charm of winding walks and floral beds give the finishing touch. | ||
| − | Wibaux Park, located on the south side, is our latest acquisition and is the bequest of the late Pierre Wibaux. It is located in an attractive residence section, has a fine grove of matured trees and is now being improved and beautified by the Park Commission. | + | Wibaux Park, located on the south side, is our latest acquisition and is the bequest of the late [[Pierre Wibaux]]. It is located in an attractive residence section, has a fine grove of matured trees and is now being improved and beautified by the Park Commission. |
There is a small playground occupying a fractional block on Montana avenue, known as Triangle Park, and another natural grove of forty acres bordering the Yellowstone that is being held in reserve for future development as a public park. | There is a small playground occupying a fractional block on Montana avenue, known as Triangle Park, and another natural grove of forty acres bordering the Yellowstone that is being held in reserve for future development as a public park. | ||
Unlike many small towns, Miles City is a place of varied interests and in fact is quite cosmopolitan in this respect. It has always enjoyed being the livestock center of the state and is still predominant in this line. It is a wool center that has long held first place as a primary market. It is the headquarters of the Government Land Office for this district, and home seekers and land buyers make this their objective point. It is a payroll town as the railway shops, the Remount Depot, the saddle factories and other institutions here give employment at high wages to hundreds of skilled workers. It is a wholesale and distributing point for eastern Montana and is an outfitting point for the hundreds of settlers who are pouring into the country each season. But is occurs to me that, as I am writing this, I am neglecting one industry that perhaps has done more to put Miles City on the map than any other and that is the great horse sale market that continues through the summer and fall. Since the opening of European hostilities, Miles City has been a busy place, as horse values have gone skyward and buyers and sellers have made this their rendezvous. It has meant the distribution of hundreds of thousands of dollars, but I will reserve this subject for a more extended mention. | Unlike many small towns, Miles City is a place of varied interests and in fact is quite cosmopolitan in this respect. It has always enjoyed being the livestock center of the state and is still predominant in this line. It is a wool center that has long held first place as a primary market. It is the headquarters of the Government Land Office for this district, and home seekers and land buyers make this their objective point. It is a payroll town as the railway shops, the Remount Depot, the saddle factories and other institutions here give employment at high wages to hundreds of skilled workers. It is a wholesale and distributing point for eastern Montana and is an outfitting point for the hundreds of settlers who are pouring into the country each season. But is occurs to me that, as I am writing this, I am neglecting one industry that perhaps has done more to put Miles City on the map than any other and that is the great horse sale market that continues through the summer and fall. Since the opening of European hostilities, Miles City has been a busy place, as horse values have gone skyward and buyers and sellers have made this their rendezvous. It has meant the distribution of hundreds of thousands of dollars, but I will reserve this subject for a more extended mention. | ||
