A "Prime Garden Spot of Proportions Immense”

by Ashley Fejeran, Montana Digital Newspaper Project Assistant

 

The River Press, January 2, 1884

The practice of looking back at the past and making predictions for the new year is long-standing, and Montanans of 1884 were not exempt from this tradition. The Holiday “Reservation” Edition of the Fort Benton River Press paints 1884 as a particularly momentous year for Montanans. The edition is primarily taken up with speculation on the prospective opening of parts of the Blackfeet and Gros Ventre reservations. Reduction of the reservations would open up more land for ranchers, farmers, and prospectors—spelling increased prosperity and progress for white settlers in the area. The paper provides little acknowledgement of Native American perspectives on the events.

Colorful headlines from the New Year's
edition, The River Press, January 2, 1884

The New Year’s edition offers a rich look at life in Fort Benton at the time: detailed illustrations of buildings, meteorological data, a map of Fort Benton and prospective railroad lines, and historical statistics about the county. Articles on the profitability of raising cattle, the wool industry in Montana, and enthusiastic testimonials to the beauty and fertility of the land exemplify one role that early newspapers played: that of “booster” for their communities. They would print glowing reports of life in the area, with a view toward bolstering the confidence of the existing population and attracting new settlers.
 
A small article on page 11 mentions a proposal for the creation of a park in the mountains between the Flathead and Blackfeet reservations, in the region of what is now Glacier National Park. Although GNP wasn’t established until 1910, could this have been an inkling of what was to come?

You might also enjoy these New Year’s editions: Butte Inter Mountain, Jan 1, 1903 and The Daily Missoulian, Jan 2, 1910. Browse more historical Montana newspapers on the Chronicling America web site.