uctive agency--fire. People who profess
to have made tours through the country, add to the complication by
enlarging on this one characteristic, and omitting all reference to the
other features, in which the great Northwest towers head and shoulders
above competitors, and teaches the entire world a lesson in
productiveness, fertility, and, we may add, industry.

The World's Fair served to very largely disabuse the public mind
concerning what is destined to become one of the wealthiest sections of
the United States. The elegant State buildings that were erected on the
shores of Lake Michigan, and the gorgeous displays of fruits, grain,
ore, and different products, must have convinced the average visitor
that there was a great deal more in the far West and Northwest than he
had dreamt of. Many were induced in consequence of the information they
received, to blend their fortunes with the young States, and although
the financial condition of the country has not been calculated to
expedite the fulfillment of their Aladdin-like hopes, most of them have
done well enough to be able to congratulate themselves on the change in
the location and occupation.

We can only speak of some of the most remarkable features of this great
section, greater, indeed, than several Old World nations combined.
Helena is the capital of one of these new States, to which is given the
euphonic name of Montana. The name is very appropriate, as it signifies
"belonging to the mountains." The Indians had a very similar name for
the territory now included in the State, and Judge Eddy called it the
"Bonanza State" because of its mining sensations, a name which has clung
to it with much fidelity ever since. The arms of the State are
significant and almost allegorical. The present is linked with the past
by means of a retreating buffalo, significant of the extermination of
this interesting and valuable species. The great mining resources of
Montana are shown by a miner's pick and shovel, and in the rearground
the sun is setting behind eminences of the Rocky Mountains. Montana was
first discovered by Canadians, some two hundred years ago. The first
permanent settlement was early in the present century, and, until within
the last fifty years, all goods and utensils used in it were dragged up
the Missouri River from St. Louis, a distance of nearly 2,000 miles.
When the war broke out, the Territory was occupied almost entirely by
Indians, with a few daring fur t