The Saint Paul Globe

NEEDS ONLY PEOPLE TO MAKE IT THE GREATEST FARMING AND STOCK RAISING SECTION.

BURTON, MONTANA, THE PLACE

RESOURCES OF THE NEW EDEN BEAUTIFULLY PICTURED IN GLOWING TERMS.

LOOKING FOR NEW COLONISTS.

One Hundred Farms of One Hundred Acres Each Ready to Be Worked.

F. S. Burton and wife, of Burton, Mont., arrived last evening on the Great Northern. The train which brought them through was one of the first to keep about on schedule time since the flood commenced. Mr. Burton says that all he saw for two days was a sea of water on both sides of the track. Except for the motion of the train, it seemed like an ocean voyage.

Mr. Burton is not a stranger to St. Paul. He was here in 1894 to promote a pet plan of his own which has since borne fruit, and which promises in the future to bring a rich harvest. Sixteen years ago Mr. Burton camped out where the city of Great Falls now stands. There was nothing there at that time but a wilderness. Roaring at his feet was the great cascade which Mr. Burton knew would in time turn the wheels of commerce. He went on an exploring trip and penetrated fifty miles northwest of the present city of Great Falls to a point on the Teton river. Mr. Burton immediately recognized the soil and the climate as being excellent for the pursuits of agriculture and stock raising, and with no little haste he secured possession of a tiny farm containing about 25,000 acres, sufficient land to make a goodly county. The Teton river ran near the tract, and Mr. Burton saw visions of a garden of Eden, provided he could irrigate the land. He was confident that if he could secure a number of people to settle on the lands he would make the wilderness blossom as the rose.

Mr. Burton accordingly came to Minnesota, Dakota and Iowa, where he worked for several months, finally rounding up 100 people who formed a colony and went out to settle on Mr. Burton's land. They formed a town and named it after the owner of the land. Mr. Burton tapped the Teton river, dug, blasted and built a canal and laterals, through which to carry the waters of the Teton, and today he has 10,000 acres out of the 25,000 under cultivation. Mr. Burton is on his way to the White river valley, Indiana, where he will secure another colony of men to go out to his great farm. He has pledged to stake out 100 farms of 100 acres each.

"I believe that it takes a lifetime to make success of life," said Mr. Burton to a reporter for the Globe last evening. "If I had had one or two railroad companies, or two or three millionaires back of me during the past four years, I could have filled up every spare acre in Teton county. But I am working it alone, and am confident of success. We expect to close negotiations soon for the construction of a new irrigating canal, which will throw open about 50,000 acres of as fertile land as there is on the face of the earth. All that this country has needed is irrigation, and we can easily have that. In Teton county there is the finest dairy country in the United States. It costs us less than half it costs you to maintain our herds, and our dairy produce sells for 20 per cent more. Montana is our market, and she would take ten times as much as is produced in the state. There are only three dairies in Montana. Think of that.

"Our climate is much better than that of Minnesota. It sounds funny, but it is true. I left April 5, and we have commenced seeding. By the time I reach home in two weeks, my whole wheat farm of 100 acres will be seeded. Judging from what I saw on the prairies of Dakota and Minnesota, your seeding will not be commenced for a whole month yet.

"Burton is about 3,200 feet above sea level and less than forty miles from the Eastern slope of the Rocky mountains. The winters are delightful. Until the first of March it was not necessary to wear overcoats."