COAL. The surveys of the past fiscal year have brought to notice several extensive coal beds on the Musselshell River, while in the vicinity of Butte new discoveries of coal beds have been made, and the mines are being worked to good advantage. The indications are very conclusive that Montana can and will produce all the coal required for future manufacturing and commercial interests. STOCK. The stock interest of Montana is a great and growing industry, and is fast becoming one of her leading interests; thousands of cattle and sheep are driven from and into the Territory annually, and the grazing facilities of the Territory are being utilized and improved to a vast extent, and Montana beef is to-day the leading feature in Eastern and foreign markets, and commands better prices than any other. Sheep are being raised with great profit and very little loss from the flocks that in many cases range on the hills the entire season. It is estimated that there are about 75,000 head of sheep in the Territory, and the wool product for the past season is estimated at about 400,000 pounds, which is shipped and meets with a ready and profitable sale in Eastern markets. The erection of woolen mills, already commenced, will materially aid the sheep growers in providing a market for their wools and add a new feature to the industries of the Territory. The character of land in Montana, as the stock interest advances, is rapidly changing, and now, where a short time ago the survey of land was considered by skeptics to be valueless, is rapidly being taken up and improved for sheep and stock pastures or ranges; for, by means of irrigation, the grass crop is increased threefold, and the blue joint grass springs up thick and luxuriantly by this means, upon which stock are fed. This improvement is noticeable in several localities, especially in Meagher County, and at no distant day the sheep and stock interests of the Territory will demand vast tracts of these lands for the sustenance of stock. CONCLUDING REMARKS. The organization of a new county government, (Custer County,) and the building of government posts, and location of troops therein. has greatly added to the settlement of that portion of the Territory. It has interposed an effectual barrier between the settlements and danger from Indians, leading to the improvement of our mines and the permanent settlement of the vast unoccupied tracts of our Territory. A great many settlers have located in that vicinity, and a large immigration is coming that way from Dakota and southwestern border into Montana. It is believed that the immigration the present season will equal the present population of the Territory. We need men and women even more than capital; and while other Territories have commissioners of immigration to disseminate information and attract the attention of those meditating immigration, or direct wavering thoughts and steps, we have none and never had any, and yet we have more substantial inducements to offer than many of the Western States and Territories. Transportation now by way of the Missouri River is quick and cheap. To those who will come, as they would go elsewhere, without the expectation of picking up a fortune in the first day or week, but wait quietly and intelligently the chances, Montana to-day offers a more inviting place of location than ever before. Every year witnesses steady advancement in the comforts and advantages of civilized life. With regard to investment of capital in our mines, I have only to reproduce, in closing this report, what a correspondent of an Eastern paper has written, who has been here and knew whereof he wrote, that "Montana, being farther away from communication with the civilized world than any other part of the Union, has suffered more severely and for a longer time than any sister Territory; but those who have remained in her cañons and valleys in the belief that the land was good and worth standing by, cannot be far from the day of their reward. Signs of new life and new growth are everywhere visible. Silver mining has be ome one of the recognized industries of the Territory. Gold quartz mining is on a sound basis, and many old and abandoned placer districts are waking up under the stimulus of new enterprises. Capital to a moderate extent has come in, and is being employed successfully, and already is reproducing itself. Montana is no longer an unknown and unvisited section of the West, and those who have taken the pains to examine its resources are finding that it embraces as fine a field for investment as any part of the country." Very respectfully, your obedient servant, Hon. J. A. WILLIAMSON, Commissioner. ANDREW J. SMITH, A.-Statement showing condition of appropriation for surveys of public land in the Territory of Montana during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1877. No. of survey. D.-List of mineral claims surveyed in the State of Colorado, &c.-Continued. Name of lode. Date of approval Location. Amount of de posit. No. of survey. D.-List of mineral claims surveyed in the State of Colorado, &c.—Continued. Name of lode. Date of ap- Location. Amount of deposit. E.-Statement showing amount of salaries paid surveyor general and clerks in his office for the year ending June 30, 1877. DR. CR. F.-Statement showing the amount expended for rent of office, books, stationery, fuel, and other incidental expenses for the year ending June 30, 1877. DR. CR. $1,500 00 |