The sun
was on many of the higher boulders, that made them sparkle and show
brilliantly in their high lights and shadows. The trees and bushes
looked unusually fresh and green. We hear that a railroad will soon be
built through that canon - but we hope not. It would be positively
wicked to ruin anything so grand.
We reached Helena before luncheon, and I soon found Miss Duncan, who
was expecting me. We did not start back until the second day, so she
and I visited all the shops and then drove out to Sulphur Spring. The
way everybody and everything have grown and spread out since the
Northern Pacific Railroad has been running cars through Helena is most
amazing. It was so recently a mining town, just "Last Chance Gulch,"
where Chinamen were digging up the streets for gold, almost
undermining the few little buildings, and Chinamen also were raising
delicious celery, where now stand very handsome houses. Now Main
street has many pretentious shops, and pretty residences have been put
up almost to the base of Mount Helena.
The ride back was uneventful, greatly to Miss Duncan's disappointment.
It is her first visit to the West, and she wants to see cowboys and
all sorts of things. I should have said "wanted to see," for I think
that already her interest in brass buttons is so great the cowboys
will never be thought of again.
