Leaves of Knowledge/Chapter 28
MONTANA'S CAPITAL
CHAPTER XXVIII.
Montana's Capital.
Since my last visit to Helena, the government has erected a commodious and substantial Federal building.
The Northern Pacific and Great Northern Railway Companies have just completed a fine union depot, which adds much to the appearance of the city.
On December 1st, an extraordinary session of the legislature was called, bringing to the capital many acquaintances from other sections of the state, and made a continual stir and bustle for two weeks. Then came the holiday season, causing the city generally to show great evidence of prosperity.
Montana has every reason to be proud of its state capitol, which is located in the eastern part of the city on a plat of ten acres, donated to the state. The building is two hundred and fifty feet in length by one hundred and thirty in width. From the center of the building rises the dome, which is covered with copper and crowned by the statue of liberty. Arrangements have been made for planting the entire ground with trees, which will, with growth, give a pleasant appearance.
I very much admired the governor's reception room, twenty by forty feet in size. The room is beautifully decorated in green and red. The chandelier is as elaborate when lighted as any I have ever seen. The harmony of the color effect and the blending is perfectly grand. There are larger and more costly state buildings in other parts of the union, but for beanty and design, there are none that excel the capitol of Montana. The supreme court room, state officials' apartments, senate chamber, and the house, all blend in the striking colors of green and red. At the head of the grand stairway and above an art glass window, is a painting presented by the Northern Pacific Railway Company, representing the driving of its golden spike, at Gold Creek, Montana, on the completion of the road on September 18th, 1883. General U. S. Grant is plainly shown holding the hammer, which drove the spike, finishing the railway connections from the Atlantic to the Pacific, by this transcontinental line.
In the house of representatives, directly over the speaker's desk, is a painting, commemorating the "Louisiana Purchase." In this picture are grouped the men who participated in this transaction, though some of them never met. Seated and standing around the table are Napoleon and Marbois, on behalf of the French government, while our country is represented by Jefferson, Livingston and Monroe. On the table is a globe, and the map of the territory involved.
The celebration in its honor will begin May 1st of this present year, at St. Louis, Missouri.
In the senate chamber is a painting over the president's desk of "Lewis' First Glimpse of the Rockies." It shows Lewis on a rocky point with his telescope, catching a view of the distant Rocky mountains, with his comrades in the background.
In honor of this expedition will be the "Lewis and Clarke Exposition," next year at Portland, Oregon.
My sojourn in Helena coming to a close, I will now leave you for the present, and go home to Butte; knowing that I have given truthful information to my many, many readers.
FINIS.