MONTANA Its Story and Biography A HISTORY OF ABORIGINAL AND TERRITORIAL MONTANA AND THREE DECADES OF STATEHOOD UNDER THE EDITORIAL SUPERVISION OF TOM STOUT VOLUME I THE AMERICAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY CHICAGO AND NEW YORK 1921 LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Copyright, 1921 BY AMERICAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY PREFACE As the lives of the States go, Montana has had a short record, but, like intense personalities, Montana and her people have condensed much achievement into a brief span of activities. The "Land of the Shining Mountains" and of Magnificent Distances commenced to be sprinkled with a few adventuresome gold seekers during the early years of the Civil War, albeit her diverse and wonderful territory lying along the great range of northern travel between the Mississippi Valley and the Pacific Coast had been traversed by such government agents as Lewis and Clark and by faithful enthusiasts of the Catholic Church. The Jesuit fathers and the pioneer trappers and fur traders had even planted the seeds of industry in the valleys of the Missouri and Yellowstone before the California of a previous generation was reproduced with all its excite- ment and riot within the confines of what is now the State of Montana. The old fur traders and guides of the older days led the seeker of gold to Bannack and Virginia cities, to Helena and the Hell Gate regions of western Montana. Mining camps and towns, with their crude business houses sprung into life, with small cattle ranches and farms; but the basis of the first period of progress was. laid in the gold mines. Agricul- ture and the raising of live stock were side issues. Then came the time of the great ranges for cattle, horses and sheep, with the mining of gold, silver and copper as still the powerful agents of advancement. At first such interests were removed from adequate transportation, and the protecting forces of civil law and order were only weakly organized. Uncle Sam attempted to tide over this critical period with his military arm. then still weakened by the stress of the Civil war. He did what he could, but until the railroads "got into their stride" the potential riches of Montana were yet conjectural. To be fair to the great commonwealth, the truth is that it is only within forty years that she has been given a fair chance with her sisters of the West. At that. Nature, in the forms of drought and "bad lands," has been most unkind, so that, although ^e territory of Montana is w'thin a few thousand square miles of that of California, the home areas which are naturally productive are comparatively restricted. But the State and the Nation are working together so strongly and persistently that both arid and swamp lands are everywhere being reclaimed. The virile spirit of Montana, coupled with the engineering and scientific solutions of irrigation, draining and farming which are being continuously put into practice, are bound to give the state a high and permanent standing. The schools, the newspapers, tl iii iv PREFACE commercial organizations, the libraries and the churches are all co-operat- ing in the work of both advancing and uplifting those interests which, as a whole, make the state what it is. The History of Montana which is here presented has endeavored to etch this record of struggles and real achievements in such a way that its strong lines shall be preserved, and the story not be weighted and ob- scured with details. With this end in view, countless authorities, private and public, officials of the State and National governments, actors in the events treated, historians and scientists, have all been consulted and, ofttimes, their very words have been reproduced. In fact, such treat- ment of the context has been in line with the well considered policy of the editor and his associates. The story of Montana has been told, as nearly as possible, through the contributions of those best qualified to speak and write. In this connection, the supervising editor cannot but express his profound regret that two of his most valuable associates should have been cut off by death from rendering to him the full extent of their suggestions, advice and co-operation. The venerable, able and historic characters, General Charles S. Warren, late of Butte, and ex- United States Senator Paris Gibson, the founder of Great Falls, fought a good fight for Montana, although they could not live to see this record in print which now goes forth with the usual feeling of misgivings as to the perfection of anything human. These misgivings are natural, despite the fact that no effort has been neglected to make the history correct and complete in the essent : aK To the many who have co-operated in this task, hearty thanks are offered; and they are so numerous that the mention of names would be superfluous and, it might be (by uninten- tional omissions) unfair. TOM STOUT. CONTENTS CHAPTER I APPROACHES TO THE "LAND OF THE SHINING MOUNTAINS' CHAPTER II EXPEDITION THROUGH TRANS-MISSISSIPPI LAND.. CHAPTER III MINOR EXPLORATIONS OF 1805-07 68 CHAPTER IV MONTANA'S NATURAL FEATURES . . ; ' RS CHAPTER V PATHFINDERS OF THE MINING CAMPS ........................ '., 103 CHAPTER VI THE FUR TRADE ERA .................... ...... . . . ; ......... . I CHAPTER VII STEPS LEADING TO SETTLED CONDITIONS ........................ 142 CHAPTER VIII EXPEDITIONS OF A DECADE .............. . . ............. . ..... 163 CHAPTER IX FIRST GOLD DISCOVERIES AND WORKINGS ....................... 184 v vi CONTENTS CHAPTER X PIONEER CITIES AND TOWNS 215 CHAPTER XI MINERAL GEOLOGY AND EARLY INDUSTRIES 226 CHAPTER XII DAYS OF OUTLAWS, VIGILANTES AND MINERS' COURTS 242 * CHAPTER XIII DAWN OF LAW AND ORDER '.'. 278 CHAPTER XIV PIONEERS AND THEIR SOCIETY 316 CHAPTER XV DECADE OF INDIAN WARFARE 340 CHAPTER XVI MINING OF SILVER, COPPER AND COAL 371 CHAPTER XVII THE GREAT LIVE STOCK INTERESTS 391 CHAPTER XVIII LAST EPOCH OF TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT 404 CHAPTER XIX BENCH AND BAR OF MONTANA 414 CHAPTER XX FIRST DECADE OF STATEHOOD 439 CONTENTS vii CHAPTER XXI TWENTY YEARS MORE OF STATEHOOD. . 457 CHAPTER XXII MONTANA'S EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM ... CHAPTER XXIII MODERN MEANS OF COMMUNICATION .................... ere CHAPTER XXIV CONSERVATION OF LANDS ..................................... 577 CHAPTER XXV MILITARY HISTORY OF MONTANA .............................. 642 BEAVERHEAD, BIG HORN, ELAINE, BROADWATER, CARBON AND CAR- TER COUNTIES 667 CHAPTER XXVII CASCADE COUNTY (GREAT FALLS) 681 CHAPTER XXVIII CHOUTEAU, CUSTER, DANIELS, DAWSON, DEER LODGE, FALLON COUNTIES 7 CHAPTER XXIX FERGUS, FLATHEAD AND GALLATIN COUNTIES 7 I S CHAPTER XXX GARFIELD, GLACIER, GOLDEN VALLEY, GRANITE, HILL, JEFFERSON, JUDITH BASIN 734 dii CONTENTS CHAPTER XXXI LEWIS AND CLARK COUNTY (HELENA) 747 CHAPTER XXXII LIBERTY, LINCOLN, MADISON, McCoNE, MEAGHER, MINERAL COUNTIES 767 CHAPTER XXXIII MISSOULA COUNTY ( MISSOULA) 780 CHAPTER XXXIV MUSSELSHELL, PARK, PHILLIPS, PONDERA AND POWDER RlVER COUNTIES 794 CHAPTER XXXV POWELL, PRAIRIE, RAVALLI AND RICHLAND COUNTIES 806 CHAPTER XXXVI ROOSEVELT, ROSEBUD, SANDERS AND SHERIDAN COUNTIES 815 CHAPTER XXXVII SILVER Bow COUNTY ( BUTTE) 827 CHAPTER XXXVIII STILLWATER, SWEET GRASS, TETON AND TOOLE COUNTIES 839 CHAPTER XXXIX YELLOWSTONE COUNTY (BILLINGS) 850 CHAPTER XL BIRD'S EYE VIEW OP THE STATE .861 INDEX Abbott, A. H., I, 7-2. Abbott, P. M., II, 362. Abel, William M., II, 179. Aber, William M., I, 544. Abrahamson, John C, II, 228. Absaraka (Home of the Crows), I, 340. Ab-sa-ra-ka (Mrs. Carrington), I, 341, 343- Absarokee, I, 840. Absarokee National Forest, I, 623, 778, Acher, John W., Ill, 965. Acquisition claim, I, 373. Adami, Arthur E., II, 560. Adams, Burton S., Ill, 727. Adams, Charles W., Ill, 1288. Adams, E. M., II, 231. Adams, John O., I, 654. Adams, Sallie M., Ill, 1062. Adams, Stephen J., Ill, 1201. Adams, Thomas, I, 188. Adams, Walter K., Ill, 1157. Adams, William P., II, 36. Adden, Herbert J., Ill, 1018. "Affairs at Fort Benton" (Bradley), I, 124, 183, 215. Afflerbaugh, I. R., Ill, 872. Agawam, I, 843. Agricultural College Hall, Bozeman (illustration), I, 545. Agricultural Experiment Station at Bozeman established, I, 478. Agricultural Experiment Station (Northern), I, 476. Agricultural Experiment Stations, I, 529; (branch), 529. Agricultural Extension service, I, 520, Agriculture: Indians wonder at sprout- ing grain (1840), I, 149. Aiken, Will, I, 869. Aitken, Walter, II, 407. Akins, Jefferson H., II, 142. Alder Creek, I, 231. Alder Gulch, I, 192; discovery of, 200; Edgar's account of discovery, 201-5; named, 203 ; Peter Ronan's account of discovery, 205; 210; total output of, 216; 219, 220, 222; commemorate monument at, 320; 329, 771. Alderson, J. J., I, 851. Alderson, William W., II, 359. Alexander, James G., IT. 589. Alexander, J. Newton, II, 509. Alexander (Kalispeh'ms chief), I, 157. Alexander, Mary, III, 1247. Alexander, Thomas, III, 1246. Alfalfa, Second Crop of in Valley County (illustration), I, 401. Alfield, Ed., I, 223. Alger, I, 824. Algerian (Shriner) Temple, Helena, I, 755- Alice Mine, I, 373, 834. Allen, Charles D., II, 300. Allen, Clark W., II, 45. Allen, C., I, 252. Allen, Elbert K, II, 31. Allen, J. F., I, 237. Allen, Paul, I, 20. Allen, Robert T., Sr., II, 306. Allen, William R., Ill, 1158. Allen, W. R., I, 471. Allen & Millard, I, 285. Alley, Roy S., Ill, 1205. Allin, Charles W., II, 391. Allin, William G., II, 605. Allison, P., I, 213. Allison, William, I, 222, 223. Allison, William, Jr., I, 833. Alma, I, 768. Alta Mine, I, 765. Alton, Robert D., II, 423. Amalgamated Copper Company, I, 377. American Fork, I, 190; (Hangtown), 191.. American Fur Company, I, 113, 121, 123, 126, 127, 129, 131, 140, 164. "American Fur Trade of the Far West" (Chittenden), I, 69. American Horse (Indian Chief), I, 358. American Horse (Sioux Chief), I, 345. American Smelting and Refining Com- pany, Helena, I, 381, 763. Ames, James J., Ill, 858. Amundson, Edon A., Ill, 1077. Anaconda: state capital contestant, I, 441, 712. Anaconda Copper Mining Company, I, 377. 379. 381. 713; saw mill at Bonner, 781 ; 790, 836. Anaconda and Butte Copper and Zinc Mines, I, 383. Anaconda Hill, I, 836. Anaconda Hill and vicinity, Butte (il- lustration, I, 830. Anaconda lead mines, I, 384. Anaconda-Neversweat Mine, I, 375. Anaconda Reduction Works, I, 713; (il- lustration), 712. Anarchism denounced (1019), I, 483. Anderson, Andrew T., II, 591. Anderson, Anton I., Ill, 1223. Anderson, Elmer J., II, 604. Anderson, Emory A., Ill, 736. Anderson, Glenn, II, 604. IX INDEX Anderson, James W., Ill, 893. Anderson, John A., Ill, 708. Anderson, John G., Ill, 1084. Anderson, Marius, III, 850. Anderson, Orville L., I, 653. Anderson, Peter, III, 732. Anderson, Ray, II, 220. Anderson, Reece, I, 186, 192, 221. Anderson, Robert B., Ill, 709. Anderson, William W., I, 316. Andretta, Fred C, III, 834. Andrews, C. K., I, 868. Andrews, J. W., Jr., I, 426. Andrieux, Edgar M., II, 476. Andrus, Harry E., II, 375. Angell, Earle F., II, 616. Angevine, Frank H., I, 335, 338. Angevine, Fred R., II, 445. Angstman, Jess L., II, 1438. Annin, James T., II, 299. Annin, Joseph B., II, 298. Antelope, I, 826. Apgar, H. D., Ill, 795. Apgar, Jessie, III, 796. Appleton, Fletcher W., II, 32. Arbor Day, I, 465, 498. Are these young Americans being fairly treated? (illustration), I, 520. Arena, Peter, III, 954. Argenta, I, 237. Argo, Neil D., II, 73. Arick, R. E., I, 415. Arkwrtght, Hartford D., Ill, 1257. Arlee, I, 792. Armington, I, 609. Armitage, Thomas C., II, 230. Armstead, I, 783. Armstrong, Frarcis K., II. 6. Armstrong, George, I, 703. Armstrong, John, I, 15. Armstrong, Ory J., Ill, 999. Armstrong, Thomas G., II, 65. Arnet, Nick, III, TCKX. Arnette, Frank G., Ill, 921. Arnett. F. B.. Ill, 854. Arnold, George P. T., Jr., II, 285. Arnold, Harry E., II, 33. Arnold. Ralnh L., II, 453. Arnold, William, I, 237. Arnott, George, Jr., II, 771. Asbridge, Joseph L., I. 868; II, 522. Ashley. Tames M., I, 288; his residence in Helena (illustration). 313; becomes governor, 314; (portrait), 410; 868. Ashley. William. I. 108. in. I2<">. Ashley-Henry Discoveries of 1823, I, 109. Aslakson, Orrar R . IT 620. Aslakson, Thomas E.. Ill, 1308. Aspling. Charles E.. II, 336. AssaroVa range, I, OT, Asselstire. George H.. II, 564. Assinihoines. J, T, i-6. Asteroid rla ; m, I. 371. Astor, Tohn Tacr>b, I, 113. AtrM^on, To'-n S., I, 2V. Atkinson, Alfred, I, cig, 731. AtHnson. Targes T ., TTI, 925. AttK. Frederick F.. II, 45. Audubon, John J., I, 124. Augusta, I, 241, 749. Auld, James C, II, 617. Aune, George D., II, 87. Austin, Claud, II, 474- Austin, Harry H., II, 117. Austin, James W., Sr., Ill, 877. Austin, William Charles, II, 474. Australian ballot system introduced, I, 485. Autobiographical Notes (1791-1816) by McDonald, I, 81. Axtell, John S., I, 725; III, 1195. Ayers, Leonard P., I, 503. Ayers, Roy E., II, 422. Ayres, D. E., II, 601. Baatz, Nick, II, 575. Babcock, Albert L., II, 241. Babcock, Lewis C., II, 241. Babcock, Paul, III, 801. Babington, W. J., II, 446. Baboon Gulch, I, 222. Bach, Thomas C. (portrait), I, 428; 431. Bachelors taxed, I, 489. Bad Lands : General Sully describes, I, 293; (illustrations), 295. Badger Creek, I, 112. Bagg, Charles S., I, 256, 257, 282, 283, 289. Bailey, H. V., I, 869. Bailey, James, I, 209, Bainville, I, 817. Bair, Frank B., II, 367. Pair, John G., Ill, 746. Baird, David E., II, 512. Baird, Frank P., II, 583. Baker, I, 714. Baker, Arthur G., Ill, 1431. Baker, David A .. ITT, 1280. Baker, Eugene M., I, 309, 345. Baker, E. D., Ill, 1198. Baker, George A., III. 1319. Baker, Paul, III, 1373. Baker Battle Fields memorial, I, 323. "AVer's Battle" of 1872, I, 309. Baldwin, Clement J., II, 15. Baldy Mountain, I. 771. Pall, Allen M., Ill, 1269. Ball, Jennie C, III, 838. Ball, May, III, 727. Pall, Robert J.. Ill, 8~7. Ballantine, I, 856. Ballard, William E., Ill, 843. Pallou, F. H., TT. ico. Bally, W. H., Ill, 086. Bancroft, Hubert Howe. I, 159. Bannack City: early diggings, I, loo; 191, 220, 230, 250, 333, 783; of today, 671. Bannack Legislature. I. 2^-288. Bannack Mining and Milling Company, I, 672. Pannack Statutes, I, 415. Bannack Street of Today (illustration), I, 191. Banks, L. B.. II. 203. Banks and Banking: Helena Brand of F^der? 1 Re^rve R^nk onened, I, 489; Miles City Banks, 707: Lewis- town Banks. 720; statues of Montana's state, private anH rational banks (1920), 870; state banking laws, 871. INDEX XI Barclay, J. Arthur, III, 1400. Barclay, R. Proctor, II, 390. Barker, Bud, I, 213. Barker, Samuel, II, 516. Barnard, William E., Ill, mo. Barnes, Antrim E., II, 98. Barnes, Oscar O., Ill, 962. Barrell, Joseph, I, 14. Barrett, Alexander H., I, 493. Barrett, William, I, 328. Bartles, Frederick R., II, 452 Bartley, Paris B., Ill, 682. Bartz, George, II, 311. Basin mining district, $6,635,000, I, 766. Bateman, Howard W., Ill, 747. Batens, Francis X., Ill, 1226. Battey, R. C., II, 258. Battle of Kildeer Mountain (Sioux Campaign), I, 292, 293. Battle of the Big Hole, I, 643. Baume, Tom, I, 255. Baxter, Ernest C., JI, 592. Beall, William J., II, 76. Beall, Mrs. W. J., II, 77. Bean, Leo, II, 1302. Bear Gulch, I, 213. Bearmouth, I, 790. Bear 1 aw Mountains, I, 9-1, 94, 229. Bear Tooth Mountain in the Coal Region (illustration), I, 101. Beartooth National Forest, I, 624. Beatty, James H., I, 378. Beauharnois, Charles de, I, 5. Beauty Spots for tourists, I, 634. Beaver Hill, I, 848. Beaverhead county: placer mines in 1862-68, I, 213 ; early silver mining in, 238 ; created, 281 ; number and value of cattle (1884), 395; irrigation, 595; natural features and industries of, 667. Beaverhead National Forest, I, 624. Beaverhead River, I, 230. Beaverhead Rock, I, 50; (illustration), 49- Beckers, Hubert, III, 858. Beckwith, James, I, 344. Bedford, David J., Ill, 911. Beebe, I, 703. Beechey, Hill, I, 253. Been, I, 848. Bees, I, 403. Behrendt, Paul, II, 130. Beidler. J. X., I, 2*3, 259, 273. Beier, F. W., Jr., I, 869. Beiseker, Chester J., Ill, 1065. Belanski, Fdgar E., Ill, 1133. Belgrade, I, 729. Belgum, Henry S., Ill, 803. Belknap, I, 824. Bell, Frances, I, 282. Bell, Frederick A., II, 130. Bell, George H., Ill, 1127. Bell, Henry A., I, 192, 196. Bell, John K., Ill, 971. Belleflenr, Irene V., II, 631. Bellefleur, W. M., II, 631. Belt, I, 699. Belt range, I, 91. Belzer, William, I, 655. Bench and Bar: Miners Courts estab- lished, I, 218; Sidney Edgerton at Miners Court, 279; sketch of Chief Justice H. L. Hosmer, 288; opening of first District Court, 289; Idaho code of practice adopted, 290; com- pletion of first term of court, 291 ; Judiciary opposes Assembly as to con- stitutional capital, 298; Territorial practice act, 315, 414-438; bar at close of territorial period, 431 ; Justices of First Supreme Court retire, 416; be- ginning of systematic judicature, 418; crude legal and judicial surroundings, 420; placer mining and water rights, 421 ; Henry N. Blake ascends Supreme Bench, 423; quartz mining litigation, 424; quartz lode litigation supreme, 427 ; railroad cases, 429 ; Montana Bar Association formed, 433; under state- hood, 434-438; U. S. District Judges, 437; State District Judiciary, 438; Heinze overwhelms the courts, 459; Fair Trial Law passed, 460; legisla- tive elevation of bar, 477; justices of the State Supreme Court increased from three to five, 485 ; pending codi- fication of laws, 489. Bender, Frank, II, 42. Benetsee Creek, I, 184. Bennet, Howard G., Ill, 688. Bennett, George C., Ill, 1439. Bennett, Jack, III, 809. Bennett, Sidney, II, 626. Bennett, Walter E., II, 169. Benoit, John A., Ill, 1144. Benson, Theodore J., II, 237. Benton, C. H., I, 438. Penton, Thomas A., I, 128. Benton City, I, 215. Benton group (geological), I, 95. Berkin, John, II, 380. Berkin, Tborras A., II, II. Berkin, William, I, 286; II, to. Bernard Pratte & Company, I, ill. Berry, Albert C., Ill, 914. Berthelote, Joseph T., Ill, 1132. Bertrand, Joseph, II, 286. Bessette, Hypolite, III, 764. Best, Herbert F., II, 344. Best, Judson P., II, 345. Pest, Oly M.. II, 360. Be% John, III. 1008. Bibee, S. C, III, 867. Bickford, Walter M., II, 12. Bickle, J. Hiram, III, 1370. B''ddle. Joseph W., I, 363. Bielenherg, Howard Z., II, 182. Big Bellies (Gros Venires), 1,74. Big Pelt Mountains, I, 9.1. Big Blackfoot country, I, 754. Big Blackfoot River I, 227. Big Dry Creek, 1, 32. Big Dry River, I, 91. Big Fork, I, 724. Pig Hole River, I, 230. Big Horn, I, 845. Big Horn Canyon, I, 672. Big Horn country, Government evacu- ates, I, 345. Xll INDEX Big Horn County, created, I, 281 ; 406, 474 ; irrigation, 595 ; description of, 672, 673, 674. Big Horn Mountains, I, 91. Big Horn River, I, 63, 81. Big Horn town located, I, 195. Big Knife River, I, 29. Big Prickly Pear Creek, I, 190. Big Sandy, I, 702. Big Snowy Mountain, I, 91. Big Timber, I, 841. Big Timber irrigation project, I, 583. Bigelow, Edward, II, 58. Bigelow, Wilbur F., II, 200. Billings, Frederick, I, 851. Billings, incorporated, I, 409; irrigation project, I, 581, 582; history of city, 851 ; business houses, industries and banks, 854 ; general evidences of its prosper- ity, 859- Billings airport, I, 853. Billings Chamber of Commerce, I, 857, 859- Billings-Cody Way. I, 851. Billings Coliseum, I, 853. Billings Commercial Club: home of (illustration), I, 855; sketch of, 856. Billings Polytechnic Institute, I, 552. Billings Street Railway Company, I, 851. Billings twenty-five years ago (illustra~ tion), I; 852. Billings and Central Montana Railroad, I, 568. Billmeyer, Daniel H., II, 71. Biography of James Stuart (Granville Stuart), I, 221. Biological Station, Flathead Lake, I, 529, 535, 53.6. Bird Tail divide, I, 91. Birkland, Andrew C., Ill, 1404. Birum, Albert A., Ill, 1069. Bishop, John F., I, 316. Bissel, G. G., I, 217, 218. Bitter Root Mountain, I, 227. Bitter Root National Forest, I, 624, 811. Bitter Root River, I, 90. Bitter Root Valley (illustration), I, 935 (illustration), 143; 144, 223, 225, 227, 791; historic associations of, 811. Biven's Gulch, I, 231. Bjorneby, E. G., III. 86r. Bjorneby, George, III, 861. Black, Robert R., Ill, 951. Black Bear (Indian chief), I, 173, 174, Black Chief, I, 371. Black Href lode, I, 222. Black Eagle Power Plant, Great Falls, I, 680. Black Hills (Cote Noire), I, 34. Black Mountain Trail, I, 752. Black Rock Zinc Mine, I, 382. Black Tailed Deer Creek, I, 230, 231. Blackfeet Indians (Piegans), I, 104; fur traders attempt to win over, in; again reconciled by Culbertson, 126; trouble with the, I, 140; attempts to convert the, I, 150; still warlike, I, 154; attack Hamilton-McKay party, I, 172, 173, 174, 175, 176; reclamation project, I, 587, 589, Blackfeet country abandoned by fur traders, I, 105. Blackfeet Indian Reservation, I, 737. Blackfeet National Forest, I, 624, 769. Blackfeet Sun Dance (illustrations of), I, 736. Blackfoot Valley, I, 790. Blackwell, George R., Ill, 958. Blaere, Joseph, II, 269. Blaine County; created, I, 474; irriga- tion in, 596 ; description of, 674. Blaine County Fair, I, 675. Blair, Harry B., II, 196. Blair, James F., II, 341. Blair, John W., I, 316; III, 1296. Blake, A. S., I, 189, 192. Blake, Henry N., I, 216, 415, 422; sketch of,. 423; 434; defeated for chief jus- tice, 449J 459- Blake, S. R., I, 219. Blakeslee, Glenn B., II, 172. Blakeslee, Harry D., II, 172. Blanchet, F. N., I, 147. Blankenhorn, Charles E., II, 141. Blodgttt, Francis E., Ill, 895. Blodgett, Louis D., II, 351. Blomquist, Walter C, III, 826. Blood, Indians, I, 140. Bloom, Edward B., II, 189. Blose, J. T., Ill, 1034. Blue Joint Hay (illustration), I, 846. Board of Administration for Farmers' Institutes, I, 530. Board of Education, Billings, II, 236. Board of Examination for Nurses, I, 476. Board of Horticulture, I. 883. Board of Railroad Commissioners, estab- lished, I, 464. Boarton, L. W., I, 289. Boatman, Robert T., II, 287. Bodden, Jacob C., II, 199. Boden, Henning R., II, 20. Boden, James, III, 1243. Bodley, Ralph E., II, 26. Boggs, George S., Ill, 1183. Bogue, John C., Ill, 1249. Bohart, William O., II, 420. Bohm, Angevine & Merry, I, 338. Bole, James P., II, 379. Bole, William S., II, 313. Bellinger, John, II, 171, Bond, John C, I, 643. Bond, N. J., I, 282. Bon in, I, 777. Bonita, I, 790. Ponner, I, 790. Bonner, E. L., I, 500, 532. Bonneville, B. L. E. : his explorations, I, 113-119; and the geysers, 116; last years of, 119. Boorman, Benjamin J., Ill, 744. Booth, Edwin S., Ill, 1428. Booth, John C, III, 1448. Booth, John H.. III. 1448. Borough, John F., II, 534. Borreson, Henry E., Ill, 1052. Boschert, Frnest A., II, 76. Posshard, Elmer, II, 341. Boston & Colorado Smelting Company, I, 375- INDEX xni Boston & Montana Consolidated Com- pany, I, 377, 378. Boston & Montana mine, I, 375. Bostwick, Ephriam, I, 192, 197. Botkin, Alexander C., I, 405, 433. Boulder, I, 745. Bourquin, George M., I, 437, 438, 868. Bouyer, Mitch, I, 349, 350. Bowden, Malcolm, III, 1176. Bowden, Marguerita, I, 760. Bowdoin, I, 803. Bower, G. C., II, 610. Bower Brothers Ranch, II, 610. Bowman, Alfred H., Ill, 1326. Bowman, Carl, III, 1275. Bowman, Charles H., I, 549. Bowman, Dan H., Ill, 1344. Bowman, Thomas E., Ill, 1148. Boyer, Mary L., Ill, 1300. Boyes, Henry O., Ill, 1264. Boyle, Neil, III, 1265. Boynton, C. H., I, 761. Box Elder, I, 744. Bozeman, J. M., I, 120, 189, 195, 221, 306; statue of (illustration), 307; grave at Bozeman, 323, 555 ; sketch of, 730, 799, 840. Bozeman : first house built in, I, 307 ; state capitol contestant, 441 ; 529, 729, 732. Bozeman Roundup, I, 732. Brackenridge, Henry W., I, 69, 73. Brackett, Ivory, III, 1394. Brackett, Oscar, III, 1007. Brackett, William S., I, 114, 118, 119, 120. Bradbrook, L. G., II, 40. Bradbury, John I, 69, 71, 73. Bradford, Robert B., II, 233. Bradford, W. M., II, 233. Bradley, Abram. L., II, 492. Bradley, James H. (portrait), I, 214; 304, 343, 349 ; his account of the Custer disaster, 350; death of, 360. Bradley, Mrs. James H., I, 216. Bradley's, J. H. Journal, I, 104, 121, 124, 128, 151, 159, 163, 164, 310, 348, 354. Bradshaw, William J., Ill, 1390. Brady, I, 804. Bramble, John K., Ill, 958. Brandon, I, 231. Brandon, Roswell L., Ill, m8. Brantly, Theodore, sketch of, I, 436; 869. Brassey, Edward, II, 205. Brattin, Carl L., Ill, 1120. Bratton,' William, I, 28. Brazier, Charles R., Ill, 1059. Breeders' Association, I, 403. Preen, Maurice J., II, 247. Breitenstein, Arthur J., Ill, 829. Brenizer, I. 848. Brennan, William H., II, 352. Prrrnen, W. J., Ill, 822. Brewster, George W., Ill, 1376. Bridge, John W., Ill, 1172. Brirlfpr. Tames, I, 108, 113, 114; famous explorer and guide, also portrait 115; 120, 306, 340, 343, 344, 798, 840. Bridger range, I, 91. Bndger's Canyon, Valley of the Galla- tm (illustration), I, 232. Briggs, Ansell, I, 282. Brigiit, Haden H., Ill, 1281. Brimacombe, John, II, 492 Brink, H. F., II, 320. Briscoe, Jack, II, 198. Broadbrooks, Clarence E., Ill, 941 Broaddus, John, III, 1088. Broaddus, Oscar, III, 1087. Broaddus, William M., Ill, 1401. Broadview, I, 856. Broadview school, Terry District (illus- tration), I, 859. Broadwater, Arthur J., Ill, 818. Broadwater, Edward T., Ill, 690. Broadwater county; as a copper pro- ducer, I, 384; irrigation in, 597; de- scription of, 675. Broadwater County High School, II, 1096. Broadwater Hotel, I, 751. Brockton, I, 817. Brock way, I, 776. Brockway, Bert G., II, 230. Brockway, Clarence J., Ill, 967. Brooke, Ben C., II, 618. Brooks, Clark A., Ill, 898. Brooks, Joseph, III, 1120. Brophy, John A., II, 424. Brophy, John W., II, 427. Brophy, Patrick J., II, 424. Brown, Arthur H., II, 563. Brown, Bella, I, 698. Brown, C. V., II, 276. Brown, Frank D., I, 316, 320, 325. Brown, Fred M., II, 407. Brown, George, I, 256, 286. Brown, G. W., Missouri, I, 247; hanging of, 260. Brown, Herbert W., III. 718, Brown, James H., I, 419; II, 483. Brown, Joseph T., I, 643; III, 1193. Brown, Leonard A., Ill, 889. Brown, Mary G., II, 1194. Brown, Perry F., II, 152. Brown, William A., Ill, 1205. Browne, David G., Ill, 954. Brownfield, William, II, 503. Browning, I, 739. Bruce, James L., II, 511. Bruce, John P., I, 415. Bryan, Charles L., II, 75. Bnchholz, August D. F., Ill, 675. Buck, Cyrus W., II, 608. Buck, F. W., Ill, 853. Buck, Horace R., I, 434; death of 435, 436. Buck, Isaac N., I. 282. Buck, John F., Ill, 1210. Puck. Marion E., II, 105. Bucksen, F. W., II, 636. Puerpi, George J., Ill, 1340. Buffalo, wholesale slaughter of, I, 36; a surround, 138; 717. BnTalo of the Plains (illustration), I, 37. Buffalo robes replacing beaver skins, I, 121. Buffalo Trail Highway. I, 740. Bull, Carlton B., II, 631. XIV INDEX Bull mountain coal field, I, 240, 796. Bullard, Oilman, I, 868. Bullard, J. Oilman, II, 619. Bullard, Massena, I, 419. Bullfinch, Charles, I, 14. Bullwhacker Mining Co., I, 836. Bunker, Eugene F., II, 557. Bunker, Park J., Ill, 1317. Bunney, William H., II, 376. Buntin, John A., Ill, 1253. Bunton, William, I, 249. Burdick, Henry, I, 415. Burdick, N. H., I, 760. Bureau of Agriculture, Labor and In- dustry: to advertise Montana, I, 468; abolished, 476. Burger, Norris F., II, 73. Burke, Daniel J., II, 147. Burke, Edward F., Ill, 692. Burke, John J., II, 144. Burke, Patrick E., Ill, 1075. Burks, Fred C., Ill, 1437. Burlington route, I, 568. Burns, Harry, I, 289. Burns, James P., Ill, 834. Burns, Lowell C., Ill, 1299. Burpee, L. J., I, 78. Burn's, N. W., I, 335, 337- Burton, W. C, I, 285. Busch, Ernest C., II, 88. Busche, William C., II, 272. Busha, Charles T., II, 51. Bussert, Edgar C., Til, 1239, Butler, J-ames W., Ill, 1126. Butler, John F., Ill, 920. Butler, Lewis S., II, 99. Butler, Vernon, III, 884. Butschy & Clark, I, 254. Butte: founding of (Warren), I, 222; fails as a gold district, 371 ; state cap- ital contestant, 441 ; a world famed mining center, 828; first? smelter and auartz worked, 829; as a city, 830; king of copper, 834 ; copper production in district, 835 ; mineral production of district (1865-1915), 8?6; its intervals of mining inactivity, 837. Butte-Alex Scott Mining Co.. I. 836. Butte, Anaconda & Pacific Railroad, I, 376, 568. Butte and surroundings (illustration), I, 3R5. Butte-Bullaklava Mining Co., I, 836. Butte Daily Post, II, 471. Butte-Dnluth Mining Co., I, 876. Butte-Milwaukee Copper Company, I, 383. Butte Mines Company, II, 1380. Butte-New York Copper Company, I, 383. Butte pumping plant, I, 832. Prtte town site patent, I, 427. Butte Window Glass Works, II, 492. Butte & Great Falls Mining Co., I, 836. Butte & London Mining Co., I, 836. Butte & Superior Copper Company, I, 382, ?8*. Butte & Snnerior Mining Co., I, 836. Buzzetti, Charles J., II, 54. Buzzetti and Emmett, II, 54. Byam, Don D., I, 259. Byam, Don L., I, 319, 320. Bynum, I, 843. Byrne, Frank P., II, 362. Byrne, Fred M., II, 355. Cabinet National Forest, I, 624, 769. Cable, John S., II, 314. Cain, Elmer L., Ill, 868. Calabar, I, 703. Calder, W. L. A., II, 17. Calderhead, J. H., I, 463. Calhoun, Henry J., II, 242. Calhoun, William B., II, 318. California Gulch, I, 231. Callaway, James F., I, 404. Callaway, Lew L, I, 459. Calloway, James E., I, 419. Calvert, George B., Ill, 672. Cameahwait (Sacajawea's brother), I, S7< Camp Baker, I, 311. Camp Cooke, I, 311. Camp Robert B. Smith, I, 645. Campbell, A. J., I, 453. Campbell, Charles W., II, 268. Campbell, Frank B., II, 566. Campbell, Guy E., Ill, 814. Campbell, Hugh B., II, 449. Campbell, John L., II, 439. Campbell, John S., Ill, 1155. Campbell, Mabel L., II, 345. Campbell, Ray L., Ill, 1056. Campbell, Robert, I, 108, 120, 138. Campbell, Samuel K., II, 653. Campbell, Thomas F., I, 494. Campbell, Will A., Ill, 1177. Canton, I, 676. Canyon Ferry, I, 749. Capitol; corner-stone laid, I, 454; (illus- tration), 455; wings commenced, 468; grand stairway of (illustration), 473; as completed, 477 (illustration), 458. Canlice, John, I, 316. Carbon county: as a coal producer, I, 3%: created, 452; irrigation in, 597; description of, 676; coal mines and first oil well, 677. Cardell, Robert C., II, 249. Carey, Frank, III. 842. Carey, John J., Ill, 759. Carey, Matt F., Ill, 1183. Carey Land Act: biennial report of (1919-1920), I, 581; 590. Carey Land Act Board : replaces State Arid Land Grant Commission, I, 460; 584. Carleton, E. A., I, 500. Carlson, Alfred C., II. 259. Carlson, Kaare O., Ill, 1018. Carlson, O. A., I, 869. Carlton, I, 702. Carlyle, I, 818. Carmony, Fred A., Ill, 1088. Carney, John, II, 374. Carpenter, A. M. S., I, 403, 494. Carpenter, B. Platt, sketch of, I, 409; a 12, 4?4, 868. Carnenter, Harry C., II. 303. fa merger. Mvron S., II, 357. Carr, R. E., II, 257. INDEX xv Carrington, Henry B., I,! 340, 342; ex- pedition turned back by Fetterman Massacre, I, 343; 345, 363. Carroll, I, 306. Carroll, John P., II, 458. Carroll, John V., II, 578. Carroll, J. T., I, 869. Carroll, William E., II, 511. Carroll, Matthew, I, 215. Carroll & Steele, I, 215. Carruth, Edwin C., Ill, 705. Carruthers, Emmet E., I, 653. Carter, I, 702. Carter, Alexander, I, 249. Carter, Elizabeth, III, 785. Carter, Thomas H., I, 433, 445; sketch of, 447, 448; elected U. S. Senator, 451, 457- Carter County : created, I, 482 ; irriga- tion in, 599; description of, 679, 680. Cartwright, Annie, III, 1203. Cartwright, Evert, III, 1203. Carver, Jonathan, proposes transconti- nental waterway, I, 12. Cascade, I, 699. Cascade County : created, I, 41 1 ; irriga- tion in, 598 ; natural features, 681 ; livestock and dairy interests, 682 ; min- ing of coal and silver, 683; Great Falls, 684-699; origin of name, 686; schools of, 687, 699. Cascade County school children (illus- tration), I, 507. Cashmore, Alfred I, II, 555. Caspers, H. J., Ill, 844. Cassill, Scott K., Ill, 1222. Castle Geyser, Yellowstone Park (illus- tration), I, 117. Castles, William, II, 83. Castner, John K., Ill, 724. Castner, Mattie, III, 725. Casto, William H., Jr., II, 178. Cat Creek anticline, I, 3874 Cat Creek field, i, 877. Cat Creek oil field, I, 716. Catholic Missions and Missionaries, I, 144-158. Catlin, Edwin B., II, 415. Catlin, George, I, 113, 144. Catlin, John B., II, 467. Cattle drives (i868-'83), I, 393, 394; wealth by counties (1884), 394, 395; Miles City center of range, 395 ; great sales of, 396; progress of industry, 1885-1919, 3r6. Cavanaugh, Miles J., II, 511. Cave, Alfred. II, 555. Cave, Will, II, 555- Caven, J. B., 1.^218. Caven, Kate Virginia, I, 220. Cayuse Hills, I, 91. Centerville, I, 827, 834. Central, I, 2"2. Chaboillez, Charles J. B., I, 74. Chadwick, Walter F., I, 415, 433. Chalmers, Horace, I, 252. Chalrrers, Robert, I, 252. Chamberlain, Arthur E., Ill, 762. Chamberlain. D. D., I, 2m. Chambers, George T., Ill, 979. Champlin, James L., Ill, 773. Chancellor of the University, I, 476. 528, 530. Chapman, Charles F., II, 549. Chapman, John W., II, 60. Chapman, Robert H., I, 91. Charbonneau, Toussaint, I, 28, 43 55 57, 61, 64, 65. Chardon, F. A., I, 124, 126; death of, 127; 140. Charlesworth, Arthur, III, 1294. Charleswprth, George, III, 1150. Charleyoix, I, 4. Chauvin, Joseph, II, 102. Cheadle, Edwin K., II, 197. Cheese factories of Montana, I, 873. Cheesman, Henry, II, 78. Cheney, William H., II, 655. Chessman, William A., II, 591. Chester, I, 768. Chestnut, Benjamin F., Ill, 819. Chicago, Burlington & Quincy System: joint purchase by Great Northern and Northern Pacific, I, 566. Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Rail- way, I, 566; electrification of, 567; 630, 689. Chief Joseph, pursuit of, I, 359-369; and the Cowan Party (portraits), 361 ; his last stand, 362, 463. Chief Paul (Salish), I, 157. Child Welfare division established, I, 483- Chinook, I, 588, 674, 675. Chinook winds, I, 76. Chittenden, H. M., I, 69. Choate, Isaac W., I, 489; II, 617. Choisser, Joe E., Ill, 1003. Chouteau, I, 843. Chouteau, Auguste, I, 700. Chouteau, Chas. (portrait), I, 214. Chouteau, Pierre, I, in, 113, 120, 700. Chouteau brothers, I, 103. Chouteau County, I, 241 ; created, 281 ; number and value of cattle (1884), 395; irrigation in, 599; physical fea- tures of and general industries, 700; transportation facilities of, 701. Chowen, H. O., I, 698. Chowning, Charles W., Ill, Sir. Christensen, Andrew, III, 917. Christenson, Harris J., Ill, 1101. Christiansen, Charles G., Ill, 1163. Christinson, Otto M., Ill, 1045. Christler, Leonard J., II, 640. Chronicle Publishing Company, II, 379. Crysler, Walter B., II, 209. Chumasero, William, I, 289, 291, 415, 433- Church, Irving W., I, 696; III, 694. Church, Ray, III, 760. Churches of Missoula, I, 786. Churchill, William, II, 48. Circle, I, 776. Clack, Philip D., Ill, 707. Clagett, W. H., I, 4*9- Claiborne, William C. C., I, 18. Clancy, William, I, 377, 459- Clapp, Charles H., I, 535; sketch ot, 534; 549; III, 991. Clark, A. B., I, 706. Clark, Charles E., Ill, 1351. XVI INDEX Clark, George R., I, 27. Clark, George W., Ill, 1092. : Clark, Helen P., I, 497- Clark, John B., Ill, 1292. Clark, John D., Ill, 1321. Clark, John W., II, 70. Clark, Leon B., Ill, 1249. Clark, Lewis C., II, 186. Clark, William, I, 19; sketch of, 26, 40, 42; narrow escape of, and the Bird Woman, 43; discovers the Three Forks, 46, 54, 55, 58; honorable public career, 67; his nine days' journey, 60, 61, 69, 73, 103, 120, 798. Clark, William A.: on Montana's Val- leys, I, 92, 144, 190, 236, 237, 243, 316, 321; introduces himself, 326; arrives at Bannack, July, 1863, 328; trip to Salt Lake Citv (November, 1863), 332; (portrait), 372, 373, 375, 376, 377, 406, 409, 439, 440, 445, 447, 449, 45* ; U. S. Senatorship again, 454, 457, 469, 648, 754, 833, 834- Clark City (Livingston), I, 799. Clark and Ulm, I, 395. Clark's (Flathead) River, I, 57, S8, 60. Clark's Fork coal field, I, 240. Clark's fork of the Columbia, I, 90. Clarke, Malcolm, I, 123, 126, 128, 282, 323. Clarke, Melvin D., Ill, 1159. Clarke, Walter E., Ill, 1316. Classens, William, I, 1/17. Claxton, John K., II. 487. Clay, George W., Ill, 968. Clayberg, John B., I, 433, 459, 549, Clearwater, I, 790. Clemens, William J., Ill, 1171. Clendennin, George, I, 304, 305, 306. Clendennin, Richard, I, ''04. Cleveland, George W., Ill, 1301. Cleveland, Jack, I, 251. Clifford, John E., II. 372. Cline, Frank C., II, 87. Clinton, I, 790. Clyde Park, I, 80 r. Coal, I, 101 ; Montana's output since 1001, 386. Coal and lignites, I, 238. Coates, John Q., Ill, 877. Cobleigh, William M., II, 91. Coburn, John, I, 427. Cochran, Joseph, I, 851. Code Commission, I, 411, 412. Code of Laws (1879), I, 408; (1887), 411; (1895), 435, 451. Codification of the Laws (1871-72), I, 419. Codified School Laws adopted, I, 474. Codified Statutes, 7th Session 1871-2, I, a TO. Coffey, George M., Jr., Ill, 749. Coffey, George M.. Sr., Ill, 749. Coffey, John H., Ill, 774. Coggswell, W. R., I, 223. Cogswell, Sherman T., Ill, 004. Cohagen, Chandler C., II, 215. Cole, Burton R., II, 184. Cole, F. W., I, 412, 434. College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, I, 529, 544, 731. College of Liberal Arts and Science formed, I, 535. College of Montana, I, 496. Collett, Samuel W., II, 389. Collier, Albert F., Ill, 1207. Collier, Joe, III, 1200. Collins, I, 843. Collins, Carlos P., Ill, 1117. Collins, John, I, 28. Collins, John A., Ill, 1056. Collins, John B., Ill, 1089. Collins, Thomas M., II, 612. Collins, Timothy E., I, 316. Collins, W. L., II, 401. Collins and Company, I, 223. Colorado and Montana Smelting Com- pany, I, 375. Colorado smelter: first successful cop- per plant, I, 835. Colter, John, I, 28, 68; his remarkable adventures, 71, 73. Colter's "Hell Hole," I, 69. Colton, O. C, I, 732. Columbia Falls, I, 725. Columbia Fur Company, I, in. Columbia Gardens, Butte, I, 833. Columbia River, Discovery and ex- ploration of, I, 14. Columbus, I, 840. Colwell, Henry, I, 851. Comanche, I, 856. Combes, William M., Ill, 820. Comer, Cloyde E.. II, 282. Comet Mine, I, 765. Comly, Harry B., I, 406. Commission form of government : adopted, I, 469; approved, 477. Compulsory education in force (1921), 1,526. Comstock, Henry T. P., I, 322. Comstock, Jay M., Ill, 1348. Confederate Gulch, I, 212, 754. Congdon, John H., II, 357. Conger, Everton J., I, 426, 427. Conkey, J. C., II. 86. Conley, Frank, II, 343. Conley, J. V., II. 225. Conlon, James, III, 1068. Connelly, Frank B., II, q. Conner, Jennie M., I, 698. Conner, Jesse, III. 751. Conner, John T., I, 316. Connolly, Thomas, II, 318. Conrad, I. 804. Conrad, C. D., I. 727. Conrad, George H., III. io?o. Conrey Placer Mining Company, I, 771. Constitutional conventions: first (1866) and second (1884), I, 408, 409. Continental Divide, passage of the, by Lewis snd Clark, I. 52. Conway, Daniel R., III. 992. Conway, George B., Ill, ITOO. Conynpham, Fdward F., II, 447. Cook, Byron H.. I, 61 S- Cook, Charles W., TI, 6*9. Cook, George W., II, 197. Cook, James, I, 12. Cook, Jerry, I, 289, 415. INDEX xvu Cooke, P. St. George, I, 342. Cooke city, I, 798. Cooke City Mining district, I, 375. Cooke (Jay) and Company: ruined by 1873 panic, I, 560. Cooney, Frank H., II, 166. Cooney, Howard C., Ill, 1174. Cooney, Tom, III, 1033. Cooper, Charles H., I, 436, 869. Cooper, John, I, 249. Cooper, Ransom, III, 835. Cooper, Thomas E., I, 211. Cooper, Walter (illustration of winter quarters in 1865), I, 212, 316, 547; II, 556. Copper mining : Rise of, I, 375 ; produc- tion in 1899-1919, 379; sampling ores for commercial purposes, 380, 381 ; production in Butte district (1891-95), 835. Coppo, John B., II, 126. Corbally, Thomas F., II, 586. Corbett, Hal S., I, 451. Corbin, Harvey A., II, 317. Corley, Roy M., II, 531. Cornwell, Edward A., Ill, 1321. Cornwell, Harry, III, 1322. Cornwell, John W., Ill, 1279. Corrington, Glenwood H., Ill, 684. Corrupt Practice Act, I, 470. Corvallis, I, 225, 792, 812. Corwin, John W., II, 251. Coryell, Charles E., IH, 810. Cosier, Howard M., Ill, 780. Cosner, Harry, III, 1219. Cotton, Wendell, III, 1314. Cottonwood (Deer Lodge), I, 222. Couch, Thomas, II, 498. Couch, Thomas, Jr., II, 500. Coues, Elliott, I, 39. Coughlin, Richard J., Ill, 1080. Coulson (Billings), I, 851. Council Grove, I, 223. Counties: (see separate counties), area and population of, 1870-1920, I, 861, 862; changes in boundaries of, 862, 863, 864; county seats and assessed valuation of, 864, 865 ; dates and facts as to creation, 866, 867 ; business es- tablishments of, 874, 875. County boards of education created, I, 464. County Legislation : bonded indebted- ness regulated, I, 478 ; regulating for- mation of new counties, 479. County Organization (Leighton) bill passed, I, 474. County Poor Farm, I, 547. County Superintendents, I, 497. County Unit law, I, 519. Courtright, Milo, I, 282. Cousins, Frank A., II, 213. Cover, Thomas, I, 199, 206, 208, 219, 307, 308. Covington, C. C. t II, 488. Cowan, Arthur J., Ill, 940. Cowan, Elmer L., I, 6^2. Cowan, George W., Ill, 885. Cowan, G. F., I, 360. Cowan, John, I, 210. Cowan, Thomas, I, 211. Cowan, Winfield S., Ill, 896. Cowles, Roy J., Ill, 1113. Cowman, C. P., Ill, 1075 Cox, Z. T., Ill, 1108. ' Coy, Havelock G., II, 388. Coy, Reuben E., II, 125. Crab, John, I, 210. Crabb, George M., II, 463. Craig, I, 749. Craig, James, II, 27. Craig, James W., Ill, 1281. Craig, Oscar J I, 532, 534, 787. Craig, Robert A., Ill, 1204. Craig, William T., Ill, 1413. Craighead, Edwin B., I, 532, 535, 789; III, 1255. Cralle, Edward A., II, 435. Cramer, Ben, III, 856. Cramer, Clara, III, 856. Crase, Frank A., II, 548. Craven, Arthur J., I, 215. Craven, G. W., I, 549; II, 547. Crawford, (Hank), I, 252. Crazy Horse (Indian chief killed), I, 359- Creameries of Montana: established 1889-1919 (see towns and cities), I, 873. Creel, George R., II, 191. Cremans, J. J., Ill, 870. Crippen, Henry C., II, 254. Cronk, John C., Ill, 1369. Crook, George, I, 347; his Southern In- dian campaign, 356, 357, 358. Croonquist, Harold S., II, 189. Crosby, John S., sketch of, I, 408. Crosby, J. Schuyler, I, 868. Cross, Sherwood S., Ill, 999. Crosson, Abe, III, 697. Crouch, Charles D., Ill, 724. Crouch, Samuel J., II, 273. Crouley, James P., II, 506. Crow Agency, I, 673. Crow Indian Reservation, first, I, 158; public schools thrown open in, 526; 640, 799. Crowley, Annie E., II, 67. Crowley, Daniel M., II, 67. Crowley, Michael H., Ill, 994. Crowley, Timothy E., Ill, 1442. Crowley, William E., Ill, 995. Crows, I, 69; Larocque's account of (1805), 78, 83; breaking camp and smoking regulations (1805), 85; a na- tion of horsemen (1805), 86; and the fur trade, 127, 129; home of, 340. Crows-Piegan horse race, I, 170. Crum, Paul, III, 1081. Crum, William R., Ill, 764. Crutcher, Lee W., II, 559. Crutchfield, Charles M., II, 599- Cruzatte, Peter, I, 28. Culbertson, I, 817. Culbertson, Alexander, I, 121, 123, 124, 126, 127, 128; sketch and death of, I3 1 ! J3 2 , X 39) J 4 r I S I , T 58; as Indian treaty-maker, 159; 164, 185, 186; (por- trait), 214; 216. Cullen, W. E., I, 419, 422, 431, 434, 758, 760. Culver, Boyd, III, 849. xvin INDEX Gumming, Bruce A., II, 103. Cummings, H. L., II, 162. Cummings, H. L. & Son, II, 162. Cunningham, Arthur, III, 1192. Cunningham, Harry R., Ill, 948. Curley, only survivor of Curley Disaster, I, 351- Curley (portrait), I, 352. Curran, John, III, 893. Currie, Robert C, III, 686. Currier, H. L., II, 17 ' Curry, Thomas, I, 798, 799- Curry, William E., II, 479. Curry Mining District, I, 799- Curtis, Helena E., II, 31 1- Cusick, Helena, III, 853. Cusick, W. M., Ill, 852. Cusker, Hank J., Ill, 817. Custer, I, 856. Custer, George A., I, 349, 356. 406. Custer, J. W., I, 346. Custer Battlefield of Today (illustra- tion), I, 672. Custer Battlefield Highway, I, 850. Custer County : Number and value of cattle (1884), I, 395; 406; irrigation in, 5995 description of, 702; railroad facilities of, 703; schools of, 704; an- nual fair, 707. Custer County Wool Growers Associa- tion, I, 397. Custer Disaster, first tidings of, I, 350. Custer Memorial Monument (illustra- tion), I, 355. Custer National Forest, I, 624, 805. Custer's River, I, 406. Cut Bank, I, 738. Cut Bank Creek : glacial fragment at, I, 98. Cuthbert, D. H., I, 404. Dacotah lode, I, 237. Dahl, Oscar A., Ill, 1213. Dahlgren, Halver, III, 971. Dahlgren, John, III, 970. Dailey, John, III, 889. Daily, John R., II, 468. Dairying in Montana, I, 400, 401, 402. Dakota group (geological), I, 95. Dale, Owen, I, 363. Daley, Freeman A., II, 640. Dallin, Frank, II, 572. Dalton, Patrick, II, 155. Daly, Charles, III, 1372. Daly, Marcus, comes to Butte, I, 373, 375 ; develops Anaconda properties, 376, 377, 449, 45i, 834. Daly (Marcus) Estate, I, 791. Daly, William B., II, 446. Dance, Walter B., I, 283. Dance, W. B., I, 189. Daniel, George H., II, 399. Daniels, Mabel B., Ill, 881. Daniels, Mansfield A., Ill, 881. Daniels County : irrigation in, I, 600 ; de- scription of, 708, 861. Danley, Irving U., II, 353. Darby, I, 791, 792, 812. Darling, Mrs. D. T., Ill, 1157. Daugherty, George M., Ill, 1335. Daugherty, John S., I, 376. Daughters, Freeman, I, 511. Daut, John, III, 918. d'Autremont, Arthur L., II, 161. Davee, H. A., I, 502. Davenport, Arthur J., II, 50. Davey, Arthur J., Ill, 794. Davey, Catherine A., Ill, 794. Davey, John, III, 793. Davidson, Andrew, III, 980. Davidson, A. M., Ill, 1429. Davies, Paul J., Ill, 1398. Davies, William E., I, 644. Davis, Alexander, I, 282, 289. Davis, Andrew J., I, 322, 395, 834. Davis, Chester C., I, 869. Davis, Hauser and Company, I, 395. Davis, Irwin F., Ill, 828. Davis, John H., Ill, 1167. Davis, John R., II, 250. Davis, Nathaniel J., I, 218. Davis, Selena R., Ill, 828. Davis, Sheldon E., I, 552. Davis, William A. (Bozeman), II, 405. Davis, W. A., Ill, 798. Davis, William B., Ill, 1081. Davis-Daly Mining Co., I, 836. Davison, Claud E., Ill, 1342. Davitt (Michael), mine, I, 378. Dawe, Lossie, III, 730. Dawes, Hugh R., HI, 1414. Dawes, Willard C., II, 317. Dawson, Andrew, I, 131, 152; (portrait), 153, 214. Dawson, John E., Ill, 830. Dawson county : created, I, 281 ; estab- lished, 312; number and value of cattle (1884), 395; irrigation in, 600; (Glen- dive), description of, 709. Day, Edward C., I, 464; II, 530. Day, Frank, II, 207. Day, George H., II, 207. Day, G. W., II, 468. Day, Jasper W., II, 283. Dayton, I, 725. Deacon, William, I, 669. Dean, R. H., II, 331. Dean, Samuel, III, 824. Dearborn, Henry, I, 45. Dearborn, Mark D., II, 589. Dearborn River, I, 45, 229. Deborgia, I, 779. Decker, Charles F., Ill, 1260. Decker, Frederick S., Jr., II, 477. Decker, Fred R., Ill, 1062. Dedrick, Warren A., II, 244. Dee, Martin, I, 459. Deegan, James, III, 1123. Deer Lodge (town), I, 161, 222, 807; in 1869 (illustration), 808; division point on Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad, 809. Deer Lodge County : placer mines in 1862-68, I, 213 ; early silver mining in, 237 ; created, 281 ; number and value of cattle (1884), 395, 408; irrigation in, 600; description of, 711. Deer Lodge lode, I, 222, 371. Deer Lodge National Forest, I, 624, 741, 745. INDEX xix Deer Lodge Valley, I, 161 ; overland trip to (1862), 180; placer and quartz mines, 228, 807. Deer Lodge Valley Mining Company, I, 286. de Graffenreid, Charles, III, 1242. DeGroot, Arie W., II, 238. De Hart, Jacob L., Ill, 1028. Deibel, Randolph, III, 1235. DeKalb, H. Leonard, II, 90. DeLacy, Walter W., I, 200, 215, 283, 316. DeLacy's Lake, I, 200. Delaney, John, III, 865. Delaware Security Company, I, 377. De L'Isle, I, 3. Demars, Joseph, III, 757. De Mers, Elzeor, III, 888. De Mers, Robert J., Ill, 866. Dempsey, Robert, I, 222. Dempsey's Cottonwood Ranch, I, 249. Dennis, I, 848. Dennison, James A., Ill, 952. De Noielle, R. W., Ill, 751. Denton, I, 717. Department of Agriculture and Pub- licity, I, 468, 476. Department of Banking created, I, 479. Department of Farm Loans created, I, 478. Department of Labor and Industry, I, 476. Deputee, George, III, 1035. Derrick, Walter J., Ill, 843. Desy, Irene, III, 1281. De Smet, Peter J., I, 151 ; coming of, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150; (portrait), 214. Devine, John H., Ill, 696. Detwiler, George, I, 282. De Velder, John Baptist, I, 147. Devlin, Lawrence K., I, 869; III, 765. De Voss, Peter, I, 150. Dewey, James, I, 209. DeWitt, William H., I, 431, 435. DeWolfe, Stephen, I, 430. Dexter, Wheeler O., Ill, 673. Diamond City, I, 213, 676. Dick, George K., Ill, 922. Dickerman, A. E., I, 698. Dignan, Thomas, III, 1013. Dillon, I, 399; incorporated, I, 409, 669. Dillon, Sidney, I, 407, 558. Dills, Clinton, I, 851. Dimmick, Bert W., II, 526. Dimon, John, II, 361. Dimsdale, Thomas, I, 243, 254, 256, 266. Discovery of gold monument, I, 320, 321. Dishno, Silas C, III, 1186. Dittes, Ben R., I, 757, 760. Dixon, I, 792, 824. Dixon, Joseph M., I, 459, 461, 471 ; sketch of and inaugural address (1921), I, 485; 528, 868, 869; II, 2. Dixon, William, I, 433. Dixon, W. W., I, 419, 430; elected to Congress (1890), I, 447; 448, 449, 548. Dixon, Mrs, W. W., I, 540. Dobell, J. L., Ill, 1387. Docter, John C., II, 122. Dodge, S. E., II, 427. Dodson, I, 588, 893. Dodson, Philip G., II, 316. Doggett, Jefferson D., II, 652. Doherty, John, III, 660. Dolan, Aloysius, III, 830. Dolin, John H., Ill, 1146. Dolin, Joseph F., Ill, 1133. Dominy, William, III, 1357. Donahue, Dan J., I, 649. Donaldson, Charles M., Ill, 1154. Donaldson, George, III, 890. Donaldson, Mattie, III, 890. Donlan, Edward, I, 469 Donnell, R. W., I, 222. Donnelly, Joseph P., Ill, 1085. Donohue, Daniel J., Ill, 1434. Donohue, M. J., II, 74. Dooley, William D., Ill, 1136. Dorniz, I, 841. Dorothy, Sidney J., Ill, 891. Dorr, Arthur C., Ill, 873. Dorsett, Rudolph, I, 250. Dorwin, O. G., I, 223. Dousman, Charles J., Ill, 1388. Douthett, Lorin F., II, 81. Dove, Samuel E., II, 149. Dow, James C., Ill, 1041. Dowe, E. E., Ill, 860. Dowlin, W. E., I, 856. Downing, Walter O., II, 105. Downs and Allen, I, 395. Drainage basins, acreage by, I, 616. Drainage enterprises, I, 618-621. Drake, Ben F., II, 364. Drake, C. H., Ill, 672. Drake, James H., Ill, 1020. Drake, James W., II, 308. Draper, Charles H., I, 678; II, 66. Draper, Mark I., Ill, 1419. Drennan, James W., I, 645. Drewyer, George, I, 28, 50, 51, 52, 59, 68. "Drowned Men's Rapids," I, 179. Drumlummon Mine, I, 765. Drummond, I, 741, 790. Dryden, James S., I, 426. Dry fork of Maria's River, I, 99. Dublin, I, 222. Duffy, John H., II, 338. Duke of Orleans commences western explorations, I, 3. DuLuth, Sieur Greysolon, I, 3. Duncan, A. J., II, 645. Duncan, John, III, 831. Duncan, Leslie, III, 867. Duncan, O. R., II, 74. Duncan, Tyson D., Ill, 1014. Duniway, Clyde A., I, 532,' 535, 788. Dunn, John, II, 262. Dunn, John C, II, 184. Dupuyer, I, 804. Durfee, David M., I, 438; II, 284. Durston, John H., II, 471. Dutch, Ralph E., Ill, 1600. Dutro, David V., Ill, 978. Dutton, I, 843. Dwyer, John C., Ill, 910. Dwyer, W. K., II, 396. Eagle Nest Rock, Gardiner Canyon (il- lustration), I. 35. XX INDEX "Early History of Western Montana" (Woody), I, 132; 224. Early silver mills in Butte district, I, 835. East Butte Copper Mining Company, I, 379, 38i, 836. East Ophir Town Company, I, 287. East Rosebud Lake, I, 840. Eastern Central Basin of Montana, I, 232. Eastman, George W., II, 10. Eastman, T. H., I, 301. Eaton, Ashael K., I, 286. Eaton, Ernest T., II, 266. Eaton, Lewis T., Ill, 1079. Eaton, Robert N., Ill, 1141. Eberschweiler, Frederick H., Ill, 698. Edgar, Henry, I, 199, 201, 205, 206, 208. Edgar, Henry F., I, 316. Edgehill, I, 848. Edgerton, Sidney, coming of, I, 279; in- terviews Lincoln, I, 279; leaves Mon- tana, 281, 298, 868. Edmonds, Herbert D., Ill, 924. Education : consolidation of higher insti- tutions, I, 475; retirement salary fund created, 479; free text books pro- vided, 482 ; vocational training intro- duced and Junior College courses added to high school curriculum, 482; first schools and superintendents, 493 ; University foundation laid, 496; foun- dation of State system laid by en- abling act, 498, 499; State Text Book Commission established, 500; appor- tionment of common school income fund (1889-1920), 501; income from leased lands, 502; Montana's rank among the states, 503; enrollment and attendance (1908-1920), 504-509; train- ing of Montana teachers, 509; teacher shortage, 510; county school admin- istration, 511; high school normal training departments, 513; salaries of high-grade teachers, 514; health of school children, 515; vocational work, 516; school dormitories, 517; rural schools in city districts, 518; standard- ization and consolidation, 519; state school funds, 521 ; finances by coun- ties, 524, 525, 526; school laws enacted in 1921, 526; Montana's system of higher, 528 ; schools of Custer county, 704; schools of Gallatin county, 729; Bozeman schools, 731 ; schools of Lew- is and Clark county, 750; Madison county schools, 775 ; McCone county schools, 777 ; Missoula county schools, 782; Missoula schools, 787; schools of Silver Bow county, 831. Edwards, Byrd H., Ill, 950. Edwards, Caldwell, I, 459. Edwards, David R., Ill, 724. Edwards, G. B., I, 503. Edwards, John E., Ill, 1315. Edwards, Thomas B., II, 180. Edwards, Thomas R., I, 415. Egan, James S., Ill, 1231. Egan, John, II, 511. Ege, Ralph R., II, 274. Egerton, Sidney, I, 415. Eggleston, Charles H., II, 333. Eggleston, Willis J., I, 868. Eight-hour day for female labor, I, 482. Eighteenth amendment : upheld by Uni- ted States Supreme Court, I, 490. Einsel, Charles S., Ill, 1304. Eiselein, Alfred W., Ill, 991. Ekalaka, I, 680. Eliot, Charles D., II, 570. Elk Basin Consolidated Petroleum Com- pany, I, 877. Elk in Montana forests (illustration), I, 481. Elkhorn mining district, $15,215,000, I, 766. Elkins, William S., Ill, 1252. Elling, Henry, I, 316. Elling State Bank, I, 772. Ellingson, Henry, II, 63. Elliott, Edward C, I, 528, 869; III, 1151. Elliott, James E., II, 61. Elliott, John, II, 470. Elliston, I, 809. Elm Orlu Zinc and Copper mine, I, 383. Elrod, M. J., I, 878. Elwell, Charles B., Ill, 692. Embrey, Austin M., Ill, 869. Emerson, Charles I., II, 23. Emerson, Frank, III, 962. Emerson, Lydia, III, 962. Emigrant, I, 801. Emigrant Gulch, I, 213, 233, 798, 799. Emigrants attacked by Indians (illus- tration), I, 182. Emilie (Missouri river steamboat), I, 178, 179. Emmett, Mackzy F., II, 55. Enabling Act : provisions of the, I, 442. Engebritson, Edward, III, 869. Englet, Alfred O., Ill, 1433. JEnnis, I, 775. Ennis, Katherine S., Ill, 1284. Epler, George C., Ill, 1165. Epler, John C., Ill, 1391. Ereaux, Adolph, III, 984. Ereaux, Ezra, III, 982. Ereaux, Lazare, III, 936. Erickson, Erick A., II, 124. Erickson, Ole, III, 929. Erickson, S. Arne, II, 279. Eschliman, John, III, 1297. Esgar, Charles C., II, 316. Esselstyn, Elmer E., II, 506. Eureka, I, 770. Eureka Gold and Silver Mining Com- pany, I, 286. Evans, John M., I, 459, 471, 480. Evans, Lewis O., II, 5. Evans, Nathaniel P., Ill, 1161. Evans, William C, III, 1286. Evarts, T. C., I, 284. Everett, T. M., I, 471. Ewalt, Hamilton W., Ill, 1289. Ewing, R. C., I, 282. Expeditions of a decade (1854-64), I, 163. Faaborg, Simon C., Ill, 1187. Fabian, Anna, II, 127. Fabian, Edward. II, 127. Fabrick, J. P., II, 309. INDEX xxi Failures in State (1910-19), I, 87$. Fairfield, I, 843. Fairview Milling Company, The, III, 1171. Fairweather, Bill, I, 329. Fairweather, William, I, 199, 206, 208. Fallen, I, 810. Fallen County: irrigation in, I, 600; description of, 713. Farlin, W. L., I, 371, 373, 829. Farm Loans : delinquencies, I, 488 ; con- dition of (1920), 581. Farmington, I, 843. Farnum, Abner R., Ill, 1421. Farnum, Archie, I, 721. Farr, Eli M., .II, 53. Father Ravalli meeting Indians at St. Mary's (illustration), I, 155. Faulds, James R., II, 510. Faulds, William, I, 282. Faulds, Winfield S., I, 654. Faust, Henry J., II, 131. Featherman, H. A., II, 114. Federal Farm Loan bonds, I, 482. Fefferman, Sam, II, 245. Felker, Preston R., II, 566. Fellows, E. B., II, 297. Felt, Stanley E., Ill, 1283. Felton, Robert, III, 711. Fenton, Edwin L., II, 90. Fernald, Louise M., I, 698. Fergus, Andrew, III, 1293. Fergus, James, I, 200, 217, 316; and wife (illustration), 318; 715; III, 1293. Fergus county : as an oil producer, I, 386 ; created, 409 ; irrigation in, 601 ; description of, 7155 development of oil fields, 716, 717; United States Gov- ernment experimental station, 717; education and population, 718; water powers and public "ways, 719. Fergus County Argus, I, 723. Fergus County Democrat, I, 723. Ferguson, William J., Ill, 1430. Ferris, Arnold D., Ill, 688. Ferris, Joseph A., Ill, 687. Fetterman Massacre (1866), I, 342, 344, 345- Field, Charles, III, 1109. Field Brothers, I, 59. Fields, Joseph, I, 28. Fields, Reuben, I, 28, 50. Fields Creek, I, 50. Fifteen Mile Creek (Rattlesnake Creek), I, 192. Filcher, Joe D., Ill, 1140. Finch, George P., II, 309. Finlay, Francois : Montana's first gold miner, I, 184, 186. . Firehole River, I, 118. First bank in Montana, Virginia City (illustration), I, 773. First beef driven out of Montana, I, 393. First Big Horn exploring party, I, 323. First brewery in Montana, I, 775. First discovery of oil in Montana, I, 387, 877. First election, I, 219. First gold miner of Montana, I, 184. First postoffice in Montana, I, 219. First railroad in Montana, I, 407. First road law, I, 283. First silver mining in Montana, I, 237. First steamboat race on the upper Mis- souri, I, 178. First street railway in the territory, I 851. First Texas drive to Montana, I, 393. First Montana Infantry: commended by Legislative Assembly, I, 454; United States Volunteers, I, 644-48, again at San Francisco (illustration), I, 647. First National Bank, Dillon, I, 670. First National Bank at Helena, I, 409. First National Bank, Scobey, II, 54. First Regiment Infantry, Montana Na- tional Guard, I, 644. Fish and game law enacted, I, 483. Fishbeck, Frank G., Ill, 813. Fish Creek, I, 61. Fish hatcheries, I, 636. Fisher, Daniel R., II, 574. Fisher, Harvey D., II, 529. Fisher, John W., Ill, 856. Fisk, Andrew J., I, 298, 316. Fisk, George R., II, 533. Fisk, James, I, 298. Fisk, James L., I, 183. Fiske, E. W., I, 761. Fitton, Harry L., II, 136. Fitzgerald, Thomas A., II, 441. Flanagan, Merritt, II, 467. Flaten, Ole, III, 665. Flathead county, I, 241 ; created, I, 422 ; 450 ; irrigation in, 601 ; description of, 723 ; population, I, 726. Flathead county school children (illus- tration), I, 517. Flathead Indian Reservation, I, 161. Flathead Indians, I, 87, 118, 142; friends of the whites (1858), I, 167. Flathead irrigation project: Assembly asks Congress to aid, I, 480. Flathead Lake (illustration), I, 160, 227, 635. Flathead Lake Bird Reservation, I, 536. Flathead National Forest, I, 624, 749. Flathead (Indian) reclamation project, I, 587, 589. Flathead River, I, 90, 226. Flathead Valley, I, 792. Flather, Mrs. Henry, I, 324. Flatt, Neil B., Ill, 1395. Flatwillow irrigation project, I, 584. Flaxville, I, 708. Fleenor, Isaac N., II, 767. Fleming, Joseph B., II, 628. Fletcher, Gayle M., II, 328. Flinchpaugh, I. L., II, 633. Flint, George H., Ill, 818. Flint Creek Valley, I, 790. . Florence-Carlton Consolidated School (illustration), I, 505. Flower, Harold, III, 796. Flowerree, I, 702. Flowerree, Daniel A. G., II, 582. Flowerree, William K., II, 583. Floyd, Charles, I, 21, 28. Floyd, Harmon H., Ill, 1188. Fluhr, William H., Ill, 1200. Fluss, Alonzo, III, 1368. XX11 INDEX Flynn, Jerry, III, 942. Foley, John E., II, 577. Foley, John J., Ill, 1296. Follensby, Edmund C., II, 622. Poor, Arlie M., Ill, 873. Foote, L. R., I, 549- Forbes, Charley, I, 242, 249. Forbes, James, I, 394. Forbes, Jessee F., II, 173. Forbes, Thomas R., Ill, 897. Forbis, C. J., II, 448. Forbis, H. T., II, 453- Ford, Lee M., IJ, 536. Ford, Lewis C., II, 334. Ford, Robert S., II, 535- Ford, Samuel C, III, 1179. Ford, Shirley S., II, 607. Ford, William L., Ill, 1203. Forde, Walter, III, 1266. Forest fire : laws, I, 627 ; airplane patrol, 629. Forest public lands, I, 621. Forest service, I, 623 ; State and Federal co-operation, 628. Forestry: organization and legislation, I, 626. Forestry and lumbering, I, 621-30. Forestry school established, I, 476. Forman, Henry H., II, 190. Forsyth, I, 821. Forsyth, Harold F., II, 16. Forsythe, George, III, 1169. Fort Alexander, I, 127, 128, 129, 141. Fort Assiniboine, I, 743. Fort Beauharnois, I, 4. Fort Belknap Indian Reservation, I, 640. Fort Benton, I, 128; ruins of old (illus- tration), 130; 139; Presbyterian mis- sion, 158; (old) (illustration), 214, 215; (1900), 216; during ante-railroad days, 557. Fort Benton City, I, 701. Fort Brule (Burnt Fort), I, 126, 139. Fort Buford, I, 138. Fort Cass, I, 113, 127, 141. Fort Custer, I, 359. Fort Ellis, I, 311. Fort F. A. Chardon built, I, 125; burnt, 126; 140. Fort Floyd (Fort Union) founded, I, in. Fort Harrison, I, 751. Fort Philip Kearney, I, 307, 342, 343, 346. Fort Keogh, I, 359; remount station, 702; 705, 706. Fort LaBarge, I, 179; decline and fall of, 181, 183. Fort Laramie, futile Indian council at, I, 340. Fort Lewis, I, 126, 127; becomes Fort Benton, 128, 139; missionary work at, I, 151- Fort Lisa, I, 69. Fort Manuel, I, 69. Fort McKenzie: built, I, 112, 113, 123; burned, 125. Fort Owen : established, I, 132 (old) ; near Stevensville (illustration), 133; 167 (1858) ; 177, 227, 324. Fort Peck (Indian) reclamation project, I, 587; 589, 639, 815. Fort Piegan : abandoned, I, 112. Fort Reno, I, 307. Fort Sarpy, I, 127, 128, 141. Fort Shaw, I, 311. Fort Sheridan, I, 305, 306. Fort C. F. Smith, I, 307, 342. Fort Tullock, I, 127. Fort Union (Fort Floyd), I, in, 112; 120, 135; (second), 138; first steam- boat arrives at, 138. Fort Van Buren, I, 127, 140. Fort William, I, 120. Fortman, Clemens H., Ill, 1258. Foss, Albert J., II, 462. Foster, Luther, I, 500. Foster, Rodney E., II, 334. Fousek, Albert J., II, 588. Fowell, Logan V., Ill, 734. Fowler, I, 804. Fowlie, George, II, 648. Fox, Clarence S., Ill, 1126. Fox, Dominick, II, 600. Fox, Harry, III, 1126. Fox, John F., Ill, 719. Fox, J. M., I, 270. Fox, Magdalena S., II, 600. Fox, Maggie, III, 1438. Fox, S. B., Ill, 1125. Foy, John H., Ill, 854. Foy, Nancy J., Ill, 855. Franklin, Arad H., II, 77. Franklin, Ira D., I, 427. Franks, Sumner St. C., Ill, 674. Frantz Corporation, I, 388, 877. Franzke, Arthur A., Ill, 1362. Frazer, I, 846. Frazier, Robert, I, 28, 50. Frazier, William H., Ill, 974. Frazier creek, I, 50. Frederick, Ole G., Ill, 1076. Frederick, Oliver, III, 1076. Freeborn, Harrison J., Ill, 990. Freeman, August J., Ill, 1318. Freeman, Henry C., I, 833. Freeman, J. M., II, 243. Frenchtown, I, 225. Frenchtown Valley, I, 790, 791. Fresno, I, 744. Friend, Franklin, I, 339. Friend, George, I, 339. Fringe (Indian warrior), I, 168, 172. Froid, I, 817. Frush, Charles W., I, 176. Fulkerson, Grover E., Ill, 1188. Fuller, August, III, 970. Fuller, George E., Ill, 882. Fuller, Mary A., Ill, 970. Fuller, Samuel, III, 970. Fulsher, F. R., II, 569. Fulton, William, III, 1306. Fur companies : pioneer, I, 103-134. Fur trade era, I, 135-142. Fur traders: pioneer, I, 103-134; their Indian wives, I, 152. Fur trading: methods of, I, 137. Gabb, W. W., Ill, 794. Gabriel, Fred C., Ill, 1228. Gaddis, Charles G., II, 597. INDEX xxin Gaethke, Paul C, II, 478. Gagnon, George L., II, 536. Gail, William W., II, 164. Gaines, Edward E., Ill, 1300. Gainor, Harold G., II, 551. Galbraith, Thomas J., I, 438. Galbraith, William J., I, 426 (portrait), 428; 430. Galen, Albert J. : sketch of, I, 436, 869. Gallagher, Jack, I, 242, 249. Gallatin City, I, 306, 336. Gallatin county, number and value of cattle (1884), I, 395; 411; finest rural school (Illustration), 508; irrigation in, 601 ; description of, 727. Gallatin County High School, II, 400. Gallatin National Forest, I, 624, 778. Gallatin range, I, 91. Gallatin river, I, 48, 61, 89, 230. Gallatin Valley, Scenes in the (Illus- tration), I, 728. Gallatin way, I, 730. Gallwey, Harry A., II, 542. Galpin, William, I, 177. Gait, D. A., II, 338. Game preserves, I, 483, 637. Gannett, I, 92. Gannon, John, I, 443, 499. Cans, Edward M., Ill, 1231. Garden, Olaf, II, 219. Gardiner, I, 633, 801. Gardner, Mary C., I, 760. Garfield county: as an oil producer, I, 386 ; created, 483 ; irrigation in, 602 ; description of, 734; rural flour mill (Illustration), 735. Garland, Richard W., Ill, 935. Garlow, Charles R., I, 868. Garniell, I, 717. Garrison, I, 790. Carver, Frank H., II, 331. Gary, John P., II, 408. Gary, Martin A., II, 408. Gaskill, Daniel M., Ill, 1104. Gass, Patrick, I, 20, 28, 46, 50, 143. Gass Creek, I, 46. Gass Journal, I, 21, 27. Gate of the Mountains, I, 747. Gates, Albert W., II, 176. Gates, Christopher, I, 306. Gates of the Rocky Mountains (Illus- tration), I, 45; 46. Gatiss, Harry, III, 853. Gatton, Cyrus J., I, 654. Gaucher, Peter, I, 145. Gazette Printing Company, II, 161. Geary, Michael, III, 1166. Geery, Henry T., I, 192. Gemmell, James, I, 219. General election law passed (1888), I, 412. General highway law passed, I, 479. "Geological Notes on Northern and Cen- tral Montana" (Mortson), I, 94. Geology of Montana, I, 93. George, A. G. P., I, 415. George, W. H., Ill, 800. Georgetown Lake, I, 713. Geraldine, I, 702. Gerer, Oswald M., II, 561. German: teaching of, reinstated in Uni- versity, I, 538. German Gulch, I, 213, 223. Gerondale, J. J., II, 190. Geyser, I, 699. Giant Geyser, Yellowstone Park (Illus- tration), I, 117. Giant Springs, Great Falls, I, 686. Gibbon, John, I, 309, 347 (portrait), 348, 352, 356, 360. Gibbon Battlefield, I, 784 Gibbs, William B., Ill, 899. Gibson, Fred L., II, 68. Gibson, George, I, 28. Gibson, Henry B., II, 133. Gibson, James, II, 472. Gibson, Jennie, II, 473. Gibson, Paris: elected U. S. Senator, I, 457 ; coming of, to Great Falls, I, 688 ; III, 657- Gibson, Theodore, I, 698. Gifford, Albert C, III, 1208. Gifford, Edgar, II, 539. Gildford, I, 744. Gilham, George W., Ill, 1196. Gilkerson, John O., Ill, 1291. Gillette, Clarence F., Ill, 1331. Gillette, Frederick B., 1009. Gillette, Warren C, I, 316. Gillie, John, I, 548. Gillis, Malcolm, II, 599. Gilman, I, 749. Gilmore, Michael, III, 1345. Gist, Duke, III, 1170. Glacial period of Montana, I, 98, 100. Glacier: county created, I, 451; irriga- tion in, 602 ; description of, 737, 738. Glacier National Park, I, 633, 634; its lakes, I, 637. Glade Creek, I, 60. Glasgow, I, 588, 846. Glass, George W., Ill, 692. Glendenning, William, III, 739. Glendive, sketch of, I, 710. Glenn, Lewis D., Ill, 1131. Click, J. S., I, 218. Gnose, James B., II, 602. Goble, Wade, III, 1352. Goddard, O. Fletcher, II, 211. Godfrey, E. S., I, 356. Gohn, George E., Ill, 713. Gold Creek, I, 790. Gold discoveries and workings (first), I, 184. Gold mining: placer, I, 234; relation of glaciers to, 235; development of quartz, 237. Gold, silver and copper deposits (Clark), L 236. Golden Valley County: irrigation in, I, 606; description of, 739; population of, 740, 861. Good, Henry, III, 847. Good, Thomas, III, 1106. Goodale, Charles W., I, 548; H, 514- Goodall, Herbert, I, 868. Goodfriend, Sig, II, 429. Goodman, Edward H., Ill, 997. Goodrich, Silas, I, 28. Good Roads Day founded, I, 478. Good roads movement, I, 488. XXIV INDEX Good roads in Western Montana (Illus- tration), I, 573- Goodsill, M. Max, I, 761. Goodwin, Phillip C., II, 519. Gordon, Louis E., II, 151. Gordon, William R., Ill, 997. Gore, St. George, I, 163, 164. Gormley, A. C., I, 461. Gosch, Michael J., II, 206. Goss, James R., II, 435. Gourley, James, I, 287. Government fish hatchery, Billings, I, 853. Government road through Jefferson Na- tional forest (illustration),!, 571. Governors of Montana, I, 868. Cowrie, Elizabeth, III, 768. Cowrie, Peter, III, 768. Goza, Samuel D., Ill, 1424. Graeter, Augustus F., I, 286; II, 347. Grafton, Francis M., II, 53. Graham, Richard, III, 734. Graham, William, I, 189, 209, 222, 282, 371. Grain Grading, Inspection and Ware- housing Commission, I, 484. Grain inspection laboratory, I, 529. Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone (Il- lustration), I, 639. Granite Creek, I, 192. Granite County : I, 241 ; created, 442, 451 ; irrigation in, 602. Grant, Henry I., II, 290. Grant, James J., Ill, 783. Grant, Jesse W., Ill, 1215. Grant, John, I, 181, 391. Grant, John F., I, 161, 187, 188. Grant, Richard, Sr., I, 187. Grant, Richard, I, 225. Grant, Robert, I, 222. Grantville, I, 222. Grasshopper Diggings (Bannack City), I, 230. Grassi, Urbanus, I, 161. Grass Range, I, 717. Grass Valley, I, 791. Gravelly Range, I, 98. Graves, Andrew C., Ill, 1038. Graves, William, I, 249. Gray, Frank M., II, 403. Gray, Henry, II, 629. Gray, John, I, 147. Gray, Macomb B., II, 252. Gray, Robert, I, 14, 15. Gray, W. H., I, 145. Grayson, John, III, 876. Grayson, Richard, III, 802. Great Blackfoot Glacier, Glacier Park (Illustration), I, 635. Great Falls of the Missouri : Lewis finds, I, 40 ; described by Captain Lewis, 41 ; first white women to see the, 180. Great Falls: state capital contestant, I, 441 ; power development at, 684 ; 686 ; history of, 687 ; development of power in its area, 688; 689, 690; city of, 690; (Illustration) 691; population of, 691; business and industries of, 692 ; trans- portation facilities, 694; churches, charities and fraternities, 696; city public schools, 697; Y. M. C. A., 696; Y. W. C. A., 697 ; public library, 698. Great Falls coal field, I, 241. Great Falls Commercial Club, I, 695. Great Falls Packing Plant, I, 694. Great Falls Reduction Works, I, 684. Great Falls water power : development of (also illustration), I, 630; 631. Great Northern Railway, I, 560; electri- fication of, 568, 588, 630. Great St. Mary's Lakes, I, 638. Great Western Sugar Company Plant, Missoula, I, 784. Greeley, Horace, I, 303. Green, Andrew, III, 1299. Green, Charles F., Ill, 1140. Green, E. J., II, 637. Green, George R., II, 291. Green, James, III, 803. Green, Jennie M., Ill, 1140. Green, Melissa, III, 804. Greenan, Philip, II, 643. Greenback Mining Company, I, 771. Greene, John J., II, 575. Greene, W. H. C., Ill, 1206. Greenfield, Charles D., I, 387, 468, 869, 878. Greening, Charles W., Ill, 1303. Greery, H. T., I, 196. Gregg, W. A., Ill, 793. Greig, Richard, III, 963. Grein, Phil, II, 253. Griffin, George N., II, 586. Griffin, James, III, 879. Griffin, Lewis M., Ill, 1103. Griffith, Joseph, I, 219. Grigg, Elmer R., II, 394. Grigg, Thomas A., U, 393. Grigsby, Melvin, I, 643. Grimes, Henry J., II, 158. Grimstad, O. King, II, 200. Groene, Merle C., II, 430. Groff, H. C, II, 531. Groff, Lawrence S., II, 524. Grover, George E., II, 612. Gruber, Edward P., Ill, 994. Gruwell, Hugh C., II, 411. Guinn, Charles C., Ill, 1328. Guinzy, V. F., II, 321. Gunn, Milton S., I, 438; III, 1131. Gunther, Joseph J., Ill, 1123. Gussenhoven, Joseph, III, 779. Gustafson, Richard E., Ill, 1063. Guthard, Charles H., II, 201. Guthrie, Andrew L., II, 237. Guthrie, Lou, I, 758, 760. Gutz, Walter T., Ill, 1158. Gwinn, Hubert H., II, 450. Gwinn, James L., Ill, 1434. Hackley, James F., Ill, 1399. Hadzor, James H., Ill, 717. Hagan, D. J., I, 393. Hagelie, Helmer, II, 354. Hagen, Sever, III. 1412. Hagge, Carl D., II, 153. Hahn, George D., Ill, 1036. Hain, Volney J., Ill, 719. Haley, John R., II, 404. Haley, Josephine M., I, 760. Half Century of Conflict (Francis Park- man), I, 7, 8. Halgren, Warner L., II, 104. INDEX XXV Halgrims, C. O., II, 167. Hall, I, 741. Hall, Charles H., II, 458. Hall, DeLoss T., Ill, 1214. Hall, Henry C, III, 1025. Hall, Hugh, I, 28. Hall, J. H., I, 468. Hall & Simpson, I, 217. Hall, W. A., II, 278. Halloran, Patrick M., II, 304. Halter, Charles, II, 121. Hamblin, I, 777. Hamilton, I, 792, 812. Hamilton, Dick, I, 217. Hamilton, James M., I, 548; II, 350. Hamilton, Kosciusko, III, 977. Hamilton, Leslie H., II, 610. Hamilton, Robert J., Ill, 1206. Hamilton, Robert S., Ill, 1362. Hamilton, William T. : Scout "Sign- Man" and investigator, I, 164-176. Hamilton-McKay party: returns to Wal- la Walla, I, 176. Hamilton schools, II, 68.. Hamlin, Robert M., Ill, 1390. Hample, Jbhn E., II, 494. Hamrick, C. P., II, 373. Hancock, Charles, II, 150. Handel, Fred W., II, 464. Handley, Robert W., Ill, 759. Hangman's Gulch, I, 783. Hanley, Daniel, II, 558. Hanley, Marcus R., II, 559. Hanley, Robert J., II, 216. Hanna, William, II, 118. Hanover, I, 719. Hansen, Al, III, 1338. Hanson, Charles M., Ill, 1057. Hanson, Philo C., I, 514. Harader, John A., II, 64. Hardin, I, 673. Hardy, Frank E., Ill, 988. Hardy, Henry W., Ill, 661. . Hardy, Samuel J., Ill, '1143. Hargadine, Edward C., II, 598. Harkness, James, I, 177. Harkness, Margaret, I, 180. Harlan, John M., I, 411. Harlem, I, 588, 674. Harlowton, I, 847. Harmon, W. E., I, 502, 504; II, 100. Harney, Edward W., I, 459. Harper, George, III, 833. Harrington, Arthur J., Ill, 1139. Harrington, J. V., II, 609. Harrington, Nellie, II, 610. Harris, B. M., Ill, 1128. Harris, William E., II, 56. Harris Gulch, I, 231. Harrison, I, 775. Harrison, J. Scott, I, 869; HI, 664. Hart, Harlon L., Ill, 669. Hartley, Charles E., II, 59. Hartman, C. S., I, 448, 451, 452, 465. Hartman, J, L., II, 571. Hartzell, Lester J., II, 537. Harvat, John H., II, 327. Harvey, Alexander, I, 123, 124, 126; death of, 127, 152. Harvey, Charles L., II, 409. Harwood, Benjamin P., I, 657. Harwood, Edgar N., I, 4.31, 435. Haskell, Henri J., I, 431, 443 Hastings, Parker W., II, 348. Hasty, John H., Ill, 1237. Hatch, Joseph A., Ill, 938. Hauck, Lawrence, II, 141. Hauser, Samuel T., I, 189, 192, 193, 196, 197, 221, 284, 286; sketch of, 409; (portrait), 410; 412; resigns as gov- ernor, 411, 868. Hauswirth, Simon, I, 725; III, 831. Hauxhurst, James, I, 192. Haverfield, Orville S., Ill, 1032. Haviland, David J., II, 438. Havre, I, 743. Hawk, Joseph V., Ill, 767. Hawkesworth, Arthur L., III, 1173. Hawley, Herbert C., II, 632. Hawley, Swope, I, 222. Hayes, Martin F., I, 120. Haywood, Guy T., Ill, 1425. Head, Clinton, II, 169. Healy, John J., I, 287. Hcaly, J. Peter P., Ill, 987. Heaney, Arthur P., II, 614. Heath, L. W., I, 761. Hebb, Frank M., Ill, 1097. Heber, George F, III, 1204. Hedge & Company, I, 220. Hedges, Cornelius, I, 211, 316, 404, 415, 422; as superintendent of public in- struction, 494; (portrait), 495; 497, 757, 76o. Hedges, Daniel J., Ill, 1012. Hedges, Harry H., Ill, 1012. Hedges, Judd P., Ill, ion. Hedges, Oliver G., Ill, 1012. Hedges, Willys A., I, 757, 758, 760; II, 81. Hedgesville, I, 848. Hefferlin, Charles S., II, 236. Heidel, A. W., I, 869. Heidel, C. S., I, 581. Heidel, E. L., II, 3 53- Heidelman, John H., II, 406. Heikkila, Emil, II, 29. Heilbronner, Adolph H., II, 577. Heinze, F. Augustus : enters Butte field, I 376, 377; suits against the Amalga- mated Copper Company, I, 377, 378, 457- Heldt, F. George, I, 164. Helena (see also Last Chance Gulch) : altitude of, I, 92; 209; named by John Somerville, 211, >2i2; incorporated, 312; becomes territorial capital, 315; territorial capital contest, 422; capital to remain at, 441 ; 751 ; sketch of, 755 ; 778. Helena branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, I, 871. Helena Catholic Cathedral, I, 755. Helena Commercial Club, I, 761, 763. Helena district : entered by Lewis and Clark, I, 45; its mountains (illustra- tions), 97. Helena Free Public Library, I, 757. Helena in 1870 (illustration), I, 756. Helena Library Association, I, 757. Helena National Forest, I, 624, 745, 749. XXVI INDEX Helena region, typical mines in the (il- lustration), I, 762, 764; mineral pro- duction of the, 765, 766. Helgeson, Henry C, III, 1288. Heller, August, II, 637. Hell Gate (Missoula), I, 223. Hell Gate canyon, I, 228. Hell Gate River, I, go, 227. Hell Gate Ronde, I, 177, ,223. Helm, Boone, I, 249. Helmville, I, 790, 809. Helsing, John O., II, 116. Henderson, Charles S., II, 539. Henderson, William C., Ill, 1366. Hendrickson, Otto, III, 804. Hennessy, John H., Ill, 862. Hennessy, John, III, 1064. Henry, Andrew, I, 103; abandons Three Forks Trading Post, 104; 108. Henry, Frank, I, 438. Henry's Fork of Snake River, I, 105. Henry's Lake, I, 105. Henry's Post in 1870, I, 106. Henter, Leo A., II, 145. Hepner, H. Sol, II, 621. Hepperle, Karl, III, 1355. Herd districts created, I, 482. Hereford, Robert, I, 185. Heron, I, 824. Herren, William, I, 255 Herrick, Una B., II, 349. Herring, Presley L., Ill, 1026. Hershey, Elmer E., II, 466. Hewett, Arthur L., II, 212. Hexom, Peter, III, 1021. Hickey, Edward, I, 829; III, 1205. Hickman, R. O., I, 443. Hickox, Willard, II, 82. Hier, Albert S., Ill, 902. Higgins, Christopher P., I, 223, 282, 784. Higgins, Francis G., I, 532. Higgins, Frank G., I, 643. Higgins, F. G., I, 500. Higham, John O., II, 21. Higher education, I, 528-552. Highland Park School, Lewiston (illus- tration), I, 720. Highway Law : passed, I, 474, 475. Highways : transcontinental, I, 570. Highways and bridges : federal aid in building, I, 572. Highwood, I, 702. Highwood Mountains, I, 91. Hilburn, Samuel, III, 864. Hilger, David, II, 18. Hilger, Nicholas, describes Sioux battle of Kildeer Mountain, I, 294-97. Hill, Charley W., II, 192. Hill, Harry D , III, 1224. Hill, James J., I, 552; gives history of Great Northern Railway, 560-66; re- signs presidency of Great Northern system, 566; 688. Hill County: created, I, 474; irrigation in, 602; description of, 742. Hill county potatoes (illustration), I, 742. Hillman, J. R., I, 725. Himsl, Victor S., Ill, 1354. Hinchilwood, J. P., Ill, 797. Hind, Bert S., II, 38. Hingham, I, 744. Hinsdale, I, 588. Hirst, John D., II, 276. Hirst, Tom, II, 27. History of Montana (Granville Stuart), I, 226. "History of Washington, Idaho and Montana" (Bancroft), I, 159. Hitzfeldt, Fred, III, 1259. Hoback, Richard, I, 298. Hobbins, James R., II, 615. Hobensack, Isaac M., II, 84 Hobson, Simeon S., II, 567. Hodge, Pearl D., II, 410. Hodgskiss, William, III, 999. Hodgson, Arthur M., Ill, 1037. Hodgson, George T., Ill, 864. Hodson, Alvin, III,.722. Hodson, Dale, II, 455. Hoeken, Adrian, I, 150, 161. Hoecken, I, 161. Hoenck, Richard P., II, 487. Hofer, Bert, III, 846. Hoff, Norbert C., Ill, 1138. Hoffman, Charles W., I, 316. Hogan, T. S., I, 453; II, 371. Hogeland, Abraham, III, 1203. Holladay, Ben, I, 556. Holland, James, III, 707. Holland, Robert W., II, 594. Hollenbeck, Frank K., Ill, 1246. Holliday, Dell H., II, 226. Hollier, Lewis S., II, 184. Holloway, William L., I, 436, 869; II, 644. Holmes, Ernest S., II, 455. Hoist,' J. H., II, 43. Holt, Laurence A., II, 533. Holt, Stephen A., Ill, 1273. Holter, Anton M., I, 285, 316; II, 517. Holter, Norman B., I, 489, 761 ; II, 518. Holter Gulch, I, 219. Holy Family Mission, I, 162. Hood, Samuel L., Ill, 683. Hooks, Frank T, III, 661. Hootenais, I, 173. Hopkins, David R., II, 373. Hopkins, Patrick A., II, 588. Hori, M. M., Ill, 866. Horkan, George, III, 1406. Horkan, George A., I, 471 ; III, 1392. Horn, J. H., Ill, 860. Horntvedt, Ludvig, III, 1075. Horse Creek, I, 777. Horse market at Miles City (illustra- tion), I, 706. Horse Plains, I, 177. Horse Prairie Creek, I, 230, 231. Horse raising: decline in, I, 309. Horticulture: in Rattlesnake Valley, I, 785; in Bitter Root Valley, 791; 878; present conditions of, 882 ; close in- spection of fruit and orchards in Mon- tana, 883, 884; prevalent fruit diseases and pests in Montana, 884. Hosmer, Hezekiah L., I, 64; 282; reaches Virginia City, 288; sketch of, 288; first charge to grand jury, 289; 291, 298; leaves Montana, 299, 414. Hosmer, James K., I, 27. INDEX XXVll Hot Springs, Sanders County, I, 823, 824. Hotchkiss, Arthur N., Ill, 1251. Hotchkiss, Samuel A., Ill, 1380. Hough, George E., Ill, 1349. Houghlan, Samuel A., Ill, 1086. House and Bivins, I, 219. Houston, Elizabeth L. A., II, 360. Hoven, Ole B., Ill, 806. Hover, Herbert A., Ill,- 1127. Hovey, Verne T., Ill, 659. Howard, Doc, I, 252. Howard, Harry H., II, 179. Howard, O. H., 1, 359. Howard, O. O., I, 360, 368. Howard, Thomas P., I, 28. Howe, Clarence D., II, 363. Howe, John G., II, 567. Howe, John S., Ill, 1261. Howe, J. K., Ill, 872. Howell, Ethan A., Ill, 1329. Howell, H. S., I, 725. Howell, Richard C., II, 495. Howey, R. W., I, 496, 497. Howland, H. N., II, 295. Howland, John M., II, 24. Hoyt, Mark D., Ill, 1013. Hruza, William, II, 271. Hubbard, Paul E., Ill, 1336. Huber, Philip H, II, 624. Huckins, Charles F., Ill, 930. Hudson, Clarence W., II, 344. Hudson, John, I, 463. Hudson, Samuel E., Ill, 1089. Hudson Bay Company, I, 132, 134, 140. Huet, Charles, I, 147. Huffaker, Wila, I, 282. Huffer, Arthur J., II, 239. Hughes, Barney, I, 199, 200, 206, 207, 208. Hughes, James H., Ill, 1059. Hughes, Roy, III, 1054. Hughes, Samuel, III, 1059. Hughes Brothers, III. 1059. Hull, W. T., I, 761. Humphreys, G O., I, 222, 223, 833. Hunsberger, John, III, 770. Hunt, Williams H., I, 431, 434, 435, T 437, 438. Hunter, A. J., I, 799. Hunter, Bill, last of road agents to be executed, I, 274, 275. Hunter, Joseph C., Ill, 806. Hunter, William, I, 249. Hunters' Hot Springs, I, 801. Hunting and fishing, I, 636 ; in Lewis and Clark county, 754; in Missoula county, 783. Huntley, I, 856. Huntley reclamation project, I, 587. Huntoon, John C., II, 208. Kurd, George E., Ill, 675. Kurd, Walter L., II, 290. Hurdy-Gurdy House, I, 245. Hurley, Charles C., Ill, 943. Hurly, John, II, 596. Husband, William C, II, 653. Huseth, S. O., Ill, 832. Hutchinson, Myron W., Ill, 700. Hutchinson, William O., II, 324. Huxsol, Alfred W., Ill, 778. Huyck, Claude C., II, 487. Hydro-electric conservation, I, 630-33. Hydro-electric plants: of Lewis and Clark county, I, 751. Hydro-electric water powers (illustra- tion), I, 685. Hymer, Elbert, II, 62. Hysham, I, 845. Iceberg Lake (illustration), I, 638. Iliff, Thomas C., I, 786. Imislund, Herbert P., II, 370. Immaculate Conception Church, III, 742. Imoda, C., I, 162. In the Lumber Country (illustration), I, 823. Income tax bill passed, I, 489. Independence Mining district, I, 223. Indian Camping Ground (illustration), I, 148. Indian Ceremonial, Old-Time (illus- tration), I, 819. Indian Chiefs and Warriors (illustra- tion), I, 56. Indian picture of 1742 (Parkman), I, 7. Indian reservations, I, 639. Indian Sentinel: Flathead number of, I, 142. Indians : Crows, I, 85 ; 86, 87 ; Flatheads (1805), 87; exploiting through whis- key, 120, 140; name "Flatheads," 142; Blackfeet still warlike, 154; Flathead treaty of 1855, 223; Sioux battle of Killdeer Mountain, 292; Sioux cam- paign (1864), 292-98; Sioux again checked (1872), 308-310; Sioux vs. Crows, 340; 341, 342; council at Fort Laramie (1866), 341 ; government pro- nouncement against enemy (1866), 341; depredations of (1866), 342; "agency" plan not a success, 345, 347; united campaign against enemy, 347; Drawing Rations (illustration), 346; Crooks' southern campaign against, 356; warfare of 1876-77, 357. Industrial Accident Board created, I, 482. Ingham, Thomas C., II, 34. Ingle, Chester R., II, 228. Ingomar, I, 821. Ingraham, Albert J., Ill, 972. Ingraham, Philip A., Ill, 972. Ingraham, Sarah C., Ill, 972. Ingram, George F., Ill, 1000. Initiative and Referendum bill popularly approved, I, 470. Initiative and Referendum law passed, I, 463 ; extended, 464. Innes, Walter B., II, 244. Irons, Ort, III, 1046. Irrigated Orchard near Missoula (illus- tration), I, 781. Irrigation: under the Cary Act, I, 581; state works and projects, 59!-S; coun- try surveys, 595-614; acreage by drain- age basins, 615; farms irrigated in state, 615; works built since 1860, 617; irrigated lands as producers, 618; projects in Rosebud county, 820. Irrigation districts established, I, 464, 468. XXV111 INDEX Irvin, George W., II, I, 316. Irvine, Caleb E., I, 177, 829, 833. Irvine, W. M., Ill, 859. Irving, Washington, I, 116, 119. Irwin, 0. E., I, 283. Isachsen, Albert J., Ill, 928. Isch, John, III, 844- Ives, George, I, 192, 196, 198, 247, 253; trial and execution of, 255. Jaccard, Eugene, I, 177. Jackson, David E., I, 108, ill. Jackson, George C., II, 422. Jackson, Harvey F., Ill, 840. Jackson, John W., II, 388. Jackson, Robert G., Ill, 1363. Jacobs, Henry, I, 406, 834. Jacobs, John M., I, 188, 195, 306. Jacobs, William F., Ill, 1047. Jacobs and Bozeman cut-off, I, 195. Jacobson, Paul, III, 671. James, Edwin E., Ill, 797. Jameson, C. C, II, 35. Janssen, John W., Ill, 1270. Jaquette, Walter P., Ill, 981. Jeff Davis' Gulch, I, 329. Jefferson, Thomas : checkmating Eng- land in the West, I, 13; 15, 19, 48. Jefferson county: placer mines in 1862- 68, I, 213 ; created, 281 ; as a copper producer, 384; number and value of cattle (1884), 395; irrigation in, 603; description of, 744. Jefferson County High School, II, 616. Jefferson Forest, I, 777. Jefferson National Forest, I, 624. Jefferson (Beaverhead) River, Lewis ascends the, I, 48, 50, 61, 89, 90, 230. Jeffries, Garry J., Ill, 820. Jenkins, Leonard V., Ill, 1320. Jennings, George M., II, 447. Jennison, Warren J., Ill, 1170. Jensen, Chris, III, 782. Jensen, Otto, III, 852. Jensen, Peter C., Ill, 1411. Jerome, C. W., Ill, 786. Jocko River, I, 227. Jocko Valley, I, 227, 792. Johannes, R. J., II, 164. Johns, Albert M., II, 386. Johnson, Charles M., II, 562. Johnson, E. B., I, 282. Johnson, Edwin L., II, 41. Johnson, Elmer, II, 529. Johnson, Emil M., Ill, 1378. Johnson, Francis G., II, 626. Johnson, Fred A., Ill, 998. Johnson, Harry M., II, 52. Johnson, Henry H., Ill, 1056. Johnson, J. Charles, II, 417. Johnson, Mary C., II, 125. Johnson, Ole C., Ill, 771. Johnson, Pete, III, 715. Johnson, Peter E., Ill, 1181. Johnson, Richard E., Ill, 1446. Johnson, Richard S., Ill, 1363. Johnson, Roy H., Ill, 1446. Johnson, Thomas S., Ill, 969. Johnson, Wilford J., II, 3. Johnson, The Abstract Man, III, 1445. Johnston, A. P., II, 412. Johnston, Charles C., Ill, 1445. Johnston, James L., II, 641. Johnston, Thomas Jr., Ill, 1396. Johnstone, Thomas, III, 1285. Jones, Arthur C., II, 491. Jones, A. H., I, 771. Jones, D. Augustus, III, 686. Jones, Edward C., II, 195. Jones, L. E., I, 696. Jones, Paul, III, 1247. Jones, T. C., first probate judge, I, 290. Jones, Thomas R., Ill, 1022. Jones, Robert N., Ill, 1038. Jones, William E., Ill, 689. Jones and Immell : killing of, by Black- feet, I, 109, no. Joplin, I, 768. Jordan, I, 735. Jordan, Arthur, II, 620. Jordan, Erwin E., Ill, 1381. Jordan, James H., II, 127. Joseph Peak, I, 362. Josselyn, Horatio S., Ill, 1334. "Journal of Larocque" (Burpee), I, 78, 81. Judith Basin, I, 715. Judith Basin County: irrigation in, I, 603; 723; description of, 746; 861. Judith Gap, I, 848. Julian, I, 708. Junod, Orla H., Ill, 1283. Juttner, Charles F., II, 152. Kaiserman, J. R., II, 281. Kalispell, I, 724; sketch of, 726; bird's- eye view of (illustration), 727. Kampf, Ray L., Ill, 1341. Kane, Edward G., Ill, 1167. Kanouse, James E., Ill, 679. Karnop, Jacob H., II, 654. Kassner, O. G., II, 134. Kastelitz, John, 'II, 181. Kay, John M., Ill, 772. Kearns, W. L., II, 275. Keene, Eliot W., II, 227. Kehoe, Thomas M., II, 306. Keith, F. P., I, 786. Keith, H. C., I, 727. Keith, John M., II, 469. Kelch, Albert E., III. 755- Kelch, William D., Ill, 741. Kelley, Cornelius F., I, 459; HI, 987. Kelley, E. L., Ill, 966. Kelley, Rufus B., II, 287. Kelley, Thomas, III, 1053. Kelley, Tom, III, 1180. Kelly, Charley, L 250. Kelly, Dan M., II, 30. Kelly, Harry J., II, 385. Kelly, Hugh, II, 457- Kelly, Tames E., II, 30. Kelly, Peter J., II, 437. Kelly, R. A., II, 392. Kelly, Robert B., II, 540. Kelsey, Arthur R., Ill, 1101. Kelsey, Frank T., Ill, 1343. Kemmis, Walter D., Ill, 744. Kemp, James S., Jr., II. 475. Kempton, Berney E., Ill, 1369. Kempton, Henry N., Ill, 1298. Kendall, I, 717. INDEX XXIX Kendrick, John, I, 14. Kenkel, J. E., II, 607. Kennedy, John, III, 865. Kenney, E. A., I, 443. Kennon, R. T., I, 329. Kenny, E. A., I, 445. Kenyon, Daniel C., Ill, 912. Kercheval, F. B., I, 284. Kerchival City, I, 304. Kerr, John W., II, 485. Kerrigan, John H., Ill, 738. Kessler, Harry C., I, 644; (portrait), 645. Kessler, Nicholas, I, 316, 761. Ketcham, Gilbert A., II, 463. Ketcham, Harry G., Ill, 729. Kill-the-Deer-Butte, I, 292. Killorn, George L., II, 330. Kimball, Edwin L., Ill, 657. Kindschy, Emil O., II, no. King, Charles F., Ill, 1298. King, Irving G., Ill, 1271. King, James I, 757, 760. King, Mary F., Ill, 1272. King, Wiley, III, 1294. King and Gilette, I, 288. Kingmont, I, 714. Kingsbury, Adkin W., Ill, 825. Kinkel, George, I, 547. Kinmonth, Charles F., II, 63. Kinsella, John B., Ill, 712. Kinsella, Lawrence L, III, 713. Kinsey, I, 703. Kinsman, (Mrs.) E. E., I, 786. Kipp, James, I, 112. Kirby, Charles N., II, 398. Kirkwood, W. F., I, 419. Kiskadden, J. H., I, 335. Kittson, Norman W., I, 561. Klein, George H., Ill, 1250. Klein, Henry, I, 552. Kleve, S. Lawrence, III, 903. Kline, Charles F., Ill, 1105. Kline, Henry S., Ill, 690. Klinkhammer, Joseph H., Ill, 874. Knapp, Daniel, III, 1332. Knight, Albert B., I, 549. Knight, Arthur C, II, 128. Knight, E. W., I, 446. Knowles, Hiram, I, 378, 420, 421 ; retires from Supreme Bench, 426; sketch of, 437, 444- Knott, E. B., Ill, 863. Knudsen, William P., II, 377. Kobelin, George J., II, 22. Koch, Edwin, III, 1195. Koch, Peter, I, 306, 547. Kohrs, Conrad, I, 316, 394, 395; III, 1061. Kohrs and Bielenberg; I, 395. Kommers, Louis H., Ill, 827. Kootenai National Forest, I, 624, 769. Kootenai mines, I, 225. Kootenais (1858), I, 172. Kopp, John J., II, 400. Kopsland, T., Ill, 1034. Kraft, I, 708. Kramer, Henry J., Ill, 1339. Kranz, Mathias, II, 576. Krauss, Andrew G., II, 314. Kremer, J. Bruce, II, 419. Kremlin, I, 744. Kress, Ben, I, 878. Kress, William J., II, 356. Kroeger, Fred W., Ill, 975. Krohne, B. Thorwald, II, 235. Krom, S. R., II, 350. Kronkright, Orrel H., Ill, 1046. Krueger, Karl P., Ill, 1154. Kutzner, C. M., II, 242 Kuykendall, E. H., II, 242 Kyle, Daniel C., Ill, 992. Kyle, Mary A., Ill, 993. Kyle, William L., II, 292. La Bar, Albert A., II, 130. LaBarge, Harkness & Company: Busi- ness expedition of, I, 177-183. LaBarge, John, I, 177. LaBarge, Joseph, I, 177. LaBarge, Madam, I, 180. LaBarge City (Deer Lodge), I, 222. LaBeau, Henri, I, 471. Labiche, Francis, I, 28. Lacy, Francis M., Ill, 1192. Ladd, George B., II, 395. Ladd, Jessie S., I, 698. Ladd, William P., II, 262. Lafrance, J. B., I, 74. Lagoni, Peter, II, 603. Lagoni, Sylvia, II, 604. La Honran, I, i, 3. Laird, I, 768. Laist, Frederick, II, 337. Lake McDonald, I, 637. Lake Scenery near Helena (illustration), I, 753- Lake Yellowstone (illustration), I, 636. Lamb, John A., Ill, 852. Lamb, Wm. A., I, 869. Lambard, Irby, II, 530. Lambert, John K., Ill, 1393. Lamoureux, Edward, III, 863. La Mousse, Charles, I, 148. La Mousse, Francis, I, 148. La Mousse, Ignace (Big Ignace), I, 144. Land of the Shining Mountains, I, I. Lands : conservation of, 577-641. Lane, Charles H., II, 109. Lane, George (Clubfoot George), I, 249. Lane, James E., II, 5. Lang, Edward H., Ill, 1399. Lang, Gregor, III, 1043. Lang, Janet, III, 1044. Lang, John, II, 606. Lang, Margaret S., II, 606. Lang, William G., Ill, 1043. Langford, Nathaniel P., I, 119, 243; (il- lustration), 244, 253, 283. Lanius, Charles H., II, 633. Lanouette, Louis P., Ill, mi. Lanstrum, George W., I, 869; III, 736. Lanstrum, O. M., Ill, 735. Lantis, Horace G., Ill, 1445. Lapage, Baptiste, I, 28. Laredo, I, 744. Largest gold nugget in the world, I, 752. Larocque, Francois A., I, 73, 74; meets Rocky Mountain Indians, 75, 80. Larpenteur, Charles, I, 127. Larrivee, Arthur, III, 792. Larson, Anne K., I, 503. Larson, Thomas O., Ill, 748. XXX INDEX Lassus, Don Carlos de Haut de, I, 18, 27. Last Chance Gulch, I, 209; named Hel- ena, 210, 234, 288, 765. Last Fallen County Sod School (illus- tration), I, 714. Laswell, James Q., Ill, 913. Lathom, Ray A., II, 16. Lathrop, A. G., I, 494. Lathrop, Wm. T., I, 869. Lauer, Charles M., II, 497. Laurel, I, 856. Laussat, Pierre Clement, I, 18. Lausted, Emil R., II, 595. Laux, Philipp, II, 158. Lavelle, James P., II, 31. Law School established at Missoula, I, 469. Lawrence, A. J., I, 359. Lawrence, Robert, I, 282. Lawson, William L., II, 19. Leach, James R., Ill, 1202. Lead, Output of, 1883-1918, I, 383. Leard, Samuel E., II, 274. Leary, Dennis, I, 222, 372, 833. Leary, Grace M., Ill, 1230. Lease, Newton T., Ill, 836. Leavitt, Erasmus D., I, 282. Leclerc, Narcisse, I, 120. Ledger, I, 804. Ledyard, John, I, 21, 22. Lee, Albert, III, 856. Lee, Edgar, III, 984. Lee, Harold F., Ill, 696. Lee, Otis, II, 505. Legal holidays for schools, I, 527. Leggat, Rod D., I, 316. Lehfeldt, Hermann J., Ill, 883. Lehmicke, O. E., Ill, 860. Leighton bill; passed, I, 475, 535. Leinenweber, George P., Ill, 716. Lemert, Rae J., Ill, 956. Lemire, Joseph A., II, 509. Lemon, Allan C, III, 1154. Lemon, Robert H., I, 183. Lentz, Edward O., Ill, 1395. Lentz, Theodore, II, 461. Lenz, Frank A., II, 160. Leo, Willard A., Ill, 1117. Leonard, B. A., II, 433. Leonard, Charles R., II, 520. Leonard, Nathan R., I, 549. Leonard, William M., Ill, 934. Le Sage, Frank H., II, 132. Leslie, J. B., I, 698. Leslie, H. P. Leslie, Jere B., I, 411. Leslie, Preston H.; sketch and death of, I, 411; 868. "Letters and Sketches," by Father De Smet, I, 146. Leverenz, Carl C., Ill, 791. Lewellen, F. M., II, 95. Lewis, Charles A., II, 397. Lewis, Clyde E., Ill, 1416. Lewis, E. P., I, 335. Lewis, Frank B., II, 13. Lewis, John E., Ill, 1002. Lewis, Mark E., Ill, 950. Lewis, Meriwether, I, 18, 19; Jefferson's sketch of, 21-23; Jefferson's first in- structions to, 23; 27; his romance, 39; 42, 46, 47, 50, 51, 54, 555 his home- ward trip, 58; 59; severely wounded, 60; 64; death of, 65. Lewis, Reuben, I, 103. Lewis, Vernon E., Ill, 769. Lewis and Clark county: placer mines in 1862-68, I, 213 ; number and value of cattle (1884), 395; irrigation in, 603; general description, 747; via the U. S. Census, 750; water powers and public ways, 751 ; picturesque excur- sions in, 752. Lewis and Clark Expedition in Montana (illustration), I, 2; 19-67; reach the mouth of the Yellowstone, 29; return trips eastward, 58. Lewis-Clark Journal, I, 28, 29, 69. Lewis and Clark, heroic bronze statutes of. Great Falls, I, 320, 323, 482. Lewis and Clark National Forest, I, 624, 749, 804. Lewis and Clark Rod and Gun Club, I, 754- Lewis River, I, 57. Lewistown, I, 719-23. Lewistown Chamber of Commerce, I, 720. Lewistown Public Library, I, 721. Lewistown of Today (illustration), I, 722. Leyson, J. H., I, 548. Lhotka, J. F., II, 482. Liberty County : irrigation in, I, 604 ; description of, 767. Liberty Loan Campaigns in World's War : Chairman and Chairwomen of, I, 663-65. Libby, I, 770. Liddell, Moses J., I, 431. "Life of James Stuart" (Granville Stuart), I, 187, 209. Lignites (coal), I, 238, 386. Lincoln, I, 749, 790. Lincoln, Fred T., I, 856. Lincoln county: created, I, 451, 469; ir- rigation in, 604; description of, 768; scene in (illustration), 769. Lindeberg, Charles A., Ill, 1090. Lindemann, Leo C., Ill, 1079. Lindsay, F. S. P., I, 761. Lindsay, John, II, 515. Linfield, F. W., I, 869. Linn, Carl A., Ill, 1278. Lisa, Manuel, I, 68, 103, 104; last years of, 107. Lisa (Manuel) & Company, I, 107. Listerud, John, III, 1067. Literary sources of information, I, 20. Little, Mose, II, 243. Little Belt range, I, 91. Little Big Horn Battle, casualties at, I, 354, 356. Little Black Foot River, I, 167. Little Creek Mountains, I, 32. Little Dog (Piegan chief), I, 167, 168, 169, 170, 179. Little Dry Creek, I, 32. Little Face (Crow scout), I, 351, 352. Little Missouri irrigation project, I, 584. Little Missouri River, I, 29. Little Rocky mountains, I, 91, 229. INDEX XXXI Little St. Mary's Lakes, I, 638. Littlewolf Mountains, I, 63. Live Stock Commission, I, 482. Live Stock interests, I, 391-403. Livingston: state capital contestant, I, 441; first house erected in (illustra- tion, 800; history of, 799; of the pres- ent, 800. Livingston, Frank H., Ill, 939. Livingston, Robert R., I, 16. Livingston, Walter W., II, 395. Livingston-Bozeman coal field, I, 240. Livingston Marble and Granite Com- pany, II, 601. Livingston Publishing Company, II, 367. Llafet, Joseph E., II, 442. Lloyd, Charles F., I, 643. Lloyd, Walter E., II, 342. Loble, Lester H., Ill, 1198. Lockey, Richard, II, 526. Lockhart, Charles, II, 363. Lodge Grass, I, 673. Lofgren, Everett E., II, 216. Logan, Arthur C., I, 497. Logan, Edgar W., II, 263. Logan, Ernest A., II, 238. Logan, James E., II, 178. Logan, John, II, 289. Logan, John T., Ill, 1358. Logan, Sidney M., Ill, 1145. Logan, William, I, 354, 360. Lohmiller, Charles B., Ill, 925. Lolo, I, 792. Lolo National Forest, I, 624, 811. Loma, I, 702. Lombard, I, 676. Long, G. B., II, 406. Long, J. B., I, 696. Long, Thomas D., I, 465. Long Drive (Cattle), I, 393, 394. Longest bridge in the State, I, 824. Longley, Thomas W., II, 1410. Lorance, Clyde H., II, 67. Loranger, Henry E., Ill, 703. Lord, Reuben J., II, 61. Losekamp, John D., I, 552. Lothair, I, 768. Lott, John S., I, 286. Lott, Mortimer H., I, 286, 316. Loucks, John T., Ill, 952. Loughran, Michael J., II, 502. Louisiana, United States acquires, I, 16. Loveland, Russ A., Ill, 1361. Lovell, William Y., I, 289, 415. Lowe, Henry P., Ill, 787. Lowe & Powers, I, 815. Lower Yellowstone, reclamation project, I, 587; (illustration), 588. Lowery, Charles R., Ill, 1055. Lowery, Robert W., Ill, 1055. ,Lowry, Bill, I, 252. Lowry, John A., Ill, 1441. Lowry, Thomas J., I, 415, 422. Lucas, Frederick D., II, 296. Lucas lode, I, 220. Luce, Sarah S., II, 503. Luce, T. L., I, 218. Luce, Thompson W., II, 503. Lucke, Lou, III, 703. Ludtke, P. E., Ill, 1114. Lumber Stand of Montana, I, 625. Lumbering in Missoula County, I, 781. Lump Gulch mining district, $2,500,000, I, 766. Lund, Hartwig, III, 1248. Lundeen, Gustav A., Ill, 785. Lundevall, Torjus, II, 355. Lyle, Thomas L., Ill, 1159. Lyman, Elias F., Ill, 821. Lynch, Neptune, III, 1300. Lyndes, John C., Ill, 1392. Lyon, Clyde M., II, 414. Lyon, Frederick A., Ill, 1443. Lyon, George D., II, 443. Lyons, George R., II, 121. Lyons, Haze, I, 249. Lyons, John, I, 218. Mabie, J. F., I, 471. MacCallum, Charles A., II, 308. Macdonald, John J., Ill, 1130. MacDuffie, William J., Ill, 839. Mace, George, III, 1405. MacFarlane, William D., Ill, 761. Machemer, Frank W., II, 74. Mack, Forest M., Ill, 677. Mackenzie, Charles, I, 74. MacLaren, Gilbert D., II, 528. MacMillan, Hugh A., II, 322. MacPherson, Harry A., II, 333. Macrum, E. A., I, 761. Madison, Bill, I, 185. Madison, Ed., I, 222. Madison, Frank, I, 222, 371. Madison, James, I, 48. Madison county; placer mines in 1862- 69, I, 213 ; created, 281 ; number and value of cattle (1884), 395; irrigation in, 604; description of, 771. Madison National Forest, I, 624. Madison range, I, 91. Madison River, I, 48, 61, 89, 230. Madison State Bank, I, 772. Madoc, I, 708. Madsen, Jacob P., II, 248. Magee, George W., II, 478. Maggie (Missouri River steamboat), I, 181. Maginnis, Martin, I, 316; sketch of, 404; 445, 447. Magraw, Henry S., II, 520. Magruder, Lloyd, I, 252. Maguire, John C., II, 129. Maher, John C, III, 836. Mahon, Archibald W., I, 581; III, 953. Mail and telegraph lines, first, I, 556. Maillet, Herbert A., Ill, 1222. Main, Clara, I, 721. Mains, Frank, III, 1347. Mair, John F., II, 562. Major, Adolph A., Ill, 811. Malloy, Dan T., II, 471. Malone, Francis M., II, 432. Maloney, William H., II, 397. Malta, I, 588, 803. Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone Park (illustration), I, 634. Man Afraid of His Horses (Sioux Chief), I, 341, 343, 344, 345- Mandan Villages : Lewis and Clark journey to, I, 27. Mandans, I, 74. XXX11 INDEX Mangan, Louis A., Ill, II35- Manganese, properties suffer . when war ends, I, 382. Manhattan, I, 729. Manitou, I, pi. Manix, J. Clarence, III, 693. Manley, John E., II, 330. Manson, I, 804. Mantle, Lee: rejected from U. S. Senate, I, 449; elected U. S. Senator, 451; sketch of, 456. Manuel's Fort, I, 69. Marbois, Barbe, I, 16. Margetts, Leslie R., II, 484. Margry, Pierre, I, 4. Maria's River, romance of, I, 39; 59. 229; post at the mouth of, 138. Maring, John C, II, 378. Marks, Rufus, III, 1094. Marks and Brands, I, 391. Markuson, Nels K., Ill, 1097. Marlow, Thomas A., I, 489. Marlowe, Thomas N., II, 418. Marques, Oscar, III, 796. Marques, Scott, III, 796. Marron, Hugh N., Ill, 875. Marrs, Charles B., Ill, 1375- Marrs, Fred P., II, 593- Marsh, Charles H., II, 445- Marsh, Cromwell, III, 857. Marshall, Charles L., Ill, 815. Marshall, C. S., I, 438. Marshall, Thomas C., I, 453. Marshall, W. R., I, 243. Marsland, Steven, I, 249. Marston, William J. R., Ill, 1350. .Martin, Harry T., Ill, 926. Martin, James L., II, 179. Martin, Martin, III, 1278. Martin, N. L., II, 222. Martin, Roscoe G., II, 266. Martine, Isaac S., Ill, 671. Marvin, Ernest L., II, 49. Marysville, I, 749. Marysville mining district, $57,140,000, I, 766. Mason, Dwight N., II, 456. Mason, James, I, 319. Masonry : cradle of, in Virginia City, I, 773- Masters, Harry S., II, 389. Mathewes, Barnard J., Ill, 1032. Mathews, Ed, II, 552. Mathews, O. C., I, 217. Mathews, Thomas J., Ill, 1443. Matkin, Judson D., Ill, 808. Matlock, S. W., II, 232. Matney, J. H., Ill, 685. Matson, Howard E., II, 580. Matteson, B. R., Ill, 1381. Matthews, Charles A., Ill, 835. Matthews, John A., II, 642. Matthews, Thomas, II, 565. Maudru, Joseph, II, 417. Maury, Henry L., Ill, 1075. Maxey, Robert J., I, 659. Maxham, Frank A., Ill, 1420. Maximilian, Prince, I, 122. Maxson, Lewis L., Ill, 1114. May, George, I, 419. Mayer, Jacob A., Ill, 700. Mayhew, Alexander E., I, 282, 289. McAboy, Charles D., II, 489. McAdow, Perry W., L, 219, 851. McAdow, P. S., I, 189. McAdow, William, I, 198. McAfee, Harry E., Ill, 1031. McAlister, Glenn C., II, 210. McArthur, Neil, I, 225. McCabe, I, 817. McCafferty, Richard, I, 192. McCalman, James, II, 185. McCarten, Robert E., II, 616. McCarthy, Eugene, III, 996. McCarthy, P. H., II, 123. McClammy, Quincy P., Ill, 1019. McClarty, James, II, 429. McClelland, Robert P., II, 416. McClellan's (Pacific City), I, 213. McClurg, J. E., I, 217. McCone County : created, I, 483 ; irri- gation in, 605 ; description of, 775. McConnell, N. W., I, 430, 431. McConnell, Odell W., Ill, 659. McConochie, Stewart, II, 303. McConville, Edward, III, 861. McCormick, John E., Ill, 1059. McCormick, Paul, I, 316. McCormick, W. H., II, 2. McCormick, Washington J., I, 282, 286, 289, 868; II, 579- McCormick of Montana, II, 2. McCuiston, Joshua P., Ill, 1409. McDaniel, Myron, III, 944. McDole, Edward I., II, 491. McDonald, I, 134. McDonald, Angus, I, 176, 184. McDonald, Benjamin, III, 1404. McDonald, E. H., I, 549. McDonald, John D., II, 572. McDonnell, J. L., II, 222. McDonough, Joseph A., Ill, 685. McDonough, Thomas J., Ill, 1426. McDowell, Wilkin C., Ill, 1374. McDowell, William W., II, 150. McEnery & Packard, I, 373. McFatridge, Arthur E., Ill, 668. McGee, George T., Ill, 1220. McGee, L. E., Ill, 848. McGehee, Edward, III, 1254. McGinley, Hugh S., Ill, 676. McGinnis, James, I, 304. McGrath, D. J., Ill, 1226. McGrath, Leo J., Ill, 1172. McGrath, Thomas P., II, 297. McGregor, Harry J., II, 639. McHatton, John J., I, 433, 438, 540. Mclntire, Oliver V., II, 525. Mclntosh, John H., II, 115. Mclntyre, James, III, 1010. McKay, Charles J., Ill, 1243. McKay, Joseph R., Ill, 1269. McKay (Scout), I, 166, 167, 171; scalps three Blackfeet, I, 172, 173. McKee, John W., Ill, 1310. McKenna, Nina, I, 760. McKenzie, Charles, I, 73. McKenzie, George F., Ill, 1260. McKenzie, Kenneth, I, in; inaugurates steamboat navigation to the Yellow- stone, 113; end of Montana career and INDEX XXXlll death of, 121; 122, 135, 139, 140; last years and death of, 141, 152. McKenzie, Roderick, I, 73. McKenzie, Thomas J., II, 335. McKenzie, Thomas W., Ill, 697. McKnight, Roy E., II, 545. McLain, Mathew, III, 766. McLaren, John, III, 886. McLaughlin, Angus L., II, 188. McLean, Samuel, I, 207, 218, 219, 281, 282, 286. McLeary, James H., I, 427; (portrait), 428; 430. McLemore, Clyde, III, 1365. McLeod, Charles H., II, 469. McLure, A. K., I, 286. McMahon, William J., II, 498. McMannamy, William P., Ill, 1006. McMath, William L., I, 282, 289, 415. McMillan, John A., II, 99. McMullen, W. J., II, 104. McNair, Benedict P., II, 539. McNamara's Landing, I, 790. McNamee, James F., Ill, 1060. McNaughton, William W., II, 150. M'Neal, Hugh, I, 28. McPherson, Howard P., II, 37. McTaggart, Archie, II, 473. McVay, Oscar R., II, 587. McVey, William C., Ill, 1102. Mead, C. A., I, 761. Meade, D. P., II, 117. Meader, Charles T., I, 834. Meaderville, I, 827, 834, 837. Meagher, Thomas F., acting governor, I, 280; 298, 299; death of, 300-303; 408, 416, 417; memorials to (illustra- tion), 466. Meagher County : placer mines in- 1862- 68, I, 213; number and value of cattle (1884), 395; irrigation in, 605; de- scription of, 777. Meagher County School, old box-car type (illustration), I, 512. Medicine Lake, I, 826. Medicine River, I, 42, 59, 62. Melchert, Bertram P., Ill, 1414. Meldrum, Robert, I, 129; sketch of, 130; (portrait), 214. Melton, J. Thomas, II, 367. Melstone, I, 797. Mendenhall, Henry S., II, 168. Menetry, Joseph, I, 786. Mengarini, Gregory, I, 147, 150, 154. Menzemer, H. J., Ill, 762. Meredith, James E., II, 365. Merkle, Arthur W., II, 472. Merkle, George W., Ill, 708. Merrick, Joseph, III, 1174. Merrill, Franklin T., Ill, 706. . Merrill, T. G., I, 287. Merriman, Nathaniel, I, 282. Metcalf, John, II, 635. Metcalf, Margaret E., II, 635. Methodist missionaries, I, 145. Metropolitan Police law, I, 464. Mettler, Edgar W., II, 28. Mettler, J. M., Ill, 1095. Meyer, Carl R., II, 210. Meyer, W. F., I, 471. Meyerhoff, Emmett F., Ill, 1245. Michels,. James J., Ill, 1121. Midland Empire Fair Association, I, 853. Milburn, George R., I, 436, 438. Miles, Arthur W., II, 260. Miles, G. M., I, 704, 707. Miles, Nelson A., attempted assassina- tion of, I, 359 ; 362, 363, 364. Miles City : great center of range cattle, ! 395 ; 399 ; municipal light and water systems, 703; public institutions at, 704; center of horse trade, 705; churches and fraternities, 705; stage lines and highways, 706. Miles City Club, I, 705. Miles City Hospital, I, 704. Milk River: Lewis and Clark discover, If 33; 229. Milk River reclamation project, I, 587, 588. Milk River Valley, I, 801. Mill Creek, I, 231. Millar, Joseph H., I, 285. Miller, Charles H., Ill, 1238. Miller, Curtis M., Ill, 1168. Miller, D. J., I, 210. Miller, Henry A., Ill, 747. Miller, Henry B., Ill, 1402. Miller, Joaquin, on placer deposits, I, 234; 412; on quartz mining litigation, 424. Miller, J. K., II, 157. Miller, John R., I, 645. Miller, J. V., Ill, 1168. Miller, John W., II, 416. Miller, Leslie F., II, 1146. Miller, Lillian G., II, 568. Miller, Marshall E., II, 192. Miller, Sidney, II, 620. Miller, Thomas B., Ill, 763. Miller, William D., Ill, 1153. Miller, W. H. H., I, 430. Milliken, Elizabeth D., Ill, 767. Mills, C. C, II, 44. Mills, Fred G., Ill, 1163. Mills, James H., I, 497. Mills, James S., I, 213. Mills, William S., Ill, 848. Mineral County: as a copper producer, I, 384; irrigation in, 606; description of, 778. Mineral output of Montana, value and qualities of (1919), I, 384. Mineral Range, I, 90. Miners Courts established, I, 218. Mining, smelting and ore testing, in Hel- ena District, I, 761. Minnesota & Montana Improvement Company, I, 851. Minnick, Robert P., Ill, 972. Minnie Healy mine, I, 377, 378. Missoula: natural advantages (1858), I, 166; incorporated, 409; state capital contestant, 441 ; (city of the five val- leys), sketch of, 784; her parks, I, 785. Missoula County: I, 190; created, 225; 281 ; number and value of cattle (1884), 395; irrigation in, 606; of the five valleys, 780 ; lumber, drainage and water supply, 781 ; evolution of, 782 ; XXXIV INDEX development of its valleys, 7QO; dairying in, 792. Missoula County High School, I, 787; II, 463- Missoula Creamery, I, 785. Missoula Free Public Library, I, 785. Missoula Light and Power Company, I, 633. Missoula lode, I, 222. Missoula Mills, I, 225. Missoula National Forest, I, 624, 741, 749- Missoula River, I, 90, 226, 227. Missoulian Publishing Company, II, 465. Missouri Fur Company, I, 103, 104, 108; its expedition wiped out, 109; no. Missouri River: its true source, the Jef- ferson, I, 88; geological origin of, 96; 229. Mitchell, Alonzo L., Ill, 1383. Mitchell, David D., I, 112, 121; death of, 123; 139. Mitchell, Robert M., II, 604. Mitchell, Harry B., II, 608. Mitchell, William, I, 251. Mo, Elmer J., II, 163. Modern Wolf Point Schools (illustra- tion), I, 818. Mohn, Mathis, II, 625. Mohrherr, John, III, 1115. Molleur, L. F., Ill, 716. Molt, I, 840. Monarch, I, 699. Monberg, Morris P., II, 270. Mondak, I, 708, 817. Monroe, Hugh, I, 638. Monroe, James, I, 16. Monroe, Joseph E., I, 551 ; II, 339. Monroe, Mary, III, 1435. Montague, I, 702. Montana ("Land of the Shining Moun- tains"), I, i; its natural features, 88- 102; comparative area and low altitude as a Rocky Mountain State, 92; its valleys (by William A. Clark), 93; its geology, 94; post tertiary (glacial) period, 96; variety and wealth of its geological deposits, 100; its coal and precious stones, 101 ; first election in, 190; bar, 212; its first post office and election, 219, 220; its name and great basins, 226-234; dawn of law and order, I, 278-315; territory organized and first Bannack Legislature, 281 ; clash between assembly and judiciary, 298; memorials proposed, 324; last epoch of territorial government, 404- 413 ; Supreme Court reports, 418, 425 ; State Constitution of 1889, 439; appor- tionment of state senators and repre- sentatives (1889), 441; becomes a state, 442 ; first state officers, 443 ; sec- ond legislative assembly, 448; final contest for location of state capital, 451; finances in 1920-21, 486, 488; her system of higher education, 528; mili- tary history of, 642-666; merchants: increase in snet work (1900-1920), 876. Montana Bar Association, I, 433, 435. Montana Bridge and Ferry Company, I, 286. Montana buffalo still ranging (illustra- tion), I, 783. Montana Building, Louisiana Exposition (illustration), I, 461. Montana Central Railway, I, 375. Montana City, I, 190, 212; in early days (illustration), 287; 288. Montana Club, Helena, I, 761. Montana coal mine (illustration), I, 240. Montana Collegiate Institute, I, 496. Montana Deaconess School, I, 553. Mountain District, I, 342. Montana Fish Hatchery, Anaconda, I, 712. Montana Flour Mills Company (illustra- tion), I, 693. Montana Game and Fish Commission, I, 637- Montana Hide and Fur Company, I, 304, 305. Montana Horticultural Society, I, 878- 82. Montana Infantry, First Regiment, I, 643. Montana Irrigation Commission : cre- ated, I, 484; report of, for 1920, 586. Montana Mercantile Company, II, 555. Montana Mining Association, I, 765. Montana Ore Purchasing Company, I, 376, 377, 378. Montana Pioneers' Society, I, 483. Montana Power Company, I, 630; its hydro-electric plants, 632; 689, 719, 772; plant at Thompson Falls, 8*24. Montana Quicksilver Company, I, 287. Montana School for Deaf and Blind and Backward Children, I, 553. Montana State Bureau of Mines and 'Metallurgy; established, I, 484; 831. Montana State College, I, 500, 528. Montana State Fair established, I, 460. Montana State Humane Society created, I,46o. Montana State Industrial School, I, 479. Montana State Normal School, I, 500, 528, 551. Montana State Prison, Deer Lodge, I, 809. Montana State Reform School: name changed to Montana State Industrial School, I, 479. Montana State Tuberculosis Sanitarium located, I, 470. Montana Stock Growers' Association, I, 395- Montana Trade Commission, I, 485. Montana Union Railroad, I, 375. Montana Volunteer Militia, I, 642. Montana Wesleyan University, I, 552, 553; HI, II53- Montana Western Railroad, I, 568. Montana, Wyoming and Southern Rail- road, I, 568. Mooney, Daniel F., II, 600. Moore, I, 717. Moore, Charley, I, 251. Moore, Elanson C, I, 415. Moore, George F., Ill, 1221. Moore, Perry J., Ill, 1220. INDEX XXXV Moorman, Edward H., II, 272. Moran, John E., Ill, 834. Morck, Fred D., Ill, 1005. Morgan, Edward F., Ill, 1141. Morgan, Heber G., II, 289. Morier, Henry, I, 218. Morony, Mary E., I, 322. Morrell, Fred, I, 869. Morrill Acts of Congress, I, 546. Morrill, Almeron D., Ill, 1141. Morrill, Robert A., Ill, 720. Morris, Claude F., Ill, 1004. Morris, Jennie M., Ill, 1029. Morrow, Bayard S., II, 402. Morrow, Thomas M., Ill, 876. Morse, Averill P., II, 281. Morse, Elmer J., Ill, 717. Morse, Frank M., II, in. Morse, George W., I, 316; II, 280. Morse, Sherburne, III, 689. Morton, C. D., Ill, 858. Morton, John O., I, 725. Mortson, O. C., I, 94. Mosby, I, 735. Mosby, O. P. J., Ill, 846. Mosby Oil fields, I, 797. Moser, Gust, II, 570. Mosher, Esek R., II, 344. Moss, Preston B., II, 218. Mother St. Joseph, III, 872. Motor Vehicles registered, I, 575. Mouat, Thomas H., Ill, 1382. Mount St. Charles College, Helena, I, 553; 755; HI, 1138. Mount Sentinel, Missoula, I, 788. Mountain Crows, I, 141. Movius, Arthur J., II, 193. Movius, Rex M., Ill, 1065. Movius, Walter R., II, 229. Mowatt, Wilbert, III, 1067. Moulton, Benjamin F., II, 181. Moyer, H. D., I, 249. Moyle, John R., II, .421. Mueller, Oscar O., II, 89. Muffley, Theo., I, 289. Muffly, Thomas, I, 415. Mullan, John, I, 158, 159, 321, 324, 555, 687, 785- Mullan Government Road, I, 555. Mullan Monuments, I, 320, 321. Mullan's military road (1862), I, 180. Mulroney, Edward C., II, 468. Munger, Frederick R., II, 170. Munson, Lyman E., I, 298, 414, 416, 417, 418. Murn, Thomas M., Ill, 1343. Murphey, John M., II, 541. Murphy, Charles, I, 209, 222, 371. Murphy, Charles F., II, 267. Murphy, Franklin J., Ill, 1236. Murphy, George J., Ill, 1241. Murphy, James K., II, 20. Murphy, John L., I, 419. Murphy, Joseph R., Ill, 945. Murphy, Patrick B., Ill, 1078. Murphy, William L., I, 320; II, 465. Murray, James A., I, 334. Murray, Mathieson, III, 932. Murray, S. G., I, 459. Murtry, James, I, 702. Musselshell, I, 797. Musselshell county: as a coal producer, I, 386; as oil producer, 386; organ- ized, 469; county irrigation in, 606; settlement of, 794; agriculture and live stock raising, 795 ; coal mines and rail- roads, 796. Musselshell River : Lewis and Clark dis- cover, I, 33. Mussigbrod, James, I, 406. Muzzy, J. E., II, 175. Myers, I, 845. Myers, Adolphus D., II, 109. Myers, George W., Ill, 1422. Myers, Guy C., II, 156. Myers, Henry L., sketch of, I, 492; 868. Myers, Otto K.,' II, 109. Nagues, George B., II, 649. Napoleon, I, 16. Napton, Thomas L., I, 419. National Forests, Areas and locations of, I, 623 ; funds to support, 624. National Guard, nucleus of, I, 642. National Park Bank, Livingston, II, 269. National Park-to-Park Highway, I, 571. Navajo, I, 708. Nealy, E. B., I, 289. Needles, Arthur S., II, 627. Neese, John T., Ill, 681. Neihart, I, 699. Neill, E. D., I, 4. Neill, Henry, II, 204. Nell, Henry H., II, 159. Nelson, Clarence W., Ill, 1049. Nelson, Cornelius S., II, 232. Nelson, David, III, 1378. Nelson, Franc C., Ill, 694. Nelson, H. F., Ill, 668. Nelson, John A., Ill, 694. Nelson, N. L., Ill, 792. Nelson, Soren, II, 486. Neubert, John, III, 662. Nevada, I, 232. Nevin, Charles P., II, 386. Nevin, John, III, 1444. Nevin, W. H., Ill, 1227. Nevins, Joseph H., Ill, 901. New Powell County High School (illus- tration), I, 502. New World mining district, I, 798. New York-Montana Testing and Engi- neering Company, Helena, I, 763. Newcomb, Albert S., Ill, 959. Newell, John H., II, 151. Newlon, Lewis E., Ill, 897. Newman, Louis, III, 828. Newstrom, Manning C., Ill, 1289. Nez Perces, I, 118. Nichols, Alice, I, 497- Nichols, Edmund, II, 48. Nickwall, I, 777. Nihill, I, 848. Nims, William P., Ill, 1185. Nina, I, 777. Ninth Federal Reserve District, I, 663. Nissler, Carl C., II, 12. Noble, Frank C., II, 332. Nohle, Andrew F., Ill, 988. Nolan, Cornelius B., Ill, 664. Nolan, J. M., Ill, 1030. XXXVI INDEX Nordtome, Clifford, III, 841. Nordtome, Milford, III, 841. Nordtome, Robert, III, 841. Norelius, O., I, 285. Normile, John, II, 250. Norris, I, 771. Norris, Edwin L., I, 464, 868; III, 674. North, Austin, III, 1137. North, J. A., II, 94. North, Jo R., II, 145. North, William P., Ill, 859. North Butte Copper Company, I, 379. North Butte Extension Development Company, I, 383. North Butte Mining Co., I, 836. Northern Cheyenne (Tongue River) In- dian Reservation, I, 640; 819. Northern Idaho & Montana Power Company, I, 632. Northern Montana Agricultural and Manual Training College and Agri- cultural Experiment Station estab- lished, I, 476. Northern Pacific Railroad : surveys (1853-54), I, 158; 3755 its mineral land in dispute, 429, 430; 559; crippled by Jay Cooke failure, 560 ; electrifica- tion of, 568; 630, 794; hospital, Glen- dive, 710; hospital at Missoula, 786. Northwest Fur Company of Canada, I, 73- Northwest Tribune Publishing Co., Ste- vensville, III, 1381. Northwestern basin of Montana, I, 226, 228, 229. Noxon, I, 824. Noyes, James M., II, 426. Nutt, Richard S..-III, 731. Nutting, Lucius A., II, 257. Nutting, W. B., II, 50. Nye, Samuel M., II, 366. Nye, Ward H., II, 236. ^ Oakwood, Jacob F., Ill, 842. Obergfell, Albert R., Ill, 726. O'Boyle, James, III, 976. O'Brien, Alfred L., II, 605. O'Brien, Edward, II, 46. O'Brien, Edward P., Ill, 1347. O'Brien, George T., Ill, 1364. O'Brien, James D., Ill, 723. O'Brien, Joseph P., Ill, 704. O'Brien, Michael T., II, 541. O'Connell, Margaret F., Ill, 1323. O'Connell, Michael J., II, 434. O'Connell, W. H., Ill, 1323. O'Connor, James F., II, 368. O'Connor, Thomas F., II, 549. O'Donnell, Charles, II, 3. O'Donnell, Charles, II, 312. O'Donnell, I. D., II, 383. O'Fallon, Benjamin, I, no. O'Flynn, Edward F., II, 484. Ogden, Earl, II, 638. O'Hern, Daniel L., Ill, 1091. Oie, Gustav, III, 1073. Oil development, I, 386-390; Golden Val- ley county, I, 739; in state, 876, 877, 878. Oil, gas and coal leases, I, 389. Oil shales, I, 388. Oka, I, 848. O'Keefe, Davis C., I, 321. O'Laughlin, William, III, 1336. Old Ignace, I, 144; killed by Sioux, 145. Old Lewistown School (illustration), I, 501. Oldest School in Montana, still in use (illustration), I, 498. O'Leary, Albert P., II, 265. Oleson, J. P., I, 285. Oliver, A. J., I, 557. Oliver (A. J.) and Company, I, 219. Oliver, John, III, 1212. Oliver, Robert S., II, 602. Olsen, June G., Ill, 1184. Olson, Andrew J., Ill, 1229. Olson, George N., II, 457. Olson, Ole N., Ill, 1119. O'Neil, C. D., Ill, 851. O'Neil, Michael A., Ill, 751. O'Neill, Charles E., II, 139. O'Neill, Frank D., Ill, 1236. O'Neill, John J., II, 513. Ophir, I, 335-39; town ruined by Indian massacre, 339. Ophir Gulch, I, 213. Ophir Town Company, I, 335. Ordway, John, I, 28, 45, 58, 59. Oregon Short Line, I, 405, 558, 559. Oregon Steam Navigation Company, I, 556. Oiiginal lode (Butte), I, 222. O'Rourke, James S., II, 543. O'Rourke, John K., II, 443. Orr, George, I, 199. Orr, Sample, I, 282, 415. Orville, I, 708. Orvis, John M., II, 441. Osborne, John N., II, 324. Osburn, Roy, II, 412. Osenbrug, Jacob, II, 451. Osgood, Lattie 'M., Ill, 1256. Oswego, I, 846. Osweiler, Peter J., II, 207. Otten, Elise R., II, 121. Otten, Herman, II, 120. Outline of Indian Operations and con- ferences (Carrington), I, 341; 358. Ovando, I, 790, 809. Owen, John, I, 132; last years of, 134; I 59, 167, 176, 227, 282. Oxford, I, 848. PaTblo herd of buffalo, I, 784. Page, Billy, I, 252. Page, Hugh D., II, 323. Page, James M., I, 316. Page, John M., I, 316. Pagenkopf, Herman C., II, 17. Pah-sam-er-ri (Stinkwater), I, 222. Paige, Merritt C., I, 426. Palmer, Allen B., Ill, 725. Palmer, Wealthy E., Ill, 726. Pampel, Byron L., II, 195. Pappin, Isaac, III, 826. Paradise, I, 824. Parent, William, III, 960. Paris, I, 777. Parish, Frank, I, 249. Parish of Lewistown, II, 25. Park City, I, 840. INDEX XXXVll Park County, I, 411; irrigation in, 607; description of, 797; mining days in, 798; created, 799. Parker, Hazen M., II, 301. Parker, Perry M., II, 410. Parker, Samuel, I, 145. Parkin, Ernest J., II, 400. Parkins, William E., II, 358. Parmly Billings Memorial Library, I, 852. Parrent, J. M., I, 721. Parrot, R. R., I, 372. Parrot Lead, I, 372. Parrot mines, I, 829. Parrott, R. B., I, 289, 415. Parsons, John M. Ill, 766. Part-time schools, I, 527. Patch, Ralph E., Ill, 781. Patten, Frank C., I, 758, 760. Patten, Truman M., Ill, 1023. Patterson, Ernest R., II, 113. Patterson, George D., Ill, 740. Patterson, John E., II, 464. Patterson, Oliver B., Ill, 678. Patton, Clyde, III, 775. Patton, Ulysses C., Ill, 1267. Patton, W. H., I, 256. Pattonhill, I, 777. Paul, George, III, 833. Paul, Goodwin T., Ill, 1415. Paul, Spurgeon E., Ill, 1020. Pauly, Peter, II, 340. Pauwelyn, Cyril, II, 214. Pearce, Robert, III, 1029. Pearson, Frank M., II, 439. Pease, Fellows D., Ill, 1050. Pease, Sarah W., Ill, 1052. Peays, Clara T., Ill, 948. Peays, William H., Ill, 948. Peck, Walter H. (Lewistown), II, 92. Peck, Walter H., Ill, 1216. Peckover, Frederick W., Ill, 1426. Peeler, D. R., I, 727. Peeso, F. E., Ill, 799. Peet, Herbert M., II, 590. Peltier, Joseph, III, 816. Peltier, Lottie A., Ill, 816. Pemberton, Calvin W., Ill, 1319. Pemberton,, William Y., I, 256, 259, 282, 284, 289, 316, 324; sketch of, 435; II, 71. Pence, Laverne K., II, 29. Pender, Peter A., II, 160. Pendroy, I, 843. Penson, Thomas, III, 1417- Penwell, M. W., II, 294. Pepin, Exzelia J., Ill, 750. Perham, Arthur, II, 576. Perham, George B., Ill, 799. Perham, Josiah, I, 559. Perier, Garfield B., II, 493- Perkins, Grover C., II, 633. Perkins, Harry E., II, 101. Perkins, James R., Ill, 1116. Perm a, I, 792, 824. Perrine, Arnold M., Ill, 740. Perrine, James W., Ill, 740. Perrine, Lillian M., Ill, 740. Peterson, Amos T., II, 616. Peterson, Axel M., II, 46. Peterson, John E., Ill, 699. Peterson, Peter M., Ill, 845. Peterson, S. L., I, 503. Petit, Eloise, I, 698. Petrashek, Mina, I, 503. Petrie, Donald A., Ill, 993. Pfaus, Mrs. A., I, 721. Pfouts, Paris S., I, 260, 286. Phelan, William P., Ill, 742. Philbrick, Freeman, III, 1263. Philbrick, Newell G., Ill, 1191. Philipsburg, I, 237, 741. Phillips, Albert L., II, no. Phillips, Samuel, III, 1063. Phillips County, irrigation in, I, 607; description of, 801. Pickens, Joseph E., II, 374. Pickett, H. G., I, 761. Pickett-Journal, I, 678. Picturesque Helena District (illustra- tion), I, 748. Piedalue, Joseph, II, 312. Piegan Sun Dance (illustration), I, 169. Piegans, I, 140. Pierre group (geological), I, 96. Pierre's Hole, I, 116. Pierse, Allen, II, 558. Pierson, George W., II, 32. Pietila, John J., II, 225. Pigot, Creswell T., II, 585. Pigott, W. T., I, 435, 436. Pilot-Butte Mining Co., I, 836. Piney Buttes, I, 91. Piniele, I, 680. Pinney, George M., I, 243. Pioneer (village), I, 189. Pioneer City, I, 220. Pioneer Day, I, 460, 465. Pioneer Gulch, I, 189, 220. Pioneer Home, I, 319. Pioneer lawyers of Montana, I, 415. Pizanthia, Joe (The Greaser), I, 249, 267. Place of Skulls (Bradley's "Journal"), I, 310. "Place of the Bitter Root," I, 142. Placer mining and water rights, I, 421. Placer production in Helena Region, I, 766. Plains, I, 824. Plassman, Martha E., I, 278. Platz, Albert E., II, 167. Plentywood, I, 825. Plevna, I, 714. Plew, William R., II, 431. Plume, D. J., Ill, 1141. Plummer, F. M., Ill, 1069. Plummer, Henry, I, 218, 242, 247, 249, 251, 252; execution of, 264, 266; 332. Plummer, Stinson and Ray, execution of, I, 263. Plummer-Stinson-Ray Scaffold (illus- tration), I, 265. Poe, Clinton J., Ill, 1150. Point, Nicholas, I, 147, 150, 151, 152, 161. Polglase, Lester R., II, 476. Pollard, Charles R., I, 427. Polleys Lumber Company, I, 781. Pollinger, Warren E., Ill, 1287. Poison, I, 724. Polytechnic Institute, Billings, I, 855. XXXV111 INDEX Pompey's Pillar ; named by Clark, I, 63 ; Larocque describes, 83; reached by Stuart expedition, 194; 856. Pond, Robert E., II, 479. Pondera County: created, I, 483; irriga- tion in, 608; description of, 803. Pontiac, I, 848. Pony, I, 771, 775- Poore, James A., II, 513. Poorman, W. H., I, 459. Pope, Joseph, II, 97. Poplar, I, 817. Porcupine Creek, I, 31, 32. Porter, Frank, III, 1428. Porter, George P., I, 869; III, 1403. Porter, Henry, I, 829. Porter, H. H., I, 222, 833. Post, Mark, I, 209. Posts and Forts along the Yellowstone, I, 127. Potomac, I, 790. Potter, Anson S., I, 282, 299. Potter, John, I, 287; II, 651. Potts, Benjamin F., becomes governor, death of, I, 314; 404, 408; (portrait), 410; 868. Potts, John, I, 28. Poultry raising, I, 402. Powder River County : irrigation in, I, 608; description of, 804. Powell, Curtis W., Ill, 1027. Powell, John W., I, 190. Powell County: irrigation in, I, 608; description of, 806. Power, I, 843. Power, T. C: elected U. S. Senator (1889), I, 446. Power, Wilber I., II, 138. Powers, Edward S., Ill, 1066. Powers, T. C., I, 761. Powers, William, III, 905. Prairie County: irrigation in, I, 608; description of, 809; railroads and trails in, 810. Prairie Elk, I, 777. Prairie of the Knobs, I, 59. Prairie of the Mass, I, 146. Pratte, Chouteau & Company, I, 123. Pray, I, 801. Pray, Charles L., I, 463. Pray, Charles N., I, 465, 471. Precious stones of Montana, I, 101. Prehistoric Mammals of Montana, I, 100. Prentice, George D., Ill, 769. Presbyterian missionaries, I, 145. Press : See Newspaper Directory of Montana, arranged by counties, towns and cities, and giving politics, date of establishment, and names of editor and publisher of each newspaper in the state, I, 886-94. N. B. First item under Press, 25. Prestbye, Christ, II, 628. Prestbye, E. C., Ill, 962. Prestbye, Martin, II, 628. Prestbye, Matilda C., II, 628. Preston, John F., II, 436. Preuitt, Isom, III, 724. Price, Benjamin L., II, 140. Price, E. R., II, 265. Price, Lewellyn, III, 1337. Price, Oliver, I, 732. Price, Pleas M., Ill, 1010. Prickly Pear Gold and Silver Mining Company, I, 287, 288. Prickly Pear Valley, near Helena (illus- tration), I, 210; 749, (illustration), 759- Pridham, Thomas H., II, 470. Priess, Fred A., Ill, 1424. Prindle, J. E., I, 707. Probost, Etienne, I, 108. Proctor, Israel O., Ill, 699. Proctor, Louisa K., Ill, 699. Proctor, Merton D., Ill, 699. Prohibition : referendum on, I, 478 ; liquor legislation, 483; in force, 489; Federal Constitutional amendment ratified by States, 490; State law to conform to Volstead' Act, 491. Prosser, E. W., I, 761. Prosser, Fred A., Ill, 917. Prosser, John R., Ill, 916. Prudhome, Gabriel, I, 148. Pryor, I, 61, 63. Pryor, John, I, 46. Pryor, Nathaniel, I, 28. Pryor Creek, I, 46, 63, 81. Public Highways : of Fergus county, I, 719. Public Lands of Montana, I, 577. Public road building: co-operation of county, state and nation in, I, 576. Public School at Bozeman (illustration), I, 731. Public Service Commission : created, ab- sorbs Board of Railroad Commission- ers, I, 472. Puehler, Charles, I, 696, 732. Pugsley, Robert D., II, 449. Pulsifer, H. B., II, 560. Pumpkin Creek, I, 82. Purcell, Michael F., Ill, 1112. Purdy, A. T., II, 581. Pyper, William B., Ill, 695. Radersburg, I, 676. Radersburg mining district, $3,200,000, I, 766. Rafferty, Daniel, II, 136. Ragland, O. T., II, 37. Railroads : counties authorized to sub- scribe for, I, 315 ; enter Butte copper district, 375; Major Martin Maginnis as a builder of, 405 ; Utah Northern penetrates Montana, 407; regulated (1912), 472; 558-68; over the Montana mountains (illustration), 564; electri- fication of, 567; accommodating Great Falls, 686 ; in Lewis and Clark county, 751 ; work of, in Missoula region, 789; first Utah and Northern passenger trains to arrive at Butte, 830; lines accommodating Butte, 831. Rainbow Falls at' Great Falls, I, 630; (illustration), i, 689. Rainbow Lode, I, 372, 373. Rainbow Mining Co., I, 836. Rainbow Power Plant, Great Falls, I, 689. Rains, Robert H., II, 135. Rainy Lake Missoula National Forest (illustration), I, 626. INDEX XXXIX Ralston, Edward L., Ill, 1175. Ramme, Chris, III, 1256. Ramme, Louis T., Ill, 1185. Ramsay, George L., I, 761. Ramsdell, Joe, I, 829. Ram's Horn Gulch, I, 231. Ramstad, Otto, III, 946. Rancher, I, 845. Randall, John B., Ill, 776. Rankin, Carl, III, 1329. Rankin, Jeannette : first Congresswoman elected in U. S. ; sketch of, I, 480. Rankin, Wellington D., I, 528, 869. Rapelje, I, 840. Rarus quartz lode, I, 377. Rarey, Bert, III, 1279. Rasch, Carl, I, 437, 438. Rasmussen, James A., Ill, 919. Rasmusson, Iden M., Ill, 1000. Rathbone, Robert M., Ill, 879. Rathert, Fred E., Ill, 930. Rattlesnake Creek, I, 167, 230. Ravalli, Anthony, I, 154; leaves St. Mary's mission, I, 157, 161. Ravalli, I, 792. Ravalli County : I, 241 ; created, 442, 451; irrigation in, 608; description of, 810; young apple orchard (illustra- tion), 813; resources of, 811. Ray, Julian D., II, 293. Ray, Ned, I, 242, 249; execution of, 264, 266. Raymond, Winthrop, III, 1282. Raynesford, I, 699. Red Bluff, I, 771. Red Cloud (Sioux Chief), I, 341, 343, 344, 345- Red Lodge, I, 678-679; school (illustra- tion), I, 679. Red Rock Creek, I, 230, 231. Red Trail, 570, 575. Redwater, I, 777. Redwing, Edward O., Ill, 710. Reed, Clinton V., I, 654. Reed, Frank S., Ill, 790. Reed, Oliver L., Ill, 1407. Reed Point, I, 840. Reese, H. J., II, 34. Reeves, I, 249, 251. Reeves, A. I., Ill, 737. Reiche, G. L, I, 725. Reichel, Frank J., Ill, 1233. Reichle, August, II, 522. Reid, Edmund W., Ill, 821. Reid, Frank, III, 838. Reid, James, I, 500, 548. Reifenrath, Charles H., Ill, 670. Reinbold, Theodore, II, 65. Reinoehl, Charles M., I, 503. Reisz, George S., I, 654. Reiter, W. H., II, 637. Remains of Bannack's former mining glory (illustration), I, 671. Remington, Sumner A., Ill, 824. Rennick, P. S., II, 528. Reno, William E., Ill, 1379. Resner, Andrew K., II, 508. Revised Codes of Montana, 1907, I, 464. Reynolds, I, 357. Reynolds, F. B., I, 436, 696, 869; II, 217. Reynolds, J. J., I, 356. Reynolds, William P., II, 532. Rhea, William F., II, 906. Rheem, L. M., I, 761. Rhoades, William B., Ill, 765 Rhodes, William M., Ill, 1221. Rice, Alonzo F., II, 454. Rice, George C, II, 465. Rice, Robert E., Ill, 960. Richardon, C. F., II, 581. Richards, David D., II, 436. Richards, Warrington, II, 448. Richardson, Pliney S., Ill, 1234. Richardson, William B., II, 291. Richie, Arthur C., II, 438. Richland County: irrigation in, I, 609; description of, 813. Richmond, Hunter L., II, 6. Rickard, Campbell G., Ill, 1214. Rickards, John E., I, 443, 446, 447, 725, Riddell, Arthur M., II, 546. Riddick, Carl, I, 868. Rider, T. T., I, 544. Ridley, Charles F., II, 100. Riedeman, Charles B., II, 593. Rimini, I, 749. Rimini mining district, $6,200,000, I, 766. Ring, David A., Ill, 937. Ringling, John, I, 778. Rising, Margaret B., Ill, 825. Rising, Martin, III, 825. Ritch, John B., II, 127. Riverside, I, 777. Rixon, Frederick P., II, 285. Rixon, William P., II, 220. Roach, Jeremiah, I, 406. Roach, William, I, 192. Road Agents' Band of Montana, I, 247; personnel of, 249; 261, kill more than one hundred people, 250; last to be executed, 274. Road Agents Rock (illustration), i, 248. Roads and Ferries projected at Ophir, I, 336. Robb, Fleming W., II, 253. Roberts, A. J., I, 511. Roberts, Albert, III, 1241. Roberts, Commodore B., Ill, 691. Roberts, Milner, I, 687. Roberts, Thomas P., I, 88, 687. Robertson, R. H., I, 415. Robertson, R. W., I, 289. Robinson, Grant, I, 723; II, 140. Robinson, John C., I, 415. Robison, C. W., II, 383. Roche, John F., Ill, 1427. Rochester, I, 771. Rocky Ford coal field, I, 240. Rocky Mountains : discovery of by the Chevalier de la Verendrye, I, 9; first view of, by Captain Lewis, 36; seen by Larocque, 77- Rock Mountain Fur Company, I, 108, no. Rocky Mountain Wagon Road Company, I, 304. Rodgers, Henry, I, 206, 209. Rodgers, John H., I, 282. Rodgers, William B., II, 523. Roe, J. A., Ill, 1033. xl INDEX Roe, John J., I, 558. Roebuck, Sarah E., Ill, 953. Roecher, Albert C, II, 56. Roehl, Edward R., II, 145- Roke, Matthew J., Ill, 1367. Rollins, I, 725. Romaine, Jem, I, 252. Romeyn, Henry, account of Chief Joseph's Capture, I, 363-369. Romney, Miles, II, 538. Ronan, I, 792. Ronan, Peter, I, 205; (portrait), 206; 493- Rood, Guy L., Ill, 733. Rood, William E., Ill, 1054. Roosevelt (Theodore) Memorial High- way, I, 802. Roosevelt County : created, I, 483 ; Cul- bertson school (illustration), 527; irri- gation in, 611; description of, 815; mineral resources, 816; tractor at work in (illustration), 816. Roosevelt Memorial Highway (Glacier Park to St. Paul), I, 570, 575- Root, Fred, I, 287. Root & Davis, I, 217. Roper, Eglantine L., Ill, 764. Ropes, L. S., I, 766. Roscoe, William P., II, 221. Rosebud, I, 821. Rosebud County : irrigation in, I, 609 ; description of, 817 ; formation of, 819 ; natural wealth, 820. Rosebud mountain, I, 91. Rosebud Valley (illustration), I, 233. Rosedale schools, old and new (illus- tration), I, 523. Rosetta, Henry, II, 191. Ross, Alexander, III, 784. Ross, Carl B., II, 144. Ross, John D., Ill, 736. Ross, Robert P., Ill, 1333. Rothwell, Charles F., II, 421. Rotwitt, Louis, I, 443. Roundup : center of coal fields and oil fields, I, 795. Roundup Public Schools, II, 583. Roundup Record, III, 991. Roundup of steers and horses, I, 392. Rowe, James H., Ill, 993. Rowe, J. P., I, 238, 239. Rowe, William, III, 680. Rowley, John II, 41. Roy, I, 717. Royal Milling Company, I, 693. Ruby range, I, 91. Rudyard, I, 744. Rue, Alfred W., Ill, 923. Rue, Fred W., Ill, 1107. Rue, Jasper S., Ill, 1105. Rue, Leonard E., Ill, 1064. Ruff, Frank, I, 223. Rugg, Claude C., Ill, 1418. Ruhle, Raymond L., II, 497. Runner, F. E., II, 294. Ruppel, John F., Ill, 841. Ruppel, William, III, 840. Russel, Edward C., Ill, 1361. Russell, Charles J., Ill, 1338. Russell, C. M., I, 320. Russell, David H., Ill, 1307. Russell, Harry J., II, 205. Russell, Lillian K., Ill, 1361. Rutherford, H. W., II, 466. Rutter, John H., Ill, 1040. Ryan, C. R., II, 240. Ryan, John D., Ill, 1055. Ryan, Michael J., Ill, 658. Ryan, Patrick, I, 282. Ryan, William C., II, 57. Ryerson, Lloyd H., II, 229. Ryniker, Walter E., II, 261. Ryon, A. M., I, 544, 547, 548. Sacajawea (the bird woman), I, 28, 48, 50; reunited to brother and girlhood companion, 55 ; 62, 64 ; last years of, 65- Sacajawea memorial, I, 783. Sacajawea monument, Armstead, I, 672. Sacajawea Park, Missoula, I, 785. Saco, I, 588, 803. Sacred Heart Mission, I, 154. St. Ignatius, I, 792. St. Ignatius Mission, I, 151; (new), 157, 160. St. John's Catholic Hospital, Helena, I, 757- St. Labre Mission, I, 162. St. Louis : center of fur trade, I, 137. St. Mary Parish, Helena, III, 1030. St. Mary's Mission: founding of, I, 148; abandoned, 154. St. Mary's River, I, 91 ; St. Paul's Mis- sion, I, 162. St. Peter's Episcopal Hospital, I, 757. St. Peter's Mission, I, 161, 162. St. Phillip, I, 848. St. Regis, I, 779. St. Vincent's Academy, Helena, I, 755. St. Xavier Mission, I, 162. Salesville, I, 729. Salish tribe, I, 142; Christian Sioux missionaries to the, 144. Saltese, I, 779. Samson, Jemima A., Ill, 850. Sampling Mills of Montana, I, 380. Sampson, Horace, III, 846. Samson, J. A., Ill, 850. Sand Coulee, I, 241. Sand Creek, I, 777. Sandell, Tom, II, 364. Sanden, Fred S., I, 760; III, 1443. Sanders, I, 845. Sanders, James U., I, 283, 316. Sanders, L. P., II, 957. Sanders, Wilbur F., I, 243, 255, 257, 259, 260, 273; coming of, 278; 281, 282, 289, 291, 300, on death of General Meagher, 301 ; 316, 335, 421, 430, 433, 434, 435, 444; elected U. S. Senator (1889), 446; 452; death of, 462; me- morial to, 469; 558, 757, 760; III, 956. Sanders County: irrigation in, I, 611; description of, 821 ; lumbering and agriculture in, 822. Sandles, H. P., II, 391. Sanner, Sydney, II, 550. Sanvik, Ole, III, 787. Sappington, Henry H., Ill, 807. Sappington, Ruphema J., Ill, 807. Sargent, Charles C., Ill, 933. INDEX xli Sargent, F. E., I, 548. Sarles, Frederick H., II, 496. Saunders, John, I, 185, 187. Savage, M., II, 144. Saw Mills of Montana: established 1898-1919 (see towns and cities) I, 871-872. Schaefer, Frank M., Ill, mi Schaefer, Robert, II, 82. Scheetz, George, III, 1324. Scheuch, Frederick C., I, 533, 543. Scheuch, Frederick G., I, 789. Schierts, Peter, II, 623. Schlechten, Albert, II, 308. Schmidt, Jacob, II, 485. ' Schmidt, Margaret, II, 486. Schmit, John P., II, 173. Schmitz, Fred W., Ill, 678. Schmitz, Stephen A., II, 580. Schneider, William G., Ill, 972. Schoening, Harry A., Ill, 770. Schofield, John W., II, 425. Schofield, Thomas F., Ill, 1356. School moneys apportioned (1921), I, 527. School month defined, I, 527. School of Forestry, I, 532, 789. School of Journalism, I, 532, 789. School of Law established, I, 789. School of Mines: location and buildings, I, 550. School of Pharmacy, I, 532; reorgan- ized, 789. Schoppe, William F., II, 414. Schrump, August, II, 585. Schuch, J. Harry, II, 174. Schwachheim, Aug., Ill, 985. Schwingel, Albert E., Ill, 832. Science Hall, I, 534. Scobey, I, 708. Scott, F. P., Ill, 867. Scott, James S., II, 625. Scott, Percival D., II, 646. Scott, Thomas C., Ill, 1414. Scott, William J., Ill, 1325. Scotty, Canadian trader, I, 175. Scovil, John, II, 504. Scovil, J. Ralph, II, 35. Scovill, C. D., II, 420. Sears, Edward, II, 154. Sears, Henry F., II, 59. Sebree, Howard, I, 66q. Second Infantry Regiment, Montana National Guard: in the miners' trouble, I, 648; in border troubles, 649; at outbreak of World's war, 650. Second Infantry Regiment, United States Volunteers, I, 650; overseas at last, 651. Sederholm, Charles A., Ill, 823. Seed House of Montana, II, 2. Seel, John, III, 894. Selby, Lloyd, I, 327, 329, 332. Self, James M., II, 118. Selters, J. B., II, 78. Selway, Delos D., Ill, 1401. Selway, John L., Ill, 1017. Servis, Francis G., I, 423. Sessions, H. G., I, 249. Settergren, G. E., II, 143. Sevenich, John M., Ill, 1132. Severson, Clarence J., Ill 774. Sewell, Walter J., II, 573 Shadoan, J. A., II, 40. Shafer, Gordon O., Ill, 827. Shanley, Thomas J. B., II, 112. Shannon, George, I, 28. Shannon, John C, III, 1199 Sharp, Ralph A., II, 329. Sharpe, L. G., I, 415. Shattuck, John E., II, 639. Shaw, Leon, II, 161. Shawmut, I, 848. Shears, George, I, 249. Sheehan, James, I, 208. Sheep: raising of, I, 397, 399. Sheep ranch (illustration), I, 683. Sheffield, Edward, I, 415. Shenefelt, Monroe P., Ill, 848. Shephard, Harvey R., Ill, 1277. Shepherd, I, 856. Sheridan, I, 771, 775. Sheridan, Ruth, II, 106. Sheridan county: created, I, 474; irriga- tion in, 611; description of, 824. Sheridan, Charles L., I, 642, 650, 661, 869. Sherman, Charles H., Ill, 949, Sherman, Frank L., Ill, 1058. Sherman, Nora K., Ill, 819. Sherman, Thomas C., Ill, 1439. Sherman, W. P., Ill, 819. Sherrill, Albert, III, 1216. Sherwood, J. W., I, 696. Sheuerman, .A. A., II, 162. Shiell, Robert G., Ill, 1291. Shields, John, I, 28, 51, 52. Shipley, Whitfield, II, 181. Shipley, William H., II, 571. Shippam, John, III, 1001. Shippee, Irvin L., Ill, 1134. Shirley, I, 703. Shoaf, Harriet, III, 871. Shober, John H., I, 316; u, 641. Shoper, John H., I, 415, 422. Shore, Will B., II, 269. Shorey, B. G., II, 394. Short, George N., II, 502. Shorthill, Robert D., II, 72. Shoshones (Snake Indians), Lewis in touch with, I, 53 ; 57. Shreveport (Missouri river steamboat), I, 178, 179. Sibbits, William, III, 891. Sidney, I, 814. Siegel, Victor, II, 553. Sigafoos, Josiah J., Ill, 1425. Silver Bow City, I, 223, 372. Silver Bow county: as a copper producer, I, 384; number and value of cattle, (1884), 395; created, 408; irrigation in 611 ; county and city almost co- extensive, 827; early history of min- ing in, 828; created, 834. Silver Bow Creek: mines along, I, 213; 223. Silver issue of 1896, I, 452. Silver Lake, I, 713. Silver mining: first in Montana, I, 237; rise of, I, 372-375- Silverthorn, John, I, 185, 186. Simineo, Joseph S., II, 208. xlii INDEX Simmons, A. J., I, 311. Simmons, Hubert A., II, 69. Simmons, Louis, I, 199. Simmons, Otto J., II, 188. Simms, Samuel, III, 885. Simms, Susan, III, 886. Simonson, Charles C, II, 277. Simpkins, Justin C, III, 1008. Simpson, Charles M., Ill, 1360. Simpson, Joseph B., Ill, 1232. Simpson, T. W., Ill, 1178. Sioux, I, 308; checked at "The Palace of Skulls," 308-310; 342. Sioux National Forest, I, 624. Sisson, Edward, II, 565. Sisson, Edward O. : sketch of, I, 533; 789. Sitting Bull (Sioux Chief), I, 345, 346; again troublesome, 347; 357, 358; in British America, 359; 362, 366. Skelton, William, III, 1295. Skillen, William, III, 915. Skillman, Charles N., II, 264. Skinner, Cyrus, I, 249. Skinner, Harry J., II, 495. Sklower, Emanuel, III, 961. Sklower, Max, III, 961. Skyltead, Olaf G., Ill, 752. Slade, J. A., I, 269, 270, 271, 272; last days of, Beidler's account, 273. Slater, Peter, I, 223. Slattery, John L., I, 868; III, 1218. Slayton, Daniel W., Ill, 1345. Sleight, Frederick S., Ill, 909. Sligh, James M., II, 300. Sloan, Mrs. M. A., I, 721. Smart, Forrest V., Ill, 1161. Smart, Oscar G., Ill, 1160. Small, Nellie B., II, 493. Smelters, concentrators and cyanide plants of Montana : established 1889- 1919 (see towns and cities), I, 872, 873. Smiley, George E., II, 501. Smith, Albert K., II, 369. Smith, Andrew J., I, 282, 758, 760. Smith, Donald A., I, 561. Smith, F. E., I, 721. Smith, George H., I, 192, 196. Smith, Glen A., II, 452. Smith, Green Clay, succeeds Governor Edgerton, I, 300; resigns governor- ship, 314; 415, 868. Smith, J. Gregory, I, 559. Smith, Harry M., Ill, 788. Smith, Henry E., II, 170. Smith, Henry T., Ill, 1266. Smith, H. P. A., I, 219. Smith, I. C., I, 218. Smith, James, II, 198. Smith, James C., Ill, 1160. Smith, Jedediah S., I, 108, in. Smith, Lewis A., II, 516. Smith, Napoleon B., Ill, 949. Smith, N. B., II, 227. Smith, Paul, III, 859. Smith, Robert, I, 44. Smith, Robert A., I, 454. Smith, Robert B., I, 451; sketch of, 452; 457- Smith, Robert E., I, 868. Smith, Richard F., II, 1039. Smith, Yard, II, 239. Smith, Veva, III, 1093. Smith, Wallace P., II, 458. Smith, Walter S., II, 203. Smith, William B., Jr., Ill, 1202. Smith, William N., Ill, 666. Smith, W. Egbert, I, 496. Smith, W. P., II, 12. Smith-Highes Act, I, 545. Smith's River, I, 44. Snake Indians, I, 28, 48, 50. Snake (Lewis) River, I, 58. Snell, Charles H., I, 758, 760. Snell, George E., II, 250. Snellbacher, J. W., II, 203. Snidow, Thomas A., II, 218. Snow Creek Game Preserve, I, 735. Snow Mountains, I, 42. Snow Storm Mine, I, 375. Snowden, J. C., I, 732. Snyder, Clayton E., I, 661. Snyder, Rudolph, I, 868. Snyder, Willard F., Ill, 1099. Society of Montana Pioneers, I, 316- 320. Soden, Jack E., II, 646. Soderlind, Will J., II, 43. Soft drinks and cereal beverages manu- factured : see towns and cities, I, 874. Solberg, Inga, II, 415. Solberg, J. S., II, 60. Soldiers' Home, Columbia Falls : classes of inmates in, I, 484, 725. Somers, I; 725. Somerville, John, I, 210; names Helena, 211, 212. Sonstelie, Carl J., I, 661. Souders, Samuel M., II, 234. Southmayd, LeRoy, II, 532. South Pass : Bonneville and Bridger go through, I, 114. Spanish-American War, Montana in the, I, 643-48. Spanish Creek, Gallatin county (illus- tration), I, 106. Spanish Fork (Deer Lodge), I, 222. Sparks, Franklin F., Ill, 1096. Spear, Charles, II, 303. Spear, J. M., I, 433. Specht, Joseph, I, 147. Spectacular mine, I, 379. Speer, James W., Ill, 833. Speer, Owen D., II, 419. Spencer, Almon C., II, 166. Spencer, Gideon K., Ill, 947. Spencer, John T., II, 378. Spion Kop, I, 609. Spivey, Henry, I, 257. Spogen, Dominic, III, 712. Spooner, Armon C., Ill, 1207. Spooner, Henry R., Ill, 701. Spotted Tail (Indian Sioux Chief), I, 345. Spottswood, William C., II, 326. Sprague, J. E., I, 725. Spratt, James G., I, 289, 415, 422. Spread Eagle (Missouri river steam- boat), I, 178, 179. Spring, L. H., II, 168. Sproule, G. B., I, 459. INDEX xliii Spurling, James E., II, 370. Square Butte, I, 702. Stafford, W. M., I, 289. Stage Coach, early day (illustration), I, 557- Stage lines : overland and state, I, 556. Stager (George N.) and Company, I, 219. Stagg, J. P., II, 398. Stahl, John W., Ill, 789. Stallion Registration Board, I, 530. Stalmann, Otto, I, 376. Stanford, I, 723. Stanley, David S., I, 309, 345, 346. Stanley, Henry H., II, 607. Stanley, Reginald, I, 210. Stapleton, Arthur A., II, 114. Stapleton, George W., I, 219, 336; II, 544- Stapleton, Wash, I, 207. Stark, Roy A., II, 409. State Accident Insurance and Disability Fund created, I, 465. State Arid Land Grant Commission created, I, 452, 453, 454. State Athletic Commission created, I, 476. State Board for Vocational Education, co-operation with federal board, I, 527. State Board of Agriculture created, I, 453- State Board of Commissioners for the Insane created, I, 476. State Board of Dairy Commission Ex- aminers, I, 530. State Board of Education, I, 468, 475; first meeting at Bozeman, 544. State Board of Educational Examin- ers, first, I, 511, 530. State Board of Entomology created, I, 476. State Board of Hail Insurance created, I, 483. State Board of Health, I, 477, 484. State Board of Land Commissioners created, I, 469, 577. State Board of Poultry Husbandry, I, 403, 530. State Board of Veterinary Medical Ex- aminers established, I, 476. State Bureau Mines and Metallurgy, paper on ore sampling, I, 371, 529, 549- State Capitol Commission, I, 452, 453. State Capitol contest, I, 441. State Chemist, I, 530. State College of Agriculture and Me- chanic Arts, I, 532. State Constitution of 1889, I, 439. State Dairy Commission, I, 476. State Department of Agriculture and Publicity: report on dairying, I, 401. State Entomologist, I, 530. State Fire Warden created, I, 464. State Fish Hatchery established, I, 482. State Grain Inspector, I, 530. State Grain Laboratory, I, 476. State Highway Commission : created, I, 475 ; divides state into twelve districts, 483; biennial report of, 1919-1920, 571; functions of, 569, 570, 572; revenues and expenditures (1920), 575. State Highway funds authorized, I, 484. State Highway System, I, 574. State Historical Library, I, 324, 760. State Industrial School for Boys' I 703, 704- State Insane Asylum : ordered by State I, 479- State Institutions, I, 869. State Lands : State Board of Land Com- missioners custodians of, I, 577; re- ceipts from all sources (1889-1920), 578, 579, 58o. State Legislative Assemblies: first, I, 446; second, 448; third, 450; fourth, 45i; fifth and sixth, 453; seventh, 457; eighth, 459; ninth, 462; tenth, 463; eleventh, 465; twelfth, 469; thir- teenth, 470 ; fourteenth, 477 ; fifteenth, 480; sixteenth, 483; seventeenth, 486; Special Session of 1921, 491. State Live Stock Commission, I, 477. State Live Stock Sanitary Board, I, 464. State Motor Vehicle Law, I, 475. State Normal College, I, 529, 532, 669. State Orphans' Home, I, 554, 775. State Parole Commissioner, I, 475. State Prison: Deer Lodge, I, 453. State Reform School: established, I, 5oo; 553. State School for Deaf, Dumb and Blind: established, I, 500, 745, 746. State School Funds, I, 521. State School Lands, I, 498, 499. State School of Mines : established, I, 500, 528, 529, 532, 831. State Tax Commission: created, I, 474; act repealed, 478. State Text Book Commission : estab- lished, I, 500. State Tuberculosis Sanitarium : ordered by State, I, 479. State University, Missoula, I, 528, 529, 532; (illustration), 533; history of, 534, 535, 536; buildings of, 536; Col- lege of Arts and Sciences, 537; de- partments of, 537-43 ; Reserve Officers' Training Corps, 538; School of Busi- ness Administration, 538; School of Journalism, 539 ; School of Forestry, 539; Public School Music, 540; School of Law, 540; School of Pharmacy, 541; Library and Museum, 542; Bu- reau of Information, 543; Honor Scholarships and Prizes, 543; College buildings, 546; 787-789; (illustration), 788. State Vocational School for Girls, Helena: established, I, 484; 757. Staunton, Michael D., II, 584.. Steamboat trip from Fort Union to Fort Benton (1862), I, 178. Steamboats in Western Montana, first, I, 556. Steele, George, I, 215. Steele, Lawrence W., II, 282. Steele, William L., I, 316. Steer feeding in Beaverhead county (illustration), I, 668. xliv INDEX Steere, E. A., I, 500. Stennes, Odin T., Ill, 778. Stephan, Walter H., II, 348. Stephen, George, I, 561. Stephens, John H., II, 124. Stephens, W. J., I, 422. Stephenson, Andrew P., II, 14. Stephenson, Sam, III, 1031. Sterling, A. M., II, 508. Sterling, Frederick T., II, 349- Stevens, Benjamin F., Ill, 9% Stevens, Benjamin T., II, 654. Stevens, Harry A., II, 247. Stevens, Isaac I., I, 158, 159, 687. Stevens, Jesse H., Ill, 871. Stevens, Lawrence S., II, 137. Stevens, Melzer N., Ill, 1230. Stevens Government expedition (1853- 54), I, 158. Stevenson, Albert M., Ill, 1024. Stevenson, Lon C., Ill, 1086. Stevenson Co-operative Creamery, I, 403- Stevensville, I, 225, 792, 811, 812. Stewart, Charles T., I, 869. Stewart, David, III, 721. Stewart, John A., Ill, 721. Stewart, Katherine L., II, 586. Stewart, Lon S., II, 1086. Stewart, Samuel S., Ill, 777- Stewart, Samuel V., sketch of, I, 472; 868; III, 878. Stickney, Ben, Jr., I, 757. Stiefel, Edward A., II, 270. Stiehl, Frank J., Ill, 1129. Stierle, Charles, III, 753. Stiles, John M. S., II, 261. Stillinger, C. A., Ill, 1277. Stillwater county: created, I, 474; irri- gation in, 611; description of, 839. Stimpert, Adam, II, 611. Stinkwater river, I, 222, 230, 231. Stinson, Buck, I, 242, 249; execution of, 264, 332. . Stivers, Daniel Gay, I, 643; II, 594. Stockett, I, 699. Stocking, Margaret, II, 586. Stocking, Winfield S., II, 586. Stoddard, Amos, I, 27. Stoddard, Fred C, II, 23. Stoddard, O. F., I, 452. Stodden, William T., II, 418. Stoebe, Herman, III, 1262. Stoebe, Samuel, III, 1263. Stoebe, William, III, 1263. Stohr, August C., Ill, 1109. Stoller, Jacob, III, 1389. Stone, A. L., I, 321 ; II, 346. Stone, Elbert H., Ill, 705. Stone, Franklin L., II, 38. Story, Nelson, Jr., I, 869; II, 85. Story, Nelson, Sr., I, 322, 544, 547. Story, N., I, 217. Stout, Charles O., II, 79. Stout, Tom: sketch of, I, 471. Strasburger, Herman, II, 546. Straszer, Walter C., II, 194. Straw, I, 717. Strevell, J. W., I, 433. Strever, William J., II, 196. Strickland, O. F., I, 289. Stringham, Harry C., II, 214. Stripp, Albert E., II, 154. Strobel, Roger L., Ill, 1122. Strode, Thomas P., Ill, 1233. Strong, William G., I, 840. Stroup, Charles E., II, 223. Stryker, R. N., II, 321. Stryker, William, II, 40. Stuart, Granville, I, 5; 161, 186, 187, 199, 221, 222, 226, 282, 283, 316, 322, 395 ; appointed State Historian ; his death, 482. Stuart, James, I, 135; (portrait), 136; 161, 186; commences to study medi- cine, 189; igp, 192; saves party from Crow Indians, 193; locates Big Horn town, 195 ; 197, 199, 209, 221, 226, 282 ; death of, 311 ; 312; 798. Stuart, Thomas, I, 221. Stuart and Anderson, I, 395. Stuart Brothers : early years of, and coming to Montana, I, 186, 188 ; mine in the spring of 1862, 189; 200, 213, 224, 243. Stuart expedition : attacked by Crows, I, 195-198. Stuart's first Yellowstone expedition, I, 192-199. Stuart's second Yellowstone expedition, I, 209. Stubban, Edward, III, 887. Stufft, W. F., Ill, 1304. Sturgis, S. D., I, 362. Sublette, Milton, I, 108, 120. Sublette, William, I, 108, in, 120. Sudar, Joseph, II, 390. Sugar Beets for the Billings factory (illustration), I, 857. Sulgrove, Leslie, I, 758, 760. Sulier, Alfred J., Ill, 1097. Sullivan, Ambrose, III, 698. Sullivan, Andrew J., II, 615. Sullivan, Fred D., Ill, 758. Sullivan, Jeremiah, III, 746. Sullivan, Nellie C., II, 440. Sully, Alfred, his Sioux campaign of 1864, I, 292-98. Sumatra, I, 821. Summer, Milton, I, 851. Summer Schools, I, 515. Summers, H. L., II, 92. Summit Mountain Mining District, I, 223. Summit Valley District, I, 222. Sun Dance of the Piegans (illustration), I, 169. Sun River, I, 229; reclamation project, 587, 589. Sun River Valley, I, 749. Sunset, I, 790. Superior, I, 778. Sutherland, Elizabeth, I, 511. Sutter, Julian A., II, 95. Sutton, Lucian H., II, 147. Sutton, Roy E., Ill, 1386. Swain, Henry H., I, 528. Swan, Lon T., II, 240. Swan, William J., Ill, 957. Swanberg, Hugo H., II, 440. Swandal, Austin, II, 375. Swaney, A. W., Ill, 1275. Swaney, Mary A., Ill, 1276. INDEX xlv Swartz, John J., Ill, 1217. Swearingen, John R., II, 202. Sweat, John A., Ill, 750. Sweat, Ruth, III, 750. Swee, John P., II, 403. Sweeney, Bill, I, 206, 209. Sweet, Chester W., Ill, 1433. Sweet, S. C, II, 482. Sweet, William T., II, 482. Sweet, William T., Sr., II, 481. Sweet Grass county: created, I, 452; irrigation in, 612; description of, 840; farming and stock raising, 841. Sweetland, Levi H., Ill, 870. Sweetman, Luke D., Ill, 907. Sweetman, Richard H., Ill, 907. Sweitzer, E. C, II, 204. Swenson, Christian T., II, 54- Swindlehurst, W. J., I, 489. Swine raising, I, 400. Switzer, J. Bertram, III, 942. Switzer, Lew, III, 964. Sworder, William, II, 273. Sybert, Edward M., II, 245. Symes, George G., I, 418, 419, 422. Symmes, Weymouth D., II, 209. Taber, Charles B., Ill, 1314. Taffner, Clarence, III, 1377. Talcott, E. H., I, 547- Talkington, Henry C., I, 321. Tallman, William D., II, 79. Tanner, Franklin D., Ill, 1330. Tattan, John W., II, 461. Taylor, Cecil E., Ill, 973. Taylor, Don C., II, 68. Taylor, George H., Ill, 1039. Taylor, Thomas T., II, 155- Taylor, Thompson & Company, I, 219. Taylor, William H., II, 578. Tbalt, Nicholas, I, 254, 255. Teachers' Institutes, I, 497. Teachers' Retirement law, I, 511. Telyea, Ned A., II, 199. Templeman, John L., II, 400. Templeton, H. A., I, 696. Ten Haf, P. A., I, 732. Tennis, Albert L., Ill, 1182. Terrace, I, 777. Territorial capital fixed, I, 422. Territorial Judges (illustration), I, 428. Territorial Teachers' Association, I, 497. Terry, I, 810. Terry, Alfred H., I, 347, 353, 356, 358, 359- Terwilliger, Lewis, II, 234. Teton county: created, I, 442, 451; irri- gation in, 612; description of, 842. Teton irrigation project, I, 584- Teton ridge, I, 91. Teton River, I, 229. Thaler, Joseph A., II, 43L Theade, August, III, H94- Theodore Roosevelt International High- way, I, 744- Theony, I, 846. Thex, Charles H., Ill, 1084. Thien, Henry, III, 986. Thomas, Alfred L., II, 39- Thomas, Arthur, II, 507. Thomas, Ernest W., Ill, 1190. Thomas, John P., I, 316. Thomas, M. T., I, 292. Thomas, Owen J., II, 246. Thomas, Robert E., Ill, 1176. Thomas, Theodore H., II, 120. Thompson, Carl N., Ill, 1240. Thompson, Frank M., I, 282. Thompson, Frederick. W., Ill, 764. Thompson, Harry M., II, 1322. Thompson, John, III, 790. Thompson, John B., I, 28. Thompson, Peter, III, 1190. Thompson, Rufus B., II, 137. Thompson, T. A., Ill, 1141. Thompson, William, I, 219. Thompson, William ^3., I, 773. Thompson Falls, I, 824. Thomson, George C., Ill, 837. Thorkelson, Jacob, II, 365. Thornton, Charles C., II, 342. Thoroughman, Robt. P., Ill, 729. Thoroughman, Thomas, I, 282, 289, 291, 415. Thorson, George, III, 660. Three Buttes, I, 229. Three Forks, I, 729. Three Forks Consolidated School, II, 170. Three Forks Mill & Elevator Company, III, 1050. Three Forks of the Missouri, Clark reaches the, I, 46; (illustration), 47; 89- Three Forks Portland Cement Company, I, 719, 720. Three Forks Post abandoned, I, 104. Three-thousand-mile Island, I, 52. Thurber, Charles D., II, 307. Thurmond, J., I, 249. Tiegen, I, 717. Tilly, George H., death of, I, 644- Tilzey, Harold C., II, 139. Timber on the State lands : regulation of, I, 484- Timmons, Jacob C., II, 630. Tingley, Robert S., Ill, 667. Tinklepaugh, Albert, II, 146. Tinsley, Basil, III, 1197. Tobacco Plains, I, 172; dispute as to ownership, 175. Tobacco Root, I, 91. Tobinski, John J., I, 786; II, 441. Todd, Calvin, III, 1235. Tolle, Arthur, II, 490. Toole, Edwin W., I, 282. Toole, E. W., I, 421. Toole, E. Warren, I, 430, 433, 443- Toole, Joseph K., I, 378, 409, 4*9, 422, 431, 441, 443; sketch of, 443; (por- trait), 444; 457, 46o, 858. Toole county: irrigation in, I, 613; description of, 843. Tope, Joseph C., Ill, 131 1- Torgrimson, Henry A., II, 295. Toston, I, 676. Totman, James E., II, 534- Tourists' Park, Billings, I, 853. Tourtlotte, Ira B., II, 597- Town Gulch, Butte, I, 223. Town of Poison (illustration), I, 724. Townsend, I, 676. Tracht, Simon J., Ill, 695. xlvi INDEX Tracy, John J., II, 1138. Tracy, Mortimer O., Ill, 1357. ' Trandum, Einar H., Ill, 1349. Transportation : McKenzie inaugurates steamboat navigation on the Yellow- stone, I, 113; river, by mackinaw boat, 137; first steamboat arrives at Fort Union, 138. Travelers' Rest Creek, I, 58, 61. "Travels in the Interior of America" (Bradbury), I, 69. Travis, James, III, 670. Travis, Jane, III, 671. Travona, I, 371, 373. Treasure county: irrigation in, I, 613; description of, 844. Tregloan, Thomas D., II, 404. Trepp, Michael, III, 1359. Trevillion, Samuel J., II, 537. Trident, I, 729. Trinder, Charles R., Ill, 784. Trodick, Alfred J., Ill, 702. Trott, Charlie T., II, 192. Trout Creek, I, 824. Trower, J. H., II, 119. Troy, I, 770. Truax, Charles S., II, 423. Truitt, L. W., Ill, 1178. Trumper, May, I, 502; biennial report for 1920, 503-528; 5ii, 528, 869; II, 622. Truscott, John B., II, 157. Trusler, Harvey S., Ill, 1268. Tubbs, Charles C, III, 900. Tucker, Frank F., II, 49. Tucker, Roscoe V., Ill, 1042. Tullock, A. J.. I, 127, 140, 141. Tuohy, William M., II, 516. Tuolumne Mining Co., I, 836. Turk, John C., I, 415. Turk, J. C., I, 289. Turnbull, William N., II, 474. Turner, Charles F., Ill, 1023. Turner, Harry W., II, 542. Tutt, G., I, 222. Tuttle, Arthur, III, 663. Tweedie, J. Andrew, III, 967. Twin Bridges, I, 771, 775. Twin Buttes Game Preserve, I, 749. Twining, W. R., II, 636. Two Dot, I, 848. Tyler, Clayton H., Ill, 1156. Tyler, Reginald G., Ill, 1164. Tyner, Frank J., Ill, 930. Tyson, Harry B., Ill, 946. Ueland, Andrew, III, 902. Ueland, Justus L., Ill, 1180. Ueland, Rasmus R., Ill, 805. Uehlinger, John E., Ill, 854. Ulm, William M., Ill, 684. Ulmer, I, 703. Underground mines at Butte, I, 836. Underwood, Drewyer, I, 192, 196, 197. Union Central Pacific Railroad, I, 559. Union Pacific System, I, 558, 559. Unionville mining district, $4,110,000, I, 766. United States Assay Office, Helena, I, 763. United States Government Fish Hatch- ery, Bridger Canyon, I, 732. United States Gypsum Company, I, 720. United States officials (June, 1921), I, 868. United States Reclamation enterprises defined, I, 590. United States Reclamation Service : work of the, I, 585-90. United States Senatorial election made popular, I, 476. United States Senatorship : contest over (1889), I, 445-58. United States Volunteer Cavalry (Rough Riders), I, 643. University Hall, I, 534. University of Montana: foundation laid, I, 496, 500; under supervision of State Board of Education, 528; origin and scope, 529; results of unified adminis- tration, 530; student enrollments, 532; consolidation of, 544. Upper Geyser Basin, Yellowstone Park, I, 118. Upper Stillwater Lake, Blackfeet Na- tional Forest (illustration), I, 622. Upton, John, I, 209. Utah & Northern (Union Pacific) Rail- road, I, 375, 407; extends into Mon- tana, 558. Vagg, Harry A., II, 256. Valencia, I, 848. Valier irrigation project, I, 583. Valiton, Ribot J., II, 149. Valley county: alfalfa (illustration), I, 401 ; county created, 443, 451 ; irriga- tion in, 613; description of, 845. Valley of Sin-Yal-min, I, 157. Van, John, III, 1248. Vananda, I, 821. Vanatta, Frank C., Ill, 822. van den Broeck, Victor J., II, 26. Vanderbilt, John, I, 192, 209. vander Pauwert, John, III, 1384. Van Duzen Company, I, 877. Van Duzen Oil Company, I, 388. Van Etten, Lee M., II, 519. Van Laken, Peter J., II, 57. Vannett, Alba M., Ill, 1423. Van Vorous, Benjamin, III, 1147. Varco, C. Earl, III, 1074. Vaughan, A. J., I, 163, 167. Vaughan, Patrick, I, 306. Vaughn, L. H., II, 296. Vaughn, Robert, I, 392. Veach, F. L, III, 1050. Veblen, Thorkel A., II, 433. Verendrye, Pierre de La, I, father and sons, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8; discovers the Rocky Mountains, 9, 10; last years of, I, u. Verona Town Company : records, site of Virginia City, I, 217. Veterans' Welfare Commission, I, 488. Vezina, William R., Ill, 1162. Viall, John D., Ill; 1408. Vickers, Robert, I, 773; III, 714. Victor (Salish chief), I, 157. Victor, I, 792, 812. Vida, I, 777. Vigilante Trail, I, 771. INDEX xlvii "Vigilantes in Montana" (Dimsdale), I, 217, 243, 247, 261, 275. Vigilantes of Montana, I, 242-277; or- ganization of, 260; last work of, 275, 276, 277. Vilas, J. C, II, 269. Villard, Henry, I, 560. Vincelette, Azarias G., Ill, 1385. Virginia City: founding of (Blake), I, 216; incorporated, 220; 232, 298; fourth and fifth Assemblies at, 312; 3335 territorial capital contest, 422; 771; of today, 772-75- Virginia City Gas Company, I, 286. Virginia City Water Company, I, 285, 773. Vivion county organized, I, 469. Vocational education, I, 545. Vocational work, I, 516. Vollum, Alfred T., Ill, 814. Volstead, Andrew J., I, 490. Volstead Act, I, 490. Volunteer Signal Corps, Montana, I, 643, 644. von Dachenhausen, A., II, 545. Von Eschen, Frank, II, 228. Waber, Julius, III, 1012. Wachholz, John, III, 1440. Wade, Decius S., I, 404, 412; service as chief justice, 419; 421, 427; (portrait), 428; retires as chief justice, 430; 434. Wade, D. S., I, 758, 760. Wade, John, I, 581. Wagenbreth, Charles J., Ill, 1396. Wagnild, Otto, III, 751. Wagoner, John (Dutch), I, 249, 263; execution of, 268; 334. Wait, Mrs. Guy, I, 721. Waite, Charles W., Ill, 928. Waite, John D., II,. 175. Waite, William T., Ill, 1108. Wakefield, Lawrence, III, 1435. Walker, Annie P., Ill, 1160. Walker, Frank C., II, 521. Walker, Hugh C., Ill, 786. Walker, I. N., II, 561. Walker, James G., I, 322. Walker, J. W., I, 869. Walker, Leonard O., II, 183. Walker, Nancy J., Ill, 856. Walker, Noble M., II, 107. Walker, Samuel C., II, 643. Walker, Thomas J., II, 521. Walker Brothers, I, 373- Walkerville, I, 827, 834, 836. Wall, Frank M., II, 595- Wall, Nicholas, I, 183, 287, 558. Wallace, J. D., II, 476. Wallace, Robert B.: death of, I, 454 J 645; (portrait), 646. Waller, Oliver P., Ill, 1166. Wallin, Charles C., II, 84. Wallinder, Peter, III, 693. Walsh, J. A., I, 461, 868. Walsh, Patrick J., Ill, 855. Walsh, Thomas J., I, 463, 47* ', sketch of, 491 ; 760, 868. Walters, N. P., II, 5^5- Walton, Ernest L., Ill, 965. Warner, William, III, 870. Wandell, Alexander, III, 756. Warfield, I, 770. Warner, Alfred C., Ill, 749. Warren, Charles S., I, 222, 316, '320, 834, 835; II, I. Warren, Fred R., II, 93. Warren, Henry L., I, 419, 422. Washoe Copper Company, I, 377. Washoe Sampler, I, 380. Water of the Cottonwood Groves (Stinkwater), I, 222. Wate Rights legislation in Montana, I, 590. Waters, Harry J., II, 51. Watkins, I, 777. Watkins, Charles F., Ill, 1048. Watkins, Charles L., I, 654. Watkins, Cyrus D., I, 192, 196, 197. Watson, John P., II, 428. Watson, Robert H., II, 108. Wear, William E., Ill, 1376. Weaver, George H., Ill, 1156. Weaver, James A., II, 119. Weaver, Samuel C., II, 133. Webb, William H., II, 475. Webster, C. M., I, 698. Webster, Frederick C., II, 461. Weed, Walter H., I, 374- Weightman, John, III, 795. Weil, Charles A., II, 185. ' Weinrich, Frank A., Ill, 1139. Weinschrott, John, III, 1312. Weir, Taylor B., Ill, 739. Weitman, Lutie, I, 698. Welch, W. W., I, 502. Weld, Horace A., II, 148. Weldon, I, 777. Weldon, James M., II, 7- Wellcome, George P., II, 379- Welliver, Earl M., II, 568. Wellman, William, II, 622. Wells, Hugh R., Ill, 1346. Wells, Willis C, II, 62. Welsh, Thomas W., II, 596. Wentworth, Charles L., II, in. Wentz, Michael R., Ill, 801. Wernham, James L, II, 96. Werner, William, I, 28. Wesch, Philip, II, 85. West, Belle H., III., 1313. West, Charles M., Ill, 1313. West, Sterling C., Ill, 1371. Western Central Basin of Montana, I, 230. Western Lumber Company, I, 781. _ "Western Missions and Missionaries" (De Smet), I, 151. Western Montana Fair Association, I, 786. Western Montana Park-to-Park High- way Route, I, 783- Western Newspaper Union, Billings, I, 854. Westmore, I, 7*4- Weston, Charles J., II, 618. Weston, D. H., I, 404- Westover, George A., II, 375- Westover, Robert L., Ill, 1432. Wharton, Jesse R., II, 519. Wheat Basin, I, 840. r. xlviii INDEX Wheat Harvest of Fergus county (illus- tration, I, 716. Wheatland county: created, I, 482; irri- gation in, 614; description of, 846. Wheatland County Wheat Farm (illus- tration), I, 847. Wheaton, Sherwood, I, 761. Wheeler, Burton K., II, 7. Wheeler, Frank O., II, 614. Wheeler, W. F., I, 186. Whipps, William C., II, 187. Whipps, William O., II, 182. Whitcomb, Harry S., Ill, 1048. White, Arthur, III, 943. White, A. A., Ill, 1274. White, Benjamin F., sketch of, I, 412, 413, 669, 868; II, 315- White, John, I, 190, 191, 250. White, Walter B., II, 279. White Earth River, I, 29, 30. White Slave law passed, I, 469. White Sulphur Springs, I, 778. White Sulphur Springs and Yellowstone Park Railroad, I, 568. Whitebear Islands, I, 43, 59. Whitefish, I, 725. Whitehall, I, 746. Whitehouse, Joseph, I, 28, 46. Whitehpuse Creek, I, 46. Whitepine, I, 824. Whiteside bill, I, 535. Whitetail, I, 708. Whitford, O. B., I, 316. Whitlach, J. W., I, 757. Whitlash, I, 768. Whitlatch Mine, I, 765. Whitlock, Albert N., II, 444. Whitman, Marcus, I, 145. Whitney, Janet, III, 1209. Whittinghill, J. N., II, 221. Whitty, Patrick J., II, 572. Whyte, Frederick W. C., II, 425. Whyte, Jeffrey P., II, 89. Wibaux, I, 848. Wibaux, Pierre, I, 703. Wibaux county: irrigation in, I, 614; description of, 848. Wickes-Corbin mining district, $57,915,- ooo, I, 766. Widdifield, Cecil J., I, 662. Wiggins, Frank, II, 310. Wilcox, Clyde, III, 763. Wilcox, Paul D., II, 450. Wilcox, Philip B., Ill, 1124. Wild, Levi S., Ill, 1223. Wilder, Davis E., II, 500. Wiley, A. S., I, 397. Wiley, Bert E., II. 621. Wiley, H. B., I, 707. Wilhelm, Albert C., II, 480. Wilhelm, Charles C, II, 255. Wilkinson, Herbert T., II, 464. Wilkinson, James, I, 18. Willard, Alexander, I, 28. Willard's Creek, I, 230. Williams, I, 804. Williams, Captain, I, 273, 274. Williams, Charles H. (Deer Lodge), II, 339- Williams, Charles H. (Lewistown), III, 1290. Williams, Daniel S., Ill, 1227. Williams, Frank E., II, 157. Williams, Griffith A., II, 46. Williams, Henry, I, 343. Williams, Henry F., I, 419. Williams, H. J., I, 732. Williams, James, I, 260, 286. Williams, Joseph J., I, 415. Williams, Julius, II, 165. Williams, J. W., I, 511. , Williams, Robert S., I, 698. Williams Creek, I, 230. Williamson, Albert E., Ill, 1339. Willis, Charles C, II, 80. Williston, L. P., I, 298, 414, 416. Willow Creek, I, 729. Wills, Maude B., Ill, 1397. Willson, Fred F., II, 319. Willson, L. S., I, 547- Wilsall, I, 801. Wilson, Charles, II, 72. Wilson, Harry L., II, 47. Wilson, Henry H., II, 22. Wilson, John R., I, 316. Wilson, Justice, L., Ill, 1082. Wilson, M. L., I, 707. Wilson, Robert H., I, 760. Wilson, Roy O., II, 94. Wiltner, William E., Ill, 710. Wines, Josiah L., II, 538. Winifred, I, 717. Wininger, McClellan, II, 634. Winkelmann, William F., Ill, 964. Winnecook, I, 848. Winnett, I, 717. Winsor, Richard, I, 28. Winston mining district, $3,560,000, I, 766. Winter, Al G., II, 212. Winter, Christian F., Ill, 1148. Winter, Harold H., II, 212. Wiper, Charles, II, 15. Wisconsin Gulch, I, 231. Wisdom river, I, 60, 61. Wise, John S., Ill, 1002. Wiser, Peter, I, 28. Witherspoon, Thomas C., Ill, 1211. Withington, Hal S., Ill, 1244. Witt, William, II, 33. Wogan, Qle C., II, 376. Wolcott, J. Herman, II, 248. Wolf Creek, I, 749. Wolf mountains, I, 91. Wolf Point, I, 817. .Wolfskill, Joseph M., II, 177. Wolwin, A. B., I, 836. Women in the State University, I, 541. Women's Self-Governing Association : State University, I, 542. Wood, Charles L., Ill, 1210. Wood, George J., I, 211, 212. Wood, J. C., I, 878, 885; III, 1152. Wood, J. M., I, 219, 257. Woodbridge, J. T., I, 380. Woodburn, Burl, III, 1387. Woodburn, William W., Ill, 1386. Woodbury, Frederick E., Ill, 1071. Woodbury, L. S., Ill, 1070. Woodbury, M. Cerula, III, 1072. Woodman, Martin L., Ill, 1415. Woods, George M., I, 758, 760. INDEX xlix Woods, Louis B., Ill, 1004. Woods, Patrick W., Ill, 738. Woodworth, Charles, II, 75. Woody, Frank H., I, 132, 161, 223, 225, 316, 426, 431; (portrait), 432. Woolfolk, Alex M., I, 415. Woolston, Ernest, III, 1318. Word, R. Lee, I, 436. Word, Samuel, I, 282, 284, 289, 316, 422. Worden, I, 856. Worden, Frank L., I, 223; (portrait), 224; 282, 784. Worden and Company, I, 223. Worden & Company (Missoula), I, 225. Work, Lester P., II, 88. Working, S. S., II, 325. Workman's Compensation act, I, 488. World's War: Governor Dixon on, I, 486 ; Montana in, 650-663 ; total man power raised, 651 ; first Montana man to fall, 652 ; honor men from Montana, 653-663 ; Distinguished Service Cross men, 654-663 ; Liberty Loan campaigns in, 663; Montana's subscription to loans and funds, 663-665; Montana's allotments and subscriptions, 666. Worthington, Lenord L., II, 229. Worrell, Stephen, I, 18. Wright, I, 848. Wright, Al, III, 1441. Wright, Clark, I, 496. Wright, Edmund, II, 117. Wright, Frank A., Ill, 1412. Wright, Frank E., II, 299. Wright, George, I, 302. Wright, George A., II, 223. Wright, George F., Ill, 1292. Wyeth, I, 121. Wyeth, Nathaniel J., I, 120. Wylie, W. W., I, 497- Wyman, Cyrus K., II, 263. Wyola, I, 674. Yager, Erastus (Red), I, 247; hanging of, 260-63. Yankee Flat, I, 328. Yates, I, 848. Yegen, Christian, II, 327. Yegen, Peter, II, 327. ^ Yellow Pine Forests in Lincoln county (illustration), I, 628. Yellowstone county: number and value of cattle (1884), I, 395; irrigation in, 614; description of, 850; irrigated and non-irrigated lands of, 857 ; live stock raising in, 858; dairy farming in, 859. Yellowstone Lake, I, 69. Yellowstone National Park, geysers, I, 118; 633. Yellowstone Park memorials, I, 481. Yellowstone River : falls and rapids of (illustration), I, 70; naming of, 78; geological origin of, 96. Yellowstone Trail, I, 570, 575, 730, 783, 850. Y-G-Bee Line, I, 778. York (Negro), I, 28, 44. York, James N., I, 192, 196, 198. Young, Cleveland M., II, 361. Young, George T., Ill, 1439. Young, George W., II, 135. Young, Ignace, I, 144, 145. Young, John F., Ill, 1274. Young, William H., Ill, 1353. Young, William L., Ill, 927. Young, Winfield S., Ill, 776. Young, W. E., Ill, 1439. Young Men's Christian Association of Miles City, I, 704. Young Men's Christian Association, Bozeman, I, 732. Young Women's Christian Association, Missoula, I, 786. Zachary, Robert, I, 249. Zebinatti, Peter: death of, I, 154- Zeidler, Leo G., II, 4. Zeman, Joseph P., Ill, 1447- Ziebarth, Albert W., Ill, 886. Zimmerman, Ami, III, 1271. Zinc, mining of, I, 382; output IQO&- 1918, 383. History of Montana CHAPTER I APPROACHES TO THE "LAND OF THE SHINING MOUNTAINS" In the days of ancient classic lore when Rome was sending her legions into the rocky mountains of Western Europe, the Latin authors spoke of the strange and unexplored land as Montana the land of the moun- tains. Thus the name became attached to the American Land of the Mountains, although her lovers of several generations have chosen to think of her in the .translated poetry of the Indian christening bestowed upon the Rocky Mountains the Land of the Shining Mountains. Vague rumors reached the whites of the New World that such poetic and grand christening was based upon the prosaic but enticing fact of reflected light from precious minerals and stones. The magnet was one with that which drew the Spaniards into the interior of southern United States. Besides the lust for precious substance, the French especially were possessed with a religious ardor for the conversion of the natives and an unquenchable spirit of adventure in the discovery and exploration of unknown rivers and lands. America discovered as a continent, the second great quest for the adventurers, geographers and royalists of France was to trace the grand waterways at which the Indians had per- sistently hinted, winding their splendid courses from The Mississippi Valley to the coast of the Pacific. LA HONTAN'S "LONG RIVER" In 1690-1703, La Hontan, a French baron, adventurer and somewhat romancer, explored the country around the headwaters of the Mississippi and wrote a purported account of his travels and "adventures." In the maps which he published, Long River appeared as a distinguishing feature. It was outside of his immediate field of investigation and probably drawn from rather vague information which he had obtained from the Sioux of the upper Mississippi valley. From the fact that he was a proven prevaricator, in many respects, most historians put down Long River as a figment of his imagination. Others more charitable, like Vol. I 1 1 LEWIS AND CLARK EXPEDITION IN MONTANA HISTORY OF MONTANA 3 the late Joaquin Miller, who wrote a history of Montana in 1894, give him this credit : "This is unjust to La Hontan, for there is good reason to believe that the information concerning Long river which he obtained from the Indians referred to the Missouri, but in passing through the many intervening tribes, it became greatly exaggerated. For instance, the many lakes on Long River do exist in the vicinity of the headwaters of the Missouri such as Flathead lake, Henry's lake, Jackson lake, Yellowstone lake, Lake Pahkokee, Great Salt lake, etc., but by the time the knowledge of them reached the Indians with whom he came in contact, it is very natural they should locate them all on and along the upper Missouri, and it may also be that La Hontan could but very im- perfectly understand them, and therefore may have made these mis- takes himself." ENTER THE CATHOLIC PRIESTS Among those who severely criticised La Hontan was Father Bobe, a learned priest of Versailles, who, nevertheless, held that the Mississippi swerved toward the west and south and was constantly urging the French government to search for a northern interior route to the Pacific. On the I5th of March, 1716, he wrote to De L'Isle, geographer of the Academy of Science, at Paris: "They tell me that among the Sioux of the Mississippi there are always Frenchmen trading; that the course of the Mississippi is from north to west and from west to south; that it is known that toward the source there is in the highlands a river that leads to the western ocean. * * * For the last two years I tor- mented exceedingly the governor-general, M. Raudot, and M. Duche, to endeavor to discover this ocean. If I succeed, as I hope, we shall have tidings before three years, and I shall have the pleasure and the consola- tion of having rendered a good service to geography, to religion and to the state." DUKE OF ORLEANS COMMENCES WESTERN EXPLORATIONS At this period, France was being ruled by the Duke of Orleans, as regent, who decided to launch the great adventure in a practical way by establishing three bases of supply for the western explorations. The first of these was at the head of Lake Superior near the mouth of the Kaministiguia River, where Sieur Greysolon DuLuth had founded a post as early as 1678; a second was ordered to be built at Lac des Cristineaux (Lake of the Woods) and a third at Lake Winnipeg. The work of construction was under the supervision of Lieut. Robertel de la None. These posts were not to be a charge on the French government. Parkman says, in his "Half Century of Conflict," that "by a device common in such cases, those who built and maintained them were to be paid by a monopoly of the fur trade in the adjacent countries." Once the posts were established, however, it would be incumbent upon the government to equip, pay and direct the future explorations.* * Historical Magazine, New York, 1859. 4 HISTORY OF MONTANA CHARLEVOIX INVESTIGATES During the first year, little more was accomplished than the building of a stockade at the mouth of the Kaministiguia. Then passed three years, when the Duke of Orleans sent Charlevoix, the learned Jesuit, to Canada to investigate these rumors of a great western waterway to a great Western Sea, and in this work he spent a year among the Indians and whites of the upper lake region, making full records of his travels and conclusions for the benefit of the French archives and posterity. Pierre Margry, keeper of the French archives in Paris, says of Charlevoix's plans, formed as a result of his visit to the country of the upper Mississippi : "The Regent, in choosing between the two plans that Father Charlevoix presented to him at the close of his journey for the attainment of a knowledge of the Western Sea, through an unfortunate prudence, rejected the suggestion which, it is true, was the most expensive and uncertain, viz., an expedition up the Missouri to its source and beyond, and decided to establish a post among the Sioux. The post of the Sioux was consequently established in 1727. Father Conor, a Jesuit missionary who had gone upon the expedition, we are told, was, however, obliged to return without being able to discover anything that would satisfy the expectations of the Court about the Western Sea." The decade of attempts to establish the post at Lake Pepin, named Fort Beauharnois (after the governor of Canada), and the mission, St. Michael, was surcharged with disaster of flood and Indian assault, and in 1737 its commander, Legardeur de Saint-Pierre, abandoned all attempts to get in touch with the Sioux and advised his superiors that they should be exterminated. THE VERENDRYES, FATHER AND SONS In the meantime, Pierre Gaulthier de Varenne (known afterward as Sieur de La Verendrye), a native of a worthy French Canadian family of Three Rivers, who had served as a brave soldier of fortune in the War of the Spanish Succession, returned to Canada and become a coureur de bois, had his mind full of these tales of Western rivers and a Western Sea. Furthermore, the Indians stories were being repeatedly enforced by testimony presented by the priests with whom he came in contact. In his middle age, Verendrye was so well established as a fur trader that in 1728 he was in command of the post at Lake Nepigon, Canada, whose waters flow into Lake Superior from the north. The most complete account of his endeavors to explore the great western interior in search of a transcontinental waterway, for which historic event he laid the foundation and two of his sons enjoyed the realization, was prepared forty-five years ago by Rev. E. D. Neill, historian and president of Macalester College, Minneapolis, Minnesota; and to his paper were HISTORY OF MONTANA 5 added valuable notes by Granville Stuart, the gold pioneer and long a leader in the up-building of the Historical Society of Montana. While stationed at Lake Nepigon, Verendrye received from the Indians such positive assurances as to a river which flowed toward the Sea of the West that he resolved to make an exploration. At Mackinaw, while on his way to confer with the government of Canada upon the subject, Father de Conor arrived from the post which had been estab- lished among the Sioux nearly opposite Maiden Rock, Wisconsin, on the shores of Lake Pepin. The latter is an expansion of the Mississippi River, about midway between Minnesota and Wisconsin. "After an interchange of views," says Dr. Neill's narrative, "the priest promised to assist him as far as he could in obtaining a permit and outfit for the establishment of a post among the Knisteneaux, or the Assiniboels, from which to go farther west. "Charles de Beauharnois, then governor of Canada, gave him a respectful hearing, and carefully examined the map of the region west of the great lakes, which had been drawn by Otchaga, the Indian guide of Verendrye. Orders were soon given to fit out an expedition of fifty men. It left Montreal in 1731, under the conduct of his sons and nephew, he not joining the party until 1733, in consequence of the detention of business. After establishing several posts and forts between Rainy Lake and Lake Winnipeg, their advance was stopped in the Winnipeg region by the exhaustion of supplies. In April, 1735, arrangements were made for a second equipment and a fourth son joined the expedition. "In June, 1736, while twenty-one of the expedition were camped upon an isle in the Lake of the Woods, they were surprised by a band of Sioux hostile to the French allies, 'the Knisteneaux, and all killed. The island, upon this account, is called in the early maps Massacre Island. A few days after, a party of five Canadian voyagers discovered their dead bodies and scalped heads. Father Ouneau, the missionary, was found upon one knee, an arrow in his head, his breast bare, his left hand touching the ground and the right hand raised. "Among the slaughtered was also a son of Verendrye, who had a tomahawk in his back, and his body was adorned with garters and brace- lets of porcupine. The father was at the fort at the Lake of the Woods when he received the news of his son's murder, and about the satae time heard of the death of his enterprising nephew. * * * On the 3rd of October, 1738, they built an advance post, Fort Le Reine, on the River Assiniboine, which they called St. Charles, and beyond was a branch called St. Pierre. These two rivers received the baptismal name of Verendrye, which was Pierre, and Governor Beauharnois (governor of Canada), which was Charles. This post (Fort La Reine) became the center of trade, and point of departure for explorations either north or south." At this newly established post, La Verendrye received news from the Assiniboines (a friendly offshot of the Sioux) of the existence of the strange Mantanes (Mandans), or White Beards, of the Dakota family, whose villages were along the Missouri. They received that name 6 HISTORY OF MONTANA from the fact that they became gray haired so young. The Assiniboines also assured the leader of the expedition, which was more to his mind, that the Mandans knew the way to the Western Sea and would furnish him guides thither. On the i8th of October, 1738, La Verendrye, with three of his sons and a mixed company of Indians and French Canadians, to the number of fifty-two, started for the land of the Mandans. The succeeding ten days took them, as is believed, to Turtle Mountain, thence along the Assiniboine and the Mouse rivers toward their destination, gathering friendly and helpful Indian guides on the way. On the 28th of October, the first Mandans were seen, and La Verendrye's journal contains their first description by white men. At the time of his visit during the first days of* December, they occupied six villages on the banks of the Missouri, in what is now the northwestern part of North Dakota; and La Verendrye called the Missouri "the Great River of the Couhatchatte Nation." While thus engaged in friendly intercourse, the leader was robbed of all the presents which he had brought with which to propitiate the Indians along the route of his western journey, and was therefore obliged to retrace his way to Fort La Reine to replace his stock of gifts which was, perhaps, the most necessary part of his outfit. Leaving two of his men among the Mandans to learn their language and collect information which might be of benefit to him, La Verendrye retraced his way to Fort La Reine. It was a terrible journey, in the dead of a bitter northern winter, and was not completed until near the middle of February. It was not until September, 1739, that the two men who had been living with the Mandans returned to Fort La Reine to report to their leader. They brought tidings of strange western tribes who had visited the Mandans in the conduct of trade and told of a Great Salt Lake and the Great Salt Water. La Verendrye therefore dispatched to the Mandan villages as large a company as he could gather under his oldest son, Pierre, with instructions to secure guides and push on to the Western Ocean. But when La Verendrye, the younger, reached his destination, the Indians of the farther west who professed to know of the existence of that Western Ocean had departed from the Mandan villages and left no trace behind them. In the summer of 1740, he therefore did no more than to bring to Fort La Reine another bitter disappointment to the elder man, already nearly crushed with bodily and mental struggles. In the year named, La Verendrye went to Montreal for the third time to solicit aid in support of his futile attempts to open up a western way. Instead of proffered assistance, he found hungry creditors awaiting him. In his journal, published in Margry's collections, he further describes the pitiful state of his affairs : "In spite of the derangement of my affairs, the envy and jealousy of various persons impelled them to write letters to the court insinuating that I thought of nothing but making my fortune. If more than forty thousand livres of debt which I have on my shoulders are an advantage, then I can flatter myself that I am very rich. In all my misfortunes I have the consolation of seeing HISTORY OF MONTANA 7 that M. de Beauharnois enters into my views, recognizes the uprightness of my intentions, and does me justice in spite of opposition." Francis Parkman, in his "Half Century of Conflict," Vol. II, p. 34, says: "Beauharnois twice appealed to the court to give La Verendrye some little aid, urging that he was at the end of his resources, and that a grant of 30,00x3 francs, or 6,000 dollars, would enable him to find a way to the Pacific. All help was refused, but La Verendrye was told that he might let out his forts to other traders and so raise means to pursue the discovery." THE VERENDRYE BROTHERS START WESTWARD Now broken in health and subdued in spirit, the father turned over his dear enterprise to his more vigorous sons, Pierre de La Verendrye and the Chevalier, who, with two fellow Frenchmen, again headed for the Mandans on the Missouri, in the spring of 1742. They left the Lake of the Woods on the 2gth of April and reached the Missouri after about three weeks of travel. After impatiently waiting for the coming of some western Indians, called Horse Indians by the Mandans, and passing the spring and summer in tiresome inaction, the young Frenchmen induced two of their red friends to guide them to the camping grounds of the Horse tribe. These were found to be deserted. Parkman believes the site of this camp to be west of the Little Missouri "and perhaps a part of the Powder River Range." The locality would seem, at least, to have been in Southeastern Montana. The time was in August, 1742, and it was not until nearly a month later, after one of the Mandan guides had deserted the party, that the four Frenchmen met a band of Indians whom they called Les Beaux Hommes, or Handsome Men believed to be the Crows. They were enemies of the Mandans, and the remaining guide of that tribe hastily deserted. The expedition remained some three weeks with the Handsome Men, and on October 9th continued its explorations in a southwesterly direction, still looking for the Horse Indians. When the four reached the village of these evident nomads, they were told that the tribe Bows, still to the southwest, would enlighten them as to the Western Ocean. As was customary, each tribe referred the whites to a more distant tribe. This seemed to have been the settled policy of the red man to lure the white farther and farther from his own, and by the attrition of hard travel and slaughter attempt to wear away his strength and life. INDIAN PICTURE OF 1742 When, in October, 1742, the Frenchmen at last reached the lodges of the long-sought Horse Indians (as stated by Parkman, who adapts his narrative from the Chevalier's journal), they found them in the extremity of distress and terror. Their camp resounded with howls and wailings, and not without cause, for the Snakes or Shoshones a '8 HISTORY OF MONTANA formidable people living farther westward had lately destroyed most of their tribe. The Snakes were the terror of that country. The brothers were told that the year before they had destroyed seventeen villages, killing warriors and old women, and carrying off the young women and children as slaves. Parkman, who, as he observes in a footnote, draws the particulars of his description from "repeated observations of similar scenes," draws a graphic picture ("Half Century of Conflict/' Vol. II, p. 48) of this breaking-up of the camp. "The squaws," he says, "took down the lodges and the march began over prairies dreary and brown with the withering touch of autumn. The spectacle was such as men still young have seen in these western lands, but which no man will see again. The vast plain swarmed with the moving multitude. The tribes of the Missouri and Yellowstone had by this time abundance of horses, the best of which were used for war and hunting, and the others as beasts of burden. These last were equipped in a peculiar manner. Several of the long poles used to frame the tepees or lodges were secured by one end to each side of a rude saddle, while the other end trailed on the ground. Crossbars lashed to the poles just behind the horse kept them three or four feet apart, and formed a firm support, on which was laid, compactly folded the buffalo-skin covering of the lodge. On this again sat a mother with her young family, sometimes stowed for safety in a large open willow basket, with the occasional addition of some domestic pet such as a tame raven, a puppy or even a small bear cub. Other horses were laden in the same manner with wooden bowls, stone hammers and other utensils, along with stores of dried buffalo-meat packed in cases of rawhide whitened and painted. Many of the innumerable dogs whose manners and appearance strongly suggested their relatives, the wolves, to whom, however, they bore a mortal grudge were equipped in a similar manner, with shorter poles and lighter loads. Bands of naked boys, noisy and restless, roamed the prairie, practicing their bows and arrows on any small animal they might find. Gay young squaws adorned on each cheek with a spot of ochre or red clay, and arrayed in tunic of fringed buckskin embroidered with porcupine quills were mounted on ponies, astride like men ; while lean and tattered hags the drudges of the tribe, unkempt and hideous scolded the lagging horses, or screeched at the disorderly dogs, with voices not unlike the yell of the great horned owl. Most of the warriors were on horseback, armed with round, white shields of bull-hide, feathered lances, war- clubs, bows and quivers filled with stone headed arrows; while a few of the elders, wrapped in robes of buffalo hide, stalked along in groups with a stately air, chatting, laughing and exchanging unseemly jokes." REACH THE FRIENDLY Bow INDIANS Finally the Verendryes reached the land of the Bow Indians (Gene de 1'Arc) and found them preparing to take the warpath against the powerful Snake Indians, who had already nearly exterminated the Horses. HISTORY OF MONTANA 9 The Bow Indians, through their chief, were very courteous. They knew nothing personally of the Western Sea, although they had heard of the Great Water from certain Snake prisoners. Parkman quotes from the Chevalier's Journal as follows : "Thus far we had been well received in all the villages we had passed; but this was nothing compared with the courteous manners of the great chief of the Bow Indians, who, unlike the others, was not self-interested in the least, and who took excellent care of everything belonging to us." TRIP OF VENGEANCE AND DISCOVERY Further, according to Parkman's "Half Century of Conflict," the courteous and honorable chief of the Bows extended this invitation, so vital to the definite course of this narrative and which meant so much to the fame of the sons of La Verendrye : "Come with us. We are going towards the mountains, where you can see the Great Water that you are looking for." The Great Water was not to be seen, but the vast shining piles of the Rocky Mountains were to be first spread before the eyes of white travellers and recorders. The camp of the Bows was broke up, its warriors poured across the prairie eager to attack their Snake enemies, the Frenchmen riding along with the red warriors. Pierre and his younger brother, the Chevalier, were near the great chief. When, on the first of January, 1743, they came in sight of the vast mountain range, capped and shining with snow," a council of the chiefs and warriors was held to determine what course to pursue. The decision of the council was that the women and children and infirm be left behind in a place of comparative safety, while the warriors sallied forth in a body to strike the hated Snakes. THE CHEVALIER DISCOVERS THE ROCKIES "Pierre and the Chevalier were invited to accompany the advancing army. After deliberation, the elder Pierre determined to remain with the camp, to watch over and protect the belongings of the party, and the young Chevalier chose to proceed with the warriors, though he prudently declined to engage in any possible combat with the foe." The war party started on its advance January 21, 1743, and, according to the Chevalier, who kept a journal of the expedition, reached the base of the mountains (probably the Big Horn Range), twelve days later. The young French leader was anxious to ascend some peak of the range and look for the Western Sea. But although the Bows conveyed the idea that everything must give place to vengeance upon the Snakes when some of their scouts returned to the main body of the warriors with the information that they had discovered a camp of the enemy, hastily abandoned, the Bows were panic-stricken over the possibility that the Snakes had circumvented them and wiped out their own camp of women, children and infirm. The Indian war party was completely demoralized 10 HISTORY OF MONTANA and even the chief abandoned the Chevalier, temporarily, to endeavor to rally his men and keep them intact. Finally, they had all gathered at the camp, only to find it unmolested. The chief and a few of his faithful warriors were the last to return, as they had been searching the desolate and storm-driven plain for their guest, the Chevalier, whom they feared had perished. At length, the Indian chief appeared in camp, exhausted and grief -stricken, but, the Chevalier writes, "his sorrow turned to joy, and he could not give us attention and caresses enough." THE HOMEWARD JOURNEY The Frenchmen remained with the chief of the Bows during January and February, 1743, traveling with the Indians through deep snow-drifts in a southeasterly direction. About the first of March, they approached the winter grounds of the Little Cherry, or Choke Cherry Indians in what is now Western South Dakota. The Verendrye brothers at once sent one of their men ahead to gain from that tribe any information which might be of benefit to them in their discouraging search for the Western Sea by an overland route. The Choke Cherries were kind to the courier and through him invited the white men to visit them, but conveyed no information along the line of their investigations. On the 1 5th of March, having bidden farewell to the friendly chief of the Bows and his immediate followers, the Verendryes, according to their journal, arrived "among the band of the Little Cherry, who, where we found them, were two days' march from their camp on the Missouri." It is believed that this locality was about where Cherry Creek empties into the Cheyenne, some fifty miles from the Missouri, and about eighty miles West of the present capital of South Dakota, Pierre. Still travelling East and not far from the banks of the Missouri River, the Frenchmen erected a pile of stone, taking the precaution not to reveal to the Indians the significance of the leaden plate which accompanied it. According to the Chevalier's journal: "On an eminence near the fort (camp), I placed a leaden plate engraved with the arms and inscription of the King and some stones in shape of a pyramid in honor of the General (Beau- harnois)." DEATH OF SIEUR DE LA VERENDRYE On the 2nd of April, Pierre and the Chevalier commenced their travels toward the Northwest, which brought them to the Mandan villages on the i8th of May. The return of the sons to the Sieur de La Verendrye not only lightened the anxiety and depression of the father, but appears to have improved his fortunes. The latter was made captain of the Order of St. Louis, and the two sons were promoted in the royal service. In 1749 the new governor, Monsieur the Marquis de la Jonquiere, a hard man and master, had, nevertheless, commissioned the Sieur to "look after the posts and explorations in the west," and he had already prepared maps and memoranda of his future explorations, HISTORY OF MONTANA n when death called him from his unrealized ambitions, on December 6th of the year named (1749). About a year after the death of his father, Chevalier de la Verendrye wrote to La Jonquiere appealing for service in the field of western ex- plorations on the score of the sacrifices made by his father and brothers Instead, the governor appointed one M. de Saint Pierre to head one of the expeditions, and, by various misrepresentations to La Jonquiere, the La Verendryes were made decidedly "persona non gratis" and rejected from all participation in it. LAST YEARS OF THE CHEVALIER The condition of the family whose various members had blazed the way to the Rocky Mountains is thus described in the Chevalier's petition to the governor: "My returns this year amount to half, and in con- sequence of a thousand harassments my ruin is accomplished. For accounts contracted by father and myself I find I am indebted for more than 20,000 francs. I remain without money or patrimony; I am simply ensign of second grade, my elder brother has only the same rank as myself, and my younger brother is only cadet; and this is the actual result of all that my father, my brothers and I have done. That brother of mine who was murdered, some years since, by the Indians, victim that he was by the Western Sea, was not the most unfortunate one; his blood is to us nothing worth, the sweat of our father and ourselves has availed us naught; we are compelled to yield that which has cost us so much, if M. de St. Pierre does not entertain a better feeling and communicate same to M. le Mqs. de la Jonquiere." Both expeditions sent out by La Jonquiere were failures. In 1753, about the time that the St. Pierre fiasco was reporting to the authorities, the Chevalier was made ensign of the first grade and four years later became a lieutenant. In November, 1761, after Quebec had fallen to the English, the Chevalier with other fellow officers sailed for France in the "Auguste." One hundred persons were on board. Not far from the North Cape of Isle Royal, on the coast of Cape Breton, at the mouth of the St. Lawrence, the ship was wrecked and all perished (including the Chevalier), except the captain, a colonial officer and five soldiers. Thus died the actual white discoverer of the Rocky Mountains, although it is still a matter of conjecture as to how far West he penetrated, or the specific location of the leaden plate and the rough stone monument erected somewhere in the region of the Cheyenne and Missouri rivers to commemorate the exploration and international claim of France to some little portion of what afterward was known as Louisiana. THE APPROACH FROM THE PACIFIC Verendrye and his sons had been approaching the "Land of the Shining Mountains" through the interior of the East, and the next prog- ress in tracing the transcontinental waterway was to be from the Pacific- Columbia River route of the West. The Spaniards and Portuguese pushed 12 HISTORY OF MONTANA up the Pacific coast in early historic times, and left such names on the maps as Cape Blanco, Straits of Fuca and Oregon, but in their rush for gold and booty found little time to record their voyages in the interest of cartography. Then came the more reliable northern navigators, Behring, the Dane, and Drake, the Englishman, to approach the latitude of Montana on the Pacific coast, "but it was left for Captain James Cook, so far as we can say positively, to point his ships prow toward the mountains of Montana, and break the hush of ice-bound seas as nearly urfder the beetling banks of Montana as ocean ships have ever sailed or ever shall sail." In 1778, while the Revolution was raging along the fringes of the Atlantic Coast, Captain Cook was exploring the Behring region and sailing up the Oregon (Columbia) River as far as his ocean craft would take him, and in the following year was killed by cannibals on the island (now Hawaii) which he had discovered among a group (the old Sandwich islands). JONATHAN CARVER PROPOSES TRANSCONTINENTAL WATERWAY It is said that Jonathan Carver, of Connecticut, a captain in the war waged with England by which France lost Canada, was the first to definitely propose the transcontinental journey by way of the Missouri and the Oregon (Columbia) rivers. Three years after the peace of 1763, he left Boston to visit the sources of the Mississippi and the adjacent regions for purposes of trade, exploration and investigation as to the country of the far West. He applied himself to the study of the Indian languages that he might pursue all these objects, and in this work he spent two years and seven months. After his return to Boston, in 1768, he published an account of his travels and experiences, and he tells us : "From the intelligence I gained from the Nandowessie Indians, whose language I perfectly obtained during a residence of five months; and also from the accounts I afterwards obtained from the Assinipoils, who speak the Chippeway language and inhabit the heads of the river Bourbon I say from these nations, together with my own observations, I have learned that the four most capital rivers on the continent of North America, the St. Lawrence, the river Bourbon (Mississippi) and the Oregon, or the River of the West, have their sources in the same neighborhood. The waters of the three former are within thirty miles of each other, the latter, however, is rather farther west." The want of means prevented Carver from prosecuting his design with the government, which was to prevail upon its authorities to estab- lish a post near the Straits of Anian, after a journey had been effected to the Pacific coast. In 1774, he obtained the support and cooperation of Richard Whitworth, member of the British Parliament for the town of Stafford, of whom the projector of the enterprise says: "He (Mr. Whitworth) designed to have pursued nearly the same route that I did; and after having built a fort at Lake Pepin to have proceeded up a branch of the river Messorie, till, having discovered the source of the Oregon, or River of the West, on the other side of the lands that divide HISTORY OF MONTANA 13 the waters which run into the Gulf of Mexico from those that fall into the Pacific Ocean, he would have sailed down that river to the place where it is said to empty itself, near the Straits of Anian. * * * That the completion of this scheme," concludes Carver, "which I have had the honor of first planning and attempting, will some time or other be effected, I have no doubt. Those who are so fortunate in it will reap (exclusive of the national advantages that must ensue) emoluments beyond their most sanguine expectations. And while their spirits are elated by their success, perhaps they may bestow some commendations and blessings on the person that first pointed out to them the way. These, though but a shadowy recompense for all my toil, I shall receive with pleasure." So that although Jonathan Carver was wild in his geographical as- sertion that the sources of the great Canadian and American river systems were only thirty miles apart, he was among the first, if not the first, to urge the sending of an expedition from the Mississippi valley to the Pacific coast by way of the Missouri and Oregon (Columbia) rivers. But the prosecution of such a design by the government was to be deferred until the country had secured independent right to the territory from the Atlantic coast to the Mississippi valley, as well as that vast western domain through which poured the grand waterways to the Pacific. JEFFERSON CHECKMATING ENGLAND IN THE WEST In 1783, the year of the treaty of peace with England, John Ledyard, a Connecticut adventurer, an educated man and a British corporal of marines under Captain Cook also a deserter from the British army before the war closed published an account of the romantic voyages of that world navigator. The mercurial author also incorporated not a little practical information, quoting Captain Cook's glowing account of the quantity of sea otter and the superior quality of their fur, in the regions of the northwestern Pacific. And although England had lost the war, her agents were already preparing to explore the country between the Mississippi valley and the Pacific coast. Thomas Jefferson was then governor of Virginia, as he had been during the Revolution, and in the year of the Peace he suggested to Gen. George Rogers Clark, the elder brother of Capt. William Clark, a way to checkmate this obvious intention of English policy. Jefferson's words to Clark were: "I find they have subscribed a very large sum of money in England for exploring the country from the Mississippi to California. * * * They pretend it is only to promote knowledge. I am afraid they have thoughts of colon- izing into that quarter. * * * Some of us have been talking here in a feeble way of making an attempt to search that country, but I doubt whether we have enough of that kind of spirit to raise the money. How would you like to lead such a party? * * * tho' I am afraid our prospect is not worth asking the question." Albeit a master mind was pondering the scheme of a Mississippi- 14 HISTORY OF MONTANA Pacific expedition, the time was not yet ripe to bring it to fruition. In the year following his proposition to General (not Captain) Clark, while serving as minister to France, Jefferson met Ledyard in Paris. The restless adventurer was then out of employment, and Jefferson, through the influence of the Empress Catherine's representatives in Europe, enabled Ledyard to travel through Russia to within two hundred miles of Kamschatka, where he was turned back arid dismissed (1788). Their design was to reach the Pacific coast of America by way of the Russian dominions, and pass up the Oregon Missouri to the Mississippi valley. The proposed agent of that journey died in Africa in the follow- ing year. DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION OF COLUMBIA WATERS Ledyard's account of the voyages of Captain Cook, with its suggestions to thrifty Yankee merchants, was enthusiastically discussed by Doctor Bullfinch, his son Charles, and Joseph Barrell, the last a business man of considerable wealth. The result was that two vessels were equipped and an expedition fitted out to sail to the Pacific coast. They were called the Columbia and the Washington, commanded respectively by John Kendrick and Robert Gray. The ships sailed from Boston on September 30, 1787, and in January, 1788, while rounding Cape Horn, a storm separated them. In August, the Washington reached the north- west coast near the forty-sixth degree of latitude, or about the latitude of the Three Forks of the upper Missouri River and the Oregon (Columbia). At that point Captain Gray believed that he saw the mouth of a river, but his vessel grounded, his party were attacked by the Indians, one of them killed and another wounded ; so he had no opportunity to verify his conclusions. On the I7th of September, 1788, the Washington sailed into Nootka Sound, on the west coast of Vancouver Island the rendezvous agreed upon in the event of separation, and she was joined there a few days later by the Columbia. Both ships wintered in the Sound and the Columbia continued there during the summer gathering pelts. Captain Gray, on the Washington, sailed the waters near by making explorations. He returned to Nootka, and he and Captain Kendrick agreed that Kendrick should command the Washington, remaining on the coast to pursue his discoveries, while Captain Gray, on board the Columbia, should proceed to Canton, China, with a cargo of furs representing the entire catch of both ships. This plan was carried into effect. Gray reached Canton, disposed of his furs, purchased a shipload of tea and returned to Boston in August, 1790. He had carried the United States flag on its first voyage around the world. While Captain Gray was on his voyage, Kendrick sailed to the Straits of Fuca, traversing their entire length to the Pacific, at latitude 51 degrees. He discovered that the neighboring lands formed an island which, how- ever, took the name of the British commander, Vancouver, who did not HISTORY OF MONTANA 15 make the discovery until the following year. Captain Kendrick was killed by an accident, while the "Washington" was exchanging a salute with a Spanish ship off the Sandwich islands. The "Columbia," under Gray, after discharging her cargo at Boston, was refitted by her owners and sent on a second voyage, leaving her home port in September, 1790. She reached a point near the entrance to the Straits of Fuca on June 5, 1791. After remaining in these waters until the following spring, trading and exploring, Captain Gray sailed southward in search of the river which he believed he had seen debouch- ing into the ocean at about the forty-sixth degree of latitude. On this cruise he met the Vancouver expedition, and notwithstanding the dis- couraging views of the British commander as to the existence of "any safe navigable opening, harbor or place of security for shipping, from Cape Mendocinus to Fuca's Strait," the American captain proceeded on his way southward. On May n, 1792, according to the log-book of the ship, penned by Captain Gray himself, he saw "an entrance which had a very good appearance of a harbor." Entering, he found a bay which he named Bulfinch's harbor, for Doctor Bulfinch, one of the sip's owners. It is now known as Gray's harbor. The actual discovery of the mouth of the Columbia is thus recorded: "May ii (1792), at eight p. m., the entrance of Bulfinch's harbor bore north, distance four miles. Sent up the main-top-gallant yard and set all sail. At four a. m. saw the entrance of our desired port, bearing east-south-east, distance six leagues. * * * At eight a. m., being a little windward to the entrance of the harbor, bore away and ran in east- north-east between the breakers, having from five to seven fathoms of water. When we were over the bar, we found this to be a large river of fresh water, up which we steered. Many canoes came alongside. At one p. m. came to, with the small bower in ten fathoms black and white sand. The entrance between the bars bore west-south-west, distance ten miles; the north side of the river a half mile distant from the ship, the south side of the same two and a half miles distant; a village on the north side of the river, west by north, distant three-quarters of a mile. Vast numbers of natives came alongside. People employed in pumping the salt water out of water-casks, in order to fill with fresh, while the ship floats in. So ends." JEFFERSON SENDS Two MORE INEFFECTIVE AGENTS The discovery of the mouth of the Columbia by Captain Gray laid a firm international basis for the American claim to the vast extent of country watered by it. For a dozen years afterward, until the United States acquired the vast extent of country known as Louisiana from France, the government, and Jefferson in particular, made no real headway in exploring the Missouri and the newly discovered Columbia. Capt. John Armstrong, one of those who accepted the mission, got as far as St. Louis and turned back because of disquieting stories of hostile Indians 16 HISTORY OF MONTANA told to him by French traders, and one of Jefferson's men, a famous French botanist, Michaux, who had traveled in many lands of the Old World in search of strange plants and trees, had commenced his scientific investigations in the New World. The Frenchman started from Phila- delphia under the auspices of the American Philosophical Society, and the support of Washington's cabinet, of which Jefferson was then secretary of state, on the I5th of July, 1794, but when he reached Kentucky got en- tangled in the machinations of Citizen Genet against Spain and England in their dealings with the United States, and the two fell together. Michaux returned to France in 1796. THE UNITED STATES ACQUIRES LOUISIANA In 1800, after having been shuffled back and forth between France and Spain, for several years, Louisiana became French territory, and Napoleon's threatened occupation of New Orleans menaced the free navigation of the Mississippi, as had been the case when it was under Spanish ownership. In March, 1803, President Jefferson sent James Mon- roe as a special envoy to France that the complications between the two countries might be disentangled without a resort to war. Monroe was even authorized to guarantee to France her holdings beyond the Mississippi, if the United States could be assured an outlet to the Gulf of Mexico for the ever-increasing products of the Mississippi valley. While Monroe was on his way to France, Napoleon's plans had all centered on his ambition to crush England in Europe. No outside cam- paigns were to be considered, and a vast expenditure of money was re- quired to carry out his consuming desire. Robert R. Livingston was the American minister at the French Court, and while he was in no sense superseded by Monroe, President Jefferson and his cabinet realized that the issues involved were so momentous that they justified the addition of Monroe's long experience in diplomatic matters to the abilities of Livings- ton. When Monroe arrived Livingston had only asked of France, " a bit of marsh and sand off the extreme end of West Florida, and the margin of delta land that lies east of the main channel of the Mississippi between Lake Pontchartrain and the river's mouth." These modest sites were to serve for the founding of a town, or gateway, through which might pass the American trade of the Mississippi valley. Monroe arrived with the authorization to offer France $2,000,000 for New Orleans and the Floridas. After discussions and negotiations, in which the chief figures were Livingston, Monroe and their friend, Barbe Marbois, minister of the public treasury, Tallyrand, the tool of Napoleon, threw a bomb into the proceedings by suddenly asking what the United States would pay for the entire province of Louisiana. To cut many corners of explanation, which are hardly apropos to a clear-cut-his- tory of Montana, the brilliant dictator of France offered Louisiana if taken quick to Livingston and Monroe for $15,000,000. There were no cables by which they could consult their government, and like brave men HISTORY OF MONTANA 17 they assumed the heavy responsibility of signing the treaty of session, in behalf of the United States, on the 3Oth of April, 1803. This all-important treaty was between the United States of America and the French Republic, or more personally, as stated in the preamble, between the president of the United States of America, and the first consul of the French republic, "in the name of the French people." It also specified that the treaty was made by "the president of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate of the United States ;" consequently Messrs. Livingston and Monroe were assuming con- siderable responsibility. The treaty traced the title of the very indefinite province through the agreements between France and Spain, and stated that "the inhabitants of the ceded territory shall be incorporated in the Union of the United States, and be admitted as soon as possible, according to the principles of the Federal Constitution," etc. Provision was made by the government of France to send a commissary to Louisiana to take over that country from Spain and transmit it to the agent of the United States. Special mention was made of the military posts of New Orleans, all troops, either of France or Spain, to embark from occupied territory within three months from the ratification of the treaty. The rights of Indians, secured by previous treaties, were secured. Equal duties were accorded Spanish, French and American ships passing through the port of New Orleans for a period of twelve years from the exchange of ratification of the treaty. "It is. however, well understood," continues the article dealing with this subject, "that the object of the above article is to favor the manufacture, commerce, freight and navigation of France and Spain, so far as relates to the importations that the French and Spanish shall make into the said ports of the United States, without in any sort affecting the regulations that the United States may make concerning the exportation of the produce and merchandise of the United States, or any right that may have to make such regulations." Article 8 reads: "In future and forever, after the expiration of the twelve years, the ships of France shall be treated upon the footing of the most favored nations in the ports above mentioned." When news of the daring transactions reached Washington in June, 1803, there was a storm of dissenting opinions, mostly caused by politi- cal heats. The Republicans (Democrats) applauded it and the Federalists (Republicans) vigorously opposed it, but it was ratified by Congress in October. In November and December, 1803, the transfer from Spain to France and from France to the United States was formally made at New Orleans, and in the early part of March, 1804, similar ceremonies occurred in St. Louis. The American transfer commissioner at St. Louis was Capt. Amos Stoddard, an officer of the United States army there stationed and accompanied, the greater part of the winter, by Capt. Meriwether Lewis, who was then about to start on the history-making expedition to the Pacific coast, via the Missouri and Columbia rivers. The entire province had been transferred by the Spanish commission- 18 HISTORY OF MONTANA ers to Pierre Clement Laussat, the French representative, and by him to the American commissioners, William C. C. Claiborne, who had been appointed governor of the new province, and Gen. James Wilkinson, military commander. The French flag was then hauled down and Laussat proceeded to perform the same offices at St. Louis. He ordered De Lassus, lieutenant governor of Upper Louisiana, with headquarters in that place, to turn his district over to Captain Stoddard. On March 9, 1804, the American troops under command of Captain Stoddard's adjutant, Lieut. Stephen Worrell, crossed the river and escorted Captains Stoddard and Lewis and other prominent Americans to the government house. From that mansion De Lassus read a pro- clamation releasing all French inhabitants in the district from allegiance to their mother country. After this the transfer was formally signed by Lassus for France and Stoddard for the United States, and among the witnesses who affixed their signatures thereto was Capt. Meri- wether Lewis. As had been done in New Orleans, the tri-color of France was then lowered, the Stars and Stripes were raised, and artillery salutes and martial music proclaimed that all of Louisiana was territory of the United States. CHAPTER II EXPEDITION THROUGH TRANS-MISSISSIPPI LAND The United States having acquired a good color of title to the Oregon country through Captain Gray's discovery of the mouth of the great Western River and Jefferson, evidently convinced that Louisiana would eventually become an American possession, continued his efforts to obtain some definite knowledge of the geography and possibilities of the Trans- Mississippi land. Previous failures in no wise dampened his ardor to delve into the grand mysteries of that unknown country which loomed just beyond the States. Mature men, adventurers and scientists had failed him, and he now turned to young, eager, educated, practical and brave young men for the consummation of the grand adventure. He selected for this purpose, Capt. Meriwether Lewis, his private secretary for two years and whom he greatly admired and loved, and Capt. Will- iam Clark, a younger brother of Gen. George Rogers Clark and an intimate friend of Lewis. When Captain Lewis was present in St. Louis, as one of the prominent figures in the official transfer of Louisiana to the United States, he was deep in the work, under the authority and instruc- tions of President Jefferson, of preparing the expedition for its advance up the Missouri to the Rockies and the great beyond. INITIAL STEPS OF THE LEWIS-CLARK EXPEDITION More than three months before Louisiana had been sold to the United States that is, January 18, 1803 President Jefferson sent a confiden- tial communication to Congress asking that $2,500 be appropriated for an exploring party to establish friendly relations with the Indians along the route and secure the fur-trade to the United States rather than leave it in the hands of the English companies. He recommended the estab- lishment of government trading posts, by which he hoped to "place within their (the Indians') reach those things which will contribute more to their domestic comfort than the possession of extensive and uncultivated wilds." Jefferson doubtless felt the grandeur of the pro- ject, but, with the wisdoip of a statesman who knew he was dealing with a practical nation and Congress, placed the material benefits of such an expedition and exploration foremost. Elsewhere in his message of the date given, he adds : "An intelligent officer, with ten or twelve chosen men, fit for the enterprise and willing to undertake it, taken from our posts where they may be spared without inconvenience, might explore the whole line even to the Western ocean, have conference with the natives on the subject of commercial intercourse, get admission among them for 19 20 HISTORY OF MONTANA \ our traders as others are admitted, agree on convenient deposits for an interchange of articles, and return with the information acquired in the course of two summers. Their arms and accoutrements, some instru- ments of observation and light and cheap presents for tlie Indians would be all the apparatus they could carry, and with the expectation of a soldier's portion of land on their return would constitute the whole ex- pense. Their pay would be going on whether here or there. While other civilized nations have encountered great expense to enlarge the boundaries of knowledge by undertaking voyages of discovery, and for other lit- erary purposes, in various parts and directions, our nation seems to owe to the same object, as well as to its own interests, to explore this, the only line of easy communication across the continent, and so directly traversing our own part of it. The interests of commerce place the principal object within the constitutional powers and care of Congress, and that it should incidentally advance the geographical knowledge of our own continent cannot but be an additional gratification." In April, 1803, while negotiations were still pending with France, Captain Lewis was collecting his equipment at Lancaster, Harpers Ferry and other places ; in May, before news of the treaty had reached America, he received his first set of instructions from the President, and on the 5th of July, after the tidings had been received in Washington, the young leader of the historic expedition then in his twenty-eight year bade his great patron farewell. LITERARY SOURCES OF INFORMATION The most authentic source of information regarding the famous ex- pedition was its history prepared, by order of the Government of the United States, in 1814, by Paul Allen. In the preface to that edi- tion the editor states : "It was the original design of Captain Lewis to have been himself the editor of his own travels, and he was on his way towards Philadelphia for that purpose when his sudden death frus- trated these intentions. After a considerable and unavoidable delay, the papers connected with the expedition were deposited with another gentleman, who, in order to render the lapse of time as little injurious as possible, proceeded immediately to collect and investigate all the materials within his reach. "Of the incidents of each day during the expedition a minute jour- nal was kept by Captain Lewis or Captain Clark, and sometimes by both, which was afterward revised and enlarged at the different periods of leisure which occurred on the route. These were carefully perused in conjunction wtth Captain Clark himself, who was able from his own recollection of the journey, as well as from a constant residence in Louisiana since his return, to supply a great mass of explanations, and much additional information with regard to part of the route which has been more recently explored. Besides these, recourse was had to the manuscript journals kept by two of the sergeants (Patrick Gass and HISTORY OF MONTANA 21 Charles Floyd), one of which, the least minute and valuable,* has already been published. That nothing might be wanting to the accuracy of these details, a very intelligent and active member of the party, Mr. George Shannon, was sent to contribute whatever his memory might add to this accumulated fund of information. * * * "To give still further interest to the work, the editor addressed a letter to Mr. Jefferson, requesting some authentic memoirs of Captain Lewis. For the very curious and valuable information contained in his answer, the public, as well as the editor himself, owe great obligations to the politeness and knowledge of that distinguished gentleman." JEFFERSON'S SKETCH OF MERIWETHER LEWIS Jefferson's article is not only of deep personal interest as furnishing the best biography of Captain Lewis, of limited compass, which has been published, but is weighted with valuable historic matter to form a rich background to the great expedition itself. After noting the birth of Meriwether Lewis, "late Governor of Louisiana," near the town of Charlotteville, Virginia, August 18, 1778, the distinguished statesman, who writes from Monticello, sketches the distinguished Lewis family of Virginia. His great-uncle married a sister of George Washington, and several of his relatives were prominent in the Revolutionary war, one of whom (his uncle and guardian, Nicholas) fought bravely as commander of a regiment sent against the Cherokee Indians. Meriwether Lewis lost his father at an early age and this brave, honest, courteous and tender uncle and his widowed mother cared for the bold, out-of-doors boy, huntsman and student. At thirteen he was put to Latin school and after five years of schooling returned to the home farm, but his instinct for adventure induced him to volunteer as a militiaman in the suppression of the Whiskey Rebellion of West- ern Pennsylvania. Soon afterward he was transferred to the regular service as a lieutenant in the line and at the age of twenty-three was promoted to a captaincy; "and," adds Jefferson, "always attracting the first attention where punctuality and fidelity were requisite, he was appointed paymaster to his regiment. JOHN LEDYARD'S MISADVENTURE "About this time a circumstance occurred which, leading to the transac- tion which is the subject of this book, will justify a recurrence to its original idea. While residing in Paris (as minister to France), John Ledyard, of Connecticut, arrived there, well known in the United States * This low estimate of the value of the Gass Journal, made in 1814, has not been sustained by estimates of historians subsequently made. His first edition, published in 1807, was for seven years the only source from which any authentic knowledge of the enterprise could be obtained, and ever since (with the issue of 1814) it has been recognized as an important supplement to the work based upon the diaries of the great captains. 22 HISTORY OF MONTANA for energy of body and mind. He had accompanied Captain Cook on his voyage to the Pacific Ocean and distinguished himself on that voy- age by his intepidity. Being of a roaming disposition, he was now panting for some new enterprise. His immediate object at Paris was to engage a mercantile company in the fur trade of the western coast of America, in which, however, he failed. I then proposed to him to go by land to Kamchatka, cross in some of the Russian vessels to Nootka Sound, fall down into the latitude of the Missouri, and penetrate to, and through that, to the United States. He eagerly seized the idea, and only asked to be assured of the permission of the Russian Govern- ment. I interested in obtaining that, M. de Simoulin, minister plenipo- tentiary of the empress at Paris, but more especially the Baron de Grimm, minister plenipotentiary of Saxe-Gotha, her more special agent and cor- respondent there in matters not immediately diplomatic. Her permis- sion was obtained, and an assurance of protection while the course of the voyage should be through her territories. "Ledyard set out from Paris and arrived at St. Petersburgh after the empress had left that place to pass the winter, I think, at Moscow. His finances not permitting him to make unnecessary stay at St. Petersburgh, he left it with a passport from one of the ministers, and at two hundred miles from Kamschatka, was obliged to take up his winter quarters. He was preparing, in the spring, to resume his journey, when he was arrested by an officer of the empress, who by this time had changed her mind and forbidden his proceeding. He was put into a closed carriage and con- veyed day and night, without even stopping, till they reached Poland, where he was set down and left to himself. The fatigue of this journey broke down his constitution, and when he returned to Paris, his bodily strength was much impaired. His mind, however, remained firm, and he after this undertook the journey to Egypt. I received a letter from him, full of sanguine hopes, dated at Cairo, the fifteenth of November, 1788, the day before he was to set out for the head of the Nile ; on which day, however, he ended his career and life and thus failed the first attempt to explore the western part of our northern continent." BOTANIST FAILS AS EXPLORER "In 1792 I proposed to the American Philosophical Society that we should set on foot a subscription to engage some competent person to explore that region in the opposite direction; that is, by ascending the Missouri, crossing the Stony mountains and descending the nearest river to the Pacific. Captain Lewis, being then stationed at Charlottesville on the recruiting service, warmly solicitated me to obtain for him the execution of that object. I told him it was proposed that the person en- gaged should be attended by a single companion only, to avoid exciting alarm among the Indians. This did not deter him ; but Mr. Andre Michaux, a professed botanist, author of the 'Flora Boreali-Americana,' and of the 'Histoire des Chesnes d' Amerique,' offering his services, they were ac- cepted. He received his instructions, and when he had reached Kentucky HISTORY OF MONTANA 23 in the prosecution of his journey he was overtaken by an order from the minister of France, then at Philadelphia, to relinquish the expedition, and to pursue elsewhere the botanical inquiries on which he was employed by that government and thus failed the second attempt for exploring that region. CAPTAIN LEWIS' REMARKABLE QUALIFICATIONS "In 1803, the act for establishing trading houses with the Indian tribes being about to expire, some modifications of it were recommended to Congress by a confidential message of January i8th, and an exten- sion of its views to the Indians on the Missouri. In order to prepare the way, the message proposed the sending an exploring party to trace the Missouri to its source, to cross the Highlands and follow the best water communication which offered itself thence to the Pacific ocean. Congress approved the proposition and voted a sum of money for carry- ing it into execution. Captain Lewis, who had then been near two years with me as private secretary, immediately renewed his solicitations to have the direction of the party. I had now had opportunities of know- ing him intimately. Of courage undaunted; possessing a firmness and perseverance of purpose which nothing but impossibilities could divert from its direction ; careful as a father of those committed to his charge, yet steady in the maintenance of order and discipline; intimate with the Indian character, customs and principles ; habituated to the hunting life ; guarded, by exact observation of the vegetables and animals of his own country, against losing time in the description of objects already pos- sessed ; honest, disinterested, liberal, of sound understanding, and a fidelity to truth so scrupulous that whatever he should report would be as cer- tain as if seen by ourselves with all these qualifications, as if selected and implanted in one body for his express purpose, I could have no hesitation in confiding the enterprise to him. To fill up the measure' desired, he wanted nothing but a greater familiarity with the technical language of the natural sciences, and readiness in the astronomical observations necessary for the geography of his route. To acquire these, he repaired immediately to Philadelphia and placed himself under the tutorage of the distinguished professors of that place, who, with a zeal and emulation enkindled by an ardent devotion to science, communi- cated to him freely the information requisite for the purposes of the jour- ney. While attending, too, at Lancaster, the fabrication of the arms with which he chose that his men should be provided, he had the benefit of daily communication with Mr. Andrew Ellicot, whose experience in astronomical observation and practice of it in the woods, enabled him to apprise Captain Lewis of the wants and difficulties he would en- counter, and of the substitutes and resources offered by a woodland and uninhabited country." JEFFERSON'S FIRST INSTRUCTIONS TO LEWIS In April, 1803, a draft of his instructions was sent to Captain Lewis, and President Jefferson signed them on the following 2Oth of 24 HISTORY OF MONTANA June. These included a list of accouterments, instruments, etc., to be taken by the expedition of from ten to twelve men, and assurances of safe conduct from the ministers of France, Spain and Great Britain. Louisiana had been ceded by Spain to France, and the protection of Great Britain entitled Lewis and Clark, with their men, to the friendly aid of any British traders whom they might encounter. After stating the main object of the mission was to ascertain "the most direct and practicable water communication across the continent for the purposes of commerce," Jefferson entered more into details: "Beginning at the mouth of the Missouri, you will take observations of latitude and lon- gitude at all remarkable points on the river, and especially at the mouths of rivers, at rapids, at islands and other places, and objects distinguished by such natural marks and characters, of a durable kind as that they may with certainty be recognized hereafter. The courses of the river between these points of obsevation may be supplied by the compass, the log-line and by time, corrected by the observations them- selves. The variations of the needle, too, in different places should be noted. "The interesting points of the portage between the heads of the Missouri and of the water offering the' best communication with the Pacific ocean, should also be fixed by observation ; and the course of the water to the ocean, in the same manner as that of the Missouri." The president cautioned the leader of the expedition to take great pains in recording his observations ; to make several copies of them, and, as a special safeguard against their destruction make one of them "on the cuticular membrane of the paper-birch, as less liable to injury from damp than common paper." He defined the special objects of research among the different Indian tribes, and the examination of the physical features of the country was to be conducted with a view of ascertaining the existence of vegetable products and animals not known to the "United States;" also, mineral productions of any kind, especially "metals, lime stone, pit-coal and saltpetre; salines and mineral waters, noting the tem- perature of the last," and "volcanic appearances." "Although your route will be along the channel of the Missouri," the instructions continue, "yet you will endeavor to inform yourself, by inquiry, of the character and extent of the country watered by its branches, and especially on its southern side. The North river, or Rio Bravo, which runs into the Gulf of Mexico, and the Rio Colorado, which runs into the Gulf of California, are understood to be the principal streams heading opposite to the waters of the Missouri and running southwardly. Whether the dividing grounds between the Missouri and them are mountains or flat lands, what are their distances from the Missouri, the character of the intermediate country and the people in- habiting it, are worthy of particular inquiry. The northern waters of the Missouri are less to be inquired after, because they have been ascer- tained to a considerable degree, and are still in a course of ascertain- ment by English traders and travelers; but if you can learn anything certain of the most northern source of the Mississippi, and of its position HISTORY OF MONTANA 25 relatively to the Lake of the Woods, it will be interesting to us. Some account, too, of the path of the Canadian traders from the Mississippi, at the mouth of the Ouisconsing, to where it strikes the Missouri, and of the soil and rivers in its course, is desirable." Kind treatment of the natives was urged, even to the length of offering to receive some of their young people and educating them at government expense. Kine-pox (vaccine) matter was to be taken, and endeavors made to introduce it as a preventive against small-pox, the scourge of the red race. As it was impossible to foresee how the ex- pedition would be received by the natives, it was instructed to turn back, if it met with extended and dangerous opposition. "Should you reach the Pacific Ocean," instructs President Jeffer- son, "inform yourself of the circumstances which may decide whether the furs of those parts may not be collected as advantageously at the head of the Missouri (convenient, as is supposed, to the waters of the" Colorado and Oregon or Columbia) as at Nootka sound, or any other point of that coast ; and that trade be consequently conducted through the Missouri and United States more beneficially than by the circumnaviga- tion now practiced." That last part of the instructions includes advice to return to the United States by way of Cape Horn or Cape of Good Hope, if the overland trip should be deemed too hazardous; instructions as to meet- ing expeditionary expenses and the appointment of a successor to head the expedition, in the event of Captain Lewis's death. "While these things were going on here," continues Jefferson, "the country of Louisiana, lately ceded by Spain to France, had been the sub- ject of negotiation at Paris between us and this last power, and had actually been transferred to us by treaties executed at Paris on the thirtieth of April (1803). This information, received about the first of July, increased infinitely the interest we felt in the expedition and lessened the apprehension of interruption from other powers. Every- thing in this quarter being now prepared, Captain Lewis left Washington on the fifth of July, 1803, and proceeded to Pittsburg, where other articles had been ordered to be provided for him. The men, too, were to be selected from the military stations on the Ohio. Delays of preparation, difficulties of navigation down the Ohio and other untoward obstruc- tions, retarded his arrival at Cahokia until the season was so far advanced as to render it prudent to suspend his entering the Missouri before the ice should break up in the succeeding spring. "From this time his journal, now published, will give the history of his journey to and from the Pacific ocean, until his return to St. Louis on the 23rd of September, 1806. Never did a similar event excite more joy through the United States. The humblest of its citizens had taken a lively interest in the issue of this journey, and looked forward with impatience for the information it would furnish. Their anxieties, too, for the safety of the corps had been kept in a state of excitement by lugubrious rumours, circulated from time to time on uncertain authorities, and uncontradiction by letters or other direct information, 26 HISTORY OF MONTANA from the time they had left the Mandan towns on their ascent up the river in April of the preceding year (1805) until their actual return to St. Louis." ESTIMATED COST OF THE EXPEDITION The president requested Captain Lewis to estimate the cost of the expedition, which the latter did as follows : Mathematical instruments $ 217 Arms and accoutrements 81 Camp equipage 255 Medicine and packing 55 Means of transportation 43 Indian presents 696 Provisions 224 Materials for making up the various articles into portable packs 55 For the pay of hunters, guides and interpreters 300 In silver coin, to defray the expenses of the party from Nashville to the last white settlement on the Missouri 100 Contingencies 87 Total $2,500 These were but preliminary estimates and, as the importance of the expedition increased during the period of delay which resulted in Louisiana becoming American territory, it is evident that they were not adhered to. CAPTAIN WILLIAM CLARK The personnel of the expedition was of prime importance, however, Capt. William Clark,* who shared the honors of leadership with Captain Lewis, was four years the senior of the latter, and was also a Virginian. During his boyhood, the family moved to Louisville, Kentucky, and in 1796, after serving for eight years in the United States army he re- signed his lieutenancy in the service on account of ill health. At one time, Meriwether Lewis served under him. In March, 1804, after he had been selected as Captain Lewis' assistant, he received a commission as second lieutenant of artillery and not as captain of engineers, as he had hoped. So that the title of "captain" is generally applied to him ; officially he was not entitled to it. He was also Lewis' subordinate, although * In three editions of the Lewis and Clark journals, the latter name is spelled with an "e"; Washington Irving also gives it that spelling. On the contrary, Cap- tain Clark himself omits the "e" in the inscription left by him on Pompey's pillar; his brother, the general, always signed himself, Clark, as did his son, Jefferson Clark of St. Louis. As the bearer of the name himself, as well as his near relatives, invariably omitted the "e", it should be the duty of the historian to follow their preferences. HISTORY OF MONTANA 27 his official superior made him his practical equal in every way and evi- dently they were both harmoniously working for the common cause the laudable success of a great American expedition. "The selection of the men for the expedition," says a modern ac- count of the fine venture, "was a matter of importance secondary only to the choice of the chiefs themselves. There were in all that is, including Lewis and Clark forty-five souls. Among them were frontier soldiers of the regular army, who volunteered to go. They had seen service at the posts of the west. There were, besides, nine young Ken- tuckians, two French watermen, a hunter, who also served as interpreter, and York, the negro valet of Captain Lewis. Of these men, all but the last named, were enlisted as privates, their services to endure through the active life 'of the expedition. Three of them, namely, Floyd, Pryor and Ordway, were promoted by the leaders to the rank of sergeant. Besides the party designed for the complete journey of exploration a corporal, six soldiers and nine watermen were taken as an escort as far as the Mandan villages on the Missouri, to aid in transporting stores and also to give their military aid in case of attack by hostile savages, those most feared dwelling between the Wood River and the Missouri." THE JOURNEY TO THE MANDAN VILLAGES It is far beyond the scope of this story to trace the real com- mencement of the expedition at Pittsburg, in the summer of 1803, when Captain Lewis was there recruiting for members and arranging for transportation down the Ohio to the mouth of the Missouri. Dr. James K. Hosmer, in his introduction to the "Gass Journal" (edition of 1904) goes into many interesting details regarding this phase of the enter- prise and the care taken by Captain Lewis in the selection of his men. The Falls of the Ohio, Louisville, were at last reached, and at the Point of Rock, the home of George Rogers Clark, Lewis met his yoke- fellow, William Clark, who added to the company nine young men from Kentucky, carefully selected from a throng of volunteers. Among them was John Colter, whose adventures were to be the most thrilling of all the members of the expedition. Delaying as little as possible, Clark taking charge of the boat with its important freight, worked his way down stream, then up to St. Louis; while Lewis, following the "Vin- cennes trace," proceeded across country to Kaskaskia. Recruits were picked from various frontier posts, among others John Ordway and Pat- rick Gass, who both contributed materially to the literature of the ex- pedition. "During the winter of 1803-04," writes Doctor Hosmer, "the company was well disciplined and instructed in the camp at Wood River, and on the 9th of May took part in a memorable ceremony. Major Amos Stod- dard crossing from Cahokia, received from Don Carlos de Haut de Lassus, the Spanish governor, the surrender of St. Louis, the last post in the pur- chased Louisiana. It was an occasion of solemnity. The flag of Spain 28 HISTORY OF MONTANA being lowered, the flag of France took its place for a brief season. Then arose the flag of the stars and stripes, its dominion henceforth unchallenged. Confronting the Spanish infantry stood, at present, the American line, among them the picked soldiers of Lewis and Clark, a fine array of manhood. The new land was now completely possessed, and the next week the Captains set forth to see what it contained." The chief incidents developed by the voyage from St. Louis, up the Missouri River, to Fort Mandan near the present site of Bismarck, North Dakota a trip of sixteen hundred miles was the death of Ser- geant Floyd, at the present site of Sioux City, Iowa, on August 20, 1804 ; the desertion of two of the men, and the severe punishment (seventy-five lashes with the "ramrod") and discharge of the one recaptured. THE BIRD WOMAN AND HER HUSBAND, CHARBONNEAU The start from St. Louis was made May 14, 1804, and the Mandan villages and the fort were reached on the 2nd of November, of that year. There the party were joined by Charbonneau, the French-Cana- dian trapper and former employe of the Hudson's Bay Company, and his wife, Sacajawea, the Bird Woman, a native of the Shoshone, or Snake nation, and whose services as guide and advisor gave her a standing in the expedition next to the leaders themselves. Charbonneau, who was engaged as interpreter, was quarrelsome and unreliable; his wife, the Bird Woman, was brave, faithful, familiar with every detail of her na- tive land, through which the expedition was to pass, and absolutely re- liable. On February n, 1804, she had been delivered of a son, so that when the expedition of thirty-two members left Fort Mandan, on April 7, 1805, Sacajawea carried with her a baby of fourteen months. The Lewis-Clark Journal launches the expedition thus: "Having made all our arrangements, we left the fort about five o'clock in the afternoon. The party now consisted of thirty-two persons. Besides ourselves were Sergeants John Ordway, Nathaniel Pryor and Patrick Gass ; the privates were William Bratton, John Colter, John Collins, Peter Cruzatte, Robert Frazier, Reuben Fields, Joseph Fields, George Gibson, Silas Goodrich, Hugh Hall, Thomas P. Howard, Baptiste Lapage, Francis Labiche, Hugh M'Neal, John Potts, John Shields, George Shannon, John B. Thompson, William Werner, Alexander Willard, Richard Winsor, Joseph Whitehouse, Peter Wiser and Captain Clark's black servant, York. The two interpreters were George Drewyer and Toussaint Charbonneau. The wife of Charbonneau also accompanied us with her young child, and we hope may be useful as an interpreter among the Snake Indians. She was herself one of that tribe, but having been taken in war by the Min- netarees, by whom she was sold as a slave to Charbonneau, who brought her up and afterwards married her. One of the Mandans also embarked with us, in order to go to the Snake Indians and obtain a peace with them for his countrymen. All this party with the baggage was stowed in six small canoes and two large pirogues. We left the fort with fair, pleasant weather, though the northwest wind was high, and after making HISTORY OF MONTANA 29 about four miles encamped on the north side of the Missouri, nearly opposite the first Mandan village. At the same time that we took our departure our barge, manned with seven soldiers, two Frenchmen and Mr. Gravelines as pilot, sailed for the United States loaded with our pres- ents and despatches." REACH THE MOUTH OF THE YELLOWSTONE The party proceeded up the Missouri, past the mouths of the Big Knife, Little Missouri, White Earth and other tributaries to the mouth of the Yellowstone, through a pleasant land of elk, deer, beaver, and Mandans and Assiniboines. The disagreeable features of this part of the expedition were evidently the high winds, which caused the men's* eyes to be sore, and the cold weather. On April 25th, as the Yellow- stone was approached, near the present boundary between North Dakota and Montana, the temperature fell so low that the water froze on the oars as the men rowed, which, with the high wind, forced a halt. "This detention from the wind," notes the Journal, under that date, "and the reports from our hunters of the crookedness of the river, induced us to believe that we were at no great distance from the Yellowstone River. In order, therefore, to prevent delay as much as possible, Captain Lewis determined to go on by land in search of that river and make the neces- sary observations, so as to be enabled to proceed on immediately after the boats should join him; he therefore landed about eleven o'clock on the south side, accompanied by four men ; the boats were prevented from going until five in the afternoon, when they went on a few miles far- ther, and encamped for the night at the distance of fourteen and a half miles." Captain Clark evidently writes the journal at this point, as he says, under date of April 26, 1805 : "We continued our voyage in the morning and by twelve o'clock encamped, at eight miles distance, at the junction of the Missouri and Yellowstone rivers, where we were soon joined by Captain Lewis. "On leaving us yesterday, he pursued his route along the foot of the hills, which he ascended at the distance of eight miles; from these the wide plains watered by the Missouri and the Yellowstone spread themselves before the eye, occasionally varied with the wood of the banks, enlivened by the irregular windings of the two rivers and animated by vast herds of buffalo, deer, elk and antelope. "The confluence of the two rivers was concealed by the wood, but the Yellowstone itself was only two miles distant to the south. He therefore descended the hills and encamped on the bank of the river, having killed as he crossed the plain four buffaloes; the deer alone are shy and retire to the woods, but the elk, antelope and buffalo suf- fered him to approach without alarm and often followed him quietly for some distance. This morning he sent a man up the river to examine it, while he proceeded down to the juncture. "The ground on the lower side of the Yellowstone near its mouth 30 HISTORY OF MONTANA is flat and for about a mile seems to be subject to inundation, while that at the point of juncture, as well as that on the opposite side of the Missouri, is at the usual height of ten or eighteen feet above the water and therefore not overflown. There is more timber in the neigh- borhood of this place and on the Missouri as far below as the White Earth river, than on any other part of the Missouri on this side of the Cheyenne ; the timber consists principally of cottonwood, with some small elm, ash and box elder. On the sandbars and along the margin of the river grows the small-leafed willow ; in the low grounds adjoining are scattered rose- bushes three or four feet high, the redberry, serviceberry and redwood. The higher plains are either immediately on the river, in which case they are generally timbered and have an undergrowth like that of the low- grounds, with the addition of the broad-leafed willow, gooseberry, choke cherry, purple currant and honeysuckle; or they are between the low grounds and the hills, and for the most part without wood or anything except large quantities of wild hysop; this plant rises about two feet high and, like the willow of the sandbars, is a favorite food of the buffalo, elk, deer, grouse, porcupine, hare and rabbit. * * * "The man who was sent up the river reported in the evening that he had gone about eight miles, that during that distance the river winds on both sides of a plain four or five miles wide, that the current was gentle and much obstructed by sandbars, that at five miles he had met with a large timbered island, three miles beyond which a creek falls in on the southeast above a high bluff in which are several strata of coal. The country, as far as he could discern, resembled that of the Missouri, and in the plain he met several of the bighorn animals but they were too shy to be obtained. "The bed of the Yellowstone, as we observed it near the mouth, is composed of sand and mud, without a stone of any kind. Just above the confluence we measured the two rivers, and found the bed of the Missouri five hundred and twenty yards wide, the water occupying only three hundred and thirty, and the channel deep; while the Yellowstone, including its sandbar, occupied eight hundred and fifty-eight yards with two hundred and ninety-seven yards of water; the deepest part of the channel is twelve feet, but the water is now falling and seems to be nearly at summer height. "We left the mouth of the Yellowstone (April 27th). From the point of juncture a wood occupies the space between the two rivers, which at the distance of a mile came within two hundred and fifty yards of each other. There a beautiful low plain commences and widening, as the rivers recede, extends along each of them for several miles, rising about half a mile from the Missouri into a plain twelve feet higher than itself. The low plain is a few inches above high water mark, and where it joins the higher plain there is a channel of sixty or seventy yards in width, through which a part of the Missouri, when at its greatest height, passes into the Yellowstone. At two and a half miles above the juncture and between the high and low plain, is a small HISTORY OF MONTANA 31 lake two hundred yards wide, extending for a mile parallel with the Missouri, along the edge of the upper plain. "At the lower extremity of this lake, about four hundred yards from the Missouri and twice that distance from the Yellowstone, is a small lake highly eligible for a trading station; it is in the high plain which extends back three miles in width and seven or eight miles in length, along the Yellowstone, where it is bordered by an extensive body of woodland and along the Missouri with less breadth, till three miles above it is circumscribed by the hills within a space of four yards in width. A sufficient quantity of limestone for building may easily be procured near the junction of the rivers; it does not lie in regular stratas, but is in large irregular masses, of a light color and apparently of an excellent quality. Game, too, is very abundant and as yet quite gentle. Above all, its elevation recommends it as preferable to the land at the confluence of the rivers, which their variable channels may render very insecure." For several days, or until about the ist of May, 1805, wind and weather were favorable for sailing, and the Eastern Missouri valley was traversed until the Porcupine Creek was reached. This is a northern tributary of the Whitewater River, which, with the Milk River, drains quite a section of Northern Montana, and joins the Missouri River in the southern part of what is now Valley County. All along the route, game was very abundant, such as the black tailed deer, elk, buffalo, antelope, brown bear and geese. At places, the beaver had committed great ravages among the trees, "one of which, nearly three feet in diameter, had been gnawed through by them." Captain Lewis had a narrow escape from a wounded white bear (a grizzly, evidently, as it. is described as yellowish brown in color). In the vicinity of Martha's River, east of Porcupine Creek, it was noted that "there are greater appearances of coal than we have hitherto seen, the stratas of it being in some places six feet thick, and there are stratas of burnt earth, which are always on the same level with those of coal." Speaking of the antelope, the journal observes: "This fleet and quick-sighted animal is generally the victim of its own curiosity: when they first see the hunters, they run with great velocity; if he lies down on the ground and lifts up his arm, his hat or his foot, the antelope returns on a light trot to look at the object and sometimes goes and returns two or three times, till they approach within reach of the rifle; so, too, they sometimes leave their flock to go and look at the wolves, who crouch down, and if the antelope be frightened at first, repeat the same manoeuvre, and sometimes relieve each other till they decoy it from the party, when they seize it. But generally the wolves take them as they are crossing the rivers, for, although swift of foot, they are not good swimmers." On May 2nd, while nearing Porcupine Creek "one of the hunters, in passing an old Indian camp, found several yards of scarlet cloth suspended on the bough of a tree, as a sacrifice to the deity by the Assini- boines, the custom of making these offerings being common among that 32 HISTORY OF MONTANA people, as indeed among all the Indians on the Missouri." On the following day, near their encampment, was passed "a curious collection of bushes, about thirty feet high and ten or twelve in diameter, tied in the form of a fascine (a faggot used in fortifications) and standing on end in the middle of the low ground." It, also, was supposed to have been left by the Indians as a religious offering. Fourteen miles farther up the river the expedition reached the mouth of the Porcupine named from the unusual number of the animal named found near it. In the journal of the explorers, it may be con- founded with Whitewater River, as it is described as "a bold and beautiful stream one hundred and twelve yards wide, though the water is only forty yards at its entrance. Captain Clark, who ascended it several miles and passed it above where it enters the highlands, found it continued nearly of the same width and about knee deep, and as far as he could distinguish for twenty miles from the hills its course was a little to the east of north. There was much timber on the low grounds ; he found some limestone, also, on the surface of the earth in the course of his walk, and saw a range of low mountains at a distance to the west of north (Little Creek Mountains) whose direction was northwest, the adjoining country being everywhere level, fertile, open and ex- ceedingly beautiful. "The water of this river is transparent, and is the only one that is so of all those that fall into the Missouri ; before entering a large sandbar through which it discharges itself, its low grounds are formed of a stiff blue and black clay, and its banks, which are from eight to ten feet high and seldom, if ever, overflow, are composed of the same materials. "From the quantity of water which this river contains, its direction and the nature of the country through which it passes, it is not im- probable that its sources may be near the main body of the Saskaskawan (Saskatchewan), and as in high water it can be no doubt navigated to a considerable distance, it may be rendered the means of intercourse with the Athabasky country, from which the northwest company derive so many of their valuable furs. "A quarter of a mile beyond this river, a creek falls in on the south, to which, on account of its distance from the mouth of the Missouri, we gave it the name of Two-thousand Mile creek; it is a bold stream, thirty yards wide." Game, both small and large, was very abundant in this region, where members of the party encountered and killed the largest brown bear they had yet seen. Although pierced with five rirle balls through his lungs and five others in other portions of his body, he swam half way across the river to a sandbar and then survived twenty minutes. The animal weighed about six hundred pounds and measured over eight and a half feet from the nose to the extremity of the hind foot, five feet and ten inches around the breast and three feet eleven inches around the neck. 'On May 6th, the expedition crossed and named Big Dry and Little Dry creeks, in the present county of Garfield, which still appear on the HISTORY OF MONTANA 33 map under those designations. The origin of the name is given in the Lewis-Clark journal, thus: "We passed three streams on the south: the first, at the distance of one mile and a half from our camp, was about twenty-five yards wide, but although it contained some water in standing pools, it discharges none. This we called Little Dry Creek, about eight miles beyond which is Big Dry creek, fifty yards wide, without any water; the third is six miles further, and has the bed of a large river two hundred yards wide, yet without a drop of water; like the other two, this stream, which we called Big Dry river, continues its width undiminished as far as we can discern." DISCOVER AND NAME THE MILK RIVER Two days afterward, a light breeze from the east carried their boat, sixteen miles, to the mouth of a river which came in from the north. Captain Clark, on ascending a high point opposite to its entrance, dis- covered a level and beautiful country which it watered; that its course for twelve or fifteen miles was northwest, when it divided into two nearly equal branches, one pursuing a direction nearly north, the other to the west of north. Its width at the entrance to the Missouri, in the southern part of what is now Valley County, was one hundred and fifty yards. A few miles up stream, it was found to be of the same breadth deep, gentle and carrying a large volume of water. Its bed was formed of a dark, rich loam and blue clay; banks some twelve feet in height; the low grounds near it wide and fertile and bearing much cottonwood and willow. The river had to be named, and the expeditionary journal of May 8, 1805, makes record: "It seems to be navigable for boats and canoes, and this circumstance, joined to its course and the quantity of water, which indicates that it passes through a large extent of country, we are led to presume that it may approach the Saskashawan and afford a communication with that river. The water has peculiar whiteness, such as might be produced by a table spoon full of milk in a dish of tea, and this circumstance induced us to call it Milk River." THE MUSSELSHELL RIVER The next river of any consequence reached by the expedition was the Muscleshell, or Musselshell. Progress to this point had been ac- complished by a twelve-days' journey from the Milk River district. On May 20th, the camp was pitched at the upper point of the river's juncture with the Missouri, from the south. "This stream," says the record, "which we suppose to be that called by the Minnetarees the Muscleshell river, empties into the Missouri two thousand two hundred and seventy miles above the mouth of the latter river, and in latitude 47 o' 24"6 north. It is one hundred and ten yards wide and contains more water than streams of that size usually do in this country; its current is by no means rapid and there is every appearance of its being navigable by canoes for a considerable distance; its bed is chiefly formed of coarse Vol. 18 34 HISTORY OF MONTANA sand and gravel, with an occasional mixture of black mud; the banks abrupt and nearly twelve feet high, so that they are secure from being overflowed; the water is of a greenish yellow cast and much more trans- parent than that of the Missouri, which itself, though clearer than below, still retains its whitish hue and a portion of its sediment. Opposite to the point of juncture the current of the Missouri is gentle and two hundred and twenty-two yards in width, the bed principally of mud (the little sand remaining being wholly confined to the points) and still too deep to use the setting pole. If this be, as we suppose, the Muscle- shell, our Indian information is that it rises in the first chain of the Rocky Mountains not far from the sources of the Yellowstone, whence, in its course to this place, it waters a high, broken country, well timbered, particularly on its borders, and interspersed with handsome fertile plains and meadows. * t * * They also reported that the country is broken and irregular like that near our camp; that about five miles up a handsome river about fifty yards wide, which we named after Charbonneau's wife, Sahcajahweah, or Birdwoman's river, discharges itself into the Muscleshell on the north or upper side. "Another party found at the foot of the southern hills, about four miles from the Missouri, a fine bold spring, which in this country is so rare that since we left the Mandans we have found only one of a similar kind, and that was under the bluffs on the south side of the Missouri, at some distance from it and about five miles below the Yellowstone; with this exception, all the small fountains, of which we have met a number, are impregnated with the salts which are so abundant here, and with which the Missouri is itself most probably tainted though to us who have been so much accustomed to it, the taste is not per- ceptible." Continuing up the Missouri River, the game became scarcer and the country more broken, and the leaders commenced to speculate whether or not they were not approaching the outposts of the great Rockies, or continental divide, which was the immediate object t of their voyage. On May 25th, they record : "The high country through which we have passed for some days, and where we now are, we suppose to be a continuation of what the French traders called the Cote Noire or Black Hills. The country thus denominated consists of high, broken, irregular hills and short chains of mountains, sometimes one hundred and twenty miles in width, sometimes narrower, but always much higher than the country on either side. They commence about the head of the Kansasa, where they diverge, the first ridge going westward along the northern shore of the Arkansaw; the second approaches the Rocky Mountains obliquely in a course a little to the west of northwest, and after passing the Platte above its forks and intersecting the Yellowstone near the Bigbend, crosses the Missouri at this place, and probably swell the country as far as the Saskashawan, though as they are represented much smaller here than to the south they may not reach that river." What are now known as the Black .Hills are much more circum- scribed than the supposititious range noted in the Lewis-Clark journal. o a H 36 HISTORY OF MONTANA FIRST VIEW OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS On the day after noting the broken appearance of the country through which they were passing, the first view was obtained of the Rocky Mountains. From the description, they were probably some portions of the Belt Range of Central Montana. "It was here," says the journal, "that, after ascending the highest summits of the hills on the north side of the river, Captain Lewis first caught a distant view of the Rocky Mountains, the object of all our hopes and the reward of all our ambition. On both sides of the river and at no great distance from it, the mountains followed its course; above these, at the distance of fifty miles from us, an irregular range of mountains spread themselves from west to northwest from his position. To the north of these a few elevated points, the most remarkable of which bore north 65 west, appeared above the horizon, and as the sun shone on the snows of their summits he obtained a clear and satisfactory view of those mountains which close on the Missouri the passage of the Pacific." It is probable that the hills from which Captain Lewis thus obtained his first ravishing view of the outskirts of the Rockies were what are now known as Little Creek Mountains, as shortly afterward the members of the party congratulated themselves "as having escaped from the last ridges of the Black Mountains," and discovered and named "Bull creek." "To further fix the locality, on the following day they came to a handsome river, which discharges itself on the south and which we ascended to the distance of a mile and a half. We called it Judith river; it rises in the Rocky Mountains, in about the same place with the Muscleshell and near the Yellowstone river." WHOLESALE SLAUGHTER OF BUFFALO "On the north," reads the journal of May 29, 1805, "we passed a precipice about one hundred and twenty feet high, under which lay scattered the fragments of at least one hundred carcasses of buffaloes, although the water, which had washed away the lower part of the hill, must have carried off many of the. dead. These buffaloes had been chased down the precipice in a way very common on the Missouri, and by which vast herds are destroyed in a moment. The mode of hunting is to select one of the most active and fleet young men, who is disguised by a buffalo skin round his body, the skin of the head, with the ears and horns, fastened on his own head in such a way as to deceive the buffalo ; thus dressed he fixes himself at a convenient distance between a herd of buffalo and any of the river precipices, which sometimes extend for some miles. His companions, in the meantime, get in the rear and side of the herd, and at a given signal show themselves and advance toward the buffalo ; they instantly take the alarm and finding the hunters beside them, they run toward the disguised Indian or decoy, who leads them on at full speed toward the river, when suddenly securing himself in some crevice of the cliff which he had previously fixed on, the herd HISTORY OF MONTANA 37 is left on the brink of the precipice. It is then in vain for the foremost to retreat or even stop. They are pressed on by the hindmost rank, who, seeing no danger but from the hunters, goad on those before them till the whole are precipitated and the shore is strewn with their dead bodies. "Sometimes in this perilous seduction, the Indian is himself either trodden under foot by the rapid movements of the buffalo, or missing his footing in the cliff is urged down the precipice by the falling herd. The Indians then select as much meat as they wish, and the rest is abandoned to the wolves, and creates a most dreadful stench. The wolves who had been feasting on these carcasses were very fat, and so gentle that one of them was killed with an esponton. Above this place EARLY INHABITANTS OF THE PLAINS we came to for dinner at the distance of seventeen miles, opposite to a bold running river of twenty yards wide, and falling in on the south. From the objects we had just passed we called this stream Slaughter river." For several days, the party passed through a region of fantastic sandstone cliffs and hills of freestone, and obtained another distant view of the Rockies from some of the most considerable eminences. On the 2nd of June a string of islands drew their attention, and at night of that day they encamped "in a handsome low cotton wood plain on the south," where they remained "for the purpose of making some celestial observations during the night, and of examining in the morning a large river" which flowed into the Missouri opposite their encampment, from the north. At an early hour of the following day (June 3rd), the expedition pitched its camp in the point formed by the junction of Maria's River with the Missouri. "It now became an interesting question," continues 38 HISTORY OF MONTANA the journal of the perplexed explorers, "which of these two streams is what the Minnetarees call Ahmateahza, or the Missouri, which they described as approaching very near to the Columbia. On our right decision much of the fate of the expedition depends; since if, after ascending to the Rocky Mountains or beyond them, we should find that the river we were following did not" come near the Columbia, and be obliged to return, we should not only lose the traveling season, two months of which hard already elapsed, but probably dishearten the men so much as to induce them either to abandon the enterprise, or yield us a cold obedience instead of the warm and zealous support which they have hitherto afforded us. "We determined, therefore, to examine well before we decided on our future course ; and for this purpose dispatched two canoes with three men up. each of the streams, with orders to ascertain the width, depth and rapidity of the current, so as to judge of their comparative bodies of water. At the same time parties were sent out by land to penetrate the country and discover from the rising grounds, if possible, the distant bearings of the two rivers; and all were directed to return towards evening. While they were gone we ascended together the high grounds in the forks of these two rivers, whence we had a very extensive prospect of the surrounding country. "On every side it was spread into one vast plain covered with verdure, in which innumerable herds of buffaloes were roaming, .attended by their enemies, the wolves ; some flocks of elks were seen, and the solitary antelopes were scattered with their young over the face of the plain. To the south was a range of lofty mountains, which we supposed to be a continuation of the South Mountain, stretching themselves from southeast to northwest (probably the Belt Range), and terminating abruptly about southwest from us. These were partially covered with snow; but at a great distance behind them was a more lofty ridge completely covered with snow, which seemed to follow the same direction as the first, reaching from west to the north of northwest (perhaps the Big Belt Mountains), where their snowy tops were blended with the horizon. "The direction of the rivers could not, however, be long dis- tinguished, as they were soon lost in the extent of the plain. On our return we continued our examination; the width of the north branch is two hundred yards, that of the south is three hundred and seventy-two. The north, although narrower and with a gentler current, is deeper than the south ; its waters, too, are of the same whitish brown color, thickness and turbidness ; they run in the same boiling and rolling manner which has uniformly characterized the Missouri ; and its bed is composed of some gravel, but principally mud. The south fork is deeper, but its waters are perfectly transparent; its current is rapid, but the surface smooth and unruffled; and its bed, too, is composed of round and flat smooth stones like those of rivers issuing from a mountainous country. The air and character of the north fork so much resemble those of the Missouri that almost all the party believe that to be the true course to be pursued. We, however, although we have given no decided opinion HISTORY OF MONTANA 39 are inclined to think otherwise, because, although this branch does give the colour and character to the Missouri, yet these very circumstances induce an opinion that it rises in and runs through an open plain country, since if it came from the mountains it would be clearer, unless, which from the position of the country is improbable, it passed through a vast extent of low ground after leaving them. We thought it probable that it did not even penetrate the Rocky Mountains, but drew its sources from the open country towards the lower and middle parts of the Saskashawan, in a direction north of this place. "What embarrasses us most is, that the Indians, who appeared to be well acquainted with the geography of the country, have not mentioned this northern river; for 'the river which scolds at all others,' as it is termed, must be, according to their account, one of the rivers which we have passed; and if this north fork be the Missouri, why have they not designated the south branch, which they must also have passed in order to reach the great falls which they mention on the Missouri?" ROMANCE OF MARIA'S RIVER The foregoing extracts are taken from the journal to show the care with which the leaders examined all the evidences and the wisdom of their general conclusion that their way to the mountains lay along the south rather than the north fork. After examining the streams and the neighboring country several days more, Captain Lewis became con- vinced that the northern stream pursued a direction too far north for their desired route to the Pacific, by way of the Columbia. On the 8th of June, 1805, as his party came down the river, all its members, except he himself, "were of opinion that this river was the true Missouri; but Captain Lewis, being fully persuaded that it was neither the main stream nor that which it would be advisable to ascend, gave it the name of Maria's River. After travelling all day they reached the camp at five o'clock in the afternoon, and found Captain Clark and the party very anxious for their safety, as they had staid two days longer than had been expected." Elsewhere Captain Lewis states : "I determined to give it a name, and in honour of Miss Maria W d called it Maria's River. It is true that the hue of the waters of this turbulent and troubled stream but illy comport with the pure celestial virtues and amiable qualifications of that lovely fair one; but on the other hand it is a noble river; one destined to become in my opinion an object of contention between the two great powers of America and Great Britain, with respect to the adjustment of the North-westwardly boundary of the former, and that it will become one of the most interesting branches of the Missouri." Dr. Elliott Coues, the learned editor of the 1893 edition of the journal, adds this enlightening bit of information : "The Ulyssean young captain is not successful in concealing the name of 'that lovely fair one'; for w ffi M Vol. 14 50 HISTORY OF MONTANA country; for she seems to possess the folly or the philosophy of not suffering her feelings to extend beyond the anxiety of having plenty to eat and a few trinkets to wear." Two days afterward, Captain Clark, feeling much better, and observations having been made to fix the longitude of this important geographical point on the western continent, the men reloaded the canoes and the expedition moved up the Jefferson River. The Indian Bird Woman was now on home ground and the leaders figuratively placed themselves in her hands. For some time, she was the most important member of the party. Soon after the start she pointed out to Captain Lewis the place where she had been made prisoner. Her fellow country- men, being too few to contend with the Minnetarees, had mounted their horses and fled as soon as the attack began. The women and children dispersed, and Sacajawea, as she was crossing the river at a shoal place, was overtaken by her pursuers and captured. LEWIS ASCENDS THE JEFFERSON (BEAVERHEAD) Captain Lewis, with the Indian woman as guide and Charbonneau as interpreter, now assumed the land travel in search of the Snake Indians. He found and named Philosophy River. His companions were also Sergeant Gass and Drewyer. Frazier and Fields creeks (named after Robert Frazier and Reuben Fields) were also placed on the map of the present Montana, along this route. Both leaders floundered around, either along various streams or over the surrounding country, endeavor- ing to find, beyond mistake, the true continuation of the Jefferson, and finally decided on the middle branch. Finally, after nine days from the commencement of its ascent, or August 8th, Sacajawea recognized a curious projection into the river of an elevated plain as the point which her people called Beaver Head, from a supposed resemblance to that object. She said it was not far from the summer retreat of her country- men, which was on a river beyond the mountains and running to the west. She was therefore certain that the Shoshonees would be either on the Jefferson River, or immediately west of its source, which from the size of the stream was judged to be not far distant. Captain Lewis, with three of his men, therefore set out to search for the Snake Indians, or any other nation which could supply horses with which to transport' the baggage of the expedition across the mountains opposite the source of the Missouri. Some twenty or twenty-five miles from Beaver Head, on the following day (August loth) he had traced the Jefferson to a high cliff, which he christened Rattlesnake, from the number of that reptile which he saw there. Beyond the stream forked, and choosing the road along the one which showed the freshest tracks of horses, he fixed a dry willow pole at that point bearing a note to Captain Clark, recommending him to await his return at that place. On the day mentioned, Captain Lewis and his men had travelled thirty HISTORY OF MONTANA 51 miles, and on the following day (August nth) the former "had the mortification to find the track which he followed yesterday soon dis- appeared." While he and his companions (Drewyer and Shields) were searching for the lost trail, "Captain Lewis perceived with the greatest delight, a man on horseback at the distance of two miles coming down the plain toward them. On examining him with the glass, Captain Lewis saw that he was of a different nation from any Indians we had hitherto met; he was armed with a bow and a quiver of arrows ; mounted on an elegant horse without a saddle, and a small string attached to the under jaw answered as a bridle. Convinced that he was a Shoshonee, and knowing how much of our success depended on the friendly offices of that nation, Captain Lewis was full of anxiety to approach without alarming him, and endeavor to convince him that he was a white man. He therefore proceeded on towards the Indian at his usual pace. When they were within a mile of each other, the Indian suddenly stopped Captain Lewis immediately followed his example, took his blanket from his knapsack and holding it with both hands at two corners threw it above his head and unfolded it as he brought it to the ground as if in the act of spreading it. This signal, which originates in the practice of spreading a robe or a skin, as a seat for guests to whom they wish to show a distinguished kindness, is the universal sign of friendship among the Indians on the Missouri and the Rocky Mountains. As usual, Captain Lewis re- peated this signal three times; still the Indian kept his position, and looked with an air of suspicion on Drewyer and Shields who were now advancing on each side. Captain Lewis was afraid to make any signal for them to halt, lest he should increase the suspicion of the Indian, who began to be uneasy, and they were too distant to hear his voice. He therefore took from his pack some beads, a looking glass and a few trinkets, which he had brought for the purpose and, leaving his gun, advanced unarmed towards the Indian. The latter remained in the same position till Captain Lewis came within two hundred yards of him, when he turned his horse and began to move off slowly. "Captain Lewis then called out to him in as loud a voice as he could, repeating the words tabba bone f which in the Shoshonee language means 'white man'; but looking over his shoulder the Indian kept his eyes on Drewyer and Shields, who were still advancing, without recollecting the impropriety of doing so at such a moment, till Captain Lewis made a signal to them to halt; this Drewyer obeyed, but Shields did not observe it, and still went forward. Seeing Drewyer halt, the Indian turned his horse about as if to wait for Captain Lewis, who now reached within 150 paces, repeating the words, tabba bone! and holding up the trinkets in his hand, at the same time stripping up the sleeve of his shirt to show the colour of his skin. The Indian suffered him to advance within 100 paces, then suddenly turned his horse and, giving him the whip, leaped across the creek and disappeared in an instant among the willow bushes ; with him vanished all the hopes which the sight of him had inspired of a friendly introduction to his countrymen." 52 HISTORY OF MONTANA Unfortunately a rain obliterated all traces of the Indian or his red companions, Captain . Lewis and his men making every endeavor to run them down. While thus engaged, they passed a large island which they called Three-thousand-mile Island, "on account of its being that distance from the mouth of the Missouri." PASSAGE OF THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE The lost trail and the persistent search for it resulted, on the following day (August 12, 1805), in one of the great events of history and geography the discovery and passage of the great continental watershed of the United States of America. In view of the significance of the event, its details, as recorded in the Lewis-Clark journal are of absorbing interest. The morning of the day mentioned saw Captain Lewis and his two comrades still endeavoring to trace the tracks of the horse which they had lost in the mountains, on the previous day. The waters of the Jefferson were now shallow and rapid and flowed from a cove in the mountains, winding across a low plain which was further inter- sected by bayous. The story is thus told in the journal: "Captain Lewis now decided on making the circuit along the foot of the mountains which formed the cove, expecting by that means to find a road across them, and accordingly sent Drewyer on one side and Shields on the other. In this way they crossed four small rivulets near each other, on which were some bowers or conical lodges of willow brush, which seemed to have been made recently. From the manner in which the ground in the neighborhood was torn up, the Indians appeared to have been gathering roots, but Captain Lewis could not discover what particular plant they were search- ing for, nor could he find any fresh track, till at the distance of four miles from his camp he met a large plain Indian road which came into the cove from the northwest, and wound along the foot of the mountains to the southwest, approaching obliquely the main stream he had left yesterday. Down this road he now went toward the southwest; at the distance of five miles it crossed a large run or creek, which is a principal branch of the main stream into which it falls, just above the high cliffs or gates observed yesterday, and which they now saw before them. Here they halted and breakfasted on the last of the deer, keeping a small piece of pork in reserve against accident. They then continued through the low bottom along the main stream, near the foot of the mountains on the right. "For the first five miles the valley continues towards the southwest from two to three miles in width; then the main stream, which had received two small branches from the left in the valley, turns abruptly to the west through a narrow bottom between the mountains. The road was still plain, and as it led them directly on towards the mountain the stream gradually became smaller, till after going two miles it had so greatly diminished in width that one of the men in a fit of enthusiasm, with one foot on each side of the river, thanked God that he had lived to bestride the Missouri ! HISTORY OF MONTANA 53 "As they went along, their hopes of soon seeing the waters of th'e Columbia arose almost to painful anxiety; when, after four miles from the last abrupt turn of the river, they reached a small gap formed by the high mountains which recede on each side, leaving room for the Indian road. From the foot of one of the lowest of these mountains, which rises with a gentle ascent of about half a mile, issues the remotest water of the Missouri. They had now reached the hidden sources of that river, which had never yet been seen by civilized man; and as they quenched their thirst at the chaste and icy fountain as they sat down by the brink of that little rivulet, which yielded its distant and modest tribute to the parent ocean they felt themselves rewarded for all their labours and all their difficulties. "They left reluctantly this interesting spot and, pursuing the Indian road through the intervals of the hills, arrived at the top of a ridge, from which they saw high mountains covered with snow, still to the west of them. The ridge on which they stood formed the dividing line between the waters of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. They followed a descent much steeper than on the eastern side, and at the distance of three quarters of a mile reached a handsome bold creek of cold clear water running to the westward. They stopped to taste for the first time the waters of the Columbia." The expedition had achieved one of its chief objects that is, to find the gateway through the Rocky Mountains by which communication might be obtained between the headwaters of the Missouri and the Columbia, and a virtually continuous waterway be opened from the Mississippi Valley to the Pacific Coast. The secondary step in the venture was to get into touch with the Shoshonee Indians or other interior tribe who could supply information, or guidance, which should enable further progress toward the far western destination. IN TOUCH WITH FRIENDLY SHOSHONES So Captain Lewis and his two companions resumed the Indian road which had led them through the mountains and to the headwaters of the Salmon River, or the commencement of the Columbia River Valley. They soon met a number of female Shoshones, whom they propitiated with trinkets and whose cheeks were painted with bright vermillion by the whites as an even more effective peace offering. The Indian women conducted Captain Lewis and his men toward the camp of their nation down the river, and after going about two miles "met a troop of nearly sixty warriors, mounted on excellent horses riding at full speed toward them. As they advanced Captain Lewis put down his gun, and went with the flag about fifty paces in advance. The chief, who, with two men, was riding in front of the main body, spoke to the women, who now explained that the party was composed of white men, and showed exultingly the presents they had received. The three men immediately leaped from their horses, came up to Captain Lewis and embraced him with great cordiality, putting their left arm over his right shoulder 54 HISTORY OF MONTANA and clasping his back; applying, at the same time, their left cheek to his, and frequently vociferating ah hi e! ah hi e! 'I am much pleased, I am much rejoiced !' The whole body of warriors now came forward, and our men received the caresses, and no small share of the grease and paint, of their new friends. After this fraternal embrace of which the motive was much more agreeable than the manner, Captain Lewis lighted a pipe and offered it to the Indians, who had now seated themselves in a circle around the party. But before they would receive this mark of friendship they pulled off their moccasins, a custom, as we afterwards learned, which indicates the sacred sincerity of their professions when they smoke with a stranger, and which imprecates upon themselves the misery of going barefoot forever if they are faithless to their words, a penalty by no means light to those who rove over the thorny plains of their country." More presents were distributed this time, among the warriors and about four miles distant Captain Lewis and his men were introduced to their quarters in the Indian camp, which was on a level meadow on the bank of the river. After formally smoking a pipe of peace with the chief and his warriors, Captain Lewis explained the purposes of his visit and distributed the remainder of the small articles he had brought with him. The chief informed him that the stream discharged itself, at the distance of half a day's march into another of twice its size coming from the southwest. There were a great number of horses feeding in every direction around the camp, which encouraged the captain to believe that the expeditionary stores and goods could be transported across the mountains, if necessary. On his way from the river to his lodge, Captain Lewis met an Indian who "invited him into his bower and gave him a small morsel of boiled antelope and a piece of fresh salmon. This was the first salmon he had seen and perfectly satisfied him that he was now on the waters of the Pacific." LEWIS AND SHOSHONES JOIN CLARK After some persuasion, the chief of the Shoshones, Cameahwait, with eight of his warriors, was induced to accompany Captain Lewis and his men on the return trip to the forks of the Jefferson, where Captain Clark and the remainder of the expedition were to meet them. Captain Lewis was obliged to resort to all sorts of stratagems in order to allay the suspicions of the Indians that they were being led into some kind of a trap, various articles of clothing being exchanged so that it would be difficult for an enemy to distinguish a white from a red man. The i/th of August, 1805, marked the day when final preparations were made to enter the second stage of the journey to the Pacific ; therefore, the interesting events of that day are quoted at length from the official journal, and thereafter the main events of the expedition must be condensed. Under date of Saturday, August i/th, the story runs: "Captain Lewis rose very early and despatched Drewyer and the Indian HISTORY OF MONTANA 55 down the river in quest of the boats. Shields was sent out at the same time to hunt, while M'Neal prepared a breakfast out of the remainder of the meat. Drewyer had been gone about two hours, and the Indians were all anxiously waiting for some news, when an Indian who had straggled a short distance down the river returned with a report that he had seen the white men, who were only a short distance below, and were coming on. The Indians were all transported with joy and the chief, in the warmth of his satisfaction renewed his embrace to Captain Lewis, who was quite as much delighted as the Indians themselves. "The report proved most agreeably true. On setting out at seven o'clock, Captain Clark, with Charbonneau and his wife, walked on shore ; but they had not gone more than a mile before Captain Clark saw Sacajawea, who was with her husband 100 yards ahead, begin to dance and show every mark of the most extravagant joy, turning round him and pointing to several Indians, whom he now saw advancing on horseback, sucking her fingers at the same time to indicate that they were of her native tribe. As they advanced, Captain Clark discovered among them Drewyer dressed like an Indian, from whom he learned the situation of the party. While the boats were performing the circuit he went toward the forks with the Indians, who, as they went along, sang aloud with the greatest appearance of delight. i' : SACAJAWEA REUNITED TO GIRLHOOD COMPANION "We soon drew near to the camp, and just as we approached it, a woman made her way through the crowd towards Sacajawea, and, recog- nizing each other, they embraced with the most tender effection. The meeting of these two young women had in it something peculiarly touching ( not only in the ardent manner in which their feelings were expressed but from the real interest of their situation. They had been companions in childhood; in the war with the Minnetarees they had both been taken prisoners in the same battle, they had shared and softened the rigours of their captivity, till one of them had escaped from the Minnetarees, with scarce a hope of ever seeing her friend relieved from the hands of her enemies. BROTHER AND SISTER ALSO REUNITED "While Sacajawea was renewing among the women the friendships of former days, Captain Clark went on and was received by Captain Lewis and the chief, who, after the first embraces and salutations were over, conducted him to a sort of circular tent or shade of willow. Here he was. seated on a white robe, and the chief immediately tied in his hair six small shells resembling pearls, an ornament highly valued by these people, who procured them in the course of trade from the seacoast. The moccasins of the whole party were then taken off, and after much ceremony the smoking began. After this, the conference was to be opened, and glad of an opportunity of being able to converse more in- INDIAN CHIEFS AND WARRIORS HISTORY OF MONTANA 57 telligibly, Sacajawea was sent for; she came into the tent, sat down and was beginning to interpret, when in the person of Cameahwait she recognized her brother; she instantly jumped up, and ran and embraced him, throwing over him her blanket and weeping profusely; the chief was himself moved, though not in the same degree. After some con- versation between them she resumed her seat and attempted to inter- pret for us, but her new situation seemed to overpower her, and she was frequently interrupted by her tears. After the council was finished, the unfortunate woman learnt that all her family were dead except two brothers, one of whom was absent, and a son of her eldest sister, a small boy, who was immediately adopted by her. "The canoes arriving soon after, we formed a camp in a meadow on the left side, a little below the forks, took out our baggage, and by means of our sails and willow poles formed a canopy for our Indian visitors. About four o'clock the chiefs and warriors were collected, and after the customary ceremony of taking off the moccasins and smok- ing a pipe, we explained to them in a long harangue the purposes of our visit, making themselves one conspicuous object of the good wishes of our government, on whose strength as well as its friendly disposition we expatiated. We told them of their dependence on the will of our gov- ernment for all future supplies of whatever was necessary either for their comfort or defence ; that as we were soon to discover the best route by which merchandise could be conveyed to them, and no trade would be begun before our return, it was mutually advantageous that we should proceed with as little delay as possible; that we were under the necessity of requesting them to furnish us with horses to transport our baggage across the mountains, and a guide to show us the route, but that they should be amply remunerated for their horses, as well as for every other service they should render us. In the meantime our first wish was that they should immediately collect as many horses as were necessary to transport our baggage to their village, where, at our leisure, we could trade with them for as many horses as they could spare." It was finally agreed that Captain Clark should set off in the morn- ing with eleven men, furnished, besides their arms, with tools for mak- ing canoes; that he should take Charbonneau and his wife to the camp of the Shoshones, where he was to leave them in order to hasten the collection of the horses ; that he was then to lead his men down the Columbia, and if he found it navigable and the timber in sufficient quan- tity, begin to build canoes. As soon as he had decided as to the pro- priety of proceeding down the Columbia or across the mountains, he was to send back one of the men with information of it to Captain Lewis, who by that time would have brought up the whole party and the rest of the baggage as far as the Shoshonee village. It is impossible to give the details of the journey of the expedi- tion, now divided under the two leaders, now reunited, but always harmo- nious ; the discovery and naming of Lewis River by Captain Clark and Clark River, by Captain Lewis, and the terrible sufferings of the party, which caused all their Shoshone friends to desert them except one old 58 HISTORY OF MONTANA man, the final entrance into the Snake ( Lewis) River, the joyful arrival at the mouth of the Snake, where it joins the Columbia, and their cheering sight of the Pacific Ocean, on November 16, 1805. A winter camp was built close to the ocean, on the south bank of the Columbia. THE RETURN TRIPS EASTWARD On March 23, 1806, camp was broken and the loaded flotilla of canoes started up the Columbia on the long return trip eastward. If re- membered, the toils and hardships of the western trip were ignored. On June 3Oth, the party had arrived at what was noted as Travelers' Rest Creek, where it empties into Clark's (Flathead) River. There, the leaders decided upon a separation, the party under Captain Lewis to pursue a northerly route through Montana and that under Captain Clark, a southerly. Specifically, as recorded in the journal entry of July i, 1806, the plan agreed upon was as follows: "Captain Lewis, with nine men, was to pursue the most direct route to the falls of the Mis- souri, where three of his party were to be left to prepare carriages for transporting baggage and canoes across the portage of eighteen miles from Portage Creek to Whitebear Island. With the remaining six he was to ascend Maria's River, to explore the country and ascertain whether any branch of it reaches as far north as the latitude of fifty degrees, after which he was to descend that river to its mouth. "The rest of the men were to accompany Captain Clark to the head of Jefferson river, which Sergeant Ordway and a party of nine men would descend with the canoes and other articles deposited there. Captain Clark's party, which would thereby be reduced to ten, would then pro- ceed to the Yellowstone at its nearest approach to the three forks of the Missouri. There, he was to build canoes and descend that river with seven of his party and wait at its mouth till the rest of the party should join him. Sergeant Pryor, with two other, was then to take the horses by land to the Mandans. From that nation he was to go to the British posts on the Assiniboine with a letter to Mr. Henry, to procure his endeavors to prevail on some of the Sioux chiefs to accom- pany him to the city of Washington." CAPTAIN LEWIS'S HOMEWARD TRIP All preparations being completed, "the two parties who had been long companions now separated, with an anxious hope of soon meeting after each had accomplished the purpose of its destination." The plan as arranged by Lewis and Clark was carried out in all its essentials. Captain Lewis, directed by the Indians, followed the eastern branch of Clark's River. They also told him of a river (Cokalahishkit), "the river of the road to buffalo," which would guide him to the dividing ground between the headwaters of the Columbia and the Missouri along the northern route. Pursuing this route, in about three days a rather flat country was reached, on the western side of the mountains, which Cap- HISTORY OF MONTANA 59 tain Lewis called "Prairie of the Knobs." Along this he traveled for a few miles and reached a ridge, passed over the divide, and after thirty or forty miles reached the headwaters of Medicine River, which flows into the Missouri near the great falls. The captain 'then cut across country to Whitebear Island, while his hunters were sent out for game. On opening the cache, it was found that a number of bearskins there deposited had been destroyed by the river flood as well as valuable specimens of plants ; "but the chart of the Missouri River still remained unhurt." Preparations were continued for transporting the preserved articles, as the carriage wheels were in good order and the iron frame of the boat had not materially suffered. On the i6th of July, 1806, started with Drewyer and the two Fields, with six horses, to seek the sources of Maria's River. He again slept under the Great Falls, which he sketched. Two days out, the party reached the river, and traveled up its northern side, ascending its northern branch until it entered the mountains. On the 22nd, his journal makes the record: "And as we have ceased to hope that any branches of Maria's river extend as far north as the fiftieth degree of north latitude, we deem it useless to pro- ceed farther, and rely chiefly on Milk and White Earth rivers for the desired boundary." While preparing to return down the river, Captain Lewis and his party fell in with a band of thieving Gros Ventres, or Minnetarees, who, after smoking a peace pipe and accepting the warmth of the white men's camp fire, attempted to steal the rifles of Captain Lewis and the Field brothers. One of the Fields, in attempting to regain them, fatally stabbed one of the Indian thieves. The Indians afterward attempted to run off the horses of the party, and, in the pursuit, one of the ungrateful savages was fatally shot by Captain Lewis, who was using his pistol. The white leader himself had a narrow escape from death as the wounded Indian returned his fire just before expiring. In the melee, the whites captured four of the Indians' horses and lost only one of their own. "Besides which," continues the captain's account of the affair, "we found in the camp four shields, two bows with quivers, and also the flag which we had presented to them, but left the medal around the neck of the dead man, in order that they might be informed who we were." Captain Lewis and his men now made a dash for the mouth of Maria's River, fearful not only for their own safety and the valuable papers and instruments which he carried, but for Sergeant Gass and Willard who had been left at the falls. By good fortune they met, as well as Sergeant Ordway's party, which had spent six days in descending the river from the mouth of the Madison to White Bear Island, and spending another week there at the falls, in collecting the baggage, trans- porting it over the portage and starting it down the river in the periogue of five canoes. Gass and Willard had set out from the falls at the same time with the horses of the main expedition. It was more than two weeks, however, before the two leaders re- joined their forces below the mouth of the Yellowstone, on the Mis- souri. On the 7th of August Captain Lewis made a run of eighty-three 60 HISTORY OF MONTANA miles down the Missouri, in order to reach the mouth of the Yellowstone. "At four o'clock," it was noted in the journal of that date, "we reached the mouth of the Yellowstone, where we found a note from Captain Clark informing us of his intention of waiting for us a few miles below. We therefore left a memorandum for our two huntsmen, whom we now sup- posed must be behind us, and then pursued our course till night came on, and not being able to overtake Captain Clark, we encamped." Captain Lewis and most of his men were now over what is now the North Dakota boundary, and it was not until the I2th of August, 1806, at i :oo o'clock in the afternoon, at a point in the Missouri River, be- yond the mouth of the White Earth River, in the region of the Burnt Hills, that Lewis especially desired to "make the observation of the lati- tude of the Burnt Hills, which is chiefly desirable," he notes, "as being the most northern parts of the Missouri." As he did not reach the locality until twenty minutes after noon it was too late to take the meridian altitude, and while waiting over until the following day to do so he was severely wounded in the thigh by one of his huntsmen who had mistaken his hidden movements on the bank of the river for those of elk which had been sighted. The wound was very painful and brought on a high fever, but the journey was continued and on the fol- lowing day, August I2th, he and his men came up with Captain Clark. CAPTAIN CLARK'S NINE DAYS' JOURNEY During the nine days of their separation, the journey of the Cap- tain Clark contingent had been of interest, although not so stirring as that of Captain Lewis. On taking leave of Lewis, July 3, 1806, with fifteen men and fifty horses, Clark had set out through the valley of Clark's River, along the western side of which they rode in a south- erly direction. "Having made sixteen miles (in the morning of July 4th), we halted at an early hour for the purpose of doing honor to the birthday of our country's independence. The festival was not very splen- did, for it consisted of a mush made of cows and a saddle of venison, nor had we anything to tempt us to prolong it." , On the 6th of July the watershed was reached which separates the middle fork of Clark's River from the waters of Wisdom and Lewis rivers. Reaching the other side of the mountain, they came to Glade Creek. They found "appearances of old buffalo paths, and some old heads of buffaloes; and as these animals have wonderful sagacity in the choice of their routes, the coincidence of a buffalo with an Indian road was the strongest assurance that it was the best. In the afternoon we passed along the hillside north of the creek till in the course of six miles we entered an extensive level plain. Here the tracks of the Indians scattered so much that we could no longer pursue it, but Sacajawea recognized the plain immediately. She had traveled it often during her childhood, and informed us that it was the great resort of the Shoshones, who came for the purpose of gathering quamash and cows, and of taking beaver, with which the plain abounded ; and that Glade Creek was a HISTORY OF MONTANA 61 branch of Wisdom River, and that on reaching the highest part of the plain we should see a gap in the mountain, on the course to our canoes, and from that gap a high point of mountain covered with snow. "At the distance of a mile we crossed a large creek from the right rising, as well as Fish creek, in a snowy mountain over which there is a gap. Soon after, on ascending a rising ground, the country spreads itself into a beautiful plain extending north and south, about fifteen miles wide and thirty in length, and surrounded on all sides by high points of mountains covered with snow, among which was the gap pointed out by the squaw, bearing S. 56 E." On the 7th, Captain Clark's party reached Wisdom River, following it to a gap in the mountains, which led him to the west branch of the Jefferson River. Down this the men went to the "forks," where they had deposited their merchandise in the previous August. The lack of tobacco had been their greatest deprivation, "and such was their eager- ness to procure it after so long a deprivation that they scarcely took their saddles from their horses before they ran to the cave, and were delighted at being able to resume this fastidious indulgence." Some of the men whose tomahawks were so constructed as to answer the purpose of pipes, broke the handles of these instruments, and after cutting them into small fragments, chewed them, the wood having by frequent smok- ing become strongly impregnated with the taste of that plant. The party led by Captain Clark had now traveled from Traveler's Rest Creek to the head of Jefferson River, about 160 miles, and the journal records: "It is a very excellent, and by cutting a few trees might be rendered a good route for wagons, with the exception of about four miles over one of the mountains which would require some levelling. On July loth, with a white frost covering the ground and ice forming the boats were loaded and the men divided into two bands, one to de- scend the river with the baggage, while Clark, with the other party, proceeded on horseback to the Rochejaume (Yellowstone). After travel- ing about fifteen miles down the eastern side of Jefferson river, through Service valley and over the Rattlesnake mountain into Beaverhead val- ley, Captain Clark discovered that the canoes could advance more rapidly than the horses; he therefore left the horses with Sergeant Pryor and himself continued by water. Three Thousand Mile Island, Beaver Head, Philanthrophy river, Wisdom river, Panther and Field creeks, and other features made familiar by the outward voyage of the previous year. The entrance of Madison river into the Missouri was reached by Clark and the boats about an hour after Sergeant Ordway had arrived with the horses, on Sunday, July I3th. The horses were then driven across Madison and Gallatin rivers, and the whole party halted to dine and unload the canoes below the mouth of the latter. Here the two parties again separated, Ordway with nine men setting out in six canoes to de- scend the river, while Captain Clark, with the remaining twenty and the wife and child of Charbonneau, and fifty horses, started by land for the Yellowstone. This was according to programme, but had Clark not taken the precaution to take with him the faithful, astute and thoroughly 62 HISTORY OF MONTANA posted Bird Woman, the prompt performance of his part of the pre- arranged plan is problematical." Late in the afternoon of the I3th, the land party set out from the forks of the Missouri, but because of the sore feet of the horses were obliged to travel slowly and halted for the night, after going only four miles, on the bank of Gallatin's River. The plain beyond led to a gap in the mountains, twenty miles distant, which the captain would have taken, had not the Indian woman recommended one farther to the south. Under her guidance, the main channel of the Medicine River was reached, and finally, on the I4th, the gap in the mountains was NEAR THE SOURCE OF THE MISSOURI reached through the three branches of the Gallatin Pass, as well as the great buffalo road described by the invaluable squaw. FROM MISSOURI'S HEADWATERS TO THE YELLOWSTONE The journal entry of Tuesday, I5th (July, 1806), is of special sig- nificance: "After an early breakfast they pursued the buffalo road over a low gap in the mountain to the heads of the eastern fork of Gal- latin's river near which they had encamped last evening, and at the distance of six miles reached the top of the dividing ridge (Bozeman pass) which separates the waters of the Missouri and the Yellowstone; and on descending the ridge they struck one of the streams of the latter river. They followed its course through an open country, with high mountains on each side, partially covered with pine and watered by sev- eral streams, crowded as usual by beaver dams. Nine miles from the top of the ridge they reached the Yellowstone itself, about a mile and a half below where it issues from the Rocky mountains. "It now appeared that the communication between the two rivers was short and easy. From the head of the Missouri at its three forks to this place is a distance of forty-eight miles, the greater part of which is through a level plain ; indeed, from the forks of the eastern branch HISTORY OF MONTANA 63 of Gallatin's river, which is here navigable for small canoes to this part of the Yellowstone, the distance is no more than eighteen miles, with an excellent road over a high, dry country, with hills of inconsiderable height and no difficulty in passing. * * * "At the distance of nine miles from the mountain a river discharges itself into the Yellowstone from the northwest, under a high rocky cliff. It rises from the snowy mountains in that direction; is about thirty-five yards wide; has a bold, deep current; 'is skirted by some cottonwood and willow trees ; and, like the Yellowstone itself, seems to abound in beaver. They gave it the name of Shield's river, after one of the party." As many of the horses in the Clark party were either lamed by the hard travel or stolen by the Indians, two canoes were built, twenty- eight feet in length, lashed together, and on the 23rd of July all but three of its members continued the trip down the Yellowstone. Sergeant Pryor, with two other men, was directed to take the remaining horses to the Mandans, and (still according to programme) "if he found that Mr. Henry (Indian agent) was on the Assiniboin river, to go thither and de- liver him a letter, the object of which was to prevail on the most dis- tinguished chiefs of the Sioux to accompany him to Washington." LAST VIEW OF THE ROCKIES Sergeant Pryor was to join Clark where the Big Horn River entered the Yellowstone. A wide river coming in from the south was at first thought to be the Big Horn; "but afterwards when the Big Horn was found the name of Clark's fork was given to this stream." Pryor's Creek was also named along the route. Littlewolf Mountains were passed on the way, and one of the cliffs which juts into the Yellow- stone in that region was named by Captain Clark, Pompey's Pillar. Just before reaching the Big Horn River, on the 26th, he shot two of the animals from his boat which gave their name to that stream. He states that "there are no permanent settlements near it, but the whole country which it waters is occasionally visited by roving bands of hunt- ers from the Crow tribe, the Paunch, a band of Crows, and the Castahana, a small band of Snake Indians." On the morning of July 27, 1806, "they again set out very early, and on leaving the Big Horn took a last look at the Rocky mountains, which had been constantly in view from the first of May." Their course down the Yellowstone brought them through a country crowded with buffalo, elk and wolves, and on Tuesday, August 3, 1806, eight miles below Field's Creek, reached its junction with the Missouri. He had traveled down its valley for a distance of more than eight hun- dred miles. At the confluence of the two rivers he wrote the note to Cap- tain Lewis which the latter found four days afterward. On the 8th, Clark was joined by Sergeant Pryor and his two companions but minus the horses which had been stolen by the Indians. 64 HISTORY OF MONTANA HAPPILY REUNITED EXPEDITION Under date of August 12, 1806, Clark's journal says: "The party continued to slowly descend the river. One of the skin canoes was by accident pierced with a small hole, and they halted for the purpose of mending it with a piece of elk-skin and also to wait for two of the party who were behind. Whilst there they were overjoyed at seeing Captain Lewis's boats heave in sight about noon. But this feeling was changed into alarm on seeing the boats reach the shore without Captain Lewis, who they then learned had been wounded the day before, and was then lying in the periogue. After giving to hi,s wound all the atten- tion in our power we remained here some time, during which we were overtaken by our two men, accompanied by Dickson and Hancock, who wished to go with us as far as the Mandans. The whole party being now happily reunited, we left the two skin canoes, and all embarked together about three o'clock in the boats." THE INVALUABLE SACAJAWEA The "happily reunited" expedition arrived at the Mandan Village August 14, 1806. Three days afterward Lewis and Clark parted from Sacajawea, the faithful Indian "squaw" and guide, and Charbonneau, her unreliable, cowardly and unworthy husband, who, however, had been of considerable service. The wife, however, had been of far greater service, but both preferred to remain with the Indians. Sacajawea is thus noted in the journal : "Indeed, she has borne with a patience truly admirable the fatigues of a long route, encumbered with the charge of an infant, who is even now only nineteen months old. We therefore paid Charbonneau his wages, amounting to $500.33, including the price of a horse and a lodge purchased of him ; and soon afterward dropped down to the village of Big White, attended on shore by all the Indian chiefs who went to take leave of him." UNSELFISH CO-OPERATION OF LEADERS AND MEN In sketching the leading characters of the most famous land expedi- tion recorded in American history, Doctor Hosmer writes : "Though the closing weeks of summer the boats drifted rapidly down, and one day in September, 1806, saluting the flag they had carried so far with a part- ing volley, the Captains and their men stepped ashore at St. Louis. Never was success more complete. From first to last all went smoothly, not at all because the dangers and difficulties were small, but because the skill and courage with which they were confronted were consummate. Lewis and Clark were never found wanting, and in all the effort they co-operated without a touch of jealousy. From first to last among the men there was scarcely a trace of insubordination; each worked to his full capacity, yielding to the guidance of the leaders, whose natural ascendency they thoroughly recognized. The student of Lewis and Clark HISTORY OF MONTANA 65 learns to respect them all the stout sergeants, Pryor, Ordway and Patrick Gass, the latter of whom in his quaint diary supplements nobly the record of the chiefs; the blacksmith Shields, York the negro slave whom the Indians thought great 'medicine', the half-breed Drewyer, past-master of woodcraft, the Frenchman, Cruzat, whose fiddle re- sounded night after night in the desolate camps while the men danced off their pains and fears. LAST YEARS OF THE FAITHFUL BIRD WOMAN "But most of all the lone woman, Sacajawea, is an object of inter- est. Her figure in the story of Lewis and Clark is very pathetic and engaging, and in Indian story few characters appear whose desert was greater. A captive and a slave, she followed the trail or worked with the men in forcing on the canoes. Her husband, Charbonneau, soon proved to be inefficient and cowardly; but as dangers and hardships gathered, the heart and head of the squaw showed ever new resources. It is doubtful if the expedition could have pushed its way through without her." In after years, Charbonneau's name appears in the record of various American explorers as an interpreter, and as one of small character he fades away. His noble wife was tenderly cared for by her son, Baptiste, and her adopted son, Bazil the orphaned son of her eldest sister, whom she adopted in the Shoshone country, while about to return to civilization. The latter especially thoughtful of the welfare of his mother, by adoption, cared for her in her declining years, and was buried with the medal around his neck which Lewis and Clark had presented to Charbonneau. Saca- jawea lived to be one hundred years of age, and died and was buried in 1884, on the Shoshone, or Wind River reservation, in Fremont County, Wyoming. Over her grave is a tablet which reads : "Sacajawea, guide to Lewis and Clark Expedition, 1805-1807. Identified by Rev. John Roberts, who officiated at her burial, April 21, 1884." THE SAD END OF CAPTAIN LEWIS Captains Lewis and Clark started for Washington about .five months after they arrived in St. Louis. The sad sequel of the former's brilliant and brief public career is thus sketched by his great patron and warm friend, Jefferson : "It was the middle of February, 1807, before Captain Lewis and his companion, Captain Clark, reached the city of Washing- ton, where Congress was then in session. That body granted to the two chiefs and their followers the donation of lands which they had been encouraged to expect in reward of their toils and dangers. Cap- tain Lewis was soon after appointed governor of Louisiana, and Cap- tain Clark a general of militia, and agent of the United States for Indian affairs in that department. A considerable time intervened before the governor's arrival at St. Louis. He found the territory distracted by feuds and contentions among the officers of the government and the Vol. 15 66 HISTORY OF MONTANA people themselves divided by these into factions and parties. He de- termined at once to take no sides with either; but to use every endeavor to conciliate and harmonize them. The even-handed justice he adminis- tered to all soon established a respect for his person and authority ; and perseverance and time wore down animosities and reunited the citizens again into one family. "Governor Lewis had, from early life, been subject to hypochon- driac affections. It was a constitutional disposition in all the nearer branches of the family of his name, and was more immediately inher- ited by him from his father. They had not, however, been so strong as to give uneasiness to his family. While he lived with me in Washing- ton I observed at times sensible depressions of mind; but knowing their constitutional source, I estimated their course by what I had seen in the family. During his western expedition, the constant exertion which that required of all the faculties of body and mind, suspended these distressing affections; but after his establishment in St. Louis in sedentary occupations they returned upon him with redoubled vigor and began seriously to alarm his friends. He was in a paroxysm of one of these when his affairs rendered it necessary for him to go to Washington. He proceeded to Chickasaw Bluffs, where he arrived on the i6th of September, 1809, with a view of continuing his journey thence by water. "Mr. Neely, agent of the United States with the Chickasaw Indians, arriving there two days after, found him extremely indisposed, and be- traying at times some symptoms of a derangement of mind. The rumors of a war with England, and apprehensions that he might lose the papers he was bringing on, among which were the vouchers of his public accounts and the journals and papers of his western expedition, induced him here to change his mind, and to take his course by land through the Chick- asaw country. Although he appeared somewhat relieved, Mr. Neely kindly determined to accompany and watch over him. Unfortunately, at their encampment, after having passed the Tennessee one day's jour- ney, they lost two horses, which obliging Mr. Neely to halt for their recovery, the governor proceeded, under a promise to wait for him at the house of the first white inhabitant on his road. He stopped at the house of a Mr. Grinder, who, not being at home, his wife alarmed at the symptoms of derangement she discovered, gave him up the house and retired to rest herself in an out-house, the governor's and Neely's servants lodging in another. About three o'clock in the night he did the deed* which plunged his friends into affliction and deprived his country of one of her most valued citizens, whose valor and intelli- gence would now have been employed in avenging the wrongs of his coun- try, and in emulating by land the splendid deeds which have honored her arms on the ocean. It lost, too, to the nation the benefit of receiv- * The facts accompanying the death of Meriwether Lewis have never been consistently stated, and his death by pistol shot at a public house of questionable reputation Grinder's Stand, on the Natchez Trace (military road) is still open to discussion as to whether it was through suicide or murder. Jefferson, obviously, favors the former explanation. A monument of Tennessee marble stands at the locality where his death occurred. HISTORY OF MONTANA 67 ing from his own hand the narrative now offered them of his suffer- ings and successes, in endeavoring to extend for them the boundaries of science, and to present to their knowledge that vast and fertile country, which their sons are destined to fill with arts, with science, with free- dom and happiness." GENERAL CLARK'S HONORABLE PUBLIC CAREER After serving for six years as brigadier general of militia and Indian agent for the territory of Louisiana, in 1813 General Clark was made governor of Missouri. He honored that position until Missouri became a state in 1820, and afterward became superintendent of Indian affairs, which he held at the time of his death. Clark held other re- sponsible public positions and died in St. Louis, generally respected and loved, in 1838. There was probably no character better known or loved by the Indians in the West than General Clark, who affectionately spoke of him as the "Red-Head," and St. Louis was known by his red friends as "Red-Head's town." CHAPTER III Two days after Lewis and Clark had joined each other, with their parties, below the mouth of the Yellowstone and started for the Man- dan country, on their way to St. Louis, John Colter, a member of the expedition, obtained an honorable discharge from the leaders and, again answered the call of the wilds. The journal narrates the incident, thus, under date of August 14, 1806: "In the evening we were applied to by one of our men, Colter, who was desirous of joining the two trappers who had accompanied us and who now proposed an expedition up the river (Missouri), in which they were to find traps and give him a share of the profits. The offer was a very advantageous one, and as he had always performed his duty and his services might be dispensed with, we agreed that he might go, provided none of the rest would ask or expect a similar indulgence. To this they cheerfully answered that they wished Colter every success and would not apply for liberty to separate before we reached St. Louis. We therefore supplied him, as did his comrades also, with powder and lead, and a variety of articles which might be useful to him and he left us the next day. JOHN COLTER AGAIN CALLED TO THE WILDS "The example of this man shows how easily men may be weaned from the habits of a civilized life to the ruder but scarcely less fascinating manners of the woods. This hunter has been now absent for many years from the frontiers, and might naturally be presumed to have some anxiety, or some curiosity at least, to return to his friends and his country ; yet just at the moment when he is approaching the frontiers he is tempted, by a hunting scheme, to give up those delightful prospects and go back without the least reluctance to the solitude of the woods." Before Colter was to return to American civilization, he was to have adventures and wide wanderings among the grandeurs and wonders of the Rockies which would thrill even a hardened boy of scout and Indian literature. Where he spent the winter of 1806-07 is not recorded, but in the spring of the latter year he built a canoe of logs and started down the Missouri river for St. Louis. Even now he was not to lead the q[uiet life of- a settler; for at the mouth of the Platte, he met a party winding up the river from Missouri, under the leadership of the keen and fearless Spanish fur trader, Manuel Lisa, and under the immediate guid- ance of George Drewyer, Lewis and Clark's old hunter and interpreter 68 HISTORY OF MONTANA 69 and one of the mainstays of the expedition. Lisa was headed for the great beaver country, through which the expedition had passed; Colter had since investigated the trapping grounds at the headwaters of the Missouri and was the man most needed to insure success to the commercial venture of the Spanish fur trader. FORT LISA ESTABLISHED Colter was therefore again turned back toward the western wilds and the re-enforced party proceeded up the Missouri to the mouth of the Yel- lowstone, thence up that river to the mouth of the Big Horn. There (in the spring or early summer of 1807) Lisa established the post known variously as Fort Lisa, Fort Manuel and Manuel's Fort. He then sent out Colter alone as a herald to announce to the neighboring Indians the fact and object of his coming. The exact route of his wanderings in 1807 is not known, although Capt. William Clark, whom he met in 1810 and who obtained from him a narrative of his travels, marked upon one of the maps of the expedition "Colter's route in 1807." From this and other reports gathered from others whom Colter met in St. Louis,* it is prob- able that he traveled from the mouth of the Big Horn to the forks of the Shoshone or Snake River, where he found a great tar spring, which came to bear the name of Colter's "Hell Hole." Then journeying, in a north- westerly direction, through what is now the Yellowstone National Park, he reached Yellowstone Lake, forded the Yellowstone River near Twin Falls and followed the Indian trail that led to the Valley of Clark's Fork. Thence he returned to the forks of the Shoshone and up the Big Horn Valley to Lisa's Fort. The difficulties encountered in this journey and so bravely over- come by Colter place him in the front rank of the heroic explorers of interior America. It is believed that he met the Crows somewhere in the Wind River region and, with a small band of them, crossed the great Wind River Mountains by way of Union Pass and the Teton Range through the pass by that name. The Crows were attacked by a war party of Blackfeet and Colter was badly wounded in the leg. The Indians, with whom he was traveling and with whom he had fought, turned back in alarm and left the white man, wounded as he was, to shift for himself. It was now impossible for him to think of treating with the Blackfeet at the three forks of the Missouri, as had been the original intention, for he had been seen by their warriors in the mountain encounter. He therefore started for Lisa's Fort, and. wounded as he was, struck bravely down the wooded northern slope of the Teton Mountains and across the southern part of the present Yellowstone Park. In the words of Chit- tendenrt "It may, with difficulty, be imagined what must have been his astonishment when, emerging from the forests upon the shores of that surpassingly beautiful mountain lake near the source of the Yellowstone *John Bradbury, English botanist, and author of "Travels in the Interior of America"; Henry W. Brackenridge, explorer and writer. f Captain H. M. Chittenden : "American Fur Trade of the Far West." HISTORY OF MONTANA 71 river, he found its shores steaming with innumerable boiling springs and geysers." COLTER'S REMARKABLE ADVENTURES Exactly where he met with the most remarkable adventure of his stirring carreer is not known. Neither is it known when or where he met the Potts, who figures in the story and who incidentally appears as a member of the Lewis and Clark party. The main facts, as related to Bradbury, after Colter's return to St. Louis, are these : Colter and Potts were examining their traps early one morning in a creek which they were ascending in a canoe, when they suddenly heard a great noise resembling the tramping of animals ; but they could not ascertain the fact, as the high, perpendicular banks on each side of the river impeded their view. Colter immediately pronounced it to be occasioned by Indians and advised an in- stant retreat, but was accused of cowardice by Potts, who insisted the noise was occasioned by buffaloes, and they proceeded on. In a few minutes afterward, their doubts were removed by the appearance of five or six hundred Indians on both sides of the creek, who beckoned them to come ashore. As retreat was now impossible, Colter turned the head of the canoe to the shore ; and at the moment of its touching an Indian seized the rifle belonging to Potts. But Colter, who was a remarkably strong man, immediately retook it and handed it to Potts, who remained in the canoe and, upon receiving it, pushed off into the river. He had scarcely quitted the shore, when an arrow was shot at him and he cried out 'Colter, I am wounded !' Colter remonstrated with him on the folly of attempting to escape and urged him to come ashore. Instead of complying, he instantly leveled his rifle at an Indian and shot him dead on the spot. This conduct may appear to have been an act of madness, but it was doubtless the effect of sudden, but sound enough reasoning; for if taken alive, he must have expected to have been tortured to death, ac- cording to the Indian custom. And, in this respect, the Indians of that region excelled all others in the ingenuity they displayed in tor- turing their prisoners. He was instantly pierced with arrows, so numer- ous that, to use the language of Colter, "he was made a riddle of." They now seized Colter, stripped him entirely naked, and began to consult on the manner in which he should be put to death. They were first inclined to set him up as a mark to be shot at; but the chief interfered and, seizing him by the shoulder, asked him if he could run fast. Colter, who had been some time among the Kee Katsa, or Crow In- dians, had, in a considerable degree, acquired the Blackfoot language, and was also well acquainted with Indian customs. He knew that he had now run for his life, with the dreadful odds of five or six hundred against him, and these armed Indians. He therefore cunningly replied that he was a very bad runner, although, in truth, he was considered by the hunters as remarkably swift. The chief now commanded the party to remain stationary, and led Colter out on the prairie three or four hundred yards, and released him, 72 HISTORY OF MONTANA to save himself if he could. At that instant, the war-whoop sounded in the ears of poor Colter who, urged with the hope of preserving life, ran with a speed at which he himself was surprised. He proceeded to- ward Jefferson's Fork, having to traverse a plain six miles in breadth, abounding with the prickly pear, on which he every instant was tread- ing with his naked feet. He ran nearly half way across the plain before he ventured to look over his shoulder, when he perceived that the Indians were very much scattered, and that he had gained ground to a considerable distance from the main body; but one Indian, who carried a spear, was much before all the rest, and not more than a hundred yards from him. A faint gleam of hope now cheered the heart of Colter. He derived confidence from the belief that escape was within the bounds of pos- sibility. But that confidence was nearly fatal to him; for he exerted himself to such a degree that the blood gushed from his nostrils and soon almost covered the fore part of his body. He had now arrived within a mile of the river, when he distinctly heard the appalling sound of footsteps behind him, and every instant expected to feel the spear of his pursuer. He again turned his head and saw the savage not twenty yards from him. Determined, if possible, to avoid the expected blow, he suddenly stopped, turned around and spread out his arms. The Indian, surprised at the suddenness of the action and perhaps at the bloody appearance of Colter, also attempted to stop; but, exhausted with running, he fell while attempting to throw his spear, which stuck in the ground and broke in his hand. Colter instantly snatched up the pointed part, with which he pinned him to the earth, and then continued his flight. The foremost of the Indians, on arriving at the place, stopped until others came up to join them, and then gave a hideous yell. Every moment of this time was improved by Colter who, although fainting and exhausted, succeeded in gaining the skirting of cottonwood trees on the borders of the fork to which he ran and plunged into the river. For- tunately for him, a little below this place was an island, against the upper point of which a raft of drift timber had lodged. He dived under the raft and, after several efforts, got his head above water, among the trunks of trees covered over with smaller wood to the depth of several feet. Scarcely had he secured himself when the Indians arrived on the river, screeching and yelling, as Colter expressed it, "like so many devils." They were frequently on the raft during the day and were seen through the chinks by Colter, who was congratulating himself on his escape, until the idea arose that they might set the raft on fire. In horrible suspense, he remained until night, when, hearing no more from the Indians, he dived under the raft and swam down the river to a con- siderable distance, when he landed and traveled all night. Although happy in having escaped frorp the Indians, his situation was still dread- ful. He was completely naked, under a burning sun ; the soles of his feet were filled with the thorns of the prickly pear; he was hungry, and had no means of killing game, although he saw abundance around him ; HISTORY OF MONTANA 73 and was at a great distance from the nearest settlement. Almost any man but an American hunter would have despaired under such circumstances. The fortitude of Colter remained unshaken. After seven days of sore travel, during which he had no other sustenance than the root known by naturalists under the name of 'psoralea esculenta, he at length arrived in safety at Lisa's Fort, on the Big Horn branch of the Roche Jaune, or Yellowstone River. . In May, 1810, Colter returned alone to St. Louis, where, for the first time, he met Bradbury, the botanist, and Brackenridge, the exploror, and renewed his friendship with Capt. (then General) William Clark, who was brigadier general and Indian agent of Louisiana Territory. To them he narrated his remarkable adventures, and it is from their pens that history is mainly indebted for the narrative. The last view of Colter recorded in the annals of those times was his meeting with Brad- bury on March 18, 1811, and the final decision of the frontiersman to join the naturalist and his party, members of the Astoria Company, in a journey up the Missouri River. At last he yielded to the love of a newly-wedded wife and remained with civilization, forever divorced from the wilderness. LAROCQUE'S EXPEDITION TO THE CROWS While the Lewis and Clark explorations were being conducted by the Government, in 1805-06, the Northwest Fur Company of Canada was sending its agents into the furthermost limits of the great domain covered by its operations, and it was but natural that Government and Trade should cross lines. Among the prominent agents of the fur company were the McKenzies and Francois Antoine Larocque. Charles McKenzie and Larocque, clerks, were particularly intimate and made three expeditions together, in 1804-06, at least two of which were in charge of the latter. It is the second journey which is of most interest to readers of Montana history, as it included a visit of about three months to the Crow Indians of what is now our state with the exception of the La Verendrye ex- plorers, the first whites to leave a record of the habits and peculiarities of that tribe. A daily journal, written by Larocque, and which had been obtained by Roderick McKenzie, of the Northwest Fur Company, for a' projected work never realized, has never been recovered; "but what purports to be an exact copy is now in the library of Laval University, Montreal, with a number of other manuscripts bequeathed to that institu- tion by the late Judge Baby of that city. This 'Journal of a Voyage to the Rocky Mountains from my leaving the Assinibois River on the 2d June, 1805,' as it is entitled, is now (1910) printed for the first time, being, so far as can be ascertained at present, a verbatim translation of the original." From the best information obtainable, it would appear that La- rocque was a man of intellectual abilities and great courage, well read in French and English. He had a brother who became even more prom- inent in the fur trade than he himself. The author of the Journal soon 74 HISTORY OF MONTANA left the employ of the Northwest Fur Company and located in Montreal, where he failed as a merchant. He passed the last years of his life in close retirement and arduous study and died, much advanced in years, in the Grey Nunnery of St. Hyacinthe. Whatever his ambitions, the Journal of his trip to the Rocky Mountains and the Crow Indians is the only piece of his work which has survived, and even Lewis and Clark anticipated his first view of the great continental divide by some six weeks. Larocque was sent by Charles J. B. Chaboillez, a partner of the Northwest Company in charge of the Upper Red River (Assiniboine) Department, to ascertain whether there were any beaver in the Crow country and, if so, to open up a fur trade with the Indians. He had en- tered the service of the company in 1801 and for about three years was in its employ in the region of the Saskatchewan and Red rivers, Canada. In the autumn of 1804, he was stationed at Fort Assiniboine and, with Charles Mackenzie, J. B. Lafrance and four voyageurs, took a trip to the Mandans of the Missouri. Both his Journal and the first part of Charles Mackenzie's "Missouri Indians" cover the journey to the Man- dan country. There Mackenzie left the expedition and the recovered Larocque Journal (or the well authenticated copy of it) is relied upon to convey the graphic details of the trip through Southeastern Montana, along the valley of the Yellowstone to the regions of the Big Horn River and mountains and the 4and of the Crows. Larocque's expedition started from Fort a la Bosse, on the Assini- boine, Canada, on June 2, 1805. As he states, he there "prepared for going on a voyage of discovery to the Rocky Mountains, and set of (sic) on 2nd June with two men having each of us two horses, one of which was laden with goods to facilitate an intercourse with the Indians we might happen to see on our road. Mr. Charles MacKenzie and Mr. Las- sana set out with me to go and pass the summer at the Missouri, and hav- ing to pursue (sic) the same road we kept company as far as the B. B.* Larocque and his men crossed what is now the international bound- ary at a branch of the Souris, or Mouse River, in the northwestern part of Botineau County, North Dakota, just west of Turtle Mountain. Strik- ing toward the southwest, the party crossed the Souris River. On ac- count of the high water, the goods were loaded on a raft and the horses swam over. On the loth of June, about a week out, they slept in the Mandan plain the Coteau du Missouri, or tableland separating the waters of the Missouri from those of the Assiniboine. The banks of the Missouri were sighted on the following day, and the expedition arrived in the Mandan territory on the I2th. MANDANS AND BIG BELLIES OBSTRUCTIVE The Mandans seem to have been disagreeably insistent to sell their horses to the white travelers, but Larocque set them right on that point. "I told them," he said, "that the purpose of our coming was not to pur- * Big Bellies, called by the French Gros Ventres. The name has been applied to tribes of both Algonquin and Sioux stock. HISTORY OF MONTANA 75 chase horses either from them or the Rocky Mountains, that we came for Skins and Robes, and that for that purpose one of us was to pass the summer with them and one at the Mandans; that I and two men were sent by the white people's Chief to smoke a pipe of peace and amity with the Rocky Mountain Indians and to accompany them to their lands to examine them and see if there were Beavers as is reported, and to engage them to hunt it, that we would not purchase a horse from none, therefore that their best plan would be to dress buffalo robes, so as to have ammuni- tion to trade with the Rocky Mountain Indians. "They pretend to be in fear of the surrounding nations, that is, Assineboines, Sioux, Chetenne and Ricaras (Pawnees), so as to have an excuse for not trading with their guns with the Rocky Mountain Indians and likewise to prevent us. Some of those Rocky Mountain Indians have been here already, and are gone back, but more are expected, with whom I intend to go." On the following day, Larocque was sent for by one of the chiefs of the Big Bellies who, says the leader, "asked me what I intended to do with the pipe stem I had brought. Upon my telling him that it was for the Rocky Mountain Indians he made a long harangue to dissuade me from going there, saying that I would be obliged to winter there on account of the length of the way, that the Cayennes and the Ricaras were enemies and constantly on the road and that it was probable that we should be killed by them." Various other alarming stories were told to discourage the further progress of the expedition. I MEET ROCKY MOUNTAIN INDIANS Finally, a considerable band of Rocky Mountain Indians arrived. "About one in the afternoon," says the leader, "the Rocky Mountain Indians arrived. They encamped at a little distance from the village with the warriors to the number of 645; passed through the village on horseback with their shields and other warlike implements." When the chiefs of the different bands had assembled, two days afterward, Larocque made them the following presents: Two large and two small axes; eight ivory combs, ten wampum shells, eight fire steels and flint, four cassetete (combination of tomahawk and pipe), six masses B. C. (Blue Canton), four f. tobacco, eight cock feathers, sixteen large knives, twelve small knives, two pounds of vermillion, eight dozen rings, four papers, co'd glasses, four dozen awls, one and a half pounds of blue beads, two dozen blue beads and 1,000 balls and powder. He induced the Crows to smoke a pipe of peace and told them the Chief of the White People knew that "they were pitiful and had no arms to defend themselves from their enemies, but that they should cease to be pitiful as soon as they sliould make themselves brave hunters." He informed the Crows that he and two men were going with them to see their lands and that if they would behave well and "kill beavers, otters and bears, they would have white people on the lands in a few years who would winter with them and supply them with all their wants." They then exchanged 76 HISTORY OF MONTANA presents and Larocque promised the chief who came to meet him that if the Crows encouraged the white people "all their chiefs who would behave well would get a Coat." Camp was broken on the 29th of June and a fair start was made for the Rocky Mountain country of the southwest, along the north bank of the Big Knife River, which enters the Missouri from the south. On the fourth of July, the expedition had reached the Heart River, also a little branch of the Missouri in Western North Dakota, and on the I3th had reached the banks of the Little Missouri. Two days later, still traveling in a generally southwestern direction, the men encamped on its banks about fourteen miles higher up. There the Indians killed "a few beaver, of which I got two dressed by my men to show them how to do it. We remained the whole day here," continued the Journal. "The Indians tried to dance the Bull dance in imitation of the B. Belley's, but did it very ill." As the party left the Little Missouri and, headed still toward the southwest, its route took them over the present line between North Dakota and Montana into a land of beaver and buffalo, on the 26th of July it reached the Powder River mountains and, on the following day, the river itself, as it took its northerly course toward the Yellowstone. In that locality herds of elks were found in the woods and beaver dams were seen all along the river. "When we arrived here," says Larocque, "the plains on the western side of the river were covered with buffaloes and the bottoms full of elk and jumping deer (antelope) and bears, which last are mostly yellow and very fierce (grizzlies). It is amazing how very barren the ground is between this and the lesser Missouri ; nothing can hardly be seen but those Corne de Raquettes.* Our horses were nearly starved. There is grass in the woods but none in the plains which by the by might (sic) with more propriety be called hills, for though there is very little wood it is impossible to find a level spot of one or two miles in extent except close to the river. The current in that river is very strong and the water so muddy as to be hardly drinkable. The Indians say it is always so, and that is the reason they call it Powder River, from the quantity of drifting fine sand set in motion by the coast wind t which blinds people and dirtys the water. There are very large sand shoals along the river for several acres breadth and length, the bed of the river is likewise sand and its course north east." Under date of July 3Oth it is recorded: "Early this morning we set out; the body of the people followed the river for about seventeen miles S. W. while I with the chief and a few others went hunting. We wounded cabrio, buffalo and the large horned animal (mountain sheep, or Big Horn), but did not kill any, which made the chief say that some one had thrown bad medicine on our guns and that if he could know him he would surely die. "The country is very hilly about the river, but it does not appear to be so much so towards the north. About two miles above the encampment * Probably the dogwood (Cornus). f Probably refers to the well-known Chinook winds. HISTORY OF MONTANA 77 a range of high hills begins on the west side of the river and continues north for about twenty miles, when it appears to finish. The Tongu River * is close on the other side of it. There is a parting ridge between the two rivers. "I ascended (sic) some very high hills on the side of which I found plenty of shells of the Cornu anionys species t by some called snake shell, likewise a kind of shining stone lying bare at the surface of the ground having to all appearance been left there by the rain water washing away the surrounding earth. They are of different size and form, of a clear water colour and reflect with as much force as a looking glass of its size. It is certainly those stones have given the name of shining to that mountains.^ The hills are high, rugged and barren, mostly rocks with beds of loose red gravel on their tops or near it which being washed down by the rain water give the hills a reddish appearance. On many hills a heap of calomid stone (calumet or pipestone?) among which some- times I find pumice stone. "When we left the encampment this morning we were stopped by a party of their soldiers who would not allow us to proceed, as they intended to have a general hunt, for fear that we should rise the buffaloes, but upon promises being made by the chief whom I accompanied that he would not hunt in the way of the camp, and partly on my account, we were suffered to go on. We were, however, under the necessity of gliding away unperceived to prevent jealousy." Larocque and his expedition continued up the Tongue River, and on August 2nd, the leader reports: "Last night some children playing at some distance from the Camp on the river were fired at. The Camp was alarmed (sic) and watchers were set for the night, but nothing appeared. * * * The hills of the river are at a less distance from one another than they were here before. The bottoms or points of the river are not so large nor so well wooded and the grass entirely eaten up by the Buffaloes and Elk. "Saturday 3rd (August) We sat out at sun rise and encamped at one in the afternoon, having pursued a South Course with fare (fair) weather and a south east wind. We followed the River (Tongue) as usually; its bends are very short not exceeding two miles and many not one. The face of the country indicates our approach to the large Moun- tains and to the heads of the River. A few Jumping (deer) or Chev- reuils were killed today. It has been very Cold these few nights. SAW THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS "Sunday 4th. We did not rise the Camp till late in the evening. In the morning we ascended (sic) the hills of the River and saw the stone. * The Tongue River. Indian name, Lazeka. t Ammonite; a fossil shell related to the nautilus. Popularly known as snake >n Says the editor of the Journal: "Larocque's statement is scarcely probable It seems more reasonable to suppose that the name which must have first reached European ears through Indian report had its origin in the brilliant snow-capped peaks of the Rockies. See Thwaites' 'Rocky Mountain Explorations, Chapter II. 78 HISTORY OF MONTANA Rocky Mountains not at a very great distance with Spy Glass, its cliffs and hollows could be easily observed with the woods interspersed among the Rocks." L. J. Burpee, editor of the "Journal of Larocque," published (in 1910) "by authority of the minister of agriculture and under the direction of the archivist" of the Canadian Government, has this commenting foot- note : "Lewis and Clark anticipated Larocque by a few weeks in their first view of the Rocky Mountains, but neither could claim the honor of discovery, La Verendrye having achieved that distinction some sixty-two years before. Larocque had, as a matter of fact, only reached the Big Horn, an offshoot of the main range." WITH THE CROWS IN THE BIG HORN COUNTRY The generally southwesternly course of the expedition brought it to the Montana streams of the Big Horn, the Indians killing many buffalo, and quite a number of beaver, although in the supplies of the latter Larocque was apparently disappointed. Under date of August nth, while encamped at the foot of the Mountains, the Journal notes : "They (the Indians) are undetermined in what course to proceed from this place. They have sent a party of young men along the Mountains Westerly and are to wait here until they return. They often enquire with anxious expectation of our departure, when I intend to leave them, and today they were more troublesome than usual. What I have seen of their lands hitherto has not given me the satisfaction I look for (in) Beavers. I told them that I would remain with them 20 or 30 days more. That I wished very much to see the River aux Roches Jaunes* and the place they usually inhabit, otherwise that I would be unable to return and bring them their wants. They saw it was true, but to remove the ob- jection of my not knowing their lands a few of them assembled and draughted on a dressed skin I believe a very good map of their Country and they showed me the place where at different season they were to be found. The only reason I think they have in wishing my departure, is their haste to get the goods I still have." On the I2th of August, after a conference among the Indian leaders and guides with the Larocque party, it was decided to proceed west along the Tongue River and thence to the region of the Rosebud Mountains, which separate the streams of that river from the Little Horn. On the way, Larocque traded with the Indians, purchasing a horse, beavers, etc., saddle and bridle, for English flannels, powder, balls, etc. His Journal makes note that: "The Indians Killed Buffaloes and a few Bears. The latter they hunt for pleasure only, as they do not eat the flesh but in case of absolute necessity. Perhaps the whole nation is employed about a bear, whom they have caused to take refuge in a thicket. There they plague him a long while and then Kill him ; he is seldom stripped of his skin. * * * The Indians having hunted yesterday (August i6th), * Yellowstone River. Riviere aux Roches Jaunes was the original French name, probably derived from some native equivalent. HISTORY OF MONTANA 79 we did not rise the Camp but remained here all day. There were many bears hereabout, who are attracted by the quantity of Choak Cherries and other fruit there is here. The Woods along the Rivers are as thickly covered with Bears Dung as a Barn floor of that of the cattle. Large Cherry trees are broken down by them in Great number. The Indians kill one or two almost every day. The Tongue River here is small, being only about 20 feet broad with two feet water in the deepest part of the rapids. It receives many additional small streams in its way to the River Roches Jaunes. * * * "Sunday i8th (August). At 7 o'clock we left our encampment and proceeded Northward ; at noon we stopped on a branch of the small Horn River and the greatest part of the Indians went on to the small Horn River to hunt. At half past two in the afternoon we sat off again and crossing the River we encamped on its Borders where we found the hunting party with their horses loaded with fresh meat. We travelled about 15 miles this day and are farther from the mountain than yes- terday though still Close to it. "Monday ipth. Since we are close to the mountain many women have deserted with their lovers to their fine tents that are across the mountain. There are no Cattle in the mountain nor on the other side, so that they are loth to go that way, while the desertion of their wives strongly call them there. Harangues were twice made to rise the Camp, and counter orders were given before the tents were thrown down. The reason of this is that the wife of the Spotted Crow who regulates our movements has deserted. He is for going one way while the Chief of the other bands are for following our old course. Horses have been killed and women wounded since I am with them on the score of jealousy. Today a Snake Indian shot his wife dead but it seems not without reason, for it is said it was the third time he found her and the Gallant together. The Small Horn River runs east from the Mountain to this place. Here it makes a bend N. by East and passing round of the wolf teeth it falls into the large Horn river. The bed of the River here is Rocks, a continual rapid, the water clear and cold as ice, the ground barren on the banks of the river thinly wooded with some kind of wood as heretofore." The record indicates that on August 22nd, Larocque was called to a council of the Indians, at which Spotted Crow resigned his "employ- ment of regulating the marches," and that "another old man took the office upon himself," announcing that "he intended to pursue their old course to the River aux Roches Jaune." The march was then resumed northerly toward the Big Horn River and, eventually the Yellowstone. HORRORS OF INDIAN WARFARE At this point in the narrative, Larocque's "Journal" depicts an in- cident illustrative of the horrors of Indian warfare. "This morning" (August 24th), it says, "we were allarmed (sic) by the report that three Indians had been seen on the first hill of the mountain and that three Buffaloes were in motion and that two shots had been heard towards 80 HISTORY OF MONTANA the large Horn River. Thirty men saddled their horses and immediately went off to see what was the matter while all the other Kept in readiness to follow if necessary. In a few hours some came back and told us that they had seen 35 on foot walking on the banks of one of the branches of the Large Horn River. In less time than the Courier Could well tell his news no one remained in the Camp, but a few old men and women, all the rest scampered off in pursuit. I went along with them. We did not all Set off together nor could we all Keep together as some horses were slower than others, but the foremost stopped galloping on a hill and con- tinued on with a small trot as people came up. They did the dance (war dance) when the Chief arrived. He and his band, or part of it, galloped twice before the main body of the people who still continued their trot intersecting the line of their course while one of his friends, I suppose his aide-de-camp, harangued. They were all dressed in their best Cloths. Many of them were followed by their wives who carried their arms, and who were to deliver them at the time of Battle. There were likewise many children, but who could Keep their saddles. Ahead of us were some young men on different hills making signs with their robes which way we were to go. As soon as all the chiefs were come up and had made their harangue everyone set off the way he liked best and pursued according to his best judgment. The Country is very hilly and full of large Creeks whose banks are Rocks, so that the pursued had the ad- vantage of being able to get into places where it was impossible to go with horses & hide themselves. "All escaped but two of the foremost who being scouts of the party had advanced nearer to us than the others and had -not discovered us. They were surrounded after a long race but Killed and scalped in a twinkling. When I arrived at the dead bodies they had taken but his scalp and the fingers of his right hand with which the outor was off. They borrowed my hanger with which they cut off his left hand and returned it (the knife) to me bloody as a mark of honour. Men, women and children were thronging to see the dead Bodies and taste the Blood. Everyone was desirous of stabbing the bodies to show what he would have done had he met them alive, and insulted and frotted at them in the worst language they could give. In a short time the remains of a human body was hardly distinguishable. Every young man had a piece of flesh tied to his gun or lance with which he rode off to the Camp singing and ex- ultingly showing it to every young woman in his way. Some women had whole limbs dangling from their saddles. The sight made me shudder with horror at such Cruelties and I returned home in quite different frame from that in which I left it. "Sunday 25th. The Scalp dance was danced all night and the scalps carried in procession through the day." En route, the camp was in constant expectation of attack from enemy Indians, the young children being often tied to the saddles and the horses loaded with valuables during the night and early morning. "The Indians hunted and saw Strange Indians," continued Larocque. "There was a continual harangue by different Chiefs the whole night which with the HISTORY OF MONTANA 81 singing and dancing of the scalp prevented any Sleep being had. We pitched the tents on a small creek running into the large Horn River distant about 20 miles from our last encampment." Farther along, a few miles, one of the famous canons of the Big Horn River was described, and the additional information given: "There is a fall in this River 30 or 40 miles above this where presides a Manitoin or Devil.* These Indians say it is a Man Wolf who lives in the fall and rises out of it to devour any person or beast that go too near. They say it is impossible to Kill him for he is ball proof. * * * The Mountain is here a solid Rock in most places bare and naked ,in other places Cloathed with a few Red Pine. The sides of some Coule are as smooth and perpendicular as any wall and of an amazing height; and in some places there are holes in those perpendicular Rocks resembling much those niches in which statues are placed. Others like church doors & vaults, the tout ensemble is grand and striking. Beautiful prospects are to be had from some parts of those Rocks, but the higher places are inex- cessible. The Large Horn River is seen winding through a level plain of about 3 miles breadth for a great distance almost to its conflux with the River aux Roches Jaunes." This stage of the journey brings the time to September ist, and the expedition was ascending the Big Horn Valley toward the Yellowstone. Traveling in a generally northwesternly direction, it swerved from the Big Horn Valley, in what would now be the northern part of the Crow Indian Reservation, and at two o'clock, in the afternoon of September loth, arrived at the Yellowstone, below what is known as Pryor's Fork, Yellowstone County, a few miles northeast of Billings. There the expedition camped on a large island, and three days afterward crossed to the west side of the river and about nine miles farther up stream encamped at a point where the Indians "usually make their fall medicine." When the expedition arrived at the Yellowstone, a delegation of Big Bellies arrived to see if they could trade horses. They were well re- ceived by the other Indians and presents of different articles were made to them. They told Larocque that they had traded during the previous winter with Mr. McDonald (John), whom they called Crooked Arm, because of his deformed arm. When McDonald was eighty-five years of age, he wrote a series of interesting Autobiographical Notes (1791- 1816). Although graphically written, they are not always to be relied upon. DEPARTURE FROM THE CROW COUNTRY The arrangements made with his Indian comrades and co-traders and his final departure from the Crow country, on Saturday, September 14, 1805, are thus described in the "Journal of Larocque," the original spelling, capitalization, etc., being generally retained : "Having now full * Foot Note by the editor of the Journal : "Manitou, or more properly, Windego. Scores of waterfalls have been the reputed home of this picturesque but rather bloodthirsty spirit. In one form or another, and under varying names, the Windego ranged almost from the Atlantic to the Pacific." 82 HISTORY OF MONTANA filled the instructions I received from Mr. Chaboillez, which were to examine the lands of the Crow Indians and see if there is Beaver as was reported, and I to invite them to hunt it, I now prepared to depart. I assembled the Chiefs in Council, and after having smoked a fw pipes, I informed them that I was setting off, that I was well pleased with them and their behavior toward me, and that I would return to them next fall. I desired them to kill Beavers and Bears all winter, for that I would come and trade with them and bring them their wants. I added many reasons to show them that it was their interest to hunt Beavers, and then proceeded to settle the manners of Knowing one another next fall, and how I am to find them which is as follows: Upon my arrival at the Island if I do not find them I am to go to the Mountain called Amanchabe Chije & then light 4 fires on 4 successive days, and they will Come to us (for it is very high and the fire can be seen at a great dis- tance) in number 4 & not more. If more than four come to us we are to act upon the offensive, for it will be other Indians. If we light less than 3 fires, they will not come to us, but think it is enemies. They told me that in winter they were always to be found at a Park by the foot of the Mountain a few mile's from this or there abouts. In the spring and fall, they are upon this River and in summer upon the Tongue and Horses River.*" "I have 122 Beavers 4 Bears and two otters which I traded, not so much for their value (for they are all summer skins) as to show them that I set some value on the Beavers and our property. The presents I made them I thought were sufficient to gain their good will, in which I think I succeeded. "I never gave them anything without finding means to let them know it was not for nothing. Had more been given, they would have thought that goods were so common among us than to set no value upon them, for Indians that have seen few white men will be more thankful for a few articles given them than for a great many, as they think that little or no value is attached to what is so liberally given. It was therefore I purchased their Bears and likewise as a proof that there is Beaver in those parts. Besides it saved to distribute the goods I had into the most deserving hands, that is the less lazy. "We departed about noon. 2 Chiefs accompanied us about 8 miles. We stopped and smoked a parting pipe. They embrased (sic) us. We shook hands and parted. They followed us about one mile, at a distance gradually lessening their steps till we were almost out of sight and Crying or pretending to Cry they then turned their backs and went home. At parting they promised that none of their young men would follow us. They took heaven and earth to witness to attest their sincerity in what they told us, and they had opened their ears to my words and would do as I desired them. They made me swear by the same that I would re- turn; and that I told them no false words (and I certainly had no in- * Possibly, Pumpkin Creek, the chief branch of Tongue River. HISTORY OF MONTANA 83 tention of breaking my oath nor have I still. If I do not keep them my word it certainly is not my fault.)" LAROCQUE DESCRIBES POMPEY'S PILLAR On the next day (Sunday, September 15*), the Larocque party crossed to the south side of the Yellowstone, and near what is now Shannon's Creek mentions a "Whitish perpendicular Rock on which is painted with Red earth a battle between three persons on horseback and 3 on foot." The editor of Larocque's Journal believes it to be the same remarkable rock, visited by Captain Clark in July, 1806, while he was descending the Yellowstone on his return from the Pacific Coast. Clark describes it as "nearly four hundred paces in circumference, two hundred feet high, and accessible only from the northeast, the other sides being a perpendicular cliff of a light-coloured gritty rock. The Indians have carved the figures of animals and other objects on the sides of the rock, and on the top are raised two piles of stones." He named this remarkable rock Pompey's Pillar, and it is so marked on his map. Two days afterward, the Big Horn River was crossed. The ex- pedition passed through some rough, rocky country, as it had no guides on the return trip. At times, also, the weather was so cold that ice formed on the Yellowstone and other streams. The Tongue River was reached in about a week and the Powder a day afterward, about midway between the forks and the mouth. By the first week in October, the party arrived at the Little Missouri in southeastern Montana, and took substantially the same course through western and northwestern Dakota to the region of the Assiniboine River, as it had taken in the outward trip. The last week was windy and cold. As stated, River la Sourie Fort, on the south side of the Assiniboine, at the mouth of the Sourie River, was reached Octo- ber 22, 1805, and thus was concluded a journey which made known to the world a large portion of southeastern Montana which had not before been explored or described. THE CROW INDIANS OF 1805 Larocque's Journal also contains, as a section separate from the con- tinuous narrative, "A Few Observations on the Rocky Mountain Indians with Whom I Passed' the Summer, 1805," in which the customs of the Crow and Flathead tribes are so particularly described as to constitute a real contribution to the aboriginal lore of that day. The author in- troduces his dissertation by observing that: "This nation (the Rocky Mountain Indians) known among the Sioux by the name of Crow In- dians inhabit the eastern part of the Rocky Mountains at the head of the River aux Roches Jaunes (which is known by the Kinistinaux and Assiniboines by the name of the River a la Biche, from the great number of elks with which all the country along it abounds) and its branches and close to the head of the Missouri." On account of the ravages of small pox for many successive years, which had continued up to about 84 HISTORY OF MONTANA 1802, the Crows of the Rocky Mountains had been reduced from 2,000 lodges or tents, to 300 tents, comprising some 2,400 persons. In 1805 they were "able to raise 600 warriors, like the Sioux and Assiniboines. They wander about in leather tents and remain where there are buffaloes and elks. After having remained a few days in one place so that game is not so plentiful, as it was, they flit to another place where there are buffaloes or deers and so on all the year around." Continuing to' adapt this account from Larocque, it was stated that many of the Indians who did not expose themselves to the sun were almost as fair as white people. One of their marked peculiarities was the early age at which many of them became gray. They were so well supplied with horses that they were able to transport their sick and infirm, and the result was a noticeable prevalence of cripples and decrepid old men. As the country abounded in buffaloes and deer, the Crows found little difficulty in providing for a plurality of wives and large families. Unlike the Assiniboines, the Crows were sociable and upstanding. As noted in the Journal : "When a Sauteux or Assiniboine enter a stranger's tent, they (sic) keep down their head, or muffle it so in their robe or blanket that it can hardly be seen. These Indians never do it. They are bold and keep up their heads in any place, and say it is a sign of having bad designs when one is ashamed to show his face. * * * It is not out of bashfulness that the Sautaux hide their face when entering a strange tent, but they esteem it polite. When they begin to smoke, or after they have smoked a few pipes, they uncover their face, but the custume (sic) is in general with the young men than those of a certain age." Like all other Indian nations, the women did most of the work. The men would kill the buffaloes and their wives would follow and skin the animals and dress them, while the husbands sat calmly looking on. The women even saddled the horses, and their lords, when they retired, did not take the trouble to remove shoes or leggings. "In flitting," adds Larocque, "the women ride and have no loads to carry on their backs, as is common among other nations, though it is certain had they no horses they would be in the same predicament as their less fortunate neighbors, for though the men are fond of their wives and use them well, yet it is not to be supposed that they Ovould take a greater share of work than other Indians. The women are indebted solely to their having horses for the ease they enjoy more than their neighbours. They are very fond of their children, but seldom or never reprimand them." In short, the Crows were considered among the Indian aristocrats. They squandered their food, it was so plentiful, killing an "amazing" number of buffaloes and deer, and taking with them only the choicest cuts. They seldom ate bear or beaver flesh; and fish, never. An old chief was always chosen to conduct their hunts, and regulate their encampments and feasts. The Conductor, as he was called, must consult the other chiefs before doing anything of consequence. HISTORY OF MONTANA 85 BREAKING CAMP Correcting and adapting the spelling and punctuation to modern re- quirements, Larocque's description of "Breaking Camp" under the di- rection of the Conductor reads : "His tent is thrown down the first when they rise the camp. He goes foremost all the way (except a few young men who go far before as scouts) and pitches his tent the first. All the others encamp about him. Previous to their flitting, he rides about the camp and tells them to throw down their tents ; that they are going to such a place and for such and such reason. Some of the soldiers go far ahead and others remain far behind to watch and see if there be no enemies. When buffaloes are seen on the road and they wish to hunt they cause the people to stop and the old man harangues from one end to the other. When all are ready the huntsmen set off and the body of the people follow slowly." It would seem that the young male before marriage seldom hunted, but spent most of his time in preening himself like a peacock, and was far more vain than the young female. "A young man," says the narrative, "rises late in the morning, about midday he begins to dress and has not finished until late in the evening. He then mounts his horse, on which he has spread red and blue blankets, and, in company with his associates he rides about the camp, with the wing of a bustard or hawk before his face, in lieu of a fan, to keep him from the burning sun. At night, he dismounts, courts the women, or goes to the place of rendezvous, and at daylight comes in to sleep." The ceremonials and regulations attending the smoking of a pipe of tobacco, would hardly be tolerated by the impatient white man. "A pipe is never smoked," remarks Larocque, "without the first whiffs being offered to the rising midday and setting sun, to the earth, to the heavens, and to these the stem is pointed to the respective place they occupy, and a whiff is blown to the same quarter. Then a few whiffs are blown to diverse spirits which the smoker names and to whom he mutters a few words ; and then the pipe goes round, each person smoking four whiffs and no more. The pipe must always go to your left hand man, as that is the course that the sun takes. * * * SMOKING REGULATIONS "They are not superstitious with regard to the pipe, which is the object of their most sacred regard. Numberless are the ceremonies at- tended on smoking a pipe of tobacco. The regulations common to all are these : The pipe and stem must be clean ; a coal must be drawn out of the fire to light the pipe with ; care must be taken not to light the pipe in the flames or ashes, and none must empty the ashes out of the pipe but he that filled or lighted it. There being but little fire, I once lighted the pipe in the ashes. My landlord told me a few days after that his eyes were sore, and my lighting the pipe in the ashes was the occasion thereof. 86 HISTORY OF MONTANA "Some will not smoke if the pipe has touched grass ; another if there are women in the tent; if there are guns; if shoes are seen when smoking; if a part ot wearing apparel be thrown over the pipe ; if some one biows in the pipe stem to clean it. Some will not allow the stem before the door. Another must empty the ashes on cowdung brought in on purpose. An- other, again, will not smoke unless every smoker be naked, and none but smokers are allowed to remain in the tent. To one the pipe must be given stem foremost, to another the reverse. Another will not take it unless you push it as hard as you can; to some it must be given quite slowly. In short, every man has his particular way of smoking, from which it seems he has vowed never to swerve. * * * Some who are ceremonious in their smoking do not smoke but with their intimates and those that are well acquainted with their mummery; those that are less so take care to sit next to a man that knows in what manner the pipe is to be given to them. The women never smoke. Before the smoking begins, he that has some peculiarity in his way of smoking tells in what manner it is, and everyone attends to." A NATION OF HORSEMEN Larocque again refers to the Crows as an Indian nation of horses and horsemen. They obtained most of their horses from the Flatheads and traded them, at double the purchase price, to the Big Bellies and the Mandans. "He is reckoned a poor man that has not ten horses in the spring before the trade at the Missouri takes place, and many have thirty or forty. Everybody rides men, women and children. The females ride astride as the men do. A child that is too young to keep his saddle is tied to it, and a small whip is tied to his wrist. He whips away, and gallops or trots the whole day, if occasion requires. Their saddles are so made as to prevent falling either backwards or forward, the hind part reaching as high as between the shoulders and the fore part of the breast. The women saddles are especially so. Those of the men are not quite so high, and many use saddles such as the Canadians make in the N. W. Country." Being thus trained from infancy, the Crows were naturally most expert horsemen. As warriors on horseback they were unexcelled. De- pending upon them as they do, these Indians were very fond and careful of their horses. They were not warlike, but courageous and fierce when attacked. Their arms were bows and arrows, lances and guns. When they went to war they took their medicine bags, which they opened before beginning the attack. Shortly afterward, the warriors smoked and then went into action. They were pronounced excellent marksmen with the bow and arrow, and, although "poor shots" with the gun, on account of lack of ammunition, they were becoming expert with daily practice of late years. They were getting their guns and ammunition from the Mandans and the Big Bellies, in exchange for horses, robes, leggins and shirts. They likewise purchased corn, pumpkins and tobacco from the Big Bellies, as they did not cultivate the ground. HISTORY OF MONTANA 87 DRESSY AND CLEANLY After describing in detail the elaborate dress of the men and the more simple costume of the women, made of deer, elk, buffalo, wolf and skunk skins, ornamented with porcupine quills, bear's claws, beads, fringes, etc., variously colored, the author adds that "the boys go naked till they are eight or ten years old, not for want of clothes, but to be more at their ease; but the girls never. Both sexes are very cleanly, washing and bathing every morning in the river, and in winter in the snow. They keep their clothes clean and as white as snow, with a kind of white earth resembling chalk, with which they daily clean their clothes. * * * A woman never sets the kettle on the fire in the morning without first washing her hands, and the men do not eat without the same precaution. * * * "They make very expressive signs with their hands to a person that does not understand their language. They often told me long stories without hardly opening their lips and I understood very well. They represent a Sioux by passing the edge of their hand across their neck, a Panis by showing large ears, a Flathead by pressing with both hands on each side the head." THE FLATHEADS / The Journal of Larocque has this to say (the text edited somewhat) regarding the Flathead Indians, which then held the western slopes of the Rocky Mountains: "The Flatheads inhabit the western side of the Rocky Mountains at the heads of the rivers that have a southwesterly course and flow into the western ocean. The ridge of mountains that parts those waters from the Missouri can be crossed in two days and no more mountains are found to the ocean. They come every fall to the fort of the Missouri or thereabout to kill buffaloes, of which there are none across that range of mountains, dress robes and dry meat with which they returned as soon as the winter set in. They have deers of various kinds on their lands and beaver with which they make themselves robes, but they prefer buffaloes. They have a great many horses which they sell for a trifle and give many for nothing." CHAPTER IV MONTANA'S NATURAL FEATURES The explorations of the Lewis and Clark expedition discovered the bold natural features of the "Land of the Shining Mountains," which was not to be christened by the sonorous and characteristic name of the present until more than half a century had elapsed since those able and intrepid young men made history and geography for Jefferson and the United States of America. They not only traced the main courses of the mighty Missouri to their sources, but found that its great northern trib- utary headed in the mountain ranges of the Hudson Bay divide. After careful investigation and the wise weighing of natural data such as the color, the volume and the current of the Milk River and its tributaries they decided, in opposition to the opinion of the old and experienced boatmen of their party, that they must follow the southern branches of the main stream to the clear waters rushing from the purifying rocks and valleys of the mountains before they could hope to reach a position on the eastern slopes of the continental divide which should be sub- stantially opposite the sources of any streams which would lead to a western waterway to the Pacific. The deduction and decision of Lewis and Clark saved the expedition from defeat, if not disaster, the Missouri was traced to its true southern source, and the real fountain of its might, the Jefferson fork of the river, and a few miles over an easy pass in the continental divide were found the equally limpid and lively waters of the great southern branch of the Columbia. THE GREAT MISSOURI RIVER SYSTEM The explorers of 1805 had decided from all their available data that the Jefferson was the parent stream, and their 'conclusion was verified scientifically and accurately nearly seventy years afterward. In 1872, Thomas P. Roberts, under the direction of the government, examined the upper Missouri from the Three Forks to Fort Benton for the purpose of ascertaining its capacity for navigation by light-draught steamers. The part of his report which is pertinent is this : "The junction of the Gallatin, Madison and Jefferson rivers which streams from the Missouri proper is effected in a basin or valley some fifteen or twenty miles in diameter, with mountains in full view west, south and east, varying in altitude from two thousand to four thousand feet above the sea. Some presented a denuded appearance, while others were well timbered, and though it was late in July, their highest summits and gorges were still streaked with silvery lines of snow. 88 HISTORY OF MONTANA 89 "It is difficult to determine from which points of the compass the three rivers debouch, though from the top of the bluffs at the exit pas- sage of the united rivers, which almost deserves to be called a canyon, there is a fine view of their meanderings. The courses of the streams,' with their numerous cut-offs and sloughs, are marked by graceful belts and lines of cotton wood and black alder, by islands clothed with the richest verdure and by groves and jungles of the wild currant, but by far the greater portion of this immense park is open and covered with varieties of the rich bunch-grass, for which Montana is celebrated. The sheen of the sparkling waters seen through openings of timber among the islands and channels, with the soft shadowy forms of the silvery rimmed mountains in the distance surrounding the landscape, formed in the long twilight, a beautiful and enchanting picture. "While here we gauged the volume of the rivers, not only to discover which of the three was the largest or parent stream, but also to ascer- tain how much water there was to deal with at that season of the year, for the purpose of navigation. "When we began the reconnoissance, the streams were about four feet below the high-water mark, and, according to the statement of the old ferryman, only eight inches above the lowest water-mark. It is one of the most striking characteristics of the Upper Missouri, and the same may be said of nearly all the Montana streams, that they never overflow their banks to any extent, and that they are more regular and unfailing in their discharge than streams of equal annual flowage in the United States east of the Mississippi River. This equable flowage is due almost entirely to the regularity of the melting of the snow in the highest regions of the mountains, from which source their principal supply is drawn. "We found that the Jefferson discharged 226,728 cubic feet per minute, the Madison, 160,277, and the Gallatin, 125,480. There can, therefore, be but little doubt that the Jefferson is the father of the Missouri, which fact makes it, by fair inheritance, the grandfather of the Mississippi, a distant but noble relative. Adding these figures together, we have a total flowage of 512,408 cubic feet per minute for the Upper Missouri at the Three Forks. Reducing their quantity to tfye lowest stage known, there will remain over 300,000 cubic feet per minute in the Missouri at this point, which is three times the volume of the Ohio at Pittsburgh when at its lowest stage. "The length of this wonderful watercourse, the Missouri, can be best appreciated when it is considered that we were here camped two hundred and fifty miles below the extreme heads of the Jefferson and about the same distance above Fort Benton. Fort Benton is not less than 2,900 miles above St. Louis, which city is still 1,200 miles above the mouth of the river. The entire length of the river is not less than 4,600 miles, some geographies to the contrary notwithstanding, they var- iously estimating its length to be from 4,000 to 4,300 miles. "Returning to the Jefferson a large island at its mouth divides the stream and in exploring it a mile above our camp we discovered where its waters first mingle with those of the Madison. I note this particular 90 HISTORY OF MONTANA junction because I never before saw streams unite in the same manner. They run with swift current five or six feet deep and some two hundred feet wide directly toward each other, and thence, at a right angle, their united volume, agitated with the rude contact, rushes northward. The meeting of the currents created great swirls in the water, which nearly swamped our boat when we attempted to shoot through. A basin seems to have been scoured out in the gravelly bottom by the action of the stream, the depth of which we were unable to ascertain with either pole or line." The Jefferson River, thus admitted to be the father of the Missouri, does not rise in the exact locality described by Captain Lewis in the journal of the expedition, but farther to the east in the rivulets which feed Red Rock Lake, near the extreme southern point of Montana and not far west of the National Park. Both the Gallatin and the Madison have their fountain heads in the park, outside the bounds of Montana, as well as the Yellowstone, the great southern tributary of the Missouri. Yellowstone Lake, its source, is believed to have been discovered by John Colter, the noted adventurer of the Lewis-Clark expedition. Cap- tain Clark explored the Yellowstone within Montana on the return trip (1806), while Captain Lewis was investigating Maria's River, the north- ern tributary of the Missouri. Clark's fork of the Columbia drains most of the western or Pacific watershed of the Rocky Mountains in western and northwestern Montana. What Captain Lewis named Clark's Fork is now known as the Bitter Root River, rises in the triangle formed by the mountain range by that name and the Continental Divide, and flows along the eastern bases of the Bitter Root Mountains. It empties into the Hellgate River, in the vicinity of Missoula, and the two streams thus united take the name of Missoula, which, in turn, flows into Lake Pend d'Oreille, Idaho, and emerges as Clark's River, or the Clark's Fork of the Columbia, as now recorded on the maps. From Montana it passes between the Bitter Root and the Cabinet mountains in the northwestern part of the state, through the northern corner of Idaho and joins the Columbia at 49 north, on the boundary Jbetween the state of Washington and British Columbia. Before leaving Montana, however, it receives a large and intricate system of waters from the north. The backbone of this combination of rivers and lakes is the Flathead River, the north fork of which rises just across the international border and bounds Glacier National Park on the west. The south fork heads in the great north-and-south Continental Divide in Powell and Lewis and Clark counties, flows northwest between that vast range and the Flathead Mountains, and unites with the 'north fork and a smaller tributary stream near Columbia Falls, Fhthead County, and thence enters Flathead Lake. The river emerges from the south- western extremity of the lake, is reinforced by the Little Bitter Root, the Jocko and other streams and finally reaches Clark's Fork near the western boundary line of the state in the Mineral Range of mountains, an outlying flank of the Bitter Root Range. The more northerly branch of the Columbia, the Kootenai, takes a HISTORY OF MONTANA 91 small loop out of Northwestern Montana, rising in British Columbia and through its tributaries, the Stillwater and Yaak rivers, draining a small portion of that part of the state. To the east of the drainage basin of the Clark's Fork and the Kootenai is the St. Mary's River, which is a tributary of the Saskatchewan and empties into Hudson Bay! It is evident that Western Montana, the birthplace of the vast river systems which mold the valleys and basins of the state, holds the key to the topography of the country included in its bounds. That region contains the fountain heads of the rushing waters and their commercial powers. Mountains, valleys and basins comprise the grand natural fea- tures of Montana. MONTANA SYSTEMS As to its mountains, the following is a fair summary, mainly drawn from data furnished by Robert H. Chapman, the geologist and topog- rapher: The main Rocky mountain mass is actually made up of two principal ranges, generally parallel with axes in a northwesterly and southwesterly direction, the easternmost of which is the Lewis range, which extends but a short distance across the Canadian boundary. The western or Livingston range, persists much farther northward. At a point about eleven miles south of Canada it becomes the watershed of the Continental divide, which has previously followed the ridge of the Livingston range. The range is rugged in contour and vast in extent, with many spurs, buttresses and lesser ranges. Magnificent pinnacles and peaks, cloaked with eternal snow, encrusted with glacial ice, mark its- serrated outline. Nevertheless the mountains of Montana, though equally noble in form are not so lofty as those of Colorado. Immediately east of the Continental divide, at the extreme north, is the Hudson Bay divide, and the Big Belt Mountains, which commence in the center of the state and run parallel with the main Rocky mountain range. To the east of the Big Belt is Bird Tail divide, and to the south the Tobacco Root, the Ruby, the Madison, the Gallatin and the Bridger ranges. East of the Big Belt range and also in central Montana, are the Teton ridge, the Little Belt and Belt ranges, and to the south, in southern Montana, are the Cayuse Hills and the Assaroka range. East of the Little Belt range, in East- central Montana, are the Big Snowy Mountains, and just northeast of the northern extremity of the range lie the Highwood Mountains. Still farther to the east, in North-eastern Montana, are other minor ranges or groups of high hills dignified with such names as Bear Paw, Little Rocky or Little Creek mountains. The easternmost hills of any considerable magnitude are Piney Buttes, in the triangle formed by the Missouri and its tributary, Big Dry River. In the far southeast, the Big Horn Moun- tains protrude into the Crow Indian Reservation from Wyoming, and the smaller independent range formed by the Wolf and Rosebud moun- tains, a little farther east, is almost wholly within the state boundaries. West of the Continental divide, in the northwestern corner of Mon- 92 HISTORY OF MONTANA tana, is the Purcell range of the Kootenai system. Farther east, beyond the Stillwater River, is the Whitefish range, a southeastern continuance of which brings one to the Flathead range. Parallel to the latter and west of it, are the majestic Mission Mountains, the northern portions of which are massed along the eastern shores of Flathead Lake. The Bitter Root Mountains stretch as a majestic barrier to form the western bounds of Montana, from 48 degrees, east by south to about 46 30', where they meet the Continental divide, extending toward the northeast. The Bitter Root Mountains form by far the larger portion of the western side of the substantial rectangle formed by the 144,000 square miles comprising the area of Montana. It is a grand domain nearly three times larger than the state of New York, and only exceeded by Texas and California in territorial extent of the commonwealths in the Union. California only exceeds it by 12,000 square miles. Low ALTITUDE AS A ROCKY MOUNTAIN STATE Although virtually' half of Montana is mountainous, and it is classified as a Rocky Mountain state, its general elevation is compar- atively low. Professor Gannett of the United States Geological Survey says: "The average elevation of Montana above sea level is 3,900 feet. The average elevation of other states in this section are given as follows : Nevada, 5,600 feet ; Wyoming, 6,400 ; Colorado, 7,000 feet. Be- low an elevation of 4,000 feet Utah has no square miles, Colorado has only 9,000, while Montana has 51,600. Below 3,000 feet in altitude are 40,000 square miles in Montana." "Taking the area of the state (Montana) as a whole," says a United States Census Bulletin, "it has been ascertained that 49 per cent, is under 5,000 feet above sea level; 21 per cent, from 5,000 to 6,000 feet; 14 per cent, from 6,000 to 7,000 ; 9 per cent, from 7,000 to 8,000, and 7 per cent, over 8,000 feet." Helena, at the base of the northwest and southeast Continental divide in Montana, has an elevation of 4,110 feet above sea level ; Salt Lake City, 4,350; Denver, 5,300, and Santa Fe, 6,840 feet. The fact of Montana's comparatively low altitude, with mountain passes of low and easy access, has had a beneficial effect upon her climate and settlement. A very high altitude in a country or state limits permanent settlement to the small class of people whose physical tem- perament allows them to reside under such condition. The numerous low passes in the mountains not only enabled the streams of emigrants to pass into Montana's domains from either direction, many of them becoming her substantial settlers, but also admits the mild currents from the farther west and southwest, warming the valleys and modifying the climate generally. WILLIAM A. CLARK ON MONTANA'S VALLEYS After noting the Coeur d'Alene, Pointed Heart, or Bitter Root moun- tains as "a white line in the zigzag of the mountains' crest in the regions HISTORY OF MONTANA 93 of perpetual snow, William A. Clark, in his centennial address, adds, apropos of the "valley" feature of Montana: "Farther eastward the main range of the Rocky Mountains rising in colossal grandeur, tends diagonally to the northwest across the territory, while between these two distinct ranges and far eastward from the latter, the country is diversi- fied by a system of subordinate, transverse and parallel ranges, enclosing the most beautiful valleys. "These valleys, varying from one to fifteen miles in width and from ten to two hundred miles in length, are level or gently undulating, re- sembling prairies covered with grasses and meadows, each drained by a main stream running through the center which, at short intervals, re- ceives tributaries from the enclosing mountains. These form lateral BITTER ROOT VALLEY valleys of smaller extent. A line of willow, or alder bushes, with here and there a clump of cottonwood trees, marks the course of every stream and beautifies the landscape. Lying between the large valleys there are, in many places, passes in the mountains, many of them so low and easily accessible as to form natural highways for all vehicles. On some of these dividing elevations are presented views of surpassing beauty and grandeur. Below you behold the picturesque valleys; about you, the terraced, or corrugated grassy plains; on either side, the ever- green woodlands with their parks and rippling brooklets, stretching down from the mountain sides, and above all and beyond the limit of vegetable growth, the towering rock-ribbed mountains. There, in communication with the clouds, are the great fountains which form the sources of the Missouri and the Columbia, in many places gathering their cold and crystal waters from the same snow girdled peaks." THE GEOLOGICAL STORY Montana presents a problem and a picture of deep and varied interest when viewed from a geological standpoint; when an attempt is made 94 HISTORY OF MONTANA to analyze the vast mountain ranges which loom and stretch through her central and western portions, and to account for the courses and grand vagrancies of her mighty rivers, which attempted to lose themselves in the fastnesses of the Rockies, but could not because of the persistency and bravery of men; to list her bewildering variety of minerals and account for their composition and the strange forms of their deposits, and, in general, to unseal the weird, silent lips of Nature and force her to explain the methods by which she created a little section of what is really but the skin of the earth. To account for the mountain ranges of Montana and the precious metals cast from their bowels, one must go back to the primary ages of the fire rocks (igneous and metamorphic), and to explain the broken and irregular strata of the vast rocky beds laid down by the waters of the prehistoric oceans and seas, the student must imagine the outbreak of immeasurable subterranean forces and the upheaval of the very founda- tions of the earth. Dr. F. V. Hayden, U. S. Geologist, did much to fix and record the geology of Montana, in the '/os, and in 1876 the Historical Society of Montana (Vol. I, p. 285) published an instructive and well written paper entitled "Geological Notes on Northern and Central Montana," by O. C. Mortson, which was of more general value than its title indicated. The author traces the eastern boundary line of the great area of igneous rocks as follows: Commencing, at the British line, following southwardly along the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains to the Dearborn River, following that stream to the Missouri River, crossing which it follows the Great Belt Mountains for a short distance and then strikes off to the western peaks of the Little Belt Mountains, and from there, along the eastern side, to the Judith Gap; it then strikes southwardly along the eastern base of the Crazy Mountains across the Yellowstone River and by the eastern base of the Snow Mountains. The Judith, Snowy and Highwood mountains are surrounded by stratified rocks, though connected with the same upheaval as the other mountains. All rocks east of the above-mentioned line are pertaining to the cretaceous periods (later than the igneous) and in places, tertiary (still later) deposits. The upheaval of all the mountains in Central Montana most probably took place in the tertiary period, and attained a still higher altitude in the post-tertiary ; again being brought to nearly their present level in the latter part of this period. The Bearpaw Mountains are ascribed to a later period, their upheaval having distorted the strata in their vicinity, and later tertiary rocks being found among and in them. The origin of these mountains is undoubtedly volcanic, the center of action being the western peaks. One peak, which is the highest in that vicinity, is an extinct crater, lava, tufa and volcanic sand being plentiful. The Sandy creeks rise near this peak, and it is owing to the volcanic sand in their beds that they derive their names. The upheaval of these mountains is ascribed to the post-tertiary period, probably the same disturbance that occurred in the early part of the glacial period. All the other ranges of mountains in central and northern Montana HISTORY OF MONTANA 95 are thought to have been formed about the same time, both from the similar character of the rocks comprising their peaks and foothills and from the number of dikes connecting them. These connecting ridges are sometimes trap, but generally of granite. The elevated and distorted strata which thus protrudes have been variously metamorphized by the action of the igneous rocks, while in a state of fusion limestone has been turned into marble and laminated clays into slate. A large number of these dikes branch from the east side of the Great Belt range, crossing diagonally Deep Creek valley and connectiong with the Little Belt range and the Highwood Mountains. The dikes mentioned are composed of dark granite. Other series connect the different peaks of the district. From the igneous, or fire rocks, the geologist passes upward toward the earth's surface through the stratified rocks of five distinct periods. The lowest stratum examined by Mr. Mortson, which contained fossils, was the Jurassic. A belt of the latter rocks was found to stretch from the neighborhood of. the Black Hills, in the southeast, across the Yellow- stone River, striking the Musselshell near the great bend, and reaching the Missouri in the neighborhood of Little Rocky Mountain Creek and Carroll, Deer Lodge County. Remains of the larger fossils are found in this stratum in such quantities as to form masess of rocks in themselves. In a later epoch of the same period, carrying sandstones and layers of clay were found fresh water shells and abundant remains of insects, fishes and reptiles. The rocks of the cretaceous, or chalky period, occupy the largest area of any stratified ones in Montana, being found even in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains and occupying a large area north of the Missouri River. They form a section of the great belt which stretches across the continent from Mackenzie's River in the north to the Gulf of Mexico in the south. Most of the rocks are of marine formation, although a few are the results of fresh water deposits, and their composition is sandstone, clay, marl, limestone and colored sands. The latter are exceedingly friable, and the green variety has been profitably used as a fertilizer. The lower beds of the cretaceous period are known as the Dakota group, as they have been most extensively developed in the territory of the Dakotas. In Montana, these beds may be found near the headwaters of Sun River, in the vicinity of St. Peter and on the flanks of Highwood and Little Belt mountains, in the present counties of Cascade and Teton. The Dakota series is remarkable for the beds of lignite and numerous vegetable remains found in it. The leaves of numerous genera of trees are also found, some of which are allied to living species. Near Fort Shaw the beds have yielded a fine building sandstone, which, though soft when quarried, hardens by exposure to the atmosphere. The Benton group of the cretaceous period lies over the Dakota and is distinguishable by the character of the fossils found in the strata, being of the fresh-water rather than the marine variety. The greatest de- velopment of the beds is in the vicinity of Fort Benton ; hence the name, given by Meek and Hayden, U. S. geologists. From that place to the Great Falls the banks of the Missouri furnish splendid specimens of 96 HISTORY OF MONTANA sections of the beds. They are also found on Highwood and Belt Moun- tain creeks and Arrow, Teton and Maria's rivers. The thickness of the Dakota and Benton groups may be roughly estimated at 1,200 feet. The Pierre group, so called from the beds found at old Fort Pierre, Dakota, are the first of the later Cretaceous beds. Outcrops of these beds are found in the hills south of Square Butte, the reservation of Fort Shaw on the Yellowstone, in the bad lands near Pryor's Creek and on Milk River near the Three Buttes. On the Yellowstone, they are com- posed of dark laminated clays, and are remarkable for the perfect preser- vation of the fossils peculiar to the group. Proceeding northward, it gradually merges into the Jurassic rocks. "The cretaceous and Jurassic rocks in Montana, by their conforma- tion and dip of strata, would justify the assertion that during these periods a large, shallow inland sea existed in this part of Montana. From the nature of the marine fossil shells it might have been from two hun- dred to four hundred feet deep, and had connection with the inland sea, which then covered such a large portion of the North American con- tinent. The Yellowstone and Missouri rivers were not yet in existence, as there were not yet any mountains to form the watershed." The rocks of the tertiary period are found on the flanks of the Rocky, Belt, Bear- paw and Big Snowy mountains and on Milk River near the British line. "It was during this period (continuing to quote Mr. Mortson) that probably the two great rivers of Montana began their mighty courses. This was owing to the elevation at that time of the neighboring ranges of mountains (except the Bearpaw), though perhaps their height was not equal to that of the present day. The tertiary deposits on their summits would ascribe their elevation to be late in the period. THE POST-TERTIARY (GLACIAL) PERIOD "To the traces of this period I have turned my principal attention. Its (in my opinion) great influence on the deposition of placer gold, the great denudations of the surface area, and the large deposits elsewhere, render it an exceedingly interesting geological study. * * * The glacial or drift period takes its name under the supposition that ice, in the form of icebergs and glaciers, scraped ravines and canons on the mountain sides, denuded hills and plateaus; in some places making valleys and in others filling them up and altering river beds. "In the early part of this epoch, Montana must have presented the appearance of a series of large fresh-water lakes, whose shores were the summits of the present mountain ranges. These mountains had their flanks covered by huge glaciers, whose descent by the usual river-like flow o glaciers would bring down large quantities of rocks, pebbles and mud. Reaching the edge of the lakes, they would, when advanced far enough by the superincumbent weight, break off; having been pushed by the pressure of the ice behind, it would float off as an iceberg, and would elsewhere deposit its hundred of tons of gravel, mud and rocks, the same manner as the glaciers of Greenland are at the present day send- MOUNTAINS IN THE HELENA DISTRICT Vol. 17 98 HISTORY OF MONTANA ing their icebergs down the eastern coast of North America. What was the probable cause of this sub-arctic climate enveloping the land? "Later back, we referred to the upheaval of the ranges of mountains in the tertiary period. Now, another upheaval probably took place of another five thousand feet or therabouts, and it would bring this icy change quickly, and transform the smiling semi-tropical verdure of the 1 tertiary period into stern winter sterility. It was probably at this time that the Bearpaw Mountains were thrown up. Now, by these terres- trial changes, which were not confined to Montana alone, the flow of the rivers would bo stopped ; the lakes would rise silently, but sure ; and the intense cold would speedily bring this arctic climate to which I am re- ferring. "The intense cold would, by its action, rend the rocks in the moun- tains, which would then fall in avalanches upon the glaciers, to be by them carried elsewhere. The glaciers, by their slow but constant motion, and their stupendous weight, would, by erosion, plow for themselves a bed through the hardest rock. GLACIAL MARKS AND MOVEMENTS "At the headwaters of Maria's river, especially at the head of Cut Bank Creek, a fragment of one of these glaciers still exists, covering each side of the range down to a certain height. The existence of this glacier is known, and probably others exist in the Rocky range, which will be found when the topography of the country is better known. "The proof of the other glaciers having existed, lies in the drift groovings or scratches which occur in the bed-rock of all the mountain gulches that I have seen in this section ; also by the numerous moraines and erratic bowlders which are found on the great northern plateau and on other several smaller ones. "In central Montana, there were two great centers of glacial action one was the Rocky mountains and its connecting ranges ; the other was the Belt ranges. "In the Great Belt range a large glacier commenced on the western side, near the head of Trout and Cottonwood creeks, cutting the range diagonally, crossing Montana and Confederate gulches and emerging into the Missouri valley a little south of the Confederate creek. Its course is north-northeast to south-southwest and the present altitude of its old bed is probably over five thousand feet. In the vicinity it is known as the Gravelly range. This glacier must have existed prior to those that cut out Bowlder, Confederate, Montana, White's and other gulches in the vicinity, as wherever this ancient glacier has been cut by later ravines it has yielded large deposits of gold. Its ancient bed is now filled up with debris, which is easily accounted for by the deposits of neighboring denudations. In the vicinity it is called an old river-bed, but its declina- tion is too great for that, consistent with the gold deposits ; also, the debris is identical with the rocks contained between its two extremities. If it had been a river, its length ought to have been greater; there ought to have HISTORY OF MONTANA 99 been a larger amount of foreign debris and a large water-shed, to account for its present breadth. "Now, assuming this to have been a glacier, we should find the ice, by its motion, scraping and grooving the bed-rock of its course, con- tinually widening its bed by its constant pressure and friction, and thereby denuding the rocks and quartz lodes that it passed. Naturally, gold would be left in the striae of the bed-rock. Its carrying large amounts of debris on its surface in the form of moraines, wherever the contour of its bed compelled the glacier to change its course, it would naturally deposit large amounts of debris, which now form bars. "I stated that this glacier existed prior to the formation of the neighboring gulches. An intelligent observation of these gulches will convince anyone that there must have been similar causes to produce these effects. Bowlder, in the vicinity of Confederate, has innumerable proofs of glacial drift. There are erratic bowlders there, which could have only been brought to their present position by ice. Indian, Beaver and Last Chance gulches, on the opposite side of the Missouri,- have simi- lar characteristics. I have observed personally, in these localities, the striae on bowlders, and the parallel moraines of ancient glaciers. A per- fect chart of these localities could be made, by minute observation, as they existed in the glacial period. The course of the glacier would be known by the direction of the striae on the bed-rock and bowlders; the angle of declination would be known by the inclination of the striae on the bowlders on the mountain sides ; and the depth would be the height between the bed- rock arid the line of bowlders left by the glaciers on the hill sides. "The elevated valleys in Upper Deep creek, on the east side of the Great Belt range, have over their whole surface the marks of glacial action. On the low mountains north of Camp Baker bowlders are on the sides, with the striae cut on them as plain as if done by a workman, and their surfaces finely polished, showing the friction they have under- gone. Along the northern side of the valley large numbers of bowlders cover one side of the hills, the bowlders on each hill being on the same side. This shows the deposition by icebergs, which, broken off by the parent glacier and floating on the inland sea, deposited the detritus in this manner. All the mountains in the central and northern part of Montana that I have seen show these indubitable signs. "The large plateau in the north has large erratic bowlders scattered here and there; they are not very common, but their size is exceedingly large. The most interesting one I have seen is in a small ravine which runs into the Dry fork of Maria's river due north of Fort Shaw. It is about nine feet long, six feet high and probably weighs about fifteen tons. It is composed of red granite, with a smooth, polished surface, and has evidently been brought a long distance, as no rocks of that kind are, to my knowledge, closer than about ninety miles. Other bowlders exist, but this one will serve as an example of the rest. "How long this epoch lasted, there is no telling; but, by the great denudation which took place, it must have been of considerable length. It was during this epoch that the numerous buttes lying east of the 100 HISTORY OF MONTANA Rocky mountains and north of the Belt range were denuded to their present shape. Very probably Square and Crown Buttes formed once a continuous range of high bluffs ; and the same may be said of those east of the Highwoods. At the close of this period, a gradual subsidence of level raised the temperature of the climate ; the inland lakes dis- appeared; the glaciers melted away and we arrive at what is called the Champlain epoch." THE GREAT MONTANA MAMMALS "At the beginning of this epoch, most probably the rush of the re- tiring waters cut the terraces which bound so many of our Montana streams. The great mammals then appeared, and the huge mastodon cov- ered the plateaus and valleys in numbers almost equaling the modern buffalo. The American elephant existed in this locality. A portion of a tusk pertaining to one was found on Badger creek and is now in possession of Mr. Drew, at Fort Shaw. It is possible that the great pliocene deposits of Wyoming and Colorado extend northward into Mon- tana, as I have been often told of the great bone deposits which exist in several parts of these localities. Several deposits of so-called buf- falo bones, in the neighborhood of Sun and Maria's rivers and Badger creek, I am inclined to ascribe to other animals; and it may be that as Colorado and Wyoming have within the two years yielded such palaeon- tological treasures, so Montana, by proper search and investigation, will yield equally interesting organic remains." VARIETY AND WEALTH OF GEOLOGICAL DEPOSITS The wonderful diversity of Montana's geological formations accounts for the variety of the precious deposits found within the state's limits. The upheaval of the deep-seated fire rocks, with molten formations of ore and precious stones; the deposits and immeasurable pressure of great inland seas, and the resistless passage of vast glacial fields laden with gold scourings and gigantic boulders, all made Montana a rich and varied treasury of minerals. Along this line, a comparatively recent publication has this to say of Montana as a mining state : "Of the many marvels of its mineral wealth, perhaps the greatest is the wonderful extent of the deposits. After this comes the diversity of metals, which cover a large portion of the known catalogue, and lastly comes the fabulous richness of the deposits of quartz and placer diggings. The ores of Montana are easily worked. The rocks in which auriferous and argentiferous veins occur is limestone or granite often granite capped with slate. The presence of lead and copper simplifies the reduction of silver. In general the char- acter of Montana galena ores does not differ from those of Utah, Colo- rado, Nevada and Idaho. There are lead mines in Montana but they have not been extensively worked. The lead obtained from the silver ores however, is considerable. Copper lodes are abundant and large and are HISTORY OF MONTANA 101 found near Butte, at White Sulphur Springs and in the Musselshell coun- try. Iron is found in a great number of places. Marble, building stone fire clay, zinc and all of the minerals of which men build the substan- tial monuments of civilization are grouped together in Montana in a re- markable manner. "One of the latest developed resources of the state is coal. The presence of this product was known from the early days, but before the country had been pierced by railroads it could not be profitably mined and consequently there was no development of the coal fields. Now coal mining is one of the permanent industries of the state. Along the east- ern bases of the Rocky Mountains coal is found in almost inexhaustible quantities. Park, Cascade, Choteau, Beaver Head and Gallatin counties all have mines within their boundaries.* BEAR TOOTH MOUNTAIN IN THE COAL REGION "In addition to the precious metals and other products mentioned above, there have been found in Montana from time to time a great many precious stones and gems. Sapphires were discovered in a number of localities by the early placer miners. They were collected in great num- bers in the sluice boxes with the gold and black sand. They were found on the bars of the Missouri in Lewis and Clark county, at Montana City and Jefferson City on the Prickly Pear, and in other localities. These gems were sent East and found their way into many cabinets. A few were cut and worn by Montana miners. After many years they attracted the attention of English experts and capitalists, and a company was formed to work these old placers for the sapphires they contained. Some of these gems are of the largest size and purest water, and the colors are very brilliant. The varieties most common are the oriental emerald, the oriental topaz, the oriental amethyst and the oriental ruby. No gem except the diamond excels them in hardness and brilliancy. Nearly all vari- * And now more than all, Carbon county. 102 HISTORY OF MONTANA eties of garnets are also found in the placers and the rocks of the moun- tains ; many very fine varieties have been taken from the places in various parts of the state. The precious garnet, the topazolite, the melanite, pyrenite, and others of yellow, brown,, green and red, have all been found in the placers and rocks. Small emeralds of medium quality have been discovered in the gravel and rocks of the mountains. Tourmalines have also appeared in the sluice boxes of the placer mines, as well as in the metamorphic rocks of the Rockies." CHAPTER V PATHFINDERS OF THE MINING CAMPS The kings of the fur traders and the traders themselves opened Montana for the influx of the miners. Lewis and Clark, and lesser explor- ers, revealed the riches of the fur trade to the practical Englishmen, Scotchmen, Frenchmen, Spaniards and Americans, and at least served as advance agents in the introduction of the business to its original and main source of supply, the Indians. Soon after the red and white trappers and hunters had perceptibly drained the land of its beaver, otter and bear, and were making awful inroads into the buffalo herds, came the day of the miners, whose guides were usually men who had become familiar with the land of the mountains in the prosecution of their trapping and trading enterprises. Although they had laid no such plans for the future, destiny made the trappers the pathfinders of the miners, and in this connection their leaders who built the posts and the forts and sent them into the wilds shall be described, their main enterprises noted. COMMENCEMENT OF PERMANENT TRADE The initial venture of that nature in Montana has already been re- corded in the account of the expedition taken from St. Louis by Manuel Lisa, formerly identified with the Spanish Fur Company who had cut adrift from that organization as an independent trader. His fort, built in 1807, at the mouth of the Big Horn, represented the first trading post, the first commercial venture and the first building of a permanent char- acter, to be planted within the bounds of what is now Montana. THE MISSOURI FUR COMPANY Not long after Lisa's return to St. Louis, in the summer of 1808, and after a very successful season in the fur trade, was formed the Missouri Fur Company. It was organized with a capital of $40,000, headquarters in St. Louis, and its object was to establish a string of trading posts along the headwaters of the Missouri. Among its twelve members were Capt. William Clark, the agent and head of the organiza- tion; Manuel Lisa, in some respects the leading spirit; Reuben Lewis, only brother of Capt. Meriwether Lewis ; the Chouteau brothers, Andrew Henry and other leaders in the fur trade, who were uncontrolled 'by the Hudson Bay and North West companies, of Canada. Lewis and Clark had called attention to the locality where the three 103 104 HISTORY OF MONTANA forks of the Missouri converge as a strong trading point the key to the Blackfoot fur trade ; and that meant much in those days. The Mis- souri Fur Company were of the same opinion, and in 1809 Lisa, with Henry and a party of trappers and boatsmen, ascended the Missouri and the Yellowstone, and, through Bozeman Pass emerged at the three forks. There they established a post as the headquarters of their proposed opera- tions to develop a fur trade among the Indians of that region.* At that time the Missouri Fur Company had in its employ 250 men partly Ameri- can hunters, but mainly Creoles and Canadian voyagers, who in various flotillas, conducted by some of the partners, were put in motion, and be- fore the close of the year 1809 posts had been established among the Sioux, Arickarees and Mandans, and a principal one, whose garrison com- prised the larger part of the company's employes, "at the Three Forks of the Missouri." This post was in the heart of the country then possessed by the Piegan Tribe of the Blackfeet Indians whose hostility it was hoped might be appeased, both for the sake of their trade and because the hundreds of small streams which rise in the adjacent mountains and unite to form the Missouri abounded with beaver, which the company's servants were to be employed in trapping. But the Blackfeet were in communication with the posts of the British traders upon the Saskatchewan, from which they obtained arms, ammunition, and all the commodities of civilization required in their wild life, so that they were wholly independent of this fort. Besides, in consequence of the killing of one of their number by Captain Lewis in 1806, they had conceived the most violent hatred of the Americans, a feeling carefully fostered by the British 'traders to prevent competition, and they had fiercely declared that they would rather hang the scalp of an American to their girdle than kill a buffalo to keep from starving. Animated by such implacable and vindictive re- sentment, they not only failed to become the customers of the fort, but set themselves at work to effect the destruction of its garrison. . They lurked incessantly in the vicinity of the post, sought to ambuscade the hunters, attacked every party over whom they could gain any advantage, and almost entirely frustrated the trapping system that had been inaugurated. It became dangerous to go any distance from the fort except in large parties, and in one case a party of twenty men were assailed by surprise and nine killed. Not less than twenty of the garrison lost their lives in the various conflicts that took place, and it was estimated that double that number of Indians were killed. It had been expected that three hundred packs of beaver would be secured the first year, and but for the hostility of the Blackfeet the expectation would probably have been realized. As it was, there were scarcely twenty packs. With this meagre return the greater portion of the party descended the river the next spring (1809), while the re- * Lieut. Bradley's "Journal," Contributions Montana Historical Society, Vol. II. HISTORY OF MONTANA 105 mainder continued to be cooped up in the fort not daring to hunt and suffering for want of provisions. At last, finding the situation so irk- some and unprofitable and fearing the destruction of his little band, Mr. Henry,* the partner who had been left in charge, determined in the fall to move over into the country of the more pacific Shoshonees and winter upon one of the head branches of the Columbia. Crossing the mountains with great difficulty and suffering for winter overtook them and game was scarce he found a pleasant location, where timber was plentiful, upon the North or Henry's Fork of Snake River, where he established himself and built a new fort the first American establish- ment (except the wintering house of Lewis and Clark) west of the Rocky Mountains. Meanwhile no tidings of Henry were received at St. Louis, and the company, ignorant of his movements, were apprehensive that he had been massacred. At length, no longer able to control their anxiety, early in 1811 an expedition was set on foot to go in quest of him. It started about the beginning of February, under the command of Mr. Lisa, in a swift barge propelled by twenty oars and armed with a swivel mounted at the bow, the whole number of persons on board being twenty-six. In the meantime his isolation and the poverty of his Snake customers in- duced Mr. Henry to recross the mountains and return to the East. Ar- riving at the Missouri he built boats, upon which his party embarked; and thus it happened that Lisa, sweeping in his light barge easily and pleasantly up stream, and Henry with his little fleet dropping down with the current, met each other at the Arickaree Village, in the neighborhood of the present City of Bismarck, about the middle of June. Mr. Henry's stay beyond the mountains had not been unprofitable, and he took down with him forty packs of beaver a far better return than could reasonably have been anticipated. "To render this account of the operations of the company complete I will add," says Lieutenant Bradley, "that the hostility of the Blackfeet and the consequent ruin of their prospects in this quarter were not the only misfortune that had been sustained by the company. The establishments among the Mandans and Arickarees had proved unprofitable, and besides the Sioux factory was accidentally burned, occasioning an estimated loss of fifteen thou- sand dollars almost half the original capital of the company. BLACKFEET COUNTRY ABANDONED "The term of the association expired in 1811, but notwithstanding the unforeseen difficulties and disasters that had beset its first efforts, it was found on balancing accounts that the company had its capital of forty thousand dollars yet intact, and, in addition, the three establishments below the Yellowstone. A reorganization was effected, and though no further attempt was made to trade in the Blackfeet country the busi- ness of the company elsewhere was extensive and the profits large. It enjoyed a deserved prosperity until the business prostration occasioned * Henry's Lake and Henry's Fork of Snake River named after him. 106 HISTORY OF MONTANA by the War of 1812, when it was forced to suspend operations and finally dissolved. "The fort built by this company at the Three Forks of the Missouri is the establishment whose traces still remain near Gallatin City* and which is popularly ascribed to Lewis and Clark. In 1870, the outlines of the fort were still intact, from which it appears that it was a double stock- ade of logs set three feet deep, enclosing an area of about 300 feet square, situated upon the tongue of land (at that point half a mile wide) between the Jefferson and Madison Rivers, about two miles above their .. . l^'^r SPANISH CREEK, GALLATIN COUNTY confluence, upon the south bank of a channel of the former stream now called Jefferson slough. Since then the stream has made such inroads upon the land that only a small portion of the fort the south-west angle remains. It is probable that every vestige of this old relic will soon dis- appear, except the few stumps of stockade logs that have been removed by two or three gentlemen of antiquarian tastes. When Henry abandoned the fort a blacksmith's anvil was left behind, which remained there for thirty or forty years undisturbed, gazed upon only by the Indians who re- garded it with superstition and awe. At last it disappeared and it is said to have been found and removed by a party of white men." * Written in 1876. HISTORY OF MONTANA 107 RACE OF RIVAL FUR AGENTS Not long after the Missouri Fur Company had been formed through the energy and influence of Manuel Lisa, John Jacob Astor, who, for a decade was to be his great rival in the fur trade, formed the Pacific Fur Company. It was an offshoot of the North West Company and was for- mally organized in June, 1810, all of Mr. Astor's partners, with the ex- ception of Wilson Price Hunt, of New Jersey, being ex-members of that organization. The great organizer of the Pacific Fur Company sent two expeditions West one by sea and one by land. The overland expedition, under Hunt, is the only one which concerns this history, and that only in- cidentally. Before the articles of agreement forming the Pacific Fur Company were signed, the expedition by land was well on its way toward the western sea. Lisa had started out from St. Louis to seek Henry and, having met him safe and sound, hurried up the Missouri to overtake the Hunt party, tidings of whose destination the headwaters of that river and the coveted fur country of the Blackfeet had reached him. Hunt's party comprised, among others, Donald McKenzie, Pierre Dorion, a half- breed interpreter indebted to Lisa, and the scientists, Nuttall and Brad- bury. Lisa did not propose that Hunt should occupy "his" fur coun- try without a fight, and Hunt was afraid that the able and wily Spaniard would set the Sioux against him, the agent of the rival company, in case he (Lisa) reached the land of the dreaded Indians first. The race for Sioux-land was therefore exciting, and Lisa's river party overtook Hunt's land expedition in what is now southern or central South Dakota. From this meeting until the Arikaree villages near the junction of the Grand and Missouri rivers were reached (near the boundary line of the Dakotas) the two rival parties traveled together, each eyeing the other suspiciously. In one particular, Lisa outmanoeuvered Hunt. It had been the intention of the leader of the Astor company to follow the route of Lewis and Clark to the sources of the Missouri, and thence over the divide to the Columbia; but Lisa managed that most deterrent rumors of Blackfeet ferocities and attacks should be carried to the interlopers. Result : The Hunt party swerved toward the Southwest, crossed the southeastern cor- ner of Montana into Wyoming, traveled south to the Wind River, across country to the Snake and Columbia and down the great western river to where Astor's sea party had founded Astoria. This trip of Hunt's blazed the famous Oregon Trail. THE LAST YEARS OF LISA The failure and destruction of the posts which the Missouri Fur Company attempted to establish from the headwaters of the river to the Mandan villages in Dakota, with the disturbances caused by the War of 1812, caused the final dissolution of the company. Lisa then operated the Missouri fur trade under the name of Manuel Lisa & Company for about six years, and during that period was a real monopolist. In 1819 he reorganized the Missouri Fur Company, with an entirely new personnel 108 HISTORY OF MONTANA except he himself. He died in St. Louis, which had been his home since youth, in his forty-eighth year. Lisa was born in New Orleans of Span- ish parents, and his commanding intrepidity in all his ventures gave him the name of the Cortez of the Rocky Mountains. Of his moral character, the least said the better for his memory. GENERAL ASHLEY AND THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN FUR COMPANY It was fully a decade after the War of 1812 before the fur trade showed decided signs of improvement, and, as in the old times, the fur companies doing business in Montana again turned their attention to the opening up of the trade among the enterprising but fierce Blackfeet, who still controlled the fur country at the headwaters of the Missouri. Not only was the Missouri Fur Company revived, but Gen. William Ashley, an able, forceful Virginian who had long resided in St. Louis, as a mer- chant and prominent citizen, organized the Rocky Mountain Fur Com- pany. Associated with him were Maj. Andrew Henry, William and Mil- ton Sublette, Jedediah S. Smith, David E. Jackson, Robert Campbell, Etienne Provost, James Bridger and others, nearly all of whom will later appear as leading characters in the progress of this history. The first expedition of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company had sev- eral experiences not unlike those of the initial venture of the Lisa's Mis- souri Fur Company. In both cases the brunt of the disasters fell upon Maj. Andrew Henry. The first expedition of Ashley's company started from St. Louis on April 15, 1822, for that portentous locality, the Three Forks of the Missouri. On the way up the river one of the keel- boats sank with $10,000 worth of goods, and above the Mandan vil- lages a band of Assiniboines stole the horses of the party. These heavy losses forced the expedition to establish the Ashley-Henry Fort near the confluence of the Yellowstone and Missouri, where winter quarters were fixed. General Ashley then returned to St. Louis, leaving Henry in charge of the post. In the spring of 1823, the latter continued his journey up the Missouri, but near the Great Falls the Blackfeet attacked his party, killed four of them and drove them away as a whole. So Henry was again obliged to return, short of his goal. In 1823, Ashley fitted out a second expedition and leading it him- self started up the Missouri. He intended to purchase horses of the Aricarees and dispatch some of his force by land to the Yellowstone. These Indians, distinguished for their fickleness, at first seemed friendly, but before dawn on June 2nd, attacked Ashley's force. They killed twelve of his men and wounded fourteen, the survivors escaping to some sheltering timber. In this desperate strait, Ashley accepted the services of Jedediah Smith, a mere youth, to carry news of his predicament to Henry and requesting immediate re-enforcements. After numerous es- capes from capture and death, the boy reached Henry, and Ashley and his men were saved. The combined parties moved to the mouth of White River, where they built a fort and awaited the coming of troops to pro- tect them on their journey. They also established a trading post at the HISTORY OF MONTANA 109 mouth of the Big Horn and Yellowstone, near the site of old Fort Manuel, and Etienne Provost, with a few men, was ordered from that point southward to trap. On this journey, in 1823, he discovered the South Pass. ASHLEY-HENRY DISCOVERIES OF 1823. As remarked by a writer of these times, commenting on the remark- able outcome of this unimportant expedition, measured by direct results : "The members of the Ashley-Henry party proved to be explorers as well as trappers, for not only did Provost discover the South Pass and thus open up the trapping districts of the Green river country, but Jim Bridger, in his quest of furs, came upon the Great Salt Lake. This is the first recorded instance of a white man having beheld that body of water, though it had been visited by the Piegans and many other tribes years before. Young Jedediah Smith, possessed of the spirit of adventure, pushed on to the Pacific, and was the first white man to cross the Sierra Nevada mountains." As the Rocky Mountain Fur Company seemed at last to have obtained momentum and overcome the obstacles of its young life, so the reorgan- ized Missouri Fur Company, bereft of the strong sustaining hands of Lisa, was overtaken with dire disaster, could not rally and suffered a steady decline until its death in 1830. Its hardest blow which brought about its eventual demise was the wiping out of the expedition sent out by the company in the spring of 1823 to establish "friendly relations" with the Blackfeet and secure their trade which centered at the Three Forks. Under Messrs. Jones and Immell, it duly arrived at the site of Henry's post and remained there until the middle of May. Meeting with no In- dians friendly, commercially-inclined, or otherwise, they decided to re- turn to the Yellowstone. On the i/th of May, while following Jefferson Fork, the Jones- Immell party fell in with a band of Blackfeet. One of the Indians showed the leaders a note headed "Mountain Park, 1823," and at the bot- tom it bore "1820." The paper introduced the holder as a friendly head chief of the tribe and the owner of many furs. As it also showed the inscription, "God save the King!" it was evidently of British manufac- ture. Although the Blackfeet seemed .kindly disposed and favorable to the establishment of a post at Great Falls, Jones and Immell feared the outcome of such friendly manifestations, and on the following day gathered their men and started rapidly for the Yellowstone. Meanwhile the Blackfeet, re-enforced to about four hundred, followed closely be- hind. On the last of May, 1823, the doomed party of twenty-nine, pass- ing into a steep and narrow defile, were ambushed by the Indians and furiously attacked. Seven of the party were killed, including the leaders. The best account of the sad and unfortunate affair is from Ben- ilO HISTORY OF MONTANA jamin O'Fallon, a widely known Indian agent and army officer and a nephew of Gen. William Clark. To the latter, as superintendent of Indian affairs at St. Louis, Major O'Fallon made the report under date of Fort Atkinson, July 3, 1823. The part relating to the slaughter of the Jones- Immell party and the capture of the equipment is as follows : "The defeat of General Ashley by the A'Ricarees and departure of the troops to his relief had scarcely gone to you when an express arrived announcing the defeat by the Blackfeet Indians near the Yellowstone river, of the Missouri Fur Company's Yellowstone or mountain expedition, com- manded by Messrs. Jones and Immell, both of whom, with five of the men, are among the slain. All of their property, to the amount of $15,000, fell into the hands of the enemy. * * * The express goes on to state 'that many circumstances (of which I will be apprised in a few days) have transpired to induce the belief that the British traders (Hudson's Bay Company) are exciting the Indians against us, either to drive us from that quarter, or reap, with the Indians, the fruits of our labor.' They furnish them with the instruments of hell and a passport to heaven the instruments of death and a passport to our bosoms. "Immell had great experience of the Indian character, but, poor fellow, with a British passport, at last they deceived him, and he fell a victim to his own credulity, and his scalp, with those of his murdered comrades, is now bleeding on its way to some of the Hudson establish- ments. * * * "I am at this moment interrupted by the arrival of an express from the military expedition, with a letter from Doctor Pilcher, whom you know is at the head of the Missouri Fur Company on this river, in which he says: 'I have but a moment to write. I met an express from the Mandans bringing me the very unpleasant news the flower of my busi- ness is gone. My mountaineers have been defeated, and the chiefs of the party both slain ; the party were attacked by three or four hundred Black- feet Indians in a position on the Yellowstone river where nothing but de- feat could be expected. Jones and Immell and five men were killed. The former, it is said, fought most desperately. Jones killed two Indians, and in drawing a pistol to kill a third he received two spears in his breast. Immell was in front ; he killed one Indian and was cut to pieces. I think we lose at least $15,000. I will write you more fully between this and the Sioux.' "Jones was a gentleman of cleverness. He was for several years a resident of St. Louis, where he has numerous friends to deplore his loss. Immell has been a long time on this river, first an officer in the United States army, since an Indian trader of some distinction; in some respects he was an extraordinary man; he was brave, uncommonly large, and of great muscular strength ; when timely apprised of his danger, a host within himself." AMERICAN FUR COMPANY ESTABLISHES WESTERN DEPARTMENT The brilliant operations of General Ashley and the Rocky Mountain Fur Company, both in the fur trade and the field of western explora- tions, encouraged its great rival, the American Fur Company, now ab- HISTORY OF MONTANA m sorbed, with several independent firms, by the personality of John Jacob Astor, of New York, to establish a western department in St. Louis. The strongest of the independent concerns thus absorbed was the Columbia Fur Company, with which Kenneth McKenzie was associated as president and vitalizing power. With the consolidation, or absorption, Mr. Mc- Kenzie was placed in charge of the active affairs of the American Fur Company in the field. As Ashley withdrew from the trade with a fortune, McKenzie entered the field as its dominant figure. The new manager assumed charge of the interests of the American Fur Company at the height of Ashley's great success as the head of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company, as within the four years previous to 1827 or 1828 he had brought into St. Louis over $250,000 worth of beaver skins. The most phenomenal year in the history of the company was after General Ashley had sold his interest in it to Jedediah Smith, David E. Jackson and William L. Sublette. KENNETH MCKENZIE RISES The new manager assumed charge of the interests of the American Fur Company at the height of the trade amassed by the Rocky Mountain Company, as within the four years previous to 1828 it had sent into St. Louis more than a quarter of a million dollars' worth of beaver skins. In 1826 General Ashley had sold his interest in the Rocky Mountain concern to Jedediah Smith, David E. Jackson and William L. Sublette, and that year and the following, were phenomenal for catches. The pros- pects were so alluring that McKenzie would have made the same mis- take which had previously been disastrous to the fur traders rush to the headwaters of the Missouri after the cream of the trade without a sub- stantial base of supplies and chain of communications behind. Pierre Chouteau induced him to be more cautious, his long experience as a fur trader and member of the firm of Bernard Pratte & Company, which had been likewise absorbed by Mr. Astor's corporation, having taught him the fine lesson of "safety first." FORT FLOYD, OR FORT UNION FOUNDED In the summer of 1828, McKenzie and his first constructive party started up the Missouri, and in September of that year built Fort Floyd above the Mandan villages in the North Dakota of today, as permanent headquarters of the American Fur Company. Exactly when Fort Floyd received the name of Fort Union (the first) is not known. At all events, not long after the headquarters of the company were fixed at that local- ity, McKenzie effected his first friendly union with Blackfeet trappers, hunters and warriors, and made a real advance in pushing the interests of his company. How this was brought about is a story in itself. MCKENZIE WOOES THE BLACKFEET Soon after the establishment of Fort Floyd, or Union (two hundred miles farther up the river), a man named Burger, who spoke Piegan, the language of the Blackfeet, came to headquarters and McKenzie in- 112 HISTORY OF MONTANA duced him to lead a party up the Missouri River, in quest of the elusive Indians and the trade which they so nearly controlled. They set out from the fort in dog sleds, reached the mouth of Maria's River, which they followed to its western head in the mountains, Badger Creek. Up to that time and locality no trace of Blackfeet, or any other Indian, had been dis- covered, and one night the discouraged men encamped at the source of that creek and threw the Stars and Stripes to the Rocky Mountain breezes. As the next day dawned, a party of Piegan warriors rode toward them, with the design (as was afterward learned) of attacking the camp at once. The sight of the streaming flag induced one of the old chiefs to plead with the hot-headed warriors to adopt friendly rela- tions with the whites, and the result was that, through the spokesmanship of Burger, a former employe of the Hudson's Bay Company, the Mc- Kenzie men were taken to the Piegans' village and afterward to the Indians' winter encampment on Sun River. There the white party remained until spring, when Burger returned to old Fort Union with 100 leading Piegans. The ensuing council ended in a friendly under- standing between McKenzie and his Indian visitors, and in the summer of 1831 McKenzie made a formal treaty of peace with the Blackfeet and the Assiniboines, "a document," says a commentator, "more remarkable for its rhetoric than its pacific results." Old Fort Union was burned sometime in 1831 and its name applied to the post built not long afterward at the mouth of the Yellowstone. Dur- ing that autumn, McKenzie sent James Kipp, with twenty-five men and a boat loaded with stores and Indian trading goods, up the Missouri to take advantage of the friendly relations established with the Piegans. Kipp then built Fort Piegan on a site between Maria's and Missouri rivers, and it is said that within ten days from its completion he had received the unprecedented stock of 2,400 beaver skins from the Piegan trappers. The Bloods, attached to the British interests, soon after- ward attacked Fort Piegan, and although Kipp and his men drove off the besiegers, the post was abandoned, in the spring of 1832, and the stock of furs taken to Fort Union at the mouth of the Yellowstone. Al- though Fort Piegan was abandoned in March, 1832, the leader of the party left three of his men behind, with tobacco and ammunition, that the friendly Indians might not feel that they had been deserted by the Americans. FORT MCKENZIE BUTT.T During that year, McKenzie sent David D. Mitchell to the Fort Piegan country to attempt -a re-establishment of trade relations with the Piegans, acknowledged to be the best trappers of the Blackfeet nation. But the keel boat of the expedition with its costly cargo of supplies and goods was wrecked, two men drowned, and all the articles destined for the Indian trade were lost. Upon receipt of the news of the disaster, McKenzie sent a second boat laden as the first, and Mitchell continued his voyage to the site of Fort Piegan, only to find it charred ruins and HISTORY OF MONTANA 113 ashes. But Mitchell was a brave, determined man after McKenzie's own heart, and at once built another post and fort a few miles above the mouth of Maria's and below the narrow ridge separating the Teton and the Missouri Rivers. The structure, appropriately named Fort McKenzie, was built of logs, two hundred feet square, and faced Maria's River. The American Fur Company was now firmly established in the upper Missouri country, with three principal bases of operation Fort Union, near the junction of the Yellowstone and the Missouri; Fort McKenzie, near the mouth of Maria's River, and Fort Cass, at the confluence of the Big Horn and the Yellowstone. MCKENZIE INAUGURATES STEAMBOAT NAVIGATION TO THE YELLOWSTONE If Astor represented the financial power of the American Fur Com- pany, McKenzie now stood for its practical development in the most pro- ductive beaver and fur regions of America. With the swelling of that trade to mammoth proportions, the slow and cumbersome transportation of the thousands of bales of furs from the trapping regions of the Upper Missouri, along the vast stretches of the river system to the ultimate market, St. Louis, was a problem which McKenzie first attempted to solve through steamboat navigation. After .laboring with his superiors who controlled the finances of the company, he persuaded them to try the doubtful experiment. Accordingly a boat was constructed for the pur- pose in Louisville, Kentucky, and, as the "Yellowstone," made two trips up the Missouri in 1831-32. Its last voyage was the momentous one, as from March to June, 1832, it continued to breast the Missouri until it reached Fort Union, near the mouth of the Yellowstone. That trip, which demonstrated the utility of the river steamboat in the prosecution of the spreading fur trade, caused comment on both sides of the Atlantic. Pierre Chouteau, who was aboard the "Yellowstone" upon both occa- sions to personally test the possibilities of steamboat navigation received the following from John Jacob Astor, then in France: "Your voy- age in the 'Yellowstone' attracted much attention in Europe, and has been noted in all the papers here." A personal incident of this memorable second trip of the "Yellowstone" was that one of its passengers was George Catlin, the celebrated artist, author and student of Indian habits as relates to North America. CAPTAIN BONNEVILLE AND His EXPLORATIONS While McKenzie was opening steamboat navigation on the Missouri, such men as Capt. B. L. E. Bonneville and James Bridger were penetrat- ing the masses of the Rocky Mountains and ranging over large stretches of virgin country to the coast. They trapped, scouted, hunted and ex- plored, and their journeys and expeditions were too extensive in their range to classify the principals as Montana characters, albeit they touch the territory and the state at many points The captain's greatest travels as an explorer of the West beyond the mountains were pursued in the 114 HISTORY OF MONTANA early '305 and are thus laid down by the principal himself to the Mon- tana Historical Society, writing as an old man, long retired from the strenuous activities of life : "One of my parties," he says, "was sent through the Crow country and came round by the north and wintered with me on Salmon river; another party was sent south and wintered on the shores of Salt Lake; another journeyed into the Utes country, farther south, until it met the traders and trappers from New Mexico; another went down Salmon river to Walla Walla, on the Columbia; another to coast around the Salt Lake ; being out of provisions, it turned north upon Maria's (Humboldt) river, followed this river down west to the eastern base of the California mountains, where it empties itself into large flat lakes, thence westward, clambering for twenty-three days among the difficult passes of this elevated range, before it reached its western Pacific slope ; thence to Monterey on the coast, where it wintered. In the spring, the party going south turned the southern point of these mountains on its way to the Upper Rocky Mountains ; another party going west down the waters of Snake river to the base of the California range, turned southeast and on the way home kept the divide, as near as practicable, between Maria's River and Snake ; another party going north, round the Wind River mountains, followed the Po-po-az-ze-ah, the Big Horn, and the Yellowstone down the Missouri. "The large clear stream in the valley immediately west of the South Pass was. called by the Indians and early trappers the Sis-ke-de-az-ze-ah, afterward Green river. I was the first to take wagons through the South Pass and first to recognize Green river as the Colorado of the West". * * * FAMOUS EXPEDITION THROUGH SOUTH PASS During these eventful years in the life of Captain Bonneville, 1832-34, he spent some time among the Nez Perces Indians of the Far West, and all but dropped out of the United States Army and civilization. When he took his expedition through South Pass, in 1832, perhaps the first to accomplish this since the days of the Ashley-Henry explorations of the '205, James Bridger was his scout, and thirty years afterward he served in the same capacity for a government expedition which was con- ducting two Supreme Court judges to their newly appointed posts in Utah. The remarkable fact, also, that Jim Bridger, in 1862, led his party over the same route pursued by him in 1832 is forcibly stated by William S. Brackett, a member of the government party, who afterward became a resident of Park County, Montana.* His words : "Looking back nearly thirty-five years ago, I can recall the beauty and romance of eventful days when I camped with James Bridger on the Sweetwater and with him marched across the continent. I can see once more the muddy Platte, the dark fantastic erosion of Scott's Bluffs, and I ride again with the old scout through the broad expanse of the South Pass of the Rockies. "It was to me a most interesting circumstance on our march to Utah that we traveled along the trail where Captain Bonneville marched his 115 famous expedition to the Rocky mountains in 1832. Our camp fires were >ften ht in the same places where his own once burned. Certain it is that at Chimney Rock we camped on the very ground where the old hero had camped. This information was given by the scout, James Bridger who was with us. He had been with Bonneville in 1832-33." An account more in detail of this famous expedition is given by Brack- ett, who borrows largely from outside sources. Bonneville secured the aid in New York of men of wealth interested in the fur trade in the West, and was thus able to fit out his expedition, which started for the Rocky Mountains from the frontier post of Fort Osage, on the Missouri River JIM BRIDGER, FAMOUS EXPLORER AND GUIDE May i, 1832. He had with him one hundred and ten men, most of whom had been in the Indian country, and some of whom were experienced hunters and trappers. Up to that time all western expeditions had used mules and pack horses for transportation. Bonneville was the first man who substituted wagons for the old method, and is said to be the first man who ever crossed the backbone, or Great Divide, of the American con- tinent with wagons. His train consisted of twenty wagons, some drawn by oxen, and some by mules and horses. His usual formation for the march was to dispose his wagons in two columns, with a strong advance and rear guard of mounted men to protect them in case of attack by In- dians. If subsequent travelers and emigrants had crossed the plains in this formation there would have been fewer Indian massacres to record. Bonneville's customary method of forming camp is interesting. His 116 HISTORY OF MONTANA twenty wagons were disposed in a square at the distance of thirty-three feet from each other. In every interval a mess outfit was stationed; and each mess had its own fire where the men cooked, ate, gossiped and slept. The horses were placed at night in the center of the square and were always under vigilant guard. Washington Irving, in speaking of the start of Bonneville's expedi- tion, beautifully says: "It is not easy to do justice to the exulting feel- ings of the worthy captain at finding himself at the head of a stout band of hunters, trappers and woodmen, fairly launched on the broad prairies with his face to the boundless West. The tamest inhabitant of cities, the veriest spoiled child of civilization, feels his heart dilate and his pulse beat high on finding himself on horseback in the glorious wilderness. What, then, must be the excitement of one whose imagination had been stimulated by a long residence on the frontier, and to whom the wilder- ness was a region of romance-! * * * Their very appearance and equipment exhibited a piebald mixture, half civilized and half savage. Many of them looked more like Indians than white men in their garbs and accouterments, and their, very horses were caparisoned in barbaric style with fantastic trappings. Their march was animated and joyous. The welkin rang with th'eir shouts and yelps as they started from Fort Osage, quite after the manner of savages; and with boisterous jokes and light- hearted laughter. As they passed the straggling hamlets and solitary cabins that fringed the skirts of the frontier, they would startle their inmates by Indian yells and war whoops, or regale them with grotesque feats of horsemanship well suited to their half-savage appearance." But all this hilarity disappeared as Bonneville's men entered upon the real difficulties of their journey beyond the pale of civilization, and the wagons were placed in double column with advance and rear guards, as already mentioned. The first objective point of Bonneville's expedition was Pierre's Hole, which lies just west of the Three Tetons, in the heart of the Rocky Moun- tains, and southwest of the Yellowstone National Park. It was in this beautiful valley called Pierre's Hole that Bonne ville proposed to pass some weeks, for it was there the old trappers and hunters had been used to assemble for many years, to pas's the winter months. The expedition reached Pierre's Hole and rested there for some time, and the life of his men in that sheltered valley is well described in Bonneville's journal. Pierre's Hole lies just west of Jackson's Hole. This old-time rendezvous of the Rocky Mountain trappers is so near to the great geysers of Yel- lowstone Park that it seems almost certain that Bonneville or some of his men must have visited those wonders when they were resting there. General Bonneville himself sets this question at rest in his most in- teresting letter published in Volume I of the Contributions to the His- torical Society of Montana. He says in that letter, written from Fort Smith, Arkansas : "You ask me if I knew of the thermal springs and geysers. Not personally, but my men knew about them and called their location "The Fire Hole." I recollect the name of Alvarez as a trader. THE GIANT GEYSER CASTLE GEYSER 118 HISTORY OF MONTANA I think he came to the mountains as I was leaving them. Half a century is a long time to look back, and I do so doubting myself." In an old Mormon newspaper "The Wasp," published at Nauvoo, Illinois, in 1842, an unknown writer gives an accurate account of the geysers of Yellowstone Park, which he visited with one Alvarez in 1833. This makes the testimony of Bonneville of great value as tending to prove that the geysers of Firehole River (or Upper Geyser Basin) in Yellow- stone Park were visited by white men as early as the year 1833. ALMOST ABSORBED BY THE NEZ PERCES Commenting on Captain Bonneville's narrow escape from absorption by the Nez Perces, Mr. Brackett writes : "It must have been some great fascination for life in those wild mountains that induced Captain Bonne- ville to overstay his leave of absence and fail to return to civilization until the autumn of 1835. His leave of absence expired in October, 1833. His name was stricken from the rolls of the army as dead or lost, in 1834, and his return was not until the following year, when after a good deal of trouble he was reinstated in the army with his former rank. "I cannot but think he became so enamored of the joyous and free life he and his men were leading among the friendly Nez Perces and Flatheads, west of the mountains and on Salmon River, that he forgot civilization with its fretful cares and silly conventionalities, and lived only in the enjoyment of the present, hurrying back to the crowded eastern world only when he awoke as if from a beautiful dream. He was one of those rare men who thoroughly understood savage races and could control them. All who know anything of the Nez Perces know that they are a noble and generous race of Indians, and Bonneville thoroughly ap- preciated them as such. * * *" There should be no doubt as to the captain's sentiments on that point, for he has described them in his own journal, thus: "Though the pros- pect of once more tasting the blessings of peaceful society and passing days and nights under the calm guardianship of the laws was not without its attraction ; yet to those of us whose whole lives had been spent in the stirring excitement and perpetual watchfulness of adventures in the wilderness, the change was far from promising an increase of that con- tentment and inward satisfaction most conducive to happiness. He who, like myself, has roved almost from boyhood among the children of the forest, and over the unfurrowed plains and rugged heights of the western wastes, will not be startled to learn that notwithstanding all the fascina- tions of the world on this civilized side of the mountains, I would fain make my bow to the splendors and gayeties of the metropolis and plunge again amid the hardships and perils of the wilderness." "It is not to be inferred for an instant," continues Brackett, "from what is here narrated of Bonneville's delightful sojourn among the Nez Perces that he lived a life of inglorious ease in the Rocky Mountains. On the contrary later he passed through great hardships and incurred great dangers in exploring regions west of the Rocky Mountains, about which he brought back to civilization the first definite accounts. HISTORY OF MONTANA 119 "For example, he visited and explored the Great Salt Lake and gave to the world the first definite account of that inland sea. Scientists at this day have given the lake and its ancient water lines the name of Lake Bonneville, and by his name it ought to be known and called. His various parties sent out in different directions to trap and trade with the Indians opened up vast fields of enterprise to various American fur com- panies ; and he did more than any other man to retrieve for his country some of the lost fur trade which centered at Astoria and up to that time had been controlled by the Hudson Bay Company. IRVING DESCRIBES THE CAPTAIN "It was at the house of John Jacob Astor, in New York, that Wash- ington Irving met Captain Bonneville after the return of the latter from the wilderness, and the two remarkable men became fast friends. Bonne- ville gave his journals to Irving to be revised and published. Irving gives us an .interesting picture of the great explorer as he then appeared: 'There was something in the whole appearance of the captain,' says he, 'that prepossessed me in his favor. He was of the middle size, well made and well set ; and a military frock of foreign cut, that had seen service, gave him a look of compactness. His countenance was frank, open and engaging, well browned by the sun, and had something of a French ex- pression. He had a pleasant black eye, a high forehead, and while he kept his hat on, the look of a man in the jocund prime of his days ; but the moment his head was uncovered a bald crown gained him credit for a few more years than he was really entitled to. His manner was a ming- ling of modesty and frankness. It was difficult to conceive the mild, quiet- looking personage before us was the actual hero of the stirring scenes he had passed through. He was a man of great bonhommie, with kind- liness of spirit and susceptibility for the grand and beautiful'." CAPTAIN, COLONEL AND GENERAL BONNEVILLE The after career of the good captain and general includes more than a quarter of a century's continuous service in the United States army. He was reinstated in 1835 and, by successive promotions, became colonel of the Third United States Infantry twenty years thereafter. For a time, he was stationed at Santa Fe, New Mexico, in command of the district which centered there, and during the early years of the Civil war was stationed at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri. Colonel Bonneville had been retired from active service in 1861 and in 1865 was brevetted brigadier- general, United States army, for long and meritorious services. At the time of his death in 1878, while engaged in farming at Fort Smith, Ar- kansas, he was eighty-three years old. A good portrait of him was presented to Mr. Brackett by Hon. N. P. Langford, of St. Paul, for whom Captain Bonneville once acted as guide, and represents him when he was seventy-eight years old, in the fatigue uniform of a brigadier-general of the regular army. 120 HISTORY OF MONTANA JAMES BRIDGER, FAMOUS, QUAINT SCOUT James Bridger, Captain Bonneville's scout of 1832, all-around western pioneer, has a long and close identification with Montana. He passed through all the experiences of beaver hunter, pioneer guide, buffalo hunter, Indian trader, emigrant trader, founder of the first post and refuge on the long Oregon trail (Fort Bridger), blaze of great trails into Montana, leader of government expeditions against hostile Indians and, with J. M. Bozeman, a kindred spirit, the stamper of his name upon the history and geography of Montana. His friend and associate, William S. Brackett, from whose sketch of his character extracts have already been taken, has written this paragraph: "The testimony of scores of prom- inent military commanders and civilians can be produced showing that James Bridger was always to be trusted and believed in as a guide, scout, trader arid all-around pioneer. His idle tales were told only to idle people in idle hours. At heart, he was as truthful as he was skillful and brave. He never betrayed any man and was never untrue to any trust, public or private. I am always glad to look at his everlasting monument in Montana; that grand mountain peak (Bridger range) near the city of Bozeman, overlooking the beautiful Gallatin valley and named in honor of him." EXPLOITING THE INDIANS THROUGH WHISKEY In 1832-33 occurred the disgraceful exploitation of the Indians by rival fur companies in their struggles for trade, through the medium of whiskey. Narcisse Leclerc, formerly with the American Fur Company; Pierre Chouteau, still a leading member of the company ; Milton Sub- lette and Robert Campbell, supported by General Ashley and Nathaniel J. Wyeth, a newly arrived Yankee, were all, more or less, implicated in the degredation of the Indians for the purpose of securing their trade. Even Gen. William Clark, superintendent of Indian affairs, became in- volved, as he had granted to several agents of the fur companies per- mission to export whiskey from St. Louis into the Indian country before he had been officially notified of the passage of the congressional act (July 9, 1832) forbidding the use of alcohol as a medium of trade with the Indians. FORT WILLIAM vs. FORT UNION In 1833, McKenzie and the American Fur Company were called upon to meet what promised to become a serious opposition in the combination of Messrs. Sublette, Campbell and Wyeth, who established a post near Fort Union which they called Fort William for William Sublette. Their venture early met will ill fortune and as their capital was limited they were not able to compete with McKenzie, with ample means behind the American Fur Company, who paid exhorbitant prices for his furs in order to stamp out the trade of his rival. Whiskey, also, flowed more freely from Fort Union than from Fort William, notwithstanding attempted HISTORY OF MONTANA 121 government prohibition. A combined policy of "freeze-out" in the field and absorption by the management at St. Louis finally crushed the oppo- sition. MCKENZIE'S UNDOING Then McKenzie set out upon a policy which proved his undoing. He claimed he could no longer do business with the Indians without the aid of alcoholic spirit, and brought over to his way of thinking every member of the American Fur Company save one. He went east in his endeavor to obtain from the government authorities concessions by which he could secure the "necessary" stock of liquors. As his errand proved futile, he determined to make them on the ground. McKenzie purchased a still, took it up the Missouri on the steamers Yellowstone and Assiniboine, bought a quantity of corn and was soon turning out an effective brand of "juice." In August, 1833, Wyeth and a friend arrived at Fort Union and were nicely entertained by McKenzie, before he was aware that they came as his commercial opponents. They were so pleased with his spirits that, in an impulse of unwise confidence, he showed them the still of which even his superiors in the company were ignorant. Contrariwise, he bled his guests for some supplies which they were forced to buy, and they straightway reported his secret still to the government authorities at Leavenworth. The latter ordered him to dispose of his still at once and the management of the American Fur Company so severely censured him that he left Fort Union in 1834 and soon after went abroad. During his active operations as the manager of the American Fur Company, Kenneth McKenzie was a power, and his popular title, the King of the Missouri, he impressively upheld in his bearing and manner- isms. His style of dress, his aloofness, was quite royal. He was married to an Indian woman and had by that union a son, Owen. After he left the fur trade, he went into the wholesale liquor business in St. Louis, where he died (having again married) on April 26, 1861. ARRIVAL OF MAJOR ALEXANDER CULBERTSON While Mr. McKenzie was bearing his ill-fated still to Fort Union, in 1833, he had as fellow passengers aboard the Assiniboine, Prince Maxi- milian and Alexander Culbertson the former a traveling scientist of wealth and eccentric character, and the latter a strong man who was to be a leader in the activities of the Upper Missouri country for thirty years. Major Culbertson was then an employe of the American Fur Company who had been assigned to duty at Fort McKenzie, whither he repaired with David D. Mitchell, a clerk of the company, about August 10, 1833. EXPEDITION OF PRINCE MAXIMILIAN From Lieutenant Bradley's Journal, covering the year 1833, is the following account of the enterprising and scientific Prince: "In this 122 year an interesting character in the person of Prince Maximilian, from Coblentz on the Rhine, made his first appearance in the upper Missouri. The Prince was at that time nearly seventy years of age, but well pre- served and able to endure considerable fatigue. He was a man of medium height, rather slender, sans teeth, passionately fond of his pipe, unos- tentatious and speaking very broken English. His favorite dress was a white slouch hat, a black velvet coat rather rusty from long service, and probably the greasiest pair of trousers that ever encased princely legs. The Prince was a bachelor and a man of science, and it was in this latter capacity that he had roamed so far from his ancestral home on the Rhine. He was accompanied by an artist named Boardman and a servant whose name was, as nearly as the author has been able to ascertain its spelling Tritripel, both of whom seemed gifted to a high degree with the faculty of putting their princely employer into a frequent passion, till there is hardly a bluff or a valley on the whole upper Mis- souri that has not repeated in an angry tone, and with a strong Teutonic accent, the names of Boardman and Tritripel. "The Prince had ascended the Missouri from St. Louis to Fort Union in the steamer Assiniboine, ranging the shore at every opportunity in quest of new objects to add to his collections of small quadrupeds, birds, botanical specimens and fossils; keeping his artist as busy as his easy nature allowed in making sketches of the scenery on the route. Arrived at Fort Union, he requested permission to accompany Mitchell's keel- boat to Fort McKenzie (a few miles above the mouth of Maria's River) and was allowed to do so. During the voyage he improved the oppor- tunities it afforded and made constant additions to his collections. He remained at Fort McKenzie about a month, when he was furnished with a small mackinac boat, in which, with his party he descended to the Mandan village, leaving a hearty invitation to Mitchell and Culbertson to visit him in Europe and the promise to send the former the present of a double barreled rifle and the latter a fine meerschaum. He remained at the Mandan village the following winter, when he had a severe attack of the scurvy, but aided by the restorative qualities of wild onions was enabled to recover and return home to write an account of his travels, which was published in German, with illustrations, and afterwards trans- lated into English. "McKenzie subsequently visited him in his palace at Coblentz, where he lived in a style befitting a prince, and was received with great cor- diality and entertained with lavish hospitality. He inquired whether the double barreled gun and the meerschaum had reached their destination, as he had remembered his promise and forwarded them soon after his return to Europe. They had not, and never were received, for it sub- sequently appeared that the vessel in which they were shipped was lost, so that they are probably now among the ill-gotten hoards of the Atlantic." While Prince Maximilian was scouring the Upper Missouri for botanic specimens, both white and red trappers were haunting its streams and slowly draining them of the beaver kind which formerly swarmed through its waters and over its dams. The white men, for gain ; the red HISTORY OF MONTANA 123 trappers to satisfy the thirst for whiskey which had been designedly planted in their natures. The busy little fur-bearers were no longer exempt from these incessant and fierce forays even during the breeding season; so that millions of their offspring were exterminated before birth. DAVID D. MITCHELL The fur trade was doomed and John Jacob Astor, in 1834, shrewdly retired from the American Fur Company. Its western branch thereupon passed to Pratte, Chouteau & Company, and among their most trusted employes and trappers were Messrs. Mitchell and Culbertson. The former left for the States in 1834, but, being offered a partnership in the company returned to Fort McKenzie in 1836. He remained at that post until spring, and then was sent to Fort Union, where he directed the company's affairs until 1839. Returning to St. Louis, he distinguished himself in the Mexican War, and President Taylor afterward appointed him superintendent of Indian affairs for "the whole region drained by the Missouri and its tributaries." Mitchell was a Virginian and died at St. Louis in his fifty-sixth year. He was married to an Indian woman, by whom he had several children. MAJOR ALEXANDER CULBERTSON When Mitchell departed from Fort McKenzie, in April, 1834, Maj. Alexander Culbertson, then only twenty-five years of age, was left in control of the little stronghold with its force of twenty men. In June, it was besieged by a strong force of Crows, who, after ten days, had reduced the garrison to almost starvation rations, but were decisively scattered by one discharge of a little three-pound cannon. At this time, Fort McKenzie was the storm center of inter-tribal warfare. Around it, the Crows were fighting the Gros Ventres; the Gros Ventres, the Crees and the Northern Assiniboines ; and the Crows were also warring against the Piegans. MALCOM CLARKE ARRIVES In the spring of 1839 Major Culbertson visited St. Louis and his services had been such that the company received him as a partner. In the autumn of that year, he returned accompanied by Malcom Clarke, a Hoosier twenty-two years of age, who was to intermarry with the royal stock of the Piegans, attain a remarkable influence among them and with men and women of his own race, and finally be treacherously murdered by those of the adopted race. One of the few instances of bloodshed in the history of the American Fur Company, connected with any of its agents occurred in May, 1840. A quarrel between Alexander Harvey, a lawless character, and Sandoval, an employe of good reputation, resulted in the shooting and killing of the latter. Respected descendants of the unfortunate man afterwards 124 HISTORY OF MONTANA resided on the Blackfeet reservation, although the family spelling of the name was changed to Sanderville. BUFFALO ROBES REPLACING BEAVER SKINS By the later '305, the beaver fur trade had reached a low ebb, but the trade in buffalo skins was well under way. In 1841, Major Culbertson took to Fort Union 2,200 packs of buffalo robes and only four packs of beaver. He had become so commanding a factor in the affairs of the company that, under protest, he was transferred to Fort Laramie, which required a man of his energy and ability for the upbuilding of the trade which was naturally tributary to it. AUDUBON CALLS ON CULBERTSON Ifi 1841, not long before he left Fort McKenzie for Fort Laramie, the intelligent, accommodating and forceful major was sought by the cel- ebrated naturalist, John J. Audubon. With four assistants, the noted scholar was engaged in making a collection of quadrupeds and gathering various scientific data in the interesting Missouri country. Because of his intimate knowledge of the region, Culbertson's cooperation was of great service to Audubon. When the latter was ready to return in the fall, he was provided with a mackinaw, in which Major Culbertson ac- companied him as far as Fort Pierre. Major Culbertson subsequently spoke of Mr. Audubon as a man devoted to scientific studies, "but fond of occasional indulgence in the stimulating compound of the cup.* Notwithstanding his age then about sixty-one he could range the wood and prairies all day in the pursuit of objects for his collection, and Major Culbertson, although a young and vigorous man, found it dif- ficult to tire him." AN INDIAN MASSACRE BY WHITES Major Culbertson's place at Fort McKenzie was taken by a dis- reputable named F. A. Chardon, in turn under control of the murderer, Harvey. The result of this unfortunate appointment is thus described in Lieutenant Bradley's journal: "In January, 1842, a war party of twenty-odd Blackfeet passing by the fort requested admittance, but the gates were closed against them. Incensed at the treatment, as they moved off they killed a pig belonging to the fort. Harvey counseled retaliation for the act, and Chardon himself with half a dozen men set out in pursuit of the Indians, who, discovering that they were followed, awaited in ambush in the Teton Valley. As the party approached, Reese, a negro, who was in advance, crept to the brow of the bluffs to recon- noiter, and received a shot in the forehead which was instantly fatal. The remainder of the party, intimidated by this event from further * Bradley's "Affairs at Fort Benton," Contributions of the Montana Historical Society, Vol. Ill, p. 234. HISTORY OF MONTANA 125 pursuit, returned with the body of Reese to the fort, Chardon and Harvey vowing a bloody revenge. "Major Culbertson's policy of good-will toward the Indians had taken root so deeply in the popular sentiment at the fort that Chardon and Harvey feared to make their murderous designs generally known, and therefore admitted only some half dozen to a participation in their plans. The cannon commanding the approach of the main gate was secretly loaded, being charged with about one hundred and fifty half-ounce lead bullets, while, in lieu of the match ordinarily employed and which might at the decisive moment attract attention and overthrow their plans, Harvey's pistol was to be charged with powder and fired into the vent. Circumstances were to determine the remaining dispositions; and thus prepared, Chardon and Harvey awaited the arrival of some unsuspecting trading party of Blackfeet. Such arrivals were too frequent, thanks to the thriving trade to permit of long waiting on the part of the con- spirators. "A numerous band of Blackfeet and squaws soon arrived at the fort with a quantity of robes to trade. The three chiefs were admitted without hesitation, while the rest were directed to gather at the gate, which they were told would be opened as soon as they were all assembled. Without a suspicion of the black treachery meditated against them, a laughing crowd of warriors and squaws with their bundles and peltries were soon gathered at the gate awaiting admittance. Harvey, from his station in the bastion by the side of the cannon, pistol in hand, watched through the port-hole the dense crowd assembled below; until, satisfied with the number of his contemplated victims, he discharged his pistol in the vent. A sudden roar and the storm of bullets is hurled into the unsuspecting throng. With a wail of terror, mingled with some notes of agony from the wounded, the crowd disperses in flight. Twenty-one corpses strew the ground, while some dozen or more are staggering away with severe wounds. "In an instant the gates are flung open and several of the garrison rush forth in pursuit. Several of the wounded are overtaken and dis- patched, but fleeing with the wings that terror gives the remainder make good their escape. Three of the conspirators had been selected to dispatch the three chiefs at the discharge of the cannon, but when its thunder startled them, followed by the cries outside, they comprehended the villainy that was being perpetrated, scaled the walls and leaped the pickets with such celerity that the would-be assassins had no time to perform the task allotted to them. Once outside they mounted their horses and escaped. FORT MCKENZIE BURNED F. A. C. BUILT "All the peltries and many of the horses of the Blackfeet were seized by the victors ; but the most damnable part of the whole affair remains yet to be told. Removing the scalps of their thirty victims, they made the night hideous with the cries and howls of the scalp dances! Can 126 HISTORY OF MONTANA any white man read such a story without feeling the hot blush of shame that there can be assembled a score of his race, calling themselves civilized and yet capable of such atrocity? "War having been thus opened, Chardon prepared to abandon the post, a post that for ten years had been one of the most profitable main- tained by the American Fur Company. A detachment was sent secretly to the mouth of the Judith, where on the north bank of the Missouri a stockade was hurriedly constructed, the utmost care being taken to avoid discovery by the Indians. In six weeks it was completed and named after Chardon, Fort F.. A. C. As soon as the river broke up, which was early after the completion of the new fort, Chardon and Harvey loaded all the effects of their establishment into their boats and dropped down the river, leaving Fort McKenzie wrapped in flames. The voyageurs were afterward accustomed to speak of the place as Fort Brule, or Burnt Fort, and it is by this term still generally designated." MAJOR CULBERTSON RECALLED In order to save the trade of the Blackfoot country from utter ruin which these dastardly acts threatened, the American Fur Company in- duced Major Culbertson to return from Fort Laramie and rebuild its interests if they were not crushed beyond repair. Malcom Clarke ac- companied the major, and it was with difficulty that he was restrained from inflicting physical punishment upon Harvey who had come from Fort F. A. C. to meet the new manager at the site of the burned and disgraced post. The vindictive, cold-blooded and fierce murderer fled overnight, only to reappear as the enemy of the company which had em- ployed him and which he had already foully betrayed. FIRST FORT LEWIS CENTER OF PEACE Major Culbertson at once abandoned Fort F. A. C. and commenced the secret construction of Fort Lewis, at the head of the first rapids above the present Fort Benton and about five miles below Pablo's Island. Soon after it was completed and occupied, during the first days of the year 1843, ne sen ^ an invitation to the chiefs and warriors of the Black- foot village on Belly River to confer with him in council at the fort. His proffer was unhesitatingly accepted. Culbertson deplored the cruel and unauthorized act of Harvey and Chardon, explaining that the criminal had been sent out of the country in disgrace, while the Blackfeet, through their leaders, that "the ground had been made good again by Major Culbertson's return and the Blackfeet must not be the first to stain it with blood." Presents were exchanged and the pipe of peace went 'round. Trade was at once resumed ; so much so that within the coming four months 1,100 packs of buffalo robes, with quantities of beaver, fox and wolf pelts, were received from the reconciled Indians. CULBERTSON BURNS FORT F. A. C. Major Culbertson took this fine treasure with him to Fort Union, in May, 1843, and on his way burned Fort F. A. C. and thus blotted the HISTORY OF MONTANA 127 evil name of Chardon from the geography of Montana. His handling of the difficult situation had been so wise and masterly that the company appointed him agent of the Upper Missouri, at what was then considered the munificent salary of $5,000 a year. The disgraced Chardon died of scurvy in February, 1845, and Major Culbertson buried him at Fort Pierre, now South Dakota, on his way to St. Louis. Harvey, his fellow criminal, after vainly endeavoring to involve the American Fur Com- pany Pratte, Chotiteau & Company in the illegal sale of whiskey to the Indians, and fearing to trade among the outraged Blackfeet, died in 1853, an outcast of both the white men and the red. POSTS AND FORTS ALONG THE YELLOWSTONE The backbone of the fur-trade in Montana had developed along Maria's River, instead of at the headwaters of the Missouri, as the Piegans and Blackfeet of the north had proven more placable than the southern tribes of the nation. The valley of the Yellowstone had not proven especially productive, and the American Fur Company had not considered it necessary to have more than one post at a time along that river. In line with that policy, Fort Cass, on the Big Horn, was built 1832 and abandoned a few years thereafter. Fort Van Buren was erected on the Rosebud, in 1838. It was also called Fort Tullock, after A. J. Tullock. Charles Larpenteur afterward established Fort Alexander, named after Major (Alexander) Culbertson, on the south bank of the Yellowstone below the mouth of the Big Horn. It was abandoned in 1850 and Fort Sarpy its name given in honor of one of the company's prominent partners replaced it, on the north bank of the Yellowstone below the mouth of the Rosebud. Fort Sarpy was closed in 1855, and was the last post of the American Fur Company on the Yellowstone. The purpose of maintaining a post on the Yellowstone was to facil- itate trade with the Crows, but, from the first, the Indians preferred to bring their peltry to Fort Union, where they could obtain better sup- plies, more abundant ammunition and more desirable presents. So that the final abandonment of the Yellowstone posts had little bearing on the development of the fur trade. GREATEST FUR TRADE IN NORTHWEST MONTANA It was the country northwest of the Missouri River which had become vital to the trade, and it was a foregone conclusion by the late '405 that the main central entrepot must be founded not far from the region of the mouth of Maria's River. The site of the Fort Lewis built by Major Culbertson in 1843 did not meet the requirements of the trade. The drift ice in the Missouri River during the spring and fall made it difficult for the Indians to cross with their furs, and they requested that the post be moved to a spot nearer the Teton where there was plenty of timber. Accordingly, after careful consideration, Major Culbertson selected a site for the new Fort Lewis on the north bank of the Missouri, seven miles below the present town of Fort Benton. The selection was made in the spring of 1846 and the first log fort was completed by fall. 128 HISTORY OF MONTANA The following season was one of much prosperity in the fur trade. Lieutenant Bradley states : "Not only was the stock of goods completely exhausted, but even bedding, wearing apparel, everything that could be spared from the fort, was bartered for the incessant flow of peltries." The season of 1847 realized more than twenty thousand buffalo robes, besides many other furs. In the following year three outposts on Maria's and Milk rivers were established to facilitate their collection, Malcom Clarke being in charge of one of them on the former stream. About this time, the company increased both the duties and the territory of Major Culbertson and gave him the privilege of selecting his headquarters at any post desired. He evidently selected Fort Lewis, or as it afterward became known, Fort Benton, and he was ambitious that the company headquarters should do credit to the powerful corporation of which he was the active head in such a grand territory. FORT LEWIS BECOMES FORT BENTON Up to this time, all the posts of the American Fur Company upon the Missouri and its tributaries had been built entirely of timber, rough or hewn, according to the care taken in their construction.* But following the style of architecture prevalent in the southern territories, after Fort Laramie had passed into the hands of the American Fur Company the buildings of that post were reconstructed of adobe at an expense of some $10,000. The result was the finest and best built post of the com- pany. During his stay at Fort Laramie, Major Culbertson had become impressed with the superiority of adobe buildings over those of logs, and upon his return to the Missouri resolved ultimately to rebuild his central post on the Laramie plan. The first adobe building of Fort Lewis was completed and dedicated on Christmas night of 1850, and then and there rechristened as Fort Benton, in honor of Thomas A. Benton, the distinguished Missouri senator, who, for years, had been the legal ad- viser, steadfast friend and, at times, savior of the American Fur Company.' The immediate events in the career of Major Culbertson leading to the founding of Fort Benton are well arrayed in Lieutenant Bradley's journal comprising "Affairs at Fort Benton," as follows: "In March, 1850, Major Culbertson, with thirty horses, proceeded by steamer from St. Louis to St. Joseph, then the highest village on the river, and thence by land, accompanied by his brother and three men, to Fort Pierre. Here he awaited the arrival of the company's steamboat, El Paso, by which he continued to Fort Union. Remaining there until the boats were gone and the summer's business dispatched, he ascended the Yellowstone with a mackinaw laden with goods and eighteen men, including Meldrum, to establish a new post on the river in lieu of Fort Alexander, that year abandoned. He left Fort Union about the first of July and about the fifteenth of the same month arrived at his destination, a point on the north bank of the Yellowstone about five miles below the mouth of the Rosebud River. Here the new post was built and called Fort Sarpy. It * Bradley's Journal, Montana Historical Society's Collections, Vol. Ill, p. 256. HISTORY OF MONTANA ' 129 was constructed of logs, about one hundred and twenty feet square, with two bastions and the interior buildings in the stockade facing a square as usual, standing some fifty yards from the river bank. Fort Alexander had been abandoned and the new post built mainly to save a part of the difficult river transportation. It continued in existence until 1855, when it was abandoned and was the last post of the American Fur Company on the Yellowstone. The Blackfeet were engaged in constant warlike incursions into the Crow territory and, holding as enemies all whom they encountered there, a number of the white employes of the Yellowstone post had fallen at their hands. It became difficult finally to induce men to go to such a dangerous locality, and this was one of the principal causes of the withdrawal from the country. * * * "The American Fur Company did not lose the trade of the Crows by discontinuing posts in this country, for, having no other market for their peltries, they then brought them to Fort Union. In those days the Crows made about five hundred packs of robes for trade yearly, never equalling the Blackfeet, however. They were prudent purchasers, generally re- ceiving nothing in return that did not serve them a useful purpose, as arms, ammunition, blankets and beads. They would not drink whiskey and it was therefore not carried among them. "The Crow nation, probably owing to the extreme fascination of their women, was the favorite resort of white renegades, and in early times they were always to be found among the Crows, when there was not one in the surrounding tribes. The Crows seemed pleased with the presence of the white men among them and, if they were at all deserving, treated them with consideration. The white employes of the Yellowstone post always took naturally to the customs of the Crows and after a short residence among them were scarcely to be distinguished in their long hair, breech clouts and other articles of Indian attire, from the savages themselves. It is perhaps to this fact that the frequent deaths at the hands of the Blackfeet are partly attributable the inability to distinguish between a Crow warrior and a white man. "Remaining on the Yellowstone only long enough to see the pickets up and one warehouse completed, Major Culbertson left Meldrum with his party to complete the fort, returning with one man, both mounted on good horses, to Fort Union, arriving about the middle of August and thence, after a brief delay to Fort Lewis. The fall was an unusually open one, warm weather continuing until late in December, and Major Cul- bertson resolved to improve it by the inauguration of his long contem- plated plan of rebuilding his post in adobe. The soil of the bottom was found excellently adapted to the manufacture of the brick, and the work was pushed with vigor ; and day by day the walls of his two-story dwelling rose higher and higher, on the site of a former log building taken down to make room for it. Toward the last, the nights began to be cold and the adobes froze; but as the best that could be done they were laid in the walls yet unhardened, where fortunately they dried without any cracking or weakening of the walls; and just before Christmas the building was completed. On Christmas night it was dedicated by a big Vol. 1-9 130 ' HISTORY OF MONTANA ball ; and until a late hour the light-headed voyageurs and their squaw wives, sweethearts and friends, danced and whirled to the music of several fiddles. In the midst of the festivities, Major Culbertson proposed that in consideration of the warm friendship of Thomas H. Benton for the partners of the American Fur Company, and his services in saving the company from ruin in 1844 by effecting a compromise of the suit brought against it, that the post should be renamed in his honor. "The proposition was received with acclamation by the joyous as- sembly, and thus upon Christmas night, 1850, the post was first called by the name it still bears and that will probably ever distinguish the locality Fort Benton." ROBERT MELDRUM Robert Meldrum, noted as the companion of Major Culbertson on the mission to establish Fort Sarpy, near the junction of the Yellowstone RUINS OF OLD FORT BENTON and the Rosebud rivers, had been in command of its predecessor, Fort Alexander. As he was one of the most remarkable men in the employ of the American Fur Company, his biography has been several times written, but his personal characteristics have been vividly sketched by Lieutenant Bradley, his friend and the historian of Fort Benton. "He was born in Scotland about the year 1802," says Bradley, "but moved with his parents to Kentucky at an early age. There he learned black- smithing, but found his way into Bonneville's service and accompanied him into the wilderness in his fur trading expedition in 1832. Upon quitting his service, enamored of the savage life he had tasted for three years, he remained upon the plains, making his home among the Crow Indians. Adopting their dress, glueing long hair to his own to make it conform to the savage fashion, having his squaw and lodge and living in all respects the life of an Indian, he was quickly enabled by his superior intelligence and courage to acquire great influence with his savage asso- ciates and soon became regarded as a chief. He was a man of many HISTORY OF MONTANA 131 adventures and was accustomed to complain bitterly that Beckwourth, in the autobiography published by Harper Brothers, had arrogated to him- self many of his own experiences. A representative of this firm en- deavored subsequently to win from Meldrum a narrative of his life, promising ample reparation for any misappropriation of his experiences in Beckwourth's autobiography, but he proudly rejected all overtures, and a fascinating record of strange experiences and hair-breadth adventures is lost to the world. In person he was of medium height, strongly built, weighed usually about one hundred and eighty pounds, had dark sandy hair and keen grey eyes, and altogether an attractive countenance. He possessed a mild disposition, shunned quarrels and contentions, but no one ever ventured to call his courage into question. He subsequently entered the service of the American Fur Company, in which he continued till his death at Fort Union in 1865. "Upon entering the service of the company, he left off the customs and habits of Indian life and in his civilized dress was a man to attract attention, from his evident superiority to the class of men generally en- countered amid such surroundings. And upon engaging him in conver- sation, the favorable impression was only deepened. He had never fallen into the use of the slang and profanity of the border, but employed good language and riveted the attention of his listener by the intelligent play of his features and the fascination of his diction. In his later years he was troubled with an affection of the kidneys, and was also subject to goitre or swelled neck, a disease very prevalent upon the Yellowstone, not only among the white men and Indians, but even among the dogs. But up to the time of his death, he continued an active man, ready for any exposure or hardship. He left no children, but has a married sister living in Illinois, for whose benefit he was accustomed to devote a large portion of the proceeds of his toil." Major Culbertson was succeeded in command of Fort Benton by Maj. Andrew Dawson, also a Scotchman, in 1854. He had been a resident of the United States for about ten years and had spent most of that period at Fort Clark, in the Mandan country of Dakota. He completed Cul- bertson's plans of replacing the log buildings of Fort Benton with adobe structures, the entire reformation being finished in 1860. In 1864, when the fort was sold to Carroll and Steele, he returned to Scotland. MAJOR CULBERTSON RETIRES, A WEALTHY MAN In the meantime Major Culbertson had continued to operate as a partner of the American Fur Company, and to such advantage that in 1861 he resigned and retired from business, a wealthy man for those days, having amassed a fortune of $300,000. Culbertson was of Scotch- Irish parentage and a Pennsylvanian, and had entered the service of the company in 1829, when he was twenty years of age. He was able, genial, popular, of large, handsome physique, and, after the retirement of Kenneth McKenzie, was preeminent in the affairs of the American Fur Company on the Upper Missouri for more than a quarter of a century. 132 HISTORY OF MONTANA Major Culbertson married an Indian woman of the Blackfoot nation, by whom he had several children. He remained true to her and pro- vided lavishly for her and their family. His death occurred August 27, 1879, at Orleans, Missouri. THE ANGUS MCDONALD POST While Forts Lewis and Benton were developing in the late '403 and the early '505, there were two fortified posts west of the Rocky Moun- tains which had survived the competition of the American Fur Company. One had been established by the Hudson Bay Company, in 1847, J ust west of the southern extremity of Mission Range near St. Ignatius Mission of the present, and was in charge of Angus McDonald, a leading em- ploye of the company. He afterward became a noted character of the country and his descendants have done him credit. FORT OWEN AND MAJOR JOHN OWEN Fort Owen, in the center of the rich and beautiful Bitter Roof Valley, was founded in 1850, upon the improvements of old St. Mary's Mission. In that year, Maj. John Owen, a sutler in the United States Army, while en route with the "Mounted Rifles" for Oregon, decided to remain in the northwest. In the summer of that year he traded with the wagon trains on their way to the Pacific Coast, and in the autumn ar- rived in the Bitter Root Valley which he selected as his future home. Finding an opportunity to establish a trading post at the deserted mission of St. Mary's, he purchased the property, with buildings, and trans- formed it into Fort Owen. ''After Major Owen purchased the property since known as Fort Owen," says Frank H. Woody, the Montana pioneer, in his contribution to the Montana Historical Society on "The Early History of Western Montana," "he made many improvements. He en- closed the land and commenced farming rebuilt the grist and saw mills, and in after years tore down the old stockade of logs, and built a large and substantial fort of adobes, or sun-dried bricks. He opened and kept a regular trading establishment, supplying the wants of both whites and Indians. The stock of goods and supplies was kept up by making a trip each summer to The Dalles in Oregon with pack horses, usually going down in the spring to Clark's Fork and the Perfd d'Oreille lake, and returning the latter part of the summer by an Indian trail over the Coeur d'Alene Mountains. "Fort Owen was the nucleus around which the early settlers gathered, obtained supplies and sought protection in the hour of danger. It was known far and wide for the hospitality that its generous proprietor ex- tended to the early settlers and adventurers in this distant and at that time almost unknown wilderness." The Selish (Flatheads) who inhabited the Bitter Root Valley were always friendly to the whites, but the Blackfeet made war upon both Flatheads and whites. Fort Owen was threatened more than once, and o 55) ' H o in H W o r 134 HISTORY OF MONTANA these raids into the valley did not cease until 1855. So that Fort Owen was not only a trading and social center, but a place of refuge, and in the '503 and '6os its able and genial proprietor was one of the popular and widely known characters in Montana. Messrs. McDonald and Owen had an especially close connection be- tween the later days of the fur and emigrant trade and the opening period of the mining era, which is not yet closed; for Finley, the itin- erant trader, brought the first gold dust known to have been mined in Montana to McDonald, in 1852, and tidings of these pioneer "finds" were also brought to Owen. Such discoveries, however, led to nothing prac- tical, as the Hudson Bay Company discouraged mining, as threatening to detract from the interests of fur gathering and trading, and Major Owen did not believe in the genuineness of the "colors" purported to have been discovered. A decade was to pass before gold was to be mined from the soil of Montana in commercial quantities." "Major Owen on his annual visits to Oregon, and from other sources," continues Mr. Woody, "had accumulated an excellent library of sev- eral hundred volumes, which he kept open for the use of his friends, and being one of the most genial and companionable of men, it is not surprising that Fort Owen was a favorite resort for the early settlers and hardy mountaineers, or that the Major is oft and kindly remem- bered by those who have reason to remember his kindness. Times have wonderfully changed since the days of which we write. Maj. John Owen has left Montana to spend his remaining days amidst the scenes of his boyhood and Fort Owen, that contains a history within itself, has passed into the hands of strangers and is fast falling into decay and in a few more years will be numbered among the things of the past." CHAPTER VI THE FUR TRADE ERA Twenty-five or thirty years of incessant trapping about eradicated the beavers from the fur trade of Montana at least, made such terrible inroads into the living supply that Astor could see no object in con- tinuing with the American Fur Company. Then the beaver gave way to the buffalo, and his reign as a fur-supplier extended almost to the time of the railroads, the coming of which spelled its extinction also. James Stuart, one of the great pioneers of the trade and the western country, prepared an article in the early '705 which is a pithy represen- tation of the fur trade era. Having then been a western scout, trader and miner for twenty years, half of that period as a leading citizen of Montana, Stuart, then in the very prime of life, had a wide acquaintance with guides, interpreters, traders and Indians themselves, and ample op- portunity to collect the facts bearing on the subject so near to him, and thoroughly verifying them. The facts, as he states them, and which are also verified by other sources of information, are given below. FORT UNION TYPICAL MISSOURI RIVER POST Fort Union was the first fort built on the Missouri River, above the mouth of the Yellowstone. In the summer of 1829, Kenneth McKenzie, a trader from the Upper Mississippi, near where St. Paul, Minnesota, is now located, with a party of fifty men, came across to the Upper Missouri River looking for a good place to establish a trading-post for the Amer- ican Fur Company, (McKenzie was a member of said company.) They selected a site a short distance above the mouth of the Yellowstone River, on the north bank of the Missouri, and built a stockade, two hundred feet square, of logs about twelve inches in diameter and twelve feet long, set perpendicularly, putting the lower end two feet in the "ground, with two block-house bastions on diagonal corners of the stockade, twelve 'feet square and twenty high, pierced with loop-holes. The dwell- ing-houses, warehouses, and store were built inside, but not joining the stockade, leaving a space of about four feet between the walls of the buildings and the stockade. All the buildings were covered with earth, as a protection against fire by incendiary Indians. There was only one entrance to the stockade a large double-leaved gate, about twelve feet from post to post ; with a small gate^- three and a half by five feet, in one of the leaves of the main gate, which was the one mostly used, the large gate being only opened occasionally when there were no Indians in the 135 136 HISTORY OF MONTANA vicinity of the fort. The houses, warehouses, and store were all built about the same height as the stockade. The above description, with the exception of the area inclosed by the stockade, will describe nearly all the forts built by traders on the Missouri River from St. Louis to the head- waters. They are easily built, convenient, and good for defense. The fort was built to trade with the Assiniboines, who were a large tribe of Indians ranging from White Earth River, on the north side of the Missouri to the mouth of the Milk River, and north into the British JAMES STUART possessions. They were a peaceable, inoffensive people, armed with bows and arrows, living in lodges made of buffalo skins, and roving from place to place, according to the seasons of the year, occupying certain portions of their country in the summer, and during the winter remaining where they could be protected from the cold with plenty of wood. For fear of trouble with them the traders did not sell them guns; but when an Indian proved to be a good hunter and a good friend to the traders by his actions and talk, he could occasionally borrow a gun and a few loads of ammunition to make a hunt. The principal articles of trade were alcohol, blankets, blue and scarlet cloth, sheeting (domestics), ticking, tobacco, knives, fire-steels, HISTORY OF MONTANA 137 arrow-points, files, brass wire (different sizes), beads, brass tacks, leather belts (from four to ten inches wide), silver ornaments for hair, shells, axes, hatchets, etc. alcohol being the principal article of trade, until after the passing of an act of Congress (June 30, 1834) prohibiting it under severe penalties. Prior to that time, there were no restrictions on the traffic. But, notwithstanding the traders were often made to suffer the penalty of the law, they continued to smuggle large quantities of spirits into the Indian country, until within the last few years (i.e., 1873). RIVER TRANSPORTATION BY MACKINAW BOAT St. Louis was the point from which the traders brought their goods. They would start from there with Mackinaw boats, fifty feet long, ten feet wide on the bottom and twelve feet on top, and four feet high, loaded with about fourteen tons of merchandise to each boat, and a crew of about twelve men, as soon as the ice went out of the river, usually about the first of March, and would be six months in getting to Fort Union, the boat having to be towed the greater part of the way by putting a line ashore, and the men walking along the bank pulling the boat. Every spring, as soon as the ice went out of the river, boats would start from the fort for St. Louis, each boat loaded with three thousand robes, or its equivalent in other peltries, with a crew of five men to each boat, arriving at St. Louis in about thirty days. All the employes in the Indian country lived entirely on meat the outfit of provisions for from fifty to seventy-five men being two barrels flour, one sack coffee, one barrel sugar, one barrel salt, and a little soda and pepper. After the fort was established, and proved to be a permanent trading point, large quan- tities of potatoes, beets, onions, turnips, squashes, corn, etc., were raised, sufficient for each year's consumption. The wages for common laborers were two hundred and twenty dollars for the round trip from St. Louis to Ft. Union, and back again to St. Louis, taking from fifteen to sixteen months' time to make it. Carpen- ters and blacksmiths were paid three hundred dollars per annum. The traders (being their own interpreters) were paid five hundred dollars per annum. METHODS OF TRADING The store and warehouse, or two stores, were built on each side of the gate, and on the side next to the interior of the fort the two buildings were connected by a gate similar to the main gate, the space between the buildings and stockade filled in with pickets, making a large, strong room, without any roof, or covering overhead. In each store, or stores, about five feet from the ground, was a hole eighteen inches square, with a strong shutter-fastening inside of the store, opening into the space or room between the gates. When the Indians wanted to trade, the inner gate was closed ; a man would stand at the outer gate until all the Indians that wanted to trade, or as many as the space between the gate would contain, had passed in; then he would lock the outer gate, and go 138 HISTORY OF MONTANA through the trading hole into the store. The Indians would then pass whatever articles each one had to trade through the hole for whatever the Indian wanted, to the value in trade of the article received. When the party were done trading, they were turned out and another party admitted. In that way of trading, the Indians were entirely at the mercy of the traders, for they were penned up in a room, and could all be killed through loop-holes in the store without any danger to the traders. The articles brought by the Indians for trade were buffalo-robes, elk, deer, antelope, bear, wolf, beaver, otter, fox, mink, martin, wild-cat, skunk, and badger skins. A BUFFALO SURROUND The country was literally covered with buffalo, and the Indians killed them by making "surrounds." The Indians moved and camped with from one to four hundred lodges together averaging about seven souls to the lodge; and when they needed meat, the chief gave orders to make a "surround," when the whole camp, men, women, and the largest of the children, on foot and on horseback, would go under the direction of the soldiers, and form a circle around as many buffalo as they wanted to kill from 300 to 1,000 buffalo. They would then all start slowly for a common point, and as soon as the circle commenced to grow smaller, the slaughter would'begin, and in a short time all inside of the circle would be killed. The buffalo do not, as a general rule, undertake to break through unless the circle is very small, but run round and round the cir- cumference next to the Indians until they are all killed. SECOND FORT UNION Fort Union burned down in 1831, and was rebuilt by McKenzie in the same year. The new fort was 250 feet square, with stone foundation, with similar buildings, but put up in a more workmanlike manner, inside of the stockade. The fort stood until 1868, when it was pulled down by order of the commanding officer at Fort Buford (five miles below Union). Robert Campbell and Sublette built a trading-post where Fort Buford now stands, in 1833. They also, the same year, built a trading-post at Frenchman's Point, sixty miles above Union, the next year (1834). They sold out to the American Fur Company, who destroyed both posts the same year. Campbell went to St. Louis and entered business on Main Street. Sublette went to the Green River country in command of a party of trappers. In 1832, the first steamboat, named the Yellowstone, arrived at Fort Union. From that time, every spring, the goods were brought up by steamboats, but the robes, peltries, etc., were shipped from the fort every spring by mackinaws to St. Louis. POST AT THE MOUTH OF MARIA'S RIVER In the winter of 1830, McKenzie, desirous of establishing a trade with the Blackfeet and Ventres, sent a party of four men Berger, Daco- HISTORY OF MONTANA 139 teau, Morceau, and one other man in search of the Indians, and to see if there was sufficient inducement to establish a trading-post. The party started up the Missouri River with dog-sleds, to haul a few presents for the Indians bedding, ammunition, moccasins, etc. They followed the Missouri to the mouth of Maria's River, thence up the Maria's to the mouth of Badger Creek, without seeing an Indian; finding plenty of game of all kinds, and plenty of beaver in all the streams running into the Missouri. Every night when they camped they hoisted the American flag, so that if they were seen by any Indians during the night they would know it was a white man's camp; and it was very fortunate for them that they had a flag to use in that manner, for the night they camped at the mouth of Badger Creek they were discovered by a war-party of Blackfeet, who surrounded them during the night, and as they were about firing on the camp, they saw the flag and did not fire, but took the party prisoners. A part of the Indians wanted to kill the whites and take what they had, but through the exertions and influence of a chief named "Good- woman," they were not molested in person or property, but went in safety to the Blackfoot camp on Belly River, and stayed with the camp until spring. During the winter they explained their business, and prevailed upon about 100 Blackfeet to go with them to Union to see McKenzie. They arrived at Union about the ist of April, 1831, and McKenzie got their consent to build a trading-post at the mouth of Maria's. The Indians stayed about one month, then started home to tell the news to their people. McKenzie then started Kipp, with seventy-five men and an outfit of Indian goods, to build a fort at the mouth of Maria's River, and he had the fort completed before the winter of 1831. It was only a temporary arrangement to winter in, in order to find out whether it would pay to establish a permanent post. Next spring Colonel Mitchell (afterward colonel in Doniphan's expedition to Mexico) built some cabins on Brule bottom, to live in until a good fort could be built. The houses at the mouth of Maria's were burned after the company moved to Brule bottom. Alexander Culbertson was sent by McKenzie to relieve Mitchell, and to build a picket-stockade fort 200 feet square on the north bank of the Missouri River, which he completed during the summer and fall of 1832. FORTS LEWIS AND BENTO'N This fort was occupied ( for eleven years, until Fort Lewis was built by Culbertson on the south side of the Missouri River, near Pablois' Island, in the summer of 1844. Fort Brule was then abandoned and burned. In 1846, Fort Lewis was abandoned, and Fort Benton was built by Culbertson, about seven miles below Fort Lewis, and on the north bank of the Missouri River. It was 250 feet square, built of adobes laid upon the ground without any foundation of stone, and is now standing (1875), and occupied as a military post. The dwellings, warehouses, stores, etc., were all built of adobes. 140 HISTORY OF MONTANA TROUBLE WITH THE BLACKFEET The Piegans, Blackfeet, and Blood Indians, all talking the same language, claimed and occupied the country from the Missouri River to the Saskatchewan River. Prior to the building of the winter-quarters at the mouth of Maria's, they had always traded with the Hudson Bay Company at the Prairie Fort or Somerset House, both on the Saskatch- ewan. There was a bitter rivalry between the Hudson Bay Company and the American Fur Company. The Hudson Bay Company often sent men to induce the confederated Blackfeet to go north and trade, and the Indians said they were offered large rewards to kill all the traders on the Missouri River, and destroy the trading-posts. McKenzie wrote to Governor Bird, the head man of the Hudson Bay Company in the north, in regard to the matter, and Bird wrote back to McKenzie, saying: "When you know the Blackfeet as well as I do, you will know that they do not need any inducements to commit depredations." At the time the Blackfeet commenced to trade on the Missouri, they did not have any robes to trade; they only saved what they wanted for their own use. The Hudson Bay Company only wanted furs of different kinds. The first season the Americans did not get any robes, but traded for a large quantity of beaver, otter, martin, etc. They told the Indians they wanted robes, and from that time the Indians made them their prin- cipal articles of trade. The company did not trade provisions of any kind to the Indians, but when an Indian made a good trade, he would get a spoonful of sugar, which he would put in his medicine-bag to use in sickness, when all other remedies failed. In 1842, F. A. Chardon, who was in charge of Ft. Brule, massacred about thirty Blackfeet Indians. The Indians had stolen a few horses and some little things out of the fort from time to time, and Chardon concluded to punish them for it. He waited until a trading party came in, and when they were assembled in front of the gate, he opened the gate and fired upon them with a small cannon loaded with trade balls. After firing the cannon, the men went out and killed all the wounded with knives. The Blackfeet stopped trading, and moved into the British pos- sessions, and made war on the post, and were so troublesome that Chardon abandoned Brule in the spring, went to the mouth of the Judith and built Fort F. A. Chardon on the north bank of the Missouri River, a short distance above the mouth of Judith River, which was burnt up when Culbertson built Fort Lewis and made peace with the Blackfeet. FORTS IN THE CROW COUNTRY In 1832, McKenzie sent Tullock, with forty men, to build a fort at the mouth of the Big Horn River. Tullock built the fort named Van Buren, on the south side of the Yellowstone, about three miles below the mouth of the Big Horn River. It was 150 feet square, picket stockade, with two bastions on diagonal corners. In 1863, I saw the location. The pickets showed plainly ; they had been burned to the ground, and several of the chimneys were not entirely fallen down. The fort was built to HISTORY OF MONTANA 141 trade with the Mountain Crows, an insolent, treacherous tribe of Indians. They wanted the location of their trading-post changed nearly every year, consequently they had four trading-posts built from 1832 to 1850, viz : Fort Cass, built by Tullock, on the Yellowstone, below Van Buren, in 1836; Fort Alexander, built by Lawender, still lower down on the Yellowstone River, in 1848, and Fort Sarpy, built by Alexander Cul- bertson, in 1850, at the mouth of the Rose Bud. Fort Sarpy was aban- doned in 1853, and there has not been any trading forts built on the Yellowstone since, up to the present time (1875). KENNETH MCKENZIE Kenneth McKenzie, after Lewis and Clark, was the pioneer of the Upper Missouri. He was a native of the highlands of Scotland. When young he came, in the service of the Hudson Bay Company, to Hudson's Bay. In 1820, he quit the Hudson Bay Company, and started to explore the country from Hudson's Bay to Red River and Lake Winnipeg; thence to the Lake Superior country; finally concluded to locate on the Upper Mississippi. In 1822, he went to New York, and got an outfit of Indian trade goods on credit, and established a trading-post on the Upper Mississippi, and remained in that part of the country until 1829, when he came to the Missouri and established Fort Union. He was in charge of all the northwestern fur trade until 1839, when he resigned Alex- ander Culbertson taking his place and went to St. Louis, where he went into the wholesale liquor trade, and lived there until he died, in 1856 or 1857. He was a man of great courage, energy, good judgment, and much executive ability. CHAPTER VII STEPS LEADING TO SETTLED CONDITIONS From the Bitter Root Valley of Western Montana have issued not a few influences which have tended to establish permanent or settled con- ditions in the territory and state. Fortunately this sheltered garden- valley was the old-time home of the friendly and intelligent Salish tribe of Indians, who have always protested against the imposition of the name "Flatheads" upon them. Why they should be thus designated, neither ethnologists nor historians have ever been able to discover, for their heads are as rounded and shapely as those of any red men ; and there is no tradition that they have ever resorted to the barbarous custom of flattening their heads, which is common to several of the tribes of the Pacific Coast. THE "PLACE OF THE BITTER ROOT" The ancient home of the Salish, which they still occupied when Lewis and Clark passed through their country, was along the western slopes of the main Rocky Mountain range, to the east of the Bitter Root Moun- tains. The opposite slope of the Bitter Root range was held by the Nez Perces, an equally superior tribe, with whom the Salish are often confounded. The latter call their country Spe'tlemen, which means the Place of the Bitter Root. The Indians lived principally on game, fish, wild roots and berries all very plentiful in their streams and land. The principal roots were the bitter variety, which was like chicory in shape, color and taste, and the camas, which resembles a small onion and tastes like a smoked chestnut.* The scourge of the Salish, as well as the Bitter Root Valley and other sections of the Land of the Mountains, were the Blackfeet, whose fierce and continuous warfare against them is largely responsible for their de- crease in numbers, almost to the point of extermination. CHASTE, HARDY AND INTELLIGENT Although the Lewis and Clark expedition came into contact with the Flathead in passing through the Bitter Root Valley, it is strange that the record of the expedition speaks of them as Hootlashoots, and ignores * Flathead number of the Indian Sentinel, October, 1919. 142 HISTORY OF MONTANA 143 the tribal name Salish. It is important to mention it, because it has a bearing on the first expedition senl by the Flathead to St. Louis Lil 3 i for the Blackgowns, or Jesuit missionaries. Patrick Gass, of the Lewis and Clark expedition, particularly notes the chastity among the Flathead and the absence of polygamy in their marital relations. Travelers and >rs of a later period give them the same credit. They were also noted BITTER ROOT VALLEY as being a remarkably hardy tribe, with a power of endurance that could scarcely be credited at the present day. In fact, it was remarked in the journal published from the pens of Lewis and Clark that childbirth hardly entailed on Salish mothers an hour's delay. Often at the ex- piration of that time, an Indian squaw who had disappeared on a journey to become a mother would remount her pony with her new offspring and resume travel with the rest of the company. 144 HISTORY OF MONTANA CHRISTIAN Sioux MISSIONARIES TO THE SALISH f It was in the Bitter Root Valley of this hardy, cleanly and intel- ligent tribe that the Catholic missions had their birth, and introduced not. only religion but the white man's industry and settled life in the wilds of this Rocky Mountain region. Sometime in the early portion of the nineteenth century a band of twenty-four Iroquois left a Catholic mission near Sault St. Louis, on the St. Lawrence, Canada, crossed the Mississippi Valley, and wandered into the friendly protection of the Bitter Root Valley where they decided to settle and spread their newly- acquired gospel of peace. The leader of the Iroquois band was Ignace La Mousse; Big Ignace, to distinguish his large stature, or Old Ignace, to distinguish him from Young Ignace, a son who was also prominent in the struggles and misfortunes of a decade to obtain a Catholic mission in the Flathead country. INDIAN "BRAVES" JOURNEY TO ST. Louis FOR PRIESTS Ignace, the Big and Old, long labored among the peaceable and re- ceptive Salish before they were converted to the necessity of having the Blackrobes among them. Four of the converted Indian braves two adopted Nez Perces and two native Flathead finally agreed to go to St. Louis and bring back the missionaries; to brave unknown mountains, plains, deserts and fierce enemies of the human kind, such as the deadly Blackfeet and savage Sioux. Starting from the mountains, in the spring of 1831, they overcame all difficulties and after a fearful journey of six months reached St. Louis in the early part of October. Soon after meeting Gen. William Clark, the Indian agent, and explaining to him, in some undetermined way, the object of their arduous trip, the four messengers, truly "braves," were taken ill. Two of them, Narciss and Paul, died after being baptized, and were solemnly interred in the Catholic cemetery in St. Louis. General Clark was much pleased to explain the object of their long journey to Bishop Rosati, as the famous expedition of which he was one of the leaders, a quarter of a century previous, had been materially aided by the Nez Perces and Salish tribes. The two survivors of the journey from the Bitter Root Valley left St. Louis for their home in the spring of 1832. General Clark secured passage for them on the steamer "Yellowstone," which was about to make her historic trip up the Missouri to Fort Union. As has been noted, George Catlin, the author and artist of Indian life, was aboard, and induced the two Indians to sit for their portraits, which still hang on the walls of the Smithsonian Institution. In a report made to the institution more than half a century afterward, Catlin writes of having met the two Indians and traveling 2,000 miles with them. He adds that he "became much pleased with their manners and dispositions," and that when he first heard the report of the object of their mission he could scarcely believe it. but upon conversing with General Clark on a future occasion was fully convinced of the fact. HISTORY OF MONTANA 145 It is not known that either of the two Indians who started on their return to the Bitter Root Valley reached their destination, but it is certain that no Catholic missionary was sent as a result of the sacrifices of the brave four. Their visit to St. Louis had its ultimate effect, how- ever, as all disinterested sacrifices do. The Methodist and Presbyterian missionaries became interested in the Western Indians, and the Massachu- setts Lees traveled into Oregon and laid the foundation of Willamette and The Dallas missions and Indian school, while Dr. Samuel Parker and Marcus Whitman, of New York, brought Protestantism to the Indians of Washington and Idaho, as we know them now. OLD IGNACE AND SONS Go TO ST. Louis But it was Catholicism which most appealed to the Salish of the Bitter Root Valley, and in the summer of 1835 Old Ignace, with his two young sons, started again on the perilous journey to St. Louis, in quest of the priests and missionaries of their faith. After terrible sufferings from cold and hunger, they reached St. Louis and returned with promises of spiritual assistance. For eighteen months the patient and faithful Indians awaited their priests in vain, and in the summer of 1837 Ignace, the elder, once more led the quest toward St. Louis, his com- panions being three Salish and one Nez Perce. Near Fort Laramie they joined a little party of whites, among whom was W. H. Gray who had come West with Dr. Marcus Whitman. Thence they took up the march together, but while passing through the country of the hostile Sioux, at Ash Hollow on the South Platte, they encountered a large body of enemy warriors. HEROIC DEATH OF OLD IGNACE The Sioux, who wished only the scalps of the Indians, ordered the whites to stand aside before the attack commenced, and Old Ignace, who was clad in white man's garments, was told to join them. He bravely and loyally refused and in the desperate fight which ensued four against three hundred the five emissaries from the Salish, including their heroic leader, were left dead upon the field. A Catholic writer justly observes : "Thus perished he who justly could be called the apostle of the Flat- head and neighboring tribes." In 1839, the fourth and successful pilgrimage to St. Louis was ac- complished by Young Ignace and Peter Gaucher, both Christian Iroquois, who joined a party of the Hudson Bay Company and made the trip in canoes. They made the journey in three months, and Bishop Rosati "gave them the hope to soon have a priest." "One of them," he continues, "wifl carry the good news promptly to the Flathead, the other will spend the winter at the mouth of the Bear River and, in the spring, continue the journey with the missionary whom we will send them." It was de- cided that Pierre (Peter) Gaucher was to bring the news to the Indians, and Young Ignace was to accompany the missionary. Vol. I 10 146 HISTORY OF MONTANA THE COMING OF FATHER DE SMET That missionary was the renouned Father Peter J. De Smet, S. J., who, on March 27, 1840, set out from St. Louis under the guidance of Young Ignace. Going by boat to Westport (now Kansas City), they joined the annual expedition of the American Fur Company, and started with a party of some thirty people for Green River, which was then the rendez- vous for all western travel. The romantic series of events which led to the establishment of St. Mary's mission, in the Bitter Root Valley, have been mostly gleaned from the "Letters and Sketches," fortunately written by Father De Smet and largely preserved through the industry and fore- thought of the late Dr. Reuben G. Thwaites, secretary of the Wisconsin Historical Society. FINAL MEETING OF INDIAN AND MISSIONARY About the time that Father De Smet and Young Ignace left St. Louis, Gaucher, who had bravely plunged through the wilds of the western wilderness during the awful months of winter, arrived, all but dead with cold, starvation and sheer exhaustion, at the Flathead camp on Eight Mile Creek, in the Bitter Root Valley. At the joyful reception of his news, the chief detailed ten of his warriors to Green River to meet the mis- sionary, in advance of the main body of the tribe. The meeting occurred on June 30, 1840, the Flathead reception committee having reached the rendezvous before the missionary. "The following Sunday, July 5th, Father De Smet celebrated Mass before a motley but respectful crowd of Indians, white fur traders, trappers and hunters. The altar was erected on a little elevation and decorated with boughs and garlands of wild flowers. The vault of the temple was God's azure sky and the floor, the boundless expanse of the wilderness. The spot became known to In- dian and white as The Prairie of the Mass." Bidding farewell to his traveling companions the missionary and his Indian escort proceeded toward the headwaters of the Snake River, and some eight days journey through mountain defiles brought them to the main body of the Flathead. The latter were encamped in Pierre Hole Valley, on the line that divides Idaho from Wyoming, south of Pleasant Valley, and had made the journey of about eight hundred miles from their home to meet the Blackrobe. They had been joined by detached bands of Nez Perces, Pend d'Oreilles, and Kalispel, and numbered in all about i, 600 souls. In their encampment a good lodge or tepee had been erected for the missionary. A lively demonstration of joy, in which all, men, women and children took part, made Father De Smet most heartily welcome. With marvelous eagerness the whole tribe set about learning their religious duties. "The great chief," writes the missionary, "was the first up at dawn of day, and mounted on his horse, he rode through the camp to arouse his people crying out to them: 'Courage, my children; open your eyes. Address your first thoughts and words to the Great Spirit. Tell him that you love him and ask him to have pity on you. HISTORY OF MONTANA 147 Courage, for the sun is about to appear. It is time that you go to the river to wash yourselves. Be prompt at your Father's lodge at the first sound of the little bell. Be quiet when you are there. Open your ears to hear and your hearts to hold fast all the. words that he says to you.' " A few days afterward the whole camp moved up Henry's Fork on the Snake River to Henry's Lake whence the river starts. Father De Smet ascended one of the peaks rising from the summit of the main range, and, with a pocket knife, engraved on the soft stone the following inscription: Santus Ignatius Patronus Montium, die 23 Julii, 1840. EAGERNESS OF THE FLATHEAD TO BE INSTRUCTED Father De Smet's missionary labor began with his arrival and con- tinued till he parted from these good Indians to return to St. Louis. "The few weeks I had the happiness to pass among them," he wrote to Very Rev. F. N. Blanchet, "have been the happiest of my life and give me firm hope with the grace of God to see soon, in this country so long forsaken, the fervor of the first Christians. Since I am among them I have given three, four and five instructions daily. They are anxious to lose none of my words relating to these instructions, and if I had the strength to speak to them, they would listen to me whole days and nights. I have baptized about 200 of their children, and I expect in a short time to baptize 150 adults." "At the rendezvous at Green River, Father De Smet had picked up a good Fleming, John Baptist de Velder, an old grenadier of Napoleon, who had left his native country at the age of thirty and had passed as a beaver hunter the last fourteen years in the wilds of the Rockies. He had almost forgotten the Flemish tongue, declares Father De Smet, except his prayers and a song that he had learnt on his mother's knee and re- peated every day. This good man followed the missionary to the Flat- head and accompanied him to St. Louis, where they arrived the last day of the year, 1840. "On leaving the tribe the missionary told the Indians that he would return to them the following spring with other Blackrobes and establish a permanent mission among them. His first visit had convinced him that the Flathead presented a field of great promise. But, 'on his arrival at St. Louis, Father De Smet ascertained to his great sorrow that financial straits rendered it impossible to provide the funds for a second and larger expedition. The thought that the undertaking would have to be given up, that I would not be able to redeem my promise to the good Indians, pierced my very heart and filled me with the deepest sorrow,' wrote Father De Smet, May I, 1841.' However, Providence came to his help, and he was able to set out for the Rocky mountains accompanied by two priests, Father Gregory Mengarini, a Roman, and Father Nicholas Point, a Vendean, with three lay-Brothers, Joseph Specht, an Alsatian, William Classens and Charles Hue"t, Belgians, all of whom were members of the Society of Jesus. An Irishman, Fitzgerald by name, and two Canadians, were in the party as drivers. John Gray, a noted moun- taineer, accompanied them in the capacity of guide and hunter. Besides 148 HISTORY OF MONTANA the horses and pack animals, their traveling outfit consisted of three carts and one wagon harnessed to a yoke of oxen. These were the first oxen and the first means of locomotion on wheels brought into Montana. "The Flathead had promised Father De Smet that some of their people would meet him at a given spot near the foot of the Wind River mountains by the first of the following July. Faithful to their promise ten Flathead lodges were on the spot at the stated time. But the mis- sionaries could not reach the place till the middle of the month. The Indians waited some twelve days, as long as they had anything to eat. But, having fallen short of provisions, they had to go to the mountains some distance off to hunt for their subsistence. This news reached the INDIAN CAMPING GROUND missionaries near Fort Bridger, and they sent John Gray to notify the hunters, who were not slow to answer the call. "In this vanguard were the following: Gabriel Prudhome, a half- breed member of the tribe, and the interpreter of Father De Smet the year before ; the two sons of Old Ignace, Charles and Francis, baptized in St. Louis in 1835 ; and young Ignace, the guide and companion of Father De Smet in the first trip. Brave Pilchimo, whose brother was one of the five slain by the Sioux at Ash Hollow, and old Simon, baptized the previous year, and the oldest man of the tribe, were also of the number. All these ran ahead of the rest to forestall everybody else In greeting the missionaries. Old Simon ran and raced as fast as any, looking, speaking and acting as if the vivacity of youth had come back to him ; whilst young Ignace traveled four whole days and nights without a bite to eat, that he might be among the first to welcome the missionary band. FOUNDING OF ST. MARY'S MISSION "After greeting the missionaries with exuberant joy they conducted them in safety to the Bitter Root Valley, where the mission was to be HISTORY OF MONTANA 149 located, and where the Indians were to gather, according to their promise, before the coming winter. The site selected was near the middle of the valley, and the spot was reached by the missionary band September 24, the Feast of Our Lady of Mercy, a most auspicious coincidence in the mind of the Fathers. The Brothers felled some trees and constructed a large cross which was erected on the spot to the chant of the Vexilla Regis. "Father De Smet named the mission St. Mary's, after Our Lady. The beautiful and crystal-like stream flowing close by, the imposing moun- tain just opposite and towering to the sky and the whole valley partici- pated in the appellation and became St. Mary's River, St. Mary's Peak, St. Mary's Valley, and have maintained these sweet names to the pres- ent day. The formal inauguration of the mission took place on the first Sunday of October/ the feast of the Holy Rosary." The news that the Blackrobe had come to the land of the Flathead soon spread among the neighboring tribes, and one day in October, as noted by Father De Smet, came representatives of twenty-four different nations to the missionaries at St. Mary's. In November, at their return from their hunting expedition, fully one-third of the Flathead were bap- tized. Others were baptized on Christmas day, among whom were 115 Flathead, thirty Nez Perces with their chief, and one Blackfoot chief with his entire family. "That first Christmas," says Father De Smet, "was celebrated with all the solemnity that was possible in the wilder- ness." INDIANS WONDER AT SPROUTING GRAIN The mission completed, Father De Smet traveled to Fort Colville in Washington, a distance of more than three hundred miles, to procure seeds and roots, and on his way he stopped among the Kalispehlms (Kalis- pels) the Pend d'Oreilles and the Couer d'Alenes. He took back to his Salish charges at St. Mary's " a few bushels of oats, wheat and potatoes," which he and his brethren sowed. "The Indians, like children, watched with wonder, the planting, sprouting, ripening and reaping of the crop, a thing hitherto unknown to them, though husbandry on a small scale had been practiced at an earlier date by some of the eastern tribes." The missionaries did not restrict their activity to religious instruction, but zealously endeavored to inculcate the necessity and advantages of work, a pursuit that was utterly foreign to the customs and traditions of their converts. After the first lessons in manual labor, brought home to the neophytes by building a chapel and the necessary winter quarters for the community, they were taught to cut and split rails, to fence in a plot of ground for cultivation in the coming spring. However, this kind of missionary labor was a great surprise to the Indians, who did not have the faintest notion of agriculture. They neither understood nor would they believe Brother Claessens, who told them that the soil had to be tilled and seeded to produce a rich harvest of grain. The good Brother used to chuckle with pleasure when he saw the Indians perched 150 HISTORY OF MONTANA for hours on the fence day after day to see whether the grain would come up or not. Their incredulity began to weaken and finally gave way when they saw the green blades and tender stalks crop out of the soil. They took great pleasure in the growing wheat, and their expectancy grew even feverish when it began to ripen. Happilly the yield was even larger than the Brother had expected, and many of the Indians were privileged to share in its abundance. This was the first farming and gardening done in Montana. Immediately after their arrival, the missionaries set about con- structing the buildings of St. Mary's. Unfortunately, a description of the mission as first constructed is not available, but in 1846 it consisted of twelve houses built of logs, a church, a saw-mill, a grist-mill and buildings for farm use. Abundant crops of wheat, potatoes and various vegetables were produced ; several head of cattle were raised and the establishment had all the horses necessary for its use. These represented the first agricultural operations in Montana. The burrs for the mill were brought from Belgium, Father De Smet's home-land, to the Oregon settlements, and thence to St. Mary's. In 1843 the Jesuit College sent out it wo priests to assist Fathers Point and Mengarini, while De Smet was dispatched on a mission to Europe. These priests were Peter De Voss and Adrian Hoeken, and they arrjped in September at St. Mary's with three lay brethren. ATTEMPTS TO CONVERT THE BLACKFEET Father De Smet's attempts to convert the Blackfeet were continuous and persistent, but, on the whole, unsuccessful as compared with the work of himself and his fellow missionaries among the Salish. The Blackfoot chief who had been baptized on Christmas day of 1841 added his endeavors to those of the Blackrobes, to bring his warlike people over to the Gospel of Peace, but in the midst of his difficult labors met an accidental death by falling from his horse. Father De Smet met with some success in bringing the Flathead and Blackfeet into more friendly relations ; that is, certain members of the tribes, with representatives of the Nez Perces, Piegans, Bloods and Gros Ventres, joined the Catholic Church and worshipped in common. Upon one occasion, in 1846, the good Father made note of "a solemn mass, sung in the open plain under the canopy of green boughs, to beg for the blessings of God upon this wilderness and its wandering tribes and unite them in the bond of peace," at which participated about 2,000 members of the tribes mentioned. "It is a thing unheard of," concludes the missionary, "that among so. many different savage nations, hitherto so inimical to one another, unanimity and joy, such as we now witness, should exist it appears as if their ancient deadly feuds had been long since buried in oblivion, and this is all the more remarkable in an Indian who, it is well known, cherishes feelings of revenge for many years. How long will this last?" Father De Smet plainly saw that the greatest obstacles to the prog- ress of the Catholic missions were personified in the Blackfeet, the HISTORY OF MONTANA 151 most savage tribes of the region and the traditionary enemies of the Salish tribe. For several years, therefore, before St. Mary's mission was abandoned he bent his energies toward the establishment of a per- manent mission among the Blackfeet. MISSIONARY WORK AT FORT LEWIS The old mission of St. Ignatius had been founded by Father Point, on the banks of the Pend d'Oreille River among the Kalispehlms, in 1844. It was placed in charge of Father Point, who acquitted himself so well in this and other western missions that he was delegated by Father De Smet to especially labor among the Blackfeet. He lived at Fort Lewis, where, it would seem, there was work to be done among the whites as well as the reds. Lieut. James H. Bradley, in his journal covering the year 1845 at tne f rt > has the following regarding the influence and discipline of Fathers De Smet and Point upon the morals of the whites and In- dians : "Father Point, whom we have seen was left by Father De Smet at the Fort, was furnished quarters and a room for a chapel and school. He was a man of great austerity and severe in the practice of his religion. He had daily service in his chapel, and the mass upon Sundays, attended by all the squaws and most of the white employes of the fort, Major Cul- bertson himself setting them the example. The Father was filled with zeal for their conversion to the holy faith, sternly reproved every exhibition of profanity and rebuked every immorality, and gradually made himself feared but respected by every inmate of the fort; over the squaws in particular gaining a complete ascendency. Even Major Culbertson was not exempt from his denunciation when occasion arose. "At one time when some packs of robes were lying on the landing under cover, a storm and rain came up on Sunday, and the cover being blown from the pile, Major Culbertson set to work with some of his men to protect them from the shower. Learning what was going on, Father De Smet ran out to expostulate. 'Major Culberston,'* said he, 'I am amazed. I thought you were a Christian, a reverencer of religion and an observer of the holy Sabbath; but now I find you, not only violating God's holy day, but exacting it of your men. How can my teachings bear fruit, when you trample them thus ruthlessly in the dust?' Never- theless, Major Culbertson continued his labor and the priest continued his expostulations, -till the former losing patience, and believing it to be a Christian duty to protect his property from destruction told the priest abruptly to go to his room and read his bible, when he wouldn't see what was going on. "At another time, when Major Culbertson's child was sick with croup, and all efforts to afford it relief had failed, its Indian mother requested to have an old Blood squaw, famous in the tribe for her success- ful treatment of the diseases of children, summoned to try her art upon * See Father Point's letter, page 253, DeSmet's "Western Missions and Mis- sionaries." 152 HISTORY OF MONTANA the child. Knowing it to be the last hope and willing to satisfy his wife. Major Culbertson consented and the squaw doctress came. Heating stones and throwing water upon them she began to give the child a steam bath, accompanying this treatment with the monotonous song always employed on such occasions. Father Point was just sitting down to breakfast with Major Culbertson in the room below, when the sounds of the old woman's incantations reached his ears. Inquiring the cause and being informed, without ceremony he rushed up to the room, seized the old woman by the neck, pushed her precipitately down the stairs, and then returning to the breakfast table reproached Major Culbertson in strong language for thus lending his influence to perpetuate super- stitions which he, the priest, was struggling with all the power of religion to eradicate. IMPROVEMENT IN SEXUAL RELATIONS "Father Point remained at Fort Lewis until the following May (1846), when he returned to St. Louis. His influence a"t the fort had been de- cidedly for good ; among the reforms that he accomplished was a change of relations between the white employes of the fort and the squaws living there. When the former were willing to become the lawful husbands of their squaws, he solemnized marriage between them; and when they would not consent to do this, he induced the squaws to leave them and re- turn to their respective tribes. "Major Culbertson states, in connection with this subject of Indian wives, that even when marriage in the usual form had not taken place, the head of the family felt himself bound to perform faithfully all the duties of a husband and a father. He does not believe that there oc- curred an instance of an employe of the American Fur Company, who taking an Indian wife, failed in the parental obligations. Separated some- times for life from civilized society., deprived of the opportunity to get wives of their own color, it was natural that they should seek them from the women of the people among whom they dwelt. When mar- riage after the custom of their own race was practicable, they employed its rites, but when this was impossible it satisfied them to observe the Indian custom of purchase and public acknowledgement of their intended relations. Some of the resident partners of the company and many of the clerks, educated and intelligent men, took Indian wives, and carried their families with them when removing from the country. "McKenzie took his Cree wife and four children to Red river and educated the latter in the missionary schools. Culbertson removed with his Blood wife and six children to Illinois, educating his children, three of his daughters being now well married and residing in the East. Denig took his family of an Assiniboine squaw and three children to Red river where he still resides. Morgan, with an Assiniboine wife and two chil- dren removed to the same place. Mitchell sent his three children by his Cree wife to the schools of Red River. .Dawson took his only child by a Cree Ventre wife to Scotland, his wife being dead. And Harvey HISTORY OF MONTANA 153 provided for his two children by a Piegan woman, somewhere in the hese were all prominent men of the fur trade and similar exam- ples could be greatly multiplied. The poorer class of the employes the ANDREW DAWSON artisans and laborers, following their example, did the best the circum- stances permitted. In some instances the father died, or was killed, leav- ing infant children whose lot in early life was a hard one and whose subsequent career was not admirable consequent upon this early orphange, just as is the case with thousands of white children who grow up in the 154 HISTORY OF MONTANA heart of civilized communities in the shadow of schools and churches. But where children were left thus uncared for, the rough frontiersman was often ready to assume the position of protector and provider." FATHER ANTHONY RAVALLI ARRIVES Father De Smet had so pushed and expanded the activities of St. Mary's Mission that he had sent Father Point and others to establish the Sacred Heart Mission among the Coeur d'Alenes and St. Ignatius among Kalispehlms, but was obliged to journey to Europe in order to secure other recruits to assist him in his religious work. His trip was most successful and he returned with a strong band of priests and sisters to develop the missions in the Bitter Root Valley and elsewhere. The most noted and helpful and who came to share with Father De Smet himself the crown of unselfish Christian labors was Father Anthony Ravalli, also a member of the Society of Jesus. He was the direct successor at St. Mary's of Father Peter Zebinatti, who died suddenly in September, 1844. Father Ravalli was an Italian, and not only learned in literature, philosophy, the natural sciences and theology, but thoroughly versed in medicine and in mechanics. In the forty years of his service as a mis- sionary, he therefore was not only beloved as a religious teacher, but as a physical healer and as a real helper in the practical affairs of pioneer life. It was he who devised the first crude mill, by which the people, white and red alike, obtained nourishing flour and bread. By many other ingenious devices did Father Ravalli lighten the toil of those around and add to their comforts. Although he traveled from the valley of the Missouri to the Pacific Coast as a welcome visitor to the various Catholic missions, he was most sacredly enshrined in the hearts of the western people of his times as the Apostle of the Salish. ST. MARY'S MISSION ABANDONED Father Ravalli was in charge of St. Mary's Mission for about five years previous to its abandonment in 1850. Little progress was made in placating the Blackfeet. Numerous war parties of the nation continued to visit the Bitter Root Valley in their marauding expeditions against the Flathead and whites, and seldom failed to make a demonstration against the mission. In 1849, upon an occasion when Father Ravalli had with him only one lay brother and a few Christian Indians, the mission was attacked by a war party of about fifty Blackfeet. During the assault, two bands of horses belonging to the mission and Flathead Indians made their ap- pearance, and the Blackfoot warriors preferring horses to scalps, with- drew from the attack, drove off the horses and left the occupants of the mission to meditate on their narrow escape. For the time being, the Blackfeet made St. Mary's untenable, and in the fall of 1850 it was de- cided to withdraw from St. Mary's, after the mission had been in opera- tion for about a decade. Father Gregory Mengarini, who during all this period had been a co-worker with Father De Smet, was in charge at the en H 156 HISTORY OF MONTANA time of its temporary closing. Father Mengarini was the author of a Salish grammar, published in 1861, and was the most thorough linguist of the Flathead tongue among the missionaries. He subsequently went to Santa Clara, California, where he died in the late '8os. St. Mary's Mission was closed in October, 1850, and Major Owen bought its improvements and established the fort which bore his name in the following month. The mission had long been not only the center of proselytism for the Catholic Church, but a refuge for travelers of what- ever faith, or none at all. That fact, with the conviction of its insecurity from Blackfeet attacks, seems to have been the t eventual cause of its undoing in the fall of 1850. This phase of the situation is thus de- scribed by a writer of the period : "In those early days the missions being the only habitations within many hundred miles became the refuge and abiding place during bitter weather of French-Canadians and mixed- breed trappers, who in milder seasons ranged over the mountains and plains in pursuit of furs. These half-savage men were undoubtedly a picturesque part of the old woodland life and their uncouth figures lent animation and color to the quiet monotone of the religious com- munities. In the first quarter of the last century we find mention of French-Canadians employed by the Missouri Fur Company appearing on New Year's Eve clad in bison robes, painted like Indians, dancing La Gignolee to the music of tinkling bells fastened to their dress, for gifts of meat and drink. The trappers were, in the days of St. Mary's Mission, a licentious, roistering band with easy morals, consciences long since gone to sleep, who did not hesitate to debauch the Indians, and who feared neither man nor devil. They went to St. Mary's, as to other shrines, and under the pretext of practicing their religion, lived on the missionaries' scanty stores and filled the idle hours with illicit pastimes. It is said that they became revengeful because of the coolness of their reception by the priests, and malevolently set about to poison the Salish against the beloved robes noires." Another account gives a more specific instance of the way that un- principled whites undermined the good work of St. Mary's. It is to the effect that in the winter of 1849-50 eight white emigrants on their way to Oregon stopped among the Flathead "and sought like drones to live off the scanty subsistence of the Indians. Their ways were neither com- mendable nor edifying. They were men of no religion, and resented the re- monstrances of the Fathers for the scandal given to the Indians by their licentiousness. They deemed themselves insulted by admonition and coun- sel, and intepreted the refusal of the missionaries to grant their exorbitant demands as an interference with their rights and freedom. Their grum- bling soon developed into active hostility, especially against Father Man- garini, who was in charge of the mission, and they made use of some half-breeds whose conduct was little better than their own to destroy the confidence and alienate the hearts of the Indians." Whatever the cause, or causes, the Flathead became luke-warm in their devotions, many of them refusing to sacrifice the buffalo hunt for priestly offices, and the Blackfeet became more and more dangerous. So HISTORY OF MONTANA 157 Mary's Mission was dismantled and leased to Major Owen, the trader, and the missionaries went forth to other fields of religious labor. At Hell Gate, the inferno of the Blackfeet, they parted, Father Ravalli starting for the Sacred Heart Mission among the Coeur d'Alenes, and the others headed for the Mission of St. Ignatius, on the banks of the Pend d'Oreille River. THE GOOD SALISH CHIEFS, PAUL AND VICTOR The missionaries from St. Mary's abandoned mission were escorted to St. Ignatius by Victor, the good and able chief of the Salish Tribe. He was also called Mitt'to', the Lodge Pole, and was the successor of Chief Paul, or Long Face, who, as the first of the Flathead to be bap- tized by Father De Smet, was then eighty years of age. The missionary named him Paul, after the great Apostle of the Gentiles. Victor, who was the chief and great man of his people, and the unwavering support of the whites for nearly fifty years, led the missionaries to the old St. Ignatius Mission in the autumn of 1850. There, for four or five years it endured, when, location not being considered desirable, preparations were made to move it to a site selected by Alexander, chief of the Kali- spehlms, in the fruitful, flowery valley of Sin-Yal-min. From the great range by that name which formed its eastern boundary "burst a water- fall plunging from mighty altitudes into the emerald bowl of the valley, and there was the favorite gathering place of the Kalispehlms, Upper Kootenais, Pend d'Oreilles and Salish. Many of these Indians had already commenced to till little tracts of land, and evinced a desire for a settled and domestic life. THE NEW ST. IGNATIUS MISSION The new St. Ignatius Mission seemed favored from its birth. During the year following its establishment in the valley of Sin-Yal-Min, or Mission Valley, the Hell Gate's treaty was signed by which Victor, in behalf of the Salish, the Pend d'Oreilles and other allied tribes of his nation, was to retain possession of the Bitter Root Valley above the Lolo Fork, unless after a fair survey by the United States the president should deem it best to move the tribe to Jocko, farther north and beyond the valley. In either case, with St. Mary's abandoned, the new mission of St. Ignatius was favored. Entire families of Salish soon commenced to abandon the Bitter Root Valley in order to be near the Blackrobes of St. Ignatius. The establishment of schools for both Indian boys and girls added to the northern attraction. The girls' school, the pioneer of its kind among the Indians of the territory, was first established by four Sisters from Montreal. In the boys' school, which followed, were taught not only French and English and the primary studies but such handicrafts as leather work, especially saddle-making. "Thus, largely through its practical industry, St. Ignatius grew into a powerful institution. Build- ing after building was added to the group until a beautiful village sprang 158 HISTORY OF MONTANA up, half hidden among clumps of trees and generous vines. On the out- skirts of this community rows of tiny, low, thatch-roofed log cabins were built by the Indians to shelter them when they assembled to celebrate such feasts as Christmas, Good Friday and that of St. Ignatius, their patron saint." While St. Mary's was inactive and St. Ignatius was new, a spasmodic effort was made by the Presbyterians, in 1857, to found a mission among the Indians, with headquarters at Fort Benton. It is said that the In- dians did not take kindly to the new Protestant pastor, because he had a wife unlike the Blackrobes who were the only religious teachers with whom they had come in contact. While the Catholic missionaries were doing pioneer work in the introduction of Christianity and settled conditions among the Indians of Montana, the government was also endeavoring, with various degrees of success, to arrange with the fiercer and more warlike tribes, such as the Blackfeet and Crows, for the peaceful sessions of their lands and permission to allow the railroad surveys to proceed unmolested. The Oregon and the Salt Lake trails had been traced through the Rocky Moun- tains and over the plains, enabling the pioneer missionaries and emigrants to enter and, of times, to locate in the the Montana country. FIRST CROW INDIAN RESERVATION In September, 1851, a part of the Yellowstone Valley was set aside as a reservation for the Crow Indians. The boundary line of this reservation commenced at the mouth of the Powder River and followed that river to its source; thence along the main range of the Black Hill and Wind River Mountains to the headwaters of the Yellowstone River, thence down the Yellowstone River to the .mouth of Twenty-five Yard Creek, or Shields River, and across it to the headwaters of the Mussel- shell, thence down the Musselshell, to its mouth, thence to the headwaters of Dry Creek and down that creek to its mouth. THE STEVENS GOVERNMENT EXPEDITION In 1853-54, Col. Isaac I. Stevens, governor of the newly created territory of Washington, proved to be a strong and useful agent of the United States in the assurance of more settled conditions within the domain now known as Montana. He had been placed in charge of the Northern Pacific Railroad surveys, an important section of which was to pass through that portion of old Louisiana. In February, 1853, Governor Stevens had reached St. Louis with the government surveying party from St. Paul, and there met Major Culbertson, the commandant at Fort Ben- ton. An arrangement was thereupon made by which the latter was to accompany the government expedition to Fort Benton. Upon Governor Steven's arrival at Fort Union, where his party was joined by Lieutenant Mullan and others, the party proceeded to- gether toward Fort Benton. At the Big Muddy (present Roosevelt HISTORY OF MONTANA 159 County), a war party of Blackfeet came upon them while in camp, whom Governor Stevens received kindly, dismissing them with presents. The Gros Ventres, too, were encountered at the Milk River and similarly treated. At that stream Lieutenant Lander was detached to proceed by a more northern route and rejoin the main body at Fort Benton, where Governor Stevens soon arrived without incident. Here he was joined by Lieutenant Saxton with forty men, who had been sent by sea to Fort Vancouver, Oregon, with supplies, which he had conducted thence to Fort Owen, where he had left them and continued on to meet the gov- ernor. As this party was to return to the East, Governor Stevens pur- chased a keel boat from Major Culbertson for their transportation and employed them to pilot them down the river to Fort Leaven worth ; while the governor himself continued his journey to Puget Sound, having first appointed Major Culbertson special Indian agent, and secured fom him a promise to pass the ensuing winter in Washington to assist in obtaining an appropriation for making a treaty with the Blackfeet and Gros Ventres, which the governor had been induced, by his encounter with these tribes, to earnestly recommend.* Leaving Fort Benton about the ist of October, 1853, with the keel- boat bearing Lieutenant Saxton's command, Major Culbertson was so fortunate as to get through to Fort Leavenworth (Kansas) without ice. Proceeding thence to St. Louis, where he remained two weeks, he con- tinued his journey to Washington in accordance with his promise to Governor Stevens. There he passed the entire winter lobbying for the pro- posed appropriation for the treaty, which he declared to have been the most distasteful proceeding of his life. But he was untiring in his efforts; not discouraged even when the bill failed in the House on its first pres- entation ; and by his industry and straight-forward representations was greatly instrumental in securing the final passage of the bill which re- sulted in an understanding with the Blackfeet which temporarily modi- fied their hostile attitude toward both the Salish and the white settlers. CO-OPERATION OF TRADERS, MISSIONARIES, INDIANS AND GOVERNMENT In the meantime, John Owen, who had taken over St. Mary's improve- ments and established his post and fort, was having the usual experience with the Blackfeet ; so harassing and unfortunate had it been that he had started with his herds for Oregon, when he fell in with a detachment of Governor Stevens' soldiers under Lieutenant Mullan, who were then win- tering in the Bitter Root Valley, and decided to turn back and re-establish his interests under the protection of the soldiers. The missionaries also adopted this policy of co-operation with Uncle Sam's Army, as is noted in Hubert Howe Bancroft's "History of Washington, Idaho and Mon- tana," as follows : "In 1854, after the Stevens exploring expedition had made the country more habitable by treaty talks with the Blackfeet and other tribes, Hoeken, who seems nearly as indefatigable as De Smet, * Lieutenant Bradley's Journal, Historical Society's Contributions, Vol. Ill, pp. 269, 270. 160 HISTORY OF MONTANA selected a site for a new mission 'not far from Flathead lake and about fifty miles from the old Mission of St. Mary's.' Here he erected, during the summer, several frame buildings, a chapel, shops and dwell- ings, and gathered about him a camp of Kootenais, Flatbows, Pend d'Oreilles, Flatheads and Kalispels. Rails and fencing were cut to the num- ber of 18,000, a large field put under cultivation and the mission of St. Ignatius in the Flathead country became the successor of St. Mary's. ON THE SHORES OF FLATHEAD LAKE In the new 'reduction' the Fathers were assisted by the officers of the exploring expedition and especially by Lieutenant Mullan, who wintered in the Bitter Root valley in 1854-55. In return, the Fathers assisted Governor Stevens at the treaty grounds and endeavored to control the Coeur d'Alenes and Spokanes in the troubles that immediately followed the treaties of 1855. "Subsequently the mission in the Bitter Root valley was revived (1866), and the Flatheads were taught there until the removal to the HISTORY OF MONTANA 161 reservation at Flathead lake, which reserve included St. Ignatius mission, where a school was first opened in 1863, by Father Urbanus Grassi. In 1858 the missionaries at the Flathead mission had 300 more barrels of flour than they could consume, which they sold to the posts of the Ameri- can Fur Company on the Missouri, and the Indians cultivated fifty farms averaging five acres each. In their neighborhood were two sawmills." Thus the missionaries, the United States Government and the fur traders were co-operating, without any settled plan, to bring about more settled conditions in the Land of the Mountains. Fort Benton and the settlements founded by the missionaries at St. Mary's and St. Ignatius were for years the only real evidences of permanent conditions in the region. During the late '505, that part of Montana lying west of the Rocky Mountains received a few more settlers, and these scattered evi- dences of permanency are noted by Judge Frank H. Woody, who was one of the newcomers himself. It may be added that the Deer Lodge Valley had also commenced to show signs of occupancy by white settlers by the late ? 5os. In 1856, John F. Grant built a home at the confluence of the Little Blackfoot with the Deer Lodge River, the first building erected in that part of the country. Two years later the first houses were built marking the site of the present town of Deer Lodge, among the early settlers of which were James and Granville Stuart. ST. PETER'S MISSION AND FATHER RAVALLI The Blackfeet were still the great menace standing in the way of the settlement of the fertile valleys of Western Montana, as well as the extension of the Catholic faith among the Indians and the realization of its concomitant, the establishment of peaceful relations with the whites. The old aim of the church, temporarily abandoned, to establish a perma- nent mission among the Blackfeet, was revived in 1858, eleven years after Father Point had been recalled to Canada and taken from his labors along that line of work. In that year Father Hoecken was chosen for the mis- sion. He came West in the spring of 1859, and spent that summer travel- ing over the country with a friendly band of the tribe in search of a suit- able site for the proposed mission. The first location selected was on the Teton River near the modern town of Chouteau. Various priests were sent into the Blackfeet country to further the work, but four other at- tempts were made before the site of the present St. Peter's Mission was fixed upon. Locations on both the Sun and Maria's rivers were aban- doned within the following four or five years. In 1864, Father Ravalli joined the little missionary band at St. Peter's. It was then established just above the mouth of Sun River, where Fort Shaw now stands. The winter of 1865 was one of intense cold and raging blizzards, and crowds of gold hunters and would-be settlers were strug- gling toward the Sun River country and other promising sections of West- ern Montana. Father Ravalli arrived at a most opportune period, for St. Peter's was thrown open to all sufferers who applied for shelter there 162 HISTORY OF MONTANA and the beloved apostle of the Salish, with his medical education and training, was able to skillfully care for those suffering in body, as well as for those who sought spiritual consolation. The appalling winter was followed by a summer of drought and such a withering of all the crops usually cultivated at and near the mission that Indians and whites alike became discouraged. By common consent St. Peter's was then moved to its present location on the east side and at the foot of the Bird Tail Divide, in the western part of Cascade County. Although the mission was established, it accomplished little in the way of converting the Blackfeet to the ways of peace, and was many times in danger of its very existence. It was virtually abandoned in 1866 and became a dependency of the newly established mission at Helena, Father C. Imoda, who had been connected with the work among the Blackfeet from the first, being assigned to the duty of visiting St. Peter's at in- tervals. OTHER MISSIONS In 1874, St. Peter's Mission was reopened, and afterward gave birth to Holy Family Mission near the Blackfeet reservation of Northwestern Montana and St. Paul's Mission, on People's Creek, a tributary of Milk River and among the Little Creek or Little Rocky Mountains. St. Paul's was a mission founded among the Assiniboines and the Gros Ventres of the Plains. Missions were established among the Cheyennes and Crows of South- eastern Montana in the '8os St. Labre on the Tongue River and St. Xavier, with their schools for boys and girls. But the story of their establishment and progress takes one through the period covering the final struggles of the hostile Indians to retain their foothold upon Mon- tana soil and the peaceful times of the past thirty years; and there are many epochs, episodes and developments to be depicted in the mean- time. The fur traders and missionaries were all laying the groundwork for a stable civilization and a progressive commonwealth, and, both in co- operation with them and as independent agents, the national government and private individuals explored Montana for convenient gateways through its mountain barriers and natural highways of travel between the Missouri valleys and transmontane America. CHAPTER VIII EXPEDITIONS OF A DECADE The early period of the decade prior to the discovery of Montana gold in commercial quantities is dominated by the expeditions and explora- tions and Indian negotiations conducted by Governor I. I. Stevens, of Washington territory. He was also to cut a large figure in the southern campaigns jof the Civil War. In the later '505, while the border states along the Lower Missouri were in the throes of a sectional War of the Rebel- lion, Business, Pleasure and Government were exploring and traveling the regions of the Upper Missouri, developing their actual and potential riches and endeavoring to make the land habitable for the strong and pro- gressive men and women of the white race. SIR ST. GEORGE GORE'S EXPEDITION The first of these expeditions which has cut a swarth in the historic field of Montana was that conducted by the English pleasure hunter, Sir St. George Gore. In 1854, according to Lieutenant Bradley's Jour- nal, this wealthy English bachelor, equipped with a passport from the Indian Bureau, ascended the Missouri River from St. Louis for a pro- tracted hunt in the wilds of the West. He was accompanied by a party of twenty-three men, with a long wagon-train loaded with provisions, and had secured the services of the famous Jim Bridger as his guide. It was probably the largest and best equipped pleasure outfit that ever penetrated the western wilderness. Following up the valleys of the main and North Platte rivers, hunting as he went, Sir St. George finally crossed the mouth of the Tongue River, where it debouches into the Yellowstone. There he built a fort for the protection of his party and remained for nine months, trading with the Indians and pursuing his hunting projects. THE CROWS PROTEST THE WICKED ANIMAL SLAUGHTER The destruction of game by his party was so great as to excite indig- nation of the Crow Indians and bring forth a remonstrance on their part. They were willing, they said, that all that was needed for food should be killed, but objected to the wholesale slaughter for mere sport, the carcasses being left to rot upon the prairie. From a letter of Col. A. J. Vaughan, then Indian agent of the Upper Missouri, to the superintendent of Indian affairs at St. Louis, dated July, 1856, it appears that 105 bears 163 164 HISTORY OF MONTANA and some 2,000 buffalo, elk and deer, had already fallen victims to the British nimrod. At last the Indians, in retaliation, drove off a consider- able part of his horses in one swoop, and subsequently, in the winter of 1856-57, while he was wintering between Forts Union and Berthold, made a clean sweep of the remainder. , In the summer of 1856, the English hunter broke up his big camp about eight miles above the mouth of Tongue River, and despatching his wagons to Fort Union by land, he himself, with a portion of his com- mand, descended the Yellowstone in boats prepared from the hides he had taken. AFRAID OF BEING SWINDLED Arriving * at Fort Union, the trading post of the American Fur Com- pany still in charge of Major Culbertson, Sir St. George agreed with the company for the construction of two mackinaw boats, with which to descend the river, the company agreeing to take his stock, wagons, etc., at some stipulated price. When the boats were finished, there was a misunderstanding as to the terms of the bargain, and he fancied that in his remoteness from man the company was seeking to speculate upon his necessities. He seems to have been mercurial, wrathful, effervescent and reckless and, heedless of the consequences, he refused the terms offered by the company. Accordingly, he burned his wagons and all the Indian goods and supplies not needed, in front of the fort, guarding the flames from the plunder of either whites or Indians. It is ,said, even after such drastic action, he was apprehensive that the members of the fur company might rescue from the flames the hot irons of his wagons and carts. So, having guarded them until night came on, he threw them all into the Missouri River. His cattle and horses, t according to the Heldt narrative, he sold to the "vagabond hangers-on of the Indians there, or gave them away, and, with two flat-boats he had built at the mouth of Tongue River, proceeded with his party, now decimated by mutual con- sent, to Fort Berthold." In the spring of 1857, Sir St. George left that' trading post so near to the western frontier of the United States and returned to St. Louis by steamboat. WILLIAM T. HAMILTON, SCOUT "SIGN-MAN" AND INVESTIGATOR William T. Hamilton, a Scotch-Englishman from St. Louis, who had long traded with the western Indians, been a gold miner of California and afterward a Buckskin Ranger engaged in the protection of the miners against the savages of the new country, had later been employed by the Government as a scout in such campaigns as the Modoc and the Spokane and Yakima wars. After the Indians had been subdued in the latter series of engagements, in September, 1858, the Walla Walla coun- *F. George Heldt in Contributions to the Historical Society of Montana, Vol. I, p. 146. tLieutenant Bradley's Journal states that the remainder of his horses were stolen by the Indians in the winter of 1856-57. HISTORY OF MONTANA 165 try was declared open to settlement, and the region was soon overrun with white adventurers from Oregon and Washington. Then a rumor was received from the Indians who had been east of the Rocky Moun- tains that the tribes were inclined to be hostile, and as the Government was becoming tired of continual Indian wars, it was determined to in- vestigate that rumor. Mr. Hamilton was selected for the mission. More than forty years afterward, after he had fought under General Crook in the Sioux war and resided for many years at Fort Benton and the Flathead country of Northwest Montana, as a fur trader and a guide this William Hamilton, then a grizzly old man of about seventy and seven years, first told the story of his tour of investigation in 1858, to sound the attitude of the Indians on the eastern side of the Rockies. In 1858, Mr. Hamilton was stationed at Walla Walla, of which mili- tary post Colonel Wright was in command. "Upon the conclusion of the Spokane and Yakima war," runs his narrative, "an orderly informed me that I was wanted at the officers' rooms. The meeting was held at Captain Dent's quarters. (He was a relative of General Grant's wife.) I accordingly reported and found some twenty officers present. It looked like a council of war. They directed me to a chair in their midst, and I soon learned that they were discussing the possibility or probability of another Indian war east of the Rocky mountains, by reason of the rumor received as above stated. They asked my opinion of the news received. I had been interviewing many Indians who had lately arrived from the buffalo country and learned that they were on friendly terms with all the tribes through which they sojourned, except the Blood Indians, and I had ascertained from them the section of country which each tribe inhabited, and the disposition of the same, insofar as they were able to give me information on this point. I accordingly imparted unto the officers the information I had thus received and my opinion re- garding the same. "The officers asked me if I had ever been in that country and I replied in the negative, but informed them that I had a great desire to visit and explore those sections as far as the Missouri River. I was acquainted with the country to the south of this river. Lieutenant Sheridan and others thought it would be a foolhardy undertaking at the present state of affairs. I replied, 'Yes for any person not acquainted with the Indians and who could not converse with them'. I was then credited with being the most expert sign talker among the Indians. This knowledge came almost natural to me, and therefore. I do not give myself any particular credit for proficiency in that art. The knowledge of the sign language is necessary to mountaineers and scouts. It assists them in extricating themselves from many difficult dilemmas. All wild tribes of Indians have great respect for a man who meets them boldly and can converse with them by signs. It is the reverse with them when they meet a man they cannot understand. "I informed the officer I apprehended no great difficulty in making the trip ; that the greatest danger was in passing through the late subdued tribes, but if these chiefs were held prisoners until I returned I did not 166 HISTORY OF MONTANA think there would be any great danger; the Indians being well aware that I represented the government should the trip be finally determined upon. I informed the officers that I should visit the villages of the subdued tribes and would want an official envelope with some reading matter, and that I would interpret what would be necessary in order to set them thinking of something else besides taking my scalp. The officers all laughed at this mode of outwitting the Indians, and before the meeting broke up shook hands with me, Phil. Sheridan, with others, expressing great confidence in my ability to carry out the undertaking. They then informed me to hold myself in readiness for a few days and they would take the matter under advisement. STARTS FOR BLACKFOOT NATION EAST OF THE ROCKIES "So about the 2oth of September, 1858, I received an order from Colonel Wright to report at headquarters at 2 P. M. I reported promptly on time, the reception room being crowded with officers and their wives, with most of whom I was acquainted, and was somewhat taken back by their presence in the council. With an array of maps and writing material spread out upon a large table, I surmised that some move was on tap different from what I anticipated, but in a moment was undeceived. I then received an appointment as secret Indian detective with pay as scout, and was ordered to proceed through the different tribes of Indians to the Blackfoot nation east of the Rocky Mountains and report on the condition and disposition of the different tribes visited, at the earliest moment." Hamilton received an ovation from both the ladies and officers at his departure, promising the former "many nice Indian trinkets" and as- suring the latter that he might be expected to return about the I5th of November. His only companion, McKay, also a scout, carried his bows and arrows, as he was an expert in their use. Their horses were said to be the fleetest in the country, "thoroughly broken under fire and could not be stampeded." They passed through the countries of the Spokanes and the Palouse tribe late enemies, using the official envelope, with "interpretations," to good advantage, the name of Colonel Wright being especially potent. Within a week, they had reached St. Mary's River, where they met some Pend d'Oreille Indians, who warned them to beware of the Blackfeet, Piegans and Snake Indians. MISSOULA'S NATURAL ADVANTAGES A paragraph in Hamilton's journal, at this point in the narrative, describes the primitive advantages of the country, at and around the modern city of Missoula : "Next morning, by sun, we were packed up and asking the chief the proper route to take, he pointed to a canyon some fourteen miles distant, stating we should follow up that stream three sleeps, then keep to the right of a certain butte, follow up a small stream and cross the mountains. The stream they mentioned is now called the HISTORY OF MONTANA 167 Little Black Foot. We crossed a rolling prairie, a beautiful country, about ii A. M., and arrived at a beautiful creek, now Rattlesnake, where we camped. We saw no Indians, but signs in abundance. We laid over one day and I explored this section for several miles, and informed McKay I would at some time in the future open a trading post at this place.* It was manifest by the convergence of the trails that it would .be a splendid place for trade on account of its centrality. All these trails showed signs of being constantly travelled by different bands of Indians. THE FLATHEADS FRIENDS OF THE WHITES "We were aware of being in the Flathead country and thought we could not be over thirty or forty miles from Fort Owen.f I was ac- quainted with many of the Flatheads. They were always looked upon by all mountaineers as being the bravest of Indians and mountain men's friends in every circumstance. Flatheads never missed an opportunity to render assistance to the mountaineer; hence the great friendship be- tween the two. I had met Maj. John Owen at Walla Walla. He was agent for the Flatheads. He invited me to pay him a visit at some time and I promised to do so, but on this occasion had not time." Hamilton and McKay then followed the trail up Hell Gate River, crossed the Big Black Foot, guided and guarded by friendly Flatheads, and on the i6th and i/th of October were encamped on the Dearborn River and the south fork of the Sun, east of the Continental divide and north of the Missouri River. From the latter camp, accompanied by a band of Flatheads, Hamilton rode down the river some twenty-five miles to visit the Piegan Indian agent, Colonel Vaughn, whom he described as "a fine looking old man from the State of Mississippi." Upon applica- tion, he gave Hamilton a statement as to the disposition of the Piegans toward the whites; what tribes were actually hostile, or inclined to be so. The colonel further informed him where Little Dog, the head chief of the Piegans was camped, advising Hamilton to see the chief, as he might render great assistance; also informing him that "the Piegans had very many fine robes." MEETS LITTLE DOG IN BEST CLOTHES The white scouts then followed the base of the mountains, crossed the north fork of the Sun River and some ten miles beyond that stream found Little Dog's Indians and the proud, fine chief himself. Colonel Vaughn had informed Hamilton that Little Dog was considered one of the bravest and proudest Indians on the plains, and the two scouts there- fore "dressed all up" in expectation of meeting him. "I just got through (supper)," says Hamilton, "and was looking north expecting to see Indians every moment, when sure enough about one mile distant, we dis- *As he did, remaining there for several years. tFounded eight years before by Maj. John Owen, former sutler in the United States army, upon certain improvement^ of old St. Mary's mission. 168 HISTORY OF MONTANA covered twenty-five Indians, splendidly mounted, coming rapidly. They saw that we had discovered them and when within one-fourth of a mile distant they pulled their guns and fired into the air, which is the sign of friends. We returned the salute. At that they came with a whirl- wind speed. It was a beautiful sight. When within fifty yards the chief gave an order and they halted at a jump, as trappers say. Sure enough, it was Little Dog, and he dismounted with a proud step and advanced. I met him half way. He scrutinized me from head to foot, then reached A BY-GONE CHIEF out his hand with the customary remark 'How.' He was a fine looking specimen of an Indian chieftain. Many an artist would have been glad to have had the opportunity of taking his picture, just as he stood before me. He was over six feet in height, straight as an arrow, with his im- plements of war on his person and a magnificent war bonnet upon his head. Three years afterward I became the owner of this bonnet." FRINGE, LITTLE DOG'S FINE SON Little Dog evidently approved of the completeness of the scouts' outfits and was further impressed by the presentation of a handsome blanket sent by Colonel Vaughn. Then came the chief's son, Fringe, HISTORY OF MONTANA 169. who was to prove of such service. "Little Dog spoke to a splendid look- ing Indian about nineteen years of age," says Hamilton, "to come and sit down beside him and informed me that this was his eldest son. Well the chief might be proud of this son, a young man as handsome as an Apollo and as proud as Lucifer. I made him a present of the blanket, which was a counterpart of the one his father had just received. No sooner had he received the blanket than he jumped up and gave a ringing war whoop which made all the horses prick up their ears, and then stepping proudly up to me took me by the hand and made sign to me 'you are my friend.' I observed his father's eyes sparkle with pleasure. Ever after, father and son were as brothers to me and I to them, until their death which occurred nine years after." Other communications followed, by signs, and Hamilton from the time of that conference was known among the Piegans as Sign-Talking White Man. The Indians were loaded with provisions and presented SUN DANCE BY THE PIEGANS with plug tobacco, when Little Dog departed with most of his warriors, leaving his son and two other Indians to guard the white men's camp during the night. Although Hamilton assured McKay that he had every confidence in the reliability of Fringe, or Never Tire, each took turns in sleeping. The former here writes : "Now fhese two Indians, Little Dog and his son affected me as no other Indians ever had. An attachment sprung up in my breast for them that I could not understand and account for, since I was considered by all of my mountain friends to be very bitter and anything but friendly with Indians. I had lost many friends by them at different times." RECEPTION AND TRADING IN LITTLE DOG'S VILLAGE The next morning the journey was resumed toward Little Dog's village, thirteen or fourteen miles away, the later portion of the trip being taken with an escort of Piegan warriors whom the chief had sent for that purpose. At the village Little Dog himself met them and the following two days were passed in feasting, exchanging compliments and news, and trading, for buffalo robes, dried tongues and ponies, revolvers, am- 170 HISTORY OF MONTANA munition, scarlet cloth, calico, buttons, knives, etc., the scouts sometimes using such articles in trade and at other times as presents. The robes of the Piegans were of a very superior quality, many of them being gar- nished beautifully and "would bring from twenty-five to fifty dollars in any market in those days." While the trading was at its height six Crow chiefs were received into the lodge, with two of whom Hamilton was acquainted. Afterward the scouts and traders, through the assistance of the Piegans, secured over forty good robes from the Crows, who had returned to Little Dog's village. FAMOUS CROWS-PIEGANS HORSE RACE Then the Crows and Piegans, who had been at peace since the pre- vious spring, turned to pleasure, one of their favorite forms of sport being horse-racing. Whereupon an event occurred in that line, which was remembered and discussed long after it occurred ; and McKay's thorough- bred was the hero of the occasion. As told by Hamilton, the story was : "After feasting and smoking (for about two hours after the trading), it was about 2 P. M. when the crier harangued the village to the effect that the Crows wanted to run races with the Piegans. In a short time there were fully five hundred assembled on the race grounds not over half a mile from the village. I took Little Dog to one side, and told him to let the Crows win the first two races; that the Crows had one American horse they wanted to run about half a mile, and not to race any of their horses against this American horse, but for Piegans to bet all they could get on McKay's horse, which could almost fly for almost half a mile. "Little Dog secretly notified the Piegans of this programme, and the Indians were quick to catch on. After three races had been run, all of which the Crows got away with, they became wild, having won several ponies and many robes. Fringe then led up McKay's horse, which was not so tall as the Indian horse. Fringe signed to the Crows he would run this horse against their American horse, and the Crows jumped at the offer, bringing all the ponies and robes they had won and twice as many more to bet on their horse, all of which bets were taken. I told Little Dog to inform his people to get all the bets they could and they certainly complied. "After leading up fully twenty-five more ponies and piling up the robes in abundance, the Crows commenced to look carefully at McKay's horse, which they believed belonged to the Piegans, and they could see nothing extraordinary about him, but were somewhat taken aback at the amount the Piegans were anxious to stake on the race; at all events they would only take a few more bets. Little Dog's youngest son was called up by Fringe and told to prepare to ride the race, McKay having Informed Fringe that any boy could ride the horse. The boy promptly complied with the order of his older brothef by stripping naked. A Crow boy was also stripped, the track cleared and the horses led out to the starting point. An Indian race is started by the signal Go ! The first out wins the race, no difference what may happen to either horse or HISTORY OF MONTANA 171 rider. Little Dog and the Crow chief were judges. I had seen a great many races, but never saw one in which the Indians took such an interest as on this occasion. Neither myself nor McKay could tell certainly what would be the result of this race, but one thing we were quite sure of: The Indian horse had to be a world-beater to beat McKay's at that distance. "When the horses reached the starting place I turned round. Every- thing was hushed, all the dogs being held by the squaws. I was looking at Fringe with a glass and could see him address his younger brother on the horse and then, both horses being turned, Fringe let go of McKay's horse, which he was holding at the head, and the Crow let go of his horse at the same time. When the race was fairly commenced, I could see McKay's horse was being held, while the Crow was whipping. They ran together neck and neck to within one hundred yards of the coming-out place, when the boy on McKay's horse gave him the whip. The horse fairly flew from the Crow horse and won the race by about sixty feet. An Indian yell went up from five hundred throats. "The Crows were the worst non-plussed I ever beheld. They ap- peared sullen and silent, having very little to say. In a short time they departed for their own village. All the young Piegans had a great time dancing and singing that night until a late hour. A great many may say and think we played the Crows a mean trick by allowing McKay's horse to be used as if he belonged to the Piegans, but not so. We looked upon the Piegans as friends and the reverse with the Crows. I firmly believe the Crows had stolen the American horse from some white man on the emigrant road. I told the Crows as much and they did not deny it. At all events our action made the Piegans our firm friends ever afterwards. Little Dog's village, where Hamilton and McKay had been so warmly received and through the friendship of the chief and his son had done such profitable trading, was on Maria's River. They remained three days at that place, and at their departure for the Blackfoot camp on the north fork of the Milk River, the chief sent Fringe and five other Piegans to accompany them thither. Arriving at one of the lodges of a Crow chief, Hamilton produced both a mysteriously marked arrow given him by Little Dog and the convenient official envelope representing the might and dignity of the United States Government. Although outwardly im- pressed, they indicated by the expression of their faces and signs made behind the backs of the scouts that they had a contempt for the United States, as they belonged to Red Jacket's band of Canadian Crows. The white men obtained fifty-five garnished robes and two good packhorses and saddles, in exchange for their stock the design of the thieving Crows being (as Hamilton learned by their signs) to induce them to re- main in their village until the Piegans should depart and then rob them of their entire outfit. On the following morning, when the Crows were told of the intended 172 HISTORY OF MONTANA departure of the whites and their Piegan escort, there was nearly a rup- ture between the two parties, which was only averted by the boldness and coolness of Fringe. When they separated, the Crows refused to shake hands with the whites and many left the lodge without smoking the pipe of peace. Fringe and his young Piegan warriors also agreed to accompany the scouts for a safe distance from the threatening Crows, as Hamilton and his friend had already gathered a valuable outfit sev- enteen head of stock, besides two mules they had received from Little Dog and his son, and fourteen packs of goods. The white-red party finally got safely out of the Crow village and headed for a Kootenai village on St. Mary's lake, and when well out of sight of the enemy Indians, Fringe and his Indian companions turned in the direction of their own village; not, however, before they had re- ceived from Hamilton three revolvers, with plenty of ammunition and other welcome presents. A few hours afterward the scouts and their outfit were attacked by three mounted Blackfeet. The men had a narrow escape, but their return attack was so decisive that the Indians were quickly shot from their horses and scalped by McKay. Not long after- ward they reached the Kootenai village, and the bloody Blackfoot scalps caused a furor among its warriors. They were tied to the ends of poles and paraded through the village, followed by a procession of old and young singing their war songs, which they kept up until about midnight. THE KOOTENAIS ALSO FRIENDS Hamilton and McKay soon made friends with the Kootenais, who put them down at once as great warriors, thus coolly bringing in Blackfoot scalps and carrying such a ponderous outfit of goods and livestock. Like the Flatheads, they had remained firm friends of the whites and had refused to be drawn into the Spokane war, in the outcome of which they showed much interest. The Kootenais inquired if the scouts had any powder and lead, and when they were presented with a ten-pound keg of powder, as a gift, their joy was such that "McKay remarked he had never seen such pleased Indians in his life." That was the first step in cementing the friendship of the Indians, as they "were not going to part company with the Kootenais this side of Tobacco Plains*, provided we ever go there, The chief, after being informed that the ammunition was a present, made the sign 'wait until we cross the mountains to our people.' " FIVE ATTACKING BLACKFEET "MADE GOOD INDIANS" The squaws built a strong corral for the livestock and brought in fully a thousand pounds of bunch hay before night, the packs were brought in and carefully secured, and at the conclusion of the scalp dance and a * Tobacco plains, along Kootenai River, in the northern part of the present county of Lincoln, far northwestern Montana. HISTORY OF MONTANA 173 "very pleasant evening," the night guards took post. They comprised Hamilton and McKay and two sons of the old chief, Black Bear. Nothing eventful occurred during the first guard, held by Hamilton and the oldest of the chief's sons. At about four o'clock Hamilton was awakened by gun shots all around the village and he and young Black Bear ran to the assistance of McKay and the other Kootenai guard. They reached them just in time to see the other brother flash his knife and scalp a Blackfoot whom he had thrown to the ground, and McKay also had his foot on a six-foot enemy Indian, while he was reloading his shot-gun. Only a few Indian ponies had stampeded and the corral built by the squaws had kept the livestock secure. After the uproar in the camp had sub- sided it was found that five Blackfeet had been made "good Indians, two being credited to McKay." One young Blackfoot had been taken pris- oner, and brought into the chief's lodge. After breakfast the next day, many of the young Indians mounted upon their best ponies were scouring the prairies and when they had brought in the few animals which had escaped, turned their attention' to the prisoner. They took him outside the village, stripped him, cut his hair and gave him fully thirty lashes, his yelling being heard all over the village. Afterward he was told to go, which he did at a fifteen mile gait, until he passed over the ridge and out of sight. A shot was heard and soon after a young Kootenai, a brother to the one who had been killed in the recent fight with the Black- feet, made his appearance from the direction the Blackfoot had taken. He passed by near where Hamilton and McKay were standing, and the former asked him by sign "Got Blackfoot?" He smiled, shook his head and went on to his lodge. Hamilton afterwards found out that the Kootenai had "got" the one that had been captured and released, but that he reported his hair was too short for a scalp. The Kootenais, with Hamilton and McKay on their mules, broke camp October 27th, and, with the squaws keeping the pack animals in order, the mixed party moved forward toward the northern home-land of the Indians beyond the mountains. They had not gone far before a band of two hundred Blackfeet warriors was discovered concealed in a draw, and the moving village quickly closed up into a compact circle, Hamilton and McKay exchanging their white mules for their war-horses. A BATTLE BETWEEN REDSKINS The advance of the two little armies of red warriors is well de- scribed by Hamilton: "We then mounted our horses and rejoined the advance and found the warriors stripped to the breech clouts. Whenever you see that, be assured they are prepared to die in defense of their women and children. They were a noble looking body of brown-skinned warriors. They had no time for painting, for the Blackfeet had been preparing for the attack by stripping themselves in the draw. Many of them did not have a stitch upon them, except a belt and war bonnet and implements of war. At this time they showed themselves upon a rise about four hundred yards distant. They gave forth a thrilling yell and 174 HISTORY OF MONTANA then divided into two wings, as if going to surround the Kootenai out- fit. It was a very interesting sight to see them coming at whirlwind speed, shouting forth yell after yell, and evidently expecting their yelling would stampede some of the Kootenai outfit. In this they were disappointed, as the Kootenais were up to all such manoeuvres and had placed all the squaws and young ones on the outside of the pack animals. The squaws were nervy, evidently realizing that everything they held dear was in danger; at all events they were rustlers on this occasion in keeping the stock from being stampeded. When about one hundred of the Blackfeet, who were charging on our side, got within 300 yards of us, they opened fire with their Hudson Bay flint lock, muzzle-loading guns, but fortu- nately they were of, short range. There was one Blackfoot in advance riding on a fine pinto horse and I turned to McKay and said : 'Let us try and stop that fellow.' As I have before stated, our ponies were thoroughly broken under fire and would scarcely breathe when we took aim. We both fired at the Indian at once and both horse and rider went to the grass and remained there ; then the Kootenais sent forth their war yell of defiance." That seemed to give the Blackfoot warriors pause and, being also outnumbered, they beat a retreat. Only a few Kootenais followed McKay, whom Hamilton had been endeavoring to draw out of danger, as the latter was far in advance charging after the fleeing Blackfeet. This was not accomplished, although both man and horse were bleeding from wounds, until the fiery Scotchman had "lifted some hair" taken some Blackfeet scalps. The two whites and their small band of Kootenai warriors were quite a distance from the main body of Indian warriors before their chief called off his men. The result of the battle was about thirty-five enemy scalps, as against four killed and twenty wounded of the Kootenais. Their booty com- prised a lot of Blackfoot blankets which had been left in the draw and about fifty horses, the latter replacing the Kootenai animals which had been shot and crippled in the fight. As the Blackfeet warriors, in sign language on their retreat, had threatened to renew the fight when the party were crossing the moun- tains, Chief Black Bear sent ahead for reenforcements, and then camped to bury the dead and care for the wounded. The advance then con- tinued, in spite of Hamilton's advice to the chief to send scouts ahead, the moving village was attacked as it emerged from a mountain pass and a timbered stretch. Shots followed rapidly and the Blackfeet both mounted and afoot came at the Kootenais with a yell. They also at- tempted to stampede the pack animals, and Hamilton, even with the aid of his famous horse Hickory, had much difficulty in saving his white mule which a Blackfoot was riding off into the timber. A reenforcement of Kootenais coming over the mountains threw the Blackfeet into a panic. But, to the disgust of the scouts, the retreating Blackfeet were not fol- lowed. Hamilton notes the bravery of the young boys in the fight : "One of the young boys who was driving our pack animals was killed and two HISTORY OF MONTANA 175 others were wounded. Those little boys fought more bravely than many of the grown Indians." Many were wounded, but few killed in this engagement. Both the horses of Hamilton and McKay were badly wounded by arrows and the latter was also painfully injured in the same way. The former earned as great a name as a "medicine man" as he did for his warlike achieve- ments, but, if anything, the plucky and fearless "Me," with his wonderful proficiencies as a bowman and his penchant for Indian scalps, seemed to have been most admired as a white warrior. So great was Hamilton's reputation as a healer, with the advance of the party, that several wounded squaws insisted that he attend them, in preference to their own medicine men. On the 2Qth of October, the summit of the mountains was reached, a scouting party of the newly arrived Kootenais now in the advance, as well as on the sides and at the rear. At the base of the mountains, an encampment was made, while two young men were dispatched with robes to the Hudson Bay trading post, on the north" side of Tobacco Plains, to trade for powder and lead, the stock of which had become dangerously low. The Kootenais expected another attack from the Blackfeet, as it is in the Indian Code that to suffer defeat and not retaliate even if the aggressor is cowardly and inexcusable. DISPUTE AS TO OWNERSHIP OF TOBACCO PLAINS Black Bear and his people decided that they would move their village to the Catholic mission, southwest side of Tobacco Plains, on the banks of the Kootenai River. On the ist of November, accompanied by Young Black 'Bear, and provided with three ponies by his Indian friends, Ham- ilton set out for the Hudson Bay Company's trading post to get some groceries. "The distance to the post," he says, "was about six miles, it being situated about one-fourth mile north of the boundary line after- wards established, which was disappointing to the Hudson Bay Company, as they thought the whole Tobacco Plains was north of the line. I and Linklighter, the trader, had a dispute about where the line would be, he claiming the whole country as Hudson Bay territory, and I claiming the whole of Tobacco Plains for Uncle Sam. Neither of us at that time knew what we were talking about, for the line as run divided the Plains about equally. The trader, after all, was a good kind of a Scot, but had been educated to think Mr. John Bull had a lease upon all of North America." ANOTHER BRUSH WITH THE BLACKFEET Scotty, as the trader was called, returned to the Kootenai village with Hamilton and Young Black Bear, adding to their outfit, on his own ac- count, provisions for a feast. He looked over the wounded horses and men and expressed his regret that he could not have been present at such 176 HISTORY OF MONTANA "a glorious fight." Within the following few days, signs of the enemy became more and more numerous, and on November 5th, with Hamilton McKay (now recovered from his wounds) and Scotty (riding a tough little pony), the scouts decked in warlike attire and horses painted, were advancing with a hundred Kootenai warriors, to feel out the enemy Blackfeet. About an equal number of their warriors soon appeared, set up a war whoop and fired from a safe distance. They were driven into a grove from which they had emerged, and the Kootenais circled around the timber not knowing how many Blackfeet were hidden there. McKay and Scotty were for an immediate charge, but after a council with the main body of the Kootenais, Hamilton's plan was adopted of "smoking out" the enemy, after which the squaws could put out the fire with wet blankets. That plan proved a success and the fleeing Blackfeet were pursued, McKay, as usual getting so far ahead of the native advance that both he and his horse were wounded. Scotty, also, had an arrow stuck through his thigh, and seemed quite proud of his wound. The Kootenai lost three men and many were wounded. Not a few Blackfeet were killed and some of them mutilated. THE RETURN TO WALLA WALLA This was the last real adventure of the trip, and the scouts, after exchanging a shotgun and ammunition for a mule, saddle and twelve -robes (from Black Bear), said good-bye to their Kootenai friends, and started for the lower end of Lake Pend d'Oreille, which occupied six days. Thence they crossed Spokane River and plains, and to Walla Walla had the escort of a band of friendly Nez Perces Indians. They arrived at the post at seven o'clock P. M., of November 22, 1858, about a week after the date fixed at their departure. MAJOR JOHN OWEN'S TRIP IN 1858 Another trip, which tended still further to open up Western Mon- tana, was that made in the spring of 1858. The government outfit, em- bracing about sixty-five head of animals, was in charge of Maj. John Owen, who had been appointed agent for the Flathead, Upper and Lower Pend d'Oreille, and Kootenai Indians. Accompanying the expedition from the Dalles of the Columbia to Fort Owen, Bitter Root Valley, was Charles W. Frush, who describes himself as a "kind of brevet second lieutenant in command of the mess box." From his pen is enjoyed a sketch of the journey in that pioneer day. Also members of the party were a colored boy as cook and four Flathead Indian packers. The route was along the famous Buffalo Trail, through the Rocky Mountains and over the divide until finally it struck Fort Colville, a post of the Hudson's Bay Company in charge of Angus McDonald. The de- feat of the government troops under Colonel Steptoe, in what was then Washington territory (Whitman County of today) had emboldened many of the Indians east of the Rockies, and when the party had reached the HISTORY OF MONTANA 177 Little Spokane River some thirty tniles south of the foot of the present Flathead Lake, "a war party of Spokanes and Kalispels came to camp and had a long talk and a smoke among themselves relative to the major; whether or not they should keep him or kill him, but after a lengthy pow-wow they concluded "to let him go, though they said (so the women of our party interpreted to us) that Major Owen had big eyes and big hands ; that he said and wrote bad things about them to the Great Father at Washington, and it was better that such things should be stopped. During the talk they took the major's saddle animal and tied her near their camp, but afterwards an Indian brought the mule back and tied her at our camp ; and we all drew another long breath and satisfied ourselves (by feeling) that the hair was still on our heads, though the major would have lost a few silver threads only." The route then lay over the divide to the old Kalispel mission, then abandoned, which was located some forty miles below Lake Pend d'Oreille, on the east bank of the river by that name, now known as Clark's Fork of the Columbia ; thence up that stream to where the Flathead and Mis- soula rivers join, called Horse Plains, and thence to St. Ignatius Mission, whose fathers heartily welcomed Major Owen and his party. After a day's rest, the trail took a southerly course to the beautiful Valley of the Jocko, thence to the bottom lands in the Hell Gate Ronde, which like Horse Plains, offered wonderful grazing and a fine camping spot. "Our last day's march," concludes the story, "brought us to the long-looked for haven, Fort Owen ; and after a lapse of twenty years I can see those old adobe walls and buildings as distinctly as if it were but yesterday. When the party reached the fort Mr. Caleb E. Irvine, who had been left in charge, and a few attaches of the fort, ran out to welcome us, and general hand- shaking and congratulations ensued. "The names of the pioneers of this section and where they were lo- cated, I will give as near as I can remember. There were camped in the immediate vicinity of Fort Owen the following : Fred Burr, Thomas Adams, Reece (Rezin) Anderson, Capt. Richard Grant and family, David Petty and John Powell ; those living at Fort Owen were Maj. John Owen, Thomas Harris and wife, Caleb E. Irvine and family, Henry M. Chase and family, John Silverthorne and the writer. Old hunters who had located farms and settled in the Bitter Root valley were Mr. Lumphrey, Al. Tal- man, a Frenchman called Johnny Crappeaux, and an old Mexican named Emanuel, and there was one settler in the Hell Gate ronde named Brooks. In the fall of 1858 a couple of Frenchmen from Colville valley whose names were Louis Brown and Crooked-Hand Shaw camped in the Jocko valley and shortly afterward moved to what is now known as Frenchtown, in Missoula county." BUSINESS EXPEDITION OF LABARGE, HARKNESS & COMPANY The firm of LaBarge, Harkness & Company was formed in St. Louis, in the spring of 1862, for the purpose of trading on the Upper Missouri River. The members of the firm were Eugene Jaccard, James Harkness,g Captains Joseph and John LaBarge and William Galpin. Two steamboats Vol. I 1J 178 HISTORY OF MONTANA were purchased the "Shreveport," a small, light-draft boat for the upper river, and the "Emilie," a fine, large boat. The LaBarges attended to the steamboat interest, while Mr. Harkness went to Washington to obtain the necessary permits from the Interior Department. On his return he bought a large stock of goods for the Indian and mining trade, a saw and a grist mill, and doors, windows, saws, axes, nails, etc., for building a store for the sale of the goods. On the 3Oth of April, the "Shreveport" started for Fort Benton with seventy-five passengers and all the freight she could carry. On the I4th of May, the "Emilie" followed, loaded with passengers and freight. Many were attracted by the novelty of the trip, others by the reports of gold in Dakota and Washington territories,* and others went as employes of the firm. Mr. Harkness preceded the "Emilie" several days, going by railroad as far as St. Joseph, from which point he kept a journal, which has been published by the Historical Society of Montana (Vol. II), and bears many graphic, albeit homely details of the trip up the Missouri to the Deer Lodge Valley of Far Western Mon- tana, thus penetrating to the richest mineral district of the present. FIRST STEAMBOAT RACE ON THE UPPER MISSOURI Under date of May 18, 1862, Mr. Harkness noted, as the steamboat left St. Joseph, 575 miles above St. Louis, that "about one-third of the place has been burned arid destroyed by the army." Twelve days up the river, Omaha, Sioux City and Yankton had been passed and Fort Pierre reached. At Fort Berthold, still further up the river in Dakota, another steamer, "Spread Eagle," was met. It left at 10 :3O A. M., June 5th, and the "Emilie" half an hour later. A third boat, also going up the Missouri, was overtaken in the afternoon of that day. It was the "Key West," which evidently was overhauled. Early the next day, Mr. Harkness en- tered the region of the "bad lands," and notes: "The 'Spread Eagle' is just alongside of us, and we are having a race, (probably) the first ever run on the Upper Missouri. She passed us and then we passed her, when she ran into us, breaking our guards and doing some other dam- age. There was a good deal of ahgry talk." In the afternoon the steam- boat was opposite the mouth of White Earth River, in what is now North Dakota near the most northern point in the Missouri and was 2,235 miles above St. Louis. Aside from the steamboat race, no excitement was re- ported except the running down of a number of buffalo who were swim- ming across the river. On the morning of the 8th of June, the mouth of the Yellowstone was passed and Fort Union was reached in the after- noon. From that point on, for some time, Mr. Harkness's diary is given over to what we now speak of as Montana. TRIP FROM FORT UNION TO FORT BENTON "Landed at Fort Union 7 :oo A. M., and fired a salute of four guns," notes the diary. "The fort is on a good site, but fast going to decay. *Montana, west of the Rocky Mountains was, in 1862, a portion of Washington Territory; that east of it was included within the bounds of Dakota. HISTORY OF MONTANA 179 The Indians lost about five hundred head of horses in the winter from the intense cold and have very poor robes. They do not go out of the fort without being well armed through fear of the Sioux." Past Poplar and Porcupine rivers, with herds of buffalo and antelopes, and packs of wolves continually in sight, the "Emilie" steamed, breaking her tiller rope, grounding and otherwise misbehaving, but on the whole pro- gressing. Mr. Harkness was sick and Captain LaBarge had the rheu- matism, as the weather was cold and wet. On the eleventh, the boat reached the mouth of the Milk River, and on the following day passed Round Butte, half way between Fort Union and Fort Benton, the latter being the immediate objective. Rain had been falling much of the time, and the river became so swollen and the current so rapid that in order to get up sufficient steam for the "Emilie" to move, tar had to be burned. At Dauphan's Rapids, above the mouth of the Judith River, the companion boat, the "Shreveport," was passed, and about the same time a gov- ernment boat was met going down the Missouri, having aboard a num- ber of Lieut. John Mullan's men who had been engaged in building the military road from Walla Walla to Fort Benton. The "Shreveport," the smaller and less powerful boat, was taken on wood just below the rapids (also called "Drowned Men's Rapids"). Note from the diary, under date of Sunday, June I5th: "Passed Judith river and overtook the 'Shreveport' just below ' Drowned Men's Rapids,' where she was wooding. Procured some dry wood and passed the rapids with- out much delay. Dropped a line to the 'Shreveport' and helped her over. The rain fell in torrents, but the passengers walked over with cheers ; quite a number were acquainted with each other on the boats. We had a very agreeable time and I found my son and daughter in good health. Laid up for the night at 8:30. Invited all the passengers of the 'Shreveport' over to listen to a discourse by Rev. J. F. Bartlett." FORT LABARGE ESTABLISHED Taking the "Shreveport" in tow, the "Emilie" continued the journey, past Maria's River and in view of the Little Rockies to the northwest and the Judith Mountains to the southeast, "wooding" along the route. At Fort Benton, two days afterward, both boats discharged their freight "on a prairie devoid of timber." Mr. Harkness therefore found his saw- mill useless at that point. He says significantly that "some of the at- taches are glad to see us." Little Dog, the chief of the Blackfeet, who was at Fort Benton at the time, pledged his friendship, "and sent out runners for his people to come in. Had a business meeting of all the partners," he adds, "and decided to build our post a mile and a half above Fort Benton, naming it Fort LaBarge." It was laid out in a few days, 300 by 200 feet, Madam LaBarge driving the first stake. On the i8th, "began the erection of a canvas store, and goods are selling fast. Very warm, one hundred degrees in the shade." On the following morning, the "Emilie" left for St. Louis, and on the day after, the "Spread Eagle" arrived, also soon departing for St. Louis. The re- 180 HISTORY OF MONTANA mainder of the trip up the Missouri was to be made in the "Shreveport." At this period of the venture, the weather seemed to be "freakish." One day it was "very warm one hundred and four degrees in the store, but it rained and turned so cold that we made a fire in the cabin of the 'Shreve- port.' * * * Trade good until stopped by one of the most terrible hail storms I ever saw. The ground was covered to the depth of sev- eral inches. The roof of the boat was cut so that she leaked in many places." FIRST WHITE WOMEN TO SEE THE GREAT FALLS June 3Oth was a day of historic note, as witness this enfry : " A party was made up to visit the Great Falls of the Missouri. It consisted of Eu- gene Jaccard, Father De Smet, Giles Filley and son Frank, Madam La- Barge, Margaret Harkness (daughter of the proprietor), Mrs. Culbertson and son Jack, W. G. Harkness, Tom LaBarge and Cadotte, the guide, the last three being on horseback, and the others in an ambulance drawn by four mules. They started at 4 P. M. and in the afternoon met some Blood Indians, relatives of Mrs. Culbertson, who were friendly under the influence of Father De Smet and Mrs. C. An antelope was killed and cooked for supper and the party camped for the night. They started at 4 A. M. next morning, and reached the falls about 9 or 10 A. M. Madam LaBarge and Margaret Harkness, leaving the ambulance, ran to the point from which the first glimpse could be had, and are the first white women to have seen the Great Falls of the Missouri. They found the way down to the river with difficulty, and looking up saw the falls in all their beauty and grandeur." OVERLAND TRIP TO DEER LODGE VALLEY Below the Great Falls, the "Shreveport" was discharged of her freight, oxen and horses were bought, as well as four small mules, and the steam- boat returned to St. Louis, the balance of the trip to Deer Lodge Valley and the mining country being made overland. After crossing the Sun River, the mountain road was taken toward the South. At the Dear- born, "lost best mule owing to flies and wild disposition," and in as- cending the Prickly Pear found a bad wash-out in Mullan's military road, which the men were endeavoring to repair. It is human nature to criticise, and Harkness cannot refrain from commenting on Mullan's work: If he had made the road on the hills it might have been per- manent. They had twenty yoke of oxen to one wagon and could not take it up. They have cut logs all day to place across the gullies, putting on cross-pieces to make a road. It is now evening and they are going to 1 try the new road. I hope there will be no accidents. A miss of six inches would have sent them five hundred feet into the creek bottom." Harkness found the road filled with trains, bound, like his own, to the Montana mining country. He also met disappointed miners return- ing to the States; also some, on the way, who had struck "pay dirt." HISTORY OF MONTANA 181 His trains left the Government Mullan's Road and took a short-cut to Little Blackfoot River, which they crossed for the last time. They had now crossed the divide to the western slopes of the Rockies, and commenced the descent into Deer Lodge Valley. It was now July 23rd, and the diary has this to say: "After a few miles we commenced the descent to Deer Lodge Valley. From the top of the hill a fine view of the valley, surrounded by snow-capped mountains, is presented. The dif- ferent creeks, with their lining of willows, can be traced with a field glass almost to their sources in the mountains and houses can be seen. After descending the hill, which was fully three miles long, we crossed the bottom and the Deer Lodge River, a wide and fine stream at this point. Nooned at 1 1 A. M. in the most intense heat, and after dinner went down to John Grant's house at the Forks, where N. Wall and the American Mining Company are (located). Quite a number of our old acquaintances are here, and I think I will remain. "I saw several hundred cows and calves belonging to Grant, the finest I have ever seen in America. Red clover is growing on the banks, proof to me that grain can be raised here. Trout are plentiful and the miners catch and dry them, and game birds are numerous. The hills roll gently back towards the East, and in the West they rise abruptly, nearly to perpetual snow. The Blackfoot and Deer Lodge rivers unite and form the Hell Gate River, not far from the houses." But Mr. Harkness did not remain. He prospected for gold on Flint and Gold creeks and along Hell Gate River, but found the outlook either for gold or trade far from his expectations. The weather also was alternately fiery hot and intensely cold. Most of the miners who had not given up hope, were also preparing to go to Oregon for the winter. He, therefore, sold his ambulance, evidently a sort of an elephant on his hands, to Mr. Grant, and on August 8, 1862, turned his face and his party toward the Missouri, and just a month afterward reached Fort Union on the return trip. At Fort LaBarge, Mr. Harkness built a boat forty feet long called the "Maggie" (named after his daughter), which he launched on the 26th, and started down the river accompanied by one of Major Culbertson's boats. As the Sioux were again on the war path, the two boats kept together for mutual protection. Two others joined them, so that the fleet put out of Fort Union with confidence. At Fort Pierre, Dakota, the danger zone was considered negotiated, and the remainder of the trip to St. Louis was made without special anxiety or incident. Mr. Harkness reached St. Louis (by railroad from Han- nibal) October 7, 1862. The immediate results of the expedition sent out by LaBarge, Hark- ness & Company, or LaBarge, Harkness & Jallard, were not epoch-mak- ing, but various unrelated incidents of that period indicated the creation of new conditions in the development of Montana. Fort LaBarge, as a rival of Fort Benton, proved a failure, although the conditions seemed favorable to the growth of any trading post along the middle reaches of the Missouri, which might serve as a depot of supplies for the Eastern emigrants and others bound for the newly opened gold diggings of O S W HISTORY OF MONTANA 183 Southwestern Montana. In the summer of Mr. Harkness' venture, while the "Spread Eagle" and "Key West," owned by the American Fur Com- pany, and the "Emilie" and "Shreveport," of his own firm, were speeding up the Missouri with supplies for Fort Benton, a party one of many of 130 men, women and children, with 52 wagons, under the direc- tion of Capt. James L. Fisk, was proceeding overland from Minnesota for Fort Benton and the gold fields of Bannack City. In September, 1862, the great emigrant train reached Fort Benton, and continued west to Gold Creek, where it arrived twenty days later and dispersed to the vari- ous diggings then known. But although the LaBarge concern had proven its enterprise by bring- ing into Montana the first steam sawmill put in operation within the pres- ent limits of the state, neither in capital nor influence was it able to compete with the American Fur Company. Its stock of goods was much inferior to that of the older and wealthier company and its freighting capacities more limited. The great bulk of trade, therefore, continued to go to Fort Benton. The years 1863-64 saw the decline and fall of Fort LaBarge, then in charge of Robert H. Lemon. Lieutenant Bradley, in his "Affairs at Fort Benton," gives the following explanation of the decisive disaster: "They had contracted this year (1863) to deliver at Fort Benton cer- tain freight for Capt. Nicholas Wall, an old and well known steamboat captain, and an influential man in charge at St. Louis. The low stage of water compelled the discharge of the freight, with the goods of the com- pany as well, above Cow Island, and Lemon was, therefore, compelled to seek other transportation for his goods, and the freighting capacities of the country being very limited, King and Gillette received twenty- five cents a pound for carrying them from Snake Point to Bannack City, a distance of about miles. Captain Wall at once instituted proceed- ings against the firm and obtained judgment against them. Fort LaBarge with all its appurtenances, including the sawmill and a considerable quan- tity of peltries was attached and sold at sheriff's sale the following sum- mer. The fort was purchased by the American Fur Company, while the sawmill was knocked down to a bidder from the mining regions, whither it was carried." Lieutenant Bradley 's footnotes, or comments, regarding this famous pioneer lawsuit, which resulted in the discontinuance of Fort Benton's rival, present some interesting facts, as follows: "Picotte was in charge, Lemon came up as agent of Labarge. Lemon discharged Picotte on ac- count of insufficiency and drunkenness, and put their business in the hands of Dawson. Picotte had been instructed to remove the goods in a flatboat from Cow Island, but he lay in the house drunk and neglected the business. When the business was turned over to Dawson, he, na- turally not being bound to the Labarges, moved his own goods first, but during the winter hauled all the Labarges and Wall's also. The law- suit was on account of this delay. * * * "Labarge sued Wall and got damages for seizure of his fort and injury to his business. The sawmills and buildings were sold in 1864, but the goods and peltries, etc., not until 1866." CHAPTER IX FIRST GOLD DISCOVERIES AND WORKINGS The post and the town of Fort Benton arose as a mart of trade, its early prosperity as a fur center being subsequently accelerated and sus- tained as a depot of supplies for the mining country, and the emigrants en route thereto. The other large municipalities and towns of the pioneer period were based directly on the gold discoveries and workings, the story of which is a continuous tale of unrest and adventure. MONTANA'S FIRST GOLD MINER The first "colors" of the precious metal in Montana were found by a peddler of Indian goods and trinkets, of mongrel Scotch and Indian blood, whose route stretched from the Rocky Mountains of Western Montana to the Pacific Coast. Francois Finlay, or Benetsee, after ex- changing his colored clothes, beads, powder, lead, and what-not (perhaps whiskey) with the red wanderers of the west, for furs and buffalo robes, became so prosperous that he bought a large drove of horses in California and brought them to Deer Lodge Valley. How many years passed in such occupations, history recordeth not; but it is known that Benetsee went to reside in that pleasant place in Montana sometime prior to 1850. The stream upon which he located his retreat became known as Benetsee Creek. The wandering habits of a western peddler, or trader, cannot be ob- literated, and the half-breed continued his trips to the Pacific Coast, with his Montana ranch as his base of operations. After one of his journeys to California, in 1852, he returned to his quiet home in Deer Lodge Valley, hot with the gold fever of the far west. Examining, with critical eye, the near country, especially the sand bars along his home creek, he was impressed with its remarkable resemblance to the gold-bearing soil of California. Finlay then obtained a pan and commenced to wash the gravel, as he had seen the California miners do, and at length obtained about a teaspoonful of yellow grains. This sample he took to Angus McDonald, chief factor of the post controlled by the Hudson's Bay Com- pany, about twenty miles south of Flathead Lake. Although not a miner, the fur trader had such faith in the "find" that he purchased it and then sent it to be analyzed by an expert at" one of the company's other posts. His judgment was confirmed and he "grub-staked" Finlay to the extent of a month's provisions and necessary miner's tools. After Finlay had delivered to his backer about two ounces of the gold dust, they both tired '. 184 HISTORY OF MONTANA 185 of the venture and returned to the ways of trade, especially as the Hudson Bay Company discouraged mining as likely to interfere with its legitimate business. Finlay's findings resulted in no further explorations for gold in Montana fields until 1856. In that year, a party comprising Robert Here- ford, late of Helena, John Saunders (Long John), and Bill Madison, on their way to Salt Lake from the Bitter Root Valley, where they had spent the winter trading with the Indians, prospected a little while passing Benetsee Creek and found some gold dust. This they gave to old Captain Grant, "who used to show it up to the time of his death in 1862 as the first piece of gold found in the country." SlLVERTHORN NO LONGER A MYSTERY Bradley's journal (Vol. Ill, Montana Historical Society's contribu- tions, p. 277) has this to say about a gold find which, at that time, seemed quite mysterious: Major Culbertson had arrived at Fort Benton from a trip down the Missouri, in October, 1856, and not long afterward a mountaineer "appeared at the fort with a quantity of gold dust which he desired to exchange for goods. He had been prospecting, he said, in the mountains to the southwest, but where there was plenty of gold, but seemed averse to describing the exact locality. He demanded $1,000 worth of goods for the dust, but as nothing was known at the fort of the presence of gold in the adjoining country, Major Culbertson had doubts of the genuineness, or of its value of gold, and hesitated to accept it. A young man named Ray, a relative of Culbertson's and an employe at the fort, was sanguine the metal was gold and worth all that was asked for it; and by his advice Major Culbertson finally received it as a private venture, charging the goods to his own account. The mountaineer took in exchange a supply of horses, arms, blankets, tobacco, etc., and went back to the mountains. The next season the dust was sent to the mill and realized to Major Culbertson the sum of $1,525, it having been proved to be nearly pure gold. This was the earliest exchange of gold dust in Montana, and no more was brought to Fort Benton till after the mining excitement began in 1860.^ It was undoubtedly collected within the limits of the territory, and may be safely set down as the first important yield from the mines that have since attained a place among the most im- portant gold fields of the world." As a footnote Lieutenant Bradley adds the following, after giving Silverthorn as the name of the mountaineer who brought the gold dust to Fort Benton: "He remained in the country for several years, retiring alone for long periods to the mountains, and appearing at the forts or settlements with plenty of gold to buy all his necessities. He could never be induced to tell where he got his gold, but said it was a mine known only to himself. According to his statement, it was not a very rich one, paying him only four or five dollars a day, but the amount of gold he always had seemed to belie his words." Later historians of Montana than Lieutenant Bradley have unearthed the personality of Silverthorn and claim that he never posed as a gold dis- 186 HISTORY OF MONTANA coverer. The matter is thus clarified by W. F. Wheeler, former librarian of the Montana Historical Society: "In 1858, John Silverthorn, an em- ploye of Major Owen and who had charge of his pack trains, while on his way from Fort Owen to Fort Benton, carrying with him fine furs, skins and robes, purchased from the Indians which were to be shipped from Fort Benton down the Missouri River to the eastern market, happened to camp over night at Benesee's or Gold Creek. Silverthorn and Finlay were old acquaintances. Finlay wanted tobacco and a few supplies which he knew Silverthorn always carried, and, as he had no money, offered in exchange for the articles a quantity of yellow dust which he said Mr. McDonald had informed him was gold, and which Silverthorn hesitat- ingly took in exchange for about ten dollars' worth of such supplies as Finlay needed. Arrived at Fort Benton, Silverthorn showed the dust to Major Culbertson, then the agent of the American Fur Company, and finally sold it to him for twelve dollars in trade. Major Culbertson shipped the yellow stuff to St. Louis, describing what he believed it to be, whence it came and the sum he had paid for it. At St. Louis it was properly assayed and pronounced to be worth fifteen dollars." STUART BROTHERS BRING REAL RESULTS But despite all subsequent encouragement offered by Major Culbert- son to his fur employes to be on the look-out for gold, there were no. developments for several years outside of Finlay and Benetsee's Creek. The discovery of the half-breed and the major's promotion of gold mining were barren of results until the two Stuart brothers came along and com- menced the practical development of the "colors" found. Coming of a good Virginia family, transplanted to Illinois and Iowa, the two sons, James and Granville, accompanied their father to California in the sum- mer of 1852, and arrived in Sacramento Valley in the fall. The elder man returned; the sons and brothers remained. They mined, herded stock, Helped defend the pioneer miners against the Indians, prospected over a wide range of country, and in tHe summer of 1857 started for the States. There were eleven in their party.. On account of the bad weather, they suffered greatly, and Granville was taken sick with moun- tain fever in the valley of the Humboldt River, and the two brothers, with Reece Anderson, remained at the camp of a trader for eight days, while the remainder of the party continued the journey. When Granville had recovered, after about two weeks, the Mormons had closed all the main roads leading to the States, by way of the southern thoroughfare through South Pass. As they could not proceed along the regular emigrant road, the three men decided to accompany some mountaineers, who traded each summer with the emigrants along the overland road, and who usually moved north to winter in the Beaverhead and Deer Lodge Valleys. The winter of 1857-58 was spent in Beaverhead Valley and on the Big Hole River. The Stuart brothers and Anderson had as neighbors at the latter camp Jacob Meeks, Robert Dempsey and family, Jackson Antoine Leclaire and family, and Oliver and Michael Leclaire; and HISTORY OF MONTANA 187 scattered around in a radius of twenty-five miles were the following per- sons, who spent the same winter there : Richard Grant, Sr., and family, John F. Grant and family, Thomas Pambrun and family, L. R. Maillet, John M. Jacobs and family, Robert Hereford, John Morgan, John W. Powell, John Saunders, : Ross, Antoine Pourrier, Antoine Courtoi, and a Delaware Indian named Jim Simonds, who had a considerable quantity of goods for the Indian trade, as did also Hereford and the Grants.* Most of the others had small lots of goods and trinkets with which to buy horses, furs and dressed skins from the Indians. The price of a common horse in those days was two blankets, one shirt, one pair of cloth leggings, one small mirror, one knife, one paper of vermilion and usually a few other trifles. A dressed deer-skin brought from fifteen to twenty balls, with powder to carry them ; an elk, twenty to twenty-five balls and powder; an antelope, five to ten; a beaver, twenty to twenty- five, and a pair of good moccasins, ten. The Grants and the Hudson Bay men generally complained bitterly of the American hunters and ad- venturers, claiming that they had more than doubled the price of all those articles among the Indians in the last ten years ; "which," says Granville Stuart, "was doubtless so." "Simonds and Hereford each had considerable whiskey in their outfits, but it was only for the whites, as they did not trade it to the Indians, who were scattered about, a few families in a place, engaged in hunting and trapping. They were mostly Snakes and Bannocks, with a few Flat- heads. They did not seem to crave liquor, as most Indians do, but were quiet and unobtrusive, and as respectable as Indians ever get to be. But the whites and half-breeds drank enough while it lasted (which, for- tunately, was not long) for themselves and all the Indians in the country ; and their extravagant antics were true copies of the pictures drawn by Bonneville of a mountaineer and trapper rendezvous. At times it seemed as though blood must be shed; but that Providence that seems to watch over the lives of drunken men stood by them, and the end of the liquor was reached before anybody was killed." While hunting and trading in that region, like other pioneers of that period, the Stuarts and their companions were several times obliged to eat their horses to keep from starving, as game was unusually scarce. They were also under the constant menace of having the animals upon which they must rely for transportation stolen by the Blackfeet, whose deviltry was then confined to stealing rather than murder. In April, 1858, while planning to go to Fort Bridger, from which there was a crying demand for beef, James Stuart and his companions returned to Deer Lodge, where game was more abundant, to kill and dry enough meat to take them to the southern post. Before starting for Fort Bridger, the Stuart brothers, and Anderson and Ross, made a little side trip to in- vestigate the reported finding of gold by the Red River half-breed, Benetsee, in the lower end of Deer Lodge, in 1852, and its subsequent discovery, in 1856, by a party on its way to Salt Lake from the Bitter * See Granville Stuart's "Life of James Stuart." 188 HISTORY OF MONTANA Root Valley. They accordingly left the rest of the mountaineers on the 4th of April, 1858, and moved over to Deer Lodge and found John M. 'Jacobs camped at the mouth of what is now Gold Creek (then known as Benetsee Creek), with a band of cattle that he had taken from John F. Grant on shares ; and here they luxuriated on milk and wild game, after- ward joining camp with Thomas Adams, who also had a band of cattle, and with whom they prospected on Benetsee Creek and found fair pros- pects near the surface. But as they had no tools and were living on meat alone, and were much harassed by the Blackfeet, who stole four of their horses and made nightly attempts to get the rest, they gave up pros- pecting and moved up Flint Creek to a point three miles above where the town of Phillipsburg now stands, where they built a corral strong enough to bid defiance to the Blackfeet, into which they put all their horses every night. The Stuarts reached Fort Bridger June 28, 1858; a few weeks after- ward were at Camp Floyd, forty miles south of Salt Lake City where Johnston army was stationed to keep the Mormons in order, and there sold their horses; then went to Green River and began "buying and trading in poor oxen with the supply trains," and subsequently doing bus- iness with the emigrants, bound for "Pike's Peak or bust." The following winter and spring saw them on Henry's Fork of the Green River and in Salt River Valley, on Lander's cut-off of the emigrant road, engaged in trading with the mountain men and the emigrants. In the fall of 1860, they moved north to the mouth of the Pah-Sammeri, or Stinking Water, in Beaverhead Valley, intending to winter there ; but the Indians be- coming insolent and semi-hostile and beginning to kill their cattle, they moved over to Deer Lodge, and located at the mouth of Gold Creek, re- solved to develop the gold mines in that vicinity. In the spring (1861), they found good prospects in several places. James went to Fort Benton, where a steamboat was expected, to buy supplies, leaving his brother alone in charge of the ranch, Anderson having gone down the river from Benton on a visit to the States. The steamboat burned near the mouth of Milk River and consequently James failed to get any supplies, and, as misfortunes seldom come single, during his absence four Bannack Indians stole a band of horses from the Flatheads at Camas prairie (just below what is now Bear Gulch), who pursued and overtook them at Moose Creek, on the Big Hole River, and killed two of them and re- captured all the horses. They spared the other two, telling them to go and tell their people to quit stealing from the Flatheads, who wished to be at peace with them. The Flatheads returned home rejoicing; but their success was the whites' calamity, for the two they spared followed them back to Gold Creek, where, on the night of June 22, 1861, they stole all the horses there, except three that Granville kept tied every night at the cabin door. They took twenty-three head of half and three-quarters breed American mares and colts, none of which were ever recovered. It was evident that at first these Indians did not want to steal from the whites, for they had passed by the same horses twice before without HISTORY OF MONTANA 189 molesting them, but after their misfortune at the hands of the Flatheads, they ceased to be respecters of persons. And this is Indian ethics anyhow. THE STUARTS MINE IN THE SPRING OF 1862 There being neither tools nor lumber to be had, upon James's return they hired two men to whipsaw sluice lumber at ten cents per foot, and sent, by Worden & Company's pack train, to Walla Walla for picks and shovels, that being the nearest place at which they could be procured, but they did not arrive in time to commence mining that season. They dug a ditch, however, and completed their arrangements for the following spring. Late in the fall, a few others came in and began to prospect, among whom were Maj. W. Graham, A. S. Blake, and P. S. McAdow, who found good prospects in a dry gulch just below where the village of Pioneer now stands, and determined to remain and mine at that place in the spring. In May, 1862, operations were commenced, but only paid from one to three dollars per day by the old pick and shovel process, except one claim in Pioneer Gulch, just above the mouth of French Gulch, which paid . from six to. twenty dollars per day to the hand. While working in the gulch, which only paid from $1.50 to $2 a day, the Stuart company kept their horses picketed on a grassy slope, now known as Bratton's bar, which in 1866, was accidentally discovered to be rich in gold, and has paid enormously ever since; but in '62 nobody ever thought of looking on a grassy hillside for gold, although subsequent developments proved that there were many rich channels and deposits on the hills in that vicinity, while the creeks and gulches were usually too poor to pay for working. Such is mining, in which it is better to be lucky than to have the wisdom of Solomon. On the 24th of June, sixteen men arrived, being the first of quite a large number who left Pike's Peak mines (now Colorado Territory) for the Salmon River mines, but most of whom finally brought up in Deer Lodge and vicinity. Among the first party was J. M. Bozeman, after whom the flourishing county-seat of Gallatin County was subsequently named, and who was murdered by the Indians on the Yellowstone in 1867. This party discovered a rich claim in a branch of Gold Creek, which has since been known as "Pike's Peak Gulch." A considerable number of men also came up the Missouri River on steamboats to Fort Benton, bound for the Salmon River mines, but many of whom stopped at Gold Creek and remained permanently. The first of these reached Gold Creek on the 29th of June, and among them were S. T. Hauser and W. B. Dance, both of whom became intimate friends of James Stuart, and were associated with him most of his sub- sequent life. MR. STUART COMMENCES TO STUDY MEDICINE During this summer he sent east and procured a number of medical works and instruments and a small stock of drugs and medicines, and applied himself assiduously to the study of medicine and surgery. He had 190 HISTORY OF MONTANA read medicine under a physician in his youth, and also attended a course or two of medical lectures. He continued his studies in this department of science during the rest of his life, and, at the time of his death, was possessed of a good medical library and the latest improved medical and surgical instruments, and was probably one of the best read physicians and surgeons in Montana. He never practiced, however, except among his friends and associates, many of whom owe their lives to his skill, for he was very successful, and rarely failed to cure any case. But he would never accept even the slightest compensation from any one, seeming to think the pleasure he derived from having cured them reward enough. FIRST ELECTION IN PRESENT MONTANA On the I4th of July, 1862, an election was. held at Pioneer Gulch, Fort Owen and Hell Gate and James Stuart was elected sheriff of Missoula County, Washington Territory, which embraced what is now Missoula County and all of Deer Lodge west of the range. This was the first election held in the Rocky Mountains, north of Colorado. BANNACK CITY AND EARLY DIGGINGS About this time (July, 1862) one Hurlbut discovered the diggings on Big Prickly Bear Creek, where the town of Montana City (northern part of Jefferson County) afterward sprang up; and a few days after, John White, with a party on the way to Pioneer, struck the mines at Bannack City, which proved very rich; almost simultaneously Slack and party found mines on the head of Big Hole River, and within a week John W. Powell and party found the Old Bar mines on North Boulder Creek. At this time quite a village, known as American Fork, had grown up at Stuart's ranch, at the mouth of Gold Creek, but it soon lost its im- portance because of the superior richness of the mines at Bannack City. The first discovery in that locality had been made in August, and a little city had grown up in a few months. In the summer of 1862 the streams of immigration were setting strongly toward both the Gold Creek country of Montana and the Salmon River fields of Idaho especially the Florence diggings. The Idaho at- tractions led to the Bannack City discoveries. William A. Clark tells how in his centennial address: "During this summer (1862) a small party discovered some mines on Big Hole River of limited extent. A party of Coloradians, among them Dr. Levitt, of Bannack, had attempted the route to the Florence mines by way of Lemhi Valley, and were forced to abandon it by reason of precipitous mountains, and were by favorable reports led to the Deer Lodge Valley as a desirable wintering place. This point they reached in July, 1862. While there, two horsemen came in from Lemhi and reported the existence of favorable indications for gold on Grasshopper Creek, near where Bannack now stands. They were provided with supplies and urged to return and prospect the gulch and report. This they proceeded to do, and returning with the news met the HISTORY OF MONTANA 191 impatient party moving on toward the place. Augmented by other pros- pectors joining them, they proceeded to the discovery which had been made by John White on the i6th of August, 1862, and in honor of the discoverer, named White's Bar. Soon afterward other bars were found which were extremely rich. The gulch itself was then opened and mining began in earnest. In the autumn a train was dispatched to Salt Lake City for provisions, the town of Bannack was laid out, and by the first of January, 1863, a population of 500 souls had gathered there, and among them some of the wildest and most reckless adventurers whose names and misdeeds figure conspicuously in the early history of the STREET IN THE BANNACK OF TODAY Territory. Thus began the first important mining operations in this Territory." FIRST EXECUTION AT AMERICAN FORK (HANGTOWN) About the middle of August, 1862, three horse thieves and desperadoes arrived at American Fork from the lower country, and were appre- hended by their pursuers. One of them, who resisted, was shot to death in a saloon where he was gambling; his companion was captured there, and the third was taken in Worden & Company's store. One of the other two was acquitted, while the third (C. W. Spillman) was hanged at twenty-seven minutes past two o'clock, P. M., August 26, 1862. His only claim to be noticed in this history is that his was the first execution in what is now Montana, and that he was hanged in half an hour from the time he was sentenced. The execution caused the town of American Fork to be recorded as Hangtown on all the western maps for some years after, although it was never known by that name in the locality. It was not that undesirable name which induced the Stuart brothers to abandon American Fork, at about this time, but as nearly everyone had left Gold Creek and gone to booming Bannack City, they decided to 192 HISTORY OF MONTANA locate there with the crowd and engage in the butchering business and anything else which promised honest profit. They made the move, leaving Anderson in charge of the ranch and stock at Gold Creek. As the spring of 1863 drew near, James Stuart chaffed under the restraint and decided to organize a company for the purpose of exploring and prospecting in the valley of the Yellowstone, which had been almost abandoned since the extermination of the beaver and the trade founded on its fur. STUART'S YELLOWSTONE EXPEDITION The men who were to form the famous Yellowstone expedition of 1863 started from Bannack City for the Fifteen Mile Creek, or Rattle- snake Creek, on the 9th of April, 1863. They went in squads of two and three and in the forenoon of the following day fourteen men, who were to form the party, organized a company under the following form of agreement : "Having determined to explore a portion of the country drained by the Yellowstone for the purpose of discovering gold mines and securing town sites, and believing the object could be better accom- plished by forming ourselves into a regularly organized company, we hereby appoint James Stuart captain, agreeing upon our word of honor to obey all orders given or issued by him or any subordinate officer ap- pointed by him. In case of any member refusing to obey an order or orders from said captain, he shall be forcibly expelled from our camp. It is further understood and agreed that we all do our equal portions of work, the captain being umpire in all cases, sharing equally the benefits of said labor both as to the discovery of gold and securing town sites. Signed: James Stuart, Cyrus D. Watkins, John Vanderbilt, James N. York, Richard McCafferty, James Hauxhurst, Drewyer Underwood, Samuel T. Hauser, Henry A. Bell, William Roach, A. Sterne Blake, George H. Smith, Henry T. Geery, Ephraim Bostwick. The fifteenth man, George Ives, did not sign the agreement, notes Granville (who edited the journal of the expedition prepared by James), because he did not overtake the party until next day, when it seems to have been for- gotten. Six men, who had intended to join the expedition, were en- deavoring to collect their horses which had been wintering in Deer Lodge, and failed to overtake the main body. They were turned back by hostile Crows and the discovery of Alder Gulch and the rise of Vir- ginia City resulted. But that is another story. NEARLY DISCOVERS ALDER GULCH On the divide between the Madison and Stinking Water, two of the members of the Stuart expedition (Geery and McCafferty) "got a splendid prospect on a high bar," and although the news was conveyed to the captain the rest of the party were not informed "for fear of breaking up the expedition." As it afterward developed, "this prospect was on a fork of Alder Gulch, called Granite Creek," and if the rich "strike" had not been made by one of the men left behind, it is certain HISTORY OF MONTANA 193 that the honor would have fallen to the Stuart party. "As it was, when they got back, Alder Gulch was full of miners and all the interest centered there." The Stuart outfit crossed the divide, over the old Buffalo road and through the low gap in the mountains described in the Lewis-Clark journal, and at that point the captain of the expedition noted: "We are following Lewis and Clark's trail. We are about thirty miles from the three forks of the Missouri." The general direction of travel was north- east to the divide between the Yellowstone and Missouri Rivers and thence to Shields River, a northern tributary of the Yellowstone in what in now Park County. Here Stuart's journal stops to note: "We are supposed to be on Shields River (as they were). Lewis and Clark have played us out; if we had left the notes and map of their route at home and followed the Indian trail, we would have saved four days' travel in coming from Bannack City here." SAVED FROM THE TREACHEROUS, CROWS The party traveled up the north bank of the Yellowstone, and some- where in the present county of Yellowstone fell in with a band of Crow Indians, who attempted to frighten the whites and steal their horses and every other thing within reach. Stuart's men were, with difficulty, pre- vented from attacking the red-skins at once. The party was undoubtedly saved through the coolness, strategy and bravery of the leader. At his direction, when the chief was caught apart from his thieving, insolent warriors, the leader of the Crows was covered with Captain Stuart's rifle, and the principal Indian warriors also looked into the rifles and pistols of the whites, although the Indians out-numbered the whites two to one. In the meantime, the Indians had thrown off their blankets and stood naked with their muskets leveled at the whites. It was a contest of eye-to-eye will power and, as was the rule, the whites won. Many years afterward one of the men, Samuel T. Hauser, thus described the dramatic scene : "The suspense and anxiety we endured for a few min- utes, while we glared at each other, was fearful. To realize it, one has only image himself surrounded by these savage fiends, hundreds of miles from relief or reinforcements. They were two to one of us, equally as well armed as we were, and several hundred more of them within a few miles. But, fortunately, they all looked to their chief, and saw that he was lost if a gun was fired. "We, too, looked to our captain, and our danger was almost forgotten in admiration. His whole features, face and person had changed; he seemed and was, taller; his usually calm face was all on fire; his quiet, light blue eye was now flashing like an eagle's, and seemingly looking directly through the fierce and, for a time, undaunted savage that stood be- fore him. For several seconds it was doubtful whether the old warrior chief would cower before his white brother, or meet his fate then and there. "Our captain, with his flashing eyes riveted upon him, was fiercely and Vol.1 13 194 HISTORY OF MONTANA eloquently reproaching him with his bad faith to the pale faces and their Great Father, winding up by saying, in a voice of stern determination, 'Signal your warriors off, or I'll send you to your last hunting ground !' For an instant the suspense was beyond description; a death-like silence reigned. The dark, fierce, snake-like eyes of the fiends about us were enough to unnerve the most of men. To me the delay was awful, and I could not decide from the defiant air of their chief whether he was going to give the desired signal or die ; but finally a wave of his hand relieved our doubts, and his braves all lowered their weapons of death and sul- lenly sought their robes and ponies." Hauser adds that the second chief, a tall, fine looking young warrior, was so enraged both at the old chief's action and the hilarity of the former, that "rushing up to me in a white heat, he placed his finger on my nose and then on his own, and quickly touching his gun and then mine, pointed to one side. All of which was a plain enough challenge to a single- handed combat. And while I didn't 'see it,' the other fellows did, shouting with laughter and saying 'Go in, Hauser. You can get away with him.' But I couldn't 'see it' in that light, and the young brave had to retire without satisfaction, which, I regret to say, he got afterward." POMPEY'S PILLAR REACHED Three or four days after this rather disturbing adventure, the Stuart party reached Pompey's Pillar, on the south side of the Yellowstone about in the middle of the county by that name. Of course there is a town there now. When Stuart was passing along in 1863, ne says, under date of May 3rd: "We camped three miles below Pompey's Pillar, on which we found the names of Captain Clark and two of his men cut in the rock, with the date of July 25, 1806. Fifty-seven years ago! And it is probable that this landscape then looked precisely the same as it does now. There are also two more names cut here which I never heard of before. But I suppose they must have belonged to some of the bands of trappers that, under old Jim Bridger, the Sublette and Bonneville, made this their hunting ground. The names are Derick and Vancourt, and the accompanying date is May 23, 1834. The pillar is a good land- mark, but it is all stuff about the spring in the top of it. "Buffalo to be seen in every direction, and very tame. We can ride within 300 yards of them, unless they smell us ; and if they do, they will run if they are a mile away. Small game is also abundant. No wonder the Crows like their country ; it is a perfect paradise for a hunter." FAVORABLE PROSPECTS AND A TOWN LOCATED Two days afterward, when the expedition reached the mouth of the Big Horn, it had traveled 401 miles, but the captain decided that he had been so misled by the Lewis and Clark notes and maps that at least seventy-five miles had been needlessly traveled; which left 326 miles actual distance between Bannack City to that point, "and there can be a HISTORY OF MONTANA 195 good wagon-road made over the route with but very little labor." Captain Stuart's journal says that "In the evening, some of the party washed a few pans of loose gravel from a bar on the Big Horn, and found from ten to fifty very fine colors of gold in every pan. They also tried a gravel bank about fifty feet above the river, and got several colors to the pan. All the party think we will find good diggings up the river." The prospects were so favorable that under the date of the following day, May 6, 1863, the record reads : "Early in the morning, five men were detailed to cross the Big Horn and survey a town-site and ranches. They made a raft and crossed without any difficulty. Four men were sent out to prospect, and the rest had to keep camp and guard the horses. "The prospectors returned first. They found only a few colors or specks of gold. The party that went across the Big Horn located a town site of 320 acres and thirteen ranches of 160 acres each, while I located two ranches in the ^bottom between the two rivers. The sub- joined plat shows the shape of all the locations, as well as the general topography of the vicinity. (Historical contributions, Vol. I, p. 182.) I also engraved my name, with the date, on a sandstone about three quarters of a mile above camp, on the Big Horn. It will stay there for ages, and if I perish on this expedition, I have left my mark. In the evening four of the party cut their names on a perpendicular sandstone rock between the rivers." Now traveling up the Big Horn River, the prospectors found "plenty of colors to the pan;" also a few signs of Indians. They also met, as they thought, three white men going down the river, who fled in a panic into some deep ravines leading to the stream, thinking the Stuart party was a band of Indians.* The following day (May 12, 1863) the men found so many horse tracks and other Indian signs near their camp that the captain concluded they "would have to look out for squalls," as there was evidently a war party in the neighborhood. The threatening out- look also reminded him of this : "It is eleven years today since I left the home of my boyhood (in Iowa, with his father and brother, bound for California). Who knows how many more it will be before I see it again, if ever?" HORRORS OF AN INDIAN NIGHT ATTACK The horrors of that very night made him even more doubtful of coming through alive. "Last night," he says, in his record of May I3th, "Smith and I had the first watch, and about eleven o'clock the horses at my end were scared at something, but it was very dark and I could not see anything. I thought it might be a wolf prowling around camp. A few minutes before eleven o'clock I sat up and lit a match to see what time it was, and also to light my pipe, but at once laid down again ; we were both lying flat on the ground to see what made the horses so uneasy, *It was afterward learned that the three were J. M. Bozeman and John M. Jacobs and the latter's little daughter, and that the men were exploring a route for a wagon road from the Three Forks of the Missouri to the, North Platte River afterward known as the Jacobs and Bozeman Cut-Off. 196 HISTORY OF MONTANA and to this we both owe our lives. Just then I heard Smith whisper that there was something around his part of the horses, and a few seconds later the Crows fired a terrific volley into the camp. "I was lying between two of my horses, and both were killed, and very nearly fell on me. Four horses were killed and five more wounded, while in the tents two men were mortally, two badly and three more slightly wounded. Smith shouted, 'Oh, you scoundrels!' and fired both barrels of his shot-gun at the flash of theirs, but, so far as we could tell next morning, without effect; he most probably fired too high. I could not fire, for the horses were in the way. I shouted for someone to tear down the tents, to prevent their affording a mark for the murderous Indians a second time. York rushed out and tore them down in an instant. I then ordered all who were able to take their arms and crawl out from the tents a little way, and lie flat on the ground; and thus we lay until morning, expecting further attack each instant, and determined to sell our lives as dearly as possible. When at last day dawned, we could see a few Indians among the rocks and pines on a hill some five or six hundred yards away, watching to see the effects of their bloody work. "An examination of the wounded presented a dreadful sight. C. D. Watkins was shot in the right temple, and the ball came out at the left cheek-bone; the poor fellow was still breathing but still insensible. E. Bostwick was shot in five places once in the back part of the shoulder, shattering the shoulder blade, but the ball did not come out in front ; three balls passed through the right thigh all shattering the bone, and one ball passed through the left thigh, which did not break the bone; he was sensible, but suffering dreadful agony. H. A. Bell was shot twice one ball entered at the lowest rib on the left side and lodged just under the skin on the right side ; the other ball entered near the kidneys on the left side and came out near the thigh joint. D. Underwood was shot once, but the ball made six holes ; it first passed through the left arm above the elbow just missing the bone, and then passed through both breasts which were large and full and just grazing the breast-bone. H. T. Geery was shot in the left shoulder blade with an arrow, but not danger- ously hurt. George Ives was shot in the hip with a ball a flesh wound. S. T. Hauser in the left breast with a ball, which passed through memor- andum book" in his shirt pocket and stopped against a rib over his heart, the book saving his life. Several others had one or more ball-holes through their clothes. "We held a council of war ; concluded that it was impossible to return through the Crow country now that they were openly hostile; therefore determined to strike for the emigrant road on Sweetwater River, throw- ing away all our outfit except enough provisions to do us to the road. Watkins was still breathing, but happily insensible. Poor Bostwick was alive and sensible, but gradually failing, and in great agony. With noble generosity he insisted on our leaving him to his fate, as it was impossible to move him, and equally impossible for him to recover if we remained with him, and which, he said, would only result in all of us falling vic- tims of the fiendish savages. He asked us to hand him his trusty re- HISTORY OF MONTANA 197 volver, saying he would get even with the red devils when they came into camp. We gave it to him, and a few moments later were startled by the report of his pistol, and filled with horror when we saw he had blown out his brains." Hauser gives a more detailed account of the attack than Captain Stuart, as he insists that his leader only "briefly notices one of the most fearful tragedies that ever occurred in the mountains, and in which his nobleness of soul and heroic courage shone more brilliantly than ever before." The picture which he gives of the sufferings and suspense of that awful night following the Crows' attack is appalling. It seems that the savages poured only one volley into the sleeping camp, as they knew that the white men would respond by the flashes of their shot-guns. Thereafter, in the pitchy darkness, they sent a continuous shower of hiss- ing arrows among their white enemies. "Instantly (after the attack) seizing our rifles," says Hauser, "we (Drew, Underwood and Hauser) crawled out of the tent, but before we got out the yelling and firing had ceased. It was pitch dark, dark as Egypt, and what followed was even more trying to our nerves than what had passed. We could distinctly hear the demon-like whisperings of the murderous fiends in the ravine that we knew was not over ten paces from us yet so perfectly dark that we could not even see the outlines of the bushes that bordered the ravine ; in fact, we could not see our hands be- fore us. Add to this, that we did not know how many of our little band were left alive. Some we knew were dying, from the moans we heard, yet we could not see them or offer a word of consolation, for one audible word would have brought a shower of arrows. As it was, they were flying in all directions, and it seemed impossible to escape being pierced by them. We could hear them whizzing through the air every second, and so near that we often felt the wind ; and so close were the Indians that we could hear the twang of their bow-strings." Before the day dawned, and passing upright through this storm of arrows, Stuart calmly walked down to the river to get some water for Bell and Bostwick, who were then believed to be the most severely wounded. Almost miraculously, he brought it to them unscratched. "Morning came at last," continues Hauser's graphic account, "and what a sight it revealed ! There was poor Watkins, shot through the temple and unconscious, but crawling around on his elbows and knees; Bostwick shot all to pieces, but still alive, and five others wounded ; the men scat- tered all about the camp-ground, faces downward, with cocked rifles and revolvers in hand, eagerly watching the bushes and ravine from which the fatal fire had come. Five horses were dead and six or seven others had arrows sticking into them. * * * Within a radius of thirty or forty feet of where Underwood and I had been lying, I picked up forty-eight arrows, and the tents were completely riddled. Probably three hundred balls and arrows passed through them." Watkins died before the party, after a conference, started to move toward the emigrant road on Sweetwater River. Bostwick, who had been so terribly wounded, shot himself while helping the badly wounded Bell 198 HISTORY OF MONTANA on to one of the few uninjured horses. But a third life was to be lost as a result of this unfortunate venture into the Crow country. The shattered expedition moved slowly, generally toward the southwest ; the cowardly Indians, outnumbering them many-fold and having mounted their ponies, paralleled their route, hovering over the unfortunate men like so many vultures patiently awaiting their prey. On the day after the attack, while unpacking the outfit for supper, Geery, who had only suf- fered a slight shoulder wound, accidentally discharged his rifle. The ball entered his breast, making a ghastly and mortal wound. Like Bostwick, he realized the danger to the survivors of the party if they delayed to care for him, and knowing his wound to be fatal, despite the repeated protests of his comrades, headed by Stuart, he insisted upon shooting himself. He was buried at his earnest request, in his soldier's overcoat. HOMEWARD MARCH OF HEROES That march of the little party, by way of Sweetwater River (the emigrant road), South Pass, and Fort Bridger to Bannack City, taking a loop far into Wyoming, up the Big Horn and Wind Rivers, along the Wind River Mountains, was the painful progress of a body of wounded and determined heroes. On May 22nd, ten days travel from the scene of the massacre, with the Big Horn Mountains in sight toward the north- east and the Wind River Mountains to the west, Stuart remarks: "Our route since the massacre has been through a part of the country too mean for Indians to either live or hunt in, and I came through it to keep out of the way. We are traveling for safety, not comfort." Notwithstanding, sprinkled through the record are "fresh Indian signs," with now and then discoveries of "colors" along the rivers. Six or seven days later, the weary march had brought the party to Sweetwater River, at the foot of Rocky Ridge, then called Pacific City (Wyoming). The sight of "tel- egraph poles" and an emigrant train was indeed cheering. When the latter was overtaken at "Pacific City," which consisted of a trading house only, the Stuart outfit found the emigrants drawn up in a square in front of their stock which they were, prepared to defend from what they be- lieved to be hostile Indians. With the emigrants were four soldiers from South Pass station, who gave Stuart information that they had been pursuing some Indians, horse thieves, who had left some flour behind; the latter fact proving that Stuart and his men had been followed for four hundred miles by the vindictive and dogged Crows who had obtained the flour from the ill-fated camp, the members of which had been obliged to leave it behind as they had no means of transporting it. After spending a couple of days in eating and sleeping at the post, the expedition continued the northward journey, along the old emigrant or overland road to California and Oregon. They were now continually meeting travelers, and, at times, acquaintances, on the way. One of the party, York, concluded to go to Salt Lake with a train which had been met, and William McAdow was added to the outfit. So, as Stuart says, "it is merely an exchange." He adds: "I let York have Red Bear, the HISTORY OF MONTANA 199 black horse the old chief gave me, so that if he did not get a situation to suit him he would have the horse to ride to Bannack or Deer Lodge." When this exchange was made, the party went on to Green River and headed for Fort Bridger, which was reached in the afternoon of June 3, 1863. Then, along Bear and Snake Rivers, far Western Wyoming, into Southwestern Montana, and finally, on June 22, 1863, the maimed, tired and all but broken-down men of the Stuart expedition, were on the road to Bannack City, which passed down through Red Rock Valley and Horse Prairie. The conclusion of the record, as made by James Stuart, is this : "Started at five o'clock (June 22nd), and traveled until half past ten A. M., when we halted for dinner above the point of rocks on Horse Prairie Creek. Passed a lot of gamblers camped on Red Rock Creek. They are en route for Denver, via Salt Lake and Fort Bridger. After dinner, packed up and pushed on to Bannack City, which we reached late in the evening. Everybody was glad to see us, and we were glad to see everybody, although our hair and beards had grown so, and we were so dilapidated generally that scarcely anyone knew us at first ; and no won- der, for we had ridden sixteen hundred miles, and for the last twelve hundred without tents or even a change of clothing." Of the original fifteen members of the expedition, three had been buried in the land of the Crows as a result of the dreadful massacre of the preceding May, and Bell, who had been brought on horseback and partially recovered from his wounds, had remained on the Sweetwater to have a ball extracted from his side. They had been away from Bannack City two months and a half and, despite their deaths and hardships, had accomplished but little, although the expedition probably established the fact that the pros- pects for gold along the main valley of the Yellowstone were a minus quantity. "Colors" had been found, now and then, and that was about all. THE FAMOUS MEN LEFT BEHIND It was the men who had intended to accompany the Stuart party, and who did not, that became noted in the history of gold mining in Montana. In setting out for his calamitous trip, James Stuart noted in his journal : "Louis Simmons and party were to have met us at the mouth of the Stinking Water, but we can find no trace of them ; they have failed from some cause to us unknown." A footnote to this, Granville Stuart ex- plains : "This party consisted of Louis Simmons, William Fairweather, George Orr, Thomas Cover, Barney Hughes and Henry Edgar. They were detained by not being able to find their horses, which had wintered in Deer Lodge. They arrived at the appointed place of rendezvous some three or four days after the main party had passed, and taking their trail followed on, expecting to soon overtake them; but before they did so they were met on the upper Yellowstone by a large party of Crow In- dians, who at once proceeded to plunder them, taking nearly all they had, and giving them miserable sore-backed ponies in exchange for their horses, ordered them to return on pain of death. Situated as they were 200 HISTORY OF MONTANA they could only comply, and started on their way back, with many mis- givings as to the fate of the main party and curses both loud and deep against the Crows. DISCOVERY OF ALDER GULCH And yet this vexatious outrage was the most fortunate thing that could have occurred for their own interest and that of the territory, for on their way back to Bannack City they went one day's travel up the Madison River, above where they had struck it as they went out, and, crossing through a low gap to the southwest, "they camped at noon on a small creek. While his comrades were cooking a scanty meal, Fair- weather, on going out to look after the few broken-down ponies the Indians had given in exchange for their good horses, observed a point of bare bed rock projecting from the side of the gulch and determined to try a pan of dirt. He was astonished by obtaining thirty cents in beautiful coarse gold, and in a few more trials he got one dollar and seventy-five cents to the pan. This was at the point afterward famous as 'Fair- weather's discovery claim' in Alder Gulch. Believing the locality would prove rich, they proceeded to stake off claims, and Hughes was sent to Bannack for provisions and friends ; and on his arrival there, in spite of his efforts to keep the matter a secret, it became known that rich diggings had been struck somewhere. A close watch was kept on Hughes, and when he started he was followed by some 200 men. About the present site of Daley's ranch, on the Stinking Water, Hughes refused to go farther until morning and the party encamped ; but during the night he appointed a rendezvous for his particular friends whom he escorted into the mines in the night. In the morning, the remainder of the party followed his trail into camp, and Fairweather district, with Dr. Steele as president and James Fergus as recorder, was organized on the 6th of Tune, 1863. Further prospecting of the gulch developed an alluvial de- posit of gold exceeding in richness and extent the most sanguine hopes of the discoverers, and perhaps combining these two qualities in a greater degree than any discovery ever made." DELACY'S EXPEDITION UP SNAKE RIVER Col. W. W. DeLacy, a Virginia West Pointer, a teacher of languages and captain in the United States Navy, a wide traveler, a brave soldier in the Mexican war and in the Indian campaigns of the West, and the engineer in surveying the famous Mullan Road from Walla Walla to Fort Benton in the August following the return of the Stuart expedition he led a party of explorers from Virginia City to prospect up the South Snake River. The venture which was devoid of exciting or tragic events resulted in the discovery of the source of the South Snake River, several miles above Jackson's Lake, in the southern part of the present Yellow- stone Park. For nearly ten years all the maps of that region gave the name of this head of the river as DeLacy's Lake. Colonel DeLacy wrote HISTORY OF MONTANA 201 an account of the expedition of 1863, and says: "In 1872, Professor Hay den (the government geologist) visited this lake and renamed it Shishone Lake, stating that the numerous and outrageous errors in my map deprived me of any claim to the perpetuation of my name, and in- sinuating that I claimed to have been, but had not been in the region." From the fountain-head of the Snake, the colonel and his men passed over to the head of the Madison and West Gallatin rivers, discovering the Lower Geyser Basin of the Yellowstone Park. The 500 miles of travel indicated were made in about fifty-one days. Its leader claims that the wrong done to him by Professor Hayden was never rectified, publicly, although he sent to that noted scientist his original note-book and map and received from him a private explanation that the harsh and unjust crit- icism and erasure of his name from the lake which he discovered were made by an irresponsible assistant. At the time of his trip, Colonel DeLacy was one of the most widely known soldiers and engineers in the West, and for nearly thirty years afterward was one of the leading figures in connection with the public land survey and the surveyor general's office in Montana. EDGAR'S ACCOUNT OF THE ALDER GULCH DISCOVERY * The most detailed and graphic account of the discovery of Alder Gulch was written by Henry Edgar, one of the party who vainly en- deavored to overtake Stuart's expedition bound for the Yellowstone. They waited for Stuart eight days at the rendezvous agreed upon, and from March 23rd to May 2nd cut across the headwaters of the Missouri and along the north bank of the Yellowstone to Shields River. Some distance beyond that stream and when close on the trail of the main party, the dastardly Crows came upon them. That was May 2, 1863, and Edgar's journal gives this picture of their coming: "All went well through the night, but towards morning the horses became restless and required a good deal of looking after. Just as morning came, I took two of them where the boys were sleeping and woke them up. I put the saddles on and was just going out to Bill (Fairweather) when the hills were alive with Indians. They were all around Bill and I got on the horse and started for him, but an Indian grabbed him by the head; I pulled my revolver, Simmons was alongside of me and told me not to shoot. Well, I got off and gave the rope of the other horse to my Indian. Here they come with other horses and Bill mounted behind another Indian with hat in one hand and rifle in the other, digging his heels in the horse's flanks and yelling like the very devil he is. 'How goes it boys ?' he asked, as he got off. Simmons was talking to the Indians and told us to keep quiet. Quiet ! Everything we had they had got, but our arms ! A young buck took hold of Cover's gun and tried to take it from him. Bill stuck his revolver in the buck's ear ; he looked in Bill's face and let go of the gun. We told Simmons to tell them that they had got everything but our guns and that they could not get them without killing us first. We were told to keep them. Everything we had was packed and off to the village. 202 HISTORY OF MONTANA Such a hubbub when we got there. Our traps were put in a pile and a tent put over them. Simmons and the chief held a long powwow. The women brought us some breakfast; good of the kind and plenty. Sim- mons told us we were prisoners, to keep still and not to be afraid. I went through the village and counted the lodges; there were 180 of them." "We talked the matter over and agreed to keep together and if it has to come to the worst to fight while life lasts. All the young ones are around us and the women. What fun! We get plenty to eat. Indians are putting up a great big lodge medicine lodge at that. Night; what will tomorrow bring forth ? I write this will anyone ever see it ? Quite dark, and such a noise dogs and drums !" The two chiefs and the medicine man of the village conferred and finally informed the men, through Simmons, that they would be killed if they continued down the river; that if they turned back, their horses would be returned. They decided to retrace their steps, but only a few of their horses were returned; their good animals were generally re- placed by blind and halt ponies. The Indians did return their saddles, a hundred pounds of flour, some coffee and sugar, one plug of tobacco and gave them two robes each for their clothes and blankets. The disap- pointed and disgusted little party of eight then started to return the way they had come. By the rrfiddle of May, they had reached Madison River, at the foot of Tobacco Root Mountains, and a few days afterward, camped at Big Bald Mountain. Two of the men climbed Old Baldy, as they called the peak ; they had discovered good "color" for quartz gold and wanted to find where it came from. From the top of the mountain they could see the Stinking Water and Beaverhead rivers. Having moved their camp around the foot of the mountain, they expected to be on the Stinking Water in two days. THE GREAT, THE EVENTFUL DAY On the 26th of May, they find "fine grassy hills and lots of quartz, some antelope in sight; down a long ridge to a creek and camp; had dinner, and Rodgers, Sweeney, Barney (Hughes) and Cover go up the creek to prospect. It was Bill's and my turn to guard camp and look after the horses. We washed and doctored the horse's leg. Bill went across to a bar to see or look for a place to stake the horses. When he come back to camp he said 'There is a piece of rimrock sticking out of the bar over there. Get the tools and we will go and prospect it.' Bill got the pick and shovel and I the pan and went over. Bill dug the dirt and filled the pan. 'Now go,' he says, 'and wash that pan and see if we can get enough to buy some tobacco when we get to town.' I had the pan more than half panned down and had seen some gold as I ran the sand around, when Bill sang out 'I have found a scad.' I returned for answer, 'If you have one, I have a hundred.' He then came down to where I was with his scad. It was a nice piece of gold. Well, I panned the pan of dirt and it was a good prospect ; weighed it and had two dollars and forty cents; weighed Bill's scad and it weighed the same. HISTORY OF MONTANA 203 Four dollars and eighty cents ! Pretty good for tobacco money. We went and got another pan and Bill panned that and got more than I had ; I got the third and panned that best of the three; that is good enough to sleep on. "We came to camp, dried and weighed our gold ; altogether there was twelve dollars and thirty cents. We saw the boys coming to camp and no tools with them. 'Have you found anything?' 'We have started a hole but didn't get to bedrock.' They began to growl about the horses not being taken care of and to give Bill and me fits. When I pulled the pan around Sweeney got hold of it and. the next minute sang out 'Salted!' I told Sweeney that if he 'would pipe Bill and me down and run us through a sluice box he couldn't bet a color,' and 'the horses could go to the devil or the Indians.' Well, we talked over the find and roasted venison till late; and sought the brush, and spread our robes; and a more joyous lot of men never went more contentedly to bed than we. "May 27th : Up before the sun ; horses all right ; soon the frying pan was on the fire. Sweeney was off with the pan and Barney telling him 'to take it aisy.' He panned his pan and beat both Bill and me. He had five dollars and thirty cents. 'Well, you have got it good, by jove !' were his greeting words. When we got filled up with elk, Hughes and Cover went up the gulch, Sweeney and Rodgers down, Bill and I to the old place. We panned turn about ten pans at a time, all day long, and it was good dirt too. 'A grub stake is what we are after' was our watchward all day, and it is one hundred and fifty dollars in good dust. 'God is good,' as Rodgers said when we left the Indian camp. Sweeney and Rodgers found a good prospect and have eighteen dollars of the gold to show for it. Barney and Tom brought in four dollars and a half. As we quit, Bill says 'there's our supper,' a large band of antelope on the hillside. "We had our guns with us. He took up one draw and I the other ; it was getting dark, but light enough to shoot ; got to a good place within about seventy-five yards and shot; the one I shot at never moved; I thought it missed ; I rolled over and loaded up my gun, then the antelope was gone. Bill had shot by this time ; I went to where the one I shot at was standing, and found some blood, and the antelope dead not ten steps away ; Bill got one too ; ate our fill ; off to bed. ALDER GULCH NAMED "May 28th : Staked the ground this morning ; claims one hundred feet. Sweeney wanted a water a notice written for a water right and asked me to write it for him. I. wrote it for him ; then 'What name shall we give the creek?' The boys said 'You name it.' So I wrote 'Alder.' There was a large fringe of alder growing along the creek, looking nice and green and the name was given. We staked twelve claims for our friends and named the bars Cover, Fairweather and Rodgers when the dis- coveries were made. We agree to say nothing of the discovery when we get to Bannack and come back and prospect the gulch thoroughly and get the best; It was midday when we left ; we came down the creek past the 204 HISTORY OF MONTANA forks and to its mouth, made marks so we could find the same again and on down the valley (Ram's Horn Gulch) to a small creek; the same we camped on as we went out and made camp for the night ; a more happy lot of boys would be hard to find, though covered with seedy clothes. "May 2gth : All well. Breakfast such as we have, bread and antelope and cold water and good appetites. What better fare could a prince wish ! It might be worse and without the good seasoning given by our find. Down and over the Stinking Water along a high level bench twelve miles or more to the Beaverhead River, then up about six miles and camp. We have come about twenty-five miles. "May 3Oth: All well. Ate up the last of our meat for breakfast; will have supper at Bannack, ham and eggs. Away we go and have no cares. Crossed at the mouth of the Rattlesnake and up to the Bannack trail, the last stage over the hill and down to the town, the raggedest lot that was ever seen, but happy. Friends on every side. Dod Dempsey grabbed our horses and cared for them. Frank Ruff got us to his cabin. Salt Lake eggs, ham, potatoes, everything. Such a supper! One has to be on short commons and then he will know. Too tired and too glad. "May 3 1st: Such excitement? Everyone with a long story about the 'new find.' After I got my store clothes on, I was sitting in a saloon talking with some friends ; there were lots of men that were strangers to me ; they were telling that we brought in a horse load of gold and not one of the party had told that we had found a color. Such is life in the 'Far West.' Well we have been feasted and cared for like princes. "June ist: Got what we wanted and were all ready for the return, but it is impossible to move without a crowd. Left the horses in Demp- sey 's. corral for the night and gave over till morning. "June 2nd: Left Bannack this forenoon and came over to Rattle- snake. A crowd awaits us ; crowds follow after us ; they carr\p right around us, so we can't get away. "June 3rd: Move on down to Beaverhead River and the crowd gets more and more strong, on foot as well as on horseback. "June 4th : Down the river we go over two hundred strong. Bill says to me, 'If we had this crowd with us when the medicine man made his medicine, wouldn't we have given him Hail Columbia?' "We see it is no good to try to get away from the crowd, so we will camp where we leave the river. Made a camp near the Beaverhead Rock. 'Miners' meeting called for this afternoon.' I was chosen to state to the crowd what we had found. I did so and told them that we had panned out one hundred and eighty-nine dollars altogether, showing them a sam- ple of the gold, stating what the prospect was and the extent of the gulch so far as we had prospected, what we know it to be; told what we had done ; the claims we had staked, and said "If we are allowed to have the claims as we have staked them, we will go on, if not, we will go no farther.' Some talk and it was put to a vote; the vote was in our favor ; only one vote against. At the meeting there was a set of laws adopted to govern our claims. A provision of the law passed was that the claims of our party should never be jumped nor taken from us and HISTORY OF MONTANA 205 they are exempt from one day's work in seven required by law to hold claims. Well and good. They wanted to know where the gulch was, but as some were on foot and others on horseback with that advantage, they were told 'when we get to the creek you will know and not till then.' Everybody satisfied. "June 5th : Off and away across the long flat between the two rivers and camp at the same small creek the third time. We are fearful that when the crowd gets in, they may pull up our stakes. So some of the boys on the outside of the ring were told of the plan and Barney with ten or twelve will get out ahead to make them secure. "June 6th: This morning the crowd was told that we would be in the gulch today and to prepare for it. When we came to the creek and were going up I said to them, 'This is the creek.' Such a stampede ! "I never saw anything like it before. I was left alone with our packs and took my time, for I know my claim is safe. After I crossed the small creek that comes in from the left, as we go up, Colonel Wood caught up with me. He asked me if I knew where he could get a claim. I told him 'Yes, I'll show you where two bits was got, but only one pan was panned.' I showed him the place and he stopped and located a claim. Got back to camp at Discovery about 4 o'clock. The creek is all staked. "The foregoing are all the notes of the trip from the time the party left Bannack, February 4, 1863, to the time the crowd came back with them to their discovery of Alder gulch. "At a meeting held on the Qth day of June, 1863, Dr. Steele was elected judge and Henry Edgar was elected recorder, who refused to serve and appointed James Fergus deputy recorder. "The loth of June, Barney Hughes took two horses and went to LaBarge (Deer Lodge) after George Orr, whom we left when we started on the expedition, who was given a full and equal share in the Fair- weather and Cover bar discoveries, and his being given this caused Sweeney and Rodgers to separate from the rest of the party. "The discovery party were as follows : "Bill Fairweather, native of New Brunswick, St. John's River. "Mike Sweeney, native of Frederickstown, St. John's River. "Barney Hughes, native of Ireland. "Harry Rodgers, native of St. John's, New Foundland. "Tom Cover, native of Ohio. "Henry Edgar, native of Scotland. "The above is a true narration of the expedition." Philipsburg, Montana, April 13, 1897. HENRY EDGAR. PETER RONAN'S ACCOUNT Maj. Peter Ronan, an Iowa and a Montana newspaper man and long Indian agent of the Flatheads, arrived at Bannack City in April, 1863, during its first boom, and in the following month was one of the mad rush 206 HISTORY OF MONTANA to the Alder openings, and has written an interesting account of the coming of the Idaho miners to Montana and their historic "find." We pass over the steps leading to the point where Barney Hughes, Tom Cover, Henry Rodgers, Bill Fairweather, Henry Edgar and Bill Sweeney, were turned back toward Bannack City by Indians hostile to the gold prospectors, who were endeavoring to overtake the Stuart expedition. "On the 22nd of May the wornout prospectors and fugitives from Indians went into camp in a flat on the creek, and on that same after- PETER RONAN noon the party struck thirty-three cents to the pan on the bar which rose above the camp, right in the grass roots. This was the first discovery of gold on the celebrated Alder Gulch the richest continuous streak of gold ever struck on any gulch in the world. "Of course there was rejoicing in the camp, and although now in pos- session of a mine of glittering wealth our brave and persevering pros- pectors could plainly see that another effort must be made or they would starve to death on their heaps of gold. "After the discovery was made, Henry Edgar, with his trusty rifle, HISTORY OF MONTANA 207 which he managed to retain from the Crows, went above the discovery on the mountain, and shot an antelope. There was then rejoicing- in the camp. After sinking below the surface a few feet at the spot where the first pan was prospected, five dollars and ten cents was obtained from the one pan of dirt. It was then concluded that the party should return to Bannack, procure provisions and tools, and bring in their friends to the new Eldorado. "Upon arriving at Bannack, the secret of the new discovery was divulged and quietly talked over by the discoverers and their friends, and a certain day fixed upon to start for the discovery. Meanwhile, tempting offers were made secretly to Barney Hughes, and to others of the party of prospectors, to quietly slip out with two or three opulent claim owners of Bannack, and guide them to the discovery ahead of the stampede. But the discoverers were deaf to their importunities and could not be tempted with gold to throw off their old mining friends, and determined that all should start off together. The start was made and it was found that three or four hundred men were following the discoverers on horseback and with their tools and provisions for at least a short cam- paign. "Upon reaching the point of rocks on the Beaverhead river, Hughes and his fellow discoverers, knowing the rapacity of the average gold hunter, commenced to think that if their rights were not secured before the party reached the gulch, very little respect would be shown them as discoverers, and the stampeders would take the lion's share and leave the poor and almost unknown prospectors and discoverers out in the cold. A halt was called and the prospectors announced to the stampeders that unless two hundred feet of ground was guaranteed to each one of them, extending across the gulch from rim to rim, they would go no farther, and would not divulge the locality of their discovery. "Colonel Sam McLean, who was afterwards elected the first dele- gate to represent Montana in the Congress of the United States, now gone to his rest in his beloved and native state of Pennsylvania, and his mining partner, Wash Stapleton the latter an honored citizen of our Territory today were among the crowd of stampeders. Those generous minded gentlemen saw at once the justice of the demand of the heroic prospectors, and a code of laws governing the mining district, was then and there drawn up which secured to Hughes and his comrades the ground they demanded. After all the preliminaries were arranged, laws and regula- tions which were to govern the new mining district were passed upon and duly recorded, before any of the crowd, except the prospectors, knew even the' direction- in which the new Eldorado lay. The crowd moved on, led by Hughes and his party. Upon reaching the spot where the house of Pete Daly now stands, on the old Daly ranch, the party went into camp for the night. Hughes had several old mining acquaintances among the vast crowd which followed his lead, whom he particularly desired to locate on good claims, as they had had a continuous run of bad luck in other localities and were flat broke, as indeed were nearly all of the crowd who followed. I here recall the names of some of the men 208 HISTORY OF MONTANA whom Hughes secretly requested to meet him under a certain tree near the camp at 1 1 o'clock on the night of that encampment ; they were Paddy Sky, Jim McNulty, Andy Brown, Tom Duffy, Jim Patten, and Charley Keegan. Hughes here imparted to these friends that outside of the bar prospected by him and companions, he knew nothing of the prospects, but assured them it was his opinion if they got in ahead of the crowd and located near the discoverers they would be likely to get some good ground, and volunteered to lead them into the gulch that night on foot while the camp was asleep. "The proposition was gladly accepted, and the party stole out of the camp in the silence of the night, and leaving their horses, food, and camping outfit behind made a night march for the diggings, led by Hughes. At daylight the discovery was reached and the party staked their claims. "It is needless here to dwell upon the rage of the stampeders and the imprecations which they heaped upon Hughes and his companions when the morning broke upon the vast camp, when they found out that the party had struck out in the silence of the night. Nor is it necessary to dwell upon the fact that nearly all the camp secured good claims, as did thousands of others who followed for years afterwards. "Among the toil 1 worn followers of that stampede, who staked their claims on Alder Gulch, on that early June morning of 1863, was the writer, and I may here add that some three days after his stake was driven the first wagon that arrived in Alder gulch was owned and driven in by James Sheehan. In the wagon was Sheehan's wife and family, and one of that family was a little child who is now the wife of the narrator, and the first white girl who came to Alder Gulch; and now that she is raising a family, desired for their sake the privilege of mem- bership in the Pioneer Association. "But the six brave prospectors who paved the way to fortune for so many of Montana citizens, where are they ?* Tom Cover is a wealthy citi- zen of San Bernardino County, California, and one of the original own- ers of the beautiful town of Riverside, recently written up and illustrated in Harper's Magazine. "Henry Edgar makes brick in Missoula a few months in summer and spends the remainder of the year and his earnings in trying to dis- cover another gulch. "Bill Fairweather sleeps in a lonely and unmarked grave. "Barney Hughes was the guest of the writer a few days ago, returning weary and worn, footsore and disheartened, from a trip to Bull river up north and across the British line, where he had been prospecting without success. His whole earthly possessions were two horses, a pick, pan and shovel, his camping utensils, and provisions enough to last him to reach Missoula, were he is now looking for work to earn enough money to outfit him for another prospecting trip. "Old timers you who have been lifted from the log cabin and the * Written in 1900. HISTORY OF MONTANA 209 long-handled frying pan to blocks of brick and granite which adorn our Montana cities, to Queen Anne cottages, palatial dwellings and happy family surroundings give a lift to these worthy prospectors, and when they go into the mountains again, in search of diggings, let them go at least comfortably provided for. "Of the other two comprising the party of Alder Gulch discoverers Harry Rodgers and Bill Sweeney I have no knowledge; but, what- ever their lot in life, Montana and its early settlers owe each and every one of that party a deep debt of gratitude." STUART'S SECOND YELLOWSTONE EXPEDITION * In the spring of 1864, James organized a second expedition to the Yellowstone, with the double purpose of prospecting the country for gold and avenging the murder of his comrades the previous year. The party consisted of seventy-three men. James was elected captain; W. Graham, first lieutenant; John Vanderbilt, second lieutenant; Charles Murphy, orderly sergeant; John Upton and James Dewey, sergeants of the guard ; and Mark Post and James Bailey, corporals. They crossed the divide between the Gallatin and Yellowstone rivers on the 28th and 2Qth of March, finding the snow bad, for it was a very late, stormy spring, and it snowed upon them nearly all the way down the Yellowstone and over to the Stinking River fork of the Big Horn. So severe was the weather that they found it well nigh impossible to prospect, because of the frozen ground; and the snow was so deep that they could not get back among the mountains at all. Their horses grew very poor, and many became exhausted and were left behind; and as the devil usually takes care of his own, it so happened that the Crows were all over on the Musselshell and Missouri rivers, and the party did not find one in the Yellowstone valley, where they had all been the year before. Had the ex- pedition found them, it was their intention to have taken the village by strategy, if practicable, and if not, to have stormed it and killed as many as possible a fate they well deserved then and now deserve still more, for since that time they have killed many small parties and individuals of whites, and stolen thousands of dollars of stock, all of which they lay on the Sioux and Blackfeet. James' business arrangements not admitting of his remaining out longer, he and fourteen others left the main body on Stinking River and returned to Virginia about the i8th of May. LAST CHANCE GULCH AND HELENA The story of the gold discoveries and developments in Montana runs parallel with that of the California record in fact, with the tale of every series of gold adventuring in the world; it is ever some newer and more distant field which is most alluring. Gold Creek, Bannack City, * Life of James Stuart, by Granville Stuart, Vol. I, p. 56, Contributions Mon- tana Historical Society. Vol. 114 210 HISTORY OF MONTANA Virginia City and Helena is the Montana order. John Cowan, John Crab, D. J. Miller and Reginald Stanley, camping in a Hell Gate River valley, in the spring of 1864, fell in with a party headed by James Coleman, who were returning from the Kootenai country with reports of fabulous dig- gings in that region. But the Cowan party decided to prospect the Little Blackfoot Valley and, failing good prospects, to pass over to the eastern slopes of the Rockies. They did so and emerged into the Prickly Pear Valley of the Missouri, ranged farther north up the Dearborn to the sources of the Teton and Maria's rivers. The farther north they went, the less promising became the gold outlook, and finally, almost discour- aged, they returned to the Valley of the Prickly Pear, and in July, 1864, PRICKLY PEAR VALLEY located Last Chance Gulch. They sank two holes to bed-rock on opposite sides of the stream. One of these yielded flat nuggets that weighed about half a dollar proof of a rich "strike." By the end of July there were many busy miners at Last Chance, some from Bannack City and Alder Gulch, and others, like the birds of the fields, mysteriously scenting a feast and appearing on the ground. How the Last Chance Gulch was given the name Helena is thus succinctly told : "The mining camp at Last Chance Gulch was christened Helena by John Somerville, one of the early miners in the gulch, and who had been chosen chairman of a meeting called for the purpose of organiz- ing that mining district and establishing laws and regulations to govern HISTORY OF MONTANA 211 it. A letter written by Thomas E. Cooper, who was present on the occa- sion, thus refers to it: 'Thomas Cowan, from Georgia, in 1864, had a sluice and was mining in Last Chance. On September 24, 1864, the writer and a company of prospectors and Captain Wood built a cabin where the heart of the city now is. A meeting was called to organize the mining district, and John Somerville was chosen chairman and the writer of this letter secretary. The question of naming the town came up and there being a great diversity of opinion as to the name the town should bear, and not being able to agree, the chairman, John Somerville, got up and stated as follows : "I belong to the best country in the world ; I live in the best state (Minnesota) in that country and in the best county (Scott) of that state, and in the best town (Helena) of that county and, by the eternal, this town shall bear that name !" ' This name proving satisfactory to the majority of the miners present, the name Helena was accepted." Judge Cornelius Hedges, in his sketch of Lewis and Clark county (Montana Historical Society's contributions, Vol. II, p. 109), gives October, 30, 1864, as the date of holding the meeting, where, at the sug- gestion of Mr. Somerville, Last Chance Gulch was christened Helena. He also presents other pertinent facts, as to this mining venture which sprung from the soil of desperation and prospered so abundantly. "It was in July, 1864," he writes, "that gold was first discovered in this locality by a party of Georgians, of which John Cowan, Robert Stanley and Gabe Johnson were members. Not satisfied with the prospect, they left and tried various localities as far north as Sun river, but, finding nothing better, this party returned, and in September began regular mining opera- tions on a bar not far from where the Masonic Temple now stands. The lateness of the season and the failure of their undertakings up to that time led them to christen their diggings Last Chance gulch, while the abundance of snakes gave the name to the district of Rattlesnake. "Captain George J. Wood, who came into the territory from Illi- nois by way of Bridger's cut-off, reaching Alder gulch in July, 1864, and not finding a claim in that section to suit him, started north to test for himself the reported mines on the Prickly Pear. He induced Mr. Mast, who, with his family, was returning to Alder gulch from an unsuccessful exploration of Wisconsin gulch, to turn about and accompany him. It so happened that a hunting expedition from Prickly Pear brought Messrs. Wood and Mast into Last Chance about the time that the Georgia party made their first successful clean-up. The sight of this was enough to decide them to remove at once to this locality, and next after the two cabins erected by John Cowan and Robert Stanley, were those of Messrs. Wood and Mast. Notwithstanding the assurance of the discovery party that there was no gold in the gulch above them, it was found in promising quantities in many localities. By the personal solici- tation of Mr. Wood, a portion of the Minnesota train, just then arrived and camped in the valley of Ten Mile, were induced to stop and join in prospecting the Last Chance mines. During the months of October and November following, the extent and richness of the mines became well 212 HISTORY OF MONTANA established and their fame began to draw miners from other camps. Messrs. Constans and Jurgens, still our fellow citizens (1876), recently arrived from Minnesota, and who had first established themselves at Montana City, were the first to move their stock and open a store in the new mines. "It was at a public meeting held in Captain Wood's cabin October 30, 1864, the minutes of which meeting are still preserved, that the name of Helena was selected, on motion and suggestion of Mr. John Somerville, for the name of the rising city. If their selection of the name is to be respected, why should not also the pronounciation of the name, He-le'-na, as they universally called it, and not Hel'-e-na? Three commissioners, WINTER QUARTERS OF WALTER COOPER, HELENA, IN 1865 Messrs. Wood, Bruce and Cutler, were chosen and empowered to lay out streets, fix the size of town lots and establish all necessary regulations for obtaining and holding the same. Captain Wood was chosen recorder, and virtually discharged the duties of all the commissioners in addition. The size of lots, as fixed by the commissionrs, was 30 by 60 feet, and a foundation would hold a lot for ten days, and, if recorded besides, for ten days longer. Disputed titles were to be settled by the commissioners, or by arbitration, until civil law was established. Capt. Wood's position was a difficult and thankless one, and considering the surrounding diffi- culties successfully filled." Two MARVELOUSLY RICH MINES In December, 1864, Confederate Gulch and Montana Bar were dis- covered, about six miles from the Missouri River and some thirty-five miles from Helena. Wonderful stories are told of the yield of both HISTORY OF MONTANA 213 mines, Montana Bar, however, proving the richer of the two. It is said that when bed-rock on the bar was reached, the enormous yield of $180 to the pan in Confederate Gulch was forgotten in astonishment at the marvelous yield of over $1,000 to the pan taken from Montana. Dia- mond City developed from these two rich openings of the Montana gold field. NAMING OF SILVER Bow CREEK Emigrant Gulch, Gallatin County, was also discovered in 1864, and before the close of 1867 had yielded about $180,000 in gold. The mines along Silver Bow Creek, extending from the present city of Butte to the town of Silver Bow, were opened in the fall of 1864, the gulch reaching the height of its prosperity in 1866. Captain James S. Mills, explains the naming of the creek : "Never prettier name was coined, and it came about thus: On the evening of a cloudy day in January, 1864, Bud Barker, P. Allison, Joe and Jim Ester, on a prospecting trip reached the vicinity of the creek near Butte and a discussion arose as to its name. As the argument went on, the clouds rolled from the sun, its bright glance fell on the waters sweeping in a graceful curve around the base of the mountains, burnishing them to brilliancy as they clasped the vale in a bow like silver." Deer Lodge County developed such gulches as German, in 1864, and Ophir (very rich), Bear (productive, rough and tough) and McClellan's (Pacific City), all in 1865. The placer diggings of Jefferson County with some unimportant exceptions, were not discovered until late in that year and the early part of 1866. MONTANA'S GOLD BONANZA PERIOD The years 1862-68 constitute the Bonanza period of Montana's produc- tion of gold, and by counties the output was as follows : Madison $40,000,000 Lewis and Clark 19,360,000 Deer Lodge 13,250,000 Meagher 6,949,200 Jefferson 4,500,000 Beaverhead 2,245,000 Other sources 6,000,000 Total $92,304,200 Even the veteran, Fort Benton, was no more than a fortified trad- ing post until the opening and expansion of the gold fields attracted immigrants from everywhere, many of whom survived the excitements and uncertainties of the early mining days and remained to become identified with the silver and the copper industries, and the even more last- ing developments of agriculture and livestock. In the spring and summer of 1864, when Bannack and Virginia City were well under way and Helena was about to be founded, a number of small buildings were sprinkled outside the fort as an irregular settle- ment. The largest of them was the store built by Matthew Carroll and George Steele. It was constructed of sawed logs, prepared at the Fort LaBarge sawmill. These gentlemen were at the time clerks in the employ of the American Fur Company, but soon after began business for them- selves under the firm name of Carroll & Steele. During the same year (1864) they bought a large stock of goods and their venture proved per- manently successful. The settlement soon began to assume the appear- ance of a town, although, as yet, the buildings were located at the fancy of the owners, without regard to system. In the spring and summer of 1865, however, the town was regularly laid out according to the present plan by Capt. W. W. DeLacy, the widely known western surveyor, and called Benton City. Several new buildings were at once erected, with their inclosures, and for the first time defined streets and squares were outlined on the prairie bottom. *"The name of Benton City took but a slender hold on the popular opinion, and deservedly so, for every attempt to pervert a good name already in current use should be met with severe reprobation. The name of the local postofHce is Fort Benton, the business men use the same name in their letter and bill heads, freight from the lower towns is consigned to Fort Benton, and by that name the place is almost universally called by its inhabitants and others. While the adobe walls of old Fort Benton continue to stand, the new name offers some little advantage in distin- guishing the town from the fort, but the walls must soon crumble and the fort disappear, as has Campbell and LaBarge already, and then the name of Benton City will have no advantage whatever, while it will have the disadvantage of veiling to its coming inhabitants the glamor of con- tiguity attaching to the old sonorous name of Fort Benton." At the conclusion of "Affairs at Fort Benton," Vol. Ill, p. 287, * Bradley's "Affairs at Fort Benton." 215 216 HISTORY OF MONTANA Arthur J. Craven, a member of the Board of Trustees of the Historical Society, in 1900, inserts this note: "Here this section of the journal purchased by the Board from Mrs. Bradley in 1881, abruptly terminates, an incomplete, succeeding paragraph indicating the intention of the lamented author to fully conclude the period of time designated by him in the title (1831-69). Upon what portion of his numerous chronicles he was engaged when he was summoned with his command to his last cam- paign, the one against the Nez Perces in 1877, is unknown. Possibly the rich romance clustering around this old fort, which, as shown by a re- view of his manuscripts, was evidently a favorite theme, was the last which engaged his literary effort, before passing from the quiet con- templation of the annals of the frontier to the heroic martyrdom of the soldier on the field of battle. "Contemporaries and associates of Major Culbertson have fortunately transcribed to print memoirs of their experience in the fur trade of the Missouri and its tributaries. These serve only to increase the historic value of the foregoing contribution, one which shows throughout the in- valuable assistance of Major Culbertson, than whom no better authority could be found on the events of the Upper Missouri, during the greater portion of the period treated by the author. "It may be of interest to add that the old fort is now owned (1900) by the Hon. T. E. Collins, present state treasurer, and that the surround- ing town, thronged with these historic associations, happily retains 'the old sonorous name' of Fort Benton, in accordance with the preference expressed by the author in his concluding paragraph." FOUNDING OF VIRGINIA CITY But it was the mining camp which sprung up in Alder Gulch, which became the magic city of the Montana gold fields. The stampede from Bannack City, in June, 1863, brought several hundred to the new findings and before the close of the following year the population of the place, which was housed in every conceivable shelter and camped under the sky in bearable weather, had reached ten or twelve thousand people; a bed- lam of a city with representatives of every description and clime, all madly rushing for gold. The most complete description of the first two years of lusty infancy in the life of Virginia City has been penned by Judge Henry N. Blake, one of the ablest members of the Montana bench and bar, and a public character of broad ability and worth. Judge Blake, who settled in Virginia City, during 1866, says that the first crowd of stampeders from Bannack comprised over three hun- dred men. A public meeting of the original prospectors and discoverers was held June 7th in a cottonwood grove upon the banks of the Beaver- head River and about ten miles south of the Beaverhead Rock. Resolu- tions were passed confirming the right of each discoverer to two claims in Alder Gulch, with water privileges. The main body of the swarm arrived in Alder Gulch on the 9th and Hughes, who had stealthily left them, piloted his friends during the preceding night to the promised land. 217 Some, who wished to steal a march on the others but were not familiar with the country, wandered up the Stinkwater, Granite and other streams and were distanced. On the I2th, the miners adopted the laws of the Fairweather district. "At this date," says Judge Blake, "there was not a dwelling house within the boundaries of Madison county. This was not a municipal body and was included with the largest fraction of Montana in Idaho territory, which had been organized by an Act of Congress, approved March 3, 1863. "The throng was increased daily during the month of June by the arrival of citizens, who represented every part of the Union and the na- tions of both hemispheres. On the i6th the Verona Town Company recorded its claim to 320 acres of land on which Virginia City stands. The name of Verona was used in a number of legal papers which were executed at this time, but this was soon exchanged for Virginia City, which first appears upon the county records on the i/th." The first name given to the present capital of Montana was in honor of Jeff. Davis' wife, but, as stated, it was soon changed to Vir- ginia. Dr. (Judge) G. G. Bissel was the first man that wrote it Virginia. Being asked to head a legal document Verona, he bluntly said he would see them d d first, for that was the name of Jeff. Davis' wife; and, accordingly, as he wrote it, so it remained. From this little circumstance, it will be seen that politics was anything but forgotten on the banks of Alder creek; but miners are sensible men, in the main, and out in the mountains a good man makes good friends, even where political opinions are widely different. "Almost* immediately after the first freat rush from Bannack in addition to the tents, brush wakiups and extempore fixings for shelter small log cabins were erected. The first of these was the Mechan- ical bakery, now (1866) standing near the lower end of Wallace street. Morier's saloon went up at about the same time and the first dwelling house was built by John Lyons. After this beginning houses rose as if by magic. Dick Hamilton, Root & Davis, J. E. McClurg, Hall & Simpson, N. Story and O. C. Mathews, were among the first merchants. Dr. Steele was first president of the Fairweather district. Dr. G. G. Bissel was the first judge of the Miners' Court. The duty of the recorder's office was, we believe, performed by James Fergus." Continuing Judge Blake's account : "The extent of the pay streak be- ing unknown, the object of every person was to secure mining ground in the neighborhood of that which had been prospected by the pioneers. It was generally believed that the bars were the golden safes of nature and many parties neglected and walked over as worthless the richest deposits in the creek in their eager search for what they considered the valuable claims. Before the bedrock of the creek had been disturbed by the pick, the camp was deserted by a number of intelligent miners who informed their friends with confidence that there were no paying * Professor Dimsdale's "Vigilantes in Montana." 218 HISTORY OF MONTANA diggings in the gulch. But within thirty days tests were applied by hundreds of industrious hands to every place which was accessible, and revealed to the world the auriferous bed of an ancient river, which sur- passed in magnitude and the uniform distribution of its golden treasures, any placer which has been recorded upon this planet. New districts were formed, embracing the creek, bar and hill claims, and designated High- land, Pine Grove and Summit, which were above the Fairweather, and Nevada and Junction, which were below it. A thousand claims were located in the gulch. "During the period when every doubt respecting the immense wealth of Alder vanished, the people were living in houses not made with hands. Some constructed temporary shelters of wakiups of alders and pine boughs, or rocks and blankets, others excavated caves or "dug-outs," and the palaces were tents and wagons. The mill on which they were de- pendent for sawed lumber, was situated on the stream above Bannack and about seventy miles from Virginia City. The axe was the most useful tool and log cabins occupied every convenient space upon the banks of the creek. If a stranger entered the gulch in the prosperous days of 1863 and 1864, and traveled from Junction to Summit, the brilliant lights, illuminating the road and trail, would dazzle his eyes, and cause him to imagine he was in a vast city." / MINERS' COURTS ESTABLISHED The Legislative Assembly of Idaho did not convene until December, 1863, this county was not governed during the interim by the statutes of any state, and a mining district was an independent republic. A judge and sheriff were elected by the residents of the district, and although the miners' courts were neither in law nor fact tribunals of record, their deci- sions were final and the officers executed the judgment without opposition. In Fairweather District Dr. G. G. Bissel was the first judge of the Miner's Court, Richard Todd was the first sheriff and Henry Edgar was the first recorder. They were elected on June 9th, the day on which the mining claims were staked. J. B. Caven was chosen sheriff September 3, 1863, and resigned within a few weeks and Henry Plummer, then sheriff of the Grasshopper District and chief of the road agents, was elected. FIRST BUILDINGS ERECTED As stated, T. L. Luce erected the first building in Virginia City, the "Mechanical Bakery," on the lot above the present store of J. F. Stoer, Wallace Street, Frederick Root and Nathaniel J. Davis the first store, John Lyons, the first dwelling house, Henry Morier, the first saloon, and R. S. Hamilton received the first load of merchandise. Col. Samuel Mc- Lean, the first delegate to Congress, drove the first wagon to Alder Gulch. The physicians who arrived during the first week of the inva- sion were Drs. I. C. Smith and J. S. Click, and the lawyers were repre- HISTORY OF MONTANA 219 sented by H. P. A. Smith, G. W. Stapleton and Samuel McLean. After making diligent inquiries, I am satisfied that no clergyman preached within the county in' 1863. The first cobble-stone store was put up for Taylor, Thompson and Company, whose sign can be read today. The first lumber from Bannack was sold readily for $250, gold, per thousand feet, more than twelve times the present price. The first sawmill in the county was set in motion by Thomas W. Cover and Perry W. McAdow in February, 1864, on Granite Creek, about four miles above Junction. About the same time the sawmill of George N. Stager & Company was running on Alder Gulch, about one-fourth of a mile below Granite Creek, from which the water was conveyed by a ditch. Other mills were built afterwards by Holter Bros., on Ramshorn Gulch, House and Bivins of Meadow Creek and James Gemmell on Mill Creek. The quarry within this town- site, which has furnished porphytic stone for the largest buildings, was opened by Joseph Griffith and William Thompson in July, 1864. The first warehouse, constructed of this material, is now occupied by Ray- mond Bros. The first sluice boxes were set up about June 25th, 1863, by the discoverers on Fairweather Bar, S. R. Blake in the Fairweather District, and J. M. Wood in the Nevada District. The construction of ditches to work the claims consumed time and money, and eight months passed away before some of the drains were completed. MONTANA'S FIRST POSTOFFICE A line of coaches to Salt Lake and Bannack was started, immediately after the settlement of Alder, by A. J. Oliver ,& Co. No mail route was established by the general government until late in 1864, and letters and newspapers were forwarded by the express to the recipients, who paid with a grateful heart the charges, usually $i, gold, for each document. The first postoffice was located at Virginia City, and George B. Parker was the first postmaster. For a number of years Virginia City was the distributing postoffice for the territory. FIRST ELECTION The first election was held under the proclamation of the Governor in Idaho, 1863, for the choice of members of the Legislative Assembly. The county was represented by Jack Edwards in the council, and James Tufts, who became the speaker, in the house. Mark A. Moore, who re- ceived the highest number of votes, was not eligible, and Doctor Smith, who stood next upon the tally list, was not allowed to take the vacant chair. The first officers of the county were commissioned by the gov- ernor of Montana. OUTPUT OF ALDER GULCH The weather during the first two years was favorable to the busy gold diggers, who pursued with slight interruptions their tasks upon the 220 HISTORY OF MONTANA surface and underground. The miner, in opening the vaults of Alder Gulch, realized the extravagant fancies of a miner's dream, and the pick and shovel in his hands were as potent as the lamp and ring in the grasp of Aladdin. Every effort was rewarded with gold. In 1864, miles of drain ditches penetrated the mineral claims from Old Baldy to Granite, and the product exceeded $30,000,000. It is to be regretted that the prec- ious metal which has been wrested from Alder Gulch is an unknown quantity, which cannot be determined. "After an examination of all the facts, I am satisfied that Alder Gulch has increased the gold coin of the world $60,000,000," says Judge Blake. Candor requires me to state that this estimate is deemed too moderate by many pioneers of the county, whose judgment merits grave consideration. More nuggets were saved in the Summit than in all the other districts, and the largest was found by Hedge & Company, in 1864, upon their claim near the hill on which the Lucas lode had been staked. It was worth $715 in coin and over $1,700 in currency. "The population was multiplied until there were, in 1864, at least 10,000 and probably 15,000 persons who were nourished by the golden current. Kate Virginia Caven, the daughter of J. B. Caven, the first child of white parents within the county, was born in this city, February 20, 1864. At the first election, held October 24, 1864, after the territory of Montana had been formed, Madison county cast 5,286 votes, Virginia City having 2,310 and Nevada 1,806 of this number." Virginia City was incorporated by the Legislature of Idaho Janu- ary 30, 1864, and on December 30, 1864, by the Legislative Assembly of Montana. Under the last act, officers were -elected in the spring of 1865, and this is the only place in Montana which has enjoyed the blessings of a municipal government and possessed mayors and aldermen (written in 1896). During the two years succeeding the important discovery on May 27, 1863, Alder Gulch was in reality the territory of Montana. The capi- tal was removed from Bannack to Virginia City by the law approved February 7, 1865, and remained until January, 1875. The conventions of the republican and democratic parties assembled here in 1864 and 1865, and nominated candidates for Congress and other offices. "From these districts went forth the prospectors to every gulch, seek- ing for another Alder, and many of the founders of villages in every part of Montana. During the last ten years, the decline in the product of gold has caused the loss of the people, 'and there are now in Alder gulch hun- dreds in lieu of the thousands of 1863 and 1864. The manifold resources of Madison county are a permanent foundation, and I am assured that the wave of population will recede no further, and in the future must advance." PIONEER GULCH AND CITY Pioneer City was such only in name, standing, as it did, for Pioneer Gulch, or Pioneer Creek the Benetsee, or Gold Creek, of an earlier day, and the American Fork, the settlement fathered by the Stuarts. Although HISTORY OF MONTANA 221 James and Granville Stuart are acknowledged to have been the first really successful miners in Montana, they were always ready to give credit to others, and the former mentions as a pioneer preceding them one Henry Thomas who sank a shaft thirty feet deep, a mile west of where "Pioneer City" afterward stood, in the summer of 1860. He worked alone with his- little windlass and four sluice boxes, hewed out with an axe, earning only about $1.50 per day and soon dropped out of sight. *"In the fall of 1860 and spring of 1861 Anderson and the Stuarts prospected in the dry gulches putting into Benetsee creek and found what they considered good paying mines, but did little toward working them that season for two reasons: First, they had very few and imper- fect tools and no lumber until they could get it whipsawed ; and second, all the party, except the writer, went to Fort Benton for the purpose of purchasing supplies from the steamboats expected up the river that year. The one boat (the Chippeway) that started up was burned near the mouth of Milk River, and the summer was lost in waiting for her. On this boat were the Hons. William Graham, of Phillipsburg, and Frank L. Worden, of Missoula. Early in the spring of 1862, the Stuarts, Adams, Burr and Powell began to mine, having had lumber sawed by hand at 10 cents a foot, and picks and shovels packed up from Walla Walla, 425 miles distant, by Worden and Higgin's train of 'cayuse' pack-horses that brought their goods to Hell Gate, and on the 8th day of May they set the first string of sluices ever used in Montana and began to mine by the old pick and shovel process. "In '61 the Stuarts had written to their brother Thomas, who was in Colorado territory, to come out here, as they thought this a better and richer country than that, which opinion, by the way, they have seen no reason to change and still adhere to. Thomas showed the letters to many friends of his and the result was that quite a number left there in the spring of '62 for Deer Lodge. The first of these, a party of twelve, arrived at Pioneer about the 2Oth of June, and among them was J. M. Bozeman. The party found good prospects in a branch of Benetsee or Gold creek as it now began to be called, which branch took the name of Pike's Peak gulch from the fact of the discoverers being from Pike's Peak, as Colorado was then generally called. Other parties also began to straggle in from Pike's Peak and Utah, and about the 29th of June Sam'l T. Hauser, Frank Louthan and Alt arrived, being the advance guard of a number who came up on the steamer from St. Louis, and who were on their way to Florence, in the Salmon River mines, not having heard of the discoveries at Gold creek, where, however, many of them stopped and are oldest and most respected citizens." UNSUBSTANTIAL SETTLEMENTS Although James and Granville Stuart and Rezin Anderson, their part- ner, prospected some in the Deer Lodge Valley, in 1857, it was not until 1862 that the new-found gold fields attracted much attention. A town * Granville Stuart's biography of James Stuart. 222 HISTORY OF MONTANA sprang up in the vicinity of the mines first called LaBarge City, but two- years later named Deer Lodge, followed soon by the rise of Bannack City. Deer Lodge was sometimes called Cottonwood and sometimes Spanish Fork. The Stuarts and Anderson founded a settlement at the mouth of Gold Creek which they called American Fork; Robert Grant started Grantville, at the mouth of Little Blackfoot Creek, and Robert Dempsey "established" Dublin six miles below Gold Creek. The deser- tion of these incipient towns is thus stated by Granville Stuart : "In the summer of 1863, Grant moved up to Cottonwood and Grantville became deserted ; and after the discovery of Alder gulch the Stuarts and most of the residents of American Fork moved to Virginia City; and that village, too, lost prestige and finally became extinct. Dempsey and re- tainers also raised camp and went to the Pah-sam-er-ri, or Water of the Cottonwood Groves, as the Snake Indians called the Stinkwater river, and Dublin, too, was left unto itself desolate." FOUNDING OF OLD BUTTE The discoveries which led to the founding of Old Butte. in the fall of 1864, are told by Col. Charles S. Warren, the young Illinois man who arrived upon the scene two years after and was long afterward a leading figure in the mining enterprises and public affairs of the state. In his centennial address, published in Vol. Ill, of the Montana Historical Society's contributions, he says: "In May. 1^64, G. O. Humph- reys and William Allison came to Butte and camped above where Butte City now stands, on what is now known as Baboon Gulch, and pros- pected for a month in the vicinity, when they returned to Virginia City for provisions. Early in June they returned to Butte to permanently reside, and located what is now known as the "Missoula lode." During the months of June and July they ran a tunnel upon the same, and organized what was known as the "Missoula company." consisting of Frank and Ed Madison, Dent, G. Tutt, Col. R. W. Donnell, Swope, Hawley, Allison and Humphreys. Soon after, Dennis Leary and H. H. Porter, who were fishing on the Big Hole River, followed the wagon tracks of Humphreys and Allison into the camp, having been favorably impressed by the appearance of the ore from the Missoula lode. Probably the first lead staked in what is now known as Summit Valley District was the "Black Chief," formerly the old "Deer Lodge" lode, which was discovered and staked early in 1864, by Charles Murphy, Maj. William Graham and Frank Madison. "At the time Humphreys and Allison first came into the valley, there were no stakes struck, nor any signs of work having been done in the camp, except upon what is now known as the Original lode, where there was an old hole sunk to the depth of four or five feet. Near the hole were some elk horns used for gads, and handspikes. From all appear- ances the work had been performed years before ; by whom this work was done, there is no telling, nor will it probably ever be known. In the fall of 1864 rich placer discoveries were made in the vicinity of Butte,. HISTORY OF MONTANA 223 and in August of the same year the first mining district was formed, with William Allison as president, and G. O. Humphreys as recorder. In the fall of 1864, the old town of Butte was located, on what is known as Town Gulch, adjoining the present town site of Butte. MINING ALONG SILVER Bow CREEK "During the month of October, 1864, rich placer discoveries were made on Silver Bow Creek, below where the town of Silver Bow now stands, by Frank Ruff, Bud. Baker, Peter Slater and others, and people began to gather from all parts of the territory. A new district was formed jn the lower end of the gulch, known as Summit Mountain Mining District, with W. R. Coggswell as recorder, and soon sprang up the town of Silver Bow City, which was then made the county seat of Deer Lodge County. During the winter of 1864-65 there were probably 150 men in Silver Bow and vicinity, and many lodes were recorded in the two districts. In the spring of 1865, Summit Mountain district was divided, and claims No. 75 to 310, above discovery on Silver Bow Creek, were organized into what is known as Independence Mining District. In the fall of 1864, German Gulch was discovered by Ed. Alfield and others. In the spring of 1865, a big stampede took place for this new discovery, and on the ist of April, 1865, there were nearly 1,000 men in German Gulch and immediate vicinity. During the winter of 1864-65, Collins & Company established a store at Silver Bow, and shortly after another store was started by O. G. Dorwin." HELL'S GATE AND MISSOULA In June, 1860, Frank L. Worden and C. P. Higgins, under the firm name of Worden & Company, started for Walla Walla with a stock of general merchandise for the purpose of trading at the Indian agency, but, upon their arrival at Hell's Gate, they determined to locate at that point, and accordingly built a small log house and opened business. This was the first building erected at that place, and formed the nucleus of a small village that was known far and wide as Hell's Gate, and which in later years had the reputation of being one of the roughest places in Montana. During this year 400 United States troops under the command of Major Blake passed over the Mullan road from Fort Benton to Walla Walla and Colville. The historic Bitter Root Valley was the scene of much activity in the late '505, and, as far as town-building is concerned, Missoula was the result. In 1855, the Confederated Flathead nation concluded the treaty with the Government in the large pine grove on the river, about eight miles below the present town of Missoula, and the circumstance gave that locality the name of Council Grove. In the following year, a note- worthy influx of settlers commenced to come into the so-called Hell's Gate Ronde, in the upper part of Bitter Root Valley. Among them was Frank H. Woody (Judge), who is therefore well qualified to explain 224 HISTORY OF MONTANA the circumstances attending the birth of the town of Missoula. He says in his "Early History of Western Montana," (Vol. II, p. 94) : "The large round valley lying below and adjacent to the present town of Missoula was called by the early Canadian trappers who visited this country, Hell's Gate Ronde and the river, Hell's Gate River. The name FRANK L. WORDEN Hell's Gate originated in this wise : In an early day, when the warlike Blackfeet overran the whole of Montana, the romantic and picturesque pass or canyon where the Hell's 'Gate River cuts through the mountain above the town of Missoula, was a regular rendezvous for their war parties, and so constantly did they infest this place that it was almost certain death for an individual, or even small parties, to enter this pass, and so great was the dread and fear entertained by the Indians of the HISTORY OF MONTANA 225 western tribes and the Canadian voyageurs that it became a saying with them that it was as safe to enter within the gates of hell, as to enter into that pass; and it was called by the voyageurs, in their language, Port d'enfer, Gate of Hell, or Hell's Gate, and from which the river and sub- sequently a village took their names." In the fall of 1856 quite a number of settlers located in the upper part of Bitter Root Valley, and in December, Neil McArthur, one of the most substantial of the new comers erected a trading post in Hell's Gate Ronde. A number moved their stock to that locality and a number of pieces of ground were broken for grain and garden produce. In the fall of 1857, the "first houses were built in the ronde, or valley. Other settlers came in, within a few years, including the widely known trader, Capt. Richard Grant, so prominently identified with the Hudson Bay Company. "In December of that year (1860), the Territorial Assembly created the county of Missoula, the polls, at which seventy-four votes were cast, being opened at Fort Owen, Jocko Agency and Hell's Gate. In 1863-64, Hell's Gate upheld its name as a favorite resort of the road agents and horse thieves who infested Montana. "The Kootenai mines having been discovered early in the spring of 1864, hundreds of men flocked to them, passing through the village of Hell's Gate and buying generously of its goods and supplies, at 'war prices.' " In this connection, Judge Woody, who had been in the Hell's Gate country for a number of years, remarks : "Seed wheat sold as high as $10.00, and potatoes at. $6.00 per bushel ; yeast powders were cheap at $1.50 per box, and coffee at $1.00 per pound, and flour of the poorest quality sold readily at $30.00 per hundred pounds, and every- thing else in proportion. In the fall of 1864, the ruling price for wheat was from $4.00 to $5.00 per bushel. Potatoes from the field sold readily at $3.00 per bushel. The currency at this time was principally gold dust. These high prices were caused by the immense number of people who flocked to the mines of Alder and other gulches on the East Side, and by the demand made by the settlers in the Gallatin, Jefferson and Madison Valleys for seed grain and potatoes. * * * "During the winter of 1864-65, Worden & Company erected a saw- mill at the place where Missoula now stands, and in the spring of 1865 commenced the erection of a grist mill and business house, and in the fall of that year moved their store from Hell's Gate to their new build- ing. Other buildings were put up by other parties, and thus was the town of Missoula established, and was at first called Missoula Mills, but eventually the last part of the name was dropped by common consent. "The town of Frenchtown was established in 1864, Stevensville the same year and Corvallis about 1868. * * * In February, 1866, the Board of County Commissioners, upon their own responsibility, moved the county seat from Hell's Gate to Missoula, where it was subsequently established by the Legislature. In that year the first assessment of property was made and the first taxes collected." Vol. 115 CHAPTER XI MINERAL GEOLOGY AND EARLY INDUSTRIES By the year 1865, the gold fields of Montana were in full bearing. Not a few of the old guides, trappers and prospectors had then become prosperous and stable citizens, and leaders in the social fabric which was taking shape. Such were the Stuart brothers James, perhaps more an energetic man of action that his brother, and Granville, more a careful observer and recorder of events. They both knew Montana, physically, as few of its residents, and as their personal acquaintance was also very wide, they spoke and wrote with authority regarding any of its features or affairs. The history of Montana by Granville Stuart, completed in 1865, presents an interesting and instructive general picture of the distinct natural basins into which its territory is divided, with the rivers which outline the valleys and the known gold fields and centers of population gathered therein. Neither does he fail to note the agricultural features of the basins and river valleys of what had but lately been created, the territory of Montana; and that fact was probably the excuse, if any were needed, for the publication of the history. MONTANA AND ITS BASINS The portions of Granville Stuart's history of what was then the ter- ritory of Montana which cover the topic mentioned follow: "The name 'Montana' properly belongs to a certain part of Spain, and means 'mountainour,' a name that is applicable to the country, for a wonder. Still, I think that the Snake Indian name of 'Toyabe-Shockup/ or 'The Country of the Mountains,' would have been more appropriate, for some parts of Montana have been the home of these Indians from a time far anterior to the discovery of America. "Montana consists of a series of basins, five in number, of which four lie on the east side of the Rocky Mountains and one on the west. These basins are generally subdivided into a number of valleys by spurs of mountains jutting down from the main chain of the Rocky Moun- tains. These spurs are often of great height, frequently exceeding that of the main chain, but there are many low passes among them, thus con- necting the valleys with each other by low gaps that are passable at all times of the year. THE WESTERN BASIN "The basin west of the Rocky Mountains, in the northwestern corner of the territory, is drained by the Missoula and Flathead Rivers and their 226' HISTORY OF MONTANA 227 branches, the last named being the outlet of the Flathead Lake, a beautiful sheet of water about forty miles long by twenty wide, which lies at the foot of the Rocky Mountains near the northern end of the basin, and not far from the line of British Columbia. "This lake is surrounded by some beautiful country, a portion of which is valuable in an agricultural point of view. From the lake there extends south along the foot of the Rock Mountains to the Pend d'Oreille Mission, a distance of over fifty miles, a well-wooded, gently-rolling country, clothed with a good growth of grass, a large proportion of it being excellent farming land. Then leaving the mission and crossing a range of hills to the south you enter the valley of the Jocko, which is small, but in beauty and fertility it is unsurpassed. Here is located the reserve of the Pend d'Oreille Indians. Then crossing by an easy pass, over the lofty spur of mountains running down from the main chain between the Jocko and Hellgate Rivers, you enter the lovely valley of the Hellgate, which is about twenty-five miles long, with an ayerage breadth of about six miles. It is almost all good farming land, with a good growth of bunch grass, and it is enough to make a man from the prairies of Iowa or Illinois cry to see the good pine timber that is going to waste here. "Here comes in from the south the river and valley of the 'Bitter- Root,' a lovely and fertile region extending south about sixty miles, with an average breadth of seven or eight miles. In this valley is situated Fort Owen, surrounded by a thriving settlement. This fort is not, nor ever was, a government fort. It was established in 1851 or 1852 by the untiring energy and perseverance of Mr. John Owen, for the purpose of trading with the Indians, and it is at present the best building in Montana. "The valleys of the Bitter Root and Hell Gate contain many settlers, whose number is rapidly increasing. The Missoula River is formed by the junction of the Hell Gate and Bitter Root. "These valleys are bounded on the west by the Bitter Root Moun- tains, which are very lofty, snow lying on many of the peaks during the entire year. These mountains cover an extent of country about seventy- five miles wide, reaching to the valley of Snake River in Idaho, and about 200 miles in length, forming a howling wilderness of yawning canons and huge mountains, covered with a heavy growth of pine and fir timber, and affording a home to a few elks and a large number of grouse, but of no earthly use for anything but the mineral wealth they contain, which is very great, as is proven by Florence City, Elk City, Oro Fino, and many other places of less note. "Leaving the Hellgate valley, and going up the Hellgate River which comes from the southeast, we enter Hellgate Canyon which I have described elsewhere and in a short distance we reach the mouth of 'Big Blackfoot River.' Coming in from the east, it runs through a canyon for some fifteen miles above its mouth, above which it opens out into a large and beautiful valley, well timbered and watered, forming a good grazing region, and, most probably, farming also ; but it has been tried. 228 HISTORY OF MONTANA Then, going up Hellgate canyon forty miles, we emerge into the rolling grassy hills which reach twelve miles to the valley of Flint Creek, a beauti- ful place, well calculated for grazing and farming. Thence up the Hellgate River, through much good farming land, bordered by rolling, grassy coun- try, twenty miles to the lower end of Deer Lodge Valley, passing by 'Gold Creek,' where are the first gold mines ever found and worked in what is now 'Montana.' PLACER AND QUARTZ MINES OF DEER LODGE VALLEY "But I am digressing from my description of the basins that con- stitute Montana. I have described Deer Lodge elsewhere, with the exception of the rich placer and quartz mines situated in a kind of sec- ondary valley, situated at the head of the main one, and a slight description of which will be proper here. They were discovered during the summer of 1864; the large number of gold and silver-bearing quartz leads first attracted the attention of some prospectors, who began to examine the country and found it to be of unexampled richness, there having been discovered up to this time (January, 1865) over 150 leads of gold and silver bearing quartz within a space of six by ten miles, several of the silver leads assaying better than the Comstock lead in Nevada Territory, and one in particular, the Original, producing seventy per cent, of metal when melted down in a common forge, the proportion being $2,800 in silver to the ton of rock, $200 in gold and copper enough to pay all expenses of working. A great many of these leads project above the surface of the grounds, and can be traced for hundreds of yards by the eye while standing in one spot, there is no doubt but this vicinity will prove as good, if not better, than the renowned Washoe mines. Wood and water are plenty and easy of access, and it is besides an excellent grass country. There are also several large leads of ar- gentiferous galena, which furnish all the lead that may be wanted, and which contain a sufficient quantity of silver to pay a handsome profit to the workers. "In addition to the quartz leads, which are known to form a network over a large extent of country bordering Deer Lodge Valley, there is in- terspersed among these leads a large extent of placer or surface diggings, some of which were worked during the past fall and yielded largely, and which will afford remunerative employment to a large number of men for years to come. "This ends the description of the northwestern basin, which con- tains eight principal valleys, to wit: The valleys of the Flathead Lake, of the Mission, of the Jocko, of Hellgate, of the Bitter Root, of Big Blackfoot, of Flint Creek and of Deer Lodge, besides many other smaller ones of great beauty and fertility. This basin drains toward the north- west, and is about 250 miles long by an average of about seventy-five miles wide. It is by far the best timbered part of the territory, owing to the moist warm winds of the Pacific Ocean, which reach to the Rocky Mountains along here, and cause a more luxuriant growth of vegetation HISTORY OF MONTANA 229 than farther south, where their moisture is absorbed and rather dried up in crossing the arid surface of the 'Great Basin,' which is destitute of timber, except in a few places. "Sickness is almost unknown in this basin, or indeed in any of the others, for I can truly say that no healthier country can be found in the world than that comprised within the limits of the Territory of Montana. MONTANA'S NORTHEASTERN BASIN "Next is the northeastern basin, lying on the east side of the Rocky Mountains, and between them and the low dividing ridge that separates the waters of the Saskatchewan, Red River of the North, and the Miss- issippi River, fr,om those of the Missouri. The basin extends in fact from the Rocky Mountains to the eastern border of the territory, along its north end, a distance of nearly 600 miles in length, by about 150 in breadth, a small part of its northern edge lying in British possessions. "The eastern portion of this vast basin is composed of clay table lands, or 'mauvaise terres/ but there is a large amount of good land along the streams. There -are' several spurs and bunches of mountains, as the Bear's Paw, Little Rocky Mountains, Three Buttes, etc., scattered about in it. It drains to the east by the Missouri River, Milk River, Maria's River, Teton River, Sun River, and Dearborn, the first three putting into the Missouri below Fort Benton, and the last two a short distance above the Great Falls. The western portion of this basin is but little broken up by mountains, yet only about one-third of its surface is avail- able for farming, consisting of a strip from ten to twenty miles in width and about 150 long, running along the east foot of the Rock Mountains, which afford a good supply of timber. This strip is clothed with bunch- grass, but as you leave the mountains and go d"own into the plains, the country becomes a succession of clay terraces or table lands, more com- monly known as 'bad lands,' which are sterile, with but a scanty growth of stunted grass. The streams have worn down through these table lands until they now run in canyons several hundred feet below you, meandering through the narrow bottoms that border it. These bottoms, though narrow, are generally fertile and well supplied with grass. Timber, how- ever, is not very plentiful, what there is being principally cottonwood. It is possible that a large proportion of these table lands may be rendered productive by a well-directed system of irrigation. "The want of timber may also be supplied by coal, of which I have reason to believe there are large deposits in this basin. "There have not been any discoveries that would pay of precious minerals in this basin as yet, but there has been a small amount of superficial prospecting done. This has established the fact that gold exists in unknown quantities in the canyons and streams that put into this basin from the Rocky Mountains. I am, however, of the opinion that when this region is thoroughly prospected it will be found equally as rich as its sister basins. 230 HISTORY OF MONTANA WESTERN CENTRAL BASIN "Next comes the western central basin, drained to the east by the Jefferson fork of the Missouri and its tributaries, of which the following are the principal : Big Hole River, which comes in from the northeast, and which, I think, affords more than the Beaverhead River, which has generally been considered the main stream, and properly so, because it runs through the center of the basin, and drains a much larger extent of country than the Big Hole, which has along its course, and in a huge semi-circle around its head, some of the loftiest peaks in this part of the Rocky Mountains, and on which the snow falls to a great depth, and as it melts in the spring and summer, causes the Big Hole, which has a much steeper grade than the Beaverhead, to become a rushing torrent of formidable dimensions. The Big Hole and the Beaverhead unite near the eastern edge of the basin, and form the Jefferson fork of the Missouri, which runs through a canyon into the 'eastern central basin,' where it makes a junction at the 'Three Forks' with the Madison and Gallatin Rivers. "Rattlesnake Creek comes in from the northwest, as does Williams' Creek a few miles farther west. Horse Prairie Creek, which is the head- water of the Beaverhead, comes in from the west. Red Rock Creek comes in from the south; Black Tailed Deer Creek from the southeast, and Stinking Water River from the southeast. These streams drain this basin, which lies much in the shape of a spread fan, being about 150 miles wide by 100 long. "There have been no mines discovered on the Big Hole, except a small patch at its head, of which I have spoken elsewhere. "Rattlesnake Creek is crossed in the canyon above its valley by num- erous ledges of the richest quartz silver that has yet been discovered in Montana, some of them assaying as high as $5,000 to the ton of rock. "The round smooth boulders and gravel commonly known as the 'wash,' that are always found in placer diggings, have evidently been caused by the grinding, pulverizing action of glaciers, the country having undergone great changes of upheaval and depression since that time ; and in gold-bearing localities the action of the elements during countless ages had collected the gold that was ground out of the ledges and rocks by the action of the glaciers into the ravines, creeks and rivers of the vicinity. BANNACK CITY AND VICINITY "Bannack City stands at the upper end of the canyon on Willard's Creek, where it opens out into a small valley. The mines extend down the creek seven or eight miles, and have paid big, but are now declining somewhat. "In this canyon are situated many leads of gold-bearing quartz of ex- ceeding richness, among which is the famous 'Dacotah' lead which is now being worked with great success. There is also the Waddam lead, the California lead, and many others that assay quite rich. In fact, few 231 places in the world possess greater mineral wealth than the vicinity of Bannack City (1865). "Passing by Horse Prairie, Red Rock, and Black Tailed Deer Creeks, each of which has a valley of considerable extent which is admirably adapted for grazing and probably for farming also, but on which no mines have as yet been discovered, we come to Stinking Water River, which has a valley of considerable size, but only a portion of which was fertile and well grassed; but the spur of mountains that run down be- tween it and the Madison River, and which are over fifty miles long, running due north and south, are very rich. The first stream that comes out of these mountains into the valley of the Stinking Water is the 'Wis- consin Gulch,' so called because it was first worked by a party from that state. This gulch had only been partially prospected, it being deep to the bedrock, yet there has been found a considerable extent of placer dig- gings in and adjacent to it. A few miles farther up the valley comes out Mill Creek, so called because Gammell & Company built a mill on it last year. There has been no placer mines discovered on this creek, but along the base of the mountains in its vicinity is a large number of rich gold and silver-bearing quartz leads, among which are the Rothschilds lode, the Eclipse lode, the Antelope, the Mountain Queen, the Gilbraltar, and many others that assay rich. "This is the only place in this range where silver leads are found. Some of them assay from one to two thousand dollars to the ton of rock, and they are very easy of access. Here is also a thriving village called Brandon, which bids fair to rival Virginia City. "A few miles from Mill Creek comes out 'Ram's Horn Gulch,' so called from the large number of mountain sheep horns lying along it, it having once been a resort for them. This stream, like Mill Creek, possesses no placer diggings, but it has not been thoroughly prospected. It has, however, many rich leads of gold-bearing quartz, among which is the famous 'Monitor,' which is very rich. A little farther up the valley comes out 'Biven's Gulch' named after the man who first 'struck it' in this creek, which has paid, and is still paying remarkably well, in 'coarse gold,' pieces having been taken out of this gulch weighing as high as $320. A short distance farther along the base of the mountain, and we come to 'Harris Gulch,' named after its discoverer, as usual, and which has paid well in places, in beautiful coarse gold, but this gulch is what is called 'spotted,' in mining parlance; that is, the gold is scattered about in ir- regular spots. Only a small portion of this gulch has paid well. "There is another ravine, called 'California Gulch,' which comes into Harris Gulch on the south, before it enters the valley of the Stinking Water. This gulch is similar to Harris', except that it is still more 'spotted,' and has not paid so well. THE VIRGINIA CITY REGION "A few miles farther south comes out the famous Alder Creek the derivation of which name I have given elsewhere on the banks of which, a few miles above the first canyon, where it opens out into a kind 232 HISTORY OF MONTANA of basin, are situated the cities of Virginia, Central and Nevada, which are fast being merged into one, with a population of about 10,000, and rapidly increasing. Alder Creek is incredibly rich, from its head down to near where it enters the valley of the Stinking Water, a distance of about fifteen miles. Near its head, pieces have been found weighing from $50 to as high as $720, the gold getting coarser as the head of the stream is approached. "In the hills bordering the stream, a large number of gold-bearing quartz leads have been discovered. Those in Summit district being of almost unexampled richness, while in the mountains at the head of the creek, is a coal field of unknown extent, which is now being developed. This is the second place in this basin where coal has been discovered, BRIDGER'S CANYON, VALLEY OF THE GALLATIN and, in a country so sparsely timbered as this, coal fields are of incal- culable value. In fact, nature has placed within the limits of Montana all the requisites to enable her to become the wealthiest part of the United States. Abounding in all the minerals, precious and otherwise, with coal and water power unlimited to work them, the future of Mon- tana will equal in reality those gorgeous fictions of the Arabian Nights' Entertainments. "This basin contains eight valleys of considerable size, to wit : The valley of the upper part of the Jefferson and Beaverhead, of Big Hole River, of Big Hole Prairie, of Rattlesnake, of Horse Prairie, of Red Rock, of Black Tailed Deer, of Stinking Water. This ends the descrip- tion of the Western Central basin, which contains in itself all the es- sentials necessary for the prosperity of a mighty nation. EASTERN CENTRAL BASIN "Next comes the Eastern Central basin, which is drained by the Missouri River, below the Three Forks, and above them by the Jefferson HISTORY OF MONTANA 233 fork, into which empty the North Boulder Creek, South Boulder Creek and Willow Creek, on the first and last of which are some placer diggings of limited extent and richness, and many quartz leads that prospect rich. This basin is further drained by the Madison and Gallatin forks, which form a junction with the Jefferson in a fertile plain of considerable extent. "The basin contains a large amount of arable lands, with a climate fully as good as Utah. It is about 150 miles long north and south, by about eighty east and west. It contains five principle valleys, to wit : The valley of the Three Forks, of North Boulder, of the lower part of the IN THE ROSEBUD VALLEY Jefferson, of the Madison, of the Gallatin. It contains a greater amount of farming lands than the basin of the Beaverhead and tributaries. ' THE YELLOWSTONE BASIN "Next and last comes the basin of the Yellowstone and its branches. It drains toward the east, and is about 400 miles long, by about 150 wide. But little is known about the mineral resources of this great valley, the hostility of the Crow Indians rendering it very dangerous prospecting within its limits. They have already killed several men who were ex- ploring the country, and robbed and set on foot many others. "The indefatigable miners have, however, succeeded in finding a creek at the western edge of the ba,sin, where it approaches nearest the valley of the Gallatin, which they have called Emigrant Gulch, because it was mostly taken up by the emigrants who arrived by the Bridger and Jacobs road. There is a small village on this creek, which prospects very well in places, and will probably prove very rich, but it is very hard to work, because of the vast quantity of granite boulders scattered along its bed and banks. "There is every reason to believe, however, that the basin of the Yellowstone will prove fully as rich in precious minerals as the others 234 HISTORY OF MONTANA and it is known to contain large fields of coal, which are very accessible and among which are numbers of petroleum or oil springs. In climate and fertility this valley is a medium between the valleys of the mountains and the prairies of the Western States. Corn, beans, pumpkins, etc., grow finely in it. "This basin contains eight principal valleys, as follows : The main valley of the Yellowstone, of Shield's River, of the Rosebud, of Clark's Fork, of Pryor's Fork, of the Big Horn River, of Tongue River, and of Powder River, and, many smaller ones. "Thus ends this slight description of 'the country of the mountains,' which, it will be seen, contains five large basins, which inclose within their limits thirty valleys, each of which is as large as three or four German principalities, besides many smaller ones not much larger than Rhode Island or Delaware." JOAQUIN MILLER ON PLACER DEPOSITS In general terms the modes and results of glacial action in the dep- osition of placer gold have been described, but this chapter which is intended to convey more definite explanations for the wide distribution of the precious dust, cannot do better at this point than to borrow from the characteristically expressed observations of the late Joaquin Miller, who is said to have mined as well as he wrote. "Placer," he observed, "is a Spanish word meaning pleasure and delight. When the uneasy pros- pector discovered the shining dust in Last Chance, on which the business part of Helena is built, they were certainly both pleased and delighted, and very properly called it a 'placer.' The Spaniards called these deposits 'placers,' where native gold was found in loose sand and gravel, above or upon the consolidated strata called 'bed-rock.' They are most com- monly found in mountain gulches, in sands washed by rivers, and sometimes in the gravels of the drift deposits. All gold, so far as known, was originally deposited in veins imbedded in quartz or other minerals, and that now found in placers has been worn out of these veins by the action of the weather, water and glaciers, and deposited with the decom- posed rocks in its present positions in gulches and river beds. "During the countless ages since the gold was deposited in the veins of the rocks, and these rocks were elevated into mountains, the agents above named have worn away vast quantities of the rocks, and those containing veins of gold, and carried the materials and the gold down into the gulches and out into the valleys, forming the deposits of clay, sand, gravel and gold. But the most efficient agents in this work were glaciers or streams of ice, such as are now at work in the mountains of Alaska, grinding out the precious metals. "The evidence is absolutely conclusive that there were vast ages when the temperature of the northern hemisphere was much colder than now, and when all the gulches and gorges of the Rocky Mountains were filled with glaciers or rivers of ice. There is nothing in the nature of art so well calculated as glaciers to grind up the rocks and carry the HISTORY OF MONTANA 235 sands, gravels, boulders and gold down into the gulches and deposit them as we find them in our placers. These facts establish a good knowledge of the action of glaciers and the manner in which they grind up the rocks and carry down deposits of sands and clays, and boulders thus produced will help the miner to understand where he should look for the richer portions of the placers thus formed. The knowledge of glaciers would explain many puzzling problems about 'bed-rocks,' 'bar/ 'cross channels' and 'ancient rivers/ "On the supposition that the gold was brought down by streams of water, it is difficult to explain how so much of it got upon high bars and why the most of it was left on the north and east sides of gulches ; but these are just the places where glaciers would melt most and leave most of their freight. When we remember that a glacier is a river of ice running very slowly, that speed is nothing when we have time enough, that these rivers of ice have frozen into them the loose rocks along their courses, that they were at times hundreds and thousands of feet deep, that as they slid along they would break off projecting rocks and grind all beneath them to powder, that they would carry along with them every- thing ground and unground and deposit them wherever the ice of the glacier melted, we have important facts to help in mining. Hence the boulders, gravels, sands and gold are found on the bars and benches, and in the gulches where they opened out into valleys ; for there the glaciers would melt and drop their loads. The ice would melt most on the north and east sides of the glaciers, where the sun strikes the warmest on the mountain sides opposite; and there they would drop the most gold, as we find it in Montana. There are exceptions, easily accounted for by the shape of the gulches. "Glaciers were the mills of God which ground out the gold of most of our placers. They ground slow but they ground on and on through countless ages, and our placers are their tailings. We, however, have some placers not produced by glaciers. The Nevada Creek placer mines are a noted example of placers produced by the ordinary action of weather and water. They extend along the base of the mountain for miles, and were formed by the decomposition of the granite which forms the slopes of the mountain. This granite is full of gold veins and is itself rich in gold, and decomposes rapidly; and the materials are washed down by rains and snow. The gold is found in all parts of it from grass roots to bed-rock. Gold is also found in the sands of streams which have been washed away from the places where the glaciers deposited it. There are golden sands and gravels thousands of miles away from all veins of gold. Such deposits, so far away from the sources of the gold, are very limited and never pay for working; for the manner in which they were formed precluded the possibility of extensive deposits. The glaciers of Alaska are making just such deposits as these in the Northern Pacific Ocean. Gla- ciers many miles wide and several hundred feet deep are flowing from the mountains in Alaska and bearing to the ocean quantities of boulders, gravels and sands some of them containing gold. When these rivers of ice with precious loads reach the sea, large masses break off and float away 236 HISTORY OF MONTANA as icebergs; and wherever they melt they drop their freight of golden sands. "Similar deposits are sometimes found in our wide valleys far away from the mountains. These were formed by the glaciers flowing out into the valley before they were melted, or were floated out as ice- bergs when these valleys were lakes or bays of the ocean. Some of these abnormal deposits of gold in gravels so far from their mountain sources may have been carried by the great glacier that once covered nearly all North America as far south as St. Louis or Cincinnati. "Such were the modes in which our placers were formed. Vast bodies of moving ice frozen full of masses of rock, were the mills that ground the gold out of the quartz and deposited it in the beds and at the mouths of these ancient channels. These channels were plowed out by these ice-rivers armed with teeth of flint. These teeth have left their marks, deep scratches, on the surface of the rocks in our gulches and valleys. "With these facts in mind the prospector will find much aid in ex- amining the form of the gulch, to determine where the glacier flowing through it would pile up its freight of golden sands, where the sun would strike it hottest and melt it most, and where it left most of the gravel; for these places would be the richest parts of the placer. In gulches bor- dered by high mountains, the north and east sides would have the most sun ; there the ice-river would spread out and melt and leave more or less of its rich freights of golden sands. At the place where the gulch opens into the valley, is the place where it would finally melt and leave what was left of its precious freight." CLARK ON GOLD, SILVER AND COPPER DEPOSITS In 1863, while the first mining operations of Bannack and Virginia cities were in full swing, a young Pennsylvanian who had been working for a time in the Colorado mines one William A. Clark appeared in the Montana whirlpool and hurly-burly and remained as one of the great men of the country. No one has been longer, or more vitally identified with all its mineral interests, and he has studied them from bed-rock up, in all their bearings. Speaking in 1876 (his centennial address), Mr. Clark says: "The pay streak in gulches is usually confined to a strip from ten to fifty feet in width and near the solid formation under the alluvium, which is called bed-rock, although in some places the gold is intimately diffused through- out the alluvium from the surface down. The alluvium varying from 500 to 100 feet is washed off by hydraulic power. The water is brought from its head, which is frequently 200 or 300 feet in height, through canvas or rubber hose or iron pipes and forced through a small aperture or nozzle, and is projected against the bank with great energy. The gravel is washed by the water through a line of sluice boxes, and the gold, on account of its great specific gravity sinks and lodges in riffles placed in the sluices. The sluices or flumes are usually fifteen to thirty- five inches in width, and from one hundred to several thousand feet in HISTORY OF MONTANA 237 length. The length of ditches conveying water to the various mines will aggregate about 600 miles, and cost about $1,000,000 in their con- struction. * * * "The history of the development of the quartz mines of Montana is almost contemporary with that of the placers. The Dacotah lode, bearing gold quartz, was discovered near Bannack and located November 12, 1862. The decomposed quartz from the surface of the vein was packed down from the hill on which it is situated to the creek and the gold panned out. This is a process familiar to miners in which the gold, by dexterous lateral movements in the pan immersed in water, is caused to sink, while the lighter earthly matter is gradually carried away by the water. A mill to crush the quartz from this lode was begun by William Arnold in the winter of 1862 and finished by J. F. Allen the following spring. The motive power was water. The stamp stems, four in number, were made of wood, and the shoes and dies were made of old wagon tires cut and welded together. This primitive affair was followed, in 1863, by the erection of other mills, which had been transported from Colorado and the east, and from that time to this, the gold quartz near Bannack has given employment to several mills almost uninterruptedly. Gold bearing quartz was sought for and found in nearly all the placer dis- tricts." At the time of Mr. Clark's centennial address (1876), there had already been such a decrease in gold production from $18,000,000, in 1865, to $4,500,000 in 1876 that prospectors were already seeking to develop other- mineral deposits. William A. Clark, one of the greatest figures produced by Montana in the development of its silver and copper wealth, remarked significantly, that although the product of gold "is im- portant, yet it is evident that .the greater wealth of the territory lies locked up in silver ores. But little attention was directed to these in the early years of our history owing to want_of knowledge as to their character and the methods of their reduction. Most of the various combinations of silver are: argentiferous galena, grey copper, argentite, stiphenite, ruby silver, cerargerite, stetefeldite, etc. Of the real silver ores, argentite and antimonial sulphite are the most abundant and are usually found in a silicious or calcareous gangue (mineral crust) while in many places the ores are associated with intractable bases, which render smelting neces- sary for their beneficiation. "Galena ores carrying silver were found at Argenta (Beaverhead County, a few miles northwest of Dillon) in the summer of 1864, which caused the first silver excitement in the territory. Since then furnaces for smelting were built and operated there at intervals, but never with any marked success, and they are, with one exception, now idle. The silver mines at Philipsburg, in Deer Lodge County, were discovered in 1865, and a ten-stamp mill was built the year after by a St. Louis com- pany, which is now working the ores used by them. Mr. Clark went on to mention various stamp mills, which were then more or less successful, and concluded this phase of his address by referring with evident en- thusiasm and confidence to the great mineral district in the Helena and 238 HISTORY OF MONTANA Butte neighborhoods, then only scratched. "A rich belt of argentiferous lodes," he says, "outcrops west and south of Helena, on Ten Mile, Prickly Pear and Boulder Creeks. The ores are galena, combined in some in- stances with a small percentage of zinc blende and antimony, but they readily yield to intelligent treatment in the blast furnace. This same belt has another outcrop westward, beyond the Rocky Mountains at Butte, in Deer Lodge County, and again still farther at Vipond and Bryant dis- tricts in Beaverhead County. At Butte two dry crushing mills have been built, one of them at a cost of about $70,000. The ores here receive a chloridizing roasting and are treated successfully at a cost of about $25 per ton, and saving about 85 to 90 per cent, of the assay value of the raw ore and producing bullion over 900 fine. Here is to be found the greatest network of lodes in the west. They carry gold, silver, copper and lead, and all of these combined to some extent, although the predominant valuable mineral is either silver or copper. These mines, all within a compass of a few miles, are located on a range of low hills near the head of Silver Bow Creek and are easily accessible. The country rock is granite, the dip south, the strike northeast and southwest, and at right angles to the main range of the mountains at whose base they lie. The copper ores are for a depth of about 100 feet oxydized, and principally carbonates, carrying from ten to fifty per cent, metallis copper. Ex- ploration below water level will, it is expected, reveal sulphides. Several hundred of these ores are shipped annually to Baltimore for treatment. "It is hoped that in the near future capitalists will be induced to erect works for the reduction of these ores on the ground. Limestone and iron, or manganese, for fluxes and refractory clay, and cheap fuel, are abundant and near at hand, and the supply of ore apparently inex- haustible." These remarks and comments, extracted from Mr. Clark's centennial address, are pertinent both as conveying practical information in con- nection with the gold, silver and copper deposits of Montana, from a high authority, and also as giving a general picture of the status of mining operations at the period when gold had declined as a territorial industry and silver and copper were arising in their might. MONTANA COAL AND LIGNITES In 1906 Dr. J. P. Rowe, then professor of physics and geology in the University of Montana, issued a booklet on "Montana Coal and Lignite* Deposits," which is both scientific and practical in the information which it conveys. For example, this illuminating paragraph : "The geology of the coal fields of the United States corresponds generally with the variety of coal. The anthracite and high grade bituminous coals of the Eastern United States belong to the Carboniferous a small amount of bituminous coal in Virginia and North Carolina is found in the Triassic. The bituminous and lignitic bituminous coals are found mostly in the Cretaceous of the Rocky Mountains ; while the lignite, lignitic bituminous, * A variety of imperfect, woody coal. HISTORY OF MONTANA 239 and bituminous coals are found in the Territory of the Rocky Mountains and the west. * * * From the looth meridian west to the H5th (which passes through far- Western Montana), the commercial coals and lignites belong to the Cretaceous period almost entirely, and is known as the Rocky Mountain fields; some new fields with minor areas belong to the Tertiary. These Tertiary fields, however, contain nothing but lig- nite, and as yet are almost totally undeveloped. The Rocky Mountain fields include the states of Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, North and South Dakota, Montana and Wyoming. * * * According to the estimates given by Storrs in the 22nd annual report of the United States Geological Survey, Montana has an area of about 13,000 square miles of anthracite, bituminous and lignite-bituminous coals. The lignite areas including the Cretaceous and Tertiary will prob- ably aggregate more nearly 50,000 square miles than the area heretofore given of 25,000 square miles. The bituminous area of Montana exceeds the combined bituminous areas of North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyo- ming, Utah and New Mexico ; and is only exceeded in the Rocky Moun- tain states by Colorado. Here lignite area is next to that of North, Dakota, and exceeds the combined lignitic areas of all the other states of the Rocky Mountains. ABUNDANT, WIDELY DISTRIBUTED NATURAL FUEL "All but three counties, Silverbow, Sanders and Jefferson, have coal of lignite deposits, as soon as developed, of commercial value. Few states can boast of such a distribution of natural fuel. In the eastern part of the state the ranchers, and towns-people as well, burn nothing but lignite. Anyone living on the plains and desiring a load of fuel, simply drives to his favorite, nearby lignite seam and procures it. This is indeed a blessing. No timber to speak of within miles, and oftentimes remote from a railroad, the people are permitted to live and develop this great country without worry, and but little trouble in securing the much needed article in the development of every country, fuel." So that although Montana already produces between 3,000,000 and 4,000,000 tons of bituminous coal, her deposits have scarcely been touched. Speaking more in detail, almost the entire eastern half of the state is underlain by beds of good lignite, they being a continuation of the large lignitic areas in the Dakotas. The beds vary from a few inches to more than twenty feet in thickness. Lignite in varying amounts is found in the plains region of Eastern Montana from Wibaux and Culbertson on the east to Forsyth and Sanford on the west. From the southern part of Custer and Rosebud to the northern part of Valley County, hardly a township in Custer, Dawson and Valley counties that has not more or less lignite. Doctor Rowe significantly adds: "The semi-tropical past left a rich heritage to the future, and these rich stores will soon be used. The coun- try is fast being settled. Large sheep and cattle ranches are giving way to tillers of the soil. Formerly one man owned or controlled several sec- 240 HISTORY OF MONTANA tions, sometimes townships soon one section will be owned by several people. The settling of this portion (eastern) of Montana, when irri- gation schemes are oerfected, will be far easier than it was in Nebraska and other central states, where nothing but corn, cornstalk weeds and hay could be had for fuel." The Bull Mountain field of coal, of about fifty-five square miles in area and located forty-five miles northeast of Billings in Yellowstone County, is the most isolated coal area known in the state. It is little developed. The Clark's Fork field, which extends through parts of Meagher, Sweetgrass, Yellowstone and Carbon counties and is an extension of MONTANA COAL MINE the Big Horn Basin field of Wyoming, represents one of the largest coal deposits in Montana. The chief developments have been in Carbon County, and the coal is designated as lignitic-bituminous. Much of the output is consumed by the Butte and Anaconda smelters. In the south-central part of Carbon County is also the small but pro- ductive Rocky Fork field. The coal is semi-bituminous. The field ex- tends about six miles north and south and fixe miles eastward from the limiting limestones of the westward border. In Gallatin and Park counties is a rather extensive field from which has been developed some good coal for steam and coking purposes. The. chief developments have been made in the Livingston-Bozeman district. Considerable interest has centered in the field because of its proximity to the Northern Pacific Railroad and consequent assurance of ample trans- portation facilities should its output become commercially important. HISTORY OF MONTANA 241 Directly south of Bozeman and in Park County, near the. Yellowstone National Park, as well as in Madison County, northeast of Virginia City, are scattered fields, but the largest deposits in the state outside the east- ern Plains portion, is the Great Falls field. Although it covers portions of Teton, Lewis and Clark, Cascade and Fergus counties, in central and west of the Central Montana, the thickest part of the field is in the central part of Cascade County, in and around Sand Coulee, while it be- comes thinner both to the east and the west. In that locality naturally have occurred the most pronounced developments, the bulk of the output going to stimulate the water powers and industries of Great Falls. There has been considerable activity, also, at Augusta, Lewis and Clark County. Geologically, the Belt or Great Falls field is of special interest as being "the only considerable occurrence in the United States of the Canadian coal fields." Minor fields of coal and lignite are found in Chouteau and Flathead counties, the latter deposits in the western third of the state, however, being chiefly in the counties of Granite, Missoula and Ravalli. "Most of the inter-mountain valleys of Western Montana," reports Doctor Rowe, who spent five years in his geological investigations, "were formerly Neocene lakes, and in these lake beds are found a fairly good quality of lignite. This fuel is mined in many places and the seams range from a few inches to several feet in thickness. It is as good as the Lafamie lignites of the plains but has never been found in such large areas or as thick. However, these deposits are being sought after for local domestic fuel and will probably be in good demand within less than a decade. The beds in Ravalli County have so far shown the greatest promise." Vol. 116 CHAPTER XII DAYS OF OUTLAWS, VIGILANTES AND MINERS' COURTS While the Civil war was raging most violently from the Mississippi Valley to the Atlantic Coast and the Federal Government was absorbing all its powers in the stupendous task of "putting down the Rebellion," little could be accomplished in the way of organizing the western ter- ritories of the national domain. It therefore happened that at the seeth- ing period of the early gold discoveries in Montana, when adventurers and desperate men and women were gathering at Bannack and Virginia cities and gold centers of lesser fame ; at a time when the strong arm of the law should have been most felt, there was absolutely nothing in the form of constituted authority to protect the respectable and peacefully inclined citizen in the possession of his property and the exercise of his legitimate rights. What made the condition of affairs doubly worse and more desperate for the decent citizen was that the weak organization of public authority which was, for a time evinced, was in the hands of the highwaymen themselves and was only used to protect criminals and hide their crimes. ENTER THE ARCH VILLAIN Henry Plummer, an oily, scheming, cold-blooded desperado of good address, who had passed a decade of murders and other crimes in Cal- ifornia before he insinuated himself into the wild life of Bannack and Virginia cities, induced the irresponsible men of these communities to elect him sheriff. Thus Plummer was actually sheriff of both places at once. This politic move threw the unfortunate citizens into his hands completely, and by means of his robber deputies whose legal functions cloaked many a crime he ruled with a rod of iron. The marvelous riches of the great Alder Gulch attracted crowds from all the West, and after- ward from the East also; among whom were many diseased with crime to such an extent that for their cure the only available prescription was a stout cord and a good drop. Although Plummer had appointed as his deputies', Jack Gallagher, Buck Stinson and Ned Ray, the head deputy was a man of another stripe entirely named Dillingham, who had accurate knowledge of the names of the members of the Road Agent Band, and was also acquainted with many of their plans, although he himself was innocent. For revealing information which interfered with the road agents' plans, Dillingham was killed by Charley Forbes and, of course, acquitted. After the failure 242 HISTORY OF MONTANA 243 of justice in the case of the murderers of Dillingham, the state of society, bad as it was, rapidly deteriorated, until a man could hardly venture to entertain the belief that he was safe for a single day. ENTER STRONG MEN OF LAW AND ORDER Those were days in Montana which were as decisive of its destiny as those of the Civil War were for the entire nation, and fortunately the stalwart men who were already on the ground, as well as many who came at the height of the gold excitement, were made of metal which success- fully resisted all the fires of evil and stamped them out. Among these newcomers were such men as William A. Clark and Col. W. F. Sanders. The latter was especially prominent in the days when law and order, the protection of lives and property, rested in the keeping of that stern organization of individuals known as the Vigilantes, which the bands of road agents soon learned to dread as the sinner does the eternal hand of Justice. J. X. Beidler, a sturdy, broad-shouldered, fearless Pennsylvanian, who had failed in his Colorado ventures, also arrived in Alder Gulch in 1863, and perhaps accomplished as much as any one man in the physical work of running down the desperadoes of Hell's Hole, and Bannack and Virginia cities and bringing them to the hangman's noose. During the later days of his intrepid and effective work he was serving as deputy United States marshal under George M. Pinney. Both Colonel Sanders, who was the leading prosecuting attorney against the deviltries of the outlaw gang, and Mr. Beidler, its physical Nemesis, have left their recollections and observation of the days in which they were such stirring actors, and Montana writers have always gen- erously drawn upon their contributions in dealing with this epoch. Na- thaniel P. Langford and Prof. Thomas Dimsdale have also written about the Vigilantes of Montana about their "days and ways" so that the material for the expansion of the subject is profuse and readily avail- able. Mr. Langford, as sheriff, who preceded Henry Plummer (the chief of the Montana road agents) in that office, ofttimes reported the ex- citements of 1863-64 from direct observation, although, on the whole, the publication of Professor Dinsdale is considered the more authoritative. Reliance is chiefly placed upon it in the preparation of this chapter. In 1866 Prof. T. Dimsdale published his "Vigilantes of Montana," probably the most reliable account of that period, his intention being, as he says in the introduction to the work, "to furnish a correct history of an organization administering justice without the sanction of consti- tutional law ; and secondly, to prove not only the necessity for their action, but the equity of their proceedings." The writer has evidence before him that the work is reliable, in a note written on the cover of the copy which he is now consulting by ex-Governor W. R. Marshall, of Minnesota. It reads thus : "This most wonderful chapter in criminal history is strictly true in every particular. I have personally conversed with Lang- ford, Hauser, W. F. Sanders and others who had personal knowledge of the events." 244 HISTORY OF MONTANA SOCIETY IN THE VIGILANTES' DAYS In noting the condition of Montana "society" in the days of vigilante rule, he writes : "The absence of good female society, in any due propor- tion to the numbers of the opposite sex, is likewise an evil of great mag- NATHAXIEL P. LAXGFORD nitude ; for men become rough, stern and cruel, to a surprising degree, under such a state of things. "In every frequent street, public gambling houses with open doors and loud music, are resorted to, in broad daylight, by hundreds it might almost be said of all tribes and tongues, furnishing another fruitful source of 'difficulties,' which are commonly decided on the spot, by an appeal to brute force, the stab of a knife, or the discharge of a revolver. HISTORY OF MONTANA 245 Women of easy virtue are to be seen promenading through the camp, habited in the gayest and most costly apparel, and receiving fabulous sums for their purchased favors. In fact, all the temptations to vice are present in full display, with money in abundance to secure the gratifica- tion of the desire for novelty and excitement, which is the ruling passion of the mountaineer. THE HURDY-GURDY HOUSE "One 'institution,' offering a shadowy and dangerous substitute for more legitimate female association, deserves a more peculiar notice. This is the 'Hurdy-Gurdy' house. As soon as the men have left off work, these places are opened, and dancing commences. Let the reader picture to himself a large room, furnished with a bar at one end where champagne at $12 (in gold) per bottle, and 'drinks' at twenty-five to fifty cents, are wholesaled (correctly speaking) and divided, at the end of this bar, by a railing running from side to side. The outer enclosure is densely crowded (and, on particular occasions, the inner one also) with men in every variety of garb that can be seen on the continent. Beyond the barrier, sit the dancing women, called 'hurdy-gurdies,' sometimes dressed in uniform, but, more generally, habited according to the dictates of in- dividual caprice, in the finest clothes that money can buy, and which are fashioned in the most attractive styles that fancy can suggest. On one side is a raised orchestra. The music suddenly strikes up, and the sum- mons, 'Take your partners for the next dance/ is promptly answered by some of the male spectators, who paying a dollar in gold for a ticket, approach the ladies' bench, and in style polite, or otherwise, according to antecedants invite one of the ladies to dance. The number being complete, the parties take their places, as in any other dancing estab- lishment, and pause for the performance of the introductory notes of the air. "Let us describe a first class dancer 'sure of a partner every time' and her companion. There she stands at the head of the set. She is of middle height, of rather full and rounded form; her complexion as pure as alabaster, a pair of dangerous looking hazel eyes, a slightly Roman nose, and a small and prettily formed mouth. Her auburn hair is neatly banded and gathered in a tasteful, ornament net, with a roll and gold tassels at the side. How sedate she looks during the first figure, never smiling till the termination of "promenade, eight/' when she shows her little white hands in fixing her handsome brooch in its place, and settling her glistening ear-rings. See how nicely her scarlet dress, with its broad black band round the skirt, and its black edging, set off her dainty figure. No wonder that a wild mountaineer would be willing to pay not one dollar, but all that he has in his purse, for a dance and an approving smile from so beautiful a woman. "Her cavalier stands six feet in his boots, which come to the knee, and are garnished with a pair of Spanish spurs, with rowels and bells like young water wheels. His buckskin leggings are fringed at the seams, 246 HISTORY OF MONTANA and gathered at the waist with a United States belt, from which hangs his loaded revolver and his sheath knife. His neck is bare, muscular and embrowned by exposure, as is also his bearded face, whose sombre hue is relieved by a pair of piercing dark eyes. His long, black hair hangs down beneath his wide felt hat, and, in the corner of his mouth, is a cigar, which rolls like the lever of an eccentric, as he chews the end in his mouth. After an amazingly grave salute, 'all hands round' is shouted by the prompter, and off bounds the buckskin hero, rising and falling to the rhythm of the dance, with a clumsy agility and a growing enthusiasm, testifying his huge delight. His fair partner, with practiced foot and easy grace, keeps time to the music like a clock, and rounds to her place as smoothly and gracefully as a swan. As the dance progresses, he of the buckskins gets excited, and nothing but long practice prevents his partner from being swept off her feet, as the conclusion of the miner's delight, 'set your partners,' or 'gents to the right,' and 'promenade to the bar,' which last closes the dance. After a treat, the barkeeper mechanically raps his blower as a hint to 'weigh out,' the ladies sit down, and with scarcely an interval, a waltz, polka, shottische, mazurka, varsovienne, or another quadrille commences. "All varieties of costume, physique and demeanor can be noticed among the dancers from the gayest colors and 'loudest' styles of dress and manner, to the snugly fitted black silk, and plain, white collar, which sets off the neat figure of the blue-eyed, modest looking Anglo-Saxon. Yonder, beside the tall and tastily clad German brunette, you see the short curls, rounded tournure and smiling face of an Irish girl; indeed, repre- sentatives of almost every dancing nation of white folks, may be seen on the floor of the Hurdy-Gurdy house. The earnings of the dancers are very different in amount. That dancer in the low necked dress, with the scarlet 'waist,"* a great favorite and a really good dancer, counted fifty tickets into her lap before 'the last dance, gentlemen,' followed by, 'Only this one before the girls go home,' which wound up the performance. Twenty-six dollars is a great deal of money to earn in such a fashion ; but fifty sets of quadrilles and four waltzes, two of them for the love of the thing, is very hard work. "As a rule, however, the professional 'hurdles' are Teutons, and, though first rate dancers, they are, with some few exceptions, the re- verse of good looking. "The dance which is most attended, is one in which ladies to whom pleasure is dearer than fame, represent the female element, and, as may be supposed, the evil only commences at the Dance House. It is not uncommon to see one of these sirens with an 'outfit' worth from seven to eight hundred dollars, and many of them invest with merchants and bankers thousands of dollars in gold, the rewards and presents they receive, especially the more highly favored ones, being more in a week, than a well educated girl would earn in two years in an Easteru city. "In the Dance House you can see judges, the legislative corps, and every one but the minister. He never ventures further than to engage HISTORY OF MONTANA 247 in conversation with a friend at the door, and while intently watching the performance, lectures on the evil of such places with considerable force; but his attention is evidently more fixed upon the dancers than on his lecture. Sometimes may be seen gray haired men dancing, their wives sitting at home in blissful ignorance of the proceeding. There never was a dance house running, for any length of time, in the first days of a mining town, in which 'shooting scrapes' do not occur ; equal proportions of jealousy, whiskey and revenge being the stimulants thereto. Billiard saloons are everywhere visible, with a bar attached, and hundreds of thousands of dollars are spent there. As might be anticipated, it is impossible to prevent quarrels in these places, at all times, and, in the mountains, whatever weapon is handiest foot, fist, knife, revolver, or deringer it is instantly used." GATHERING OF THE ROAD AGENTS' BAND Among the emigrants diverted from the Snake River routes leading to the new Salmon River gold diggings of Idaho, in the spring of 1862, was a gang from Salt Lake City. It was sidetracked at the Beaver Head diggings of Montana, at Bannack City, and included among its members Henry Plummer, afterward sheriff and chief of the road agents, Charley Reeves, Moore and Skinner, his comrades in every evil thing of the West. *These ruffians served as a nucleus, around which the disloyal, the desperate and the dishonest gathered, and quickly organizing them- selves into a band, with captain, lieutenants, secretary, road agents, and outsiders, became the terror of the country. The stampede to the Alder Gulch, which occurred early in June, 1863, and the discovery of the rich placer diggings there, attracted many more of the dangerous classes, who scenting the prey from afar, flew like vultures to the battlefield. Between Bannack and Virginia, a correspondence was constantly kept up, and the roads throughout the territory were under the surveillance of the "outsiders" before mentioned. To such a system were these things brought, that horses, men and coaches were marked in some understood manner, to designate them as fit objects for plunder, and thus the lyers-in- wait had an opportunity of communicating the intelligence to the mem- bers of the gang, in time to prevent the escape of the victims. The confession of two of their number one of whom, named Erastus Yager alias Red, was hung in the Stinking Water Valley, put the Vigilance Committee in possession of the names of the prominent men in the gang, and eventually secured their death or voluntary banishment. The most noted of the road agents, with a few exceptions were hanged by the Vigilance Committee, or banished. A list of the places and dates of execu- tion of the principal members of the band is here presented. NAMES, PLACES AND DATES OF EXECUTION George Ives, Nevada City, December 21, 1863; Erastus Yager (Red) and G. W. Brown, Stinking Water Valley, January 4, 1864; Henry * Professor Dimsdale's "Vigilantes of Montana." HISTORY OF MONTANA 249< Plummer, Ned Ray and Buck Stinson, Bannack City, January 10, 1864; George Lane (Clubfoot George), Frank Parish, Haze Lyons, Jack Gal- lagher and Boone Helm, Virginia City, January 14, 1864; Steven Mars- land, Big Hole Ranche, January 16, 1864; William Bunton, Deer Lodge Valley, January 19, 1864; Cyrus Skinner, Alexander Carter, and John Cooper, Hell Gate, January 25, 1864; George Shears, Frenchtown, Janu- ary 24, 1864; Robert Zachary, Hell Gate, January 25, 1864; William Graves alias Whiskey Bill, Fort Owen, January 26, 1864; William Hunter, Gallatin Valley, February 3, 1864; John Wagoner (Dutch John) and Joe Pizanthia, Bannack City, January II, 1864. BANISHMENT OF MINOR CRIMINALS Judge Smith and J. Thurmond, the counsel of the road agents, were banished. Thurmond brought an action, at Salt Lake, against Mr. Fox, charging him with aiding in procuring his banishment. After some pecu- liar developments of justice in Utah, he judiciously withdrew all pro- ceedings, and gave a receipt in full for all past and future claims on the Vigilance Committee, in which instance he exhibited a wise discretion. The Bannack branch of the Vigilantes also sent out of the country, H. G. Sessions, convicted of circulating bogus dust, and one H. D. Moyer, who furnished a room at midnight for them to work in, together with material for their labor. A man named Kustar was also banished for recklessly shooting through the windows of the hotel opposite his place of abode. Moore and Reeves were banished, as will afterwards appear, by a miners' jury, at Bannack, in the winter of 1863, but came back in the spring. They fled the country when the Vigilantes commenced opera- tions, and are thought to have fled to Mexico. Charley Forbes was a member of the gang; but being wounded in a scuffle, or a robbery, a doctor was found and taken to where he lay. Find- ing that he was incurable, it is believed that Moore and Reeves shot him, to prevent his divulging what he knew of the band; but this is uncer- tain. Some say he was killed by Moore and Reeves, in Red Rock Canyon. GATHERING PLACES OF THE ROAD AGENTS The headquarters of the marauders was Rattlesnake Ranch. Plummer often visited it, and the robbers used to camp with their comrades, in little wakiups above and below it, watching, and ready for fight, flight or plunder. Two rods in front of this building was a sign post, at which they used to practice with their revolvers. They were capital shots. Plummer was the quickest hand with his revolver of any man in the mountains. He could draw the pistol and discharge the five loads in three seconds. The post was riddled with holes, and was looked upon as quite a curiosity, until it was cut down, in the summer of 1863. Another favorite resort of the gang was Dempsey's Cottonwoocf Ranch. The owner knew the character of the robbers, but had no con- 250 HISTORY OF MONTANA nection with them; and, in those days, a man's life would not have been worth fifteen minutes' purchase, if the possessor had been foolish enough even to hint at his knowledge of their doings. Daley's, at Ramshorn Gulch, and ranches or wakiups on the Madison, the Jefferson, Wisconsin Creek, and Mill Creek, were also constantly occupied by members of the band. MORE THAN ONE HUNDRED PEOPLE KILLED By discoveries of the bodies of the victims, the confessions of the murderers before execution, and reliable information sent to the com- mittee, it was found that 102 people had been certainly killed by those miscreants in various places, and it was believed, on the best informa- tion, that scores of unfortunates had been murdered and buried, whose remains were never discovered, nor their fate definitely ascertained. All that was known, was that they started, with greater or less sums of money, for various places, and were never heard of again. BANNACK CITY AND ITS FEARFUL WICKEDNESS This town originated from the "Grasshopper Diggings," which were first discovered in the month of July, by John White and a small party of prospectors, on the Grasshopper Creek, a tributary of the Beaverhead. The discoverer, together with Rudolph Dorsett, was murdered by Charley Kelly, in the month of December, 1863, near the Milk Ranch, on the road from Virginia City to Helena. Wash Stapleton and his party came in a short time after, and were soon joined by others, among whom were W. B. Dance, S. T. Hauser, James Morley, Drury Underwood, F. M. Thomson, N. P. Langford, James Fergus, John Potter, Judge Hoyt and Doctor Hoyt, Chas. St. Clair, David Thompson, Buz Caven, Messrs. Burchett, Morelle, Harby, J. M. Castner, Pat Bray and brother, Sturges, Colonel McLean, R. C. Knox, and other well known citizens of Mon- tana. The name, "Bannack," was given to the settlement, from the Ban- nack Indians, the lords of the soil. It was the first "mining camp" of any importance, discovered on the eastern slope of the mountains, and as the stories of its wonderful richness went abroad, hundreds of scattered prospectors flocked in, and before the following spring, the inhabitants numbered upwards of a thousand. It is probable that there never was a mining town of the same size that contained more desperadoes and lawless characters, than did Ban- nack, during the winter of 1862-63. While a majority of the citizens were of the sterling stock, which has ever furnished the true American pioneers, there were great numbers of the most desperate class of roughs and road agents, who had been roving through the mountains, exiles from their former haunts in the mining settlements, from which they had fled to avoid the penalties incurred by the commission of many a fearful crime. These men no sooner heard of the rich mines of Bannack, than they at once made for the new settlement, where, among HISTORY OF MONTANA 251 strangers, ignorant of therr crimes, they would be secure from punish- ment, at least until their true character should become known. Sometime in March, 1863, it is really immaterial exactly when Henry Plummer shot Jack Cleveland to death in Goodrich's Bannack City saloon. Cleveland, who was a desperado who had come from farther West, had struck town with the avowed purpose of supplanting Plum- mer, in any way within his power, as head of the Montana outlaws. The immigrant was shot to pieces by the outlaw whom he had intended to kill or run out of the country. Moore and Reeves, of Plummer's band, were both implicated in the brawl which ended in murder. "In March, 1863, Reeves, a prominent clerk of St. Nicholas, bought a Sheep-eater squaw; but she refused to live with him, alleging that she was ill treated, and went back to her tribe who were encamped on the rise of the hill south of Yankee Flat, about fifty yards to the rear of the street. Reeves went after her, and sought to force her to come back with him, but on his attempting to use violence an old chief interfered. The two grappled. Reeves with a sudden effort broke from him, strik- ing him a blow with his pistol and, in the scuffle, one barrel was harm- lessly discharged. "The next morning, Moore and Reeves, in a state of intoxication, entered Goodrich's saloon, laying down two double-barrelled shotguns and four revolvers, on the counter, considerably to the discomfiture of the barkeeper, who, we believe, would have sold his position very cheap, for cash, at that precise moment, and it is just possible that he might have accepted a good offer 'on time.' They declared, while drinking, that if the cowardly white folks on Yankee Flat, were afraid of the Indians, they were not, and that they would soon 'set the ball a rolling.' Taking their weapons, they went off to the back of the houses, opposite the camp, and levelling their pieces, they fired into the tepee, wounding one Indian. They returned to the saloon and got three drinks more, boasting of what they had done, and accompanied by William Mitchell, of Minnesota, and two others, they went back, determined to complete their murderous work. The three above named then deliberately poured a volley into the tepee, with fatal effect. Mitchell, whose gun was loaded with an ounce ball and a charge of buckshot, killed a Frenchman named Brissette, who had run up to ascertain the cause of the first firing the ball striking him in the forehead, and the buckshot wounding him in ten different places. The Indian chief, a lame Indian boy, and a pappoose, were also killed; but the number of the parties who were wounded has never been ascer- tained. John Burnes escaped with a broken thumb, and a man named Woods was shot in the groin, of which wound he has not yet entirely re- covered. This unfortunate pair, like Brissette, had come to see the cause of the shooting, and of the yells of the savages. "The indignation of the citizens being aroused by this atrocious and unprovoked massacre, a mass meeting was held the following morning to take some action in the premises. Charley Moore and Reeves hear- ing of it, started early in the morning, on foot, towards Rattlesnake, Henry Plummer preceding them on horseback. Sentries were then 252 HISTORY OF MONTANA posted all around the town, to prevent egress, volunteers were called for, to pursue the criminals, and Messrs. Lear, Higgins, O. J. Rockwell and Davenport at once followed on their track, coming up with them where they had hidden, in a thicket of brush, near the creek. The daylight was beginning to fade, and the cold was intense when a -reinforcement arrived, on which the fugitives came out, delivered themselves up, and were con- ducted back to Bannack. "Plummer was tried and 'honorably' acquitted, on account of Cleve- land's threats. Mitchell was banished, but he hid around the town for awhile, and never went away. Reeves and Moore were also acquitted although eventually banished from the territory. The pretext of the prisoners that the Indians had killed some whites, friends of theirs, in '49, while going to California, was accepted by the majority of the jurors as some sort of justification; but the truth is they (the jurors) were afraid of their lives and, it must be confessed, not without reason. "To the delivery of this unfortunate verdict may be attributed the ascendency of the roughs. They thought the people were afraid of them. Had the question been left to old Californians or experienced miners, Plummer, Reeves and Moore would have been hanged, and much blood- shed and suffering would have been thereby prevented. No organization of the Road Agents would have been possible. * * * "(Hank) Crawford who had been appointed sheriff at the trial of Moore and Reeves tendered his resignation on two or three different oc- casions ; but was induced to continue in office by the strongest repre- sentation of his friends. They promised to stand by him in the execution of his duty, and to remunerate him for his loss of time and money. The arms taken from Plummer, Reeves and Mitchell were sold by Crawford to defray expenses." PLUMMER SENDS OUT His BLOOD-HOUNDS Plummer took as few chances as possible to endanger his neck. As an illustration, he and his band held a council in Alder Gulch, in the sum- mer of 1863, for the purpose of killing and robbing Lloyd Magruder, a prosperous and popular merchant of Lewiston, Idaho, as well as a can- didate for Congress. He had recently closed out a large stock of goods in Virginia for $14,000 and was about to return to his home town with four companions, all of whom were marked as victims. Plummer selected five of his men to dispose of the Magruder party, but one of the road agents decided to withdraw from the enterprise on the plea that he was "on the rob, but not on the kill." Besides Magruder, the party consisted of C. Allen, Horace and Robert Chalmers, and a Mr. Phillips, from the neighborhood of Marysville, and the road agents numbered Jem Romaine, Doc Howard, Billy Page and Bill Lowry. Charley Allen, it seems, had strong misgivings about the character of the ruffians, and told Magruder that the men would not harm him (Allen), as they were under obligations to him; but they would, likely HISTORY OF MONTANA 253 enough try to rob Magruder. His caution was ineffectual, and Mr. McK Dennee, we believe, fixed up for the trip the gold belonging to Ma- gruder. It is a melancholy fact that information of the intention of the mur- derers had reached the ears of more than one citizen ; but such was the terror of the road agents that they dared not tell any of the party. Having reached the mountain beyond Clearwater River, on their home- ward journey, the stock was let out to graze on the slope, and Magruder, in company with Bill Lowry, went up to watch it. Seizing his oppor- tunity, the ruffian murdered Magruder, and his confederates assassinated the four remaining in camp, while asleep. Romaine said to Phillips; when shooting him down, "You , I told you not to come." The villains having possessed themselves of the treasure, rolled up the bodies, baggage and arms, and threw them over a precipice. They then went on to Lewis- ton, avoiding Elk City on their route, where the first intimation of foul play was given by the sight of Magruder's mule, saddle, leggings, etc., in the possession of the robbers. Hill Beechey,* the deputy marshal at Lewiston, and owner of the Luna House, noticed the cantinas filled with gold, and suspected something wrong, when they left by the coach for San Francisco. A man named Goodrich recognized Page, when he came to ranch the animals with him. The murderers were closely muffled and tried to avoid notice, but Beechey followed them right through to California, and there arrested them on the charge of murdering and robbing Magruder and his party. He found that they had changed their names at many places. Every possible obstacle was interposed that the forms of law allowed; but the gallant man fought through it all, and brought them back, on requisition of the governor of Idaho, to Lewiston. Page turned state's evidence, and the men, who were closely guarded by Beechey all the time,, in his own house, were convicted after a fair trial and hanged. Romaine, who had been a barber, and afterwards a barkeeper, was a desperate villain. At the gallows, he said that there was a note in his pocket, which he did not wish to "be read until he was dead. On opening it, it was found to contain a most beastly and insolent defiance of the citizens of Lewiston. Before he was swung off, he bade them "Launch their old boat," for it was "only a mud-scow, anyway." A reconnoisance of the ground, in spring, discovered a few bones, some buttons from Magruder's coat, some firearms, etc. The coyotes had been too busy to leave much. EXECUTION OF GEORGE IVES The execution of the notorious George Ives, who "lacked the calcula- tion of Plummer, but wielded a great influence with his kind, and, in the midst of danger, was a cool and dashing desperado the just taking- * Hill Beechey told N. P. Langford, the sheriff and author, of praying to the Lord to help him catch these murderers. "If the Lord would help him he would never ask another favor of him!" 254 HISTORY OF MONTANA off of this murderer and robber was the first decisive check suffered by the outlaws of Montana. He came of a highly respectable Wisconsin fam- ily, but when quite young was swallowed in the maelstrom of wild western life, and was about twenty-seven years of age when he appeared at Vir- ginia City, or, as it was called for short, Virginia. His complexion and hair were light, his eyes blue, was without whiskers, height nearly six feet, and he wore a soldier's overcoat and a light felt hat. The carriage of this renowned desperado was sprightly and his coolness was imperturb- able. Long practice in confronting danger had made him absolutely fear- less. He would face death with an indifference that had become con- stitutional, and the spirit of reckless bravado with which he was animated made him the terror of the citizens. He would levy blackmail under the guise of a loan and as a matter of sport, and to show the training of his horse, he would back the animal, into the windows of a store, and then ride off laughing. "In looking at Ives," says Professor Dimsdale, "a man would, at first sight, be favorably impressed ; but a closer examination by anyone skilled in physiognomy, would detect in the lines of the mouth and in the strange, fierce and sinister gleam of the eye, the quick spirit which made him not only the terror of the community, but the dread of the band of ruffians with whom he associated. * * *" Two MURDERS BY IVES "Perhaps the most daring and cold-blooded of all his crimes was the murder which he committed near the Cold Spring Ranch. A man had been whipped for larceny near Nevada, and to escape the sting of the lash he offered to give information about the Road Agents. Ives heard of it and meeting him purposely between Virginia and Dempsey's, he deliber- taely fired at him with his double-barreled gun. The gun was so badly loaded and the man's coat so thickly padded that the buckshot did not take effect, upon which he coolly drew his revolver and, talking to him all the time, shot him dead. This deed was perpetrated in broad daylighr on a highway a very Bloomington road of the community and yet there, in plain view of Daley's and Cold Spring Ranch, with two or three other teams in sight, he assassinated his victim in a cool and businesslike manner, and when the murdered man had fallen from his horse he took the animal by the bridle and led it off among the hills. "Ives then went to George Hilderman and told him he should like to stay at his wakiup for a few days, as he had killed a man near Cold Spring ranch and there might be some stir and excitement about it. In about half an hour after, some travelers arrived at the scene of murder. The body was still warm, but lifeless, and some of the neighbors from the surrounding ranches dug a lonely gravis in the beautiful valley." Cold-blooded though that murder was, the one for which he was exe- cuted was that of another man, an honest, inoffensive German. Nicholas Tbalt had sold a span of mules to his employers, Butschy & Clark, who paid him the money. Taking the gold with him, he went to Dempsey's HISTORY OF MONTANA 255 ranch to bring up the animals. Not returning for some time, they con- cluded that he had run away with the mules, and were greatly grieved that a person they had trusted so implicitly should deceive them. They were, however, mistaken. Faithful to his trust, he had gone for the mules, and met his death at the hands of George Ives, who shot him, robbed him of his money and stole his mules. Nicholas Tbalt was brought into Nevada on a wagon, after being missed for ten days. William Herren came to Virginia and informed Tom Baume, who at once went down to where the body lay. The head had been pierced by a ball, which had entered just over the left eye. The marks of a small lariat were on the dead man's wrist and neck. He had been dragged through the brush, while living, after being shot, and when found lay on his face, his right arm bent across his chest and his left grasping the willows above him. When captured by a posse of twenty-five citizens, raised principally at Virginia City and Nevada, Ives protested his innocence of the das- tardly crime, but evidence had been collected against him on the way, through one Long John who had the mules of the murdered man. On the way to Nevada, where Ives's trial was to be held, the defendant nearly escaped by inducing his captors to have a race with his horse, which was remarkably speedy. With Ives were arrested Long John (John Franck) and George Hilderman, who had discovered the body of the murdered man and kept the fact secret for several days. THE TRIAL AND EXECUTION The forenoon of December 19, 1863, saw the swelling tide of miners, merchants and artizans wending their way to Nevada and the scene of the trial and all the morning was spent in private examinations of the prisoners, and private consultations as to the best method of procedure. Friends of the accused were found in all classes of society; many of them were assiduously at work to create a sentiment in his favor, while a large multitude were there, suspicious that the right man had been caught ; and resolved, if such should prove to be the case, that no loop- hole of escape should be found for him, in any technical form of the law. Although on the eve of "Forefathers' Day," there was in the atmo- sphere the mildness and the serenity of October. There was no snow, and but little ice along the edges of sluggish streams ; but the sun, bright and genial, warmed the clear air, and even thawed out the congealed mud in the middle of the streets. Little boys were at play in the streets, and 1,500 men stood in them, impatient for action, but waiting without mur- mur, in order that everything might be done decently and in order. Messrs. Smith, Richie, Thurmond and Colonel Wood were Ives's law- yers, with whom was associated Mr. Alex. Davis, then a comparative stranger in Montana. Col. W. F. Sanders, at that time residing at Bannack City, but tem- porarily sojourning at Virginia, was sent for to conduct the prosecution, 256 HISTORY OF MONTANA and Hon. Charles S. Bagg was appointed his colleague, at the request of Judge Wilson, Mr. Bagg being a miner, and then, little known. In settling upon the mode of trial, much difference of opinion was developed; but the miners finally determined that it should be held in presence of the whole body of citizens, and reserved to themselves the ultimate decision of all questions; but lest something should escape their attention, and injustice thereby be done to the public, or to the prisoner, a delegation composed of twelve men from each district (Nevada and Junc- tion) was appointed to hear the proof, and to act as an advisory jury. W. H. Patton, of Nevada, and W. Y. Pemberton, of Virginia, were ap- pointed amanuenses. An attempt to get on the jury twelve men from Vir- ginia was defeated, and late in the afternoon, the trial began and con- tinued till nightfall. The three prisoners were chained with lightest logging chain that could be found this was wound round their legs, and the links were secured with padlocks. In introducing testimony for the people, on the morning of the 2ist, the miners informed all concerned that the trial must close at three P. M. The announcement was received with great satisfaction. It is unnecessary to describe the trial, or to recapitulate the evidence. Suffice it to say that two alibis, based on the testimony of George Brown, guide for Colonel Marshall in the Indian Campaign 1862, and honest Whiskey Joe, failed altogether. Among the lawyers, there was, doubt- less, the usual amount of brow-beating and technical insolence, inter- mingled with display of eloquence and learning; but not the rhetoric of Blair, the learning of Coke, the metaphysics of Alexander, the wit of Jerrold, or the ardor of Oberlin, could dull the perceptions of those hardy mountaineers, or mislead them from the stern and righteous purpose of all this labor, which was to secure immunity to the persons and property of the community, and to guarantee a like protection to those who should cast their lot in Montana in time to come. The evidence was not confined to the charge of murder ; but showed, also, that Ives had been acting in the character of a robber, as well as that of a murderer; and it may well be doubted whether he would have been convicted at all if developments damaging to the reputations and dangerous to the existence of some of his friends had not been made dur- ing the trial, on which they absented themselves mysteriously, and have never been seen since. There was an instinctive and unerring conviction that the worst man in the community was on trial ; but it was hard work, after all the proof and all this feeling, to convict him. "The crowd which gathered around that fire in front of the court, is vividly before our eyes," reads Dimsdale's narrative. "We see the wagon containing the judge, and an advocate pleading with all his earnestness and eloquence for the dauntless robber, on whose unmoved features no shade of despondency can be traced by the fitful glare of the blazing wood, which lights up, at the same time, the stern and impassive features of the guard, who, in every kind of habiliments, stand in various attitudes, in a circle surrounding the scene of justice. The attentive faces and com- pressed lips of the jurors show their sense of the vast responsibility that HISTORY OF MONTANA 257 rests upon them, and of their firm resolve to do their duty. Ever and anon a brighter flash than ordinary reveals the expectant crowd of miners, thoughtfully and steadily gazing on the scene, and listening intently to the trial. Beyond this close phalanx, fretting and shifting around its outer edge, sways with quick and uncertain motion, the wavering line of desperadoes and sympathizers with the criminal; their haggard, wild and alarmed countenances showing too plainly that they tremble at the issue which is, when decided, to drive them in exile from Montana, or to proclaim them as associate criminals, whose fate could neither be delayed nor dubious. A sight like this will ne'er be seen again in Montana. It was the crisis of the fate of the territory. "Nor was the position of prosecutor, guard, juror, or judge, one that any but a brave and law-abiding citizen would chose, or even accept. Marked for slaughter by desperadoes, these men staked their lives for the welfare of society. A mortal strife between Colonel Sanders and one of the opposing lawyers was only prevented by the prompt action of wise men, who corraled the combatants on their way to fight. The hero of that hour of trial was avowedly W. F. Sanders. Not a desperado present but would have felt honored by becoming his murderer, and yet, fear- less as a lion, he stood there confronting and defying the malice of his armed adversaries. The citizens of Montana, many of them his bitter political opponents, recollect his actions with gratitude and kindly feeling. Charles S. Bagg is also remembered as having been at his post when the storm blew loudest. "The argument of the case having terminated, the issue was, in the first place, left to the decision of the twenty-four who had been selected for that purpose, and they thereupon retired to consult. "Judge Byam, who shouldered the responsibility of the whole pro- ceeding, will never be forgotten by those in whose behalf he courted certain, deadly peril, and probable death. "The jury were absent, deliberating on their verdict, but little less than an hour, and on their return, twenty-three made a report that Ives was proven guilty; but one member Henry Spivey declined to give in any find, for unknown reasons. "The crisis of the affair had now arrived. A motion was made 'That the report of the committee be received, and it discharged from further consideration of that case/ which Mr. Thurmond opposed ; but upon ex- planation, deferred pressing his objections until the motion should be made to adopt the report, and to accept the verdict of the committee as the judgment of the people there assembled; and thus the first formal motion passed without opposition. "Before this, some of the crowd were clamorous for an adjournment, and now Ives' friends renewed the attempt ; but it met with signal failure. "Another motion: 'That the assembly adopt as their verdict the report of the committee,' was made, and called forth the irrepressible and indefatigable Thurmond and Col. J. M. Wood; but it carried, there being probably not more than one hundred votes against it. "Here it was supposed by many that the proceedings would end for 258 HISTORY OF MONTANA the present, and that the court would adjourn until the morrow, as it was already dark. Col. Sanders, however, mounted the wagon, and having recited that Ives had been declared a murderer and a robber by the people there assembled, moved, 'That George Ives be forthwith hung by the neck until he is dead' a bold and businesslike movement which excited feeble opposition, was carried before the defendant seemed to realize the situation ; but a friend or two and some old acquaintances hav- ing gained admission to the circle within which Ives was guarded, to bid him farewell, awakened him to a sense of the condition in which he was placed, and culprit and counsel sought to defer the execution. Some of his ardent counsel shed tears, of which lachrymose effusions it is well to say no more than that they were copious. The vision of a long and scaly creature, inhabiting the Nile, rises before us in connection with this aqueous sympathy for an assassin. Quite a number of his old chums were, as Petroleum V. Nasby says: 'Weeping profoosly.' Then came moving efforts to have the matter postponed until the coming morning, Ives giving assurances, upon his honor, that no attempt at rescue or escape would be made ; but already, Davis and Hereford were seeking a favor- able spot for the execution. "An unfinished house, having only the side-walls up, was chosen as the best place, near at hand, for carrying into effect the sentence of death. The preparations, though entirely sufficient, were both simple and brief. The butt of a forty-foot pole was planted inside the house, at the foot of one of the walls, and the stick leaned over a cross beam. Near the point, was tied the fatal cord, with the open noose dangling fearfully at its lower end. A large goods box was the platform. The night had closed in, with a bright, full moon, and around that altar of vengeance, the stern and resolute faces of the guard were visible, under all circum- stances of light and shade conceivable. Unmistakable determination was expressed in every line of their bronzed and weather-beaten countenances. "George Ives was led to the scaffold in fifty-eight minutes from the time that his doom was fixed. A perfect babble of voices saluted the move- ment. Every roof was covered, and cries of 'Hang him!' 'Don't hang him !' 'Banish him !' 'I'll shoot !' 'Let's hang Long John !' were heard all around. The revolvers could be seen flashing in the moonlight. The guard stood like a rock. They had heard the muttered threats of a rescue from the crowd, and with grim firmness the characteristic of the miners when they mean 'business' they stood ready to beat them back. Woe to the mob that should surge against that living bulwark. They would have fallen as grass before the scythe. "As the prisoner stepped on the fatal platform, the noise ceased, and the stillness became painful. The rope was adjusted, and the usual re- quest was made as to whether he had anything to say. With a firm voice he replied, 'I am innocent of this crime; Aleck Carter killed the Dutch- man.' "The strong emphasis on the word 'this' convinced all around, that he meant his words to convey the impression that he was guilty of other HISTORY OF MONTANA 259 crimes. Up to this moment he had always accused Long John of the murder. "Ives expressed a wish to see Long John, and the crowd of sympathiz- ers yelled in approbation; but the request was denied, for an attempt at a rescue was expected. "All being ready, the word was given to the guard, 'Men do your duty.' The click of the locks rang sharply and the pieces flashed in the moonlight, as they came to the 'Aim' the box flew from under the murderer's feet, with a crash, and George Ives swung in the night breeze, facing the pale moon that lighted up the scene of retributive justice. "As the vengeful click ! click ! of the locks sounded their note of deadly warning to the intended rescuers, the crowd stampeded in wild affright, rolling over one another in heaps, shrieking and howling with terror. "When the drop fell, the judge, who was standing close beside Ives, called out, 'His neck is broken ; he is dead.' This announcement, and the certainty of its truth for the prisoner never moved a limb convinced the few resolute desperadoes who knew not fear, that the case was hope- less, and they retired with grinding teeth, and with muttered curses issuing from their lips." COLONEL SANDERS ON THE TRIAL AND EXECUTION The trial in detail is described by Col. W. F. Sanders, who states that Ives was tried by twenty-four miners as jurors and Hon. Don D. Byam as presiding judge. Before the proceedings commenced about a thousand armed miners had gathered from the gulches for several miles around Nevada and Virginia to see ^fair play." Two sheriffs were also on hand. The courtroom was on the east side of the main street in Nevada, "where a big Schuttler wagon had been drawn up in front of a two-story building, some seats arranged for the court, counsel and prison- ers in the same, and a fire had been built on the ground near the wagon from cord wood which some unlucky woodman had the misfortune to have placed there. William Y. Pemberton, Esq., then a genial young lawyer living at Virginia City, was appointed amanuensis, and a table was provided for him near the fire. A semi-circle of benches from an ad- jacent hurdy-gurdy house had been placed around the fire for the accomo- dation of the twenty-four jurors and behind that semi-circle a place was reserved for a cordon of guards, who, with their shotguns or rifles, as the case might be, marched hour by hour. Although Ives was charged with a number of crimes and testimony introduced to sustain the charges, the verdict of guilty voted by twenty-three of the twenty-four jurors was founded on the murder of Tbalt. He was defended by able counsel. When the verdict was announced, Colonel Sanders, as chief prosecutor, made a motion that it be made the verdict of the miners' meeting there assembled, and supplemented it by another that Ives be hung both of which were put by Judge Byam and carried with a rush. Ives endeavored to secure delay for the purpose of writing to his mother and sisters, but X. Beidler, who was in the background watch- 260 HISTORY OF MONTANA ing, shouted, "Sanders, ask him how long a time he gave the Dutchman!" He was allowed to write a letter then and there, but not on the following day, as he requested. He was interrupted by his friends, who were allowed to bid him good-bye, some of them weeping bitterly ; for although he was a scoundrel and a murderer he had the faculty of binding closely to him men of his type. Toward the last of his account of the trial and execution, Colonel Sanders says : "It has been generally stated that Ives pulled off his boots, saying that he had sworn that he would not die with his boots on. I do not remember this and only think it probable because it was told shortly thereafter, and I cannot say that I ever contradicted it, which I think I should have done had it not been true. However, I have not written the details of this prosecution, nor have I attempted to speak of it in detail; now, for the first time, putting down with pen the events as I remember them, without consultation with any other authorities whatever. In fact, the written authorities of Langford and Dinsdale are hearsay, neither one of these gentlemen having been present, but their information was gathered from actors in this stirring tragedy and I con- sider them reliable." ORGANIZATION OF VIGILANTES About the time of the execution of Ives and shortly following the murder of Lloyd Magruder and his four companions, the citizens of Ban- nack, Virginia City and its twin settlement, Nevada, decided that some or- ganization must be effected to promptly punish the reckless criminals who were carrying the communities with such a high hand. From the best evi- dence at hand, the movement was started by five men in Virginia City, four in Bannack and one in Nevada. A vigilance committee was formed with Paris S. Pfouts as president, Wilbur F. Sanders, official prosecu- tor, and Capt. James Williams, executive officer. Then, in total darkness, standing in a circle with hands uplifted, Colonel Sanders adminis- tered the following oath: "We, the undersigned, uniting ourselves to- gether for the laudable purpose of arresting thieves and murderers and recovering stolen property, do pledge ourselves on our sacred honors, each to all others, and solemnly swear that we will reveal no secrets, violate no laws of right, and never desert each other or our standard of justice, so help us God." One of the by-laws read : "The only punishment that shall be inflicted by this committee is death." The vigilantes did not strictly conform to this by-law, as it was thought advisable to banish some of the minor criminals whose offenses did not warrant death, but whose permanent absence was obviously conducive to the well-being of Mon- tana. HANGING OF RED AND BROWN On the 23rd of December, 1863, twenty-four members of the Vigil- ance Committee, which had just been organized, started from Bannack City to run down the criminals of the region. Each man carried gen- HISTORY OF MONTANA 261 erally a pair of revolvers, a rifle or shotgun, blankets and some rope. The cavalcade, mounted both on horse and mule back, went by way of Stinking Water, on to the Big Hole and over the divide in the main range. The weather was very cold and there was much snow upon the ground. Fires could not be lighted when wanted at night, for fear of attracting attention. The men leaving their horses under a guard lay down in their blankets on the snow "the wisest of them, in it." On Deer Lodge Creek they commenced to come in contact with the desperadoes. Red (Erastus Yager), the letter carrier of the band, was finally captured as well as Brown, the secretary. *The culprits were informed that they should be taken to Virginia, and were given in charge to a trustworthy and gallant man, with a detachment of seven, selected from the whole troop. This escort reached Lorraine's in two hours. The rest of the men arrived at sundown. The prisoners were given up, and the leader of the little party, who had not slept for four or five nights, lay down to snatch a brief, but welcome repose. About 10 P. M., he was awakened, and the significant, "We want you," an- nounced "business." The tone and manner of the summons at once dispelled even his profound and sorely needed slumber. He rose without further parley and went from the parlor to the bar-room where Red and Brown were lying in a corner, asleep. Red got up at the sound of his footsteps, and said, "You have treated me like gentlemen, and I know I am going to die I am going to be hanged." "Indeed," said his quondom custodian, "that's pretty rough." In spite of a sense of duty, he felt what he said deeply. "It is pretty rough," continued Yager, "but I merited this, years ago. What I want to say is that I know all about the gang, and there are men in it that deserve this more than I do ; but I should die happy if I could see them hanged, or know that it wouTd be done. I don't say this to get off. I don't want to get off." He was told that it would be better if he should give all the information in his possession, if only for the sake of his kind. Times had been very hard, and "you know, Red," said the vigilante, "that men have been shot down in broad daylight not for money, or even for hatred, but for luck, and it must be put a stop to." To this he assented, and the captain being called, all that had passed was stated to him. He said that the prisoner had better begin at once, and his words should be taken down. Red began by informing them that Plummer was chief of the band ; Bill Bunton second in command and stool pigeon; Sam Bunton, roadster, (sent away for being a drunkard) ; Cyrus Skinner, roadster, fence and spy. At Virginia City, George Ives, Steven Marshland, Dutch John (Wagner), Aleck Carter, Whiskey Bill (Graves), were roadsters ; George Shears was a roadster and horse-thief ; Johnny Cooper and Buck Stinson were also roadsters; Ned Ray was council-room keeper at Bannack City; Mexican Frank and Bob Zachary were also roadsters; Frank Parish was roadster and horse-thief; Boon Helm and Club-Foot George were roadsters ; Haze Lyons and Bill Hunter * Dimsdale's "Vigilantes of Montana." 262 HISTORY OF MONTANA were roadsters and telegraph men; George Lowry, Billy Page, Doc Howard, Jem Romaine, Billy Terwilliger and Gad Moore were roadsters. The password was "Innocent." They wore a necktie fastened with a "sailor's knot," and shaved down to moustache and chin whiskers. He admitted that he was one of the gang; but denied as they invariably did that he was a murderer. He also stated that Brown his fellow captive acted in the capacity before mentioned. He spoke of Bill Bunton with a fierce animosity quite unlike his usual suave and courteous manner. To him, he said, he owed his pres- ent miserable position. He it was that first seduced him to commit crime, at Lewiston. He gave the particulars of the robberies of the coaches and of many other crimes, naming perpetrators. As these details have been already supplied or will appear in the course of the narrative, they are omitted, in order to avoid a useless repetition. After serious reflection, it had been decided that the two culprits should be executed forthwith, and the dread preparations were imme- diately made for carrying out the resolution. The trial of George Ives had demonstrated most unquestionably that no amount of certified guilt was sufficient to enlist popular sympathy ex- clusively on the side of justice, or to render the just man other than a mark for vengeance. The majority of men sympathize, in spite of the voice of reason, with the murderers instead of the victims; a course of conduct which appears to us inexplicable, though we know it to be com- mon. Every fibre of our frame vibrates with anger and disgust when we meet a ruffian, a murderer or a marauder. Mawkish sentimentalism we abhor. The thought of murdered victims, dishonored females, plundered wayfarers, burning houses, and the rest of the sad evidences of villainy, completely excludes mercy from our view. Honor, truth and the sacrifice of self to consideration of justice and the good of mankind these claim, we had almost said our adoration; but for the low, brutal, cruel, lazy, ignorant, insolent, sensual and blasphemous miscreants that infest the frontiers, we entertain but one sentiment aversion deep, strong, and unchangeable. For such cases, the rope is the only prescription that avails as a remedy. But tnough such feelings must be excited in the minds of good citizens, when brought face to face with such monsters as Stin- son, Helm, Gallagher, lyes, Skinner, or Graves, the calm courage and penitent conduct of Erastus Yager have the opposite effect, and loss of the goodly vessel thus wrecked forever, must inspire sorrow, though it may not and ought not to disarm justice. Brief were the preparations needed. A lantern and some stools were brought from the house, and the party, crossing the creek behind Lor- raine's ranch, made for the trees that still bear the marks of the axe which trimmed off the superfluous branches. On the road to the gallows, Red was cool, calm and collected. Brown* sobbed and cried for mercy, and prayed God to take care of his wife and family in Minnesota. He * Brown was a scout and guide for Colonel Marshall in an expedition into Dakota in pursuit of Indians in October, 1862. He had been a trader among the Indians on the Missouri River. He was called "Missouri Brown." HISTORY OF MONTANA 263 was married to a squaw. Red, overhearing him, said, sadly but firmly, "Brown, if you had thought of this three years ago, you would not be here now, or give these boys this trouble." After arriving at the fatal trees, they were pinioned and stepped on to the stools, which had been placed one on the other to form a drop. Brown and the man who was adjusting the- rope, tottered and fell into the snow; but recovering himself quickly, the vigilanter said quietly, "Brown we must do better than that." Brown's last words were, "God Almighty save my soul." The frail platform flew from under him, and his life passed away almost with the twang of the rope. Red saw his comrade drop; but no sign of trepidation was visible. His voice was as calm and quiet as if he had been conversing with old friends. He said he knew that he should be followed and hanged when he met the party on the Divide. He wished that they would chain him and carry him along to where the rest were, that he might see them punished. Just before he was launched into eternity, he asked to shake hands with them all, which having done, he begged of the man who had escorted him to Lorraine's, that he would follow and punish the rest. The answer was given in these words, "Red, we will do it, if there's any such thing in the book." The pledge was kept. His last words were, "Good-bye, boys; God bless you. You are on a good undertaking." The frail footing on which he stood gave way, and this dauntless and yet guilty criminal died without a struggle. It was pitiful to see one whom nature intended for a hero, dying and that justly like a dog. A label was pinioned to his back bearing the legend : "Red! Road Agent and Messenger." The inscription on the paper fastened on to Brown's clothes was: "Brown! Corresponding Secretary." The fatal trees still smile as they don the green livery of spring, or wave joyfully in the summer breeze ; but when the chill blast of winter moans over the snow-clad prairie, the wind sighing, and creaking through the swaying boughs seems, to the excited listener, to be still laden with the sighs and sounds of that fatal night. The bodies were left suspended, and remained so for some days before they were buried. The ministers of justice expected a battle on their arrival at Nevada ; but they found the Vigilantes organized in full force, and each man, as he uncocked his gun and dismounted, heaved a deep sigh of relief. The crisis was past. EXECUTION OF PLUMMER, STINSON AND RAY When Dutch John Wagner was brought back to Bannack City, after his attempted escape to Utah, the Vigilantes of Virginia sent a communi- cation to his captors, containing an order for the execution of Henry Plummer, Buck Stinson and Ned Ray the first as captain, and the others as members of the road agent band. That action was followed 264 HISTORY OF MONTANA by the formal organization of the Bannack Vigilantes, and Dutch John was taken by his captors to an empty cabin of Yankee Flat, where he was held, pending the more important affair in connection with the fate of Messrs. Plummer, Stinson and Ray. About dusk of the following day, the three horses of the afore- mentioned outlaws were brought into Bannack by the Vigilantes, and not long afterward the principals were captured. The three details marched their men to a given point, en route to the gallows. Here a halt was made. The leader of the Vigilantes and some others, who wished to save all unnecessary hard feeling, were sitting in a cabin, designing not to speak to Plummer, with whom they were so well acquainted. A halt was made, however, and, at the door, appeared Plummer. The light was extinguished ; when the party moved on, but soon halted. The crisis had come. Seeing that the circumstances were such as admitted of neither vacillation nor delay, the citizen leader, summoning his friends, went up to the party and gave the military command, "Company! forward march !" This was at once obeyed. A rope taken from a noted function- ary's bed had been mislaid and could not be found. A nigger boy was sent off for some of that highly necessary, but unpleasant remedy for crime, and the bearer made such good time that some hundreds of feet of hempen neck-tie were on the ground before the arrival of the party at the gallows. On the road, Plummer heard the voice and recognized the person of the leader. He came to him and begged for his life ; but was told, "It is useless for you to beg for your life ; that affair is settled and cannot be altered. You are to be hanged. You cannot feel harder about it than I do ! but I cannot help it, if I would." Ned Ray, clothed with curses as with a garment, actually tried fighting, but found that he was in the wrong company for such demonstrations ; and Buck Stinson made the air ring with the blasphemous and filthy expletives which he used in addressing his captors. Plummer exhausted every argument and plea that his imagination could suggest, in order to induce his cap- tors to spare his life. He begged to be chained down in the meanest cabin; offered to leave the country forever; wanted a jury trial; im- plored time to settle his affairs ; asked to see his sister-in-law, and, falling on his knees, with tears and sighs declared to God that he was too wicked to die. He confessed his numerous murders and crimes, and seemed almost frantic at the prospect of death. The first rope being thrown over the crossbeam, and the noose being rove, the order was given to "Bring up Ned Ray." This desperado was run up with curses on his lips. Being loosely pinioned, he got his fingers between the rope and his neck, and thus prolonged his misery. Buck Stinson saw his comrade robber swinging in the death agony, and blubbered out, "There goes poor Ed Ray." Scant mercy had he shown to his numerous victims. By a sudden twist of his head at the moment of his elevation the knot slipped under his chin, and he was some minutes dying. The order to "Bring up Plummer" was then passed and repeated; but no one stirred. The leader went over to this perfect gentleman, as his PLUMMER-STINSON-RAY SCAFFOLD 266 HISTORY OF MONTANA friends called him, and was met by a request to "Give a man time to pray." Well knowing that Plummer. relied for a rescue upon other than Divine aid,, he said briefly and decidedly, "Certainly ; but let him say his prayers up here." Finding all efforts to avoid death were useless, Plum- mer rose and said no more prayers. Standing under the gallows which he had erected for the execution of Horan, this second Haman slipped off his neck-tie and threw it over his shoulder to a young friend who had boarded at his house, and who believed him innocent of crime, saying as he tossed it to him, "Here is something to remember me by." In the extremity of his grief, the young man threw himself weeping and wailing upon the ground. Plummer requested that the men would give him a good drop, which was done, as far as circumstances permitted, by hoisting him up as high as possible, in their arms, and letting him fall suddenly. He died quickly and without much struggle. It was necessary to seize Ned Ray's hand and by a violent effort to draw his fingers from between the noose and his neck before he died. Probably he was the last to expire, of the guilty trio. The news of a man's being hanged flies faster than any other in- telligence, in a Western country, and several had gathered round the gallows on that fatal Sabbath evening many of them friends of the road agents. The spectators were allowed to come up to a certain point, and were then halted by the guard, who refused permission either to depart or to approach nearer than the "dead line," on pain of their being instantly shot. The weather was intensely cold; but the party stood for a long time round the bodies of the suspended malefactors, determined that rescue should be impossible. Loud groans and cries, uttered in the vicinity, at- tracted their attention, and a small quad started in the direction from which the sound proceeded. The detachment soon met Madam Hall, a noted courtezan the mistress of Ned Ray who was "making night hideous" with her doleful wailings. Being at once stopped, she began inquiring for her paramour, and was thus informed of his fate: "Well if you must know, he is hung." A volcanic eruption of oaths and abuse was her reply to this information ; but tfie men were on "short time," and escorted her toward her dwelling without superfluous display of courtesy. Having arrived at the brow of a short descent, at the foot of which stood her cabin, stern necessity compelled a rapid and final progress in that direction. Soon after, the party formed and returned to town, leaving the corpses stiffening in the icy blast. The bodies were eventually cut down by the friends of the road agents and buried. The "Reign of Terror," in Bannack, was over. THE GREASER AND DUTCH JOHN HANGED Commenting on this triple execution, Professor Dimsdale says : "Men breathed freely; for Plummer and Stinson especially were dreaded by almost every one. The latter was of the type of that brutal desperado HISTORY OF MONTANA 267 whose formula of introduction to a Western bar-room is so well known in the mountains : 'Whoop ! I'm from Pike County, Missouri. I'm ten feet high. My abode is where lewd women and licentious men mingle. My parlor is in the Rocky Mountains. I smell like a wolf. I drink water out of a brook like a horse. Look out you ! I'm going to turn loose!' A fit mate for such a God-forsaken outlaw was Stinson and he, with the oily and snake-like demon, Plummer, the wily, red-handed and politely merciless chief, and the murderer and robber, Ray, were no more. The Vigilantes organized rapidly. Public opinion sustained them." On the Monday morning following the hanging of these wholesale criminals, the Vigilantes determined to arrest Joe Pizanthia, the Greaser, to see precisely how his record stood in Montana. Outside of it, it was known that he was a desperado, a murderer and a robber; but any- thing outside of the territory was not the business of the Vigilantes. Two of the party sent to arrest him were shot from his cabin, one of them fatally. The other, though wounded, shot the desperado, whose cabin was finally bombarded with a mountain howitzer directed by some mil- itary members of the assaulting party, now beside themselves with fury and unsatisfied vengeance. After the house had been partially wrecked, the wounded Greaser was dragged forth, again riddled with bullets, the body hoisted and fastened to a pole and made the target for a hundred shots. As if this were not enough, the crowd which had now become a mob set the cabin afire and threw the corpse into the fierce blaze where it was burned to ashes. And in the following morning, some women of ill-fame panned out the ashes to see whether the desperado had any gold in his purse. "We are glad to say," comments the professor, "that they were not rewarded for their labors by striking any auriferous deposit." The evening after the death of Pizanthia, the newly organized com- mittee met, and, after some preliminary discussion, a vote was taken as to the fate of Dutch John. The result was that his execution was unan- imously adjudged, as the only penalty meeting the merits of the case. He had been a murderer and a highway robber, for years. One of the number present at the meeting was deputed to convey the intelligence to Wagner; and, accordingly, he went down to his place of confinement and read to him his sentence of death, informing him that he would be hanged in an hour from that time. Wagner was much shocked by the news. He raised himself to his feet and walked with agitated and tremulous steps across the floor, once or twice. He begged hard for life, praying them to cut off his arms and legs, and then to let him go. He said, "You know I could do nothing then." He was in- formed that his request could not be complied with, and that he must prepare to die. Finding death to be inevitable, Wagner summoned his fortitude to his aid and showed no more signs of weakness. It was a matter of regret that he could not be saved for his courage, and (outside of his villainous trade) his good behavior won upon his captors and judges to an extent that they were unwilling to admit, even to themselves. Amiability and bravery could not be taken as excuses for murder and robbery, and so 268 HISTORY OF MONTANA Dutch John had to meet a felon's death and the judgment to come, with but short space for repentance. He said that he wished to send a letter to his mother, in New York, and inquired whether there was not a Dutch- man in the house, who could write in his native language. A man being procured qualified as desired, he communicated his wishes to him and his amanuensis wrote as directed. Wagner's fingers were rolled up in rags and he could not handle the pen without inconvenience and pain. He had not recovered from the frost-bites which had moved the pity of X. Beidler when he met John before his capture, below Red Rock. The epistle being finished, it was read aloud by the scribe ; but it did not please Wagner. He pointed out several inaccuracies in the method of carrying out his instructions, both as regarded the manner and the matter of the communication; and at last, unrolling the rags from his fingers, he sat down and wrote the missive himself. He told his mother that he was condemned to die, and had but a few minutes to live; that when coming over from the other side to deal in horses, he had been met by bad men, who had forced him to adopt the line of life that had placed him in his present miserable position; that the crime for which he was sen- tenced to die was assisting in robbing a wagon, in which affair he had been wounded and taken prisoner, and that his companion had 1)een killed. (This latter assertion he probably believed.) He admitted the justice of his sentence. The letter, being concluded, was handed to the Vigilantes for trans- mission to his mother. He then quietly replaced the bandages on his wounded fingers. The style of the composition showedThat he was neither terrified nor even disturbed at the thought of the fast approaching and disgraceful end of his guilty life. The statements were positively untrue, in many particulars, and he seemed to write only as a matter of routine duty; though we may hope that his affection for his" mother was, at least, genuine. Dutch John was marched from the place of his confinement to an unfinished building, where the bodies of Stinson and Plummer were laid out the one on the floor and the other on a work bench. Ray's corpse had been handed over to his mistress, at her special request. The doomed man gazed without shrinking on the remains of the malefactors, and asked leave to pray. This was, of course, granted, and he knelt down. His lips moved rapidly; but he uttered no word audibly. On rising to his feet, he continued apparently to pray, looking round, however, upon the assembled Vigilantes all the time. A rope being thrown over a cross-beam, a barrel was placed ready for him to stand upon. While the final preparations were made, the prisoner asked how long it would take him to die, as he had never seen a man hanged. He was told that it would be only a short time. The noose was adjusted ; a rope was tied round the head of the barrel and the party took hold. At the word, "All ready," the barrel was instantly jerked from beneath his feet, and he swung in the death agony. His struggles were very powerful, for a short time ; so iron a frame could not quit hold on life as easily as a less HISTORY OF MONTANA 269 muscular organization. After hanging till frozen stiff, the body was cut down and buried decently. CAPTAIN J. A. SLADE'S TAKING-OFF The execution of Capt. J. A. Slade is in a class by itself ; naturally, an able, likable man, when sober, but a reckless rough and outlaw when drunk. If ever there was a man of "two natures," under such con- ditions, that unfortunate man was Slade. He came of a respectable Illinois family and was for several years a law-abiding resident of Clinton County. Subsequently he was a division manager on the Overland Stage line and murdered and mutilated one of the station agents on the Platte River, but under most aggravating circumstances. Far from committing any bloody crime since coming to Virginia City, in the spring of 1863, he had upheld the vigilantes, when sober; when drunk, he flouted all ev- idences of law and order, and rode rough-shod over everything and everybody. From the fact that his influence was so strong with the na- turally lawless element, such manifestations formed a menace to the entire region; and it was imperative that an example be made of him. There has always been more or less of a dispute as to whether his hanging was not beyond his deserts, as based upon his record in Montana. Mark Twain, in his "Roughing It," and Professor Dimsdale, J. X. Beidler and others have pictured Captain Slade in the foregoing lines, and have graph- ically described the events leading to his execution, as well as his last moments on earth. After the execution of the five men, on the I4th of January*, the vigilantes considered that their work was nearly ended. They had freed the country from highwaymen and murderers to a great extent, and they determined that, in the absence of the regular civil authority, they would establish a People's Court, where all offenders should be tried by judge and jury. This was the nearest approach to social order that the cir- cumstances permitted, and, though strict legal authority was wanting, yet the people were firmly determined to maintain its efficiency, and to enforce its decrees. It may here be mentioned that the overt act which was the last round on the fatal ladder leading to the scaffold on which Slade perished, was the tearing in pieces and stamping upon a writ of this court, followed by the arrest of the judge, Alexander Davis, by authority of a presented Derringer, and with his own hands. On returning from Milk River, where he had been unsuccessfully engaged as a freighter, he became more and more addicted to drinking; until at last, it was a common feat for him and his friends to "take the town." He and a couple of his dependants might often be seen on one horse, galloping through the streets, shouting and yelling, firing revol- vers, etc. On many occasions he would ride his horse into stores ; break up bars ; toss the scales out of doors, and use most insulting language to * George Lane (Club Foot George), Frank Parish, Haze Lyons, Jack Galla- gher and Boone Helm. The last named was perhaps the most hardened of the five. Lyons had confessed to the murder of Dillingham, one of Plummer's deputy sheriffs. 270 HISTORY OF MONTANA parties present. Just previous to the day of his arrest, he had given a fearful beating to one of his followers; but such was his influence over them that the man wept bitterly at the gallows, and begged for his life with all his power. It had become quite common, when Slade was on a spree, for the shop-keepers and citizens to close the stores and put out all the lights ; being fearful of some outrage at his hands. One store in Nevada he never ventured to enter that of the Lott brothers as they had taken care to let him know that any attempt of the kind would be followed by his sudden death, and, though he often rode down there, threatening to break in and raise , yet he never attempted to carry his threat into execution. For his wanton destruction of goods and fur- niture, he was always ready to pay, when sober if he had money ; but there were not a few who regarded payment as small satisfaction for the out- rage, and these men were his personal enemies. From time to time, Slade received warnings from men that he well knew would not deceive him, of the certain end of his conduct. There was not a moment, for weeks previous to his arrest, in which the public did not 'expect to hear of some bloody outrage. The dread of his very name, and the presence of the armed band of hangers-on, who followed him alone prevented a resistance, which must certainly have ended in the instant murder or mutilation of the opposing party. Slade was frequently arrested by order of the court whose organiza- tion we have described, and had treated it with respect by paying one or two fines, and promising to pay the rest when he had money ; but in the transaction that occurred at this crisis, he forgot even this caution, and goaded by passions and the hatred of restraint, he sprang into the em- brace of death. Slade had been drunk and "cutting up" all night. He and his com- panions had made the town a perfect hell. In the morning, J. M. Fox, the sheriff, met him, arrested him, took him into court, and commenced reading a warrant that he had for his arrest, by way of arraignment. He became uncontrollably furious, and seizing the writ, he tore it up, threw it on the ground and stamped upon it. The clicking of the locks of his companions' revolvers was instantly heard and a crisis was ex- pected. The sheriff did not attempt his capture; but being at least as prudent as he was valiant, he succumbed, leaving Slade the master of the situation and the conqueror and ruler of the courts, law and law-makers. This was a declaration of war, and was so accepted. The Vigilance Com- mittee now felt that the question of social order and the preponderance of the law-abiding citizens had then and there to be decided. They knew the character of Slade, and they were well aware that they must submit to his rule without murmur, or else that he must be dealt with in such fashion as would prevent his being able to wreck his vengeance on the Committee, who could never have hoped to live in the territory secure from outrage or death, and who could never leave it without encountering his friends, whom his victory would have emboldened and stimulated to a pitch that would have rendered them reckless of consequences. The day previous, he had ridden into Dorris's store, and on being requested to HISTORY OF MONTANA 271 leave, he drew his revolver and threatened to kill the gentleman who spoke to him. Another saloon 'he had led his horse into, and buying a bottle of wine, he tried to make the animal drink it. This was not con- sidered an uncommon performance, as he had often entered saloons, and commenced firing at the lamps, causing a wild stampede. A leading member of the committee met Slade, and informed him in the quiet earnest manner of one who feels the importance of what he is saying: "Slade, get your horse at once, and go home, or there will be to pay." Slade started and took a long look with his dark and pierc- ing eyes, at the gentleman. "What do you mean?" said he. "You have no right to ask me what I mean," was the quiet reply. "Get your horse at once, and remember what I tell you." After a short pause he promised to do so, and actually got into the saddle; but, being still intoxicated, he began calling aloud to one after another of his friends, and, at last seemed to have forgotten the warning he had received and became again up- roarious, shouting the name of a well-known prostitute in company with two men whom he considered head of the Committee, as a sort of challenge ; perhaps, however, as a simple act of bravado. It seems prob- able that the intimation of personal danger he had received had not been forgotten entirely; though fatally for him, he took a foolish way of showing his remembrance of it. He sought out Alexander Davis, the judge of the court, and drawing a cocked Derringer, he presented it at his head, and told him that he should hold him as a hostage for his own safety. As the judge stood perfectly quiet, and offered no resistance to his captor, no further outrage followed on this score. Previous to this, on account of the critical state of affairs, the committee had met, and at last resolved to arrest him. His execution had not been agreed upon, and, at that time, would have been negatived, most assuredly. A messenger rode down to Nevada to inf6rm the leading men of what was on hand, as it was desirable to show that there was a feeling of unanimity on the subject, all along the gulch. The miners turned out almost en masse, leaving their work and form- ing in solid column, about 600 strong, armed to the teeth, they marched up to Virginia. The leader of the body well knew the temper of his men/on the subject. He spurred on ahead of them, and hastily calling a meeting of the Executive, he told" them plainly that the miners meant "business," and that if they came up, they would not stand in the street to be shot down by Slade's friends; but that they would take him and hang him. The meeting was small, as the Virginia men were loath to act at all. The committee were most unwilling to proceed to extremities. All the duty they had ever performed seemed as nothing to the task before them ; but they had to decide, and that quickly. It was finally agreed that if the whole body of the miners were of the opinion that he should be hanged, that the committee left it in their hands to deal with him. Off, at hot speed, rode the leader of the Nevada men to join his command. Slade had found out what was intended, and the news sobered him 272 HISTORY OF MONTANA instantly. He went into P. S. Pfouts's store, where Davis was, and apol- ogized for his conduct, saying that we would take it all back. The head of the column now wheeled into Wallace Street and marched up at quick time. Halting in front of the store, the executive officer of the committee stepped forward and arrested Slade, who was at once informed of his doom, and inquiry was made as to whether he had any business to settle. Several parties spoke to him on the subject ; but to all such inquiries he turned a deaf ear, being entirely absorbed in the terrifying reflections on his own awful position. He never ceased his entreaties for life, and to see his dear wife. The unfortunate lady re- ferred to, between whom she and Slade there existed a warm affection, was at this time living at their ranch on the Madison. She was possessed of considerable personal attractions; tall, well-formed, of graceful car- riage, pleasing manners, and was, withal, an accomplished horsewoman. A messenger from Slade rode at full speed to inform her of her hus- band's arrest. In an instant she was in the saddle, and with all the .energy that love and despair could lend to an ardent temperament and a strong physique, she urged her fleet charger over the twelve miles of rough and rocky ground that intervened between her and the object of her passionate devotion. Meanwhile a party of volunteers had made the necessary preparations for the execution, in the valley traversed by the branch. Beneath the site of Pfouts's and Russell's stone building there was a corral, the gateposts of which were strong and high. Across the top was laid a beam, to which the rope was fastened, and a drygoods box served for the platform. To this place Slade was marched, surrounded by a guard, composing the best armed and most numerous force that has ever appeared in Montana Territory. The doomed man had so exhausted himself by tears, prayers and lamentations, that he had scarcely strength left to stand under the fatal beam. He repeatedly exclaimed : "My God ! My God ! Must I die ? Oh, my dear wife !" On the return of the fatigue party, they encountered some friends of Slade, stanch and reliable citizens and members of the committee, but who were personally attached to the condemned. On hearing of his sentence, one of them, a stout-hearted man, pulled out his handkerchief and walked away, weeping like a child. Slade still begged to see his wife, most piteously, and it seemed hard to deny his request; but the bloody con- sequences that were sure to follow the inevitable attempt at a rescue, that her presence and entreaties would have certainly incited, forbade the granting of his request. Several gentlemen were sent for to see him, in his last moments, one of whom (Judge Davis) made a short address to the people; but in such low tones as to be inaudible, save to a few in his immediate vicinity. One of his friends, after exhausting his powers of entreaty, threw off his coat and declared that the prisoner could not be hanged until he himself was killed. A hundred guns were in- stantly leveled at him ; whereupon he turned and fled ; but, being brought back, he was compelled to resume his coat, and to give a promise of future peaceable demeanor. HISTORY OF MONTANA 273 Scarcely a leading man in Virginia could be found, though numbers of the citizens joined the ranks of the guard when the arrest was made. All lamented the stern necessity which dictated the execution. Everything being ready, the command was given, "Men, do your duty," and the box being instantly slipped from beneath his feet, he died almost instantaneously. The body was cut down and carried to the Virginia Hotel, where, in a darkened room, it was scarcely laid out, when the unfortunate and bereaved companion of the deceased arrived, at headlong speed, to find that all was over, and that she was a widow. Her grief and heart-piercing cries were terrible evidences of the depth of her attachment for her lost husband, and a considerable period elapsed before she could regain the command of her excited feelings. BEIDLER' s ACCOUNT OF SLADE'S END While stirring up Virginia City in his last drunken spree, Slade had come across Beidler (X, he was called for short), who had done all in his power, both individually and through friends, to induce the whiskey- crazed man to "go home and behave himself." Kiscadden, a friend, who afterward married Slade's widow, was among the most earnest in making these requests. They had no effect, and while Slade was grossly in- sulting, a local storekeeper, at the latter's place of business, "over two hundred honest, determined miners (says Beidler), headed by Captain Williams (the executive of the Vigilance Committee), were just turning the corner. They came up to Pfouts's store and Captain Williams stepped up and arrested Slade while he was holding up Pfouts, Fox and Davis with a Derringer in each hand. Captain Williams was backed up by two hundred miners, each of whom could have shaken two or three dollars worth of pay dust out of the rims of their hats and who had rifles and revolvers in abundance. "Slade looked around and said 'My God!' He was informed that he had one hour to live and if he had any business to attend to, he had better do it. I was well aware of the approach of the committee, and was informed long before that the boys' rifles and revolvers were being cleaned and loaded fresh, which meant business, and I had begged Slade to go home, but I knew when he got off his horse and I made the remark to Kiscadden (asking him to coax Slade homeward) that it was his last ride. If Sfade had gone off when he was told, the committee would not have hung him at that time. "Slade was taken into the back room of the store to settle up his business and begged all the time most piteously for his life. A party was sent to arrange a place for the execution. They went down the gulch and found an empty beef scaffold, made the noose and fixed everything for the hanging. * * * While Slade was standing on the boxes under the scaffold, with the rope around his neck, he asked for Col. W. F. Sanders, and the boys around were afraid to do too much shouting, and I said 'Pass the word along for Sanders,' which was done, but he Vol. 118 274 HISTORY OF MONTANA could not be found, and Slade then asked for Alex Davis, who came up and talked with the doomed man. Slade asked Davis to plead to the crowd for his life and Davis said, 'Mr. Slade, I can only repeat your words. I have no influence but would gladly do so, if I had.' The two hundred miners were getting impatient and shouted 'Time's up!' "These men were running mines on their own account and wanted to get back and clean up and attend to their business, as they did not come on any child's play. A noble German by the name of Brigham ad- justed the rope around Slade's neck and afterward left the territory, being afraid of the Slade men. Dutch Charley selected the place for the execution. Captain Williams, when he heard how impatient the miners were getting, said : 'Men do your duty,' and Slade died !" Justice, as backed by a preponderance of honest public sentiment, was master of the situation. The most notorious and dangerous of the road agents had met their deserts through the Vigilantes and the miner's courts, but the champions of law and order were not satisfied and would have nothing but a thorough clean-up of infesting criminals. On the evening of January 13, 1864, tlie executive committee of the Vigilantes determined on hanging six of the worst men still alive. The morning of January I5th came, and the detachment of Vigilantes marched in from Nevada, Junction, Summit, Pine Grove, Highland and Fairweather, and halted in a body in Main Street of Bannack. Parties were immediately detailed for the capture of the road agents, and all succeeded in their mission except the one which went after Bill Hunter, who temporarily escaped. The other five were "rounded up" the same day and executed in front of the Virginia Hotel. It will serve no purpose to enter into details as to the different attitudes assumed by the criminals at their arrest and execution. Some were cool, some profane, some furious, some rebellious and some re- signed almost to the point of repentance. But the men paid the just penalty for their many crimes and the days of outlawry were doomed in Montana. The operations of the Vigilantes were, at this time, especially, planned with a judgment, and executed with a vigor that has never been surpassed by any body, deliberative or executive. On the I5th of January, 1864, a party of twenty-one men left Nevada under the command of a citizen whose name and actions remind us of lightning. He was prompt, brave, irresistible (so widely did he lay his plans) and struck when least ex- pected. Bill Hunter had temporarily escaped and was in hiding, but he was rooted out of his nest about twenty miles above the mouth of the Gallatin River, and started with his escort toward Virginia City. The captors proceeded on their way in that direction for about two miles and halted at the foot of a tree which seemed as if it had been fashioned by nature for a gallows. A horizontal limb at a convenient height was there for the rope, and on the trunk was a spur like a belaying pin, on which to fasten the end. Scraping away about a foot of snow they camped, lit a fire and prepared their breakfast. An onlooker would never have conjectured for a moment, that anything of a serious nature was HISTORY OF MONTANA 275 likely to occur, and even Hunter seemed to have forgotten his fears, laughing and chatting gaily with the rest. After breakfast, a consultation was held as to what should be done with the road agent, and after hearing what was offered by the members of the scouting party, individually, the leader put the matter to vote. It was decided by the majority that the prisoner should not go to Virginia ; but that he should be executed then and there. The man who had given Hunter to understand that he would be taken to Virginia, voted for the carrying out of this part of the programme; but he was overruled. The earnest manner of the Vigilantes, and his own sense of guilt, overpowered Hunter; he turned deadly pale, and faintingly asked for water. He knew, without being told that there was no hope for him. A brief history of his crimes was related to him by one of the men, and the necessity of the enforcement of the penalty was pointed out to him. All was too true for denial. He merely requested that his friends should know nothing of the manner of his death, and stated that he had no property; b"f he hoped they would give him a decent burial. He was told that every reasonable request would be granted ; but that the ground was to hard for them to attempt his interment without proper imple- ments. They promised that his friends should be made acquainted with his execution, and that they would see to that. Soon after, he shook hands with each of the company, and said that he did not blame them for what they were about to do. His arms were pinioned at the elbows; the fatal noose was placed round his neck, and the end of the rope being thrown over the limb, the men took hold and with a quick, strong pull, ran him up off his feet. He died almost without a struggle ; but, strange to say, he reached as if for his pistol, and went through the pantomime of cocking and discharg- ing his revolver six times. This is no effort of fancy. Every one present saw it, and was equally convinced of the fact. It was a singular instance of "the ruling passion, strong in death." The place of the execution was a lone tree, in full view of the travelers on the trail, about twenty miles above the mouth of the Gallatin. The corpse of the malefactor was left hanging from the limb, and the little knot of horsemen was soon but a speck in the distance. Bill Hunter was the last of the old road agent band that met death at the hands of the Committee. He was executed on the 3rd of February, 1864. There was now no openly organized force of robbers in the ter- ritory, and the future acts of the Committee were confined to taking measures for the maintenance of the public tranquility and the punishment of those guilty of murder, robbery and other high crimes and mis- demeanors against the welfare of the inhabitants of Montana. LAST WORK OF THE VIGILANTES *On looking back at the dreadful state of society which necessitated the organization of the Vigilantes, and on reading these pages, many will * Professor Dimsdale in "Vigilantes of Montana." 276 HISTORY OF MONTANA learn for the first time the deep debt of gratitude which they owe to that just and equitable body of self-denying and gallant men. It was a dread- ful and disgusting duty that devolved upon them; but it was a duty, and they did it. Far less worthy actions have been rewarded by the thanks of Congress, and medals glitter on many a bosom, whose owner won them, lying flat behind a hillock, out of range of the enemy's fire. The Vigilantes, for the sake of their country encountered popular dislike, the envenomed hatred of the bad, and the cold toleration of some of the unwise good. Their lives they held in their hands. "All's well that ends well." Montana is saved, and they saved it, earning the blessings of future generations, whether they receive them or not. * * * Very little action was necessary on the part of the Vigilance Com- mittee, to prevent any combination of the enemies of law and order from exerting a prejudicial influence on the peace and good order of the capital; in fact, the organization gradually ceased to exercise its func- tions, and, though in existence, its name, more than its active exertions, sufficed to preserve tranquility. When Chief Justice Hosmer arrived in the territory, and organized the Territorial County Courts, he thought it his duty to refer to the Vigilantes, in his charge to the Grand Jury, and invited them to sustain the authorities as citizens. The old guardians of the peace of the territory were greatly rejoiced at being released from their onerous and responsible duties, and most cheerfully and heartily complied with the request of the Judiciary. For some months no action of any kind was taken by them ; but, in the summer of 1865, news reached them of the burning and sacking of Idaho City, and they were reliably informed that an attempt would be made to burn Virginia, also, by desperadoes from the West. That this was true was soon demonstrated by ocular proof ; for two attempts were made though happily discovered and rendered abortive, to set fire to the city. In both cases, the parties employed laid combustibles in such a manner that, but for the vigilance and promptitude of some old Vig- ilantes, a most destructive conflagration must have occurred in the most crowded part of the town. In one case the heap of chips and whittled wood a foot in diameter had burnt so far only as to leave a ring of the outer ends of the pile visible. In the other attempt a collection of old rags were placed against the wall of an out-building attached to the Wis- consin House, situated within the angle formed by the junction of Idaho and Jackson Streets. Had this latter attempt succeeded, it is impossible to conjecture the amount of damage that must have been inflicted upon the town, for frame buildings fifty feet high were in close proximity, and had they once caught fire, the flames might have destroyed at least half of the business houses on Wallace, Idaho and Jackson Streets. At this time, too, it was a matter of every-day remark that Virginia was full of lawless characters, and many of them thinking that the Vigilantes were officially defunct, did not hesitate to threaten the lives of prominent citizens, always including in their accusations, that they were strangling. This state of things could not be permitted to last ; and, as the authorities admitted that they were unable to meet the emergency, HISTORY OF MONTANA 277 the Vigilantes reorganized at once, with the consent and approbation of almost every good and order-loving citizen in the territory. The effect of this movement was marvellous ; the roughs disappeared rapidly from the town; but a most fearful tragedy, enacted in Portneuf Canyon, Idaho, on the I3th of July, roused the citizens almost to frenzy. The overland coach from Virginia to Salt Lake City, was driven into an ambuscade by Frank Williams, and though the passengers were pre- pared for road agents, and fired simultaneously with their assailants, who were under cover and stationary, yet four of them, viz: A. S. Parker, A. J. McCausland, David Dinan and W. L. Mers, were shot dead; L. F. Carpenter was slightly hurt in three places and Charles Parks was ap- parently mortally wounded. The driver was untouched, and James Brown, a passenger, jumped into the bushes and got off, unhurt. Car- penter avoided death by feigning to be in the last extremity, when a villain came to shoot him a second time. The gang of murderers, of whom eight were present at the attack, secured a booty of $65,000 in gold, and escaped undetected. A party of Vigilantes started in pursuit, but effected nothing at the. time; and it was not till after several months patient work of a special detective from Montana, that guilt was brought home to the driver, who was executed by the Denver committee, on Cherry Creek. The last offenders who were executed by the Vigilance committee of Virginia City, where two horse thieves and confessed road agents, named, according to their own account, John Morgan and John Jackson, alias Jones. They were, however, of the "alias" tribe. The former was caught in the act of appropriating a horse in one of the city corrals. He was an old offender, and on his back were the marks of the whipping he received in Colorado for committing an unnatural crime. He was a low, vicious ruffian. His comrade was a much more intelligent man, and acknowledged the justice of his sentence without any hesitation. Morgan gave the names and signs of the gang they belonged to, of which Rattlesnake Dick was the leader. Their lifeless bodies were found hang- ing from a hay-frame, leaning over the corral fence at the slaughter house, on the branch, about half a mile from the city. The printed man- ifesto of the Vigilantes was affixed to Morgan's clothes with the warning words written across it, "Road Agents, beware !" CHAPTER XIII DAWN OF LAW AND ORDER The era of outlawry, miners' courts and vigilantes, with the summary execution and exile of dangerous criminals, was closely followed by the establishment of constitutional government and legal processes, with their slower, more cumbersome, approved operations. During the worst of the conflict between law and order, what is now Montana west of the Rocky Mountains was under the jurisdiction of Idaho (organized as a territory in March, 1863) and that portion east of the mountains was a part of Dakota. So that the nearest constituted courts for the few settlers in the Montana region were held at Salem, the capital of Oregon, and at Yankton, Dakota's territorial seat of justice. To attend the first session of the territorial Legislature of Idaho held at Lewiston in the winter of i863-'64, members were compelled to travel hundreds of miles, over unknown ranges and through trackless fields of snow. The pioneers of what is now Southwestern Montana, who had bravely fought and fairly subdued the criminal element in their midst, demanded that legalized justice be brought within more convenient dis- tance of them, and fortunately found an effective personal instrument within their reach. COMING OF SIDNEY EDGERTON AND WILBUR F. SANDERS Sidney Edgerton, an able lawyer and republican congressman from Ohio, at the conclusion of his two terms in the national house of rep- resentatives had been appointed chief justice of the new territory of Idaho by President Lincoln. In June, 1863, he had left Akron, Ohio, for Idaho, accompanied by his family and his nephew, Wilbur F. San- ders, who also took his family. They went to St. Joseph, Missouri, where they outfitted, and thence by ox-teams to Bannack, then on the eastern borders of Idaho Territory, arriving September 17, 1863. Mr. Sanders was soon engaged in the prosecution of the road agents, and established his reputation as a fearless and versatile lawyer, earning the gratitude of all supporters of law and order in the community. Mr. Edgerton was destined for other work, which at once brought him into unusual prom- inence. " The story of this portion of Sidney Edgerton's career is told so well by his daughter, Martha Edgerton Plassman, that it is reproduced in her words: "Shortly after arriving at Bannack, my father strolled up Main Street to see the town. Coming to a Building where miners' court was 278 HISTORY OF MONTANA 279 in progress, he went in. The judge, seeing that he was a stranger, in- vited my father to sit beside him. The trial of the case proceeded, but not for long, when it was interrupted by the suggestion of some one present that it was time liquid refreshments should be served. The judge and everyone present approving the suggestion, an old darkey was dis- patched to a neighboring saloon for the whisky. On his return, the court took a recess and a drink, several of them in fact. When the liquor was exhausted and the court and those in attendance upon it sufficiently stimulated, the trial went on, only to meet with a similar interruption in the course of half an hour or so. This was the initiation of the new Chief Justice into western methods of legal procedure. "At a meeting of the citizens of Virginia City and Bannack, some months later, Judge Edgerton was selected to go to Washington to secure the division of the territory. About this time occurred the hang- ing of Henry Plummer and other road agents. These events postponed my father's journey to Washington until the middle of January, 1864. It was a winter of great severity, and while he and those who went with him knew they were not likely to be attacked by highwaymen between Bannack and Salt Lake City, the intense cold was an enemy not to be despised. MONTANA GOLD TO DAZZLE CONGRESS "The party traveled with pack horses to Salt Lake, crossing the rivers on the ice and exposed to all the hardships of that bitter season. From Salt Lake they went by stage to the railroad. What added to the dangers of the journey was that most of the men took with them large quantities of gold. Ingots were quilted into the lining of my father's overcoat and he carried in his valise immense nuggets wherewith to dazzle the eyes of congressmen and to impress upon their minds by means of an object lesson some adequate idea of the great mineral wealth of this section of the country. Arriving safely in Washington, the gold was exhibited, congressmen interviewed, and at length the desired end was accomplished. Idaho was divided, and the Territory of Montana created. There was some discussion over the proposed western boundary line but the combined efforts of Governor Wallace of Idaho and Judge Edger- ton saved to Montana all of her rich territory lying west of the summit of the Rockies. "My father was one of the numerous applicants for the governor- ship of the new territory. Whether his ultimate appointment to the position was the result of his last visit to Mr. Lincoln will never be known, but this is his account of the visit he made and the story he told: EDGERTON INTERVIEWS LINCOLN " 'When the division bill passed, I went to the White House to make my farewell visit, as I had already been in Washington some time and I was anxious to get home. On my way there, a gentleman told me 280 HISTORY OF MONTANA that a senator had filed a protest against my appointment as governor. On meeting Mr. Lincoln, I asked if this was true. He said it was. I then inquired if any charges had been made against me. He said none, but that I had called the gentleman a liar. I insisted that it was the truth and if he (Mr. Lincoln) chose to appoint some of the other applicants, it would be satisfactory.' " 'As for me, I should return home and mine, as Dosheimer kept tavern.' "Dosheimer !" exclaimed Mr. Lincoln ; "I knew Dosheimer. What was the story ?" The story was this : 'Dosheimer attended a con- vention at Utica hoping to obtain the nomination as canal commissioner. He was defeated, and rising from his seat, said : "Shentlemen, I goes back to Puffalo and keeps tavern like hell !" I left Mr. Lincoln laughing heartily at the story. It was the last time I saw him. I did not know of my appointment until I reached Salt Lake.' THE GOVERNOR'S DIFFICULT POSITION "It was not an easy position which the new governor was called upon to fill. He was chief executive in a portion of the country where, up to the hanging of George Ives, every man had been a law to himself. He represented the United States Government in a territory many of whose citizens had renounced allegiance to the Union. Any signs of wavering on the part of the governor, any concessions to those who were disloyal to the United States would have been looked upon as marks of cowardice, and he would have gained the contempt of the very men who were loud- est in denouncing him for upholding the law of the land. "Threats had been made that any one would be shot who dared to raise the star spangled banner. My father heard of this, and out flew the old flag from the staff above the house which sheltered his wife and children. The threats proved to be mere bravado ; but drunken horsemen galloping by at night often fired random shots at the red, white and blue target while hurrahing lustily for Jeff Davis. "A more serious trouble arose in the first legislature when John Rogers, formerly of the Confederate army, sought to gain admission to that body without taking the required oath. This caused a deadlock which was only broken when a new oath had been framed which could fit so delicate a case, and Mr. Rogers was admitted. GEN. THOMAS F. MEAGHER ACTING GOVERNOR "The following spring President Lincoln was assassinated, and during the political upheaval which followed Andrew Johnson's accession to the presidency, it became necessary for Governor Edgerton to go east in the interest of Montana. General Thomas Francis Meagher had arrived to assume the duties of the secretary of the territory; but one of the most important duties was to disburse money and there was no money to disburse my father and a few others having supplied the requisite funds to keep the wheels of government in motion up to that time. In order to obtain money for the territory, and also wishing to place his HISTORY OF MONTANA 281 older children in school, my father once again set across the plains taking his family with him. He left Bannack in the middle of September, 1865. The return journey, made with mule teams and from Salt Lake City, followed the old Bridger and South Platte trail to Nebraska City. As the floating ice in the Missouri made it impossible to run the ferry, the river at that place was crossed in a skiff at the imminent peril of being swamped, and the journey continued by stage through Iowa and Mis- souri to Savannah in the latter state, which was then the terminal point of the railroad." Governor Edgerton thus severed his permanent connection with the affairs of Montana. He twice revisited the state, the last time in 1891, but his home continued in Akron, Ohio, for fifty-five years, or until his death July 19, 1900. Almost to the last he practiced his profession and was ever alive to the best things of the world. MONTANA TERRITORY TAKES FORM The bill organizing the territory of Montana passed both houses of Congress on May 24, 1864, and two days later was signed by President Lincoln and the commonwealth admitted into the Union. Its boundaries were fixed by the organic act, the president commissioned Judge Edger- ton governor June 22, 1864, and on the following I2th of December Governor Edgerton convened the first session of the Territorial Legisla- ture, on January 16, 1864, were created the counties of Missoula, Deer Lodge, Dawson, Beaverhead, Madison, Jefferson, Chouteau and Big Horn. The organic act creating the Territory of Montana, empowered the gov^ ernor to lay off necessary districts for members of the Council and House of Representatives and to provide for an election of such members. On September 22, 1864, Governor Edgerton therefore called the first elec- tion in Montana to be held on the 24th of October. In establishing the districts, Governor Edgerton recognized the counties established by the first Idaho Legislature, insofar as they had any population to be repre- sented in the Montana Assembly, viz., Missoula, Deer Lodge, Beaver Head, Madison, Jefferson and Chouteau. In the counties of Dawson and Big Horn, there were so few qualified persons entitled to representation that they were not recognized as distinct election districts by Governor Edgerton, and were deemed part of Madison County for political pur- poses. THE BANNACK LEGISLATURE The election was duly held, which resulted in the choice of what has become known as the Bannack Legislature. A delegate to Congress was also chosen. The republicans, or unionists, nominated Wilbur F. San- ders, and the democrats, Samuel McLean. Partisanship over the issues of the war were as intense in Montana as in the older territories and states, although the new commonwealth was far removed from the immediate theater of hostilities. The voters came from both North and South and the campaign was waged with much rancor on both sides. Governor 282 HISTORY OF MONTANA Edgerton coming from an Ohio hotbed of radical republicanism, was the leader of the Montana unionists in every sense of the word, and his young nephew, the Congressional candidate, was a brisk running mate in that regard. Whatever the cause of the result, the democrats won and Colonial Sanders was defeated. There is some question as to the respective votes, although both sides agree upon the total of 6,864. The democrats themselves attributed their success to the dom- inant* method of the campaign pursued by the republicans in charging their opponents with disloyalty. The first session of the Legislative Assembly of the territory con- vened at Bannack on December 12, 1864, and adjourned February 9, 1865. The presiding officers of both sides were republicans, Robert Lawrence being chosen president of the Council and George Detwiler, speaker of the House. The membership of the two houses, with the localities represented was as follows: Members of the Council: Frank M. Thompson and Erasmus D. Leavitt, Beaverhead County; Frank L. Worden, Chouteau, Deer Lodge and Missoula counties; Nathaniel Merriman, Jefferson County; Charles S. Bagg, Robert Lawrence and Anson S. Potter, Madison County. Members of the House : William Faulds and Andrew J. Smith, Bea- verhead County ; James Stuart, Deer Lodge County ; Isaac N. Buck, Milo Courtright and George Detwiler, Jefferson County; John H. Rodgers, Patrick Ryan, Wila Huffaker, Alexander E. Mayhew, Francis Bell and Washington J. McCormick, Madison County; E. B. Johnson, Missoula County. At this time among the leaders of the democratic party were Sample Orr; Edwin W. Toole, a brilliant lawyer and brother of Joseph K. Toole, the first governor of the state; William Y. Pemberton, afterward chief justice of the State Supreme Court, altogether a distinguished member of the bench and bar, and librarian of the State Historical Society; Thomas Thoroughman, R. C. Ewing, Alexander Davis, Samuel Word, N. J. Bond, W. L. McMath, Samuel McLean and Ansell Briggs. The laws passed at this first session were voluminous and important. Not a few of them related to the judiciary. The act providing for the organization of the territory vested the judicial power in a supreme court, district courts, probate courts and in justices of the peace, and divided the territory into three judicial districts. Pursuant to the au- thority given, this session enacted a law establishing these courts and pre- scribing the jurisdiction thereof. A Criminal Practice Act was passed, pro- viding for the indictment and trial of offenders, defining offenses punish- able thereunder and the penalties to be imposed. A Probate Act relating to the estates of deceased persons, minors and incompetents, and an act relating to executors and administrators and to guardians and wards were passed. One of the most important laws enacted by this assembly was that incorporating the Historical Society of Montana, the incorporators of which were H. L. Hosmer, C. P. Higgins, John Owen, James Stuart, W. F. Sanders, Malcolm Clarke, F. M. Thompson, William Graham, Gran- HISTORY OF MONTANA 283 ville Stuart, W. W. DeLacy, C. E. Irwin and C. S. Bagg. The seat of government was, by an act approved February 7, 1865, located at the city of Virginia, pursuant to the authority granted the legislative assembly by the act of congress providing for the organization of the territory. Besides general laws of the nature outlined, measures were adopted to meet the special conditions of the people and the times. An act was passed to prevent the counterfeiting of gold dust, as a spurious imita- tion was in circulation. During the session, not less than nine special acts were passed providing for marital separation, but no general divorce law was enacted until near the adjournment of the assembly. Acts were passed to reimburse those who had captured road agents when the miners' courts were in authority. Without general legislation enabling indus- trial and commercial enterprises to be incorporated, almost one hundred private charters were granted to mining companies, ditch companies, town site enterprises, and bridge, ferry and wagon road projects. This char- acter of legislation called forth denunciation from the Congress of the United States, which, in 1867 passed an act providing that the legisla- tive assemblies of the territories should not grant private charters or special privileges, but they might, by general incorporation acts, per- mit persons to associate themselves together as bodies corporate for min- ing, manufacturing and other industrial pursuits. Such a general incor- porating act was passed by the third Legislative Assembly of the territory, and at subsequent sessions most of the special privilege acts passed at the first session were repealed. In the light of events of a later period, this special legislation enacted at the first session of the territorial assembly was of such an interesting character as to warrant more detailed comment. The most complete and satisfactory account of the doings of the Bannack Assembly was contributed to the Anaconda Standard, of February 23, 1919, by James U. Sanders, of Helena, secretary of the Society of Montana Pio- neers, and one of the sons of Wilbur F. Sanders, the pioneer. After noting the conscientious and industrious character of that legislature and that, in addition to passing civil and criminal practice acts, it enacted nearly one hundred special or private laws, Mr. Sanders continues : "These charters were given to nearly 500 men, but a careful perusal of the names discloses only eight survivors today. The full list includes men in Lon- don, England, and many Eastern cities, including New York, St. Louis, Philadelphia and Albion, N. Y. "I will recall only a few companies in which the survivors mentioned were interested with about ninety associates." FIRST Is ROAD LAW "The first law approved by Governor Edgerton on December 27, 1864, was an act to incorporate the Missouri River & Rocky Mountain Wagon Road and Telegraph Company. This was granted to Judge Pemberton and fourteen associates, among whom are some familiar names, such as Judge Walter B. Dance, a miners' judge of those days ; N. P. Langford, 284 HISTORY OF MONTANA elected to the Idaho legislature the year before and superintendent of the Yellowstone National Park on its creation in 1872 and which from its initials Mr. Langford used to say was named after him : S. T. Hauser, afterward governor of the territory; T. C. Evarts, whose 'Thirty-seven Days of Peril,' being an account of experiences while lost from the Wash- burne party in 1870, was read the world over; Razin Anderson, a member of the Stuart party which discovered gold at Gold Creek ; Samuel Word and F. B. Kercheval of St. Joseph, Missouri, who endeavored to found Kercheval City at the mouth of the Judith River in 1866 and which was made the county seat of Musselshell County on its creation by one of the bogus legislatures of that year. Today the judge is the only survivor of this list and an effort to pump Pern on the achievements of this com- pany only disclosed the fact that his recollection of the enterprise is a little vague, but he admitted that he probably wrote the law for a block of the capital stock, stated to be $800,000, and that also some of the in- corporators had a preliminary survey of the proposed road made." It was to start from Virginia City and run to the head of naviga- tion on the Yellowstone River and thence to the mouth of that river or some other point on the Missouri River. They were to have the privilege of establishing toll gates and collecting toll not oftener than a gate to each forty miles of the road. They also had the privilege of erecting tool gates at bridges and ferries, but not on streams fordable at all seasons of the year. The charter also gave the privilege of erecting an electro telegraph line along said road and also by way of Bannack to the southern boundary of the territory toward Salt Lake City. The com- pany was authorized to issue bonds for the raising of funds for con- struction and to pay interest at not more than 15 per cent. FOR ANOTHER ROAD Judge Pemberton and Mr. Evarts promoted another enterprise under a charter to the Bozeman City & Milk River Wagon Road Company, with a capital stock of $200,000, for the purpose of locating and main- taining a toll wagon road from Bozeman to the mouth of the Musselshell River, and thence to the mouth of the Milk River. Some mean in- dividual reading this charter might note that nothing is said as to con- structing a road, although a survey is provided for and exclusive privi- leges given with ten miles of its line, and also within the same distance of all bridges and ferries established on streams crossed, said toll gates not to exceed one for every forty miles of road. Authority to estab- lish town-sites at the termini of said route and also at the crossing of the Musselshell River and at other points, with authority to pre-empt 320 acres at each of said points and lay off into lots, blocks and streets and hold or dispose of the same, is given. Had the judge laid out this road on an air line, like the road from St. Petersburg to Moscow, and should he go over it today, he would traverse the counties of Park, Sweet Grass, Meagher, Musselshell, Fergus, the new county of Garfield, possibly Phillips, and, if we were HISTORY OF MONTANA 285 more familiar with the geography of Montana while the present session of the legislature is in session, we might add Dawson, and before they adjourn we might add others. When laid out this road traversed only Gallatin, Chouteau and Big Horn counties. With these enterprises the judge satisfied himself for the time being in the mad rush for worldly wealth, at the same time securing, and ever since maintaining, a warm place in the regard and affections of the people of Montana. STILL ANOTHER ROAD On January 27, 1865, a charter to the Virginia City & Summit City Wagon Road Company was approved by Governor Edgerton. This charter was granted to Joseph H. Millar, now of Omaha, and president of the Omaha National Bank, and B. F. Allen of Des Moines, and in- terested in a bank in Virginia City with Mr. Millard under the name of Allen & Millard, and while the metropolis of Alder Gulch was still in the territory of Idaho ; also W. C. Burton of Des Moines and John S. Atchi- son, many years later a banking associate of Governor Hauser in Helena, and others. A recent inquiry of Senator Millard discloses the facts of the en- terprise. Mr. Burton conceived the idea of the road up Alder and secured the backing of Allen and Millard shortly after the discovery of gold in May, 1863. This occurred just a little above the foot of Wallace Street as pointed out by Mr. Edgar, one of the discoverers, at the meeting of the Pioneer Society twenty years ago. Mr. Burton built the road in 1863, but the miners washing the bed of the gulch that fall and next summer were continually washing it out and interfering with it as a highway and the rights secured under the charter did not much improve their authority. The road was eight miles in length from Virginia City to Summit and they were authorized to establish a toll gate at the town of Highland and one near Virginia City and crossing and recrossing Alder Creek and bridging the same where necessary. The capital of the company was to be $27,000, which perhaps is the amount of money spent in building and maintaining the road. With the liberal charges allowed, $3 for a wagon drawn by a span of horses or yoke of oxen or a carriage drawn by one animal, etc., the road never paid or reimbursed the build- ers. WATER CHARTER Also on January 27th a charter was granted to A. M. Holter, still living in Helena, and associates under the name of the Virginia City Water Company, with a capital stock of $25,000, with authority to in- crease it to $100,000. The company had authority to convey the waters rising or flowing from all springs in Daylight Gulch and distribute it through hydrants and through the streets of the city. Mr. Holter made a success of this enterprise, which was conceived the summer before and work commenced by his associates, O. Norelius and J. P. Oleson. Another charter was granted for the purpose of supplying Virginia 286 HISTORY OF MONTANA City with gas to the Virginia City Gas Company, with a capital stock of $10,000, with the authority to increase it to $200,000. All of the incor- porators of this company are dead, but among the names we note those of Governor S. T. Hauser and W. J. McCormick, a member of the Ban- nack legislature and father of the representative from Missoula County. A charter was granted to Mortimer H. Lott, still residing at Twin Bridges, and his associates, among whom we note Paris S. Pfouts, for- merly president of the vigilance committee, and James Williams, a captain in that organization, and one of the executive officers. The company was known as the Montana Bridge and Ferry Company, with authority to construct bridges or ferries, one on the Big Hole River near Twin Bridges and one on the Jefferson River near Pat Carney's Ranch at Waterloo. At the Big Hole crossing the toll charge for a vehicle and two animals was $4 and at the Jefferson crossing the charge was $5. On February 2d Mr. Lott and his brother, John S. Lott, were author- ized to use the water of Wisconsin Gulch for irrigating and milling pur- poses with right-of-way to the Beaverhead River. IN DEER LODGE VALLEY Gus Graeter of Dillon, the bride-groom of 85 years, and his asso- ciates were given a charter as the Deer Lodge Valley Mining Company, with a capital of $200,000. The office of the company was established at Silver Bow City, and the company was authorized to establish a branch office in New York City if deemed proper. Books were to be opened for subscriptions to the capital stock on twenty days' notice published in a newspaper, if there was one published in the territory, otherwise by posting notices at three public places in Silver Bow City. Mr. Graeter and his associates were also given a charter as the Beaverhead Ditch Company, with authority to construct a ditch and divert the waters of Rattlesnake Creek and supply water for mining, milling and other purposes, evidently in the vicinity of Argenta, west of Dillon. William Berkin of Meagher County, now over 90 years of age, and hale and hearty, with associates, was given a charter as the Eureka Gold and Silver Mining Company with a capital stock of $50,000 which might be increased to $1,000,000, with offices at the town of Montana, an embryo city at the Point of Rocks on Rattlesnake Creek, and also in the City of New York. Among the other incorporators are to be noted Samuel McLean, delegate in congress ; George Brown, member of the state senate from Beaverhead County at the third and fourth sessions, and Ashael K. Eaton, who was later interested with Col. A. K. McLure in mining enterprises in Madison County. IN MINING INDUSTRY Mr. Berkin was also interested in two other companies created by this legislature, one the Boulder Town Company, located at the north side of the crossing of the Boulder River about two miles from the pres- HISTORY OF MONTANA 287 ent town. Capt. Nick Wall of St. Louis, and a member of the firm of J. J. Roe & Co., and also an active member of the Virginia Vigilantes, and John J. Healy of Northern Montana and later of Alaska were asso- ciated in this enterprise. The other, the Kalida Gold and Silver Mining Company, was granted the usual mining rights and among the other in- corporators are to be noted the names of Matthew Carroll, George Steell and Gad E. Upson, the successful candidate in 1865 against Colonel Mc- Lean for delegate to congress. James Gourley of Gallatin County and a pioneer of 1862, and asso- ciates, were given a charter as the Prickly Pear Gold and Silver Mining Company, with a capitalization limited to $1,000,000. T. G. Merrill, later MONTANA CITY IN EARLY DAYS of Jefferson County, was one of the incorporators of this company. Both Messrs. Gourley and Merrill were members of the first republican terri- torial convention the summer before. Fred Root of Grant, Montana, is the surviving incorporator of two companies, one of the East Ophir Town Company, with townsite privi- leges at the mouth of the Maria's River. Many familiar names were associated with him in this enterprise as Ed. House, Alf Nichols, Buzz Cavin, Caleb Irvine, John A. Creighton, Jesse Armitage, W. W. De Lacy, A. J. Oliver, Robert Hereford and others. The other company in which Mr. Root was interested was the Mon- tana Quicksilver Company, and associated with him was John Potter, the first postmaster at Helena. PRICKLY PEAR Another company in which Mr. Gourley was an incorporator was one changing the name of Montana City and incorporating the town of 288 HISTORY OF MONTANA Prickly Pear. The town was situated eight miles southeast of Helena and was a lively mining camp in 1862 as the result of rich gold discoveries which paid for several years. Many of the early maps in the geographies of the time gave Montana City without indicating the present capital of Montana, Last Chance Gulch being discovered two years later. The Great Northern Railroad on the line from Helena to Butte runs through the main street of the "city," but the traveler would never know that it was once a lively mining camp, the only building standing today being an apparently abandoned section house formerly used by the railroad com- pany. A close observation would disclose signs of extensive mining operations and perhaps indications of former habitations. In the summer of 1862 King & Gilette, freighting a stock of goods from Fort Benton which had been shipped up the river and consigned to Bannack, offered some for sale from their wagons, and before they knew it had closed out their stock. These are a few of the hundred companies organized by the First (Bannack) Legislative Assembly of Montana Territory during the session that winter, linked to the present by surviving incorporators. CHIEF JUSTICE HOSMER AND HON. JAMES M. ASHLEY The variety and nature of the legislation enacted at the first session are illuminating illustrations of the trend of public thought and in- dividual endeavor; they illustrate what the people of territorial Montana were thinking about and doing. In the meantime, the judicial ma- chinery was generally getting into motion. On June 30, 1864, President Lincoln had commissioned Hezekiah L. Hosmer as chief justice of the new territory of Montana. Like Governor Edgerton, he was a New Yorker who moved to Ohio and was educated and trained to the law in that state. In the Buck Eye State, he also indulged in newspaper work and author- ship. He was either a whig or republican. In 1861, he went to Washing- ton hoping to secure the position of librarian to Congress. Although unsuccessful in that mission, he became secretary of the House Committee on Territories, of which Hon. James M. Ashley, then member from the Toledo District, was chairman. In that capacity, on February n, 1863, Mr. Ashley (afterward governor of Montana) reported the bill for the organization of Montana as a territory. He had already proposed a bill for the creation of what was eventually called Idaho, under the name of Montana, and, although disappointed in his first effort at this christen- ing, had the satisfaction of seeing his favorite name applied to the ter- ritory of which he became governor. HOLDING OF FIRST LEGALIZED COURTS As stated, at the organization of the territory of Montana, President Lincoln appointed Mr. Hosmer its chief justice, and the judge reached Virginia City, after the vigilantes and the miners' courts had partially pacified the country, in October, 1864. From a sketch of Judge Hosmer, approved by his son, J. H. Hosmer, and published among the contribu- HISTORY OF MONTANA 289 tions of the State Historical Society (Vol. Ill), is taken the follow- ing narrative, descriptive of political, legal and judicial conditions then existing: The territory, then three months old, had no law but the Organic Act of Congress creating it. Such United States laws as were general in their operation and remembered by those who had read them, for the books were not there, and the precedents of the common and civil law likewise confided to the repositories of retentive memories, except in a few noted instances, where the expectant practitioner had brought a few text books with him, were the only guides. But it didn't take a set of reports to make a library in those days, and a lawyer didn't look for a case to hit the facts so much as he sought something to sustain the reason and spirit of his contention. No legislature had met and the Organic Act, hardly more than a right to exist, made no provisions for the rule of procedure when courts should be organized. There was no civil or criminal code, nor any practice act or statute that authoritatively applied to the territory, which was then in the Territory. Municipal buildings had not been erected. But after canvassing the matter for a time it was determined to open court in the dining room of the Planters House, then at the corner of Idaho and Jackson streets in Virginia City, which Mr. Shoot, the proprietor, proffered for the occa- sion. And it was discovered immediately that while it might answer as a courtroom, it seriously inconvenienced the guests of the hotel, as their dinner and supper depended upon the adjournment of the court. The time for the opening of the District Court of the First Judicial District, having both federal and territorial nisi prius jurisdiction, arrived, it being the first Monday of December, 1864. The Planters House dining room was early cleared of breakfast dishes, a bench was improvised by putting a number of tables close together and then placing another table on -top of them, behind which the judge sat. Another table was arranged for Mr. A. M. Forbet, the clerk, another was for the lawyers, while the usual dining room chair of the day, a stool made of four pieces of wood inserted in a piece of board was placed around for lawyers and spectators. The lawyers who assembled on that first day of meeting were mostly young men, and came from all parts of the United States. Many have since become prominent in the history of the Territory. There were E. B. Neally, United States district attorney ; W. F. Sanders, Jerry Cook, Alex Davis, Tom Thbroughman, James G. Spratt, Sam Word, W. M. Stafford, R. B. Parrott, L. W. Boarton, W. Y. Pemberton, W. L. McMath, W. Y. Lovell, W. J. McCqrmick, Harry Burns, William Chumasero (district attorney), J. C. Turk, O. F. Strickland, Theo. Muffley, R. W. Robertson, Alex E. Mayhew and Charles Baggs. Upon the opening of the court a grand jury was impaneled, to which Judge Hosmer gave a charge prepared upon the then existing state of society. He, among other matters, reviewed the history of the two preceding years, the establishment of order by the aid of the vigilance committee, approved its action as a necessity, but counseled as the courts Vol. 119 290 HISTORY OF MONTANA were established that summary proceedings should give way to the law. The charge was met with approval, by the bar, and by requests it was published. Upon the first adjournment for the day, a citizen who had listened to the charge remarked to the judge: "We are glad the Government has sent you here. We have some civil matters to attend to, but you had better let us take charge of the criminal affairs." Immediately Judge Hosmer was met with questions, novel, important, without precedent and debated with great skill and ability on both sides. The first important question submitted was what rule should govern in regard to litigated rights and practice? As a sort of successor to the Miners' Court, T. C. Jones had been appointed by the governor as a Probate Judge. In that court a number of cases were commenced which were transferred to the District Court when that court was organized by Judge Hosmer. Discussion was requested by the judge. For several evenings the dining room of the Planters House heard echoes from the time of the Decemviri down to and including the last statutes of the Territory of Idaho. While the civil law was the Louisiana rule, yet under it there were no vested rights in the new territory, and the later states and territories carved out of the original territory, to which the Mon- tana Territory had from time to time belonged, had adopted the common law. The common law, therefore, as the abstract rule, was approved and consented to. The question of practice then became important. Montana, as then inhabited, had been a part of Idaho. The Idaho Legislature had the preceding winter passed statutes including a practice act. Only one copy had reached Montana. It was decided that as Montana had been a part of Idaho when the statute was passed, and as no provision had been made by the government, and that it was necessary before legislation could be had to have a course of practice adopted for a guide, that the Idaho statutes so far as they could be made applicable to Montana, should be the law until legislature met and remedied the difficulty. The rule then approved for the Territorial District Court was the Idaho statute so far as it could be made applicable, and where it was deficient, the common law. This seemed to work well until in the course of time prior appropria- tion of water in connection with placer mining claims, and prior right of discovery of quartz lodes occasioned an adoption of the California rule, and the California reports later became the leading authority in the territory. Another question presented about this time was as to the construc- tion of contracts. United States Treasury Notes were at the time accepted in payment at fifty cents on the dollar in gold dust at least ; the merchant after blowing out black sand and manipulating the scale weights as he saw fit, usually got more. The question presented was whether the creditor could demand payment in gold dust, or if payment was made in greenbacks, should they be accepted at a figure different from the rated value in the Virginia trade their value in the markets of the world. HISTORY OF MONTANA 291 The decision held that in the absence of a specific contract, treasury notes were a legal tender, but if specific, payment should be made in gold dust. Another difficulty early presented, and which if not liberally construed had a tendency to destroy the validity of every written contract in the territory, was as to the necessity of internal revenue stamps upon written contracts. Until the organization of the territory and the arrival of the collector of internal revenue, there were no stamps in the territory. Dur- ing all the time contracts involving large amounts of money had been made, which some of the parties now sought to avoid as a violation of the United States laws. Judge Hosmer held that as it had been impossible to procure stamps and it was not the policy of the law to invalidate con- tracts made in good faith, that such a liberal construction should be given to the law as to authorize the stamping of the contracts when the stamps were obtainable, with like effect as if stamped when made. Questions of like character attributable to the unsettled condition of the country and undefined condition of the laws were frequently arising during the period prior to the going into effect of the laws enacted at Bannack during the winter of 1864-65. . The Planters House dining room was not long utilized as a courtroom. A change was made to the Union League Room. The floor was covered with sawdust and made a very fair courtroom. But while the building fronted on Wallace Street, there was no entrance from the street, and in order to get to the courtroom it was necessary to go along a path on a side hill at the back of the building for 200 feet or more, then ascend a stairway which went up on the outside at the back of the house. Other places were from time to time selected as courtrooms. During the four years of Judge Hosmer's term of office nearly a dozen different places were so used. One of the first cases to be tried was old John Thorburn, for killing D. D. Chamberlain at Central City. A great deal of interest was taken in the case, which resulted in an acquittal. William Chumasero appeared as district attorney, and Messrs. Sanders and Thoroughman appeared for the defense. It was on the trial of this case that a party who had been prominent as a vigilante was, on being called as a juror, asked if he had conscientious opinions against the death penalty, and replied: "In all cases where it is not done by a vigilance committee." And that this was the sentiment of many is shown by the fact during the early years of the territory there was no conviction of a capital offense in the courts, but malefactors were occasionally found hanging in between three-sticks or on a dry tree with the word "Vigilantes" pinned on their backs. When Sam Perry, in 1870, was convicted of murder, with sentence at five years in prison, he was hardly more than under sentence before he dug under the logs of the jail and was never caught afterwards. The court begun in December, 1864, was continuously in session for over six months. During that time cases involving many new and novel points were tried. With few exceptions the litigation was such as would challenge close and technical study. Judge Hosmer received expressions 292 HISTORY OF MONTANA of the highest commendation from the bar on the completion of the first term. It was while this term was in progress that the news of the assassina- tion of President Lincoln reached Virginia City, ten days after it occurred. The Olinghouse stone building was being erected at the time, and the pile of rocks somewhere near twenty feet high was used for speaking pur- poses, and here those who had recently borne arms for the South with those who had done like service for the North uttered their eulogies for the martyred President. GENERAL SULLY^S Sioux CAMPAIGN (1864) These movements of the Assembly, Bench and Bar, tending to estab- lish law and order in the territory of Montana, found a salutary com- plement, in the campaign waged by the War Department, through Gen. Alfred Sully* against the dreaded Sioux of the Eastern country. They were the great deterrent to settlement in Central and Eastern Montana. The large, well equipped and conducted expedition led by General Sully and sent against the hostile Sioux Indians in July and August, 1864, resulted in a most effective campaign against the savage enemies, who were supposed to be located in the Big Horn and Yellowstone valleys of Eastern Montana. As it happened they were found in force in the Bad Lands Region of the Little Missouri, which were explored during the several days of fierce fighting experienced by the United States troops. These comprised 4,000 cavalry, 800 mounted infantry, twelve pieces of artillery, 300 Government teams and 300 beef steers, with fifteen steam- boats to carry the supplies of the expedition along the courses of the Missouri and Yellowstone. The troops were mostly drawn from Iowa and Minnesota, although there was one regiment of Wisconsin infantry. The general route of the expedition was from Fort Ridgely, Minnesota, west- ward, to the Bad Lands of the Missouri. In the Eastern border of that desolate region, at the head of Big Knife River, in July, a large Sioux Village was attacked at a place called Kill-the-Deer-Butte, the resulting engagement being known in Indian warfare as the Battle of Killdeer Mountain. Col. M. T. Thomas, of the Second Minnesota Brigade, who was in active command of the column, as General Sully was ill during much of the march, describes the battle : "They had congregated this great force to clear out the white sol- diers and appeared to believe that they could do it. We were about three miles from the camp when they were first discovered by the scouts. There was no excitement apparent on either side, and both deliberately pre- pared for battle with equal confidence. The line was formed by dismount- ing three men out of four, leaving the fourth man in charge of the horses who followed the line in close columns. The dismounted men were formed in line as skirmishers, about four paces apart, with a reserve cavalry to cover the flanks, and the artillery within supporting distance * Served as superintendent of Indian affairs for Montana, in 1869-70, the gov- ernors of the territory having held that position up to the time of his incumbency. HISTORY OF MONTANA 293 of the line of battle. It was a formidable looking force and when the 'Forward' was sounded there was a determined look on the faces of the men which indicated that they now had a chance to get satisfaction from the redskins. GRAPHIC PICTURE OF INDIAN BATTLE "The Indians gathered on their horses, stripped for battle, and be- gan to leisurely ride out towards us; first a few fine looking fellows rode up nearly within gun-shot to reconnoiter, and then little bands would lea've the camp and advance, but without any demonstration other than waving their arms in the air or cantering across the plain. At last they came within our reach, and a few rifle shots precipitated the conflict, but not until we had passed half the distance to their camp. At the first shot everything was changed. The bands concentrated and, uttering their war cries, they dashed toward our lines. Riding at full speed, they would fire their guns and wheel and disappear to load, and come again, in front and flanks and rear. It was a continuous succession of charges that were always repelled by the steady volleys of our men. We kept steadily advancing, their camp our objective point. Their confidence was such that they did not make an effort to save it until we were within half a mile; then, for the first time, we set the artillery to work and threw shells from eight guns with terrifying effect. "It was a magnificent sight 1,600 lodges filled with women and chil- dren, dogs, horses and all the paraphernalia of their homes, and they attempting to save them, with the shells bursting about them, carrying destruction in their path. The lodges came down, but too late. The warriors shot their guns, and arrows hissed through the air, but onward went the blue-coated line and the camp was taken. The fighting was kept up in a desultory way until the sun went down, but the Indians were whipped and, what was worse, had lost their camp and all supplies, and were fleeing, almost naked, into the mountains. "The white soldiers camped upon the ground. General Sully ordered Major Camp to follow the Indians through the deep-wooded ravines and drive them off the high hills beyond the camp, which they accomplished, with some loss to the Indians. From these hills a fine view of the Indians and their families could be had as they swarmed away through the ravines of the Bad Lands, mostly beyond reach. * * * "Sully had 2,200 men (in the engagement) and he estimated the num- ber of Indians at from 5,000 to 6,000, and that their loss was 100 to 150 killed. Half the next day was spent in destroying the camp and killing the dogs that were left behind. The one supremely sad thing about a battle is burying the dead, and in this case, although there were but few, it was sad indeed. In the middle of the night the graves were prepared, and, without a light or the sound of a drum or bugle, their bodies were placed in the earth and carefully covered up, levelling the surface so that the grave would not be noticed, and when the command marched over them they would be hidden from the sight of the Indians, who would mutilate and destroy them. * * * 294 HISTORY OF MONTANA IN "HELL WITH THE FIRES PUT OUT" "In the afternoon of the 5th of August, we were marching leisurely along, the Knife Mountains just visible in the north and the Black Hills equally distant in the southward. In front there was no indication of anything but an almost level plain, but suddenly the head of the column halted and, riding to the front, I found the general and the advance guard gazing down at the Bad Lands. As I halted beside the general he said, 'This is hell with the fires put out.' The description was brief, but to the point. Dante must have received his inspiration from such a scene. For forty miles to the west, and as far as the eye could see to the north and south, the body of the earth was rent and torn, leaving gorges, buttes and yawning chasms, and everything showing the color of burnt-out fires. It was an awe-inspiring sight. True, it had not come without warning, for some knowledge of it was general, but no description could bring to the mind a comprehension of its magnitude. "We had, among the scouts, a little Blackfoot Indian, who said that when he was a boy he had crossed the Bad Lands with his father's band, and that he could find the way again. This young Indian was now installed as guide, and following him, the command, by turning devious ways, plunged down into the abyss. We camped that night under the shadow of some buttes whose towering heads threw shadows that hid us from the world. The next day we toiled among the rocks, up and down and across a seem- ingly endless mass of obstructions, and at last, as the sun was going down, the heart of the Bad Lands was reached by striking the Little Missouri river. It was Saturday night, and we went into camp to spend a Sunday in the heart of the region that had never before been seen by white men's eyes." The advance into and through the Bad Lands involved a journey of fearful suffering to men and horses ; water was so scarce and filthy, when found, that at one time it seemed as if the animals could never survive. The third day out early in the morning of August 8, 1864 after the troops had left the headwaters of the Little Missouri and were headed north, through the Bad Lands, for the Yellowstone Valley, the Sioux attacked the column in greater numbers and more defiantly than ever. "The firing began at the front," says a condensed paper from the diary of Judge Nicholas Hilger, "but soon they charged us at all available points. Our artillery was now distributed ; six pieces were placed in front, two on each flank, and two in the rear. General Sully ordered shell to be thrown into all the numerous hiding places (places of ambush) along the route, and so effective were these means in dislodging the Indians that by noon they feared to occupy such positions and thenceforth fought upon open ground. "The dead bodies of many Indians lay strewn along the route. Our chief guide, the young man who had been shot through the body as be- fore described, still rode with us in a carriage, but many of our men were killed and wounded by the bullets of the hostiles. Owing to the inferiority of their arms we could keep the savages at a tolerably safe distance with THE BAD LANDS OF MONTANA 296 HISTORY OF MONTANA our longer range guns and the artillery; otherwise there might not have been a man of us left alive, so numerous were they and so persistent in their attacks. * * * "The next morning (August 9th), at daybreak, the command started forward. The Indians came on stronger than ever and attacked us on all sides. Close to the camp a high and rocky butte arose above the surround- ing country. Many of us climbed to its summit, from which vantage- ground we could overlook the whole field of battle. Indian chiefs and com- manders could be seen in all directions, signalling and directing the movements of their forces. It was a sight one may never forget. About two miles west of us our front seemed to have been checked by the hostiles, while the reports of firearms and artillery indicated a desperate struggle. About this time the rear of the train got in motion and shortly thereafter the firing ceased. Soon a great cloud of dust was seen rising about two miles to the southwest of our advance, which, upon close in- spection proved to be a living mass of warriors, with their families and herds, stampeding in a southeasterly direction into the Bad Lands and endeavoring to escape from their victorious and unconquerable enemies. We did not pursue them, however. "By noon our advance had reached the western boundary of the Bad Lands, at a small creek on a rolling prairie that stretched to the west- ward. Here had been the chosen spot of the Sioux for a safe camp and a stronghold against all enemies. The camping ground was about three miles long, from north to south, and three-fourths of a mile wide. Their fires were yet burning; and many of their effects, including the undis- posed-of bodies of dead warriors, were left in the camp to tell of the hasty and unexpected flight. About three miles farther west we camped for the night, with water in plenty but with grass scant. "The hostile warriors, as soon as their camp was in safety, climbed- up onto the highest elevations around us and there sat by thousands, looking quietly on to see us move forward at our leisure towards their new Eldorado the Yellowstone country. "The next day (August loth) the command traveled northwest over a rolling prairie that was intersected by broken ridges, without feed or water for our animals until near midnight, when we found a little strong alkali water and a little 'wire' grass. On this day our animals began to give out by the hundreds, and the rear guard kept up a continuous fire to kill them as they fell. Their carcasses and the abandoned wagons will mark our route here for many years to come. "Upon August i.ith, in order to recuperate, we did not start until late. The citizens, now in the advance and feeling safe from Indian attack, about ten o'clock in the morning heard the welcome sound of steam whistles, which proved to be those of the steamboats on the Yellowstone River about ten miles west of us. Immediately upon the receipt of this news General Sully pushed forward his command through the Bad Lands and by dark we had arrived upon the banks of the river, a short distance below the site of the present town of Glendive. Here, in the wilderness, we HISTORY OF MONTANA 297 once again beheld those splendid Government steamboats, two in number,* which had been moving up and down the beautiful stream for two days in their endeavors to find our expedition. Laden with supplies, they had been sent on in advance early in the season to meet us here, thousands of miles from civilization. They were the first that had ever ascended the Yellowstone River to this point, we were informed. As there was no grass for animals up the river, the country having been stripped of vegetation by the drouth and grasshoppers, and the season being too far advanced for further military operations, the command took its march down the Yellowstone. It took the steamers three days to ferry across our supplies and the baggage to the opposite bank. The wagons and animals were necessarily compelled to ford the river ; in doing which many Government teams and teamsters, and two citizens from Shakopee, Min- nesota, were carried down the stream and drowned. The expedition then moved across the country about thirty miles to opposite old Fort Union, a mile or two above the present site of Fort Buford, and there crossed the Missouri River in the same manner as we had crossed the Yellowstone; many Government horses and animals being drowned at this crossing also. "From this point, Fort Union, the military forces returned eastward to the frontier posts of Minnesota and Iowa, there to go into winter quarters. Many citizens, also, discouraged by the hardships they had suffered, returned with the military command to the 'States.' The re- mainder of the citizens, however, turned westward to Milk River and moved up that stream to the Bear Paw Mountains, then across the country to Fort Benton and from there south to Sun River, thence by the old 'Mullan road' along the eastern base of the Rocky Mountains to the present site of the City of Helena,t where the travel-worn emigrants finally located with their train and animals for the winter. "Starting upon the journey from Fort Ridgely, Minnesota, we had been four months on the road, and arrived at Helena on the 2ist day of September, 1864, after an experience the like of which few emigrants have ever been called upon to pass through or compelled to endure. MEMBERS OF THE EXPEDITION WHO REMAINED "Many members of our expedition remained and are still living in the vicinity of Helena, well known to our citizens, and, I believe, respected by all for their true worth. Their names are : "Nicholas Hilger, wife and daughters, cattle owner, Helena. "David N. Hilger, cattle owner, Helena. "Matthew Hilger, cattle owner, Helena. "Henry Jurgens, merchant, Helena. "Hon. Thos. J. Lowry, attorney-at-law, Helena. "Hon. John H. Shober, attorney-at-law, Helena. * Chippewa Falls and Alone. tThis route is approximately that of the present (1896) Great Northern and Montana Central railways. , 298 HISTORY OF MONTANA "George B. Foote, civil engineer, Helena. "Joseph W. Hartwell, lumberman, Helena. "George White, builder, Helena. "Gilbert Benedict, farmer, Helena. "*Adam Grossman, wife and children, mason, Helena. "*Anton Miller, Helena. "Dr. S. Irwin Blake, dentist, Helena. "Paul Weidert, wife and children, Lewiston. "*M. Lemline and wife. "*Nicholas Gromesh. "Philip Constans, merchant, Unionville. "Hon. Frank Welles, merchant, Radersburg. "* Handsheidt, wife and children. "*John Somerville and wife. " Le Brash and wife. " Hase and wife. "P. Hopefield, wife and children. "Paul Kratke and wife. "Beside those mentioned above there were five ladies, whose names are not remembered, who accompanied their husbands through with the expedition. "Andrew J. Fisk, quartermaster sergeant, now one of the proprietors of the Helena Herald, and Richard Hoback, sergeant, Company H, 2nd Minnesota Cavalry, returned with the Sully expedition from Fort Union to Minnesota. Both returned to Montana with Captain James Fisk's expedition in 1866 and yet remain here." CLASH BETWEEN ASSEMBLY AND JUDICIARY Upon the departure of Governor Edgerton to his Ohio home, in Sep- tember, 1865, Thomas F. Meagher, secretary of the territory, became its acting governor. As the Assembly which met in Bannack had adjourned without making provisions for a second session, as required by the organic act, the chief executive was confronted with a perplexing situation ; but as legislation on a multitude of subjects was urgent, he called a session in the winter of 1865-66. The judiciary at once protested on constitu- tional grounds. Judge L. E. Munson, associate justice of the Supreme Court, had arrived early in 1865 and settled at Helena, while Judge L. P. Williston, the second associate, who arrived in the territory at a later date in that year, had established himself and court at Bannack; but while the Bannack Assembly had made no special provision for a second session, had designated Virginia City as the capital of the territory and Chief Justice Hosmer and his associates had there held the first session of the Supreme Court, in the summer of 1865. But when Governor Meagher called a second session, in the winter of 1865-66, to meet at Virginia City, the chief justice and his associate, Judge Munson, refused to recognize its constitutionality. Anson S. * Deceased, 1896, date of publication of Judge Hilgers' "Diary." HISTORY OF MONTANA 299 Potter had been elected president of the territorial Council and Alex- ander E. Mayhew, speaker of the House. A third session, held during the winter of 1866-67, met with a like rejection by the judiciary of the territory and their position was subsequently approved by Congress. In 1867, the national body passed an enabling act for the Legislature by which the measures passed by the latter were legalized. This constitu- tional opposition of Judges Hosmer and Munson made them unpopular with the home government. Justice Hosmer completed his term in July, 1868, and never sought a reappointment. In 1872, he moved to San Francisco, having served, for most of that period as postmaster at Vir- ginia City. The last years of his life were largely devoted to literary work, his best known production being the book in which he claimed that Shakespeare's Sonnets was a cipher poem written by Bacon and claiming to be the author of Shakespeare's plays. During his stay in Montana his home was ever a pla'ce of reception, and he did as much as any citizen to give Virginia, in the early days, the name of the Social City. The unstable status of the territorial Assembly, when Acting Gov- ernor Meagher assumed the chief executive's office caused so many legis- lative complications that, as a solution of the problem, many citizens of both parties were favoring and pressing statehood upon the national authorities. Meagher himself at first favored a convention to secure the early admission of the territory as a state, but within a few weeks changed his mind and in January, 1866, issued a call for a constitutional convention to be held at Helena on March 26th of that year. ACTING GOVERNOR MEAGHER A native of Ireland, the acting governor was one of its typical sons. In his young manhood he was a leader in the Young Ireland Party, overseas, was captured by English troops and his death sentence having been commuted to life imprisonment in Van Dieman's land, in 1853 he escaped from his island prison and settled in New York to practice law. At the outbreak of the Civil War, he raised a regiment in the Empire State, which became a unit of the famous Irish Brigade with which his dashing record as a northern commander is linked. General Meagher left New York, in July, 1865, as secretary of the newly organized territory, and his troubles as an official and a fiery democratic leader commenced when, soon afterward, he succeeded Governor Edgerton as acting chief executive of the territory and leader of the Democracy, which, for a year, waged a bitter warfare against Justice Hosmer and Judge Munson, of the State Supreme Court. Declaring his authority to convene the legislative Assembly, the gov- ernor issued a proclamation summoning the members of the Council elected October 24, 1864, and the members of the House of Repre- sentatives elected September 4, 1865, in the absence of legislative appor- tionment to meet in extraordinary session at Virginia City, on March 5, 1866, "for the transaction of business as well as to give legislative sane- 300 HISTORY OF MONTANA tion and validity to the convention" which was about to assemble. This second (extraordinary) session sat for forty days and adjourned April 14, 1866, simultaneously with the adjournment of the constitutional con- vention, which had been sitting since the Qth of that month. A memorial to Congress was prepared by the convention suggesting various matters for appropriate congressional action, but so far as advancing the cause of statehood or clarifying the legislative tangle, it accomplished nothing. The time and vitality of the second and third assemblies were largely absorbed in actions directed by the democratic legislators against the judiciary of the territory, in the persons of Judges Hosmer and Munson, solidly backed by the union party. At the convening of the constitutional convention, on April 9, 1866, the Assembly passed a bill recognizing the legality of that body, and Meagher publicly announced that it was his intention to have the laws so framed that "no judge, whatever his powers or consequence, should dispute or disobey them" and that he would enforce the laws passed by the Assembly "with the whole power of the County of Madison and, if need be, with the whole power of the territory." As stated, Justice Hosmer served until the conclusion of his term in 1868, refusing to vacate his office at the 're- quest of the democratic majority in the Assembly, but Judge Munson resigned before his term had expired. ARRIVAL OF GOVERNOR CLAY SMITH Green Clay Smith, who had been appointed to succeed Governor Edgerton, reached Montana in October, 1866, but the third extraordinary session of the Assembly had been convened by Acting Governor Meagher and was held at Virginia City, in November-December of that year. As noted, the laws passed by it, as well as those of the second session, were nullified by the act of Congress passed March 2, 1867. The arrival of Governor Smith was followed by a general investigation of the ter- ritorial finances, which showed great laxity by the officials in the col- lection of taxes and indicated that the public debt was more than $80,000. For the purpose of restoring the legislative functions of the terri- tory, under the congressional act of March 2, 1867, which was passed largely through the representations of Col. W. F. Sanders, who was sent to Washington for the purpose, Governor Smith was authorized on or before July ist to divide Montana into legislative districts, in con- formity with its organic act. THE DEATH OF GENERAL MEAGHER Before continuing the story of Montana's early legislation as a terri- tory, the writer pauses to record an event which saddened thousands of men and women, East and West the death of General Meagher, about which, for years, or until a comparatively recent period, investigations and theories have thrown about it a veil 'of mystery. The weight of evidence points to his death as accidental, or suicidal, and not the result HISTORY OF MONTANA 301 of murder. The facts, as given by W. F. Sanders, his friend, who was with him at Fort Benton, a short time before his death, are to this effect: He (Colonel Sanders) was waiting at Fort Benton to meet the boat which was bearing his family to Montana from the East, where the different members had been on a visit. "About 12 :oo or I :oo o'clock (July i, 1867), I discerned on the tableland, where the road descended to the town, a number of horsemen in military apparel and upon their arrival we (a steamboat captain and Colonel Sanders) greeted General Thomas Francis Meagher and his military staff. He advised us he was on his way to Camp Cooke after 130 muskets which the general govern- ment had proffered to the territorial authorities for use in the Indian war in which we were engaged. The day was intensely hot, and the general and his staff had made a swift and dusty ride from Sun River, where Messrs. Carroll and Steel had a camp, and were founding that flourishing town, near which Major Clinton was marking out his site of Fort Shaw, so named in honor of Colonel Robert Shaw, of the Fifty- fourth Massachusetts Regiment. I do not recall all the members of the general's staff, nor their number, but one of them was Captain William Boyce, afterward a resident of Butte. The afternoon was delightfully spent in social visits through the business portions of the town, and General Meagher seemed at his best in a conversational way, but he resolutely and undeviatingly declined that form of hospitality with which Fort Benton then abounded. As he was my near neighbor at Virginia City, and a most genial and interesting companion, I spent most of the afternoon with him, introducing him to so many of the citizens and sojourners in that unique and thrifty seaport (sic) as he had not there- tofore known." Mr. Sanders goes on to say that General Meagher dined with Maj. T. H. Eastman, the fur company's agent at Fort Benton, a sociable and hospitable man after his own heart. He also accepted the invitation of the pilot of one of the old steamboats, an Irish-American who had ascer- tained the general's identity, to take voyage on his craft down the river as far as Camp Cooke. "General Meagher returned from the fort about dusk," continues the narrator, "in company with some other gentlemen whose names I do not recall. I was seated in front of the store of I. G. Baker & Co., when my attention was arrested by abnormally loud con- versation, and as the party came nearer I saw that it came from General Meagher. As the party came to the place where I was, it was apparent that he was deranged. He was loudly demanding a revolver to defend himself against the citizens of Fort Benton, who, in his disturbed mental condition, he declared were hostile to him, and several who then joined us sought to allay his fears and by all the means in our power to restore to sanity his disturbed mental condition. His nauticai "friend, whose host he was to be the ensuing morning, suggested that he go to his state room on the boat and three or four of us accompanied him. He was still insistent that the people at Fort Benton were hostile to him and was im- portunate for a revolver. He was induced to retire to his berth, which was on the starboard side of the boat next the bank, and in the hope that 302 HISTORY OF MONTANA he would sleep we all went on shore, seeking to allay his anxiety by the promise of getting him a revolver. As he had removed his outer gar- ments and lain down in his berth, we did not apprehend that there would be any further trouble, thinking the temporary aberration the result of the hot and exhausting ride of the morning, which sleep would speedily correct. It was a great shock to his friends, but we were confident of his immediate recovery. "I do stop here to speculate on the cause of his hallucination that the people of Fort Benton were hostile to him, but I have always thought that a contention between the Blackfeet Indian agent, George Wright, and the general as superintendent of Indian affairs, wherein the general directed the release of all the intoxicating liquors in the country which the agent had assumed to seize, was in his mind. This controversy had assumed an epistolary form in the newspapers, as General Meagher's controversies were exceedingly wont to do. I only attributed it to this for lack of other causes, but General Meagher had no more loyal friends than those in Fort Benton, who solicitously surrounded him there in his last hours. "I cannot say that anyone remained in the state room with him, for nothing was farther from our thoughts than the denouement then im- pending. After a brief consultation on the lower deck, I went to the office of the Indian agent, opposite the G. A. Thompson and perhaps fifty yards distant, where I wrote a letter for the outgoing mail to Helena which left at 11:00 o'clock. Perhaps I had been in the office thirty minutes, when I heard Captain James Gorman, the stage agent of C. C. Huntley, excitedly exclaim 'General Meagher is drowned !' "I dropped my pen and hastened out the door and rushed across the gang plank and across the lower deck of the steamer. There was a col- ored man, one of the men connected with the boat the barber, I believe who, replying to my interrogation, said a man had let himself down from the upper to the lower deck and jumped into the river and gone on down stream. I immediately returned to land and ran down the river bank, repeating the alarm until I reached one of the lower steamers, the Guidon, I believe, where I went across the boat to the river side to watch for the general. "Boats were instantly lowered and many anxious eyes were peering in the darkness at the swift-rolling waters of the great river that never seemed so wicked as then. It gave no wished-for sight or sound. The search was kept up all night and for two or three days thereafter. Loaves of bread were cast on the turbid waters in obedience to a belief that they would cause a drowned body to rise to the surface of the stream. A cannon was brought into requisition for the same pur- pose, but the mighty river defied all our solicitudes and kept its treasure well. I turned from the steamer, as I saw the boats go down the river in the darkness, to fulfill the sad duty of advising Mrs. Meagher of the overwhelming calamity which had befallen her and us all. She lived on the same street near me in Virginia City, and it seemed to me to be my duty to tell her the sad story. I inclosed my letter to Dr. 303 James Gibson, the postmaster at Virginia City, an accomplished gentle- man and a fast friend of Mrs. Meagher, confiding to his discretion the manner in which he should break to her the melancholy news. "As there was no telegraph, the news of the event went by mail that night. No person, so far as I know, save the colored man, saw general Meagher go into the river, and he related to me the circumstances as I have told. The next day some members of the general staff said to me that we must report that he fell from the boat accidentally, and must not mention the mental aberration and not attribute it to that. I said to them that I had written to Mrs. Meagher the exact facts as they had been related to me, and could see no imputation upon the general nor cause of humiliation to his friends, if eager devotion to his duties in hand had brought upon them so great an affliction. Some of them seemed to think otherwise, and in the proclamation of Governor Green Clay Smith announcing his death it was, I believe, alleged to have been caused 'by accident.' "I can well appreciate the affection which General Meagher inspired among his race and countrymen. His form was manly, his manners cor- dial, his demeanor gracious, his conversation instructive, his wit kindly, his impulses generous, and I agree with Horace Greeley, who once said to me that General Meagher was one of the finest conversationalists and extemporaneous speakers he had ever known. "It is .to be regretted that so much is said and written of General Meagher and the manner of his death that is not so. Those who were with him on the last day of his life will join me, I know, in denying his death could be attributed to any convivial habit. I was with him most of the afternoon, and he was resolutely abstemiously as the most devout anchorite, and it is cruelly unjust to repeat such an accusation. "The river was searched for his remains down to the mouth of the Marias, but the search was in vain. Somewhere in the stream his manly form sleeps in as serene repose as it would in classic Arlington, but the jealous waters guard the secret well, and the rushing waves from unfound springs seem destined forever to be his monument and his grave." ANOTHER ATTEMPT TO FOUND GREAT CENTRAL ENTREPOT The various attempts made by the early settlers to found a town at the confluence of the Musselshell and the Missouri rivers were failures because the advantages of such a location for a center of trade and freighting transportation were all based on the elements of water navi- gation and the topography of the country in its relations to overland travel between the central plains and the more populous districts of Southwestern Montana. The mouth of the Musselshell was considered the limit of safe navigation for boats of considerable draft, numbers of which had commenced to ply the Missouri after the mining districts had brought a large influx of permanent settlers. The overland road from the mouth of the Musselshell southwest toward the political and mining 304 HISTORY OF MONTANA centers of Montana would also cut off miles of travel required to reach Fort Benton, so long the entrepot of the growing districts of the terri- tory. Such a thoroughfare and convenient cut-off, avoiding the great northern bends of the Missouri, would also pass through such fertile tributary valleys as that of the Judith River and possible mining dis- tricts nearer than those of the far Southwestern Montana. "Influenced by such considerations," says Lieutenant James H. Brad- ley's account, "a number of gentlemen associated themselves as the Rocky Mountain Wagon Road Company and in 1866 opened a route across the mountains south of the Missouri River, from the mining regions of Montana to the mouth of the Musselshell, at which point a town site was selected. An old steamboat captain named Kerchival had been among the first to advocate such a route and was one of the partners in the company, and in his honor the place was given the name of Kerchival City. The company put up a log cabin which was occupied by its employes; but two years passed, the town did not grow, the freighting business did not flourish in consequence of powerful opposition, and presently the encroaching waters of the river swept the establishment of the Rocky Mountain Wagon Company into the stream, and Kerchival City passed into the catalogue of towns that were, but are not. "In 1868, the attempt was renewed under the auspices of the Montana Hide and Fur Company, of Helena, which dispatched a party of nine men under James Brewer to take post at the mouth of the Musselshell and build a warehouse. They arrived in March, 1868, laid out a town on the south bank of the Missouri and called it Musselshell. Soon after- ward they were joined by Colonel George Clendennin, with his brother Richard, and James McGinnis, from Grand Island, where this gentle- man had opened a wood yard while awaiting the developments respect- ing the new town. He at once began the construction of buildings for the purpose of engaging in trade. In the course of the season a num- ber of people flocked to the new town from the mountains and up and down the river, and before the following winter eight buildings were ranged in line fronting the river bank, while some fifty people were gathered in the vicinity. "A company of troops, commanded by Captain Nugent, of the Thir- teenth Infantry, came down from Camp Cooke and took post there, building a stockade with bastions just below the town within whose walls they pitched their tents, giving to the place the name of Camp Reeve. The friendly tribes of Gros Ventres and Crows resorted to the place in large numbers to trade; and thus during the summer of 1868 all was bustle and activity at the mouth of the Musselshell." That year appears to have been the zenith of its history, for not only did the buffalo, formerly so numerous in the Musselshell region desert it in the following winter, migrating to the north of Fort Benton, but the warlike Sioux commenced to attack the wood cutters and others in the neighborhood, killing a number in March, 1869. A force of about thirty townsmen was raised and, under Colonel Clendennin, had a pitched bat- HISTORY OF MONTANA 305 tie with a war party of about 200 Sioux and routed the Indians. The savages fled, leaving in the hands of the whites thirteen of their num- ber dead or wounded, and bearing with them a large number of wounded, of whom twenty-one afterwards died, many of them immediately after the battle. Colonel Clendennin's party lost one man killed and another wounded. What followed at the hands of the whites might have been retaliation for Sioux outrages. The wounded Indians left upon the field were at once dispatched, and the bodies scalped, and otherwise shamefully mutilated. The following day, Captain Andrews, a well known miner of Montana, retaliated for the loss of his oxen, which had been stolen by some Sioux in the previous March, by removing the heads from ten of the bodies of the slain Indians, cutting off and preserving the ears, and boiling the heads till the skulls could be cleaned, which he then placed on exhibition and finally carried East. The Musselshell neighborhood passed through the remainder of the year 1869 without any episode of importance, but it began to appear that as a freighting town it was a failure, most of the steamboats continuing to pass through the new port to Fort Benton, where the conveniences for unloading and storing were so superior. In 1870, the waning confi- dence in the enterprise upon the part of the founders of Musselshell induced the Montana Hide and Fur Company to close its affairs there and abandon the place; and throughout the season desertions occurred one by one, until Colonel Clendennin found himself, about the close of August, alone with his employes and establishment. Musselshell as a town was no more. This gentleman resolved to remain, for the purpose of carrying on an Indian trade, and with this view took down the abandoned houses, made considerable additions to his buildings and connected them with a stockade, making a compact and handsome fort to which he gave the name of Fort Sheridan. For four years he remained resolutely in this dangerous region with a garrison of from five to eight men, trading with the Indians and keeping a wood yard for the convenience of steam- boats. His customers were the Sioux, who upon the abandonment of the town ceased open hostilities against the place and agreed to remain peaceable as they wished to make the fort a point to trade. Standing Buffalo with a numerous band was the first to appear, in the spring of 1871, but though similar bands visited the fort in succeeding years, the trade was never extensive or profitable. The Crows and Gros Ventres ceased their trading visits when the town was abandoned, but the sur- rounding region was a standing battle ground between them and the Sioux to which few but war parties resorted. Although, during the existence of Fort Sheridan, the Sioux exhibited no open hostility in that vicinity, they continued to steal horses when opportunity offered, and upon two occasions added to the list of murders perpetrated there. On the fifth of January, 1871, two employes of the fort, Charles B. McKnight and John Ross, were surprised and killed by the Santee Sioux within a mile and a half of the fort while in the woods looking for ash timber. The following year a white man named Hunter, Vol. 120 306 HISTORY OF MONTANA accompanied by three Assiniboine squaws, was attacked by the Uncpapas while looking over the battle ground of May 9, 1869. The squaws were all killed under the supposition that they were Crows, but Hunter es- caped with a severe wound. Upon the founding of Carroll in the spring of 1874, Colonel Clen- dennin broke up his establishment at the mouth of the Mussellshell and in May of that year removed to the new town. Fort Sheridan was dismantled and the available material transferred to Carroll, the cannon contributed by General Hancock being returned to Fort Buford. About 200 cords of wood valued at $4.50 per cord were left behind at the land- ing and was burned by the Sioux the June following. In July, Christo- pher Gates and Patrick Vaughan wefe dispatched by Colonel Clendennin to take down the remaining buildings at Fort Sheridan and cut up the material into steamboat wood. While thus engaged they were surprised by the Sioux, who seemed to haunt the place with relentless hatred. From the indications it appeared that Gates was killed, while Vaughan had sought refuge in one of the buildings, which was then fired by the Indians and he perished in the flames. BOZEMAN AND THE DEATH OF ITS FOUNDER John M. Bozeman stood with Captain Bonneville and James Bridger among the great pathmakers of the rugged West and, more than either of his pioneer friends, is identified with the foundation history of Mon- tana. Peter Koch, one of the early settlers of Gallatin Valley, has writ- ten much of the localities with which he was so familiar and thus narrates some of the main events connected with the life and death of Bozeman : "In the winter of 1862-3, two men, John M. Bozeman and John M. Jacobs, left Bannack for the states with the idea of looking out a shorter route for emigrants than the roundabout one, up the Platte. They were set afoot by the Sioux on Powder River and nearly starved, being reduced to a diet of grasshoppers, but made their way finally to Missouri. They started back immediately to guide a train through by the new road. Meeting hostile Indians, they were turned back and compelled to come by way of Lander's cut-off and Snake River. Bozeman himself went back to Missouri and succeeded in getting a large train to follow him in 1864. His route lay between the Black Hills and Wind River Moun- tains, leaving the latter to the west and south. Bridger was also tak- ing a train by his new road west of the Wind River Mountains and down Clark's Fork and had denounced Bozeman's road as impracticable. But although Bridger had several weeks start and reached Yellowstone first, his road into Gallatin Valley up Shield's River and Brackett Creek and down Bridger Creek was so circuitous that Bozeman reached the valley ahead of him, but, lingering there, Bridger overtook him, and they raced their trains from the West Gallatin into Virginia, reaching that place within a few hours of each other. "In 1863 Gallatin City was laid out by certain enterprising Missour- ians who expected it to prove the head of navigation on the Missouri, HISTORY OF MONTANA 307 forgetting that there was a slight obstruction below in the shape of tre- mendous falls. After receiving a few lessons in geography most of them abandoned the location. "In 1864 the first house was built in Bozeman, occupying a part of the site now covered by The Bozeman. During the two following years the principal immigration into Montana was by the Bozeman road and across the Bozeman pass, and many of our leading citizens came over the road in those years and could doubtless tell many a moving tale of acci- dent by flood and field during their long overland journey. Forts Reno, Phil. Kearney and C. F. Smith were built by the Government to protect the trains on this road; but on December 21, 1866, the Fort Philip Kear- ney massacre took place, and with characteristic pusillanimity (?) the STATUE OF JOHN M. BOZEMAN, AT BOZEMAN Government ordered all the forts abandoned and the road closed to travel. "The next April, Bozeman and Tom Coover started across our pass (Bozeman's) down the Yellowstone. They stopped at Story's cattle camp near Benson's landing. While there, five Indians drove off a lot of horses. Mitz Buoyer and another man followed them and recovered all but one pony. The next morning Bozeman and Coover went on, crossed the Yellowstone and camped for dinner on a little creek a few miles below the old Crow agency. While cooking dinner, five Indians came toward them, leading the very horses stolen at Story's camp the day before. Mistaking them for Crows, they permitted them to come up and gave them some dinner, but becoming suspicious Coover went to saddle the horses, leaving his gun. Suddenly two of them shot Bozeman* through the body and then ran off shooting at Coover, grazing his shoul- der only. Coover rushed for his camp, seized his Henry rifle and hid in a clump of chokecherry bushes near by. The Indians returned, took * Bozeman's death occurred near the old Crow agency in April, 1867. 308 HISTORY OF MONTANA the horses and blankets, but left the saddles and provisions and did not scalp Bozeman. It was shown later that the Indians were Blackfeet, fugitives from their own tribe for killing a chief, and then living with the Crows. Coover wandered around all night, half dazed with fright, and finally reached Story's camp the next morning. A few days later Story and others went down and buried Bozeman where he was killed. In 1869, Major Camp brought his body to Bozeman and had it buried in our graveyard on the bluff, where Nelson Story, some years ago, erect- ed a handsome monument over his grave. "There he rests, on the hill yonder, in sight of Bozeman, deservedly named after him. He and Bridger were the pioneers in opening eastern Montana to the white men, and it is fitting that our City of Bozeman, and the peak and creek of Bridger should stand here as their monu- ments." THE Sioux AGAIN CHECKED AT "THE PLACE OF SKULLS" The implacable Sioux were again checked by United States troops from Forts Shaw and Ellis, at a fierce engagement fought near the mouth of Clark's Fork of the Yellowstone, on August 14, 1872. The site of the battlefield had been known to the Crows, for many generations, as the Place of Skulls, and Bradley, in his "Journal," accounts for the fact in this wise : "Something less than a hundred years ago, the Crows were living in two bands, the greater portion making their home upon the waters of the Powder river, while the smaller band of four hundred lodges, or about four thousand souls, were camped in the lower extremity of Clark's fork bottom, along the base of the bluffs. Here a terrible disease broke out among them, the victims being covered from head to foot with grievous sores. It proved very fatal and destroyed almost the entire band. The plain was covered with the bodies of the dead, and their horses ran wild because there was.no one to take care of them. The few who escaped the disease fled to the village on Powder river. The skulls of the victims were subsequently deposited on a natural shelf some two-thirds of the way up the rocky wall, from whence the name Place of Skulls. It is probable that this destructive malady was the small-pox, as it is a matter of history that about that time it ravaged the country occupied by the tribes along the upper Missouri and in the southern part of British America, reducing their numbers in frightful degree. It was not supposed that the contagion extended to 'the tribes of this region, but from this tradition it is evident that it did. "The tradition terminates with the following romantic incident : There were in the diseased camp two young men who escaped the contagion, and who did not join the few remaining survivors in their flight, but staid with the sick doing for them what they could. At last they were alone, and seeing the lodges desolate and their friends, relatives and countrymen all motionless in death, one said to the other: 'It is better to destroy ourselves than die in this manner. We cannot escape the Great Spirit is angry with the Crows and determined to remove them 309 from the earth. Let us ascend the cliff and, throwing ourselves over, die like brave men.' The other consented, and leaping over the precipice they were dashed in pieces on the rocks below." "BAKER'S BATTLE" OF 1872 Although the site of "Baker's Battle" was traditionally known as- the Place of Skulls, its gruesomeness was little increased by the fatali- ties of the modern engagement. The Indian loss was said to have been forty killed and a number wounded; of the troops, one was killed, and an employe of the surveying party which the soldiers were protecting was so badly wounded that he died three days afterward. But the result of the battle was a decisive defeat of the Sioux and had its effect in bringing more settled conditions to Eastern Montana. By the terms of the charter granted to the Northern Pacific Rail- road, the United States Government bound itself to afford all necessary protection against hostile Indians to the parties engaged in the survey of the route and construction of the road. The company desiring in the year 1872 to extend its surveys over the region stretching from the base of the Rocky Mountains to the Missouri River at Bismarck, which was in complete possession of hostile Sioux, called upon the Government for the protection it was pledged to provide. Two surveying parties were to take the field one to begin at the Missouri River and extend its ex- plorations westward, the other on the upper Yellowstone and work down that stream till it should meet the eastern corps at the mouth of Powder River. The former was provided with an escort of nearly 1,000 men commanded by Col. David S. Stanley, Twenty-second Infantry, while to Col. John Gibbon, Seventh Infantry, commanding the District of Mon- tana was assigned the duty of providing from the troops of his command a suitable force for the protection of the western corps. For this purpose Companies C, E., G and 1 Seventh Infantry, were drawn from Fort Shaw, and companies F., G., H. and L., Second Cav- alry, from Fort Ellis, the whole force, which numbered about 400 men being placed under command of Maj. Eugene M. Baker, Second Cavalry. Having marched from their respective posts they were all assembled at Shield's River on the thirtieth of July, 1872, and, being there joined by Colonel Hayden with his corps of surveyors, began their march down the Yellowstone the following day. In the meantime a heavy force of Sioux warriors, variously estimated at from 800 to 1,000 strong, were ascending the river upon a hostile incursion against the Crows; and about the twelfth of August discovered through their scouts that they were in the presence of Baker's com- mand. This unexpected rencontre created a division in their councils, many being anxious to give over their former design and measure forces with the troops, while the more prudent minority were disposed to avoid so hazardous an enterprise and continue their advance on the less prepared and unsuspecting Crows. At length, however, tempted by the large spoils in horses which they hoped by dexterous management to 310 HISTORY OF MONTANA secure at little cost to themselves, they declared in favor of an attack upon the troops, and fixed upon the morning of August I4th for carry- ing the plan into effect. The troops had now reached and were encamped upon the ground that became the scene of the fight. A party of surveyors, escorted by a force of cavalry commanded by Captain Ball, had the previous year car- ried the survey down the Yellowstone Valley to the Place of Skulls, and the command having by easy marches reached the field of the summer's work were resting in camp while Colonel Hayden completed his arrange- ments for taking up and continuing the surv.ey. The presence in the neighborhood of two or three Indian dogs had excited some apprehension that there were Indians about, but the general feeling was of confidence and security; and not only were no special precautions taken by the commander of the force to guard against an attack, but upon the very night fixed for it he permitted himself to become unfitted for the proper performance of his duties by an over-indulgence in strong drink.* The Sioux attacked the camp early in the morning of the I4th, as was their custom, but, notwithstanding the incapacity of Major Baker, Captain Rawn, commander of the infantry battalion, was equal to the occasion, and handled his troops with such promptness, and so well supported by his under officers, that, after about five hours of manoeuver- ing and attacks and counter-attacks, the Indian warriors withdrew before the disciplined forces of the whites. The result would have been even more decisive, but Major Baker did not urge a pursuit of the retreating Sioux, and his former reputation as an Indian fighter suffered a great decline in consequence of his conduct during and after the engagement of August 14, 1872. According to Lieutenant Bradley's account: "After this affair, the troops continued their march slowly down the north bank of the Yellow- stone, the engineers carrying forward their survey; but Engineer Hay- den's fears had got the better of him, and he sought an occasion to return. He sounded the opinions of the officers, but found the major- ity of them in favor of pushing on and satisfied of their ability to take care of themselves. At last, on the twentieth of August, at a point about six miles above Pompey's Pillar, he insisted upon returning or turning off toward Musselshell, and the latter course was pursued. After sur- veying across the country to that stream and up its south fork, the expedition finally disbanded on the twenty-fifth oi September, the troops returning to their posts. Engineer Hayden, though wholly responsible for the failure to prosecute the survey to Powder River as had been originally designed, afterwards endeavored to shirk it upon the mili- tary. Had it been his desire to proceed, there would have been no hesitation on the part of the commander of the troops to accompany him ; and the great majority of the officers were eager to go on, to save that command from any suspicion of having been frightened from its purpose by Indian hostility." * Lieutenant Bradley's Journal, Vol. II, "Contributions Montana State Historical Society." HISTORY OF MONTANA 311 NEW AND STRENGTHENED MILITARY POSTS Shortly after the campaign of 1864 against the Sioux, which fol- lowed upon the heels of the organization of the territory, the war department took steps to establish new military posts and strengthen the old camps that the white settlers and emigrants might be assured of pro- tection against the uneasy and threatening Indians of Montana. In the spring of 1866, the Thirteenth regular infantry was ordered up the Missouri River to take post in the new territory. Camp Cooke was established on the Missouri, 120 miles below Fort Benton, and in the following year Fort Shaw, on Sun River, and Fort Ellis, on East Galla- tin, and, in 1869, Camp Baker on Smith's River, or Deep Creek, were added to the defenses of the territory. In the latter year Camp Cooke was abandoned, what remained of the garrison being removed to Fort Benton. In December, 1869, four companies of the Second Cavalry were added to the garrison at Fort Ellis, where they have remained ever since; and in June, 1870, seven companies of the Seventh Infantry ar- rived in Montana, relieving the Thirteenth, to which were added the other three companies in 1872. DEATH OF JAMES STUART James Stuart, a human engine of force in control and a Montana pillar of law and order, passed from a brave and useful life, at Fort Peck Indian agency, on September 30, 1873. He had served in the first terri- torial Assembly, held at Bannack, and when, in the spring of 1865, the North Blackf eet or Blood Indians threatened ' an uprising, Governor Edgerton commissioned him lieutenant colonel to quell it, should it come to a head ; but it did not. Then for three years, he was superintendent of the St. Louis and Montana Mining Company's silver mines and works at Philipsburg. In 1871, he was appointed post trader at Fort Browning, the headquarters of the Assiniboine and Upper Sioux Indian agency. Two years thereafter the Assiniboine agency was moved sixty miles up Milk River to Fort Belknap, and the Sioux agency was con- centrated at Fort Peck, on the Missouri River, in the extreme northeast corner of Montana. Fort Browning was then dismantled and abandoned. Mr. Stuart's brother, Granville, thus sketches the last year of the life of the noted pioneer: "James sold out his stock at this time, and accompanied the agent, Major A. J. Simmons, to Ft. Peck, where his thorough knowledge of Indian character, his courage, coolness, and excellent administrative abilities were invaluable assistants in the control of the warlike Sioux. He was eminently fitted by nature to deal with the Indian tribes, for he easily and quickly acquired their languages, and had that peculiar tact so necessary in dealing with them. He was a good judge of human nature, either civilized or savage ; and while his kind and gentle manners won their good will, he also had, when necessary, the high courage and iron determination that nothing could shake, and which invariably secures the respect of the savage. What he told them he would do, he always 312 HISTORY OF MONTANA scrupulously performed; and when he said he would not do a thing, neither entreaties, threats, nor danger could move him from his pur- pose and for these reasons, he soon stood high in their estimation. Being a physician and surgeon, he always took pleasure in treating their wounds and diseases, and this also gave him great influence among them. "In June, he paid a visit to his brothers in Deer Lodge, who en- treated him to remain, as they had a presentiment of evil, and were very averse to his returning into the Indian country. But he had promised to return and take charge of the agency, until Major Simmons, who had resigned, could turn it over to his successor and with him to promise was to perform. He therefore took leave of his brothers and friends, expecting soon to return, but in this life they never saw him more. "It is probable that his health was giving way at this time, for he had had, early in the spring, a severe attack of what at that time was supposed to be inflammation of the bowels, but which it afterward ap- peared was organic disease of the liver. And after his return from Deer Lodge, he wrote in his weather memorandum that, on the 8th of August, he had another attack of the same character. And on the i8th of Sep- tember he was taken very ill, and soon told the attendants that he now knew his illness to be organic disease of the liver, as all the symptoms were very marked, and that he thought he would not recover. He lin- gered in great pain until death came to his relief. He died sitting in a chair, with his elbows on a table, and his head resting in his hands, at half-past five on the morning of September 30, 1873. He was in the prime of life, being in his forty-second year; and it is sad to think what possibilities the future might have had for him." FOURTH AND FIFTH ASSEMBLIES The fourth and fifth legislative assemblies were largely devoted to the work of legalizing the measures of the second and third. The fourth session was held at Virginia City from November 4 to December 24, 1867. As authorized by Congress, the territorial penitentiary was located at Deer Lodge ; the creation of the County of Meagher was confirmed, and the City of Helena was incorporated, provision being made for its municipal organization. At the fifth session, held also at Virginia and which covered the period from December 7, 1868, to January 15, 1869, a homestead exemp- tion law was enacted, and the general incorporation act of 1867 was annulled. The first Monday of December, 1870, and biennially there- after, was designated as the date for the convening of the Assembly, at the seat of government. The temporary capital of the territory was located at Helena, an election to be held on the first Monday of August, 1869, to determine the respective claims of that place and Virginia City for the permanent seat of justice. The county of Dawson was estab- lished by the act of January 15, 1869, and the boundaries of Deer Lodge, Beaver Head and Madison counties were readjusted. o 3 B 5! o 3 ffi r B 314 HISTORY OF MONTANA GOVERNOR JAMES M. ASHLEY Governor Smith resigned his office in the spring of 1869 (April 8th), and James M. Ashley, who gave Montana its name, succeeded him in the gubernatorial office. He was a Pennsylvanian by nativity, engaged in various kinds of business, studied medicine and law, made an un- profitable newspaper venture and was otherwise active in Ohio and Virginia, and finally brought up as a bitter anti-slavery advocate. Poli- tics finally absorbed him, and in 1858 he was elected to Congress as a republican from the Toledo District. His determination to bring the name Montana into the sisterhood of American territories or states, with the success which attended his efforts in Congress, has been noted. He was defeated for membership in the House of Representatives in 1868, but in the following year President Grant appointed him as Gov- ernor Smith's successor. It was his intention to make Montana his permanent home; yet, when he was supplanted in the governorship by General Benjamin F. Potts, a distinguished Ohio man born, bred and trained in that state Governor Ashley returned to that commonwealth, where, after several other terms as a congressional representative, he died. Governor Ashley was a most radical republican at least, in Mon- tana and raised up so many personal enemies that his administration was seriously embarrassed. His expression of dissatisfaction with the Grant administration also operated against him so effectually that the Soldier President commissioned his successor, on July 13, 1870, about fifteen months after he became chief executive. Governor Ashley had gone over to the liberal wing of the republican party, and two years afterward supported Horace Greeley for the presidency. United States Senator Charles A. Sumner was his personal friend, also, and vainly endeavored to prevent the confirmation of Governor Potts in the upper house of Congress. GOVERNOR BENJAMIN F. POTTS Governor Potts was a public man of such judgment and practical ability that he served the large and varied interests of Montana for twelve years and six months. He was a lawyer and originally a Doug- las democrat, and during the entire period of the Civil war was a leading Ohio officer. His military service was mostly identified with Sherman's southwestern campaigns and the famous expedition of the union com- mander to Atlanta and through the Carolinas. In December, 1864, he was in command of the advance brigade of Sherman's army. During the Nez Perce outbreak of 1877 his military training was invaluable and he maintained field headquarters under his personal supervision. After retiring from the governorship of the territory, he was elected to the legislative Assembly. Finally, he retired to private life to devote his attention to the raising of blooded stock, and died at Helena, on June 17, 1889, about two weeks before the assembling of the state con- stitutional convention. HISTORY OF MONTANA 315 HELENA BECOMES TERRITORIAL CAPITAL At the genera] election of 1874, Helena was chosen as the seat of the territorial government, Deer Lodge City, as well as Virginia, hav- ing appeared as a candidate for the honor. The Assembly did not con- vene at the new capital until January, 1876, at its ninth session, all the previous meetings having been held at Virginia City. At the seventh session, the civil practice act then in force was re- pealed, and a code framed after the California statutes. This formed the nucleus of the territorial practice act, which was substantially in force until the adoption of the state codes in 1895. At the same time, the criminal laws of the territory were revised and a new criminal prac- tice act was passed. This Assembly memorialized Congress to set apart the Yellowstone Park, to be "devoted to public use, resort and recrea- tion for all time to come." The public debt of the territory had reached $500,000, one of the items of extravagance charged against its officials and tending to bring about the deficit being the extra compensation allowed United States officers and drawn from the territorial treasury. This had amounted to $200,000 from 1866 to 1872, and to prevent these expenditures in the future Congress passed an act prohibiting the payment by the territory of any compensation to officers or legislators other than that provided by that body. At the eighth extraordinary session of the legislative Assembly, April-May, 1873, the time for holding the regular sessions of that body was fixed on the first Monday after the first day of January. An- act was passed over Governor Potts's veto providing for the formation of railroad corporations, and authorizing any Montana County to subscribe to the capital stock of any railroad proposing to construct a line in the territory. The Union and Central Pacific roads and the Utah Northern line were specifically mentioned. No county was to subscribe more than 20 per cent of its taxable property, and Madison, Jefferson, Gallatin and Lewis and Clark counties were to take at least 45 per cent of the stock. The principal measure passed at the eight regular session in Janu- ary-February, 1874, was the apportionment bill by which the Council was allotted thirteen members and the House of Representatives, twenty- six, and the counties rearranged to conform to the new apportionment. Bozeman also entered the class of incorporated cities. This closed the period during which the seat of territorial govern- ment was at Virginia City, and, in accord with the will of the people ex- pressed at the general election of 1874, in 1876 Helena became the per- manent capital of Montana and adequately provided for the regular biennial sessions of the Assembly, and any extraordinary which were called by the governor. CHAPTER XIV PIONEERS AND THEIR SOCIETY The Society of Montana Pioneers, a strong and active organization of men and women of the state who settled within its bounds in, or be- fore 1868, has co-operated with the State Historical Society, for thirty- seven years, in perpetuating the stirring record and solid progress of the territory and state. It was organized at Helena on September n, 1884, and 400 members were enrolled at its first meeting. James Fergus, of Meagher County, was its first president; Wilbur F. Sanders, of Lewis and Clark County (Helena), corresponding secretary, and George W. Irvin II, recording secretary. OFFICERS AND MEMBERsm? The first fourteen meetings of the society were held at Helena (no meeting in 1893). Up to that time, or 1898, the presidents, most of whom served in the society for one year, were James Fergus, Walter W. DeLacy, Granville Stuart, Frank H. Woody, Wilbur F. Sanders, Anton M. Holter, William A. Clark, Samuel Word, Walter Cooper (two terms), John T. Conner, Conrad Kohrs, William L. Steele and Nicholas Kessler. In 1885-86 Cornelius Hedges, Lewis and Clark County, served as cor- responding secretary, and John R. Wilson, of Beaverhead County, as recording secretary. James U. Sanders was chosen recording secretary in 1886, in the following year the two secretaryships were consolidated, and Mr. Sanders has held the united office since 1898. The society cre- ated a vice president at large in 1907. The presidents since 1898, none of whom have held office more than a year, have been Henry Elling, Madison County ; William W. Anderson, Gallatin County ; Henry F. Edgar, Missoula County ; Timothy E. Collins, Cascade County; John Caplice, Silver Bow County; O. B. Whitford, Silver Bow County; Cornelius Hedges, Lewis and Clark County; John P. Thomas, Deer Lodge County; Paul McCormick, Yellowstone County; Charles S. Warren, Silver Bow County ; Andrew J. Fisk, Lewis and Clark County ; Warren C. Gillette, Lewis and Clark County ; W. Y. Pemberton, Lewis and Clark County; Rod D. Leggat, Silver Bow County; Mortimer H. Lott, Madison County; Martin Maginnis, Lewis and Clark County; James M. Page, Madison County ; John M. Page, Madison County ; John W. Blair, Powell County; George W. Morse, Granite County; Frank D. Brown, Granite County; Charles W. Hoffman, Gallatin County; Wil- liam A. Clark, Silver Bow County; John H. Shober, Lewis and Clark County; John F. Bishop (1920-21), Beaverhead County. 316 HISTORY OF MONTANA 317 The vice presidents at large, since the office was created in 1907, have been David Hilger, Fergus County ; W. Y. Pemberton, Lewis and Clark ; Rod D. Leggat, Silver Bow; Martimer H. Lott, Madison; Robert Vaughn, Cascade; Nelson Story, Sr., Gallatin; John W. Blair, Powell; George W. Morse, Granite; Kelson Story, Sr., Gallatin; George A. Bruffey, Park; Tom McTague, Powell. The secretaries who were in office between James U. Sanders's first term in i887-'88, and the commencement of his twenty-three years' serv- ice in 1898, were Cornelius Hedges, Lewis and Clark County, i888-'92; Charles D. Curtis, Lewis and Clark, i892-'95 ; and Theophilus Muffly, same county, i895-'98. Those who have served as treasurers since the organization of the society in 1884 have been Samuel T. Hauser, T. H. Kleinschmidt, H. M. Parchen, T. H. Kleinschmidt (second terms), Cornelius Hedges, T. H. Kleinschmidt (third term), Anton M. Holter, Thomas C. Power, Rich- ard Lockey, John C. Curtin and Joseph D. Conrad; all of Lewis and Clark County. In 1908, Frank D. Brown, of Granite County, was elected the first state historian of the society, and, with the exception of one term (1917- '18), when Mrs. E. L. Houston, of Gallatin County, served, has been the only incumbent of the office. PLACES OF ANNUAL MEETINGS Since 1898, the annual meetings of the Pioneers' Society have been distributed throughout the state, usually in Western Montana, which carries the bulk of the population. The gatherings, generally well at- tended, and replete with interest and good cheer to the pioneers of ter- ritory and state, whose earthly ranks are rapidly thinning, have been held in August, September or October, as follows: Virginia City, 1899; Bozeman, 1900; Missoula, 1901; Dillon, 1902; Great Falls, 1903; Fort Benton, 1903; Butte, 1904; Anaconda, 1904; Helena, 1905; Anaconda, 1906; Billings, 1907; Lewistown, 1908; Helena, 1909; Deer Lodge, 1910; Butte, 1911; Deer Lodge, 1912; Missoula and Stevensville, 1913; Boze- man, 1914; Great Falls, 1915; Helena, 1916; Livingston, 1917; Ana- conda, 1918; Butte, 1919; Great Falls, 1920; Lewistown, 1921. In 1899, the society first published a register of its members, 1,800 of whom were then recorded. About 1,150 have since joined the or- ganization and 1,900 have "passed over" where time is not and therefore there are no pioneers. The present membership strength of the Society of Montana Pioneers is about 1,050. Because of the early date of set- tlement fixed as the requisite for membership, many of those most anxious for its growth and continued usefulness have suggested that the year be advanced at least into the '705. The Society of Montana Pioneers has done much to foster the spirit of historic pride within the limits of Montana, and the printed report of its thirty-fourth annual meeting at Livingston, held September 5-7, 1917, is rich with material descriptive of the steps it had already taken binding the present with the past. Secretary Sanders reports : 318 "This society organized a generation ago at Helena during the Fif- teenth Exhibition of the Montana Agricultural, Mineral and Mechanical Association, with a membership of about four hundred grew rapidly for MR. AND MRS. JAMES FERGUS thirty years and since 1899 its annual meetings held from year to year in the larger cities of the state have been the great conventions of the period. In 1899, when we met in Alder Gulch, we tried the experiment of holding the meetings outside of Last Chance Gulch and the move HISTORY OF MONTANA 319 met with instant and ever increasing favor until today. Once before we ventured into the land of the Sioux when we met at Billings ten years ago and now we have come back to Benson's Landing on the Yel- lowstone. During these eighteen years we have visited most of the leading cities from Billings and Lewistown to Missoula and Stevensville in the Bitter Root valley and from Great Falls and Fort Benton, the head of navigation on the north, to Dillon and Virginia City on the south, and our receptions in these centers of Pilgrims and Princes have increased in warmth and enthusiasm to this hour, as it attested by this gathering, frosted by more than fifty winters. Other cities visited in- clude Anaconda, Butte, Bozeman, Deer Lodge and Helena. "The roll of presidents since our organization comprises the names of many but not all of the founders of this Commonwealth, many of whom assisted in founding other states before coming to this corner of the Louisiana purchase and of the Oregon country. Let us recall those who have crossed the Great Divide: Fergus, DeLacy, Woody, San- ders, Word, Conner, Steele, Kessler, Filing, Alderson, Edgar, Collins, Caplice, Hedges, Thomas, Fisk, and Gillette. Truly honored names in the history of Montana. "Equally illustrious are the following survivors: *Stuart, Holter, Clark, Cooper, * Kohrs, Graeter, Whitford, * McCormick, * Warren, Pemberton, Lott, * Leggat, * Maginnis, Page, Blair and Morse. If they are not with us today they at least are here in spirit. Some of these men have said that they would rather hold this position than that of governor of the state and truly it is a higher honor, when the deeds of this day are transcribed to the pages of history. Governors will be forgotten, Pioneers never. * * * "The subject of a Pioneer Home is one of long standing and the need of such an institution is becoming acute. Every county hospital in Montana probably is giving asylum to a worthy pioneer. In my own county of Lewis and Clark today is a pioneer who has lived in Helena for over fifty years and who is one of the very few survivors of Perry's Expedition to Japan in 1853. The history of that trip, when our gov- ernment knocked at the gates of the Hermit Nation of the centuries and opened its ports to the commerce of the world is one of great interest and James Mason t is entitled to a pension for the remainder of his days. I endeavored for several years to secure one for him through Senator Walsh and Representative Evans, but without success, and now the world war has put the consideration of such a subject out of the question. It was with a great deal of reluctance that we induced him to leave his old home and go to the home for old soldiers and sailors provided by a grateful country and state at Columbia Falls and it was with greater reluctance that his friends recommended it. * * * "The last legislature passed three laws commemorating the deeds of pioneers which I will mention. One provided for the placing of a tablet in the Rotunda of the Capitol in honor of Don L. Byam, the judge * Deceased since 1917. t Mr. Mason died in April, 1918, at the Soldiers' Home at Columbia Falls. 320 HISTORY OF MONTANA who presided at the trial of George Ives at Nevada City, December 19-21, 1863. Judge Byam sleeps in hallowed ground at Emigrant City, op- posite old Yellowstone City, in Emigrant Gulch in this county. His grandson, Senator Muffly of Broadwater county expects to visit his grave during the recesses of this convention. "Another provided for the erection of a monument at the point of the discovery of gold in Alder Gulch, May 26, 1863, by the Fairweather- Edgar party. The third law approved of the purpose of this society to erect heroic bronze statutes of Lewis and Clark at the Great Falls and at the Three Forks of the Missouri river and provided an appropri- ation of five thousand ($5,000) dollars to be placed at the disposal of a commission to be appointed by the president of this society and the governor of the state when we and others desiring to materially assist in the laudable undertaking shall raise the sum of fifteen thousand ($15,000) dollars. Such a statute is assured at Great Falls and Mr. C. M, Russell, whom you know as the cowboy artist, has submitted a very creditable design which it is intended to set up in Lewis and Clark Park where that great expedition celebrated July 4th, 1805, near the city of Great Falls. Equally worthy of such a memorial is the point at the Three Forks, the scene of many historical incidents and the cen- ter of the fur trade for a considerable time and within sight of two transcontinental railroads and the Yellowstone Trail. We should see that the matter is sufficiently supported to make available the appropri- ation of the state which was so liberal." Frank D. Brown, of Missoula, whose special office it is to throw the light of present' events and living personalities upon the past, acquitted himself well in the society's report of 1917, and much of his paper is here reproduced. First he mentions THE MULLAN MONUMENTS "The last of these beautiful memorials to the explorer and his men within the state," he writes, "has been erected in Fort Benton, and will be dedicated the ensuing fall. The sight of the same is in the handsome City Park, and within sight of where Mullan and his expedition dis- banded after their long and adventurous trip from Walla Walla. "The William A. Clark, Jr., memorial was dedicated at St. Regis July 4th last. The meeting was presided over by the Hon. Chas. S. Warren, and oration made by that eloquent native son of Montana, William L. Murphy, Esq., of Missoula. The placing of this monument within the grounds of the new and most presentable school building at St. Regis will be ever a reminder to the youth attending the same of one of the most important incidents connected with the settlement and de- velopment of this great Commonwealth. It is placed directly upon the road of Mullan, and occupies a commanding position within sight of the Milwaukee and Northern Pacific Railroads. "The dedication oi the Hannaford monument at Missoula occurred during the session of the County Fair and upon the evening of October HISTORY OF MONTANA 321 5th last. A notable incident of the ceremony was the attendance upon the platform of Mr. David C. O'Keefe, the last known survivor of the Mullan Expedition. The old gentleman, well over eighty, is entirely blind, but his memory remains excellent and his store of information relating to the work of the explorer is most interesting, and of value historically. The address was delivered by the Hon. W. J. McCormick,* a native of Missoula and the son of one of the earliest settlers of the Bitter Root. " The William A. Clark monument is to be dedicated the 6th of the present month (September 6, 1917). The Hon. A. L. Stone, Professor of Journalism at the University of Montana will deliver the address. It is highly probably that no one better qualified could have been selected. Mr. Stone is a member of the State Historical Society, the author of that fascinatingly interesting work on the earlier history of Western Montana, entitled 'Old Trails,' and a speaker of rare ability. The site of this monument is upon the west side of the road cut leading out of the Blackfoot opposite the winter quarters of Capt. Mullan the winter of 1861-2, known as 'Cantonment Wright,' and at the western approach to the bridge made by him over the Blackfoot river. Grounds surround- ing the monument cover several acres of well kept lawn sloping gradu- ally to both the Hellgate and Blackfoot. A more beautiful location it would be difficult to conceive. As the property belongs to the Missoula Light & Power Company, whose hydro-electric plant is within the same enclosure the gratifying assurance is conveyed that this beautiful memo- rial will long remain a lasting testimonial to the men who opened up to settlement the vast areas of fertile lands in northern Oregon, Idaho and Washington territories.! 'The Mullan trail will be marked throughout Idaho during the en- suing year. This gift to a great Western State, out of which was carved Montana, evidences 'the love and patriotism of Montana men to the Border Commonwealth who gave them birthplace and wealth. It is the patriotic act of one of its citizens and the son of a member of this society who determined that the work inaugurated to perpetuate the work and memory of a daring explorer, and a national enterprise, should be carried through to its western terminus, at Walla Walla. His contribu- tion to the historical records of our neighboring State is not a com- mentary upon its indisposition to continue the line of memorial from the Montana line through Idaho to the eastern border of Washington, but a commendable instance of love for our great west of the Montanian that recognizes neither section or "boundary lines in preserving from oblivion any important historical fact relating to the opening up and settlement of the Northwest Territories. "The location of the sites of the Idaho monuments to Mullan was left to the selection of Professor Henry C. Talkington, of the State Nor- mal School at Lewiston, a member of the Geographical Society of Idaho, who has devoted much of his valuable time to the preservation of the * Now deceased. t Monuments marking the Mullan Trail erected at Lewistown, Great Falls, etc. Vol. 121 322 HISTORY OF MONTANA important incidents of its frontier past. After a thorough examination of the work of Capt. Mullan, entitled 'On the construction of a military road from Fort Walla Walla to Fort Benton/ published by the War Department of the United States in 1863, this containing carefully pre- pared maps showing route of the completed highway, Mr. Talkington selected the following places as being appropriate sites for the intended memorials, viz. : Mullan, Wallace, Wardner, Kellogg, The Mission, Coeur d'Alene City and Spokane crossing, and he is at this time arrang- ing with the municipal authorities of the cities selected to care for and appropriately dedicate the same. One is also to be erected at the Pine Tree upon which Mullan cut his name in the 4th of July Canyon, and a suitable fence will enclose both. DISCOVERY OF GOLD IN MONTANA "The important and beautiful monument given by Mrs. Mary E. Morony to commemorate the gulch wherein gold was first discovered in what is now the State of Montana, but formerly a part of Idaho, is now in place between the tracks of the Northern Pacific and Milwaukee Roads, on Gold Creek bar, near the Hellgate river. Here, in full view of the continental traveller, and stranger within our gates, this costly and beautifully wrought shaft of white marble will tell to the generations of the future the story of Granville Stuart and his party of prospectors, and of an event that laid the foundation for a great and mighty State, Montana. "It is with the greatest pleasure that I announce to this body that through the efforts of Mr. James G. Walker, of Virginia City, a monu- ment to be erected at the discovery of gold in Alder gulch, in Madison County, by Fairweather and his associates, is assured. The design of the same to be selected from sketches drawn by Messrs, Paxson and Russell, both artists of wide reputation and high repute, is assured. Mr. Walker found his work to such laudable end greatly lessened through the prompt financial assistance of Mr. Andrew J. Davis, of Butte City, whose uncle, Andrew J. Davis, Sr., was a pioneer of Montana. * * * GRAVES OF COMSTOCK AND BOZEMAN "Many of you may not know that within the beautiful cemetery at Bozeman lies the remains of Henry T. P. Comstock, the discoverer of the famous silver lode that made Nevada famous. Over his remains Mr. Nelson Story, Sr., of that city, placed a marble slab upon which is in- scribed the following epitaph. 'In memory of Henry T. P. Comstock, dis- coverer of the famous Comstock lode, Story county, Nevada. Died at Bozeman, September 29th, 1870. Aged 50 years.' "Comstock committed suicide by shooting himself through the head. Before committing the fatal act he practiced for a while shooting at a mark. He had come into the Gallatin Valley with about seventy other HISTORY OF MONTANA 323 prospectors with the intention of prospecting the Yellowstone country, and his expedition was known as the First Big Horn exploring party. They disbanded in Bozeman, leaving there the cannon which they had brought along. I have brought the fact of the interment at Bozeman to the attention of the Historical Society of Nevada. To Mr. Story this Society, and State, is also indebted for the recovery of the remains of Bozeman, who was murdered by a war party near the present site of this City, and their interment in the Bozeman cemetery. Both of these graves are kept in excellent condition by Mr. Story. The act of this gentleman, and venerable pioneer, in both instances, is highly commend- able, and an illuminating instance of what a public spirited man can do in a quiet and unobtrusive way towards preserving mementoes of the tragic past of this State. * * * LEWIS AND CLARK STATUE "Your approval is further requested of the design selected for the large and costly monument to be erected at Great Falls in honor of the memory and achievements of Lewis & Clark. The City of Great Falls has donated a site of many acres of very valuable land within the Park system of the city for the purpose intended, and the location is where the expedition of these explorers camped in 1805, and where the Declaration of the Independence of the United States was read for the first time west of the Mississippi River. It is proposed by the Chamber of Commerce of Great Falls, who inaugurated the movement, to make the dedication of the monument a national affair, and to be a credit to this State, as well as all of the States west of the river named, it should be of a magnitude and artistic worth to command the admiration and patriotic respect of all interested in great historical events. * * * BAKER BATTLE FIELDS "I have secured the attention of the head of an important railroad to the erection of a statue marking the Baker Battlefield below Billings. The design of the same is here for the approval of your Honorable Body, as it is under your auspices the memorial is to be erected. "Your attention is further directed to the fact that suitable stones are to be erected within a short period of time upon the battlefield of Baker on the Marias river, and at a point near the mouth of the same stream where ten men were killed supposedly by the Blackfeet Indians in 1865. On January ist, 1870, in cold many degrees below zero, Baker's cavalry command fell upon Heavy Runners band of Piegans and it is said killed every man, woman and child in it. It was alleged that these Indians killed Malcolm Clarke, a fellow classmate of General Sherman at West Point, and whose remains are now buried at Mitchell, on Little Prickly Pear Creek twenty-eight miles north of Helena, near where he was murdered. Joe Kipp, scout under Baker, knew that the Colonel was instructed to follow Black Weasel's band, the murderers of Clark, but the first trail struck by the command was that of Heavy 324 HISTORY OF MONTANA Runners, the result of the foray being that the latter's winter camp was totally exterminated of its people. Baker viewed the matter in the light of the, frontier, that is to. say, that a 'hostile' was a murderer, there- fore entitled to death on general principles wherever found. * * * PROPOSED MEMORIALS "For the consideration of this society, I have selected the following places which should be marked during the ensuing year, as being fully worthy of saving from utter forgetfulness, viz. : "The Old Fur Company post, at the confluence of the Yellowstone and Missouri, known in all annals of the west as Fort Union. "Fort Pease, trading post at the mouth of the Big Horn. "Fort Copperopolis, at the head of 1 6-mile creek, upon, or near one of the tributaries of the Musselshell. "Fort Hawley, at the mouth of the Musselshell on the south bank of the Missouri. "Fort C. F. Smith, in the Big Horn valley. "Emigrant gulch. "Fort Owen, in the Bitter Root. The fort was a most important one in the earlier history of Western Montana, and is still a substantial relic of its former self. It was built of adobe, and reported upon by both General Stevens and Captain Mullan. It is upon the property of Mrs. McCormick, the wife of one of the oldest pioneers of Missoula county. * * * "Mrs. Henry Flather, the daughter of Captain John Mullan, and his only child, made a visit to Montana in June, visiting me at Missoula the twenty-fourth of that month, the only stopover on her trip to the Coast, this due to ill health. She visited two of the monuments erected in honor of her father, and His men, expressing her warmest apprecia- tion of the nobility and generosity of the members of this society who, in such an appropriate manner, evidenced their regard and esteem for the work he, and they, had so faithfully and intelligently performed. JUDGE PEMBERTON A,ND THE STATE HISTORICAL LIBRARY* "The recent discovery of the first charter granted to a municipality in Montana was recently unearthed at Virginia City, and reported in the Madisonian of March 7th, last. Others of like importance should be looked up and preserved. In this connection I would suggest that all such valued souvenirs of a half century ago be deposited with the state librarian, at Helena. Under the careful guardianship of this officer they will be well cared for, and made readily accessible to those interested in the past of the State. Send your books, documents, old papers and relics to him if you wish them to receive security and loving care. Every one of our members should visit the library when in the Capital City. ,It *Now June, 1921, absent in Missouri, on account of his precarious health. t HISTORY OF MONTANA 325 contains a vast amount of material that should prove of intense interest to them, and hours can be most profitably spent in looking over the his- toric treasures stored within it. I found the most courteous attention paid to visitors by the attendants, all being earnestly anxious to make the stay of the investigator delightfully pleasant and instructive. In a way you all know Pemberton, but you must sit and chat with him to know how earnestly his heart is centred in his work. And he is one of the notable human landmarks of the early Montana. He assisted in organ- izing the first court held in the Territory, and was. counsel in some of the most tragic and important cases tried in it, not the least memorable of these being the Territory against Johnny Bull for the killing of Farmer Peel, a desperado of wide repute in the West. I have a suspicion that he was a member of the Vigilantes of Montana. You might secure from him the definition of the cabalistic numerals, '3-7-77.' Yet you might not. I have never found any member of that body disposed to be communicative upon the subject." Most of the projects the memorials and minor historic markings mentioned by the state historian have materialized. Some of his comments and suggestions relating intimately to society affairs have been eliminated from the text. His concluding paragraph is retained. It is a pathetic picture of the old optimistic miner of the past, still struggling and un- subdued, lingering amid the surging events of the present. "Quite re- cently," writes Mr. Brown, "while traveling through a placer district in the Clearwater country I rode up to the bank of an open cut in a narrow, heavily timbered gulch, and looked down upon a string of well-worn, whip- sawed sluice boxes. In the ground sluice at its head, a tall, powerfully built old man stood, leaning upon his shovel. There, amid the sands and boulders of the glacial epoch, with the sparkling waters swirling about his patched gum boots, under shadows thrown by mighty spruce, he gazed intently upon a bedrock littered with fine particles of gold dust. For many minutes I watched this man of eighty years, yet he moved not. As motionless as a statue he looked longingly, wistfully down upon the smooth old archean floor where countless years ago nature's titanic forces had waged a merciless warfare. 'What is he thinking of ?' I asked myself, 'of kin?' He had none. For trouble and hardship he cared not. Through- out the Western world he had traveled with saddle and pack horse, with always the lure of brilliant, glittering gold urging him on. And now, at the end of his trail, he had found pay gravel, and made a last camp. I left him to his reveries. As I rode into the dense timber the musical sound of swiftly flowing waters bade me a laughing goodbye. I halted and looked back upon the silent man standing in the foreground of the old whipsawed flume. The golden beams of the dying sun filtered through the needles of the lofty trees to dance merrily with the shadows playing upon the torrent surging about the bedrock at his feet. The cloud-pierc- ing, shining mountains of the Clearwater range seemed to me to look proudly, tenderly, down upon an Argonaut who had never quit; whose optimism and indomitable energy had won him fortune at the very threshhold of the grave." 4 326 HISTORY OF MONTANA WILLIAM A. CLARK INTRODUCES HIMSELF There have been many stories written of how the Hon. William A. Clark introduced himself to the people of Bannack and Virginia City in 1862-63, but none have ever been told with more color than the narrative from his own pen contributed to the pamphlet of the Pioneers' Society, published in 1917. With all his gigantic interests, East and West, Mr. Clark has seldom failed to be on hand at these annual meetings, or to contribute his full share to their historic interest and warm sociability. "In 1862 and 1863," as he commences his story, "I was engaged in mining in Colorado, at that time also a territory, at a place known as Bob Tail hill, near Central City, about forty miles west from Denver. I was working there at $2.50 and $3.00 per day. With three others I helped sink a shaft with a windlass, to a depth of 300 feet, on what was known as Field's claim, on the Bob Tail. This man had a little quartz mill on Nevada creek, just above the town of Blackhawk, where the ore was treated, naturally in a very primitive manner, as it consisted chiefly of iron pyrites, and without previous roasting the gold was not saved very closely. His little claim was only 35 feet in length. It was a chimney of the great Gregory lode on Bob Tail hill, and, I believe, owing to the richness of the ore, notwithstanding the primitive character of the mill, yielded more gold perhaps to the square yard than any other mine that was ever discovered in Colorado. "While working here, during the winter of 1862-3, I met a man by the name of Jack Reynolds, whom probably some of you may have known in the early days. He is now dead, but he lived here for a number of years after I first met him in Colorado. He had been at what was called the Grasshopper diggings in the fall of '62, soon after those diggings had been discovered, and having urgent business, he returned during the winter to Blackhawk, on horseback; naturally a very strenuous trip. He told some marvelous stories about the new discoveries out there and of his intentions to return in the early spring. Hearing of these rumors I went- down to Blackhawk to see Jack and had a long talk with him. He gave me a very rosy description of the marvelous riches of the country comprising Grasshopper creek. The town of Bannack had then been founded, and there are a few old-timers now living who spent the winter of 1862-3 at the old town. I then made up my mind that I would endeavor to make the trip as early as the weather would permit to the Grasshopper diggings. There were three of us, besides myself, working in the mine, so I talked the matter over with them. We had, all together, another meeting with Reynolds, as I wanted them to hear his story and make up their own minds, as all of us were imbued with the same ambition, to endeavor to better our condition in the world if possible. So, after due consideration of the matter, we all concluded to go together a"s soon as the weather would permit. The name of my companions were as follows : John Hilde- brand, who afterwards kept a store at Indian creek. William V. Myers, who lived in Jefferson county until a few years ago, and was treasurer of the county at the time of his death. I have no doubt that many of you HISTORY OF MONTANA 327 knew this man. There was another man by the name of Lloyd Selby^ who was working with us in the Colorado mine, and these, with myself, comprised the party. About the first of May, 1863, we went down to Denver to look around for an outfit and to make preparations for the trip. We finally picked up two yoke of cattle and a light Schuttler wagon, to- gether with what we deemed as necessary supplies, comprising picks, shovels, gold pans, etc. We left Denver on the 4th day of May, and were about sixty days in making the trip from Denver to East Bannack. There was another town in the Boise Basin in Idaho, also named Bannock, but it was spelled with an V in the last syllable, probably of Scotch origin, while the Montana town was named after the Bannack tribe of Indians. "When we arrived at Fort Bridger we learned that there had been, just previous to that time, some trouble with the Shoshone Indians on Bear river. Quite a number of emigrants had been killed, and afterwards, in passing through that country, we saw the newly-made graves of a num- ber. We were, on that account, obliged to wait nearly two weeks before we could get a sufficient number of wagons and men to warrant us in attempting to pass through that district. We were acting upon the advice of the officers stationed at Fort Bridger. In waiting we amused ourselves as best we could. I recall the Indian dances where some of the young fellows were accepted as partners by the squaws, who would invariably beg for either money or tobacco, of which they seemed to be very fond. "Finally a sufficient number of emigrants arrived so that we were able to get away, our force comprising about twenty-five wagons, with probably about one hundred men and some women and a few children. We were very vigilant and had double watches on our cattle at night, and we passed through the region without any trouble. We saw some Indians in the distance, but they showed no disposition to attack us. "When we arrived at old Fort Hall, on Snake river, we met some people coming from the Boise Basin, who advised us that very rich diggings had been found in that district, and that they had come out for supplies and expected to return very soon. These glowing accounts enticed most of those comprising our caravan to change their minds about going to the Grasshopper diggings, with the exception of four wagons, comprising about fifteen people, who had started to go to Bannack, and who, being impressed with the force of the idea, 'to Bannack or bust,' could not be diverted, and so had made up their minds not to change their destination. I was one of this number, so we parted friends with our associates of a few days, and wended our way up the valley of the Snake river from Fort Hall through a country then utterly desolate, which is now covered with most remarkable farms and beautiful towns and comprising a vast area which has excited the admiration of all who have passed through it. Among those who left us and went to the Boise diggings were Ed. and Sam. Jones, brothers of afterwards Senator Jones, of Nevada. "We wended our way up along the Snake river, past the point where Idaho Falls now stands, and up to the mouth of Beaver Canyon, thence over the divide by the present site of Monida, which marks the boundary line between Montana and Idaho, to a point near the present site of 328 HISTORY OF MONTANA Lima, where, close to a very large spring of water, we laid over to celebrate the fourth of July. In our diminished forces there was one Peter Daly with his wife and two little girls, my associates, myself and a man by the name of Dick Irons and his family, who, I think, is still living in Deer Lodge valley. Mr. Daly had two cows, so that we had a supply of milk along the way. We likewise had left of our original supplies part of a small keg of pretty good Old Rye whisky, so that we planned a combination which enabled us, witjji some enthusiasm, to celebrate the fourth of July. This we began after supper time, with rattling our tin pans, blowing an old horn, and singing occasionally a few strains of the Star Spangled Banner, to which we had some very enthusiastic responses from the coyotes in the surrounding hills. "Resuming our journey the next day, we reached Horse Prairie Creek on the 7th day of July, where we went into camp just below the crossing *on the way to Bannack. I saw a wagon and tent a short distance away on the other side of the creek, so I went over and accosted the gentleman in charge of the establishment. He was evidently preparing to build a house, as a load of logs had been delivered near by. In seeking some information I desired I was very cordially received by him and satis- factorily answered. Afterwards, having located about twenty miles above that point on Horse Prairie Creek, to engage in mining, I became very well acquainted with this individual, whose name was Martin Barrett, whom we have the honor of having present with us today. Martin beat me into Montana by only a few days. He lived in that locality for a long time, became engaged in the cattle business, and is now one of the wealthy men of the State, highly honored by all who know him. "Only a few miles before arriving at Horse Prairie Creek, and near its junction with Red Rock, we passed over the trail of Lewis and Clark, the great explorers, at a point where the expedition first encountered the Bannack Indians, whose chief was recognized by his sister, the famous Sacajawea, who was the guide of the expedition, and whose history is familiar to all of you. Near this famous meeting ground the spot has been appropriately marked by the patriotic ladies of Montana, comprising the Daughters of the American Revolution, by a bronze plaque, erected and dedicated with an appropriate ceremony about two years ago, over which I had the honor to preside. "The next morning we drove to Bannack, reaching there at noon, when we turned our cattle out to graze while we prepared luncheon. Our camp was on Yankee Flat, where there were a few cabins, one of which was afterwards noted as the home of Ned Ray, one of the desperate 'road agents,' or highwaymen. "While we were eating our luncheon a rather old man by the name of Baugh came over from the town and told us a story about an important discovery of gold which had been made about a day's drive from Bannack. He said the story of the discovery had leaked out and a stampede would take place that night, and said: 'If you boys will take your wagon and haul a barrel of whisky, a tent, some grub and a few boxes of cigars, I will send a man along to show you the way.' HISTORY OF MONTANA 329 * "Alder Gulch had been discovered some weeks before that by Bill Fairweather and others, and there was considerable excitement about it. We heard rumors about it on the road, and two of our companions, Hilde- brand and Myers, concluded to take their chances over there and declined to take in the stampede. So they engaged passage on a wagon headed for Alder gulch, taking their part of the mining tools and the few provisions that were left, leaving the balance with us. We were to dispose of the wagon and cattle when an opportunity should arise, and send them their share, which we afterwards did. "Shelby and I then accepted the offer of Baugh, and at ten o'clock that evening I drove over to Baugh's saloon and loaded up the 'wet' goods, cigars, etc., and started with Baugh's guide, whose name was R. T. Ken- non. They called him Dick, and I knew him years afterwards when living at Deer Lodge, where he died some years ago, an excellent and honored citizen. We found, however, after starting, that Dick did not know any- thing more about the direction we ought to go than we did ourselves, but it turned out all right, as we found some stampeders already on the way; some of them afoot, others on horseback, and all we had to do was to follow the crowd. Our route lay back to Horse Prairie creek and westward to Red Butte, about ten miles from the crossing, where we stopped to prepare breakfast. In the meantime hundreds of people had passed us and we did not get into the camp we started for until late in the afternoon, when we discovered that everything had been staked for miles up and down Colorado gulch. A man by the name of Roe Dorsett and a party had dis- covered gold on a bar, which they were working by the means of ground sluices, but aside from this, I afterward found that there were no other bars and that neither the main gulch or any of the side gulches, with one exception, contained gold in paying quantities. "Baugh, our benefactor, rode into camp just before we arrived and set up his tent and dispensed to the hungry and thirsty crowd, in short order and no doubt at satisfactory prices, the goods we had hauled for him. Having found all the ground staked, Selby and I, the following day, started out prospecting in the adjacent gulches, where we spent several days, but could only get colors in different places where we sank to bedrock. Upon leaving camp we told Baugh that we were going out prospecting for several days and would then return. He said, 'All right. I am going to do a little prospecting myself. If you boys find anything good stake me in and I will do the same thing with you.' To which we agreed at is a universal rule among prospectors. "Upon our return, after several days in fruitless search, we found nearly all of the stampeders had gone, but Baugh was still there. Sure enough, only about a mile from the camp he had found a little dry gulch that gave encouraging prospects, and as he was an ex-rebel, he named it 'Jeff Davis' gulch, and true to his promise, he had located us both in, that is, with claims 200 feet in length from rim to rim, according to the established rules prevailing in those days, and really we got the best ground in the gulch, which we proceeded to develop. Not being inclined to do much himself, he offered to sell his interest, agreeing to give some 330 HISTORY OF MONTANA time for payment, at a very reasonable price, and we accepted. We were obliged to strip off about four feet of waste before reaching the pay dirt near the bed rock. As there was no water in the gulch we were obliged to haul the dirt to the main creek, where we put in our sluice boxes. There being no lumber in the camp, I had to go to Bannack to purchase some lumber with which to make sluice boxes and to get some 'grub' also, as we were running short at that time. "We were not in very flush financial condition at that time. Upon my arrival at Bannack I found five letters from home that anticipated me and had been carried from Salt Lake by a private express which had been established between that place and Bannack. The price of transportation of a letter at that time was $1.00 each, and I had just $5.00 value in Bob Tail dust (a term applied in Colorado to gold amalgam, the product of the mills of that country, and at that time it was the sole currency in circulation in Colorado). I had, besides, a fractional greenback currency of the denomination of fifty cents. I gladly dispensed with the $5.00 for the letters, therefore. I was obliged to endeavor to get credit for the lumber and some few other articles which we needed, and this I readily obtained. During our prospecting trip I had found a very fine pair of elk antlers, which I brought into Bannack, and for which Cy. Skinner, who kept a saloon and who was afterward hung by the Vigilantes near Hell Gate, offered to give me $10.00, and this I readily accepted. "Returning to the gulch, I found that my companion had commenced operations, and it was not long until we installed our equipment and began our first experience in placer mining. We first got some logs and built a cabin of about fifteen feet by twenty feet dimensions, which was covered in the conventional style with a roof of split poles covered with dirt, and which we found very satisfactory in absolutely dry weather. We took the hind wheels of the wagon, which we converted into a cart for the pur- pose of hauling dirt, one yoke of cattle only being used. We had about a half mile to haul the dfrt to Colorado creek, where we constructed three sluice boxes of the lumber which I had brought from Bannack. The sum- mer and fall months were very fine, and we worked almost uninterruptedly until the beignning of November. "We usually observed Sundays and refrained from working. My part- ner, who was very fond of cards, usually passed the day and sometimes the night, at the Dorsett camp, a mile below. I usually spent Sundays sauntering in the hills or mountains, looking for gold bearing quartz ledges, of which there were very few indications, frequently taking a book with me to amuse myself while reposing on some grassy plat under the shade of the majestic pine trees. My library consisted of three books, which I had brought along from Colorado and previously from the States, comprising Toems of Robert Burns,' Hitchcock's 'Elements of Geology,' and 'Parsons on Contracts,' one of the text books I had used when study- ing law at Mount Pleasant, Iowa, and afterwards in Missouri, one of which I usually took with me on these Sunday saunterings. "Occasionally I was obliged to go to Bannack for the mail or to pur- chase something that we required. On these occasions I rode a cayuse HISTORY OF MONTANA 331 across the trail, which was nearer than by the wagon road. On one of these occasions while on the trail, which skirted the point of the mountain overlooking Horse Prairie valley, and about ten miles distant, I saw an Indian on horseback chasing another, they firing at each other quite rapidly until they both disappeared in the timber skirting the creek. When I reached that point, about an hour afterwards, I found a camp of Ban- nacks, about twenty in number, including warriors, squaws and pappooses. They had got their man, a Blackfoot Indian, who, perhaps on a horse- stealing mission, had ventured too near. These two tribes had long been at war with each other. I rode up close to the camp where I found they had placed their victim's head on a pole and were having a wild war dance, chanting unearthly songs and gesticulating like demons, men, women and papooses all participating. Occasionally one of the warriors would take a revolver shot at the victim's head. I did not dismount, but watched them for quite a while, as to me it was a very interesting exhibition. No one paid any attention to me and I rode quietly away. "At the close of the season, towards the last of October, we closed mining operations and put everything in order to leave the camp. We had paid up all our obligations and had several thousand dollars each in gold dust left. We then went to Bannack to determine where we should spend the winter. So far, we were very well satisfied that we had shaken the dust of Bob Tail hill from our feet. Upon arriving at Bannack we looked about for a cabin, and met a man by the name of Sperry, whom I had known in Colorado, and who was working for someone at Jimmie's Bar, drifting under ground on a streak of pay dirt. This was carried on during the winter season, and the dirt was washed in sluice boxes in the spring time. He was kind enough to offer us the hospitality of his large cabin at Marysville, situated one mile below Bannack, which we accepted temporarily. We furnished and cooked our own 'grub/ AT BANNACK "I then looked around for something to do, and engaged with Bill Goodrich, who owned a small hotel at Bannack, by the terms of which I was to go up on the mountain with a span of horses and a wagon belong- ing to him, and cut and haul down each day a load of dry logs for fire wood, at $2.00 per day and board. In the meantime, however, I continued my lodging at the Hotel Sperry, at Marysville. The third day I was caught in a fearful blizzard on the mountain, where myself and the horses lost our way, and came very nearly perishing in the storm. I concluded that this was not a good winter's job, so I suggested to my partners and Sperry that we each buy a team and wagon and go to Salt Lake and take a look at the Mormons, concerning whom we had heard many interesting stories, and to buy something appropriate to the mining camp, which we might bring back, and thereby make expenses and possibly something more. This proposal was favorably considered, and we each proceeded to hunt up a suitable team and wagon, which we purchased, and started for Salt Lake on the 7th day of November. 332 HISTORY OF MONTANA MEETS PLUMMER AND OTHER AGENTS "Upon my occasional visits to Bannack during the summer and fall, I became well acquainted with some of the prominent road agents, of which Plummer was the leader. It was said that he formerly came from Marysville, California, where he had some family trouble, and in the melee was shot by someone in the left arm, which disabled it, but he had remarkable use of his right hand, and was an expert pistol shot. Plummer had succeeded in getting himself elected as sheriff of the Beaverhead country, as at that time there were no county organizations, and claimed that his jurisdiction extended even to Alder gulch. He was most affable to everyone in his demeanor and also in his business relations, and was exceedingly polite and obliging to everyone. I frequently met him during the season, and after our arrival in Marysville we usually spent our evenings up in Bannack to pass the time. There was only one billiard hall, kept by a Frenchman by the name of Durand. In this I spent several evenings as I was fond of the game, and there I first met Colonel C. A. Broadwater, who afterwards became one of our most distinguished and enterprising citizens. Selby preferred to play a game called 'old sledge,' at which the stakes were $5.00 a corner, at Goodrich's salpon, and every evening the game went on there, in which Plummer was invariably a party. "When ready to start back to our cabin I always knew where to find Selby, and sometimes in a very hilarious condition. On one occasion, just as I was entering the saloon, he pulled out a large powder flask filled with gold dust, which he carried in the leg of his gum boot, and laid it on the table. Plummer reached over and as they say 'hefted' it to see if it were real gold dust, and at the same moment Selby jerked out his six- shooter, which everybody carried in those days, and, laying it down on the table, he said, 'Here is a friend that never forsakes me.' I soon got him out of the saloon, and, notwithstanding his condition, and although it was a dark night, we were not molested on our way down to the cabin. "Another of the bandits was Buck Stinson, a barber who had a chair in the corner of Skinner's saloon. I had been in the habit of getting shaved at his place for some time, and on the morning of the day on which we started out for Salt Lake, he shaved me and I thoughtlessly told him of our intended departure for Salt Lake City and the purpose of our visit. We drove through Bannack that afternoon with our teams and camped on Horse Prairie creek, about twelve miles out, that night, yet were never molested, notwithstanding quite a number of Plummer's gang were then living in Bannack, who were known as tough characters, but had not been actually identified as highwaymen. Indeed, it was not known at that time that there was an organized band of 'road agents,' so adroitly was it managed by its leader. TRIP TO SALT LAKE CITY "Our trip to Salt Lake City, which occupied about twelve days, as we traveled leisurely, was without important incidents. We met a great number of wagons and some mule and bull trains loaded with provisions, HISTORY OF MONTANA 333 headed principally for Alder gulch, as that was the most important min- ing camp by far in the territory at that time. Virginia City had a popu- lation of several thousand people, while the population of Bannack did not exceed probably one thousand. We traveled on the same road to old Fort Hall that we came in on a few months before, thence up the Port Neuf canyon and over the range to Malad valley, thence to Brigham City and Ogden, and reached our destination at the 'City of the Saints/ which had been founded only sixteen years before by that master mind and great organizer, Brigham Young, who prior to the discovery of gold in California, had fled with an army of his followers from Nauvoo, Illinois, to Council Bluffs, now in the State of Iowa, where the party wintered. The next spring he, with about 140 of his leading followers, crossed the plains to Great Salt Lake, where on the 24th day of July, 1847, he laid out the foundation of the present Salt Lake City, and he and his followers located and began the cultivation of farms in the vicinity. Afterwards his followers at Council Bluffs followed in great numbers and endured many vicissitudes in crossing the plains to the New Zion, which their leader had established. "At the time of my first visit there were probably not to exceed ten thousand* people in the city, but it was laid out on broad lines, as you who have visited it have undoubtedly observed. There was only one public hotel, the Salt Lake House, and it was a very poor one, consisting of a frame building with limited accommodations. They had a very commo- dious theatre, however, and some of the local actors had remarkably good talent. They had already begun the foundation of the Temple, and great blocks of stone had been quarried and lay around it. We heard Brigham Young preach in the Tabernacle and were struck with the force of his mentality. The favorite beverage of the inhabitants, which they called 'Valley Tan,' was a colorless species of whisky, and the taste was abomin- able. We observed that many of the Mormon girls were very pretty. THE RETURN TO BANNACK AND VIRGINIA "After purchasing such articles as we deemed suitable to the wants of the miners at Bannack, we loaded up and started on the return journey. Upon arriving at Malad valley we found that heavy snows had fallen on the range, and we were obliged to shovel snow and take our stock back to the valley at night during a period of several days. When we reached Port Neuf canyon we met a mule team train belonging to Forbes, and were told that it had been attacked by 'road agents' and robbed of some of their gold dust. One or two drivers had been shot. This attack occurred on Snake river, above Fort Hall, and they believed they had wounded and probably killed one or two of the highwaymen. "We found no snow in the Snak River valley until we reached the entrance to Beaver canyon, but the cold became so intense that we were unable to travel for three days. At Camas creek we met Colonel Broad- water with a train of about fifteen cayuses and jacks, who stated that salt was selling at about $1.00 a pound in the mining camps, and he was 334 HISTORY OF MONTANA going to Salt Lake to bring a load of it back. I afterwards met him about the middle of March on Horse Prairie creek on his return with the salt, but the price at that time had gone down very low in expectation of the approach of spring, and hence his trip was probably not a very profitable one. "At the entrance to Beaver canyon, where we were obliged to stop on account of the cold weather, we cut some brush in a thick grove, where we sheltered our animals as best we could. Nearby there was a toll gate and a large cabin about 30 feet by 50 feet in dimensions, in which there was an immense fireplace, and here, during those terrible days there were gathered all the travelers, who, like ourselves, were obliged to wait until the storm was over, and most of them made their rendezvous at the toll gate station, which was well heated and provided with some rough card tables, improvised perhaps for the occasion, and there was an ample provision of very poor whisky at the bar. "Amongst the number who partook of the hospitality of the toll gate were Neil Howie and John Fetherstun, officers from Alder Gulch, who, having heard of the attack on the mule train, went down to capture, if possible, the highwaymen who had made the attack. They had captured 'Dutch John' (Wagner) at Camas creek. He was wounded in the shoulder and I heard his explanation of how it happened. He was sleeping at a camp fire with his revolver near his head, and as the ground was bare of snow, the fire had run into the grass and discharged his pistol, which wounded him in the shoulder. Of course, no one believed his story. "When the weather moderated somewhat all of these camps broke up and the parties proceeded on their way, some going north, some south. There was considerable snow on the divide, and it again turned very cold, and on the day following our breaking camp at the toll gate, we met a bull train, which, I believe, belonged to King and Gillette, crossing the divide. I witnessed there what I had never dreamed of before, several cattle in the moving train freeze to death in the yoke and go right down upon the ground. "We succeeded in crossing the range that afternoon, and camped on the Red Rock, near the scene of our fourth of July celebration. About three days after that we reached Bannack, and in making some inquiries about the fate of 'Dutch John,' we were conducted to an unfinished house that was being built for a hotel before winter set in, by Judge Burchett, who was afterwards the father-in-law of James A. Murray, who is well known to most of you. Upon a cross-beam in this unfinished building 'Dutch John' was hanging, and had been for two or three days before our arrival. The following day his body was cut down and dragged through the streets to a place of burial. We were then informed as to the action of the vigilantes of Bannack, assisted by a number who came from Vir- ginia City, who had disposed of Plummer, Ned Ray and Buck Stinson in a summary way, and as I recollect, in the same manner and in the same place that witnessed the finish of 'Duluth John.' They had undoubted proof of the criminal action of all of these men. Skinner, to whom I have heretofore referred, was also implicated, and he had made his escape, but was overtaken, as I have above stated, and hung in Hell Gate valley. HISTORY OF MONTANA 335 "We proceeded in due course to dispose of our merchandise at very good profits. I had taken the risk of shipping quite a lot of eggs, well knowing they would freeze, yet they were admirably adapted for the making of 'Tom and Jerry/ which was a favorite beverage in Bannack, and I disposed of them at a price of $3.00 per dozen. We were all very well satisfied with our excursion, and amply remunerated, and also had an experience which was very gratifying as well as useful. "The remainder of the winter rapidly passed, and in March we went back to Jeff Davis gulch to prepare for spring operations. "Upon some future occasion I may have the pleasure of relating some further experiences in the wild life characteristic of those days. My story relates to a period of small beginnings, yet those humble pioneers builded 'better than they knew' and were actively laying the foundations of a great State, whose development in mineral wealth, in agricultural and various other resources has astounded the world." PROPOSED METROPOLIS OF THE NORTHWEST Secretary Sanders sets forth with retrospective glee the efforts of 1864 to found a great city at the mouth of Maria's River, not unlike the one which also failed, several years later, at the mouth of the Mussel- shell. "Early in 1864," he observes, "James H. Kiskadden, Evan P. Lewis, Franklin Moore, Moses Clark, N. W. Burris, F. Davidson, George B. Parker, George Hill and others apparently selected the mouth of the Marias for the great city of the Northwest. My father, it appears, be- came interested in the enterprise, I believe, for among his papers I found a certificate of stock in an unnamed town company, reading as follows: " 'This is to certify that W. F. Sanders, his heirs or assigns, is the owner of one undivided one-ninth (1-9) interest in the town company. In testimony of which witness the hands and seals of the pres- ident and secretary of said company hereunto affixed this I2th day of March, A. D. 1864. "']. H. KISKADDEN, (Seal) President. "'E. P. LEWIS, (Seal) Secretary.'" "Eleven months after the date of this certificate these eight associates secured from the Bannack legislature a charter for the Ophir Town com- pany, which was approved February 2, 1865. Of the many private laws passed at that session this is the only town company in which Messrs. Kiskadden and Lewis were associated, and the fact that no name appears in the certificate dated March 12, 1864, only indicates to me that the name of the future city had not been agreed on at that time. "The law authorized them to plot a town site to be known as Ophir, on land owned by them, described as follows : Commencing at the mouth of the Marias River or junction of said river with the Missouri River; thence running up and along the south bank of said Marias river to the mouth of the Teton River; thence south six hundred yards; thence east to the Missouri River; thence down the bank of said river to the place of beginning, containing 320 acres. A charter for the North Ophir Town company to Frank H. Angevine, N. W. Burris, and associates with sim- 336 HISTORY OF MONTANA ilar privileges on the north bank of the Marias River above its junc- tion with the Missouri, also containing 320 acres, the town to be known as North Ophir, was secured at the same session. The law also provided that the river front extending into the river as far as necessary, included within the boundaries described was declared the property of said com- pany for the purpose of erecting wharves, warehouses, etc., provided that said company was not in any manner to obstruct the navigation of said river. A charter for another company granted similar powers for a town to be known as East Ophir on the east bank of the Missouri and below the mouth of the Marias, apparently opposite North Ophir. Mr. Burris was among the grantees of this charter and similar privi- leges were granted to occupy the river front for wharves and ware- house purposes, with restrictions as to obstructing the navigation of the river. "The three townsites described were to be a great metropolis, appar- ently, and the country in all directions developed. Messrs. Burris, Kis- kadden and Lewis and associates were granted a charter for the Mis- souri River Portage and Railroad Company for twenty years, and given necessary corporate powers for the construction of a wagon road or rail- road or both for the purpose of transporting passengers, freight and mails around the great Missouri Falls. The original capital of the company was to be $200,000 with authority to increase it to $500,000. Two years were given for the construction of the wagon road and five years for the construction of the railroad. Sidney Edgerton, who approved this act as governor of the territory, was one of the grantees and associates of Kiskadden and Lewis. "The law is interesting in that it authorizes the company to borrow money necessary to complete and stock the road at a rate of interest not to exceed 60 per cent, per annum and secure the repayment by mortgage or pledge of the property and issue the notes or bonds of the company or both therefor. It was also authorized to establish offices in the terri- tory and in the city of St. Louis and elsewhere as they deemed neces- sary. Mr. Burris and other associates were also granted a charter as the Upper Missouri River Steamboat Navigation Company to open and remove all obstructions and make navigable the upper Missouri River from the falls to the Three Forks at Gallatin City and to have the ex- clusive right to the navigation of said river between the points men- tioned with steamboats and all kinds of water craft and to carry freight and passengers over the same for fifty years. Had the whole enterprise prospered and been carried through, this exclusive franchise would have expired a few months ago. ROADS AND FERRIES PROJECTED "George W. Stapleton, for many years a resident of Butte, was among the grantees of the last two charters. Gallatin town was adopted as the head of navigation and a charter secured by Messrs. Burris, Lewis and associates, with authority to make additions to said town. A 'hitching HISTORY OF MONTANA 337 post' for steamboats stood here for many years. Opposite Gallatin and on the east side of the river a charter was secured by Mr. Burris and associates for the town of East Gallatin, with authority to make any desired additions to the same. Another charter was granted for the Gallatin Ferry Company to establish and maintain a ferry on the Mis- souri river at Gallatin City. ROADS "Two ferry companies were organized at Ophir. One, the Marias Ferry Company, was given the exclusive privilege of establishing and maintaining a ferry across the Missouri River near the mouth of the Marias. The other, the Ophir Ferry Company, was given the exclusive privilege of establishing and maintaining a ferry across the Marias River at any point desired within three miles of its junction with the Missouri. Roads across the mountains were to be constructed. A charter to the Ophir and Flathead River Wagon Road Company provided for the con- struction of a road from Ophir and thence west via Lewis and Clark Pass and evidently to connect with the Mullan road. Another charter to Messrs. Burris and Lewis and associates to be known as the Fort Ben- ton and Kootenai Wagon Road Company provided for the construction and maintenance of a wagon road from Fort Benton through the Marias Pass to connect with the Hell Gate and Kootenai wagon road. "These twelve companies, all related, were organized for the rapid development of a vast region of country from the Three Forks of the Missouri to the Kootenai country, with the town of Ophir as the cen- ter, and this, it apparently seems to have been determined to build first and then develop the tributary country. Among the charter members of these twelve companions were many men who were with us when we organized this society. Their names are Matthew Carroll, John J. Healy and George Steell of Chouteau County; Caleb E. Irvine of Deer Lodge County, Horace Annis of Gallatin County, Joshua Armitage and Walter W. DeLacy of Lewis and Clark County and George W. Stapleton of Silver Bow County. BUILDING OF OPHIR COMMENCED "Mr. Burris, who seems to have been very busy in securing these com- pany charters from the legislature at Bannack in February, 1865, also seems to have been the active manager in the field of development and in the spring went to the mouth of the Marias River and commenced to build the City of Ophir. A large force of men was employed in the enterprise and the steamer Cutter, which had plied the Missouri River for two years, was chartered and made its trips up and down both rivers as demands required and was moored at one of the wharves of the future metropolis. Here Mr. Burris occupied a cabin, probably with some of the men interested in the enterprise. "A sawmill was set up. There were forests along the Marias River and timber camps were established and the future city was the center Vol. 122 338 HISTORY OF MONTANA of considerable activity. The Indians in small bands annoyed the work- men, but did not attack them in any great numbers, although everyone was always on the alert. "Matters progressed satisfactorily until the latter part of May. On the 25th of that month Mr. Burris and Mr. Angevine, one of the incorpo- rators of the town of North Ophir, had occasion to visit a timber camp a few miles up the Marias. Captain Moore had let a contract for 300 house logs, which had been cut, and the contractors had gathered some oxen to haul them to the river. The captain was one of the parties interested in the enterprise, but just at this juncture was down the Mis-, souri River on some errand. L6GGING PARTY MASSACRED "The party was attacked by a band of 180 Blood Indians who employed the usual tactics of circling around them as they endeavored to reach the river and friends. They fought valiantly, using the bodies of the oxen killed for breastworks as opportunity and necessity prompted, but it was a losing fight and the party was exterminated. Their names were: N. W. Burris, Frank H. Angevine, Franklin Friend, George Friend, George Allen, Abraham Lott, Henry Martin, E. J. Martin, John Andrews and James Perie, colored. "Mr. Angevine was shot with bullets and arrows, and was scalped. It was said that he killed one of the Indian chiefs. Mr. Andrews's body was found behind a fallen tree. It was covered with wounds, his throat was cut from ear to ear, and his head had been mashed, and everything indicated that he had made a desperate fight for his life. All of the bodies were stripped except that of Lott, in a pocket of whose shirt was found forty ($40) dollars in greenbacks and gold nuggets which were sent to his wife in Illinois by a friend. It was said that the Indians took five hundred ($500) dollars from his person. Mr. Burns was a man of powerful frame and evidently was the last to die as he made a running fight nearly to Ophir. He was finally shot in the leg and a bullet pene- trated his left lung, and there were several gashes made by a knife on his left side, and there were arrow wounds on his body. His horse was shot and his saddle taken. "The direct cause of the massacre occurred during the previous winter when Charlie Carson, a cousin of Kit Carson, was trapping with two partners on the Missouri river. Three Blood Indians stole their horses. Carson and party followed, caught them in camp, killed them and recov- ered their stock. The Bloods determined to retaliate, and the tragedy at Ophir was the result. After the murder the band fled precipitately, abandoned their camp and went north. They left about two thousand pounds of dried meat, a rifle, a brass camp kettle, many pairs of moccasins and dresses heavily beaded for their squaws. "Several of the party murdered were from Iowa. Mr. Burris had founded a town in that state which was named for him. Mr. Angevine was a member of the firm of Bohm, Angevine & Merry, at Virginia City, HISTORY OF MONTANA 339 one of the leading firms of Alder Gulch in its palmy days. He was said to be engaged to a young lady in the East who had a presentiment that her lover would never return from the mountains. Andrews was from Oregon and had spent the previous winter in a camp of Gros Ventres Indians. Lott was from Gilson, Knox county, Illinois, where he left his wife for the West in the previous January. "The Friend brothers were also from Iowa, and a year or so ago some of their relatives visited Judge Pemberton at the rooms of the State Historical Society. The Martins were probably brothers, although Henry was from Iowa and E. J. had an honorable discharge from the i8th regiment of the Missouri Volunteers. Perie had been in the employ of Philbrook and Carleton, freighters, and the Indians said afterwards that he fought hard in his last battle. He was a colored man. The skin of the black race has from the days of Lewis and Clark aroused much curiosity in the red man. It is remembered that they frightened York, stripping him and endeavoring to see how deep the color of his cuticle was. The incident is the subject of a valuable painting in the possession of the State Historical Society. TOWN KILLED BY THE TRAGEDY "The next day a party from the Cutter went over the ground and recovered the ten bodies and they were buried together near the site of Ophir, and there they still rest unless the river has invaded their sepulcher. The enterprise was never renewed. The steamer was released and the workmen scattered, the wharves and warehouses never came. About - four hundred lots were laid out by Frank Foster, a surveyor, and a few houses built. A few steamboat arrivals were noted but the town did not long survive the tragedy of its birth. Fort Benton maintained its position as the head of navigation for nearly twenty-five years and became our most prominent, if not our only river port. This designation she per- haps can still claim." CHAPTER XV DECADE OF INDIAN WARFARE The decade preceding the Custer disaster of 1876 and the capture of Chief Joseph, in the following year, was a period of great activity in the Government campaigns against the Indians of Montana, many of whom were hostile to the proposed railroad projects and all other evi- dences of progressive white settlement. The discovery of gold both in Montana and Idaho, and the immense amount of travel diverted to the more northern country than could be conveniently reached over the old emigrant road by way of South Pass and Salt Lake City, doubtless presented to Indians an appalling prospect of white invasion. Further, the Crows, whose home in their language, Absaraka lay between the Powder, Tongue and Big Horn rivers of Northern Wyom- ing and Southeastern Montana, and was being invaded by the Sioux and the Cheyennes from the East and Northeast', were friendly to the white settlers and prospectors, but had, at the same time, adopted a policy of "watchful waiting." The Northern Sioux, who had not been bound by any treaty, were openly hostile, and when the government proposed to build a road from Fort Laramie, via Bridger's Ferry and the headquar- ters of the Powder, Tongue and Big Horn rivers to Virginia City and the gold districts of Montana, there were fierce threats by enemy tribes, especially the Sioux, led by Red Cloud. Outside of the old and wonder- ful hunting grounds of the Crows, to Fort Laramie, in what is now Southeastern Wyoming, was a wide stretch of country held by the Ogal- lalla and Minneconjoux bands of Sioux and the northern Cheyenne and Arrapahoe tribes. FUTILE INDIAN COUNCIL AT FORT LARAMIE The general plan of the Government was that a council was to be held at Fort Laramie w.ith the Indian tribes which claimed possession of the country through which the road was to pass to arrange for such right-of-way and obtain assurances of the safe passage of emigrants. Colonel Henry B. Carrington, commanding the Eighteenth United States Infantry, was appointed commander of the Mountain District, military department of the Platte, with headquarters at Fort Philip Kearney, on the Powder River, Northern Wyoming, when the latter should be con- structed. Colonel Carrington had under him about 700 officers and men. As chief guide he had selected our old friend, Maj. James Bridger. The expedition was formally organized at Fort Kearney, on the North Platte River, central Nebraska, starting from that place May 19, 1866, 340 HISTORY OF MONTANA 341 with an outfit drawn by 226 mule-teams and keyed up by a military band of thirty pieces until the column passed Kearney City. Within a few days short of a month, the expedition reached Fort Laramie. There was much trading and talking, but only irresponsible Indians appeared in the Council chamber. Such influential Sioux chiefs as "The Man Afraid of His Horses" and "Red Cloud" made no secret of their opposition to the building of the proposed road, and the latter, with all his righting men, withdrew from association with the treaty- makers. Some of the chiefs, however, were seen by the officers, and when they knew that the command was going to the Powder River country in advance of any treaty agreement, they gave unequivocal dem- onstrations of their dislike. One pleasant intimation was given that "in two moons the command would not have a hoof left."* Several of the officers were accompanied by their wives, among them Mrs. Carring- ton, from whose "Ab-sa-ra-ka" (Home of the Crows), with her hus- band's "Outline of Indian Operations and Conferences," most of the data are extracted for this portion of the narrative. The Cheyenne chiefs do not seem to have been so irreconcilable. It was reported that the following question was put to Black Horse, one of their leading chiefs: "Why do the Sioux and the Cheyenne claim the land which belongs to the Crows?" Black Horse, the Wolf that Lies Down, Red Arm and Dull Knife, of that tribe, agreed upon the following answer : "The Sioux helped us. We stole the hunting-grounds of the Crows because they were the best. The white man is along the great waters, and we wanted more room. We fight the Crows because they will not take half and give us peace with the other half." Colonel Carrington's expedition arrived at Fort Laramie, while nego- tiations were progressing with Red Cloud and the leading chiefs of the Sioux to induce them to yield to the Government the right to peaceably establish military posts along the line of the road to Montana. This right they had persistently refused to grant, saying that it was asking too much of their people asking all they had for it would drive away all the game.* The destination and purpose of Colonel Carrington and his command were communicated to their chiefs. They seemed to con- strue this as a determination on the part of the Government to occupy their country by military posts, even without their consent or that of their people, and as soon as practicable withdrew from the council with their adherents, refusing to accept any presents from the commission, returned to their country and with a strong force of warriors com- menced a vigorous and relentless war against all whites who came into it. both citizens and soldiers. GOVERNMENT PRONOUNCEMENT AGAINST ENEMY INDIANS Quite a number of Indians who did not occupy the country along this road were anxious to make a treaty of peace, especially those resid- * See Senate Document No. 13. report of special commission to investigate the "disposition and conduct of the Indians about Fort Philip Kearney." 342 HISTORY OF MONTANA ing near Fort Laramie. The number of Sioux Indians who considered themselves bound by the treaty of July, 1866, numbered about 2,000. The northern Cheyennes and Arrapahoes and many of the northern Sioux, numbering about 600 lodges, remained in their old country and went to war under the auspices of their old chiefs. "We therefore report," announces the committee, in 1867, "that all the Sioux Indians occupying the country about Fort Phil Kearney have been in a state of war against the whites since the 2Oth of June, 1866, and that they have waged and carried on this war for the purpose of defending their ancient possessions and possessions acquired by them from the Crow Indians by conquest after bloody wars, from invasion and occupation by the whites. "This war has been carried on by the Indians with most extraordi- nary vigor and unwonted success. During the time from July 26th, the day on which Lieutenant Wand's train was attacked, to the 2ist of December, on which Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel Fetterman, with his com- mand of eighty officers and men, was overpowered and massacred, they killed ninety-one enlisted men and five officers of our army, and killed fifty-eight citizens and wounded twenty more, and captured and drove away 306 oxen and cows, 304 mules and 161 horses. During this time they appeared in front of Fort Philip Kearney, making hostile demon- strations and committing hostile acts fifty-one different times, and at- tacked every train and person that attempted to pass over the Montana Road." PREPARATIONS TO PROTECT MOUNTAIN DISTRICT Following the military instructions of his superiors, Colonel Car- rington had organized the Mountain district, assigned to him, in June, established, had left two companies at Fort Reno on the Powder River, had established Fort Philip Kearney, forty miles west of Fort Reno, on the Tongue River, in July, and there posted another two companies, and in the following month had founded Fort C. F. Smith, seventy miles be- yond, at the crossing of the Big Horn River with the Montana Road, and stationed at that post a third two companies. As stated, Fort Philip Kear- ney, between the other posts and on the Tongue river, which was con- sidered the center and backbone of the great hunting grounds through which the road was to pass, was the headquarters of the Mountain District commanded by Colonel Carrington. As early as the 3ist of July, Colonel Carrington had informed Gen- eral P. St. George Cooke, the department commander, that the status of the Indians in that country was one of war, requested reenforce- ments sent to him, and two days previously had telegraphed the adjutant general of the army for Indian auxiliaries and an additional force of his own regiment. No auxiliaries were assigned and no reenforcements came until November and December, and then only by about sixty cav- alrymen and ninety recruits divided between Fort Philip Kearney and the mountain district. Neither were requisitions for ammunition an- HISTORY OF MONTANA 343 swered, according to the report of the special investigating commission of the United States Senate. The result was that the garrisons of the forts in Colonel Carrington's district were quite unprepared to withstand the determined Indian attacks which extended over a period of six months, and culminated in the massacre of Colonial Fetterman's men, who were protecting the wood train which was engaged in drawing mate- rials for the new forts. Despite the fact that he went beyond his duties and disobeyed Colonel Carrington's orders, the appalling loss of his entire force was the means of turning back the expedition. JAMES BRIDGER ADVANCE GOVERNOR AGENT In the meantime, the commander of the mountain district had sent forward two most capable men to investigate conditions along and in the country of the upper Missouri the veteran scout Major Bridger, accompanied by Henry Williams, assistant guide, and Lieutenant James H. Bradley, then only in his twenty-third year, but who had fought through the Civil war and had but lately been promoted to a first lieu- tenancy in Colonel Carrington's regiment (the Eighteenth U. S. In- fantry). As it was from Bridger and his companions that the most valuable information came, the following is extracted from Mrs. Car- rington's Ab-sa-ra-ka : "It was quite early after the establishment of Fort Philip Kearney that measures were taken to hold communication with the Crow Indians, to consult with the authorities of Montana and determine the condition of the entire route to Virginia City. Major Bridger was selected for the mission, accompanied by Henry Williams, assistant guide, who proved himself valuable in almost every work he undertook. They made the through trip with comparative expedition, made complete notes of the journey, and besides their official reports, were very courteous in contributing their information to those who were desirous to keep a full record of all that transpired during our sojourn on the frontier. "They had first an interview with nearly 600 warriors, not far from Clark's Fork (of the Yellowstone). On that occasion, White Mouth, Black Foot and Rotten. Tail declared their uniform and unanimous voice for peace ; but said that in some instances the young men desired to join the Sioux, and thus come to some accommodation as to their title to the lands of which they had been robbed by both Sioux and Cheyennes. "Red Cloud had made them a visit and they had returned the visit, but would not join him against the whites. The Man Afraid of his Horses told them that his young men were going on the war-path, and that the Sissetons, Bad Faces, Agillallas from the Missouri, the Min- necongous from the Black Hills, the Unkpapas, some Cheyennes and Arrapahoes, as well as the Gros Ventres of the Prairie, were united to drive away the whites, and would have big fights at the two new forts in the fall. They also represented that Iron Shell, with some of the young men of the Minnecongous and Brules, would go with Red Cloud, notwithstanding the Laramie treaty ; that the Nez Perces and Flatheads 344 HISTORY OF MONTANA were friendly, but the Pegans and Bloods were hostile, while the Black- feet, Assiniboines and Crees were friendly with both parties and would join no league against the whites. "Besides the visits of Bridger along the route from Big Horn to the Upper Yellowstone, James Beck with, the famous mulatto of the plains, who had also lived among the Crows as an adopted chief and had sev- .eral Crow wives, was employed as an assistant guide, and was sent to their villages where he subsequently sickened and died. * * * "Other parties of Crows came to Fort C. F. Smith to hunt and trade in that vicinity, and not only showed uniform friendliness toward the w r hites and the new road, but offered 250 young warriors to engage in operations against the Sioux. Major Bridger had great confidence in this proposition ; but the officers had, it would seem, no authority to em- ploy so many, as well as no means of arming and equipping them when employed. "All the statements of the Crows were substantially confirmed by the Cheyennes at a subsequent visit. They represented Red Cloud and the Man Afraid of his Horses to be in Tongue river valley, and Buffalo Tongue to be on Powder river; that the Big Bellies, the Bad Arrows, Those that Wear a Bone in the Nose and Those that Put Meat in the Pot, were near the Big Horn river, and though friendly to the Crows were opposed to the road; that Bob North, a white man with but one thumb, with twenty-five lodges and the Big Medicine Man of the Arra- pahoes, had also joined the aggressive party. Still later in the season, there was renewed and cumulative evidence that the Crows were truly friendly, but were unwilling to venture very far eastward for any pur- pose, until the Sioux were out of the way or the white soldiers were sufficiently numerous to guarantee their safety without sacrifice of life or property. "White Mouth and Rotten Tail told Mr. Bridger that they were half a day riding through hostile villages in Tongue river valley, and that 1,500 lodges of war parties were preparing to attack the white man at Fort Philip Kearney and Fort C. F. Smith. "All these statements were believed, and it is known that they had important influence in that vigorous prosecution of necessary work which followed and rendered impossible any system of aggressive war on the part of the troops of the garrison." The last days of August brought General Hazen on a tour of inspec- tion to Fort Philip Kearney. On the very last of the month, upon the general understanding that reenforcements were close at hand, the gen- eral, accompanied by Lieutenant Bradley and twenty-six picked men of the garrison's mounted infantry, with Mr.- Brannan as guide, started overland for Fort Benton and other posts on the upper Missouri. This same Brannan was scalped on his return from the Hazen expedition. The journey States-ward, by way of Forts Reno and Caspar, to Fort McPherson, from January 23rd to March 2, 1867, was a dreary trip of intense suffering to the men, women and children comprising the expedition. Without waiting for Colonel Carrington's report on the Fet- HISTORY OF MONTANA 345 terman massacre, that officer was removed by General Cooke, who, in turn, was promptly relieved by Lieutenant General Sherman. The Gov- ernment investigation which followed cleared Colonel Carrington of culpability. GOVERNMENT EVACUATES BIG HORN COUNTRY All that the expedition under Colonel Carrington had accomplished, with its sad loss of life, was to establish the claim of temporary occu- pancy of the Big Horn country, but the repeated forays and detached murders of white settlers during the following year proved how barren was such an outcome. But what soldiers and military measures and treaties of peace could not accomplish, the Union Pacific Railroad was bringing about, by making Montana and the great West safely accessible to white settlers. That fact, coupled with the scarcity of troops and other prudential reasons, induced the president, on the 2nd of March, 1868, to order the Big Horn country to be evacuated of Government forces. For want of ready transportation as wagons had first to be sent out for removal of the stores the movement could not be executed until August. A Peace Commission was organized under a congres- sional act of July 20, 1867, 1868 was a bad year, while 1869 and 1870 were fairly peaceable, and such chiefs as Red Cloud, Young Man Afraid of his Horses, Spotted Tail, and American Horse, of the Sioux, visited Washington and Fort Laramie to confer with the Peace Commission. Red Cloud as late as 1871, manifested quite a friendly disposition, but could not bring over Sitting Bull, who was considered responsible for the raids of the Teton Sioux into Gallatin Valley and along the line of the proposed Northern Pacific Railroad, in the summer of that year. The Union and Central Pacific railways had met two years ago. The steel band and conductor of white civilization had been pushed through the Indian lands of Central United States and preparations were then well under way to lay another menace to primitive occupancy through the northern regions. "AGENCY"' PLAN NOT A SUCCESS i Then came the several years of experiments with the recalcitrant of herding them into "reservation;" shifting them about from place to place ; peculations of Indian agents and contractors, of which the Indians were naturally the victims which finally drew from Sitting Bull the voice of his race to General Miles : "God Almighty had made him an Indian, not an Agency Indian." The records of 1871-72 were, on the whole encouraging, though sev- eral officers of the regular army were killed while protecting the sur- veys of the Northern Pacific through Montana. Col. D. S. Stanley, of the Twenty-second Infantry, from Fort Rice, and Maj. E. M. Baker, Second Cavalry, from Fort Ellis, made expeditions to the Yellowstone for that purpose, the latter advancing as far as Pompey's Pillar. 346 HISTORY OF MONTANA ANOTHER MILITARY EXPEDITION TO THE YELLOWSTONE The year 1873 marks the demolition of old Fort Kearney, indicating a purpose on the part of the Government to attempt the "agency plan," rather than the stern military policy. In August, of that year, how- ever, Colonel Stanley conducted another military expedition to the Yel- lowstone country in the interests of the railroad survey. His force was 1,500 strong, Lieut.-Col. J. W. Custer, with eight companies of the Seventh Cavalry, forming part of the column. The cavalry moved in advance of the infantry upon reaching Powder River and advanced as far as Pompey's Pillar, the great landmark of the middle Yellowstone Region. On the 4th of August, 1873, Colonel Stanley's troops were INDIANS DRAWING RATIONS attacked near the mouth of Tongue River by a large force of Sioux under Sitting Bull. The first of a series of engagements lasting for a week continued from 10 o'clock A. M. until nearly 3 o'clock P. M., all efforts to dislodge the white soldiers proving unsuccessful. From the Army and Navy Journal of September 13, 1873, it was learned that the fight was brought on by a decoy party of six who dashed into the skirt of timber where Colonel Stanley's command had halted and unsaddled and attempted to stamgede the horses. These Indians were followed, but they retired so leisurely as to excite suspicion and finally, as they found that they were not pressed earnestly, over 300 well-mounted war- riors dashed in perfect line from the woods and charged down upon one of the companies, at the same time attempting to intercept a small party under Lieutenant Custer. After the engagements described, the Yellowstone expedition had no trouble with the Indians, and both columns returned safely to their post on the Missouri River. Sitting Bull evidently concluded that the Custer cavalry were too much for his warriors. HISTORY OF MONTANA 347 Until the last part of 1875, although there was no organized oppo- sition manifest, a general and expressed sentiment of dissatisfaction and unrest was evident among the Agency Indians. Much of the rations sent to them by the Government never reached them, and in winter they were, at times, reduced to the necessity of eating wolves and their own dogs and ponies to keep from starvation. Both enemy Indians and friendly Indians, from self-preservation, often, were forced to make forays upon the livestock and provisions of the whites. The personal center of disturbance was the northern, non-treaty Sioux, under Sitting Bull, and the territorial danger-ground the Black Hills, into which the miners were pouring despite the efforts of the government authorities to keep them out. SITTING BULL AGAIN TROUBLESOME At the close of 1875, the Indian Commissioner announced signifi- cantly: "It will probably be found necessary to compel the northern, non-treaty Sioux, under the leadership of Sitting Bull, who have never yet in any way acknowledged the United States Government, except by snatching rations occasionally at an Agency, and such outlaws from the several agencies as have attached themselves to these same hostiles, to cease marauding." The year 1876 had scarcely opened before the northern Sioux and Cheyennes commenced to make inroads into the Yellowstone Valley along the line of surveys of the Northern Pacific. They besieged Fort Pease, opposite the mouth of the Big Horn, killing six and wounding eight white persons. The remainder of the party at the post was rescued by troops from Fort Ellis, near Bozeman. UNITED CAMPAIGN AGAINST ENEMY INDIANS The troops which came from Fort Ellis, under Major Brisbin, were identified with a column under Gen. John Gibbon, which had been organ- ized there to carry out a concerted movement against the northern tribes which were still in a state of warfare against the Government. The Interior Department had issued a proclamation in the preceding Decem- ber that all Indians who did not report at the reservations by December 31, 1876, would be compelled to do so by the military. At the expiration of that period, therefore, three separate companies were organized, with the understanding that they were to advance from the west, east and south, and finally unite and co-operate, as they should sweep the enemy Indians before them. The first line, commanded by General Gibbon, advanced, as stated, from Fort Ellis; the second, from the south, was under Gen. George Crook, and the third, under Gen. Alfred H. Terry, advanced from Fort Yankton, through the eastern field of. operations. With Terry's column was Custer's* cavalry from Fort Abraham Lincoln. * George A. Custer. 348 HISTORY OF MONTANA The march from Fort Shaw, on the Sun River, in the present Cas- cade County, is described in Lieut. James H. Bradley's Journal of the campaign. That officer, who was to lose his life in the following year GENERAL JOHN GIBBON in the Indian operations of that period, commanded a mounted detach- ment in the campaign under General Gibbon. The march from Fort Shaw commenced on March 17, 1876. The route was by way of Helena, Little Prickly Pear Canyon, the junction of the Jefferson and Madison rivers, the West Gallatin, thence over the divide to the Yellowstone, HISTORY OF MONTANA 349 down that stream to Shield's River and thence to the Valley of Rosebud Creek, or Stillwater River. There the main body of the command was joined by General Gibbon, Major Brisbin, who commanded the cavalry, and other officers. The course led past Countryman's Ranch, "the last occupied house on the Yellowstone." The advance of General Perry's column was sighted aboard a steam- boat coming up the river at 8 o'clock A. M., June 2ist. The meeting was near the mouth of the Rosebud. It carried the commandant, and Captain Baker's company of the Sixth Infantry and General Gibbon, and Major Brisbin joined them on the boat, the portion of his com- mand accompanying him being ordered back to Fort Pease. Major Reno, with six companies of the Seventh Cavalry, had already scouted up Powder River, crossed to the Rosebud and moved down the latter stream to its mouth without meeting with any Sioux. Well-defined traces of them, however, had been found. Other scouting parties were equally unsuccessful, in their efforts to come into direct contact with the enemy. On the 27th of May, Lieutenant Bradley, while leading a scouting party in the region of the Rosebud and Little Wolf Mountains, discovered an immense Indian camp, traces of which he had found previously. Major Reno's scouting trip along the Rosebud also discovered traces of it, and Mitch Bouyer, a guide of the Gibbon command who had been detached to accompany that officer, "counted 360 lodge fires, and estimated that there were enough besides to make the number about 400.* The lodges had been arranged in nine circles within supporting distance of each other, within which the Indians evidently secured their horses at night, showing that they considered an attack not unlikely and were prepared for it. A well-defined trail led from the site of the village across the plain toward the Little Big Horn, and it is now thought that the Indians will be found upon that stream." CUSTER STARTS FROM MOUTH OF THE ROSEBUD When Custer appeared at the mouth of the Rosebud with the Seventh Cavalry, the steamboat bearing General Terry and his staff met him, and the cavalry commander drew rations for his command for sixteen days, moving up the Rosebud with the design of following up the trail found by Major Reno. "Prior to his departure," writes Lieutenant Bradley, "a conference took place on the boat between Generals Terry, Gibbon and himself, with a reference to a combined movement between the two columns, and, though it is General Gibbon's expectation that we will arrive in the neighborhood of the Sioux Village about the same time and assist each other in the attack, it is understood that if Custer arrives first he is at liberty to attack at once if he deems prudent. We have little hope of being in at the death, as Custer will undoubtedly exert himself to the utmost to get there first and win all the laurels for himself and his regiment. He is provided with Indian scouts, but from the superior * Making the usual estimate of two or two and a half warriors to a lodge would make the war party of this camp from 800 to 1,000. 350 HISTORY OF MONTANA knowledge possessed by the Crows of the country he is to traverse it was decided to furnish him with a part of ours, and I was directed to make a detail for that purpose. I selected my six best men and they joined him at the mouth of the Rosebud. Our guide, Mitch Bouyer, accompanies him also. This leaves us wholly without a guide, while Custer has one of the very best the country affords. Surely he is being afforded every facility to make a successful pursuit." The consolidated commands of General Terry and Gibbon were taken over the Yellowstone River cavalry, infantry and Catling battery of three guns, with eight days' rations and a pack train moved up the Big Horn River, and after a day's march discovered "a smoke" in the direction of the Little Big Horn, which was thought to indicate the presence of the Sioux Village, and the cavalry and the Catling battery, accompanied by General Terry, were pushing on with a view of getting as near it as possible tonight. The infantry, which had already marched twenty-three miles, were to remain in camp for the night and follow in the morning." Without a white guide, the column lost its way and in the dark hours of the night brought up "on the brink of a preci- pice at whose foot swept the roaring waters of the Big Horn. The water gleamed in front 150 feet below, and to the right hand and to the left the ground broke off into a steep declivity down which nothing could be seen but the forbidding gloom." One of the Crow scouts, Little Face, led the command to a safe camp. FIRST TIDINGS OF THE CUSTER DISASTER Early on the following morning (June 26th), Lieutenant Bradley was sent out, with his few men, to scout for Sioux traces. He sent six Crows ahead of him half an hour before he started. All were instructed to scout to the Little Horn, sending back word of any important dis- coveries. What follows is tragic and historic, and is given at some length in Lieutenant Bradley 's words: "Having advanced about three miles we entered a valley cut by a dry creek, and here came upon the fresh tracks of four ponies. As we entered the ravine we had seen a heavy smoke rising in our front, apparently fifteen or twenty miles away, and I at once concluded we were approaching the Sioux Village and that the trail had been made by a party of scouts therefrom. "Sending back a written report of the discovery, I took the trail of the four supposed Sioux in the hope of catching them in the Big Horn valley, toward which the trail led and where we thought they might have camped, as there was no convenient way of leaving the valley into which they had gone except that by which they had entered it. "At the distance of less than two miles the trail struck the river, and we found that they had there crossed leaving behind a horse and sev- eral articles of personal equipment, indicating that they had fled in great haste. An examination of the articles disclosed, to our great surprise, that they belonged to some of the Crows whom I had furnished to Gen- eral Custer at the mouth of the Rosebud, which rendered it probably HISTORY OF MONTANA 351 that the supposed Sioux were some of our own scouts who had for some reason left Custer's command and were returning to the Crow agency. While speculating upon the circumstance three men were discovered on the opposite side of the Big Horn about two miles away, apparently watching our movements. We at once signaled to them with blankets that we were friends, for a long time to no purpose, but when we were about to give up and seek some other method of communicating with them, they responded by kindling a fire that sent up a small column of smoke indicating that they had seen signals and trusted our assurances. We gathered wet sage brush and assured them with a similar smoke, and soon afterwards they came down to the river and talked across the stream with Little Face and one or two more of the scouts who went down to meet them. While the interview went on I kept the remainder of the detachment on the bluffs. Presently our Indians turned back, and, as they came, shouted out at the top of their voices a doleful series of cries and wails that the interpreter, Bravo, explained was a song of mourning for the dead. That it boded some misfortune there was no doubt; and when they came up, shedding copious fears and appearing pictures of misery, it was evident that the occasion was of no common sort. Little Face in particular wept with a bitterness of anguish such as I have rarely seen. For awhile he could not speak, but at last com- posed himself and told his story in a choking voice, broken with frequent sobs. As he proceeded, the Crows one by one broke off from the group of listeners and going aside a little distance sat down alone, weeping and chanting that dreadful mourning song, and rocking their bodies to and fro. They were the first listeners to the horrid story of the Custer massacre, and, outside of the relatives and personal friends of the fallen, there were none in this whole horrified nation of forty millions of people to whom the tidings brought greater grief. The three men over the river were in truth a portion of the six scouts furnished to General Custer from my detachment; and this is the story they had told to Little Face : "After Custer left the mouth of the Rosebud he had followed the Indian trail and yesterday struck the village on the Little Big Horn, the Sioux warriors letting him get close to the village and then sallying forth in overwhelming numbers to meet him, defeating his command, and destroying all but a small portion who had been driven into the hills and surrounded by the Sioux, where the Crows had left them fighting des- perately. The corpses of Custer's men were strewn all over the country, and it is probable before this that the last one was killed as it was im- possible for the party who had taken refuge in the hills to hold out long, for the Sioux immensely outnumbered them and were attacking them in dense masses on all sides. Of the six Crows who had gone with Custer, two White Swan and Half Yellow Face were killed, and another * Curley was missing and probably also killed. The fighting had occurred at a point where the smoke was then rising in our front. It was a ter- * Only survivor of the massacre. 352 HISTORY OF MONTANA rible, terrible story, so different from the outcome we had hoped for this campaign, and I no longer wondered at the demonstrative sorrow of the Crows. My men listened to it with eager interest, betraying none of the emotion of the Crows, but looking at each other with white faces in pained silence too full of the dreadful recital to utter a word. Did we doubt the tale? I could not; there was an undefined vague something about it, unlocked for though it was, that commanded assent, and the most I could do was to hope that in the terror of the three fugitives from the fatal field their account of the disaster was somewhat over- CURLEY drawn. But that there had been a disaster a terrible disaster, I felt assured. "It was my duty to report it to General Terry, and being a matter of such importance I resolved to make the report in person, as I now saw the head of the column appearing over the ridge a couple of miles away. I therefore rode back until I met the command, which was halted just before I came up, and narrated to the general the ghastly details as I had received them from Little Face. "He was surrounded by his staff and accompanied by General Gibbon, who had that morning joined, and for a moment there were blank faces and silent tongues and no doubt heavy hearts in that group, just as there had been among the auditors of Little Face at its rehearsal by him. But HISTORY OF MONTANA 353 presently the voice of doubt and scorning was raised, the story was sneered at, such a catastrophe it was asserted was wholly improbable, nay impossible; if a battle had been fought, which was condescendingly admitted might have happened, then Custer was victorious, and these three Crows were dastards who had fled without awaiting the result and told this story to excuse their cowardice. General Terry took no part in these criticisms, but sat on his horse silent and thoughtful, biting his lower lip and looking to me as though he by no means shared in the wholesale skepticism of the flippant members of his staff. My imagina- tion was busy supplying to my mind his train of thought, and it ran like this : 'The story may not be true, when we have only to push on according to the original plan. It may be true, and it then becomes our duty to hasten to the rescue of the miserable remnant of Custer's com- mand surrounded on the hills. If the savages have been able to destroy Custer's noble six hundred, what can we hope to accomplish with our paltry four? But we will do the best we can and rescue the wretched survivors or ourselves perish in the attempt.' And as though it were the seal of authenticity to this bold attempt to divine the workings of his mind, he cried 'Forward!' and once more the column was in motion toward the foe. My duty there was done and taking a rapid gait I soon gained my proper distance in front as advance guard. "The infantry had remained in camp last night twelve miles back and at 5 A. M. resumed the march, coming up with the cavalry toward noon, having been greatly delayed by the pack-train. The whole column then advanced together and having crossed the dry creek, where I now found the trail, and the rugged divide separating it from the Little Big Horn, entered the valley of that stream. The heavy smoke was now continually in view, and notwithstanding the stiffened limbs of the infantry, in consequence of their hard march yesterday, the prospect of an early arrival at the village and a brush with the Indians imparted a wonderful animation to their movements and urged them on at a rapid gait. After passing up the valley a few miles the column crossed to the left bank and soon afterward halted to allow the men to rest and make coffee. "The three Crows who had escaped from Custer's battle-field promised to recross the Big Horn and rejoin the command, provided some of their comrades waited for them, and partly on this account and partly to allow them time to recover from their grief I permitted all the Crows to remain behind when the column passed the point where we had received news of Custer's overthrow. Bravo, the interpreter, stayed with them, and as he was frightened nearly out of his wits by the unfortunate tidings, and anxious to avoid going on, he no sooner saw us fairly out of the way than he exerted himself to induce the Crows to abandon the ex- pedition ; representing to them that some of our officers had said we no longer wanted their services. Several of the best Crows were opposed to such a measure, but Bravo aided by some of the malcontents among them carried the point against such, and the whole body were seen by some of 354 HISTORY OF MONTANA the officers at the rear of the column to mount and gallop away together. They recrossed the river and proceeded straight to the Crow agency." * FORCE PARTICIPATING IN THE LITTLE BIG HORN BATTLE, TOGETHER WITH THE KILLED AND WOUNDED* Mr. Will. Logan, son of Capt. Wm. Logan who was killed at the battle of the Big Hole, August, 1877, has in his possession a piece of Indian parchment found on Custer's battle-field shortly after the fight. Captain Logan's company clerk made out on this piece of parchment a list of killed and wounded in this engagement together with a brief statement relative thereto, and it is through the kindness of Mr. Logan, now living at Elkhorn, Montana, that an exact copy is here given. It is to be regretted that no date is given when the list was made out, but it must have been soon after the battle. SEVENTH CAVALRY "True account of killed and wounded in fight with Sioux Indians on the 25th and 26th June, 1876, on Little Big Horn River, Montana Ter- ritory. "Present before action, as follows : Field and Staff, Commissioned -. . 6 Line, Commissioned 25 Total Commissioned 31 Enlisted men 585 Citizens 8 Scouts, Indians Ries 6 Crow Indians 25 624 Total commissioned, enlisted, etc, etc 655 Missing after action 332 Total remaining after action 323 "Killed and wounded as follows: "Killed with General Custer, as follows: Officers 13 Enlisted men 191 Citizens 4 Total killed with General Custer 208 "Killed with Major Reno, as follows: Officers 3 Enlisted men 48 Citizens, scouts, etc 5 Total 56 * Bradley's Journal, Vol. II, State Historical Society's Contributions, pp. 225, 226. CUSTER MEMORIAL MONUMENT 356 HISTORY OF MONTANA Wounded with Major Reno 59 Died of wounds since. . 8 Total killed 264 Total remaining wounded 51 * "General Terry and Colonel Gibbon with six companies, 7th Infantry, and four companies, 2nd Cavalry, crossed Yellowstone River, June 24, 1876, with intention to assist General Custer in attacking a large Sioux village on Little Big Horn River, Montana Territory, but General Custer did not wait for said command and attacked the village, five companies charging, one company with pack-train and six companies with Major Reno on the opposite end of the village. General Custer with his five companies was cut down entirely; the company with packs joined Reno, who with the seven companies was obliged to retreat to the hills, where the Indians held him and cut him off from water for thirty-six hours until their scouts (Sioux) discovered the approach of General Terry's command, when they abandoned their village and left during the night, leaving considerable plunder after them, also some ponies. General Terry's command arrived on the battle-ground, June 27th, at about 6 A. M. ; remained there and buried all dead and took care of wounded ; started for steamer Tar West,' June 29th, and met near mouth of Little Big Horn, June 3Oth; put wounded on board and started back for old camp on Yellowstone near mouth of Big Horn where the command arrived July 2, 1876." GENERAL CROOK'S SOUTHERN CAMPAIGN The operations conducted by General Crook from the south were more fortunate than the northern campaign which culminated in the Custer massacre. The cavalry of his command, under Col. J. J. Reynolds, comprising ten companies of the Second and Third regiments, struck the first blow of the year in the Tongue and Powder River region dominated by Crazy Horse and his band. General Crook's column was organized toward the last part of February at Fort Fetterman, on the North Platte, and on the ist of March commenced the advance westward. After reach- ing Crazy Woman's Fork, the wagons were sent back to Fort Reno, now Fort McKinney, under escort of infantry, and pack-mules were used for the transportation of ammunition and rations for fifteen days. Shortly after passing Crazy Woman's Fork, March 7th, the troops moved nearly north from the old Phil Kearney Road. On the i6th of March, the com- mand was on Tongue River and after marching eastward reached Otter Creek. Colonel Reynolds, with one day's rations and unencumbered with blankets, was in the advance with his 300 cavalrymen and fifteen scouts, following the trail of the Indians toward Powder River. General Crook * According to Capt. E. S. Godfrey, Seventh Cavalry, the killed and wounded of the entire command was respectively 255 and 52. See Century Magazine, January, 1892. HISTORY OF MONTANA 357 followed with four companies and the pack train, the total force being 883 men. Colonel Reynold's command gained the vicinity of Powder River, near the mouth of the Little Powder, at about 4 o'clock in the morning of March I7th. A heavy trail had been struck, after a march of fifty miles through a rugged country, with snow a foot deep, ice in the streams a foot or more thick and the temperature some thirty degrees below zero! The men suffered severely, especially Colonel Reynolds himself. While the troops were secreted in a ravine, the scouts who had been sent on ahead reported the discovery of an Indian camp of about a hundred lodges in a basin of the river rimmed by steep bluffs. With- out going into details as to the assault of Reynold's men, it may be stated that it was such a complete surprise that the Indians abandoned their village in a panic, retreating to neighboring timber and ravines, from which they could annoy the troops and attempt to regain their camp and the captured ponies and mules the livestock estimated at about 700. In the midst of continuous attacks and skirmishes, the dismounted cavalrymen regained their horses, after firing the village and continued their march toward the northwest and Lodge Pole Creek, in the present Garfield County, where Colonel Reynolds was to effect a juncture with General Crook and his command. The destruction of Crazy Horse's Village, with valuable supplies and livestock, was a serious blow to the northern Sioux-Cheyenne coalition, although there was some discussion among army officers as to whether Colonel Reynolds accomplished all he could under the circumstances. His loss was four men killed and five wounded. On the morning of the i8th, he joined his forces with those of General Crook, as planned, and returned to Fort Fetterman. In a telegram, dated Fort Reno, March 22, 1876, General Crook says: "We scouted the Tongue and Rosebud rivers until satisfied that there were no Indians upon them, then struck across the country toward Pow- der river. General Reynolds, with part of the command, was pushed forward on a trail leading to the village of Crazy Horse, near the mouth of the Little Powder river. This he attacked and destroyed on the I7th inst. finding it a perfect magazine of ammunition, war material and gen- eral supplies. Crazy Horse had with him the Northern Cheyennes and some of the Minneconjous probably, in all, one-half the Indians off the reservation. Every evidence was found to prove these Indians in part- nership with those at the Red Cloud and Spotted Tail agencies, and that the proceeds of these raids upon the settlements had been taken to those settlements and supplies brought back in return. I am satisfied that if Sitting Bull is on this side of the Yellowstone, he is camped at the mouth of Powder river. We experienced severe weather during our absence from the wagon-train, snow falling every day but one and the mercurial thermometer on several occasions failing to register." WARFARE OF 1876-77 After the battle of the Little Big Horn and the Custer disaster, General Sheridan at once concentrated all the available force of his 358 HISTORY OF MONTANA division. Lieutenant Colonel Carr and ten companies, Fifth Cavalry, joined General Crook at Goose Creek, via Fort Laramie, and detachments of infantry were sent to the same column. Colonel Miles moved from the south of Kansas with the Fifth Infantry. Lieutenant Colonel Otis, with six companies of the Twenty-second Infantry and four companies of artillery from the Atlantic Coast, was sent to General Terry. As early as July 26th, General Crook was in communication with General Terry, each with a nominal command of about 2,000 men.* General Sheridan thus reported, August 5th: "General Crook's total strength is 1,774 and Terry's, 1,878; and to give this force to them I have stripped every post from the line of Manitoba to Texas." "Both columns," says General Sherman, "of about the same strength, moved as agreed upon and made junction on the Rosebud, August roth, at a point thirty-five miles above its mouth. The Indians had, as ex- pected, slipped out, and neither column had a chance to strike a^ blow. The Indians, in their retreat, left a broad trail leading toward Tongue river. This was followed promptly and steadily, but it seems to be im- possible to force Indians to fight at a disadvantage in their own country. Their sagacity and skill surpass that of the white race." In September, Capt. Anson Mills, Third Cavalry, struck a small vil- lage and killed American Horse, the noted chief, and the Indians were disarmed at all the agencies. In October, 1876, Colonel Miles pursued and overtook Sitting Bull, and was met by the request for supplies, peace and ammunition. Two days of conference were followed by hos- tilities. The Indians were pursued forty-two miles across the Yellow- stone, and on the 27th of October they sued for peace, giving Red Skirt, White Bull, Black Eagle, Sun Rise and Foolish ^Thunder as hostages for the others reporting at the posts named. Crazy Horse sought refuge in the buffalo country and escaped up Powder River. v On the loth of November, General Crook again left Fort Fetterman and crowded Crazy Horse toward the Black Hills. Colonel Mackenzie destroyed a Cheyenne camp in November, on the west fork of Powder River, and the country north of the Yellowstone was so thoroughly scoured that the remaining Indians were driven out of the region lying between the Musselshell and the Dry Fork of the Missouri River. On the 1 7th of December, Bull Eagle, Tall Bull, Red Cloth and another chief approached the Tongue River cantonment with a white flag, but were shot by Crow Indians, whose antipathy to the old enemies who had robbed them of the country, broke forth, before any effort could be made to arrest the attack. The best satisfaction possible was given by way of explanation and presents ; but General Crook, in referring to the matter, says: "The affair was most unfortunate, as their coming in would have secured the surrender of at least 1,000 fighting men." "Already," says Colonel Carrington, "the supervision of the lower Brule, Cheyenne River and Standing Rock agencies had been turned over to the military authorities (as early as July), so that captured Indians * "Outline of Indian Operations," by Col. Henry B. Carrington. HISTORY OF MONTANA 359 could be brought together and the peaceable kept from roaming; and army officers also discharged the duties of agents at Red Cloud and Spotted Tail agencies. To all of them there came, for food and winter shelter, bands of the very Indians who participated in the fights in the Big Horn country." The policy toward the Indians from 1876 on, was to be carried along the lines of concentrating them into permanent agencies and treating them as wards of the Government, rather than as legal possessors of the country, the relinquishment of which must be obtained through formal treaties. The pre-eminence of the military establishment was, at least, temporarily recognized, and in the summer of 1876 the secretary of war urged the establishment of two new posts Fort Custer, on the Big Horn below the old site of Fort C. F. Smith and only a few miles from the disastrous battlefield, and Fort Keogh, at the confluence of the Tongue and Yellowstone, just south of the present Miles City. Fort Keogh was named after Custer's heroic captain. In January, 1877, Colonel Miles drove Crazy Horse and his band from Tongue River Valley to the Big Horn Mountains. During a sub- sequent campaign against Lame Deer, in the Rosebud Valley, he narrowly escaped assassination at the hands of one of the chiefs who had been cap- tured Iron Star. The treacherous savage shook hands with Colonel Miles, then picking up his carbine fired, the ball missing its mark, but killing a soldier behind him. This was after protection had been offered to all who would surrender. On the 5th of September, 1877, Crazy Horse made an attempt to escape from Camp Robinson, but was recaptured. He afterward was killed in a needless encounter. SITTING BULL SQUATTING IN BRITISH AMERICA On the I7th of October, Gen. A. H. Terry and Hon. A. J. Lawrence had a conference with Sitting Bull at Fort Walsh, Canada, at which time he refused all peace overtures and asserted that he purposed to con- tinue under British rule. The year closed with comparative peace in the three departments of the plains, broken, however, by the pursuit of Chief Joseph and his heroic little band of Idaho Nez Perces through Western, Southern and Northern Montana. PURSUIT OF CHIEF JOSEPH AND THE NEZ PERCES In May, 1877, councils were held with Chief Joseph, Looking Glass and White Bird by representatives of the Interior Department and Gen. O. H. Howard, commander of the military department of the Columbia, and the representatives of the Indians had examined various localities proposed for their reservation. The commission were satisfied that the Nez Perces would remove to the reservation proposed in the Wallowa Valley. The date fixed for their removal was June I4th, but prior to that time the Indians commenced hostilities along White Bird Creek, near Mount Idaho. 360 HISTORY OF MONTANA The troops at the disposal of General Howard were few, but he made the most of them and waged a vigorous offensive campaign, with the assistance of local military organizations. The Nez Perces were finally driven into the Bitter Root Mountains. They were endeavoring to escape to the Buffalo country of Montana in the north, when, on August 9, 1877, they were attacked at Big Hole Pass, by Colonel Gibbon, of the Seventh Infantry and commander of the Montana District. At that time, General Sherman was at Bozeman, and had dispatched the command post-haste, in an endeavor to throw the retreating Indians back upon General Howard who was still in pursuit. His report of August nth shows his loss in that furious engagement at seven officers and fifty-three men killed and wounded. Among the killed were Capt. William Logan, and Lieut. James H. Bradley, of the Seventh Infantry. BATTLE AT BIG HOLE PASS Colonel Gibbon was himself wounded, and thus telegraphed to Gov- ernor Potts: "Big Hole Pass, August 9, 1877. "Had a fight with the Nez Perces. We are here near the mouth of Big Hole Pass, with a large number of wounded men in want of every- thing; food, clothing, medicine and medical attendance. Send assistance at once "John Gibbon, Colonel Commanding." While Colonel Gibbon was thus trying to head off the retreating Nez Perces, with an original force of only 191 men, including thirty- four citizens, General Howard, with a small escort pushing ahead of his column, over a rough country, reached Colonel Gibbon on the I2th and telegraphed to General McDowell's headquarters: "Gibbon's command is in the best of spirits. The last of the Indians left last night. Shall continue the pursuit as soon as my command is up." As the result of this battle, eighty-nine bodies of Indians were found on the field, showing that their loss was equal to half the number of whites engaged. The retreat of the Nez Perces was southeast nearly to Bannack City, thence southwest to Horse Prairie River and on to old Fort Limai. Their only avenue of escape was to pass around Montana to the south, and then strike north, east of Fort Ellis (near the present Bozeman), avoid- ing settlements and posts as much as possible. Upon reaching Henry's Fork of Snake River, they turned north toward Henry's Lake, which is southeast of Virginia City and nearly at the source of Henry's Fork, with General Howard in close pursuit. At camp Meadow, near the lake, they turned and attacked General Howard's column, killing one man, wound- ing seven and capturing nearly a hundred horses.* On the 27th of August, the ragged, hungry, defiant little band of Indians, protecting a far greater number of women and children than they could muster as warriors, * Near this locality in the upper basin of Yellowstone Park, Chief Joseph and his band met a party of tourists headed by G. F. Cowan and wife. CHIEF JOSEPH AND THE COWAN PARTY 362 HISTORY OF MONTANA crossed the Yellowstone above the falls, at the upper end of a canyon in the National Park (Joseph Peak), just north of the Sulphur Moun- tains, Northwestern Wyoming. They then took the Clark's Fork Trail. Colonel Merritt, of the Fifth Cavalry, with six companies of that regi- ment, and another company of the Third, and fifty Shoshone scouts, moved from the Goose Creek Camp to occupy the line of the Stinking River and cut off the movements of the Nez Perces from the south, and Col. S. D. Sturgis, of the Seventh Cavalry, left the New Crow Agency at the forks of the Big and Little Rosebud to block their escape to the north. General Sheridan, in ordering the recall of Colonel Merritt, "unless his presence should be longer needed in that direction," says that "instead of going up Clark's Fork, as was expected, Colonel Sturgis also went over to Stinking Water, and while he was doing so the Indians came down Clark's Fork and passed him." Still, on the I3th of September, he overtook and had a fight with them on Canyon Creek, Clark's Fork, and pursued them closely on the I4th and I5th. On the latter date he reported the Indian loss at sixty and that "nine hundred ponies had been dropped by the hostiles," and adds "I am going ahead this morning, and propose to push them until they drop their whole herd, and I think they will abandon nearly their last horse. Today, Howard, with infantry and artillery, was north of the Yellowstone, below Clark's Fork. The Sixteenth Infantry is moving on Musselshell." The remaining Nez Perces eluded further punishment, crossed the Yellowstone, Musselshell and Missouri, and safely entered the Bear Paw Mountains, south of Milk River in the country of the Blackfeet and Bloods. On the i8th of September, Colonel Miles, having learned on the evening of the I7th, from General Howard, then on Clark's Fork, that the Nez Perces had evaded the commands to the north of them and were pushing northward, at once organized all the available force at his command for a movement to intercept or pursue. The commission sent to have an interview with Sitting Bull in the British possession had already left with an escort from the Second and Seventh Cavalry regi- ments. This was overtaken, and the combined force moved on without delay. CHIEF JOSEPH'S LAST STAND The march led directly to the north of Musselshell, nearly north- west, thence around the eastern and northern bases of the Little Rocky Mountains to Snake Creek, a fork of the Milk River, the distance of 265 miles being accomplished in ten days. On the evening of September 29th, Colonel Miles' troops reached the northern end of Bear Paw Mountain, which the Nez Perces had approached from the south, and he was between them and Milk River. From the official report of the commander, it is learned that the expedition entered the mountain range at 4 o'clock A. M. of the 3Oth, and the Indian trail was struck two hours later near the head of Snake Creek. The village on Eagle Creek, HISTORY OF MONTANA 363 a short distance farther west, was immediately charged in front by the battalion of the Seventh Cavalry under Capt. Owen Hale, and the Fifth Infantry, Capt. Simon Snyder. A battalion of the Second Cavalry, Capt. George L. Tyler, attacked in the rear and secured the stock, to the number of 700 horses, mules and ponies. The Indians took refuge in some deep ravines, and the firing was accurate and well kept up. To avoid the loss of life, incident to storming these positions, from which the Indians could not escape, the troops remained for four days on the alert, shelling the ravines and exchanging shots, whenever it was found effective. White flags were displayed, and communications were had with the Indians several times, but on the 5th of October, 1877, they sur- rendered arms and ammunition, and the contest was at an end. Looking Glass and several of the chiefs, including a brother of Joseph, and twenty-five Indians had been killed, and forty-six Indians were wounded. The casualties of the command were Capt. Owen Dale and 2nd Lieut. Joseph W. Biddle, both of the Seventh Cavalry, killed ; Capt. Miles Moy- lan and Edward S. Godfrey, Seventh Cavalry, ist Lieut. George W. Baird and Lieut. Henry Romeyn, Fifth Infantry, wounded. Enlisted men, nineteen killed and forty-two wounded. It is stated by commissioner of Indian affairs in his report for 1877, "That Joseph observed the rules of civilized warfare, and did not mutilate dead enemies," whereas Red Cloud and his bands, in 1866, in their first resentment of the invasion of the Big Horn country, committed atrocities upon living captives of a kind unrecorded else- where in human history. Colonel Carrington, commenting upon the wonderful retreat of Joseph and his people from Idaho through such considerable portions of Mon- tana, says : "The Nez Perces campaign grew out of wrongs inflicted upon their people. It is the. old story ; and after all due resentment is expended upon Joseph for murders committed by his band in the im- mediate vicinity of their old home in Idaho, this war must be classed among the inevitable results of violated treaties and original trespass upon the red man's rights." General Shanks commanded the Seventh Indiana Cavalry during the Civil war, and states that "Joseph's party was thoroughly disciplined; that they rode at full gallop along the mountain side in a steady forma- tion by fours; formed twos, at a given signal, with perfect precision, to cross a narrow bridge ; then galloped into line, reigned in to a sudden halt, and dismounted with as much system as if regulars." CAPTAIN ROMEYN'S ACCOUNT Capt. Henry Romeyn, of the Fifth United States Infantry, com- manded by Col. Nelson A. Miles, has written a full account of the cap- ture of Chief Joseph and his band, with the campaign leading to it (Vol. II, Contributions of Historical Society of Montana). He says: "The campaign of 1876 in the valley of the Yellowstone had been nearly a fruitless one. The overwhelming disaster of the 7th United States 364 HISTORY OF MONTANA Cavalry and the massacre of the greater part of its officers and enlisted men had been followed by an abortive attempt of the commanders of the departments of the Platte and Dakota to force the Indians to a fight, as it had been preceded by a drawn battle on the headwaters of the Rosebud. It fell to the lot of the 5th United States Infantry under its indefatigable leader to strike about the only blow of the year which had any lasting effect, when late in October that command met the Sioux north of the Yellowstone not far below the mouth of Powder river, and forced them into a flight and most of them finally into a surrender and return to the agencies on the Missouri river; Sitting Bull with most of his band, including several of the more prominent warriors escaping across the Canadian line. This had been followed by the winter campaign against Crazy Horse and his band up the valley of the Tongue river, in which they were driven from their camps which were destroyed, and this action by the surrender of most of the Northern Cheyennes at Tongue River cantonment. "Then in May the band of Lame Deer had been struck in its camp on a tributary of the Rosebud and scattered over the country, with the loss of some of its best warriors, all of its best horses and its camp. "A month later, a column consisting of portions of the 2nd and 7th Cavalry, and ist, 5th and 22nd Infantry, was sent into the field, the 5th being mounted on Indian horses captured as above stated. But no fight took place, though the remnants of Lame Deer's camps were trailed over four hundred miles, through eastern Montana, western Dakota and northern Wyoming, to the end that the Indians finally abandoned the field and sought shelter at the agencies in the Department of the Platte. "Late in the autumn of 1876 the troops located at the mouth of Tongue river had constructed shelters made of logs placed on end in a trench dug in the soil and 'capped' with a plate or log, on which rested a roof of poles and earth; not uncomfortable as far as warmth was concerned in winter, but terribly damp and leaky in the heavy rains of spring. But material and labor for constructing a new post were on the way, and as soon as possible after the ice was out of the stream, boats began to arrive, and at times the banks of the heretofore silent river assumed the appearance of a 'levee' of a lower Mississippi town on one occasion all the steamers being tied at the landing at once. "A large proportion of the army was represented at the new camp during the summer. The ist, 5th, 6th, 7th, nth and 22d regiments of infantry had each one or more companies there, with what was known as the Montana Battalion of the 2d and most of what remained of the 7th Cavalry. Scouting was kept in all directions from the new camp, but with little result. "On the afternoon of September 17, 1877, news of the escape of the Nez Perces from the various commands sent against him and the cross- ing of the Indians to the northern bank of the Yellowstone in their flight to the Canadian border, reached Colonel Miles and his troops in their new camp at the mouth of the Tongue. An hour later, his 350 HISTORY OF MONTANA 365 men including a large scouting detachment of regulars, citizens and Chey- ennes, with two small pieces of artillery, were also moving across the Yellowstone and toward the Missouri, at the mouth of the Musselshell. Four of the five infantry companies were mounted on horses captured from Lame Deer's band the previous spring. As the remainder of the command consisted of regular cavalry, Colonel Miles's men were vir- tually all mounted, and well equipped for rapid pursuit of the fleeing Nez Perces. "While the expedition -was gathering at the mouth of the Mussel- shell preparing to march up its valley and cut off the Indians, a small Mackinaw boat came floating around a bend of the Missouri and the two men in it informed the colonel that the Nez Perces had crossed the river at Cow island two days before and had gone north. The route of the pursuing party was accordingly changed, and on the 29th of Sep- tember when a point had been reached just northeast of the Bear Paw mountains, the Cheyenne scouts found a broad and fresh trail of the retreating Indians leading due north. "When the cavalry finally reached the Nez Perces's camp, they found it was located on a small stream called Snake creek. It proved in an excellent position for defense, as it was in a kidney-shaped depression covering about six acres of ground along the western side of which the stream ran in a tortuous course, while through it, from the steep bluffs forming its eastern and southern sides, ran coulees from two to six feet in depth and fringed with enough sage brush to hide the heads of their occupants. Here the Nez Perce chieftain had pitched his camp and here he now made his last stand for battle. From the point where the camp could first be seen it appeared open to attack from all but its eastern side, and even that was overlooked by bluffs too steep to be readily ascended. At the south end of the valley, or camp ground, there was an almost perpendicular bluff that afforded excellent cover for a line firing toward the point from which the attacking party was advancing. This point of vantage was instantly occupied by the Nez Perces who, withholding their fire until the Seventh Cavalry were within two hundred yards, then delivered it with murderous effect. "Captain Hale and Lieutenant J. W. Biddle were killed' at the first fire, and Captains Moylan and Godfrey wounded immediately afterward, thereby leaving but one officer with the three troops. All the first ser- geants were killed. Wherever the Indians heard a voice raised in com- mand, there they at once directed their fire with the evident design of picking off the officers. As they came up, the other commands were posted, one of them cutting off a herd of ponies and capturing the ani- mals. When the camp was first discovered, a portion of the lodges had been struck and about one hundred ponies packed for the day's march. These, guided by women and children and accompanied by fifty or sixty warriors, were at once rushed out and started northward. An attempt was made to cut off their retreat by a troop of cavalry. The Indians halted for fight after going about five miles from the main body, and, finding a large portion of their pursuers encumbered by the care of the 366 HISTORY OF MONTANA poriies which they had captured shortly before, boldly assumed the of- fensive and forced the soldiers back, although they failed in their efforts to retake the stock. "Most of the Indians succeeding in getting back through the invest- ing lines and joining their companions in the defense. So well had these succeeded in covering themselves that scarcely one could be seen; but from their concealment they sent shots with unerring aim at every head exposed by the troops. When the cavalry occupied the bluffs east of the camp, they forced the abandonment of the steep bluff from which the Indians had first fired upon them, and as the Fifth Infantry came up it was halted at its crest. Here it was greeted by a hot fire from the sheltered coulees, or draws, in low ground in front, some of them not more than fifty yards away, and men and horses began to drop before they could be dismounted. The Hotchkiss gun was brought up and an attempt made to shell the Indians from their cover, but it could not be depressed enough to be effective and was soon driven from the position with severe loss to its gunners. Between fifty and sixty of the lodges were still standing in the valley, and in them, and at any other place where they could be protected from fire, the Indian women began to sink pits for shelter. Many of the warriors worked their way up to the edges of the bluffs, through the coulees which seamed their faces, and, digging into the bank, through the soil thus obtained up over the top, soon having very formidable rifle pits in use. From these they picked off every man who rose to his feet on the level ground east of their defenses. As the distance was so short every shot could be made to tell. An officer had one shot through his belt, another carried away his field-glass, while a third took off his hunting knife and cut the skin from an ear. Creeping carefully up to the edge of the bluff to look over, a bullet instantly lifted the hat and lock of hair for a sergeant, and another went through the head of a comrade at his side. A company of the Fifth Jnfantry charged the Indian camp, but were driven away with considerable loss, and as soon as darkness closed the white troops were posted around the valley to prevent, if possible, the escape of any of the defenders. The line was necessarily a thin one and despite all precau- tions a few, among them White Bird and some of his band who had been responsible for outrages leading to the first outbreak, succeeded in escap- ing and joining those already in Canadian territory. Aside from the Nez Perces there was another possible, if not probable, element of dan- ger and strife to be guarded against. "Sitting Bull with a band reinforced by renegades from the agencies was not far away, and should he and they decide to take part in the fray there would be 'work cut out' for every man ; all that he could do. Hearing of the battle and that 'Bear Coat' was in command of the troops they not only did not come, but struck camp and did not halt in their northward flight until more than a day's march had been placed between them and the line. "If to the men on duty that night was one of watchfulness ; to the wounded it was one of ceaseless agony. There was no fuel at hand, HISTORY OF MONTANA 367 and none of the troops could be spared to obtain any from a distance. The night was bitterly cold, the train with the tents had not arrived, and the morning of October first dawned on a sad sight. Some had died during the night, while others supposed to be dead now revived to a sense of misery and suffering. Officers and enlisted men, white and Indian allies, to the number of fifty or more, lay in that little hollow place together. To add to the discomfort 'a snow storm set in and by night four or five inches had fallen upon the combatants and disabled alike. Up to that time the Indians had the advantage of the troops in this respect for their shelters had not been destroyed and the wounded in the pits beneath them were of course protected to a great extent from the storm. During the night of September thirtieth, however, the troops threw up such intrenchments as could be made with the few tools at hand, and from that time the losses were very few. With the Indians still in possession of the water, well supplied with provisions captured on the Missouri, able to utilize the meat of animals killed by our fire and with considerable ammunition, the siege promised to extend in- definitely. "On the evening of October first, the train under command of Capt. Brotherton arrived. Tents were at once put up to shelter the wounded, but in the darkness were so placed that they could be reached by the rifles of the Indians and, upon being lighted up, drew the fire of the enemy, whereby at least one man was wounded. The twelve-pounder was also with the train, and scarcely had day dawned on the second before its boom told the Indians that a new element had entered for their destruction. Still it was almost impossible, owing to the shape of the ground, to bring it to bear on the pits now occupied by the hostiles, who, as soon as shells fell in their camp, abandoned it and all took refuge in the banks of the crooked 'coulees' where no direct fire could be made to reach and where the shells, if burst over them, were likewise liable to injure our men on the high ground beyond. A dropping or mortar fire was, however, obtained by sinking the trail of the gun in a pit dug for it and using a high elevation with a small charge of powder. This made the fire effective, and late in the afternoon of the second Joseph raised a white flag. Cheers greeted its first appear- ance and soon under it the Nez Perce Chief, his clothing pierced with over a dozen bullets although he was still unharmed, stood face to face with his opponent. "While he was willing to treat he did not admit that his case was desperate, and his first proposition was to be allowed to march out armed and mounted, abandoning only the position to his foe. He was willing to fight still, but wished to save his women and children. So did the op- posing commander, though refusing to entertain this proposition, and the Nez Perce went back to renew the battle. "The storm still continued. The troops in the trenches, unable to erect any shelters, were exposed to its inclemency for all that the arrival of the wagon train with its guard had permitted the gathering of fuel from some timber several miles away. 368 HISTORY OF MONTANA "On the third another parley was held, the terms proposed being a surrender of persons, all property and arms to be held by the Indians. This was refused, but afterwards modified to the surrendering of the property taken from the river, they to retain the stock and arms and to return to their own country. This was all the chief would offer, and he returned to his followers disappointed, but not defeated. While Joseph was in conference with General Miles, Lieutenant Jerome, of the 2d Cavalry, taking advantage of the truce, made his way into the Indian CHIEF JOSEPH OF THE NEZ PERCES camp where he remained during the night and from which he was al- lowed to depart unharmed the next morning. "On the morning of the fourth the position of the gun was changed and the second shell fired dropped into what had been a safe position, making sad havoc, killing and disabling about a dozen persons. Con- vinced that the total destruction of his people was only a question of time, Joseph again hosted the white flag and surrendered. "General Howard had arrived on the ground the previous night and was present at the surrender, which was, however, made to General Miles. "The four companies of the 5th Infantry present during the first two days aggregated about ninety men and officers, and Captain Brother- HISTORY OF MONTANA 369 ton brought up about forty with the wagon train. Of the latter, how- ever, none were killed or wounded. The aggregate of the /th Cavalry battalion was one hundred and eight men and officers; that of the 2d Cavalry about one hundred and twenty-five. Total killed, two offi- cers and twenty-two enlisted men; wounded, four officers and thir- ty-eight enlisted men. Two Indian scouts were also killed and a number wounded. The heaviest loss fell upon the 7th Cavalry, and was nearly all inflicted at the first attack. The 2d Cavalry suffered but little, as they were principally in charge of the captured herd during the first and no attempt was made by the owners to recapture it. "The Nez Perces acknowledged a loss of seventeen killed and forty wounded. Some of the latter died during the march back to the Mis- souri. The total number of those who escaped to Canada was afterwards ascertained to be one hundred and four. The captives numbered eighty- seven men, one hundred and eighty-four women and one hundred and forty-seven children, a total of four hundred and eighteen. The pro- portion of the sexes and ages of those killed is not known. "Two days were spent at the battle ground a.fter the surrender, giving necessary attention to the wounded, burying the dead, and arranging for transportation of those unable to travel on horseback to the river. The only ambulance with the command was given up to two enlisted men, one of whom had a broken thigh, the' other shot through the hips. They lived to reach the river, but the latter died as he was carried on board the steamer. Wagons, the beds of which were filled with small brush cov- ered with grass, were utilized for the conveyance of such others as could not bear transportation on horseback. Much of the country was rough and broken in character, and, though all possible care was exercised, the suffering of many of the injured was intense. The brush and grass soon became unevenly packed down and every jolt of the wagon seemed to open up fresh wounds. "Two steamers had been ordered to the point where the column was to reach the river, and on them the crossing to the south bank was made ; those of the whites too badly wounded to bear further land transporta- tion being sent down the river, the infantry to Fort Buford, the cavalry to Fort Lincoln." IN THE GOLD MINING DAYS CHAPTER XVI In the chapter (XI) on the "Mineral Geology of Montana" is told Nature's story of the deposits of mineral wealth within the present limits of the state. The glow of gold first encouraged its settlers to develop them into commercial value, and for years that mineral was> all powerful. The industrial and commercial side of the reign of gold has also been turned toward the reader. Now for silver, copper and coal, as well as the still more recent candidate for popular favor that "liquid gold," which is so closely connected with the fields of coal. BUTTE FAILS AS A GOLD DISTRICT The rich gold deposits, both placer and quartz, were in the Bannack and Virginia City districts; at Butte, conditions were comparatively unfavorable. Placer mining was most unprofitable. Not only were the diggings shallow, but the gold was of low grade, was distributed in fine particles and brought only $11 to $14 an ounce. Neither was there any available stream for washing, and the gravel had to be hauled by ox-team to Silver Bow Creek. This lack of running water led to the construc- tion of a number of ditches, in 1865-66. They generally connected Sil- ver Bow Creek with the Butte diggings ; but the fourth ditch constructed was dug from Divide Creek to the placer diggings at Silver Bow, which was the first recorded instance of the waters of the Missouri being car- ried to the Pacific watershed and used for mining. An account of these spasmodic attempts to found gold mining in the Butte region on a paying basis, continues: "The completion of these ditches, with the facilities they afforded for washing gold-bearing gravel added much to the prospects of Butte, which burst for a time into the spectacular prosperity of the typical 'boom' camp. Hurdy-gurdy houses and the 'wide-open' gambling dens, besides innumerable saloons, were in full blast. It is estimated that during the three years that placer mining was carried on in Butte about $1,000,000 in gold was obtained. "The quartz veins on the hills adjoining the placer mines were almost immediately located by prospectors. The first vein-location was made by W. L. Farlin in 1864, who staked the Asteroid claim on the great blackstained quartz reef west of the present city. This location called the Black Chief and afterward the Travona, was originally discovered early in 1864 by Charles Murphy, Maj. William Graham and Frank Madison, who named it the Deer Lodge lode. During the following two 371 372 HISTORY OF MONTANA years numbers of locations were made, but at that time only free milling gold ores were sought; the black manganese-stained outcrops of the sil- ver veins were not considered especially valuable. "Several claims on the Rainbow lode at Walkerville were staked dur- ing the '6os, and ore from the Mountain Chief shaft was hauled by wagon to Fort Benton, shipped down the Missouri and taken to Newark, New Jersey. By the autumn of 1867 many of the smaller placer mines were worked out. The ever restless and shifting population began to disperse and Butte was well nigh deserted. In the winter of 1868 and 1869, the firm of Barnard & Company constructed a new ditch from WILLIAM A. CLARK Divide Creek to the placer mines at Pioneer Gulch near Silver Bow City. That camp, which had shared the same depression as its neighbor, Butte, received a new impetus. During the spring and summer, there was a 'stampede' to Silver Bow ; its population suddenly swelled to about one thousand; the ditch company sold water for fifty cents an inch for ten hours, wages were $6 a day, nearly a hundred claims were working and many buildings from Butte were moved to its thriving rival." / RISE OF SILVER MINING Interest in the Montana silver ores was reflected from the great Comstock lode in Nevada, and in 1865 a rich vein of the mineral was discovered in the Black Chief, or Travona claim, just west of Butte. The Parrot lead, named in honor of R. R. Parrot, a leading attorney, by Dennis Leary and others, was discovered and brought other improve- HISTORY OF MONTANA 373 ments. Little arrastres and smelters commenced to appear for the treat- ment of the silver ores, Mr. Leary and the Porter Brothers being espe- cially prominent in these matters in connection with the Parrot lode. INTRODUCING WILLIAM A. CLARK "The first important stride in the development of Butte as a silver- producing center was in 1875, when work began in earnest on the Tra- vona and W. L. Farlin commenced the Dexter ic-stamp mill and fur- nace close to the mine, treating the ores by chloridizing roasting and amalgamation. In the following year William A. Clark completed the mill, and started the first really successful treatment of the local silver ores. From $25 to $30 per ton was charged for smelting, and the wonderful career of the Butte district as a producer of silver and cop- per was launched. In 1875, also, McEnery & Packard discovered the Acquisition claim. Some rich silver ore was taken from it and shipped to Walker Brothers of Salt Lake City. Naturally, they became inter- ested in the district which produced such ore, and they sent Marcus Daly, then in their employ, to examine the country, and if possible, secure a promising claim. Thus were introduced to Montana two of the greatest developers of its mining properties. MARCUS DALY Mr. Daly obtained a bond on the Alice Mine, which commenced operation in the summer of 1876 and opened the great Anaconda hill to the mining world. Robert Walker and Prof. Joshua E. Clayton came on to examine the ground closely and scientifically, and the latter gave the name to the famous Rainbow lode which carried such claims as the Alice, Magna Charta, Valdemere and Moulton. After the initial shaft had been sunk to a depth of 200 feet, an old stamp mill was brought from Utah, in the autumn of 1877, and commenced to dry-crush the ores. A roaster was added within the following two years, and the enter- prise "panned out" so well that the Alice Company constructed a co-stamp mill in 1880. Similar improvements were introduced on the Moulton claim and by the Silver Bow Mining and Milling Company, but the leading mine of the region up to that time was the Alice, under the masterly management of Marcus Daly and the ownership of Walker Brothers of Salt Lake City. Mr. Daly had acquired a one-third interest in the Anaconda mine, which property embraced a number of other claims, and in 1881 the Anaconda Silver Mining Company leased the Dexter mill and treated 8,000 tons of oxidized silver ore from its properties. The ore was said to con- tain "just enough copper to make it unnecessary to add bluestone in raw amalgamation, but yielded a very base bullion, some of which ran only 400 fine." The outlook was so discouraging that Daly's partners might have abandoned the Anaconda bonanza, had it not been for his insistence and confidence. His belief that they would strike copper rich, instead of 374 HISTORY OF MONTANA silver, was justified, when at a depth of 300 feet, a cut was run across the main shaft and laid bare a copper glance five feet in thickness. Daly had already spent a fortune in proving his judgment. Prof. Walter H. Weed, the geologist, writes as follows regarding the decline of Montana as a silver-producing country: "The climax of what may be called the silver period of Butte's history was reached in 1887, when the Alice mill was dropping 80 stamps, the Moulton 40, the Lexington 50, the Bluebird 9, and the Silver Bow 30 a total of 290 stamps. The amount of ore worked in these mills aggregated nearly 440 tons a day, to which should be added the silver ores shipped to the smelters, aggregating probably 100 tons a day. All this ore carried con- siderable gold. The average yield was probably about $25 a ton in gold and silver. "The period of active silver mining continued until 1893, when, in common with other silver producers, the Butte mines were almost pros- trated by the decline in the price of silver. A few mines, notably the Nettie and Lexington, continued to work up to 1896-97, and others have worked at intervals since then, but none has been an active producer since 1893, save the Lexington, in which veins carrying copper are mined. "In the history of Butte the metallurgical advance in the treatment of the silver ores has been very steady, the free-milling process giving place to chlorination and roasting, and these in turn to more improved methods, so that ores lower and lower in grade could be treated. With the great decline in silver in 1892-93 and the closing down of all the large silver plants in 1896, the mining of silver ores became of relatively slight im- portance and has since been carried on chiefly by lessees. The present (1913) importance of Butte as a producer of silver and gold is due to the fact that each pound of copper produced contains 0.0375 ounce of silver and $0.0025 in gold, or approximately $0.02^ in precious metals. According to this ratio the Butte copper mines yielded 8,550,000 ounces of silver in 1891." It should not be understood that the production of silver in Montana decreased precipitately after 1896. Butte, as the great center, was most hard pressed, but as a whole the decrease throughout the state was not especially noticeable until 1906, when the production fell from $i7,359r 912 (1905) to $8,027,072 (1906). During the World war, and since, there has been an upward tendency in silver production, the improvement being noticeable outside the Butte district. In Jefferson County, silver properties which shut down a quarter of a century ago and which had produced as high as $15,000,000 before the bottom fell out of that metal, are being revived. Says the 1920 Year Book of Montana : "Time has been required to pump them out, retimber shafts and drifts and make them ready to produce, but already they are producing a goodly tonnage of ore, which there is every reason to believe will be largely increased in the next few months. The old silver mining camp of Neihart, Cascade County, has experienced the same recrudes- cence as the Jefferson County district. The same is true of the Philips- burg district, Granite County, which has also benefited from its HISTORY OF MONTANA 375 Manganese deposits. In Northwestern Montana, in Lincoln County, the Snow Storm mine, a big silver and lead producer, has continued opera- tions. The Boston & Montana, operating in the Elkhorn district of Beaver- head County, this year completed the building of a 38-mile narrow-gauge railroad to give it outside communication and it will soon be in a position to operate. Development of the Cooke City mining district, at the north- eastern corner of the Yellowstone park, has been hindered by lack of transportation facilities. Various projects are being pushed to overcome this obstacle." THE RULE OF COPPER The rise of the copper period of mining overlaps the decline of silver as a great Montana product. The decade from 1888 to 1898 shows the output running almost neck-and-neck, ranging from $15,000,000 to more than $26,000,000 yearly. In 1899, copper took an immense leap in pro- duction to nearly $41,000,000, and since then it has reached nearly $100,- 000,000. The late '705 brought a tremendous development to the copper min- ing and related industries of Montana, largely through the broad and wise operations of Mr. Daly and Mr. Clark. The former was develop- ing the riches of the Anaconda- Never sweat mine and Mr. Clark was manipulating such claims as the Original, Colusa, Mountain Chief and Gambetta. Mr. Clark was the first person to ship copper in commercial quantities from Butte; but at that time transportation charges absorbed all possible profits. The first charge an appalling item was for haul- ing the ore a distance of 400 miles by wagon train to Corrine, the nearest railway station. Much of the ore was shipped either to Baltimore, Mary- land, or Black Hawk, Colorado, for smelting and reduction. The Boston & Colorado Smelting Company had a plant at the latter place. In re- sponse to a suggestion from Mr. Clark, that company sent a representa- tive to the Butte district to examine the local claims that a smelter would be supported there. The report was favorable, the Colorado and Mon- tana Smelting Company was organized in 1879, a s ^ te f r tne new pl ant purchased and the reduction works were built; which made both the mining and preparation of copper for the market a home industry. In the '8os, the railroads furnished an outlet for the products of the great copper country of Montana. On December 21, 1881, the Utah Northern entered Butte, and gave the district access to the Union Pacific system, and thus to the markets of the world. On July 12, 1888, the Montana Central Railway, which for some months had been racing with the Northern Pacific to reach Butte, was completed and thrown open to traffic. The Northern Pacific did not complete its branch from Helena to Butte, but a few years later built a line from Three Forks to Butte. The Montana Union road, from Butte through the Deer Lodge Valley to Garrison, on the Northern Pacific, built by the Union Pacific interests, was finished on September 8, 1883, and subsequently became a portion of the Northern Pacific system. 376 HISTORY OF MONTANA F. AUGUSTUS HEINZE COMES With the advent of the railroads to the copper country, there was also introduced a stirring genius of the mining world who was to share the Montana honors with William A. Clark and Marcus Daly. F. Augus- tus Heinze had a small capital bequeathed to him by a German relative and is said to have had rich connections also. He directed his studies at Columbia College toward the western career which he had planned, obtained a position as mine surveyor with the Boston & Montana Com- pany and in 1889 arrived at Butte in the capacity named. In the careful and scientific examination of its Montana properties, Mr. Heinze ob- tained a fund of practical information, which he soon used in the devel- opment of independent ventures. On March n, 1893, he organized the Montana Ore Purchasing Company and, having secured several leases, began operations on the Ramsdell-Parrot, Estella, Rarus and Glengarry, subsequently buying the last two mines outright, as well as the Corra- Rock Island and Nipper mines. "With his advent as the head of a cor- poration, Mr. Heinze took his place as the most picturesque and daring figure in the whole great game," says a writer of the times, "where for- tunes were fought for, made and lost through bitter struggle and acrid hostility." DALY DEVELOPS ANACONDA PROPERTIES About the time that the Heinze element was introduced to the mining interests of Montana, Marcus Daly was raising the Anaconda properties to a condition of wonderful productiveness. In the late '8os the ore output of 500 tons daily had outgrown the smelting capacity of the Upper Works on the north banks of Warm Springs Creek; and their recon- struction, in 1886, did not meet the increasing demands. The Lower Works, a mile east of the older plant, having a capacity of 3,000 tons daily, were put in operation in the fall of 1889, although the new plant had been destroyed by fire. Within the following few years two con- verter plants were erected and the great Anaconda properties grew into mammoth proportions, even after 1890, when ill health compelled Mr. Daly to withdraw from active management and promotion, and spend his time outside the Butte district. During the succeeding decade, Otto Stalmann and John S. Daugherty held the reins over Anaconda, the creator of the great properties dying in New 1 York City on the I2th of November, 1900. When Mr. Daly arrived in Butte, there were no smelting plants in the West, and the ores produced by the Anaconda Company were at first shipped to Swansea, Wales, for treatment. Without adequate water sup- ply at Butte, he noted the great natural advantages for the construction of a smelter at a point about twenty-eight miles west of the city. There he built a plant suitable for his purposes, and called the town Anaconda after the name of his company. To connect mines and works, his com- pany built a railroad known as the Butte, Anaconda & Pacific, to trans- HISTORY OF MONTANA 377 port the ore to the smelter at a minimum cost. Marcus Daly may truthfully be called the father of Montana's copper industry. HEINZE vs. THE AMALGAMATED COPPER COMPANY In the meantime in the spring of 1899 the Amalgamated Copper Company was formed by the consolidation of the Anaconda Copper Com- pany, the Parrot Company, Trenton Mining and Development Company, Butte & Boston Consolidated Mining Company and Boston & Montana Consolidated Copper and Silver Mining Company. The Amalgamated also purchased the capital stock of the Washoe Copper Company and the Colorado Mining and Smelting Company, afterward called the Trenton. In 1901, the capital of this vast monopoly was increased from $750,000,- ooo to $1,555,000,000. Mr. Heinze was not permitted to enter the charmed circle of the Amalgamated Copper Company, and proceeded to fight it in the courts, with W. A. Clark as its strongest representative in Montana. The young German engineer and copper promoter now planted himself before the public and in the courts of Silver Bow County, as the champion of the miners and the people waging deadly war against the great Amalgamated trust ; and, after several years of legal meanderings and court entanglements, gained his points or contentions. Lack of space and vital historic value make it possible to give only a general picture of this passing show in the development of the practical copper interests of Montana. The chief offensive weapons used by Heinze against the Amalgamated were the Montana Ore Purchasing Company, the Minnie Healy mine, and his claim known as the Rarus quartz lode. He contended that the latter little triangle of ground carried the apex of the rich copper veins which were being developed by the Anaconda, St. Lawrence, Neversweat and other leading mines absorbed by the Amalgamated. According to miners' law, the apex controlled the veins, and Heinze proceeded to obtain a court injunction, granted December 20, 1899, by which the mines named were shut down and 3,000 miners thrown out of employment. The miners and the people commenced to have doubts as to the practical advan- tages of his championship. The court (Judge William Gancy) soon revoked his injunction and the men returned to work. In one of the cases which he brought against the Boston & Montana Consolidated Company, directed specially against its Pennsylvania mine, Heinze was directed by the court to furnish bonds to the amount of $950,- ooo. The defendant petitioned the Supreme Court to increase that amount, on the ground that Heinze had already removed from that claim ores valued at $1,250,000; and the higher court ordered his bond increased by $350,000 within twelve days. Not to comply with this order meant dis- aster to Heinze, and on the day before the additional bond was due the Delaware Security Company, "qualified to do business in Montana," was created. Securities covering the $350,000 were furnished, and, if the new corporation was not perfectly solid at the time, everything was made tight and legal-proof before the conclusion of the investigation of its responsibility ordered by the Supreme Court/ 378 HISTORY OF MONTANA Other actions of momentous import to Heinze were the Minnie Healy and Michael Davitt cases. "During the pendency of the Michael Davitt suit," says a contemporaneous account, "the contending forces of Heinze and the Amalgamated carried on underground warfare, employing dyna- mite, hot water, steam and slaked lime as weapons. In this terrific strug- gle two miners named Oleson and Divel, while attempting to install a door as an upraise to prevent the Pennsylvania miners from being smoked out, were killed by a quantity of giant powder which came down upon them. The jury at the coroner's inquest over their bodies found that the blast had been fired with criminal carelessness, if not with criminal intent. Later the widow of Oleson obtained a verdict of $25,000 against the Montana Ore Purchasing Company, a Heinze corporation. Federal Judge James H. Beatty, on March 30, 1904, fined Heinze $20,000 for the violation of an order issued by Judge Hiram Knowles prohibiting min- ing in the premises in controversy, and it was claimed by the witnesses for the Amalgamated properties that Heinze or his companies had taken over $1,000,000 worth of ore from the Michael Davitt veins. "In litigation involving the ownership of immensely valuable ore bodies lying between the Minnie Healy claim and adjoining properties belonging to the Amalgamated, the same tactics were pursued and, with Clancy's decision awarding this ground to Heinze, a series of giant pow- der blasts fired almost simultaneously with the rendition of the court's ruling, shattered the area in conflict beyond the hope of mining operations therein until the underground workings could be repaired. The Supreme Court of Montana finally decided that Heinze had no right to these ore bodies in dispute. The Amalgamated had destroyed its own properties to prevent their falling into the hands of its enemy." The controversy over the Minnie Healy property, which Heinze secured in 1900 and which he claimed comprised the apex of several valu- able veins, or mines, worked by the Boston & Montana Consolidated, wound through the courts for about three years. Twice the County Court decided in Heinze's favor, in one of the decisions Judge Clancy deciding that the Amalgamated Copper Company was existing in violation of the laws of Montana prohibiting trusts from operating within its limits. The Amalgamated then closed its plants in Butte and thousands of men were thrown out of employment. The bankers of Butte, the Miners Union, Heinze, Governor J. K. Toole and the Legislative Assembly participated in the imbroglio. In 1903, the Governor called an extraordinary session to consider the matter, and on November nth of that year, the date of his call, work was resumed on the properties of the Amalgamated. But Heinze's opposition was not quieted until February, 1906, when the Butte Coalition Company and the Red Metal Mining Company, affiliated with the Amalgamated Copper Company, purchased the Heinze interests, ex- cepting the Lexington mine, for the sum of $10,500,000. In 1910, the Amalgamated also secured all the important holdings of William A. Clark, save the Black Rock. HISTORY OF MONTANA 379 RENEWED EXPANSION AND DEPRESSION Not long after the resumption of work in the Amalgamated prop- erties in 1903, Pittsburg capital entered Butte and Montana, and erected an enormous smelter at the center of the copper industries. The com- pany which thus so heartened the local promoters and braced the home market took the name of Pitts-mont, which is easily analyzed. The dis- covery of a very large vein by the new company, afterward absorbed by the East Butte Copper Mining Company, established the existence of rich copper deposits in the "flat." In 1904, the North Butte Copper Company, then recently organized, purchased a controlling interest in the Spectacular mine for $5,000,000, and added to its holdings by securing a number of adjoining claims. The successful development of the combined holdings caused the formation, in 1905, of the East Butte Copper Company. Various other companies began operations to the east, on the upward slope of the continental divide, and in nearly every instance where sufficient depth was attained, copper was found, proving that the veins extended beyond the limits of the sup- posed copper zone. The gold fever at its height did not exceed the craze for copper mining which spread through all classes. In the Butte dis- trict and along every approach to it, "gophering" was general. Little greenish white dumps, like ant-hills, speckled the dun level, ribs of tiny shaft houses appeared on the foot-hills, and there was a general upheaval in quest of the metal which had superseded both gold and silver as really "precious." The price of copper rose to unprecedented prices, awaiting the era of an expanded production. The statistics showing the copper production of Montana indicate the retarding influence exerted by the continuous litigations in the courts and the physical acts of violence, with actual discontinuance of mining opera- tions, during the period of the Heinze activities. From $40,941,906, in 1899, the production fell as low as $24,606,038, in 1902. It rose to $56,- 105,288, in 1906; $51,106,914, in 1912; $60,000,000, in 1915; $97,461,- ooo, in 1916; $81,142,377, in 1917, and $79,824,189, in 1918. The drafting of an industrial, as well as a military army into the World's war, seriously affected the copper industries and the production of Montana, and the figures were not slow in illustrating the fact. The continuous decrease in the price of copper has had the greater effect, which has resulted in closing most of the Butte plants, and bringing the working force of those which are in operation to a small percentage of what it was in prosperous, or even normal times. The output of Mon- tana copper decreased from 323,174,850 pounds in 1918 to 180,246,000 pounds in 1919; which represents a decrease of $45,884,000 in value. The average monthly production of the smelting plants of the Anaconda Copper Company, at Great Falls and Anaconda, was nearly 13,000,000 pounds of copper, as against 24,500,000 pounds in 1918. The Pittsmont plant of the East Butte Company produced more than 1,500,000 pounds a month instead of 2,000,000 pounds, as in 1918. In addition to the mines of the Anaconda and East Butte companies, the North Butte, Davis 380 HISTORY OF MONTANA Daly, Butte Reduction Works dump, Butte Ramsdall, Elm Orlu, Butte Duluth, Butte and Superior, Tuolumne and Bullwhacker produced con- siderable copper. SAMPLING ORES FOR COMMERCIAL PURPOSES One of the most recent and important advances made by Montana mining experts is the authorized state system of sampling its mineral pro- ductions as a basis for commercial dealings. It is under the jurisdiction of the State Bureau of Mines and Metallurgy, which was created by the Legislative Assembly of Montana in 1919. One of the duties of the new bureau was "to study the mining, milling and smelting operations carried on in the state with special reference to their improvement;" also, "to prepare and to publish bulletins and reports, with necessary illustrations and maps, which shall embrace both a general and detailed description of the natural resources and geology, mines, mills and reduction plants of the state." In 1920, the bureau therefore presented, in pamphlet form, a study of sampling and the sampling facilities of Montana. From this report it appears that whoever now mines ore in the state sells it on the results of the analysis of a sample; ore is purchased on its value as determined by sampling ; the plants are operated on a basis of results from sampled materials; efficiencies and losses are all based on results from samplings. Sampling is therefore one of the most vital and necessary operations of modern mining and metallurgical industry." *Woodbridge in a recent paper published by the United States Bureau of Mines defines sampling as follows : "The correct sampling of a lot of ore is the process of obtaining from it a smaller quantity that contains, in unchanged percentages, all the constituents of the original lot." He further qualifies and defines the operations in his next paragraph : "The commercial object of sampling is accomplished when the ultimate sample obtained meets the above conditions within an allowable limit of error, and has been obtained with reasonable speed and at a moderate cost. The final sample should be dry and of such bulk and degree of fineness as to be immediately available for the determination by the assayer or chemist of one or more of its constituents." Four wholly different, yet essential, sorts of work may be done to accomplish the intended purpose of sampling. The four operations are : 1. Crushing, or grinding. 2. Selecting dividing or cutting. 3. Mixing. 4. Drying. Sampling is now carried on extensively in Montana in seven sampling mills and in at least five large and important ore-dressing mills. The largest is the $150,000 steel-concrete custom ore sampling plant of the Anaconda Mining Company which is known as the Washoe sampler, and is situated on the main line of the Butte, Anaconda & Pacific Railroad at *Woodbridge, J. T.; U. S. Bureau of Mines, Technical Paper 86 (1916). HISTORY OF MONTANA 381 Butte. The main mill portion was put in operation in 1911, after a fire had destroyed the previous structure. The American Smelting & Refining Company provides extensive sampling facilities for the custom ores which maintains its lead smeltery at East Helena. The smeltery started operations thirty years ago, and some of the sampling mill construction dates from about that time. The plant maintains three distinct sampling mills and a steel sampling floor. The East Butte Copper Mining Company samples all of its second- class ore and custom ore in a mill adjacent to its smeltery at Butte. The Anaconda Copper Mining Company maintains two sampling mills in its great smeltery at Anaconda. The mills are almost exclusively used for sampling ores from its own mines, since custom ores are sampled in the Washoe sampler at Butte. The Southern Cross sampling mill is a plant addition made to the smeltery some three years ago by the company. The paper issued by the State Bureau of Mines and Metallurgy has this additional information about the sampling facilities of Montana: "A great deal of sampling is done as part of the daily routine in all concentrating and cyaniding mills. In ore treatment plants conditions are decidedly favorable for cheap and accurate work. The greatest difficulty is unquestionably in the sampling of mill heads where hardly less than a full observance of all the rules for crushing and dividing can be expected to supply precise data. "Every tenth car of ore for the great Anaconda i7,ooo-ton concen- trator is sampled in the Anaconda sampling mill which has already been described. All the ore going to the East Butte concentrator is sampled in the East Butte sampling mill, also one of the mills described in this paper. The Butte and Superior concentrator feed is hand sampled every half hour; 50 pounds are taken at each interval. The Timber Butte concentrator is equipped with a hand operated device which cuts out sam- ples from the crushed feed as the stock pours from one conveyor head to another conveyor. The Shannon mine of the Barnes King Company is equipped with mechanical contrivances which automatically cut out por- tions of the ore at the tramway loading station; the sample is worked down to final pulp in the customary way. "The sampling of the different streams of mill pulp is carried out in different degrees by various means in the several mills. Usually hand samples are taken at designated intervals. Swinging stream samplers are built in a variety of models and frequently used. A complete automatic stream sampling system is in use at the Butte and Superior mill ; an elec- trical timing and operating installation swings samplers across a half- dozen streams at exactly 8-minute intervals. Milling work inevitably smooths out inequalities in the raw ore ; the material is abundantly crushed ; mixings and dispersions occur throughout the line of pulp flow. The required precision of the sampling operation is obtained with slight ex- pense for installation, upkeep, or attendance. "Mill products can be sampled as pulps while the concentrates are flowing to collecting bins; they can be pipe-sampled as lots in bins or in 382 HISTORY OF MONTANA railroad cars, or they can be hand-sampled by shovel and cone and quarter methods. "As a rule, ordinary mill sampling, except for the sampling of the heads, is far. easier to accomplish than the sampling of lots of custom ore; mill heads require practically the same treatment that lots get in the best of custom samplers." PEACE BRINGS STAGNATION In the quantity and value of its output, zinc is third of the mineral products of Montana. It closely follows silver and, like that precious metal, js a by-product of copper. After the armistice was signed in November, 1918, the price of copper, lead and zinc declined at such rail- road speed that by the first of 1919 the output of the Butte district had fallen to about sixty per cent of the normal. Production from the mines was not seriously affected by strikes, although there was some labor trou- ble in February. Manganese properties suffered with special severity, as the various chemical developments of manganese (always associated with iron) were used both medicinally and surgically, and when the great war ended the chief demand was taken away. When the armistice was signed, practically all the manganese properties closed down but, as in the case of silver, there has since been a revival of the industries based on that product. The extensive search of the country for manganese to meet the war demands led to the development of both the Philipsburg and Butte dis- tricts, where large and paying quantities had been found. Of the high grade ore produced, that containing thirty-five per cent or more of man- ganese, the Philipsburg district produced 127,415 tons and the Butte dis- trict 72,381 tons in 1918 more than two-thirds of the total production of the United States. THE MINING OF ZINC The mining of zinc is the latest development in the Montana field. The industry was first placed on its feet in 1907, when the Butte & Superior Copper Company, Limited, which had been organized during the previous year, began active operations. The field of its developments embraced about ninety acres in the northern portion of the Butte district, and included the Black Rock mine among the group of claims controlled by the company. The Black Rock developments had been merely surface workings, but the new company sunk its main shaft to a depth of 800 feet before any laterals were undertaken. It was then discovered that instead of 'the upper deposits of silver ore being underlaid by copper- bearing deposits, as had been presumed, the principal value of the veins under development lay in the zinc contents. During the following four or five years the workings were sunk deeper and deeper, with levels run at 200-feet levels, until a depth of 1,600 feet was reached, and a mill built at Basin, twenty-five miles northeast of Butte, for metallurgical in- HISTORY OF MONTANA 383 vestigations. Additions to the original claims were also made, as the company acquired ownership in the stock of the Butte-New York Copper Company (controlling the Butte-Milwaukee Copper Company) and the North Butte Extension Development Company. The additions thus made to its working claims covered ninety-two acres, and by the end of 1912 the total area owned and controlled by the Butte & Superior Copper Com- pany amounted to 245 acres. The principal developments, however, were on the Black Rock claim, although in 1912 considerable work was done on the Butte-Milwaukee property. The Elm Orlu, owned and operated by the company of that name, was an early and a large producer. It is both a zinc and a copper mine. As a rule, the zinc and copper occur in distinct lenses, lying side by side or in segregated bunches, alternately copper and zinc. When the copper predominates the percentage of zinc is small. While the average of the ore is twenty per cent zinc, there are numerous localities where the values run as high as thirty-five per cent. Owing to the destruction by fire of the Butte Reduction Works in 1912, a concentrator was built at Timber Butte for the testing of the Elm Orlu ores. Besides the Butte & Superior and Elm Orlu, the principal zinc pro- ducers of Montana have been the Anaconda and Butte Copper & Zinc mines. Smaller producers were the Snow Storm mine, Lincoln County; the Davis Daly, at Butte, and the Montana Consolidated, in Jefferson County. Most of the zinc concentrate was melted in the East, but zinc ores from the mines of the Anaconda Copper Mining Company were concentrated at Anaconda, and the concentrates were leached at Great Falls. The electrolytic plant was active during 1919, but the output was less than that of 1918, when much custom material was treated. The output of recoverable zinc in Montana decreased from 209,258,- 148 pounds, value of $19,042,491, in 1918, to about 176,432,000 pounds, value of $12,915,000, in 1919. In 1908, the first year in which the metal was produced in commercial quantities, the output of zinc was valued at $77,080. It gradually increased to $5,690,000 in 1914, and in the fol- lowing year leaped to $14,500,000 and in 1916, to $31,099,000. In 1917, the year that the United States entered the World war, the value of the zinc product of the Montana mines fell to $16,506,000. THE OUTPUT OF LEAD Although lead is the least important in productive capacity of the five minerals which have made Montana a great mining state, it is the only one which shows a decided increase in the value of its output, within very recent years since 1916. Lead commenced to be shipped from the Montana mines as early as 1883; in that year the product was valued at $226,424. It gradually increased to $1,229,027, in 1891, suffering a gen- eral decline, on the whole, until 1916, when the output increased to $i,- 151,000, as against $550,000 in the previous year. In 1917, it increased to $1,545,568, and in 1918 to $2,636,649 the banner year up to that 384 HISTORY OF MONTANA time. A large part of the lead came from the lead-zinc ores of the Anaconda properties at Butte, treated at Great Falls. The Butte & Superior property at Butte, and the Snow Storm mine at Troy, Lincoln County, were also contributors. Smaller quantities came from the Angel- ica and Pilgrim mines, in Jefferson County, and the Davis Daly property, at Butte. The usual increases in both lead and silver are due to the marketing of by-products from the electrolytic plant at Great Falls. VALUE AND QUANTITIES OF MINERAL OUTPUT The latest accessible figures, furnished by the United States Geological Survey for 1919, give the following as the value of the output of the five principal sources of Montana's mineral wealth: Copper $33,940,188 Silver 14,768,000 Zinc 12,915,000 Lead : 2,41 1,787 Gold 2,272,000 Total $66,307,975 By counties, Silver Bow is still far in the lead, notwithstanding the depression in the Butte industries. Although there is no comparison be- tween Silver Bow County, with its normal mineral production of more than $100,000,000 and Jefferson County, with its output of $1,000,000. the latter leads the minor counties in this regard, and is usually followed by Lincoln, Lewis & Clark, Granite and Madison, about in the order named. In 1918, Silver Bow produced more than 321,000,000 pounds of copper, as against the 323,000,000 pounds representing the entire output of the state; 15,000,000 ounces of the 16,797,000 coming from the silver mines; 204,963,000 of the 29,258,000 pounds of zinc mined; 22,746,000 pounds of lead, the entire state producing 37,135,000; and 43,638 ounces of gold, compared with the 150,192 produced by all the gold deposits of Montana. After Silver Bow, Broadwater, Mineral and Jefferson coun- ties are the leading copper producing sections; Jefferson, Granite and Cascade, the silver counties; Jefferson and Lincoln, producers of zinc; Lincoln, Jefferson, Cascade and Beaverhead, of lead, and Lewis & Clark, Deer Lodge, and Madison, of gold. COAL AND LIGNITE The coal fields of Montana, as traced by the geologist, have already been described. Within the past twenty years, the mining of coal and lignite (a sort of woody coal) for commercial, industrial and domestic purposes, has become a leading source of wealth, comfort and prosperity. Throughout the state, there are about fifteen large mines and forty smaller ones. Some of them have been used on a commercial scale for years, while others serve to supply the neighboring farmers. The latter are BUTTE AND SURROUNDINGS 386 HISTORY OF MONTANA the lignite deposits, which underly a large portion of the eastern section of the state and have contributed much to its settlement. In Carbon, Musselshell and Cascade counties there is a good grade of coal. The mines in the southern and central portions of the state are extensive and not only furnish employment for a large number of men but provide markets for farm products. Much coal is being mined on land which is leased from the state, the proceeds going into the public school fund. With few exceptions, there has been an increase in the amount of coal mined in Montana, from year to year, since 1901. In that year the output was 1,442,569 tons. During the years when the country was pushing the war industries, in which Montana largely participated, the production of Montana coal reached its maximum 4,227,000 tons in 1917 and 4,276,000, in 1918. For the year ending December 31, 1919, the output was 3,300,000 tons, valued at $10,725,000. Experts claim that fully twenty per cent of Montana's area is underlain with either coal or lignite, which, with the wise conservation of her forest wealth by the national government, seems to make her fuel supply well assured. The important position of Montana in the coal economy of the United States is recognized by the United States Bureau of Mines, which, with the Canadian Government, is making a special investigation to test the feasibility of carbonizing lignite, so as to bring it in the class of com- mercial coal. Sufficient progress has been made to warrant the belief that it is feasible, which, if it should be the fact, would bring the vast deposits of lignite both in western Canada and the northwestern states of the Union into the channels of commerce and trade. It is an important economic consideration that these lignites are found in those parts of the country that have no other solid fuel. But because of the large content of moisture in lignite and its liability to spontaneous combustion when stored, it is not a most desirable fuel, and millions of tons of bituminous and anthracite coal are shipped annually into lignite- bearing regions. The results are high prices for both industrial and domestic fuel, the imposition of a great handicap on the industrial devel- opment of these regions, the tying up of much transportation equipment needed for other service, and other economic lost motion. It is estimated that the nation's coal resources total 3,553,637,100,000 mineral tons of 2,000 pounds. Of that amount, 1,051,290,000,000 tons, or nearly one-third, is lignite, and 964,424,000,000, or more than ninety per cent, are contained in the Dakota and Montana deposits. DEVELOPMENT OF THE OIL FIELDS Since the fall of 1919, when Montana's first well to produce oil in commercial quantities was struck, the east-central part of the state has been covered with a seething tide of prospectors, promoters and pro- ducers. Musselshell, Fergus and Garfield counties have shown the greatest and the steadiest development. Their location is on the western border HISTORY OF MONTANA 387 of the widely extended coal fields which are coextensive with those of the Dakotas; and one of the geological explanations of the prevalence of the remarkable flow of oil found in that section is that the seepage of the liquid gold from the coal veins has been directed toward the rim of the vast coal basin which underlies the Dakotas and east-central Montana. In 1919 and 1920, the United States Geological Survey made a scientific investigation of about 850 square miles in Central Montana, which in- cludes the greater part of a plunging geanticline a large sloping flexture of the earth's crust which is an eastern extension of the Big Snowy and Judith mountains uplift. Along the northern and southern flanks of this geanticline there are two pronounced anticlinal folds, and along the axes of these folds are several oval domes. The strata between these two folds are flexed into a series of low-plunging anticlines or spurs, which extend eastward from the mountain uplift. It was in these two folds, thus described by the Government geologist, known as the Devil's Basin and the Cat Creek anticline, that the most important developments were made in 1919 and 1920. The history of the oil and gas interests of the state was so well and concisely written for the 1920 publication of the State Department of Agriculture and Publicity, by Commissioner Charles D. Greenfield, that it is here republished, as follows : "After intermittent prospecting for more than thirty years, a pro- ducing oil well was discovered in Montana in November of 1919. Three more producing wells were struck within the next eight months and at the present time scores of companies are busy drilling and testing out various domes in Montana that appear favorable for the discovery of oil. While apparently Montana has added another industry to its numer- ous enterprises, its scope and value remain to be demonstrated. The oil industry may assume big proportions but more drilling must be done before this fact is determined. However, the prospects are most favor- able. The extension into Montana of the Wyoming fields that have been steady producers for years, the development of valuable gas fields in southern Alberta, the drilling in of large gas wells near Havre, Glen- dive and Baker, and finally the bringing in of high grade oil wells on the Cat Creek anticline (Fergus and Garfield counties) in May, have led petroleum engineers seriously to consider Montana as the next big oil producing state. "The first effort to find oil in Montana was made in 1890, it is said, in Blaine county in the Chinook field. A hole was sunk 960 feet in township 3,2 N., range 16 E. Only gas was encountered. A few years later drilling was undertaken by a Helena syndicate in the Kintla Lakes district of what is now the Glacier National Park, but without results. In subsequent years drilling was done in Hill, Wheatland, Stillwater and Yellowstone counties. In 1915 the first discovery of oil in Montana was made in the Elk Basin field, Carbon county, just over the Wyoming line, at a depth of 1,245 feet. Oil was struck in commercial quantities at a depth of 1,490 feet. The same year several wells were drilled in Mus- 388 HISTORY OF MONTANA selshell county. In 1917 the Foster well was drilled in the west end of the Crazy Woman's Pocket in Musselshell county. At a depth of 1,700 to 2,000 feet strong traces of oil and gas were encountered but heavy water pressure and lack of funds caused an abandonment of the enterprise. "In 1919 a well was drilled on section 29-8-21 in the Crazy Woman's Pocket and at a depth of 1,870 feet oil was struck. Drilling was con- tinued, however, to a depth of 2,370 feet when the well was abandoned because of the heavy pressure of water. In November of 1919 the Van Duzen company, drilling on section 24-11-24 in the Devil's Basin, twenty- three miles northwest of Roundup, brought in what is considered the first real Montana oil well, and the well that brought in capital and operators on a big scale to test the Montana field. At a depth of 1,175 feet oil began flowing over the top of the casing. The oil is reported to be of a heavy grade. It is said to be the intention of the company to drill to the second oil sands, believing that a larger flow and a higher grade of oil will be obtained. "The Frantz Corporation brought in the second well February 18, in the Mosby field near the town of Winnett, Fergus county. At a depth of 1,015 feet the bit cut into the oil-bearing sands, a second Kootenai formation, and the well is reported to be producing about 400 barrels of oil every twenty-four hours. The oil sands are said to be seventy feet in thickness. The oil is of a paraffin base, 47 degrees Baume gravity, or about 50 per cent in gasoline content and of high commercial value. In May the same company brought in a second well in the same field, but east of the Musselshell river in Garfield county. In August the Decker- Collins Company brought in a well in the same field. "Among other prospective fields where drilling is now under way or contemplated in Montana are the various domes in Fergus, Garfield and Musselshell counties, the Porcupine dome of Rosebud county, the Bow- doin dome of Phillips and Valley counties, and domes in Teton, Lewis and Clark, Park, Stillwater, Sheridan, Carbon and several eastern Montana counties. OIL FROM SHALE "Besides prospective oil fields, Montana has many deposits of oil shales. Only one field, that in Smallhorn canyon, Beaverhead county, has been developed; A plant producing 200 gallons of oil daily has been erected and is in operation. Two grades of oil are produced, in addition to a good grade of gasoline, and the burned shale is said to run so high in phosphate that it is valuable as a fertilizer. The oil is said to be well adapted for flotation purposes in the recovery of minerals, and, with additional filtration, is an excellent lubricant. "Several, bulletins have been published by the United States Geological Survey dealing with various potential oil domes and oil shale deposits in Montana. HISTORY OF MONTANA 389 OIL AND COAL LEASES "For many years thousands of acres of land in Montana, believed to be valuable for coal, oil or phosphate, were withdrawn from entry. These have now been opened to entry and development under the terms of the coal and oil leasing bill passed within the year by congress. The bill provides that government owned coal land will be sub-divided into leasing tracts of 40 acres each or multiple thereof. No one leasing tract can contain more than 2,560 acres. Leases are to be awarded by com- petitive bidding. Where prospecting is necessary to determine the exist- ence or workability of coal deposits the secretary of the interior may issue a prospecting permit for two years covering not to exceed 2,560 acres, and if within that time the permittee shows the land contains coal in commercial quantities, he is to be entitled to a lease. No railroad will be permitted to hold a lease to mine coal except for its own use, and no railroad can receive more than one lease for each 200 miles of its rail- road line within the state in which the coal land is situated. "The bill provides that when the government decides to lease a tract of coal land it shall announce in advance of the offering of the leases the royalty that will be charged. This royalty is to be not less than five cents a ton of 2,000 pounds, payable at the end of each third month suc- ceeding that of extraction of the coal from the mine, and an annual rental, payable at the date of the lease and annually thereafter on the lands or coal deposits covered by the lease at such rate as may be fixed by the secretary of the interior prior to offering the lease. "The rental is to be not less than 25 cents an acre for the first year, not less than 50 cents an acre for the second, third, fourth and fifth years, and not less than $i an acre for each year thereafter during the continuance of the lease. Leases are to be for indeterminate periods on condition of diligent development and continuous operation of the mine except when operation shall be interrupted by strikes. At the end of each 2O-year period the secretary of the interior may require a readjust- ment of terms and conditions. OIL AND GAS "As to oil and gas, the legislation provides that the secretary of the interior may grant to any qualified applicant the exclusive right for a period not exceeding two years to prospect for oil and gas upon not to exceed 2,560 acres of government land. On establishing to the satis- faction of the Interior department that he has located valuable deposits of oil or gas the permittee is to be entitled to a lease for one- fourth of the land embraced in his prospecting permit. The lease is to be for a term of 20 years upon a royalty of 5 per cent of the value of the pro- duction and the annual payment in advance, of a rental of $i an acre, the rental paid for any one year to be credited against the royalties as they accrue for that year. The permittee is to be entitled to a preference 390 HISTORY OF MONTANA right to a lease for the remainder of the land in his prospecting permit at a royalty of not less than 12^2 per cent of the value of the production. "Phosphates, oil shale and sodium are to be taken from the public domain in the same general terms that apply to coal, oil and gas. Each lease is to be for riot to exceed 2,560 acres and is to run for 20 years. The person who takes a phosphate lease will pay not less than 25 cents an acre for the first year, 50 cents an acre for the second, third, fourth and fifth years, and $i an acre for each year thereafter." CHAPTER XVII THE GREAT LIVE STOCK INTERESTS The instinct of the buffalo to head for the most plentiful grazing lands, the most permanent streams, the living springs or water holes, and the lands protected from the cold winds by rolling contours and deep depressions, drew the primitive cow and bull to the regions of the Yellow- stone Valley and Eastern Montana long before any white man found his way thither. Both Indian and buffalo shared these favored lands of Montana when the white man invaded them and bore witness to the wisdom of their selection. White man and Indian expelled the buffalo from its original home and installed the domesticated cattle in the lands which had been tested and proved by the aboriginal stock. DOMESTICATED CATTLE FIRST ESTABLISHED The industry of the raising of beef cattle and dairy cows is almost as old as that of mining itself, but the pioneer attempts in that field were of small caliber and confined to the valleys and gulches of Western Mon- tana. John Grant, one of the pioneers of the Bitter Root Valley and perhaps the first "professional landlord" of that section, established the first herd of cattle in Montana during 1853, and ten years later, when the gold prospectors and miners swarmed into Western Montana, there were several herds in the territory. The miners were hardy and hearty men and had to have beef, if not milk; and their children were like those of other men and women. The raising of live stock in Montana was almost contemporaneous with the establishment of gold mining as a stable asset of the region. So rapidly did the industry grow that one of the first bills to be presented to the territorial assembly of 1864-65 (the first session) was entitled "an act concerning Marks and Brands." It was approved on January 31, 1865. MARKS AND BRANDS A record of the different brands, with the names of the owners, was kept by the secretary of the Board of Stock Commissioners. Similar brands used by different individuals were required to be placed on differ- ent parts of the beast and so designated in the recorder's book. A brand book was published by the Live Stock Association and each member of that body was furnished with a book. This made the identification of animals easy in the days when they were scattered over great stretches of territory 391 392 HISTORY OF MONTANA and fenced ranges were unknown. The state law regulating marks and brands also provided that if an animal were sold, "the person who sells must vent, or counter-brand, such animal upon the same side as the original brand, which vent or counter-brand must be a fac-simile of the original brand, except that it may be reduced one-half in size; the venting of the original brand is prima facie evidence of the sale or transfer of the animal." It was not long before the small stock owner was superseded by the great cattle baron, with his company of cowboys and outfitters. Each of the large ranches had its special brand, such as Bar Y, M-Bar, Two Dot and Two Bar. There was intense rivalry between the ranches, and as the animals roved abroad almost at will, sometimes summer and winter, if there were no bad droughts or f reeze-ups, bloodshed was not unknown ; often the only safeguard and peace-maker was the brand, which, however, was sometimes either altered, counterfeited or ignored. So, despite the brand and the law, quarrels and bloodshed over the ownership of live stock would occur. ROUND-UP OF STEERS AND HORSES These disagreements, rivalries and quarrels were liable to come to a climax at the time of the general round-ups, in April or May. Often seventy-five cow-punchers with from six to ten horses to the man took part in the spring round-up of one ranch. With the raising of cattle came the raising of horses, so the "cow-puncher" and the "broncho-buster" were one, and the round-up included not only beef steers but horses. Robert Vaughn, the pioneer and ranchman of the '6os, who afterwards moved to Great Falls, thus describes the round-up of the home ranges and the subsequent branding of the animals : "One would at first think that an army was crossing the country when these 'rough-riders' turn out in the morning. It is a wonder the many miles they cover in a day ; on an average they will ride seventy to eighty miles in one day during the round- up. Many of the horses may have been but partly broken the previous winter. To see these excellent horsemen, mounting their bronchos, and see the bucking and capers of these untamed steeds, is a circus in itself. * * * "The riders will gather several thousand cattle in one bunch at a given place on the open prairie where a camp is established. Here, where they all meet, the cattle are driven into one bunch surrounded by the riders, and this is the round-up proper. The bellowing of the cows and calves is pitiful, for at first they are constantly in commotion and many of them become separated from each other ; the noise they make is so awful one can hardly hear his own voice, but it is not long before each cow discovers her calf and then all is well. A fire is built near by and brand- ing irons of all owners of cattle on the range are heated. Then the ropers will ride into the ring, lassoo the 'young cattle by the hind feet and pull them by the horn of the saddle to where the fire is, and each calf is branded the same brand as the mother. An account of all calves, HISTORY OF MONTANA 393 and of each brand separately, is kept, so that, at the end of the branding season the owner can tell the number of calves branded. After getting through in one place, the camp is moved to another part of the range and so on, until the work is finished. It is hard work, but fascinating, and many seek to go on the round-up. In the same way, the beef-cattle are gathered in the fall and shipped East. The round-up, like the buffalo, will soon be a thing of the past." THE GREAT CATTLE DRIVES The first beef driven out of Montana of which there is any record was by D. J. Hagan, of Augusta (now Lewis and Clark County). In October, 1868, he headed the animals for Salt Lake, the purchasers hav- ing been Orenstein & Popper, of Salt Lake City. The cattle, as well as others of a somewhat later period collected from the Beaverhead coun- try, were used to supply the Union Pacific laborers with beef. In the following year (1869) commenced the great movement of cattle from the South, as the railroad builders and overland travelers could no longer be supplied from the northern herds and markets. The long drive from Texas, Mexico and California was "on," and so con- tinued for twenty years, or until the coming of railroads. The instinctive migration of the beef "critters" of the South, directed by its cattle kings into Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Wyoming, Montana, the Dakotas and even into the British possessions, and promoted by the urging of the summer heats toward the fresher and cooler pastures of the North, soon advertised the vast and unexcelled grazing lands of the thinning buffalo herds. Along this line are the following suggestions and statements: "It has been suggested that the northern migration occurred for the same reason that governed the movement of the buffalo. Spring comes earlier in the warm South and the grass sprouts long before the snow is off the Northland. Therefore at that season the herds grazed in these favorable pastures. Later, as the heat became more intense and the grass withered, they drifted north where the weather was cool and the grass was fresh. Thus autumn found thousands upon thousands of cattle ranging in Wyoming and Montana. The migration was known as the Long Drive. "The first Texas drive to Montana was made in 1869, and the last in the late '8os ; and this Long Drive was over a well defined and estab- lished trail. It lay across the tablelands of western Texas into Kansas and crossed the Santa Fe trail at Dodge. Thence, it continued past the head- waters of the Salmon, by Fort Hays and over the Republican river, and onward to the South Platte, where there was an immense cow camp Ogalalla, the great rendezvous of the cowboys and the Texas rangers. From that point, the Long Drive followed the Platte, over the Oregon trail, to Fort Laramie, and onward along the Bozeman road. At times it skirted the Black Hills and again it veered westward to the base of the Big Horn range. The headwaters of the Powder and the Tongue, the hunting grounds of the Crows and the Sioux, the home of the trap- 394 HISTORY OF MONTANA pers and the scene of many a conflict with the Indians, 'were now marked by the trail of the cow' which followed close on the retreating hoofs of the buffalo. The Long Drive coursed along the tributaries of the Yellowstone to the Missouri, thence over the trail of Lewis and Clark to Maria's river and the land of the Blackfeet, the ancient domain of the buffalo. "Here were multitudinous streams; here were rolling prairie lands and pastures of succulent bunch grass. Here, also, were cool breezes and snow-encrusted peaks shimmering against skies of burnished blue. "Five months were consumed in the journey from Texas to Montana. In 1871 more than half a million cattle came over the Long Drive. Hough in the 'Story of the Cowboy,' says : 'It was a strong, tremendous movement, this migration of the cowmen and their herds, undoubtedly the greatest pastoral movement in the history of the world. It came with a rush and a surge and in ten years it had subsided. That decade was an epoch in the West.' " With the inrush of foreign cattle added to the home herds, the sup- ply of Montana cattle reached a great volume, and not only were various "bunches" driven to Salt Lake City and Ogden for shipment, but minor "long drives" were established to land the animals in Eastern railroad points, on the way to Chicago. The first shipment of Montana cattle to the East was made by James Forbes from Ogden in 1874. He pur- chased a portion of Conrad Kohrs' Sun River herd, and the same year a large band of steers was driven for shipment from Madison County to Granger. In 1876 Mr. Kohrs drove from his Sun River range and shipped from Cheyenne. Before the coming of the Northern Pacific in 1883, five routes or drives were used by the cattlemen of Montana to reach railroad points and ship to the Chicago live stock market: First, from the Sun River ranches, via Snake River to Granger, on the Union Pacific railroad, 650 miles, and thence per rail to Chicago, 1,376 miles; second, from Sun River, via Smith and Musselshell rivers, to Pine Bluff, on the Union Pacific, 700 miles, and thence per rail to Chicago, 968 miles, a total of 1,668 miles; third (1878), from Sun River to Bismarck, on the Mis- souri, via Blackfoot reservation, and thence per rail to Chicago, 1,579 miles ; fourth, from Sun River across Maria's River to Fargo, 800 miles, - and thence by rail to Chicago, 744 miles ; fifth, from Sun River to Bis- marck, via Camp Lewis, the Great Bend of the Musselshell, down the Porcupine, and across the Yellowstone and Tongue rivers to Bismarck, via the main trail, 610 miles, and thence to Chicago, 879 miles, or a total of 1,489 miles. CATTLE WEALTH BY COUNTIES (1884) On January i, 1884, a few months after the eastern and western sections of the Northern Pacific met in Western Montana, 100,000 cattle were driven into the territory, which, with the natural increase of the home herds, brought the total to 850,000, valued at $30,000,000. The county division of this imposing source of wealth was as follows: HISTORY OF MONTANA 395 County Number Value Beaverhead 39,37 $i, 375.745 Chouteau 1 19,860 4,195,100 Custer 189,769 6,642,860 Dawson 5 I 99 2 1,819,720 Deer Lodge 3 2 > 8 3O 1,149,050 Gallatin 59,I 2 5 2 o69,375 Jefferson 26,554 829,390 Lewis and Clark 47,^55 1,674,925 Madison 2 4,Q5o 841,750 Meagher 193,171 6,760,985 Missoula I9,i5 2 670,420 Silver Bow 4, 2 H 147,490 Yellowstone 53,084 1,857,940 Total 850.000 $30,000,000 GREAT CATTLE SALES When the Northern Pacific was made available as a receiving and ship- ping medium for Montana live stock growers and dealers, the industry and business enjoyed a strong impetus. In July, 1883, a month before the golden spike was driven near Garrison, now Powell County, which marked the juncture of the two sections, occurred one of the most import- ant sales of cattle in Montana history. At the time mentioned, Conrad Kohrs, for Kohrs & Bielenberg, and Granville Stuart, representing Stuart & Anderson, bought of A. J. Davis, of Davis, Hauser & Company, 12,000 head of cattle for $400,000. It is said that "Stuart and Anderson were former owners of the herd, the sale being in fact a purchase of the two- thirds interest of Judge Davis by Mr. Kohrs for $226,667. This is the heaviest transaction in cattle that has ever taken place in the territory (written before the advent of statehood), the next highest being made a few weeks previous, when the Montana Company bought of Downs & Allen the old 7,000 head of Clark & Xllm for $235,000. By this trans- action Conrad Kohrs placed himself at the head of the Montana cattle business." MILES CITY, GREAT CENTER OF RANGE CATTLE The Montana Stock Growers' Association, of which Granville Stuart was elected president in 1884, represented an ownership of 500,000 head of cattle, and a strong second to it has been the Eastern Montana Stock Growers' Association. The especial Elysium of the ranging cow and the cowman has long been recognized as Eastern Montana and Miles City as its urban center. As stated by Colonel Gorden, editor of the Yellowstone Journal : "Miles City became the center for this new business, and in a day almost, we began to talk knowingly of range prospects and conditions and to be interested in the genus cowboy, simon-pure specimens of which 396 HISTORY OF MONTANA began to drop in on us from Texas and the Southwest. The change wrought was sudden and complete; all business interests now catered to the new element, and well they might, for from 1881 to 1885 the wealth that was dumped in Custer county' in the shape of range cattle requires no exaggeration to make it an interesting statement. It was not only the experienced cowmen of the Southwest who had found and were eagerly taking advantage of a rich, virgin range, but eastern capitalists of the class who are always willing to take long chances for big returns, were falling over each other in their rush to get into the business. They had figured it out on a basis of one hundred per cent of calves each year, all heifers, and reproduction on the same scope from these calves not the first year; they did give them one year of maidenhood, and a 'turn-off' each year of 'threes' and 'fours' at fancy prices, of stock that had cost nothing but the ranch expenses. It was the same principle of arithmetical progression that the blacksmith proposed in his horse-shoeing operations and was a 'cinch' from the beginning. So alluring was the 'prospectus' that in the course of two or three years there must have been half a million head of range stock in Custer county alone. "As a majority of the companies and individuals knew nothing of the business, it was essential that there should be at the head of each outfit a manager or superintendent to take charge of the technical part of it. These managers were usually cowboys who had become 'tophands' on the southwestern ranges and were abundantly competent to run the herds, but were rarely good financial managers. Then there were other outfits that had for managers men who were interested in the ventures; men of good business repute at home and fully competent to run a store or a factory or an enterprise fitted to well established groves, but as much out of place running a cow outfit as they would have been commanding an army ; more so, probably. Looking backward, it is a hard guess which method was most disastrous; the. manager with 'cow sense,' but no idea of the value of money, or the thrifty financier who didn't know a brand- ing iron from a poker." The hard winter of 1886-87 played havoc with range cattle it is esti- mated that the loss was from 30 to 50 per cent. The large owners and speculators suffered most and there was a general wiping-out and weed- ing-out of the "foreign" element to the advantage of those who were set- tlers and were making the live stock interests their regular business and not a side line. PROGRESS OF CATTLE INDUSTRY For the past twenty years, the number of head of cattle in Montana has hovered around the 1,000,000 mark, although the valuation has greatly varied, ranging from over $17,000,000 in 1907 to nearly $69,000,000 in 1919. According to the census figures of 1920, the beef cattle of Mon- tana numbered 1,057,418 and the dairy cattle, 211,098, valued respectively at $60,118,952 and $13,819,301. Since 1885, the beef cattle shipped to market from Montana have, on HISTORY OF MONTANA 397 the whole steadily increased. That year the number of head was 70,089 ; in 1895, 206,460; 1905, 267,966; 1915, 173,936; 1919, 449,964. THE RAISING OF SHEEP Sheep will live and often thrive in a country where cattle and horses would die of thirst and starvation. There has always been a dispute as to whether they injure the pasturage over which they move, or benefit it by cropping weeds as well as grass. The side of the argument is largely determined as to whether the participant has interests in the cattle or sheep line. An old sheep man puts it thus : "It is often said by those interested in the range cattle industry that sheep eat the grass so closely that the ranges are destroyed or badly impaired. Now, if sheep were confined to a comparatively small pasture this would be true, as eat they must and, if necessary, they would eat the grass to the roots, but in the manner that sheep are herded on these ranges the charge is without foundation. They are not herded on the same range long. Indeed, it is not easy to see by the appearance of the grass where they have fed. They are dainty feeders, picking out just what they prefer, nipping the seeds off the tips of the grasses, cropping the various weeds and then passing on to new pastures. I have seen sheep leave rich pasturage to feed on sage brush. The successful sheepman here is one who herds his sheep over wide ranges, constantly moving them that they may select just what they desire." The raising of sheep is a later industry than the cattle and horse business, and. it attained no considerable importance until the advent of the railroads in the '8os. Then, as in the farther West and Southwest, commenced the bitter feud between the cow and the sheepmen each party to the controversy claiming that it was a war for self-preservation. But the days of the great range, either for cattle or sheep, are of the past, and the tariff and other causes have made the production of wool so uncertain a business venture that there has been a steady decrease in the number of sheep. For years raisers of sheep gave no attention to the "mutton end of the proposition," but of late years it is the mutton breeds which have been most cultivated. "Ten years ago," writes A. S. Wiley, president of the Custer County Wool Growers' Association, in 1900, "flocks in Montana were chiefly composed of strong crosses of Spanish-merino blood, yielding a fine fleece of very greasy wool. At that time every effort was directed to the pro- duction of wool, wholly ignoring the mutton product, and the same was true, in a measure, throughout the country. As a result the mutton pro- duced was hardly fit to eat. Small wonder, then, that the American people ate but little mutton. "Great impetus was given to the culture of the mutton breeds by the removal of the tariff on wool. It then became no longer profitable to keep sheep for wool raising, many went out of the sheep business, while those who remained began breeding the larger English strains, such as Cotswold, Lincoln and various Downs, with the result that shortly mutton became a A MOUNTAIN SHEEP RANCH RANGE HORSES HISTORY OF MONTANA 399 palatable and satisfactory food ; whereupon the American people at once discovered that they liked mutton, and the sales thereof mightily increased. Some seven years ago a band of fine Vermont Spanish-merinos registered bucks that had cost $30 or more each went begging and vainly sought a market here at $5 each. Since that time, the mutton breeds with larger bodies, but coarser fleeces of lighter wool, have found acceptance. Each of these breeds has its advocates. Some will have Cotswold and no other ; others prefer Lincolns ; some breed Oxford Downs, while some would just as soon breed coyotes as sheep with black face and legs; but nearly- all have been breeding to these mutton sheep, and this trend has become so strongly that in some cases the fleeces have become too light and open, and a tendency to hark back to some form of merino is in evidence ; not, however, to the wrinkly type. "The improved merinos, Ramboullet or Delaine, nearly without wrinkles, are the strains which now find favor. This turning again to merino types is the result to some extent of the present higher prices of wool. The loss (estimated) of sixty million sheep in Australia during the past two years, a number one-half larger than all the sheep in the United States, with other causes the tariff undoubtedly among them has raised the price of wool to a paying basis, and it is hard to see what can prevent this advance from continuing for some years to come. Pure blooded sheep are not to be desired on the range." Besides the tendency of flockmasters to favor the mutton breeds and convert their lambs into meat, the winter fattening of lambs is becoming an important industry in the state. Billings is quite a center for this, as the region furnishes for feed an abundance of sugar beet pulp, alfalfa and small grains. For the past twenty years, the number of sheep and the wool product have been steadily declining. During that period, the most productive year was 1904, wKen the 5,576,000 sheep of Montana yielded 37,700,000 pounds of washed and unwashed wool and 12,818,000 pounds of scoured wool. In 1919, there were 2,790,000 sheep of shearing age, which produced 22,- 878,000 pounds of washed and unwashed wool and 8,465,042 pounds of scoured wool. The census figures for 1920 indicate that the state has now 2,082,919 sheep valued at $25,775,607. DECLINE IN HORSE RAISING During the World's war, Montana, in common with all the other horse- producing states reaped a harvest of profits. For the past year or two, an effort has been made to rid the ranges of light weight stuff and inferior grades ; a desire for good quality has replaced an ambition for large num- bers ; which accounts chiefly for the decline in the number of head. Miles City is the largest horse market in the state, and a number of years ago was the largest primary horse market in the world. Sales were held at regular intervals throughout the year and buyers from all parts of the country attended. Dillon, in Southern Montana, is the only other place in the state that has featured horse auctions. 400 HISTORY OF MONTANA According to the figures published by the State Board of Agriculture, there has been a decline in both the number and value of the horses raised on Montana farms and ranges, in 1919 as compared with 1920, as follows : 575,000 valued at $48,300,000, against 518,000 valued at $31,180,000. The banner year for high priced horses was 1918, when the 506,000 animals of the state were valued at $49,588,000. Montana farmers have never become much interested in raising mules although within the past two years a considerable number of farmers have disposed of stallions and replaced them with jacks. The result of this policy will not be apparent for several years. The 1920 census indicates that there are more than 9,000 mules in the state valued at nearly $1,120,000. MONTANA FAVORS SWINE On the whole, there is no variety of live stock which has a more stable promise than the hogs of Montana. Although the drought of several late seasons have delayed the development of the industry, the extension of the irrigated alfalfa pastures, supplemented by natural feeding fields well watered, are making the state lands ideal for the fattening of hardy pork- ers. With the addition of peas or barley and a little grain, the swine become thrifty and fast-growing. Barley and skim milk, in the dairy sections, are also used as feed and produce the same finely flavored pork for which Denmark is famous, the hog raisers of which country largely use this combination. In Eastern Montana, where more and more attention is being given to corn growing, the crop is harvested by the hogs, which bring financial returns more quickly than by any other plan. Feeders in the corn belt assert that the irrigated districts of the West can raise pigs to a feeder age far more quickly than in their country. Many of them therefore buy feeder pigs by the carload in the West and ship them East to be finished for market in the corn belt. The swine in Montana have been growing in numbers and value of product. In 1902, the 21,745 head of swine on the farms were valued at $560,916; in 1911, 124,000 head and $1,290,000; in 1916 (the star year in numbers) 298,000 and $2,682,000 respectively, and 1919 (the leading year in valuation), 200,000 head valued at $4,400,000. According to the latest census statistics the Montana swine, in 1920, numbered 167,000 and were valued at $2,888,694. DAIRYING IN MONTANA Dairying is a comparatively new industry in Montana, but the climatic and topographic conditions are so favorable for its prosecution that it has rapidly developed within the past five years. The agricultural depart- ment sets forth these conditions and other advantages. In its 1920 year book is the following: "A more favorable climate for dairying could hardly be found than that of Montana. The cool nights make the keeping and handling of dairy products possible and afford fine conditions for pas- HISTORY OF MONTANA 401 turage. The long days for grazing in summer are almost ideal. The in- dustry is a paying one in the winter if adequate shelter is provided and winter feeding is properly carried on. In the more favored sections in the southern and western districts the winter weather does not affect the dairyman to any extent. The higher price of the products in the winter months compensates for the increased cost of production at that time. "Montana has long been noted as a hay producing state. Vast quan- tities of clover, alfalfa and other grasses are grown. The State Dairy Commission is encouraging the growing of the legumes, including cow peas, soy beans and vetches in increased amount. With water for irriga- tion, pastures one of the most essential items for the successful dairy- SECOND CROP OF ALFALFA IN VALLEY COUNTY man are kept in good condition through the summer months and late in the fall. Alfalfa is now being raised in practically all sections of the state and dairymen have found that this is a most valuable roughage feed. The number of flour and grist mills is rapidly increasing, and the by-product of these, together with the by-products of the sugar factories, such as are used for the dairy cow, are much easier to obtain than formerly." The dairy industry is under the supervision of the State Dairy Com- mission, and under the Jaw, dairies and creameries are inspected for sanitary purposes and both farmer and consumer are protected in the marketing of the products. The commission also conducts an educational campaign, directed both to the child and the adult. The boys' and girls' calf clubs have proven quite influential. The last report of the State Department of Agriculture and Publicity conveys the further information : "While dairying has been longer estab- lished and has made greater strides in western and central Montana than Vol. 126 402 HISTORY OF MONTANA in the eastern portion, the last year or two has witnessed a change in the non-irrigated farming areas of the state. Farmers have begun to realize that in years of sub-normal rainfall a small herd of milch cows is the best kind of drouth insurance, the weekly or monthly cream checks furnishing a living for the family. Forage for live stock on the non-irrigated farms has been a problem in dry years, but the remarkable success had with Russian sunflowers, yielding from eight to ten tons of forage in dry years and upwards of 20 to 30 tons in wet years, has solved this difficulty. The Montana Agricultural College has determined that sunflower silage has practically the same feeding value as corn silage. Many silos have been built in the state in the past two years, and there is every reason to believe that it will not be many years before they will be regarded as essential as is a plow. The pit silo is the most inexpensive form and they have given good results wherever tried. "Dairying is further advanced in the irrigated districts, and substantial improvement is being made in the class of stock. The non-irrigated farmer is more likely to keep a dual purpose animal, the steer calves being turned out on the ranges to mature as beef, but in the irrigated districts farmers incline more to the straight dairy type. Campaigns are being waged in parts of Montana to induce men on irrigated farms to maintain irrigated pastures, in the past most farmers considering irrigated land too good to be used for pasture. Experts contend, how- ever, that the carrying capacity of an irrigated pasture is so much greater than the capacity of the ordinary pasture, that under the proper care the irrigated pasture will return as large if not larger returns than would the same ground in crop. "That part of Montana west of the main range is especially adapted to dairying. The grass is more lush than east of the range, and clovers do especially well on the logged-off lands. Dairy cows in these districts will furnish a living income while the farm is being cleared. Stevens- ville, in the irrigated district of the Bitter Root valley, boasts one of the largest and most successful co-operative creameries in the Northwest." Montana had four times as many milch cows in 1920 as in 1902. In the former year the number was 52,380, in 1914 it passed the 100,000 mark and, as reported by the United States census, in 1920, the number of dairy cattle was 211,098. In 1902, they were valued at $2,101,486; in 1920, $13,819,301. POULTRY AND BEES Many farmers of Montana have turned to the raising of poultry not only as a means of lowering the high cost of living, but as a most profit- able side industry. The Bitter Root Valley, the Flathead and the coun- try farther west, are ideal for poultry raising. The natural protection of the country in Western Montana, with its numerous streams, is a decided advantage over most of the open sections of Eastern Montana; but even in the more, exposed regions, poultry is raised to advantage when properly housed in cold weather. Chickens and turkeys, both producers of eggs and meat and fancy breeds, have brought Montana HISTORY OF MONTANA 403 to the front at not a few poultry shows held in New York, Chicago and other large cities. Much encouragement is given to the development of the industry by the state. The State College at Bozeman has a poultry department, the exhibits of poultry have ]z>een a leading feature for a number of years, and, since 1911, the State Board of Poultry Husbandry has been active in promotional work. The State Poultry Breeders' Association is a strong organization largely concerned in raising the breeds of the Montana birds. With the growth of transportation facilities throughout the state, especially in Western Montana, the conditions of the poultry market are rapidly improving. Another factor which is making the prospects of poultry raisers brighter is the handling of poultry and eggs by the cream- TURKEYS AT THE EXPERIMENT STATION, BOZEMAN eries. Perhaps the best example of this co-operation is found in the Stevenson Co-operative Creamery in the Bitter Root Valley. The United States census for 1920 gives the following figures illus- trative of the present-day importance of the poultry industry: Eggs produced, 11,238,256 dozens; eggs sold, 4,387,077 dozens; chickens raised, 2,659,630; chickens sold, 604,435; value of chickens and eggs pro- duced, $46,260,526; receipts from sale of chickens and eggs, $42,160,209. The keeping of bees has grown rapidly in favor within the past few years. The portions of the state which have made most advancement in the industry are Stillwater, Yellowstone and Big Horn counties, in the Yellowstone Valley, and in the Bitter Root and Flathead valleys of West- ern Montana. In Eastern Montana, the chief honey crops are clover and alfalfa, and in Western Montana, alfalfa and fruit blossoms. In 1920, the bees of the state produced 630,608 pounds of honey and 7,682 pounds of wax, valued at $160,270. CHAPTER XVIII LAST EPOCH OF TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT The ninth session of the legislative Assembly of the territory con- vened at Helena, which the people had pronounced its permanent capital, on the 3rd of January, 1876, and the thirteen years which followed con- cluded the last epoch of territorial government. Benjamin F. Potts was still chief executive; James E. Callaway was secretary of the territory; Solomon Star was just concluding his term as auditor, and D. H. Cuth- bert about to assume office ; D. H. Weston had served about six months of his long term as treasurer; Cornelius Hedges was superintendent of public instruction, and Decius S. Wade was chief justice of the State Supreme Court. Maj. Martin Maginnis was the delegate in Congress and the United States attorney was Merritt C. Page. MAJ. MARTIN MAGINNIS Major Maginnis, who had been a delegate to Congress since 1872, was one of the coming public men of Montana. Still only in his thirty- fifth year, he had made a military record as a Union soldier from New York and a newspaper man of Helena. In 1874, he had succeeded him- self by defeating Cornelius Hedges, a leading republican, lawyer and United States attorney, and was not displaced in his congressional seat until March, 1885. As congressional delegate, Major Maginnis made a reputation for successful and practical legislation which has not been sur- passed in the history of that office. Through his efforts many of the Indian reservations which covered a large portion of the territory were either abolished or reduced in area, and such frontier army posts were established at Forts Logan, Keogh, Custer, Maginnis, Assiniboine and Missoula. Through him were also founded the assay office at Helena and the United States penitentiary at Deer Lodge, afterward turned over to the state. Major Maginnis was active in the passage of land and timber laws particularly affecting the interests of Montana. One of the laws especially contributory to the development of the West was that giving railroads the right-of-way across the public lands. The bill granting that great privilege was drafted by Major Maginnis and carried through Congress, and under it all the railways in the West, except the three chartered by Congress, have been constructed. He procured the grant of lands for the University of Montana and other state institutions, and was active in the state constitutional convention of 1889. Subsequently as land commissioner of the state he stoutly defended the interests of his commonwealth against the aggressions of the Northern Pacific Railroad. 404 HISTORY OF MONTANA 405 Major Maginnis's last election to Congress, in November, 1882, was contested by his republican opponent Alexander C. Botkin, a popular Wis- consin lawyer and editor, who had served as United States marshal for Montana, and was afterward lieutenant governor and a leading member of the commission for the revision of the criminal laws of the United States. But Major Maginnis retained his seat as Montana's territorial delegate and continued his fine record in that office. What he accom- plished for the railroads of Montana cannot be overestimated. His work and accomplishment in that regard has been well reviewed in these words : "He believed that Montana was the natural highway through the moun- tains to the northwestern coast; that every railroad in the Mississippi Valley would have to find its way across it, and it was his conception that finally led Congress to pass a bill drafted by him granting all railroads a general right-of-way over the public lands of the United States without special charter, land grant or other subsidy, except a perpetual easement. The committee of territorial delegates gave the bill their united support. Major Maginnis was the chairman of this association of delegates or- ganized for the purpose of procuring legislation beneficial to the terri- tories. They were able men who afterward, as their territories came into the Union as states, became nationally prominent. Among them were Chafee, Elkins, McCormick, Cannon, McFadden and Armstrong. "The bill was opposed by the chartered roads on the ground that it destroyed their privileges, but the delegates fought it through both houses, and it was signed on the 5th of March, 1873. Under this law all the railroads of the new West have been built, except those previously char- tered by Congress. In our own state, the Great Northern, the Milwaukee, and all their branches, as well as all the branch roads of the Northern Pacific, outside of the main line, have been constructed pursuant to the provisions of this act. "Major Maginnis had a large part in the building of railroads. He drafted the charter and right-of-way of the Oregon Short Line, which took over and now operates the old Utah Northern. It was under the provisions of this act that Harriman consolidated the Southern Pacific system, a consummation never anticipated by the author of the bill, who was opposed to such consolidations. An effort was made in Congress to repeal the charter of the Northern Pacific, and the speeches and letters of Major Maginnis had much influence in overcoming the hostile clamor over Jay Cooke's failure. General Hazen, then commanding the district, had made a drastic report to the war department, condemning the coun- try and the entire project as an imposition and a fraud on the public, which had a great effect at that time and which was successfully answered by Major Maginnis in public addresses and in the press. He cham- pioned the entrance of the Great Northern and carried through Congress a bill for its right-of-way through the Indian reservations. He opposed the claims of the Northern Pacific to mineral lands within its land grant and Congress sustained his position, as did also the Supreme Court in an action which he had brought before it on behalf of the prospectors and miners of Montana." 406 HISTORY OF MONTANA NINTH, TENTH AND ELEVENTH SESSIONS Much of the home legislation of the ninth session of the territorial Assembly had to do with the encouragement of the railroads, especially the Northern Pacific. It was proposed to construct a line from Franklin, Idaho, into Montana, by way of the mouth of the Big Hole River. To aid that project, an act was passed to issue territorial bonds in the sum of $1,500,000 and another authorizing the different counties which would be benefited thereby to issue additional bonds. The Legislative Assem- bly adjourned February n, 1876. The tenth session convened January 8th and adjourned February 16, 1877, and more railroad legislation was enacted indicative of the public favor. By the new apportionment bill, the Council membership of thir- teen and the House membership of twenty-six were redistributed among the several counties. A new code of Civil Procedure was enacted, al- though it differed little from that of 1872 which it purported to repeal. The Probate Practice act of 559 sections, which was passed into law, was far more radical, and the entire subject of probate laws was ar- ranged, revised and codified. An historic resolution, in memory of Custer, was passed by the As- sembly to the effect that "in commemoration of the dauntless courage, the disciplined valor and the heroic death of Col. George A. Custer and his men of the Seventh Regiment of the United States Cavalry who fell with him in the battle with the Sioux Indians, on the Little Big Horn River, in the territory of Montana, on the 35th day of June, A. D.. 1876, the name of said Little Big Horn River be changed to Custer's River, and the same shall be forever hereafter known as Custer's River." This impressively worded resolution did not change the name of the river and it still appears upon all the maps at Little Big Horn River. In commemoration of the event, however, the Assembly, by act of Feb- ruary 1 6, 1877, did change the name of Big Horn County* to that of Custer; and that legislation accomplished its purpose.. At the eleventh regular session of the Montana Assembly sitting from January I3th to February 21, 1879, an act was passed exempting from taxation, for a period of six years, all improvements designed to forward the manufacture of sugar from beets, such as factories or refineries. This, in the way of protection for an infant industry, which, in portions of Eastern Montana, has since become quite lusty. An act was passed providing for the recodification of the general laws of the territory and Harry B. Comly was appointed to conduct the work. A bill was passed to enable Butte to be incorporated, and until its Board of Aldermen could be elected Messrs. W. A. Clark, Jeremiah Roach, Henry Jacobs and James Mussigbrod were to act in that capacity. A House joint memorial was addressed to Congress to pass an enabling act permitting the people of the territory to take the necessary prelimi- nary steps to enter the Union as a state a forecast of the actual event which occurred a decade later. * Present Big Horn County organized from parts of Rosebud and Yellowstonr in 1913. HISTORY OF MONTANA 407 The extraordinary session of 1879 lasted July 1-22 and was largely devoted to the finances of the territory. Its indebtedness was funded and outstanding bonds redeemed. A law was passed defining the con- ditions under which foreign corporations could do business in Montana. Authority had repeatedly been given the people of Helena, on petition, to incorporate as a city, but they had taken no steps to assume a municipal form of government. At this extraordinary session, the Assembly passed a bill to enforce the existing act of incorporation, and providing that if certain designated commissioners did not proceed to comply there- with within a specified time, the probate judge of Lewis and Clark County should carry out its provisions. THE UTAH NORTHERN PENETRATES MONTANA A great event for Montana was about to come to a head. The railroads were gradually pushing into its territory. Such commissioners from the East as Oliver Ames and Jay Gould had been pushing along the Northern Pacific, and, as noted by Joaquin Miller in his early history of Montana, "the hearts, of the people went -out to the road that was com- ing up the path trodden by Lewis and Clark in their search* for the overland commercial way to India lured by the old Northwest Passage idea, and the credit of the territory to the extent of $300,000 was pledged toward its support. There was also the other road coming in from Corinne on the Central Pacific. "The 'president of the Utah Northern (Sidney Dillon) now pro- posed to Governor Potts to extend his railroad lines to the Montana line in the year 1879, and to pierce Montana to the extent of 125 miles in the year following, conditioned only by the stipulation that his road should not be taxed for fifteen years. The governor called an extra session in July (noted in the foregoing paragraph) and in a lengthy message laid the proposition before his Legislature. It was not accepted. It was not entertained because it was clear that the small consideration asked by President Sidney Dillon, of the Utah Northern, would have very little weight, whether given by Montana or withheld. If it was to be built, it would be done nearly as well without this little exemption from taxation as with it. The only possible advantage to the territory attainable would be brevity of time. But as the Northern Pacific was pushing its way across the plains of Dakota with incredible speed, the Utah Northern must, and would, and did push on for the heart of Mon- tana as well. This, the first railroad in Montana, crossed the line in 1880, and in 1881 entered the capital. "At the meeting of the twelfth Legislature, there seems to have been a sort of 'taking of stock,' if the expression may be allowed. It was a cause of great rejoicing all over the land, this railroad to the capital. Old men had long waited for it, young men were made glad. Now and for the first time too, they could see The States. The popula- tion was tipping the beam at 50,000. The Northern Pacific road was almost within hearing; the schools were prosperous, having the California 408 HISTORY OF MONTANA school system and laws, and coming to be second only to that great state, so celebrated for its schools. The counties were still in debt, it is true, some of them heavily, but the credit of the Territory was almost at par; the debt had almost entirely disappeared." CODE OF LAWS ADOPTED Perhaps the most important development of the Twelfth Assembly was the report of Commissioner Comly, who had been appointed to codify the territorial laws. He presented a code comprising 1,239 sec- tions and covering Civil Procedure, Probate and Criminal Practice and General Laws. The code became a law without the governor's approval. Additional legislation was enacted authorizing the funding of the in- debtedness of counties. Silver Bow was created from Deer Lodge County, and the boundaries of a number of counties more specifically defined. GOVERNOR JOHN S. CROSBY Governor Potts was removed, or resigned from office, on January 14, 1883, knd John Schuyler Crosby, succeeded him in the governorship. He was a native of New York, of liberal education; when a young man was one of the pioneers in the transcontinental trip from Valparaiso, Chile, to Montevideo, Uurguay. During the Civil war he received re- peated promotion to the grade of brevet lieutenant-colonel, and after- ward served on the staff of General Sheridan and Custer in the West. In 1876-82 he was consul to Florence, Italy, and while there was deco- rated by the king for capturing a band of criminals in Tuscany. His service as governor of Montana extended from January 14, 1883, to December 15, 1884, and for a number of years afterward was assistant postmaster-general and New York school commissioner. ANOTHER FRUITLESS CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION (1884) Governor Crosby assumed office a week after the meeting of the thirteenth session of the Legislative Assembly, which lasted sixty days. A general law was passed during that period empowering school trus- tees to issue bonds to build or provide schoolhouses, and the members of the Assembly were again reapportioned. On February 26, 1883, the county of Yellowstone was created, and the boundaries of Gallatin and Custer counties were altered to conform to the limits of the new county. Additional legislation was provided permitting counties to fund their debts, and acts were passed for the incorporation of the city of Bozeman, of Fort Benton and Missoula. A House joint resolution was passed providing for the election of delegates by counties, in No- vember, 1883, for a convention to form a state constitution which should assemble on the second Monday in January, 1884. This was the second constitutional convention which failed to bear fruit. The first called by Governor Meagher, had met at Helena, April 9, 1866, and its six days session, now recognized to be illegal (as was HISTORY OF MONTANA 409 generally held at the time), accomplished nothing; for although a consti- tution was hastily thrown together by an incompetent gathering of dele- gates, the document dropped out of sight after being taken to St. Louis for publication. The second constitution created at the convention of January 14-February 9, 1884, held at Helena, under the presidency of William A. Clark, was never put in operation. It was presented to Congress by Hon. Joseph K. Toole, then a delegate to the national House of Representatives, but the admittance of the territory under its pro- visions was never secured. During the four years of his service in that body, however, Mr. Toole kept the subject constantly before it, and his labors were rewarded during the closing days of his term by the passage of the congressional act enabling Montana to become a state. GOVERNOR B. PLATT CARPENTER B. Platt Carpenter, another New York gentleman of thorough edu- cation and legal training, was appointed governor of the territory to succeed Mr. Crosby, and went into office December 16, 1884, although he did not arrive in Montana until January, 1885. He was a prominent Grant republican and President Arthur appointed him to the governor- ship. Unlike his predecessor, Governor Carpenter remained in Montana after his term as chief executive was concluded, and was a leader in founding the state. He was a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1889, an d a bly served as one of the commissioners who prepared the code of state laws which became effective July I, 1895. His recog- nized legal learning and long familiarity with the codes of the state of New York were eminently valuable in the codification of the laws of Montana. The Fourteenth Assembly which was in session sixty days from January 12, 1885, created the county of Fergus and passed laws incorpo- rating the cities of Billings, Dillon and Missoula, amending the act incor- porating Helena (July 14, 1885). GOVERNOR HAUSER, OF MONTANA BREED Samuel T. Hauser, who succeeded Mr. Carpenter as governor of Montana, on July 14, 1885, was a great contrast in experience and char- acter, to his two predecessors. In a sense, they were "foreigners," or, as such appointees from outside states were often called, "carpet bag- gers," a term borrowed from the post-war period of the South, during which politicians from the North were sent into the states "lately in re- bellion." Mr. Hauser, on the contrary, although a native Kentuckian, was in his early manhood a Missouri railroad man, and in the early '6os was one of the roving, hardy and brave pioneers of Montana, who traveled its historic trails and fought its Indians. For years he had been one of its democratic leaders, and received his appointment from President Cleveland. As early as 1865, Mr. Hauser organized a bank in the city of Vir- ginia and in the following year established the First National Bank at GOVERNORS POTTS, HAUSER AND ASHLEY HISTORY OF MONTANA 411 Helena. He also assisted in the founding of other banks in Butte and Missoula ; organized the Helena and Livingston Smelting and Reduction Company, and applied his industry, ability and money to the construction of railroads within the state. After his retirement from the active man- agement of the First National Bank of Helena, with other capitalists he began the development of the vast water power of the Missouri River north of Helena and was thus engaged during the later years of his life. THE CODE OF 1887 Governor Hauser's administration therefore had the advantage of being headed by an old-time Montanian, thoroughly understanding the people and their institutions. During his term the only assembly which performed its legislative functions was the fifteenth, which sat at Helena in January lO-March 10, 1887. It was during that period that the com- piled statutes of 1887 were put forth, which replaced a chaotic "code," or "hodge-podge," inherited from several preceding assemblies. The code of 1887 was passed at the last day of the session and, although a creditable piece of legal revision and collaboration, was further improved by the state codes of 1895. The only other law of importance enacted at the fifteenth session was that creating the County of Park, which was carved out of Gallatin County. GOVERNOR PRESTON H. LESLIE About the middle of the session, February 7, 1887, Governor Hauser resigned, being succeeded the following day by Preston H. Leslie, also a Kentuckian. He had already served as governor of Kentucky, first by death and resignation of intervening state officials, and then by elec- tion, the popular verdict spelling the defeat of the distinguished jurist, John M. Harlan. Afterward, he served as a circuit judge in Ken- tucky and in 1887, on the recommendation of his old political opponent, Justice Harlan, President Cleveland appointed him governor of Mon- tana. Governor Leslie was accompanied to Montana by his family, and at the end of his term as governor resumed the practice of law at Helena. Later, he was United States district attorney four years, and died at the state capital on February 7, 1907. One of his sons, Hon. Jere B. Leslie, at one time served as judge of the District Court, residing at Great Falls. Although there was an extraordinary session of the Fifteenth Legis- lative Assembly, extending from August 29th to September 14, 1887, no laws of moment appear to have been enacted except the creation of the County of Cascade from Meagher, Chouteau, Fergus and Lewis and Clark. CREATION OF A CODE COMMISSION The last territorial legislative Assembly (the sixteenth), covered the period from January T4th to March 14, 1889 sixty days and its great 412 HISTORY OF MONTANA work was to lay the foundation for a thorough, systematic and profes- sional codification of the territorial laws pending Montana's statehood. The stupendous task was no longer left to legislators or politicians, but to men learned and experienced in the law. Backed by a solid public sentiment, Governor Leslie, under the law, appointed a commission "to codify the criminal and civil law and procedure and to revise, compile and arrange the statute laws of Montana." He selected for that work Decius S. Wade, who had been chief justice of the state Supreme Court from 1871 to 1887; B. Pratt Carpenter, formerly governor and then a distinguished lawyer of New York state, and F. W. Cole, another learned lawyer who had long resided in the territory. Under the act, approved March 14, 1889 (the last day of the session), the commission was directed to prepare civil, penal and civil procedure codes and to present them to the first session of the state Legislature and a political code to its second session. Besides the creation of the code commission, the sixteenth session enacted a number of important measures. A general election law was passed, and a board of medical inspectors, as well as the office of in- spector of mines, was established, and an act was made law by which the National Guard of Montana was fairly placed on its feet. On February 22, 1889, Congress had passed the act enabling the Dakotas, Washington and Montana to assemble constitutional conventions and lay the foundations of new states, preparatory to their reception into the Union. PASSING FROM TERRITORY TO STATE The last territorial governor of Montana was Benjamin Franklin White, a Massachusetts Yankee early transplanted to California and Idaho. While still a young man, he was engaged in the salt business in the latter territory, and a few years afterwards, when the Utah Northern came into Montana he founded a freight forwarding com- pany, with headquarters at Dillon, which became the largest concern of the kind in the West. He was especially identified with the growth of that place in many ways. His term as territorial governor, under appointment of President Harrison, dates from April 9, 1889, and he served until November 8th of that year, or until the organization of the state government. As the holding of the State Constitutional Convention at Helena, in July and August of that year, was an event which ushered in the life of the commonwealth, the consideration of it is reserved for another chapter. A few touches of this transition period have been given by Joaquin Miller, for many years a gifted writer of the West, and are reproduced: "S. T. Hauser, the first Montana governor of Montana, resigned from office in 1887, H. P. Leslie, of Kentucky, succeeding. But it is idle to dwell on a list of officers when peace and prosperity attended the growing commonwealth. It would be wrong, however, even by inference, to say that these imported men at the head of affairs, HISTORY OF MONTANA 413 as a rule, failed in duty when on the ground. They may be likened to officers of the army, only wanting opportunity. The next Montana gov- ernor was B. F. White, of Dillon, appointed by Harrison. "Meanwhile, population, of a solid, cultured class, from the maple woods of the Miami Reserve, largely; Yankees, who had lodged a gen- eration or so in Ohio and Indiana on their way West, came pouring in by way of the Northern Pacific. The Indian troubles had entirely passed into history, so far as the daily massacre went at least, and so the remote little nooks and crooks along the mountain creeks soon be- gan to blossom with happy homes as never before. There was talk of a state. A convention was held, a constitution was framed, a vote taken; the constitution adopted and a state formed, and without the least friction, in brief space. This constitution is replete with cold caution and jealous guard over the liberties of Montana, and is severely econom- ical for a state that has mountains of gold for its corner-stones and silver ways and gateways." CHAPTER XIX BENCH AND BAR OF MONTANA During the few years prior to the creation of Montana as an inde- pendent territory, law and order and stern justice were represented by the preponderance of physical force, directed by the rugged and un- deviating honesty of the vigilantes and their tribunals the miners' courts. When the territorial courts were organized, under the organic act of 1864, the rules and regulations of the miners' courts were en- forced and most of the lawyers who practiced during that seething period continued their professional labors with honor under the consti- tutional bodies. As has been fitly observed: "Never were any courts organized by Congress, or by any state government, that had so extensive jurisdiction as the territorial courts. They possessed at once the juris- diction of the State and United States courts." BASIC ORGANIZATION OF THE JUDICIARY Under the organic act, the judicial power of the territory was vested in a Supreme Court, consisting of a chief justice and two asso- ciate justices; in District and Probate courts and justices of the peace. It also provided that the territory should be divided into three judicial districts, in which District Court should be held, at stated times, by one of the justices of the Supreme Court. These District courts were of general jurisdiction and their functions were coextensive with the Circuit and District courts of the United States. Appeals were taken from the District courts to the Supreme Court of the territory, and thence to the Supreme Court of the United States in all cases involving the sum of $5,000. Although the criticism was made that the territorial Supreme Court could thus confirm its own errors as rendered by the District Court, the Reports showed that the decisions of the lower court were often reversed, and that the judgments of the Supreme Court of the territory were usually affirmed on appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States. As already stated. President Lincoln appointed H. L. Hosmer chief justice, his associates being L. P. Williston, of Pennsylvania, and Lyman E. Munson, of Connecticut. Justice Hosmer lived in Virginia City and presided in the District Court of the First, Williston at Deer Lodge, as district judge of the Second, and Munson at Helena had jurisdiction over the Third judicial district. Probate courts were established in each county and every settlement and mining camp was provided with a justice of the peace and a constable. 414 HISTORY OF MONTANA 415 PIONEER LAWYERS OF MONTANA William Chumasero, Thomas Thoroughman, James G. Spratt, R. B. Parrott, William Y. Lovell, Thomas Muffly, Cornelius Hedges, Sidney Egerton, Elanson C. Moore, John P. Bruce, R. H. Robertson, Edward Sheffield, Jerry Cook, John C. Turk and William L. McMath are among the lawyers who arrived in Montana about the time of its organization as a territory and commenced practice. "And so," comments an appre- ciative author of those times, "Montana came to be well supplied with judges, courts and lawyers; the miners' courts gradually fade away and disappear, their thrilling scenes and incidents pass into history, their rules and regulations enter into the structure and body of the law, their judges and presidents lose their authority and jurisdiction, but retain their titles; the period of government without law has passed away. It has been a period of peril and hardship, of unconquerable energy and courage, but during its existence the seeds of an imperishable common- wealth had taken root. REIGX OF BENCH AND BAR BEGINS "The organic act did not do much more than to furnish the frame- work for a territorial government, and from its date until the enact- ment of what are known as the Bannack Statutes in January, 1865, by the first Legislative Assembly, though there were judges and courts, there was no law to set the machinery in motion. Upon the enactment of the Bannack Statutes the legitimate reign of the Bench and Bar begins." The so-called Bannack Statutes, with a congressional act passed in the following year, extended the old pre-territorial doctrine (rigidly enforced by the miners' courts) by which the first to discover running water for placer mining was entitled to its control; the Assembly and Congress extended that doctrine so as to apply it to water used for agricultural purposes. The older principle of riparian rights, as known to the common law, was thereby overturned, and the early justices of Montana were soon crowded with cases growing out of this conflict. Among the lawyers who handled such cases and others of this period were Henry N. Blake, Alex M. Woolfolk, Thomas R. Edwards, Green Clay Smith, L. G. Sharpe, John H. Shoper, John C. Robinson, R. E. Arick, Henry Burdick, Joseph J. Williams, Thomas J. Lowry, Walter F. Chadwick, Sample Orr and A. G. P. George. The Bannack Statutes, however, were crude and obscure, and in 1867 the Legislative Asserribly enacted what has been known as the California Practice act, as well as other statutes. But none of them were published until some time after they were enacted, and everything legal was still in such confusion and the permanency of the territory was so uncertain that there are few records of either the Supreme or the lower courts which are of any value. The dearth of statutes during the first judicial period, the lack of court houses and places for keeping 416 HISTORY OF MONTANA records, the widely scattered population and the distances for the judges, litigants, lawyers, jurors and witnesses to travel to the county seats and to the capital, made the courts expensive and surrounded the ad- ministration of justice with great difficulties and delays. Perhaps the justices of the first period, as most of the people of that time did, thought that the occupation of Montana by white people would only continue while the placers were being worked out, and that records and decisions were hardly worth preserving in a country so soon to again be a wilder- ness. At that time, the stock and agricultural industries had not been considered as valuable assets to the country and gold only was viewed in the light of a precious metal. JUSTICES OF FIRST SUPREME COURT RETIRE The first justices of the Supreme Court were now near the end of their terms. Soon after he retired in July, 1868, the chief justice moved with his family to California. Of Judge Hosmer's associates, Willis- ton retired with his chief and resumed the practice of his profession in Pennsylvania, while Munson continued to serve until April, 1869, when he returned to his native Connecticut. JUDGE AND GOVERNOR CLASH It was Judge Munson who stood so firmly for law under the con- stitution as opposed to law by force, albeit wielded by honest men; and in taking his judicial stand he was obliged to clash with Acting Governor Meagher. During the absence of Chief Justice Hosmer and Associate Justice Williston for nearly a year after the arrival of Judge Munson, judicial supervision of the territory devolved upon the latter. A typical New England lawyer and judge, he opened court in August, 1865, and in his charge to the grand jury, at Helena, significantly announced that courts had been organized "for the trial of both civil and criminal causes, with ample facilities to secure the ends of justice especially with such auxiliary help as they have reason to believe will be tendered in time of need, and which it is the duty of every good citizen at all times to ren- der." Citizens of the territory were ready to admit that the courts could handle, but were in doubt as to its criminal affairs. Judge Mun- son asserted that criminal causes could no longer be tried outside the courts established under the constitution. The first criminal case brought before him and the first trial for murder in any Montana court was that of James B. Daniels for the killing of one Gartley. The details of the crime are immaterial, but Daniels was convicted of manslaughter at the December term of the District Court, in 1865, and in the follow- ing February reprieved by Acting Governor Meagher. On being released from the Madison county jail (then the terri- torial prison) under this reprieve, Daniels immediately returned to Helena and swore revenge upon the witnesses who had testified against him. He arrived there about 9 o'clock in the evening and was almost HISTORY OF MONTANA 417 immediately surrounded by a mob, which hanged him about an hour afterward. At the time he was executed, Daniels had in his pocket the reprieve, or pardon, which had been issued a few days before by General Meagher. The incident drew from Judge Munson the following letter to the acting governor, which is characteristic of the writer, and refers bluntly, if not bravely, to the controversy then blazing between the judiciary and the Legislative Assembly, headed by the chief executive of the territory : "Virginia City, M. T., March i, 1866. "Gen. T. F. Meagher, Secretary and Acting Governor of Montana: Dear Sir: Noticing in the paper (the Montana Radiator) your proclam- ation setting at liberty James Daniels, convicted of manslaughter and serving out his sentence in Madison county jail, I came from Helena on the return coach to respectfully ask that you revoke that order and have the sheriff remand him to prison until the will of the President could be made known concerning him.* This you declined to do. I therefore desire to state that you have assumed the exercise of a power not dele- gated to the executive, unwarranted by law, and the sheriff should have disregarded the order until further advised. Had Daniels been con- victed of murder and sentenced to be hanged, you then could have re- prieved him from the execution of the sentence until the will of the Presi- dent could be known; but not even then could you have set him at lib- erty. I have therefore ordered the marshal to rearrest him, if he be found (the sheriff says he has escaped out of his precinct), and confine him in the jail and hold him at all hazards until otherwise ordered by the President, and I am happy to assure you that he will obey the order and defend his action. I hope you will render him all needed assistance in the discharge of his duty, in maintaining the supremacy of the law. "One word further: I notice in the city papers a published speech said to have been delivered by you in a democratic convention, recently held in this city, in which you say that you shall compel the judges of the territory to recognize the legality of the legislature soon to assem- ble under your call, and the validity of the laws it may pass. Had you spoken simply as a politician I should take no notice of the speech probably never should have read it ; but you gave to it significance by adding weight of your official position, which brings it to notice. That there may be no misunderstanding between us, or misapprehension in the minds of those who heard or have read it, I deem it proper as one of the judges alluded to (the others being absent) to state that the judges of Montana will pursue a straightforward, honest, independent course in the discharge of their official duties, regardless of fear or favor. They will not be bought by promises of reward, nor bullied or intimidated by threats from any source. They claim the right and will exercise the duty of not only construing, but of passing upon the validity of any law the legis- * Daniels had heen sentenced to three years' imprisonment and $1,000 fine, and, notwithstanding the light sentence, which the community generally accepted, be- fore he had served three months of his term thirty-two persons had applied to the governor for his reprieve and to the President for his pardon. Vol. 127 418 HISTORY OF MONTANA lature may pass, or even the legality of the session itself, whenever they may come legitimately before them, in the discharge of their official duties, and their judgments, orders and decrees will be observed and enforced until overruled and set aside by a higher tribunal than the edict of an executive. The judiciary will aim to do their whole duty and it is hoped their decisions will be just, equitable and satisfactory. May peace, order and prosperity be the happy lot of us all, and the law, with its protective shield, at all times be over these mountain homes of ours. "I have the honor to subscribe myself "Yours, etc., L. E. Munson "U. S. Judge, Montana Territory." The records show no opinion in writing delivered by any of the judges of the Supreme Court of the territory as it was first constituted. Several of their opinions and charges to the juries were printed by the newspapers of Virginia City and Helena, at the time they were delivered, but the first printed volume of Reports begins with the December term, 1868, and ends with the January term, 1873. BEGINNING OF SYSTEMATIC JUDICATURE The coming of Henry L. Warren as chief justice, appointed from the State of Illinois, in July, 1868, to succeed Judge Hosmer, and of Hiram Knowles, of Iowa, as associate justice, successor to Judge Willis- ton, at the same time, was the beginning of a new era in the judicial history of the territory. They were experienced lawyers of unusual ability, in the prime of life, energetic and ambitious, and of high charac- ter, at once commanding the respect and confidence of the people and the bar. Judge Knowles had known something of life in the mining camps of the far West, having previously lived in Nevada, where he had prac- ticed law and been prosecuting attorney. They organized order out of the chaos of the courts. By an amendment to the organic act, the justices of the Supreme Court were clothed with authority to define the judicial districts of the territory, to assign the justices to their respective districts and to fix the time and place for holding the courts. They adopted rules for the Territorial Supreme Court similar to those of the Supreme courts of the States, pointed out how transcripts on appeal should be made, provided for the filing and service of briefs, and required every decision of the court to be in writing and filed with the clerk. The first volume of the Montana Supreme Court Reports therefore begins with the first term of that court after the advent of Justices Warren and Knowles, which convened in December, 1868. Eighteen decisions rendered in important cases and reduced to writing by them at that term bespeak their learning and energy. In April, 1869, George G. Symes, of Kentucky, and formerly of Iowa, succeeded Lyman E. Munson as associate justice. Symes had served with distinction in the Union army and though not a lawyer of large experience was a thorough student and very ambitious. He resided at Helena, Knowles at Deer Lodge, and Warren, at Virginia City. HISTORY OF MONTANA 419 NEW CODIFICATION OF THE LAWS The Legislative Assembly of 1869 named the judges of the Supreme Court as a commission to codify the territorial statutes. The work, as arranged among themselves, assigned the Civil Practice act to Chief Justice Warren, who substantially followed the California act and made few amendments to the 'Montana codification of 1867. The Assembly of 1871-72 attempted such radical changes in Judge Symes's codification of the General laws as to throw it into confusion, from which it has not entirely recovered. On the whole, Judge Knowles's work on the Crim- inal Laws and Procedure seemed to give the most general satisfaction, and his codification remained substantially unchanged for many years. The entire work of the commission, after having been passed upon by the Legislative Assembly of 1871-72, was published in the volume of laws entitled "Codified Statutes, 7th Session, 1871-2." At this period (the early '703), the leading lawyers of the territory, besides those already named, were W. E. Cullen, George May, W. W. Dixon, W. H. Clagett, James H. Brown, Joseph K. Toole, Thomas L. Napton, James E. Galloway, W. F. Kirkwood, Massena Bullard and Henry F. Williams. After the adjournment of the Supreme Court in January, 1871, Chief Justice Warren and Associate Justice Symes resigned, and on March I7th of that year President Grant appointed Decius S. Wade of Ohio as Judge Warren's successor, John L. Murphy of Tennessee having suc- ceeded Judge Symes soon after his resignation in January. Warren re- sumed the practice at Virginia City and Symes at Helena. Subsequently they both left Montana, Warren to practice at St. Louis, Missouri, and later in New Mexico, where he was successful, and Symes at Denver, Colorado, where he amassed a fortune, was elected to Congress and was otherwise honored. CHIEF JUSTICE WADE'S SERVICE Decius S. Wade was in his thirty-sixth year when President Grant appointed him chief justice of the Supreme Court. He was a nephew of the widely known statesman from Ohio, Benjamin F. Wade, under whom he pursued his legal studies. Before ascending the Montana bench, he had held judicial position in Ashtabula County, Ohio, and was a member of the State Senate from that district when appointed to the chief justiceship. Through his service for four consecutive terms as head of the territorial Supreme Court and his great work in the early '905, .as chairman of the commission which re-codified the laws of Mon- tana into a closely-knit and consistent system, Judge Wade, without disparagement to any other great brother of the bench, has been justly named the Father of Montana jurisprudence. Further, his work on the "Bench and Bar" of Montana is a rich mine of information, from which much has been gleaned by every writer on the topic who desires to be well posted regarding it. The most important developments in territorial jurisprudence oc- 420 HISTORY OF MONTANA curred during the periods of Justice Wade's service, from March, 1871, to May, 1887, and of his able associate, Hiram Knowles, from July, 1868, to July, 1879. In his reminiscences of that period, Judge Wade writes: "The business of holding District courts in the counties of the three judicial districts of the territory, besides two terms per year in each district for the trial of causes arising under the constitution and laws of the United States, and two terms of the Supreme Court at the capi- tal, had become laborious and exacting. The only means of travel was by stage coach, the counties were larger than many of the states and the distances to places for holding court were very great. It is estimated that Judge Wade, before the advent of railroads in 1883, traveled 25,000 miles by stage coach in attending to the holding of courts in Montana, and it is probable that Judge Knowles in his eleven years' service as associate justice accomplished an equal task. The centers of population and business at the time were Virginia City, the capital of the terri- tory ; Bozeman, in Gallatin County ; Helena and Diamond City, in Lewis and Clark County; Deer Lodge City, in Deer Lodge County, and Mis- soula, in Missoula County. These places were county seats, and the lawyers traveled from court to court, many of them having cases in every court in the territory. CRUDE LEGAL AND JUDICIAL SURROUNDINGS "The court houses, like those of most new countries, were not im- posing temples of justice. Many important cases, involving large sums of money or valuable property, or perhaps pioneer cases without prece- dents for guides, and whose decision would become foundations in the systems of law for this Western world, were fought out in log cabins, or in crude wooden structures whose walls and ceilings were lined with cheese capping for plaster, whose carpets were sawdust or sand, whose chairs were backless boards and whose jury seats were bare benches. "The accommodations at the hotels, if the stopping places could be so dignified, for jurors, witnesses, lawyers and judges, were of like character ; but for many the dance houses, the saloons and the gambling places running all night with music in full blast, rendered sleeping apartments quite unnecessary. To these isolated places, the coming of court was the event of the year, the harvest time ; and with beer or whisky at twenty-five cents per drink, and other things in proportion, the ex- pectations were never disappointed. Everything was carried on at high pressure and with lavish hand. Perhaps this resulted from the ease with which gold was washed from the ground, or it may have been the isola- tion of the country and the difficulties in reaching it, and the absence of other diversions and pleasure ; but whatever the cause, it is certain never was there a more generous or hospitable people of Montana at that period. The latchstring hung on the outside, and there was nothing too good to be shared, even with strangers. Every place of business had its scales for weighing out gold dust, and every lawyer carried a buck- skin pouch for the reception of fees which, in amount, would have HISTORY OF MONTANA 421 astonished an Eastern lawyer and dazed an Eastern client in the 1 same material. But though the fees were large, the lawyers, like the other people, seemed to think the supply inexhaustible, and like them, were reckless and extravagant. This characteristic, however, did not dis- qualify them as lawyers. For the number of people in the territory the litigation was very large, owing to the disputes and conflicts concerning mining claims and the appropriation of water ; and it is not too much to say that the bar of this period was equal to that of any other country. Notwithstanding the expense and difficulties of transportation, they had fine libraries, and when occasion required would ship large numbers of books at the rate of twenty-five cents per pound to remote countries, to be used there in the trial of cases." PLACER MINING AND WATER RIGHTS At the August term (1871) of the Supreme Court, which was the first over which Chief Justice Wade presided, an opinion was handed down by Justice Knowles which became a precedent for all the mining regions of the West. It was entitled Robertson et al. vs. Smith et al. and involved questions entirely foreign to the learning or experience of such an "Eastern lawyer" as the chief justice then considered himself. The case had been tried at the July term of the Meagher County District Court, and, in affirming its judgment, Judge Knowles held that under the act of July 26, 1866, where a citizen or a person who had declared his intention to become a citizen, takes up and holds a placer mining claim, in pursuance of the local rules and regulations of the miners of the dis- trict in which the claim is situated, the act aforesaid confers upon such person a title equivalent to a patent from the United States, so long as such rules and regulations are complied with ; and so, that the appel- lants, who were the county commissioners of Meagher County and a road supervisor, who were attempting to construct a road over and across the placer claims of respondent, as over and across the public domain, which they were authorized to do by said act of Congress, should be perpetually enjoined and restrained from so doing. This deci- sion, giving, as it did to the local rules and regulations of miners the full force and effect of law, did much to strengthen and uphold the title to mining claims, and placed that kind of property on a solid foundation. At the August, 1872, term important cases were decided involving water rights for mining and agriculture, defining the rights of married women to their separate property, and pronouncing Montana to be "In- dian country under the laws of the United States regulating intercourse with the Indian tribes." It is said that "the briefs and arguments of' counsel at that term, for learning and ability, have never been surpassed in the territory or State of Montana, and would have added dignity and strength to any bar in the country; and if the opinions and decisions of the judges were not sound and able, the fault was not with such lawyers as E. W. Toole, W. F. Sanders, Claggett and Dixon, Sharpe and Napton, Chumasero and 422 ' HISTORY OF MONTANA Chadwick, Joseph K. Toole, Shoper and Lowry, Henry N. Blake, Sam- uel Word, James G. Spratt, Henry L. Warren, George G. Symes, W. E. Cullen, W. J. Stephens and United States District Attorney Cornelius Hedges." Another case belonging to the early '705 attracted much attention. Not a few Chinamen had acquired placer diggings and some were be- coming rich. Fan Lee had come into possession of 3,000 feet of placer mining ground, and to cover his case and others of like nature the Legis- lative Assembly had passed an act "to provide for the forfeiture to the territory of placer mines held by aliens." The District Court therefore declared Lee's claims forfeited to the territory. On appeal to the Su- preme Court Chief Justice Wade reversed the decision. He discussed the general powers of a territorial legislature and held that alienage is a disability that can only be taken advantage of by the sovereign power, the United States Government; in other words, that the territory by its legislature could not forfeit the property of an alien and thereby become the owner of property, which, if forfeited at all, must belong to the United States. In September, 1872, John L. Murphy, associate justice of the Su- preme Court, resigned from the bench, and Francis G. Servis, of Ohio, succeeded him. Judge Murphy opened a law office at Bozeman, but afterward moved to San Francisco. ON "FIXING" THE TERRITORIAL CAPITAL The year 1875 is important in the annals of the territorial judiciary. The most interest is perhaps attached to the proceedings in the Supreme Court which fixed the permanent capital of the territory at Helena. The Helena lawyers and citizens claimed that the popular vote taken in 1869 upon the removal of the seat of government from Virginia City to the former place showed a majority in favor of the present capital; but as the returns were burned after reaching Virginia City, and before they had been canvassed, there was no means of determining officially how the vote stood. So Virginia City retained the capital. The act of February n, 1874, authorized another election upon the question; which election took place the following August. The canvass of the ballots by the commissioners and clerks of the several counties indicated a majority in favor of Helena of 912. These officials of Meagher County had certified that 561 votes had been cast for Helena as the capital and 29 ballots for Virginia City. Thirty days after the, election as required by law, the abstract of returns from that county, when laid before the governor by the secretary of the territory and United States marshal, was found to contain a transposition by which it appeared that Virginia City had been favored with 561 ballots for the capital and Helena with the 29, originally certified as the vote for Vir- ginia City. On the face of the abstracts, therefore, Helena had lost the contest. The Virginia City contingent claimed that the only power possessed by HISTORY OF MONTANA 423 the territorial canvassing board was to count the votes as shown by the abstracts, even though they were known to be faulty or false. A num- ber of citizens therefore commenced suit in the Supreme Court, under a statute of the territory giving to that body jurisdiction in mandamus proceedings, to determine whether or not the Canvassing Board could be required to ascertain the correct vote at the election, or whether the court, ascertaining from the proof the correct vote, could require the governor to declare the result by proclamation. The cases were there- fore directed against the governor, the auditor and the treasurer, the official canvassing board, who had their offices in Virginia City. W. F. Sanders, Johnston & Toole and Chumasero & Chadwick repre- sented Helena, and Samuel Word, J. G. Spratt, H. F. Williams, H. N. Blake and C. W. Turner, Virginia City. It is unfortunate that the briefs and arguments of these able, lawyers do not appear in the Reports; "for," asserts Judge Wade, "not in the judicial history of Montana is there anything more learned or able. Every authority within reach or that could be obtained on either side was presented." After hearing the learned arguments, pro and con, and consulting a day, the Supreme Court delivered its opinion. It was written by Chief Justice Wade, with the concurrence of Judge Knowles and the dissent of Judge Servis, and held that the Supreme Court, under legislative enactment, had original jurisdiction in mandamus, and authority to compel the chief executive to "perform a ministerial act, and that the Legislative Assembly had author- ity to require the secretary and marshal, in the presence of the governor, to canvass the returns of a general election." Thereupon, the causes came on for trial before the court upon the evidence, and having ascertained therefrom the correct vote of the people upon the question of the removal of the seat of government, rendered a decree accordingly and required the governor to issue a proclamation removing the capital of the territory from Virginia City to the town of Helena; which was done. And thus ended one of the most important and ably-conducted legal contests of either territory or state. HENRY N. BLAKE ASCENDS SUPREME BENCH In the fall of 1875, Francis G. Servis resigned as associate justice, and returned to Ohio, subsequently adorning the tench and bar of Mahoning County. He was succeeded on the Montana bench by Hon. Henry N. Blake, of Virginia City, a Boston and Harvard University man, who had successfully practiced in the territory since 1866, and was for about forty-five years thereafter one of the most conspicuous figures in the legal and judicial life of Montana. He passed the last years of his life in his native state. Before ascending the bench of the Supreme Court as associate justice, Judge Blake had served as United States attorney and district attorney for the First Judicial District, con- sisting of Madison, Beaverhead and Yellowstone counties. In the early '705 he prepared the first volume of Montana Reports and assisted in the collaboration of the second and third volumes. He was a member of 424 HISTORY OF MONTANA the Legislative Assembly when appointed associate justice, which office he held until March, 1880. Judge Blake served as the last chief justice of the territorial Supreme Court and the first chief justice of the State Supreme Court. He also held the judgeship of the First District (Lewis and Clark County) in 1895-96. Consequently, there were few of his profession in Montana who enjoyed such a varied and honorable judi- cial career as Judge Blake. A STRONG SUPREME BENCH The addition of Judge Blake's learning and practical knowledge of Montana's laws made the Supreme bench remarkably strong. It is questionable whether it was ever stronger, either in territorial or state times, than when Chief Justice Wade presided, with Judge Knowles and Blake as associates. QUARTZ MINING LITIGATION Up to 1870, the litigations over placer claims occupied a large share of its attention, with legal complications over the discovery and location of quartz-lode claims holding a secondary position. Quartz mining re- quired more cumbersome and expensive operations and machinery than those required in the development of the placer diggings but with the realization of the far greater possibilities of quartz mining and the intro- duction of capital, the courts were invaded with disputes over the loca- tions of lodes and veins and demands for the legal pronouncement of individual rights. But though the conditions for the practical develop- ment of quartz mining continued unfavorable in Montana for some years, the new system concerning the location, representation and patent- ing of quartz-lode mining claims, inaugurated by the act of Congress of May 10, 1872, gave an impetus to that kind of mining before unknown. It was an untried system and the lawyers and judges of the mining regions, in the very center of which was Montana, had to interpret and expound an act which was entirely experimental, keeping only one end before them to carry out the stimulating intent of Congress. But within a few years, the mining laws of the territory expanded into a system, and this complicated underground mining was, with the deci- sion of case after case, regulated, in a way, and brought within the un- derstanding of those really engaged in it. Joaquin Miller, himself a miner as well as an author, sets forth some of the legal difficulties, in that field, partially overcome by the courts of Montana. "On a mountain side," he writes, "or in a tract of country filled with quartz veins and lodes, running parallel, crossing, intersecting, how are the rights of adjoining owners of these mining claims to be adjusted and determined, when there is nothing on the surface to indi- cate the apex of the vein or its pitch or course? There is nothing more difficult or requiring more skill and knowledge of law, geology and en- gineering to properly determine and adjudicate than these underground suits. HISTORY OF MONTANA 425 "There is no such thing as learning the habits of quartz veins, lodes or ledges. Their language admits of no absolute interpretations; they exist only where they can be actually seen; each one has its own dip and angle, its own foot and hanging walls; some are true fissure veins and some pinch out and disappear; some are rich in places without cause or provocation, and in other places barren and worthless, with as little reason; and with none of them can anything be granted. "This is the kind of property, having the same elements of doubt and uncertainty as a game of chance, upon which and for the adjudica- tion of rights concerning which, the system of mining law was con- structed. "It is sufficiently difficult to settle rights on top of the earth and in broad daylight, but when we go down into the earth, into shafts, tunnels and slopes, and one set of skilled experts and engineers make beautiful and elaborate maps and diagrams of the underground workings and geography, and testify that the apex of a vein is in the claim of the plaintiff; and another set of engineers and geologists, equally expert and skilled, testify exactly the contrary, and that the apex is in the claim of the defendant, is it any wonder that the jury, after groping in the dark for perhaps a month, following the witnesses through the tunnels, down shafts and into slopes, and listening to learned contradictory theories concerning geology, fissures, the various kinds of rocks, their ages and what they are supposed to signify, is utterly bewildered and still in the dark? "This kind of cases involves only questions of fact ; but the perplex- ing, difficult thing is to get at the real truth. Other cases involve ques- tions of law arising upon the mining statute ; and these at least have the benefit of daylight." Until the late '/os, it may be said that the cases brought before the Supreme Court established such principles in mining law as these : That unpatented mining claims does not exempt the product of the mine from taxation; that a verbal contract of copartnership entered into "for the purpose of prospecting for, locating, recording, preempting, developing and mining quartz lodes and other mining property" is valid; that the valid location of a mining claim under the act of May, 1872, carried with it a grant of the claim located from the Government to the person making the location, together with exclusive possession of the same; that if there is a failure to represent the claim, the title is gone, and the claim again becomes subject to location; that a person making a loca- tion has one whole year in which to do the representation work and that there can be no forfeiture until the full time has expired ; that a party in possession of mining ground under a title subsequently determined in court to be invalid, might, without fraud, relocate such ground and there- after perfect such title in accordance with law ; that the valid location of a quartz-lode mining claim could not be made until the claimant had marked the boundaries so that they could be readily traced by means of stakes, natural objects, or other certain means. The first three volumes of the Montana Supreme Court Reports con- 426 HISTORY OF MONTANA tain many important decisions aside from those relating to mining claims and water rights; and they are of great interest and importance, because they cover the period of the foundation and the first growth of Montana jurisprudence. By 1880 many precedents had been established espe- cially in the new field of quartz mining litigation, and the bewilderment of novel questions in a new country was disappearing. RETIREMENT OF JUSTICE KNOWLES In July, 1879, Justice Knowles, whose leadership in such statutory developments had been marked, resigned from the bench of the Supreme Court for the purpose of resuming the practice of his profession. Eleven years in that high office had brought him continuous and increasing honor, and after practicing at the bar for a decade he completed his judicial career on the bench of the Federal Court during the first of four years of statehood. ' Judge Knowles was succeeded as associate justice by William J. Galbraith, of Iowa. There was another change among Chief Justice Wade's associates, in March, 1880, when Justice Blake was succeeded by Everton J. Conger, of Illinois, who held office for nearly four years. LAWYERS OF 1879-80 At the date of the succession of Justices Galbraith and Conger in 1879-80, the population of the territory had greatly increased, and with it the number of the lawyers and the business of the courts. Besides those already named, the lawyers in active practice at this time were Robert P. Vivion, George F. Cowan, J. A. Kanouse, H. M. Porter, I. R. Porter, Benjamin T. Porter, H. R. Comly; Merritt C. Paige, United States attorney, from 1872 to 1877, being drowned in the Madison River in May of the latter year; Thomas M. Pomeroy, Frank H. Woody, John J. Donnelly, Patrick Talent, John F. Forbis, H. P. Rolfe, Ira H. Pierce, W. H. DeWitt, Stephen DeWolf, Hiram Blaisdell, Arthur S. Higgins, F. K. Armstrong, James H. Garlock; J. W. Andrews, Jr., United States attorney; J. W. Tattan, William H. Hunt, Horace R. Buck, F. J. McBride, George C. Randolph; James S, Dryden, United States attorney ; J. W. Strevell, John T. Baldwin, William O. Speer and W. T. Piggott. After the retirement of Justices Knowles and Blake, as for several years before, mining litigation continued to occupy a large share of the attention of the courts, and little by little the system of the mining law developed. The Supreme Court decided about this time that "posses- sion of the surface of a lode claim is possession of all veins, lodes and ledges whose tops or apexes are within the surface lines," which, with its logical and detailed applications straightened out many a legal tangle. It was also decided that actual possession of mining ground could not hold the claim against a valid location. The purchase and title to min- eral lands were again barred to Chinamen or other aliens. Chief Justice HISTORY OF MONTANA 427 Wade opined that possessory title to a placer claim was made the prop- erty real estate and must be conveyed by deed ; that a mere verbal trans- fer would not hold as against a valid quartz-claim location. In February, 1884, Justice Conger retired from the bench on account of ill health, as a result both of old wounds received in the Civil war and of his strenuous labors on the bench. He resumed the practice at Dillon, Beaverhead County, and was succeeded as associate justice by John Coburn, of Indiana. QUARTZ CLAIMS OVERSHADOW PLACER But changes of judges did not alter the character of litigation. One of the most noted decisions rendered was in a contest between the owners of a patent to placer mining ground and the claimants of a quartz-lode mining claim within the same bounds, and it was a judicial demonstration of the preeminence which the quartz claims and mining had attained over the placer. The court, by Chief Justice Wade, held that a patent to a placer claim issued under the congressional act of May, 1872, passes no title to a previously located quartz vein or lode claim included within its boundaries, and whether or not the placer ap- plicant knew of the existence of such lode or quartz claim was immaterial ; and this upon the theory that the valid location of a quartz-lode mining claim carries with it a grant from the government to the locator. TOWN SITE PATENTS DISPLACED BY QUARTZ LODE CLAIMS Of great interest, legally, and of far-reaching consequences as in- volving title to valuable mining properties, was the contest waged in the Supreme Court between the claimants of a quartz lode location (Silver Bow Mining Company) and parties who claimed the same ground under the Butte town site patent. The mining claim patent won over the town site patent. In the autumn of 1885, Charles R. Pollard of Indiana, was appointed associate justice to succeed Justice Coburn, who returned to Indianapolis to continue practice. Pollard failed to be confirmed by the Senate, and on August 6, 1886, James H. McLeary of Texas, came into office. On the same day, under an act of Congress giving an additional judge to Mon- tana, Thomas C. Bach, of Butte City, Montana, was appointed associate justice. Litigation over mining claims still crowded the docket of the Supreme Court. Thirty-two cases involving contentions between lot claimants under the Butte town site patent and those under the Smokehouse lode location, and involving property in the city of great value, were covered by one opinion rendered by the chief justice, who reaffirmed the doc- trines laid down in the Silver Bow case and concluded that "there is no law authorizing the United States Land Office to exclude from a mining claim patent The right to surface ground, and a reservation in such a patent excluding therefrom the right to all lots, blocks, streets, HISTORY OF MONTANA 429 alleys, houses and municipal improvements on the surface of the claim, is void ; and that the issuance of a patent to a quartz-lode mining claim is conclusive, in an action at law, as to the title to the land within its limits." Chief Justice Wade's decisions were upheld by the United States Supreme Court, which, however, made an exception to an opinion handed down by Judge Bach, in the case of Weibold vs. Davis. The United States Court, by Justice Field, held that the facts in the case upon which Judge Bach passed were not identical with those in the suits decided by Chief Justice Wade and to meet the dissimilarity held that "a town site patent of an earlier date covering the same premises embraced in a junior mining patent carries the title in absence of proof establishing the known existence of the mine at the date of such town site patent." The foregoing are some of the leading cases that found their way to the Supreme Court of Montana during the territorial period, arising under the rules and regulations of the miners and under the acts of Congress. After the admission of the territory as a state, the litigation concerning mines and mining claims was mostly transferred to the United States courts, and thereby the State Supreme and District courts were relieved of much labor. RAILROAD CASES Not long after the arrival of the Northern Pacific Railroad in the territory, in 1883, a fertile source of litigation was also introduced to the courts of Montana. The land grant obtained by the company from Congress was equivalent to a tract of land forty miles wide by 800 miles long, being every alternate section of the public lands, not mineral, designated by odd numbers, to the extent of forty miles on either side of said company's road. Without specifying the particular cases which drew forth the opinions and decisions of the various members of the Supreme Court of Montana Territory, that tribunal adjudicated that the title of the Northern Pacific to the lands included within its great grant took effect at the date of the approval of the act of Congress in- corporating the company; that as Congress chartered the company and granted it public lands, it is competent to exempt the right-of-way of the railroad from taxation. The question as to what, if any, mineral lands the Northern Pacific Railroad Company might hold under the Government's land grant, became a serious problem soon after the ad- vent of the line to Montana, and finally, in consequence of the quantity of the mineral land included in the grant, an issue of almost national importance. If the company could hold, and if the grant covered all lands not known to be mineral at the date of the grant, or at the time of the location of the route of the road, it would give to the Northern Pacific some of the richest mines in the world. Cases more or less involving this question were tried in Montana and decisions rendered in favor of operators who had demonstrated the existence of ore on lands falling within the land grant of the railroad company. But the decisive case 430 HISTORY OF MONTANA grew out of the suit brought by the Northern Pacific against Harden, who had located a quartz-lode mining claim in August, 1888. The deci- sion of the case by the Supreme Court of the United States in May, 1894, settled forever the contentions of the railroad company that it was entitled to the mineral lands included within its grant; so that al- though the narrative is somewhat projected, the final disposition of the question is noted here. It was a case which attracted wide attention even among the great issues brought before the supreme judiciary of the nation, and was presented and argued by eminent counsel. James McNaught and James C. Carter represented the plaintiff (the Northern Pacific) and W. W. Dixon and Warren Toole, employed by the State of Montana, W. H. H. Miller, attorney general of the United States, George H. Shields and Martin F. Morris, the individual defendant, the com- monwealth and the national Government. It is said that the argument of Mr. Dixon and the written brief and contention of Mr. Toole have not been surpassed by such procedures in the annals of the United States Supreme Court. Attorney General Mil- ler incorporated the speech of Senator Wilbur F. Sanders delivered in the upper house of Congress, on the same subject, which attracted the attention of the nation, in his brief and argument on behalf of the de- fendant. The opinion of the court, by Justice Field, held that the Northern Railroad Company could not recover under the grant to it by the act of Congress, any mineral lands from the persons in possession thereof who had made locations, although the mineral character of the land was not known until the year 1888, no patent having been issued to said com- pany; that there was no merit in any of the positions advanced by the plaintiff in support of its claim to the mineral lands in controversy. The language of the land grant to the plaintiff was free from ambiguity. The exclusion from its operation of all mineral lands was entirely clear, and whether the mineral character of the lands was known at the date of the grant or afterward was of no importance. The fourth term of Chief Justice Wade expired on May 2, 1887, and he was succeeded by N. W. McConnell, of Tennessee. The second term of William J. Galbraith as associate justice expired in January, 1888, and Judge Galbraith gave place to Stephen DeWolfe, the third citizen of Montana to be appointed to its Supreme bench. When Justice Galbraith retired from the bench, after eight and a half years of fine service, his Scotch aggressiveness, honesty and learning, had contributed much to the already high standing of the court. He resumed the practice of his pro- fession in the territory of Washington. Justice DeWolfe was an old and tried practitioner before the courts of Montana, and continued his good services to the Supreme Court until the territory became a state. He the'n retired to the practice of his pro- fession in Butte. The services of Justice McLeary, although only extend- HISTORY OF MONTANA 431 ing from August, 1886, to April, 1888, were of fine quality, and when he resigned to resume his Texas practice he cut short a promising career in Mpntana. Moses J. Liddell, who succeeded Justice McLeary, was from Louisiana, creditably served on the Supreme bench so long as Mon- tana was a territory and when statehood came commenced practice at Bozeman, but lived only two years afterward. Chief Justice McConnell retired from the bench in March, 1889, after having served less than two years. He made a good judge, but pre- ferred the more active work of a lawyer, and left the bench to practice in Helena. Associate Justice Bach reached the Supreme bench while yet a young man and before he had had much experience at the bar, but his three years of judicial labors, which concluded with the territorial era, were most creditable to his abilities and an addition to the character of the court. THE BAR AT CLOSE OF TERRITORIAL PERIOD This period and phase of territorial life cannot be better closed from a literary and historic point of view than by a mention of some of the leading members of the bar who were then in the public eye and mind. Massena Bullard had a large and important practice. Joseph K. Toole, who was prosecuting attorney, and delegate in Congress and governor of the state, was a leader at the bar and was to earn a broader reputation as a public man of the state to-be. Then there were John J. Donnelly, pioneer lawyer and member of the legislative Assembly, of Choteau County; John W. Tattan, clerk of the court and prosecuting attorney of the same county; J. C. Robinson, of Deer Lodge, member of the legis- lative Assembly and constitutional convention; William H. Hunt, who was prosecuting attorney, attorney general of the territory and after- ward judge of the First Judicial District; W. E. Cullen, who was a mem- ber of the Assembly, attorney general of the territory and subsequently attorney for the Northern Pacific Railroad Company in Montana ; W. H. Claggett, the "silver tongued orator," a delegate in Congress; W. H. DeWitt, prosecuting attorney and afterward associate justice of the State Supreme Court; E. N. Harwood, who was also to be elevated to the bench of the Supreme Court of the state; Thomas J. Lowry and John H. Shober, both of whom were prosecuting attorneys for the Third Judicial District of the territory, and for a long time partners in prac- tice; R. P. Vivion, lately prosecuting attorney and member of the legis- lative assembly for Gallatin County; Thomas C. Bach, associate justice of the territorial Supreme Court; Henri J. Haskell, later, attorney gen- eral of the state; Elbert D. Weed and Robert B. Smith, both United States attorneys for Montana; I. D. McCutcheon, late secretary of Montana territory; Frank H. Woody, judge of the Fourth Judicial District Court; Thomas C. Marshall, late member of the legislative As- sembly and leading lawyer of Missoula ; John F. Forbis, member of the legislative Assembly and leader of the Butte bar; N. B. Smith, prose- FRANK H. WOODY, JUDGE AND PIONEER LAWYER HISTORY OF MONTANA 433 cuting attorney of Meagher County; Frank K. Armstrong, judge of the Ninth Judicial District, late prosecuting attorney and member of the legislative Assembly; John J. McHatton and J. M. Spear, judges of the Second Judicial District; Max Waterman, a leading lawyer of Meagher County; Thomas H. Carter, late delegate in Congress for Montana and commissioner of the General Land Office at Washington; Alex. C. Botkin, for several years United States marshal for Montana and afterward lieutenant governor of the state; John B. Clayberg, late attorney general; R. E. Howey, probate judge of Lewis and Clark Coun- ty; O. F. Goddard, a leading lawyer of Yellowstone County; A. R. Joy. of Park County. All of the foregoing were admitted to practice for the first time by the Supreme Court of Montana, or soon after their ad- mission elsewhere, commenced practice before the territorial courts dur- ing the official period of Chief Justice Wade. Even Warren Toole, Wil- bur F. Sanders and William Dixon, the three foremost lawyers of the great Northwest, earned their greatest reputation in the Montana Su- preme Court while Chief Justice Wade presided over it. Of these, San- ders was for ten years attorney for the Northern Pacific Railroad Com- pany in Montana, and upon the admission of Montana as a state was elected United States senator. Dixon was elected to the first state House of Representatives and served as its second member of the national House, but Toole "wedded to his profession, having no political ambi- tion, with marvelous memory and profound judgment and reasoning with mathematical precision," long stood peerless at the Montana bar. Walter F. Chadwick, the learned code practitioner and great trial lawyer; J. W. Strevell, the father of law in Eastern Montana, and William Chumasero, learned in the form and practice of the common law and an eminent counselor, under the name of Chumasero & Chad- wick, constituted one of the strong firms of Montana during the official life of Judge Wade as well as J. W. Strevell, the father of the law in Eastern Montana; L. A. Luce, member of the constitutional convention; Charles S. Hartman, subsequently member of Congress; J. J. Davis, Bozeman, and F. W. Cole, Silver Bow County ; James A. Calloway, late territorial secretary and member of the legislative Assembly from Mad- ison County; George F. Cowan and M. H. Parker, of Jefferson County; W. J. Stephens and Thomas M. Pomeroy, of Missoula County; James H. Garlock, of Miles City ; Walter M. Bickford and George W. Reeves, of Missoula; William Scanlan, of Butte; George F. Shelton, A. K. Barbour, J. W. Kinsley, H. B. Smith, James U. Sanders, of Helena; Thomas J. Galbraith, of Dillon; H. R. Whitehill, of Deer Lodge; Thompson Campbell and J. H. Duffy, of Butte ; George W. Taylor, of Great Falls; George D. Greene, of Jefferson County, and C. B. Nolan, prosecuting attorney of Lewis and Clark County. MONTANA BAR ASSOCIATION FORMED The Montana Bar Association was organized at Helena, on January 8, 1885, and at the meeting held that day in the court house, Col. Wilbur Vol. 128 434 HISTORY OF MONTANA F. Sanders was chosen chairman and Horace R. Buck, secretary. Wil- liam H. Hunt, afterward one of the circuit judges of the United States Court, offered the resolution calling for such an organization to pro- mote better legislation and more efficiency in every department of the territorial government. A constitution was adopted looking to these ends, four days later, and Colonel Sanders was elected president of the asso- ciation; W. H. Hunt, corresponding secretary; A. K. Barbour, record- ing secretary; and W. E. Cullen, treasurer, with a vice president for each of the thirteen counties. As these names, in addition to those given, are representative of the profession at this time, they are reproduced, as follows : Hiram Knowles, Silver Bow County ; Thomas C. Marshall, Missoula County; Robert B. Smith, Beaverhead County; Henry N. Blake, Madison County; Mack J. Learning, Choteau County; J. C. Rob- inson, Deer Lodge County; Fletcher N. Maddox, Meagher County; George F. Cowan, Jefferson County; Andrew F. Burleigh, Custer Coun- ty; S. H. Wilde, Yellowstone County; F. K. Armstrong, Gallatin Coun- ty; W. E. Lonergin, Dawson County; and William Chumasero, Lewis and Clark County. It was largely through the influence of this body of strong lawyers that the codification of the common law was brought about, or rather the adoption of the four codes of 1895. It has per- formed other good offices, although of late years it has been rather in- operative and has hardly lived up to its territorial constitution and promises. BENCH AND BAR UNDER STATEHOOD Under the constitution of the state, Montana was provided with a Supreme Court consisting of three members, whose duties were confined to the highest judiciary of the commonwealth. The state was divided into eight judicial districts and a federal district judge was also appointed. When Montana became a state, also, under a territorial act passed in 1889, a code commission had been authorized to prepare for submission to the State Legislative Assembly four codes covering the civil, penal, political and civil procedure statutes in force, and now embodied as a part of the fundamental law of the state. The code commission selected comprised Judge F. W. Cole, of Butte, whose experience as a lawyer and a judge had made him familiar with the civil codes of New York, Nevada, California and Montana; ex-Gov- ernor B. Platt Carpenter, of Helena, also a New York lawyer and judge, who had settled in Montana five years previously as its territorial chief executive, and ex-Chief Justice Decius S. Wade, also of Helena, whose record is already known to the reader of these pages. Although the com- mission expended two and a half years in the preparation of these codes, they were not finally adopted by the Legislative Assembly until 1895. It was largely through the persistency and influence of the Montana Bar Association, organized a decade before, that this fine consolidation of the statutes was made law by the legislators of the state. Henry N. Blake, of Virginia City, who was the last chief justice of HISTORY OF MONTANA 435 the territory (from March to November, 1889), was also elected as first chief justice of the state, serving as such from November 8, 1889, to January 2, 1893, inclusive. Justice Blake's associates were Edgar N. Harwood, of Billings, who served from November 8, 1889, to January 7, 1895, when he was suc- ceeded by William H. Hunt, and William H. DeWitt, of Butte City, who served until January 4, 1897. The latter's successor, Horace R. Buck, died on December 24th of that year, and was followed by W. T. Pigott. JUDGE WILLIAM T. PEMUERTON Chief Justice Blake served until January 2, 1893, when William Young Pemberton ascended the bench. Justice Pemberton is one of the most widely known and honored of Montana's citizens. He was born in Ten- nessee, largely educated in Missouri, and reached Virginia City in 1863, two years after graduating from the Cumberland Law School at Lebanon, Tennessee. In 1865 he moved to Helena, lived in Missouri and Texas from 1868 to 1880, but returned to Montana in the latter year and located at Butte. He served for two terms as district attorney 'of the western district, in 1882-86; was judge of the second district in 1891-93, when, as stated, he was elevated to the chief justiceship of the state supreme bench. He completed his term of six years, and on January 3, 1899, was suc ~ ceeded by the present incumbent, Theodore Brantly. Judge Pemberton has always taken keen interest in the preservation of all things and events historical relating to Montana. In view of this pronounced trait, and in deference to his standing as a judge and a citizen, in 1909 he was appointed librarian of the State Historical Society. He has accomplished much to promote its interests, but because of his years and impaired health has been absent from his duties for some time (July, 1921). THE CODE OF 1895 It was during Judge Pemberton's term, in 1895, that the judicial dis- tricts of Montana were reapportioned so as to number eleven, and the new Code was adopted. On January 14, 1896, the late Col. Wilbur F. San- ders made the work of the Code Commission the subject of a learned address which he delivered before the Montana Bar Association. Ex- tracts from it are taken which bear intimately upon the Montana Code of 1895. "Had the Bar Association of Montana," he said, "accomplished nothing else in all the years of its existence from that time (1885, the year of its organization) until the present, it would still be entitled to the lasting gratitude of the people of Montana for bringing about the codifica- tion of the common law. The question was agitated by members of the Bar Association at its meetings during several years. At an adjourned meeting of the association held at Helena, January 6, 1887, the Com- mittee on Jurisprudence and Law Reform presented the following resolu- tions which were adopted: 'Resolved, that it is the sense of the Montana 436 HISTORY OF MONTANA Bar Association that the principles and rules of the common law, so fat as possible, should be reduced to the form of a statute, thereby settling disputed principles, bringing the great body of the law into a smaller compass, and placing it within the reach of all. " 'Resolved, that, whereas the enactment of a code presupposes the existence of one synthetic, current and logical system of laws, this asso- ciation recommends the fusion of common law and equity into one single, systematic and harmonious body of laws, both as to principles and prac- tice, upon the following basis, to-wit : that in case of conflict the rules of equity prevail; that the remedies be made cumulative and concurrent; that the rules and spirit of interpretation and application of the new system be the same as now prevail in equity; and that this be done at the time of the enactment of the general statutes recommended by the Committee on Jurisprudence and Law Reform, or as a preliminary step thereto/ ' Different members of the Bar Association continued to keep the mat- ter alive, even after the Code Commission had been appointed and made its first report, and they never rested until the codes were finally adopted in 1895. During the long service of Theodore Brantly as chief justice of the State Supreme Court, he has had a number of associates. W. T. Pigott was appointed to succeed Horace R. Buck, who died December 24, 1897, and he served until January 5, 1903. When Justice Hunt resigned in 1900 to accept the secretaryship of Porto Rico, R. Lee Word was ap- pointed to the vacancy and continued on the bench until January 7, 1901. He was followed by G. R. Milburn, who served the full term of six years. W. L. Holloway, who succeeded Judge Pigott on January 5, 1903, is still one of Justice Brantly's associates. Henry C. Smith was on the bench from January 7, 1907, until January 6, 1913, and Sidney Sanner from the latter date until January, 1919. CHIEF JUSTICE THEODORE BRANTLY AND ASSOCIATES Hon. Theodore Brantly has been chief justice of the Supreme Court since January i, 1899. He was born and educated in Tennessee, receiving his degree of LL. B. from Cumberland University, Lebanon, in 1881. Judge Brantly settled in Montana in September, 1887, and was admitted to the territorial bar in the following year. For several years he was teacher of languages in the College of Montana, and in 1892 commenced a service of six years as judge of the Third district. As stated, he became chief justice on the first of the following year. Justice Brantly's associates are W. L. Holloway, Charles H. Cooper, Albert J. Galen and F. B. Reynolds. Of the foregoing, Judge Holloway has been longest on the bench, having served since 1903. He is a Mis- sourian, who received his professional degree from the University of Michigan, in 1892, and soon after located in Montana. For several years he served as county attorney of Gallatin County and as judge of the Ninth district from 1900 to the time of his selection as associated justice in 1902. Judge Albert J. Galen is the only native of Montana on the State 437 Supreme bench. He was born on a ranch near Three Forks, and was admitted to the state bar soon after his graduation from the law depart- ment of the University of Michigan in 1897. He was attorney general of Montana in 1905-12, and during that period served on the Montana Capitol Commission until the new building was finished in 1912. Justice Galen made a fine record in the World's war. In January, 1918, he was commissioned major and judge advocate, U. S. A., and, as such, presided over the Eighth Division, Camp Fremont, California. From August, 1918, to June, 1919, he served as judge advocate general of the American Expeditionary Forces in Siberia. In March, 1919, he was advanced to the military rank of lieutenant colonel and was honorably discharged from the service July 25, 1919. His appointment to the Supreme bench fol- lowed not long afterward. U. S. DISTRICT JUDGES The successive judges of the Federal Court have been: Hiram Knowles, February 23, 1890, to April 15, 1904; William H. Hunt, Sept- ember i, 1904, to April 4, 1910; Carl Rasch from May 2, 1910, to his resignation in October, 1911; and George M. Bourquin, from March 8, 1912, to the present time (July, 1921). Of these four federal judges, a state historian of reliability has this to say : "Judge Knowles was ap- pointed judge of the United States District Court for the district of Mon- tana, February 21, 1890. He had previously served about eleven years on the territorial Supreme bench. His services as judge of the Federal Court continued about fifteen years, when he voluntarily retired because of his advanced age. Altogether, his judicial service, on the territorial and the federal bench, covered about twenty-six years. During that time, Judge Knowles delivered some memorable opinions in mining law and some of his decisions have become leading ones. JUDGE HIRAM KNOWLES "Hiram Knowles was born at Hamden, Maine. He was educated at Antioch College, Ohio, and afterward graduated from the law depart- ment of Harvard University. Judge Knowles came to Montana from Iowa in 1866, immediately after his appointment to the territorial Supreme bench. He had previously crossed the plains to California and Nevada. In the latter state he practiced law for about three years, then moved to Idaho, where he remained another year. This was before he came to Mon- tana, and he lived therein continuously after his arrival in 1866. After his retirement from the territorial Supreme court bench, he practiced law eleven years. The judicial services of Judge Knowles covered a longer period than that of any other man in the territory or state of Montana, and none of its judges commanded greater respect of the people. "Upon the retirement of Judge Knowles from the Federal District bench, in 1904, he was succeeded by William H. Hunt, whose judicial services have been elsewhere noted. 438 HISTORY OF MONTANA "In 1910, Judge Hunt was succeeded in office by Carl Rasch, whose resignation took effect October 15, 1911. Judge Rasch resigned because he preferred the practice of law. After his retirement he formed a part- nership with M. S. Gunn, at Helena, where he is now engaged in the practice of his profession. "Judge George M. Bourquin was appointed United States judge for Montana in March, 1912, and is the present incumbent of that office. He had previously (1905-09) served a term of four years as judge of the district court of the second judicial district of the state of Montana. Judge Bourquin possesses, in a very high degree, every qualification for the judicial office." STATE DISTRICT JUDICIARY The first eight district judges, under the state constitution, were: Wil- liam H. Hunt, first district, consisting of Lewis and Clark counties ; John J. McHatton, second district, Silver Bow County ; David M. Durfee, third district, Deer Lodge County; C. S. Marshall, fourth district, Missoula County; Thomas J. Galbraith, fifth district, Beaverhead, Jefferson and Madison counties ; Frank Henry, sixth district, Gallatin, Park and Meagher counties; George R. Milburn, seventh district, Yellowstone, Custer and Dawson; C. H. Benton, eighth district, Chouteau, Cascade and Fergus counties. Judge Milburn, who had practiced his profession for a number of years in Miles City after leaving the district bench served a term as associate justice of the State Supreme Court. William H. Hunt suc- ceeded Judge Harwood as associate justice in 1895, and resigned from the bench in 1900 to accept the office of secretary of Porto Rico. From time to time, with the creation of new counties, the judicial dis- tricts have been changed, the thirteenth Legislative Assembly defining them as follows : First, Lewis and Clark counties ; second, Silver Bow County; third, Deer Lodge, Granite and Powell counties; fourth, Mis- soula, Ravalli and Sanders; fifth, Beaverhead, Jefferson and Madison; sixth, Park, Sweet Grass and Stillwater; seventh, Custer and Dawson; eighth, Cascade and Teton ; ninth, Gallatin ; tenth, Fergus ; eleventh, Flat- head and Lincoln; twelfth, Chouteau, Valley, Blaine, Hill and Sheridan; thirteenth, Yellowstone, Rosebud, Carbon, Musselshell and Big Horn; fourteenth, Broadwater and Meagher. The term of the district judge is four years, beginning on the first Monday of January succeeding his elec- tion. CHAPTER XX FIRST DECADE OF STATEHOOD Like all other commonwealths of the Union, the three basic events which constitutionally created Montana were the adoption of a state con- stitution, her admission into the association of states by congressional enactment and presidential sanction, and the election and installation of the representatives of her legislative, executive and judicial functionaries. THE STATE CONSTITUTION OF 1889 The adoption of the state constitution by the convention which delib- erated and acted at Helena from July 4th to August 17, 1889, was the realization of many years of thought and experimentation. Although the territorial conventions of 1866 and 1884 accomplished nothing definite, they demonstrated the importance of changes in the old constitution and pointed the way to not a few necessary reforms in the fundamental in- strument of government. William A. Clark, that dominating personality in Montana's govern- mental and industrial life, presided over the deliberations of the 1889 con- vention, as he had over those of the preceding body. There were seventy-five delegates in the convention elected from twenty-five districts into which the sixteen counties of the territory were divided. The dele- gates were so apportioned that the more populous counties Lewis and Clark, Silver Bow, Missoula and Deer Lodge were represented, in total, by about the same number as all the other counties combined sent to the deliberative body. To the less populous counties (with the exception of Dawson and Yellowstone counties, which combined their delegation), were apportioned three delegates each, and to the more influential counties the following: Silver Bow and Lewis and Clark, twelve each; Deer Lodge, nine; and Missoula, six. Total, thirty-nine delegates for the more popu- lous and influential counties, and thirty-six for the remainder of the ter- ritory. A fair general estimate of the personnel of the convention and its results is this : The membership of the assembly was generally considered as composed of able and patriotic citizens desirous of drafting an organic act at once just and suitable to the needs of the new commonwealth. Politically, it was divided about evenly, there being thirty-nine democrats and thirty-six republicans in the convention. Many subjects of legislation were introduced into the deliberations, and those who had an appreciation of the high duties of the body, leaders and lawyers and members with legislative experience who sought to confine the labors of the convention 439 440 HISTORY OF MONTANA to essential constitutional provisions, were in many instances overridden, while many members who believed that the interests of the people de- manded that their ideas should be crystallized into the constitution of the state, on occasions controlled the body. As result, there were incorpo- rated in this state document, in adamantine form, many provisions, then apparently proper, but which, with the development of the state, will demand alteration through the cumbersome method of constitutional amendment. The delegates chosen, by name, were as follows: Fielding L. Graves, Henry Knippenberg and Aaron C. Witter, Beaver Head County; David G. Browne, Charles E. Conrad and Samuel Mitchell, Chouteau County; Walter A. Burleigh, Charles H. Loud and Charles R. Middleton, Custer County; Timothy E. Collins, Paris Gibson and Charles M. Webster, Cas- cade County; O. F. Goddard, Henri J. Haskell and Alfred Meyers, Daw- son and Yellowstone counties ; John R. Toole, Henry R. Whitehill, George B. Winston, J. F. Brazelton, David M. Durfee, George J. Reek, Edward Burns, John C. Robinson and Conrad Kohrs, Deer Lodge County; S. S. Hobson, Perry W. McAdow and William H. Watson, Fergus County; William Cooper, Charles S. Hartman and Llewellyn A. Luce, Gallatin County ; Edward Cardwell, Robert E. Hammond and Thomas Joyes, Jef- ferson County; Andrew J. Burns, Warren C. Gillette, William Mayger, B. Platt Carpenter, William A. Chessman, William Muth, Lewis H. Hersh- field, Martin Maginnis, Joseph K. Toole, Alexander F. Burns, Milton Cauby and Arthur J. Craven, Lewis and Clark County; Simeon R. Buford, James E. Callaway and Richard O. Hickman, Madison County; J. E. Kanouse, William Parberry and Louis Rotwitt, Meagher County ; Walter M. Bickford, Charles S. Marshall, William R. Ramsdell, Luke D. Hatch, William J. Kennedy, and Joseph E. Marion, Missoula County; George O. Eaton, William T. Field and Allen R. Joy, Park County ; Peter Breen, William Mason Bullard and J. E. Gaylord, Jefferson County; Hiram Knowles, John E. Rickards, George W. Stapleton, Joseph Hogan, Leopold F. Schmidt, Francis* E. Sargeant, Edward D. Aiken, Thomas Courtenay, William Dyer, William A. Clark, William W. Dixon and Charles S. Warren, Silver Bow County. William H. Todd was chief clerk of the convention and Rev. H. E. Clowes, chaplain. With the organization of the convention, the rules adopted for its guidance provided for the appointment of twenty-three standing com- mittees to supervise the drafting of articles, sections, schedules and ordi- nances on various subjects. These committees were announced by President Clark on the fifth day of the session. Forms of the preamble to the proposed constitution were submitted and, after considerable discus- sion, the convention adopted therein the recognition of a Supreme Being. Laws giving preference to any form of religion were prohibited. The funds of the state institutions were properly safeguarded, but legislation was later enacted authorizing the issuance of bonds against the various land grants for the benefit of educational institutions. Abundant protection against bribery and the trading in votes to secure legislation was provided HISTORY OF MONTANA 441 by the constitution. An effort was made to limit the right of franchise to those who could read and write the English language; but it failed, as well as the proposal for equal suffrage, the latter being rejected by a vote of forty-three to twenty-five. A resolution was also lost seeking to incor- porate a prohibition against the employment of convict labor by the state. The construction of an irrigating system under state ownership and con- trol met with no favor. Largely through the decided opposition of Presi- dent Clark, who took the floor to voice his views, a provision proposing to abolish the grand jury as a part of the judicial system was killed as first presented. In its stead, an amended provision was adopted providing for the prosecution of offenses by information, but retaining the grand jury at the discretion of the courts. Perhaps the resolution which aroused the most discussion was that proposing to constitutionally exempt mines from taxation. All recognized the importance of encouraging those in- dustries so vital to the prosperity of the coming state but how far should they be protected? Some argued, to the limit. The more conservative and, as time proved, the wiser course prevailed. The final provision taxed mines at the price paid the United States, $5 per acre; also the net pro- ceeds of all mining properties were made subject to taxation and if the surface ground was used for other purposes than those of mining, such contingency was met. CAPITAL TO REMAIN AT HELENA Much of the later portion of the session was devoted to the permanent location of the state capital and the division of legislative representation. Butte, Missoula, Anaconda, Great Falls, Bozeman and even Livingston were mentioned and championed by local and sectional representatives, without any strong expectations of displacing Helena. On July I9th, the chairman of the Committee on State Institutions and Public Buildings made a report recommending that the capital remain at Helena until per- manently located; that a change of location should not be made except upon a two-thirds vote of the people, and that there should be no expendi- ture for buildings until the state capital be permanently determined. It was finally agreed that Helena remain the state capital until the question should be decided at the general election of 1892, and in case no city received a majority of the votes, the location should be determined at the succeeding election, between the two cities receiving the highest vote. APPORTIONMENT OF SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVES It was also on July iQth that Joseph K. Toole, chairman of the Com- mittee on the Legislative Department, reported a section providing that the Senate should consist of sixteen members, one from each county, which was to constitute a senatorial district regardless of population, and that the House of Representatives should consist of fifty members from the various counties, apportioned according to population. A motion that the 442 HISTORY OF MONTANA Senate consist of twenty-six members was defeated. The division finally adopted consisted of sixteen senators and fifty-five representatives. It was provided that the senatorial district should be numbered and that when new counties (senatorial districts) were created, the class to which its members belonged should be determined by lot. "However," says a well known commentator on this feature of the state constitution, "this has never been done, the exigencies of politics forbidding. The first new counties created after the admission of the state were Flathead, Valley, Teton, Ravalli and Granite, by the third Legislative Assembly in 1893, and at the succeeding session three democrats and two republicans appeared to represent these counties in the Senate. The democrats claimed to have been elected for the full senatorial term of four years, and as three of the new members would have fallen into odd-numbered districts, making their terms expire at the next election, they took no chances and declined to draw lots to determine whether they belonged to the odd or the even class. The newly elected republican members, with the refusal of the others to join with them, apparently acquiesced in the situation. Dur- ing the succeeding sixteen years ten new counties were created and repre- sentatives sent to the Senate but no action has been taken to cure the failure to divide them into classes, with the result that alternately about two-thirds of the body are holdovers." MONTANA BECOMES A STATE On the i6th of August, 1889, the final draft of the constitution was prepared and on the next day it was adopted and signed by the members of the convention, which then adjourned. The state constitution was rati- fied at the election held October I, 1889, and the first state officers were chosen, their terms to commence on the 8th of November, the date that the president of the United States issued his proclamation announcing the result of the election. Thereby, Montana automatically became a state of the Union. PROVISIONS OF THE ENABLING ACT The enabling act passed by Congress in February, 1889, contained a number of provisions which were necessarily incorporated into her body politic when Montana was admitted into the Union as a state. They had especially to do with the establishment of her systems of public education, charities and reformatories. Sections 16 and 36, if remaining intact, were granted to the state for the support of the common schools, with few exceptions such as being included in an Indian or military reservation provision being made for such exceptions. The proceeds of such sales of public lands as had been donated by Congress to the territory, in 1881 (also for educational purposes), were to be set aside as a permanent school fund, the interest of which should be expended for the maintenance of the educational system of the state. Fifty sections of the unappro- priated public lands of Montana were also granted to the state for the HISTORY OF MONTANA 443 erection of public buildings at the capital. Seventy-two sections of the lands granted to the territory, in 1881, were also, by the enabling act, passed over to the state for the support of a university. They could not be sold for less than $10 per acre. One hundred acres were granted for the establishment and maintenance of a School of Mines ; a like quantity for State Normal schools; 50,000 acres each for the support of an Agri- cultural College, a State Reform School, and a State Deaf and Dumb Asylum. All mineral lands were excluded from these grants, but the enabling act provided that if sections 16 and 36, or any portion thereof should contain minerals, the state could select an equal quantity of other unappropriated lands for the benefit of the common schools. The enabling act not only authorized the assembling of the constitu- tional convention and the election of officers for a full state government and representatives in Congress, but two United States senators. It also provided that all territorial laws in force at the time of the admittance of Montana into the Union should remain in force, except as modified or changed by the constitution finally ratified by the people of the state. The enabling act further made provision for the establishment of Fed- eral courts, Montana being attached to the Ninth Circuit for judicial pur- poses, and, under the constitution, the state was divided into eight judicial districts. The Supreme Court comprised the chief justice and two asso- ciates, who had no other duties than those which attached to the highest judiciary in the state. A great improvement over the territorial judicial system, when the functions of the Supreme Court were so involved with those of the District judiciary. Thus, through the enabling act and the state constitution, the common- wealth was well under way. FIRST STATE OFFICERS The first state officers chosen at the election of October i, 1889, were as follows: Joseph K. Toole, governor; John E. Rickards, lieutenant governor ; Louis Rotwitt, secretary of state ; E. A. Kenney, auditor ; R. O. Hickman, treasurer; John Gannon, superintendent of public instruction; Henri J. Haskell, attorney general. GOVERNOR JOSEPH K. TOOLE Joseph Kemp Toole, first governor of the state of Montana, is one of the strongest men produced by the bar and public affairs of the common- wealth. A Missourian by birth, he was educated mostly in Kentucky, completing his legal training in the office of his brother, E. Warren Toole, in 1870. The fourteen years which followed made the firm of Toole & Toole famous in the later legal annals of Montana, its junior member, Joseph K., also steadily advancing in the public affairs of the state. In 1872-76, he served as district attorney for the Third judicial district, and in 1881 was chosen to represent Lewis and Clark County in the Legisla- 444 HISTORY OF MONTANA tive Assembly, being during that period president of the Council. , Mr. Toole was a member of the 1884 constitutional convention, and imme- diately preceding his return to the convention of 1889 had ably served two terms in Congress. His opponent at the first congressional contest was the able judge, Hiram Knowles, and at the second, Wilbur F. Sanders, one of the most popular pioneer lawyers and public men in Montana. As JOSEPH K. TOOLE perhaps the leading democrat in the territory he defeated those prominent republicans, and was the only representative of his political party to be chosen on the gubernatorial ticket. As he was in Congress when the Enabling Act was in process of formulation and enactment he was closely identified with each. After completing his second term as governor, he partially retired from active professional practice and, although retaining his residence in Montana, resided much of the time in California. Gov- HISTORY OF MONTANA 445 ernor Toole has held a number of public positions other than those men- tioned, but is best known for his stalwart services in Congress and as Montana's chief executive. The congressional election of 1889 resulted in the popular choice of Thomas H. Carter over Martin Maginnis, democrat. As Mr. Carter had been returned to the national House of Representatives in November, 1888, by defeating William A. Clark, he served as the last territorial dele- gate to Congress and the first of the state representatives to that body. CONTEST OVER THE UNITED STATES SENATORSHIP In this election, however, the all-important issue was the choice of the United States senator, and, unfortunately, there arose a complication which, for a time, brought a dual government, and which eventually threw the choice of the national senatorships into the Congress of the United States. The complications of the entire situation centered in the returns from Silver Bow County. On the 3ist of October, 1889, when the State Board of Canvassers met to examine the returns from the various coun- ties in the state, it was found that there were none from Silver Bow. A messenger was at once sent to Butte, the county seat, to obtain a certified abstract of the votes cast in that county. Information from the county clerk of Silver Bow to the special messenger sent by the state board was to the effect that the County Canvassing Board had met, as provided by law, on the I4th of October, and that in making a canvass of the ballots the vote of Precinct 34 had been rejected as fraudulent. Thereupon, the State Board of Canvassers was obliged to declare the results of the elec- tion, minus the vote of Precinct 34 which was in dispute. The rejection of Precinct 34 gave the entire republican legislative ticket of Silver Bow County a majority, whereas the counting of the alleged returns would have giv^n five members of the delegation to the democrats by majorities ranging from nineteen to twenty-one votes, in addition to the five democratic candidates whose election was not disputed, thus giving that party the entire delegation from Silver Bow County and control of the Legislative Assembly on joint ballot. Without going into the merits of the political imbroglio, it is sufficient to state the facts that the State Supreme Court,- in the contest between Lloyd and Sullivan for the office of sheriff of Silver Bow County, rejected the vote of Precinct 34 for nineteen specified reasons, having to do with various irregularities of judges and clerks of election and the voters them- selves. But party spirit ran high and the democrats, led by Governor Toole, proceeded to organize the House of Representatives after receiv- ing into that body the five democratic members ruled out by the Supreme Court, on the constitutional ground that the House was the judge as to the qualification of its own members. On the 22d of November, the governor issued a proclamation opening the House of Representatives in its appointed chamber and, according to law, State Auditor E. A. Kenny (republican) issued a call for that body to meet at Iron Hall, Helena, 446 HISTORY OF MONTANA over which he was authorized to preside until a temporary organization could be effected. The day following the issuance of the governor's proclamation, Novem- ber 23, 1889, the first Legislature of the state of Montana convened. The Senate met at the place designated by the governor, which had been rented from E. W. Knight, democratic chairman of the Board of County Commissioners. There being no contested seats in that body, the mem- bers of both parties came together physically although not harmonious in spirit. Under the state auditor's call, the republican members of the House met at Iron Hall and effected a temporary organization, while the democratic members met at the hall in the courthouse designated by the governor, admitted to their seats the five democratic claimants from Sil- ver Bow County, and then effected a temporary organization. Thus was inaugurated the dead-lock which was maintained until the session of the First Legislature expired by limitation and which extended into the second session of that body in the following legislative year. The Senate, with its sixteen members, was equally divided as to politics and no seat was in dispute. Its presiding officer, who had a casting and therefore a deciding vote, was the lieutenant governor, J. E. Rickards, a republican. The eight democratic members refused to meet with the republican senators, under these circumstances, and on the igth day of the session, the proceedings of which had been confined to roll calls and ad- journments, Senator Cornelius Hedges introduced a resolution, which was adopted by the republicans to compel the democratic senators to attend the session. Three days afterward, the latter took the oath of office before Chief Justice Henry N. Blake, and on December 19, 1889, the 27th day of the session, an organization of the State Senate was finally effected. The democratic senators, however, refused to vote in such organization, and in the regular legislative proceedings attempted by the Senate. Their policy of absenteeism was at once adopted and steadfastly maintained, upon the advice of various democratic leaders of national repute. On the 3 ist of December, the thirty-ninth day of the session, com- menced the proceedings in both houses of the Assembly for the election of the two United States senators. Wilbur F. Sanders received the vote of the eight state senators, and on the following day they proceeded in a body to the House of Representatives to ballot in joint assembly. Mr. Sanders received the votes of all those present, thirty-eight, and was duly declared elected to represent the state of Montana in the Senate of the United States. On the following day, January 2d, T. C. Power, late republican candidate for governor, was elected the second United States senator, the vote of the previous day having been much scattered and divided between Lee Mantle, John E. Rickards (lieutenant governor) and Doctor Leavitt, of Silver Bow County, and B. Platt Carpenter, L. H. Hershfield and Mr. Power, of Lewis and Clark County. As Colonel San- ders was from the latter, Lewis and Clark County was to wield a specially strong influence in the United States Senate. On February 6, 1890, the seventy-sixth day of the session, every demo- cratic senator was absent, and a resolution was adopted by the republicans HISTORY OF MONTANA 447 to fine the absentees as follows: For the first day absent after the day named, $50; second day, $100; third day, $200; fourth day, $400; fifth day, $800; sixth day, $1,000. "Upon each succeeding day before the ad- journment of the Senate for the day," concludes the resolution, "the roll shall be called and a resolution levying and confirming the foregoing fines against the absent members severally by name, who are not excused, shall be passed and placed on record by the secretary of the Senate." A sup- plementary resolution provided for the arrest of democratic absentees, who scattered to Spokane, St. Paul and Canada. One only, Senator Becker, was captured and brought into the Senate chamber, after several attempts had been made to rescue him, and even he escaped to Idaho. With- out further incident of interest, the session adjourned February 20, 1890. RICKARDS ANTICIPATES SPEAKER REED Lieutenant Governor Rickards was highly commended by the repub- licans of the Senate for his rulings and general conduct in holding that body together for purposes of legislation. He acquired the most fame by his ruling that senators present and not voting should not be regarded as absentees, whereby the organization of the Senate was effected. In that ruling he anticipated the celebrated decision of Speaker Thomas B. Reed, of the Federal House of Representatives. Mr. Rickards had been a suc- cessful merchant in Pueblo, Colorado, San Francisco, California, and Butte, Montana, had served in the territorial Assembly and the last con- stitutional convention, and his record as lieutenant governor was such as to make him a candidate for the United States Senate and at the end of his term as presiding officer of the State Senate to place him in the governor's chair. CONGRESS SEATS REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES In the meantime, W. A. Clark, of Butte, and Martin Maginnis, of Helena, had been named as United States senators, by the eight recal- citrant democratic members of the State Senate and the democratic House, including the five contested representatives from Silver Bow County, all meeting in joint session. The contest over the United States senatorship was now transferred to Congress and referred to its Committee on Priv- ileges and Elections. On March 24, 1890, that body submitted its report recommending that Wilbur F. Sanders and Thomas C. Power be admitted to seats in the United States Senate from the state of Montana. Senator Power drew the long term, expiring March 4, 1895, and Senator Sanders that which expired March 4, 1893. W. W. DIXON ELECTED TO CONGRESS At the general election held November 4, 1890, the democrats elected / William W. Dixon to Congress and Thomas H. Carter was defeated. The new congressman had practiced law in Iowa, Tennessee, Arkansas, Califor- 448 HISTORY OF MONTANA nia and Nevada, before arriving- at Helena in 1866. After practicing sev- eral years with W. H. Claggett, a pioneer lawyer of Montana, he moved to Deer Lodge, next to the Black Hills for a time and finally to Butte, where he achieved fame and fortune as a mining attorney. He served in the territorial Assembly and as a member of the constitutional conven- tions of 1884 and 1889 before he entered Congress. When he retired from practice at Butte, he moved to Los Angeles, California, where he died on November 13, 1910. DEADLOCK BROKEN Now that the contest over the United States senatorship was at an end, it was easier to break the deadlock which had barred legislation so long. Furthermore, the state must have money, and necessary appropriations to keep the government in motion cried aloud for recognition. So, notwith- standing that the Supreme Court had decided that the republican House was the legal one, the State Administration recognized the democratic House. A compromise was finally effected by which three of the repub- licans and two of the democrats whose seats had been contested were to be recognized in the House of Representatives and the democrats were to name the officers of the lower body. On January 28, 1891, pursuant to that plan, the two houses assembled for business and the deadlock was at an end. The republicans were generally successful in the November election of 1892, although Mr. Dixon was only defeated by C. S. Hartman by less than 200 plurality. SECOND LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY The reunited Assembly hastened to enact needed appropriation bills, approximating $825,000 for the compensation of state officials, to pay other indebtedness incurred by the state since the last territorial Assembly of 1889, and to provide funds for like purposes until the third session should convene. The next step of the legislators was to make provisions for the raising of funds to cover such appropriations. A tax was voted of two and a half mills on each dollar of property valuation throughout the state, except such as was constitutionally exempt. A law was also enacted providing for the election of presidential electors, and the neces- sary measures were put through the Assembly to make effective the Fed- eral donations of land, under the enabling act, for the development of the educational system of the state and its higher institutions of learning, and various charitable and reformatory institutions. The governor, superin- tendent of public instruction, secretary of state and attorney-general, were constituted the State Board of Land Commissioners to manage the public lands granted by the Federal government to the state. Among other laws enacted by the second session of the Legislative Assembly which closed March 5, 1891, were those creating a State Board of Examiners, a State Board of Pardons and the Historical Society of Montana (originally or- HISTORY OF MONTANA 449 ganized under territorial laws in 1865). Some changes were made in the judicial districts ; a law against "blacklisting" was passed and the first Monday of September designated Labor Day. Another measure of im- portance enacted at this session was one regulating coal mining and pro- viding for the protection of employees. The first proposed amendment to the state constitution was embodied in an act approved February 23, 1891, prescribing that the number of county commissioners in each county should be three and that one should be elected at each general election. An act providing that a representative in Congress should be chosen at the general election to be held every two years thereafter was approved on March 4, 1891. CHIEF JUSTICE BLAKE DEFEATED The republicans were generally successful in the November election of 1892, although Mr. Dixon was defeated by C. S. Hartman by less than 200 plurality. Former Lieutenant Governor Rickards, who headed the state ticket, was elected governor. During this campaign the populist party first appeared as a strong factor in Montana politics, and its com- bination with the democratic organization resulted in the defeat of Henry N. Blake for chief justice of the Supreme Court. Justice Blake served as master in chancery in the United States Court for many years after 1897, but, as stated elsewhere, passed the last period of his life in his native Massachusetts. ANOTHER U. S. SENATORSHIP FIGHT The third Legislative Assembly comprised twenty-six democrats, twenty-six republicans and three populists, and the Senate, nine democrats and seven republicans. On joint ballot, with the aid of the populists, the democrats might have controlled the situation and elected a successor to Senator Sanders had not the old political feud between Marcus Daly and and W. A. Clark broken out afresh. The republican caucus named Colonel Sanders to succeed himself ; the democrats selected W. A. Clark, and the populists, Samuel Mulville. Through the influence of Mr. Daly ten of the democrats refused to abide by the decision of the party caucus and support Mr. Clark. Two of the populists also joined the Daly forces, who (twelve in number) persistently voted for W. W. Dixon. The republicans transferred their votes before the end of the session to Lee Mantle, but they rather lost than gained thereby, and the joint session adjourned without electing a successor to Mr. Sanders. This session, which convened January 2nd and ended March 2, 1893, accomplished much in the way of useful legislation. Numerous appropria- tion bills were passed. LEE MANTLE REJECTED FROM U. S. SENATE Two days after the adjournment of the Legislative Assembly, the term of Senator Sanders expired, throwing upon Governor Riekards the Vol. 129 450 HISTORY OF MONTANA responsibility of appointing an ad-interim senator. In deference to the will of the republican party, expressed in the final action of its members in senatorial caucus, and in response to letters and petitions of similar import from prominent republicans in all sections of the state, Governor Rickards appointed Lee Mantle a senator to fill the vacancy caused by the failure of the Legislative Assembly to name a successor to Colonel Sanders. "Upon technical grounds," says a political writer of the period, "which reversed the precedents established by the Senate of the United States, Mr. Mantle was denied a seat in that body. Two causes operated to bring about this rejection. First, his pronounced views in favor of the free coinage of silver, which was distasteful to the reigning influences in the Senate; and secondly, to the belief entertained by some of the democratic members of that body that his rejection would impel the governor of Montana to reconvene the Legislative Assembly of this state to elect a senator, and that such action would eventuate in the selec- tion of a democrat who would strengthen the party in the forthcoming contest on the tariff." But Governor Rickards refused to convene the Legislature in extraordinary session, although pressed to do so by the democratic leaders. The third session of the Legislative Assembly, which, was held from January 2nd to March 2, 1893, accomplished far more than to wrangle over the United States senatorship. Numerous appropriation bills were passed, including $50,000 to provide for Montana's representation at the World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, and minor amounts to be applied to the properties of the Deaf and Dumb School, the Agricultural College, School of Mines and the State University proper. All of these were definitely located at this important session, with other state institu- tions, as follows : Deaf and Dumb School, at Boulder, Jefferson County ; State Reform School, Miles City, Custer County; State Orphans' Home, Twin Bridges, Madison County; Eastern State Prison, Billings, Yellow- stone County ; old State Penitentiary at Deer Lodge, Powell County, to be known, as the Western State Prison,* University of Montana, Missoula ; Agricultural College, with experiment station, Bozeman, Gallatin County; School of Mines, Butte, Silver Bow County; State Normal School, Dillon, Beaverhead County. The distribution of the educational institutions of the state among the places mentioned was one of the results of the contro- versy then waging over the permanent location of the state capital. In the political bartering incident to that conflict Montana sacrificed the oppor- tunity of possessing a centralized state institution of learning. MANY NEW COUNTIES CREATED The third session was also noteworthy for the number of new counties created. Flathead County was created from parts of Chouteau and Mis- soula counties, and since 1893 the following changes have occurred to * Provisions of the law establishing Eastern and Western State prisons never carried out. The State Prison afterward established at Deer Lodge. HISTORY OF MONTANA 451 make it conform to its present bounds : Part of Deer Lodge annexed and territory taken from it, in 1909, to form Lincoln. At the same session Valley County was created from part of Dawson, and it was reduced to its present area by yielding portions of its own territory to form Sheridan, in 1913, and a part of Phillips in 1915. Teton County was organized from part of Chouteau, and in 1914 and 1919 portions of it were annexed to Toole and Pondera and used in the creation of Glacier. At this county- creating session, Ravalli was organized from Missoula County and Granite from a part of Deer Lodge. Provision was made for the government of each of the new counties named; so that the Montana map and its political body underwent several radical changes. In the general election of November, 1894, the republican nominee for representative in Congress, C. S. Hartman, was elected by a decisive majority over Hal S. Corbett, democrat ; in fact, the better statement may be that Mr. Hartman was chosen over Robert B. Smith, the populist, who polled more votes than the democratic nominee. The respective figures were: Republican candidate, 23,140; populist, 15, 240; democratic, 10,369. The prohibition vote was a negligible number, 519. FINAL CONTEST FOR LOCATION OF STATE CAPITAL The excitement of the campaign of 1894, however, centered in the final contest between Helena and Anaconda for the permanent location of the state capital, and the respective interests were led by two of the ablest managers who ever participated in Montana politics Marcus Daly for Anaconda and William A. Clark for Helena. The vote stood: Helena, 27,024; Anaconda, 25,118. So narrow was the margin in Helena's favor that it was many days after the election before the result was known so definitely as to be beyond the peradventure of a contest in the courts. LEE MANTLE AND THOMAS H. CARTER, U. S. SENATORS Politically, the Legislature of 1895 was overwhelmingly republican, and its members polled more votes than the populists and democrats com- bined, and Lee Mantle was an easy winner for the United States senator- ship, to fill the existing vacancy, with four years to serve, March 4, 1895, to March 3, 1899. For the full term to succeed Senator Power, Thomas H. Carter was the leading candidate, although it required three caucuses and twenty ballots to elect him. He was finally chosen to fill the six years' term from March 4, 1895, to March 3, 1901. CODE OF 189^ ADOPTED The fourth session of the Montana Legislature, which convened at Helena, January 7th and adjourned March 7, 1895, is memorable as the one adopting the political, penal and civil codes prepared by the com- mission appointed to prepare them from all which had gone before. As well stated: "As a result of the labors of this Assembly, Montana was 452 HISTORY OF MONTANA furnished with a system of laws, transferred from decisions of courts into statutory enactments, embodying the familiar rules of human action and rendering secure that which had theretofore had been uncertain. The in- coherent and contradictory provisions of the. Compiled Statutes of 1887 were at last superseded by an orderly, perspicuous and systematical com- pendium of law." STATE CAPITOL AND ARID LAND GRANT COMMISSIONS Further: A State Capitol Commission was established to supervise the erection of a State House not to exceed $1,000,000 in cost, and a Sol- diers' Home was located at Columbia Falls, Flathead County. To enable the state to accept the offer of the Government made under an act of Congress in 1894 for the purpose of reclaiming the arid lands of the United States, a State Arid Land Grant Commission was created. Two new counties also came into political being Carbon and Sweet Grass. Carbon County was carved out of Park and Yellowstone counties; in 1913 and 1919 parts of it were annexed to Stillwater and Yellowstone counties and in the latter year Carbon County received an accession from Yellow- stone. Sweet Grass was organized from parts of Meagher, Park and Yellowstone; in turn, parts of it were annexed to Stillwater and Wheat- land in 1913 and 1917, respectively. In the matter of the creation of the counties of Montana, as of every other state and territory in the Union, it was a ceaseless process of "give and take." The fourth Assembly was noted for both its positive and negative legislation, in the latter class being its defeat of the first bill introduced to give the right of -suffrage to women. THE SILVER ISSUE The free coinage of silver at the ratio of 16 to I was the great issue of the campaign of November, 1896; an issue not only of national import, but} of practical interest to the .State of Montana. Should the issue be carried through Congress, it meant renewed and increased activity of the silver mines of the state which had been almost abandoned on account of the drop in the price of silver. The democrats, populists and many repub- licans of Montana united in an organization called Silver-Republican, which was headed by Charles S. Hartman, and they carried their ticket through with an overwhelming vote of 33,942, while the regular republican candi- date for Congress, O. F. Stoddard, received only 9,492 votes. W. F. Sanders, who took such a determined stand against "free silver," lost much prestige with his party thereby, although no one doubted for a moment the honesty of his position. In fact, it required much moral bravery to so oppose a public sentiment which was overwhelmingly against his contentions. i GOVERNOR ROBERT B. SMITH The general election of 1896 placed Robert B. Smith in the governor's chair. He was a Kentucky lawyer, who settled at Dillon, in 1882 and at HISTORY OF MONTANA 453 Helena in 1887, where he formed a partnership with Samuel and Robert L. Word, father and son. The firm had a large practice until the senior member, as governor, appointed his partner associate justice of the State Supreme Court. Governor Smith had served as a member of the Constitu- tional Convention of 1884, as district attorney for Montana, and city attorney of Helena before he was elevated to the gubernatorial chair. He was in office, of course, at the outbreak of the Spanish-American war and the Filipino insurrection, and refused to allow politics to play any part in the selection of officers to command the First Montana Infantry, which was so prominent in Philippine warfare. FIFTH LEGISLATIVE SESSION The fifth session of the Legislative Assembly commenced January 4, 1897, and ended sixty days thereafter, according to law. Measures were taken to determine the boundary between Idaho and Montana, and the lines of various counties were redefined and established. Several bills were passed for the protection of underground miners-; a drastic gambling law was enacted and the inheritance tax was incorporated into the statutes. The State Capitol Commission was authorized to negotiate bonds to the amount of $350,000 for the erection of a state building, and additional authority was given the State Arid Land Grant Commission to enable it to issue bonds and accept the benefits of the congressional act passed June n, 1896. The existing legislative powers of cities were extended so as to enable them to acquire by purchase, construction or condemna- tion proceedings, water plants, water supplies, franchises, public buildings and sewers. The Board of State Prison Commissioners was directed to transfer the unused material designed for the Eastern Prison and apply it to the pending enlargement of the penitentiary at Deer Lodge. A protest was sent by the Assembly to Montana's senators in Congress against a recent order of the President of the United States setting apart large timber reserves in the state, on the ground that its enforcement would seriously retard its development. CONGRESSIONAL ELECTION OF 1898 The election for representative in Congress, held November 8, 1898, resulted in the election of A. J. Campbell, democrat, over the republican nominee, Thomas C. Marshall. T. S. Hogan, the populist, came within about 3,000 votes of the number cast for the republican nominee. SIXTH SESSION OF LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY A second attempt to enact a suffrage bill for women failed at the sixth session, in January-March, 1899. Among the important measures passed was the creation of a State Board of Agriculture, comprising six members representing as many districts and who served under appointment from the governor. The special intent of the creative act was to prevent the spread 454 HISTORY OF MONTANA of contagious diseases among fruit-bearing shrubs and trees and to ex- tirpate fruit pests which infested fruits and orchards. The act creating the State Arid Land Grant Commission was amended by which that body was granted authority to issue bonds for the construction of irrigation systems. Counties were empowered to establish free high schools, and for their maintenance any of them could issue bonds up to the $100,000 limit. Free kindergartens were also authorized. An act was passed providing for the organization and control of fire departments and the legal rate of interest was reduced from 10 to 8 per cent, as at present. On February 4, 1899, the Filipinos had attacked the United States Volunteers in the Philippines. The First Montana Infantry was among the commands thus involved in the insurrection, and the sixth Assembly, then in session, passed a reso- lution commending its military actions. Col. Robert B. Wallace * was also recommended to Congress for a brigadiership in the service. CORNER-STONE OF CAPITOL LAID The year 1899 is also epochal as witnessing the laying of the corner- stone of the capitol, which occurred on the Fourth of July with impres- sive ceremonies. Addresses were delivered by Governor Toole, Wilbur F. Sanders, and E. D. Peck and E. B. Kennedy, member and secretary, respectively, of the Capitol Commission. Mr. Kennedy, especially, went into the history of the building of the capitol in detail. W. A. CLARK AND THE U. S. SENATORSHIP AGAIN On February 25, 1899, when the sixth session was nearing its close, twenty-seven members of the Senate and House signed a memorial addressed to the Senate of the United States, alleging corruption in the election of W. A. Clark to the upper house of Congress and remonstrating against his admission thereto. A later protest was signed by Robert A. Smith, governor; T. E. Collins, state treasurer; Henry C. Stiff, speaker of the House of Representatives ; A. J. Campbell, member of Congress ; and C. S. Hartman, ex-representative. It was duly presented to the United States Senate, and on December 4, 1899, the case was referred to the Committee on Privileges and Elections. After a prolonged investigation, during which many witnesses were examined, majority and minority re- ports' were presented to the Senate; but both recommended the adoption of a resolution that Mr. Clark was not legally elected to a seat in the Senate of the United States by the Legislature of Montana, by reasons of unlaw- ful acts "on the part of his agents and of violation of the laws of Montana defining and punishing crimes against the elective franchise." The details of the testimony are easily accessible to anyone who desires them, but the tendency of the testimony of the witnesses and of Senator Clark himself is to the effect that such large sums of money were spent *Died in March, 1900, from effects of wound received in the Philippines in February, 1899. n o H ffi W n 456 HISTORY OF MONTANA by his friends and agents that the principal knew little or nothing about their disposal. The majority report was to the effect that "if by bribery or corrupt practices on the part of friends of a candidate who were con- ducting his canvass, votes were obtained for him without which he would not have had a majority, his election should be annulled although proof was lacking that he knew of the bribery or corrupt practices. Hence, regardless of his lack of knowledge of what his adherents had done to secure his election, and of his belief that his campaign was lawfully con- ducted, he was held to be disqualified to sit in the United States Senate. The minority report agreed with that recommendation, but severely criticised the agents and friends of Senator Clark, charging, from the evi- dence, "that the friends of Senator Clark illegally and improperly used large sums of money and thereby caused his election, and that this election is not valid, but, under the law of the land, is void." Before the formal consideration of the report of the Committee on Privileges and Election by the United States Senate, Mr. Clark addressed that body, reviewing his political career in Montana, declaring that he had in no way been a party to any action deserving censure, but announcing that he had delivered the resignation of his seat in the Senate to the gov- ernor of Montana. For this reason it was unnecessary to call up the resolution for action. This was May n, 1900, and on the following day, in the absence of Governor Smith from the state, Lieutenant and Acting- Governor A. E. Spriggs appointed him to fill the vacancy caused by his own resignation. Governor Smith at once returned from California, de- clared the action of Lieutenant, Governor Spriggs invalid, and tendered the appointment of the United States senatorship to Maj. Martin Maginnis, who at once accepted the same and left for Washington with his credentials. But neither sets of credentials were considered, and the seat in the United States Senate for the State of Montana remained vacant for about a year. U. S. SENATOR LEE MANTLE Lee Mantle, whose term expired on March 3, 1899, was one of the leading republicans and public men of the territory and state. A native of England, his father died before he was born and his varied experience in the West always enabled him to meet its people with, appreciation and strong influence. He was a farmer in Utah, a telegraph operator in Idaho, and an express agent (for Wells, Fargo & Company) and a newspaper man in Montana. He settled at Butte and there, for twenty years he con- ducted the Daily Inter-Mountain, which he had established in 1881. Mr. Mantle had also been mayor of Butte and speaker of the territorial House of Representatives before being appointed United States senator, in 1893. As has been noted, he was denied a seat in the national Senate, but was elected in 1895 for the term ending March 3, 1899. Mr. Mantle was chair- man of the Republican State Central Committee in 1892, 1894 and 1904, and served as president of the Montana Commission to the St. Louis Ex- position in 1904 and of the State Commission to the Portland Exposition in 1905. Such facts as these indicate what manner of man is ex-Senator Lee Mantle. CHAPTER XXI TWENTY YEARS MORE OF STATEHOOD Joseph K. Toole succeeded Robert B. Smith as governor of Montana on January 7, 1901, and during the last few months of Smith's term and the early period of Toole's administration was fought out one of the exciting campaigns between two of the mining potentates of Montana. Mines and politics became so mixed in the contentions between William A. Clark and F. Augustus Heinze as to be at times indistinguishable. In the campaign of 1900 for the United States senatorship continuing the full term of Thomas H. Carter, Mr. Heinze manipulated a portion of the Legislature in the interest of Mr. Clark, and the two had succeeded in securing a fusion majority for the latter. But before the time came for the assembling of the caucus which was to nominate Mr. Clark, Heinze heard that his associate had made peace with the Amalgamated interests and promptly turned his batteries against him politically. At first, he pre- vented Clark from getting the necessary number of 1 votes in the caucus and on the first formal ballot prevented his election. , On the following day, however, the members who had refused to vote for Clark, came to his aid and he was elected to succeed Carter. PARIS GIBSON ELECTED U. S. SENATOR The short term was settled in open session without the intervention of a caucus, but it was not decided until the early morning hours following midnight of the last day of the session, March 7, 1901. The result was the election of Paris Gibson, the pioneer and founder of the City of Great Falls. Although not of the first generation of. pioneers, Mr. Gibson was a great force in the establishment of modern Montana. He was of Eng- lish descent, a Maine man by birth, and aggressive by inheritance of an- cestors who had fought in the Revolutionary and French and Indian wars. But Mr. Gibson's bravery and triumphs were identified with the determined assaults upon frontier conditions and the wrestling therefrom of splendid industrial developments. A college graduate and a member of the Maine Legislature before he went West, he was twenty-eight years of age when he settled in Minneapolis, where, with William W. Eastman, he built the first merchant flour mill at that place, and one of the pioneer woolen mills of the Northwest, the North Star. He was active in all the developing agencies of that city, where he continued to reside until 1879, when he moved to Montana. With clear business and commercial vision, he found his ideal center of industry, agriculture and trade at the great falls of the Missouri. There he secured a town site and platted Great Falls, and shortly afterward interested James J. Hill, the great railroad builder, in the 457 458 enterprise which he had advanced thus far. Mr. Hill became associated with Paris Gibson in the founding and growth of the infant city, and while the railroad king continued through many years of continental developments to support iti from afar, it was Mr. Gibson who never left its side and worked for it and nourished it with all his strength and means like both father and mother in one. Mr. Gibson, however, was too broad and active a man to even confine himself to the province of the founding of a city. He served as a member THE COMPLETED CAPITOL OF MONTANA of the Constitutional Convention of 1889, was elected to the State Senate two years later, and his service in the United States Senate covered the years 1901-5. He then resigned to devote himself to his real estate and farming interests, and passed from his busy and productive life on Decem- ber n, 1920. CONGRESSIONAL ELECTIONS The populistic element in politics created much party confusion in the campaign and general election of 1900. That fact was well illustrated in HISTORY OF MONTANA 459 the election for representative to Congress, for which there were four candidates. Caldwell Edwards, running on the democratic-populist ticket was elected, having received 28,170 votes ; S. G. Murray, republican, 23,207 ; C. F. Kelley, independent democratic, 9,443; socialistic democratic, 613. The independent democrats were those who refused fusion with the populists, and the socialists of the democratic party hardly influenced the general result. In the congressional election held November 4, 1902, the following votes were cast for the respective candidates: Joseph M. Dixon, repub- lican, 24,626; John M. Evans, democrat, 19,560; Martin Dee, labor party, 6,005; G. B. Sproule, socialist, 3,131. HEINZE OVERWHELMS THE COURTS The eighth Legislative Assembly, in session from January 5th to March 5, 1903, endeavored to relieve the surging tide of litigation which threat- ened to overwhelm the Supreme Court as a result of the numerous and prodigious suits brought by Heinze against the Amalgamated interests to determine the titles to vast mining properties in the Butte district. The legal) phases of this litigation have been fully explained, the suits having been fought out before Judge William Clancy and Judge Edward W. Harney, who presided in the court of the Second Judicial District of the state for the County of Silver Bow. Judge Clancy served from 1896 to 1905 and was a populist supported by Heinze; while Judge Harney came to the bench as a democrat in January, 1901, his term also expiring in 1905. In June, 1901, he handed down a decision in favor of Heinze, an unsuccess- ful effort was made to impeach him, and in October Judge Clancy opined that the Amalgamated Copper Company was an "outlaw" in Montana. Then came the historic shut-down and the efforts of Governor Toole to relieve the situation which was bringing such poignant distress to the mining interests and the miners of the state. The measure which was passed by the eighth Legislative Assembly to relieve the congestion of the Supreme Court, and probably to counteract the public apprehension that the district judges of Silver Bow County were unduly influenced by Mr. Heinze, provided for the appointment by the Supreme Court of three commissioners to act as its assistants in the dis- posal of the stress of business which crowded its dockets. Under the act, Henry N. Blake, John B. Clayberg, Lew I. Callaway and W. H. Poorman, at different times, acted in that capacity until the law ceased to be opera- tive. MEASURES OF THE EIGHTH ASSEMBLY Other important legislation enacted during the regular session were the passage of acts to enable, cities which had incurred an indebtedness in excess of the constitutional limit, to levy a yearly tax not exceeding three mills on the dollar until such indebtedness was paid; a compulsory educational bill applying to children between eight and sixteen years of age 460 HISTORY OF MONTANA and a measure to establish industrial schools ; also provisions for the pro- tection of miners (safety-cage law amended), prohibiting the location of blacksmith shops or drying rooms within fifty feet of the mouth of a mine, unless the buildings were fire-proof ; and making mining corporations and railroad companies liable in damages for injuries sustained by their agents. The Montana State Humane Society was created for the protection of both children and dumb animals. Agricultural fair commissions were provided for in every county of the state and $1,000 appropriated annually for the holding of the various fairs ; the Montana State Fair was established at Helena and $10,000 appropriated to encourage it. The last Friday in May of each year was set apart as Pioneer Day. The Arid Land Grant Commission was replaced by the Carey Land Act Board, thereby con- forming to the Federal law known as the Carey Act. Under its provisions and this legislative action the state acquired title to 1,000,000 acres of arid land, which irrigation is reclaiming to productiveness. The appropriations made to support the state government and its institutions approximated $2,000,000, and for the fifth time the Assembly memorialized Congress to amend the Federal Constitution and provide for the election of United States senators by the direct vote of the people. Also at this session, an act was passed proposing to submit amendments to the State Constitution, at the general election in November, 1904, with respect to the employment of children under sixteen years of age in under- ground mines, and making eight hours a day's labor on public works of city, county or state, or in mills, smelters or underground mines. The proposed amendments were ratified by the people,, as proclaimed by the governor December 8, 1904. THE FAIR TRIAL. LAW PASSED The extraordinary session of the eighth Legislative Assembly was called by Governor Toole in December, 1903, to endeavor to provide means through which litigants in the mining cases could be assured of impartial trials. In his proclamation convening the Assembly, the governor deplored the industrial conditions prevailing in Butte, Anaconda and Great Falls, consequent upon the stagnation caused by the frequent issuance of injunc- tions by the courts of Silver Bow County. He called attention to a popular demand for the passage of general legislation by which the prejudice of district judges might be made sufficient ground to disqualify them from act- ing, and also the widespread sentiment in favor of a law conferring upon the Supreme Court power on appeal to review the facts in equity cases. Disclaiming reflection upon the integrity of the judiciary of the state, he announced his belief that with the enactment of laws within the purview of the call, the mines would be promptly reopened and the unemployed pro- vided with work; and he summoned the Assembly to consider the ad- visability of passing laws to meet the exigencies of the hour. The Fair Trial bill, which became law, was the result. The Assembly promptly passed a measure granting to the Supreme Court the right of review of facts in suits of an equitable nature, and the Code of Civil Pro- HISTORY OF MONTANA 461 cedure was amended so as to change the place of trial in civil cases. It was provided that when a judge was disqualified from acting, he must change the place of trial in cases mentioned by the act, but if the parties to the suit agreed in writing upon another judge, or a member of the bar as judge pro tempore, or if a qualified district judge should be called in and should within thirty days after such motion was made, assume jurisdiction of the case, then no change of place of trial should be had. In addition to the existing grounds of disqualification of district judges, the Assembly passed an act providing that when either party to the suit should make an MONTANA BUILDING, LOUISIANA EXPOSITION affidavit that he had reason to believe that he could not have an impartial trial before the judge sitting in such case, such judge should not have authority to further act, except in such minor matters as transferring the action to another court, or of calling in another district judge. Plaintiff or defendant had the right to disqualify five judges. In substance, this law has remained upon the statutes of Montana. But the Fair Trial law did not terminate the mining war; it did not entirely cease until 1906, when by the purchase of the Heinze interests by Amalgamated, the promoter of the litigation was removed from the field. CONGRESSIONAL ELECTION OF 1904 Joseph M. Dixon was re-elected to Congress at the general election of November, 1904, receiving 32,957 votes, as against 26,728 cast for A. C. Gormley, the democratic candidate, and 4,025 for J. A. Walsh, the nominee of the socialists. 462 HISTORY OF MONTANA LEGISLATION OF THE* NINTH ASSEMBLY The ninth session of the Legislative Assembly, sitting from January 2nd to March 2, 1905, is marked by the passage of 150 laws of various kinds, a number of which related to the liability of railroad and mining companies, or individual operators, for damages sustained by any employee in consequence of the neglect or mismanagement of any other employee. It repealed the law of 1903 and called the principals to the strictest account- ability for any acts committed by their servants which might cause damage to said employees. The act also provided that in case of death of any such employee, in consequence of injury so sustained, his heirs or repre- sentatives might prosecute an action to recover damages. The County of Sanders was created by an act approved February 7, 1905. It was carved from Missoula. The Assembly also placed its au- thoritative stamp upon the spelling of Lewis and Qark County, for all time eliminating the "e" from "Clarke." The flag borne in the Spanish- American war by the First Montana Infantry (with the designation of the regiment omitted) was adopted as the State Flag. The salaries of the Supreme Court judges were increased from $4,000 to $6,000 and of the district judges from $3,500 to $4,000. An act was passed to provide for the nomination of candidates by direct vote at a primary election. An automobile speed law was adopted ; outside corporate limits, twenty miles per hour, and within, eight miles. DEATH OF COL. WILBUR F. SANDERS On July 7, 1905, five months after the County of Sanders had been created by the Legislative Assembly, the able and fearless pioneer lawyer and the'law-giver of state and nation in whose honor it was named, rested from his long and faithful labors. His special public services, as well as his brave work as a lawyer when Montana had no regularly constituted courts, have been noted, but his connection with the State Historical So- ciety requires further mention at this point. "An Act to incorporate the Historical Society of Montana" was approved February 2, 1865. The first meeting of the corporators was held at Virginia City, on the 25th of the month, and Mr. Sanders was elected president pro tern. On March 25, 1865, a permanent organization was effected. Mr. Sanders was then elected president and held the office continuously until February i, 1890, or a period of nearly thirty-five years, when he resigned. His interest in the society and its objects never abated, and he cheerfully devoted much of his valu- able time to the furthering of its interests, both by personal solicitations and an extensive correspondence. He is considered the founder of the State Historical Society, if any one man may be thus honored. Colonel Sanders was far more than a keen lawyer and a useful public man. As stated by one of his friends : "The favorite abode of Senator Sanders was his library; his reading embraced the best authors of Eng- land and America; knowledge was his treasure house; his memory of everything was wonderful; and his vocabulary was unsurpassed by any HISTORY OF MONTANA 463 person in the state. His style was unique, the meaning of every sentence was clear, and his ideas and illustrations were clothed in felicitous phrases. He handled the keen weapons of logic and satire with dexterity." The latter traits of his character once drew from the noted Robert G. Ingersoll, who once clashed with him in law, the remark "Sanders was the keenest blade he had ever crossed." THE INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM PASSED But undoubtedly the most important law passed at the ninth session was that which submitted to popular vote at the general election of 1906 the proposed amendment to the State Constitution providing for the initiative (or direct legislation by popular petition) and the referendum, or the refer- ence of a measure passed by the Legislative Assembly to the people them- selves for final judgment. Except in the case of certain laws, the people were thereby made paramount to the Legislature and the governor. The veto power of the chief executive did not extend to measures referred to the people by the Legislative Assembly, or by initiative and referendum peti- tions. The initiative and referendum amendment was submitted at the general election of 1906, and by the proclamation of December 7th, of that year, Governor Toole declared it to be in force. Specifically, the initiative requires 8 per cent of the legal voters of the state to propose any measure to the Assembly by petition, provided that two-fifths of the counties of the state shall each furnish as signers of the petition 8 per cent of its legal voters; such initiative petitions must be filed with the secretary of state not less than four months before the election at which they were to, be voted upon. The referendum may be exercised either by petition signed by 5 per cent of the legal voters of the state, with a similar provision as to two-fifths of the counties; or by the Legislative Assembly as other bills are enacted. Referendum petitions were to be filed with the secretary of state not later than six months after the final adjournment of the session of the Legislative Assembly which passed the bill on which the referendum was demanded. CONGRESSIONAL ELECTION OF 1906 At the general election held in November, 1906, Charles L. Pray was elected to Congress by the republicans, polling 28,268 votes, against 22,874 for T. J. Walsh, 4,638 for John Hudson, the socialist candidate, and 261 for J. H. Calderhead, the populist. Evidently the life of the populist move- ment was flickering, as the issues upon which it was founded were virtu- ally dead. TENTH LEGISLATIVE SESSION The tenth session of the Legislative Assembly, holding from January 7th to March 7, 1907, was even more marked than the ninth, by the large number of laws passed protecting the lives of those engaged in 464 HISTORY OF MONTANA hazardous occupations and safeguarding the general health of the state. Except in case of emergency, no railroad man was permitted to be on duty more than sixteen hours daily. By the provisions of another law, railroads were directed to equip cabooses with specified appliances for the safety of employees, and corporations, or persons, operating street railways were compelled to provide cars with enclosed vestibules to protect employees from inclement weather. Those responsible for the care and support of dependent children were placed under the jurisdiction of the district courts which were authorized to punish them for neglect of their duties. Another law was adopted at the same session forbidding the employment of chil- dren under sixteen years of age in certain employments, and the eight-hour law was extended to, prison guards in the state penitentiary and others employed in the coal mines. An act was promulgated into law governing the manner of locating, recording and holding mining claims on the public lands of the United) States; also for the location of mill sites. County boards of education were created to co-operate with the county superin- tendents of schools in conducting the examinations of teachers, and a Board of Railroad Commissioners was established and its functions de- fined. Irrigation districts were established under the supervision of boards of directors, who were authorized to locate canals and irrigation works and generally to co-operate with owners of arid lands for the purpose of bring- ing them under cultivation. The districts were authorized to issue bonds in order to construct the necessary irrigation works. The primary election law of 1905 was repealed, and the initiative and referendum law was extended to cities and towns. Incompatibility of temperament was added to the statutory grounds of divorce. Measures were adopted establishing a State Live Stock Sanitary Board, provdiing for special veterinary surgeons, for the eradication of disease in domestic animals and to promote the sheep industry. The Metropolitan Police Law was enacted and a State Fire Warden created, who, with his deputies, was delegated to protect the forests of Montana against destruction by fire, particularly those owned by the state. To redeem the state bonds previously issued for the benefit of the various educational institutions, a law was passed at this (the tenth) session, authorizing the state of Montana to become indebted in excess of the constitutional limitation of $100,000, and the State Board of Ex- aminers was authorized to issue bonds for such purpose not exceeding $500,000. The act was to be submitted to the voters at the next general election. An act was also passed for the appointment of a commissioner to revise the codes of 1895 and embody the laws passed since that year. E. C. Day, a lawyer of Helena, accomplished the work known to state history as the Revised Codes of Montana of 1907. GOVERNOR EDWIN L. NORRIS Edwin L. Norris commenced his service as governor of Montana, April i, 1908, and thus continued until January i, 1913. Governor Norris, a Kentuckian and a lawyer, had been in the State Senate and lieutenant HISTORY OF MONTANA 465 governor previous to the commencement of his creditable record as chief executive of the state. CONGRESSIONAL ELECTION OF 1908 At the November election, 1908, Charles N. Pray, a Fort Benton law- yer, who had been prosecuting attorney of the Twelfth Judicial District for a number of years, and a leading republican, was re-elected to Congress over Thomas D. Long, democrat, and Lewis J. Duncan, socialist, and in the 1910 election defeated C. S. Hartman, the democratic nominee. Mr. Pray therefore served continuously from March 4, 1907, to March 3, 1913, inclusive. He was defeated for Congress in the latter year and resumed his practice at Fort Benton. LAWS ENACTED BY THE ELEVENTH ASSEMBLY The eleventh Legislative Assembly was in session from January 4th to March 4, 1909, and politics cut little figure in it. The creation of a State Accident Insurance and Disability Fund, by which injured coal miners and coal washers were to receive the benefits of such fund, or in the case of death, their relatives, was a rather radical measure. It taxed the em- ployer i per cent per ton on the output of his mine and the employee i per cent of his gross monthly earnings. But the Supreme Court declared the act unconstitutional on the ground that it deprived the employer of the equal protection of the laws, the act, as passed, permitting him to be sued and thus compelled to pay twice for the same injury. A day's work for telephone operators in cities and towns of at least 3,000 people was fixed at a maximum of nine hours. Other acts were passed to protect the life and limb of workmen. A railroad employee injured in pursuance of his duties became lawfully entitled to the necessary services of a physician or surgeon, and an act was passed compelling those in charge of the erection or the remodeling of any building having more than three stories to place protecting scaffolds on the outside of such structures to ensure the safety both of the workers and persons employed and passing beneath. Safety appliances in the equipment of trains were made obligatory, the Railroad Commission being given authority to enforce the law in all particulars. A law against trusts was enacted, and two legal holidays were created Lincoln's birthday, February I2th, and Columbus day, October I2th. Pioneer day was changed from the last Friday in May to the last Friday in November, and Arbor day from the third Tuesday in April to the second Tuesday in May. Upon Arbor day were prescribed such exercises in the public schools as should tend to encourage the planting and protection of trees and shrubs and to stimulate the minds of the school children of the state towards the preservation of forests and the growing of timber. All marriages between a white person and a negro, Chinese or Japanese were pronounced misdemeanors both on the part of those who contracted them and those who solemnized, them. Other changes were made in the law governing the debt-contracting power of cities and towns by which their THE MEAGHER MONUMENT FRONTING THE CAPITOL H a w W o d M I CO H O w 5Z! w 468 HISTORY OF MONTANA indebtedness was not to exceed 3 per cent of the assessed valuation of their taxable property. CAPITOL WINGS COMMENCED The capitol at Helena had been recently completed, but the pressing need of additional accommodations called forth the law, passed at the eleventh session, by which the State Board of Examiners were to issue bonds amounting to $500,000 for the erection of east and west wings of the edifice already constructed. Work was soon commenced, the chief constructive material used being native granite of grayish tint and attrac- tive appearance. RESOURCES OF MONTANA TO BE SET FORTH The eleventh session of the Legislative Assembly imposed upon the Bureau of Agriculture, Labor and Industry the important duty of collating for publication statistics and practical information relating to the resources and growth of Montana for the enlightenment of both the home and the foreign public. Such data was to be collected from the commercial bodies, farmers' institutes and similar organizations of the state, and since 1912, when the first publication was issued under the editorship of J. H. Hall, no agency has been more potent in placing Montana justly before the world than that wielded through the Bureau of Agriculture, Labor and Industry and its successor, the Department of Agriculture and Publicity. The literature issued by the latter, through Charles D. Greenfield, the editorial commissioner, has not been exceeded in reliability, value and literary excellence, by any of the official manuals issued by the older states of the country. The publication of each succeeding year has been an improvement on the preceding. LEGISLATION OF THE ELEVENTH ASSEMBLY The State Board of Education, in order to solidify, as much as possible, the management of the charitable, reformatory and higher institutions of learning, was authorized to appoint a president and faculty of the Uni- versity of Montana, located at Missoula; the State Normal College at Dillon; the Agricultural College, at Bozeman; State Orphans' Home at Twin Bridges; the State School of Mines, at Butte; School for Deaf and Blind, at Boulder, and the State Reform School, at Miles City. The act of 1907 creating irrigation districts in the state was repealed and a new measure passed by which the arid lands could more readily be placed under irrigation. A bill was passed by which a state bank might become a ^national and vice versa. The jurisdiction of notaries public was made coextensive with the state, instead of the county wherein he resided. Judicial nominations were taken from the primaries and were authorized to be made by petition signed by a designated number of elector's residing in the state, and, when filed with the secretary of state had the effect of a HISTORY OF MONTANA 469 certificate of nomination. The number of judges who could be disqualified in any action was limited to two, instead of five. The office of road super- visor was abolished in counties of the first class and his duties turned over to the county surveyor. To carry out the constitutional amendment creat- ing a State Depository Board, a law was enacted empowering such board to designate the banks within the state in which public funds in the hands of the state treasurer should be deposited. Interest on such deposits was re- quired to be paid and they were to be secured by approved bonds. The State Board of Examiners was authorized to issue bonds to the amount of $542,000, the proceeds from the sale of which were to be applied to the maintenance of the various state educational institutions. Further, the eleventh session created the State Board of Land Commissioners, com- prising the governor, superintendent of public instruction, secretary of state and attorney general, who were to have control of the timber, coal, oil and mineral lands of the state. The ad valorem tax for state purposes, for the years 1909 and 1910, was fixed at two and a half mills per dollar of taxable property, and the county of Lincoln was created from a portion of Flathead. TWELFTH SESSION OF ASSEMBLY From January 2nd to March 2, 1911, the twelfth session of the Legisla- tive Assembly labored over a mountain of legislation and produced the most abundant crop harvested up to that period. In this review, it is im- possible to more than touch the "high places," and even some of them may be missed, so that one especially interested in the work of the twelfth session may have to dig among the details of the official records. The White Slave law which passed was particularly championed by Edward Donlan, of Missoula County. The commission form of government was adopted. The most radical measure of the session, however, was that upon which half a dozen successive assemblies had voiced its favorable opinion that by which the people voted directly for the United States senatorship, the result of which acts as a substantial mandatory upon the action of the Legislative Assembly. The Board of Directors of the Mon- tana State Fair was empowered to acquire 135 acres of land adjoining the existing grounds. The session also appropriated $5,000 toward the erection of a monument within the capitol to perpetuate the memory of the late Wilbur F. Sanders. Through the additional thoughtfulness and generosity of William A. Clark, the memorial was finally finished and dedicated September 24, 1913. The County of Musselshell was organized from parts of Fergus, Meagher and Yellowstone, thus reviving the old territorial County of Musselshell, created by the second territorial Assembly of 1866, and afterward known, for a short time, as Vivion County. The law school of Montana, at Missoula, was established, and all except civil jurisdiction over Glacier National Park, created by Congress on May n, 1910, was granted by the Legislative Assembly to the Federal authorities. The state was reapportioned and the new county bill was passed (March 6, 1911) by which one-half of the voters of a proposed new county were required to 470 HISTORY OF MONTANA present a petition for such formation to the county commissioners of the county from which it was to be carved. The proposal was to be pre- sented to the voters of the territory in the proposed county and it required sixty-five per cent of the vote cast to carry the proposition. No new county could be established which would reduce any other county to an assessed valuation of less than $5,000,000, nor could any be formed, the assessed valuation of which was less than $4,000,000. The most vol- uminous act passed by the twelfth session was one regulating the operation of coal mines in Montana. It was, in effect, a codification of all pre- existing laws relating to that subject. The Montana State Tuberculosis Sanitarium was located at Warm Springs, Deer Lodge County, $20,000 being appropriated for a building site. In that connection, Congress was also 1 memorialized to donate 50,000 acres of public lands for the support of the institution. Through legislative action, the state also acquired from Messrs. Mitchell and Mussigbrod the property of the Insane Asylum at Warm Springs, which had been privately owned since early territorial days. To cover the purchase price, the State Board of Examiners were authorized to issue bonds amounting to $650,000, the interest on which was to be met by an annual tax levy of one-fourth of a mill on the dollar on all taxable property in the state. The entire proposition was to be sub- mitted to the people at the general election of 1912; by which the question was decided "Aye." The office of state fire marshal was created, and chiefs of local departments were directed to render him every assistance in the determination of the origin of fires occurring within the state. A pure food law was passed, which extended over both adulterations and diseased animal products. Tuberculin tests of all dairy cattle were re- quired and all persons conducting any business in which food products were handled were required to procure licenses from the State Board of Health. It was made compulsory that all school districts having a population of more than 5,000 should maintain at least one manual training school. Reduced or free transportation by common carriers (railroads, especially) was made unlawful, with the exception of certain classes among whom were those engaged in philanthropic or humanitarian enterprises. REFERENDUM BILLS BECOME LAWS During the interval between the adjournment of the Twelfth and the convening of the Thirteenth Assembly, there were initiated under the provisions of the Initiative and Referendum four bills, upon which the people passed favorably at the November election of 1912. They all became laws. The Corrupt Practice Act contained provisions guarding the purity of the ballot whether cast for nominations or elections. Another law provided for the nomination of presidential electors by direct vote; another instructed the Legislative Assemblies to follow the will of the people in selecting United States senators, and a fourth provided for party nominations by the direct vote of the electors of the state. The Legislative Assembly which convened January 6th, and adjourned HISTORY OF MONTANA 471 March 7, 1913, occupied for the first time its new hall in the enlarged capitol at Helena. It was also the last Legislature called upon to elect a United States senator, as a body independent of the will of the people as expressed by their formal vote. The Thirteenth Assembly ratified the federal amendment, for which the public sentiment of Montana as ex- pressed by the Legislative Assembly had long contended, but it was not formally proclaimed as a law of the state until shortly after the session had been completed. By the law of Montana all members of the Assembly who had taken the oath upon their nomination to vote for the candidate receiving the highest vote were supposed to support Thomas J. Walsh. Although the '"hold-overs" were not bound by that pledge, they followed the obvious bent of the new legislation and voted for Mr. Walsh, who was declared the unanimous choice of the republicans, democrats, progressives and socialist (one member) for United States senator from Montana. He succeeded Joseph M. Dixon and his term covered March 4, 1913, to March 3, 1919. Mr. Dixon had become so prominent as a progressive that he had been chosen by Theodore Roosevelt to lead the national cam- paign of 1912. After the expiration of his term as a United States sen- ator, he resumed his practice as a lawyer at, Missoula. CONGRESSIONAL ELECTION OF 1910 By the census of 1910, Montana became entitled to another representa- tive in Congress, and the two democratic candidates, Thomas Stout and John M. Evans, were successful. The original republican nominees were Charles N. Pray, who had already served three terms, and W. F. Meyer. Mr. Meyer died during the campaign and was replaced by Lieutenant- Governor W. R. Allen. The newly organized Progressive party placed T. M. Everett and George A. Horkan on its ticket, and the socialists nominated Henri LaBeau and J. F. Mabie. Mr. Stout received the highest number of votes cast, 25,857, and his democratic associate, Mr. Evans, 24,582. HON. TOM STOUT Hon. Tom Stout, former member of Congress, widely known in news- paper circles and the supervising editor of this history, is a Missourian by birth, having been born in New London, May 20, 1879. He pursued courses in the Warrensburg State Normal School and the Missouri State University, but instinctively turned to journalism as a preferred profes- sion. In 1904 he assisted in the establishment of the Fergus County Demo- crat, of Lewistown, and in the following year purchased his partner's interest in the publication and the business. An incorporation was after- ward effected as the Democrat Publishing Company and the Democrat- News Publishing Company, of which Mr. Stout has remained president. He is a lawyer, as well as a newspaper man, having been admitted to the Montana bar in 1913. In November, 1910, Mr. Stout was elected to the State Senate, and served in that body until his resignation in March, 1913. 472 HISTORY OF MONTANA He then entered the Sixty-third Congress as a representative-at-large, and was re-elected to the Sixty-fourth Congress, completing his two terms* in the national House of Representatives in 1917. Since that period he has been active in the conduct of his newspaper. GOVERNOR SAMUEL V. STEWART The term of Governor Edwin L. Norris. expired on January 6, 1913, and he was succeeded by Samuel V. Stewart, whose term expired with the year 1920. Albeit an Ohioan, Governor Stewart was educated in Kan- sas, taking courses both in the State Normal School, at Emporia, and the law department of the University at Topeka. From the latter he received his degree of LL. B. in 1898, and at once located in Virginia City, Mon- tana, for the practice of his profession. He served for about a decade as either city attorney of Virginia or county attorney of Madison County, and in 1910-12 was chairman of the Democratic State Central Committee, a stepping stone to the governorship. ATTEMPTS TO CARRY OUT PARTY PLATFORM Governor Stewart was therefore at the head of the state administra- tion when the Thirteenth Assembly assumed the task of attempting to carry out the legislation projected by the democratic party platform. The passage of a compulsory compensation measure was made difficult from the fact that most of the bills presented placed the entire burden of any negligence for which damages were claimed upon the employer and took no account of such negligence of an employe whose death or injury might be caused by his own carelessness. The state insurance feature was also open to argument, and one bill was introduced to impose a penalty directly upon the employer whose negligence had caused the injuries or death, without compelling contribution from other employers free from negli- gence. Some of the measures were supported by the labor unions ; others, by employers; but all efforts at compromise failed. A Public Service Commission was created and approved by Governor Stewart. It absorbed the Board of Railroad Commissioners, as extending its jurisdiction not only over public carriers, but all other public utilities whether concerned with heat, light, powei, water, telephone or telegraph. The regulation of rates, investigation as to injury or death, and a general and a detailed supervision over all the acts and functions of public corporations were included in the scope of the power exercised by the Public Service Com- mission. In effect, the body was a large expansion of the Board of Rail- road Commissioners, and additional duties were imposed upon that ex- officio body. The railroads were compelled to install and maintain safe crossings at all places where their tracks crossed public highways, and to maintain them at one place when one-half the business men of cities or towns of more than 300 people petitioned for such. The roads were also required to construct suitable platforms and depots, connections with industrial plants and stock yards, and other means looking to the safety o in H *< o >TJ n 474 HISTORY OF MONTANA and convenience of the public. Through the new office of inspector of navigation, the Railroad Commission was also granted control over marine navigation. A State Tax Commission was created, to be composed of the governor, the secretary of state, the state treasurer, the attorney-general and a new official, known as the state tax commissioner. In the work of appraisals the state official was empowered to appoint three citizens in each county and who were to act with him as boards of appraisers, and all were to cooperate with the county boards of equalization. The office of chief grain inspector was created, who was not only to manipulate the grain and establish rules for its inspection, weighing and storage, but to investigate complaints of fraud or discriminations. He had under him local inspectors, weight masters and other employes. A grain grading commission was also created. The County Organization (Leighton) bill, passed in 1911, was so amended as to reduce the required vote for county division from sixty-five to fifty-one per cent; the valuation of the parent county after division ($5,000,000) remained the same, while that of the newly created county was reduced from $4,000,000 to $3,000,000. Four bills were introduced to create Wibaux, Wheatland, Richland and Clay counties, but were vetoed by Governor Stewart on the ground that since the passage of the County Organization bill it was unconstitu- tional to create counties by special act. Under the general law, however, Hill County was created out of Chouteau, with Havre as its seat of justice, and acquired its present form by annexations from Toole and Liberty, in 1914 and 1919 respectively. Elaine County was also carved from Chou- teau and yielded a portion of its area to Phillips in 1915. These new coun- ties appeared in February and March, 1912, and in January, 1913, Big Horn County of territorial times was revived, in miniature, from portions of Yellowstone and Rosebud counties. In the following March, two other counties were also created under the general law Sheridan, from Dawson and Valley (part taken to form Roosevelt in 1919), and Stillwater, organ- ized from parts of Carbon, Sweet Grass and Yellowstone. During this prolific thirteenth session, the Assembly passed a measure to submit to popular vote at the succeeding general election a proposition to fix the rate of taxation, for a period of ten years, on real and personal property which should be levied for the support of state educational insti- tutions. An investment commissioner was created from whom a permit must be obtained by any person or body for the sale of securities, except such as government, state or municipal and others approved by govern- ment or secured by Montana real estate. An appeal from the decision of the investment commissioner could be taken to the State Board of Ex- aminers. OTHER MEASURES PASSED Other measures passed not strictly designed to carry out the pledges of the democratic party was the adoption of the codified school laws as prepared by a special commission appointed for that purpose and the pas- sage of a general Highway law. The public highways of the state were HISTORY OF MONTANA 475 classified, and the county commissioners of the various counties were directed to collect taxes of between two and five mills on the dollar and $2 per annum on each male between twenty-one and fifty years of age, to construct, maintain and improve such highways. The details of raising the supporting and constructing revenue were left to the boards of county commissioners, who, in turn, were to divide their respective counties into road districts, placing over each, a road supervisor. The General High- way law laid down the "laws of the road," with penalties for violating them. The automobile speed limit was fixed at thirty miles an hour out- side municipal limits, or thickly settled town districts, and twelve miles within. To facilitate the operations of the act, there was created a State Highway Commission, comprising the state engineer, a professor of civil engineering of the State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, arid a civil engineer experienced in road building to be appointed by the gov- ernor. The state board was to cooperate with the Boards of County Commissioners, furnishing data for a general state road map, "to the end that systematic and intelligent general road construction and improvement could be made." To supply funds for such purposes, a State 1 Highway fund was created, and the Highway Commission was authorized to appor- tion among the several counties such amounts of money as were estimated necessary to carry on the work. Under the Largey Act, known as the Montana State Motor Vehicle Law, and fashioned after the, New York law, the moneys collected from licences (required to be obtained both by owners and chauffeurs of vehicles) were applied to the maintenance and extension of the public roads of the state. A law was passed providing that nine hours out of every twenty-four should constitute a day's work for all females employed in manufactories, business houses, laundries, hotels and restaurants, and the employers of labor in such establishments were compelled to furnish suitable seats for such employes. The act by which the state parole commissioner was created (appointed by the governor) made it the duty of the new official to cooperate with the warden of the State Penitentiary and the super- intendent of the State Reform School in recommending paroles and in assisting such prisoners to secure employment. Important changes were made in former laws by which, after a trial of one year, those cities which had adopted the commission form of government might return to the old municipal way, and the newly created fire marshal was vested with the authority to remove dangerous structures which were a fire menace to other buildings or property. The age of consent of females was raised to eighteen years and the crime of rape newly defined. In line with the gathering sentiment toward consolidation of the higher educational institutions of the state, so widely distributed, was the Leighton bill, which passed into law, providing that the State University at Mis- soula, the College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts at Bozeman, the School of Mines at Butte, the State Normal School at Dillon, and such departments as might thereafter be organized, should constitute the Uni- versity of Montana. As such, the control and supervision thereof should be under the State Board of Education, which was empowered to employ 476 HISTORY OF MONTANA a chancellor of the university who should reside in Helena. A forestry school was added to the departments of the State University at Missoula, and the Northern Montana Agricultural and Manual Training College and Agricultural Experiment Station were established upon the site of old Fort Assinniboine, in the eastern part of Hill County. This was accom- plished in pursuance with the agreement made with the general govern- ment prior to the abandonment of the fort as am army post. In connec- tion with the Experiment Station, a State Grain Laboratory was estab- lished for the purpose of scientifically studying the milling and baking quality of wheat raised in the state, and of the germinating capacity, quality and purity of field crop-seeds grown in Montana. The thirteenth session is somewhat memorable because of the expansion of the state government through the creation of various offices and de- partments, other than those already mentioned. A State Board of Veter- inary Medical Examiners was established, the title of which is a sufficient explanation of its purposes; also authorizing the governor to appoint a Board of Examination for Nurses ; the Bureau of Agriculture, Labor and Industry abolished, and two independent departments substituted for it, known as the Department of Agriculture and Publicity and the Depart- ment of Labor and Industry; State Board of Entomology created com- posed of the state entomologist, secretary of the State Board of Health and the state veterinarian, the special duties of which were to prevent the introduction or spread of such diseases as were communicable by insects as spotted fever and infantile paralysis ; creation of State Board of Com- missioners for the Insane, consisting of the governor, secretary of state and the attorney general, who were to appoint a superintendent and an assistant superintendent of the asylum recently acquired by the state at Deer Lodge; the new State Dairy Commission was given a wide range of duties in connection with the inspection of creameries and dairies and their products, and in the regulation of their manipulation and sale ; the secre- tary of state constituted the state sealer of weights and measures, and a State Athletic Commission called into being, specially directed toward the regulation of sparring matches and other athletic exhibitions held within the state. Boxing exhibitions were limited to twelve rounds; contestants were required to undergo a physical examination to determine their fitness to engage in the proposed encounter, and ten per cent of the gross re- ceipts from each exhibition were payable into the office of the state treasurer. U. S. SENATORIAL ELECTION MADE POPULAR Midway of the thirteenth session (February 7, 1913), the Legislative Assembly and the governor approved of the amendment to the federal constitution authorizing the election of United States senators by direct vote of the people. In order to make the amendment constitutional, the ratification of at least thirty-six states was necessary. Connecticut, the last of the required states to thus act, ratified the proposed amendment on April 8, 1913. 477 As stated, the thirteenth Legislative Assembly of 1913 first occupied its new hall in the enlarged capitol. As it stands, the capitol of Montana is majestically located on a fine rise of ground in the southern outskirts of the city, the; buildings of the State Live Stock Commission and the State Board of Health, of a more recent date, being on the same grounds. The interior decorations of the capitol walls and ceilings are artistic and appropriate, while the accommodations provided for the various de- partments and bureaus are modern but, with the growth of the state and its governmental activities again threatening to become inadequate. The State Historical Library, with its cabinets representative of the fauna, birds, minerals, Indians and vigilantee curios; with its fine galleries of paintings and photos, placing before the visitor the pioneers and public men of the territory and state, and its remarkably complete files of newspapers and other material relating to Montana's history, occupies the larger sec- tion of the basement of the capitol. The Agricultural Department, the state engineer's office, and minor bureaus have also quarters in this por- tion of the building. On the floor above are the governor's office, richly furnished, the offices of the secretary of state and the superintendent of public instruction, the adjutant general's office, and the headquarters of other departments, while the second floor is given over to the courts, the law library and the Assembly chambers. Altogether, Montana's capitol is worthy of a progressive, energetic and cultured people. ASSEMBLY MEASURES OF THE FOURTEENTH SESSION The fourteenth Legislative Assembly convened January 4, 1915, and adjourned March 4th of that year the constitutional sixty days. Gov- ernor Stewart approved an act for a commission form of government un- der the provisions of which a petition to the City Council signed by not less than twenty- five per cent of the voters of the municipality would require the question to be submitted to the electors. If a majority voted in favor of an election, then the City Council was to call a special election to determine the will of the people for or against the commission form. For the relief of numerous farmers of the state an act was approved in February authorizing counties to issue bonds or warrants to procure seed for needy farmers, and provision was made for such purchase by levying a tax, to act as a lien, against the property of the persons to whom said grain was to be distributed. Later, an act was passed to provide a lien against growing crops and grains threshed to apply to the purchase price of the seed furnished. Another important measure approved by Governor Stewart during the month of February was the act to provide for the indeterminate sentences of criminals. Another, which aimed at the eleva- tion of the bar, provided that every applicant for admission must produce satisfactory testimonials of good moral character and a certificate of one or more reputable 'counselors of law that he has been engaged in the study of law for two successive years prior to the making of such application 478 HISTORY OF MONTANA and undergo a strict examination as to his qualifications by any one or more of the justices of the Supreme Court; "provided, however, that a diploma from the department of law of the University of Montana at Missoula, or evidence of having completed the course in law of three years in said department, shall entitle the holder to a license to practice law in all the courts of the state, subject to the right of the chief justice of the Supreme Court of the state to order an examination as in ordinary cases of applicants without such diploma or evidence." The state, through its assembly, accepted the terms of the congressional act approved May 8, 1914, relating to cooperative extension work, and authorized the president of the State Agricultural College to cooperate to that end with the secretary of agriculture of the United States. Good Roads day was designated as the third Tuesday in June. The Department of Farm Loans was created and the Agricultural Experiment Station at Bozeman was established. On the 26th of February, a financial act of far-reaching effects to coun- ties was approved. It authorized any county to issue twenty-year bonds "to an amount sufficient to redeem all legal outstanding bonds, warrants or orders, or for the purchase of necessary public building sites, and for the construction of necessary public buildings, public highways and bridges, and for the ordinary and necessary expenses of the county authorized by the general laws of the state, and also for the purpose of enabling any county to liquidate its indebtedness to another county incident to the crea- tion of a new county, or the change of any county boundary lines, not exceeding in the aggregate, including outstanding bonded indebtedness, five (5) per cent of the value of the taxable property within such county, to be ascertained by the last assessment for state and county taxes previous to issuing such bonds." A referendum on prohibition was called for the general election of 1916; should the vote be favorable for the measure, it was to go into effect on December 31, 1918. At the same time an act was passed to prohibit the sale or giving of liquor to habitual drunkards, minors or Indians. On the same day (February 27, 1915), a law was enacted forcing adult children to support indigent parents. Legislation of a miscellaneous nature, but of general interest was en- acted during the last month of the session (March), as follows: To pro- hibit betting at horse races; entitling father and mother to the custody, services and earnings of legitimate unmarried minor children; repealing the State Tax Commission Act; limiting the number of social clubs wherein liquor could be distributed to one such organization per 3,000 inhabitants of any incorporated city or town; providing financial aid to dependent children in their own homes under control of mothers, who are dependent upon deceased or delinquent fathers for support ; county seats not to be moved to places which have not been incorporated as a city or town for at least a year ; prohibiting the sale of liquor on Sundays on race track, or in pool room, dance hall or other amusement place ; neither hus- band nor wife was answerable for the acts of the other, or liable for debts, provided that "the expenses for the necessaries of the family and HISTORY OF MONTANA 479 the education of the children are chargeable upon the property of both husband and wife, or either of them ; in the protection of game, act passed making it unlawful to use silencers or mufflers in hunting, or explosives or poisons in fishing ; no new county to be formed if its assessed valuation be less than $8,000,000, or the property of the county from which it is taken be reduced to a valuation below that limit; memorial to, Congress to throw the Crow Indian reservation open to settlement, the lands of which are now mostly leased by large cattle owners and flock masters ; also memorial to throw open the 1,500,000 acres of the Blackfeet reservation, now occupied by less than 2,490 Indians, open to settlement, and to con- struct an east and west public road through Glacier National Park, and thereby complete the broken link of the great national highway between the Great Lakes and the Pacific coast. In the last days of the session, the Department of Banking was created, its object being to regulate the business of banks and other financial cor- porations. An act of much concern to the public school teachers of the state was that which established their Retirement Salary fund and Permanent fund. The latter was formed by contributions from school teachers, investments from fund moneys, donations, legacies and gifts and state appropriations. In the formation of the Retirement fund, each public school teacher was to pay $i per month, and no teacher was entitled to its benefits who had not regularly contributed to it. The funds named were established by act of March 8, 1915. On the same day, a measure was passed to provide for the safety of workmen engaged in hazardous occupations and providing a schedule of compensation for death or injuries. Total disability comprised the loss of both hands or arms, both feet or legs, or both eyes, and partial disability ranged from the blindness of one eye to the loss of one arm near the shoulder, and the amount of compensation (maximum, $10 per week) was graduated according to the average wages drawn and the nature of the injury sustained. The latter also determined the period over which the compensation should extend, from 100 to 200 weeks. Legislative action was taken authorizing the state to issue bonds in the amount of $100,000 for the State Tuberculosis Sanitarium at Galen and the State Insane Asylum at Warm Springs, and $30,000 appropriated to establish a twine factory at the State Prison. About the same time, the name of the Montana State Reform School was changed to the Montana State Industrial School. The General Highway law was passed at the last day of the session, March 9, 1915. It divided the highways into common, main and state. All private highways and by-roads were to be at least twenty feet wide. The general tax was not to exceed five mills on the dollar and the general road tax $2 per annum for each male between twenty-one and sixty years of age. A county could not issue bonds for road purposes in excess of five per cent of its taxable property. The duties of the road supervisors were particularly defined, as were the viewers of highways. Rules and regulations were formulated for the information of drivers ; such as "turn 480 HISTORY OF MONTANA to the right," "no drunkenness allowed," etc. Special rules were laid down for the operators of threshers, steam engines and autos, and precautions taken against the frightening of horses. In its entirety, the session of 1915 (the fourteenth) was busy and productive of much practical legis- lation. CONGRESSMAN AND CONGRESS-WOMAN OF 1917-19 The congressional elections, held in the fall of 1916, resulted in the selection from Montana of John M. Evans, democrat, and Miss Jeannette Rankin, republican, both residents of Missoula. As Miss Rankin was the first woman to be elected to the Congress of the United States, the vigorous and successful campaign which she conducted was a noteworthy event. Miss Jeannette Rankin, who served her term (1917-19) in the Sixty- fifth Congress, as a representative-at-large from Montana, had been active and prominent in woman suffrage and social work in the West for a num- ber of years. Born on a ranch near Missoula, she is a graduate of the State University, and after studying at the School of Philanthropy, New York, engaged in social work at Seattle, Washington, where she was also prominent in the woman suffrage movement. California and Montana then became the fields of her endeavors in these lines. She became field secretary of the National American Woman Suffrage Association, and in 1914 was chosen chairman of the Montana State Suffrage Committee. In that capacity she accomplished much in bringing Montana into line as the thirteenth state to ratify the nineteenth amendment to the federal con- stitution conferring upon women equal suffrage with men. The Assembly took this action on July 30, 1919, after Miss Rankin had completed her term. Tennessee, the thirty-sixth and last state necessary to make the amendment a part of the federal constitution, ratified it on August 18, 1920, nearly a year after Montana had taken similar action. Previous to serving her term in Congress (in 1915), Miss Rankin visited New Zealand and worked as a seamstress, in order to become familiar with woman's industrial conditions in that progressive part of the world. Since retiring from Congress, she has been engaged in a variety of social and economic movements in the West, Chicago and New York. THE FIFTEENTH LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY The fifteenth Assembly of January-March, 1917, early showed its in- terest in the Indian reservations of Montana and its continuous sugges- tions to Congress that they be not allowed to go to waste in the supine hands of the red man. In January, the lower house asked the United States Senate that steps be taken to develop the water powers within the limits of the reservations and shortly afterward memorialized Congress for $1,000,000 to forward the Flathead irrigation project, which promised to move forward now that the lands proposing to be benefited were no longer monopolized by the original owners. In February, also, a House Joint memorial was presented which forcibly illustrates the close identi- fication of the Yellowstone Park with the interests of Montana. HISTORY OF MONTANA A PLEA FOR THE DUMB ANIMALS 481 The Yellowstone Park memorial read as follows : "Resolved, that the Congress of the United States is hereby petitioned to again police the Yel- lowstone National Park with officers and soldiers of the regular army to the end that it shall be well protected from fire, as well as from vandals who would destroy its beauty and efficiency, so that our children's children may have their birthright in the rivers that will flow undisturbed by drought or freshet from the cloud-kissed peaks of Mount Washburn to the sunny lands that border the Gulf of Mexico." The Senate Joint memorial of March ist expands upon the House document, thus: "Whereas, the elk, deer, Rocky Mountain sheep and antelope have in past years found native pasture on the north and west ELK IN MONTANA FORESTS sides of the Yellowstone National Park sufficient for their use at all times, especially during the winter; and "Whereas, nearly all the- native pasture lands to the north and west of the park are either owned by farmers, or pastured during the summer season by live stock until there is but little left for wild animals ; and "Whereas, during the early autumn the park lines are diligently patrolled until the hunting season is closed, and then the game, especially elk, are allowed to depart in large numbers from the park upon the lands north and west thereof, break down and destroy fences of the fields and corrals of farmers, eat the hay and otherwise damage the farm lands ; for instance, 1,500 elk at one time were counted inside a 2OO-acre field, there eating the grass belonging to a farmer whose cattle needed same; and "Whereas, after said elk have destroyed property as above cited, they wander over the pasture lands of the Forest Preserve, where formerly Vol. 131 482 HISTORY OF MONTANA grass was in great abundance, and die in large numbers for want of feed, and when the warm days of the spring come a few of them wander back to the green vales of the National Park and leave behind them, on the hills and in the valleys of Montana, the bleaching bones of thousands of their comrades that have actually starved to death. "Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Congress of the United States is hereby petitioned to make a full investigation of the game question about the Yellowstone National Park and that the Federal Government shall provide in some way to feed or otherwise care for the vast number of elk that will surely starve each year upon the farms and pastures of Montana." In February, 1917, the Legislative Assembly passed acts: To authorize the investment of permanent funds of the state in Federal Farm Loan bonds; to provide free text books for the public and high schools at the expense of the district interested and, when desired by parents or guar- dians, to be sold at cost; establishing an eight-hour day for female labor, with the exception of the week preceding Christmas when retail stores could extend the day to ten hours; authorizing cities of the first, second and third class to provide popular band concerts during June, July, August and September; to establish and operate public markets at county seats, five per cent of their gross sales to be paid intd the county treasury ; pro- viding punishment for employes of the Montana State Industrial School who shall assist escaped inmates ; to authorize towns and cities to establish and maintain swimming pools, skating rinks and playgrounds from Park funds; Boards of Stock Commissioners and Sheep Commissioners con- solidated as the Live Stock Commision; the State Fish Hatchery estab- lished at Anaconda; course of elementary agriculture established in the elementary schools of the state; Carter County organized from part of Fallon, and Wheatland from parts of Meagher and Sweet Grass. Granville Stuart was appointed historian of the state, and in February the Assembly appropriated $9,000 to cover the expenses of his work and the publication of the history. Unfortunately, Mr. Stuart was not destined to complete his labors, which were well advanced at the time of his death, on October 2, 1918. The measures passed in March : Act to create herd districts of seventy- two square miles or more for the better control of horses, mules, cattle, sheep and goats; compelling, by order of trial court, the husband to sup- port the wife, child or children, in default of which, imprisonment and work on the state highways; creation of Industrial Accident Board to combine the duties of state inspector of boilers, inspectors of steamboats and state inspector of mines ; establishment of vocational education in the high and elementary schools of the state, the state treasurer to be the custodian of the fund provided for such educational work by the federal government; also, an act to add normal training and junior college courses to the high school curriculum ; approval of the proposal of the Society of Pioneers to erect a bronze statue of Lewis and Clark, appropriating $5,000 HISTORY OF MONTANA 483 contingent upon the raising of $15,000 by that society and the appointment of a commission to forward the project, comprising five members, two> to be appointed by the governor and three by the president of the Montana Pioneers' Society; Child Welfare division established under the auspices of the State Board of Health; Department of Banking organized; pas- sage of act of search and seizure, also providing for destruction of places where liquor was sold ; conferring police powers upon railway conductors ; in accord with the public sentiment, the Assembly enacted special legisla- tion by which the licenses of all liquor dealers within the state were to expire on December 31, 1918, and calling upon county, town and city officials to act accordingly; creation of the State Board of Hail Insurance. Under the act creating the State Highway Commission, Montana was divided into twelve districts : ( I ) Counties of Lincoln, Flathead and San- ders; (2) Mineral, Missoula and Ravalli; (3) Beaverhead, Madison and Gallatin; (4) Silver Bow, Deer Lodge and Granite; (5) Lewis and Clark, Broadwater, Powell and Jefferson; (6) Cascade, Musselshell, Meagher and Fergus; (7) Chouteau, Teton, Hill and Toole; (8) Elaine, Sheridan, Valley and Phillips; (9) Carbon, Stillwater, Sweet Grass and Park; (10) Rosebud, Yellowstone and Big Horn; (n) Custer, Prairie and Fallen; (12) Wibaux, Dawson and Richland. As to the personnel of the com- mission, the governor was to appoint one member from each district and not more than six from the same political party, their term of service to be four years and their first meeting on May i, 1917. Contracts for work on the state highways were to be let by the executive committee of the commission, comprising three of its members. A general Fish and Game law was also enacted. Under its provisions licenses to fish and hunt were regulated and orders promulgated for the protection of birds and against the pollution of the waters of the state. The following game preserves were also created: Snow Creek, Pryor Mountain, Sun River, Gallatin, Snowy Mountain, Highwood National Forest, Powder River, Flathead Lake Bird Preserve, Twin Buttes and South Moccasin Mountain. LAWS OF THE SIXTEENTH REGULAR SESSION During the early portion of the sixteenth regular session of the Legis- lative Assembly (February, 1919) six counties were created. Garfield was carved from part of Dawson, Treasure from Rosebud, Glacier from Teton, Pondera from parts of Chouteau and Teton, Roosevelt from Sheri- dan, and McCone from Dawson and Richland. A Senate joint memorial was presented to Congress asking legislation from that body for the pur- pose of issuing patents to all homesteaders who had served in the World's war and made certain improvements prior to enlistment. The state took action, both as an independent body politic and by memorial to the federal authorities, to crush anarchism in Montana. The Assembly passed a law that "no red flag symbolic of social or industrial revolution" was to be displayed within the bounds of Montana, and a Senate joint memorial was addressed to Hon. William B. Wilson, secretary of labor of the 484 HISTORY OF MONTANA United States, "to take immediate action to punish and suppress the anarchists and revolutionary elements in Montana." In February of the sixteenth session were also passed the following: An act by which all live timber on the state lands shall 1 be appraised by the state forester and approved by the State Board of Land Commis- sioners, no timber be sold unless appraised since March, 1909, and said timber to be cut subject to the regulation of the state forester; relating to the sanitary condition of hotels and providing for their inspection ; admitting to the Soldiers' Home, at Columbia Falls, all honorably dis- charged and invalided men who have participated in the Civil war, the Mexican war or Mexican border troubles, the Spanish-American war or the Filipino insurrection, the Boxer troubles in China, the Sioux war of 1876 or the Nez Perce war of 1877, and the World's war or other service with the allies ; prohibiting the employment of children under sixteen, un- less wages are necessary to support the family, upon proof to the principal of their school, or the city or county superintendent. The Assembly enacted the following in March, 1919: That parties may agree to pay more than the legal rate of interest (ten per cent) ; defining the crime of sedition and providing as punishments for those who commit it, fines of from $200 to $20,000 and terms of confinement in the state prison, from one to twenty years; establishing a State Vocational School for Girls, "for the care, education, training and safe keeping of girls between the ages of eight and twenty-one years, who are legally com- mitted thereto," and barring those physically defective; providing for part-time schools to enable those less than eighteen years of age, who are employed, to obtain specified and needful instruction, such part-time schools to be established upon petition of any district or county High School Board to the State Board of Education ; the State Board of Health created, as at present, comprising five experienced physicians for terms of five years and to be selected from ten members of the profession submitted by the Montana Medical Association; establishment of the Montana State Bureau of Mines and Metallurgy under the jurisdiction of the State Board of Education; authorizing the state to become indebted in the sum of $15,000,000 above the constitutional limit to acquire funds for the building of state highways; creation of rural school districts in each county com- posed of third class districts and parts thereof ; creation of Grain Grading, Inspection and Warehousing Commission providing for the appointment of a code commissioner to revise the code of 1907, and the general statutes passed by the regular and extraordinary session from the eleventh to the sixteenth inclusive. Upon call of Governor Stewart, the extraordinary session of the six- teenth Legislative Assembly convened on July 29, 1919, and adjourned on the nth of August. The Montana Irrigation Commission was created, the Board of Railroad Commissioners taking its business in hand as an ex-officio body. Its three members issued permits for the sale of water and water rights and the contracting of water for irrigation. The attorney general was the legal adviser of the new commission and the state engineer its technical adviser and executive in all matters connected with his pro- HISTORY OF MONTANA 485 fession. By another act, the Board of Railroad Commissioners was made, ex-officio, the Montana Trade Commission, established to regulate the prices of foodstuffs, merchandise, implements, etc. As a post-war measure and in line with the governmental endeavor to aid a readjustment of prices, large power was conferred upon the members of the new commission, who were authorized to act as market investigator and to enter any prem- ises for purposes of investigation. Any information thus obtained was deemed as secret. The justices of the State Supreme Court were increased in number, from three to five. But perhaps the most important piece of legislation of -the extraordinary session was the act by which the Aus- tralian ballot system was introduced into Montana politics. Of the numerous memorials presented to Congress, mention of a few is here made. Appeals were made for the government to inaugurate public works ; to regulate the monopoly in the production of farm imple- ments; for the general government to assume control over live stock and dairy products ; : asking Congress to get rights-of-way over government lands for the construction of dams, reservoirs, etc. ; requesting appropria- tions of $50,000,000 for' western irrigation projects ; praying relief legis- lation by which periods of residence for acquiring public lands might be shortened and the amount of work decreased; request of the Montana Council of 'Defense directed to the secretary of war that he send troops to Montana to help fight the forest fires. Among the measures of relief adopted at the extraordinary session which was being held in the midst of a long-extended and serious drought, was the extension of the interest payments due the state on its public lands occupied by settlers. GOVERNOR JOSEPH M. DIXON As successor to Samuel V. Stewart, Joseph M. Dixon assumed the governorship on January I, 1921. The present incumbent of the guber- natorial chair is a native of North Carolina, having graduated from Guil- ford College, of that state, in 1889 and admitted to the bar in 1892. Since that year his permanent home has been in Missoula. There he practiced law, served as assistant prosecuting attorney of Missoula County in 1893- 95 and as state prosecuting attorney in 1895-97. The governor was a member of the lower house of the state Assembly in 1900, and in the Fifty-eighth and Fifty-ninth congresses, 1903-07, was Montana's repre- sentative-at-large. His service as United States senator extended from 1907 to 1913. During that period he affiliated himself with the repub- licanism of Theodore Roosevelt and in 1912 had charge of the progres- sive campaign as chairman of the national committee of that organization. His election and record as governor has well completed an eminent public career. The term of Joseph M. Dixon, the sixth governor of the state of Mon- tana, commenced on January i, 1921, and his inaugural message to the 486 HISTORY OF MONTANA seventeenth Legislative Assembly was delivered on the 4th of that month. Among the important subjects which he handled with force were those arguing for adequate taxation and fair inheritance and income taxes ; ask- ing for a state license fee on metal mines besides the "net proceeds tax ;" higher licenses on autos and a tax on gasoline sales; a permanent tax commission; creation of a state sheriff through whom the entire police system of the commonwealth could be utilized in case of disorder, riot or rebellion ; establishment of the commission form of government for coun- ties; founding of a real Department of Agriculture, the head of which should have the direction of all the work now being done by the commis- sioner of Agriculture and Publicity, the live stock commissioners, the Live Stock Sanitary Board, the dairy commissioner, the state veterinarian, the Board of Poultry Husbandry, the recorder of marks and brands, the Board of Horticulture, the State Fair, the Grain Grading Commission, and the Stallion Registration Board ; changes in the primary law to make the voter declare his party affiliations ; reapportionment of legislative and congressional districts to make voting strength more equal, and the enforce- ment of prohibition along the Federal lines of the Eighteenth Amendment. Governor Dixon referred to the four years of trial through which the state had passed as follows : "Montana has just passed through four of the most trying years in her history. During the great war her young men were drafted for the national army upon a population basis of 940,000, while the census returns gave us only 548,889. We sent overseas and into the training camps about 40,000 men, nearly double the quota demanded from any other state, as related to its actual man power. Our excess quota of war bonds was allotted on the same fictitious basis of population. In contradistinction to these things, our interior geographical location prevented us sharing in the financial prosperity that came to communities more favorably sit- uated to the great war industrial activities. "In addition, during these four years we experienced the greatest droughts in our whole history, which bore with heavy pressure on the unirrigated sections of the state. "Despite these handicaps, and with an area of territory approximating three times that of either Ohio, Wisconsin, or Iowa, and with a population approximating one-tenth of these states, in a commendable spirit of emula- tion and desire to even excel the progressive legislation and accomplish-, ments of these older, richer, more densely populated states, Montana has been pushing to the front in the matters of schools, roads, municipal im- provements, the care of the physically defective, the insane, sanitation, relief for the widows and orphans, and other humane movements for the betterment of society. With the forward-looking, optimistic spirit of the West, we have gone forward, sometimes, I fear, not heeding or counting the ultimate financial cost." FINANCES OF THE STATE A review of the state's finances indicated that Montana's debt on March i, 1921, the approximate end of the session, would be $2,044,447 HISTORY OF MONTANA 487 with practically no receipts coming in until taxpaying time in the follow- ing December. But the burden of state government was small, indeed, when compared with the cost of the county, municipal and school govern- ments. The governor forcibly illustrates this statement by the diagram of a dollar, divided into sections and indicated by the caption, "Where the Montana Tax Payer's Dollar goes." The great sections are allotted to the counties (39 cents), and to the public schools (44 cents), and the pigmy sections, the cities (u cents), and the state (6 cents). In 1920 the totals of all taxes levied in Montana were: State, $1,601,- 005.95; county, $10,050,046.78; school, $11,073,950.02; municipal, $2,848,- 533.83. Total, $25,573,536.58. Since 1912, there has been an increase of 125 per cent. In the year named, Montana's per capita tax of $26.83 was the largest of any state in the Union, and since then it had increased to $46.70. This heavy taxation fell almost entirely on real estate, which was almost threatened with confiscation. In view of these alarming financial conditions, the governor suggested the opening of public means of revenue by efficiently applying the so- called Inheritance Tax law in Montana, which, "in the light of modern systems of taxation now in use in nearly all the states must have been intended as a joke." He commended the Wisconsin law, which brought over $1,000,000 to the coffers of that state, to the consideration of Mon- tana legislators. Also, an income tax was recommended to them founded on the Wisconsin law, which yielded $6,242,000 to the income of that state. The governor believed that Montana should impose a tax of three per cent on the gross returns from its oil fields, and that coal should pay a license fee of ten cents per ton and that cement plants should be sim- ilarly taxed. In 1920, the 2,741,113 tons of coal, valued at $7,757,103, on the basis of two and a half mills levy for state purposes exclusive of sur- face improvements, yielded only $682 in taxes. The further fact that most of the coal mines in the state "are owned and operated as subsidiary corporations of the Northern Pacific, the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul and the Great Northern Railway companies, and as such subsidiary com- panies show little 'net proceeds,' leads many people to believe that this phase of our industrial life is not carrying its full proportionate share of the burdens of government, as compared with other forms of wealth." Taxation of the metalliferous mines of the state was based on a tax on "net proceeds" plus the regular property tax on improvements, and in the three years, 1917, 1918 and 1919, the six Silver Bow mining companies^ contributed fifty-seven per cent of the total tax collected. In 1919, the total tax collected by the state was $392,954, of which the Silver Bow corporations contributed $181,389. Although Governor Dixon did not believe that the "net proceeds" of the metalliferous mining industry bore its rightful burden of taxation in Montana, he confessed that to adjust the matter was a difficult problem. The revenue derived from the taxation of the "net proceeds" totaled only $239,158 for the preceding five years, or an average of only $47,831. In this connection, it was noted that al- though over 56 per cent of the patients admitted to the Tuberculosis Sani- tarium at Galen were from the mines of Silver Bow County, that section 488 HISTORY OF MONTANA contributed to its- support only $5 of the $12.95 P er week necessary for its maintenance, leaving a loss of $161,546 to be borne by the state at large. An additional license tax on metalliferous mines was therefore recom- mended. The state bore one-half the cost of constructing the permanent trunk roads of Montana and the entire cost of their maintenance. As, primarily, the Good Roads movement was an automobile project, the Assembly should raise the license fee on automobiles and trucks, which was the lowest of any Northwestern state. The Oregon tax on gasoline was also suggested. The complex problem of taxation should be delegated to a permanent Tax Commission of three experts, although for the succeeding two years the body could only be advisory to the existing State Board of Equaliza- tion, or until the constitutional amendment proposed in the report of the Tax and License Commission in 1918 can be submitted and adopted. The commission government for counties was recommended because of the economy and efficiency obtained in the application of that form of government to the municipal affairs of Missoula for a period of nine years. The governor even went a step farther, it being his judgment "that a very general application of this same plan to' our state government in Montana would be productive of great good and bring about tremendous economy in the administration of state affairs." As to the Workman's Compensation Act, its main criticism was directed at the small allowances for-medical and hospital services and funeral ex- penses. Recommendation was made for the creation of a state purchasing agent. Governor Dixon called attention to a serious feature of the financial status in the matter of "farm loan delinquencies." "On November 30, 1920," he says, "there was invested of the Common School Permanent Fund, in farm loans, $4,267,470; school district bonds, $1,892,193.36; United States Liberty bonds, $980,000. Total, $7,139,663.36. The records show that on that date, of the total investment of $4,267,470 in farm loans, the delinquent loans amounted to $1,334,650, or the equivalent of 31.29 per cent." One of Governor Dixon's concluding paragraphs has to do with the Veterans' Welfare Commission, and the outstanding promise of the repub- lican party to carry out its aims. He commended its work in the matter of vocational rehabilitation, war risk insurance and compensation, and trusted that provision would be made for keeping the commission alive until its work was completed. Montana was still in the grip of "hard times," caused mainly by long- continued droughts and consequent failure of the crops and deterioration of live stock. Among other measures of relief was the "emergency" measure passed by the State Senate remitting the penalty for delinquent taxes of 1920, if paid before April i, 1921, extending the right of redemption from the tax sales of 1917, and extending the time for the payment of the 1920 taxes. When four weeks of the session had passed Governor Dixon had approved of fifty-six bills or resolutions. Of the business transacted HISTORY OF MONTANA 489 much referred to the codification of the laws which was progressing under the supervision of the code commissioner, I. W. Choate. Considerable excitement was introduced to the Assembly and politics of the state by the published notification of Attorney General Wellington D. Rankin to W. J. Swindlehurst that his continuance in office as state commissioner of labor and industry was unconstitutional. At the same time, the attorney general notified the state auditor to cut off the salary of that official after January 31, 1921. The public sentiment 'directed against disloyal utterances or pro- nouncements deemed as such promulgated from the platform and through the press by educated men and women had caused the introduction of a bill requiring teachers, professors and school people generally to take the oath of loyalty to the Government and Constitution of the United States. As Governor Dixon considered this measure too sweeping to correct a limited evil, he vetoed it. HELENA BRANCH OF FEDERAL RESERVE BANK OPENED Although not connected with the legislation of the state, the formal opening of the Helena branch of the Ninth District Federal Reserve Bank at Minneapolis was an event of vital import to the financial stability of Montana. The inauguration of the enterprise, on Tuesday, February i, 1921, was made the occasion of quite a celebration. Thomas A. Marlow, chairman of the Helena board of directors, presided at the meeting and was one of the speakers. Governor Dixon also spoke, as well as Norman B. Holter, a director of the bank, who had had special charge of the Liberty Loan "drives," which had proved so creditable to the state. The Helena bank was the twenty-first branch to be established in the United States under the Federal Reserve system, and its record has been that of all other similar institutions to inspire public confidence and stabilize the finances of the state, giving a feeling of assurance both to interests already established and projects about to be launched. In February, 1921, the law was repealed creating state-owned terminal elevators; an income tax bill was passed, in accord with the governor's recommendation ; a bill was introduced proposing another constitutional convention, the question to be submitted to the voters at the succeeding general election. The proposed Irrigation Commission was shelved by the House. There was a lively discussion in the Senate over the bill to assess a poll tax of $3 on all male bachelors, the proceeds to go into the Widow's Pension Fund. In addition, the unmarried males of a certain age and ability to assume marital relations, who still "shied," had a $2-road tax levied upon them. The measure finally passed. PROHIBITION IN FORCE The governor vetoed the bill giving special agents the general and sweeping authority to search premises in the enforcement of prohibition 490 HISTORY OF MONTANA measures, as giving them powers too extraordinary. "The bill in ques- tion," he says in his veto message, "covers not only the matter of illegal traffic in intoxicating liquors, but the whole moral and criminal code. Not only can special agents without limit be employed, but any other person or persons may be authorized and employed to 'make investigations for the purpose of procuring evidence of the violations of all laws.' " Notwith- standing this special veto, prohibition is in force in Montana. There have been several distinct steps taken by Congress, the states and the United States Supreme Court which have determined Montana's legislation as a unit of the Union. All the states of the Union have pur- sued similar courses, determined by the Constitution of the United States. The first decisive step toward national prohibition was the joint resolution adopted by the Senate and House of Representatives, on the i/th of December, 1917, to this effect: "Article . Section i. After one year from the ratification of this article the manufacture, sale or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for bever- age purposes, is hereby prohibited. "Section 2. The Congress and several states shall have concurrent power to enforce this act by appropriate legislation. "Section 3. This act shall be inoperative, unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the constitution by the legislatures of the sev- eral states as provided in the constitution, within seven years from the date of the submission hereof to the states by Congress. By January 16, 1919, more than thirty-six legislatures of the several states had ratified the amendment (as required by the Federal Constitution). Mississippi was the first to come into line; Montana was the seventh (February 19, 1918), and Pennsylvania was the last (February 25, 1919). It then became necessary to define "intoxicating liquors," especially as the "warfare prohibition act" continued in force, pending the year which was to elapse after the ratification of the amendment to the Federal Con- stitution before it (the Eighteenth Amendment) was to go into force. Andrew J. Volstead, a Minnesota lawyer, therefore introduced a bill, which was enacted in October, 1919, and has since been known by his name. It defined "beer, wine, or other intoxicating malt and vinous liquors in the warfare prohibition act as meaning any such beverages con- taining one-half of one per cent or more of alcohol by volume." The Volstead act, which also provided for the enforcement of the prohibition law, was declared constitutional by the Supreme Court of the United States on January 5, 1920. On June 7, 1920, the Eighteenth amendment itself was declared con- stitutional by the United States Supreme Court ; and all the legislation of the Montana Assembly, as well as the official action taken by the other states of the Union, was enacted to conform with the pronouncements of the Congress of the United States and the decisions of the Supreme Court of the land. HISTORY OF MONTANA 491 MOVIE CENSORSHIP BILL KILLED In February, 1921, the Movie Censorship bill was killed. William A. Brady, president of the National Motion Picture Association, was on the way to the supposed field of action, and had telegraphed to Governor Dixon from Bismarck, North Dakota, to hold the measure, pending his (Brady's) arrival ; but, as stated, the bill was killed without his opposition. THE SPECIAL SESSION OF 1921. The seventeenth Assembly was physically unable to clear off the "un- finished business," although bills not even enrolled were signed in open session by the presiding officers of each house. Governor Dixon therefore called an extra session, which held from March 8th to March 22, 1921. On the last day of the session a bill was passed to have Montana's prohibi- tion law conform to the Federal Volstead act, the vote being 48 to 36. At the same time, the governor published an open letter to the Helena Independent, Anaconda Standard, Billings Gazette, Butte Miner and the Great Falls Tribune, which he had charged with making prejudiced reports of the legislative proceedings. The letter, which reviews the extraordinary session, had the authority of a gubernatorial message. It referred to the republican "programme of a more equitable system of taxation that would result in shifting some portion of the burden from the homes, farms and business sections to forms of wealth" not carrying their just share. He claimed that by the passage of the inheritance tax the proceeds of which would be derived from foreign decadents who hold stock in four great railroad lines, the Montana Power Company and the Anaconda Copper Mining Company probably the state would realize $250,000 yearly, or six times the cost of the extraordinary session. He had vetoed a bill passed at the regular session making oil pipe lines common carriers. At the special session, a real common carrier law for oil pipe lines had been passed by which "the money that will be paid to the state next July (1921) by the Federal Government as our share of oil royalties on public lands will bring many thousands of dollars of relief each year to the public schools and roads of Montana." Governor Dixon claimed (through legislative enact- ment, to have saved the financial situation and to have secured more than $1,000,000, which, without the calling of the extraordinary session, would have been lost to the state. Thomas J. Walsh, who was re-elected to the United States Senate without opposition in the fall of 1918 will serve (if he concludes his second term) until 1925. He is a Wisconsin man by birth and education and in 1884 went to South Dakota, practicing law at Redfield with his brother, Henry, C. In 1890 he located at Helena, established a large practice and soon became prominent in the activities of the state democracy. Mr. 492 HISTORY OF MONTANA Walsh served as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1906, 1912 and 1916; in 1910 was an unsuccessful candidate for the upper House of Congress; was elected to the United States Senate in 1912 and again, as stated, in 1918. Henry L. Myers is also serving his second term in the Senate of the United States, was born and educated in Missouri, and since 1893 has resided at Hamilton, Ravalli County. For sixteen years previous to enter- ing the national Senate, he served the people of his county and section as prosecuting attorney, state senator and judge of the Fourth District. He had been occupying the bench for four years when he commenced his first term in the upper House of Congress in 1911. His second term expires in 1923. CHAPTER XXII MONTANA'S EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM Glimpses of the early schools and indications of the birth and crude development of a system of public education have appeared in the earlier pages of this work ; also in the chapters devoted to the proceedings of the Legislative Assembly and the gubernatorial administrations, has been noted the establishment of the various departments, schools and colleges, which have been consolidated into a working system of higher education under the direct jurisdiction of a chancellor with headquarters at the state capitol. The crude beginnings were accomplished in territorial times ; the modern system, with its drawbacks of scattered units, varied managements and unwieldy body, had its origin with the founding of the state govern- ment. PUBLIC SCHOOL AND GOVERNMENT COEXTENSIVE It is a coincidence that the first public school in Montana opened on the same day that the first session of the territorial Legislative Assembly convened on the 5th of March, 1866, at Virginia City. The first school district was then and there organized, with Joseph Millard chairman, and Samuel Word, and Captain Rodgers, members of the Board of Trustees. A Mr. Thrasher ( ?) and Thomas J. Dimsdale appear to have been pioneer school commissioners, or superintendents of public instruction, and then (1866) the place was offered to Peter Ronan, the old miner and news- paper man, who declined it. Alexander H. Barrett held it a few months and then resigned in favor of A. M. S. Carpenter, who managed to retain the office for about a year. Mr. Carpenter seems to have made an effort to organize schools in the districts which had enough population to warrant his efforts, and toward the last of his term made the following report to Governor Smith : i "Virginia City, 2Oth October, 1867. "To His Excellency, the Governor, Green Clay Smith : "In compliance with your request and the intent of the law creating the office, I beg leave respectfully to submit the following report of the condition of the common schools of the territory, so far as I have been able to obtain the statistics. "I was appointed to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of the late superintendent, A. H. Barrett, Esq., by the late General Thomas 493 494 HISTORY OF MONTANA Francis Meagher, then acting governor, on the 4th of March, 1867. I found no reports from county superintendents in the office at that time, nor have I since received any save a very commendably full one from Superintendent Wilkinson, of Edgerton county, in response to my request issued on the 28th of September last, to the county superintendents, for the statistics in their possession. Through the kindness of Mr. R. N. Farley, clerk of District No. I, Madison county, I am able to give you some statistics concerning the schools in this city, which you will find embodied in a tabular form accompanying this report. "In Beaverhead county, I learn indirectly, no public schools have been open during the year. No schools have ever been organized in Chouteau county. In Edgerton County, there are three school districts organized in which schools have been taught some portion of the year. Eight school districts have been organized in Madison county ; but aside from District No. i, of this city, I am uninformed of the fact of any school having been taught in either, though I think it fair to assume that there have been in each. "I am, respectfully, your obedient servant, "A. M. S. CARPENTER." This report is chiefly interesting as being the first of its kind in the public records and because of its remarkable lack of definite information. Fortunately for this sketch, Superintendent Carpenter's successors gradu- ally improved. Thomas F. Campbell and A. G. Lathrop followed Mr. Carpenter, serving about two years each. SUPERINTENDENT CORNELIUS HEDGES But it remained for Cornelius Hedges, whom Governor Benjamin F. Potts appointed superintendent in 1872, to make the first regular and complete report of his department. His five years of service added to his reputation as one of the able men of the state. He was a leading lawyer, had already served as United States district attorney and while superin- tendent of schools was also sitting on the probate bench of Lewis and Clark County. Judge Hedges was one of the founders of the Helena Public Library and one of the fathers of the state and her systematized laws. In his school reports to Governor Potts, Superintendent Hedges covers the nine counties of the territory then existing, Madison, Gallatin, Deer Lodge, Lewis and Clark, Meagher, Jefferson, Chouteau, Missoula and Beaverhead. He states that the average length of the school term each year was eighty days, and that bookkeeping was a required subject in the public school course of study. At first Deer Lodge had the only frame schoolhouse in the territory, Missoula the only brick, and Helena was holding school in the basement of a church, the desks and benches of which were "a terror to behold." During his administration, however, Judge Hedges had the pleasure of seeing good buildings erected at Helena Virginia City, Bannack, Blackfoot and New Chicago. Even in those days HISTORY OF MONTANA 495 the superintendency had its troubles, for the report says that there was too much of a tendency for school districts to divide, county superinten- dents were slow in making reports, and the law provided that the "super- CORNELIUS HEDGES intendent shall keep his office at some place where there is a postoffice" and that "he shall receive a salary of only $1,200, with a $300 allowance for travelling expenses." From all cotemporaneous accounts, this was a most inadequate compensation, as "in his devotion to the duties pertaining to 496 HISTORY OF MONTANA this position Judge Hedges traveled hundreds of miles, under trying cir- cumstances, to gather the few teachers then in the territory, to the different centers of population, instructing, providing and devising methods and improvements only possible with a man of collegiate training and un- selfish enthusiasm." FIRST INSTITUTION OF HIGHER LEARNING Superintendent Clark Wright, who succeeded Mr. Hedges, in 1877, reported improvements in all the counties of the state and new school- houses at Bozeman, Butte and Fort Benton. He gave Deer Lodge County first place for interest shown in educational work and outlined the plans for the opening of the Montana Collegiate Institute, at the county seat. It was started that year (1877) in hired rooms with twenty-four students in attendance, and was the first institution of higher learning to take root in Montana. The Montana Collegiate Institute was the predecessor of the College of Montana, at Deer Lodge, which was chartered in 1884 and opened in the following year. The latter was one of the leading pioneers in educa- tional work in the Northwest, had a substantial plant of college buildings and an endowment fund of $100,000. W. Egbert Smith succeeded Mr. Wright as superintendent of public instruction in 1879, and it is learned from his report that there were then 7,049 pupils in Montana, practically double the number shown by the census of 1872. During his administration, twenty-three public school buildings were constructed in the territory. At that time, Helena was credited with the best graded schools in Montana. Among other reforms in the system suggested by Superintendent Smith were uniform certificates, a Board of Education and the consolidation of schools. Not a few improvements were introduced to the system of public edu- cation during the administration of R. W. Howey, as superintendent of public instruction in 1881-82. In 1881, the average school year was lengthened to no days, a course of study was prescribed, the county superintendents sent in regular reports for the benefit of the state superin- tendent, the Legislative Assembly adopted uniform text books, deaf and dumb children were sent East at public expense, and Helena, Butte, Boze- man, Deer Lodge and Virginia City introduced high school work. UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION LAID Under the congressional act of February 18, 1881, the foundation was laid for the University of Montana. The measure was entitled "an act to grant lands to Dakota, Montana, Arizona, Idaho and Wyoming for University purposes," and under it the University of Montana received seventy-two sections, or about 46,000 acres of land. That grant from Congress was to form an endowment fund that could never be diminished, and the income from which should be used exclusively for the support of the university. Twelve years, however, were to elapse before the state HISTORY OF MONTANA 497 could take practical advantage of this generous donation. But the initial interests of Montana were well protected by Superintendent Howey, who saw to it that the very best land available was allotted and set aside for the purpose indicated in the congressional act. In 1882, Superintendent Howey reported eleven new schools in Mon- tana, one of them a fine ten-room building in Butte. He also noted the first meeting of the Territorial Teachers' Association, the selection of county superintendents solely for school purposes, and the election of Miss Helen P. Clark, of Helena, and Miss Alice Nichols, of White Sulphur Springs, to the office. The establishment of a reform school was recom- mended. Cornelius Hedges was again called to the superintendency, in 1883, and materially added to his former reputation in that capacity. Many improvements were made, yet the obstacles against which these pioneers in Montana education worked, even in the early '8os, were not realized by the people of those days themselves. Teachers' institutes were held in practically every county in the territory, many of the teachers paying a full month's salary for stage fare to take them to the place of meeting. Yet both men and women did good work and public sentiment and private generosity were back of them; for instance, at an old-fashioned spelling bee held at Billings, Mr. Billings gave $4,000 toward a new school build- ing, which, when completed, was the only one in the territory supplied with an up-to-date furnace. James H. Mills, who had served for five years as secretary of the terri- tory, was offered the superintendency of public instruction, but declined the office, and W. W. Wylie succeeded Mr. Hedges. Early in his adminis- tration he introduced the teaching of physiology into the public schools, especially in regard to the effects of alcohol and narcotics on the human system. As a means toward the equalization of the salaries of school execu- tives, after showing that the county superintendent of Beaverhead County, with its eighteen districts, received only $500 per annum while the Yellow- stone County official with half the number of districts drew double the salary of the former, Mr. Mills recommended that there be four district superintendents instead of so many county superintendents. Superinten- dent Wylie also caused the program of the Territorial Association of Teachers, which had met at Butte that year (1885), to be printed, and induced the railroads to give reduced fares to all who should attend the meetings of the association. He encouraged the general holding of teach- ers' institutes and authorized the county superintendents to use their own judgment in the selection of examination questions and in marking the answers to them. When Arthur C. Logan succeeded Superintendent Wylie, in 1887, he found that the territory was divided into 289 organized school districts in which 394 teachers were employed. Meetings of the Territorial Teach- ers' Association were held in 1887 and 1888, the latter being at Butte in Vol. 132 498 HISTORY OF MONTANA connection with the Teachers' Institute of Silver Bow County. Under the law, the superintendent of public instruction was obliged to travel three months of each year. That provision enabled Superintendent Logan to effectually assist in institute work and encourage the planting of trees for Arbor day, which was established during his administration. INAUGURATION OF STATE SYSTEM By the presidential proclamation of November 8, 1889, Montana automatically became a state. The enabling act of February 22nd of that year firmly laid the basis of the common school system still in course of development. It prescribed that upon her admission into the Union, sections 16 and 36 in every township, or their equivalents if already granted by Congress, should be donated to the state for the support of its com- OLDEST SCHOOL IN MONTANA STILL IN USE mon schools. Indian, military or other reservations granted for national purposes were exempt from the operations of the act, until such reserva- tions should be restored to the public domain. Under an act of Congress passed in 1881, lands within Montana and other territories had been granted for educational purposes, and the en- abling act provided that they should be sold at public auction for not less than $10 per acre. The state was to place the proceeds of such sales in a permanent school fund, the interest of which should be expended for the support of the common schools. Congress, however, inserted a provision in the enabling act whereby such lands could be leased, under state control, for a period not exceeding five years, and in quantities not exceeding one section to any one person or company, and such lands could not be sub- ject to preemption, homestead or other entry, but should be reserved for school purposes only. Other provisions for the use of public lands were made by Congress. Fifty sections of the unappropriated public lands within Montana, to be HISTORY OF MONTANA 499 selected and located in legal subdivisions in the same manner as the school lands, were granted to the state for the purpose of erecting public build- ings at the capital for legislative, executive and judicial purposes. The enabling act further provided that 5 per cent of the proceeds from the sales of public lands within Montana which should be sold by the United States subsequent to its admission into the Union, after deducting all expenses incident thereto, should be paid over to the new state to be used as a permanent fund, the interest of which only was to be expended for the support of the common schools. As intimated, the lands granted by Congress to the territory in 1881 were vested in the state, and, by the enabling act, seventy-two sections were made the basis for the support of a university. These lands, likewise, could not be sold for less than $10 per acre, and the proceeds derived from such sales were to constitute a permanent fund to be safely invested, the income to be employed exclusively for university purposes. Other grants of public lands were made by the enabling act. One hundred thousand acres were granted for the establishment and mainte- nance of a school of mines. A like quantity was granted for state normal schools. In addition to former grants, 50,000 acres were donated for agricultural colleges. A state reform school was encouraged with 50,000 acres ; state deaf and dumb asylum, a like amount, and the public buildings at the capital of the state received 150,000 acres, in addition to the grant previously made. All mineral lands were excluded from these grants, but the act pro- vided that if sections 16 and 36, or any portion thereof, should contain mineral, the state was authorized to select an equal quantity of other un- appropriated lands in lieu thereof, for the use and benefit of the common schools. When Montana was admitted into the Union in November, 1889, all the provisions of the enabling act went into effect. Under the head of taxation, the state constitution provided that the state levy should not exceed three mills on each dollar of valuation, and when the valuation of property subject to taxation amounted to $100,000,000, it should not exceed two and a half mills, and when such valuation reached $300,000,000, the tax should not exceed one and a half mills on each dollar of valuation. In 1909, it became apparent that the taxable valuation of the state would go beyond the $300,000,000 limit in that year, and that the constitutional levy of one and a half mills would so materially reduce the revenue of the state as to embarrass several of its departments, especially that which had to do with public education. Consequently, a strong lobby came to the Legislative Assembly in 1909, led by the friends of the state educational institutions, and proposed a law to submit to the people at the following general elec- tion providing for a constitutional amendment fixing the state tax levy at two and a half mills on the dollar until the valuation should reach $600,000,- ooo. The Assembly promptly passed the bill and the people duly ratified the proposed amendment to the state constitution. John Gannon was the first superintendent of public instruction for the State of Montana, but the two years of his administration yield noth- 500 HISTORY OF MONTANA ing in the way of a report throwing light on the initial steps taken in the organization of the system of public education. UNIVERSITY SYSTEM ESTABLISHED E. A. Steere, who served the four years from 1893 to l8 97> was more considerate to the historian; and well he might be, as during the first year of his administrations the state was enabled to take advantage of the congressional land donations and found its university system. To satisfy various sectional jealousies, mainly the result of contests over the location of the capital, the following institutions were established : The University of Montana was located at Missoula and a site of forty acres was donated by Messrs. F. G. Higgins and E. L. Bonner. The Montana State College was founded at Bozeman, February 16, 1893, and Professor Luther Foster and one assistant took charge of the work until the following September, when President James Reid and a full faculty were elected. The Montana State Normal School and College was located at Dillon, May 23, 1893, Messrs. Poindexter and Orr donating the site of ten acres. At Butte, the State School of Mines was established, on February 17, 1893, and five trustees were appointed by the State Board of Education to look after its interests. The State School for Deaf, Dumb and Blind was established at Boulder, March i, 1893, and a ten-acre site was selected for it shortly afterward. The State Reform School, which had been recommended by Superintendent Howey, was opened April 3, 1894, at Miles City. Besides all of the before-mentioned state institutions noted in Profes- sor Steere's report, the information is conveyed that during his adminis- tration seventy-five new districts had been created in the state. STATE TEXT BOOK COMMISSION ESTABLISHED Under Superintendent Logan, the last of the territorial officials at the head of the educational department, a text book commission had been appointed composed of Professors Howey, of Helena, and Meyers, of Deer Lodge. The work was continued by E. A. Carleton, the state super- intendent, who succeeded Professor Steere in 1897, and to Superintendent Carleton is due the credit of organizing the State Text Book Commission, substantially as it has since existed. He also gave a report on the work of the rural schools and their consolidation, called the county superintend- ents together for the first time, on August 27, 1897, and published the first general course of study. Superintendent Carleton also held the first state eighth-grade examinations. He reported six county high schools, at Bozeman, Boulder, Dillon, Kalispell, Lewistown and Livingston, with a total enrollment of 386 pupils. The past twenty years has shown a remarkable expansion in all the fields of public education kindergartens, primary, intermediate and grammar grades, high schools, colleges and university. Much stress has been placed on the improvement of the country, or rural schools; their HISTORY OF MONTANA 501 standard has been steadily raised, old buildings replaced by modern, the curriculum expanded and conveniences provided by which pupils residing at a distance may take advantage of all they offer. The schools at the centers of population, in their turn, have been improved and maintained in accord with the educational and mechanical advancement of the times. APPORTIONMENT OF COMMON SCHOOL INCOME FUND The following table, given in the biennial report of the state register of lands for the biennium ending the year 1920, shows the annual distribu- OLD LEWISTOWN SCHOOL tion of the school income fund to the several counties under section 819, of the revised codes of 1907, since 1889, such distribution being made in February of each year and based upon the income and school census of the preceding year: Number of School Year Children 1889 to 1896 39,252 1897 42,218 1898 46,179 1899 49,478 1900 S3,6i9 1901 57,212 1902 61,736 1903 64,623 1904 66,583 1905 69,195 1906 70,814 1907 72,498 1908 *. 73,249 1909 77,040 1910 81,545 1911 88,805 1912 98,687 1913 104,774 Amount Rate per Distributed Capita $ 51,027.60 $1.30 i7,73i-56 .42 28,630.98 .62 41,561.52 .84 80,428.50 1.50 105,842.20 1.85 138,006.00 2.25 168,019.80 2.60 169,786.65 2.55 183,366.75 2.65 205,360.60 2.90 217,494.00 3.00 227,071.90 3-io 250,380.00 3-25 305,793.75 3-75 266,415.00 3-00 345,404.50 3-50 419,096.00 4.00 502 HISTORY OF MONTANA Number of School Amount Rate per Year Children Distributed Capita 1914 114,032 $513,144.00 $4.50 1915 ^ . 126,417 632,085.00 5.00 1916 135,865 713,291.25 5-25 1917 H7,453 810,991.50 5.50 1918 159,552 877,536.00 5.50 1919 i6i,977 800,873.50 5.50 1920 161,625 969,756.00 6.00 INCOME FROM LEASED LANDS The total income of the various institutions of an educational, charitable and reformatory character derived from leased lands, rentals, interest on NEW POWELL COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL deferred payments and income from investments is as follows : Common schools, $1,122,593.57; Agricultural College, $43,517.05; Deaf and Dumb Asylum, $12,521.24; capitol building, $16,222.74; School of Mines, $36,- 042.72; State Normal School, $34,127.33; State Reform School, $14,- 741.22; State University, $28,575.92; Soldiers' Home, $531.35. LATE SUPERINTENDENTS In all of this development which has brought Montana's public system of education to the favorable notice of students and experts throughout the country, Superintendent W. W. Welch, W. E. Harmon, H. A. Davee and the serving official of the department, Miss May Trumper, have con- tributed their full share. Superintendent Davee served until January i, 1917, having been four years in office. He was succeeded by Miss Trump- er, who is still superintendent. The direct administration or management of the schools, conducted from Helena, comprises the following executives : May Trumper, superin- HISTORY OF MONTANA 503 tendent; Mina Petrashek, deputy; S. L. Peterson, high school supervisor; Charles M. Reinoehl, rural school supervisor; G. B. Edwards, director of vocational education ; Anne K. Larson, clerk. EDUCATIONAL RANK AMONG THE STATES As a forcible indication of Montana's remarkable advancement in educational efficiency among the sisterhood of states, the following is taken from Superintendent Trumper's biennial report for 1920: "During 1919 Dr. Leonard P. Ayers, one of the foremost statisticians in America, and director of the Russell Sage Foundation, made a study of state school systems. He applied to problems of education some of the methods that have long been in use in the field of economics. Dr. Ayers says : " 'The result is what has been termed an 'index number' for state school systems. This gives for every state a numerical rating which is a combination of ten different measures of public school accomplishment. The figures from which the index is computed tell what proportion of the children of school age ,are in school, how long the school term is, how many children go on to high school, what amounts of money are spent for the support of the schools and the payment of teachers, and so on. " 'The different sets of data are treated in exactly the same way for each state, and we feel that in their final combination they reflect in a somewhat reliable manner that status of public education within the commonwealth. The figures of the report make it possible for each state to compare its own conditions with those of the neighboring states, its present status with that which existed in former years, and finally, to find out which educational factors account for its present rating.' "During the twenty-eight years from 1890 to 1918, Montana moved from eighth place among the states to first. This represents a gain of seven points since 1890 and six points since 1910. "Although Montana gained in six factors that make up the final report, she lost and still takes a relatively low place in length of school term, proportion of children in high school, per cent of boys to girls in high school,' and average salary per teacher employed. "In length of school term only two northern and western states rank lower than Montana. While Montana ranks thirty-third in this factor alone, our neighboring states of South Dakota and Oregon rank third and fifth respectively. Montana's schools were open only 152 days in 1917-18, while Rhode Island, ranking first, had her schools open 193 days, and the average for all the states was 160.7 days. "In the proportion of children in high school only seven northern states have as low a rank as given in Montana. With California receiving first rank, Washington second, and Nevada eleventh in this factor, it is embarrassing for Montana to have so few children in high school as to rank twenty-third. About twice as large a proportion of pupils go to high school in California as in Montana. "Normally there should be as many boys as girls in the high schools of 504 HISTORY OF MONTANA a state. In Montana there are less than two-thirds as many boys as girls in high school, while in New York, the state ranking first on this point, there are nine-tenths as many boys as girls. Only three northern and western states have such a small proportion of boys in high school as are found in Montana. Montana ranked fortieth on this point. "In average salary of teachers, Montana's rank of fifteenth probably explains the serious shortage of teachers within the past few years. The average monthly salary of teachers in California was $88.06, in Washing- ton $78.02, in Utah $64.12 and in Colorado $60.49, but in Montana it was $57-4 2 - "The combined efforts of all friends of education are needed to raise our standards particularly in "Length of term, "Proportion of children in high school, "Per cent of boys to girls in high school, and "Salary of teachers." ADVANCEMENT IN DETAIL The general advancement of the public schools is indicated by the statistics presented by the superintendents of public instruction at inter- vals of five or six years. According to the report of State Superintendent W. E. Harmon for 1908, the school census for 1907 showed 73,269 chil- dren of school age, of whom 36,895 were boys and 36,374 girls. The whole number enrolled during the year was 50,516 and the average daily attendance, 34,699. In 1906, the children of school age numbered 72,498, the enrollment being 48,744 and the daily attendance, 34,738. The value of schoolhouses and sites was given at $3,645,343, and 501 normal gradu- ates and 154 college graduates were employed in the schools. The expenses for all school purposes amounted to $1,702,425. In 1912, there were 104,774 children of school age, with an enrollment of 68,335 an ^ a daily attendance of 49,330. In that year, the expenditures had increased to $4,889,070. In 1919-20, as shown by Superintendent Trumper's last biennial report, the number of children of school age, the actual enrollment and daily at- tendance of pupils in the Montana schools of all grades, with the entire cost of maintaining the system of public instruction, are given in the facts and figures which follow. ENROLLMENT AND ATTENDANCE According to the school census for September, 1919, there were 161,626 children of school age in the state. This includes all those at least six but less than twenty-one years old. During the year there were enrolled in the public elementary and high schools 126,238 pupils. The children of school age not in school, therefore, number 35,388. Since the number attending parochial and private schools is not known, the exact number not attending any school cannot be definitely ascertained. HISTORY OF MONTANA 505 At the close of the school year 1919-20 a survey of the schools was taken. The children included in this survey number 116,669. If to these were added 1,609 children in the Lewistown elementary schools and the high schools of Jefferson County, from which places survey data were not available, there would be 118,278 children accounted for in the survey. This leaves 7,960 children enrolled in the public schools, as given in the annual statistical reports of county superintendents which are not included in the survey. The difference is due to the difficulty experienced in secur- ing reports for the survey from every school in every county in the state. There were 2,606 one-teacher schools in Montana reported in the survey for last year. Of these schools 99.9 per cent had from six to forty FLORENCE-CARLTON CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL LARGEST IN THE OPEN COUNTRY pupils enrolled. Twenty-four of these schools had more than forty pupils each, while each of 215 schools (8.2 per cent) had fewer than six pupils. The average one-teacher school has approximately seventeen pupils. One of the most difficult problems for solution in many rural districts has been that of providing schools for a few children in sparsely settled sections. Maintaining school with a small enrollment is partly an economic problem. It costs approximately as much to maintain a school for four children as for twenty-four. If only a teacher's salary of $1,200 a year be considered, it will be seen that the one school would cost $300 per pupil, while 'the other would cost but $50 per pupil. It is also a problem in a small school to maintain the interest necessary for profitable work. Various means have been used for solving this problem of very small schools. The number of such schools has been materially decreased within the biennium. Provisions for schooling a few children living in isolated sections have been made in neighboring or other schools. Where such provisions are not possible or advisable the small school must continue to 506 HISTORY OF MONTANA exist even at large per capita cost, if all children are to have educational opportunities. Transportation of pupils in many parts of the state has not been found feasible. In some localities where it has been found possible, consolida- tion of schools has been effected. In several sparsely settled sections where children live a considerable distance from the school the dormitory plan has been provided. The one-teacher school of the dormitory type first to develop is located at Ivanell, Rosebud County. A dormitory building was provided at a cost of $1,100. There is probably no greater cause of retardation in our public schools than that of irregular attendance. There are far more children attending relatively few days each year than are enrolled in short term schools. There are more than three times as many children attending less than eight months as are enrolled in schools in session less than eight months. Eighty-two per cent of the school children are enrolled in relatively long term schools (more than 160 days), but only 42 per cent of them are in attendance as many days. Because of this failure to attend school the full session on the part of a majority of the school children, retardation be- comes most appalling. The following table shows the relation of enrollment and attendance to length of term : ' Days of School Schools Enrollment Attendance Number Per Cent Number Per Cent Number Per Cent 80 or less 81 to 100 101 to 120. . . . 121 to 140. ... 141 to 160. . . . 161 to 180.. .. 181 or more.. . 228 .127 213 311 713 1,547 88 7.1 4.0 6.6 9.6 22.1 47.9 2.7 3,217 1,420 2,565 3,985 9,550 92,374 12,389 2.6 1.2 2.1 3.1 7.6 73.6 9.8 23,603 6,966 7,025 10,235 18,373 . 48,881 * 20.5 6.1 6.1 8.9 16.0 42.4 Total 3,227 100.0 125,500 100.0 tl 15,083 100.0 "Included in 161 to 180 days. fNot all children enrolled were reported in survey on attendance, is 1,586. Data for Lewistown elementary schools not available. The difference The fact that one-fifth (23,603) of Montana's school children are in attendance less than four months a year should not be overlooked. It re- quires a full year for a normal child to complete a year's work. When a child is in school only three, four or six months a year he cannot be expected to advance a grade a year. Large numbers of children whose days of school are cut short are denied an opportunity to advance with their classmates, and the result represents an immeasurable loss to the future citizenship of our country. Irregular attendance is far more common in the grades than in the high schools and more common in third class districts than in districts of the first and second class. Forty-three per cent of the elementary children in third class districts attend less than six months, while 26 per cent of those in first and second class districts attend no longer. Children HISTORY OF MONTANA 507 have been withdrawn for work on the farm in the fall and again 'in the spring, just at the time of year when the weather is fairest and the roads most easily traveled. While there is a certain amount of non-attendance due to circumstances that cannot easily be avoided, such as illness and too great distance from schoolhouse, it is evident that there is a very large amount of avoidable non-attendance at schools. In spite of the fact that Montana stands at the head of the list of states in the percentage of school children of school age enrolled in the schools, the survey for 1919-20 showed that there were 1,847 children of school age whose homes were not within reach of a school. Of these children 1,011 could not attend school because of the distance, and 836 were obliged to leave home at great expense to their parents to have even a few months of school. The only large county in the state which pro- vided schooling for all its children last year was Cascade County because GATHERING OF CASCADE COUNTY SCHOOL CHILDREN of the adoption of county unit. In any county having large numbers of rural children it has never been possible with the district system to send every child to school. In 1918-19 there were in Montana 1,366 school districts without one child completing the eighth grade. These were all third class districts. Only one district in three had pupils completing the eighth grade this year. In one-teacher schools there was only one to every forty-five pupils en- rolled. In the larger schools of third class districts there was one to every nineteen enrolled, and in districts of the first and second class there was one to every seventeen enrolled. A few city schools did even better than this, having one to every twelve pupils enrolled. The record for 1919-20 was not much better. Of 2,246 third class districts in the state that year there were 1,371, or 61 per cent, which did not have one pupil finishing the eighth grade. In third class districts one pupil in every twenty-four enrolled completed the eighth grade, but in first and second class districts one in every fifteen enrolled satisfactorily 508 HISTORY OF MONTANA completed his work. In third class districts of Sanders County and in second class districts of Teton County last year one eighth grade pupil to every eight enrolled completed his work. This record is the best in the state. Can Montana afford to permit large numbers of her children to get ao farther than the lower grades in school ? Can she afford to let thousands of her children drop out of school in the intermediate and upper grades? Will she continue to permit seven-eighths of her children to enter life's activities without a high school education ? There are many factors responsible for such conditions. Children enter school at various ages and make different rates of progress. Some take two or even three years to complete the work of one grade, while it is reasonable to expect, under favorable conditions, normal children to com- FINEST RURAL SCHOOL HOUSE IN GALLATIN COUNTY plete a grade each year. When many children repeat grades and when many others are provided with only short terms of school or attend irregu- larly the membership of the lowest grades becomes greatly increased. When such children spend several years in repeating lower grades they reach and pass the compulsory attendance age and drop out of school. The result is that almost one-half (48 per cent) of pupils who enter school never reach the seventh grade and more than one-fourth (28 per cent) of them never reach the high school. Boys drop out of school earlier and in larger numbers than girls. Less than one-tenth (9.8 per cent) of the boys enrolled are in high school, while 13.2 per cent of the girls attend high school. Over one-half (53.7 per cent) of the boys enrolled are in the first four grades, while less than one-half (49.8 per cent) of the girls are in these grades. By the end of the sixth grade three-fourths (73.8 per cent) of the boys and seven-tenths (69.7 per cent) of the girls have left school. This difference has limited significance inasmuch as it does not disclose the underlying causes for a HISTORY OF MONTANA 509 large proportion of the boys dropping out of school in grades earlier than do the girls. A number of reasons suggest themselves for the earlier withdrawal from school of boys than girls. The opportunities for securing employ- ment have been especially attractive to boys. There is also an indication of the weakness of many schools in failing to offer the work which holds the interest of both boys and girls and impresses them and their parents as worth while. "When the age of adolescence approaches, boys and girls alike rebel against the maternalistic atmosphere of the elementary schools and are filled with the longing to get out among men and women where they can take their place in the work of the world. To the boy this longing is a more keen and compelling force than it is to the girl. The result is that the work of the schools is not in itself interesting, if it lacks in vitality, if it does not appeal to the young people as being real, both boys and girls drop out, but the boy goes first." Springfield Illinois Survey, p. 55. THE TRAINING OF MONTANA TEACHERS The question of efficiency of Montana's schools is very closely related to the training of her teachers. The training of 5,010 elementary and i, 060 high school teachers in the state was reported in the survey of last year. Most of the northern and western states have for years required that their teachers shall be at least high school graduates. Although the require- ments in Montana were raised July I, 1920, to two years of high school and twelve weeks of normal training, the requirements are still several years behind practically every northern and western state. It is because of her low requirements that Montana certificates are not recognized in neighboring states. It is also for the same reason that Montana has at present among her teachers those who cannot qualify as teachers in the neighboring states of Washington, Oregon and Idaho. There is today no larger percentage of teachers in Montana well trained for their work than there was ten years ago. There are more than three times as many nor- mal school graduates in the state today as there were in 1910, but the number of such graduates proportional to the number of teachers in the state has remained practically the same throughout the decade. So also has the proportional number of college or university graduates remained almost the same for ten years. In fact it appears that since about 1916 or 1917 the percentage of well trained teachers is slightly decreasing. Of i, 060 high school teachers reported, all but fifteen have had normal or col- lege training beyond a four-year high school course. Almost seven teachers out of every eight (86 per cent) are normal or college graduates. Nearly two-thirds (65 per cent) are college or university graduates. The pro- portion of high school teachers who are graduates of higher educational institutions is 91 per cent for county high schools and high schools for districts of the first and second class, but for high schools in the third class districts the proportion is 77 per cent. 510 HISTORY OF MONTANA TEACHER SHORTAGE During the past two years the people in all parts of the United States have been brought face to face with a serious crisis in our public schools, so serious that the very future of our civilization has been threatened. In the United States last year 39,000 schools were vacant, 65,000 teachers were below standard and normal school enrollment in four years decreased 30 per cent. During 1919-20 Montana was short 227 teachers. A survey taken when schools opened in September of this year (1920) showed that Montana was short 513 teachers in thirty-five counties. This shortage was found almost exclusively in rural sections. During the beautiful fall months when country children can reach the school building without trudg- ing through deep snows or mud, many schools have had to remain closed for want of teachers. NORMAL TRAINING OF TEACHERS Numerous factors give rise to this alarming teacher shortage. Unsat- isfactory living conditions and lack of social life are two important ones. But the most serious factor in keeping many schools open is the economic problem. The demand for higher salaries for teachers which has slowly but universally been taken up by the general public has been promoted more by sympathy for the teacher's struggle for a comfortable living, re- gardless of preparation and experience, than by a regard for the welfare of future generations. The policy of parading before the public the finan- cial woes of poorly paid teachers tends to give the salary phase of our present difficulties the importance which should be attached only to the paramount problem in the educational crisis. The poor and unprepared teacher instead of being underpaid is now being paid more than she is worth. Thousands of children are attending no school at all or are receiv- ing instruction, if such it might be termed, from teachers who can be so called only because they hold emergency licenses which enable them to draw pay. HISTORY OF MONTANA 511 Teacher shortage has caused homesteaders and others who were teach- ing some years ago to return to the schoolroom during the period of emer- gency. They have increased the teacher supply for the time, but many of them have brought into the classroom old methods of instruction and useless teaching materials that make for anything but a modern school. The law requiring normal training for the issuance of certificates follow- ing June, 1920, has had the effect of increasing the number of teachers with some recent training. There are, however, still a large number of rural teachers below standard. It is not at all strange that the teacher shortage is greatest in rural districts when one teacher in every ten in these districts received last year a salary of less than $600. When seven out of every eight rural teachers received less than $900, why should young people be expected to go to school several years and pay out many dollars to meet the unusually low legal requirements for Montana teachers? Only 100 rural teachers re- ceived more than $1,000 salary last year. THE TEACHERS' RETIREMENT LAW The law providing for the retirement of Montana teachers after twenty- five years of service, at least fifteen of which have been in this state un- less the teacher was engaged in teaching in Montana when the law was passed, in which event only ten years of service in Montana is required, is operating satisfactorily for the present. Forty-three teachers have retired under the provisions of the act. The funds on November i, 1920, amounted to $140,087.79, of which $137,056 has been invested at 6 per cent interest. The fund has increased $34,- 309.58 the past year. CERTIFICATION OF TEACHERS In June, 1919, the first teachers' examination was held under the new law providing for state examination of all teachers under the direction of the State Board of Educational Examiners. The first board has been composed of Miss Elizabeth Sutherland, county superintendent of schools, Dillon, Montana; Professor Freeman Daughters, State University, Mis- soula; A. J. Roberts, principal of high school, Helena, Montana; J. U. Williams, superintendent of schools, Harlowton, Montana, and the super- intendent of public instruction, who is ex-officio chairman of the board. COUNTY SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION In 1919-20 there was in Montana, on the average, one schoolhouse to every forty-six square miles. The variation by counties was from twenty square miles per schoolhouse in Stillwater County to 122 square miles per schoolhouse in Beaverhead County. There are not so many schoolhouses in the mountainous and stock-raising sections of the state as in sections devoted largely to the raising of grain. This may be seen from the con- 512 HISTORY OF MONTANA trasting number of square miles per schoolhouse in each of the following counties : Meagher 1 18 Wibaux 2.2. Lincoln 107 Fallen 25 Glacier 101 Musselshell 25 Mineral 94 Dawson 25 Flathead 92 Richland 25 Lewis and Clark. 91 Sheridan 26 The great distances county superintendents or their deputies have to travel to visit schools represent one of the chief difficulties in securing adequate supervision for rural schools of the state. The number of square miles per schoolhouse is an indication of the range of such distances. Schoolhouses are, on the average, approximately ten miles apart in coun- MARTINSDALE, MEAGHER COUNTY SCHOOL OLD BOX-CAR TYPE ties with one schoolhouse to every 100 square miles, but only five miles apart in counties with one schoolhouse to every twenty-five square miles. The cost of supervision and the number of yearly visits easily possible to schools vary with the supervisory areas, the number of miles of travel required to reach all the schools and whether this travel is by railroad or automobile. County superintendents' and deputies' salaries have been entirely in- adequate. In one county the superintendent has been receiving $25 less per month than her clerk. Two deputy county superintendents resigned to become ward principals at a salary of $1,896 each. One county super- intendent with nearly 200 teachers scattered over an area of over 4,000 square miles received $1,500 for twelve months of work. In the same county a city superintendent received $3,000 for supervising seven teachers all in one building. In a second class district an inexperienced superin- tendent received $250 a month to supervise twenty-seven rural teachers, while in the same county the experienced and efficient county superin- HISTORY OF MONTANA 513 tendent received $100 a month to supervise fifty-six rural teachers. The law taking effect January i, 1921, increases the salary of the superin- tendent in this county to $125 a month, or to as much as a stenographer in her office or a rural teacher she supervises can easily command. For many years leading citizens throughout the nation have advocated the removal of the county superintendent's office from political influence. This has been done in ten of the thirty-nine states that have county super- intendents. In eight of the ten states county superintendents are now appointed by a county board of education or its equivalent. In Delaware the governor, and in New Jersey the State Commissioner of Education appoint the county superintendent. Montana has been particularly fortunate in the qualifications of its county superintendents, in spite of the unattractive salaries that have been provided and the fact that any voter is eligible to the county superin- tendent's office. With no further qualifications than this it has happened, and it will continue to happen occasionally, that those who are elected to supervise and administer schools for the children have never taught school, do not at the time of election hold a certificate to teach, or have not taught for many years. Yet in our neighboring states of Washington, Oregon, South Dakota, Idaho and Utah several years of experience as well as a high grade of certificate are required of the candidate for the office. There is perhaps no more vital point for improvement in our school system than in the expert supervision and efficient administration of our schools. HIGH SCHOOL NORMIAL TRAINING DEPARTMENTS Within the past three years twenty high schools have taken advantage of the law providing for normal training departments. Seven of these have been established three years; five, two years; and eight, one year. During the current year five additional schools are organizing departments. The wisdom of this temporary expedient may be seen in the number of students in training and the number of graduates teaching in rural schools. It is to be hoped that it will be only a few years before it will be possible to require courses beyond high school graduation for teachers of rural schools as well as of city schools. It will be necessary for Montana to equip herself with several state normal schools before she is ready even to contemplate abandoning the training of rural teachers in high schools. Minnesota, though increasing the number of her state normal schools from five to six in 1915, still con- tinues her high school training courses. Wisconsin has ten normal schools, thirty county training schools in addition to her high school and normal training courses. Nebraska and other states pursue the same policy. The twenty departments in Montana in 1919-20 were training or had previously trained a total of 627 students for the teaching profession. Of these 298 were in the first and second year of high school, 135 were in the third year and eighty-seven in the fourth. Four were graduate students. Eighty-six had been granted normal training second grade cer- Vol. 133 514 HISTORY OF MONTANA tificates upon graduation and were teaching. Eighty-seven per cent of these graduates came from departments established three years ago. Seven- teen high school graduates received only one year of normal training, the departments having been established at the time they were in the fourth year. The graduating class of 1920 was large enough to supply all the rural schools in any one of forty-one counties. At the present rate of progress there should soon be several hundred graduates a year, making a substantial increase in the number of rural teachers with some special preparation for their work. Students enrolled in normal training departments are seventeen years of age, on the average, during the third year of high school and eighteen years of age during the fourth year. A majority of the students graduate at eighteen. SALARIES OF HIGH-GRADE TEACHERS The salaries of high school teachers for 1919-20 ranged from $800 to more than $1,700. Cities paid higher salaries to a larger percentage of their teachers. Less than one-half (45 per cent) of the high school teachers in third class districts received more than $1,200, while in the first and second class districts four-fifths (80 per cent) of the teachers received more than $1,200. Third class districts have had greater difficulty in raising funds for their high school teachers than have the districts of a higher class. No large difference existed in the salaries of teachers in high schools and the salaries of principals in such schools, except in a few cases. In third class districts 197 high school teachers received last year an average salary of $1,223, while 158 principals in such districts received an average of $1,491- There were last year sixteen times as many women (4,218) as men (264) teaching in elementary schools. The differences in the average yearly salaries of men and women with equal training were not great. College women received $100 more than college men teaching in the grades. Men who are normal school graduates received $84.26 a year more than women with the same training. For teachers with less training the salary differences between men and women teaching in elementary schools were slight, but with the larger salaries generally in favor of women. In the high schools, however, differences in average salaries of men and of women of equal training were most marked. Among college grad- uates teaching in high schools men received an average of $358.14 more last year than women. Among normal school graduates men received an average of $394.82 more than women. This wide range in salaries between men and women of equal training teaching in high schools stands in striking contrast to the national slogan of professionally minded teachers as stated by President Coffman of the University of Minnesota "Equal pay for equal work of equal worth." HISTORY OF MONTANA 515 SUMMER SCHOOLS No agency has been of greater help to Montana teachers during the past two years in their improvement in service than the summer schools maintained at the several institutions of the University of Montana and also at several other points. The past summer the enrollment of teachers exclusive of other students at the several schools was as follows : State University, Missoula 71 State College, Bozeman 30 State Normal College, Dillon 361 Rosebud Lake, Alpine 27 Eastern Montana, Glendive 96 Central Montana, Lewistown 238 The previous summer session was held at the same institutions with the exception that the Eastern Montana school was held at Terry instead of Glendive. These schools have made it possible during the last few years for teachers to meet the requirements which went into effect the first of last July requiring twelve weeks of normal training of all teachers to whom certificates are issued and also have assisted many others who hold certificates in improving their methods and getting in touch with most progressive ideas in education. Fifteen practice schools were provided in connection with ten training departments. Arrangements are made for practice teaching during the latter part of the senior year. Flathead County High School provided four practice schools ; Fergus County High School provided three. In a few counties two or more four-year high schools enroll a suffi- cient number of students to warrant the organization of normal training departments. The present law allows reimbursement for normal training work to only one high school in a county. For this reason some high schools, where this work could be well done, have had their applications refused. A change in the law to permit two high schools in a county to take advantage of reimbursement for training work would open the way to preparation of an increasingly larger number of high school graduates as teachers for rural schools. HEALTH OF SCHOOL CHILDREN The report of Superintendent Trumper is so replete with the informa- tion which presents a fair picture of the system which she is best adapted to survey that the following salient extracts are taken from her report : The biennium has seen marked progress in health education in elemen- tary schools. Class instruction in hygiene and health problems and in the formation of health habits has received emphasis and encouragement through state publications, health talks and health supervision. Two years ago a law was passed providing for the physical examina- tion of school children. Local and county physicians and school nurses 516 HISTORY OF MONTANA have been employed in various parts of the state to do this work. No definite data regarding the extent of such work are available. But it is known that in practically every county some physical examinations have been made and in some counties there has been very general compliance with the provisions of this law. While in fifteen counties there are re- ported no expenditures for the promotion of health during 1919-20, the remaining thirty-six counties expended a total of $31,873.44 for such work, 89 per cent of which was expended in elementary schools. In each of the following counties these expenditures amounted to more than $2,000: Cascade, Gallatin, Lewis and Clark, Powell, Silver Bow, and Yellowstone. A good beginning in the supervision of health work has been made through the employment of school nurses. In the fall of 1920 there were forty-one nurses in the state devoting a part (nineteen) or all (twenty- two) of their time to the schools. Some of these have been employed by the Red Cross or the State Anti-Tuberculosis Association as demonstra- tion nurses. Most school nurses are now employed by boards of education or by county commissioners. Cities have been first to employ nurses for school work, there being only five nurses engaged in 1919-20 by county commissioners for work throughout rural sections, where the need is doubtless greatest. VOCATIONAL WORK The vocational work in agriculture in the high schools throughout the state, under the Smith-Hughes Act, has grown from a mere handful of schools to as high as thirty-four schools which have been recognized as eligible for reimbursement. Although these schools are carrying on work under the standards set up by the Federal Board for Vocational Educa- tion and the State Board of Education, only nine of them received any reimbursement, due to the fact that only a limited amount of funds could be spent for this work. It is hoped, in the coming year, that with an increase in federal allotment, which will be met by state appropriations, more aid can be given to schools which are carrying on one of the most excellent pieces of agricultural education in the country. Requests for visits from thirty-five schools in the state giving home economics instruction demonstrates the fact that interest in this type of work is steadily increasing. Out of thirty-five schools making requests for visits from the superior of home economics, more than thirty were called on and help given in improving courses of study and methods used in these various schools. A number of these schools were assisted in qualifying for recognition under the Smith-Hughes Act. Four schools were recognized and given reimbursement for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1920, which, although a small number, demonstrates that even with a limited amount of funds it has been found that these schools have been willing to put up a course of study in compliance with the needs of a practical vocational course. The results throughout the state accomplished by classes in vocational home economics were gratifying and the interest HISTORY OF MONTANA 517 in home making for girls is on the increase. This is especially true in rural communities. The work in trade and industrial education throughout Montana has been gaining headway during the past year and the following types of schools and courses have been established : Two all day unit trade schools ; three compulsory part-time schools ; thirteen evening trade extension classes. Both of the day unit trade schools gave instruction in automobile and gas engine repairs, while the compulsory part-time schools, for the most part, took up general continuation work for those boys and girls between the ages of fourteen and eighteen who were compelled to leave school and go to work. In one of the part-time schools one class was operated in trade extension work in the printing industry. The evening classes, for the most part, throughout the state were confined to trade CONTENTED SCHOOL CHILDREN OF FLATHEAD COUNTY extension and the subjects taken up were as follows : Blueprint reading, sketching, shop mathematics and electricity for miners. SCHOOL DORMITORIES The practicability of dormitories for housing public school children who live far from school was first demonstrated in 1914-15 at the Flat- head County high school in Kalispell. The first dormitory was for girls. It was maintained in a commodious residence leased by the county high school board and proved so satisfactory that in 1915-16, a building which had formerly been used for business college purposes was remodeled for a boys' dormitory. Since that time the growth of dormitories has been rapid, until by the close of the year 1919-20, twenty-two of them were in operation in various parts of the state. There are twenty-four dormitories now in use. Five of them are for girls only and accommodate 171 girls. Four are for boys with sixty-eight boys housed. Six are for both boys and girls and accommodate fifty-seven 518 HISTORY OF MONTANA girls and sixty boys. In fifteen dormitories, which are all that have re- ported this year, there are housed 356 boys and girls, most of whom would not be in school today were it not for dormitory privileges. In eight of these dormitories the average distance from which the pupils come is twenty-two and one-half miles. Distances range from three miles for one pupil at Browning to ninety-five for one in the Fergus County high school. In the latter dormitory several pupils come from outside of the county, one from a distance of 300 miles. The majority of these dormitories are for high school students only. A few grade pupils are accommodated at Whitehall, Jordan, Roy, and Dawson County high school at Glendive. The youngest child housed in the dormitories reporting is eight years old and attends school in Glendive. In nearly all cases matrons are employed for nine or ten months, and in the majority of cases their salaries are paid by the pupils housed. The management on the whole is efficient and practical economy is the policy. Sufficient and wholesome food is furnished at low cost to pupils whose entire expenses vary from 50 cents a day at Geraldine, where rent and matron's salary are paid by the school, to $26 a month at the Dawson County high school where pupils bear all the expenses. There are several small dormitories for younger children in strictly rural communities. The one at Ivanell was the first of this kind to be established. RURAL SCHOOLS IN CITY DISTRICTS There are seventy-two first and second class districts in Montana. There are no rural teachers in thirty of these districts. In the remaining forty-two there are 238 rural teachers and in the schools taught by these teachers there are over 3,000 pupils. The amount of attention and school support accorded the children in these rural sections varies greatly. There are second class districts which place rural children on an equality with city children in the educational facilities and opportunities provided. There are other districts that have almost entirely neglected their rural children in the past, granting to them only such limited facilities for an education as the parents of these children by force and persuasion could secure. A study of a few districts has been made to make concrete these contrasting conditions. A large second class district has twelve rural schools within its boun- daries. The twelve rural teachers in these schools last year had less than one year of normal training on the average, and less than seventeen months of teaching experience. The average rural teacher taught ten children 121 days on no higher than a second grade certificate at a salary of $510 a year. The rural children were schooled in ranch houses, log cabins or old-type frame buildings, heated with un jacketed stoves, and inadequately equipped with maps, primary materials, library books, and even textbooks. The rural schools have been made the dumping ground for old desks, old books and other materials no longer useful in the city schools. The superintendent, by direction of the board, has not been HISTORY OF MONTANA 519 granted the opportunity to supervise these schools, although such super- vision is provided for by law. STANDARDIZATION AND CONSOLIDATION Standardization is one method for improving rural school conditions. It is but a natural result of the spirit of the times, which seeks to apply the principle of science to education. A rating card published by the state department contains minimal requirements necessary to maintain a good school. A school that meets these requirements is approved as a standard school, rewarded by honorable mention and granted a plate for the school building. "Superior School" name plates are granted to schools taught by teachers of superior qualifications and with the highest efficiency, in a house that is as nearly perfect in all the essentials as possible, and that is furnished with everything needed and located in a community that shows the interest the claim of such a school implies. Montana is one of twenty-seven states that have some plan for stand- ardizing schools. In eight states the authority is statutory. In eighteen standardization is promoted as a policy of the State Department of Public Instruction. Six states provide a money .bonus. In this Minnesota leads with 6,571 schools standardized. A school that meets .the requirements in Iowa is given $6.00 per capita for each child who has an average at- tendance of six months for the preceding year. Illinois leads the states promoting the plan as a policy of the State Department of Public Instruc- tion, with 2,965 standard schools. Improvements, have been most rapid in states providing aid to schools maintaining the requirements. Standardization began in Montana six years ago. Within the period 446 schools were standardized. During 1919-20, 349 of these were still standard schools and twenty-three were rated as superior schools. The County Unit law makes it possible for all third class districts of a county to form one district for purposes of equalizing taxation, for im- proving one-teacher schools generally and for providing schools for all children with equalized educational opportunities. The consolidation of schools is not necessarily a part of the plan of consolidation of districts. Where consolidation of schools is impracticable, consolidation of districts may bring about many advantages, such as closer supervision, equal oppor- tunities for all children, special teachers for special subjects, better busi- ness management and greater economy in purchasing. There can be no good reason for this general neglect of rural children. The claim that rural people have not proved up on their lands is no longer tenable. If districts by reason of poverty cannot support good schools for all their children, including those that may be located in remoter sec- tions, then provisions should be made by which aid might be extended to them. The state cannot afford to allow any of its children to be neglected in their educational opportunities. The time has come when every child should be accounted for and when opportunities for a good eighth grade education should be offered to all children everywhere. Some of the larger districts have achieved this equalization of educa- 520 HISTORY OF MONTANA tional opportunities. Modern school buildings adequately equipped are found throughout the rural sections of the Terry, Hardin, Worden and Ronan districts. Supervision has also been extended to the rural schools of these districts. Poplar, Schobey, Wolf Point, Augusta, Conrad and Opheim districts are known to have arranged this year for supervision of their rural schools by their school superintendents, and at Lewistown special teachers also visit rural schools. The consolidated buildings are, on the whole; modern, convenient and well equipped, the average cost of building and equipment being $18,- 041.46. Eighteen of the buildings have auditoriums for community meet- ings, fourteen contain agricultural laboratories, seventeen have home ARE THESE YOUNG AMERICANS BEING FAIRLY TREATED? economics laboratories and twenty-two have manual workshops. Five con- solidated schools have teacherages. The area of the school grounds varies from five-tenths acres to twelve acres; the average is three and eight-tenths acres. None of the schools has a school farm, though several have school gardens and experimental plots. Teachers of these consolidated schools are usually better trained than are teachers of small rural schools. Forty per cent of the teachers in consolidated schools in 1917-18 were normal graduates and 31 per cent were college graduates, in contrast with 32 per cent of all teachers in the state that year who were normal school graduates and 6 per cent of all teachers who were college graduates. Thirty of the consolidated schools have an eight year elementary school course and six are working toward the "six and six" plan. Twenty-seven of the schools maintain high school courses, sixteen of which are accredited HISTORY OF MONTANA 521 for the entire four years. In the grades there is an average enrollment of 138 children per school, and in high schools an average enrollment of thirty-three pupils. There has been too strong a tendency in the majority of the consol- idated schools to make imitation city schools of these schools which are attended almost entirely by farm boys and girls. The consolidated movement appears to have advanced about as rapidly as practicable. There are relatively very few places where consolidation of schools has been found feasible. Nearly all county superintendents,, when they first take office, are enthusiastic for consolidation, but, by the end of their first year, after they have traveled the tremendous distances required to visit the schools, they realize that there are too many barriers to urge consolidation with its attending transportation problems. Until these transportation problems become more satisfactorily solved than at present, Montana's greatest educational task is the improvement of the one-teacher schools and schools in rural villages. The problem of transportation is by far the greatest hindrance to suc- cess of consolidation of schools in Montana. In the survey taken in 1919 the average distance for pupils to ride was found to be three and four- tenths miles one way, although there were many instances among the 1,810 pupils conveyed in which children left home at seven or even at six o'clock in the morning and reached home at six or seven o'clock at night. SCHOOL FUNDS Montana's state school funds are derived entirely from the income from funds received from the sale of school lands and from the leasing of school lands. Montana has never provided a state tax for public schools. State school funds are slowly increasing. The amount apportioned by the state during 1919-20 was nearly a million dollars ($969,756). The apportionment was $6 to every census child, or 50 cents per child more than it was a few years ago. In time the state funds, by wise and safe investments, should prove a great heritage to the children of Montana. The constitutional amendment, secured at the last general election by a large majority, shows that the people of the state desire to protect their state school funds. Under this amendment the jnterest from all funds, whether invested or uninvested, shall go to the schools, 95 per cent to be distributed annually, and 5 per cent to the permanent funds. Under this amendment the compulsory school term is lengthened also from three to six months. This amendment lays the foundation for a new policy in the handling of the state school funds. Montana's second source of revenue for her schools is from the county six mill tax which is distributed to the schools on the census basis. This method of apportioning school funds has been proven unfair to children, since it does not equalize educational opportunities for them. Under the present provisions of the laws for apportioning state and county school funds, money does not go to schools where the need is greatest. 522 HISTORY OF MONTANA The reason for this is the unequal wealth and school population in the various counties and school districts of the state. A method should be sought by which financial support, and, therefore, educational opportunities, would be equalized. County unit in three coun- ties affords a large measure of relief to the poorer districts within the counties. In some states state aid is given to the poorer districts for long terms, for buildings and equipment, or for the employment of trained teachers. Utah has just voted an amendment to its constitution providing for the state's contribution of $25 per child in the schools of the state. Sim- ilarly California has just amended its constitution so as to provide $30 per pupil in average daily attendance in the elementary and high schools of the state. These states recognize the unfairness of providing the largest part of the support of the schools from district funds and the smallest from the state. The per capita cost (maintenance) of elementary education in Mon- tana was $78.33 in 1919-20. The per capita cost varies greatly in different counties. It ranges from $45.89 in Ravalli, $50.64 in Carbon, and $52.93 in Sheridan, to $190.58 in Mineral, $138.23 in Wheatland and $134.86 in Meagher. The third source of school funds is the special tax levied on the dis- trict. Montana has made a beginning within the biennium toward a saner system of school taxation for its third class districts. The district system has been replaced by the county unit system in three counties. But this is only a beginning, as forty-nine counties still have the district plan of taxation. The district tax for schools continues to yield more than one- half of the money raised to support public elementary and high schools. The earlier practice common in Montana of providing school build- ings from the general school funds of a district is fast disappearing except in extremely wealthy districts which can easily meet their building require- ments by a special levy of a mill or two. "It was not uncommon a few years ago," says Superintendent Trum- per's report, "for the school term to be shortened in many districts by the use of school funds for building purposes. Occasionally shortsighted trustees still pursue this policy, but most of them have discovered that a very small levy extending over a period of ten, fifteen or twenty years, as valuation requires, will meet payments of both principal and interest on bonds and will permit those who move into the district later, and whose children receive the benefits of the school, to assist in meeting the pay- ments on bonds. "In this way there is no necessity of shortening the school term and the indebtedness incurred by bonding is frequently paid off without the consciousness of the taxpayers that payments on bonds were being made annually. This is particularly true in case the bonds have been sold to the State Land Board, as this board permits a district to pay off one or more of its bonds at any interest-paying- period by giving thirty days' notice of its intention to do so. "Recently many school districts have been unable to dispose of their bonds owing to the fact that bonding companies were not interested and "*r. jt ' ' OLD ROSEDALE SCHOOL NEW ROSEDALE SCHOOL 524 HISTORY OF MONTANA the State Land Board was placing most of its money in farm loans. It is hoped, however, that it will not be necessary to continue this policy indefinitely and that the school districts of the state may eventually be able to receive needed assistance from the State Land Board in the dis- posal of their bonds. "The same difficulty obtains in connection with raising funds for build- ing purposes by bonding as for raising funds for maintenance by the special district levy. Hundreds of districts, even if they were to bond to the legal limit of 3 per cent of their assessed valuation, would not be able to secure more than a few hundred dollars, an amount entirely in- adequate for erecting anything but a shell of a building. "Under the county unit plan comfortable buildings can be provided for all districts by bonding the entire county unit, if the public will only learn to think of the welfare of all children regardless of where they live and will consider an education as a right to which every man's child is entitled. "If counties could learn to take care of the building program and a moderate share of the maintenance cost of all the schools within the county, possibly to the extent of a five or six mill special tax, and the state could assume the responsibility of providing the largest share of the tax for maintenance, we might then hope to equalize the opportunities of children for an education at the same time that we equalize the burdens upon taxpayers. No system could be more unfair than the one we have at present except in the three counties that have adopted county unit." FINANCES OF THE SYSTEM BY COUNTIES Superintendent Trumper's financial report of the school districts of Montana, by counties, for the year ending June 30, 1920, indicates that their total receipts amounted to $16,908,606.54, and their disbursements, $7,273,139.62. The receipts include the balances carried over from the previous year, and those realized from such sources as the apportionments from state and county (six mill levy) ; special taxes for high schools, general fund, free text book fund and interest and sinking fund ; and re- ceipts from sale of bonds, sale of property and proceeds from insurance adjustments, premium on bonds, income from forest preserves and from rents, tuition, interest and other items. The disbursements covered the expenses of the school boards and busi- ness offices, the superintendents and third-class principals, compulsory at- tendance and school census ; salaries and expenses of supervisors of instruction and supervising principals, with salaries of under-teachers ; text books, stationery, supplies, etc. all covering the kindergarten, ele- mentary and high school grades. Condensed, the figures were as follows : Balances Carried Over and COUNTY Yearly Receipts Disbursements Beaverhead $315,899.76 $114,186.87 Big Horn 277,836.96 84,721.78 Blaine 244,730.63 94,35572 HISTORY OF MONTANA 525 Balances Carried Over and COUNTY Yearly Receipts Disbursements Broadwater $111,185.87 $50,740.14 Carbon 287,754.04 182,850.53 Carter 1 16,885.70 54,908.03 Cascade 967,582.14 522,931.39 Chouteau 436,354-53 i89,475-39 Custer 340,733.44 153,256.49 Dawson 314,038.34 130,435.98 Deer Lodge 252,977.52 133,638.14 Fallon 173438.53 74,638-16 Fer gus 1,485,994.28 459,207.18 Flathead 433J7546 243,334.19 Gallatin 573,365-03 227,235.12 Garfield 151,825.84 69,090.46 Glacier 172,997.65 48,035.71 Granite 117,616.43 55,413-39 Hil l 450,584-04 184,458.79 Jefferson 246,990.13 69,037.70 Lewis and Clark 485,024/60 243,758.25 Liberty 96,102.86 45,388.08 Lincoln 221,774.84 108,149.98 McCone 158,430.53 67,979.06 Madison 209,471.75 97,377-31 Meagher 134,509.18 41,542.87 Mineral I95P35-5O 49,93 6 -i4 Missoula 794,126.58 307,752.67 Musselshell 381,280.60 200,693.63 Park 282,945.20 140,108.71 Phillips 280,944.61 95,749.90 Pondera 178,434.56 95,074.24 Powder River 131,563.82 47,906.36 Powell 142,010.72 79,705.96 Prairie 146,401 .24 63,584.68 Ravalli 231,177.04 119,141.62 Richland 399,i 13.72 128,592.96 Roosevelt 426,446.41 125,399.20 Rosebud 388,682.84 113,516.03 Sanders J ...... 230,892.53 9 2 ,549-55 Sheridan 410,623.66 171,249.22 Silver Bow 1,039,506.50 677,697.51 Stillwater 304,269.82 1 18,042.04 Sweet Grass 182,714.84 74,434.01 Teton 336,868.08 91,479.09 Toole 212,294.37 70,047-13 Treasure 52,204.22 37,126.07 Valley 251,423.03 131,410.34 526 HISTORY OF MONTANA Balances Carried Over and COUNTY Yearly Receipts Disbursements Wheatland $274,532.89 $92,346.74 Wilbaux 1 19,323.01 56,888.34 Yellowstone 638,510.67 346,560.77 Totals $16,908,606.54 $ 7,273,139.62 SCHOOL LAWS ENACTED IN 1921 To complete the literary survey of Montana's system of public schools, it is necessary to note the school laws enacted by the Legislature during the regular and extraordinary sessions of 1921. Their titles are usually a sufficient index of their purport. For instance, acts were passed in February and March "requiring a petition of 20 per cent of the qualified electors who are taxpayers to authorize the voting upon the issuance of any school, town, city or county bonds, and providing who are entitled to vote thereon," and relating to free text books an amendment to a former act authorizing a Board of County Commissioners to levy a special tax to meet any deficiency in the general fund of the district provided for their purchase as shown by the report of the school trustees. One of the most important measures enacted, which was approved February 8, 1921, was that "relating to compulsory education and the duties of truant officers." It provided for the punishment of parents, guardians or other persons who have the care of children, between the ages of eight and sixteen, and who fail to have them instructed in the common branches, either at a public, private or parochial school, for a yearly period of at least sixteen weeks. Provisions were also incorporated to fine employes of children under six- teen years of age if such employment was exacted while school is in session, exception being made in the case of a child over fourteen years of age whose wages are necessary for the support of the family; also, de- fining the duties of the truant officers, appointed by the school boards or county superintendents to enforce the act, such officers having full powers of police both over the child and the one being responsible for his at- tendance at school. Other acts passed at the sessions of 1921 were to the following effect: Relating to the consolidation of the offices of superintendent of city schools and the principal of county high schools ; accepting the provisions of an act of the Sixty-sixth Congress by which the state accepts sections 1 6 and 36 in the Crow Indian Reservation, or such parts as are non- mineral or nontimbered, in return for which the United States was to pay the Indians $5 per acre, and the state was to throw open its public schools to the Crow children residing within the bounds of Montana; relating to the submission of a bond issue for county high schools, such issue being limited to $400,000 in a first-class county, to $300,000 in a second or third class county and $200,000 in any other county ; providing for the vocational rehabilitation of persons disabled in industry or otherwise and their return to civil employment, in the furtherance of this object the newly created HISTORY OF MONTANA 527 State Board for Vocational Education to co-operate with the Federal Board for Vocational Education in the distribution of moneys contributed for that purpose by either state or nation under the Vocational Education Act approved February 23, 1917; requiring publication by county super- intendents of schools of an annual report of the financial conditions and transactions of school districts ; an emergency act authorizing the Board of County Commissioners of any county to fund outstanding indebtedness against a county high school by the issuance of bonds; defining a school month as twenty school days, or four weeks of five days each, naming New Year's day, Memorial day (May 3Oth), Independence day, Labor day (first Monday in September), Thanksgiving day and Christmas day and in dis- tricts where the schoolhouse must be used for election purposes, state and national election days, as legal holidays, and Lincoln's birthday (February 1 2th), Washington's birthday (February 22nd), Arbor day (second CULBERTSON SCHOOL, ROOSEVELT COUNTY Tuesday of May), Flag day (June I4th), Columbus day (October I2th), Pioneer day (November ist) and Armistice day (November nth), as days to be observed by appropriate exercises in the public schools ; relating to part-time schools established for the benefit of children who are employed, holding sessions of not less than four hours a week and offering a mental training "which shall be supplementary to the work in which they are en- gaged, continue their general education, or promote their civic or vocational intelligence." The establishment of such a school or class is, under the act, dependent on the residence in the school district of not fewer than fifteen children over fourteen and less than eighteen years of age who have entered upon employment. The hours of attendance fixed by the State Board of Education are "counted as a part of the number of hours fixed for legal employment by federal or state laws." The funds for the support of the part-time schools are appropriated from the Vocational Education Fund. An act was approved March n, 1921, apportioning all school moneys controlled by the county superintendent of common schools according to 528 HISTORY OF MONTANA the number of school children as shown by the returns of the district clerk for the preceding school census ; the act also covering Indian children whose parents are citizens of the United States, or have been allotted lands or been accorded public school privileges under various measures of Congress. MONTANA'S SYSTEM OF HIGHER EDUCATION In the foregoing pages of this chapter has been briefly described the founding of the State University, at Missoula ; the Montana State College, at Bozeman; the Montana State Normal School and College, at Dillon, and the State School of Mines, at Butte. Subsequently, by legislative en- actment, all of which has been chronologically noted, the Law and Forestry schools were founded as departments of the State University, and other departments of the various schools and colleges were added from time to time. As the lands granted for higher educational purposes, together with timber or stone thereon, have been sold, the proceeds have gone into per- manent funds invested for the various institutions, and the interest on such funds, together with the rental of unsold lands, has been used for the support of the respective institutions. These maintenance resources have t>een supplemented with appropriations made each biennium by the Legis- lative Assembly, which also has provided for the erection of the buildings at the expense of the state. These institutions were administered independently by the local execu- tive boards for some years under the general supervision of the State Board of Education. By a law of 1909 the powers of the local boards were more closely denned and the direction of the State Board of Education made more effective. As finally organized under the provisions of Chapter 92 of the laws of the thirteenth Legislative Assembly, approved March 14, 1913, and effective July ist following, the University of Montana, as constituted, was placed under the control and supervision of the State Board of Education. The chancellor of the University was thereby made the chief executive officer of the entire system. Each of the component institutions was pro- vided with an executive board with president and faculty. Under that law, in October, 1915, the State Board of Education appointed Dr. Edward C. Elliott, then of the University of Wisconsin, as the first chancellor of the University of Montana. He assumed his duties February i, 1916, and is still at its head. The executive secretary of the chancellor's office, Dr. Henry H. Swain, is also a University of Wisconsin man. Under the provisions of the law making the Board of Education the general supervisory body of the University of Montana, the system is tinder the control of the governor, Joseph M. Dixon; Wellington D. Ran- kin, attorney general, and May Trumper, superintendent of public instruc- tion and ex-officio, secretary of the State Board of Education, with the eight regular members of that body. HISTORY OF MONTANA 529 THE ORIGIN AND SCOPE OF THE UNIVERSITY The last bulletin of the University of Montana, issued from the office of the chancellor, is for the year ending September, 1920, and supple- ments the foregoing, as an authoritative statement of the organization and scope of the system. The portion of it dealing with basic facts and figures is reproduced, and other invaluable data found in it are used in the sketches of the four great schools or colleges of the university. The foundation of the plan, by which the University of Montana is now organized and administered, is to be found in the provisions of Chapter 92 of the laws of the thirteenth Legislative Assembly (approved March 14, 1913). By the provisions of this law of 1913, known as the Leighton Law, the several higher educational institutions of the state were con- stituted as integral units of a greater university system. These institutions were the State University at Missoula (established 1893, opened 1895), the College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts at Bozeman (established 1893, opened 1895), the State Normal College at Dillon (established 1893, opened 1897), and the State School of Mines at Butte (established 1893, opened 1900). The distinctive feature of the law of 1913 was the creation of the office of chancellor of the university. In addition to the four component institutions, the principal activities of which are the instruction of resident students, the university through these institutions is directly responsible for other important educational, scientific and service undertakings. The principal of these aref (a) The main Agricultural Experiment Station at Bozeman conducted in close connection with the College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts. (b) Four branch Agricultural Experiment stations: at Huntley in the Yellowstone Valley, at Moccasin in the Judith Basin, at Corvallis in the Bitter Root Valley, and at Fort Assiniboine, near Havre ; (c) The Grain Inspection Laboratory maintained under the direction of the Agricultural Experiment Station at Bozeman; (d) The Agricultural Extension Service, representing the co-operative efforts of the College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, the United States Department of Agriculture and the several agricultural counties of the state. Operating directly' through the Farm Bureau organizations and by means of county agricultural agents, home demonstration agents, and leaders of Boys' and Girls' clubs, this service constantly reaches thou- sands of people throughout the state; (e) The Biological Station maintained by the State University on Flathead Lake; (f ) The State Bureau of Mines and Metallurgy created by the sixteenth Legislative Assembly, as the service and research department of the State School of Mines. In addition to these definitely organized activities the university, by statute, performs important functions for other agencies of the state government. ( i ) The State University -is charged with the administration of the law regulating Certified Public Accountancv. Vol. 134 530 HISTORY OF MONTANA (2) A member of the faculty of one of the component institutions of the university is a member of the State Board of Educational Exam- iners. (3) The chancellor of the university establishes the requirements for junior college courses maintained in high schools. (4) The president of the College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts and the director of the Agricultural Experiment Station, together with the governor, constitute the Board of Administration for Farmers' Institutes. (5) The professor of chemistry at the College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts is the state chemist, and chemist for the State Board of Health and for the State Oil Inspector. (6) The professor of entomology at the College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts is state entomologist and secretary of the State Board of Entomologists. (7) The professor of poultry husbandry at the College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts is the secretary of the State Board of Poultry Hus- bandry. (8) The professor of animal husbandry at the College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts is the secretary and executive officer of the Stallion Registration Board. (9) The director of the Grain Inspection Laboratory is the state grain inspector of Montana. (10) The dean of the College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts is a member of the Board of Dairy Commission Examiners. 1 ii ) The director of the Agricultural Experiment Station is responsible for the purchase and sale of anti-hog cholera serum. RESULTS OF UNIFIED ADMINISTRATION The existing plan for the unified administration of the higher educa- tional system of the state has now been in effect for four years. Through- out practically the whole of this period the ways of adjustment and development have been obstructed by the war first, the mobilization of troops for service on the Mexican border in 1916, and then the world struggle in Europe. In spite of the many emergency problems that de- manded instant action, and in the face of distracting obstacles, certain concrete accomplishments may be fairly claimed. Without specific details, the following may be indicated as major constructive results : (1) The creation of harmony, and the development of concert of action among the several institutions, thereby making possible a co- ordinated and economical program of higher educational work for the state. Thus, much wasteful competition and duplication have been elimi- nated; and the institutions largely removed from the dangerous field of legislative controversy in the matter of appropriations. (2) The establishment of the budget system of financial control with its resulting economies. (3) The contriving of a system of foundation records and reports of the educational, scientific, financial and service operation of all of the HISTORY OF MONTANA 531 institutions and activities of the university ; and the adoption of a simpler and more systematic procedure whereby the State Board of Education, the State Board of Examiners, and the legislative committees might more readily understand and exercise a more intelligent supervision of the affairs of the institutions. (4) The designing of a comprehensive future building program for the university institutions. The general plans presented by one of America's foremost architects for the State University and for the State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, provide a secure basis for the effective educational and artistic development of these institutions during the coming decades when expansion is bound to be rapid. (5) The equalization of the educational opportunities of the university institutions to the youth of the state by the refunding of the cost of rail- way fare. (6) The adoption of regulations governing the permanency of tenure of members of the teaching and scientific staffs, thereby removing one of the principal hazards to effective educational service. (7) The establishment of new points of contact with the other parts of the educational system, and the recognition of the fundamental principle that the university institutions are integral parts of the public school sys- tem and under obligations to contribute toward its development. An annual professional school for county superintendents, an annual conference of high school principals and teachers, the systematic visitation of high schools by representatives of the university institutions, and the co-operation with the State Department of Public Instruction in the development of voca- tional education are typical illustrations of these new contacts. (8) The establishment of the Bureau of Mines and Metallurgy to serve one of Montana's leading industries. (9) The organization of the Teachers' Service Division of the Normal College which, through correspondence study and other forms of exten- sion teaching, will promote the professional improvement of many hun- dreds of teachers while actually in service in the schools of the state. (10) The introduction of the quarter-calendar for the State Uni- versity, and the State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, thereby greatly enlarging the use of the facilities of these institutions, especially for the public school teachers of the state. ( 1 1 ) The production of a positive public sentiment among the people of the state in favor of the development of first rank higher educational opportunities through the university system. (12) The formulation and presentation to the people of the state of a far-reaching program for the larger and more secure financial support of the university enterprise. While the above results are concerned for the most part with the mechanism of administration, they are nevertheless fundamental for the economical and successful functioning of the university as the state's prin- cipal instrumentality for the advance of culture and of citizenship and for increased productive ability through trained leadership. Numerous other examples of recent significant progress of the univer- 532 HISTORY OF MONTANA sity institutions are to be found in the revision of programs of study and the reorganization of those processes directed to the more effective teach- ing of students. The records contain abundant evidence of the constant and watchful endeavor on the part of officers and faculty to cause each institution more effectively to meet the needs of a rapidly changing world. STUDENT ENROLLMENT The combined tables of enrollment of students in the several institu- tions of the university, for the year ending July i, 1920, show a total of 3,197 as compared with 2,633 f r I 9 I 7' I 8, and 2,682 for 1918-19. The actual increase of the load of teaching was far greater than these figures. The totals for 1918-19 included the Students' Army Training Corps en- listments at the State University, 585, and at the State College of Agricul- ture and Mechanic Arts, 310. The best index of the growth of the institu- tions is to be found in the increase of regular collegiate students. This was approximately 50 per cent over 1918-19. The following is the sum- mary of the enrollment of regular collegiate students at the several institu- tions : 1915-16 1916-17 1917-18 1918-19 1919-20 State University 622 635 604 524 818 State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts 306 359 371 330 519 State Normal College 386 438 408 423 551 State School of Mines 75 88 52 92 125 Totals 1,389 1,520 1,435 1,369 2,013 STATE UNIVERSITY The State University, located in Missoula, was formally opened in 1895. For four years the institution occupied temporary quarters. Oscar J. Craig was the first president. The local executive board, named by the governor, was made up of J. H. T. Ryman, Hiram Knowles and Thomas C. Marshall. The first faculty consisted of the president and four asso- ciates. In 1897, the Legislature authorized the issuance of bonds, in amount of $100,000, for the construction of two buildings. The campus site was donated to the state by Edward L. Bonner and Francis G. Higgins of Missoula. In 1899 the university occupied its permanent quarters. President Craig remained at the head of the university until 1908, when failing health compelled his resignation. He was succeeded by Clyde A. Duniway, who came to Montana from Stanford University. During the administration of President Duniway, the summer session was inaugurated and the School of Law established. In 1912, Edwin Boone Craighead, of Tulane University, succeeded President Duniway. He con- tinued in office until 1915. Under his presidency the Schools of Forestry and of Journalism were established ; the School of Pharmacy reorganized ; the departments of Business Administration and of Domestic Science were added to the College of Arts and Sciences. HISTORY OF MONTANA 533 In 1915, Professor Frederick C. Scheuch was appointed acting presi- dent and continued in that capacity until the summer of 1917. Edward O. Sisson was appointed president of the university in 1917, coming to Montana from Idaho, where he had held the office of State Commissioner of Education. His resignation in the spring of 1921 took effect in July of that year and he was succeeded by Dr. Charles H. Clapp, at the time president of the Montana State School of Mines and director and geologist of the Montana Bureau of Mines and Metallurgy. DR. EDWARD O. SISSON AND DR. CHARLES H. CLAPP The retiring and the incoming presidents of the State University, Dr. Edward O. Sisson and Dr. Charles H. Clapp, are widely and closely identi- STATE UNIVERSITY BUILDINGS, MISSOULA fied with the development of higher education in Montana, and both have demonstrated by their achievements that they are not only deep students and thorough scholars, but executives of marked ability. Dr. Edward O. Sisson, former president of the College of Montana, was born in England, but came to the United States in his early youth and spent a number of the succeeding years in Kansas. In 1886, he graduated from the Kansas State Agricultural College and in 1892 entered the University of Chicago as a member of its first class of graduate?. From that institution he obtained his A. B. degree and afterward pursued post- graduate courses at the University of Berlin and Harvard University, the latter conferring upon him the Ph. D. honor. For five years he was connected in a prominent way with the public school system of Chicago 534 HISTORY OF MONTANA (prior to entering the University of Chicago), and while still pursuing his studies there founded the South Side Academy in that city, of which he was principal from 1892 to 1897. During the succeeding decade he served as director of the Bradley Polytechnic Institute, Peoria, Illinois, and as assistant professor of education in the University of Illinois. In 1906, Doctor Sisson became identified with the development of higher education in the far Northwest, by becoming professor of pedagogy and director of the department of education in the University of Washington. After hold- ing that position for six years, he assumed similar duties in connection with Reed College, Portland, Oregon, for more than a year, and from 1913 to 1917, inclusive, was commissioner of education for the State of Idaho. From the latter year until his resignation (which took effect in July, 1921) he served as president of the Montana State University, when he departed from Missoula for the field of his future labors. Dr. Charles H. Clapp, Doctor Sisson's successor as president of the State University, is a Bostonian with a New England education, and a high reputation as a western geologist and educator. In 1905 he received the degree of B. S. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and soon afterward became instructor in geology and mining in the University of North Dakota, which, with the office of assistant state geologist, he held for two years. Professor Clapp then rejoined his alma mater, as instructor in geology of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, holding that posi- tion until 1910. In the meantime he had become connected with the geological survey of Canada and remained thus until 1913. The institute had conferred the degree of Ph. D. upon him in 1910 and in the following year he had pursued a post-graduate course at Harvard University. In 1913, Doctor Clapp again came into the educational field of the West as a geologist and assumed the professorship of geology at the University of Arizona, leaving that position to assume the same chair in the Montana State School of Mines, in 1916. Two years afterward, he was elected president of the school, and in 1919 was appointed director and geologist of the Montana Bureau of Mines and Metallurgy. Since 1914, he had been assistant geologist of the United States Geological Survey. Doctor Clapp was thus recognized as a national authority on geology and as an executive educator of high standing in Montana, when he succeeded Doctor Sisson as president of the State University in July, 1921. A BIT OF HISTORY As stated, it was not until 1895 tnat the university was formally opened under the presidency of Doctor Craig, with four associate members of the faculty. In addition to a preparatory course, four college curricula were offered classical, philosophical, general science and applied science. After the Legislature had appropriated $100,000 for the construction of buildings, in 1897, the university erected University Hall (containing class rooms, library and museum) and Science Hall (embracing the departments of Science and Engineering). In 1901, the Legislature authorized^ bond issue of $70,000 for the construction of a women's dormitory and a HISTORY OF MONTANA 535 gymnasium, and in 1907 appropriated $50,000 for a library building. Four years afterward, the biological station at Flathead Lake was established. Under the long and useful presidency of Professor Craig, the faculty of the university increased from five to thirty members and the enrollment of students proportionately. The philosophical, the classical and science courses were combined into the College of Liberal Arts and Science, the course in applied science was developed into a department of engineering, and the Department of Education began the work of preparing Montana students to fill positions in her high schools. At his retirement in 1908, President Craig was succeeded by Professor Clyde A. Duniway, of Leland Stanford Junior University. In his admin- istration a law school was established under the direction of Judge Clay- berg. Doctor Craighead of Tulane University, who became president in 1912, saw that the first step in the real progress of the cause of higher education was to consolidate or unify the institutions already existing. His appeal for assistance to the State Board of Education met with a hearty and prompt response. The bill for consolidation was introduced by Senator Whiteside of Flathead County. It provided for the formation of a great university by combining the four state schools. It was to have a permanent endowment, guaranteed by a mill tax and the site of the institution was to be chosen by a commission of disinterested men. It was planned that the greater university should have a campus of at least 10,000 acres, where could be conducted experiments in forestry and agriculture, and where students might work in order to pay their way through college. The Whiteside bill, however, was defeated by a combination of the Dillon, Bozeman and Missoula interests which naturally protested against the removal of the institutions already established in their communities. The unification bill introduced by Senator Leighton, which recognized the force of those interests and yet consolidated and systematized the various courses so that there was no repetition or overlapping in the cur- "ricula, replaced the Whiteside measure, which was also open to the objection that it would throw a great burden of expenditure upon the state. At the meeting of the Board of Education in June, 1913, it was decided that the new university should become operative in the following month, and that a committee should be appointed to avoid all duplication in the courses of the schools at Missoula, Dillon and Bozeman. THE UNIVERSITY OF TODAY The university campus comprises sixty acres. It lies southeast of Missoula at the head of the Missoula Valley. The entrance to the campus is on the west side, from University Avenue. Trees, lawns, shrubbery and flowers, interspersed among the walks and drives, make an attractive setting for the buildings. Directly east of the campus is Mount Sentinel, 2,000 feet high, upon whose slope the university owns 520 acres, extending to the summit. 536 HISTORY OF MONTANA The buildings of the State University are: University Hall, Science Hall, Natural Science Hall, Craig Hall, Library Hall, the Gymnasium, Forestry Building, Music Building, the Hospital, Simpkins Hall, Cook Hall, and Y. W. C. A. Building. University Hall is the administration building. Here also are the assembly hall of the university and class rooms, lecture rooms and labora- tories. Science Hall is occupied by the School of Pharmacy and the Depart- ment of Chemistry. Natural Science Hall, completed January, 1919, is a modern, three- story laboratory building. It contains the classrooms and laboratories of the departments of Biology, Botany, Home Economics and Physics. It has also a large lecture room, equipped with stereopticon and motion- picture apparatus. Craig Hall is the women's dormitory, entirely used as a domicile for the women students of the institution. The gymnasium is equipped for the physical education of all students. Adjoining it is Dornblaser field, the athletic ground, with its bleachers and tracks. Library Hall contains the university library, the law library, the class- rooms of the School of Law and other lecture and classrooms. The Forestry and Music buildings are frame structures, affording tem- porary quarters for these schools. The hospital is designed for the isolation of students who may be suffering from contagious or infectious diseases and for their treatment. Simpkins Hall and Cook Hall are the buildings erected for barracks. They have been remodeled so that Simpkins Hall serves as a men's dormi- tory and Cook Hall is the armory of the R. O. T. C. and temporary quarters of the School of Journalism. BIOLOGICAL STATION A station for instruction and research, located at Yellow Bay on the east shore of Flathead Lake. The university owns eighty-nine acres here with nearly a mile and a half of shore line; the institution is owner also of forty acres on Wild Horse Island and forty acres on Bull Island. The Flathead Lake Bird Reservation consists of two islands donated to the state as a bird reserve. These islands are under the con- trol of the station, protected by state law. All of this land is for biological use. The station is accessible by a good automobile road or by boat from either end of the lake, connecting with both Great Northern and Northern Pacific trains. The building equipment of the station consists of a substantial brick laboratory, a log dining building, a kitchen and a group of sleeping tents. The station has, also, a good equipment of boats and launches, with the collecting apparatus and laboratory instruments necessary for research work. The station is located in virgin forest between the lake and the Mis- HISTORY OF MONTANA 537 sion Mountains, which rise to an altitude of 8,500 feet at this point- Forest, lake and mountains afford an attractive and, to a great extent, an unexplored field for biological research. It is the purpose of the biological station to provide opportunity for field work of a sort which cannot be done in the routine of a university program. Instruction is limited to prescribed work for beginners but qualified students may select their own lines of research. ADMINISTRATION AND ORGANIZATION The local administrative officers of the university are as follows: Charles H. Clapp, Ph. D., president ; Frederick C. Scheuch, M. E., A. C, vice president; Richard H. Jesse, Jr., Ph. D., dean of men; Mrs. H. R. Sedman, B. S., dean of women ; Arthur L. Stone, B. S., university editor and dean of the School of Journalism ; Shirley J. Coon, M. A., dean of the School of Business Administration; Dorr Skeels, B. S., dean of the School of Forestry; Charles W. Leaphart, A. B., M. A., LL. B., dean of the School of Law; DeLoss Smith, dean of the School of Music; Charles E. F. Mollet, Ph. C., B. A., dean of the School of Pharmacy; James B. Speer, B. A., LL. B., registrar and business manager, and Gertrude M. Buckhous, B. S., librarian. The faculty comprises thirty full professors, one as- sociate, twenty-four assistant professors, twenty instructors and assistants, with special lecturers on law, forestry and journalism. The departments of the State University are the College of Arts and' Sciences, and schools of Business Administration, Forestry, Journalism, Law, Music and Pharmacy. The College of Arts and Sciences aims primarily to give the student a liberal education, while at the same time giving him special training in some chosen field of work. For this purpose it has adopted a flexible curriculum. The student must select a major department in which he must obtain from forty to fifty-five credits, and he must also get acquainted wtih the other fields of liberal education. The required courses are classed under biology, botany, chemistry, economics, education,* English, fine arts, geology, history and political science, home economics, Latin and Greek, library science, mathematics, military science, modern languages, physical education, physics and psychology and phil- osophy. The details as to entrance and graduation are beyond the scope of this article. It may also be noted that students who desire to prepare for educational administration as principals and superintendents are required to do major work in the department or school of education. Those wishing to be teach- ers of special subjects are advised to do major work in the departments offering such special subjects. The department of home economics is of special value to women, its aim being threefold: to train teachers for secondary and normal schools and colleges ; to train dietitians and managers for such institutions as hos- * The organization of this department as a school has been authorized by the State Board of Education. 538 HISTORY OF MONTANA pitals, dormatories, tea and lunch rooms and cafeterias; and to liberalize the woman's education by giving her an appreciation of her greatest profes- sion, that of home making. The curriculum includes courses in foods, clothing and shelter, adapted to the different seasons of the year. The courses on library economy are of great practical worth in these times of the general utilization of library privileges. They teach one how to get the greatest good from the libraries which crowd the land, and often are under-appreciated from lack of the very information conveyed in the courses indicated. Library Economy is open to all university students and covers, in lectures, reading and reference work, the following: The arrangement of the library and the privileges granted students, the use and value of the card catalogue, dictionaries and encyclopedias, Poole's index and periodical literature, classification, cataloging, atlases and gazetteers, note taking, book binding and care of books, government publications and reference books on English and American literature, history and science. THE R. O. T. C The State University maintains an infantry unit of the Reserve Officers' Training Corps, organized under authority of the National Defense Act and under the supervision of a captain and sergeant of the United States Army. Certain classes of students are barred from entrance to the R. O. T. .C., such as those who have reached the age of twenty-seven years at the beginning of the quarter; because of physical disability; those who have completed two years' training under P. M. S. and T. at some other institution for which credit has been given; those who have served in any branch of the army or navy, including the Students' Army Training Corps, during the World war ; students who are not citizens of the United States, and no member of the Army, Navy, or Marine Corps of the United States, of the National Guard, Naval Militia, or Naval Reserve or reserve officers of the military or naval forces of the United States. GERMAN In the Department of Modern Languages are French and Spanish, but announcement is made: "Instruction in German was suspended during the war by order of the State Council of Defense. The State Board of Education has authorized the reinstatement of this subject as soon as the force of the order legally expires." SCHOOL OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION The School of Business Administration gives training in its elementary courses for expert clerical work, and in its advanced courses for executive and administrative positions in industrial and commercial organizations and in the public service. Its various courses embrace instruction and practice in business management, commercial law, corporation finance, HISTORY OF MONTANA 539 foreign trade, accounting, advertising and selling and secretarial work, and commercial teaching. The work of the Montana School of Forestry is along two distinct lines an undergraduate course of four years which provides for specializa- tion in all the various branches of forestry and forestry engineering, and a course of twelve weeks for forest rangers. SCHOOL OF FORESTRY The purpose of the Ranger School is to improve the training of forest rangers and other forest officers. Men who have either a high school train- ing or some practical experience in forestry work are prepared in this course to pass the civil service examination for forest ranger. During the course opportunity is also offered for specialization or short course train- ing in lumbering and logging, scaling and cruising, surveying and mapping, stream gauging, highway and bridge construction and grazing. The work of the school is carried on in close co-operation with the United States Forest Service. Experts in various branches of forest service work are detailed under authorization of 'the secretary of agriculture as special lecturers in the school. Other state and government officials and experts in the employ of lumber companies assist in the training. Special lectures in grazing are given by the state veterinarian. SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM Practical training in the work of newspaper making is the purpose of the School of Journalism. Technical training is combined with courses in the College of Arts and Sciences, that the graduates of the school may obtain preparation as broad and comprehensive as possible. The vocational work of the school is thoroughly practical. Its purpose throughout is to develop reporters to ground its students thoroughly in the fundamentals of newspaper endeavor and practice. No student leaves the school with the idea that he is ready to assume at once editorial or managerial duties. The school's course is four years ; these years are arranged to present the features of newspaper work under conditions which parallel those which exist in a newspaper office. This plan of instruction makes the journalism building veritably a workshop. The reporters' room resembles the news room of a newspaper office ; the work done here is identical with that required of the reporter on a daily newspaper. Following the work in newsgathering and newswriting and the study of news values, the student is given experience in editing copy, in editorial writing and in the makeup of a newspaper. The problems of the business office circulation, -the writing and selling of advertising and the general organization of a newspaper are taken up. There are no textbooks used in the course; the student studies the newspaper. The school receives the leading daily newspapers of the country and these are given careful and thorough study. In the junior and senior years, the student studies foreign newspapers. The school has the nucleus of a reference library, which is used intensively. 540 HISTORY OF MONTANA Publications devoted to the craft are on file and the study of these is a part of the student's assigned work. The school maintains a fine newspaper "morgue" which is developing into a valuable reference file. Special emphasis is placed upon the study of current events. The Associated Press, the United Press and the International News Service donate a daily copy of their "flimsy," which is used as the basis of instruction in editing and head-writing. The relationship between the School of Journalism and the Montana State Press Association is close and pleasant. The members of the association are contributing material which is the beginning of the school's much-desired laboratory. The school furnishes to the newspapers of the state a weekly news service from the State University. SCHOOL OF LAW The School of Law was established as a department of the University of Montana in 1911. Prior to that time there had been no similar institu- tion in the state. The school occupies quarters in the library building, and has a professional library of 9,000 volumes. The collection is known as the William Wirt Dixon Law Library. A recent gift to the School of Law under the will of Mrs. W. W. Dixon will make possible the endowment of a professorship and the addition of about 1,500 volumes to the library. The school has also received a gift from Judge John J. McHatton, of Butte, consisting of his entire library of 1,400 volumes, with book cases to hold them. The case system of instruction is generally employed. Special attention is given to practice court work, in which the students are required not only to argue legal questions, but to try cases, prepare appeals and go through all the steps incident to the trial of a law suit. Students who have successfully completed the regular law course and received the certificate or degree, may in the discretion of the Supreme Court of Montana be admitted to practice in the courts of Montana with- out further examination. PUBLIC SCHOOL Music Graduation from the School of Music entitles the student to twenty- seven credits toward the B. A. degree of the College of Arts and Science. Pupils are accepted for private lessons without limitation as to age or academic entrance requirements. This course is for supervisors and teachers of music in the public schools. It covers a period of two years. Those who desire may add two more years from the Bachelor of Music course and receive a degree, Those completing the two-years course will receive a Supervisor of Music certificate and will be recommended by the State Superintendent of In- struction to receive a special certificate to teach music in the schools of the state. Students will do their observation work in the city schools of Missoula. HISTORY OF MONTANA 541 SCHOOL OF PHARMACY Applicants for admission to the School of Pharmacy must be at least sixteen years of age, of good moral character and have completed a high school course or a preparatory course of four years. The pharmacists of Montana have endorsed it, and it has received favorable recognition else- where. The school is registered by the Department of Education of the New York State University, and it is a member of the Conference of Faculties of the American Pharmaceutical Association. The society main- tained by the school is a branch of the Montana Pharmaceutical Associa- tion. Graduates of the school are eligible to compete for the Samuel W. Fairchild scholarship of $300 in cash, the examination for which is held at the university on June 25th. All standard medical schools in the United States now require for admission at least two years of college work ; some of the leading schools demand college graduation. The State University therefore offers a course preparing students for entrance to any medical school in the United States. The summer quarter of the university is an extension to the people of the state of its privileges and curricula for the entire year instead of three-fourths of the year. The executives of the University of Montana and the State Board of Educational Examiners, in January, 1920, adopted standards of credits on teachers' certificates for the summer schools which went into effect on June 7th of that year. Thus the completion of the courses pursued in the summer quarters is a practical means not only along the line of university extension but of hastening the time when the student may commence to teach. WOMEN IN THE UNIVERSITY The academic and social welfare of the women students is under direct supervision of the dean of women. All young women whose homes are outside of Missoula live in the university hall of residence, in the Eloise Knowles Co-operative Cottage, in the chapter houses or in approved resi- dences. Exceptions are made only by permission of the dean of women. The university maintains one large hall of residence, Craig Hall, which accommodates about seventy-two students. The women who live in this hall have adopted a form of self-government with officers chosen from the members. These officers, together with the director, form a house commit- tee to whom all matters of importance are referred. The Eloise Knowles Co-operative Cottage accommodates ten women. For the benefit of those women who are not accommodated in Craig Hall, or the Knowles Cottage, the dean of women has prepared a list of addresses where rooms for young women may be obtained which will be sent upon request. All houses have been inspected by her, and although responsibility cannot be assumed by the university, they are believed to be suitable homes for women students. The discipline of such houses is controlled by the students themselves under the supervision of the Women's Self-Governing Association and the dean of women. 542 HISTORY OF MONTANA The Women's Self -Governing Association is an organization for the women of the university only. Every woman student is a member of this organization, the object of which is to regulate all matters pertaining to the student life of its members which do not fall under the jurisdiction of the faculty ; to further in every way the spirit of women of the university, to increase their sense of responsibility toward each other and to be a medium by which the social standard of the university can be made and kept high. The executive board of the W. S. G. A. is composed of representatives from Craig Hall, each sorority house, each lodging house where six or more girls reside and from the girls who live in Missoula. The Town Girls' Association is an organization composed of girls who do not live in Craig Hall or in chapter houses. Mortar Board is an organ- ization of senior girls. The Young Women's Christian Association is an organization open to all women of the university. Physical Education Promoters, commonly known as P. E. P., is an organization to promote the interest of physical education in this institution. Home Economics Club is an organization to develop friendliness by bringing all the members of the club together on a common plane, and to give every woman a clearer conception of the duties and responsibilities of the homemaker. THE LIBRARY AND MUSEUM The general library of the State University comprises about 45,000 volumes and 19,000 pamphlets. It occupies the main floor of the library building. The library is the designated depository of documents issued by the United States Government. It is also a depository for the publication of the National Organization for Public Health Nursing and similar organ- izations. These publications may be borrowed by any one in the state who is interested in public health work. It is the state center for distribu- tion of American Library Association, Library War Service books to ex- service men. A large and well lighted room in the new -Natural Science Building is set apart for housing the scientific collections of the university. Since the first establishment of a small museum in 1898 to the present, material has been accumulating from various sources. Most of it pertains to the fauna and flora of the state and to the state's industries. Owing to the lack of room for teaching purposes, which demanded every spare corner in the various buildings on the campus, the cases and collections have stood in the halls of the main building for several years, without attention. The im- proved quarters make possible extensive class use of material which has heretofore been impossible, will afford complete fire protection, and will make possible display for public exhibition and the education of the visit- ing public which is so needful and desirable. It is now possible to organize a museum that will be of great service to the university and to the state. The museum as it is planned is not only a place where scientific treasures may be safely stored, but a place where visitors may derive information, where the public may see something of the state's scientific and material HISTORY OF MONTANA 543 resources, and where university students may find material for study. The scientific and historic sections are now much used in instructional work. The new plans and excellent quarters will make this important phase of study much more valuable through its enlargement. Outside of its province as an educator in the definite sense of the word, the State University established its Bureau of Information in Oc- tober, 1913. It is open to all classes of citizens and no restriction is placed upon the subjects upon which they may request information. There is only one requirement that each letter of inquiry must be accompanied by return postage in case an answer by mail is desired. Citizens of Montana are even urged to use this Bureau of Information so that it may become a wide-spread medium of public usefulness and service. HONOR SCHOLARSHIPS AND PRIZES The State University provides a number of honor scholarships and .prizes. The awards are made by the Scholarship Committee in conference with the president. The High School Honor Scholarship, awarded to the graduate of an accredited high school of the state who belongs to the highest one-fourth of his class in scholarship, or the highest of the gradu- ating class desiring to attend the university, exempts the holder from the payment of all customary fees except the student activity fees and the special fees in the School of Music. The Student Army Training Corps Scholarships are granted to students who had taken up work in one of the university corps, but were prevented from continuing by the signing of the armistice. In awarding the Bonner scholarship to the student at the end of his freshman year, the committee considers scholarship, moral qualities, conditions and probabilities of future usefulness. Its purpose is to aid a student of fine mental and moral qualities to obtain a university education who might otherwise find it difficult, if not impossible, to obtain one. The Straughn Scheuch scholarship was founded by Professor and Mrs. Frederick C. Scheuch in memory of their son, who died during his freshman year in the State University on February 2, 1920. It is awarded to a self-supporting male student in the College of Arts and Science for his support during his junior and senior years. Annual scholarships have also been donated to the various institutions of the university by the State Federation of Women's Clubs. Their hold- ers are exempt from the payment of the customary fees, and their expenses for board, room-rent and books are paid also by the Federation. The Butte College Club has established three scholarships open to girl graduates of the Butte High School, $300 being allowed each year to each recipient. To be eligible, the student must have made high grades in the high school and must receive the vote of two thirds of the club's active membership. Among the four prizes open to competition are the Annie Lewis Joyce 544 HISTORY OF MONTANA Memorial prize of $200 for students of the English department ; the Ben- nett Essay prize of $400 offered by the Department of History and Political Science; the 1904 class prize of $20 to be awarded annually to the student holding highest rank in a department to be named from year to year by members of that class in rotation, and the Rider Art prize to be given annually by Dr. T. T. Rider of Missoula to the student in the Department of Fine Arts who shows the greatest advancement in art during the year. A fund of $1,000 was set aside by the late Professor William M. Aber for the establishment of the Aber Memorial Oratorical prizes. A first prize of $35 and second prize of $15 are awarded annually to the win- ners in an oratorical contest. COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE AND MECHANIC ARTS By an act of the third Legislative Assembly of Montana, signed by Governor J. E. Rickards, February 16, 1893, the Agricultural College of the State of Montana was located at Bozeman. This act provided for an executive board which should have the immediate control and direction of the affairs of the college, subject only to the general super- vision of the State Board of Education. The executive board was author- ized to appoint a secretary and treasurer and to choose a president and faculty. On March 21, 1893, the State Board of Education held its first meet- ing at Bozeman. A site of forty acres for campus was donated by Nelson Story, Sr. An adjoining 160 acres of land, owned by Gallatin County, was donated, one-half by the county and one-half by the citizens of Bozeman. An executive board was appointed. The executive board chose Luther Foster for acting president. On April 17, with the president and an assist- .ant, instruction was begun. September 15, the college opened for its first full year's work. A. M. Ryon was president and the faculty numbered six. Courses were offered in agriculture, domestic economy, and applied science, the last being chiefly engineering and chemistry. There was also established a one-year preparatory course, a two-years business course, modeled after the usual private business college, and a music department. Nelson Story, Sr., donated the use of a frame building which had been occupied as a Presbyterian Academy. The public school board al- lowed the use of some rooms in a nearby school building. During the summer of 1894 the brick veneer building now used for biology was erected out of the Hatch Experiment Station Fund. The Legislative Assembly in 1895 authorized bond issue of $100,000 to provide funds to erect and furnish buildings for the college. By the enactment of Chapter 92 of the -laws of the Thirteenth Legis- lative Assembly in 1913, the State University at Missoula, the State School of Mines at Butte, the State Normal College at Dillon, and the State Agricultural College at Bozeman were combined into the University of Montana, under the executive control of an officer whose title is chan- cellor. The Enabling Act, providing for the admission of Montana into the HISTORY OF MONTANA 545 Union, approved February 22, 1889, Section 16 grants 90,000 acres of land to Montana for the use and support of an agricultural college according to the terms of the Act of Congress, July 2, 1862, and Section 17 grants an additional 50,000 for the same purpose and subject to the same con- ditions and limitations as the other grant. The 140,000 acres of land cannot be sold for a price less than $10 per acre and the principal, to- gether with all money received from the sale of timber, is to be invested as a permanent endowment. The unsold land may be leased, and the rental, together with the interest on the permanent endowment, shall be used for the maintenance of the college. AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE HALL, BOZEMAN The Act of Congress of August 30, 1890, appropriates $25,000 an- nually out of the treasury of the United States. By the Nelson Bill passed March 3, 1907, this amount was increased annually by $5,000 each year beginning in 1907 until now the total annual appropriation has reached $50,000, at which figure it is to remain. The Smith-Hughes Act of Congress, February, 1917, provides a plan for Vocational Education in Agriculture, Home Economics and the Trades and Industry. The training of teachers under the federal plan for Voca- tional Education as authorized by the Smith-Hughes Act is the work of the College. The federal government makes an annual appropriation of $5,000 and the State Legislature a like amount. The purpose of the college of agriculture and mechanic arts is chiefly to provide collegiate education in agriculture, engineering, home economics, Vol. 135 546 HISTORY OF MONTANA and applied science, for the young men and women of the respective states in which they are located. The scope of the Montana State College is set forth in the two so-called Morrill Acts of Congress, which authorized this class of institutions and supplied in part endowment and funds for maintenance ; and in the act of the Montana Legislature accepting the land and money grants from the national government. The first Morrill Act of Congress of July 2, 1862, making a land grant for the partial endowment of the agricultural and mechanical colleges, states that the income from these lands shall be used to maintain colleges "where the leading object shall be, without excluding other scientific and classical studies and including military tactics, to teach such branches of learning as are related to agriculture and the mechanic arts, in such man- ner as the legislatures of the states may respectively prescribe in order to promote the liberal and practical education of the industrial classes in the several pursuits and professions of life." The second Morrill Act of Congress, August 30, 1890, making an annual appropriation out of the treasury of the United States for the further support and endowment of these colleges, provides that this fund is "to be applied only to instruction in agriculture and mechanic arts, the English language, and the various branches of mathematical, physical, natural and economic sciences, with special reference to their application to the industries of life ; and to the facilities for such instruction." The act appropriates $25,000 annually out of the treasury of the United States to further its objects. By the Nelson Bill, passed March 3, 1907, this amount was increased annually by $5,000 each year beginning in 1907, until the total annual appropriation has reached $50,000, at which figure it is to remain. THE COLLEGE BUILDINGS The college campus and farm at Bozeman comprise 400 acres. The forty acres in the immediate vicinity of the buildings constitute the campus and recreation grounds, which are in lawn, interspersed with flower beds, shrubbery, trees and driveways. On the campus are a quarter-mile track, a baseball diamond, a football field and three cement tennis courts. The remainder is used for farming and experimental purposes. Montana Hall, a three story_ structure, is in the center of the campus, and contains the administration offices, the library, department of art and mathematics, the assembly hall and numerous class rooms. Hamilton Hall, with its three floors, is the dormitory for women, and Agricultural Hall contains within its four stories offices, store rooms, classrooms and laboratories connected with the study, experiments and practical opera- tions of dairying, agriculture, horticulture, agronomy and home economics. It also has a large assembly room. Adjoining Agricultural Hall is the greenhouse and on either side flower and vegetable rooms. Through the center is a plant breeding room and near by a propagating room. The Chemistry building is a modern fireproof structure of reinforced 547 concrete. Several of the laboratories are provided with electric circuits for both heat and power. Those located in the basement are for agricul- tural, organic and food chemistry. The basement also furnishes quarters for a food and drug laboratory and for a water and sewage laboratory where the work required by the State Board of Health in enforcing the State Food Law and some of the state sanitary laws is carried on. The building of the Experiment Station contains research laboratories, store rooms and a large lecture room. Geological collections and a min- eralogical laboratory, as well as a distilling apparatus the water of which is distributed to all laboratories, are in the attic of the building. The Biology building is three stories with basement and contains the zoological collection, with laboratories for bacteriology, botany and general biology. The entomologist has his special quarters, and there is also an insectary for the study of living insects. . There are also an engineering laboratory, with all kinds of machinery for experimental work in connection with electrical and hydraulic opera- tions. Then there are the shops; the barracks, built for the Students' Army Training Corps, which have been converted into dormitories for men; a good gymnasium and the eight College Farm buildings adjacent to the campus. The campus of sixty acres was the gift of citizens of Bozeman, and largely that of Nelson Story, Sr. The county poor farm of 160 acres was donated for an experimental farm, one-half by Gallatin County and one-half by its citizens. The first executive board consisted of L. S. Will- son, Peter Koch, Walter Cooper, of Bozeman, E. H. Talcott, of Livingston, and George Kinkel, of Manhattan. Instruction began April 17, 1893, and continued ten weeks, during which period Luther Foster was acting head and eight students were enrolled. The first year of regular work opened September I5th, with the following faculty: A. M. Ryon, presi- dent and head of the department of engineering; S. M. Emery, director of the experiment station and horticulturist; Luther Foster, agriculture and botany; F. W. Traphagen, chemistry; R. E. Chandler, mathematics and engineering; B. F. Maiden, English; H. G. Phelps, commercial sub- jects. College courses were offered in engineering, agriculture and domes- tic science. There were also a preparatory school, a business course and a music department. At first, the college had no buildings and the instruction was carried on in a public school building and the old academy building on Main Street. In 1895, the Legislative Assembly passed an act to bond the 50,000 acre land grant made in the Enabling Act for $100,000 to construct buildings. College Hall, the chemistry building and the first shop were erected out of the proceeds of this bond issue. These bonds were afterward declared void by the State Supreme Court and by act of Legislative Assembly of 1907 state bonds were issued in lieu thereof. The cornerstone of the main building was laid October 21, 1896, under Masonic auspices, and Governor Rickards delivered the principal address. The original buildings were completed and occupied in 1897. A dairy barn was built in 1904. In 1907, an appropriation of $80,000 was made 548 HISTORY OF MONTANA for an agricultural and domestic science building and in 1908 the state turned over to the college the buildings and grounds belonging to old Fort. Ellis. The dormitory for girls was erected in 1912. ADMINISTRATION OF THE COLLEGE In 1897, President Ryon was superceded by James Reid, who remained at the head of the institution until 1904, when Prof. James M. Ham- ilton became its president. He resigned in 1915, but was prevailed upon to continue in charge until a satisfactory successor could be secured, and in July, 1919, Prof. Alfred Atkinson, who had been connected with the college throughout Professor Hamilton's administration for much of the period as professor of agronomy and experiment station agronomist became head of the college. President Hamilton, who thereby closed fifteen years of service in the presidency, at once concentrated his work upon the professorship of economics and the newly created position of dean of men. President Atkinson retained the chair of agronomy. For some years he has also been director of the State Grain Laboratory, and during the World's war devoted a great part of his time to the exacting duties of federal food administrator for Montana. The other administrative officers of the College of Agriculture and Mechanics Arts are: Frederick B. Linfield, B. S. A., director of the experiment station; Fred S. Cooley, B. S., director of extension service; James B. Hamilton, dean of men ; Una B. Herrick, dean of women ; John H. Hoist, M. A., principal of secondary schools and director of summer session ; Roy Orvis Wilson, B. S., house director at Hamilton Hall ; Anker Christenson, acting superintendent of buildings; Adele McCray, college nurse; Ray B. Bowden, editorial director. On the faculty are thirty-one full professors, one associate, and twenty-two assistants, as well as seven- teen instructors and five assistants. The enrollment of students is a fair index of the advancement of the College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts since it was put in operation. The showing is presented in periods of five years. In 1893-94, the first school year, the enrollment was 139; in 1897-98, 201 ; 1902-03, 305; 1907- 08, 419; 1912-13, 557; 1917-18, 1,105. In 1918-19 the enrollment was only 887, 310 students being in the Students' Army Training Corps. STATE SCHOOL OF MINES The establishment of the State School of Mines, in Butte, was super- vised by a commission appointed in 1895, consisting of F. E. Sargent, John Gillie, W. W. Dixon, J. H. Leyson, and C. W. Goodale. The lands of the School of Mines were used as a basis for the issue of bonds amount- ing to $120,000, and in 1896 the erection of the main building was begun. An additional appropriation of $26,300 was made in 1899 for equipment and maintenance. The school actually opened September n, 1900, and the first class graduated in June, 1903. HISTORY OF MONTANA 549 The proceeds from the sale of the lands of the School of Mines have gone into permanent fund, the interest from which, together with the rentals from unsold lands, has provided the school in recent years with most of its ordinary operating and capital expenditures. In 1907, $50,- ooo was appropriated for a new heating plant and mill building, and in 1910, $15,000 was appropriated for a gymnasium. Nathan R. Leonard, professor of mathematics, was the first president of the institution. He was succeeded in 1906 by Charles H. Bowman, professor of mathematics, who had been connected with the school since its beginning. In 1918 President Bowman was granted a year's leave of absence, and Charles H. Qapp, professor of geology and mineralogy, was appointed acting president. Upon President Bowman's resignation in 1919, Professor Clapp became president. When President Clapp became head of the State University in July, 1921, he was succeeded by Professor G. W. Craven, former vice president of the school. Included by the faculty are eight full professors, one associate and two assistants, two instructors and two assistants. The Legislative Assembly of 1919 established in the School of Mines a State Bureau of Mines and Metallurgy, to aid in the development of the mineral resources of Montana. In much the same way that the Agri- cultural Experiment Station at Bozeman has furthered the agricultural industry of the state, the Bureau of Mines and Metallurgy has promoted the mineral industry. Its work, which is considered auxiliary to that of the School of Mjnes, has been fully described in the chapter on mining. When the State School of Mines opened on September n, 1900, the faculty consisted of Nathan R. Leonard, president and professor of mathe- matics; William G. King, professor of chemistry and metallurgy; Alex- ander N. Winchell, professor of geology and mineralogy; and Charles H. Bowman, professor of mechanics and mining engineering. In January, 1902, a preparatory department was opened in charge of Prof. L. R. Foote. The second year there was added to the teaching corps a lecturer on mining law in the person of Hon. John B. Clayberg. Albert B. Knight ,and Prof. E. H. McDonald held the first professorships of mining en- gineering. At the close of the school year 1904-05, the preparatory depart- ment was abolished. In 1907, during the second year of President Bowman's administration, the second building of the School of Mines was completed. It contained plants for the cyanidation and reduction of ores, and its completion was a great event in the history of the institution. The enrollment of the school has increased from thirty-nine in the first year 1900-01; sixty-one in 1904-05 ; seventy-five in 1915-16, and 126 in 1919-20. The last figures are exclusive of sixty-five extension corre- spondence students. PURPOSE AND SCOPE The School of Mines has strictly confined itself to the preparation of young men "for the mining profession, and by so doing has maintained a very high standard in this field. Before the war 90 per cent of its grad- 550 HISTORY OF MONTANA uates were engaged in engineering work, very largely in mining engineer- ing, and moreover many of its graduates hold positions of great respon- sibility. Although the distinction between a purely vocational school and an engineering college has always been clearly in mind, the school has given its students a practical knowledge of mining subjects, as well as a thorough education in theoretical principles. The fundamental subjects for all forms of engineering are given and special emphasis is laid upon the three main branches of mining-geology, mining and milling, and metal- lurgy. LOCATION AND BUILDINGS The State School of Mines is located just inside the western city limits of Butte. The site, on the southern bench of Big Butte, the extinct vol- cano which dominated the city, and from which the city takes its name, was donated by certain public-spirited citizens. It is easily accessible, since the street cars run within two blocks. The location is most commanding, and the view from the grounds overlooks the city, mines and smelters ; as well as the mountains which form the Continental divide, and which surround the valley in which the city is situated on the east and south. In Butte are to be found, not only some of the largest copper and zinc mines of the world, but great mills and reduction plants. These are being continually enlarged and improved to meet the demands of greater industry. In addition, Butte is the site of other great engineering enter- prises, and in few other places is there such an assemblage of machine shops, factories, and power plants as are to be found in the vicinity of the school. The city is, therefore, especially well fitted to meet the needs of a mining school. In a very important sense all of these plants are a part of the sub- stantial equipment of the school, because its pupils are brought into daily contact with the men who are personally engaged in the various depart- ments of the mining and engineering industry and are thoroughly con- versant with the details of the work. The main building erected during 1895 to 1897, is a four-story pressed brick building. It measures 118 by 94 feet, and contains 37,000 square feet of floor space. In the base- ment are the chemical, metallurgical, and mechanical testing laboratories. The next two floors contain the recitation rooms, drafting rooms, min- eralogy laboratory, and library. The fourth floor is devoted chiefly to museums, which contain extensive collections of minerals, ores, and mine models. In addition, there is also on this floor a petrograph laboratory and a blue print room. In the rear of the main building is the mill building, completed in 1908. This building measures 70 by 1 10 feet. It contains the steam and electric power plant which heats the buildings and supplies power to the mill and laboratories. The mill is equipped to handle large quantities of ore conveniently, and affords treatment of ores by most of the standard processes now in practice. The gymnasium building, to the north of the main building, was HISTORY OF MONTANA 551 erected in 1910. It measures 87 by 50 feet and contains a large gymna- sium hall 70 by 45 feet. The new chemistry and metallurgical building cost $200,000 and is thoroughly equipped for its purposes. THE MONTANA STATE NORMAL COLLEGE, DILLON The institution named was established February 17, 1893, but it did not get into practical operation until 1897. Prof. Joseph E. Monroe, former president of the college, has described its fundamental aims and plans to realize such objects, in the following paragraphs: "The Normal College has held steadfastly to the ideal that successful teaching requires professional training and effective training can be based only on sound scholarship. For this reason, an amount of academic and collegiate work has been required in connection with the course in training, greater in subjects which they thought they had finished in high schools. * "From the very nature of the situation, that high school students are generally immature in age, and not generally inclined to be careful, thoughtful reasoners upon the problems which confront them, and that, as yet, a large part of the faculties of our high schools have not been trained for teaching, it follows as a matter of course that many of our high school students have never been 'taught' but have simply 'learned' subject matter. This made it appear necessary to maintain courses in connection with the Normal College, and require students to pursue subjects which they thought they had finished in high schools. "The scholastic year has been divided into four quarters of twelve weeks each during the past year (1912), instead of semesters of twenty weeks, as formerly. The fourth quarter has become available to a class of teachers who desire to advance along both scholastic and professional lines. That there is a real demand for such work on the part of the teachers themselves is evidenced by an increase in attendance of 34 per cent in the summer of 1912, over that of the summer of 1911, at the Nor- mal College." The recognized value of the summer quarter in the college curriculum was not over-emphasized by Professor Monroe in 1912. It has continued to grow in the esteem of the teachers and the public, especially since the period of the World war, which so thinned the ranks of the profession, both men and women. The college also provides a two-years' course and a three-years' course and a "teachers' service division." The enrollment of students for the regular courses since the college opened has been: 1897-98, 82; 1901-02, 99; 1906-07, 197; 1911-12, 117; 1916-17, 250. The war year, 1918, reduced the enrollment to 129 and in 1919-20 it had reached 163 not a complete recovery of the years since 1914-15. During the opening year, there was an enrollment of fifty for the summer session, the century mark being first passed in 1912-13, when the enrollment was no, and the highest enrollment was in 1919-20, 429. Including both regular and summer courses, the total enrollment for the last named year was 551. 552 HISTORY OF MONTANA The training school of the college is thoroughly organized and unique. Instead of being a "model school," it is a city system of education, pre- senting every phase of organization and instruction that is to be found in its practical operation. Pupil teachers thus trained have actual experience and problems are required to be solved which would naturally come to them when they are fully accredited members of the profession. The college not only has a complete faculty but a corps of critic teachers of the training school. The buildings and equipment at Dillon are modern, but capable of ready expansion with the growth of the college. Dr. Sheldon E. Davis assumed the presidency of the State Normal College in July, 1919, having enjoyed a long scholastic training and valu- able experience in normal work in Missouri. He has also studied abroad. Two years before the State Board of Education appointed him president, Columbia University conferred upon him the degree of Ph. D. Besides Doctor Davis, the local administrative officers comprise: E. Ray Mosher, A. M., vice president ; Margaret Craig Curran, A. B., director of teachers' service division; Grant E. Finch, Sc. D., director of train- ing; Katherine J. MacGregor, college nurse; Velma Phillips, M. A., dean of women; Tessie M. Degan, B. S., registrar, and M. Eva Dull, house director of residence halls. Altogether, the faculty consists of ten full professors, one associate and eight assistants; eleven instructors and as- sistants, including eight instructors for the summer quarter, and twenty- two critics. OTHER INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER LEARNING Montana Wesleyan College, at Helena, was founded in 1888, under the auspices of the Methodist Episcopal Church, opened for students in 1890, and has been in continuous operation ever since. Its first location was five miles north of the city in the Prickly Pear Valley, but after about ten years, on account of the discontinuance of street car service, the school was transferred to the heart of Helena. Henry Klein then made a dona- tion of $10,000 to the college, the trustees of which used that fund and purchased the twenty-two acres in the vicinity of the capitol grounds as a site for the new institution. It was called Klein campus in honor of the donor of the original fund. There are dormitories for both boys and girls, the latter being completed in 1919. The Montana Wesleyan College is a standard institution, granting degrees in the Liberal Arts course, with schools of education, music and commerce affiliated. The Billings Polytechnic Institute was founded in 1908 through the generosity and wisdom of John D. Losekamp and other citizens of Bil- lings. Mr. Losekamp, who was the author of the present high school law of Montana had. long felt that there was great need in the state for an institution of learning which should supplement the education furnished by the state and give boys and girls a training which would fit them for useful citizenship. The Polytechnic was therefore instituted to control the environment of its students outside of the class room. Its buildings were erected on a large irrigated farm, the gift of James J. Hill, three HISTORY OF MONTANA 553 miles from Billings. "Here on this farm," says a reliable description of the institute, "with its gardens, orchards, dairy and fine farm crops, is built a little community which has been organized into a complete self- governing state. The officers, which consist of governor, lieutenant gov- ernor, secretary of state, chief justice, trial judge, state marshal and legis- lators, are elected by the citizens of the state. It is doubtful if there is a better governed community in the world than this little student republic. Its laws are just and conscientiously enforced. The young man who spends a few years in this community is trained to become a statesman and is ready to take a leading part in public affairs of his community. "The industries which are connected with the school include the rais- ing of all kinds of farm crops on irrigated and dry land, the caring for fruit, the canning of vegetables, caring for stock, making of butter, the care of poultry and bees, the construction of the various buildings, car- pentry, blacksmithing, plumbing and furniture making. These various industries give the student an opportunity of working his way through school. Practical courses are offered in commerce, normal training for rural and graded teachers, preparatory engineering, practical agriculture, domestic science and music. There are no entrance requirements. Students in any stage of advancement are received and their school work is adapted to their individual needs. The students maintain a non-sectarian church, literary societies and an athletic association." Emphasis is placed on musical instruction, a conservatory having been built at a comparatively recent date. The aim of the managers of the Polytechnic is not only to surround the students with occupations of a practical value, but to place before them agencies of culture and elevation. Mount St. Charles College, at Helena, is under the control of the Catholic Church. In both academic and collegiate courses, it is exclu- sively for boys. Its college course is in the Liberal Arts. The buildings recently erected on the campus, in the northern outskirts of the city, in- clude a gymnasium and a dormitory. There is also a Deaconess School five miles north of Helena in the Prickly Pear Valley. There younger children are given a home and an elementary education. It was opened in September, 1909, in the aban- doned building of the old Montana Wesleyan University, which has been much improved. While under the direction of the Methodist Church, the Montana Deaconess School is in no sense sectarian, but is designed to provide a home and a school for children who find it necessary to be educated away from their natural homes. The Catholic Church has also academies for girls at Helena, Mis- soula and Great Falls, and high schools for boys at Helena and Butte. Three institutions of a mixed character charitable, reformatory and educational may be noted as completions of the educational system of Montana. The Montana School for Deaf and Blind and Backward Chil- dren at Boulder, Jefferson County, represents an extensive plant of build- ings, more than 400 acres of grounds and farm lands and a corps of teachers adapted to the purposes of the institution. At Miles City, Custer County, is the State Reform School, the in- 554 HISTORY OF MONTANA mates of which pursue the studies of the public schools from the first to the eighth grades under the supervision of the State Board of Educa- tion. School continues throughout the year. The State Orphans' Home at Twin Bridges is a charitable institution, the inmates of which receive their education as wards of the common- wealth. Thus the entire educational survey of Montana has been made, rang- ing through the public schools of city and country, the pupils of which pass certain hours in the class room, to special institutions provided for those who are homeless through misfortune or crime, and finally to the institutions of higher learning which cap the system of the state with such honor. CHAPTER XXIII MODERN MEANS OF COMMUNICATION For many years Montana was far to the north of the great overland trails the California, the Salt Lake and the Oregon but with the rush of the gold seekers and traders to the new country, the Federal Govern- ment commenced to push the building of the military road, already author- ized by Congress, under Lieut. John Mullan, from Fort Walla Walla to Fort Benton. THE MULLAN GOVERNMENT ROAD Writing of Mullan's work, Judge Frank H. Woody says : "He organ- ized his expedition at the Dalles, Oregon, in the spring of 1858, but was forced to disband it on account of Indian hostilities. He again organized in the spring of 1859, and constructed the road over the Coeur d'Alene mountains as far as Cantonment Jordan on the St. Regis Borgia, where he went into winter quarters, sending his stock to the Bitter Root Valley. During the winter the greater portion of the heavy grades between French- town and the mouth of Cedar Creek was constructed. In the spring of 1860, he resumed his march and took his expedition through to Fort Benton, doing but little work, however, between Hell Gate and Fort Benton. "In the spring of 1861 Lieutenant Mullan organized another party and started for Fort Benton to finish up the road that he had merely opened the year before. His expedition was accompanied by an escort of 100 men under command of Lieutenant Marsh. The expedition came as far as the crossing of the Big Blackfoot River, where they erected winter quarters and named them Cantonment Wright, in honor of Colonel, after- ward General Wright who quelled the Indian war of 1858 so effectively. During that winter the heavy grades in the Hell Gate canyon were con- structed. In the spring of 1862, Cantonment Wright was broken up, Mullan with his party going to Benton and the escort under Lieutenant Marsh returning to Walla Walla and Colville." THE BOZEMAN CUT-OFF In 1862-64, John M. Bozeman opened the famous cut-off, branching from the old Platte route on the south and running between the Black Hills and Wind River mountains to Gallatin Valley and Virginia City. In 1865, the gold discoveries on the Little Blackfoot and its tributaries, and along the affluents of the Big Blackfoot River, brought a great influx of emigrants from California, Oregon, Idaho and Washington. Nearly 555. 556 HISTORY OF MONTANA all of them came over the Coeur d'Alene mountains by way of the Mul- lan Road. FIRST STEAMBOATS IN WESTERN MONTANA The trail across the Coeur d'Alene mountains was impassable until July. It was therefore necessary to find another route whereby the gold seekers, merchants and travelers could reach Montana at an earlier sea- son. The spring travel came by way of Pend d'Oreilles Lake and up Clark's Fork of the Columbia. The heavy travel over this route and the prevailing belief that the Northern Pacific railroad would soon be a reality, induced the Oregon Steam Navigation Company of Portland, Oregon, to establish steamboat transportation on the lake and river, thus consid- erably shortening the distance to Montana. In the fall of 1865, a little steamboat about a hundred feet in length was launched from the western shores of Lake Pend d'Oreilles, Idaho Mary Moody, by name. In the spring of 1866, she steamed across the lake and up Qark's Fork, about fifteen miles, to the Cabinet landing. This was the first steamboat that ever navigated the waters of Western Montana, and two others followed within the following two or three years. Owing to lack of water in the mining camps in 1869, travel fell off so rapidly that the boats were taken out of service in the summer of 1870 and transferred to the lower Colum- bia route. The overland stage and mail lines had their feverish period south of Montana, until the completion of the Union and Central Pacific railroads in 1869; and Montana had its local lines and experiences. Upon the com- pletion of the telegraph in the autumn of 1861, the pony express waned and finally disappeared as a western means of communication, but the stage endured for some time after, for the "accommodation" of pas- sengers and the mails. No mail route was established by the government into Montana until the later portion of 1864. Letters and newspapers were sent by express and the recipients cheerfully paid $i in gold for each piece of mail coming or going, at intervals unknown either to the public or the service. The telegraph line from the Union Pacific at Corrine to Virginia City was completed on November 2, 1866, and extended to Helena on the I4th of October, 1867. Judge Cornelius Hedges states that the first dispatch over the Montana wires announced the election of Allen G. Thurman for governor of Ohio a mistake, by the way. OVERLAND AND STATE STAGE LINES During this period, which heralded the close of the old-time overland stage line, Ben Holladay was the outstanding figure. He directed not only the Central overland, but spur lines with government contracts, to Upper HISTORY OF MONTANA 557 California, Oregon, Idaho and Montana. Toward the close of 1866, Holla- day sold out to Wells, Fargo & Company. As to local lines: Immediately after the settlement of Alder Gulch a stage line was established by A. J. Oliver between Bannack and Salt Lake City, and not long thereafter a stage line service was introduced connecting the leading mining camps of the territory. The Montana Post, of Virginia City, in its issue of January 20, 1866, announces that Smith's stage leaves for Gallatin every Monday ; Oliver's to Helena, Mon- day, Wednesday and Friday, fare $25 ; the Overland stage for the East, Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday; fare to Salt Lake, $75 in bankable dust. The stage coach travel in Montana differed little from the Overland traffic. It was precarious and dangerous, especially during its last days. The drivers were often drunken and reckless, the roads over mountain grades were unsafe, Indians lurked in the hills and canyons, and far EARLY-DAY STAGE COACH worse than the Indians were the road agents. The stage stations were chiefly conspicuous for their lack of accommodations. A speaking illus- tration of this feature of stage travel was the current title of one of the stopping places in Montana "Dirty Woman's Ranch." Indian troubles consequent upon the building of the railroads made travel on the stage lines more and more dangerous, and criticism of their crude accommodations became severe. Capt. James L. Fiske, with his famous emigrant train, had blazed a new way from Minnesota to Mon- tana, and, upon his return to the East over Holladay's stage line, de- nounced it in unequivocal terms. Henry Villard, the railroad magnate, was also a hostile critic. Its enemies were powerful and its days were numbered. FORT BENTON DURING ANTE-RAILROAD DAYS Before 1869, when the Union and Central Pacific railroads met at Ogden, Utah, the Missouri River was the main channel of transportation 558 HISTORY OF MONTANA for Montana gold shipments and Fort Benton the natural and actual gateway. Lieutenant Bradley presents the following picture of the "boom" which thus overtook the river port: "Some of it (gold) was borne upon the persons of the returning miners again shipped in large quantities as freight. In one instance the sum of $1,500,000 was forwarded from Helena to Fort Benton in one shipment by private conveyance. * * * Gold was to be seen trundled along the streets in wheelbarrows. Packages of great value were sometimes dropped carelessly in an obscure corner and left for hours before their trustful owners again laid claim to them: Mr. I. G. Baker shows a dent in his office floor made by a package dropped through the window in this careless manner. It was so large that it re- quired several men to handle it, and it remained two or three days before he learned to whom it belonged. But there were others more careful of the fortunes which had come to them. There were constant applications to owners of safes for permission to make temporary deposits in them. As fast as sacks were drawn out, others were waiting to fill their places, and the most capacious safes were taxed to their utmost limits. Trade assumed extensive proportions and business was lively. From four steam- boat arrivals in 1862 the number increased to forty-two boats in 1869." In order to bind the gold camps with Fort Benton, John J. Roe, Capt. Nick Wall and others organized a wagon transportation service, the lines of which were from 150 to 250 miles. These land freighters, who trans- ported gold to Fort Benton and supplies to the mining camps, at first received as high as 10 cents a pound, but later, with the increase of com- petition, were obliged to be reasonable in their freight charges. UTAH & NORTHERN (UNION PACIFIC) EXTENDS INTO MONTANA Although the Northern Pacific railway surveys had been under way since 1853, and they had been fathered and protected by the Government, the first line to be built into Montana was an offshoot of the Union Pacific from the south. The extension was Brigham Young's plan and the canny Mormon leader aimed to extend the Utah & Northern into Montana over the Oregon and Montana trails of the old days. When construction com- menced in the late 'jos, the Utah & Northern had passed from a receiver's hands into the Union Pacific system and was for a number of years oper- ated as a narrow-gauge railroad. Congress granted it various rights-of- way and the Montana Legislative Assembly also suggested a route or two ; but the salient fact is that while governmental maneuvers, by nation and state, were occurring, the Utah & Northern was steadily approaching the Montana line, via Idaho. In April, 1877, when it had reached the Snake River Valley, its president, Sidney Dillon, made a proposition to Governor Potts for its extension into Montana. "A special session of the Legislature was therefore convened to consider the proposition," says a writer describing the final establishment of the Oregon Short Line, the pioneer of Montana railroads, "and the leader of the upper House, Wil- bur F. Sanders, as chairman of the Judiciary Committee, strongly advo- cated, in the face of much misdirected opposition, the advantages of the HISTORY OF MONTANA 559 railway. As a matter of fact, approaching from the south it had already crossed the southern boundary of Montana and advanced ten miles north- erly.' Moreover, on July i, 1878, it had gained stability by placing a thirty-year bond issue for $4,991, ooo, covering among other properties, 389.59 miles of roadbed from Ogden, Utah, to Silver Bow, Montana, and 56.59 miles from Butte to Garrison." During 1880, the road reached Silver Bow, approximately 125 miles northward from the Idaho line. In 1881, a branch was completed from Butte to Garrison ; this, however, was presently handed over to the North- ern Pacific by a ninety-nine year lease. The operation of the main line was under what was known as the Union Pacific system, remaining until 1889, a narrow gauge. THE OREGON SHORT LINE On August i, 1889, the Utah & Northern was consolidated with the Oregon Short Line Railway Company and in 1897 the two were merged into the Oregon Short Line Railroad Company. It is generally known as the Oregon Short Line, its Montana terminus being Butte. Dillon is the only other town of considerable size having a station on the line within the state. The Northern Pacific line in Montana was the first to be projected and the last to be completed. Repeated mention has been made of the gov- ernment expedition and Northern Pacific survey, under Governor I. I. Stevens, of Washington territory, in 1853. The leader made a compre- hensive report of both, including observations of the fauna, flora and topography of the country traversed from the Pacific coast to the Mis- sissippi Valley; but the northern transcontinental route languished, and received a further set-back with the completion of the Union Central Pacific in May, 1869. The Northern Pacific, however, had its unwavering supporters, among whom was Josiah Perham, who transferred his organization and influence originally designed to promote a line from the Missouri River to San Francisco Bay, to the route contemplated, from the head of Lake Superior to the shores of Puget Sound. He gained the friendship and support of the powerful Thaddeus Stevens, of Pennsylvania, and on July 2, 1864, President Lincoln signed the Northern Pacific bill. It provided for a land grant of twenty sections per mile of track in the states of Minnesota and Oregon and forty in the territories. But it was expressly stated that "no money should be drawn from the treasury of the United States to aid in the construction of said Northern Pacific railroad." The bill also provided that after 10 per cent of the required $2,000,000 in subscriptions should be paid in, an organization of the company should be effected. Mr. Perham, who was elected its first president, died in 1868, and was followed as chief executive by J. Gregory Smith. Largely through him, 560 HISTORY OF MONTANA the famous Jay Cooke & Company, of New York, were induced to finance the enterprise and actual construction was begun in 1870, near Duluth, Minnesota. It had proceeded as far westward as Bismarck, North Dakota, and as far eastward as New Tacoma, a small town on the Pacific coast, when the panic of 1873 ruined Jay Cooke & Company. In 1875, the Northern Pacific Railroad Company went into the hands of a receiver and was quiescent for six years. It was reorganized on June 24, 1881, under the leadership of Henry Villard, who became its president. The interrupted work of construction was resumed and pushed to completion. Finally, on September 8, 1883, the golden spike, which marked the meeting of the eastern and western units, near Garrison, was driven by President Villard himself. It was also near the locality where had met the advance parties of Governor Stevens's exploring and sur- veying expedition of 1853 one having come from St. Paul, Minnesota, and the other from Puget Sound and the Columbia River. The central administrative and executive offices of the Northern Pacific Railway, as it is now incorporated, are in St. Paul. Tacoma is its western terminus. With the Great Northern Railway Company, it also owns a half interest in the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy road in Montana, which projects for a few miles into the state from the south. The Northern Pacific follows the valley of the Yellowstone and the headwaters of the Missouri and the Columbia to the mountain ranges and valleys of Western Montana. It throws out spurs north, south and west, accommodating all the larger towns of the state, and it emerges into Idaho through the valleys of Clark's Fork of the Columbia. THE GREAT NORTHERN RAILWAY The trunk line of this system may be said to pass through more north- ern and less developed sections of Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Washington and Oregon than the Northern Pacific. It sends down spurs into both Dakotas, and into the central and western parts of Mon- tana to Great Falls, Lewistown, Billings and Butte. Among the stations and large towns along the trunk line in Northern Montana are Glasgow and Havre and the railroad bounds the Glacier National Park on the south. Branches from the Great Northern also run to Winnipeg, Por- tage, Brandon and other points in Manitoba, Canada. In fact, the system is a development of various roads projected from St. Paul, Duluth and Manitoba to the Pacific coast by men whose vision was broader than their means, and which were assumed by those who had both the vision and the means. At the head and front of these practical seers was the late James J. Hill, the railroad king of northern United States and of the dominion of Canada. Fortunately for this history, Mr. Hill told the story of the origin and growth of the Great Northern in July, 1912, at the time of his resignation from the chairmanship of the board of directors of that road. The por- tions of his address which are so succinct and apropos that for purposes of conveying the desired information it would be impossible to improve upon them are as follows : HISTORY OF MONTANA 561 "Nearly forty years ago the thought of a possible railway enterprise in the Northwest began to occupy my mind. It was born of experience in Northwestern transportation problems that had occupied - most of my early business life, of faith in the productive powers and material re- sources of this part of the country, and of railroad conditions at that time. The feverish activity in securing railroad concessions in land and cash that marked the sixth decade of the* last century had been followed by collapse. Doomed as these enterprises were to ultimate failure by their lack of commercial foundation and financial soundness, they were sud- denly wrecked by the panic of 1873. Aside from the Northern Pacific property, the lines in the State of Minnesota most important and available if converted into real assets for the development of the Northwest were the fragments of the old St. Paul & Pacific Company. Following the panic of 1873 these were in the hands of a receiver. The holders of their securities in Holland were more anxious to recover what they could from the wreck than to put more money into its completion and improvements that must be made if the properties were to continue to be operated at all. Their value lay to some extent in what was left of a land grant, which would be valuable as soon as the country should be opened, but chiefly in the possibilities of traffic from the millions of productive acres in the Northwest to be opened to' settlement by transportation facilities. Yet so great seemed the task and so uncertain the reward, in the general opinion, that any plan of acquiring and reorganizing the property was regarded as visionary in those days by most holders of capital and most men of affairs. "After long and close study of the situation the slender beginning was made on which we risked our all. Failure would be immediate and final disaster. My associates were George Stephen, now Lord Mount Stephen, Donald A. Smith, now Lord Strathcona, and Norman W. Kittson. We bought the defaulted bonds of these properties from the Dutch holders. The agreement with the Dutch committee was executed March 13, 1878, and practically all outstanding indebtedness was subsequently secured. The mortgages were afterwards foreclosed and the property was bought in. For those days it seemed a formidable financial undertaking. The stock of these companies aggregated $6,500,000, and their bonded indebtedness with past due interest nearly $33,000,000, aside from floating obligations. These had to be purchased at prices above those for which they had pre- viously been offered in the open market. The total capitalization and in- debtedness at that time of the companies taken over was approximately $44,000,000. "The property secured consisted of completed lines from St. Paul, via St. Anthony to Melrose, a distance of 104 miles, and from Minneapolis to Breckenridge, a distance of 207 miles; and of two projected lines, one from Sauk Rapids to Brainerd and one from Melrose to the Red River at St. Vincent on the international boundary line. On these latter some grading had been done, and about seventy-five miles of track had been laid. There were gaps between Melrose and Barnesville, Crookston and St. Vin- cent, that must be filled quickly. In themselves, had it not been for the promise of the future, these were scattered tracks in a country just Vol. 136 562 HISTORY OF MONTANA being settled, out of which to construct a railway system and on which to base the financing of their purchase and development. "We advanced the money to build the Red River Valley Railroad, fourteen miles of track from Crookston to Fisher's Landing, on the Red River, making a through route by steamboat from that point to Winnipeg. While negotiations were pending and also after they were concluded but before possession could be secured through the foreclosure of mortgages, an immense amount of work had been done. The extension from Melrose to Barnesville must be pushed, and was carried thirty-three miles as far as Alexandria ; and ninety miles were built in the Red River Valley to reach the Canadian boundary. The former was necessary to save the land grant, whose time limit, already extended, was about to expire. The latter was in addition to connect with a railroad projected by the Canadian govern- ment from Winnipeg south. As the properties were still in the hands of a receiver, an order had to be obtained from the court for the completion of the work in Minnesota with funds furnished us. Money had to be raised to build these lines and to furnish equipment necessary for their operation. "In May, 1879, the St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba Railway Com- pany was organized to take over all these properties, whose bonds had been largely purchased, whose stocks had been- secured and whose assets were to be bought in under foreclosure. It had an authorized capital stock of $15,000,000, limited by its charter to $20,000,000, and made two mortgages of $8,000,000 each. George Stephen was made first President of the Company, Richard B. Angus, Vice President, and I was chosen General Manager. This placed upon me the practical conduct of the enterprise from its formal inception. "The lines of the new system turned over to our possession on June 2 3 !879, comprised a mileage of 667 miles, of which 565 were completed and 1 02 under construction. From the beginning its business fulfilled the expectations of its founders. The annual report for 1880 showed an in- crease in earning of 54 per cent, and land sales amounting to $1,200,000. And now began the long task of building up the country. No sooner was a mile of road finished than the need of building other miles became appar- ent. Before Minnesota had filled up the tide of immigration was passing even the famous Red River Valley country and flowing into Dakota. By 1880 it had become necessary to add a line down the Dakota side of the Red River, to plan for many extensions and branches, and two local companies, building lines in western Minnesota were purchased. "Only a detailed history of the railroad could follow step by step the progress of track extension and the financial arrangements by which capital was furnished for these constant and always growing demands from this time on. In a brief review such as this, I can call attention only to what may fairly be called points of historic interest in the growth of what is now the Great Northern System. One of these was the provision of an eastern outlet by way of the Great Lakes. An interest was obtained in the St. Paul & Duluth Railroad Company in 1881. This, with the build- ing of the link from St. Cloud to Hinckley, gave the necessary access to HISTORY OF MONTANA 563 the Great Lakes, until the organization of the Eastern Minnesota in 1887 as a subsidiary company furnished a permanent outlet and terminale. I was made Vice President of the Company, November i, 1881, and on August 21, 1882, succeeded to the Presidency, a position whose duties I was to discharge for a quarter of a century. Mr. John S. Kennedy, who had joined our part after the organization of the Company, was elected Vice President. At no time have I accepted any salary for my services as President or Chairman of the Board of Directors, since I have felt that I was sufficiently compensated by the increase in the value of the property in which my interest has always been large. "Business now grew more and more rapidly, the Northern Pacific was about completed and the Canadian Pacific was building toward the Coast. The St. Paul and Pacific Railroad was originally, as its name implied, intended as a transcontinental line. The route to be traversed was rich in fertile soils and abundance of mineral and forest resources. Quite as important, perhaps, was the fact that it admitted of the construction of a line with grades so low and curves so moderate as to make possible cheaper overland carriage than had ever been previously considered. Mon- tana was beginning a large development of her own ; while the active growth of the North Pacific Coast, though only in embryo, could be foreseen. In 1887 the lines of the Manitoba were extended to a connection with the Montana Central. This latter company had been incorporated early in January, 1886. Realizing the importance of occupying a field in Montana which was essential to the future transcontinental line, valuable in itself and one which others were already preparing to secure, we had, with some friends, organized the company under the laws of Montana. Work was begun at once, the surveys being made in the coldest winter weather. Construction was rushed. The track was completed to Helena in 1887 and to Butte by the middle of 1888. A branch to Sand Coulee opened up the coal mines of that region, furnishing fuel for use on the Montana and Dakota divisions of the line, and for the development of the mining inter- ests in Montana which had been obliged up to that time to bring in their coal from Wyoming. The work of extending the Manitoba line to connect with the Montana Central launched this Company upon the most active period of construction ever known in this country. "Five hundred continuous miles were graded between April and Sep- tember, 1887, and by November 18, 643 miles of track had been laid, an average rate of construction of 3^4 miles for each working day. The annual report for that year said: The new mileage under construction within the period covered by the fiscal year ending June 30 and the residue of the calendar year 1887 * * * amounts to the relatively large quan- tity of 1,443.97 miles, or 95.5 per cent of the mileage under operation at the beginning of the same fiscal year. But this activity on the main line to the West was only one item in the extension program. In the years be- tween 1882 and 1888 the stone arch bridge and terminals in Minneapolis were completed; the Dakota line down the Red River was finished to a connection with the Canadian Pacific ; the Casselton branch was purchased ; a line was built from Willmar to Sioux Falls; and afterwards extended RAILROADS OVER THE MONTANA MOUNTAINS HISTORY OF MONTANA 565 to Yankton; some railroads in South Dakota were bought; the Montana was taken over at cost, and an elevator and large terminals at West Su- perior were arranged for. In 1889 the line to Duluth and West Superior was completed, giving terminals and dock accommodations which today are not surpassed anywhere in the country. The total mileage operated had now increased to 3,030 miles. The Company had also begun to operate its own steamships, through the Northern Steamship Company, on the Great Lakes. These boats, which began to run in 1888 and 1890, not only afforded greater dispatch in the carriage of grain and flour from the head of the lakes to Buffalo and other lake ports, but they made the railroad independent of other lake lines. It was thus enabled to protect its patrons, and to prevent its reduction in rates from being absorbed by increase made by lines east of its lake terminals. "In 1889 the Great Northern Railway Company was organized, to bind into a compact whole the various properties that had grown too large for the charter limitations of the old Manitoba. It leased all the property of the latter company, and was prepared to finance the undertakings about to be completed or in contemplation. By 1893 the line was opened through to Puget Sound. In the next five or six years many improve- ments were made by relaying track with heavier rails and by changes in equipment and large additions thereto. Branches and feeders were built to round out the system. In 1897 a more direct line from the head of the lakes to the West was created by purchase and construction that com- pleted a road across northern Minnesota to a connection with the main line. The taking over of the Seattle & Montana which, like the Montana Central, had been built by us to assure adequate terminals on the Pacific Coast and to enable construction to go forward from both ends of the line at once, extended the system from both Seattle to Vancouver, British Columbia. In 1889 it had entered the ore producing regions of northern Minnesota that was to give it a large addition to its traffic. "Just as in the building of the Montana Central and the Seattle & Montana, it was necessary to know thoroughly the country in advance of railroad construction and to act upon that knowledge, so these ore lands in northern Minnesota had to be examined; and some of them it seemed desirable to acquire, with a view of the effect upon the future of the Com" pany's business. In January, 1899, I purchased the Wright & Davis prop- erty, consisting of a line of railroad, some logging road and -a large quantity of ore lands. The purchase for $4,050,000 was made by me in- dividually. My purpose was to secure the shipments of ore from these properties for the Great Northern ; and the profits from the mines, if there were any profits, for the stockholders of the Company. The railroad was turned over to the Great Northern at cost. The ore property was trans- ferred at cost to the Lake Superior Company, Limited, organized October 20, 1900, to hold in trust, together with other ore interests acquired later. A trust to administer the Great Northern ore properties was formed December 7, 1906, under resolutions adopted by the Great Northern Com- pany. This trust took over the ore interests acquired by me, additional ore lands subsequently secured and other properties. It issued against them 566 . HISTORY OF MONTANA 1,500,000 shares of certificates of beneficial interest, which were distributed, share for share, to holders of Great Northern stock at the time. The stockholders were thus put in possession of all the benefits accruing from the whole transaction. At the end of the last fiscal year the trustees had distributed a total of $7,500,000 to the certificate holders \; while the future value of the properties so covered, owing to the quality and accessibility of the ore and the demand of the iron industry for new supplies of raw material, must be very large. "In 1901 the Company decided to open negotiations for the joint purchase of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy System by the Great North- ern and the Northern Pacific. These were carried to a successful com- pletion by the issue of joint collateral trust bonds to the amount of $214,- 154,000, secured by the stock of the company acquired. Time has con- firmed the wisdom of this act, by which through traffic arrangements have been simplified, and the public has gained much by the drawing together of markets and the quick and cheap distribution of products between Chicago, St. Louis and the Pacific Coast. "It was planned through the formation of the Northern Securities Company, to form a holding concern for the control of these three great properties. The purpose was to prevent a dispersion of securities that might follow where large amounts were held by men well advanced in years and so to secure the properties against speculative raids by interests at best not directly concerned in the progress of the country served by these lines. This was declared illegal, under the Sherman anti-trust law by a divided court, upon suit by the United States government, and the Northern Securities Company was dissolved. "In 1907 the subsidiary companies controlled by the Great Northern including fourteen railway companies operated as a part of it, were pur- chased and incorporated into the Great Northern System, making of these related parts one homogeneous whole. In the same year I resigned the Presidency of the System and became Chairman of the Board of Directors, the office that I lay down today. The work of extension and improve- ment has gone forward steadily. By the construction of the Spokane, Portland & Seattle line, along the north bank of the Columbia River, the Great Northern and the Northern Pacific obtained jointly entry over their own tracks into Portland. Lines are now being constructed through eastern Oregon that will open up a large productive country. In 1909 the Burlington obtained control of the Colorado & Southern; so that the Great Northern covers directly from Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis, Duluth and Superior in the east, of Puget Sound and Portland on the west, and from Galveston to Vancouver, British Columbia. The Great Northern System has grown from less than 400 miles of the original purchase to 7,407 miles." THE CHICAGO, MILWAUKEE & ST. PAUL RAILWAY The Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul was the last of the transcontinental lines to traverse Montana. It was built through the state under the cor- 567 porate name of the Chicago, Milwaukee & Puget Sound Railway Com- pany, a Montana corporation, and upon its virtual completion transferred the road and corporate property to the parent company. Amply financed and with the advantage of transportation facilities furnished by the older railroads of the state, its construction was rendered easy. The "St. Paul" is naturally a competitor of the Northern Pacific and the Great Northern, and passes substantially east and west through the central part of the state on a line with Miles City and Missoula. It takes a loop in the western part of the state in order to accommodate Butte and Anaconda, and has branches in northern Montana which include Lewis- town, Great Falls and lesser places. ELECTRIFICATION OF RAILROADS The great feature of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway is electrification of its line in the mountainous country of central and western RAILROAD ELECTRIFICATION IN WESTERN MONTANA Montana, which has been progressing for the past seven or eight years and now embraces 440 continuous miles from Harlowton, Wheathead County, to Avery, Idaho, just over the Montana line. Beginning at Harlowton, over 4,000 feet above sea level, where the mountain grades begin, the line gradually rises to Summit, Gallatin County, the ridge of the Belt Mountains, at an altitude of 5,700 feet. Then downward the line takes its course to Barren, Broadwater County, 3,900 feet above sea level, only to begin another climb up the main range of the Rocky Mountains to Donald, Silver Bow County, with its altitude of 6,300 feet. Thence the course of the road is down to St. Regis, Mineral County, only 2,700 feet in altitude. From that point the ascent over the Bitter Root Mountains begins, through what is known as East Portal, and at Roland, just within the state line, the elevation above sea level is about 4,100 feet. Thence, the railroad descends to Avery, Idaho, a short distance beyond, and there, 568 HISTORY OF MONTANA at an elevation of 2,500 feet the continuous electrification of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul terminates. The power productive of the electricity is generated from plants at Great Falls, near Helena, on the Madison River, at Big Hole (near Butte) and at Thompson Falls, near the western border of the state. The pronounced success in the electrification of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul line, spurred the Great Northern and the Northern Pacific to activity, and in January, 1921, the daily press made announcement of some of their plans in this regard. It was said that these two systems would obtain power from Flathead Lake and Kootenai River, and that the Great Northern would commence electrification in a few months. It was planned that the Northern Pacific would obtain power by building a dam at the outlet of Flathead Lake, which was to be constructed by the Rocky Mountain Power Company, a subsidiary of the Montana Power Company, which had secured that privilege of the Government under the water power leasing bill. The Rocky Mountain Power Company had filed its applica- tion for the lease, June 18, 1920. Another application was also on file from the Montana Water Power and Electric Company, of Portland, Oregon. The plan is further, that the Flathead Lake dam shall supply water for an enterprise known as the Columbia River basin project. The level of the lake is to be raised about ten feet and the water stored and released to the Flathead River through a canal and finally stored in Pend d'Oreille Lake, Idaho, directly west of Flathead Lake. Ultimately the Columbia River project is expected to irrigate 1,750,000 acres of land. The Flathead dam is planned to generate about 250,000 horse power and the Great Falls plant about the same, for the electrification of the Great Northern and the Northern Pacific lines. The latter also has avail- able power from a Missouri River dam, with Helena as the most con- venient point from which to draw. The Great Northern has a number of available sites for power plants along its main line in the Kootenai River Valley. In fact, it seems probable that within a few years, all the rail- roads of Western Montana will be using electricity as their motive power, its rivers with their sources in the mountain heights being particularly favored for such purposes. MINOR RAILROADS The Burlington route, in Montana, which since about 1902 has been jointly controlled by the Great Northern and the Northern Pacific, loops into the state from the south, having Billings as its northern and central point. Just west of Billings is the junction of the roads. The Butte, Anaconda & Pacific Railway Company has been organized within recent years and a line constructed between Butte and Anaconda to transport the ores from the Butte mines to the Washoe smelter at Ana- conda, and, in turn, to haul timber and mining supplies to the mines. Other short lines in operation are the Montana Western, Billings & Central Montana, Montana, Wyoming & Southern and the White Sulphur Springs & Yellowstone Park. HISTORY OF MONTANA 569 DEVELOPMENT OF PUBLIC HIGHWAYS For a number of years Montana has held the record of having the best natural earth roads in the West, and for a decade or more the older counties in the central and western portions of the state have been prose- cuting systematic road programs. Specially excellent, as a result of this work in the interest of good roads, are the public highways of Silver Bow, Lewis and Clark, Deer Lodge, Powell, Cascade and Fergus counties. It is only since 1913, however, that this work has been co-ordinated, and that the state has participated as a unit in highway improvement in co-operation with the Federal Government. THE STATE HIGHWAY COMMISSION In that year was established Montana's first State Highway Commis- sion, and in 1917-18 that body assumed, by legislative enactment, its present form. The commission consists of twelve men appointed from different districts throughout the state, the counties embraced in each district hav- ing been segregated in the original act creating the commission. The commissioners are appointed by the governor for a four-year term. The terms of three commissioners expire each year and not more than six commissioners may belong to the same political party. This commission is required to meet semi-annually on the first Mondays of May and Novem- ber. The members of the commission acting solely as such receive no compensation for their services but receive only actual expenses incurred in the performance of their duties. The State Highway Commission is required by law to elect from its membership an executive committee of three, one of whom shall be designated as president of the commission and of the executive committee. The committee is empowered to make regulations for the actual conduct of its work and business and all contracts are executed by the executive committee. For slightly less than one year after the organization of this commission in 1917 the activities of the department were divided between a highway engineer and a bridge engineer, both reporting to the executive committee as a whole. The lack of centralized authority in a single execu- tive officer led to confusion and uncertainty; so that in the spring of 1918 the committee created the office of chief engineer and designated such in- dividual as the responsible executive officer of the department. Briefly then the plan of organization of the present cohimission is as follows : ( i ) a representative and advisory body of twelve men, which selects from its membership (2) an executive committee or board of directors of three men, which in turn selects (3) an executive officer or manager known as the chief engineer who is responsible to the committee for all the operations of the department and to whom all employes report. The general or broad policies are determined by the entire commission at the semi-annual meetings and by the executive committee to meet con- tingencies during the interim. The operations of the department are conducted under the general 570 HISTORY OF MONTANA direction of the chief engineer acting as executive officer for the com- mission and assisted by the headquarters staff at Helena. Immediate responsibility for all highway construction, however, is imposed in district engineers located at Helena, Great Falls and Billings. The handling of work through district offices was decided upon during the 1919 construction season in order that representatives of the depart- ment might be brought into closer touch with local officials and conditions and to avoid excessive travel expense which in a state as large as Montana represents an annual expenditure of considerable proportions. The execu- tive committee originally divided the state into four construction districts only three of which those at Helena, Great Falls and Billings have been operative. The district office designated for location at Glasgow has never been opened because of the temporary inability of certain counties to finance contemplated projects and the consequent inactivity in that imme- diate vicinity. The work of the Glasgow district has been conducted from the Great Falls office. The plan of conducting the operations of the department through district offices is a practice common to the organization of state highway departments in those states which have most successfully participated in the highway development of the state. Particularly is such a plan applicable to Montana where large areas and diversified conditions render it particu- larly desirable that the department be localized as much as possible. Under the new scheme of county and state co-ordination, and close co-operation between the state and federal governments, the state will look after the main highways and the counties will devote most of their atten- tion to the branch highways. Although three transcontinental highways traverse Montana and the state highways are all substantially constructed, the commission has steadfastly kept in mind that the development of the public road system of Montana should be pursued, primarily, in the inter- ests of the farmer, the tradesman, the resident citizen and his family, rather than for the benefit of the tourist. TRANSCONTINENTAL HIGHWAYS The transcontinental highways which enable the traveler to enjoy the grandeurs and beauties of the state, and to take advantage of the lawful privileges of the sportsman, are (i) the Roosevelt Memorial, or Glacier Park to St. Paul Highway, which follows the main line of the Great Northern Railroad and is painted red; (2) the Yellowstone Trail, from Aberdeen, South Dakota, which enters the state along the line of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway, and (3) the Red Trail from Fargo, North Dakota, which comes into Montana near the line of the Northern Pacific. Yellow and red are their respective colors. They unite in Montana at Terry, Prairie County, whence they follow these railroads to Forsyth, Rosebud County; then follow the Northern Pacific to Livingston, Park County, where they intersect the Eastern Park to Park Highway leading to Yellowstone Park. The Yellowstone Trail con- tinues westward from Livingston to Butte and Missoula, and on into HISTORY OF MONTANA 571 Idaho, to Spokane and the Pacific coast. It is often called the National Parks Highway. Another automobile road enters Montana from the southeast, from Deadwood, South Dakota, and connects with the Yellowstone Trail at Miles City. One also enters from Wyoming, along the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, and intersects the Yellowstone Trail at Billings. Branches of the National Park-to-Park Highway enter the state from the southwest through Idaho, one from Pocatello and the other from Salt Lake City. Both intersect the central route of the Park-to-Park Highway leading to GOVERNMENT ROAD THROUGH JEFFERSON NATIONAL FOREST Yellowstone Park, to points east and west, and with branches northward to Glacier Park. LAST REPORT OF STATE HIGHWAY COMMISSION The biennial report of the State Highway Commission for 1919-20 is well charged with information enlightening to an understanding of the close relations between the federal and state governments along the line of the good roads movements which have swept the country within the past decade. At times, Uncle Sam seems to have furnished most of the funds used in such -enterprises. Under the provisions of federal laws enacted in 1919 and 1920 the national Government allotted to the state various road building equipment which amounted to $1,973,054.57. It included trucks to the value of over $1,400,000, and touring cars, Ford ambulances, "caterpillars," wagons and spare parts of wagons, trucks, etc. To place this equipment in working order and to provide for the handling of like equipment which might be received in the future, a repair shop was built on the state ranch at Deer Lodge, which also served as a receiv- ing and distributing station. 572 HISTORY OF MONTANA FUNCTION OF HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT The function of a state highway department, as generally interpreted, includes among other things the actual construction of highways and bridge improvements. Such improvement projects as have been undertaken by the State Highway Commission fall into three separate classifications, namely: (i) Federal Aid Projects or those constructed with the aid of funds made available under the provisions of the Federal Aid Road Act; (2) state aid projects or those built with state and local funds and (3) county co-operative projects or those for which funds are provided entirely by the county or other local interest but for which plans and supervision are furnished by. the state. During the year 1919 some state aid work initiated in 1918 was com- pleted. Since that time, however, the efforts of this department have been confined almost exclusively to the prosecution of Federal Aid Projects. One noteworthy exception should be mentioned, namely, the Great Falls bridge projects, involving construction of two reinforced concrete arch bridges across the Missouri River at Great Falls. Funds for these projects were provided through the sale of Cascade County bridge bonds and the improvements were designed and constructed under the direction and supervision of this department. These' structures not only represent the most extensive county co-operative project undertaken by this department but they represent also two of the largest, most expensive and most mag- nificent concrete highway structures to be found in the Northwest. FEDERAL AID As has been intimated, practically all of the highway and bridge im- provements accomplished by the department during the past two years have been made possible by virtue of the operation of the Federal Aid Road Act previously referred to. This act contemplates the financial participation of the federal government in worthy road and bridge projects to the extent of the total allotment to the state. The co-operation in each project may not exceed 50 per cent of the cost of the improvement nor $20,000 per mile of highway. All Federal Aid Projects are constructed under the direct supervision of the State Highway Department but are also subject to inspection and approval by the secretary of agriculture or his duly authorized representative. The original Federal Aid Road Act as approved July n, 1916, pro- vided a federal allotment of $1,494,916.85 for Montana highways. This act was amended in 1919 and an additional appropriation made whereby Montana was allotted an additional sum of $4,003,910.46. The total amount of federal aid available for Montana road and bridge projects is therefore $5,498,827.31. This money is available for expenditure and must be obligated by the state by years. WORK CONTRACTED DURING 1920 During the single year of 1920, and until November 3Oth, the commis- sion placed under construction agreement seventy-two Federal Aid Projects. GOOD ROADS IN WESTERN MONTANA 574 HISTORY OF MONTANA in thirty-four counties, representing 563.39 miles of road and twenty- seven bridges at a total contract price, exclusive of the usual allowance of 10 per cent for contingencies, of $5,315,371.68. The road improve- ments include the following: Earth or roadside material grading projects, 177.66 miles; gravel and macadam surfacing projects, 354.98 miles; bituminous concrete pavement (concrete base), 1.37 miles; Portland cement concrete pavement, 29.38 miles. Of the above, forty in twenty-three counties were let by contract to road and bridge contractors ; thirty-two projects in twenty counties were let to counties by agreement whereby the counties undertook to build the improvement by day labor for the state at the estimated cost. All con- tracts were awarded with the approval of the interested Board of County Commissioners, both as to type and price. Prior to 1920 the department had contracted twenty projects in fifteen counties, representing 98.05 miles of road and four bridges at a total con- tract price of $907,317.14, exclusive of the 10 per cent item. These road improvements include the following: Earth or roadside material grading projects, 16.06 miles; gravel and macadam surfacing projects, 81.99 m iles. The total mileage of Federal Aid highways contracted to date is 661.44, and the total contract price is $6,222,688.82. Federal aid projects are under construction at present in thirty Mon- tana counties. The counties, the number of projects, the total mileage, and the total cost, are as follows. Big Horn, one, 2.02 miles, $12,532.46. Blaine, five road and bridge, 27.44 miles, $250,019.27. Broadwater, two road and bridge, 3.4 miles, $116,222.77. Carbon, three, 20.28 miles, $216,522.64. Cascade, four, 51.25 miles, $475,527.70. Custer, one, 3.99 miles, $22,015.47. Dawson, two, 16.5 miles, $45,991. Deer Lodge, one, 9.4 miles, $333,465.28. Fer- gus, three, 15.84 miles, $220,019.14. Flathead, two, 6.59 miles, $51,569.83. Gallatin, four, 13.59 miles, $354,241.86. Granite, one, 7.8 miles, $147,- 160.99. Hill, one, 7.96 miles, $100,381.65. Jefferson, one, .7 of a mile, $31,962.68. Lewis and Clark, one, 9.08 miles, $126,001.38. Madison, one, 5.52 miles, $22,984.18. Meagher, three, 44.15 miles, $289,945.95. Mis- soula, two, 20.886 miles, $100,607.38. Musselshell, two, 4.21 miles, $96,- 118.46. Park, two, 4.25 miles, $81,156.35. Ravalli, two, 4.67 miles, $45,- 966.70. Rosebud, two, 8.18 miles, $62,419.21. Silver Bow, one, 9.11 miles, $335,877.10. Stillwater, one, 5.22 miles, $108,595.95. Sweet Grass, one, 105 feet, $16,586. Teton, one, 21.72 miles, $195,258.45. Toole, one, 27.7 miles, $136,458.17. Valley, one, 1.89 miles, $16,717.71. Wibaux, four, 26.18 miles, $129,523.06. Yellowstone, four, 34.7 miles, $535,267.67. Total mileage, 431.28. Aggregate contracts, $4,776,117.45. STATE HIGHWAY SYSTEM Under the administrative policy of the federal government federal funds for highway improvement are restricted to those highways designated as state highways. The state highway map indicates the inter-county seat system of state highways adopted by the State Highway Commission HISTORY OF MONTANA 575 in May, 1920. This system comprises approximately 7,700 miles and pro- vides for connecting all county seats within the state. It will readily be seen that these inter-county highways serve not only the thickly populated and industrial districts of the state but the agricultural areas as well. A study of the inter-county system of highways referred to above will disclose the fact that, from the standpoint of the state as a unit, some of these routes are of more importance than others. The federal government has asked that federal aid projects in Montana be confined to a primary system of approximately 3,500 miles. This primary system will include such routes as the Roosevelt Highway, traversing the state from east to west along the line of the Great Northern Railway on the north ; the Yel- lowstone Trail and the Red Trail, crossing the state along the south; the main route connecting Yellowstone and Glacier Parks; and a few other roads of equal importance to the state. The state and federal government have not reached an agreement relative to this matter but it is believed that federal aid projects initiated in the future must be restricted to a smaller mileage of state highways than that included in the inter-county system referred to. VALUE OF CONSTRUCTION The total value of construction accomplished during 1920, to Novem- ber 30, segregated as to kind of work, is as follows: (a) Grading and gravel projects, $2,003,418.80; (b) paving projects, $789,467.59; (c) bridge projects, $147,804.43; (d) total all projects, $2,940,690.82. Total construction engineering charges were, respectively, (a) $129,428.83 ; (b) $27,865.09; (c) $6,809.77; and (d) $164,103.69. MOTOR VEHICLES REGISTERED The total number of motor vehicles registered in Montana during 1920 to date of December 27th is 60,646. The total receipts from motor vehicle license fees for the same period amounts to $415,358.50. The average license fee, therefore, is slightly less than $6.85. The committee recom- mends that this fee be increased to provide for the use of this department a revolving fund of not less than $500,000, together with a maintenance fund of $100,000 for 1921 and $200,000 for 1922. REVENUES AND EXPENDITURES The total revenues of the State Highway Commission for the year 1920 amounted to $2,259,290.69, the sources of which were : auto licenses, $351,395.50; federal aid construction work, $1,637,810.30; federal equip- ment rentals and miscellaneous, $1,129.10. The expenditures were as follows : Administrative and general overhead, $97,007.05 ; highways and bridges, $1,910,173.45; outlay, including federal equipment, $226,167.62; equipment maintenance and supplies, $10,436.88; handling federal equip- ment, $22,937.98; stores, $26,541.39. Total expenditures, $2,293,264.37. 576 HISTORY OF MONTANA The bridge division of the highway commission accounts for a large proportion of the funds expended. Estimates for the structures designed by the division for the year December, 1919, to November, 1920, inclusive, amounted to $800,000. The most important of these projects were the Kootenai River bridge near Leonia, Idaho, which is designed to open up a national timber forest of 30,000 acres and greatly improve the prospects of homesteaders in Lincoln County, Montana, and two bridges over the Missouri River at Great Falls, which involve an expenditure of nearly $500,000, and were completed in 1920. The Tenth Street bridge was 1,130 feet long, and consisted of eight spans. The north approach was built by Cascade County as a part of the federal aid project between Great Falls and Havre, and the south approach was built by the city. COOPERATION IN ROAD BUILDING Illustrations are plentiful showing the desire of the county, state and federal officials to cooperate in the work of public road building in Mon- tana. For instance, in March, 1919, there was held in Helena a Road School of Instruction for selected employes of the commission and in- terested county officials. The school, which continued in session for three days, was conducted for the purpose of familiarizing the employes with the specifications under which construction operations are carried on and to acquaint them with the requirements of the Federal Bureau of Public Roads. The subjects discussed and explained related exclusively to those practical problems which are daily encountered in the construction of serviceable highways. It is planned to conduct a similar school each year. The executive committee of the State Highway Commission also estab- lished the principle that state and county officials and contractors engaged in prosecuting the road program of the state should meet in annual con- ference. The first of such conferences was held in Helena, March i, 1920, and the second, at the same place, in December following. "At these meetings," says the report, "the state's specifications are freely and frankly discussed by the officials charged with the supervision of construction, on the one hand, and by the contractors and others engaged in the actual building of the improvements, on the other. The purpose is to keep the specifications practical and workable and free from unnecessary and in- consequential refinements and impractical features. It is agreed that this practice is certain to be beneficial to all interests involved and most cer- tainly will result in ultimate economy to the state." CHAPTER XXIV CONSERVATION OF LANDS The lands in Montana are in the ownership of individuals, the Northern Pacific Railroad, the state and the government of the United States. Their protection from short-sighted practices and policies of abuse and waste, by the setting aside of forest preserves and the enactment of appropriate legislation, the extension of the agricultural area of the state through the drainage of lowlands and the reclamation of arid tracts by means of irrigation, are all wise steps which have been taken by Montana, in co- operation with the federal government, to conserve the treasure of her lands which shall eventually prove of more value to her and her people than the precious and the useful metals which for many years were at the base of her prosperity. THE PUBLIC LANDS OF MONTANA *Of the 30,000,000 acres of land in Montana classed as agricultural approximately 7,000,000 acres of public lands are open to filing, most of which are grazing lands; and of the total "agricultural" acreage only 4,328,000 acres are actually devoted to farm crops. Most of the best lands have been taken up by private owners, although millions of acres hitherto considered poor or worthless are being reclaimed and made productive through irrigation or drainage. The State of Montana is the largest land owner in the commonwealth, possessing as it does 4,349,570 acres, of which 3,228,308 were leased at the rate of 31 cents per acre for agricultural purposes and i2 l / 2 cents (average) for grazing. Much of the state land is included in the school sections, 16 and 36, or their equivalents. The state has also some land in the federal reclamation projects, which can be bought or leased. The State Board of Land Commissioners is custodian of all state lands, and, although there is usually an auction sale in each county every year, the fixing of the dates of such sales is discretionary with that body. The minimum purchase price is $10 per acre. Sales are made upon the basis of 15 per cent cash, the remainder of the purchase price to be paid in twenty annual installments with interest at 6 per cent. The limit of the acreage purchased by any individual or corporation is 160 acres classified as "agricultural and susceptible of irrigation," 320 acres of "agricultural land not susceptible of irrigation," and 640 acres of grazing land. Lessees, of state lands are obliged to pay annually $50 to $120 per section for graz- ing, and from $200 to $400 for agricultural purposes, the state land agent fixing the price. *See Year Book of United States Department of Agriculture for 1920 and "Re- sources of Montana," official state publication for the same year. 577 578 HISTORY OF MONTANA Nearly every year also there are sales of land on the Indian reserva- tions, belonging to deceased or non-competent Indians, the appraised price of the tract being the minimum bid accepted. Many of these tracts are irrigated and desirable. THE STATE LANDS The register of state lands, who records the fiscal transactions of the Department of State Lands and Farm Loans, reports for the biennium ending December I, 1920, a falling off in the cash receipts from 1920, as compared with 1919, of $493,658; the totals were $1,770,070 and $2,263,- 728, respectively. He adds that the decrease "is entirely due to following the wise instructions of the State Land Board not to make any extensive offerings of state lands for sale during this year of uncertainty as to the financial position of stockman and farmer. All the income accounts show increases over last year totaling $81,993, while receipts from land sales show a decrease of $575,651, the net decrease as compared with 1919 being $493,658." For the biennial period 1919-20, the land sales totaled 182,319 acres for the sum of $2,850,303, or an average of over $15.50 per acre. For the same period, the receipts from timber stumpage amounted to $166,100 (about $38,000 more in 1920 than in 1919) ; all of which goes to swell the permanent land grant funds. Rentals of state lands, in 1919, amounted to $456,188 on 3,228,308 acres, as compared with $460,679 collected on 3,109,402, in 1920, or an average of 14.8 cents per acre, which is the highest average rental yet ob- tained. Part of this high average is due to the surface rental on oil and gas leases issued during 1920. At the end of that year, 551 oil leases were in force, covering 300,406 acres. As to oil and gas leases, the register comments : "In the absence of any legislation relating specially thereto, and the lack of any exclusive renewal privilege under existing laws, these state oil and gas leases are generally considered of questionable value, and consequently little if any actual prospecting or drilling upon state lands has occurred. If any ma- terial income is to accrue from the state's oil and gas rights, legislation should be had which will assure to the successful driller the extension of his lease necessary to reap the benefits of the risk taken and money spent in prospecting. Up to date (December i, 1920) no income has been de- rived from oil royalties." There were 1,121,261 acres of state land vacant and not leased at the end of 1919. This number had increased to 1,303,528 acres at the close of 1920, due partly to the prevailing poor agricultural conditions and partly to the large area of timber lands recently selected in Flathead County and not subject to lease under existing laws. STATUS OF LAND GRANT FUNDS One of the most valuable tables presented by the register is that show- ing the condition of the permanent land grant funds and how they are HISTORY OF MONTANA 579 invested. They now total $21,245,094, or an increase of $2,980,292 during the biennium. Of that amount $6,699,631 is invested in bonds and war- rants, $4,226,380 in farm loans (common school bonds), and $10,129,950 includes deferred payments on land contracts. To the total amounts in- vested is added $189,131 cash in the hands of the state treasurer to cover the item in the table, "total fund." With these comments, the table follows : Invested in Fund Bonds and Warrants Common School Warrants $ 717,772.79 Common School Bonds 3,847,393.36 Agricultural College Morrill 92,001.39 Agricultural College Bond 420,893.00 Deaf and Dumb Asylum 161,537.36 Capitol Building Interest and Sinking Fund School of Mines 449,050.97 State Normal School 455,735-00 State Reform School i39,779-8i State University 413,768.00 U. S. Aid Soldiers' Home 1,700.00 Total Invested Total Fund 517,779,258.07 $17,907,662.39 219,326.89 227,664.40 490,73846 494,091.18 231,681.82 233,267.00 265,364-71 695,491.18 576,23776 223,089.24 571,115.62 3,658.40 296,794-65 701,074.67 580,098.22 227,018.92 573,226.24 4,196.38 Totals $ 6,699,631.68 $21,055,962.15 $21,245,094.05 RECEIPTS FROM STATE LANDS (1896-1920) Following shows the receipts from state lands for the past twenty- five years, as given by the state register : Prior to 1896 $ 172,190.71 During 1896 &>i&5- 2 3 During 1897 101,755.98 During 1898 126,833.71 During 1899 200,195.20 During 1900 200,275.25 During 1901 293,335.75 During 1902 3 6 3>5&4- 6 3 During 1903 388,279.13 During 1904 389,812.60 During 1905 357>79-52 During 1906 651,352.62 During 1907 829,480.06 During 1908 805,105.35 During 1909 434,420.96 During 1910 826,836.01 During 1911 695,771.74 During 1912 1,306,892.75 During 1913 1,223,857.96 During 1914 1,122,205.27 580 HISTORY OF MONTANA During 1915 $1,219,602.97 During 1916 1,657,639.21 During 1917 1,812,812.29 During 1918 1,828,712.43 During 1919 2,263,728.95 During 1920 1,770,070.57 Total . $21,080,727.85 RENTALS OF STATE LANDS The following table shows the amounts received from rentals of state lands by years since 1896: Prior to 1896 $ 47,240.04 During 1896 27,134.77 During 1897 47,618.26 During 1898 75,063.06 During 1899 109,306.10 During 1900 144,383.76 During 1901 171,668.88 During 1962 194,639.36 During 1903 : 197,494.73 During 1904 190,623.77 During 1905 206,224.12 During 1906 209,956.66 During 1907 224,321.45 During 1908 234,933.71 During 1909 250,715.01 During 1910 259,837.06 During 1911 263,036.48 During 1912 282,894.26 During 1913 281,633.12 During 1914 302,681.47 During 1915 325,105.56 During 1916 391,897.70 During 1917 454,37343 During 1918 439,169.24 During 1919 456,188.59 During 1920 ' . . . 460,679.29 Total $6,248,819.88 At the close of the fiscal year 1920, the following amount of acres was under lease in each grant, producing a total rental of $460,679.29: Com- HISTORY OF MONTANA 581 mon school, 2,857,069.09 acres ; Agricultural College, 64,786.96 ; Deaf and Dumb Asylum, 27,067.76; capitol building, 44,443.67; School of Mines, 27,894.81; State Normal School, 44,515.29; State Reform School, 29,661.21; State University, 12,828.45; Soldiers Home, 1,115.61; general, 20. CONDITION OF FARM LOANS At the close of the year 1920, 2,131 farm loans were in force, amount- ing to $4,264,470. The funds available for investment now amount to only $112,230.06. IRRIGATION UNDER THE CAREY ACT As irrigation is the mother of the modern agricultural development of Montana, that subject calls for first mention. Individual farmers and scattered canal companies dug ditches here and there and demonstrated the advantages of dependable water until there was a general demand for widespread state movements and the establishment of a system of irri- gation for the benefit of lands already cultivated and for the reclamation of those which might be made productive. Not only Montana, but other states lying wholly or in part within the "arid land" area, called upon the general government for assistance. The result was the passage of the congressional measure, approved August 18, 1894, and known as the Carey Act. It provided that Montana and other states affected by the act should be given 1,000,000 acres from the public domain, if the state would re- claim this land by irrigation. Having accepted the conditions of the Carey Act in 1895, a board was appointed to carry out its provisions. It has since been known as the Carey Land Act Board and consists of the governor, secretary of state, attorney general and state engineer. At first the board undertook construction of irrigation work by direct state action, but from time to time the law has been amended so that state construction has been abandoned for the contract system common to the western states. The biennial report of the Carey Land Act Board for the years 1919-20, shows that up to November of the latter year the lands segre- gated by the general government in the thirteen different proj'ects under way in Montana amounted to 172,486.22 acres. The approved sales under the Billings, Big Timber and Valier projects totaled 81,256.94 acres; United States patents to the state under the same, 56,162.30 acres, and the patents issued to settlers covered 45,276.78 acres. The office of the state engineer to supervise the work of the Carey Land Act Board was created in 1903 and has been successively filled by John Wade, A. W. Mahon and C. S. Heidel. Under the Carey Act, the Billings project, at first under the supervi- sion of the Billings Land and Irrigation Company, was the first project completed. In its biennial report of 1919-20, the board states: "The closing of the biennial period of 1919 and 1920 marks the successful completion of the Billings Bench project, both the reclamation and settle- 582 HISTORY OF MONTANA ment of the lands segregated to the state in lists i and 7 having been practically consummated. The operation and maintenance of the project has been under the direction and management of the farmers themselves for the past two years, and a movement is now under way to make a sufficient showing and petition the Carey Land Act Board to relinquish control to the Water Users' Association." Since the commencement of the Billings project, the board has taken over the Big Timber, Valier, Teton, Flatwillow and Little Missouri projects. The Billings Bench (or plain Billings) project includes 13,223.54 acres lying northeast of the city, and 12,264.62 of that amount have been MONTANA IRRIGATION DITCH sold 9,876.39 having been patented by the state to settlers. The Billings Land and Irrigation Company, which first assumed the work, went into the hands of the Merchants Loan Company as trustee, which formed the Billings Bench Water Association to complete the enterprise. Lands within the scope of the project produce wheat, alfalfa, oats and sugar beets, and now bring as high as $300 per acre. The water supply is from the Yellowstone River. The irrigation system includes Rattlesnake Butte reservoir, 300 acres in area, and Holling Lake reservoir, 85 acres in area, with a main canal 45 miles long and main laterals of 103 miles. Within the bounds of the project are 39,010 acres, of which 23,591 are actually to be irrigated. Up to its completion, October 31, 1920, $504,000 had been expended on the project. HISTORY OF MONTANA 583 The Big Timber project embraces 11,299.16 acres of lands lying near the town by that name in Sweet Grass County, also in the Yellowstone Valley. It draws its water supply directly from Sweet Grass, Big Tim- ber and Otter creeks. The works of the project include an upper reser- voir 585 acres in area and a lower one of 768 acres, with five canals more than 53 miles long and main laterals of 52 miles. Within the bound- aries of the project, not yet completed, is an area of 30,599.16 acres, of which the Carey lands amount to 11,299.16, the remainder being acreage deeded by the construction organization, the Glass-Lindsay Land Com- pany. The total sales up to November 30, 1920, comprise 6,174.94 acres, while the total area patented to the state by the Department of the In- terior is 8,229.84 acres and the area patented by the settlers, 3,619.32. About 17,000 acres will be actually irrigated by the Big Timber project, the total expenditures of which up to November, 1920, amount to $1,000,000. The Valier project in Pondera County, near the town by that name in Northwestern Montana, derives its water supply from Birch Creek, a mountain stream flowing the year round from the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains into Maria's River. Wheat, oats, barley and alfalfa are raised within its scope. As the flow of the stream is not sufficient to take care of the project by direct flow, a dam and a reservoir were built to supplement the normal flow from both Birch and Dupuyer creeks. The Valier project embodies a total segregation of 85,380.14 acres of Carey Act land, of which 56,782 are irrigable. More than 62,000 acres of this amount have been sold, of which 43,443 acres are irrigable. During the past two years much work has been done toward the ultimate completion of the project. Many temporary structures have been replaced by more permanent ones of concrete. In 1919, the old outlet from Lake Francis into Canal C, which had been constructed some time in 1910, was partially torn out and a new outlet installed which has an increased capacity. The work of construction has been done by the Valier-Montana Land and Water Company. Besides the Birch Creek and Lake Francis reservoirs, the irrigating works comprise 474 miles of canals and laterals, and the Swift dam and affiliated structures. The latter has been built across Birch Creek canyon and is about 470 feet long and 160 feet high and 15 feet thick. The concrete lined spillway is 762 feet long. The total acreage within the boundaries of the proj- ect is 178,598.25, of which 85,258 acres are to be irrigated. The esti- mated cost of the project is $4,350,843.57, and the expenditures to No- vember 30, 1920, amounted to $4,275,843.57. The crop reports for the irrigated lands within the Valier project for the year 1919 show that of their cultivated area of 55,701 acres, the crops of which yielded $1,394,910 in value, the following were the larg- est items: The 32,128 acres of wheat which produced 306,016 bushels brought $841,544; 4,470 acres of alfalfa yielded 6,045 tons and sold for $181,350; flax, 4,612 acres, 24,040 bushels, $120,200; oats, 4,079 acres, 65,779 bushels, $65,779. 584 HISTORY OF MONTANA The Teton project situated in Pondera County lies between the Valier Carey project and the United States Reclamation Service Sun River project. It comprises an area of 34,206 acres, of which 17,725 acres of the segregation are still pending. The water supply is from the Teton River and Muddy and Blackleaf creeks. The Teton Co-operative Reser- voir Company has the work in hand, which involves an expenditure of $950,000; total expenditures up to June 30, 1920, $410,000. Ultimately, the works will comprise two reservoirs and the usual complement of in- take canal and main canals and laterals. Actual delivery of water to the Carey lands has not commenced (October, 1920). The concrete diversion dam and gates in the Teton River have been completed, while the intake canal from the Teton River diversion dam to the Bynum reservoir is delivering water but is not completed to its full capacity. The Bynum reservoir (much the larger of the two reservoirs) is com- pleted to an elevation 4,165 feet above sea level; elevation of 4,170 feet above sea level being the ultimate height of the completed structure. The reservoir is now delivering water to the full capacity of the canals for the irrigation of several thousand acres of land near Brady. The Flatwillow project, which embraces 7,768 acres of Carey Act lands and about 11,000 acres held by private parties, lies southeast of Lewistown, in Eastern Fergus County. The Fergus County Land and Irrigation Company contracted with the state for the reclamation of these lands, but its work was seriously handicapped by the financial and indus- trial disturbances caused by the World's war. However, investigation by the United States Reclamation Service reached the conclusion that the project is thoroughly practicable and in 1920 construction on the main distributing canal was resumed. The water for irrigation is drawn from Flatwillow Creek, a tributary of Musselshell River, which rises in the Big Snowy Mountains and flows eastwardly toward the parent stream through the southeast portions of Fergus County. When completed, the works will embrace two small reservoirs and about thirty miles of canals and laterals; a main dam, spilway, outlet and diversion dam. About 18,000 acres are embraced within the project, of which it is planned that 15,000 will be irrigated; estimated cost, $350,000, and expenditures to October 31, 1920, about $81,000. The Little Missouri project, embracing a total segregation of some 20,607 acres lying in the valley of the Little Missouri River, is situated in Carter County, southeastern corner of the state. The company con- tracting with the state for the reclamation of the lands under this proj- ect was unable to proceed during the past two years owing to the string- ency of the money market. Within its boundaries are 20,000 acres of Carey Act lands, and 6,000 owned by the state and individuals. Alto- gether, only $32,000 of the estimated cost of the project, $250,000, has been expended. About ten miles of canals and laterals have been completed. In short, the foregoing statements represent the status of the work accomplished under the supervision of the Carey Land Act Board as HISTORY OF MONTANA 585 ascertained from the latest accessible reports (not yet in print July, 1921). WORK OF THE UNITED STATES RECLAMATION SERVICE The date of the approval of the Reclamation Act, June 17, 1902, marks the beginning of the irrigation work on the part of the Federal Govern- ment. During the eighteen years which have elapsed since that time twenty- four so-called primary projects and four Indian projects have been constructed in whole or in part, and scores of secondary projects have been examined to determine their feasibility with a view to their possible development later as funds become available. On June 30, 1920, the net cost of construction of the reclamation projects amounted to a little less than $125,000,000. The value of crops grown in 1919 on lands served either in whole or in part from the works .of the Service amounted to nearly $153,000,000, about $89,000,000 of which represents the value of crops grown on the 1,113,469 acres of cropped land on the projects proper, from which definite crop statistics are secured, or $79.88 per acre, and the balance an estimated amount from approximately 1,000,000 acres of land served with water under the Warren Act of February, 1911, from the works of the Service. The projects already completed or under way will ultimately comprise an area of over 3,300,000 acres. The works built under the Federal reclamation law may for statistical purposes be conveniently considered as of two classes. The first class comprises lands for which the United States under the Reclamation Act of June 17, 1902, has in general built a complete system of irriga- tion works from the point of storage to that of delivery to each farm or group of farms. These are the lands commonly referred to as the Government projects, and include those tracts that under Government aid have been converted from sagebrush desert to productive farms. Here the Government works are the sole source of irrigation water, and the control of the Reclamation Service commonly extends throughout the system of lateral canals that deliver the water to each farmer. Thus the Service has a force of ditch riders in frequent touch with the irriga- tors. The other class of lands benefited by the Government works includes those served under the Warren Act. This important supplement of the reclamation act provides a connecting link between the Government works and private canal systems built in the same vicinity or drainage basin. The latter commonly lack storage, depending originally on the unregulated flow of the streams alone. This natural flow often dwindles in the irri- gation season to a point far below the needs of all the constructed canals, and the typical case of service to such canals and lands from the Govern- ment works involves furnishing stored water at such times from the reservoirs built by the Reclamation Service. This may be simply deliv- ered in bulk in the river channel or the Service may include carriage 586 HISTORY OF MONTANA through other Government works and delivery at various stages of the process of distributing water to the individual farms. Similarly, the quantities of water made available by the Government works in such cases vary from a complete supply to a small percentage of the total water used by the irrigators. Even where only a portion of the total water used is furnished, it may be a vital part and may double the crop yield that would otherwise be secured. At the extraordinary session of the Legislative Assembly of August, 1919, an act was passed designating the Montana Railroad Commission as ex-officio the Montana Irrigation Commission, and since that time the state and the nation (through the United States Reclamation Service) have closely co-operated in the furtherance of the various reclamation projects in hand and those required by the agricultural needs of the future. The report of the Irrigation Commission for the year ending December, 1920, briefly reviews the Government work in Montana to the following effect: A large acreage in Montana has been reclaimed under the provisions of the Reclamation Act passed by Congress in 1902. This law provides that funds from the sale of public lands be devoted to the reclamation of arid lands in the several western states, and under this law Montana has a larger number of projects than any other western state. Four projects under direct charge of the United States Reclamation Service and three projects constructed by the Reclamation Service in conjunc- tion with the United States Indian Department constitute Montana's quota under this act. On these seven projects over $20,000,000 have already been spent; and the total estimated cost amounts to nearly $39,000,000. The total acreage to be irrigated under these projects is 864,000 acres. To date, construction is completed for 344,000 and of this amount 145,000 acres are actually irrigated. For lack of sufficient funds, construction of these projects has been very much delayed and the delay has been a source of disappointment and heavy loss to the early settlers under the projects. Default in the annual payments on most of the projects caused the passage in 1914 of the Reclamation Extension Act, allowing a twenty year period in which to repay construction costs to the Government. This further limited the available funds and for the past several years the projects have been greatly handicapped in carry- ing out their plans for reclamation. Some of the projects which were completed at an earlier date have met with considerable success and all will in time be fairly successful if the construction can be completed with- out further delay. Under some projects, completed units have recently organized as irrigation districts in order to gain control of the administration of the project, and this method promises very successful operation and assures a possibility of financing the settlers through Federal loans which would not be possible while the Government held prior lien on the lands. The following table shows the acreage and cost of the various projects : HISTORY OF MONTANA 587 UNITED STATES RECLAMATION PROJECTS Project Huntley Acreage Irrigable .... 33 ooo Acreage for Which Works Completed Acreage Now Irrigated Estimated Cost of Project Lower Yellowstone ..., 60 ooo $ 1,912,000 Milk River 192 ooo 3,i54,oo Sun River 175 ooo 9,427,000 Ft. Peck (Indian) .... 152 ooo 17 ooo 8,443,000 Blackfeet (Indian) ... .... 1 18,000 48 ooo x> 5,630,000 Flathead (Indian) .... 134 ooo 08 ooo 34,000 ^ Total 864,000 344,000 145,000 $38,786,000 The Huntley project was the first reclamation project in the United States to be started and also the first to be opened for settlement, and is classed as one of the successful projects of the Reclamation Service. It is located in Yellowstone County not far from the city of Billings at an average elevation of 3,000 feet above sea level. The land lies along the south side of Yellowstone River and is mostly a clay silt of consider- able fertility. Water is diverted from Yellowstone River and distributed through a very substantially built system of canals, covering a total of 33,000 acres irrigable. The system has been completed for nearly all of the lands since 1907 and has been successfully farmed since that date. Alfalfa, sugar beets and grains are the chief products. Excellent market and transportation facilities are furnished and returns from the land are very satisfactory. Seepage and alkali troubles have, however, developed and the Reclamation Service found it necessary to install a complete drain- age system over the greater part of the area. Twenty-two thousand acres have been successfully drained and still further extension of the system is planned. The average farm unit is about 50 acres and intensive cultiva- tion is practiced. Twenty thousand acres are actually irrigated under the project, during the present year. The cost of the project to date amounts to $1,420,000, while the total estimated cost of the project is $1,912,000. The Lower Yellowstone project lies along the west bank of the Yellow- stone River in Richland and Dawson Counties in the extreme eastern end of the state and a small part of the project also extends into North Dakota. There are at present 600 farm units on the project and eight towns are located within the area, the largest being Sidney with a population of 1,400. The Great Northern Railway runs the full length of the project, furnishing ample transportation. The total irrigable area is 60,000 acres. Works are already completed for 42,000 acres and of this amount 22,000 are now actually irrigated. The average elevation of the land is 1,900 feet above sea level. The temperature ranges from 46 below to no above. The annual precipitation is 16 inches and in normal years fair crops are grown without irrigation. This feature has delayed the de- velopment of the project since many of the settlers are not thoroughly converted to the necessity of irrigation. The estimated duty of water under this project is 1^2 acre feet per acre delivered at the land. The total cost to date is $2,894,000 and the estimated cost for the complete project will be $3,154,000. 588 HISTORY OF MONTANA The Milk River project embraces a total acreage of 192,000 irrigable acres extending for 160 miles along the valley of the Milk River in Elaine, Phillips and Valley counties. The direct flow of Milk River supplemented by storage in St. Marys Lake furnishes the water supply for this project. At St. Marys Lake 218,000 acre feet are to be stored and later diverted into the head of Milk River by a canal 29 miles long. Diversion dams on Milk River at Dodson and Vandalia carry the water onto the lands along the river. A secondary storage reservoir is provided at Nelson Lake near M^lta with a capacity of 142,000 acre feet. Work was begun on this project in 1902 and has been carried on continuously since that time and 68,000 acres are now served by completed works. Of this LOWER YELLOWSTONE RECLAMATION PROJECT amount, 46,000 acres are actually irrigated. The project to date has cost $6,000,000 and the completed plans call for an expenditure of $9,427,000. The Great Northern Railroad runs the full length of the project, fur- nishing ample transportation for all crops. The principal towns within the project are Chinook, Harlem, Dodson, Malta, Saco, Hinsdale and Glas- gow. The average elevation of the irrigable land is 2,200 feet above sea level. The mean annual precipitation is 14 inches. The soils under this project vary from light sandy loams to heavy clay and gumbo. Wheat and alfalfa are the principal crops and the yields are quite heavy. Ninety- five thousand acres are to be irrigated under canals diverting from the river at Dodson, 28,000 acres by diversion near Vandalia and 97,000 acres by diversion near Chinook. In this latter acreage are included 28,000 acres served by company ditches constructed independently of the Reclamation Service, but having contracts with the Service for use of water stored in St. Marys reservoir. This area of 28,000 acres is not included in the HISTORY OF MONTANA 589 figures of the project given above, but is reported under district organiza- tions in the Blaine County report. The Sun River project contemplates the irrigation of 175,000 acres in Chouteau, Cascade and Lewis and Clark counties by diversion from Sun River and its tributaries. The natural flow of these streams is to be supplemented by storage in three reservoirs, Warm Springs reservoir to have a capacity of 269,000 acre feet, Willow Creek reservoir with 86,000 acre feet and Piskhun reservoir with a capacity of 45,700 acre feet. The Fort Shaw unit of this project, with an area of 16,000 acres, was com- pleted about ten years ago and has been in successful operation since that date. Under this unit, 10,000 acres are now irrigated. Works are now completed to serve a total of 40,000 acres and of this amount 12,000 are now actually irrigated. The cost to date has been $3,736,000 and the estimated cost of the entire project is $8,443,000. The lands under this project include both bench and valley lands and are quite productive. In the valley lands, however, necessity for drainage has arisen and the plans include a drainage system for part of the acreage. The total precipi- tation in this section is only eleven inches and irrigation is necessary for the production of crops. Two railroads through the project furnish ample transportation. Fairfield, Ft. Shaw, Sun River and Simms are the princi- pal towns. The Fort Peck project is being constructed by the Reclamation Service in co-operation with the United States Indian Department. The total irrigable acreage is 152,000 acres. Water supply is derived from Poplar River and Porcupine and Big Muddy creeks. Only a small part of this project is thus far completed and a thousand acres are now irrigated. The total cost to date has been $740,000 and the complete project calls for the expenditure of $5,630,000. Most of the lands to be reclaimed are Indian allotments under the former Fort Peck Indian Reservation. No lands are now open to entry. The Blackfeet (Indian) project is in Glacier County, mostly included within the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. The total irrigable acreage is 118,000 acres, of which 11,000 acres lie outside of the reservation. Several separate units are included within this project, diverting water from Cut Bank and Two Medicine rivers and from Birch and Badger creeks. Works are already completed for the irrigation of 48,000 acres, but of this amount only 10,000 are now actually irrigated. The lands now irrigated are mostly Indian allotments, although some of them are farmed by white tenants. The total expenditure to date is $1,080,000 and the total estimated cost of the project is $3,600,000. Browning and Cut Bank are the principal towns included within the area served by this project. The lands are mostly rolling and more or less broken bench lands of consider- able fertility and with favorable climate conditions for the production of ordinary farm crops. The mean annual precipitation is 15 inches and the average elevation above sea level is 4,000 feet. The Flathead (Indian) project is being constructed by the Recla- mation Service in conjunction with the Indian Department to serve 134,000 acres of land within the former Flathead Reservation. In 590 HISTORY OF MONTANA Missoula and Flathead counties, works are now completed to cover 98,000 acres and of this amount 34,000 acres are actually being irrigated. The average elevation above sea level is 3,000 feet and the mean annual precipi- tation is 18 inches. Seven hundred farms are included within the project. Hay, grain and potatoes are the principal crops, although some fruit and vegetables are raised. The total expenditure to date is a little over $4,000,000, while the estimated cost of the complete project is $6,620,000. Poison, Ronan and St. Ignatius are the principal towns within the area. UNITED STATES RECLAMATION ENTERPRISES DEFINED The special bulletin on irrigation in Montana issued by the United States Census of 1920 has the following explanation of the scope of the enterprises under the jurisdiction of the National Reclamation Service : United States Reclamation Service enterprises, which operate under the federal law of June 17, 1902, providing for the construction of irriga- tion works with the receipts from the sale of public lands. In addition to serving land within its own projects, the United States Reclamation Serv- ice supplies stored water to land within other enterprises. United States Indian Service enterprises, which operate under various acts of Congress providing for the construction by that service of works for the irrigation of land in Indian reservations. Carey Act enterprises, which operate under the federal law of August 18, 1894, granting to each of the states in the arid region 1,000,000 acres of land on condition that the state provide for its irrigation, and under amendments to that law granting additional areas to Idaho and Wyoming. Irrigation districts, which are public corporations that operate under state laws providing for their organization and management, and empow- ering them to issue bonds and levy and collect taxes, with the object of obtaining funds for the purchase or construction and for the operation and maintenance of irrigation works. Co-operative enterprises, which are controlled by the water users under some organized form of co-operation. The most common form of organi- zation is the stock company, the stock of which is owned by the water users. Commercial enterprises, which supply water for compensation to parties who may own no interest in the works. Individual and partnership enterprises, which belong to individual farmers or to neighboring farmers, who control them without formal organization. WATER RIGHTS LEGISLATION IN MONTANA The water rights current in Montana, as fixed by legislation going back to early territorial times, is a subject closely related to irrigation. The pertinent laws along this line may be thus summarized : In 1865 the Territory of Montana enacted a law recognizing the right of any person holding land bordering on or in the neighborhood of a stream to take water from the stream for irrigation, and providing for obtaining the right of way for ditches over the land of others. HISTORY OF MONTANA 591 This law was repealed in 1870 by one extending the right to take water for irrigation to the holder of land anywhere in the territory and recogniz- ing priority among users. In 1885 a more comprehensive law was enacted. This provided that rights might be acquired by "appropriation ;" that the appropriation must be for a useful or beneficial purpose; that the place of use might be changed ; and that "among appropriations the first in time is the first in right." This law provided also that persons desiring to appropriate water must post notices stating their claims, and must file copies of these claims with the county recorders ; and, further, that persons who had acquired rights prior to the passage of the act should file with the proper county recorders declarations of their claims. The law provided also that con- troversies regarding water rights should be settled in the courts. This law is still in effect, the state never having provided for applica- tions for permits to appropriate water, as has been done in most of the western states. The constitution of the state, ratified in 1889, contains the following section relating to irrigation : "The use of all water now appropriated, or that may hereafter be appropriated for sale, rental, distribution or other beneficial use and right of way over the lands of others for all ditches, drains, flumes, canals and aqueducts, necessarily used in connection therewith, as well as the sites for reservoirs necessary for collecting and storing the same, shall be held to be a public use." (Art. 3, sec. 15.) Under the rulings of the courts riparian rights are recognized in Mon- tana to a limited extent. STATE WORKS AND PROJECTS The extension and organization of the irrigation fragments scattered throughout the state into anything approaching a system were first made possible through the passage of the original irrigation district law by the Legislative Assembly of 1907. The measure was similar in nature to the law relating to municipal improvement districts. The supervision and control over the issuing of bonds by the districts were placed with the boards of county commissioners. As this feature proved to be unsatis- factory, particularly in the marketing of the bonds, the law was amended in 1909, so as to place the control of bond issues with the district courts. Under this law several districts have been organized, but it is estimated that with the advantage of a single regulating board, working with the advice and assistance of the state engineer, as provided by the law, oppor- tunities for development under the irrigation district plan will be greatly extended. The new law enables the owners of land under an irrigation system owned by other parties to purchase the property, using the district bonds for payment, and thus secure direct and co-operative control at once. By the use of the serially maturing bonds the expense of the purchase or the new construction can be distributed over the years when the benefits 592 HISTORY OF MONTANA are being derived, the expense for both the interest and principal for tak- ing up the bonds at maturity being levied in the form of a tax against the land and paid in annual installments. This method also enables the owners of land with direct-flow rights which are not sufficient in all sea- sons, to form their lands into a district for the purpose of constructing storage works to provide a supplemental water supply. In these cases the expense per acre is usually small, and as the security is in the lands already improved the bonds may become a first lien on property several times its value. It is in these two ways that the law has been applied in the past. Under the Irrigation Commission it is expected that in the future it may be used for the .development of water supplies for sections that have hereto- fore been cultivated under the dry farming system where the need for supplemental irrigation systems has been particularly felt during the past dry years. A higher duty than is used at present is probable and such lands will have their improved dry-farming values as security for the bonds. Irrigation beyond a doubt is the best crop insurance and it has been found to pay even though water is used only once in five years. The unusual number of homestead entries in Montana has been breaking up the areas which might ultimately be developed under the Carey Act and it is expected that to a certain extent the district method may take the place of the Carey Act system. So many requests were made for preliminary investigations as to the feasibility of obtaining water supplies, reservoir sites and irrigable areas, that the commission made a survey of the state, by counties, in the sum- mer of 1920. The survey revealed the fact that many small pumping plants were being operated under low lifts for the irrigation of small areas. As to the development of larger plants, its feasibility depends on the correct answer to the question, "How high can water be pumped profitably?" The commission answered the question thus: "The irrigated land must produce a net yearly income of $18.15 P er acre to P av interest on the investment and the maintenance. Depending upon the locality, the markets, crops, etc., it is a matter of figures to compute the net return on irrigated land to determine whether or not the project will pay." The survey of the fifteen projects for which petitions had been filed with the commission is briefly covered by the following facts : Project No. i Cooper's Lake Irrigation District, Powell County. Location, Blackfoot Valley. Elevation, 4,300 feet. Total area, 20,000 acres. Petition filed, October 18, 1919. Deposit requested, $300. Esti- mated cost, $40 per acre. Project No. 2 Nine Mile Prairie Irrigation District, Missoula County. Location, Blackfoot Valley. Elevation, 3,600 feet. Area, 9,000 acres. Petition filed August 10, 1919. Deposit requested, $300. Cost, $25 to $30 per acre. Project No. 3 Frenchtown Valley Irrigation District, Missoula HISTORY OF MONTANA 593 County. Location, Frenchtown Valley. Elevation, 3,100 feet. Area, 8,000 acres. Petition filed October 11, 1919. Deposit requested, $450. Cost, $24.61 per acre. Project No. 4 DeSmet Irrigation District, Missoula County. Loca- tion, Missoula Valley. Elevation, 3,200 feet. Irrigable area, 4,927 acres. System, pumping by electric power. Lifts, 131 and 70.8 feet. District created, January 3, 1920. Cost of investigation, $209.11. Total cost of project, $197,004.50. Cost per acre, $39.98. Yearly maintenance cost, $447- Project No. 5 Glendive-Fallon Irrigation District, Prairie and Daw- son counties. Location, Yellowstone Valley. Construction cost, $26.87 AN UNIRRIGATED WHEAT FIELD to $46.89 per acre. Maintenance cost $6.38 to $12.81 per acre. Irrigable area, 4> 2 55 to 22,475 acres. Coal consumption, 7,240 to 47,737 short tons. Deposit required, $1,400. Cost of report, $1,309.95. Elevation, 2,150 feet. Land owners in district, 125. Gross area of district, 34,440 acres. Project No. 6 Brockway Irrigation District. Location, Red Water River Valley. Irrigable area, 2,470 acres. System, flood water storage. Water supply, Duck and Ash creeks and Redwater River. Elevation, 2,500 feet. Cost, $76.95 to $105.91 per acre. Cost of storage, $27.06 to $35.84 per acre foot. Cost of report, $276.35. Project No. 7 Valley View Irrigation District, Broadwater County. Location, four miles west of Three Forks. Elevation, 4,200 feet. Irrigable area, 3,037 acres. System, pumping electric power. Water supply, Jeffer- son River. Lifts, 89.5, 136.5 and 185 feet net. Total connected power, 594 HISTORY OF MONTANA 962 H. P. Yearly power used, 1,368,244 K. W. H. Cost of construction, $21.09 P er acre. Yearly maintenance cost, $6.03 per acre. Cost of report, $286.64. Project No. 8 East Bench Irrigation District, Beaverhead County. Location, near Dillon. Elevation, 5,000 to 5,200 feet. Irrigable area, 13,900 acres. System, gravity and storage. Source, Beaverhead River and Grasshopper Creek. Reservoir, 554 acres. Dam, concrete arch, 105 feet high. Tunnel, solid rock, 675 feet long. Syphon, 560 feet. Total estimated cost, $753,102, or $54.18 per acre. Deposit, $400. Petition filed, March 6, 1920. Project No. 9 Harlowton-DuRand Irrigation District, Wheatland County. Location, bench north of Harlowton. Elevation, 4,100 feet. Net irrigable area, 16,304 acres. Source water supply, Musselshell River. System, storage of flood water. Total reservoir capacities, 27,204 acre feet. Construction cost, $915,778, or $56.17 per acre. Cost of making report, $401.19. Project No. 10 Red Lodge-Rosebud Irrigation District, Carbon County. Location, 20 miles northwest of Red Lodge. Elevation, 4,700 feet. Source of water, East Rosebud River. System, gravity. Weast Canal, paid $27,000, ten miles long. 'Irrigable area, 12,510 acres. Esti- mated cost, $324,800, or $25.98 per acre. Project No. n Joliet and White Horse Bench Irrigation District, Carbon County. Location, near Joliet. Irrigable area, 7,200 acres. Ele- vation, 3,500 feet. System, storage to supplement direct flow. Water supply, Rock Creek. Cost, not determined. Project No. 12 Newlan Creek Irrigation District, Meagher County. Location, nine miles northwest of White Sulphur Springs. Gross area, 1,290 acres. System, flood water storage and gravity. Source of water supply, Sheep and Newlan creeks. Project No. 13 Wood's Gulch Irrigation District, Meagher County. Location, six miles west of Sulphur Springs. Gross area, 1,100 acres. System, storage and gravity. Source of water supply, Wood's Gulch and Little Birch creeks. Project No. 14 Meadow Farm Irrigation District, Gallatin County. Location, two miles southwest of Three Forks. Elevation, 4,060 feet. Gross area, 1,037 acres. System, gravity. Water supply, Jefferson River. Project No. 15 Upper Glendive-Fallon Irrigation District, Prairie and Dawson counties. Location, Yellowtsone Valley. Elevation, 2,150 feet. System, pumping, steam power, lignite coal. Lifts, 400 feet and 75 feet net. Water supply, Yellowstone River. Irrigable area, 4,210 acres. Coal consumption, 6,713 short tons. Estimated cost, $152,394, or $36.20 per acre. Besides the foregoing fifteen projects which have come under the juris- diction of the Montana Irrigation Commission, many requests have been made for the inspection of projects contemplating the formation of dis- tricts. The following, which total approximately 650,000 acres, come under this head: The Dearborn project, of which some work has been done under the Carey Act and the contracts cancelled several years ago, located HISTORY OF MONTANA 595 in Lewis and Clark and Cascade counties and proposed to irrigate 30,000 acres on the bench between the Dearborn and Sun Rivers west of the Missouri; the Brinkman and Lonesome Lake projects, to irrigate about 350,000 acres along Maria's River in Chouteau and Hill counties; the South Bench project in the northeastern corner of Madison County and the western part of Gallatin County, which would irrigate two crescent shaped benches south of the town of Three Forks, each of about 25,000 acres, from the Madison River or its branches; the Silver Flat project, in Lewis and Gark County northwest of Helena, covering from 8,000 to 10,000 acres, and drawing its supply from Silver, Little Prickly Pear and Canyon creeks; the Flint Creek project, which proposes to irrigate from 20,000 to 30,000 acres of bench land near the towns of Hall and New Chicago, Granite County; the Crow Creek irrigation project adjoining the town of Radersburg, Broadwater County, which plans to divert water from the Jefferson River near Twin Bridges, as well as construct a reservoir on Crow Creek, and irrigate some 50,000 acres ; and the Judith Basin project, in the new county by that name, which aims to irrigate two benches of land, of 60,000 acres each, on both sides of the Judith River, immediately below the canyon and adjacent to the towns of Hobson and Moccasin. COUNTRY IRRIGATION SURVEYS From the reports made by the State Irrigation Commission covering its surveys of the different counties, the following facts closely relating to the subject are taken: Beaverhead County The East Branch Irrigation District was organ- ized in 1920 to reclaim 13,900 acres of bench land east of Dillon. This is being handled by the Montana Irrigation Commission and is treated in another section of this report. On the Red Rock River twelve miles above Lima a reservoir has been developed by constructing a fifty foot earth dam. Its capacity is 60,000 acre feet. It was built in connection with a Carey project of 20,000 acres near Lima. The Carey project failed to materialize and the Red Rock Reservoir and Irrigation Company was organized to take it over for $250,000, of which $50,000 has actually been paid. The corpora- tion is open, a share corresponding to an acre foot of water, it being the intention to increase the reservoir's capacity to 100,000 acre feet. In connection with this the Red Rock Lake Company is a corporation now constructing a canal from the river just below the dam to irrigate 6,000 acres. Water will be purchased from the reservoir company. This project is expected to operate in 1921. Big Horn County The irrigated lands of the county are mostly along the valleys of the Big Horn and Little Big Horn rivers. These streams have more than ample water supply. Some of the tributaries also furnish irrigation for a few hundred acres. None of the streams are adjudicated. 596 HISTORY OF MONTANA The U. S. Indian Service is constructing a system to serve Indian lands to the amount of 74,000 acres. Half of this acreage was actually irrigated in 1920. The system consists of several separate canals, the largest of which is the Big Horn Canal, irrigating 33,000 acres on the east side of the river near St. Xavier. The Agency Ditch near Crow Agency on the Little Big Horn covers 7,000 acres. Ditches from Prior Creek cover 5,500 acres. Outside of the reservation the largest ditch is the Two Leggin Canal which irrigates 20,000 acres near Hardin. This ditch is 30 miles long and was built in 1909, at a cost of $13 per acre. Annual maintenance cost is $i per acre, and crop yields are very heavy. At the lower end of the land, seepage troubles are developing. Average land values are $10 per acre for grazing land, $30 for dry farm lands and $100 per acre for irrigated land. The assessed valua- tion of the county is $22,000,000. Blaine County Assessed land valuations in this county are $30 to $60 for irrigated land, $12 to $14 for non-irrigated tillable land, and from $8 to $10 for grazing land. According to the assessment rolls there are 24,000 acres of irrigated land, 440,000 acres of non-irrigated tillable land, and 713,000 acres of grazing land. The total assessed land value of the county is $18,000,000, while the grand total of all property in the county is $28,000,000. Irrigation has been practiced in this county for many years, and with good success, the principal areas being along Milk River near Chinook. Milk River is the only stream in the county flowing the year round and is, therefore, practically the only source of water supply for irrigation, both present and future. A few acres are irrigated by storage on the intermittent streams, and a further extension of irrigation by this means is possible. Along Milk River several important projects are under way, most of them being under contract with the United States Reclamation Service for use of water stored in St. Mary's reservoir, in addition to early water rights on Milk River. The Fort Belknap Irrigation District is being formed to take over and reconstruct the old system of the Fort Belknap Ditch Company, divert- ing from the north side of the river eight miles above Chinook, and to cover 9,000 acres of land, three-fourths of which has already been irrigated with fair success for twenty-five years. A new high line canal is now being constructed by the ditch company. L. V. Bogy, of Chinook, is secretary of the companay. Zurich Irrigation District was created June 19, 1920. They propose to extend the Alfalfa Ditch to cover 12,217 acres on the north side of Milk River extending from North Fork to Harlem. Part of this land has been irrigated for some time under an old system. Present land values range from $20 to $60. Petitions are being circulated for the formation of the Savoy-Coburg Irrigation District. It is proposed to take over, enlarge and extend the HISTORY OF MONTANA 597 present ditch of the Harlem water users' association. Twelve thousand acres are to be included in the district, over half of which has been irrigated for many years by the old Harlem ditch. Vernon Butler of Chinook is promoting the project. The land lies on the north side of Milk River, extending from Harlem to Coburg. The Paradise Irrigation District was created April I, 1920, with W. B. Sands, J. L. Sprinkle, and W. W. Bilger, commissioners. A. W. Ziebarth, of Chinook, is secretary. Eleven thousand five hundred acres are included in the district lying on the south side of Milk River between Chinook and the Indian Reservation. Part of the land has been irri- gated for the past 25 years. A new canal system is now being con- structed at a cost of $15 per acre. Present land values are around $50 per acre. All of the above districts have some early water rights from Milk River, and are also entering into contract with the U. S. R. S. for addi- tional water from St. Mary's reservoir. The U. S. Indian Department has constructed a system to irrigate 38,000 acres on the Fort Belknap Reservation. About half of this acreage is to be watered from Milk River and the balance from Whitebear, Peoples, Lodge Pole and Big Warm creeks. Only half of this irrigable acreage has been actually irrigated thus far. The North Chinook Irrigation Association irrigates about 10,000 acres of land lying several miles north of Chinook, from a reservoir con- structed in 1901 to impound the flood waters of West Fork. Broadwater About 40,000 acres are now irrigated from the Missouri River and its tributaries, with good results. One hundred and twenty thou- sand acres are classified as non-irrigated agricultural lands. Most of this has been dry farmed, but for the past four years crop failures have been common, except at the higher elevations. Several large projects are now being promoted in this county. The Valley View Irrigation District near Three Forks is being developed under supervision of the Montana Irrigation Commission and is mentioned else- where. The Toston Irrigation District was recently organized to irrigate 5,000 acres near Toston by pumping water from the Missouri River with a lift of 100 feet and at a construction cost of $30 per acre. The Broadwater Irrigation District has been organized to irrigate 10,000 acres by gravity from a diversion dam on the Missouri River above Toston. Carbon Irrigation has been practiced in this county for many years, with very good success. About 150,000 acres are now irrigated in the county, of this amount 70,000 acres are watered from Rock Creek', 60,000 acres from Clark Fork River, and 10,000 acres from Red Lodge Creek. The greater part of this acreage is irrigated by private ditches, though there are several incorporated ditch companies operating in each of these valleys. Rock and Red Lodge creeks have been fully appropriated and the rights therein determined by court. 598 There are three organized irrigation districts in this county. The Red Lodge-Rosebud Irrigation District was created in August, 1920, to irrigate 12,500 acres of land near Luther by a canal diverting from East Rosebud River. This project is under supervision of the Montana Irriga- tion Commission. The East Side Irrigation District was created in August, 1920, to irrigate 9,500 acres near Belfry by diverting water from Clark Fork River, through the old Wills Ditch, which is to be enlarged and extended. Final surveys are now being made. The Joliet and White Horse Bench Irrigation District proposes to irrigate 7,200 acres of land near Joliet by storage of the flood waters of Rock Creek. This district was first created under the old irrigation district law, but recently petitioned the State Irrigation Commission to assume supervision. Cascade Most of the irrigated land in this country lies along the Sun River west of Great Falls. Near Cascade is also a considerable irrigated area. The Sun River has been adjudicated. Other streams of the county have not been decreed and in some the water supply is ample for a still further extension of irrigation. Several large projects are now being promoted. Chestnut Valley Irrigation District was created in June, 1920, to irrigate 4,460 acres on the east side of Missouri River near Cascade. This project has an early water right and most of the land has been irri- gated under an old system. Construction of the new system is now under way. Bonds to the amount of $140,000 are to be issued. The Fort Shaw Irrigation District was created March 2, 1920, to irrigate 13,745 acres near Forst Shaw. Construction was practically completed before the district was organized, this being the Fort Shaw unit of the U. S. R. S. Sun River project, now organized as a district for operation purposes and under contract with the Government to con- struct a drainage system. The Ulm Irrigation District was created in January, 1920, to irrigate about 12,000 acres near Ulm by pumping from Missouri River with an average lift of 78 feet. A complete engineering report has been made by the district's engineers. Estimated construction cost, including partial drainage, is $60.48 per acre. The Sun River Bench project has recently been investigated. It contemplates the irrigation of 50,000 acres southwest of Great Falls by water from the Dearborn River to be conveyed through Flat Creek and Sims Creek and a series of canals including 15 miles of siphons and 30 miles of open canal. Reservoirs are also to be built on Dearborn River and Sims Creek. Estimated cost is $87 per acre. The Sunnyside Project is being promoted to organize as a district the Sunnyside unit of the Sun River Project diverting from the river near Sun River Station and irrigating about 8,000 acres, on both sides of the river. Some of these lands have been irrigated by private ditches and it is proposed to acquire old water rights and cover all lands with HISTORY OF MONTANA' 599 a new canal system. Surveys have been made by the U. S. R. S. and it is proposed to co-operate with the Government in the construction and operation of this project. The Benton Lake project is also being promoted to irrigate 70,000 acres in this county and a much larger area in Chouteau County by diverting water from Sun River through a long series of canals and coulees to Benton Lake, 8 miles north of Great Falls, where it is to be stored. Additional storage on Sun River is also required. Surveys have been made by the U. S. R. S. and it is proposed to co-operate with the Government on this project. The Sand Coulee Project just south of Great Falls has been favor- ably reported by engineers. It contemplates irrigation of 3,600 acres by pumping from Missouri River with a lift of 60 feet. The estimated cost is $75 per acre for construction and $6.55 per acre yearly for operation and maintenance. At present about 40,000 acres in the county are actually irrigated. Sixteen thousand acres additional are to be irrigated by districts already organized and 128,000 acres are included in contemplated projects. Carter Irrigation is just beginning to get a start in this county. Lack of an adequate supply during the irrigation season has retarded any development along this line.. The Little Missouri Carey project in the southeastern part is now being constructed and will ultimately irri- gate 20,000 acres. Similar development might be carried on along other water courses of the county. Several thousand acres are irrigable in the same manner. To facilitate this future development, gauging stations could profitably be placed on Box Elder and Little Beaver creeks. The state engineer's office is now keeping records of the flow of the Little Missouri River. With the completion of the project now under construction, the county's valuation will be increased by $600,000 to ^1,000,000 through the rise in value of the acreage under the project, and a railroad exten- sion is almost a certainty. Chouteau For many years, a small amount of irrigation has been done by direct flow from Highwood and Shonkin creeks in the south end of the county. The total area so irrigated is about 800 acres on each of these streams. A small acreage has also been irrigated from Little Muddy, Eagle, and Birch creeks, in the northeastern part of the county. Within the past year several hundred acres of river bottom lands have been brought under irrigation along the Missouri and Teton rivers by pumping with electric power. Custer The Tongue River Ditch, which diverts water out of Tongue River, covers an area of 9,705 acres along the Yellowstone Valley below Miles City. There is one irrigation district filed, the Buffalo Rapids District, estab- lished in April, 1919. They proposed to divert water out of Yellowstone 600 HISTORY OF MONTANA River by gravity and irrigate 3,700 acres along the west side of the river below Miles City. Daniels Some partial irrigation has been carried on in recent years along the Poplar and its forks. The systems are of the direct diversion type depending upon the summer flow of the river. Temporary structures have generally been built and the high cost of maintenance together with complete loss in some instances has resulted in inefficient irrigation. A system of this type is installed two miles west of Scobey on the Poplar River. About 1,800 acres along the bottom have a complete system of canals and laterals, but there has never been a good dam. Three dams have been constructed during the history of the project, the first an earth dam, the second a loose stone dam, and the third a timber dam. All have been taken out by ice in the spring freshets. Steps are now being taken with a view of organizing an irrigation district to construct a permanent concrete dam. The structure will be 100 feet long and from four to six feet high of the weir type. It will divert water throughout the entire season and in addition divert enough water into a coulee, which is used as a reservoir to insure against a shortage during the gowing season. There are in Daniels County 10,000 acres of irrigable land. Water can only be supplied, however, by construction of dams for storage of spring floods. Many of the tracts irrigated in this way would be as small as forty acres. Dawson The only irrigation being done in the county is along the few benches where dams have been placed in small coulees and flood water collected. These are small scattering areas. The United States Reclamation Lower Yellowstone Project diverts water out of the Yellowstone River in this county, but the irrigable area is in Richland County. The only gauging station in Yellowstone County is at Intake. There have been no water rights adjudicated. The only irrigation districts which have been filed in the county are the Glendive-Fallon Irrigation Project and the Upper Glendive-Fallon Project. Both are described elsewhere in this report. Deer Lodge Irrigation along the Big Hole has been carried on for many years. Direct diversions from the river were employed. There is very little irrigated land in the county. Fallon Very little irrigation has been done in the county. There is no regular supply except by storage. Since none of the streams have ever been measured the amount of water that goes to waste every spring is unknown. There are several thousand acres of irrigable land in the county. Gauging stations should be established as soon as possible on Fallon Creek and Little Beaver Creek that the extent of water available for this land be known and steps taken for its beneficial use. HISTORY OF MONTANA 601 Fergus Fergus County was first settled along the streams, and irriga- tion ditches were built to irrigate small areas. In the Flatwillow drainage, including Box Elder Creek, about 15,000 acres are irrigated. Warm Springs and Big Springs creeks irrigate about 9,000 acres. Flatwillow Creek is the only adjudicated stream in the county. It also has a gauging station in connection with the Carey project. The Judith Basin Irrigation District is the only district in the county. Organized in 1919, under the district court, it proposes to enlarge an old canal from Warm Springs Creek and carry the water by gravity to land a few miles north of Danvers. Relocation of the canal and construction of several flumes are the chief features. The canal is about ten miles long and 4,200 acres are included in the project. This will be completed in 1921. South of Winnett on Flatwillow Creek is the Carey project known as the Flatwillow project. This county offers great possibilities for irrigation. Wolf Creek, upper Flatwillow Spring Creek, Lower Judith River all have storage possibilities. Twenty-five thousand acres of irrigable land could be irri- gated with their waters. In addition, in other parts of the county the numerous small streams and coulees furnish possibilities for 15,000 acres of irrigable land. In addition to storing irrigation water, Fergus County streams offer good opportunities for development of electric power in their lower chan- nels. At least, 40,000 acres are irrigable in this county. Flathead Very little irrigation has been done in Flathead County. The possibilities are many; the water supply is abundant and the soil is very productive. The streams which have been gauged are Flathead River near Columbia Falls, Flathead River below Poison, the Middle Fork at Belton, the South Fork at Columbia Falls, the Little Bitter Root River at Marion and Hubbard and the Swan River at Big Fork. The Ashley Lake Irrigation District was organized in July, 1909. They took over the works previously started by the Ashley Lake Irriga- tion Company, paying $50,000 for the old works. The total area being irrigated is 1,638 acres. The project when completed will cover 25,000 acres. Flood waters are being reservoired in both Ashley Lake and Sedan Lake. The Tally Lake Irrigation District has been recently organized to irri- gate 9,347 acres. It is proposed to build a dam and reservoir at Tally Lake. The United States Reclamation Service developed a portion of the southwestern part of the county. Gallatin Gallatin Valley was among the very first areas irrigated in Montana. Water was first diverted for irrigation in 1864 and the devel- opment of irrigation in this valley has steadily increased until there are now about 140,000 acres irrigated, besides 180,000 acres of non-irrigated agricultural land and 525,000 acres of grazing land. The average assessed valuations in this county are $105 per acre for irrigated land, $49 per acre for dry farming land and $8 per acre for grazing land. 602 HISTORY OF MONTANA Practically all of the irrigated land is within Gallatin Valley and derives its water supply from the direct flow of the several tributaries of Gallatin River. All of these streams are fully appropriated and most of them have been adjudicated after much trouble and expense. About 1,200 acres of land south of Bozeman are irrigated by water stored in Mystic Lake Reservoir located at the head of Sour Dough Canyon. Garfield Garfield County has no irrigation works with the exception of small wells which supply a garden or small truck patch. The streams in the county are dry during the summer months and no direct irrigation from them is possible. Only by constructing dams and creating reservoirs to hold the flood waters of the spring freshets can the water be put on the land during the growing season. While there are numerous streams flowing a considerable amount of water in the spring, good reservoir sites along these streams are scarce ; the land susceptible does not always lie close by, making a long, complex distribution system necessary, and the topo- graphy of the land makes it unsuited for irrigation. Glacier On the Indian reservation the Government is constructing an irrigation system to eventually include 111,000 acres. The canals divert from Badger, Two Medicine, and Cut Bank creeks. Only 5,300 acres are thus far irrigated, although construction is completed for a much larger area. Granite Most of the irrigation in this county is being done along the Flint Creek Valley. There is a small acreage along the upper part of Rock Creek Valley and a few small areas along the Hell Gate River. In all there are about 38,000 acres under irrigation. Georgetown Lake at the head of the valley has been reservoired for power purposes ; also Fred Burr Lake. The streams which have been adjudicated in the county are Fred Burr Creek, Willow Creek, Flint Creek and tributaries, and Trout Creek. The oldest water rights date back to 1865. There are no irrigation districts within the county. There is one ditch out of Rock Creek called Munger Ditch, which diverts water into the Flint Creek Valley. The ditch was built in 1915. Hill Irrigation on a very small scale has been practiced in this county for many years, with satisfactory success. A total of a little over 3,000 acres is now irrigated by private ditches, using direct flow of the river or storage of the flood waters of intermittent streams. These areas are along Milk River or in the hills south of Havre or scattered elsewhere through- out the county. The Maria's River project contemplates the irrigation of 250,000 acres, most of which is in Hill County, and lies southwest of Havre. A dam is proposed on Maria's River near Brinkman, both for storage and diversion, and additional storage is to be provided in Lonesome Lake. This project HISTORY OF MONTANA 603 was investigated by the U. S. Reclamation Service in 1902 and 1904. Last year the Maria's River Development Association revived the project and now plans to develop it as an irrigation district. The estimated cost is $10,700,000. The lands of this county lie well for irrigation, but since the water supply is limited, most of the county must forever remain unwatered. A considerable irrigation development is possible by storage in small units along the many coulees and in the dry lake beds. JeffefSon Irrigation has been practiced for many years, principally in small units, and only recently including projects of any importance. Most of the available water supply is now appropriated and further irrigation development must depend principally upon storage of the flood waters. The Jefferson Canal Company, with 2,500 acres and the Pipestone Ditch Company, with 1,200 acres, have the largest units under direct flow. The Pipestone Canal and Reservoir Company irrigates 3,000 acres by storing the flood waters of Pipestone Creek. There is now under construction on west fork of Whitetail Creek a reservoir to irrigate 4,000 acres at a cost of $50 per acre. This project was organized as an irrigation district in March, 1919, but failed to sell bonds for construction and is now being developed with private capital. Judith Basin Irrigation practiced along the Judith River and Wolf Creek covers 25,000 acres. Three gauging stations on the tributaries of the Judith River have recently been established in order that definite data regarding these streams can be collected. In the vicinity of Stanford there are 5,000 acres of fine irrigable land. The waters of Wolf Creek will have to be reservoired and conveyed by gravity to these lands. Along the Judith River in the vicinity of Hobson and south of that city there is a large area of irrigable land. About 122,000 acres are irrigable. The general scheme calls for reservoiring Judith River and its tributaries and conveying the water onto the land by gravity through two main canals. Lewis and Clark Irrigation has been practiced in this county for many years, and most of the low water flow of the streams is utilized, but a great increase in irrigation is possible by storing the flood waters and by pumping from Missouri River. Water rights have been adjudicated on most of the streams of the county. In Helena Valley about 10,000 acres are irrigated from Prickly Pear Creek and a few thousand acres more from Ten Mile and Seven Mile creeks. On the north side of the valley 6,600 acres are irrigated by pumping from Lake Helena with an average lift of no feet. Southeast of Lake Helena, 3,500 acres are irrigated by pumping to a height of 1 60 feet. Near Canyon Creek 5,000 acres are irrigated from Prickly Pear Creek, and in the north end of the county an equal amount is irrigated 604 HISTORY OF MONTANA from Sun River. About 3,000 acres are irrigated from Dearborn River. The Helena Irrigation District was created in August, 1920, to irrigate 16,000 acres near East Helena by pumping from Lake Helena with an average lift of 180 feet. A large project was started about fifteen years ago to irrigate 36,000 acres south of Oilman by storing and diverting the waters of the Dearborn River. After constructing twenty miles of ditch at a cost of $200,000 the project was dropped. A movement is now under way to revive this project and complete it as an irrigation district. Many areas of excellent irrigable land are found in the county, much of which can be irrigated by storage of flood waters on the different streams. Several feasible reservoirs are available for this purpose. Liberty The irrigation on Maria's River is in small patches along the river bottoms. On Eagle Creek the limited area irrigated is scattered among ranches on the headwaters of the stream. On Cottonwood Creek part of the irrigation is from storage of the flood waters. Prescott's ranch has a reservoir for irrigation purposes. Prospects for extension of irrigation are not very encouraging. Maria's River has but little fall, while the lands are high above the river. The other streams are dry most of the year. Some flood waters of Cotton- wood and other smaller streams may be stored for a small acreage irrigated in that way. Lincoln From the United States census of irrigation, there are 13,114 acres susceptible of irrigation by new works being completed or just com- pleted. Eight thousand seven hundred and thirty acres can be irrigated by works already constructed and 5,349 acres are actually being irrigated. The streams which have been measured are the Kootenai River near Libby, Callahan Creek near Troy and the Yaak River near Troy. There are no streams in the county which have been adjudicated. It is estimated that 190,000 acres within the county are susceptible of irrigation. Madison Large areas are now under irrigation along the streams and rivers of the county. The Madison Valley has about 35,000 acres of irrigated lands while the Ruby, Jefferson and Beaverhead have, with their branches, about 50,000 acres. The northern end of the county, includ- ing the South Boulder country, has about 15,000 acres under irrigation. Most of this acreage is irrigated by private ditches, there being no large districts or projects in use. One irrigation district has been formed in Madison County. This one, known as the Madison Valley Irrigation District, was organized in 1916, to water 1,909 acres of bench land on the west side of the Madison River, near Ennis. In 1919 the land owners co-operated and completed the project as a company. The water is diverted directly from the Madison River at a point about four miles south of Ennis and is carried by canals and HISTORY OF MONTANA 605 flumes to a point near McAllister. This year, 1920, saw the first full season's operation, which is considered very successful. It will be en- larged to serve the 3,200 acres later. The chief crop is hay. The cost of the project approximated $18 per acre. A similar project on the bench lands, just above the Madison Valley Irrigation District, can be utilized to water from 5,000 to 7,000 acres of good bench land. The soil is a silty loam and abounds in lime. The altitude is about 5,200 feet above sea level. The canal would be about twenty miles in length, diverting directly from the Madison River. No serious engineering obstacles would be encountered. The Madison Irrigation Project is the name given to a system proposed on the east side of the Madison River, embracing some 30,000 acres of good land. The general topography is smooth bench land sloping about twenty-five feet to the mile. The soil is a silty loam with considerable lime ingredients. The average elevation of the lands is 5,500 feet above sea level. The engineering work consists of a forty-mile canal diverting directly from the Madison River at a point about a mile above Lyon. Several stream crossings are encountered in bringing the canal to Jack Creek northeast of Jeffers, where it terminates, but none is extremely difficult. This project is expected to develop within a short time, a preliminary survey having been made several years ago. Construction of this project will have some influence, tending to the extension of the railroad from Norris into the upper Madison Valley. Madison County abounds in water power sites, owing to the great fall in most of its streams. The Montana Power Company has developed a large power site and reservoir and a huge storage reservoir on the Madison River. This county has great possibilities for irrigation, as its numerous streams and acres of dry land are generally situated to combine ease of construction and low cost of development. At least 60,000 acres of land, valued at $10 to $25 an acre now, can be irrigated and be valued at $30 to $60 an acre, a net increase to the county of upward of a million and a half dollars. McCone The Brockway Irrigation District was formed under the Montana Irrigation Commission in 1919 to irrigate 2,740 acres. The only irrigation system in the county is located in the north- eastern part along Wolf Creek. This project was privately built ten years ago by constructing an earth dam in Wolf Creek and creating a storage of 3,588 acre feet. Additional work has been done from time to time and the present dam and reservoir are very substantial. About 600 acres are successfully irrigated and the full capacity of the reservoir has never been needed. Meagher The history of irrigation in the county is similar to that of the other older sections of the state. Canals and works were con- structed by individuals or partnerships to water the most accessible areas 606 HISTORY OF MONTANA along streams and rivers. Most of the 35,000 acres of irrigated lands lie in the Smith River Valley and its tributaries, although the north and south forks of the Musselshell River bottoms are also watered. Many of the streams have been adjudicated. Two proposed projects below White Sulphur Springs in the river valley, Wood's Gulch and Newlan Creek, respectively, are now under consideration by the Montana Irrigation Commission. A direct diversion from Smith River, near the mouth of Birch Creek, contemplates watering 600 to 1,000 acres, and while this project requires some heavy con- struction work, including considerable fluming, its feasibility is assured. Mineral There are no irrigation districts in the county nor any large irrigation companies. Nearly all the land that is being irrigated consists of small patches irrigated from individual ditches. There are about 1,000 acres in the county under irrigation. Missoula From the county assessor's records, there are 155,159 acres of land irrigated assessed at $4,726,475 ; 168,270 acres of agricultural land non-irrigated assessed at $3,168,015 ; 134,645 acres of grazing land assessed at $947,070 and 515,016 acres of timber land assessed at $4,614,354, making a total assessed valuation of $20,500,144. There are approximately 100,000 acres of land under irrigation in the county; the U. S. census returns show that 344,033 acres will be irrigated by new works either completed or under construction and that 219,476 acres are susceptible of irrigation by works already con- structed and that 101,026 acres are being irrigated. There have been only two irrigation districts filed in the county, the Clinton Irrigation District and the DeSmet Irrigation District. The Clinton district was created in September, 1919, but did not come under the jurisdiction of the Montana Irrigation Commission. They proposed to divert water out of Hell Gate River two miles east of Clinton covering land nearly down to Bonner. The DeSmet Irrigation District elected to come under the jurisdiction of the Montana Irrigation Commission. The United States Reclamation Service has put the major part of the Flathead Valley under irrigation. There are no Carey Act projects in the county. Land that might still be put under irrigation is a tract of 3,000 or 4,000 acres near the mouth of Clearwater River, 3,000 acres on Nine Mile Prairie, 10,000 acres in Missoula Valley, 10,000 acres on the DeSmet bench and 8,000 acres around Frenchtown, making a total of 35,000 acres. This would increase the assessed valuation of the county at the present rate of assessment $1,000,064. Musselshell and Golden Valley Irrigation dates back to the early settlers in the county along the Musselshell River Valley. Small diver- sion dams and canals were constructed to divert water from the river on to the low lying bottom lands. No very extensive works were ever con- structed. There are at present about 7,500 acres of land irrigated in both counties; about 1,500 acres of this lie along the Musselshell bottom; the HISTORY OF MONTANA 607 rest is situated in the bottom of the tributaries of the river, quite widely scattered throughout both counties. The nature of the flow of the river has made construction of works such as small diversion dams, etc., an extremely hazardous investment. In the spring the river, swollen by the water from the melting snows in the headwaters, is a raging torrent and sweeps out everything in its path. Some attempts to use low lift pumps along the river instead of dams have been tried and have proven fairly successful. These are on a small scale only. In a few instances small storage reservoirs have been created on some of the smaller tribu- taries by constructing earth dams. Some of these have resulted in failure, but near Lake Mason, a short distance north of Roundup, about 1,000 acres have been irrigated in this manner. In most cases where it is possible to construct a dam, there is no land available that could be benefited thereby. The Musselshell River offers the best possibility to reclaim land in both counties, through the development of the Deadman's Basin, a natural reservoir lying just northwest of the town of Barber in the western part of Golden Valley County. Park A few thousand acres are irrigated from the Yellowstone River, and in this stream there is a great abundance of water and no question as to water rights but on the many tributaries of the Yellowstone the full supply is utilized and nearly all of these streams have been adjudicated. Shields River and its sixty tributaries were covered in one decree entered in 1911, awarding 1,989 second feet of water among some 600 appropriators. Several small tributaries of the Yellowstone near Living- ston are also adjudicated. In the upper Yellowstone Valley, the Armstrong Ditch and the Liv- ingston Ditch are among the largest now constructed. In Shields Valley the principal canals are Clyde Park Canal, irrigating 1,500 acres, Lower Shields River Canal, with 2,500 acres and Jordan and Robinson Ditch, watering about 7,000 acres. But the great bulk of the irrigation both in Shields Valley and elsewhere in the county is done by small private or partnership ditches. For the further extension of irrigation, water supply is available from the Yellowstone by direct flow, and from many smaller streams by storage of the flood waters. The upper Yellowstone Irrigation District was created September 25, 1920, to irrigate 3,680 acres between Chickory and Brisbin at a cost of $20 per acre. Phillips The Reclamation Service is doing the most in developing irrigation in the county. As part of the Milk River project about 100,000 acres along the Milk River will be irrigated. A diversion dam in that stream at Dodson and a north and south canal paralleling the river are the salient features. About 12,000 acres are now being irrigated from that source. Beaver Creek, flowing into the Milk River from the south, has 608 HISTORY OF MONTANA furnished water for irrigation along its bottom lands for several years. It is an adjudicated stream, the amount decreed being 8,187 miner's inches. The water is diverted directly upon the lands from the natural flow. About 10,000 acres of irrigable land in the county can be developed through construction of storage reservoirs. Phillips County thus has approximately 100,000 acres of irrigable land which when developed will increase in value, according to present differences between dry and irrigated land, at least $30 per acre, or a total increased valuation of the county of $3,000,000. Pondera About 120,000 acres are irrigated in the county, 80,000 of which are in the Valier Carey Act project, described elsewhere in this report. The other irrigated lands of the county are mostly in small units along the streams of the county. Practically all of the direct flow of the streams is now utilized and the Carey Act project depends largely upon storage in two large reservoirs. A still further irrigation development is possible in this county and feasible reservoir sites are available. Powder River Irrigation is only practiced along the bottom lands of the streams where the summer flow furnishes a sufficient supply. Most of it is along the Powder River. Powell Irrigation has been practiced for many years along the Clark's fork of the Columbia, but no irrigation companies have been formed and no irrigation district has been organized. Prairie The only irrigation that is being done in the county is a small area along Powder River. It contains no irrigation district, although work is being done to create one to irrigate about 30,000 acres around Terry. Ravalli The first irrigation ever done in the state was in the Bitter Root Valley when Father DeSmet planted a small patch of grain at St. Mary's Mission in 1841. The stream gauging stations located in the county are the Bitter Root River near Como, the Bitter Root River near Grantsdale, the East Fork near Darby and the West Fork near Darby. The irrigation districts which have been formed and are in operation in the county include (i) Canyon Creek Irrigation District, established in July, 1909; diverted water out of Canyon Creek. Canyon Creek Lake has been reservoired. The projected (2) Blodgett Creek Irrigation District was organized October, 1910, and has 19,110 acres under irrigation. They purchased the rights of the Blodgett Creek Reservoir Company and completed a reservoir at the head of the creek. (3) Mill Creek Irrigation District was established in June, 1910, and a reservoir has been built at the head of Mill Creek and water is diverted HISTORY OF MONTANA 609 out for irrigation some distance below the reservoir. There are 2,224 acres under irrigation. (4) Charlos Irrigation District was established in June, 1918. Water is diverted from Lost Horse Creek to irrigate 847 acres around Charlos Heights. (5) Sunset Irrigation District was established in November, 1917, and the water of the project is diverted from Burnt Fork Creek to irrigate land locally known as the south bench. There are 3,025 acres under irrigation. The Bitter Root Valley Irrigation Company built a reservoir at Lake Como on the west side of the Bitter Root River and diverted water across the valley through a syphon and down along the bench lands on the east side of the valley as far as Eight Mile Creek. The canal is some seventy miles long and proposed the irrigation of 40,000 acres. Several large syphons and flumes were built as part of the system. This canal has been poorly managed and is not a success. The company has recently been reorganized and called the Ravalli Water Company. An application has been filed to come under the jurisdiction of the Public Service Com- mission. The Marcus Daly estate has also constructed several large ditches out of the Bitter Root River to irrigate lands extending from Hamilton to Corvallis. The lands from Corvallis to Stevensville are irrigated from Supply Ditch, Union Ditch, Web Foot Ditch and Surprise Ditch. There are no Carey Act or Reclamation projects within the county. Some years ago a canal line was surveyed from Rock Creek in Granite County over the summit and into the Bitter Root Valley, near the head of Three Mile Creek. It was proposed to irrigate the bench lands between Burnt Fork Creek and Eight Mile Creek and also to develop power for the operation of an electric line through the valley. This scheme was never developed, although perhaps feasible. The irrigation possibilities of the valley are pretty well developed. The water rights in most of the streams have been adjudicated. Through- out the valley there are perhaps 10,000 acres of land that could still be under irrigation. Richland Early irrigation was practiced along the lowest levels of the Yellowstone bottom, but with no great success. High water ditches were the type in general use and wild hay was the main crop. Few attempts were made elsewhere to irrigate. A gauging station on the Yellowstone at Intake in Dawson County gives an annual minimum flow at that point of 8,900,000 acre feet. The largest amount yet diverted by the Reclama- tion Project has been slightly more than 60,000 acre feet. The balance is allowed to flow from the state. Twenty thousand acres are irrigated along the Yellowstone River by the Reclamation Service Canal. The Lower Yellowstone Reclamation project furnishes the bulk of irrigation land. Rosebud The early irrigation in the county was done along the Yellowstone River bottoms and in Tongue River bottoms, on the Tongue Vol. 139 610 HISTORY OF MONTANA River and on Rosebud Creek. Gravity systems, diverting directly from the rivers, were employed. Along the Yellowstone the constantly chang- ing channel of the river caused the abandonment of many of these or their enlargement and location farther back from the river by means of heavy ruts, or pumping installations. At present there are under irriga- tion along the Yellowstone approximately 20,000 acres, along the Tongue River about 7,000 acres and in Rosebud and Arnell's creeks about 7,000 acres. However, in the latter two creeks the irrigation is only in the spring during high water, or by sub-irrigation during the summer months, as these streams flow very little water during the growing season. There are several pumping or gravity irrigation systems in operation at present along the Yellowstone on both sides of the river. The Hammond Irrigation Company was organized in 1912. The land covered by the project is on the north side of the river, the intake being opposite Howard on the Northern Pacific and the canal extending east to Forsyth being about ten miles in length. At the time it was con- structed many temporary structures were built and as a result the project was never wholly a success because of a high maintenance cost; but water has always been delivered and good crops have always been grown. In 1920 a district was organized under the district court to include the same land, for the purpose of making permanent improvements. The Carterville -Irrigation District was organized in 1909. It is a gravity system taking water from a slough of the Yellowstone River on the north side of the river five miles northeast of Forsyth. The canal parallels the river and is about 25 miles long. The area in the district embraces a strip of land from Forsyth to Thurlow on the Milwaukee and varies from one-half to one and one-half miles in width, the irrigated land amounting to 12,600 acres. The Milwaukee Railroad traverses the entire district. The Yellowstone Irrigation District lies p.artly in Rosebud County and partly in Treasure County. It was organized in 1909 and at that time took over the Sanders Co-operative Ditch Company and enlarged and extended that company's holdings. It is a gravity system and the intake is located just west of Hysham on the south side of the Yellow- stone. The canal then skirts the foothills east of Hysham and continues easterly to Arnell's Creek west of Forsyth. It is 29 miles in length and embraces in all about 10,000 acres, the area being a strip from one-half to two miles wide between the river and the foothills to the south. The Northern Pacific Railroad traverses the district, and the Great Western Sugar Company is co-operating with the federal and county governments in constructing a first class gravel highway through the area. There are two more irrigation districts now organized under the district court, but no construction work has as yet been started. The first, the Highland Park Irrigation District, is a pumping system and will water a high bench just east of Forsyth and extending east south of the Yellowstone River. The second, the Hathaway Bottom District, is a contemplated pumping project in the eastern end of the county near HISTORY OF MONTANA 611 the town of Hathaway and extending into Custer County. It will reclaim 3,000 acres of fine bottom land. Roosevelt The Fort Peck Indian Reservation lies partly in the county and the Fort Peck Indian Reclamation Project is developing 94,000 acres of irrigated land of that area. Since the Poplar River, which flows south through the county, will be utilized in full by the federal project, private irrigation along it is impossible. The Big Muddy creek is also appropriated by the Reclama- tion Service, but several tributaries on its east bank will develop storage for considerable irrigation. The largest field for irrigation lies in the Missouri bottom from the mouth of the Big Muddy to Mondak. A strip of land averaging a mile wide and 25 miles long is largely irrigable here. Twelve thousand acres are irrigable along the river. A small amount of private development has been done recently on some of the coulees in the eastern part of the county. Five thousand acres can be irrigated by utilizing the flood waters of these channels. In all, Roosevelt County has 111,000 acres of irrigable land. The increase in assessed valuation of about forty dollars an acre will total $4,440,000. Roosevelt County bids fair to rank as one of the greatest producers in the state. Sanders From the United States census reports there are 25,363 acres that will be irrigated by works either under construction or com- pleted ; 8,022 acres are susceptible of irrigation from works constructed and 5,749 acres are actually being irrigated. There are 2,110 acres either irrigated or susceptible of irrigation that are available for settlement. Sheridan Irrigation has never been practiced extensively in the county. Not to exceed 500 acres are partially irrigated along the Big Muddy, during the period of high water in the spring. The Reclamation Service claims the flow of the Big Muddy and its tributaries on the west. Silver Bow There are no companies operating exclusively as irriga- tion companies in the county. Most of the 15,000 acres irrigated lie adjacent to the Big Hole River. The irrigation here is carried on by ranches operating individually or in gorups. The main crop raised is hay. Near Butte are several truck and dairy ranches irrigating but a few acres. Only about 90 acres are irrigated in this manner. Little addi- tional irrigation is possible in the county. Stillwater Irrigation has been practiced in this county for 30 years with good results. Most of the irrigation is by small private ditches. About 30,000 acres are irrigated along the river valleys of the Stillwater and its tributaries and 10,000 acres along the Yellowstone River. There is ample water in these streams and no water rights have been decreed. The Columbus Irrigation District was created in 1919 to irrigate 612 HISTORY OF MONTANA 1,800 acres adjoining the Town of Columbus by a i6-mile canal diverting from Yellowstone River. The land has been irrigated since 1910 by water from Stillwater River, carried by pipe across the Yellowstone. This pipe was washed out in the high water of 1918 and the land has since been without water. Construction on the ditch has been under way for the past year and the cost has greatly exceeded the original estimates. Stillwater is one of the best watered counties in the state and has ample opportunities for a much greater extension of irrigation. Fifty thousand acres of good bench land between the Stillwater and Yellow- stone are irrigable by a high line canal from the Stillwater. Large tracts east of the Rosebud and Stillwater rivers could also be irrigated at rea- sonable cost. Sweet Grass Irrigation has been practiced in this county for over thirty years. Gravity systems are used and storage is not necessary ex- cept on the Big Timber Carey Act Project. Most of the irrigation is by small private ditches. From Sweetgrass and Big Timber creeks about 25,000 acres are now irrigated, about half of this amount being included in the Glass-Lindsay Carey Act. From Boulder River about 20,000 acres are irrigated mostly by small private ditches constructed at low cost. The largest ditch diverting from the Boulder is the Dry Creek canal built in 1900 at a cost of $25,000. It is 15 miles long and serves 3,000 acres of land lying southeast of Big Timber. The Greycliff Irrigation District was created in March, 1920, to irri- gate 2,000 acres near Greycliff by enlarging and extending the old Bailey Ditch diverting from Boulder River. Many thousand acres additional can be watered by direct flow from Boulder River. A considerable area can also be irrigated from Yellow- stone River. The total irrigable acreage that could be developed at rea- sonable cost is estimated at from 25,000 to 40,000 acres. Teton Of the irrigated lands in the county, about 3,000 acres near Fairfield are included in the U. S. R. S. Sun River project. Three thousand acres are irrigated on Deep Creek and 1,000 acres on Willow Creek. Three thousand acres are irrigated on the Teton River above Chouteau. Northeast of Chouteau a large expanse of excellent bench land is irrigated under the Burton, the Farmers, and the Eldorado ditches, all diverting from Teton River. About 40,000 acres are served by these three ditches. A large Carey Act project was planned several years ago to irrigate 40,000 acres near Brady, being partly in Teton and partly in Pondera County. After construction of the Bynum Reservoir the project was dropped. The reservoir rights have now been acquired by the Bynum Irrigation District, which was created in March, 1920, and is now pre- paring to irrigate other lands near Bynum, amounting to 25,000 acres, besides furnishing water to 5,000 acres near Brady. Under the U. S. R. S. Sun River project it is planned to eventually irrigate an additional area of about 70,000 acres northeast of Fairfield ; HISTORY OF MONTANA 613 with all the contemplated irrigation completed, this will be one of the best watered counties in the state. Toole About 500 acres have been irrigated from private ditches along Maria's River and about half that amount from small streams among the Sweetgrass Hills. Much of the irrigation, however, has been abandoned, and the actual area properly irrigated is negligible. The Toole County Irrigation District was organized in September, 1919, to irrigate over 200,000 acres of land in the county. Treasure Early irrigation was practiced along the lower river bot- toms by individual or partnership ditches, generally carrying water dur- ing high flood stages. The only crop sought was hay sufficient for the need of stock ranches. Later came the era of alfalfa, sugar beets and vegetables, and these early ditches were improved or taken over by larger companies or districts and enlarged. The Echetah Ditch was one of the early ditches, although it was later incorporated and still later taken over by the Rancher Ditch Company. The Rancher Ditch Company was organized in 1904 to irrigate lands lying on the north side of the river north and west of Hysham. The source is the Yellowstone River, the water being conducted by gravity from a point almost opposite the mouth of the Big Horn River to a point north of Hysham. The chief crops are beets and alfalfa. Since the railroad is on the south side of the river, the produce must be hauled across to ship it. Lack of a bridge causes the farmers near Hysham to resort to a ferry, which tends to diminish the amount of beets grown. The system has always given satisfaction and is very successful. On the same side of the river extending east from Hysham to about north of the Town of Sanders is a project known as the North Sanders Irrigation District. It was organized under the district court to take over the North Sanders Co-operative Ditch Company's work and extend and enlarge the same. It is part gravity and part pumping. The gravity canal diverts from the Yellowstone and covers some 3,700 acres. The Box Elder Irrigation District organized in 1919 irrigates 1,485 acres above the canal of the Yellowstone Irrigation District by pumping from that canal. The land lies east of Hysham about two miles. The Big Horn Tulloc Company built a project near the mouth of the Big Horn River, taking water from that river and irrigating lands near the town of Big Horn. It is a gravity system, but in cases of ex- treme low water expects to be prepared to pump to its canal, for which contingency it is now installing pumping machinery. It covers 2,000 acres and was installed in 1910 at a cost of $18 per acre. The Hysham Irrigation District, organized in 1919, proposed to irrigate some 6,OOO acres of bottom land immediately adjacent to Hysham. The source of water is the Yellowstone, from which it will have to be pumped. The canal will be about five miles in length. Valley Irrigation on a small scale only has been possible in Valley County. Along Rock Creek in the western end of the county a few direct diversion works were built prior to 1902. 614 HISTORY OF MONTANA Wheatland The earliest irrigation was practiced in the bottom lands along such streams that gave a sufficient flow through the irrigation season. In most cases the works required consisted only of a canal, with perhaps a diversion dam at its head. The lands along the Mussel- shell River are the most extensive of the irrigated lands in the county. Approximately 10,000 acres lying along the Musselshell are irrigated, which includes the smaller tributaries. The Harlowton-DuRand Irrigation District, now being handled through the Montana Irrigation Commission, contemplates the irrigation of 16,600 acres. Wibaux Irrigation has never been practiced extensively. Several years ago a dam to divert water from Beaver Creek, a few miles north of the City of Wibaux, was utilized to irrigate 150 to 200 acres during the high water period when water was available. However, this was never very successful because of lack of water at the proper time and has fallen into disuse. No irrigation is done with the exception of a flooding on some small tracts in the Beaver Creek bottom during the spring floods. On account of scarcity of reservoir sites, where storage water is available, nothing has been done to develop irrigation. Numerous small dams have been built to form water holes for stock, but none are large enough to store irrigation water. Yellowstone About 125,000 acres are irrigated in the county and the average value thereof is about $150 per acre, while the average value of dry farm land is about $25. The total assessed valuation of the county is $84,500,000. Irrigation has been practiced in this county for 40 years, with very satisfactory results, except for the development of seepage troubles, which have necessitated the drainage of a considerable acreage; A much larger area now needs drainage and plans are under way to drain most of the irrigated lands above Billings. Considerable drainage has been done by the U. S. Reclamation Service on the Huntley project below Billings. The Yellowstone River is the main source of supply for irrigation, though some of the tributaries are also used for a small acreage. In the river no water rights have been adjudicated, as the supply is ample for all needs. A few of the minor streams have been decreed. The principal canals diverting from Yellowstone River and the acreage served by each are as follows: Cove Ditch 5,5o acres Big Ditch 37,50O acres Billings Ditch (Carey Act Project) 25,000 acres Canyon Creek Ditch 5,ooo acres Suburban Ditch 2,000 acres Lockwood Irrigation District 2,500 acres HISTORY OF MONTANA 615 Coulson Ditch 3,000 acres Huntley Project (U. S. R. S.) 33,ooo acres The first five of these ditches irrigate laands on the north side of the river and the last three lands on the south side. Cove Ditch has its diver- sion above Park City in Stillwater County, but most of the lands irrigated are in Yellowstone. The Big Ditch is 60 miles long and has been in operation with good success for over 20 years. The Canyon Creek Ditch was built 35 years ago. The Suburban Ditch is also an old one and irrigates lands adjoining the city of Billings. Lockwood Irrigation District is a pumping project operating under three different lifts ranging from 65 to 165 feet. Because of heavy operation cost it is less profitable than the gravity systems. The Billings Carey Act Project and the Huntley U. S. Reclamation Project are described elsewhere in this report. The Waeo-Custer Irrigation District was created in August, 1920, to irrigate 4,50x3 acres along Yellowstone River in the east end of the county. Most of the lands have been irrigated under an old system for many years. The Danford Irrigation District was created in September, 1920, to irrigate 1,200 acres near Laurel, by diversion from Clark Fork River. About half of the lands are in this county and half in Carbon County. The lands have been mostly irrigated for 20 years under an old system and are very high priced lands. The Victory Irrigation District was created in September, 1920, to irrigate 2,800 acres near Custer by diversion from the Big Horn River. s IRRIGATION STATISTICALLY CONSIDERED The bulletin of the United States census for 1920, on irrigation in Montana, contains all the data necessary for a complete exposition of the subject, from the standpoint of facts and figures. Comparisons are usually presented by decades and the record goes back to a period ante- dating the formation of Montana as a territory. What follows com- prises condensations and extracts from the Government's rich mine of information. In 1920 the number of farms irrigated in the state was 10,807, as compared with 8,970 in 1910, and the area irrigated 1,679,084 acres and 1,687,031, respectively. Ten years ago, however, the enterprises were comparatively small, as is evident from the reports of "capital invested," $53,457,663 being devoted to irrigation works in 1920, com- pared with $22,970,958 so applied in 1910. The figures showing the area irrigated in the decadal years preceding 1910 indicate an imposing increase ; in 1890, 350,582 acres of land were irrigated in Montana, and in 1900 the area had increased to 951,154. The returns of capital in- vested in irrigation enterprises are even more striking. In 1890 the amount was $623.195; in 1900, $4,683,073, and, as stated, in 1910, nearly $23,000,000. 616 HISTORY OF MONTANA ACREAGE BY DRAINAGE BASINS The report of a special census taken in 1902 presented all data by drainage basins rather than by counties. The results of the census of 1920 were tabulated on the same basis, and the data for 1902 presented for purposes of comparison. For no other census have the results been tabulated in this form. The acreage reported for each drainage basin in 1919 comprises all the irrigated land in that drainage basin, including that watered from springs and wells. In the 1902 results the acreages irrigated from springs and wells were not reported for the smaller tributary streams, but the acreages for the tributaries were included in those reported for the main streams. This area is so small, however, that the comparison of the areas reported for the tributary streams is not seriously affected. DRAINAGE BASIN AREA IRRIGATED (ACRES) Afea included in enter- prises, 1920 (acres)* Area enterprises were capable ofirrigating in 1920 (acres) 1 1919 1902 Per cent of increase 1 Total 2.639.082 1.140,694 131.4 4,358,148 2,639,082 2,341,814 908,243 157.8 3,713,068 2,223,494 15,635 425,685 21,276 145,673 184,655 7,265 34,474 32,342 34,425 95,063 16,861 ' 31,785 44,945 63,758 15,173 45,559 108,555 19,766 11,390 231,788 15,721 99,014 67,422 9,333 21,101 * 19,197 20,338 58,004 18,677 32,927 34,961 22.188 44,600 87,000 56,507 24,305 4,947 37.3 83.7 35.3 47.1 173.9 -22.2 63.4 68.5 69.3 63.9 -9.7 2.8 28.6 187.4 -66.0 -47.8 91.8 -18.7 34,194 831,898 40,347 296,079 306,885 40,677 76,107 71.803 88.524 228,056 38,369 244.071 146,468 308,158 40.993 141,363 349,716 26,358 2,850 3,130 317,378 858,817 279.211 94.238 34,278 125.367 92.036 1,365 31.396 5,871 195,055 3,205 399,236 645,080 28,174 574,672 34,894 199,797 227.920 13,297 48,036 50,728 62,065 152,515 29.691 77,465 82.241 122,431 35,459 113,964 158,391 23,443 1,750 2,275 130,923 645,588 240,034 53,062 29,664 116,506 66,206 1,305 21,403 4,841 112,567 1,480 139,358 539,288 Jefferson River and tributaries Jefferson River direct Beaverhead River Boulder River Passamari River Other tributaries of Jefferson River .... Madison River Gallatin River Sun River ... Teton River Judith River Milk River and tributaries Milk River direct Sage Creek Snake River 910 87,879 440.354 189,453 25,940 23,561 68,839 51,103 365 11.170 728 69.195 380 51,585 297,268 2,135 1 25,210 209,137 40,015 19,836 13,572 64,628 1.645 13.618 12,622 2,390 40.811 2,865 77,466 232,451 -57.4 248.6 110.6 373.5 30.8 73.6 6.5 Other tributaries of Milk River Yellowstone River direct Shields River Clark Fork Big Horn River -97.3 -11.5 -69.5 69.5 -86.7 -33.4 27.9 Tongue River Other tributaries of Yellowstone River . Other tributaries of Missouri River .... Tributaries of Columbia River Clark Fork and tributaries 291,286 2,882 238,769 2,550 77,381 40,604 112,622 5,612 49,635 5.982 229,851 < 8,808 221,043 1,181 78.139 36,622 98.965 6,136 ( 5 ) 2,600 26.7 -67.3 8.0 115.9 -1.0 10.9 13.8 -8.5 630,657 14,403 433,021 8,322 165,391 83,716 158,241 17,351 183,233 14,423 529,564 4,722 325,992 5,777 108,161 61,476 139,481 11,097 75,150 9,724 Missoula River and tributaries Hellgate River . . . . Big Blackfoot River Bitter Root River. Other tributaries of Missoula River. . Flathead River.. Kootenai River 130.1 1 A minus sign ( ) denotes decrease. Per cent not shown when more than 1,000. 1 Not reported in 1902. 1 Includes springs and wells. 4 Includes springs and wells and all sources in the Columbia River drainage basin, exclusive of the Missoula and Kootenai Rivers. * Not reported separately in 1902. HISTORY OF MONTANA IRRIGATION WORKS BUILT SINCE 1860 617 A clear idea of the irrigation works constructed in Montana since 1860, classified by dams, main and lateral ditches, and reservoirs, may be obtained from the following statistics : DATE OF BEGINNING Number of diverting dams Number of storage dams 524 MAIN DITCHES LATERAL DITCHES RESERVOIRS Number Length (miles) Length (miles) Number Capacity (acre-feet)* Total 3,548 8,820 16,445 6.285 469 1.583.720 Before 1860 5 238 373 1,064 763 339 275 197 163 131 1 22 10 58 91 95 98 87 38 24 15 798 876 2,222 1,861 870 616 484 407 671 10 1,259 1,516 3,995 3,429 1,596 2,002 896 808 934 3 146 370 865 1,554 421 2,087 245 402 192 1860-1869 21 7 43 79 88 82 84 43 22 6,209 40 55,430 52,572 43,666 567.349 758,984 95.791 3,679 1870-1879 1880-1889 1890-1899 1900-1904. . . 1905-1909 1910-1914 1915-1919 Not reported *An acre-foot is the quantity of water that will cover one acre to a depth of one foot viz., 43,560 cubic feet. STATUS OF ENTERPRISES IN 1920 The following table indicates the capital invested in 1920, and cost of operation and maintenance, classified by character of enterprise: CLASS CAPITAL INVESTED OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE Amount Per cent of total Area for which cost is reported (acres) Average cost per acre Total $53,457,663 100.0 1,369,651 $1.26 Individual and partnership 15,543,287 6,692,877 1,708,851 4,834,407 676,535 19,183,271 4,705,737 100 105,538 7,060 29.1 12.5 3.2 9.0 1.3 35.9 8.8 C 1 ) 0.2 0) 747,131 349,499 34,983 54,748 34,115 81,306 67,789 20 1.07 0.86 0.98 1.76 2.14 2.86 2.71 0.75 Cooperative Irrigation district Carey Act . . Commercial U. S. Reclamation Service U. S. Indian Service State City Other 60 2.67 1 Less than one-tenth of 1 per cent. 618 HISTORY OF MONTANA IRRIGATED LANDS AS PRODUCERS An instructive table demonstrating the per cent of land irrigated as compared with the total acreage of the state and the quantities of the various crops harvested from the land. CROP AREA HARVESTED QUANTITY HA RVESTED 1919 1909 1919 1909 Acres Per cent of total for state Acres Per cent of total for state Amount Per cent of total for state Amount Per cent of total for state CEREALS: Corn 2,436 45.153 39,396 121,804 10.286 1.370 35.781 91,912 5.576 220,281 39,254 770 25,349 117,385 620 4,903 7,686 761,904 47,600 3,330 1,022 12,070 3,740 965 13.0 23.6 7.3 10.5 35.1 1.8 44.3 65.3 42.4 58.9 52.0 12.1 5.4 26.0 32.3 22.1 89.4 71.9 72.5 34.6 44.5 81.2 2.9 56.3 . 1 .640 159,658 } 45.568 9.271 867 48.868 60.437 8,433 183,264 22,195 17.2 47.9 17.6 34.0 14.4 41.5 66.8 72.9 81.7 37.5 34,132 bu. 1.183.068 bu. 331.668 bu. 1.551.685 bu. 185,866 bu. 6.826 bu. 35,613 tons 105.845 tons 6,967 tons 408,993 tons 39,523 tons 1,184 tons 18.194 tons 131,652 tons 3,357 tons 21.4 45.8 11.9 31.0 53.6 3.0 56.8 70.4 51.0 69.7 61.6 25.4 10.6 46.8 43 2 51,488 6,965.254 ll.236.137 273.827 15,438 76.230 102.660 17.350 514,803 37.424 18.8 50.5 19.8 36.4 13.9 44.6 65.8 72.0 85.8 47.6 Oats Winter wheat Spring wheat Barley Rye HAY AND FORAGE: Timothy alone Timothy and clover mixed Clover alone Alfalfa Other tame grasses Annual legumes cut for hay Grains cut green 5.988 329.579 13.0 56.4 10.418 339.821 14.8 57.6 Wild, salt or prairie grasses Silage crops VEGETABLES: Potatoes 11.137 7,551 53.8 86.7 568.008 bu. 67.297 tons 477,796 bu. 34.2 91.2 70 9 1.938.677 91.509 59.8 84.1 Sugar beets FRUITS:**) Apples Cherries 1,527 41.3 9,595 bu. 8,824 bu. 14.576 bu. 65.0 37.8 55 8 4,817 46.4 M ISCELLANBOUS : Cloverfand alfalfa seed . . . Dry beans Dry peas . . . 951 80.3 143.042 bu. 22,534 bu. 85.9 6.9 19,966 92.1 Flaxseed Sugar-beet seed 508,385 Ibs. 52 DRAINAGE ENTERPRISES Secondary to the irrigation of lands in Montana, but yet of great importance in the conservation of its productive area, is the drainage of farms and other land that will eventually be used for agricultural purposes. No census relating to the subject was taken prior to that of 1920, and the facts here given extracted from a special bulletin issued by the Govern- ment bureau relate substantially to conditions as of January I, 1920. The organized drainage enterprises include considerable areas of un- improved lands not yet in farms. The statistics for drainage on farms were collected in the general census of agriculture, while the figures for outside drainage enterprises were obtained in a special canvass for that purpose. Such drainage on farms may be either inside or outside an organized enterprise, and the drains that an individual owner constructs on his own farm may be either supplemental to, or be independent of the works installed by an enterprise. With this introductory explanation, the following table will be com- prehended : HISTORY OF MONTANA 619 ITEM Amount Per cent of total DRAINAGE ON FARMS Number of all farms in the state 57,677 756 1,728 35,070,656 11,007,278 51,146 113,293 93,523,840. 116,082 101,924 14,158 $846,466 664,990 181,476 100.0 1.3 3.0 100.0 31.4 0.1 0.3 100.0 0.1 0.1 Farms reporting land having drainage Farms reporting land needing drainage . . All land in farms acres Improved land in farms acres Farm land reported as provided with drainage. . Farm land reported as needing drainage DRAINAGE ENTERPRISES Approximate land area of the state All land in operating drainage enterprises Improved land .... acres . . .... acres . . .... acres . . .... acres . . acres Unimproved land Total capital invested in and required for completion of oper- ating enterprises 100.0 78.6 21.4 Capital invested in these enterprises to Dec. 31, 1919.. . Additional capital required to complete these enterprises CHARACTER OF ENTERPRISES Most of the drainage enterprises organized under the state laws were established in accordance with the law of March 7, 1905, (ch. 106). That provided for a county drain commissioner with duties generally the same as provided in the law of March 18, 1915 (ch. 147), and for a very similar method of organizing drainage districts. Amendments made in 1907 and 1909 did not affect the form of organization. The drainage law of 1915 provides for the appointment of a county drain commissioner by the board of county commissioners, to have juris- diction over all established drains in his county. A petition for a drain must be signed by not less than ten freeholders of the county, including at least five (or at least half when the whole number is five or less) who own lands liable ' for assessment for the proposed improvement. The tracts of land and the cities, towns, counties, railways, and irrigation ditches assessed for the construction of a drain comprise the drainage dis- trict. Land liable to become waterlogged may be included. Damages and inconvenience caused by seepage and waste water from irrigation ditches and higher land are to be considered in apportioning the cost, which is borne by the various parts of the district in proportion to the bene- fits that will be conferred. A first order of determination for the drainage district is issued by the drain commissioner if his preliminary examination indicates that the enterprise is practicable; the final order of determination is issued when right-of-way for the drain has been secured. The plan of drainage is determined by the drain commissioner, who lets contract for construction. Damages for right of way are awarded by a board of special commission- ers appointed by the district court. If this board decides that the drain is unnecessary, proceedings for establishing the drain are dismissed at the cost of the applicants. Appeal from this board's awards may be taken 620 HISTORY OF MONTANA to the district court for jury trial. Apportionment of the cost is made by the drain commissioner, subject to review by a board appointed by the District Court and to further appeal for jury trial. This board of review may add to the district, or eliminate any part of it. Public hearings are held upon the petition for commissioners to determine damages and upon the drain commissioner's apportionment of cost. Damages awarded each individual are deducted from the assessment of cost made against him. The number of installments for collecting the drainage taxes, which must not extend more than ten years, is determined by the drain commissioner. Payments for damages, services, and materials are made by warrants drawn upon the funds of the district, but those for land and for damages in excess of benefits will be paid from general county funds, which will be reimbursed by the district. Petition for a drain to be located or to confer benefits in more than one county may be filed in either county affected. The drain commission- ers act jointly, but after they apportion the total cost between the counties each makes the apportionment within his own county. Drainage and protection against seepage and alkali for land in pro- jects of the United States Reclamation Service may be provided by that service as such improvement works are deemed necessary. DRAINAGE WORKS The total works completed by drainage enterprises to December 31, 1919, comprised 102.1 miles of open ditches and 50.7 miles of tile drains; the additional lengths under construction were 1.3 miles of open ditches and 36.2 miles of tile drains. These figures do not include drains installed by individual farm owners supplemental to the works of the enterprises. There are no pumping districts for land drainage in the state. Throughout the state, 116,082 acres of land are covered by organized enterprises, of which 44,682 acres are embraced by completed works and the remainder of the area by works under construction. The total amount invested in these enterprises on December 31, 1919, was $664,990, of which $393,969 had been invested in completed works. To complete the drainage enterprises projected, it was estimated that $181,476 would be required. Most of the projects are situated in the south central part of the state, in Yellowstone County; they cover 96,732 acres of the total of 116,082 which have been drained, or are in process of drainage. CONDITION OF LAND IN ENTERPRISES With one exception, all the enterprises in the drainage basin of the Missouri River and its branches are for the drainage and protection of land damaged or threatened with water-logging and the con- centration of salts, commonly called alkali, in the surface soil as a result of irrigation. The enterprises on the Pacific slope are reported as all for the drainage and protection of land that was swampy or subject to over- flow by stream floods. HISTORY OF MONTANA 621 For the state, 3,930 acres in drainage districts and 61,831 acres in United States Reclamation Service projects are reported as not having needed drainage, or as not having been expected to receive drainage or protection from the improvement works authorized, but as having been assessed merely as being responsible for damage to the other lands. The usual purpose of an organized enterprise is merely to provide adequate outlets into which the landowners of the district may drain their farms, and to afford relief from overflows for the district as a unit. Therefore, the fact that an enterprise which has completed the construc- tion of the drainage works authorized contains land still swampy, subject to overflow, seeped, or alkali, or land that suffers damage to crops, does not show that the improvement works are inadequate. The forests and mountainous tracts of Montana cover 26,000,000 acres of the 90,000,000 acres within its limits. Of the former splendid and useful domain, nearly 16,000,000 acres are included in the national forests, the state owns 500,000 acres, about 5,000,000 acres are in private hands and the remaining 5,000,000 acres still belong to the public domain or in- clude the Indian reservations. The national and state governments and private owners co-operate to conserve these lands and avoid waste, chiefly from fires and the indiscriminate burning of slashings which in the past has destroyed thousands of acres of young forest growth. It is only within recent years that there has filtered into the general consciousness a realization of the vital relation between the preservation and expansion of mountain forests and the development of agricultural prosperity. It is within the timbered areas of the mountains that the winter snows are conserved which feed the innumerable streams netting Montana, and furnish water for domestic, irrigating and power purposes. Of the 15,957,196 acres in national forests 13,147,153 are classified as timber lands, 1,665,113 as grass or grazing, and 1,144,930 as barren. THE FOREST PUBLIC LANDS Under what is called the Forest Homestead Law passed June n, 1906, 399,781 acres of national forest land have been listed and opened to settle- ment and entry. This acreage embraces 3,169 distinct tracts, averaging 126.15 acres in extent. Only a few of the listed areas have not been entered. In 1912, the secretary of agriculture was directed to examine and classify all the national forest lands with a view to ascertaining what areas were suitable for agricultural use. The classification authorized has now been completed and all areas, except a very few which are now heavily timbered and which have been left for re-examination and classification when the timber is removed, which are chiefly valuable for agriculture, the occupation of which for agricultural purposes will not interfere with the administration of the national forests, and which are not needed for public purposes, have been opened to settlement and entry. J PQ H in HISTORY OF MONTANA 623 Grazing on the national forests is not a right given to anyone by law, but is a privilege which rests with the secretary of agriculture under the regulations of his department, who is to simply keep in mind, with the general aim of land conservation, the permanent good of the livestock industry and the protection of bona fide settlers and homebuilders. The Forest Service, to which is confided the administration of the grazing regulations, endeavors to promote and stabilize the livestock indus- try. "The success that has attended its efforts," says one of the public officials of Montana, "is attested by the practically unanimous endorse- ment of its methods by stockmen's organizations throughout the West and the widespread movement for the extension of Forest Service man- agement to the public range outside the national forests. Grazing permits are issued by the forest supervisor, the fees for which depend on the length of the grazing season, the location of the forest, quality of forage and other factors. "It is expected of the permittees that their stock should be handled while on the forests in such a way as to prevent damage to the range or to the timber growth, and so that destructive erosion or washing of the soil will be prevented. To this end, cattle should be salted properly, both as to quantity and distribution of salt ; and where large numbers graze on one range in common they should be herded. Herders are often employed by a livestock association made up of permittees who assess a small charge per' head of the permitted stock to defray the expense. Sheep should be herded in a quiet manner avoiding all unnecessary trailing, and bedding not more than three nights in one place. "If the stock are not handled in such a way as to prevent damage to the range and timber growth, the number of stock is reduced and, in extreme cases, grazing is entirely prohibited until injury done is remedied." Under the Federal laws governing the forests, 25 per cent of the revenues received by the Government on account of each national forest is paid into the state treasury and from there distributed among the various counties in which the forest is situated in the proportion which the forest acreage in each county bears to the total acreage of the forest. This 25 per cent fund is devoted to school and road purposes and applied in such manner as the State Legislature may direct. In addition to the 25 per cent fund, 10 per cent of all forest revenues from each state is set aside for the construction of roads and trails within the forests in the state under the direction of the secretary of agriculture. The total net receipts of the Government from all national forests in Montana for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1919, amounted to $385,525.72. AREAS AND LOCATIONS OF NATIONAL FORESTS The national forests in Montana, with the areas and approximate county locations, are as follows : Absarokee Chiefly in Park and Sweet Grass counties. Total area, 987,710 acres. 624 HISTORY OF MONTANA Beartooth Chiefly in Carbon and Sweet Grass counties. Total area, 681,930 acres. Beaverhead Chiefly in Beaverhead County. Total area, 1,365,000 acres. Bitter Root Chiefly in Ravalli County. Total area, 1,155,868 acres. Blackfeet In Flathead and Lincoln counties. Total area, 1,128,615 acres. Cabinet Chiefly in Sanders County. Total area, 1,043,224 acres. Custer Chiefly in Powder River County. Total area, 499,508 acres. Deer Lodge Chiefly in Jefferson, Deer Lodge and Silver Bow coun- ties. Total area, 964,000 acres. Flathead Chiefly in Flathead County. Total area, 2,004,579 acres. Gallatin Chiefly in Gallatin County. Total area, 909,430 acres. Helena Chiefly in Lewis and Clark and Broadwater counties. Total area, 888,631 acres. Jefferson Chiefly in Cascade and Meagher counties. Total area, 1,175,685 acres. Kootenai In Lincoln County. Total area, 1,617,140 acres. Lewis and Clark Chiefly in Lewis and Clark and .Teton counties. Total area, 826,360 acres. Lolo Chiefly in Mineral and Missoula counties. Total area, 1,181,- 018 acres. Madison Chiefly in Madison County. Total area, 1,035,860 acres. Missoula Chiefly in Granite and Missoula counties. Total area, 1,368,191 acres. Sioux In Carter County. Total area, 114,541 acres. Grand total of national forest area in Montana, 18,947,290 acres. Alienations, 2,990,094 acres. Net area, 15,957,156 acres. THE NATIONAL FOREST FUNDS Twenty-five per cent of the receipts of the national forests is devoted to the support of the common schools of Montana, and 10 per cent is applied to road and trail building, within and adjacent to the preserves in the counties from which the receipts are derived. The expenditure of these funds is under the jurisdiction of the National Forest Service. For the year 1920, the total thus distributed to the several counties interested was $88,017. I* 1 tnat li st > tne following were most favored: Lincoln, to the extent of $11,167; Beaverhead, $8,947; Madison, $8,533; Ravalli, $5,800; Flathead, $4,960; Powder River, $4,797; Jefferson, $4,055. The different forests yielded the following revenues in 1919 and 1920: National Forests 1 9 1 9 1920 Absaroka $ 2,603.27 $ 2,635.65 Beartooth 3,687.14 3,441.89 Beaverhead 10,765.59 7,989.81 HISTORY OF MONTANA 625 National Forests 1919 1920 Bitter Root $5.939-65 $5,842.12 Blackfeet 1,854.12 4,314.89 Cabinet '" 90977 1,315-92 Custer 6,704.89 6,222.60 Deer Lodge 10,566.82 8,010.25 Flathead 10,254.20 2,861.76 Gallatin 2,973.50 2,712.85 Helena 5,753-21 5,177-16 Jefferson 6,585.76 7,200.06 Kootenai 3,53ii.65 9,546.19 Lewis and Clark 1,995.76 1,506.26 Lolo 5,849.42 4,856.81 Madison 10,997.94 1 1,158.53 Missoula 2,351.08 1,943.84 Sioux 1,719.04 1,280.60 Totals $95,042.81 $88,017.19 MONTANA'S LUMBER STAND The stand on the permanent productive timber land for the state is esti- mated by the United States Forest Service to be about fifty-eight billion feet. The total productive commercial timbered area is 13,374,000 acres, half of which is covered with mature timber, and half with reproduction and young growth. In addition to the productive commercial timber land there are 3,577,000 acres of protective forest. The current annual growth for all species on the productive commercial timber land (exclusive of park land and protection forest) for the whole state, as determined very roughly, is 790,000,000 feet. Since the lumber cut for 1919 has been given at about 335,000,000, and the entire cut for the state, including round timbers for the mines, cordwood, hewn ties, posts, poles, pilings, shingles and lath, does not exceed 600,000,000, no deduction need be made from the following estimated total stand: Forest Service 33,8i2 million feet National Park ..'., 2,006 million feet Public Domain 27 million feet Indian 2,425 million feet Total Federal 38,270 million feet State 2,300 million feet Private : 7,5 O1 million feet Total 58,071 million feet Reports of the lumber production -by species show that the great bulk of the output is from the forests of yellow pine and larch. Montana's Vol. 140 626 HISTORY OF .MONTANA 100 mills supply about half of the lumber consumed in the state, and the home market takes four-fifths of the lumber cut. FORESTRY ORGANIZATION AND LEGISLATION The direction and control of state owned lands is vested by the con- stitution in the State Board of Land Commissioners. A state forester RAINY LAKE, MISSOULA NATIONAL FOREST is appointed by the governor by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to serve a term of four years. It is specified in the act that he shall be skilled in the science of forestry. The state forester, under the direction and control of the Land Board, is charged with the duty of handling all the field work in selection, location, examination and appraisement of state timber lands, and under the direction of the board has general charge of the timber lands of the state. He executes all HISTORY OF MONTANA 627 matters pertaining to forestry in the state, has charge of all fire war- dens, and enforces the fire laws of the state. Provision is also made by law for a Forestry Board, composed of the register of state lands (chairman), the state forester (secretary), and the state land agent. The duties of the State Forestry Board are "to ascertain the method of reforesting the denuded lands of the state, to prevent forestry waste and the destruction of forests by fire, to man- age the forests of the state on forestry principles, to encourage private owners in preserving and growing timber," etc. The salary and expense of the state forester, as well as all other members of the state land office are paid out of the moneys in the sev- eral-land grant income funds, and apportioned among the several funds in proportion to the amount of land in each of the land grants from which the several funds are derived. Under existing state laws the state forester has general charge of fire protection work in the state. He may appoint in such locations as he deems wise, public spirited citizens to act as volunteer fire wardens. Sheriffs, deputy sheriffs, game wardens and deputy game wardens are ex-officio fire wardens, as are also duly appointed officers of the U. S. Forest Service, the Northern Montana Forestry Association and the U. S. Indian Service. Such wardens may arrest without warrant for violation in their presence of any state or federal forest laws. The law provides a closed season from June I to September 30, dur- ing which it is unlawful to burn forest material without a permit from a warden. An exception is made, "Providing that the provision of this section shall not apply to any actual settler engaged in clearing land for agricultural purposes, nor shall not apply where the brush is piled up and there is a clear space thirty (30) feet around such pile, but shall apply to all burning of slashings." The law also compels burning of brush and slashings resulting from logging operations within a year after such cutting. This section of the law covering slash disposal is adequate for the purpose, but it has been enforced only to a very limited extent, chiefly owing to lack of an effective organization to inspect logging operations and compel com- pliance with the law. FOREST FIRE LAWS "The principal lack in the Montana forest fire laws is failure to pro- vide any form of compulsory fire protection on privately owned forest lands," says the state forester in his biennial report for 1917-20. "It is a well recognized principle that a state has the authority to legislate for the purpose of preventing any condition on any privately owned prop- erty, which may be a menace to life or property of other citizens of the state. All forest land in this region is inflammable and fire starting in any forest land is a menace to adjoining property. "Many forest owners of the state have recognized the need of organ- ized fire protection. The Northern Montana Forestry Association, which 628 HISTORY OF MONTANA is composed principally of private owners in the northwestern part of the state, with a membership representing 927,000 acres, has success- fully maintained an organized fire protection for some years. The North- ern Pacific Railway Company lands within the national forest, amount- ing to 990,000 acres in Montana, are protected by co-operative agree- ment with the Forest Service. The state forest lands, amounting to YELLOW PINE FORESTS IN LINCOLN COUNTY about 500,000 acres, are protected either through co-operative agree- ment with the Forest Service or by the organization maintained by the state forester. The total of private and state lands under organized protection then amount to 2,417,000 acres. "There are in the State of Montana, based on the county records, 3,468,000 acres of timber land, and 951,000 acres of cut-over land, or a total of 4,419,000 acres in private ownership which may be classed as forest land requiring fire protection. Adding 500,000 acres of state forest land, makes a total of 4,919,000 acres of state and private forest HISTORY OF MONTANA 629 lands requiring protection. Since only 2,417,000 acres are under organ- ized protection, there remain 2,502,000 acres which are either not pro- tected, or are receiving incidental protection in which they do not share the cost from the Forest Service, the Northern Montana Forestry Asso- ciation and the state." *. * * STATE AND FEDERAL CO-OPERATION "The Forest Service has for some years co-operated with the various states in fire protection, under the provisions of the so-called 'Weeks Law,' which provides for financial co-operation by the Federal Government not to exceed the amount appropriated by any state for fire protection of the headwaters of any navigable stream. Federal contributions from this source in Montana have amounted to $3,000 to $3,500 a year. "Recognizing the interest and responsibility of the nation in safe- guarding its future timber supply it is now proposed to greatly extend this co-operation as an encouragement to the practice of forestry in the several states, providing necessary legislation can be secured in Congress. The approval of the secretary of agriculture has been obtained for in- corporating in the next Forest Service appropriation bill a large sum for co-operation with the states in fire protection and forestry. "If such appropriation is made it is the plan of the Forest Service that such- co-operation should combine three essential features : " ( i ) The Forest Service, in co-operation with state officers or other agencies as far as practicable, should determine and recommend the essential and standard requirements for keeping forest lands in con- tinuous production in each region. "(2) The Forest Service should be enabled to offer liberal financial co-operation to the several states, not only in fire prevention, the prin- cipal and most important co-operative activity, but in any phase of forestry or forest research, including planting. "(3) The Forest Service should be empowered to withhold co- operation in whole or in part from states which do not comply in legis- lation or administration practice with the standard requirements deter- mined upon. "Such co-operation contemplates eventually such control and finan- cial assistance by the states of cutting on privately owned lands as will be necessary to keep forest lands in continuous productive condition." AIRPLANE FOREST FIRE PATROL "This department has been investigating the question of airplanes for forest patrol as a means of quickly discovering forest' fires and securing information that will enable protective agencies to reach and suppress such fires at the earliest possible moment, thereby minimizing the devastation and expense. "The method has been given a trial the two past seasons in the states 630 HISTORY OF MONTANA of California and Oregon, and from the best information obtainable it has proved very satisfactory. "The following letter, under date of December 3, 1920, was received from H. H. Arnold, Major, A. S., War Department, Headquarters Ninth Corps Area, Office of the Air Officer, -San Francisco, California: 'In view of the fact that there is a strong probability that aerial forest fire patrol will be extended to cover the State of Montana during the coming year, it is requested that you furnish this office a map of the State of Montana, showing the forested and recent burned area.' "The department has complied with this request by preparing and forwarding a map of Montana, showing the requested information, as well as base and landing fields, distances, etc. The War Department has granted permission to use the grounds at Fort Harrison for a land- ing field. As the demonstration of this method of forest patrol, with little expense to the state, is possible under present plans, it is hoped the service will be extended to Montana during the coming fire season." HYDRO-ELECTRIC CONSERVATION The conservation of the forest lands of Montana means the retention and development of one of the greatest resources of the state its vast natural water power, the source of electrical energy. Conservative authorities estimate that 1,000,000 horse powef, in electrical form, can be developed from the streams of Montana. The most valuable develop- ment of hydro-electric power is at Great Falls, where the Missouri River drops 400 feet in a distance of eight miles. This is the greatest natural power site in Montana, and one of the finest in the United States, but there are many others. Already the Montana Power Company has thirteen large plants in- stalled at various points in the state, generating a total of 211,000 kilo- watts. The Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway has successfully electrified its line for 440 miles, between Harlowton, Montana, and Avery, Idaho, and over some of the most rugged country of Western Montana, the power for its operation being generated from the plants at Great Falls and those near Helena, on the Madison River, at Big Hole, near Butte, and at Thompson Falls, not far from the western border of the state. The Great Northern and the Northern Pacific system are making great efforts to meet that competition by electrifying their own lines through the moutainous country of the state, planning to obtain their power from the Koontenai River and Flathead Lake and River. DEVELOPMENT OF GREAT FALLS WATER POWER The first abrupt descents in the Great Falls area are called Black Eagle Falls, two miles from the center of the city, where the first develop- ment of power commenced in 1890 with the construction of a low crib dam. About 10,000 horse power was developed, mostly used by shaft or rope drive. A small amount of electric power was taken by the Great Falls Electric Properties power station. o M > H 632 HISTORY OF MONTANA Three and a half miles below Black Eagle Falls are Coulter's, Rain- bow and Crooked Falls. The most important development was at Rain- bow, which was commenced in October, 1908, and completed in July, 1910. No excavation was required for the diverting dam of more than 1,100 feet, as solid bed rock was naturally exposed across the entire site. At the south end of the dam the sluiceway was constructed, and at the north end two main lines of riveted steel, 2,350 feet in length, were con- structed to feed the reservoir near the plant. The balancing reservoir, into which the main pipes discharge, regulates the flow of water, an over- flow weir at its lower end being provided to take care of any unusual rise in the water level. The power house is a three story brick building with steel frame and concrete floors and roof, and from the station power is transmitted to Butte, Anaconda and more distant points. The power to Butte, 130 miles, is transmitted over two separate lines running parallel on the same right-of-way. At the center of these lines is a switching station, equipped with oil switches and lightning arresters, by means of which a cross-over connection can be made and one half of either line cut out while the remainder is in operation. From Butte a single line is extended to Anaconda, twenty-two miles distant. The chief consumers of the electric power in this part of the state are the Butte, Anaconda & Pacific Railway Company, which operates ninety miles of tracks and the great Washoe smelter, at Anaconda. But electricity from water power, which depends for its constancy upon the conservation of its fountain heads in the protecting forests of the mountains, is used in Montana to operate mines, to light cities and to furnish cheap power for all varieties of city and country use, even to the pumping of water for irrigation projects. A total development of about 300,000 horse power has already been made in the state hardly a beginning of the potentialities in hydro-electric expansion. The developed hydro-electric plants of the Montana Power Company, with its 2,000 miles of transmission lines and 75 substations, are as fol- lows. Installed Capacity (Kw.) Rainbow Falls, on Missouri River, completed 1910, enlarged 1916 3S,ooo Black Eagle Falls, on Missouri River, reconstructed 1913 3,000 Hauser Lake, on Missouri River, completed 1911, enlarged 1914 18,000 Canyon Ferry, on Missouri River, completed 1898, enlarged 1901 7,5oo Madison No. i, on Madison River, completed 1901, remodeled 1907 2,000 Madison No. 2, on Madison River, completed 1906 10,000 Big Hole, on Big Hole River, completed 1898 3,000 Livingston, on Yellowstone River, completed 1906, enlarged 1908 1,500 Billings No. i, on Yellowstone River, completed 1907 1,080 Lewistown, on Spring Creek, completed 1906, remodeled 1913 450 Great Falls, on Missouri River, at the Great Falls, completed 1916 60,000 Thompson Falls, on Clark's Fork of Columbia River, completed 1916 30,000 Holier, on Missouri River, completed 1918 40,000 Total Kilowatts 211,530 HISTORY OF MONTANA 633 The reservoirs of the system include: Hebgen and Madison reser- voirs, on Madison River, with areas of 13,400 and 4,030 acres, respec- tively; Canyon Ferry and Hauser Lake reservoirs, on Missouri River, 4,570 and 5,470 acres; Holter Reservoir, also on the Missouri, 5,005 acres; as well as reservoirs of smaller capacities (below 1,000 acres) on that river and the Big Hole. Besides the Montana Power Company, which controls 282,000 of the 293,000 horse power produced by the waterways of the state, and 211,000 of the 220,000 kilowatts of electricity generated thereby, there are such minor corporations as the Missoula Light and Power Company and the Northern Idaho & Montana Power Company. THE NATIONAL PARKS Yellowstone National Park, the greatest continuous public domain in the United States and the most superb collection of various and nat- ural beauties within an equal area in the world, contains 2,142,720 acres, or 3,348 square miles within its limits. Its area is about that of Porto Rico, or 1,000 square miles larger than Delaware. Only narrow strips of it overlap the boundaries of Montana and Idaho, so that a detailed description of its spouting geysers, hot springs, great mountains, rugged canyons, beautiful lakes, petrified forests and broad game preserve ranged by fearless herds of buffalo, elk, antelope and deer, would be beyond the scope of this history the State of Montana. Since the park was estab- lished in March, 1872, hunting has been strictly prohibited, so that sev- eral generations of this naturally wild game have not known the sensation of fear. Thousands of tourists annually pour into Yellowstone Park along the fine trails and highways of Montana, many of them direct from the Glacier National Park, in the northwestern corner of the state, which is entirely within its limits. The official entrance to the park, an imposing arch, was dedicated by President Roosevelt in 1903. It is located at Gardiner, Montana, five miles from Mammoth Hot Springs, the admin- istrative headquarters of the great reserve. The western entrance to the park is at Yellowstone, on the Madison River, in Gallatin County. The locality is a few miles from the ultimate source of the Missouri River. Glacier National Park, which was established May u, 1910, has an area of 981,681 acres, or 1,533 square miles somewhat larger than Rhode Island. The Continental divide is enclosed by the park; in fact, from one locality, known as the Triple Divide, waters flow into the Pacific Ocean, Hudson Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. As a sketchy, yet precise and practical, description of the park and other beauty spots in Montana, as well as the promising grounds for sportsmen, nothing better has been produced than the following from the "Resources of Montana" (edition of 1920), issued by Charles D. Green- field, commissioner of the State Department of Agriculture and Pub- licity : 634 HISTORY OF MONTANA Glacier National Park is remarkable for its picturesquely modeled peaks, the unique quality of its mountain passes, its gigantic precipices, the romantic loveliness of its 250 lakes and the sixty glaciers from which it derives its name. It is individual in its make-up, having rugged moun- tain tops, bounded by vertical walls, sometimes 4,000 feet high, glaciers perched upon lofty rocky shelves, unexpected waterfalls of peculiar charm, rivers of milky glacier water, and lakes unexcelled for sheer beauty by the most celebrated of sunny Italy and snow-topped Switzer- land. The supreme glory of the park is its lakes. The world has none to surpass, perhaps few to equal them. Some are cradled among the MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS precipices, some float ice-fields in midsummer, while some are valley gems, grown to the water's edge with dense forests. All kinds of wild animals, fish, birds and plants are found within the park. Firearms are not allowed. Fishing is permitted, however, as in the Yellowstone. There are ten hotels in the park, two of them, Glacier Park Hotel and Many Glacier Hotel, being large hotels and the other eight are Swiss chalets. The park is reached only by the main line of the Great Northern Railroad or by automobile. Trips through the park cost from $i to $10 a day, depending upon the accommodations desired. Besides the hotels there are permanent camps ample to accommodate the tourist, and guides and packtrains are available for those who desire to explore the park, glaciers and mountain fastnesses. The season is from June ist to October 1st each year. OTHER BEAUTY SPOTS In addition to the two national parks there are many other places which have equal attraction. The great rolling prairies of Eastern Mon- HISTORY OF MONTANA 635 tana, formerly the greatest "cow country," are a never ending place of fascination to the visitor. There are also many spots of beauty and ex- cellent camping grounds in the bad lands and along the rivers. The western part of the state has much fascination for the tourist because of its mountains and lakes. Flathead Lake, the largest fresh water lake in the country, aside from the Great Lakes, is rapidly becoming famous as a home for summer colonies. It is considered one of the most beautiful in the world. The lake has a shore line of 300 miles and large steamers operate on its waters. The Kootenai country through Lincoln County is unexcelled for beau- tiful, peaceful valleys and towering picturesque mountains, covered with dense pine forests. The Blackfoot Valley, which follows the canyon of the Big Blackfoot River in Missoula County, between towering wooded mountains of great beauty, is exceedingly attractive as a vacation spot. Many people camp out here in the forest reserve. Of equal beauty and fascination is the Missouri River Canyon in Lewis and Clark County from Canyon Ferry power dam to the Holter GREAT BLACKFOOT GLACIER power dam and the "Gates of the Mountains." For scenic splendor this is unexcelled. The famous Gallatin Valley is rich in natural scenery also. The "Gallatin Way," leading to Yellowstone Park, is one of the most beautiful of drives. Sanders County is noted for its wonderful trout fishing streams, great areas of virgin forests and its wealth of wild animal life. Camp sites are available at beautiful mountain lakes. The Belt and High wood canyons, in Cascade County, the beauties of Madison County, the Lewis and Clark Cavern, the mountain drives of Jefferson County, the Bitter Root and Hell Gate valleys, the Columbia Gardens at Butte, the state fish hatcheries, the big smelters, the gigantic power dams, the lumber mills, the State Fair Gounds at Helena, and other numerous places, give con- stant delight to the visitor. Situated next to Yellowstone National Park on the north and con- taining much wonderful scenery are Carbon and Park counties. The Beartooth Mountains and Glaciers are principally in Carbon County. Granite Peak, the summit of which is 12,950 feet, is the highest point in 636 HISTORY OF MONTANA Montana. There are a number of live glaciers in these mountains. Park County, containing the official entrance to Yellowstone Park, is full of majestic mountains, trout streams, and unexcelled vacation spots. It also has several hot springs and health resorts of importance. Montana is well supplied with medicinal springs and health resorts. Hundreds are treated annually or spend time at these resorts for rest and recuperation. HUNTING AND FISHING Montana is one of the few big game regions in the United States and every fall hunters from all parts of the country come to the state to hunt LAKE YELLOWSTONE elk, bear, dear, mountain lions, wolves and coyotes. The best elk hunting is found in those counties adjacent to the Yellowstone National Park, while Western and Northwestern Montana are the best localities for deer and bear. Trout fishing is good in almost all of the mountain streams and Mon- tana is doing its utmost to keep the streams well stocked. There are four state fish hatcheries, one at Anaconda on Georgetown Lake, one at the Hebgen Reservoir on the Madison River, one at Somers, near Flat- head Lake, and one near Livingston on the Yellowstone River. The Federal Government maintains a hatchery at Bozeman in Gallatin County. Upwards of 20,000,000 fry of eastern brook, black spotted, rain- bow and grayling are annually sent out to restock the streams and lakes. Good bird shooting is to be found in Montana. In the eastern part of the state are many prairie chickens and sage hens, while in the mountain- ous districts are grouse, fool hens and pheasants. Wildfowl hunting is perhaps the most popular sport in Montana. In Madison County, not far from the Idaho boundary, are the Red Rock HISTORY OF MONTANA 637 Lakes and in Phillips County, in Northern Montana, is Lake Bowdoin. Both of these places are breeding grounds for ducks and besides the "natives," which afford sport early in the season, these regions are tarry- ing places when the "northerners" are winging their way southward. These are the best wildfowl grounds in the state, but there are many lakes and sloughs in practically every part of the state that furnish good shooting. Canadian geese, the Snow goose and the common swan are found in Montana. The following ducks are abundant in places during the duck shooting season, viz. : the Mallard, Gadwell, Widgeon, Green- winged Teal, Blue-winged Teal, Spoonbill, Canvas-back, Redhead, Golden- eye, Rufflehead, American Scooter and the Pin-tail. There is no closed season on bear, wolves, coyotes and mountain lions, which are listed as predatory animals. Bear are much sought during the months of April, May and June when their fur is prime. They are native to all the mountainous regions of the state, but the greatest number are found in the counties adjacent to Yellowstone Park and in the north- western portion of Montana. Mountain lion, the natural destructive enemy of deer and young stock, are much sought by professional hunters employed by the Government. These hunters also roam the forests during the winter, trapping and killing wolves and coyotes which prey upon stock. Bounties are paid for the destruction of these predatory animals. Coyotes, coyote pups and wolf pups each carry a bounty of $2.50, mountain lions $10 and full- grown wolves $15. There are nine preserves in Montana which furnish a refuge to the wild game and serve as breeding grounds to replenish the game in the adjacent hunting areas. The preserves and their areas are as follows: Snow Creek preserve, 300 square miles; Prior Mountain preserve, 130 square miles ; Sun River preserve, 303 square miles ; Gallatin preserve, 101 square miles; Snowy Mountain preserve, 170 square miles; Highwood National forest, 72 square miles; Powder River Game preserve, 1,120 square miles ; Twin Buttes Game preserve, 35 square miles ; Flathead Lake Bird preserve, 6.82 acres. Discharge of firearms within the limits of these preserves is prohibited, as is also the making of any unusual noises. Besides these preserves, hunting of certain kind of game has been prohibited in certain counties and parts of counties. The Montana Game and Fish Commission, established in 1913, has in hand the protection and replenishment of the game and fish of within the state, through the enforcement of proper laws and regulations; and it has done its work well. GLACIER PARK LAKES AGAIN It may be added to the brief description of Glacier National Park, given in the State Manual, that its largest and most picturesque lake is McDonald, named after Sir John McDonald, a famous Canadian states- man and traveler. It lives on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains 638 HISTORY OF MONTANA and is a closely wooded body of water twelve miles in length with an average width of a mile and a half. The reflections in its clear waters are exquisite. Farther up the mountains are the Little St. Mary's lakes, a fine view of which may be obtained from Mount Lincoln. The most frequented trail from McDonald Lake leads to Piegan (Sperry) glacier, the waters from which discharge into six falls which leap, from rock to rock, into Avalanche Lake. The vast body of ice lies over a rock barrier, or gate- way, and below are Gem, Nansen and Peary's lakes, real arctic pools, joined by foaming falls. The eastern slope of the divide is not so heavily timbered, or so rugged, as the western, but is deeply scooped out in the form of basins. The larg- ICEBERG LAKE est bodies of water in this section of the park are Great St. Mary's lakes, so named by Hugh Monroe, an early fur trader and a faithful Catholic. The lakes are rich in Piegan Indian lore also, and in their upper reaches also carry exquisite glaciers, which in places overhang their waters and continuously break off as miniature icebergs and float away with the current. The lakes in this region are McDermottJ Grinnell and Iceberg. Farther north the country becomes more rugged and magnificent. The highest peak in the park is Cleveland, in the northeast corner, which attains an altitude of 10,438 feet. The largest of the glaciers is the Blackfoot. On Lake McDonald are several excellent hotels. There is automobile service between Pelton, at the foot of the lake in Flathead County and lakes McDonald, St. Mary's and McDermott. Other trips are made on horse- HISTORY OF MONTANA 639 back, a number of licensed companies furnishing both animals and guides, the more hardy preferring to make the delightful, if strenuous, trips, afoot. INDIAN RESERVATIONS There are now in Montana, the Blackfeet, Fort Belknap, Fort Peck, Crow and Northern Cheyenne Indian reservations. Altogether, they em- brace more than 5,500,000 acres of the public domain, and, for a number of years the people, through their legislators, national and state, have been ' GRAND CANYON OF THE YELLOWSTONE making energetic and persistent efforts to open the reservations to the railroads and other highways of travel, as well as to the conserving forces of irrigation and drainage of the lands. These efforts have been more or less successful, especially in the matter of irrigating the Indian lands. As already stated, these projects have been undertaken by the United States Reclamation Service in co-operation with the Indian Service of the National Government. The three Indian projects now under way are known as the Fort Peck, the Flathead and the Blackfeet. The largest of them is the Fort Peck Indian project, located in the northeastern part of the state on the reserva- tion by that name, and embraces an area of 152,000 acres in the valleys of the main Missouri, Poplar River, and Big Porcupine, Little Porcu- 640 HISTORY OF MONTANA pine and Big Muddy creeks. Only a small part of the project is com- pleted, and until the irrigation works are finished the irrigable land is withdrawn from entry. The Fort Peck, or Poplar River, reservation was opened to settlement on September i, 1913. It is occupied by Sioux and Assiniboines. The Flathead project is located in the counties of Flathead, Sanders and Missoula, and embraces about 134,000 acres on the Pacific slope, within the drainage areas of the Flathead and Jocko rivers, on the former Flat- head Indian reservation. All homestead land has been entered, and state lands and certain Indian lands may be leased. The Blackfeet project is located in the southeastern part of the reserva- tion by that name, south of the town of Cut Bank and near the eastern boundary of Glacier National Park, in Glacier County. About a half of the project, which covers 118,000 acres, has been completed, and state lands and certain Indian lands may be leased. The reservation was opened May 2, 1910. The Fort Belknap Indian reservation is in Central Montana, between the Milk River on the north and the Little Rocky Mountains on the south and is occupied by Gros Ventres of the Prairie and Assiniboines. The northern portion is bleak and naturally arid, but on the slopes of the Rocky Mountains is good bottom land. It is an old reservation, or agency, and until about 1895, when the Indians commenced to raise hay, grain and vegetables, the occupants were in a deplorable condition. The Crow reservation, the first to be established in Montana, is more favored than the other lands set apart for the Indians of Montana. It lies to the south of the Yellowstone, in the valley of the Big Horn, and the lands are generally well watered and good. The Crows are fair farmers and live stock raisers, they have been friendly to the Govern- ment and the white settlers generally and have sold their lands to such advantage that they are more prosperous than any other tribe of Mon- tana Indians. If their physical condition was as creditable as their intelli- gence and thrift, their future might be bright, but as it is not, they are not holding their own in numbers. From the earliest times of Montana's history, the Catholics have been established among the Crows and now have a mission school on the reservation. There is also a day school at agency headquarters. Immediately to the east of the Crow reservation, is the Tongue River or Northern Cheyenne reservation. Its eastern boundary is Tongue River and its western, Rosebud Creek, while the agency headquarters is at Lame Deer, on the creek by that name, sixty-five miles south of Rose- bud on the Yellowstone. The lands of the reservation are said to be favorable for stock. The Indians are willing to work and generally strong, but find little to do, aside from hauling stock and freight to and from the Burlington route and the Crow agency to the west (thirty or thirty-five miles), or to Rosebud and the Northern Pacific line to the north, twice that distance. Occasionally they secure wood and hay con- tracts from the Government. On the whole, they are well-meaning, but HISTORY OF MONTANA 641 their environments are poor and ill adapted to develop habits of thrift and industry. Of all the agencies applied to the conservation of lands in Montana, with consequent development of its resources, those brought to bear on the Indian reservations of the state have proven to be most inefficient and unsatisfactory. And it has been always thus in the administrative and executive experience of every state in the Union. CHAPTER XXV MILITARY HISTORY OF MONTANA* Since early territorial days, the citizens of Montana have stood ready at all times to defend the state and the nation, and whenever they have been called upon to do battle have acquitted themselves with credit. From the Nez Perce war, throf^h the Spanish-American struggle, during local dis- turbances connected with labor troubles, and in the border clashes with the Mexicans, Montana had been quick in response and capable and valorous in action. It was, therefore, not surprising that the men who went forth from this state to do battle in the World's war should have made such a splendid record. When, February 3, 1917, President Wilson ordered that Am- bassador Count von Bernstorff be handed his passports and directed the withdrawal of Ambassador James W. Gerard and all American consuls from Germany, it was realized that war with Germany was inevitable, and the quiet preparations that commenced at that time resulted in Mon- tana's being ready for the call to duty when the United States formally entered the great conflict April 6th of the same year, when war was declared by this country upon Germany. From that time forward until the signing of the armistice, November n, 1918, at "the eleventh hour, of the eleventh day of the eleventh month," both military and civilians of Montana displayed the greatest bravery, patriotism and unswerving loyalty. NUCLEUS OF THE NATIONAL GUARD The first militia organization in Montana that could be compared to the present day National Guard was organized in the fall of 1877, during the Nez Perce war. Practically every community in the territory organ- ized a home guard company and some of them were incorporated into what was known as the Montana Volunteer Militia, the members of which subscribed to the following oath : "We and each of us do solemnly swear that we will bear true faith and allegiance to the territory of Montana ; that we will serve honestly and faithfully against all its enemies whom- soever; that we will obey the orders of the Governor of Montana Terri- tory and the orders of the officers appointed over us according to the rules and regulations prescribed by the Commander-in-Chief." The organization consisted of the following: First Battalion, W. A. Clark, major; Charles S. Warren, adjutant. Company A, Joseph A. Talbot, captain; A. J. Clark, first lieutenant. Company B, John Noyes, captain. Company C, William Wilson, captain. Deer Lodge Company, Thomas Stuart, captain. Bitter Root Company, John B. Cottin, captain. * The basis of this chapter and most of its actual composition represent the good work of Charles L. Sheridan, adjutant general of the state. 642 HISTORY OF MONTANA 643 The Bitter Root Company participated in the battle of the Big Hole, August 11, 1877, and lost five men killed and five wounded out of a total of thirty-two. There was another battalion raised at Virginia City in July, consisting of about 100 men, and this force marched under the command of Colonel Caloway to the vicinity of Henry's Lake in the hope of intercepting Chief Joseph there. Some of this force co-operated with General Howard at Horse Prairie, where one man was lost. Some of these companies were mustered out after Chief Joseph had been captured, but some remained in existence, and, as the population of the state grew, others were organized. In the spring of 1887 a number of these organizations were incorporated with the First Regiment of Infantry and became recognized as the National Guard. An encampment was held at old Fort Ellis that summer and during several succeeding years. MONTANA IN THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR In the spring of 1898, at the outbreak of the Spanish- American war, the First Regiment was called out by the governor and was quickly raised to war strength of fifty officers and 1,019 men by voluntary enlistment. This regiment went to the Philippines and served there throughout the entire insurrection, being eighteen months in the service. The regiment lost two officers and twenty-one men, killed and died of wounds; one officer and thirteen men, died of disease; and ten officers and 121 men wounded. In addition to this regiment, Montana furnished one squad- ron of the Third United States Volunteer Cavalry (Rough Riders), consisting of 346 officers and men. These troops were sent to Chicka- mauga, but were not called upon for service outside of this country. A section of the Volunteer Signal Corps, consisting of two officers and fif- teen men, was also raised in Montana and served in the Philippines, and of this detachment one officer was killed in action. "ROUGH RIDERS" FIRST TO ORGANIZE The cavalry of Montana were the first branch of the state military service to be organized. By a congressional act of April 22, 1898, three regiments of trained horsemen and marksmen, known popularly as Rough Riders, were authorized to be raised in the West. The Third Regiment, placed in command of Melvin Grigsby, of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, was composed of three squadrons of cavalry the Black Hills, the Inter- Dakota and the Montana. To each squadron were assigned four troops, the Montana Rough Riders comprising F, L, M and I. At the outbreak of the war, there were various cavalry organizations in Montana. The Billings troop became M, under command of Capt. John C. Bond ; the Miles City cavalrymen, Troop I, under Capt. Joseph T. Brown; the Missoula horsemen, Troop F, with Frank G. Higgins as captain, and Butte organized the fourth troop, L, of which D. Gay Stivers was commissioned captain. On June i, 1898, Charles F. Lloyd, of Butte, lieutenant colonel of the Third Cavalry succeeded Colonel Grisby in com- 644 HISTORY OF MONTANA mand of the regiment, the latter having been promoted to the command of the First Cavalry Brigade. Colonel Lloyd commanded the regiment until he was mustered out of the service September 8, 1898, a few days later his entire command doing likewise. SERVICE OF THE VOLUNTEER SIGNAL CORPS Montana's quota of the National Volunteer Signal Corps, raised by Gen. A. W. Greely, chief of that branch of the service, included two lieutenants and fifteen enlisted men. The officers were William E. Davies, an expert telegrapher of Butte, and George H. Tilly, connected with the Western Union Telegraph office at Helena. Lieutenant Davies was ordered to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, for duty, which took him to Cuba and eventually to the Philippines. Lieutenant Tilly acted as mustering officer at Fort William Henry Harrison, Helena, and commanded the Montana company (the Eighteenth) which left the state capital for San Francisco, via Rio de Janeiro, July 12, 1898. It reached Manila on August 24th, and for more than a year until ordered home September 7, 1899 was engaged in active and dangerous service in the Manila zone. The Montana detachment assisted in building a complete police telegraph system in the city and closely connecting it with the army operating against Aguinaldo. By means of a signal station on the dome of La Loma church one of the Montana detachments also established communication between the land forces and Admiral Dewey. Sergs. E. R. Fisher and A. M. Mazeiner and Corp. E. T. Brooks were especially prominent in these movements. The Montana detachment of the Signal Corps came through the campaign with credit, but suffered the loss of Captain Tilly (who had been promoted). He was killed on May 27, 1899, by insur- gents while engaged in signal service at Ilo Ilo, on the Island of Panay. FIRST MONTANA INFANTRY REGIMENT The First Regiment of Infantry, National Guard of Montana, had been organized in 1887, and at the outbreak of the Spanish- American war had a membership of about 500 officers and enlisted men. This organization formed the nucleus of the First Montana Infantry, United States Volunteers. Enrollment commenced April 18, 1898, three days after war had been formally proclaimed. Col. Harry C. Kessler ordered the various companies to report for duty at the regimental headquarters, Helena, and from May 4th to May 9th there arrived at the state capital organizations from Virginia City, Butte, Dillon, Anaconda, Great .Falls, Bozeman, Kalispell and Lewiston, which, with the troops enrolled at Helena, were mustered into the service by Lieut. George P. Ahern, of the regular army. At the outbreak of the war, Lieutenant Ahern was on detailed duty as military instructor at the Montana Agricultural College, Bozeman. On May 9, 1898, Colonel Kessler took formal command of the regiment. During the early part of May, the regiment was encamped about a mile north of the Broadwater Hotel, the site being named Camp Robert HISTORY OF MONTANA 645 B. Smith in honor of the governor. Unsanitary conditions forced an abandonment of that locality, and the camp was moved to the northern slope of Mount Helena near the western suburbs of the city. There the regiment remained until its departure for San Francisco on the 25th ' of May. The first battalion was commanded by Maj. James W. Drennan, the second by Maj. Byron H. Cook and the third by Maj. John R. Mil- ler. Although inadequately equipped, the regiment was thoroughly drilled by Lieut. Col. Robert B. Wallace. GENERAL HENRY C. KESSLER The regiment reached Camp Merritt, San Francisco, on May 28, in June it was incorporated into the Third Brigade, Independent Division, Philippine Islands Expeditionary Forces, with Brig. Gen. H. G. Otis as commander, and on the i8th of July embarked for the Philippines on the transport Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania, accompanied by the transport Rio de Janeiro (carrying South Dakota and Utah troops), anchored off Cavite, the Spanish naval station at Manila Bay, on the 24th of August. In October and November the three battalions of the regiment were ordered to various districts in Manila to guard the city against threatening insurgents. The regiment was assigned to the Second Division of the Expeditionary Forces commanded by Gen. Arthur Mac- Arthur. Under the wily and able Aguinaldo hostilities commenced in 646 HISTORY OF MONTANA February, 1899, the preliminary fighting, in which the First Montana bore a leading part being in the vicinity of La Loma church and the Chinese hospital. In the skirmishes of the 4th and 5th the regiment sus- tained a number of casualties in wounded, but the insurgents were de- moralized at the American mode of warfare but as they had possession of the railway prepared for the crushing blow which they expected to deal. On the loth eight companies of the First Montana, under Colonel Kessler, earned military honor in the combined assault of artillery and infantry on the town of Caloocan, the Filipinos being forced to abandon the burn- LlEUTENANT COLONEL ROBERT BRUCE WALLACE ing town. In this engagement, which lasted nearly half a day, the First .Montana suffered serious loss, the greatest being the eventual death of Lieut. Col. Robert Bruce Wallace. He was a West Pointer from Mon- tana, was detailed as a military instructor at the outbreak of the war and at the battle of Caloocan was shot through the left lung. Leaving the hospital the ninth day after receiving his wound, in July, 1899, he was commissioned colonel of the Thirty-seventh Infantry, the youngest officer of that grade in the army. He was ordered home to recuperate, however, but died in Arizona as a result of cold contracted in his wounded and weakened lung and died March 13, 1900. In compliance with his wishes he was taken to Montana, and March 25th was buried with military honors at Forestvale Cemetery, Helena. HISTORY OF MONTANA 647 Upon the capture of Caloocan, the Montana regiment entrenched themselves north of town and on the right of the railroad track. Here they remained until the advance, having for its ultimate object the cap- ture of Malolos, was begun. The regiment, with Pennsylvania, Kansas, and Oregon troops, was active in the battle and capture of Malolos, in which it lost five killed and sixteen wounded. Engagements at Maycaua- yan, the crossing of the Bagbag and Calumpit rivers, along the Rio Grande and at San Fernando, the Montanans participated in the American pur- suit of the Filipino army. This was the most northerly point reached by the Montana regiment, and their progress was marked by continuous decimation of the ranks by wounds, exhaustion and sickness. The later portion of its stay was occupied in garrison duty at Manila and Cavite and guarding the approaches to Malolos and San Fernando. The insur- FIRST MONTANA INFANTRY AGAIN AT SAN* FRANCISCO gent attack on the latter place was the last spirited action in which the Montana regiment engaged, and, with the assistance of their faithful brothers in arms, the Kansans, Aguinaldo's men were badly beaten. The corps commander, General MacArthur, was appealed to regarding the decimated and exhausted condition of the First Montana, as a regiment, and in August, 1899, after the tropical rains had subsided, its companies boarded two transports, and a month later reached San Francisco. The formal muster-out of the regiment occurred October I7th. Six days later the soldiers were welcomed in the City of Butte, "and, for the last time, drawn up in regimental formation ; each officer and enlisted man in recog- nition of his unselfish services was presented with a medal bestowed by a grateful state." Out of the original number of officers and men who were mustered into the service, forty-eight commissioned officers and 676 enlisted men returned. During the intervening eighteen months of service, nineteen non-commissioned officers and enlisted men had received commissions, two 648 HISTORY OF MONTANA officers had resigned, seventeen had been discharged, one had been killed, one had died of disease and ten had been wounded in battle. Of the orig- inal enrollment of enlisted men, 277 had been discharged on account of sickness and for other reasons, twenty-one had been killed in battle or had died of wounds received in action, thirteen had died of disease, one had been drowned, and 121 had received wounds. At the time, the foregoing seemed a large casualty list, but the sol- diers of Montana and the people of the state, were to suffer far more in a much greater field of operations and for a far greater cause than that which precipitated the Spanish-American war. THE SECOND REGIMENT IN THE MINERS' TROUBLE For a time after the Spanish-American war there was no National Guard in Montana, but in June, 1900, Company A of the Second Regiment was mustered into the service at Bozeman, and this was followed by the mustering in of other companies in various cities and towns, until regi- mental organization was perfected. During the summer of 1914 a situation had arisen in Butte that was fraught with danger. A number of very radical labor leaders, of the Industrial Workers of the World or "Wobbly" revolutionary type, had arrived at Butte, and in order to gain control of the labor element at- tempted to wreck the Western Federation of Miners' local at that point. A new body was formed, known as the Metal Mine Workers Union, and a campaign of forcible deportation of all those in opposition was started. For some time there was a threat of serious trouble and this eventually culminated in the wrecking of the Miners Union Hall by dyna- mite on the night of June 13. There was much excitement and a good deal of shooting, during which one man was killed. As it appeared that the civil authorities had lost control of the situation, the National Guard was ordered mobilised and held in readiness at their home stations June 14, but as the situation quieted down and things became normal on the day following the riot, the Guard was released from duty on the I5th During the latter part of August, however, the labor troubles again be- came critical and on the 3Oth the governor ordered the mobilization of the Guard at Helena with all possible dispatch. The result was that, regard- less of the fact that the call was issued on a Sunday and that because of the fine weather many of the members were out of town, 409 officers and men reported at Helena by 12 o'clock the next day, and went into a shel- ter tent camp near the state armory. When it is considered that these troops were drawn from a terri- tory as large as the old German empire it speaks very well for the organi- zation of the Second Regiment that so large a number of men should reach the place of mobilization within twenty-four hours. At i :3O o'clock the troops left Helena for Butte, via the Northern Pacific Railway, en- training in steel ore cars, with a flat car at the front and rear of the train on which machine guns were mounted. There was grave apprehension HISTORY OF MONTANA 649 entertained by many of the prominent men of the state as to what the reception of the troops would be at Butte, and most everyone felt that they would meet with resistance when they reached the seat of trouble. The troops, on arriving at Butte, detrained on the hills west of the city at 6:30 p. m., and went into camp near the School of Mines. The next morning they marched into the city and took up quarters in the court- house. Here a large number of men, who had been unable to reach their companies before they left, joined the regiment and brought its strength up to 730 officers and men. Martial law was proclaimed and with the aid of the soldiers the ring-leaders in the trouble were rounded up and lodged in jail. Through the prompt action of Maj. Dan J. Donahue, who com- manded the troops, the situation was gotten well in hand and order was preserved without the necessity of firing a single shot or using a bayonet. From the date of the arrival until November 12, when the troops left the city, there was no disorder. During this operation the National Guard proved itself to be a very well-disciplined body of men. They undertook a difficult task and one that was fraught with danger, one that could easily have developed into strife and bloodshed had not the cool, business- like and gentlemanly manner in which the troops conducted themselves convinced the lawless element that they were dealing with a force that was fully able to cope with any situation. Thus, through the ability of Major Donahue and the splendid discipline of the soldiers of the Second Infantry, an incident came to a peaceful close that many of the leading citizens had feared would be a repetition of the horrors of Cripple Creek and Ludlow,, Colorado. THE BORDER TROUBLES The next two years passed uneventfully for the Guard, but June 18, 1916, came the call of the President for the National Guard to aid in the Border troubles. Again the mobilization was effected in a remarkably short space of time, although owing to the flood conditions at the time and the fact that many bridges were out, some of the companies in the northern part of the state had to make long marches. The regiment was mobilized at Fort Harrison by June 23. On July i the regiment passed in review before the governor and on the following day entrained for Douglas, Arizona, with fifty-six officers and 913 men. On the Border the regiment made an excellent record. It was complimented again and again, by regular officers and civilians, as well as by the Border news- papers, for its model camp and for the physical and soldierly appearance of the men. On October 16 the regiment left its camp near Douglas en route for Fort Harrison, where it was mustered out November 3 after four and one-half months of the hardest kind of service in the deserts of Arizona. Helena gave the troops a grand reception and feast after it had paraded down its main streets, and it was a day of celebration for those who returned; but all had not come back. Pvt. Kenneth Piggot, of Head- 650 HISTORY QF MONTANA quarters Company, and Corp. Donald A. Smith, of D Company, died on the Border; and Pvt. Ernest McMahan, of Company A, died soon after his muster out. In addition to the Second Regiment of Infantry, a troop of cavalry was authorized by the War Department, and was mustered into the Federal service at Fort Harrison, August 7, depart- ing the next day for the Border with three officers and eighty-three men, Capt. Paul McCormick of Billings commanding. These troops remained on the Border when the Second Regiment came home and were not mus- tered out until February 19, 1917. INTRODUCTORY TO THE WORLD'S WAR The members of the Second Infantry were just beginning to feel at home in their civilian clothes when again the bugle sounded. On March 25, 1917, the President called out a portion of the National Guard, in- cluding the Montana Regiment, as a precautionary measure prior to the declaration of war with Germany. Orders were issued that each com- pany assemble at its company station and recruit its personnel up to 150 men as expeditiously as possible. Soon companies began arriving at Fort Harrison, and by April 5 all organizations were present and April 7 were sworn into the Federal service, with 1,539 officers and men. The necessity of keeping the transcontinental lines open during the period of mobilization was apparent, so, with this in view, the greater part of the regiment was assigned to the duty of guarding bridges, tun- nels and other objects that might be easily damaged and would interrupt traffic. Two companies were stationed at Butte during the greater part of the summer, while two or three remained at Fort Harrison. Early in the fall, one battalion was ordered to Camp Green, South Carolina, where the Forty-first Division was mobilizing, the other two battalions remaining on duty in Montana until the first week in October, when they entrained for Camp Mills, Long Island, and were joined there by the other battalion. Here full equipment was issued, sailing lists made out, and everything put in readiness for the trip overseas. On December i the regiment moved to Camp Merritt, New Jersey, and December 14 marched aboard the U. S. S. Leviathan and departed for the "great adventure." All was suppressed and eager excitement. The march from Camp Merritt to the trains was through two feet of fresh snow, and at the station the troops had to wait three hours for the trains that were all but blockaded by the snow, but there was no com- plaining. The remark was often heard: "Oh, well, we hired out for tough guys." At the dock as Adjt.-Gen. Charles L. Sheridan's old com- pany was going up the gang-plank, two men put in an appearance who had been in the hospital, and were broken-hearted when they were turned over to the medical officers at the dock. On the great ship there were, in addition to the old Second Regiment (now i63rd), which numbered over 3,000 men, the i64th Infantry, the Eighty-second In- fantry Brigade Headquarters, a detachment of medical troops, and 500 nurses, in all about 10,000 souls, including the crew. HISTORY OF MONTANA 651 OVERSEAS AT LAST The voyage was uneventful and the 'troops landed at Liverpool, England, December 24, 1917, marching from the ship to the trains which were waiting. They were rushed across England to the great camp at Winchester, where they spent Christmas Day, but on the fol- lowing day began departing on the last leg of their journey. After the stormy trip across the Channel, they landed at Le Havre and marched to British Rest Camp No. 2 (so-called) and December 29 began their first box-car journey to the French garrison town of La Cpurtine. This was the last time the regiment was all together, one battalion under Major Williams being sent to Bordeaux, one under Major Hodson to Langres, and the other to St. Aignan. About this time the men learned with heavy hearts that the division was to be broken up and most of its personnel used as replacements. In Febru- ary the dissembling started, and nearly 3,000 men were transferred from the regiment to the First, Twenty-sixth, Thirty-second and Forty- second Divisions, leaving what was known as a training coterie of fifty non-commissioned officers to each company. In March the remnants of the regiment were reassembled in St. Aignan district and their duties as a replacement and training unit began. Here replacements were received from the United States, equipped, drilled in the use of gas masks, bayonet fighting, etc., and sent up to the front. During the summer of 1918, 290,000 men passed through the camp of the Forty-first Division, and although the men of that division longed to get to the front and away from the heart-break- ing work that they were called upon to perform, they realized that this duty was necessary and performed it in a manner that brought them many compliments from high officers. The old Second Regiment was never privileged to meet the enemy in battle as an organization, but the individual officers and men who did battle with other units wrote a record in the history of the war of which Montana may well be proud. Their losses were as follows : three officers and eighty-eight men killed in action, thirty-five men died of wounds, twenty-eight men died of disease and nineteen officers and 289 men were wounded. Individuals of the old regiment won eighteen of the fifty-three Distinguished Service Cross awards that went to Mon- tana. This was a loss and achievement equal to most of the regiments that won glory in battle, but it was the lot of this regiment to suffer without the reward of having those at home know of their deeds. TOTAL MAN POWER RAISED , During the spring and summer of 1917 thousands of Montanans offered their services to the Government in other organizations than the Second Infantry, until a total of 11,709 had voluntarily entered the army and 1,862 the Navy and Marine Corps. On May 18, 1917, Con- gress passed the Selective Service Act and June 5 all men between the 652 HISTORY OF MONTANA ages of twenty-one and thirty-five were required to register. It was feared that there might be some trouble on this day, but with the ex- ception of an anti-draft parade at Butte, which promptly disbanded upon the appearance of troops from Company F, Second Montana Infantry, then stationed there, there was no disturbance in the state. The estimated population of Montana was put at 952,474, when, in reality, there was a population of but 496,131. The state, therefore, raised troops on a basis of a population twice as great as that which it really had. Even then, Montana reached more than its quota, with its grand total of 39,271 in the Army and 1,862 in the Navy, exceed- ing by 25 per cent all other States in the Union. Montana furnished 796 soldiers out of every 10,000 population, as compared with 296 for Georgia, which state stood at the foot of the list. Out of these troops, Montana lost 681 killed or died of wounds, 253 died from other causes, or a total of 934 dead ; 2,469 wounded, and one missing, or a total of 3,443 casualties, again establishing a record above all other states with a like population.. As before noted, its soldiers were awarded fifty-three Distinguished Service Crosses for acts of heroism on the field of battle, a record of which all Montana may well be proud. Montana had troops in practically all the combat divisions and it is safe to say that there was not a part of the front where Americans participated that did not feel Montana's effort. There were a number of the old Second In- fantry with the First Division at Cantigny when America struck her first offensive blow and it was here that Montana suffered her first losses in this sector, when John J. White, of Miles City, serving as private of Company A, Sixteenth Infantry, and formerly private of Company E, Second Montana Infantry, was killed in action, February 9. Others who fell in this sector between the 1st of February and the end of the battle of Cantigny were : George E. Mooney, of Glasgow, formerly private of Company G, Second Montana Infantry, but serving as pri- vate of Headquarters Company, Sixteenth Infantry, killed May 4; Ray Brent, of Helena, Pvt. First Class Machine Gun Company, Sec- ond Montana Infantry, serving as private First Class, Second Brigade Machine Gun Battalion, killed May 27; Loraine York, Mareo, Com- pany G, Second Montana Infantry, serving as private First Class, Com- pany H, Sixteenth Infantry, killed May 31 ; Harry Barrich, Company G, Second Montana Infantry, serving as private Company I, Sixteenth In- fantry, killed June 3; and Hasso A. Briese, sergeant First Field Signal Battalion, killed June 4. FIRST MONTANA MAN TO FALL Perhaps the first Montana man to fall was Elmer L. Cowan, of Victor, Montana, Company D, Twentieth Engineers, who was killed Feb- ruary 5 in the sinking of the Tuscania. In the fighting between February i and June 5, three officers and thirty-eight enlisted men from Montana were wounded. In June, when the German advance began to threaten Paris, the Amer- HISTORY OF MONTANA 653 ican First and Second Divisions threw themselves into the fray along the west face of the Marne salient and the Forty-second to the east of St. Quentin. There were hundreds of Montana men with these units and scores of them fell in the desperate fighting which followed. On July 15, when the Third Machine Gun Battalion blocked the Paris road at Chateau Thierry, a large number of the old Second Montana Infantry Machine Gun Company was with them, and here two Montana men were decorated for bravery. When the Thirty-second Division went into the drive July 30, and through five days of terrific fighting pressed the enemy back from the Ourcq River to the Vesle, there were perhaps more Mon- tana men engaged than with any other division, and the newspaper ac- counts gave Montana the credit of taking Hill 230 and Belleveau Farm, August i. Many Montana men were also with the Fourth and Twenty- sixth Divisions in the drive to the Vesle. But by far the greatest number of Montana soldiers to go into a fight together were with the Ninety-first Division when it made history in the Argonne Forest, starting September 26. This division fought its way northward through Very and Epion- ville until relieved by the Thirty-second Division in front of Germens, October 3. One brigade of the Ninety-first Division went in again be- tween the First and Thirty-second, October 8, and fought its way over Hill 255 and through the Bois Mikicy until relieved by the Forty-second Division October n. From this front the Ninety-first Division was moved to Belgium, where it went in with the Thirty-seventh Division to aid the Sixth French Army, October 31, reaching the Lys River November 3 and then being relieved by the French. They went in again November 10, and were advancing steadily when the armistice was signed, November n. The victory was won and Montana had done its full share, while suffering more than its due measure of losses. THE HONOR MEN FROM MONTANA The officers of the American Expeditionary Forces who entered the service from the state of Montana, and who were killed in action were as follows: Orville L. Anderson, captain Company C, I28th Infantry, killed August i, 1918; Lee S. Cassell, first lieutenant One Hundred and Thirtieth Field Ambulance, Medical Corps, killed November 14, 1918; Harold H. Joyce, first lieutenant Company I, One Hundred and Twenty- eighth Infantry, killed August 30, 1918; Raymond J. Saunders, first lieu- tenant Ninety-fourth Aero Squadron, killed October 23, 1918; George Ahlquist, second lieutenant Three Hundred and Twenty-seventh Infantry, killed October 20, 1918; James C. Simpkins, second lieutenant Two Hun- dred and Fifty-fifth Aero Squadron, killed September 18, 1918; and Randolph C. Stacker, second lieutenant Company D, Thirty-ninth In- fantry, killed September 28, 1918. One officer, Emmet E. Carruthers, first lieutenant of Company A, Three Hundred and Sixteenth Engineers, died of wounds, November 2, 1918. 654 HISTORY OF MONTANA The following officers died of disease or other causes : Winfield S. Faulds, first lieutenant Thirty-fifth Sanitary Squad, died October 10, 1918; Cyrus J. Gatton, first lieutenant First Aero Squadron, died Novem- ber 4, 1918; Clinton V. Reed, first lieutenant Medical Corps, Base Hos- pital No. 40, died October 7, 1918; Charles L. Watkins, first lieutenant Headquarters Detachment, Signal Reserve Corps, died June 23, 1918; George S. Reisz, second lieutenant, Headquarters Detail, Aviation In- structor, died September 19, 1918. Montana's soldiers who won the Distinguished Service Cross were fifty-three in number. The award of the Distinguished Service Cross is confined to any one who may distinguish himself or herself by ex- traordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy of the United States under circumstances which do' not justify the award of the Medal of Honor, and may be awarded to any person who while serving in any capacity with the army distinguishes himself or herself. Following is given the names of the heroes who re- ceived these awards and details of the deeds for which they were thus honored. Arthur Aamot, sergeant, Company D, One Hundred and Twenty- sixth Infantry. For extraordinary heroism in action near Juvigny, France, August 29, 1918. Sergeant Aamot had sought cover in a shell hole, after a difficult advance in the face of heavy machine-gun fire, when he observed distress signals from a tank nearby on which concentrated artillery and machine-gun fire was being directed by the enemy. Leav- ing his shelter, Sergeant Aamot proceeded through the fire to the tank where he found a wounded man, whom he courageously carried to safety. Residence at enlistment* Saco, Montana. John Ora Adams, second lieutenant, Ninth Infantry. For extraordi- nary heroism in action near Medeah Farm, France, October 3, 1918. He remained on duty after receiving two shrapnel wounds in the arm, and continued to lead his platoon to its objective. He directed the consolida- tion of his position and the reorganization of his platoon before finally reporting to the aid station, eight hours after being wounded. Resi- dence at appointment: Kalispell, Montana. Ernest H. Anderson, private first class, Company F, First Gas Regi- ment. For extraordinary heroism in action near Moulin de Guenoville, France, September 26, 1918. Private Anderson, with three other sol- diers, advanced nearly 200 yards over an open hillside exposed to ma- chine-gun fire and carried two wounded men to the protection of a near- by trench. Private Anderson was later killed in action. Emergency address: Mrs. Christine Anderson, mother, 706 Chestnut Street, Ana- conda, Montana. Residence at enlistment: 706 Chestnut Street, Ana- conda. Oliver Anderson, sergeant, Company L, Three Hundred and Sixty- second Infantry. For extraordinary heroism in action near Steenbrugge, Belgium, October 31, 1918. Sergeant Anderson, with two other soldiers, attacked a strong machine-gun position from which destructive fire had been poured into his platoon and the platoon of the flank company, HISTORY OF MONTANA 655 wounding his lieutenant, the platoon sergeant and many others. They drove the machine-gunners from the position, thereby enabling the line to continue the advance. Residence at enlistment : Sand Creek, Montana. Harold B. Anthony (army serial No. 2260112), supply sergeant, Company D, Three Hundred and Sixty-second Infantry. For extraordi- nary heroism in action at Bois de Very, France, September 26, 1918. Sergeant Anthony, while leading a small detachment opertaing on the flank of his company, suddenly came under heavy machine-gun fire. Alone he crawled up close to the machine-gun, killed the gunner and cap- tured four prisoners. Again, at Eclisfontaine, France, September 29, 1918, the company was held up by machine-gun fire from front and flank. Sergeant Anthony spotted the machine-gun nest. While attempting to reach an automatic squad to point out the hostile gun he was killed by the machine-gun fire. Emergency address : Alex H. Anthony, father, 1 122 Sharp Avenue, East, Nashville, Tennessee. Residence at enlist- ment: Y. M. C. A., Miles City, Montana. Ivan Y. Bailey, private, Intelligence Section, First Battalion, Three Hundred and Sixty-first Infantry. For extraordinary heroism in action near Gesnes, France, October 10, 1918. While on a liaison patrol Pri- vate Bailey and Corp. Carl G. Theobald attacked and captured a hostile machine-gun nest and its entire crew. Private Bailey then took the pris- oners across "No Man's Land" to the American lines under machine- gun fire. Residence at enlistment : Fort Shaw, Montana. William Belzer, second lieutenant, Air Service, observer, Observa- tion Group, attached to Fourth Army Corps. For extraordinary hero- ism in action near Jaulny, France, September 12-13, 1918. On Septem- ber 12, Lieutenant Belzer, observer, and First Lieut. Wallace Coleman, pilot, while on an artillery surveillance mission, were attacked by an enemy plane. They waited until the enemy was at close range and then fired fifty rounds directly into the vital parts of the enemy machine, which was seen to disappear out of control. The next day, Lieutenants Belzer and Coleman, while on a reconnoissance mission, were attacked by seven enemy aircraft. They unhesitatingly opened fire, but owing to their guns being jammed were forced to withdraw to the American lines, where, clearing the jam, they returned to finish the mission. Their guns again jammed and they were driven back by a large patrol of enemy planes. After skillful maneuvering, they succeeded in putting one gun into use and returning a third time, only to be driven back. Undaunted, they returned the fourth time and accomplished their mission, transmit- ting valuable, information to the Infantry headquarters. Residence at appointment : Glasgow, Montana. Henry N. Benoit (Army serial No. 2293659), private, first class, Company D, Three Hundred and Sixty-first Infantry. For extraordi- nary heroism in action near Gesnes, France, September 26 to October 4, 1918. During eight days while acting in the capacity of runner between his company and battalion headquarters, Private Benoit was constantly subjected to heavy shell fire, but performed his mission without thought 656 HISTORY OF MONTANA of personal danger, carrying the many messages promptly and success- fully. Residence at enlistment : Ekalaka, Montana. Arthur I. Clark (Army serial No. 2258790), sergeant, Company C, Thirty-ninth Infantry, Fourth Division. For extraordinary heroism in action near Esnes, France, September 26, 1918. Sergeant Clark was in command of one platoon of his company, which was being held up by intense enemy machine-gun fire. Accompanied by two other soldiers, he voluntarily made an attack on one of the nests under heavy fire, firing a rifle grenade into it and forcing its surrender. He then advanced on another machine-gun nest and captured it, taking seven prisoners from both nests. His platoon having been forced to fall back by machine- gun fire from the rear, he reorganized it and led it in a successful attack on seventy-five of the enemy whom he discovered near by. Residence at enlistment: Helena, Montana. Oscar Clauson, private, Company F, Three Hundred and Sixty-second Infantry. For extraordinary heroism in action near the Scheldt River, Belgium, October 31, 1918. When the advance of the front line was held up by the fire from a machine-gun nest 300 yards to the front, Pri- vate Clauson, with two others, crossed the open field in the face of fire from enemy artillery, machine guns and snipers. Charging the nest they killed two of the crew, wounded two others and captured five, together with the machine-gun. Residence at enlistment : Havre, Montana. Milan Debney (Army serial 2293685), private, Company B, Three Hundred and Forty-eighth Machine Gun Battalion, Ninety-first Division. For extraordinary heroism in action near Eclisfontaine and Tronsol Farm, France, September 27-October i, 1918. Throughout five days of action Private Debney maintained liaison between company and bat- talion posts of command, repeatedly passing through enemy barrages and constantly subjected to enemy sniping. Residence at enlistment: Care of the Baltimore Hotel, Butte, Montana. Louis C. Dolce, corporal, Company C, Second Field Signal Battalion. For extraordinary heroism in action near Exermont, France, October 8, 1918. He volunteered and laid a telephone line to an advanced observa- tion post under heavy artillery and machine-gun fire, working his way the entire distance of nearly i kilometer through dense undergrowth and barbed-wire entanglements. Residence at enlistment: 632 Maryland Avenue, Butte, Montana. Charles H. Evans (Army serial No. 574149), private, Company B, Fourth Division. For extraordinary heroism in action near the Bois de-Brieulles, France, September 27, 1918. When his company was held up by heavy enemy machine-gun fire, Private Evans and two other sol- diers advanced in the face of intense fire and captured the enemy ma- chine-gun nest, from which the fire had been coming, killing two of the enemy and capturing three prisoners with their machine gun. Resi- dence at enlistment : Lewistown, Montana. Austin Gates (Army serial No. 14556), private, Company M., Six- teenth Infantry. For extraordinary heroism in action near Charpentry, France, October 3, 1918. He went forward with three other soldiers, HISTORY OF MONTANA 657 and, though subjected to intense enemy fire, rescued a wounded soldier who had fallen in advance of the American lines. Residence at enlist- ment : Drummond, Montana. Leonard E. Guy (Army serial No. 572657), sergeant, Company C, Fifty-eighth Infantry. For extraordinary heroism in action near Nantil- lois, France, September 27, 1918. Sergeant Guy displayed exceptional courage in attacking single-handed a machine-gun emplacement, captur- ing the gun and taking as prisoners three machine-gunners. Residence at enlistment: Great Falls, Montana. Benjamin P. Harwood, second lieutenant, Field Artillery, observer, Twelfth Aero Squadron, Air Service. For extraordinary heroism in action near Chateau Thierry, France, July 5, 1918. He volunteered, with another plane, to protect a photographic plane. In the course of their mission they were attacked by seven enemy planes of the Fokker type. He accepted the combat and kept the enemy engaged while the photo- graphic plane completed its mission, but his guns jammed and he himself was seriously wounded. After skillfully clearing his guns, with his plane badly damaged he fought off the hostile planes and enabled the photo- graphic plane to return to the American lines with valuable information. Residence at appointment : Billings, Montana. Rudolph P. Hassler, sergeant, Company K, Three Hundred and Sixty-second Infantry. For extraordinary heroism at Gesnes, France, September 29, 1918. Although he was seriously wounded, he remained in command of his platoon until he was relieved next morning, display- ing exceptional devotion to duty. Residence at enlistment: Sumatra, Montana. Harry Hildebrand, sergeant, Company C, Third Machine Gun Bat- talion. For extraordinary heroism in action near Soissons, France, July 18-24, 1918. He went forward beyond the front line, exposed to fire of snipers, and repaired and put into action an abandoned enemy machine- gun. Later, his platoon commander being wounded and the platoon be- coming disorganized through direct artillery fire, he took command, gathered reinforcements, and protected a dangerously exposed flank of the infantry. He also voluntarily led his machine guns with the attack- ing battalion, rendering most efficient service until wounded. Residence at enlistment: Butte, Montana. Melvin B. Johnson (Army serial No. 84054), corporal, Company M, One Hundred and Twenty-seventh Infantry. For extraordinary hero- ism in action near Gesnes, France, October 14, 1918. When his bat- talion was held up after suffering heavy casualties from flanking machine- gun fire, he went out alone with an automatic rifle to a position 250 yards in advance of the American lines, and, although subjected to intense fire from three directions, operated his gun and so neutralized the enemy fire while his battalion reformed. He was killed on this mission, undertaken on his own initiative. Emergency address : Mrs. Oliva Johnson, mother, Clear Brook, Minnesota. Residence at enlistment : Greve, Montana. Clifford M. Jordan, private, Company L, Sixteenth Infantry. For extraordinary heroism in action near Cantigny, France, June 2, 1918. 658 He went forward under intense machine-gun and artillery fire and as- sisted in the removal of a wounded soldier over a distance of i kilometer. Now deceased. Emergency address : J. I. B. Hanson, friend, Malta, Montana. Residence at enlistment : Malta, Montana. Emanuel Karch, private, Company B, Sixteenth Infantry. Display- ing exceptional initiative and bravery throughout the operations south of Soissons, France, July 18-22, 1918; he with extraordinary heroism, July 21, with two companions captured two machine guns that were causing heavy losses to his company. Residence at enlistment: Angela, Montana. Eugene F. Knoke, private, Company M, Three Hundred and Sixty- second Infantry. For extraordinary heroism in action near Gesnes, France, September 29, 1918. He performed his duties as company run- ner with the utmost fearlessness, crossing fire-swept fields on two occa- sions to carry important messages to neighboring units. Residence at en- listment: Glasston, Montana. Christian Kurle, private, Company H, Three Hundred and Seventh Infantry. For extraordinary heroism in action near Oches, France, November 4, 1918. Exposing himself to heavy machine-gun fire, Pri- vate Kurle crossed an open field 300 yards wide and rescued a severely wounded comrade. Residence at enlistment : Angela, Montana. Arthur S. Long (Army serial No. 44521), private, Company D, Six- teenth Infantry. For extraordinary heroism in action near Hill 272, France, October 9, 1918. Facing direct fire from a 77-millimeter gun which was enfilading his company, he advanced against the gun with an automatic rifle. Attacking the German gun position, he captured the crew, making it possible for his company to hold the ground it had gained. Residence at enlistment: Box No. 57, Roberts, Montana. Luzius Luzi, private, Company M, Twenty-third Infantry. For extraordinary heroism. He fearlessly and frequently passed through heavy machine-gun fire while performing his duty as runner near Cha- teau Thierry, France, June 6, 1918, after being twice wounded. Resi- dence at enlistment: Salesville, Montana. Daniel McAuliffe, corporal, Company M, Sixteenth Infantry. For extraordinary heroism in action in the Argonne Forest, France, October 4, 1918. Leading his squad on enemy machine-gun nests which had been inflicting severe casualties on his platoon, Corporal McAuliffe opened an effective bombing attack on the nests, and, although severely wounded, remained in command until the strong point was reduced. Residence at enlistment: 939 Hornet Street, Butte, Monana. William McLoughlin, private, Company A, Third Machine Gun Bat- talion. For extraordinary heroism in action near Berzy-le-Sec, France, July 21, 1918. He advanced against a machine gun, and, single-handed, killed or captured the entire crew. Residence at enlistment : Anaconda, Montana. Duncan A. McRae, sergeant, Company M, Three Hundred and Sixty- second Infantry. For extraordinary heroism in action near Gesnes, France, October 11, 1918. He took out a patrol for the purpose of ascer- HISTORY OF MONTANA 659 taining the position of the enemy and the location of machine guns. Three of his men were killed but he continued on over a difficult terrain and returned with information of the highest value in subsequent opera- tions. Residence at enlistment: 902 Ninth Avenue, Helena, Montana. Carl J. Maier, private, first class, Company I, Three Hundred and Sixty-second Infantry. For extraordinary heroism in action at Bois de Cheppy, near Meuse, France, September 26, 1918. Working with a patrol in an attack on an enemy machine gun, he crawled upon the em- placement and without assistance killed three enemy gunners and cap- tured their machine gun. Residence at enlistment: Glendive, Montana. Jesse Marlin, corporal, Company B, One Hundred and Twenty-sev- enth Infantry. For extraordinary heroism in action at Juvigny, France, August 31, 1918. He was one of a party of three officers and two men who, armed with one German machine gun and three German rifles, attacked a machine-gun nest held by seventy Germans. Under terrific fire from the enemy, who laid down an artillery barrage upon their posi- tion; they concentrated their rifle fire so effectively that thirty-two Ger- mans surrendered within an hour. After the prisoners had been brought in, Corporal Marlin, with a private, established another machine gun in an advanced position and kept up a concentrated fire on the Germans until he was wounded in the body five times by machine-gun fire. Emergency address : L. C. Hall, friend, General Delivery, Billings, Mon- tana. Residence at enlistment, same. Robert J. Maxey, lieutenant-colonel, Eighteenth Infantry. On May 28, 1918, at Cantigny, France,, he advanced with the first wave and, in the face of heavy shell and machine-gun fire, located the objective of his battalion. He was a cool, dependable and heroic leader. Although fatally wounded, he gave detailed instructions to his second in command and caused himself to be carried to his regimental commander and deliv- ered important information before he died. Emergency address : Mrs. Lu Knowles Maxey, wife, 900 First Street, Missoula, Montana. Resi- dence at appointment : same. Frank D. Miller (army serial No. 2706), private, Medical Detach- ment, Twenty-eighth Infantry. For extraordinary heroism in action near Exermont, France, October 1-12, 1918. His detachment having been re-' duced to but three men, Private Miller displayed conspicuous courage and devotion to duty in caring for and evacuating wounded across an area swept by shell and machine-gun fire to the regimental aid station and returning with badly-needed medical supplies to the forward aid station. His conduct was an inspiration to his associates, their commanding officer being absent and the sergeant in charge having been killed. Residence at enlistment : Great Falls, Montana. James H. Moore, Jr. (army serial No. 3137555), corporal, Company E, Two Hundred and Seventh Infantry. For extraordinary heroism in action in the Argonne Forest, France, October 2, 1918. During an attack, when his platoon encountered enemy wire, Corporal Moore calmly went forward and alone proceeded to cut a passage through the wire. While perform- ing his work he was subjected to the fiercest fire of enemy machine guns 660 HISTORY OF MONTANA and grenades, which wounded over half the platoon. He continued in this work until he accomplished his purpose. Residence at enlistment: Ridg- way, Montana. John J. Murphy, private, first class, Battery F, One Hundred and Forty-eighth Field Artillery. For extraordinary heroism in action near Nantillois, France, October 31, 1918. Private Murphy displayed a remark- able example of heroism by carrying two wounded men from the gun pit after being seriously wounded himself, when a German shell exploded within a few feet of the piece which was being loaded, setting fire to several boxes of powder and to the camouflage cover of the pit. After carrying the wounded men to safety, he returned to the pit, closed the breech of the piece, verified its laying, and fired it, preventing what prob- ably would have been a very serious explosion. He was quickly carried to the aid station, where it was found that he had suffered serious burns from the terrific heat, besides being wounded in several places by shell fragments. Residence at enlistment: Butte, Montana. Vincent A. Nolan (army serial No. 303736), pharmacist's mate, third class, United States Navy, attached to Company E, Fifth Regiment, United States Marine Corps, Second Division. For extraordinary hero- ism in action near St. Etienne, France, October 5-9, 1918. During the operations at Blanc Mont Ridge he repeatedly went through intense ma- chine-gun fire and shell fire to administer first aid to officers and soldiers who were wounded and lying in exposed positions. Residence at enlist- ment: Livingston, Montana. Cornelius J. O'Brien, sergeant, Company E, Second Engineers. For extraordinary heroism in action near Ville-Savoye, France, August n, 1918. While engaged on the construction of a bridge over the Valle River, he voluntarily left shelter during intense fire and carried one of his wounded officers through a heavy machine-gun and artillery fire to a dress- ing station. Emergency address : Mrs. Mollie Prine, sister, 2 Ridgely Avenue, Butte, Montana. Address at enlistment: same. Solomon Peterson, sergeant, Company I, Three Hundred and Sixty- second Infantry. For extraordinary heroism in action during the Argonne offensive, France, September 26-29, 1918. He repeatedly led patrols in successful attacks on enemy machine-gun emplacements, displaying calm- ness and keen judgment. After being wounded he insisted in remaining in command of his platoon. Residence at enlistment : Mosley, Montana. Philip W. Prevost (army serial No. 2284906), private first class, Company D, Three Hundred and Sixty-fourth Infantry. For extraordi- nary heroism in action near Eclisfontaine, France, September 28, 1918. A combat group had worked its way far ahead when the remainder of the line was held up by heavy bursts of machine-gun fire, and the order to dig in and hold the position was given. Private Prevost volunteered to carry the message through heavy machine-gun fire to the combat group, which was still advancing. He delivered the order and returned with information which enabled the battalion to make dispositions for the cap- ture of the line of enemy machine-gun nests and the saving of the combat group. Residence at enlistment : Geyser, Montana. HISTORY OF MONTANA 661 John E. Reese, sergeant, Company F, Three Hundred and Sixteenth Engineers. For extraordinary heroism in action at Audenarde, Belgium, November i, 1918. He volunteered to accompany an officer and three other soldiers on a reconnaissance patrol of the City of Audenarde. En- tering the city under heavy shell fire, the party reconnoitered for seven hours, while it was still being patrolled by the enemy, advancing two kilo- meters ahead of the American outposts and beyond those of the enemy. Residence at enlistment: 415 South Colorado Street, Butte, Montana. Charles L. Sheridan, captain, Company A, One Hundred and Sixty-third Infantry. For extraordinary heroism in action on Hill 230, near Cierges, France, July 31 and August i, 1918. He demonstrated notable courage and leadership by taking command of the remnants of two companies and leading them up the hill and into the woods against violent fire from the enemy. He personally shot and killed three of the enemy and under his direction six machine guns were put out of action and the hill captured. Residence at appointment: 1022 West Curtis Street, Bozeman, Montana. Robert A. Simpson (army serial No. 41804), private, Company A, Sixteenth Infantry, First Division. For extraordinary heroism in action near Soissons, France, July 22, 1918. After being wounded, Private Simp- son returned to the line and continued to carry messages with absolute disregard of his own safety until he was wounded a second time. Resi- dence at enlistment: Shelby, Montana. Sidney Smith, private, Company H, Three Hundred and Eighth In- fantry. For extraordinary heroism in action near Bainarville, France, October 2-8, 1918. When his company had been cut off from communi- ciation he, though seriously wounded, refused to seek shelter. He partici- pated in several attacks with courage and aggressiveness, using his rifle very effectively and encouraging his comrades. When relief came he walked back to the dressing station so that medical attention could first be given to the more seriously wounded. Residence at enlistment : Blaine, Montana. Clayton Evans Snyder, second lieutenant, Ninth Machine Gun Bat- talion. For extraordinary heroism in action near Cunel, France, October 13, 1918. Although wounded by machine-gun fire, he refused to be evacu- ated, and, going out into No Man's Land, located several enemy machine guns which were endangering his platoon, and directed the fire of his men tvith such accuracy that the guns were silenced. Residence at appointment : Malta, Montana, Carl J. Sonstelie, first lieutenant, Third Brigade, Tank Corps. For extraordinary heroism in action near Montfaucon, France, September 26, 1918. He displayed bravery and leadership of a high order in the advance toward Montfaucon by going out ahead of the engineers, reconnoitering a tank route under fire, and urging the tanks forward. He located the resistance in the Bois de Cuisy in advance, later rallying disorganized sol- diers and enabling them to hold that point. Residence at appointment : 628 Third Avenue, West, Kalispell, Montana. Gilbert Straabe, private, Company D, Three Hundred and Sixty-first Infantry. For extraordinary heroism in action near Gesnes, France, Octo- 662 HISTORY OF MONTANA her 3, 1918. He voluntarily and unhesitatingly left shelter under heavy shell fire and without thought of personal danger rendered first aid and carried a wounded comrade to a place of safety. Residence at enlistment : Devon, Montana. Joseph J. Sullivan, corporal, Company M, Three Hundred and Sixty- second Infantry. For extraordinary heroism in action near Gesnes, France. Observing that the left flank of the regimental line was un- protected, he voluntarily took out a combat patrol, and, while so doing, encountered three machine guns, which were employing effective enfilade fire. Boldly advancing to this position, he silenced the guns. Residence at enlistment: Jordan, Montana. Clarence W. Thompson (army serial No. 1039036), sergeant, Battery F,. Tenth Field Artillery, Third Division. For extraordinary heroism in action near Greves Farm, France, July 15, 1918. Responding to a call for volunteers, Sergeant Thompson, with eight other soldiers, manned two guns of a French battery which had been deserted by the French during the unprecedented fire, after many casualties had been inflicted upon their forces. For two hours he remained at his post and poured an effective fire into the ranks of the enemy. Residence at enlistment: Van Norman, Montana. Waldo Thompson, corporal, Company C, Second Field Signal Bat- talion. For extraordinary heroism in action near Exermont, France, October 5, 1918. He voluntarily went forward in the face of a most destructive bombardment and kept in repair the telephone line connecting the infantry and artillery, thereby assuring the close co-operation between these two elements. Residence at enlistment: 1108 East Sixth Street, Anaconda, Montana. Hans L. Tveten, private, Company K, Three Hundred and Sixty-third Infantry. For extraordinary heroism in action at Gesnes, France, Sep- tember 29, 1918. When his company was under fire from two German machine guns, he crept forward alone and put the guns out of action with rifle grenades, capturing, single-handed, four Germans and both machine guns. Residence at enlistment : Sandcreek, Montana. Herman Wallenmaier, private, Company D, Sixtenth Infantry. For extraordinary heroism in action near the Argonne Forest, France, Octo- ber 9, 1918. Although suffering painfully from wounds, he remained with his company during the entire action, and then was evacuated only when ordered to leave by his commanding officer, being unable to pro- ceed further because of the loss of blood. Residence at enlistment : Valley- town, Montana. George Whitcomb, private, Company B, Ninth Machine Gun Bat- talion. For extraordinary heroism in action near Gunel, France, October 12, 1918. Although seriously wounded, he refused to be evacuated until he had gone under heavy artillery and machine-gun fire to four other gun crews, requesting that men be sent to his gun, thereby enabling an im- portant gun to remain in action. Residence at enlistment: Bonnerville Apartments, Helena, Montana. Cecil J. Widdifield, second lieutenant, Sixth Regiment, United States HISTORY OF MONTANA 663 Marine Corps. For extraordinary heroism in action near St. Etienne, France, October 5, 1918. He voluntarily went forward for a distance of 800 meters under heavy shell fire and rescued a wounded soldier who had been left there the night before when the advance patrols had been withdrawn. Residence at appointment : Troy, Montana. Frank Zilkey, corporal, Company D, Sixteenth Infantry. For extraor- dinary heroism in action near the Forest of Argonne, France, October 9, 1918. After all the other members of his squad had been killed or wounded in advancing on a hostile machine gun, he pressed forward alone in the face of direct fire from the gun, and by remarkable courage cap- tured both the gun and its crew. Upon his own initiative, he then started out alone to attack another gun and was killed. Emergency address, Mrs. J. J. Carr, mother, May, Idaho. Residence at enlistment : Butte, Montana. MONTANA'S SINEWS' OF THE WAR While the fighting forces were thus writing Montana's name large on history's page in France, the people at home were waging a no less val- iant campaign in furnishing the sinews of war through Liberty Bond sales and contributions to other war activities. With the exception of four cases, Montana's counties went "over the top" in their total allot- ments of Liberty Loans. Montana was included in the Ninth Federal Reserve District, and a record of the various counties, their chairmen, women's chairmen, allotments and subscriptions are herewith given. Unless otherwise noted, the chairmen served during the Second, Third, Fourth and Fifth campaigns, and the chairwomen during the Third, Fourth and Fifth drives. Beaverhead: Frank S. Hazelbaker, Dillon, chairman; Miss Carolyn White, chairwoman; Allotment, $1,319,100; Subscription, $1,640,100. Big Horn: G. F. Burla, Hardin, chairman; Mrs. G. F. Burla, Hardin, chairwoman; Allotment, $460,000; Subscription, $739,050. Blaine: Thomas Everett, Harlem (Second) and John McLaren, Chinook, chair- men; Mrs. L. N. Beaulieu, Chinook, chairwoman; Allotment, $392,450; Subscription, $502,650. Broadwater: J. B. Kearns, Townsend, chairman; Mrs. C. B. Fairchild, Townsend, chairwoman; Allotment, $404,350; Sub- scription, $441,400. Carbon: John Romersa, Red Lodge (Second) and Albert Budas, Red Lodge, chairmen ; Mrs. S. Mott Soupers, Red Lodge, chairwoman; Allotment, $1,273,800; Subscription, $1,785,300. Carter: L. M. Elliott, Ekalaka, chairman ; Mrs. John Oliver, Ekalaka, chairwoman; Allotment, $99,550; Subscription, $134,700; Cascade: Harry Yaeger, Great Falls, chairman; Mrs. W. K. Floweree, Great Falls, chairwoman; Allotment, $5,960,800; Subscription, $7,896,250. Chouteau: David G. Browne, Fort Benton, chairman; Mrs. David G. Browne, chairwoman, Fort Benton; Allotment, $854,100; Subscription, $2,441,450. Custer: C. W. Butler and H. B. Wiley, Miles City (Second) H. B. Wiley (Third and Fourth) and P. I. Wedge (Fifth), chairmen; Mrs. Minnie M. Ser- ruys, Miles City, chairwoman; Allotment, $1,318,600; Subscription, $1,620,500. Dawson: Frank G. Hughes (Second and Third), Glendive, 664 HISTORY OF MONTANA and G. D. Hollecker, Glendive, chairman; Mrs. C. A. Rasmusson, Glen- dive, chairwoman; Allotment, $858,500; Subscription, $985,100. Deer Lodge: J. B. Gnose, Anaconda (Second), and T. P. Stewart, Anaconda, chairmen; Mrs. Frederick Laist, Anaconda, chairwoman; Allotment, $3,919,350; Subscription, $5,105,550. Fallon: R. F. Smith, Baker, chair- man; Mrs. C. J. Dousman, Baker, chairwoman; Allotment, $137,000; Subscription, $211,900. Fergus: O. W. Beldon, Lewistown, chairman; Mrs. Noble M. Walker, Lewistown, chairwoman; Allotment, $2,368,100; Subscription, $2,953,700. Flathead: H. C. Keith, Kalispell, and Dr. Morris W. Bottorf, Kalispell (Fourth), chairmen; Mrs. J. R. Listle, Kalispell (Fourth) and Mrs. E. E. Ingalls, Kalispell (Fifth), chairwomen; Allotment, $1,343,050; Subscription, $2,100,900. Gallatin: Justin M. Smith, chairman; Allotment, $2,151,550; Subscription, $2,831,506. Gar- field (formed after Fourth drive) : A. C. Attix, Jordan, chairman; Allot- ment, $20,000; Subscription, $24,150. Glacier (formed after Fourth drive): R. L. Taft, Cutbank, chairman: Allotment, $30,000; Subscrip- tion, $42,500. Granite: Charles Anderson, Philipsburg (Second), Thomas M. Brogan, Philipsburg (Third and Fourth) and A. J. Murray, Philips- burg, chairmen; Mrs. M. E. H. Gannon, Philipsburg, chairwoman; Allot- ment, $389,350; Subscription, $517,850. Hill: A. L. Ritt, Havre, chair- man; Mrs. W. B. Rhoades, Havre, chairwoman; Allotment, $758,500; Subscription, $1,123,400. Jefferson: L. Q. Skelton, Boulder (Second) and Dr. I. A. Leighton, Boulder, chairmen; Mrs. Ike E. O. Pace, chair- woman; Allotment, $433,900; Subscription, $616,700. Lewis and Clark: T. A. Marlow, Helena (Second) and Harry Cunningham, Helena, chair- men: Mrs. G. S. M. Neill, chairwoman; Allotment, $5,207,750; Sub- scription, $7,406,500. Lincoln: John Lewis, Libby (Second), C. A. Weil, Eureka (Third and Fourth) and J. G. Masek, Eureka, chairmen; Mrs. J. M. Kennedy, chairwoman; Allotment, $426,350; Subscription, $733,770; McCone (formed after Fourth drive) : O. A. Maxness, Brock- way, chairman; Allotment, $20,000; Subscription, $41,550. Madison: O. H. Junod, Sheridan (Second) and R. G. Willson, Sheridan, chair- men; Mrs. M. M. Duncan, Virginia City, chairwoman; Allotment, $873,- ioo; Subscription, $1,012,900. Meagher: James T. Wood, White Sulphur Springs, chairman; Mrs. E. J. Anderson, White Sulphur Springs, chair- woman; Allotment, $510,100; Subscription, $634,700. Mineral: Sam Boyd, Henderson, chairman; Mrs. Charles A. Searles, Alberton, chair- woman; Allotment, $150,700; Subscription, $280,300. Missoula: H. H. Parsons, Missoula, chairman; Mrs. F. S. Lusk, Missoula, chairwoman; Allotment, $2,380,700; Subscription, $3,549,350. Musselshell : F. M. Wall, Roundup, chairman; Mrs. C. Fairchild, Roundup, chairwoman; Allot- ment, $932,500; Subscription, $1,121,600. Park: J. C. Vilas (Second), D. J. Fitzgerald (Third), A. P. Stark (Fourth) and Charles Angus, all of Livingston, chairman; Mrs. Anna M. Sax, Livingston, chairwoman; Allotment, $1,453,400; Subscription, $2,034,150. Phillips: B. D. Phillips, Phillips (Second) and F. W. Hall, Malta, chairmen; Mrs. John A. Tress- ler, Malta, chairwoman; Allotment, $334,750; Subscription, $417,450. HISTORY OF MONTANA 665 Ponderay (formed after Fourth drive) : B. T. Moore, Brady, chairman; Allotment, $40,000; Subscription, $41,200. Powder River (formed after Fourth drive); H. R. Straiton, Broadus, chairman; Allotment, $50,000; Subscription, $60,550. Powell : R. D. Larabie, Deer Lodge, chairman ; Mrs! A. D. Hoss, Deed Lodge, chairwoman; Allotment, $741,050; Subscrip- tion, $1,088,100. Prairie: W. A. Brubaker, Terry, chairman; Allotment, $339,000; Subscription, $277,850. Ravalli: W. O. Fisk, Hamilton (Sec- ond) and M. A. White, Hamilton, chairmen; Mrs. C. L. Hoffman, Ham- ilton, chairwoman; Allotment, $639,850; Subscription, $820,300. Rich- land: Sam Donaldson, Sidney, chairman; Mrs. J. P. Meadors, Sidney, chairwoman; Allotment, $596,350; Subscription, $595,100. Roosevelt (formed after Fourth drive): A. S. Newcombe, Mondak, chairman; Allotment, $85,000; Subscription, $119,850. Rosebud: E. A. Cornwall, Forsyth, chairman ; Mrs. E. A. Richardson, Forsyth, chairwoman ; Allot- ment, $879,000 ; Subscription, $974,500. Sanders : E. L. Johnson, Plains (Second, Third, Fourth and Fifth) and A. M. Johnson, Plains (Fifth only), chairmen; Mrs. F. M. Lewellen, chairwoman; Allotment, $321,500; Subscription, $513,650. Sheridan: N. L. Nelson, Plentywood, chairman; Mrs. F. G. Fishbeck, chairwoman; Allotment, $1,021,850; Subscription, $1,198,650. Silver Bow: A. R. Currie, Butte (Second, Third and Fourth) and W. W. McDowell, Butte, chairmen ; Mrs. J. K. Hesley, chairwoman ; Allotment, $20,451,750; Subscription, $24,434,300. Stillwater: George A. Westover, Columbus, chairman ; Mrs. J. D. Ray, chairwoman ; Allotment, $609,400; Subscription, $598,150. Sweetgrass: T. C. Busha, Big Timber (Second, Third and Fourth) and E. J. Mo, Big Timber, chairmen; Miss Inga Solberg, Big Timber, chairwoman; Allotment, $516,000; Subscrip- tion, $572,800. Teton: T. O. Larson, Chouteau, chairman; Mrs. T. O. Larson, Chouteau, chairwoman; Allotment, $937,700; Subscription,, $1,156,950. Toole: W. H. Schoregge, Shelby, chairman; Mrs. T. L. Clark, Sweet Grass (Fifth only), chairwoman; Allotment, $283,900; Subscription, $308,700. Treasure (formed after Fourth drive) : J. G. Weldon, Hysham, chairman; Allotment, $30,000; Subscription, $41,400. Valley: J. E. Arnott, Glasgow (Second), S. J. Bundle, Glasgow (Third) and R. J. Moore, Glasgow, chairmen; Mrs. Thomas Dignan, Glasgow (Third and Fourth) and Mrs. J. M. Lewis, Glasgow, chairwomen; Allot- ment, $721,350; Subscription, $822,100. Wheatland: W. M. Smith, Har- lowton, chairman ; Mrs. Harriet W. Tooley, Harlowton, chairwoman ; Allotment, $463,400; Subscription, $664,150. Wibaux: L. C. Faltermeyer, Wibaux, chairman ; Mrs. Ed. F. Fisher, Wibaux, chairwoman ; Allotment, $235,400; Subscription, $195,900. Yellowstone: W. Lee Mains, Billings,, chairman ; Mrs. H. R. Smith, chairwoman, Billings ; Allotment, $2,683,750; Subscription, $3,525,300. The state had an average over-subscription of about seventy-five per cent, and led the nation in the First Liberty Loan in the percentage of over- subscription, much more than doubling its allotment. The five subscrip- tions were as follows : 666 HISTORY OF MONTANA Loan Allotted Subscribed First $ 6,768,000 $15,165,000 Second 15,000,000 19,126,350 Third 9,000,000 17,635,500 Fourth 16,000,000 22,489,050 Fifth 1 1,000,000 12,100,000 Total $57,768,000 $86,515,900 The state chairman was Norman B. Holter, of Helena, and the women's chairman was Mrs. W. W. McDowell, of Butte. The only campaign in the state that did not reach its full allotment was the Thrift Stamp drive, in which Montana raised $6,794,698.41. In the different drives for the Red Cross, Y. M. C. A., Knights of Columbus, Salvation Army, Y. W. C. A., Armenian Relief and others, in the separate campaigns and in the United War Work campaign, Montana was a gener- ous contributor, as will be seen from the following figures: Red Cross .$1,110,000 Y. M. C. A. (First Drive) 179,000 K. of C. (First Drive) 100,000 Salvation Army (First Drive) 45,ooo Other Organizations (Estimated) 100,000 United War Work Campaign 643,913 Armenian Relief 90,000 Total $2,267,913 In the matter of war materials, Montana played a leading part in furnishing vast stores of goods, as the products of this state were those that were greatly sought after by the Government. The production of these different materials in 1918 was as follows: Wheat, 25,434,000 bushels; beef cattle, 406,415 head; sheep, 3,000,000 head; hogs, 200,000 head ; wool, 22,878,000 pounds ; copper, 323,174,850 pounds ; zinc, 209,258,- 148 pounds; lead, 3,7,135,875 pounds; manganese, 199,796 tons; and lum- ber, 400,000,000 feet. CHAPTER XXVI If for no other reason, there would be much of interest attaching to Beaverhead County, because it was here that much of the early history of the State of Montana was enacted. Within its borders, on Grass- hopper Creek, in 1862, there occurred the first important discovery of gold which resulted in the settlement of the rich Treasure State and the unfolding of its vast resources, agricultural as well as mineral. Like- wise Bannack, the first mining camp in Montana, was the first territorial capital of the state, although today, shorn of its former glory and ro- mance, it bears little resemblance to the prosperous and vivid little com- munity of the days of its prosperity. Today, while mining still is an industry, as well as farming and lumbering, Beaverhead occupies a leading position among the counties of the state principally because of its stockgrowing interests, in this connection being one of the most im- portant centers in Montana. NATURAL FEATURES AND INDUSTRIES OF BEAVERHEAD Beaverhead County, which derives its name from the river of the same title, was created February 2, 1865, an d nes m the southwestern part of the state. Since 1890, it has shown a slow but steady increase in population at the rate of about 1,000 every decade, as follows: 1890, 4,655; 1900, 5,615; 1910, 6,446; 1920, 7,369. With a land area of 5,632 square miles, Beaverhead County is bounded on the south and west by the Idaho-Montana state line, and the Continental Divide of the Rocky Mountains marks the northwestern boundary, while on the southwest it is flanked by the Beaverheads. In the interior of the county smaller ranges are found, and between these are extensive valleys and basins, including the Big Hole Basin, Horse Prairie, and the Centennial and the Alaska basins, which are devoted to stockgrowing and farming. For the greater part, the soil of the tillable areas is of a clay-loam type, and there are approximately 30,000 acres of first-class irrigated land in the county, 130,000 acres of second-class irrigated land and 175,000 acres of non-irrigated farming land, the balance being graz- ing, mineral and timber country. While in recent years much grain, chiefly wheat and oats of high quality, has been produced on the benches, the favorite crop with the agriculturists is hay, and the Big Hole Basin, which is twelve miles in width and about thirty miles in length, presents the appearance of one great hay meadow. The product of this basin is so high in nutritive value that for years cattle have been fattened 667 668 HISTORY OF MONTANA in the winter on hay alone and shipped to markets throughout the county, where they have commanded the highest prices. The altitude of Beaver- head County, 5,098 feet, is comparatively high, and experience has taught the agriculturists that the hardier crops are the ones which produce the best results. In this county irrigated land sells for from $50 to $125 per acre, non-irrigated land from $15 to $50 an acre, and grazing land from $6 to $15 an acre. In addition to the Beaverhead River, the county has the Wise and Big Hole rivers, which, with the numerous tributaries that rise in the high mountains to the south and west, make Beaverhead one of the best watered counties in the state. Because of its excellent irrigation and large and bountiful forage, cattle raising and cattle feeding as an STEER FEEDING IN BEAVERHEAD COUNTY industry has taken the leading place, with farming, mining and lumber- ing in the order named. As to its mineral resources, the county is be- lieved to have large deposits of copper, lead, graphite, manganese, silver and gold, but the proper exploitation of these metals has been under- taken on a comprehensive scale only during recent years. Large stands of commercial timber are found in the Beaverhead and Madison national forests, and of these 1,325,000 acres of the former and 99,600 of the latter are in Beaverhead County. TRANSPORTATION AND POINTS OF INTEREST Traversing the county from the north to the south is a branch of the Oregon Short Line Railroad from Pocatello to Butte, while the Gil- more & Pittsburgh Railroad, in the southern part of the county, furnishes HISTORY OF MONTANA 669 transportation from Armstead to Salmon, Idaho. A narrow gauge line runs west and then south from Divide to Elkhorn, and a good highway, running parallel to the Oregon Short Line, runs through the county, making possible a connection with Salt Lake and points west and with Montana points to the north. For the visitors to this region there are to be found excellent hunting and fishing in the mountainous districts. The points of interest are not lacking, as there are numerous evidences of the early days of Montana when the desperadoes of the mining camps fought it out with the vigilantes, and the gulches awarded the hardy and adventurous miners with streams of golden treasure. In the Big Hole Basin, also, there are brought back scenes of earlier days, when the cowboys were in their glory, on some of the big ranches which have not totally laid aside old-time customs. DILLON, THE COUNTY SEAT Dillon, the county seat of Beaverhead County, was founded in 1880 by the late Gov. B. F. White, who, with Howard Sebree, purchased the ranch of William Deacon, comprising 400 acres, and platted the town. There are a few of the old-time buildings still standing, one of the oldest being the former Opera House, which recently has been re- modeled and made into a rooming-house. The cabin of William Deacon stood until 1920 when it was torn down and the logs used in the building of a barn, and practically all of the old landmarks of this thriving city have disappeared, no effort having been made to preserve them. At Dillon is located the State Normal College, a part of the University of Montana; the Beaverhead County High School, and two large public schools. These latter are conducted under the auspices of the normal college and are known as training schools. The condition is considered unique, it being as far as is known the only case in the United States where an entire public school system is conducted in connection with a normal college. THE STATE NORMAL COLLEGE The act of Congress under which the State of Montana was ad- mitted to the Union set aside 100,000 acres of the public domain for the establishment and support of a State Normal School. In pursuance of the same plan the Legislative Assembly of Montana established the State Normal College in 1893. The committee having in charge the election of a building began work in that year. The Legislature of 1897 created an executive board which selected a president and faculty, the first session of the school opening September 7, 1897. By an act of the eighth Legislative Assembly, which became a law February 25, 1903, the name of the institution was changed to the Montana State Normal College. The State Normal College prepares teachers for the public schools of Montana. It accomplishes its work through professional courses, 670 HISTORY OF MONTANA directed observation of expert teaching, and actual teaching under expert supervision in a public school. The two years curricula permit speciali- zation in kindergarten, primary, intermediate, grammar grade or rural work. The Normal College diploma authorizes its holder to teach in any public school in the state for six years without examination. After twenty-seven months of successful experience in Montana, graduates are granted life certificates by the State Board of Education. A student who completes a third year of Normal College work has opportunity for greater specialization and is better prepared for junior high school teaching. Graduates of the two years curriculum are granted junior standing in the State University. Students who earn credit after receiving the diploma are granted hour for hour credit up to a maximum of one year in subjects of college or university character. Graduates of either the two or three years curricula who transfer to the State University must satisfy restricted elective and major department requirements ; they are exempt from the required work in English composition and physical education. The Normal College offers no certificate at the close of the first year, but students who find it necessary to teach before earning a diploma are able to secure a second grade certificate valid in the state for two years by completing courses in the required subjects. According to law, Normal College (University of Montana) grades in such subjects are accepted upon certificates in lieu of grades earned by examination. Certificates acquired in this way represent no loss of time since all work done is credited toward a diploma. The Normal College buildings are well constructed and arranged. The main building with its class rooms, library, laboratories, gymnasium and auditorium, is situated less than 100 yards from the Residence Halls in which nearly all out-of-town students live. These halls, three in num- ber, provide comfortable home life for women students and excellent accommodations at cost. The campus, upon a slight elevation at the edge of Dillon, is of ample size and well supplied with shade trees. Dillon is well supplied with churches, maintaining congregations of the Catholic, Episcopal, Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, Latter-day Saints and Christian Science denominations, and there being a move- ment on foot in 1921 to organize a Danish Lutheran Church. There are four banks at Dillon, the First National, State Bank of Dillon, Security State Bank and the Beaverhead State Bank. The first- named is the richest institution in the United States in comparison witr the population of the town, its deposits being over $4,000,000. There are two weekly newspapers, the Examiner and the Tribune, and four hotels. Every line of business industry made necessary by the needs of a growing city is represented, and Dillon's stores are conducted in a modern way. As the county seat of Beaverhead County, Dillon is the site of the court house, and also has a large city hall and a Carnegie library. It is an incorporated city, with a mayor and eight aldermen. The main streets HISTORY OF MONTANA 671 of the city are paved and lighted, a municipal gravity water system is in operation and a private electric system is used. BANNACK OF TODAY Bannack, located about twenty-five miles southwest of Dillon, has little left to remind one of the early days. The old Peabody Hotel, with Skinner's Saloon adjoining, still stands and is used as a hotel al- though the saloon room is vacant. This old hostelry has the distinction of being the first in Montana, and was erected when the discovery of, gold brought the prospectors in an eager rush to this region. It was not far from this hotel that Henry Plummer, Buck Stinson and Ned REMAINS OF BANNACK'S FORMER MINING GLORY Ray, noted road agents, were executed by the vigilantes January 8, 1864, after a trial in the court of Judge Lynch. Mrs. Durgan's Dance Hall, a popular resort of the old free-and-easy days, has been removed from its former location, and is now used as a billiard hall. The old log jail, on the very rare occasions when Bannack now needs a jail, is pressed into service; and the house where Henry Plummer lived, sur- rounded by trees set out about forty years ago, still stands and is used as a residence. These are the only historic buildings remaining. Some were torn down and removed elsewhere, while others have been destroyed in two big conflagations which have swept the little town. Bannack still consists of one street in the center of a narrow gulch, but most of its houses are vacant. Instead of a population of 5,000, as in the days of the gold rush, Bannack's population in the winter of 1920-21 num- bered fifty-nine men, women and children. Placer mining is still carried on in a small way by individuals, with gold pan, rocker and sluice box, but the dredge boats have been dismantled. The old mill and flume of the Bannack Gold Company still stands, and the Dunn Development 672 HISTORY OF MONTANA Company in 1921 was engaged in quartz mining, employing eighteen men. The Bannack Mining and Milling Company was still operating a cyanide mill in 1921, for reducing their ore by the Dorr process, and gave employment to eight men. THE SACAJAWEA MONUMENT Another point of interest in Beaverhead County is the Sacajawea Monument, located at . Armstead, on the upper Beaverhead River, the northern point at which Lewis and Clark landed in navigating the head- Water of the Missouri. The Town of Armstead is the opening of the Horse Prairie Valley, the route taken by gold miners going to Bannack in the early days, and where one of the bloody Indian battles was fought. CUSTER BATTLEFIELD OF TODAY Near this point are the Indian Painted Rocks. A few years ago a big celebration was held at Armstead dedicating the Sacajawea Monument. BIG HORN COUNTY On June 25, 1876, Gen. George A. Custer, with his force of some 1,100 men attacked a body of Sioux Indians, afterward found to number about 9,000, encamped on the Little Big Horn River, and he and his entire command were destroyed. Today, the Custer battlefield, located on the Custer Battlefield Highway, is the shrine visited by thousands of tourists annually. The field is dotted by little white crosses, each marking where a soldier died, and these culminate in the monument at the highest point of the ridge overlooking, the Little Big Horn River, where the final stand was made by the whites. This battlefield lies in the eastern center of Big Horn County, and its presence is only one of the reasons for tourists making this part of Montana the object of their interest. The Big Horn Canyon, formed by the Big Horn River after which the county is named, is an exceptional bit of scenery, and while most HISTORY OF MONTANA 673 of the surface of the county is level or rolling, with broad bench up- lands, isolated mountain ranges rise near the eastern and western sides, including the Wolf and Rosebud ranges. The county lies in South- eastern Montana, its southern boundary being denned by the Wyoming state line, and, irregular in shape, has a maximum length east and west of 1 20 miles and a maximum width north and south of seventy miles. Lying in the county is the Crow Indian Reservation, recently thrown open to settlement, and the Tongue River Northern Cheyenne Reser- vation, or a part thereof. Possessing a rich clay loam soil, which is mixed with considerable sand in some places and in others is somewhat heavy and of the gumbo type, Big Horn is distinctively an agricultural and stock growing county. It is estimated that more than 100,000 acres are under cultivation, while projects are contemplated for the reclamation of 125,000 acres more, and there are approximately 500,000 acres of non-irrigated grain land, the remainder of the county being used for grazing. Irrigated land prices range from $40 to $200 an acre, non-irrigated farming land from $10 to $75 an acre, and grazing land from $6 to $12 an acre. The principal farming crops are alfalfa and sugar beets, confined to the irri- gated districts along the streams; wheat, oats, potatoes and corn, the last named raised both for grain and silage, on the non-irrigated lands, and garden stuff. The farmers on the non-irrigated lands generally keep some stock. Much pork is produced in the irrigated districts, the animals being brought to maturity chiefly on alfalfa pasture and then fattened on corn, wheat or barley. Dairying as an industry has made some headway during recent years, and several large and prosperous apiaries have been established. While coal has been found in com- mercial quantities in Big Horn County, it is not being mined. In wells around Hardin natural gas has been found, and, as in other parts of the state, drilling for oil has been carried on lately. Along the rivers and stream there is an abundant growth of cottonwood timber, and in the north end and mountain ranges on the eastern and western sides of the county small pine timber of slight commercial value exists. For its drainage, Big Horn County looks principally to the Big Horn and Little Horn rivers, the former the third largest river in the state, which rise in the high mountains of Wyoming, are fed by numerous tributaries in Big Horn County, and enter the county from the south- west and south respectively, and, running north, unite near Hardin. Rosebud Creek traverses the eastern portions of the county, springs are frequent in the uplands, making a good pasture region, and water is encountered at depths of from 15 to 100 feet. Running northward through the county to connections with the Northern Pacific and Great Northern railways, is the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, and a branch to the east has been provided to serve the southeastern part of the county, as well as counties adjoining. The state highway is the Custer Battle- field Highway, of which there are seventy-five miles in Big Horn County. Big Horn County has a number of thriving trade centers, principal among which are Hardin, the county seat, Crow Agency, Lodge Grass 674 HISTORY OF MONTANA / and Wyola. There are fifty-seven schools in the county, of which all but seven are public schools, including a modern high school. In addi- tion to two schools conducted by the Federal Government for the Indians, there are three Baptist and two Congregational schools. BLAINE COUNTY Among the counties of Montana and one which is distinctively di- vided into two different sections, plains and mountainous, is Elaine County. The former, which comprises about two-thirds of the land area of 4,219 square miles, lies in the northern part of the county, from the northern boundary, formed by the Canadian line, down to about township 30. This region is almost wholly devoted to grain growing and farming, and the crops include wheat, flax, rye, oats, corn and blue-joint hay. Root crops and vegetables do well, and alfalfa seed raised in Blaine County has always commanded a premium on the market. The Milk River Valley which crosses the county east and west, is included in the Milk River project of the reclamation service and when developed will probably be one of the best agricultural districts in the state. This will offer an excellent opportunity to farmers of some means. The agricultural district referred to is a matter of modern develop- ment for the greater part. The soil, varying from a sandy loam to a gumbo in the valleys, and a chocolate loam on the benches, has responded spendidly to the treatment of the up-to-date agriculturists. On the other hand, the southern part of the county, extending down to the Missouri River, with its outlying ridges of the Little Rocky Mountains in the southeastern corner, at the lower end of the Fort Belknap Indian Res- ervation, and the Bear Paw Mountains in the southwestern part, are best adapted to the older industry of the region, that of stock raising. This part of the county also offers the chief attractions to tourists, for there is much excellent scenery, good hunting and fishing and the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation, as a reminder of the old West, remains to attract and hold the interest of the visitors. Blaine County, named in honor of James Blaine, the American states- man and political historian, was created February 29, 1912. Its chief source of water supply is the Milk River, which crosses the county east and west, although several large tributaries flow into this stream from the north and from the Bear Paw Mountains on the south. It is not noted as a mining county, although this industry has been engaged in to some extent. Nor has its timber been of a sufficient quantity or quality to make lumbering a leading occupation, although some timber is found in the mountainous districts, and, as is the case with many Montana counties, quite a large amount of cottonwood grows along the streams. Its chief means of transportation is found in the main line of the Great Northern Railway, which runs through the heart of the county, and this is paralleled by the Roosevelt Memorial Highway. Graded schools have been established in all communities, the rural schools are of a superior order, and there are two high schools, accredited for the four-year course, located at Chinook and Harlem. 675 Chinook, the county seat of Elaine County, is also the largest town in size and the one of chief- importance. A town of 1,200 population, it lies on the main line of the Great Northern, which runs from Minne- apolis to Seattle, and is the center of a productive irrigated district, being situated on a slight elevation overlooking the Milk River. Also, it is the trading point for the Bear Paw Mountain stock raising district, of about fifty miles in length, and maintains a large live stock yards, a thriving wool market and facilities for the handling of such coal as in mined in the locality. Many of the farmers of the outlying districts bring their families to Chinook during the winter months in order that their children may enjoy the educational advantages offered by its schools. The Elaine County Fair, an event of some importance in Northern Montana, is held at Chinook each year. This was incorporated in 1901 and has been increasingly successful each year. Chinook has two na- tional banks, two newspapers, four churches, a creamery and two grain elevators. It derives its name from the warm, dry wind which descends from the mountains and in winter removes the snow with remarkable rapidity. BROADWATER COUNTY One of the smaller counties in size, but not in importance, in Mon- tana, is that which bears the suggestive name of Broadwater, this doubt- less having been derived from the Missouri River, the largest stream of the county, which enters in the southeast end and pursues an irregular course northeasterly into Lewis and Clark counties. While the land area of Broadwater is only 1,248 square miles, the county, which lies in the west central part of the state, is one of the richest agricultural sec- tions of Montana, and within its borders are raised cattle, sheep and hogs of prize-winning quality. Bounded by Lewis and Clark, Meagher, Jefferson and Gallatin counties, the county is so situated that it offers opportunities in several fields of industry. The crest of the Big Belt range of mountains marks the eastern border and the Elkhorn range is found on the western side. Here, in the upland mountain country, are found numerous springs and abundant feed, and during the summer months large herds of sheep, cattle and horses are pastured. Between these two ranges flows the Missouri River, the valley of which is rich and fertile, and between the mountains and the valley are benches. The soil in the valleys is a black loam and on the benches a clay loam. In addition the Crow Creek Valley furnishes fertile lands for agriculture, and Crow Creek, Dry Creek, Deep Creek, Grayson Creek, Ray Creek. Gurnett Creek, Duck Creek, Confederate Creek and Indian Creek serve to furnish water for irrigation purposes and are used on the farm lands in the valleys and upper bench lands. In the lower regions of the county there are found large tracts of irrigated land, where crops of hay, grains and other feeds are grown. 676 HISTORY OF MONTANA The upper benchlands are devoted in the main to dry farming, principally wheat and barley. In addition, dairying is rapidly becoming an im- portant industry and the county possesses one of the best equipped and most modern creameries in the state, as well as an up-to-date flour mill. The mining industry is also a leading one and gold, silver and lead are taken in large quantities from the mines at Radersburg, the Iron Mask and Silver King mines near Townsend, and the Diamond mines, near Diamond. In the mountainous region, pine, fir and cedar timber are found, and there is an abundant growth of cottonwood along the num- erous streams. Broadwater County has two transcontinental railways, the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway crossing its southern end, while the Northern Pacific runs east and west across the county. Likewise good service is securable through interurban lines which connect various points, and the Park-to-Park and Montana Electric highways run in an east and west direction across the county. To tourists the county offers some of the most beautiful scenery to be found in the state, the trip down the Deep Creek Canyon being an exceptionally attractive one. Convenient camping sites are to be found on all the leading creeks here- tofore mentioned, where good hunting and fishing may be had. A number of enterprising communities serve to act as trading centers for this rich agricultural county, among the leaders being Toston, Win- ston, Lombard, Canton, Diamond, Radersburg and Townsend. The last three-named are also mining centers of some importance, while Town- send is also the county seat and a growing and prosperous little city. The county high school and graded school are located at Townsend, the other fifty-two schools of the county being of a rural nature. CARBON COUNTY Towering mountain ranges and broad, fertile valleys serve to make Carbon one of the scenic counties of Montana. One of the best watered counties, likewise, with 150,000 to 200,000 acres under irrigation, it is naturally largely devoted to agriculture and stock raising, but that coal mining is likewise a leading industry will be suggested at once by the county's appellation. It lies in Southern Montana, being bounded on the south by Wyoming, and is about midway between the eastern and western borders of Montana, with Park and Stillwater counties to its west, Stillwater and Yellowstone to its north, and Yellowstone and Big Horn to its east. In the southern part of the county, which is chiefly of a mountainous character, the principal industry is stock raising, and this has been de- veloped into an important enterprise. In the northern part of the county, however, the valleys, running north and south, widen out, and the moun- tains are succeeded by rolling benchlands, where there is a soil of chocolate colored loam, the valley soil being chiefly a deep alluvial loam. In the northeastern part of the county, and chiefly along the Clark's Fork, some of the finest sugar beet farms in the state are found. Carbon HISTORY OF MONTANA 677 County agriculturists, however, do not find it necessary to confine their activities to any one special line of product, for wheat, oats and barley, among the grains, grow equally well, and potatoes and other vegetables are raised in large quantities, while considerable fruit, chiefly apples and berries, find their way to the market. Much hay is also raised, and in the northern and eastern portions of the county conditions are favorable for the growing of good corn. LARGE COAL MINES AND FIRST OIL WELL What are reputed to be the largest bituminous coal mines in the Northwest are found at Red Lodge, Washoe and Bear Creek, and in addition to the large enterprises already developed, promising deposits await further unfolding and promotion. In the southern part of the county minerals of various kinds have been found, but lack of trans- portation facilities thus far has acted detrimentally to their development, which has not been brought to a commercial scale of activity. Carbon County has the distinction of having been the site of the first producing oil well in Montana, this having been brought into action in the Elk Basin field, November n, 1915. Several other producing wells were brought in later. A great deal of commercial timber has been found in the Beartobth National Forest, of which 315,056 acres lie in Carbon County, but logging operations have been carried on only in a small way and will continue to be so, in all likelihood, until better transporta- tion facilities are forthcoming. Carbon County need have no fears as to its continued water supply. Numerous streams arising from the glaciers and snow packed drifts in the Bear Tooth Mountains furnish clear, pure water, the principal streams being the Clark's Ford, Rock Creek, Willow Creek and Red Lodge Creek. Water is found in depths ranging from ten to thirty feet when wells are sunk. The county is not as well supplied with railways as some of its more progressive citizens could hope for. A branch line of the Northern Pacific runs from Laurel, on the main line, to Red Lodge, and another to Bridger. The latter branch, at Bridger, connects with a local railroad that serves the Bear Creek field, and the Burlington, Cody-Denver line runs through the county and from Fromberg north uses the Northern Pacific tracks. A main north and south highway runs through the county, one branch going to Cody, Wyoming, and another to Denver, Colorado, and there are also a number of good local roads. Created March 4, 1895, Carbon County has a land area of 2,060 square miles, and possesses a somewhat high altitude, that at Red Lodge being 5,537 feet. It has a growing season of from 84 to 123 days, and its mean temperature is about 40.4, while its precipitation is 19.51. Well improved irrigated farms sell for from $125 up to $250 per acre, while non-irrigated lands secure from $10 to $50 an acre. There are good graded schools in the county, a county high school at Red Lodge and other high schools at Bridger, Joliet and Bear Creek. The Bear Creek school is accredited for the three-year term and the other 678 HISTORY OF MONTANA three for four years. Bear Creek is a coal mining town, as is Washoe, while Fromberg is in the heart of the agricultural region and other good towns are Edgar, Bridger, Boyd, Silesia, Luther, Roberts, Roscoe and Belfry. Carbon County stands fourth among the counties of Montana as to density of population per square mile 7.4 being exceeded only by Deer Lodge, Cascade and Missoula. Its advance in population, by decades, is thus noted in the 1920 census: 1900, 7,533; 1910, 13,962; 1920, 15,279. TOWN OF RED LODGE Red Lodge, the county seat of Carbon County, and the largest town therein, is headquarters for the coal mining industry, and was founded as a postoffice in 1886, although the town did not really begin to attract attention until the following year when coal was discovered by a local character known as "Yankee Jim," whose real name has been forgotten during the years of development. The discovery of coal was sufficient to warrant the railroad building its line to the camp which was com- pleted in June, 1889, and the mining of coal has been the industry which has caused the growth and advancement of this community. At the present time, the Northwest Improvment Company operates the two largest mines, and in the Bear Creek workings of the same field there are several companies in operation, including the Smokeless and Sootless Coal Company of Red Lodge ; the Fulton Coal Company, Red Lodge, which is just preparing to open mines on a i,3OO-acre tract; the Montana Coal and Iron Company, Washoe; the Anaconda Copper Mining Company's coal department, Washoe; the Anaconda Creek Coal Company, Bear Creek; the International Coal Company, Bear Creek; and the Eagle Coal Com- pany, Red Lodge. In 1915 a new industry was opened up, when the first well was brought in in the Elk Basin oil field, and this has been a steady producer. Drilling is in progress in a number of other supposed oil structures in the vicinity of the county seat and is contemplated in several others, the Hoosier Company, just below Joliet, being the most advanced aside from the Elk Basin. Among the old buildings still standing at Red Lodge, the Pollard Hotel is the one which has precedence in the present location of the town, the depot being another. Store buildings which are now in the "old town," far outside of the present business district, were occupied during the late '8os by O. E. Millis and Babcock & Miles, while the Weaver & Bell livery barn is another landmark. Early residents, who are still living, include P. C. Hicox, A. A. Ellis, Louis Gruel, Maurice Powers, Thomas Hogan, C. C. Bowlen, Charles Wilson, John Weaver, W. B. Nutting, John W. Chapman, Dan Southerland and Thomas Early; and Mrs. F. W. Draper, who has grown sons, one of whom is Charles H. Draper, editor and publisher of the Picket-Journal, the official newspaper of Carbon County and of the City of Red Lodge. This paper was established as the Red Lodge Picket, in 1888, and consolidated with the Carbon County Journal, which was established in 1909. Today Red HISTORY OF MONTANA 679 Lodge boasts of three banks, eight grocery stores, five men's furnishing stores, four ladies' furnishing stores, one exclusive shoe store, two gen- eral stores and a large number of smaller miscellaneous establishments. In addition to the county high school, the city has six schools, including the one erected in 1921, and churches of the Congregational, Catholic, Methodist, Episcopal and Finnish Lutheran denominations. Two hos- pitals are located at Red Lodge, a Masonic Temple, a Labor Temple, an Odd Fellows' Home, an Elks' Club House and a Carnegie Library, as well as a new modern theater. Red Lodge is the gateway of Beartooth National Forest, a wonderful natural playground, with scenic splendors and vast natural resources. This national forest adjoins the Yellowstone National Park on the north- east corner, and from Red Lodge good roads lead many miles up the PUBLIC SCHOOL, RED LODGE principal streams, the county seat maintaining a camp for the tourists. Camp Senia and Richel Lodge, the former fifteen miles and the latter twelve miles from Red Lodge, are favorite spots with the tourists, par- ticularly those in search of hunting and fishing. In its Chamber of Com- merce Red Lodge has an organization which has done much to encourage visitors as well as permanent residents. Its present officers are: G. A. Jeffrey, president; Elbert Hymer, vice president; R. J. Fleming, treasurer; and L. E. Hathaway, general secretary. CARTER COUNTY Owing to the fact that Carter County cannot boast of a mile of rail- road within its entire area of 3,318 square miles, this county, which lies in the southeastern corner of the state, the South Dakota-Montana boun- dary marking its eastern and the Wyoming-Montana state line its south- ern side, has made little progress since the date of its creation, February 22, 1917. The county, which was named in honor of Thomas Henry 680 HISTORY OF MONTANA Carter, Montana's first representative in Congress (1891) and subse- quently a member of the United States Senate, has a maximum length north and south of seventy-eight miles and a maximum width east and west of forty-eight miles, in all of which there has been little irrigation development, although a feasible project exists along the Little Missouri River. Also, a railroad has been projected through the county from Belle Fourche, South Dakota, to Miles City. Until this is built the trade from the southern end of the county will probably continue to go to Belle Fourche, and from the northern end to Baker, Montana. Carter County, when fully developed, will be one of the prosperous sections of the state, for there are numerous industries and resources ready for promoters. Farming and stockraising are the chief industries, the latter principally in the southern end. Grain, particularly corn, and forage crops can be raised in abundance, and the Chalkes Buttes country, southwest of Ekalaka, the Beaver Flats and the Box Elder Valley are considered as teeming with opportunities. The modern creamery at Ekalaka has served as a stimulus to dairying, in which considerable progress has been made. The county also abounds in minerals, large beds of lignite coal underlying most of its territory, building stone being found in a number of places and geologists believing that the county contains oil and gas prospects that warrant development. Timber is also readily available, as the Sioux National Forest occupies 114,541 acres in the eastern part of the county. With the exception of this tract, and the Blue Mud Hills near the center of the county, most of the surface of Carter County is rolling prairie and tillable, the soil varying from a sandy loam to a heavy gumbo. Opportunities are to be found in this county for those who have the patience to wait for the coming of the railroad, as land prices range in value from $5 to $25 an acre. Carter County has a good educational system, considering its lack of develop- ment, there being seventy-six rural schools, as well as a high school at Ekalaka, which is accredited for the four-year term. In drainage and water supply, the county is also well supplied, the Little Missouri River passing through the southeastern part of the county, with the Box Elder and Beaver creeks flowing northeasterly and a number of tributaries. Lying forty-two miles south of the Milwaukee Railway is Ekalaka, the county seat of Carter County and it is the largest town. It has two banks, three garages, two newspapers, two general stores, two drug stores, two hardware stores, two lumber yards, good hotels, a creamery and a flour mill. Piniele, in the southwestern part of the county, the second largest community, has two general stores, a flour mill, a drug store, a bank, a garage and a hotel, maintains a newspaper, and is equipped with an electric lighting system. Special attractions are held out to visiting tourists. In "Hunting Trips of a Ranchman," Col. Theodore Roosevelt dealt with the Little Missouri River region, just across the state line in South Dakota, where he ranched during the '8os. Much beautiful scenery is to be found in the Sioux National Forest, and in the northern part of Carter County are located Medicine Rocks, sandstone formations likened to Colorado's "Garden of the Gods," because of the fantastic shapes which they present. CHAPTER XXVII CASCADE COUNTY (GREAT FALLS) The second county in the State of Montana from the standpoint of size and population, Cascade County's land area of 3,411 square miles lies between a rich mining and stockraising district and the great agricul- tural basin of North Central Montana, where the plains meet the moun- tains. Not only in these directions does the county hold a prominent place, but as well in the matter of variety and prodigality of its resources, for agriculture, stockraising and mining are extensively followed within the county's confines and practically every ramification of these three im- portant industries are to be found. The county also ranks first of all counties in Montana in the number of coal mines operated. RIVER VALLEYS AND STREAMS The rich agricultural district of Cascade County is found in the northern part, where the loamy soil, lying over a good clay subsoil makes possible good dry-land yields in normal years. Much of the farm land is susceptible of irrigation, being located below the watershed of moun- tains on two sides, and specially fertile are the valleys along the Missouri River, which runs diagonally through the county, with a sudden descent over a series of falls and rapids, from the mountains to the southwest, and with a more gradual flow toward the northeastern boundary, below the Great Falls. The Sun River has its conflux with the Missouri at the city of Great Falls; the Smith and Dearborn rivers traverse the county and flow into the Missouri; and Belt Creek, a stream which heads in the Little Belt Mountains and flows north 100 miles, empties into the Mis- souri near Great Falls. While hundreds of thousands of acres in this district have never been irrigated and have nevertheless produced large crops, there are at present 75,000 acres of irrigated land and projects are now pending for an additional irrigation of 120,000 acres, a matter which is covered in another chapter in this work. CROPS AND LANDS The chief crops of the county are oats, wheat, flax, barley, rye and potatoes, and this section of the state has taken hundreds of prizes for the best and hardiest grains, biggest and best crops of hay and most profitable returns from truck gardens. The soil, composed of nitrogen, phosphorus, lime and potash, has advantageous elements, as shown in the abundance of grass to be found on uncultivated fields, and the fact that there are farms in this district which have been under continuous culti- 681 682 HISTORY OF MONTANA vation for forty years without fertilization and are still yielding bumper crops. Cascade County is forging to the front as a producer of alfalfa, and owing to its adaptability this forage crop lends itself admirably to diversified farming, being used for horses, cattle, hogs, sheep and poultry, and having the additional advantage of being a soil builder. Averages show that it is possible in Cascade County to raise from three to five tons of alfalfa to the acre on irrigated land and from one to three tons by dry farming. Corn is raised in Cascade County for grain in some instances, but for the most part is cultivated for silage, and for this latter purpose many farmers raise sunflowers in large quantities. Practically every farm has its own truck garden, and this has proven a successful undertaking. While fruit is not raised in extensive commercial quantities, excellent fruit and berries are raised in the valleys, particularly strawberries and currants, for home consumption and there are many small orchards in the county which are doing well. Of recent years the farmers have shown a marked co-operative spirit and have worked together in an endeavor to raise the best possible crops and to dispose of them at advantageous prices, with the result that elevators, co- operative stores and growers' associations of various kinds are to be found all through this district. According to the 1920 assessment, Cascade County had 524,000 acres of grain land and 937,000 acres of grazing land, total of 1,461,000 acres sub- ject to the assessed value of $115,909,716. Government land in the county includes 26,665 unsurveyed and 30,916 surveyed acres, and there are 100,- 240 acres of state land and 421,242 acres in national forests. Non-irrigated and grazing land is valued at from $15 to $30 an acre and improved land at from $20 to $50 an acre, while unimproved irrigated land is selling at from $35 to $50 an acre and improved irrigated farms range in value from $50 to $150 an acre. LIVESTOCK AND DAIRY INTERESTS Toward the mountains, where there is to be found the more open range country of Cascade County, the livestock industry flourishes and scores of prosperous stockmen are to be found. The dairy cow, each day considered of more importance to the modern farm, thrives in Cascade County. Dairy- ing, in fact, has long passed the experimental stage and is rapidly becoming one of the state's leading industries. The silo, modern landmark of agri- cultural prosperity, can be found in ever-increasing numbers, and every season finds an abundance of good forage crops stored for the use of the dairy cow, alfalfa, corn and cereals being among the leading crops used for ensilage. Many good dairies are located around the City of Great Falls, and one of these, electrically operated in every particular, is accounted one of the most modern in the world. There are six prosperous creameries and two cheese factories located in the county, two at Great Falls, and one each at Eden, Cascade, Belt, and Red Butte. Pure-bred cattle raising is greatly stabilizing the cattle industry of the county, and the recent com- pletion of a $30,000 livestock pavilion and sales arena at Great Falls has been an incentive to stock growers of this region. HISTORY OF MONTANA 683 Although drought years have reduced the number of livestock in the county, in 1920 there were 27,367 head of cattle, 61,956 head of sheep and 13,088 head of horses in Cascade County, proximity to the grazing lands of the national forest making this an excellent cattle raising country. The breed of livestock is rapidly reaching a higher standard and the old range steer is being replaced by the better-bred and more carefully handled animal which is now commanding a top-notch price in the stock markets. Fine pure-bred herds are to be found in Cascade County and while the farmer is forcing the large stockman to seek his range in the national forests and on the hills rather than running his stock over the f ertile prairies, this does not seem to have handicapped the beef-raising industry to any consider- able extent. The large increase in the amount of hay raised helps to tvccount SniiKp RANCH for the fact that although the so-called "open range" may be considered a thing of the past the livestock industry maintains its high standard, and Cas- cade County continues to contribute its full share to the average of 200,000 head of beef cattle shipped each year to the packing plants of the big cities. MINING OF COAL AND SILVER Under the head of mining in Cascade County are to be mentioned lead, copper, silver, gold, zinc, coal and large gypsum deposits. Of all the coun- ties of Montana, Cascade ranks first in the number of coal mines operated. The larger producing companies are located in the Belt and Sand Coulee fields, a short distance from Great Falls, making fuel readily available to industries in the city. Throughout the county, coal outcroppings provide fuel for farming purposes. The county is also one of the large producers of silver, and in the Neihart district there are rich silver mines which are being developed on a large scale, the most productive being the Ripple group, Florence, Moulton, Broadwater, Snow Drift, Big Seven and Queen 684 HISTORY OF MONTANA of the Hills. The opening of three oil fields, two to the north and one to the east, has recently proven a matter of the greatest interest to the people of Great Falls, the fields being close in on the territory directly tributary to that city. GREAT FALLS REDUCTION WORKS The Great Falls reduction department of the Anaconda Copper Mining Company is one if the important concomitants of the mining industry of the county, and a brief history of this enterprise may not be inapropos. Ground was* broken early in 1891 by the Boston & Montana Consolidated Copper & Silver Mining Company for a copper reduction works on the north bank of the Missouri river, across the river from the east end of the city of Great Falls, where are located Black Eagle Falls, the purpose of the works being to treat ore from the company's mines at Butte yielding copper and reletively small amounts of silver and gold. About a year later a concentrator was in condition to begin operations, and this was followed by roasting furnaces and reverberatory smelting furnaces, Bessemer con- verters and a blast furnace plant for the retreatment of converter slag, the last-named installed in 1893. An electrolytic copper refinery and fur- nace refinery were built in 1892, at which time it was made possible to carry the treatment from ore to finished commercial shapes of refined cop- per. During the year 1910 the properties of the Boston & Montana Con- solidated Copper & Silver Mining Company were taken over by the Ana- conda Copper Mining Company, and since then the works at Great Falls have been known first as the Boston & Montana Reduction Department and more recently as the Great Falls Reduction Department of the Ana- conda Copper Mining Company. In 1916 a plant was completed for the production of electrolytic zinc from ore mined at Butte and con- centrated at Anaconda. Also, in 1918, a ferro-manganese plant was com- pleted for the production of ferro-manganese from Butte ore, and in the same year a mill was finished for the manufacture of copper rods, wire and cable, which are made from the refined copper produced by the furnace refinery. The completion of this mill brings the copper industry at Great Falls to the point of a product ready for the consumer. During a few years prior to 1918 the work of copper concentrating and smelting, for which the original works were built, was gradually reduced, until, in 1918, this work was discontinued entirely, so that now the operation is changed from copper concentrating and smelting to that of copper refin- ing, copper rod, wire and cable manufacture, electrolytic zinc production and ferro-manganese production. The copper smelting equipment remains in place and may be used when there is occasion to do so. The concern re- ferred to has 3,000 men in this institution, and an annual payroll of $3,300,000 in Cascade County that is, during normal times.- POWER DEVELOPMENT AT GREAT FALLS Apart from agriculture, stockraising and mining, the industries or manufacturing, milling, packing and wholesaling, augmented by large HYDRO-ELECTRIC WATER POWERS 686 HISTORY OF MONTANA power development on the falls of the Missouri have made Great Falls and Cascade County a leading commercial, financial, industrial, jobbing, manu- facturing and distributing center. Water power made available through a drop of 365 feet in the Missouri River in a series of four falls near the city which derives its name therefrom has been developed to the extent of 165, ooo horse-power, with 200,000 additional horsepower in reserve. Cur- rent produced at Great Falls plants is used in operating a transcontinental railroad across the state, as well as mines and numerous industrial plants throughout Montana. Among the larger industries which have taken ad- vantage of the cheap power and commercial opportunities are two flour mills with a daily capacity of 1,500 barrels; the largest packing plant between Minneapolis and Spokane, a tire factory and numerous smaller industries. In the matter of the lumber industry, Cascade has some com r mercial timber, heavy wooded areas being found in the Little Belt moun- tains, in the southern part of the county, with timber in adjoining moun- tain ranges, all within the Jefferson National forest, and along the principal streets of the county. In spite of the great development work that has already been carried through to a successful conclusion, there are numerous undeveloped re- sources in Cascade County, chief among them being in the rich area trib- utary to the city of Great Falls. An important industry which should be successful is the woolen manufacturing business, for the wool here is of high grade. There is likewise an opportunity for flax fibre mills, with related manufactures, and Montana grain is of such quality that cracker and oatmeal factories should prosper. Other industries capable of devel- opment have to do with the manufacture of agricultural implements, twine, stock food, barbed wire, clothing and other articles required by the farmers residing on the great agricultural domain of 5,000,000 acres tributary to the city of Great Falls. INTERESTING POINTS AND TRANSPORTATION The derivation of the name of Cascade County should not be hard to understand, especially by those who have seen the wonderful cas- cades of the Missouri River in the vicinity of Great Falls, the name hav- ing suggested itself long before the creation of the county, September 12, 1887. The county is a center of tourist travel, being located within a few hours' drive of any one of four mountain ranges, each of a dif- ferent type of scenery. A particularly interesting setting for the many tourist attractions is given by the fact that the historic Lewis and Clark expedition followed up the Missouri River past the present site of Great Falls, discovering Giant Springs, one of the largest fresh water springs in the world, the cold water sulphur springs near Big Falls, and other points of interest in and about Great Falls vicinity. Visitors from other localities have no trouble in reaching this region, as three trans- continental railroads operate through Great Falls and Cascade County, the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, the Great Northern and the Chicago. Milwaukee & St. Paul. These railroads have nine branches invading the HISTORY OF MONTANA 687 rich mining and agricultural regions in every direction, making Great Falls the hub of a wheel from which radiate a number of spokes, and when the projected "Missouri cut-off" is completed there may be through service by way of Great Falls. The Soo railway has established a perma- nent survey through this city, passing through Valier and the Blackfeet Indian reservation to Canada. Great Falls is situated on the Yellowstone- Glacier-Beeline Highway, the short route between the Glacier National and Yellowstone parks, and this highway forms a part of the National Park-to-Park Highway. The city is likewise on the Custer Battlefield Highway and the Buffalo Trail, and large sums of money are being ex- pended in the county in permanent road construction in building a system of trunk roads. SCHOOLS OF THE COUNTY In the matter of education, Cascade County is a leader, as befits one of the largest and wealthiest counties of the state, and has 143 schools, six high schools, one junior high school, three parochial schools, an Ursuline academy, a commercial college and a girls' school. The schools in the county are operated under the unit system, with a uniform nine- months school term for every child in the county, and with an attractive salary scale for the instructors. GREAT FALLS HISTORICALLY CONSIDERED Practically in the geographical center of the state, is located the city of Great Falls, the county seat of Cascade County, and, because of its posi- tion, as well as its natural resources for development and transporta- tion, one of the most important centers of trade and distribution in Mon- tana. There are those who claim that the falls of the Missouri River in this locality were first seen by the Chevalier Verendrye, a French ex- plorer, in 1743, but careful investigations have proven that the most northwesterly point reached by the intrepid Frenchman was in Western South Dakota. Therefore it may be assumed that the first to scan the wonderful waters of this region were the members of the Lewis and Clark expedition, who reached this point in June, 1805. In 1846, Capt. John Mullan, of the United States Army, established the trading post of the American Fur Company at a point on the upper Missouri which he named Fort Benton in honor of Senator Benton of Missouri, and nine years later, in 1855, in company with Gen. Isaac I. Stevens, also of the United States Army, investigated this region by order of the Government, to whom they made an intelligent and comprehensive re- port. The army officers were followed in about 1862 by an engineer, Milner Roberts, and his son, Thomas P. Roberts, who named the two falls, known at this time as Rainbow and Black Eagle, and who also gave the name of The Long Pool to the deep" quiet water that extends ten or fifteen miles above the head of the rapids, where the present Great 688 HISTORY OF MONTANA Northern Railway bridge now spans the river, and in which the group of islands, known as the White Bear Islands, is situated. THE COMING OF PARIS GIBSON It was in May, 1882, about ten years after the visit of Milner Roberts, that there came to this locality the Hon. Paris Gibson, who became the founder of Great Falls and later was sent to the United States Senate. In an article in a special edition of the Great Falls Leader, published in 1913, from which many of the attendant facts and figures regarding Great Falls have been secured, Senator Gibson said, in part : "When I first saw the beautiful tract of land at the head of the upper, or Black Eagle, falls, I at once decided to found a city there. The advantages for establishing a great industrial and commercial center at that point appealed to me so forcibly that I decided at once to drop the business in which I was engaged and devote all my time and such energy as I possessed to laying the founda- tion for what I believed would, with the development of the Northwest, become a great city. Having succeeded in enlisting the powerful aid of James J. Hill in this work, a thriving town soon sprang up, which in a comparatively short time contained a population of 4,000. I will not dwell upon the early history of Great Falls and the period of comparative stagna- tion that prevailed in this young city from 1892 to 1908, when John D. Ryan, head of the Amalgamated Copper Company, and his associates ac- quired control of the affairs of the Great Falls \Yater Power Company and Townsite Company. * * * It would be difficult to find another spot in all the great Northwestern empire as advantageously situated as Great Falls for the centralization of commerce and industry, and, at the same time, for the creation of a beautiful residential city. Great Falls was laid out at the head of the falls with ample reservations for diversi- fied activities, both large and small, which can in no way interfere with its residence districts, which are so situated as to command an impressive landscape view." DEVELOPMENT OF POWER IN THE GREAT FALLS AREA Since the arrival of Captain Lewis and his band of devoted followers, and, indeed, since the arrival of Senator Gibson, numerous changes have taken place. One of the greatest of these, naturally, is that which has to do with the development and transmission of high voltage current over the state, derived from the falls. The power developed at Gre^t Falls, in its home city is utilized in street and avenue lighting, electric railways, flour milling, water supply, ore smelting, coal mining and in a hundred other ways. At Butte, Great Falls power is daily hoisting vast quantities of copper ore and pumping water from the mines, furnishing the power for Butte city water and assisting in driving its street railway and lighting its streets. It also drives a portion of the smelter at Anaconda ; operates the flour mill at Cascade, lights the town; furnishes light and power to Fort Benton, Havre, Belt, Stanford, Hobson, Moccasin and Lewistown, as well HISTORY OF MONTANA 689 as numerous other communities; and operates the Butte, Anaconda & Pacific Railway between Butte and Anaconda. It is now known as one of the greatest water power sites in the United States, and fully developed will yield an estimated 350,000 horse power. Within eight miles of the city of Great Falls the Missouri drops a total distance of 365 feet ; 96 feet at the Great Falls, 47 at Rainbow, 41 at Black Eagle Falls, 29 feet at the Crooked Falls, 12 feet at Colter's Falls and a fall of 140 feet in the canyon below the Great Falls. The development of these power sites has been gradual. The dam for the Black Eagle power plant was completed in 1891 and developed 14,000 horse power. This plant furnishes power for the operation of the smelter, the lighting of the city of Great Falls and the operation of its street railway system. Since that time as the market for the power has developed, two new and RAINBOW FALLS AT GREAT FALLS larger plants have come into being, one at Rainbow and the other at Great Falls. The installation of the Rainbow plant occurred in 1910 and it was made necessary by the need for electrical power to make more economical the operation of the extensive mines at Butte and the large reduction works at Anaconda. This plant was enlarged in 1917 and now produces 50,000 horse power, a great part of this current being sent to Butte over a steel tower transmission line. That power not used at Anaconda and Butte is distributed to nearby cities and towns by means of smaller transmission lines. When the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad conceived the idea of electrifying its road from Harlowton, Montana, to Avery, Idaho, it turned to Great Falls for aid in supplying the vast amount of electrical energy necessary for this giant undertaking. The response of the Montana Power Company was the immediate commencement, in 1913, of the con- struction of the Great Falls plant, which was completed in 1915 after an expenditure of $5,000,000. When completed, this plant produced 90,000 Vol. 144 690 HISTORY OF MONTANA horsepower, nearly twice the combined horsepower of the two plants already built. The huge dam of this engineering enterprise is 1,340 feet in length and has a total height of 155 feet. Its construction required 3,000 tons of steel, 1,000,000 sacks of cement, 1,200,000 bricks, 210,000 cubic yards of concrete, and 3,000,000 board feet of lumber, a total of 11,000 cars of material. A private railway was constructed to convey this enormous amount of material requirements to the site of the dam, and an army of workmen was employed during the two-year period required for its con- struction. Thus it is that the water power of Great Falls has been developed until the energy produced is driving the wheels of industry in all parts of Central and Northern Montana. It is a peculiar and interesting fact that the people of this region have never been treated to the spectacle of a freeze in the Missouri River close enough to the dam sites to interfere with the amount of power generated there. The mighty Niagara Falls may cease its flow because of winter's cold, but such a happening at Great Falls would be unheard of because the river at this point is heated to prevent the occurrence. The heat comes from the Giant Spring, which flows into the river about a mile above the Rainbow dam, this being considered the largest fresh water spring in the world, with an estimated capacity of 36,300 cubic feet a minute. The fact that its temperature is constantly at 52^ degrees Fahrenheit, winter or summer, has the effect of preventing the formation of anchor or frazil ice and relieves the electrical engineers from worry of this nature. Naturally the development of this great water power has proven a boon not only to Great Falls but to all the smaller communities of this region as well, for in addition to being utilized for Great Falls' many indus- tries and municipal needs, the mines at Butte, the smelter at Anaconda and the mighty electric engines of the .Milwaukee Railroad, it supplies power and light to many smaller cities, and twenty towns within a radius of 175 miles are benefited by the current generated. In addition it is a great factor in conserving the district's supply of coal, and the thousands of tons saved daily by the use of electrical power are available for use by those industries which must have coal with which to operate their plants. A large part of the city's progress and prosperity may thus be traced to the falls of the Missouri. A further exposition of this subject will be found in Chapter XXIV. THE CITY OF GREAT FALLS The City of Great Falls is located on the banks of the Missouri River and its name is derived from the drop in the stream already referred to. Naturally, the fact that its location gives it such great power would bring around the idea that it is merely an industrial center, but this is not so in the degree that commerce has outstripped the residential features or that many of the factors of refined existence have been neglected. Thanks to the foresight of the citizens of the community the city is one of great beauty, there being something like 640 acres of municipal parks distributed HISTORY OF MONTANA 691 where they will be of the greatest service to the people, in addition to boule- varded streets and avenues, beautiful lawns, attractive residences and numerous flower gardens. The founders of the city made it a point to, lay out the city with the idea of beauty and convenience, and wide, well- paved, handsome thoroughfares are the outstanding feature of the design, while laying out the city "on the square" has had the effect of obliterating at the outset troublous municipal features with which have been forced to contend the city fathers of other communities whose founders were not so far-sighted. Within the limits of the city there are approximately four- GREAT FALLS CITY OF TODAY teen miles of paved streets and a frontage of 284,710 lineal feet, or equal to 122 acres of boulevarding, or 32 miles in length with boulevard and "trees on both sides. The growth of the City of Great Falls is one which can be pointed to with pride by its citizens. In 1910 the city's population was 13,948. The census of 1920 gave the city a population of 24,121, making it the second largest city in the state. The reason for much of this growth can be directly traced to the industrial development of the city, which has rapidly approached the position where it can lay reasonable claim to being the principal manufacturing community of Montana. Its public utilities have kept pace with its industrial growth, and a feature to be noted is its 692 HISTORY OF MONTANA splendid lighting system, secured through the immense amount of electric power at its disposal. With the approach of nightfall numerous handsome electric signs mark its big business establishments. Its five-light cluster ornamental poles furnish a brilliant setting for its business district, and this system is maintained as well in the residence sections, where its long boulevards are marked by ample facilities in this direction and even the alleys are furnished with electric lights, a feature to be found in but few cities anywhere in the country. Many committees from other large munici- palities have visited Great Falls for the purpose of studying its lighting system for the benefit of their home communities and the lead of "The Electric City," as it has been named, has been followed already by numerous big cities and towns. The same great power that furnishes the city with its light enables Great Falls to support one of the most modern and up-to-date street rail- way systems in the Northwest, the rails of which have been laid to cover the city to the very best possible advantage, and the frequency of the service of which cannot be surpassed by any city of the same size. The impression gained by the visitor to Great Falls as to the city's modernity and metropolitan features is strengthened by its modern build- ings. The public buildings, both of county and city, have been constructed from the viewpoint of permanency and the needs of the future, and the school buildings are all handsome, well equipped structures which would do credit to any of the large metropolises. The course of instruction given in the grade schools and high schools are the equal of any in the country, and the Montana free text book system is in force. Among the substantial and modern buildings erected in recent years may be mentioned the fol- lowing : First National Bank Building, eight stories ; Ford Building, five stories ; Hotel Rainbow, five stories ; Park Hotel, five stories ; two large and attractive passenger stations for the accommodation of the traveling public ; the distributing branch of Swift & Company; the Roberts, Northwestern Auto Supply Company, Great Falls Dairy Products Company, Great Falls Wholesale Grocery Company, Federal and Rocky Mountain Fire Insurance Company buildings ; the Masonic Temple, the Elks Temple, the Tribune Publishing Company's Building, the Odd Fellows' Building, the Ursuline Academy, the Brown-Dunn Building, the $150,000 Young Men's Christian Association Building, the annex to the Great Falls High School, the Junior High School, two handsome public schools, a large wholesale drug house, several large apartment houses and automobile sales buildings, and many other commercial structures. Development at Great Falls along the line of manufacturing has been extremely rapid during the past decade, a fact that can be substantiated by the figures of the 1914 report of the Government Bureau of Census. The report quoted stated that at the time Great Falls possessed fifty-four factories in which there was invested a capital of $9,804,000, and that its products for one year were valued at $9,192,000, in the production of which finished articles a total of $5,430,000 worth of raw materials were consumed. Since that time there has been a healthy and consistent increase both in the number of factories and the size of those which were in exist- HISTORY OF MONTANA 693 ence at the time the report was made, and industries which three or four years ago were struggling along have substituted substantial brick buildings for their former frame structures and the number of men employed therein has greatly increased, the payrolls of these concerns having now reached a point whe^ they form a substantial basis for the city's prosperity. Heading the list of the industrial plants of Gre'at Falls is the smelter operated by the Anaconda Copper Mining Company, details of which have been given already in this chapter. Next in importance to the smelting industry is that of wheat milling, the manufacture of flour having rapidly approached the status of one of the state's leading industries and Great MONTANA FLOUR MILLS COMPANY PLANT Falls being the chief wheat grinding center between Minneapolis and the Pacific coast. Two of the largest mills in the Northwest are operating here, the plant of the Royal Milling Company having a capacity of 3,600 barrels a day and the mill operated by the Montana Flour Mills Company having a rated capacity of 2,500 barrels daily. Lying as it does in the center of a vast wheat producing area, and with the added advantages of economical power and convenient distributing facilities, it is logical that Great Falls should assume a foremost place in the industry and become the wheat center of the Northwest. In the spring of 1919 there was commenced the construction of the present commodious state terminal ele- vator, for which bonds amounting to $250,000 were voted by the citizens of Montana in the previous November. 694 HISTORY OF MONTANA Much of the wheat produced in this district is being used by the large, modern macaroni factory, which was built in 1917 and which has secured excellent results. Another large plant is the sugar beet factory, which is utilizing in its product the beets grown on a large acreage ad- jacent to the city. Great Falls has the largest packing jplant between the Twin Cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis and the Pacific coast, and the most modern creamery and milk station west of the Mississippi River, this latter representing an investment of $250,000, while two smaller creameries are also busily at work. Other business enterprises which may be mentioned as being in a flourishing condition are: several sash and door factories, an ice plant, mining and milling machinery factory, iron works, brass and babbitt metal factory, cornice works, brick and tile plant, gypsum mill, a large blank book and publishing house, a monu- mental stone works, two bottling works, a soda water factory, three nurseries and greenhouses, an engraving plant, a fur manufacturing house, an optical supplies firm, several cigar factories, an ammonia, bluing and polish factory, numerous bakeries and laundries and other semi- manufacturing plants, and a number of branch establishments of manu- facturers of national reputation, among the products represented being automobiles, rubber goods, agricultural machinery and implements, lum- ber, coal, woodenware, drugs, groceries and stationery. Located in the Belt Mountains, about fifty miles from Great Falls, are stored commercial quantities of iron ore which analysis has shown to be of high grade. These deposits are found in great veins which lie within the Little and Big Belt Mountains partly in Fergus County, but for the most part in Cascade County which they traverse from one end to the other and are easily reached by railroad. Great Falls' altitude is 3,350 feet and that of Belt Mountain iron ore is 5,300 feet, thus furnishing a descending grade for its transportation to the Electric City. Manganese, essential to Bessemer steel making, is found in large quantities in the Corbin hills, on the line of the Great Northern Railway, about 125 miles distant from Great Falls. Another raw material which in combination with the other advan- tages of Great Falls should lead to the establishment of plants to reduce it from its raw state to the finished product, is wool, and that of this section of Montana is of the highest grade. TRANSPORTATION FACILITIES In the handling of all of the products which can be manufactured and produced at Great Falls, the city has the added advantage of good rail- road facilities. The Great Northern, Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul, and Chicago, Burlington & Quincy lines, with their branches, make the city the center of a network of rails which reach out in every direction into the best districts of the state. The "Missoula cut-off" has been mentioned before. Another branch which will greatly facilitate the handling of freight will be the new Rockford-Lewistown-Great Falls cut-off. The Great Northern Railway runs numerous trains daily out HISTORY OF MONTANA 695 of Great Falls, this city being midway on the Havre-Butte main line of the road and trains from here connecting with the "highline" main line of the Great Northern. Here may be secured all transcontinental trains for the Twin Cities and Chicago, good service being given also to Butte, with connections to Salt Lake and California points. Daily train service is maintained directly to Canadian points, while double through service is maintained on the Lewistown branch and that city is connected with the larger city by lines that traverse a prosperous agricultural country in which are many flourishing little communities. Among the branch lines to the smaller towns about Great Falls are: a branch to the big coal camps of Sand Coulee, thirteen miles ; to Stockett, eighteen miles west and south; to Belt, seventeen miles; to Armington, nineteen miles; and to Monarch and Neihart, through a splendid mining and agricultural coun- try, sixty-seven miles. West to Gilman a branch line extends fifty-two miles through the Sun River district, and to the northwest a line extends seventy-seven miles to Chouteau and Pendroy, passing throngh the fertile Montana benchlands. To the north, at Conrad, connections are made with the Montana Western Railway, which runs to Valier. On a line which connects Shelby at the north with Billings on the distant southeast, are operated the through trains of the Burlington route. Daily trains over this route give excellent service to Glacier National Park and its wonderful array of scenic beauties. From Enid in the extreme northwestern portion of the state to Lewistown in Central Mon- tana, the Great Northern cut-off is planned, and this will traverse the large areas of Dawson and Fergus counties. When completed it will form the main line of this railroad from the Twin Cities to the Pacific coast, and will give Great Falls added prestige as a railroad point. From Great Falls the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul operates daily trains to Harlow- ton, where connections can be made with the main line from Chicago to Seattle. The same line operates a branch line seventy-two miles from Great Falls to Agawam, through Chouteau and one of the most prosper- ous farming and stockraising sections of the state. When the Soo Line's plans are culminated, Great Falls will have another big railroad. GREAT FALLS COMMERCIAL CLUB An organization which has done much to build up Great Falls indus- tries and interests at home and to laud its virtues abroad is the Great Falls Commercial Club, which has been in existence for about ten years. This operates under a board of directors of representatives selected by the Wholesalers' and Jobbers' Association, the Real Estate Association, the Merchants' Association, the Retail Merchants, Hotel and Restaurant Association, the Bar Association, Lumber Dealers' Association, the Bank- ers' Association, the Doctors and Dentists' Association, the Implement Dealers' Association and the Builders' Association, three directors at large appointed by the president, and the president, vice president, treasurer and secretary of the association. The organization represents every busi- ness, industry and profession in the city, thus making the achievements 696 HISTORY OF MONTANA of the body effective and broad in scope. The present secretary of the association is L. E. Jones. CHURCHES, CHARITIES AND FRATERNITIES While Great Falls has made strides along material lines, its religious, civic, social and charitable activities have been constant. Of the twenty- six religious denominations represented in the city, all have comfortable and appropriate places of worship, while fourteen are provided with handsome church edifices. Nearly all of these denominations have large congregations and are contributors to the welfare and advancement of the city, for the percentage of churchgoers at Great Falls is large. A list of the churches follows : Adventist, First Baptist, Swedish Baptist, Catholic, St. Ann's Cathedral, Sacred Heart Chapel, St. Joseph's, St. Peter and Paul's, First Christian, First Church of Christ Scientist, First Congregational, Episcopal Church of the Incarnation, Our Saviour's Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran, Swedish Lutheran Bethlehem, United Norwegian Lutheran, Trinity German Evangelical Lutheran, African Methodist Episcopal, First Methodist Episcopal, Immanuel Scandinavian Methodist Episcopal, Warren Methodist Episcopal, First Presbyterian, Grace Presbyterian, Zion Church, Unitarian and Salvation Army. Two of the denominations referred to conduct large, well-equipped hospitals at Great Falls, and these are modern institutions in every respect. GREAT FALLS Y. M. C. A AND Y. W. C. A. A contributing factor to the moral welfare of the city is the Young Men's Christian Association. The Great Falls Y. M. C. A. building was dedicated February 20, 1916, the men in charge of the state work of the association at that time being: Charles Puehler, state secretary; and F. B. Reynolds, Billings, state committee chairman. The movement was started by J. B. Long, who made a standing offer of $25,000 to "start the ball rolling," and his contribution to the building fund was followed by those of other generous and public-spirited citizens. The building committee consisted of the following: Dr. A. F. Longeway, chairman; C. E. Hubbard, Thomas Couch, K. B. Mclver, J. W. Sherwood and Lee M. Ford. The officers of the board at the time of the building's open- ing were : I. W. Church, president ; A. M. Hart, vice president ; F. C. Bauer, secretary; L. W. Suhr, treasurer; and H. A. Templeton, first president of the board of directors. The present board of trustees are: J. W. Sherwood, chairman; L. H. Hamilton, I. W. Church, Sam Stephen- son, Dr. A. F. Longeway and Fred Long. The first general secretary was Lynn H. Fox, who was succeeded by A. E. Yount, the latter in turn being succeeded by the present secretary, Ralph R. Wolf. E. E. Holde- man is the present physical director. The building, which cost $150,000 to complete and equip, is one of the handsome structures of the city, and offers an ideal home for the young men of the city, as well as affording a place where both HISTORY OF MONTANA 697 young and older men find healthful recreation and amusement. The present membership of the Y. M. C. A. is 813 members. The Young Women's Christian Association of Great Falls is also a helpful influence in the life of the city, and the organization, a flourishing one, is housed in a building devoted exclusively to this work. Practically every fraternal order of any importance has representa- tion at Great Falls, the fraternal life of the city being one of its impor- tant features and several of the lodges having handsome homes of their own, the Masons, Elks and Odd Fellows, particularly, having erected structures which contribute to the architectural beauty of the city. The city has numerous unions, likewise, and a number of these hold their meetings in Carpenters' Hall which is owned by that branch of the city's artisans. PUBLIC RECREATION GROUNDS AND BUILDINGS Great Falls has seven modern theatres and is visited by all the good road shows, as well as stock companies and headline vaudeville acts. It likewise has 725 acres of public parks and playgrounds and- these are located in such a manner that there is not a district in the city which is more than a ten-minute walk removed from some park. The board is appointed by the governor and has absolute control over these public meeting-places. Public band concerts and community singing are features of these recreation grounds and large crowds of the citizens of Great Falls enjoy these summer evening concerts to the utmost. Many of the 75,000 trees under the care of the board have been planted and raised in the nurseries maintained in connection with the park system, and there are now about 20,000 trees planted in the parks of the city, these not including the thousands of elm, maple, ash, poplar and other shade trees planted ^long the boulevards or in the residence lawns. Another popular place of public amusement and recreation is the city natatorium, a handsome structure, as well as commodious in size and complete in all its appoint- ments. CITY PUBLIC SCHOOLS In 1886 the public school system of Great Falls consisted of a one- room frame building with eighteen pupils. Today it consists of ten sub- stantial brick and stone buildings of modern design and equipment, with an enrollment of 4,778 pupils, and a faculty of 141 instructors and prin- cipals to superintend the 147 class rooms of the city schools. In the high school alone there are enrolled 639 pupils. Twenty large play rooms are provided for the purpose of looking after the physical welfare of the children, and playgrounds are adjuncts of every school. Practically every subject offered by any of the public schools of the country is in- cluded in the curriculum of the Great Falls schools, and in the course of study, extending from the kindergarten through high school, every effort is made to offer the students a choice of .subjects according to the voca- 698 HISTORY OF MONTANA tions which they desire to follow. Courses in music, drawing, home science, art, physical culture, manual training and commercial and bank- ing trainings, in addition to the regular subjects, are given, and particu- larly practical are the home science and business courses and the manual training department. The first named of these three trains children along practical lines and equips the girls better for the duties which will devolve upon them later in life, while the courses in commercial work fit the student for a career in the business world should his inclinations be so directed, and the manual training department is also intensely practical and is intended to develop the mechanical ability with which many chil- dren are endowed. In the grades this course includes the care and use of tools and the making of simple articles, while in the high school it is extended to mechanical and architectural drawing, cabinet work, wood turning, pattern making, forge work and machine shop practice. A course in automobile repairing has been recently added with the intention of preparing students for this industry. The home science and art courses give the girls a thorough training in the economics of the home. In the grades plain sewing and cutting and plain cooking come under the head of this course, but in the high school it is extended to cover dressmak- ing, cooking, serving, millinery, home economy and home decoration. An illustration of the practical work done in this department is the senior class which makes its own graduating dresses and thereby gains practical experience as well as bringing about greater democracy among the girls. GREAT FALLS PUBLIC LIBRARY The Great Falls Public Library, located at Great Falls, was founded June 28, 1889, as tne Valeria Library and Art Association. On May i, 1903, an appropriation was received from Andrew Carnegie, from which funds the present handsome structure was erected, and at the same time the name was changed to its present style. Those most prominent in the establishment of the library in 1889 were Jessie S. Ladd, H. O. Chowen, A. E. Dickerman, Theodore Gibson, J. B. Leslie and C. M. Web- ster. The successive librarians have been: Robert S. Williams, Miss Eloise Petit, Miss Lutie Weitman, Miss Bella Brown and Miss Jennie M. Conner, and the present incumbent of the position, Miss Louise M. Fernald. The library at this time has 26,325 volumes, and the total cir- culation for the year past was 159,030 volumes. GREAT FALLS NEWSPAPERS Great Falls' newspapers are the Tribune and the Leader. The latter is the older of the two, having been established June 16, 1888, when the city was still in its infancy, and has always been recognized as the lead- ing republican newspaper of Northern Montana. It has an extensive circulation, takes the full daily report of the Associated Press, and em- HISTORY OF MONTANA 699 ploys a large force of news-gatherers in supplying the matter for two editions, daily and weekly. EDUCATION OUTSIDE OF GREAT FALLS Excellent educational advantages are found in Cascade County out- side of the county seat, for every effort has been made to provide for the best possible education for the children,' and there are 125 rural schools in the county under the supervision of a county superintendent. These compare favorably with the rural schools anywhere and offer a thorough course of instruction. Some of the smaller towns also offer high school training, which is exceptional, considering the size of the communities in which they are located, and the rural school inspector of the state department of education gives suggestions and aids in the supervision of these schools. Cascade County, in conjunction with the federal government, employs an agent whose duties include advising with the farmers and studying the best systems of farming, stock raising and farm management in this dis- trict, giving the farmers the result of his investigations and the benefit of his experience. Recently, the State Legislature provided for a free cir- culating library that is rapidly being popularized among the rural com- munities, books being distributed free of charge. This is a county insti- tution and the county agent aids in handling the distribution of the read- ing matter. TOWNS OF CASCADE COUNTY Among the thriving and flourishing towns of Cascade County, aside from Great Falls, may be mentioned: Cascade, a progressive farming and shipping center ; Stockett, a large coal mining town ; Belt, which is surrounded by an excellent farming community; Geyser, an important grain shipping point; Neihart, where are located important silver inter- ests ; and Monarch, Armington, Raynesford, Spion Kop and others. CHAPTER XXVIII CHOUTEAU, CUSTER, DANIELS, DAWSON, DEER LODGE, FALLON One of the oldest counties in Montana is that which bears the name of the Chouteau brothers, Auguste and Pierre, American pioneers, fur traders and founders of the city of St. Louis. As the head of naviga- tion on the Missouri River, its associations of former years make it an exceedingly interesting subject of study to the student of history, and from the time of its creation, February 21, 1865, until something like a decade ago it remained as an important stockraising center, in its evolu- tion passing through all the stages that have marked the gradual develop- ment of this section from a range country into an agricultural domain. In its early days Chouteau County experienced much Indian fighting, and during the period in which river navigation was almost entirely depended upon, this locality held a prominent place in the fur trade, Fort Benton, one of the oldest towns in Montana, having been the chief fur trading point in the American northwest. This community is still one of great interest, a part of the old fort still remaining to mark what was at one time the frontier of pale-face settlement, and is rich in its Indian lore and pioneer traditions. PHYSICAL FEATURES OF CHOUTEAU COUNTY Chouteau County is situated in the north central part of Montana, and is bounded on the north by Hill and Toole counties, on the west by Teton County, on the south by Cascade and Fergus counties and on the east by Elaine County. Along the southern boundary are the Highwood Mountains, while in the northeastern corner are the Bear Paws, and right at the western border is the eastern end of the Teton Ridge. For the most part, the county consists of broad, rplling prairies, although along the streams the country presents a broken surface. The Missouri River enters Chouteau County from the south, Maria's from the north and the Teton from the west, and the confluence of these waterways is at Loma, near the center of the county, where they join the Missouri. The southeastern boundary of the county is formed by the Arrow River, and there are a number of other streams of lesser importance, such as Shonkin, Birch and Eagle creeks. RURAL INDUSTRIES * For many years Chouteau county's 4,432 square miles of land area was devoted almost entirely to stockraising, and it is still one of the 700 HISTORY OF MONTANA 701 important industries, there being numerous large sheep and cattle ranches still in flourishing operation. However, during recent years, agricul- ture has been coming more and more into favor, and gradually the farmer is displacing the cattleman, finding the chocolate loam soil excellent for the raising of wheat, rye, oats, barley and flax. Corn has also been raised with success, as well as sunflowers for silage. The prairies have produced good crops without irrigation, and it has been only in recent years that this has been engaged in. Private pumping plants, electrically driven, now irrigate about 5,000 acres, and a large part of this territory is being devoted to alfalfa. Land values have advanced in this county during recent years, and irrigated land is now held at from $75 to $125 per acre and non-irrigated land from $15 to $50 an acre, depending upon the location and the improvements which have been made thereon. As to its other resources, they are of a secondary character, although good lignite coal has been found in appreciable quantities, and prospect- ing for gas and oil has gotten under way. Cottonwood timber abounds along the streams, and there are 32,602 acres of the Jefferson National forest in the county. For its transportation facilities Chouteau County has the Havre-Butte branch of the Great Northern Railroad, which supplies the area from the northeast to the southwest; and the Lewistown-Great Falls branch of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad, which makes a loop through the southern part. The highway, which connects Great Falls with Havre, runs parallel to the Great Northern Railroad, and there are also good secondary roads. The matter of education has not been neglected by the people of this county, there being, in addition to a good rural school system and common schools in all the community centers, a county high school at Fort Benton and another high school at Big Sandy, both accredited for four-year terms. This county also has the distinction of being the first in the state to establish a county library, which is located at Fort Benton, and has upwards of 12,000 volumes, maintaining branches in a number of the leading towns. FORT BENTON During the earlier history of the county, Fort Benton, the county seat, was considered a community of much importance. Situated as it is on the Missouri River, and being the head of navigation thereof, it was a trading point for all the surrounding country. When river navigation passed it lost much of its prestige, but this it is regaining today with the continued growth and development of agriculture, it being in the center of a large and prosperous farming, live stock and wool growing country. Incorporated in 1884, the city secured special delivery service two years later, and in its government, business and general improve- ments is now rated as a modern community in every respect. It has a 702 HISTORY OF MONTANA live Commercial Club, of which James Murtry is secretary, and main- tains two newspapers, four hotels, two banks, three churches, two hos- pitals, a graded and high school and a flour mill, in addition to other modern industries and mercantile establishments. Located on the Great Northern Railroad, forty-four miles northeast of Great Falls, it is in close touch with the outside world, and being conveniently reached, at- tracts numerous tourists every year who come to view the historic old fort, located in the heart of the city. Another city which has enjoyed a steady and rapid growth is Big Sandy, midway between Fort Benton and Havre, which is the trading center for a wide and growing agricul- tural district. The trading center for the southern part of the county is Geraldine, and other worth-while communities are Loma, Carter, High- wood, Floweree, Montague and Square Butte. CUSTER COUNTY Created February 2, 1865, as one of the original counties of Mon- tana, Custer County was for many years known as the center of the stockgrowing industry in the Northwest. As has been the case in almost all the other counties of the state, much of the prestige which it pos- sessed because of its cattle and sheep has passed away, but in the case of Custer what it has lost in one direction it has gained in another, for of recent years agriculture has developed and is becoming more and more important yearly, and, with numerous favorable conditions, includ- ing the longest growing season of any county in the state (from 126 to 148 days), it will in all probability continue its advancement in this direction. While old-time western cattle ranges are still operating in the county, in the southern end, and while the largest remount station operated by the federal government is situated at Fort Keogh, prominent in the early his- tory of Montana, the resistless drive of the agriculturist is gradually s weeping away other industries, and the deep loam soil, with a clay sub- soil that produces abundant crops, is causing the rolling, broken country, with its pronounced brakes along the Tongue and Yellowstone rivers, to blossom like the proverbial rose. In the 3,930 square miles included in the county, there are 25,000 acres under irrigation and plans at present are being made to utilize the waters of the rivers to a much greater extent. The county is a well-watered one, as the Yellowstone River flows north- easterly through the county and the Tongue and Powder rivers northerly into the Yellowstone, in addition to which there are numerous tributaries. A considerable portion of the land is tillable, and corn has proven an especially good crop, with more acres being devoted thereto, primarily to make silage for stock. Also, wheat, oats, alfalfa, millet and all kinds ,of root crops and vegetables grow well. Aside from agriculture and stockraising, the industries are few, al- though some manufacturing is done at Miles City and large railroad shops are located there. Custer County possesses no commercial tim- ber, although cottonwood is found along the streams, while about all the HISTORY OF MONTANA 703 mineral resources which the county boasts are confined to lignite coal lying under many districts, furnishing an economical and easily accessible fuel. Irrigated land is held at $100 an acre up; improved non-irrigated land from $40 to $60 an acre; non-improved, non-irrigated land from $15 to $35, and grazing land from $5 to $12 an acre. Custer County, which is named in honor of Gen. George Armstrong Custer, the famous Indian fighter and hero of the Little Big Horn, lies in the southeastern part of the state, and has excellent railroad facilities, as the Northern Pacific and Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railways parallel the Yellowstone River through the county, and the Yellowstone Trail, from Plymouth Rock to the Puget Sound, also crosses the county. In all communities, good rural schools are found, while Miles City has a good graded school and the Custer County High School, accredited for a four-year term, which in addition to the regular courses gives com- mercial, home economics and manual training work. The State Indus- trial School for Boys is also located at Miles City, and what may be regarded also as an educational institution is the Snow Creek Game Pre- serve, which was created through the efforts of W. T. Hornaday of the New York Zoological Society, and which, although lying in Garfield County, is best reached from Miles City. Among the live and growing communities in Custer County may be mentioned Ulmer, Calabar, Beebe, Shirley, Kinsey and Miles City, the last named being the county seat and the principal town in either Custer County or Southeastern Montana. SKETCH OF MILES CITY Miles City is situated at the junction of the Tongue and Yellowstone rivers, and is a division point for the Northern Pacific and Chicago, Mil- waukee & St. Paul railroads, the latter maintaining large shops at this place. One of the old cowtowns of the state, many wealthy ranchmen make it their home, and it is a range center for the horse, cattle and sheep country of the heart of the Yellowstone Valley, and maintains an important wool market. Situated 2,370 feet above the sea level, it pos- sesses a fine climate, and its citizens have added to this attractive feature that of providing numerous parks and public playgrounds. Riverside Park, located at the foot of Main Street, is one of the finest public parks in Montana, combining natural beauty of ancient cottonwoods and arti- ficial embellishment of winding walks and floral beds. Wibaux Park, the bequest to the city of the late Pierre Wibaux, is located in an attrac- tive residence neighborhood. A small playground known as Triangle Park occupies a fractional block on Montana Avenue, and another natural grove of forty acres, bordering the Yellowstone, is being preserved for future development as a public park. MUNICIPAL LIGHT AND WATER SYSTEMS The light and water systems of Miles City are municipal institutions and are profitable features of its civic affairs. The city is famous for 704 HISTORY OF MONTANA its artesian wells. There are two strata under the city, one at a depth of 100 feet, from which the water rises to within eight feet of the sur- face, whence it is pumped by city water service; while the other is at a depth of 400 feet, from which come flowing wells. The water is im- pregnated with soda, is known as fine boiler water, and requires hardly any cleaning. Miles City maintains five newspapers, of which two are dailies. THE PUBLIC LIBRARY The Carnegie Library is a public institution which is supported by the city, the building occupying a central location on Main Street. The City Hall, a modest but attractive building of brick and>stone, occupies a corner at Bridge and Eighth streets, and in addition to housing the city offices and council rooms, furnishes accommodations for the modern fire department and the city jail. Other public buildings include the United States Land Office and the United States Observatory. The Miles City Hospital was established and built by Custer County, but after about a year of operation it was leased to the Sisters of Charity, who have since been its sponsors. The original building cost $35,000, but the increase of its patronage has made it necessary that it be enlarged. OTHER PUBLIC BUILDINGS AND INSTITUTIONS Miles City contains some most attractive buildings. The new county high school is a credit to the community, and the Washintgon and Gar- field public schools are likewise handsome and commodious structures, while the gymnasium and manual training building was erected at a cost of $13,000, and is a yellow brick and concrete building which houses the latest gymnasium apparatus and equipment for manual training. The Ursuline Sisters Convent was founded in 1884 by Mother Mary Amadeus of the Sacred Heart and occupies a handsome brick structure just west of the county high school. The State Industrial School, formerly known as the Reform School, is one mile east of Miles City, and has eight large buildings. The wards of this institution are all given schooling, the loo-acre farm supplies the table, and the older pupils are given half of each day to learn whatever trade they are interested in ; the manual training department teaching car- pentry, blacksmithing, painting, tailoring, printing, shoemaking, launder- ing, etc., while the girls are taught cooking, housework, sewing and music. The boys have their own band, baseball and football teams, and their own newspaper, The Boy's Messenger, and the school is run on the merit system, whereby the pupils, by good behavior and reasonable dili- gence in school work, are eligible for parole within a year. THE Y. M. C. A. OF MILES CITY The Young Men's Christian Association at Miles City was organized in 1909, some of the principal factors in its founding being G. M. Miles, HISTORY OF MONTANA 705 S. Fred Cale, H. B. Wiley, C. W. Butler, J. B. Collins, J. E. Farnum and Jack Evans. The two-story-and-basement brick building was erected in 1910 at a cost of approximately $35,000, and there are twenty-nine dormitory rooms, a good-sized lobby, a gymnasium, a swimming pool and locker and banquet rooms. The successive secretaries of the associa- tion have been Messrs. Fox, Percy, Rouse, S. L. Hedrick and H. L. Ankeny, the last-named being the present incumbent of the office. At the present time there are approximately 450 senior and sustaining mem- berships and about 250 junior memberships, the leader membership being on the service basis. At the present time the association is entirely free from debt, is paying its responsibilities promptly and is growing every day. An interesting feature of the association is the Boys' Camp, which is one of the best in the Northwest. It is located on a 36o-acre island in the Yellowstone River, owned by the Government, and the Young Men's Christian Association has exclusive use of it through the courtesy of the military authorities. The need for a large public meeting and recre- ation hall was met by the erection of the Auditorium, which adjoins the Young Men's Christian Association building and is a substantial and digni- fied structure. CHURCHES AND FRATERNITIES There are seven churches at Miles City, including those of the Catho- lic, Episcopal, Lutheran, Methodist and Presbyterian denominations. Thirteen fraternal organizations are represented at Miles City, and several of these have their own homes. The Elks Club building, erected in 1914, is one of the handsomest in the city, costing $68,000 and is located opposite the Federal building one block from Main Street. It is used exclusively for lodge and club purposes, and, as there are numerous mem- bers of this fraternity at Miles City, is the scene of many social gather- ings. The Masonic order occupies an imposing building on Main Street, a structure of buff sandstone and reinforced concrete. The lower floors are utilized for business purposes, and the upper for the lodge rooms and hall. The Knights of Columbus council occupies comfortable clubrooms in the basement of the postoffice building, and the Fraternal Order of Eagles also has its own home. The Miles City Club, organized in the early '8os, the oldest club in Montana, occupies the second floor of the Wibaux Block. Once a year the club holds open house in honor of the visiting stockmen who attend the annual conventions of the Montana Stock Growers' Association. This body has entertained many distin- guished visitors during its many years of existence and has a well-merited reputation for open-handed hospitality. The various industries carried on in the limits of the municipality may be estimated when it is known that twenty-eight unions have members employed in various trades. CENTER OF HORSE TRADE Tourists from the East who are seeking the real western atmosphere will find it at Miles City in the Remount Depot, situated at Fort Keogh. Vol. 145 706 HISTORY OF MONTANA Conducted by the War Department, the Military Reservation, which is now used as a range for the horses, is ten miles square, being the largest depot, or concentration horse camp, in the United States. There are only two other depots of the kind in the country, neither of which approach the size of the Fort Keogh station. Here western horses are brought direct from the range and broken and trained according to the United States Army regulations, although the only soldiers are the commanding officer and several orderlies, the employes being civilians and the wranglers all cowboys and expert riders. Many visitors will also find much of interest in the annual Miles City Round Up, a frontier exhibition held each year as a great outdoor pageant, in which contestants from all over HORSE MARKET AT MILES CITY the state compete in feats of skill and daring. Miles City maintains a large and well-patronized horse market. The original sales yards were erected by the late A. B. Clark, just south of the Northern Pacific Rail- way tracks and occupied some eighteen acres of land. The business even- tually passed into other hands and the size of the yards was doubled by the construction of new and more substantial yards and buildings north of the tracks. During the World's war Miles City furnished thousands of mounts to the French, Italian and English governments, as well as to the United States, and the animals from the Miles City Horse Market proved their worth in the severe test of war. STAGE LINES AND HIGHWAYS Three stage lines operate out of Miles City. The Jordan line, ninety- nine miles in length, leaves Miles City every Monday morning and arrives HISTORY OF MONTANA . 707 at Jordan Tuesday, at 8 P. M. The Brandenberg line is eighty-eight miles in length, and the Mizpah line eighty-two miles long. The horse, in many ways, has been succeeded by the automobile, and in this connection the matter of the automobile highway comes to atten- tion. This was projected as an association at Miles City in 1912, the idea being originally conceived by Judge J. E. Prindle, of Ismay. It started at the Twin Cities and the original project took it to Yellowstone National Park, but the men behind the movement took up as their slogan: "A" Good Road from Plymouth Rock to Puget Sound," and this has since been realized. The road was originally called the Twin City-Aberdeen- Yellowstone Park Highway, but Miles City's suggestion that it be called the Yellowstone Trail, while originally rejected, was finally adopted, although it is also known as the Electric Highway. Thousands of tour- ing parties pass annually over this highway and appreciate the huge sums of money that Custer County has spent in developing and improving it. BANKS As a wealthy city, this community has three banks, the oldest of which is the First National Bank, which was organized in 1882, and of which G. M. Miles is president. The present cashier, H. B. Wiley, has occupied this post for many years. The State National and Commercial National Banks were consolidated January 21, 1921, and form a strong institution operating under the latter name. ANNUAL COUNTY FAIR Custer County holds its annual County Fair at Miles City, and this is becoming an increasingly popular annual event. It is thought that Custer County was the first, and perhaps the only, county in the state to have full control of its own fair. The fair is conducted and managed by a board of county fair commissioners who are appointed each year, and the annual appropriation and gate receipts afford a good margin for prizes, purses and special events. Miles City likewise holds an annual corn show, now known as the Montana State Corn Show. This was inaugurated in 1914 by M. L. Wilson, identified with the United States Experiment Station at Bozeman, whose hobby had always been corn and whose belief it was that this crop could be successfully grown in Mon- tana. He was given his choice of locations, and selected Miles City, partly because he felt that this city was in the center of his theoretical corn belt and partly because there were many skeptics in this city whom he wished to bring about to his way of thinking. Through his labors this event became a decided success and did much to promote the growing of a crop that is proving annually of more and more value to the county and its agriculturists. Another result of his work at Miles City was the establishment of the office known as the County Agricultural Agent, with headquarters in the courthouse. This department is maintained jointly by 708 HISTORY OF MONTANA the county, state and federal governments and is playing an important part in the prosperity of the county. DANIELS COUNTY The history of Daniels County, under its present name, is a short one, inasmuch as it was created recently, the date being August 28, 1920. In its formation there was removed the western half of Sheridan County and a small portion of Valley County, and the land area of 1,422 square miles is now included in a territory that has a maximum length of forty- eight miles east and west and a maximum width of thirty miles wide north and south. During a long period of time the country that is now included within the boundary lines of Daniels County was a big cattle range, the heavy and nutritious grass furnishing excellent forage for live- stock, but in recent years there has been a great influx of settlers of the farming class and as a result a large part of the range has been broken up into farms. There is still some livestock, but the old days of the .big ranches have passed here as well as in other portions of the state, and the soil, for the most part a fertile chocolate loam, tillable practically throughout the county, is producing big crops of flax, wheat, oats, corn and wild hay, with some sunflowers for silage. Practically none of the land in Daniels County is irrigated, although this could be easily accomplished as the water supply is plentiful, the Poplar River, rising in Canada, flowing southerly through the middle of the county, Wolf Creek angling through the southwestern corner of the county in a southeasterly direction and there being a number of smaller streams. Along these waterways are found willow and cottonwood, but the county possesses no commercial stand of timber, and its mineral re- sources are few, for while lignite coal is found, it is of no commercial importance. Land in this county sells from $10 to $60 an acre, depend- ing upon its location and the improvements which have been made. While growing rapidly as to population, Daniels County still has room for many more settlers, who will find opportunities in the development of the agricultural industry in its various branches. Wherever the branch lines of the railroads are extended west there will be increased activity in this direction. At the present time a branch line of the Great North- ern Railway, leaving the main line at Mondak, runs through Roosevelt and Sheridan counties and then turns westerly, its present terminus being at Scobey. Whitetail, north of Scobey, is the terminus of a branch of the Soo Line, which enters the county from the east. Educational facilities in Daniels County are ample, and in addition to a good rural system county there are graded schools and a high school, accredited for the four-year term, at Scobey, the county seat. This is the largest and most important community in the county and is the main distributing point for the surrounding country. The next largest town is Whitetail, and Madoc, Navajo, Julian, Orville, Kraft and Flaxville, are other prosperous and growing towns. HISTORY OF MONTANA 709 DAWSON COUNTY (GLENDIVE) Irregular in form, with a maximum length of fifty miles east and west and a maximum breadth of sixty miles north and south, Dawson County covers 2,430 square miles of land area in the extreme eastern portion of Montana, being from fifteen to twenty miles west of the Dakota line. This is one of the older counties of the state, having been created Janu- ary 15, 1869, and from early days has been a splendid stock county, because of the native cover of a heavy and nutritious grass. Unlike some other parts of the state, the livestock industry has not died out here. On the contrary, pure-bred stock raising is being carried on in industrious manner, dairying is growing rapidly, the county having the finest dairy farm in the state, and the production of hogs and poultry has become a factor in adding to the county's wealth and prestige. Agriculture, how- ever, in spite of the tenacity of the stockgrowing industry, cannot be denied, and its history here is much the same as in other parts of the state, in regard to its steady and continuous growth. While there is some broken land around the Sheep Bluffs, in the northwestern part of the county, and east of the Yellowstone, smooth prairies and rolling land predominate in the county, making conditions excellent for farming pur- poses, and the dark sandy loam soil, with a heavy clay subsoil, is a big producer. The principal crops produced by the agriculturists consist of barley, oats and wheat. During recent years as high as 900,000 bushels have been shipped in a single season from the county seat, Glendive, with other communities likewise contributing large shipments. Sixty per cent of the land is tillable and the remainder affords good grazing. . At Intake, Dawson County, are situated the headgates of the Lower Yellow- stone irrigation project, which irrigates approximately 90,000 acres, some of which forms a part of Dawson County, and another project soon to be realized, which will cover about 30,000 acres, lies north of the Yellow- stone River between Fallen and Glendive. Unirrigated land, however, has produced excellent crops, and as high as 400 bushels of potatoes have been raised in one acre of unirrigated land. This product has become one qf the leading sources of profit for the agriculturists who have not irrigated their farms. Another crop which is rapidly increasing in acre- age is corn, and it is estimated that the 1920 acreage in this staple product in Dawson County alone was as great as the acreage for the entire state in 1910. This is a commentary upon the advance of agriculture and the fact that the farmers are coming to a realization of the possibilities of the state in the way of corn growing. This is not exactly an inno- vation in Dawson County as in 19.15 this county won first and second prizes on Northwestern Dent corn at the St. Paul Corn Show, and in December of the following year, at the First National Corn Show, held at the same city, took first and second prizes and three third prizes. Lying in the heart of the western third of the Fort Union region, Dawson County is so plentifully supplied with lignite coal, and it is so readily mined, that the settlers have no difficulty in securing fuel, in addi- 710 HISTORY OF MONTANA tion to which this product is used quite extensively in the towns. For some years past natural gas secured in the home locality has supplied Glendive, and the region gives promising evidence of being a good oil field, although it is probable that deep-well drilling will have to be re- sorted to. Excellent clays for pottery and brick-making are found in the county. The principal sources of the water supply in Dawson County are the Yellowstone River, which bisects the southeastern half of the county, and the Redwater River, which flows through its extreme northwest townships. Numerous large and small creeks are tributary to these streams, furnishing abundant and accessible facilities not only for water- ing livestock, but also for small individual irrigation enterprises, and water conservation projects. In the upper bench lands, the matter of artesian well irrigation has received considerable attention. The main line of the Northern Pacific Railway runs about half way across Dawson County, and the Sidney branch of the same road covers about twenty-five miles of the county northwesterly from Glendive. While at present the Great Northern terminates at Richey, entering the county from the extreme northern portion, when extended westward this road may become a main line of the system. Dawson County is trav- ersed by the National Parks Highway or Red Trail, the Black Trail, the Green Trail and the Blue Trail, all of which pass through Glendive. GLENDIVE Among the thriving communities of Dawson County are Richey, Sti- pek, Intake, Bloomfield, Union and Lindsay. In all of these communi- ties there are good educational facilities, and in Dawson County there are more than 100 public grade schools. The largest city in the county, and in the extreme eastern portion of the state, is Glendive, the county seat, an important distributing point and the center of 500 miles of rail- road. It is the headquarters of the Yellowstone division of the North- ern Pacific, and 500 men are employed here in the various departments of the company, the annual payroll being about $800,000. The company has erected a new railroad depot, costing approximately $100,000,, and the Northern Pacific Railway Hospital, which cost $125,000, is located at this point. Glendive, which was incorporated in 1903, has enjoyed a steady growth in population, and is a modern, hustling city. Situated on the Yellowstone, it has a large river traffic, and water from that river is pumped into settling tanks on the side of a high hill known locally as "Hungry Joe." The city maintains a prosperous wool and grain mar- ket, and has four sound financial institutions, a good hotel and three newspapers. Its chamber of commerce is an energetic organization which has contributed much to the city's welfare. Five churches are located at Glendive, and three public schools which furnish not only the usual grade education but manual training as well. Glendive is the scene of the annual Dawson County Fair. It has sub- stantial business blocks, beautiful homes and paved and graveled streets HISTORY OF MONTANA 711 and is lighted by electricity and natural gas, the latter being piped to the city from wells situated about twelve miles distant in the vicinity of Cedar Creek. It also owns and operates an excellent municipal water system and has two hospitals, four grain elevators, a modern flour mill, a cream- ery and four department stores, in addition to dry goods, men's furnish- ing and clothing stores, a number of jobbing and distributing houses and mercantile establishments of various kinds. DEER LODGE COUNTY (ANACONDA) Copper has been known since prehistoric times, and there are many who believe that there may have been a copper age before that of bronze. The word copper occurs once in the Old Testament (Ezra viii:27), the metal was in use in ancient Assyria, and the classical nations were familiar with it, the Greeks bringing it from Cyprus, where the mines were located at Tamassus, near Famagosta. It was left for the New World and a new nation to rise to the peak in the production of this valuable metal, and since the census year 1880 the United States has become the largest copper producer in the world, outstripping by far any other country. Likewise, the State of Montana leads, by a large margin, any other section of the country, and it is in connection with this great industry that Deer Lodge County, while one of the smallest in the state, is at the same time one of the richest, because of the presence at Anaconda of the Washoe smelter, the largest and most modern ore reducing plant in the world. One of the original nine Montana counties, Deer Lodge was created February 2, 1865, and is situated on the western edge of the Continental divide, in the mid-western portion of the state. Originally of consider- able size, as new counties have been formed and lopped from its terri- tory, it has dwindled down to a land area of but 746 square miles, this being largely a mountainous region, agriculture and truck gardening being confined to the Deer Lodge Valley, along Warm Springs Creek and the Big Hole River. The tillable portions of the county, as noted, are in the northern end and southwestern portion of the county, where hay, grain and vegetables are the chief crops, Butte and Anaconda furnishing a ready market for the last named. The remainder of the county is either graz- ing, mineral or timber land. Considerable timber is cut each year, and there are 305,140 acres of the county included within the Deer Lodge Na- tional Forest. Among the smaller industries, a good start has been made in establishing pure herds of sheep and dairy cattle, and the Deer Lodge County assessor's report for 1919 brought out the fact that there were 152,507 acres of patented grazing and farming land. Prices for irrigated land range from $50 to $100 an acre, non-irrigated farms bring from $15 to $50 an acre, and grazing land is valued at from $6 to $10 an acre. For its water supply, Deer Lodge County depends upon the Big Hole River, forming a portion of the southern boundary of the county, and the Deed Lodge River, through the northern part, and numerous tributaries rising in the high mountains which feed these streams. The county is traversed by the Northern Pacific and Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul 712 HISTORY OF MONTANA Railways, whose main lines pass through the northern part of the county, making connections with the Butte, Anaconda & Pacific that serves Ana- conda. Many trains are operated daily both ways between Anaconda and Butte and give the former city connection with the Oregon Short Line, Great Northern, Northern Pacific and Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul. Deer Lodge County boasts among the finest highways in the state, includ- ing a highway paved with concrete between Anaconda and Butte, the only hard-surfaced road in Montana connecting two cities. ANACONDA Anaconda, the county seat of Deer Lodge County, which lies at the mouth of a canyon where plain and mountain meet, is indebted for its ANACONDA REDUCTION WORKS existence to the late Marcus Daly, founder of the copper industry in Mon- tana, who was attracted to this region by the presence, so near Butte, of a plentiful supply of water. This community has grown into a handsome city, with one of the most costly hotel edifices in the state, many large business blocks, handsome dwellings, a daily newspaper and a plant for the manufacture of fire and building brick. The county courthouse, the Hearst Library and the Margaret Theatre would do credit to a city of much larger size. From the Montana Fish Hatchery, located at Anaconda, are sent HISTORY OF MONTANA 713 each year thousands of fry to repopulate the lakes and streams of Mon- tana. Naturally, however, the enterprise which gives the city its chief importance is the Anaconda Reduction Works, where about one-fourth of the copper ore treated in the United States is smelted. At Butte, the first mining shafts were sunk in silver ore, but silver became of secondary importance when deeper deposits were found to be rich in copper, and from that time forward the Anaconda Copper Mining Company has been the chief producer in the district. From 1882 to 1884, 37,000 tons of ore averaging forty-five per cent copper was shipped to Swansea, Wales, which was then the world's principal center of copper smelting. In Sep- tember, 1884, the Anaconda Copper Mining Company began treatment of its ore locally, and in 1892 a full installation of converters was provided, and since then the size and the capacity of the plant have steadily increased. During the past five years the output of this plant has been sixteen per cent of the copper produced in the United States and more than nine per cent of the world's production. The first plant at Anaconda was built on the north side of Warm Springs Valley, while the present site, where operations were commenced in February, 1902, was chosen on the south side of the valley, and is situated a mile east of the residential limits, on a hill-slope. The ores are brought from the mines at Butte, twenty-eight miles distant, directly to the smelter, by the Butte, Anaconda & Pacific Railway, which was built for this traffic and is operated by electricity. An extensive sulphuric acid plant is operated in connection with the smel- ter, and a plant was erected in 1920 for the manufacture of super-phos- phate fertilizer, which is being developed into a big enterprise. A feature of the Anaconda plant always noted by tourists and visitors, is the 585- foot smokestack, the highest in the world. In the vicinity of Anaconda the scenery is of a character to bring forth expressions of the warmest admiration. Thirteen miles away, up the canyon, lies Silver Lake, a beautiful body of mountain water, from which the city, as well as the big smelting plant, derives its water supply. Georgetown Lake, two miles further on, is seven miles in circumference, and, like Silver Lake, is surrounded by snow-capped mountains whose peaks are reflected in the crystal waters. Georgetown Lake is also noted as a fishing center and in season is the mecca of duck-hunters. The tourist who goes over the hill to the west, passes within sight of the old Cable mine, one of the richest gold mines of the early days, and by the roadside there still remain a number of old arrastres, or waterpower mills of former days, for reducing free milling gold ore to a commercial product. FALLON COUNTY The county has for its eastern boundary, the South Dakota line, and covers the southern extremity of the Cedar Creek Anticline. At the north- ern end is the Glendive gas field and at the lower extremity that which has been developed at and around Baker, the county seat of Fallen. Both the oil and gas resources of the county are considered among its greatest assets. Good flows of gas have been encountered in wells near Baker, 714 HISTORY OF MONTANA and it has been piped into the town for heating, lighting and power pur- poses. Fallon County, with its area of 1,685 square miles and its population of 4,548, is just south of the center of the eastern tier of counties in Montana, and was legislatively created on December 9, 1913. There are no rivers of importance in the county, but Fallon and Fennel creeks flow through it into the Yellowstone. In the broad valleys of these and other streams is much good land, as well as in stretches of bench land back of them. There is little irrigated land in the county, fully ninety-five per cent of that which can be cultivated being farmed by non-irrigated methods. Most of the loamy land, which was for years given over to grazing, has LAST FALLON COUNTY SOD SCHOOL been reclaimed to agriculture, and produces good crops of wheat, oats, flax, corn and alfalfa. There are special opportunities in the county for diversified farming, dairying and manufactories that can utilize the flow of the natural gas wells. Land prices vary from $15 to $75 an acre, depending upon location and improvements. The main line of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway traverses the county east and west, and the Yellowstone trail also enters the county from South Dakota. The regular county highways add to these transpor- tation facilities. Baker, the county seat, is the most important town in Fallon County, and is the distributing point for a large territory. Kingmont, Westmore and Plevna are other towns on the line of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway. Besides the rural schools in the country districts, com- mon schools are found in the towns. Baker itself has not only good graded schools, but a high school accredited for the four year term. CHAPTER XXIX FERGUS, FLATHEAD AND GALLATIN COUNTIES Fergus, the largest county in the state of Montana, is situated geo- graphically and agriculturally in the very heart of the commonwealth, and more counties border on Fergus than on any other in the state. Its east- ern boundary is the Musselshell River, its northern boundary is formed by Crooked Creek and the Arrow River, on the west it reaches nearly to Baldy Ridge and on the south are found the Big Snowy Mountains and Flatwillow Creek. Judith Basin, so attractive for its varied scenery and noted for productiveness as a wheat country, lies in the center of Fergus County, extending sixty miles north and south and over eighty miles east and west, and having 2,000,000 acres of fertile land. The Basin is surrounded by mountain ranges which protect it from severe winter con- ditions, to the north being the Little Rockies, to the west the Highwood and Belts, to the east the Big Snowies and to the south the Great Belt range of mountains. The eastern portion of the county is more broken and rolling, this section being the western border of the Great Western Plains area. The watershed and drainage system of Western Fergus is carried by the Judith River and branch streams. In the eastern part the Musselshell River and Flatwillow Creek with their tributaries carry the drainage waters into the Missouri. JUDITH BASIN Judith Basin is not the only attractive section of the county for tour- ists. Fergus County's varied scenery makes it a picturesque visiting place for discriminating travelers, and the different mountain groups, with their excellent visibility throughout the country, are very impressive. Caves, sinks, arches and natural bridges abound to delight the seeker of sights. There are ice caves in the Snowies west of Half Moon Pass where ice is formed throughout the summer. Crystal Lake, a beautiful tourist camp- ing ground, lies in the Snowies, in the west fork of Rock Creek Canyon. THE COUNTY IN GENERAL Fergus County has a length of 122 miles at its longest point and a maximum width of seventy miles, its land area being 7,146 square miles. It was named after James Fergus, the widely known pioneer, late of Meagher County and first president of the Montana Society of Pioneers. The county was created December i, 1886. 715 716 HISTORY OF MONTANA Fergus has always been known as a good agricultural country, the soil being a dark brown loam underlaid with clay formation, mixed with lime gravel subsoil. Six hundred thousand acres are under cultivation, while 1,755,750 acres are potential farm land. One hundred thousand acres are now or will be under irrigation, mostly for hay crops. Projects on Judith River, and Flatwillow and Box Elder creeks in Eastern Fergus, are now under way, and a large project is in course of construction on Warm Springs. The Flatwillow project will eventually irrigate 25,000 acres. These matters are more fully described in the chapter devoted to the irrigation enterprises of the state. In addition to agriculture, the main industries of the county are stock raising, manufacturing and min- ing. Good grade coal is mined in Central Fergus ; gold mining is carried on at Kendall, and silver and gold are found in the Judith Mountains. The large sapphire mines in the Little Belts of Western Fergus supply WHEAT HARVEST OF FERGUS COUNTY a large portion of the world markets. There are eighty-seven elevators in the county, which in number and business compare favorably with any other part of the country of similar size. DEVELOPMENT OF OIL FIELDS The latest industry is oil, which promises to exceed the total of all others in the magnitude of its potential production. It is being developed on a great scale in all directions from Lewistown, particularly in the Eastern part of the county. Large tracts in the Snowies and on the slopes of the Judith Mountains are covered with suitable lumber timber. The Cat Creek oil field, east of Lewistown, had, in April, 1921, thirty producing wells, of the highest grade of oil known to any oil fields. Its extraordinarily high gasoline content, in the opinion of some geologists, indicates that the oil is migrant from a mother pool, which when found will beyond peradventure establish the Lewistown fields among the im- portant oil fields of the country. The Cat Creek structure is but one of HISTORY OF MONTANA 717 many, there being, among others, the Dog Creek, Arrow Creek, Sager Canyon, Garneill, Gilt Edge, Box Elder, Brush Creek, Button Butte, Devil's Basin, Howard Coulee, Big Wall, Willow Creek, Square Butte, Blood Coulee, Bauley, Woodhawk, Valentine, Piper, Black Butte and Flatwillow, as being considered prospecting ground by competent geologists. The oil industry of Fergus County has brought into prominence the little town of Winnett and other towns have shown marked growth and development in recent years. Moore, Garniell and Straw on the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad, south of Lewistown, are in the center of a rich farming section. Denton, the largest town in Northwestern Fergus, has a flour mill, elevator and up to date stores and hotels. Buffalo, on the Great Northern Railroad, is surrounded by splendid farms and ranches. Hanover has a large cement factory, and north of Lewistown lie Roy and Winifred, adjacent to which are immense grain growing and stock- raising sections. Kendall, a gold mining camp five miles from Hilger, has produced over $5,000,000 in gold. Grass Range and Teigen lie in Eastern Fergus and are surrounded by agricultural and stockraising country. GOVERNMENT EXPERIMENT STATION A point of great interest to visiting tourists to the county, and par- ticularly those who are interested in agricultural matters, is the United States Government experimental station, a tract of 640 acres in the Judith Basin, which was established in 1908. This is located two miles west of the town of Moccasin in the Western part of the county, and the work is under the supervision of agricultural experts who are employed by the Government. Experiments are carried on in the different methods of tilling the soil and in growing the different kinds of hay and grain crops. The records thus far show that the average yield of Turkey Red winter wheat grown at the station for a period of seven consecutive years is 34.1 bushels per acre; they also show that the average rainfall for a period of eight years was 18.53 inches, and more than fifty per cent of each year's precipitation was received in the growing season from April ist to July 3ist. Each summer a farmer's picnic is held at the station and farmers gather from all parts of the Basin to inspect the farming methods as conducted at the station, and to listen to instructive talks by the Government experts in charge and other agricultural experts from different parts of the country. Fergus County has become a point of great attraction to hunters and fishermen, being amply supplied with game, both large and small. Prairie chickens, pheasants, sage hens, blue grouse, jackrabbits and other small game abound in the foothills in countless numbers, while in the mountains are found the larger species of game, principally deer and bear. In 1914, Fergus County shipped two carloads of elk from the Yellowstone National Park and put them in the Belt Mountains, where they have been and will be protected until the time when they are more numerous. The many mountain streams furnish excellent sport for the 718 HISTORY OF MONTANA fisherman, as they are well stocked with trout and whitefish, and it is not an uncommon occurrence to catch speckled trout in Big Spring Creek that weigh from ten to twelve pounds. EDUCATION AND POPULATION Indicative of the intelligence, good judgment and public spirit of its people, who have accomplished so much in the comparatively short time that Fergus County has been in being, are its excellent schools. In addition to good graded and high schools at Lewistown, there are graded schools in the towns and rural districts, in which the best standards are required and maintained and only competent teachers are employed. The 187 school districts of the county have a total of over 280 school build- ings, in which over 400 teachers are employed. Church privileges are general in the towns and in many parts of the rural districts high moral standards prevail generally. The population figures given in the United States census for 1920 show 28,344 souls living within its borders; 17,385 for 1910. It is be- lieved that the newly-developed oil industry will contribute greatly to the population of the county and that other industries which will naturally follow will also add thereto. Land values in Fergus County are difficult of standardization. They run, however, from $20 to $80 per acre for unirrigated and up to $100 for irrigated bottom lands, while grazing lands bring from $10 to $20 per acre. The percentage of grain and hay land largely accounts for the variation in price. The census also furnishes some interesting figures as to the compara- tive urban and rural population since and including 1910. In the latter year the rural population amounted to 14,393 an< ^ tne urban to 2,992 ; or 17.2 per cent of urban in the total population. In 1920, the percentage had increased to 21.6 that is, 22,224 rural population as compared with 6,120 urban, which goes to show that notwithstanding the business and industrial opportunities afforded by Lewistown and other urban centers, the call to the farms and rural occupations was gathering strength. As noted, the development of the oil industries is bringing a noteworthy increase of population to the county, and as the promising fields are in the rural dis- tricts, this transfer of the population of the county from the larger centers to the country districts will probably be more pronounced in 1921-22 than it was in 1920. In the 1920 census the population of Lewistown City is given as 6,120, divided by wards as follows: Ward I, 2,402; Ward II, 1,717; Ward III, 2,001. With the improvement of both the urban and rural schools, the educational advantages enjoyed by town and country pupils are being con- stantly equalized; which fact may also account for the good showing in population increase made by the out-of-town districts. HISTORY OF MONTANA 719 WATER POWERS AND PUBLIC WAYS In the matter of water powers and public ways, Fergus County is well supplied. Among the largest of the hydro-electric plants are the two belonging to the Montana Power Company, one within the city limits of Lewistown and the other six miles east of Lewistown on Pig Spring Creek, which runs through Lewistown and is one of the finest and largest mountain streams in Montana. This company, incidentally, furnishes the electric power for the new plant of the Three Forks Portland Cement Company, at Hanover, this plant, together with the town, having been erected at a cost of approximately $1,000,000. Hanover has its own water system, the water being piped to all parts of the plant and city. From a transportation standpoint, Fergus County is well located strate- gically, six railroad lines traversing the Basin in all directions, these including the Great Northern and the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul. Fergus has an aggregate of 6,500 miles of highway bringing the various communities into perfect touch with one another. Lewistown is on the Red Trail from Chicago and Minneapolis, and on the Custer Battlefield Highway from Omaha to Glacier Park. Of the 6,500 miles of open high- ways, more than possessed by any other Montana County ; 920 miles con- sist of crowned roads. The Central Montana Highway, the Park-to- Park Highway and the Wheat Line Highway are more or less local thor- oughfares, but the Custer Battlefield Highway, which was recently brought through Lewistown through the untiring efforts of the president of the Chamber of Commerce of that city and his fellow-members, is becom- ing one of the most traveled highways in the state and is bringing tourists from all over the world. This trail starts at Omaha and ends at Glacier Central Park. Another great thoroughfare is the National Parks High- way from Chicago to Seattle. This crosses the Yellowstone at Glendive and goes through Central Montana via Lewistown to Helena and all the parks, and, in time, is expected to be Montana's gateway to the Pacific Coast. THE CITY OF LEWISTOWN Lewistown, the county seat of Fergus County, located in the heart of the famous Judith Basin, is situated in practically the geographical center of the state of Montana, admirably located on two transcontinental lines of railway, with several branch lines leading in and out to all parts of the county. The city's substantial growth within recent years has been largely due to the development of the natural resources of the trib- utary country, but a great share of the credit for the growth lies with the people, whose enterprise and public spirit have been commendable and unfailing. Incorporated August, 1899, although it had secured special delivery service to all parts of the Union in October 1886, it has grown from a small and struggling village into a city of importance and beauty, with over seven and one-half miles of boulevard, twenty-five miles of 720 HISTORY OF MONTANA cement sidewalk, large schools and other buildings, including a library, and consisting of three wards and thirteen additions. While situated in the heart of a rich farming country, Lewistown may be said to be a business city. It has four prosperous banking institutions, the First National Bank, the Empire Bank and Trust Company, the Bank of Fergus County and the Lewistown State Bank. These banking con- cerns represent combined deposits of $6,000,000 and enjoy an excellent reputation in the county and in banking circles generally throughout the state. One of the leading industries of more recent date, as before noted, is the Three Forks Portland Cement Company, which is employing about 300 men, with a large pay-roll and a modern plant in tjhe outlying dis- tricts of Lewistown. The United States Gypsum Company is another concern which is well represented, and others which are in a flourishing condition are a flour mill, brick and tile works, bottling works and two THE HIGHLAND PARK SCHOOL creameries, in addition to which there is conducted a wool market and sugar beet raising has been found profitable. The city is continuing to grow apace, and its citizens, strongly backed by the Chamber of Commerce, have worked effectively with the city offi- cials in securing numerous public improvements. Several which are now in prospect are a water service extension to cost $65,000; two bridges in the city, one to cost $24,000 and the other $15,000; and a new school building to be erected, which will contain an auditorium seating 1,200 persons. The city water is to be secured from a large spring in a con- creted cave, which will be operated upon the gravity system, with 100 pounds pressure, the water never seeing the daylight and thus being free from polluting influences. Like other enlightened communities whose citizens are possessed of modern tendencies, Lewistown has given much attention to the matter of HISTORY OF MONTANA 721 education. At the present time the school enrollment is 1,375 pupils. Six rural schools are located in the remote parts of the Lewistown District, and these schools are visited by the superintendent, the school nurse and the special supervisors in music, etc. Four transportation wagons bring the rural children from the nearby farms to the city schools. In the city there are five buildings including the South Lewistown School. The Hawthorne School, one of the .first constructed, recently has been wrecked to make way for a first-class modern one-story grade and kindergarten building, and this leaves the Garfield as the oldest building in use. This building, while presenting an excellent exterior appearance, is not a modern fire-proof building. The Highland Park building is the latest and most modern school, a one-story building, modern in heating, ventilating, arrangements, location and construction. For administrative and instructional purposes, the Lewistown School system has three departments, the primary, intermediate and junior high. Aside from the regular curriculum having to do with the usual subjects, special supervisors in music, art, domestic art, industrial arts, health and physical education are employed. Increasing emphasis will be placed in the future upon the health and physical education. The new building program, for which an appropriation has been voted, calls for the construction of two new buildings. The new grade building for the Hawthorne site will be rnodern in every respect. The new junior high school structure will also represent the latest in that type. It will be a two-story fire-proof building, and the class rooms will be grouped around the auditorium and gymnasium, the latter being so ar- ranged that it can be made a part of the stage. For a mass meeting or other public gathering, the gymnasium and auditorium will seat 1,200 people. Directly in line with the fine work being accomplished by the schools is what is being done by the Public Library. The first step toward secur- ing free reading matter for the citizens of Lewistown was taken by the Sunset Club, an organization formed in the winter of 1893-94, for the purpose of social enjoyment and intellectual advancement. In January, 1897, F. E. Smith was elected chairman and J. M. Parrent secretary of a committee to commence the work of organizing a Public Library. They started modestly with 329 books and a cash capital of $126.50, and at the start the trustees were: F. E. Smith, chairman; E. K. Cheadle, secretary; Halsey Watson, treasurer; Rev. Albert Pfaus, Rev. Vigus, Mrs. E. E. Wright, Mrs. G. J. Wiedeman and Mrs. F. C. Stiles. On April 24, 1901, the city council passed an ordinance to establish and main- tain a Free Public Library, and in the following September Mrs. M. A. Sloan was elected librarian. In the same year she was succeeded by Mrs. A. Pfaus, who served until October, 1906, when Archie Farnum was elected librarian. In 1908, Mr. Farnum resigned and was succeeded by Mrs. A. Pfaus, who acted in that capacity until 1913, when she re- signed and Mrs. Guy Wait was elected in her place. The latter resigned in 1913, at which time the present librarian, Miss Clara Main, was elected. She has served ably and acceptably. At the present time the Lewistown LEWISTOWN OF TODAY HISTORY OF MONTANA 723 Public Library has over 8,000 books, and on its lists of subscribers are i, 600 adults and 1,000 children. The present Board of Trustees consists of the following : Grant Robinson, chairman ; Mrs. Helen L. Warr, sec- retary ; Mrs. C. R. McLave, Mrs. Bert d'Autremont, Mrs. Anna Crowley, Judge Von Tobel and E. O. Kindschy. That Lewistown is a moral city may be seen in the fact that its citizens support no less than eight churches, all of which are engaged in movements making for still higher standards and better citizenship. The city has two up-to-date newspapers, the Fergus County Argus, estab- lished in 1883, and the Fergus County Democrat. Since April, 1905, the Judith Club has been a factor in the upbuilding and development not alone of the city of Lewistown, but also of Fergus County and its industries and institutions, and another factor is the Lewistown Woman's Club. There are also twenty-nine secret and benevolent lodges in the city, all of which are in a prosperous condition. In fact, Lewistown is a thoroughly modern city.* FLATHEAD COUNTY (KALISPELL) West of the main range of the Rocky Mountains in almost the extreme northwestern corner of Montana, and directly south of British Columbia, lies Flathead County. To its northeast is the wild, beautiful and pictur- esque Glacier National Park, with, the Continental Divide forming its southeastern border line, and in its southern central part are found the Flathead and Mission ranges of mountains. Lincoln County forms the greater part of its western border, its extreme southwestern corner be- ing flanked b)* Sanders County. Magnificent, timbered mountain ranges, fine, fertile valleys, over 300 lakes, several national forests and a part of the former Flathead Indian reservation combine to make it one of the most interesting of Montana's counties. Owing to its location and its general topography, its early history is one of absorbing interest, having been char- acterized by the labors of the Catholic Missionaries among the mild and friendly Flathead Indians; but that period of the history is covered in other chapters of this work, and the present sketch will be confined to more modern events. Flathead is another one of the counties of Montana decidedly irregular in shape. At its widest point, east and west, it is sixty-five miles across, while its greatest length, north and south, is approximately 101 miles, and its land area is 6,109 square miles, making it one of the larger counties of the state. The date of its creation was March i, 1893, and its name is derived from the Flathead tribe of Indians. Owing to the fact that a large part of the county is mountainous, agriculture was somewhat slow in development and the cultivable land is mostly rolling, the soil be- ing a deep sandy loam. There are about 150,000 acres of logged-off * Since the above was written, Judith Basin County has been created from the western part of Fergus and the southeastern part of Cascade counties. The new county comprises more than one-half of the Judith Basin and is probably the most highly developed agricultural county in 'Montana. Stanford is the county seat. HISTORY OF MONTANA lands in the county, which now raise all kinds of crops. It is estimated that it costs $75 an acre to clear the lands, a large portion of which is sub-irrigated. What is known as the Flathead project is located in the counties of Flathead, Sanders and Missoula, and is on the Pacific slope in the drainage area of the Flathead and Jocko rivers on the former Flathead Indian reservation. The irrigable area of the project is 134,500 acres, and of this amount the Government Reclamation Service has works completed for 98,000 acres. The county is in the Flathead Basin, drained by the Flathead River system, and domestic water is obtained mostly from springs and wells, the latter being at an average of forty feet. The principal crops are small grain, wheat, oats, barley and rye. Alfalfa, clover and timothy do exceptionally well and the acreage in these grasses is being enlarged. Vegetables also thrive, and during the past year potato growing has been launched on a large scale, there being more than 2,000,000 acres de- Tow N OF POLSON voted to the tuber. The hardier kind of fruits and berries are successfully raised, although up to the present apples have been the only fruit raised on a commercial scale. The mountains in Flathead County are known to contain various kinds of minerals, but exploration and development have not been carried far enough to determine their possibilities. Aside from agriculture, horti- culture and stockraising, lumbering is the chief industry of the county, for Flathead is one of the best timbered counties in the state. There are 2,232,418 acres included in national forests, 200,000 acres in state timber land and more than 100,000 acres of timber belonging to the Indians, in addition to which there are large private holdings. A number of flourishing and progressive towns have been developed in the Flathead Basin. Big Fork, on the shore of Flathead Lake, the largest fresh water lake in the United States exclusive of the Great Lakes, is twenty-three miles southeast of the county seat of Kalispell, and is the location of the power plant of the Northern Idaho and Montana Power Company. Another growing community, recently established, is Chau- tauqua, four miles south of Somers, on the west bank of the same lake. An important shipping point is Poison, at the south end of Flathead Lake, on the bank of the Pend d'Oreille River. Under a project of the United HISTORY OF MONTANA 725 States Government Reclamation Service, this river is becoming a decided- ly important factor in the development of a great agricultural region. Its falls are being developed by dam and tunnel and water is being pumped from Flathead Lake over the ridge south of the city where it is distribut- ed over several thousand acres. Naturally, Poison is able to secure ade- quate power for its industries, which at present include flour and sawmills, three grain elevators and a modern electric light and water works. Steam- boat service daily is maintaned between that point and Dayton, Somers and Big Fork. Poison also has three banks, five hotels, a public library, a commercial club and four churches. Somers, at the north end of Flathead Lake, is known chiefly as a lumber shipping point. Whitefish, which was incorporated in 1905, has a population of about 3,000, and is chiefly noticeable as a division point and a lumber market. Dayton and Rollins are also towns on Flathead Lake, with good locations and fair pros- pects. THE MONTANA SOLDIERS' HOME Columbia Falls, at the junction of the main line and the Flathead branch of the Great Northern Railway, at the mouth of Bad Rock Canyon, and at the junction of the north, south and middle forks of the Flathead River, fifteen miles northeast of Kalispell, is a town of about 975 popula- tion. It has considerable interests in lime, coal, lumber, farming and grazing, and has two hotels, a commercial club, a weekly newspaper and two churches. Columbia Falls, however, is principally of interest as the location of the Montana Soldiers' Home. This home, which is a notable monument to the gratitude and patriotism of the people of Montana, had its in- ception in 1895, and so rapidly were plans pushed through that on Memorial Day, May 30, 1896, the cornerstone was laid by Governor J. E. Rickards with appropriate ceremonies. A large crowd gathered from the surrounding country, and the occasion was patriotic and im- pressive. On August 4, 1896, Capt. J. R. Hillman was the unanimous choice for commandant of the home, a post which he retained until the fall of 1902 when he tendered his resignation. Capt. H. S. Howell, who was elected in his stead, died at the home September n, 1911, and Capt. J. E. Sprague was chosen to 'succeed him. He died May 14, 1920, and was succeeded by Col. G. I. Reiche and John S. Axtell. The present officers are: Simon Hauswirth, commandant; A. D. Thomas, adjutant; W. C. Allison, M. D., surgeon; R. W. Nelson, chaplain. The board of man- agers include: John O. Morton, president; Dr. A. T. Munro, Judge James R. Goss and James M. Page, Grand Army of the Republic mem- bers. The late secretary, Hon. Charles S. Warren, of Butte, died April 13, 1921. At the time of the last report, December i, 1920, the home had 102 members, with thirty inmates. The first application for mem- bership in the Montana Soldiers' Home was approved June 17, 1897, and since then over 500 members have been enrolled, of whom forty served in the Spanish-American War and three were Indian fighters during the years 1876-77 in the Territory of Montana. Not only are old soldiers 726 HISTORY OF MONTANA and sailors admitted to membership, but their wives and widows as well. The buildings now in use are the Main Building, already referred to; the Administration Building, orginally constructed for a hospital; the Women's Building; the Hospital, and the Service and Headquarters Building, which has been constructed recently at a cost of nearly $20,000. These buildings are substantially constructed of brick, stone and con- crete, and are two stories in height, with basement. Flathead County is well supplied with educational institutions and facilities, reflecting in this direction the progressiveness of its people. All schools in the county are graded, and there are county high schools at Kalispell, Columbia Falls, Whitefish and Poison. In the matter of population, the 1920 census figures show 21,705, against 18,785 for 1910. Kalispell, the county seat and largest town, dropped from 5,549 in 1910, to 5,147 in 1920. First-class farm land in the county, well improved, sells at $100 to $125 per acre, although considerable farm land can be bought at $75 to $80 an acre, and 100,000 acres of cut over or stump land at $5 to $25 per acre. Irrigated land, according to its location, is worth $200 to $300 an acre. The main line of the Great Northern traverses the county east and west and furnishes the only transportation out of the county except over Flathead Lake to the south, connecting with the Northern Pacific at Poison. Steamboats operate between Somers, at the north end of Flat- head Lake, and Poison, at the southern end, which is the terminus of a branch from the south of the Northern Pacific. The county has more than 3,000 miles of highway. It is crossed by the National Parks High- way, the Yellowstone-Glacier Park Bee Line Highway, and has an auto- mobile boulevard out of Kalispell around Flathead Lake, 115 miles long, one of the most scenic roads in the Northwest. There are automobile roads to the Glacier National Park, Swan Lake, Whitefish Lake, Mc- Gregor Lake, Bitter Root Lake, Stillwater Lake, Lake Ronan, Camas Hot Springs and Thompson Lake, and hard-surfaced roads to White- fish, Somers and Big Fork. Magnificent scenery, excellent hunting and fishing and boating are some of the attractions for tourists. More sum- mer homes have been erected on the shores of the various lakes in Flat- head County than in all other Montana counties combined. Many wealthy people from the East have been so charmed by the scenery that they have built permanent summer homes. The winters of the county are milder than those of Iowa or Kansas, while the annual rainfall is approximately eighteen inches, and the annual wind velocity is only 4.8 miles per hour, the lowest of any place in the United States except one. . KALISPELL Kalispell, the county seat of Flathead County, is a city of three wards, and was incorporated in April, 1902. It is a thriving community, with three banking institutions, the oldest of which is the First National Bank, which was founded in 1891. It maintains four newspapers and eleven churches, and its industries are of sufficient importance to warrant the HISTORY OF MONTANA 727 presence of four labor unions. Its Chamber of Commerce, of which P. N. Bernard is secretary, is a live organization which has done much to promote the city's welfare. Among other public buildings is a well- equipped Carnegie library. In its connection with the outside world, Kalispell has the facilities of the Great Northern Railway, as well as four stage lines, including the Kalispell, Kila & Pleasant Valley, the Kalispell & Somers, the Kalispell, Holt & Big Fork and the Kalispell & White- fish. Motor bus service is maintained to Big Fork and Swan Lake, and there are several automobile and boat lines. Its special delivery service to all points in the country was established in October, 1886. That its people are sociable by inclination is shown in the fact that there are twenty-two secret and benevolent lodges having membership at the county seat. In the way of educational advantages, the youth of the city are BIRD'S EYE VIEW OF KALISPELL granted excellent advantages, there being a free county high school with an enrollment of 700 pupils, as well as the Central, North Side and West Side graded schools. The oldest residents of Kalispell include : D. R. Peeler, president of the Bank of Commerce; H. C. Keith, president of the First National Bank; C. D. Conrad, president of the Conrad National Bank; James Ford, Andrew Swaney, John Foy, Mrs. J. A. Kimerley, C. O. Ingals, George F. Stannard, August Lagoni and Richard Greig, all of Kalispell ; and J. E. Lewis, now of Columbia Falls. GALLATIN COUNTY (BOZEMAN) Gallatin is one of the oldest of Montana's counties, having been created February 2, 1865. Located just west of the Bridger range of mountains, in south central Montana, its southern boundary extends to the Yellow- stone National Park and the State of Idaho, and its 2,507 square miles are included in an area about 100 'miles in length and approximately twenty- SCENES IN THE GALLATIN VALLEY HISTORY OF MONTANA . 729 five miles in width. Included in the county is the Gallatin Valley, a garden spot of the state, located among the headwaters of the Missouri River at the northwestern corner of the Yellowstone National Park. More than half a million acres, the larger portion under cultivation, lie in this fertile region, which on every side is walled in by snow-capped mountains. Down the sides of the Rockies, the Gallatin, the Bridger and the Madison, course many streams which irrigate the soil and serve to develop the agriculture of the county. Like other Montana counties, Gallatin depended largely for its early settlement upon the ranchmen, but these were soon succeeded by the farm- ers, who found the rich and fertile soil productive of large and unfailing' crops. Thus it is that the Gallatin Valley has come to be termed the "Egypt of America." About half the total area of the farming land is under irrigation, while the remainder is dry farmed, a method that has been in vogue for thirty years, having originated in this region. The Gallatin Valley, in spite of being primarily an agricultural country, boasts of a number of thriving and growing cities, principal among which are Bozeman, Three Forks, Belgrade, Manhattan, Willow Creek and Salesville. Three Forks, with two railroads, has a population of 2,000 and is a little city with its own water plant and electric lighting system. Manhattan is a milling and shipping point, its malting works being its leading industry. Belgrade has flour mills and elevators. Willow Creek is in the heart of a prosperous agricultural district. At Trident is a large cement factory. Beautiful mountain scenery, many streams and lakes, good hunting and fishing, and proximity to the Yellowstone Park, have made Gallatin County headquarters for summer tourists for many years ; a not inconsiderable source of revenue for residents. Much timber of commercial value is to be found on the Gallatin and Bridger ranges of mountains, but lumbering has never been conducted on a large scale, although there are several small mills in the timbered region. Agriculture, stock growing and the manufacture of flour and cereal products are the chief industries. Large herds of cattle and bands of sheep range the southern part of the county, flour mills are operated in practically all of the towns and the raising of peas for seed and canning purposes is an important industry, as is also the manufacture of dairy products; but Gallatin County is most widely noted for its production of grains and grasses. Spring and winter wheat, oats, barley, peas, clover and alfalfa, are the principal crops raised. In 1919 (census of 1920) the 76,071 acres in the county which raised cereals produced 968,644 bushels, of which 640,466 were wheat and 259,204, oats. Under the head "hay and forage," 70,124 tons were raised from 51,046 acres. Gallatin County, as a whole, has a splendid school system. In addition to high schools in the smaller towns, the county high school is located at Bozeman, the county seat, and that city is likewise the seat of the State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts and the United States Ex- periment Station. In fact, the matter of good schools has always been a question of prime consideration by the people of this county. Modern school buildings, well furnished with the necessary equipment for 730 HISTORY OF MONTANA school work, well lighted, heated and with good water, have been provided rapidly and with a lavish hand. The requirements for teachers are high. The state course of study which provides for work along all academic lines and in addition thereto, courses in agriculture and suggestive work in morals and manners, nature study, etc., forms the basis for the work in the rural schools. As to population, Gallatin County has 15,864 inhabitants 14,079 in 1910. Bozeman, its largest town, has a population of 6,183. Good irrigated land in Gallatin County may be purchased for from $100 to $300 per acre, while non-irrigated land sells for from $50 to $100 per acre, the wide difference in price being due to location and improve- ments. Gallatin County places great value upon its drainage and water supply. The valley lands are irrigated from the waters of the West Gallatin River and its tributaries. The Missouri River finds its source in the Gallatin Valley, at the confluence of the Jefferson, Madison and Gallatin rivers near Three Forks. As to transportation facilities, the main line of the Northern Pacific traverses the entire length of the Galla- tin Valley. The main line of the Chicago, Milwaukee & Pugent Sound crosses the northern end of the county and is fed by a branch line origi- nating at Bozeman. Other lines are the Gallatin Valley Railway, Yellow- stone Park Railway, Oregon Short Line and Camp Creek Railway, and an electric railway is operated between Bozeman and Salesville. The Yellowstone Trail traverses the Gallatin Valley, and Gallatin County was one of the first to build hard-surfaced roads. A scenic highway is being constructed from Bozeman to Yellowstone, up the West Gallatin Canyon to the western entrance of the Yellowstone National Park. This is known as the Gallatin way and is considered one of the most attractive scenic drives of the West. ' Gallatin County has a road- building program involving an expenditure of $1,000,000. Probably few farming districts have more natural attractions on their borders. The Bridger mountains, the highest peaks of which reach an elevation of 10,000 feet, lie along the eastern side of the valley, and at the foot of these mountains and within three or four miles of the sum- mits are cultivated fields. To the southwest a few miles are the Spanish Needles, more lofty and more rugged, and everywhere on the lower slopes of these mountains are large areas of timber. A drive along the foot of the mountains in any direction will bring the tourist to dozens of beautiful, shady canyons, each with its overhanging crags and cliffs, sparkling springs and streams of clear, pure water. Most of these streams are stocked with mountain, rainbow and eastern brook trout. THE CITY OF BOZEMAN The metropolis of the Gallatin Valley, the city of Bozeman, which is also the county seat, is located in the heart of the Rocky mountains and in the midst of one of the most picturesque spots in Montana. Known locally as the "city of homes," it is also becoming popular as a summer HISTORY OF MONTANA 731 home for the tourist and sportsman. On the main line of the Northern Pacific and a branch of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul, it is the seat of the State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, which has an attendance of from 500 to 600 students. In addition to having several most attractive residence streets, the city possesses a well-equipped Young Men's Christian Association, an Elks' Home, a handsome Federal building, good schools and many churches. The municipal water works draw the city's supply from a mountain lake six miles distant. The Bozeman Chamber of Commerce is a useful and industrious body, with neat and really artistic headquarters, which serve as exhibit and rest rooms and a place for society and public meetings. The city has an unusual number of well paved and lighted streets for a place of its size. In respect to educational advantages, Bozeman ranks high. Its pub- lic schools offer special courses in writing, drawing, music, domestic PUBLIC SCHOOL AT BOZEMAN science and manual training, and pupils going from the Bozeman schools into other states find themselves well equipped for taking up the work in the institutions which they enter. Pupils who finish the eighth grade in the public schools are entitled to enter the Gallatin County High School where tuition is free. This is a first-class educational institution of sec- ondary grade, its course of study being modern and full credit being granted to it by all of the higher institutions of learning in the state and by many of the leading colleges and universities of the country. In addition to these advantages, Bozeman has the distinction of being the home of an institution of higher learning which maintains the largest faculty and has a greater number of students than any other educational institution of the state, the State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts. This offers to its students all of the advantages that may be secured in any similar institution in the United States. The State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, of which Alfred Atkinson is president, was established February 16, 1893, and consist of the Colleges of Agricul- 732 HISTORY OF MONTANA ture, Engineering, Applied Science and Household and Industrial Arts; Courses for Vocational Teachers, the School of Music, the Summer Quar- ter, the Secondary Schools of Agriculture, Home Economics and Mechanic Arts, the Agricultural Experiment Station and the Agricultural Exten- sion service. A more extended notice of the State College of Agricul- ture appears in the educational chapter. Among the factors which have made for higher morals and better citi- zenship at Bozeman, the Young Men's Christian Association is worthy of mention. The Bozeman local was organized in November, 1913, the first directors being W. E. Harmon, H. S. Buell, F. M. Brown, R. J. Cunningham, A. E. Westlake and P. C. Waite, and the first trustees E. B. Martin, George P. Dier, A. C. Roecher, A. J. Walrath and W. S. Davidson. The site was purchased in December of the same year, plans were ordered drawn, a campaign for funds was inaugurated and $65,000 raised for the erection of the structure. Later, an additional sum of $7,500 was raised for the furnishing of the building. Charles Puehler was state secretary and O. C. Colton building secretary. After the completion of the building, Mr. Colton was retained as the first local secretary, and he was succeeded in turn by Oliver Price, J. C. Snowden, P. A. Ten Haf and H. J. Williams, the last named being the present secretary. The present board of directors consists of G. L. Martin, E. J. Parkin, O. A. Lynn, C. S. Kenyon, R. E. Esgar, G. R. Powers, F. M. Brown, W. M. Cobleigh, J. R. Parker, William Hollingsworth, W. F. Day and R. J. Cunningham, while the present trustees are A. C. Roecher, E. B. Martin, Nelson Story, Jr., W. S. Davidson, F. O. Wilton and Walter Aitken. The present membership consists of 353 men, 174 boys, eighty-four women and thirty-eight girls, a total of 649, in addition to which there are ninety-three subscribers who make donations toward the support of the Association, making a total list of 742 subscribers. Bozeman is a well-to-do city which maintains four banks with deposits of over $4,000,000. As a business center it is a distributing point for the entire Gallatin Valley. Large cereal and flouring mill interests are cen- tered at the county seat, in addition to which there is a pea canning factory, many elevators and warehouses and several wholesale and jobbing houses. The city holds out numerous attractions to the tourist. Only four miles from the city, in Bridger Canyon, is to be seen a most interesting institution, the United States Government Fish Hatchery. There are many mountain canyons within a short distance of the city, with good roads leading to almost all of them. Splendid trout fishing may be had in each of these canyons, and there are also numerous mountain streams and mountain lakes within a short distance of the city. The city maintains camping grounds for auto tourists, and supplies free wood, water, light and other conveniences for those who would tarry there. The grounds are located two blocks south of Main Street and are entered from Church Avenue. One of the city's amusement features each year is the event known as the Bozeman Roundup, the largest and most spectacular entertainment of its kind staged. It is a reproduction of the frontier days of Montana, HISTORY OF MONTANA 733 and spectators come, year after year, from all parts of the country ; while contestants, not only from the state but from other sections of the West, enter the lists to test their skill, daring, strength and endurance in such contests as "broncho-busting," "steer-roping" and "bull-dogging." CHAPTER XXX GARFIELD, GLACIER, GOLDEN VALLEY, GRANITE, HILL, JEFFERSON, JUDITH BASIN Garfield County, situated in the east central part of Montana, with the Missouri River for its northern boundary and the Musselshell River for its western, was created April i, 1919. Though one of the infant counties of the state, it has already given evidence of lusty growth and the promise of a well rounded maturity. The surface of the county is generally rolling, with breaks along the Missouri River and some rougher country in the northern part in the neighborhood of Piney Buttes. The most fertile spots are found on the bottom lands, but there are also good agricultural possibilities on the benches, where the soil is for the most part a chocolate loam. NATURAL AND ACQUIRED FEATURES OF GARFIELD COUNTY The central part of the county is elevated, and there many small streams take their source, flowing to all points of the compass and empty- ing into the Musselshell and Missouri rivers and into Dry Creek. In most places good well water may be obtained at depths varying from ten to fifty feet. In some districts artesian wells have been bored to depths of 150 to 175 feet, tapping a supply of clear pure water. There is little commercial timber in the county, such as there is consisting of the small pine along the Missouri and Musselshell rivers. The small creeks are generally fringed with cottonwood. Garfield County being yet in the pioneer stage, stockraising has hither- to been the chief industry, though other spheres of industrial activity are being actively developed with good promise for the future. Scenes char- acteristic of the Old West with its picturesque cowboys and extensive cattle ranges, may still be seen here. Agriculture is undergoing a slow development, owing to the lack of transportation facilities, there being as yet no railroad in the county. This handicap is certain to be removed at no distant date, as the Great Northern has surveyed a new main line that will cross the county east and west, and which has been completed in the adjoining counties of Richland and Ferguson. A gap of 150 miles remains to be filled up, and the work will doubtless be undertaken as soon as financial conditions permit. Still another transcontinental line has been surveyed through the county, but its construction as yet is uncertain. Should it materialize it would place the county in an especially favor- able condition as to rail communication. The motorist traveling east or west through the county can avail himself of the Green Trail, and a good highway is also maintained from Miles City, Custer County, to Jordan. 734 HISTORY OF MONTANA 735 The present lack of rail facilities, while a handicap to those already on the ground, is an advantage to new settlers, as it gives them the oppor- tunity of buying land at lower prices than could be easily secured nearer a railroad line. Irrigated lands sell from $40 to $100 an acre, non- irrigated farm lands from $10 to $20, and grazing lands from $5 to $10 an acre. Alfalfa, wheat, oats, corn and rye are the principal crops, which, owing to the inaccessibility of markets, are raised in quantities merely sufficient to satisfy local needs. Though not pre-eminently a mining county, Garfield is not devoid of mineral wealth. Coal has been found in all parts, but is chiefly of the lignite variety. Chalk has also been found in commercial quantities, and potash deposits have been reported. The operations of oil prospectors have recently opened up a new and dazzling field of opportunity, having resulted in some producing wells, with good prospects for a wider de- velopment of this industry, and, with each new well brought in, scenes of RURAL FLOUR MILL, GARFIELD COUNTY excitement have been witnessed like those characteristic of the oil fields of Pennsylvania and Texas. The tourist seeking the beauties of nature can find them in abundance in Garfield County. The romantic scenery of Hell Creek Canyon has become widely known, and is fully matched by the Snow Creek Game Preserve along the Missouri in the northern part of the county. This preserve was created through the efforts of W. T. Hornaday of the New York Zoological Society, and in addition to its wild natural scenery, it is well stocked with wild game, including some species now nearly extinct. In 1920 Garfield County had a population of 5,368. The county seat is Jordan, which has an estimated altitude of 2,800 feet and a population (1920) of 813. It is the largest community in the county and the prin- cipal trading center. From here an auto stage runs to and from Miles City carrying daily mail, and telephone and wireless communication with the same point are also maintained. Among local institutions are a high school accredited for the four years course. Altogether the county has ninety-five schools, well organized and superintended in a state of satis- factory efficiency. Among the other towns of the county, Mosby in the western part is enjoying a rapid growth, chiefly owing to the oil develop- SCENES AT THE BLACKFEET SUN DANCE HISTORY OF MONTANA 737 ments in that vicinity. Edwards and Sand Springs are good trading points m the same end of the county. The chief trading center south of Jordan is Cohagen. With the coming of the railroad, and the further development of agriculture, mining and the oil industry, Garfield County is due to enjoy a long period of prosperity and substantial growth. GLACIER COUNTY Glacier County acquired its political entity as a county of Montana on April i, 1919. It has a land area of 1,309 square miles, cut out of SCENE IN GLACIER COUNTY the northwestern part of the state, with the Canadian line for its north- ern boundary, and for its western and eastern edge of the Glacier Na- tional Park. Most of the county forms a part of the old Blackfeet Indian reservation, and the aborigines still own the greater part of the land. As the terms of their ownership preclude prospecting by whites, Vol. I 47 738 HISTORY OF MONTANA little is known of the county's mineral resources, beyond the fact that it contains coal and that its geological formation indicates the possibility of oil. Glacier ,County is one of the best watered counties in the state. The northern part consists of broad rolling prairies, with low lying hills on the horizon, the rich and abundant grasses making it an ideal region for stockraising, which occupation has been extensively followed there for many years. The western part of the county is somewhat rougher, owing to the outlying spurs of the Glacier Mountains. In the southern part the surface is level, and for the most part is favored with a good soil and a longer growing season, extending to about 102 days. In this part of the county is found the Blackfeet irrigation project, comprising the greater part of its total area of 122,000 acres. Indian ownership has caused slow agricultural development, though much of the land is leased to white settlers. In those parts of the county where land can be purchased, it ranges from $15 to $50 an acre, according to whether it is improved or irrigated or suitable only for grazing purposes. The principal crops raised are wheat, oats, barley, flax and alfalfa. Flax in particular has proved a successful crop, and the claim is made that the county has produced the largest yield per acre that has been recorded of any land in the world. Glacier County forms part of a great continental watershed. In gen- eral the streams flow to the north and east, the waters of St. Mary's River eventually finding their way into Hudson's Bay and those of Milk River into the Gulf of Mexico. About one hundred square miles, or one- thirteenth of the total surface of the county is covered with timber. This includes 32,256 acres, or about fifty square miles, of the Lewis and Clark National Forest. But a small proportion of the timber on the other fifty square miles is of commercial value. Glacier County has rail communication east and west by means of the Great Northern railway, by which "it is traversed, while the Roosevelt Memorial Trail, running in the same general direction, is available for motor cars and other road vehicles. Another fine highway runs along the eastern side of the Glacier National Park, connecting it with the local Glacier roads. At the main entrance to the park is located the small and picturesque village of Glacier Park, containing the largest hotel in the park. . CUT BANK AND OTHER TOWNS The principal town or city in Glacier County is Cut Bank, which is also the temporary county seat. It has an altitude of 3,698 feet above sea level, and a population of about fifteen hundred. In municipal im- provements it is well up to date, having good water, sewer and electric light systems and well cared for streets and walks. Its business interests include two banks and a newspaper, besides a number of flourishing mer- cantile establishments, operated by enterprising business men who under- stand local needs and maintain a high standard of business efficiency and integrity conducing to their own prosperity and that of the town. Cut HISTORY OF MONTANA 739 Bank has two churches, a Catholic and a Protestant, and its school system is particularly well organized and efficient. It includes a high school accredited for the four year term. In the center of the reservation and about two miles from the railroad is the town of Browning, which is the headquarters of the Indian agency and contains about six hundred people. It was recently incorporated, the government having thrown open the townsite, and a number of im- portant improvements are now under way. On the reservation the tour- ist may find interesting scenes and study the habits and manners of the original owners of the soil, while good hunting and fishing may be found in various parts of the county. In the principal communities there are good common schools, while an adequate number of rural schools con- veniently located throughout the country districts provide educational facilities for the youth of the county. GOLDEN VALLEY COUNTY Golden Valley County is one of the most happily named counties in Montana, by reason both of its natural and artificial advantages. It was created October 4, 1920, from the western part of Musselshell County and the northern part of Sweet Grass County, and is comparatively small in area, containing i,in square miles. On the north stretch the Snowy Mountains, two townships of which are included within the limits of the county. East and west it is traversed by the Musselshell River, which is fed by a number of small streams coming both from north and south. Among the largest of them are Careless Creek and Currant Creek from the north, and Fish Creek and Big Coulee Creek from the south. These streams furnish abundant water for irrigating throughout the season, and, with a growing season of 100 to 130 days, both irrigated and non-irrigated farming have been carried on successfully for the past ten years. About eighty-five per cent of the land is suited to agricultural purposes, and a large part of this area is already under the plow. The soil is mostly a rich clay loam, that on the benches being already mixed with sand, while along the creeks and in the valleys it partakes of the nature of gumbo, a name given by geologists to the stratified portion of the till of the Mississippi Valley. Coal of excellent quality, both for domestic and steam use, has been found in various parts of the county, and there are now five small coal mines operated for commercial purposes. A considerable start has also been made in oil development, the local exploitation of this industry dat- ing back to the first discovery of oil in the state, which was made at what is known as Woman's Pocket in September, 1919. Drilling operations are proceeding in five distinct structures within the county's borders, known respectively as the Pole Field Creek, the Woman's Pocket Anti- cline, the Dead Man's Basin Dome, the Fish Creek Structure and the Big Coulee Dome. The activities above mentioned form but a part of the county's general 740 HISTORY OF MONTANA commercial interests. Within its limits may be found fourteen grain elevators and a flour mill, while the town of Ryegate has a very successful creamery, which last year turned out $75,000.00 worth of butter. The county assessor's report for 1920 shows land values ranging from $20 to $200 per acre, though grazing land can be purchased for $6 to $10 per acre. Golden Valley County is also fortunate in its road and rail communi- cation. From east to west it is crossed by the main line of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway, while the Great Northern road crosses it from north to south. It also enjoys the tourist travel of two impor- tant highways. The Buffalo Trail Highway from Cody, Wyoming, to Billings, Great Falls and the Glacier National Park, is a park-to-park highway, crossing the Shoshone Irrigation Project, the Yellowstone Val- ley, the Musselshell Valley, the oil fields, the Great Judith Basin, the Great Falls of the Missouri and the High Line, thus affording the tourist many notable attractions indicative of the wealth and importance of the state. The Electric Highway, which crosses the county east and west, affords a short cut from Forsyth to Helena and Missoula. Abundant possi- bilities exist for the further development of agriculture, dairying, mining and the oil industry. The tourist traffic is gradually expanding and al- ready calls for additional hotels. The population of Golden Valley County was estimated in 1920 at 5,000. Ryegate, with a population of 405, is the county seat. Other important community centers are Lavina, Belmont and Barber. Each of these towns can boast of a fine new high school, and educational necessi- ties are promptly recognized and provided for by the citizens. GRANITE COUNTY Like most of the counties of Montana first opened up through the mining industry Granite County has had a longer political existence than the majority of those devoted chiefly to agriculture. It was created March 2, 1893, and has an area of 1,728 square miles ; yet it is not thickly settled, its population, according to the recent census, being 4,167. Granite County is situated in the middle western part of the state, with the Continental Divide crossing its southeastern border, its western boundary line being marked by a spur of the Rocky Mountains. The high mountains in the southern end of the county give rise to two consider- able streams, Rock Creek and Flint Creek, which, fed by numerous small tributaries, empty into the Hell Gate River, a stream running westerly through the northern end of the county. The valleys of these three prin- cipal streams are protected by high mountains and favored with a rich and deep alluvial soil, which places them among the most fertile parts of the state. The abundant supply of water affords admirable opportunities for irrigation, which is widely practiced throughout the farming districts of the county. Improved irrigated land brings from $50 to $100 an acre, unimproved irrigated land from $20 to $40, and unimproved non-irri- HISTORY OF MONTANA 741 gated land from $10 to $20 an acre. Wheat, oats, barley, flax, vegetables, alfalfa, timothy and clover are the principal crops. Though agriculture, stockraising and dairying have made considerable progress within recent years, mining was the industry to which the county owes its start, and which is still in full and successful operation, the most important mineral products being silver and manganese. Gold, lead and zinc have been produced in lesser quantities. The Granite Bi-metaliic Mine at Philipsburg is credited with a production of over fifty million dollars to date, chiefly of silver. A large amount of manganese was mined during the war. Lignite coal has been found in Granite County and large phosphate beds have also been discovered, but the commercial value of the latter product has not yet been ascertained. The West Park district is specially noted for a large deposit of sapphires, larger, it is claimed, than even the famous source of supply of that gem in Burmah. Another source of wealth in Granite County is its large area of com- mercial timber. Some of this is under private ownership, but 677,236 acres are contained in the Missoula National Forest and 54,760 acres in the Deer Lodge National Forest. Hunting and fishing are tourist attrac- tions which may be found to perfection in many parts of the county. Granite county is crossed in its northern part by two great railways, the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul and the Northern Pacific, the latter of which has a branch line running southerly from Drummond on the main line to Philipsburg. A highway has also been projected which will cross the county westerly from Anaconda to Hamilton in the Bitter Root Valley. Philipsburg, the county seat and principal town, is, as already inti- mated, the terminus of a branch line of the Northern Pacific. It enjoys a commanding position on a terrace of Flint Creek Valley and has a population of about fifteen hundred. Its altitude is 5,175 feet. Among its advantages are a good system of public utilities, including drainage, waterworks and electric lights. Its court house, business blocks and resi- dences are well constructed and attractive, and its two banks can boast aggregate deposits of over one million dollars. Here also is the county high school, with an accredited four years course and additional courses in agriculture and teachers' training. Drummond, at the other end of the branch line, where it connects with the main tracks of the Northern Pacific, is the trading center for the northern part of the county. Among its local institutions are a newspaper, and a high school accredited for the two years course. It has a number of good stores representing the most important branches of mercantile enterprise, and has recently advanced to the dignity of a manufacturing town by the erection of a large saw mill with up to date equipment. The town of Hall is located in the Flint Creek Valley, in the center of a populous farming section, and but a short distance frorn^ lignite coal mines. It enjoys a growing trade from the surrounding district. 742 HISTORY OF MONTANA HILL COUNTY Hill County, pre-eminently noted for its stockraising interests and extensive ranches, is a section of Montana abounding in beautiful scenery and replete with historical associations. It occupies a north central posi- tion, with Canada just across the northern border, and in shape is almost square, its length and width being equally sixty miles, though the regu- larity of the square is broken in the southeast corner where it extends into the Bearpaw Mountains. It is in this southeast portion that the Rocky Bay Indian Agency is located. Hill County was created February 28, 1912, by the division of Chou- teau County, and the recent census showed a population of 13,958. With the exception of the mountain region above noted, the county is a rolling prairie, interspersed with bench lands and with coulees in those parts HILL COUNTY POTATOES adjacent to streams. A rich and fertile sandy loam is the characteristic soil, producing various crops, the most extensive acreage being devoted to wheat and flax. Aside from these, oats, barley, rye and speltz are grown successfully, and potatoes do particularly well both as to yield and quality. The growing of corn and sunflowers for silage is receiving more attention than formerly. From northwest to southeast the county is traversed by the Milk River, one of the largest streams in Montana, which receives a number of small tributaries. Sage, Box Elder and Beaver creeks are also streams of importance, furnishing water for irrigation. The amount of land thus artificially watered for the year ending July 12, 1920, was 3,025 acres, ranging in value from $30 to $100 an acre. At the same time the county assessor's report showed a total of 1,016,189 acres of non-irrigated farm land and 16,705 acres of state land, most of the latter under sale con- tract. The dry land is worth from $8 to $50 an acre. Dry land farming has been carried on since the early settlement of the county, but still affords ample opportunity for expansion, especially with the aid of modern methods. Irrigation is being introduced more widely where per- 743 mitted by the nature of the surface and contiguity to a water supply, two large projects having recently been planned. Stockraising is followed with profitable results, and dairying and market gardening are making good progress, but are capable of much further development. At Fort Assiniboine, near the county seat, is located the Northern Montana Agri- cultural Experiment Station, which is maintained by the state. The growing season is from 101 to 126 days. The deposits of coal in Hill County are large enough to encourage its commercial exploitation, especially in view of its good quality, and mining is carried on profitably, some of the mines operating all the year round, and others being worked only in the winter when the labor from the farms can be utilized. In drilling for oil, natural gas has been found and oil prospecting is Mill proceeding vigorously with unknown possi- bilities for the future. The tourist visiting Hill County can find many objects of interest, both natural and historical. Among the most peculiar and picturesque are the "Bad Lands" along the Milk River, which occupy a large region in the vicinity of Havre. Though not so well known as the correspond- ing formations in Dakota and Eastern Montana, they are fully as inter- esting and as well worthy of inspection. The beautiful scenery in the Bearpaw Mountains is one of attractions possessing historical associations, for it was there that General Howard's troops finally captured Sitting Bull after a long and hazardous campaign. OLD FORT ASSINIBOINE The agricultural station at Fort Assiniboine has many features of interest to dry land farmers, and the old fort itself, many buildings of which are still in repair, recalls memories of frontier days in the North- west, of Indian raids and military expeditions, when life was a romance tinged with danger and only the strong and brave were likely to survive. The United States troops stationed here, and those at Forts Missoula and Helena, co-operated with the Canadian mounted police to render the Mon- tana and Canadian border safe for the pioneers and early settlers of the state, some of whom, still surviving, retain vivid memories of those event- ful days. Now Hill County is traversed east and west by the main line of the Great Northern Railway, the Great Falls-Butte branch running southwest from Havre to Glacier Park. ' HAVRE Havre, the county seat, is an incorporated city with three wards and a population, according to the last census, of 5,429. It was until recently a railway division point on the Great Northern, having the largest round- house and railway machine shop in the state, but a re-arrangement of divisions on that road has diminished its importance as a railroad center. It is, however, a busy commercial town with modern improvements, in- cluding ten miles of boulevard illuminated with clustered tungsten lights. 744 HISTORY OF MONTANA Havre has three banks, three graded schools one for each ward and high school, giving employment altogether to more than sixty teach- ers. Another important educational establishment is the large parochial school connected with St. Jude Thaddeus Church. Prominent among local institutions is a tasteful and well constructed Carnegie Library con- taining 3,500 volumes. Three newspapers are published in Havre, there are twelve societies represented, and the Masons have erected a commodi- ous temple. The United States land office also has quarters here. Four miles northwest of the city is the county hospital, near which are found cement deposits of commercial value. Of the five churches in Havre, three the Catholic, Methodist Episcopal and Presbyterian are of early origin, having been established between 1891 and 1893. Local interests are watched over and assiduously promoted by -a well organized com- mercial club, with T. E. McCroskey as secretary. The Roosevelt High- way runs through Havre on its way to Glacier Park. The report of the county superintendent shows that there are 104 public schools in Hill County, and at Rocky Bay Indian Agency there is a school with 120 pupils. Along the Theodore Roosevelt International Highway in Hill County there are a number of prosperous towns, including Hingham, Kremlin, Gildford, Rudyard and Fresno. Laredo and Box Elder are towns on the Great Falls branch of the Great Northern. Other towns and villages are springing up in various parts of the county, some of which may be des- tined to future importance. JEFFERSON COUNTY Jefferson County, having a population, according to the last census, of 5,203, has enjoyed a political existence of fifty-six years, having been created February 2, 1865, just as the Civil war was approaching its ter- mination and about nine months after Montana had t)een separated from Idaho and made a separate territory. At that time it was to the dwellers in the eastern, southern and middle states a practically unknown region, occupied by Indian tribes generally hostile, and full of danger for the solitary explorer or adventurous pioneer. But the discovery of gold at Alder Gulch, in what is now Madison County, worked a transformation, and the greed for wealth, or what would now be called the "get-rich- quick" craze, became an agency for good in the settlement and final civili- zation of a vast territory which, thirty-four years later, was admitted into the sisterhood of states comprising the American Union. In this new territory, now a state, Jefferson County occupies geographi- cally a west central position. Sixty miles long north and south by forty wide, it has an area of 1,642 square miles. For the most part the surface is rugged and mountainous, the elevation above sea level ranging from 4,100 feet in the Jefferson Valley at the southern end, to 7,000 feet or more in the mountain ranges. The climate, though sometimes severe in winter, is sufficiently warm and mild in summer to permit of a growing season of 82 to 121 days, and agriculture, stock raising and dairying are HISTORY OF MONTANA 745 followed successfully with due regard to local conditions of soil, surface and water facilities. The Continental divide forms the western boundary, several of its small spurs jutting into the county. The Jefferson River, flowing along the southeastern boundary, is the largest stream. The second in impor- tance is Boulder River, which has its source in the northern part and flows south, emptying into the Jefferson at Cardwell. These rivers, to- gether with Prickly Pear Creek and a number of smaller streams, furnish good drainage and water supply, and their valleys, having for the most part a rich alluvial soil, yield satisfactory returns to the enterprising farmer. The southern part of the county is more adapted to agriculture than the northern. Wheat, oats, rye and potatoes are the chief crops, and Butte and Helena the principal markets. Irrigation is practiced where needed, the price of irrigated lands ranging from $50 to $150 an acre. Non-irrigated lands bring from $10 to $35 an acre and grazing lands $7 to $12 an acre. Of commercial timber the county contains more than 500,000 acres, of which 354,720 are contained in the Deer Lodge National Forest, and 147,835 acres in the Helena National Forest. Mining was the first industry in Jefferson County and for many years continued to be the most important. Silver, lead and gold have been the chief mineral products, and the output of the silver mines at Corbin, Wickes, Elkhorn and other camps has amounted to millions of dollars. Some zinc has also been mined and granite used in the state capitol at Helena was obtained in Jefferson County. In course of time, after the shallower or more easily worked deposits had been exploited, mining activi- ties waned and there was a period of depression, but more recently interest has revived, new prospects have been discovered and are now in course of development, with favorable opportunities for the further production of metals and an extension of the building stone industry. The southern end of Jefferson County is traversed by the main line of the Northern Pacific and the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railways. The former is paralleled by the Yellowstone Trail, while the Banff-Grand Canyon road parallels the Great Northern. Branches of the Northern Pacific leave the main line at Sappington and Whitehall and run south into Madison County. The Havre-Bunte branch of the Great Northern runs north and south through the county. The peculiar geological formation of this region finds expression here and there in thermal springs, of therepeutic value, which have led to the establishment of three well-patronized health and pleasure resorts the Boulder Hot Springs at Boulder, the Pipestone Hot Springs near White- hall, and the Alhambra Hot Springs at Alhambra. BOULDER AND WHITEHALL The chief towns in Jefferson County are Boulder and Whitehall. Boulder, located near the center of the county, is the county seat, and, though small as to population, is a good market town with important live- stock and mining interests. Here is located the State School for the Deaf 746 HISTORY OF MONTANA and Blind, and the county high school accredited for the four years course, which also provides a course in agriculture under the provisions of the Smith-Hughes Act. Whitehall is the center of the irrigated agricultural district and draws considerable trade from Madison County. Like Boulder it has a high school accredited for the four year term. Good rural schools have been established throughout the country districts, the pupils in which are show- ing satisfactory progress. JUDITH BASIN COUNTY Judith Basin County, politically created December 10, 1920, lies in Central Montana and contains within its area the great Judith Basin from which it derives its name, and which is recognized as the best non- irrigated farming district in the state. Stretched out in the northwest part of the county are the Highwood Mountains, which, with the Little Belt Range along the southern border, form areas of rough and broken land. The eastern half of the county is drained by the Judith River flowing northward, a direction followed by all the numerous mountain streams which traverse the county. In many dis- tricts are found springs of pure water, and an additional supply can usu- ally be obtained from wells at a depth of 15 to 75 feet. Judith Basin County is pre-eminent in its opportunities for non-irri- gated farming, the eastern two-thirds being the richest agricultural district. The top soil is a brown or chocolate colored loam, with a subsoil of clay, both intermixed with lime. Wheat, oats, barley and hay are the principal crops. These are distributed according to location and the character of the land, hay and root crops being grown along the streams, grain on the bench lands and timothy and native grasses in the foothills. Stockraising is carried on successfully and is one of the chief industries. Grain lands range in price from $50 to $125 an acre; stock ranches and diversified farms bring $25 to $50 an acre. In some parts of the county coal is found and has been commercially exploited. About one-fifth the area of the county is included within natural forests. Judith Basin County is dotted wtih many small towns and villages, most of which by their big grain elevators and scenes of business activity give practical indication of the agrarian wealth held in the bosom of the surrounding country. Crop failures are few, and the farmer who knows his business has success within his grasp. Stanford and Hobson are the principal community centers, the former being the temporary county seat. In each of these two villages is a high school accredited for the two year course. A third high school, accredited for the two year course, is located at Moccasin. At Lehigh is a coal camp. Other towns are Mendon, Wind- ham, Spion Kop, Benchland and Utica. The Great Northern line from Billings, used by the Burlington for its transcontinental trains, enters the county near the southeast corner and runs north to Junction, whence a branch line runs east to Lewistown, the main line continuing across the continent in a northeast direction. High- ways connect the county with Lewistown, Great Falls and points south. CHAPTER XXXI LEWIS AND CLARK COUNTY (HELENA) Lewis and Clark County lies in the great Missouri Valley of Western Montana, its chief natural drainage being through the Prickly Pear in the Helena district of the south, the Dearborn River which flows through the central part and the Sun River Valley of 'the north. As the main range of the Rocky Mountains passes through the county somewhat west of its center there is also a drainage down their western slopes into Clark's fork of the Columbia, directly through the Blackfoot River and the Mis- soula. The main body of the Missouri River, which forms a portion of the southeastern boundary of Lewis and Clark County, breaks through the massive Big Range belt, running parallel with the Continental Divide, and forms a gloomy and magnificent exit known as the Gate of the Mountains. It is located a few miles below the junction of the Prickly Pear Creek with the Missouri and just within the county boundaries. THE GATE OF THE MOUNTAINS The Gate of the Mountains has drawn thousands of photographers and artists to its grandeurs and beauties, which have impressed them- selves upon every beholder with the same vividness as upon the first white men to fittingly record them, Lewis and Clark, the godfathers of the county itself. That feature of the story, as it relates to this section of the county, and the discoveries of the famous expedition hereabouts, are covered in other chapters of this work. In fact, the pioneer times and characters are necessarily excluded from this sketch, which treats of modern events woven into a narrative aiming to etch a picture of the present. THE COUNTY AND THE CAPITAL Lewis and Clark County 'is more than a hundred miles from north to south and some sixty miles from east to west these being its max- imum dimensions. It is so irregular in shape, however, running to sharp points both north and south, that its area is 3,476 square miles, or slightly more than the average of the fifty-four Montana counties. It is one of the oldest counties in the state, being originally Edgerton County, and named after the first territorial governor, Sidney Edgerton. At first, the county depended on mining, although not to such an extent as the districts centering in Bannack and Virginia cities and Butte. But the beautiful and fertile valleys of the Sun, Dearborn, Blackfoot and Prickly Pear, suggested other and more permanent riches. Stock growing 747 HELENA . IN THE PICTURESQUE HELENA DISTRICT HISTORY OF MONTANA 749 soon developed; Helena became the permanent capital of the territory and the chief trade and commercial center for the mining districts to the southwest, and even before irrigation was attempted the uplands of Prickly Pear Valley were covered with productive farms. With its trade advantages and political and social attractions as the territorial and state capital, Helena developed into a substantial and handsome city. The Sun River Valley, in the northern part of Lewis and Clark County, was set- tled by ranchmen at an early day. Afterward, the farmers took up the good work of developing its great agricultural possibilities, and the State and the United States Governments instituted several large irri- gation projects. At the present time, upwards of 75,000 of the 3,000,000 acres of tillable land in the county are irrigated, chiefly in the Sun River Valley and in the Prickly Pear Valley at Helena. The so-called Sun River Project, the scope of which embraces several counties interlaced by the Missouri and its tributaries, has already been described in the chapter devoted to the irrigation enterprises of the state. TOWNS AND CONSERVATION OF NATURAL WEALTH Several prosperous and growing towns have developed in the Sun River Valley, the largest being Augusta and Gilman. Augusta, especially, is both old and stable. Other communities are Marysville, Rimini, Wolf Creek, Craig, Canyon Ferry and Lincoln. The last named, on the Big Blackfoot River, is becoming quite a summer resort. There are many attractions in the county for tourists, including not only grand scenery, but health-giving springs and fishing and hunting grounds. In the north- ern part of the county, along Sun River, is one of the nine game preserves established in Montana to protect its game from ruthless and thoughtless slaughter. Farther east is the smaller preserve on Willow Creek for the special protection of birds. In the central part of the county is the Twin Ruttes game preserve, on the eastern slopes of the Rockies, and in the southern part of the county is the Helena National forest. So that Lewis and Clark County, with Helena as the center of the State Govern- ment, is really typical of the commonwealth, in the stability and diversity of its interests, and its striking evidences of artificial and mechanical aids to the natural advantages of soil and drainage, as well as the wise conservation of its vegetable and animal life, originally poured out with such prodigality. Largely on account of this forethought, which so many of the older states and counties in other commonwealths have neglected to put in force, although much timber of commercial value is found in Lewis and Clark County, logging and lumbering operations have never been conducted on a large scale. Besides the Helena National forest of 243,418 acres there are 49,000 acres of the Flathead National forest in the county, 422,152 acres of the Lewis and Clark National forest and 162,905 acres of the Missoula National forest. In the past many mining districts within the county have produced abundantly, and may again. Gold mining has vir- tually been at a standstill for many years, although there is some activity 750 HISTORY OF MONTANA in the silver districts. Lead, zinc or copper are usually found with the "precious" metals. Many sapphires have been found on the Missouri River, but the deposits have not been developed commercially. Lewis and Clark County, the center of so much activity and intel- ligence, is naturally well supplied with educational institutions, public and sectarian. Besides good graded schools at Helena and in other parts of the county, there are consolidated high schools at the state capital and at Augusta, the leading town in the Sun River Valley. At Helena, there are also the Montana Wesleyan College, Methodist; Mount St. Charles College, Catholic; the Deaconess School for children, a Catholic high school and St. Vincent's academy, a girls' boarding school. WHAT THE CENSUS FIGURES SHOW The population figures given in the United States census for 1920 indicate that Lewis and Clark County, like most of the districts in Mon- tana which are not supported by a country productive of either good 'crops or live stock, has been almost stationary for the past ten years or has even deteriorated ; and, throughout the state, the rural population has been gaining on the urban. Of the larger cities, the only one which shows a notable increase for the decade 1910-20 is Great Falls, with its fine water-power. Lewis and Clark County has decreased in population during that period, from 21,853, to 18,660 while Helena herself has fallen off a few hundred, having 12,515 people in 1910, against 12,037 in 1920. The land area of Lewis and Clark County amounts to 2,206,080 acres, of which 754,135 acres are included in farm lands and 132,576 acres improved. The average acreage per farm, in 1920, was 882, and the average acreage of the improved farms, 155.1. The property represented by each farm averaged $20,887, and the land, per acre, $16.30. Of the 855 farms in the county, 698 were operated by their owners, the remain- der being operated by managers or tenants. All the domestic animals, or live stock, in Lewis and Clark County, were valued at $5,455,672 ; of which there were 7,607 horses, valued at $499,078; 33,422 cattle, worth $1,840,957; 72,874 sheep, valued at $753,- 593; 3-378 swine, $54,778; poultry 35,750, $38,141 ; dairy products, value $227,315; eggs and chickens, $113,224; wool produced, 725,508 pounds, valued at $357,902. The principal crops of the county were cereals, other grains and seeds, hay and forage, vegetables and fruits and nuts, and their total value was $1,391,325. Of this amount, the value of the cereals was $170,759; hay and forage, $957,502; vegetables, $261,651. Alfalfa is a good crop in the county, 14,616 acres being devoted to it and the product, 21,614 tons, while the 9,074 acres growing prairie or wild grasses raise 6,495 tons of tnat forage. Montana potatoes have a reputation through- out the United States for their size and "mealiness," minus the "core." Ravalli is the banner county in their production, and Lewis and Clark comes second, with its 1919-20 crop of 88.391 bushels. HISTORY OF MONTANA 751 As to the prevailing prices of farm lands and those particularly adapted to the raising of live stock, the State Department of Publicity (and Agriculture) estimates irrigated lands as varying from $75 to $200 an acre, non-irrigated farming lands from $15' to $50 an acre, and graz- ing lands from $7 to $12. WATER POWERS AND PUBLIC WAYS Montana, in common with all the advanced states of the Union looks upon her water-powers as most tangible sources of wealth, and engineers claim that the Missouri River in Lewis and Clark County furnishes about one fourth of the electrical energy generated in the entire state. The hydro-electric plants within the limits of the county the Holter, Hauser Lake and Canyon Ferry generate about 65,500 kilowatts of electrical power. This electrical energy, generated from great dams on the Mis- souri Rivers, three of which are located near Helena, supplies power not only to the mining region but to the cities and towns of the county, and especially to the diverse forms of manufactures found in the capital. Helena is the center of a fine system of railroads and highways, radiating to the Yellowstone Park, via Bozeman and Livingston; to Glacier Park, on the far northwestern border of the state; and to Butte, Missoula and Great Falls, representing shorter spokes of the wheel of conveniences and attractions which pivots on the state capital. The main line of the Northern Pacific traverses the southern portion of the county, the Havre-Butte branch of the Great Northern runs through it north and south, and the latter has also a spur from Great Falls which taps the Sun River Valley. The Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railroad has projected a line through the county from Great Falls to Missoula, which will add to the facilities furnished by the Northern Pacific and Great Northern, which are now chiefly relied upon by res- idents of Lewis and Clark for outside connections by rail. On the other hand, a number of automobile lines are in operation. In summer, a 40O-mile auto stage is crowded with tourists enjoying the wonderful scenery from the Yellowstone to Glacier park, with the hospitality of the half-way station on the Geysers-to-Glacier Motor Trail, at Helena. The season of sight-seeing usually commences June 2Oth. On the outskirts of Helena is one of the finest tourists' hotels in America, known as the Broadwater. One of its unique attractions is the largest covered hot water plunge in the world, the contents of which are renewed by ever- flowing hot springs. Near by is Fort Harrison, recently converted into a United States Public Health Service hospital. To be precise, Helena is 187 miles from Gardiner, the entrance to Yellowstone Park, and 197 miles from the southern limits of Glacier National Park, at Highgate, and the Geysers-to-Glaciers trail, or motor highway, which connects these wonderful public, grounds of the nation, is believed -to represent the most wonderful and varied scenic highway in America. In May, 1919, the late Franklin K. Lane, secretary of the interior, designated this trail as the approved government road binding 752 HISTORY OF MONTANA the two great national parks, one of which is entirely within the limits of Montana, and the other, although overlapping its territory but a few miles, identified with it by many historic associations. There are fully 1,200 miles of good auto roads in Lewis and Clark County, and many excellent trails or bridle paths for those intent on more intimate explorations of the picturesque surrounding country than are afforded by the highways, or for those who prefer to wander afield in search of game. For the benefit of such A. H. Abbott, supervisor of the Helena National Forest, has issued a map and descriptive guide showing saddle horse and fishing trips within and near that preserve ; and the excursions of that nature most desirable are in the region indicated, southwest of Helena. PICTURESQUE EXCURSIONS Many of the trails, away from the auto highways now taken by pleasure seekers in the Helena region, were laid out years ago by prospec- tors and miners, which fact makes them interesting of themselves, irre- spective of the charming, historical and picturesque country through which they lead. A large mileage of the trails is maintained by the United States Forest Service for use in the administration of the forests and in their protection from fire. One of the most popular trips is that which leads west and south of Helena to Nelson gulch, where the largest gold nugget in the world was found, and thence beyond Ten Mile Creek to Grizzly and Oro Fino Gulches. This excursion of seventeen miles takes one along the placer diggings of the Helena district. A longer trip, farther to the south, is up the famous Colorado gulch and over the divide to the head of Travis Creek, and thence to the great Chessman reservoir, the source of the city's water supply, and return. There is also a trail north of the res- ervoir which leads to Colorado Mountain, from the top of which is obtained a splendid view of the Elkhorn and the Beg Belt Mountains and the Valley of the Prickly Pear north of Helena. The scenery along the route to and from Colorado Mountain is beautiful, and as there is an excellent spring near the summit of the elevation it is a favorite locality for large parties of excursionists. An interesting and charming western excursion is through McDonald pass, over the continental divide to the Little Blackfoot River, the waters of which mingle with the Columbia River system the return being by way of Whiskey Creek. One of the longest trips in the county, and one of the most fascinat- ing, is that taken along the Black Mountain trail. One can go to Marys- ville, northwest of Helena on the Northern Pacific railway, and thence take saddle horses southwesterly to Spring Gulch Ranger station, almost on top of the continental divide, where the trail properly begins. To reach the top of Black 'Mountain, which has an elevation of between 8,000 and 9,000 feet, the tourist follows the old stake road westerly for a distance of six and a half miles and thence northwesterly about half that distance. From the top of the mountain one can see the Anaconda Tol. 148 754 HISTORY OF MONTANA smelter nearly fifty miles to the southwest and, on a clear day, it is said that the outlines of the Canadian mountains may be traced some 150 miles due north. On the south side of the mountain about half way down, there is a crystal cave, the bottom of which has never been fully explored. Three miles below Black Mountain in a southwesterly direction is the remainder of what was, in the early days, one of the richest placer veins in Montana, now called the Ophir. The* schoolhouse still stands where William A. Clark taught school in 1862. The old stage road, now a section of the Black Mountain trail, is a portion of the early-day stage route which ran from Salt Lake City to Fort Benton. Another trip which carries one back to the days when the Helena district was rich in gold production may be taken by auto in a comfort- able day's journey. It bears toward the southeast up the valley of the Missouri and ends at the little hamlet of Canton, standing upon the site of the old mining town of Diamond City. The famous Confederate gulch made the city, which once boasted some 800 people and was the county seat of Meagher County. The gulch was first prospected in the early '6os, and a conservative estimate places its production at $75,000,000. If one is interested in fishing, a number of streams around Helena afford excellent sport. The headwaters of the Little Blackfoot River offer brook trout and white fish, largely through the forethought of the good sportsmen of Elliston who have put new stock into the stream. On the eastern side of the divide, there is good fishing in the Little Prickly Pear, in Ten Mile, Trout and Beaver Creeks, and other streams within auto distance of Helena. An evidence of the interest taken in hunting and fishing is the status of the Lewis and Clark Rod and Gun Club, which has a membership of 600. A WONDERFUL TRIP SUGGESTED For the benefit of those who would enjoy the wonderful Montana out- of-doors to the limit, the Rod and Gun Club suggests a motor and fishing trip of a hundred miles, outside the area of the Helena National Forest, which embraces imposing stretches of country south and southwest of the capital, and a great tract east of the Missouri River to the Big Belt Mountains. The suggestion for a full day's trip has the Big Blackfoot country as the objective, and is this: Leaving Helena, take the Silver road to 14-mile post, thence due west up Canyon to Virginia Creek, with its remains of the old placer diggings and its present-day good fishing grounds. The next point of interest is the old mining camp of Stemple, situated almost on the ridge of the continental divide, and then you drop down into McClellan Gulch, on the western slope, to Poorman's Creek and the big trees of the Blackfoot. You are now in the heart of the best fishing country in the West. Native trout, bull trout and white fish especially abound in the Big Blackfoot River and Keep Cool, Beaver and Little Spring Creeks. Lincoln, in the far western part of the county and on the south fork of the Big Blackfoot, has a hotel, a store, supplies and other accommodations. The return is usually by way of Flesher and HISTORY OF MONTANA 755 Canyon Creek. The spokesman for the Rod and Gun Club says: "The roads are perfect. So is the fishing, if you are a fisherman." - CITY OF HELENA ITSELF The main body of the city of Helena lies at the foot of an imposing mount to which its name is given, and, with its growth, its outlying dis- tricts have straggled along the foothills of the Rockies in the near back- ground. Although a city of little more than 12,000 people, it presents an elegant appearance, which, added to its picturesque site near the many- hued masses of the Rocky Mountains, endows it with such unexaggerated christenings as the "Queen City of the Rockies" and the "City of the Golden Glow." The latter title is fairly earned in the early glow of the setting sun, during early spring or late fall, before the verdure of the summer months has invaded the yellow grass lands of the valley of the Prickly Pear, or the early snows have mottled its goldeiv stubble. Then the golden glow not only spreads over the tops of the Rockies and is reflected over the gemlike city, but turns the valley lands stretching to its feet into sheets of light silvery yellow. In the southern fringe of the city, beyond the peak of Mount Helena, is the massive yet elegant cap- itol, and farther east the two substantial red brick buildings of the Mon- tana Wesleyan College and the imposing depot of the Northern Pacific railroad. At the summit of one of the foothills, over which climbs one of the city's streets, is the large building which stands for the St. Vincent's academy (Catholic), and several blocks to the east on lower ground, but still overlooking the business section of Helena, is the Helena Cathe- dral, a majestic structure with two spires which represents the Catholic diocese of Helena having a membership of 3,000. On an opposite height of the valley in which rest most of the business houses of the city rises the Algerian Temple, a splendid structure of ornate oriental architecture, characterized by its delicate and graceful minaret bearing aloft the Crescent. The Temple, one of the most noteworthy pieces of architec- ture in Montana, also evinces the strength of the Shriners in Helena. A stranger remarked not long ago when first viewing the beautiful city from one of the surrounding heights : "Helena is unique in several ways, and in none more strikingly than in the physical opposition, on these noble city heights, of the Cross and the Crescent." Within a city block is the handsome depot of the Great Northern railroad, and on its line, not far distant to the north, is Mount St. Charles college for boys, which was opened as late as 1911. These are but a few of the many institutions of a religious and an educational, as well as of a charitable and benevolent nature, which makes Helena a powerful center for higher activities. Its twenty churches represent all the strong religious beliefs. A dozen well managed public schools enroll more than 2,000 pupils, and, besides the colleges and academies mentioned, are several Catholic and Lutheran parochial schools and two training schools for nurses. The latter are connected with St. 00 J5 Id 2 w. ffi HISTORY OF MONTANA 757 John's Catholic hospital and St. Peter's hospital (Episcopal). The County hospital is two and a half miles north of the city. Both the Odd Fellows and the Masons have homes the former, four miles northwest and the latter, seven miles north. The Florence Crittenden Home and the House of the Good Shepherd are located at Kenwood, one of Helena's suburbs. The latest of the public institutions of an educational and re- formatory character to become located in the Helena district is the State Vocational School for Girls. Dr. Maria L. Dean, backed by the Federated Women's clubs of 'Montana, originated the movement which is designed to provide both a school and a home for delinquent girls. Dr. Dean died before the Legislature passed the bill establishing it in April, 1919. The site of the institution is seven and a half miles north of Helena, on a two hundred and forty acre ranch, and one unit (a cot- tage) of the proposed buildings has been built, capable of accommodating thirty girls. HELENA PUBLIC LIBRARY Among the uplifting forces which have been operating for many years are the Helena Public library and the State Historical library. The Helena Public library is the oldest of its kind in Montana, founded four years after the close of the Civil war in 1868. In addition to its age it is, perhaps, the most important library in the state, in many respects, having a splendid Montana collection, second only to that of the State Historical Society library ; a large reference library of valuable bound magazines and government documents of very early date. The history of the library may be divided into three periods, namely its foundation as a library association in 1868, next the change to a free public library in 1886, and lastly, the time of expansion to its present quar- ters, from 1892 to the present. In the autumn of 1868, Judge Cornelius Hedges, Col. Wilbur F. San- ders, J. W. Whitlach and Ben Stickney, Jr., composed a committee to solicit subscriptions during which time Judge Hedges, who was chairman of another committee to draft a constitution, worked up the organization side of what was later to be known as the Helena Library Association. James King was elected first president, Judge Hedges, vice president and T. L. Douglas, secretary. The library was installed in the first floor of the Whitlach Building and Ben R. Dittes was appointed first librarian. In 1870 Judge Hedges was chosen president and the Library Asso- ciation moved to new quarters, in a stone and brick building owned by Holter and Hedges, on upper Main Street, West Side, second and third lots above Wall Street, and reopened January i, 1870. This year also marked a change of librarians, W. A. Hedges being appointed to this position. On his resignation a year later, Robert H. Wilson was given this position which he held until the disastrous fire of 1874. Col Wilbur F. Sanders had only succeeded Judge Hedges as pres- ident, when on January 9. 1874. that historic fire totally destroyed the library, which had about 2.500 books, together with all its important 758 HISTORY OF MONTANA record books containing its history for the first four years. The library association had many friends besides those mentioned but, unfortunately, the original list of subscribers is supposed to have shared the fate of the other library records in the fire. The pioneers, undaunted, called a meeting of the directors and some few months later, August 24, 1874, the library association began anew, with that ever stanch friend, Judge Hedges, again as president. The pioneer figure of Judge Hedges was interwoven with the history of the library from its inception to his death, April 29, 1907, thirty-eight years later; furthermore, during all these years his hearty interest and services increased in behalf of the library as an institution. At the time of the reorganization of the library, George M. Woods served as librarian until his resignation the following November 2, 1874, when Miss Lou Guthrie succeeded him. Miss Guthrie was the last librarian of the Helena Library Association. A. J. Smith became pres- ident in 1877 and Hon. D. S. Wade in 1878. The value of a library having been demonstrated, the people by popular vote demanded and obtained a library maintained by the city with one-half mill tax, and under city ordinance No. 79, organized a Free Public Library May 8, 1886. The Helena Library Association turned over 2,000 books to the newly organized Free Public Library, which reopened August 7, 1886 in the Murphy Block with the first trustees appointed May 8, 1886 W. E. Cullen, president ; H. M. Parchen, Cornelius Hedges, S. C. Ashby, S. H. Crounse and R. H. Howey. Charles H. Snell was elected first librarian (1886), and in 1888 was succeeded by Leslie Sulgrove, who held the position for several years ; upon his resignation in 1892, Frank C. Patten, a graduate of the New York State Library School at Albany and a librarian of many years' experience, became librarian. At this time the library occupied the second floor of the Ashby Building, now known as the location of "Sanden and Ferguson" store. The third and present era was one of expansion, beginning in 1892 under the able librarianship of Mr. Patten, when the library moved into a larger and better permanent home in the new building adjacent to the auditorium. At this time there were less than 9,000 volumes, but so rapid was the increase that there were 16,000 books in 1896. Because of the increased usefulness and larger number of books, it became necessary to remodel the basement floor and add extra space to the library build- ing during April, 1897. On May 22, 1897, the library reopened for business. The library remains housed in the same building, at present writing (1921), but there is a decided need for a new building that would more adequately meet the present needs. There are now over 60,000 volumes including the bound magazines and bound government documents, be- sides the usual picture and clipping collection, bird and mineral museum. In addition to serving the general public, the library is functioning some- what, as an educational library, for Helena is forging ahead as an im- portant educational center. The Helena Public Library serves the & ffi r 2 760 HISTORY OF MONTANA public and high schools, Mount St. Charles College, Montana Wesleyan University, Deaconess School, and other private schools. This January (1921), the library received one and one-half mill tax, which was a -three- quarter mill increase voted at spring election, in April, 1920. As for the previous seven years, the library had been greatly hampered by a lack of funds and this crisis was passed only by the careful administration of the present Board of Trustees whose names follow : Fred S. Sanden, president ; Judge A. J. Horsky, vice president ; Mrs. F. J. Lange, treas- urer; Rev. James F. McNamee, secretary; Dr. .O. M. Lanstrum, Mrs. C. B. Nolan, Mayor John Dryburgh (City Council member). The following is a list of presidents of the Board of Trustees and librarians, with the dates of their taking office from establishment of Library Association to the present writing in 1921 : PRESIDENTS LIBRARIANS 1868 James King. Elected Dec. 5, 1868. 1870 Cornelius Hedges. Elected Dec. 1 8, 1870. 1874 Col. Wilbur F. Sanders. (January, time of fire.) 1874 (August) Cornelius Hedges. 1877 A. J- Smith. (Col.) 18780. S. Wade. HELENA PUBLIC LIBRARY 1886 1886 W. E. Cullen. 18870. S. Wade. 1893 Cornelius Hedges. 1907 T. J. Walsh. 1913 Rev. N. H. Burdick. 1914- 1921 Fred S. Sanden. ! 868 Ben R. Dittes. 1870 W. A*. Hedges. 1871 Robert H. Wilson (until total destruction of library by fire in 1874). 1 874 ( Reorganized August 24. ) George M. Woods. 1874 (Nov. 2.) Miss Lou Guth- rie. 1878 Miss Lou Guthrie. 1880 Miss Lou Guthrie. 1886 Charles H. Snell. 1888 Leslie Sulgrove. 1892 Frank C. Patten. 1899 Mary C. Gardner. 1903 Marguerita Bowden. 1908 Nina McKenna. 1910- 1921 Josephine M. Haley. STATE HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS The State Historical Library has a large collection of books relating to Montana, and a remarkably complete file of newspapers covering the main publications of the state. Its classified collection of photographs, bearing upon all phases of Montana's history, is also noteworthy, and its museum of Indian curios, natural history and minerals, with gallery of paintings and other portraits of historical characters, makes the quarters of the State Historical Society in the basement of the capitol an in- valuable resort for everyone interested in any feature of Montana's de- velopment, past, present or future. The State Bar Association also con- trols a professional library which was developed into one of the best in the new Western states. The Young Men's Christian Association has a large building and a growing body of workers in Helena, and the Young Women's Christian Association is well provided with conveniences and comforts. HISTORY OF MONTANA 761 The two organizations which have supplied the greatest impetus to the progress of Helena, along the paths of material advancement, are the Montana Club, one of the oldest, richest and most influential bodies of the kind in the Northwest and the Helena Commercial Club. The latter which is an outgrowth of the Helena Business Men's Association, was organized in 1897, and during the twenty-four years of its life has had seven presidents: N. Kessler/F. S. P. Lindsay, Sherwood Wheaton T. C. Powers, N. B. Holter, H. G. Pickett (1906-1918), and George L. Ramsay. The secretary-treasurers have been E. W. Fiske, L. W. Heath . A. Macrum, C. H. Boynton, W. T. Hull, and C. A. Mead. L. M! Rheem and E. W. Prosser then served as secretary and treasurer, re- spectively, for a number of years, and since 1919 M. Max Goodsill has been secretary-manager and E. W. Prosser, treasurer. In May, 1921, the membership of the club was divided as follows: Men's division, IJ47; Women's division, 133; Junior Commercial Club, 955. Total membership, 2,235. In every modern city, like Helena, its newspapers always stand in the van of its promotional forces; and the dailies of the capital, the Record-Herald and the Independent, are "live wires" in that regard. It is said that Helena is the richest city of its size in the United States, and that its bank assets alone amount to more than $1,000 per capita. Its people of means are public-spirited and patriotic. The World's War proved that; for Lewis and Clark county, with but two per cent of the state's population, subscribed ten per cent of Montana's Liberty bonds. Helena's five banks, the two transcontinental lines which accommodate the city and the three great power dams near it make it a natural industrial and distributing center. It is said to be one of the most stable labor markets in the West. Helena is a distributing head- quarters of such famous industries as the International Harvester Com- pany, Studebaker Corporation and the American Tobacco Company, and its factories include plants of the National Biscuit Company, Western Clay Manufacturing Company, Caird Engineering Works, B. E. Mathews Fixture Company, Reinig Coffee Mills, Northwestern Milling Com- pany and the C. T. Perry Soap Works. Helena is the division telephone office for Montana and Northern Wyoming, with 150 employes. The city is the home of the largest greenhouse and nursery between the Twin Cities and the Pacific Coast (State Nursery and Seed Company) and is the headquarters of the Montana State Fair. The annual fair, which is an event of importance even outside the state, is held in Sep- tember, the large grounds and substantial exhibition buildings being just outside Helena. Further, the state capital is headquarters of internal revenue for the district of Montana. Idaho and Utah, and United States Government assay office is located at Helena, in a large separate building. MINING, SMELTING AND ORE TESTING The exciting and productive days of gold mining in the Helena mining region are probably a feature of the past, but with the prevailing 762 HISTORY OF MONTANA high prices of silver many of the old silver-lead properties are being profitably reopened and not a few new mines are being opened. Mineral geologists and practical experts claim that the region comprises the most varied deposits of gold, silver, lead, copper and zinc of any area of equal extent in the West, and it is not beyond the scope of the prob- able that silver and some of the other precious metals may revive the productiveness of 1833-93, when the Helena mines produced nearly $200,000,000, for their owners. TYPICAL MINES IN THE HELENA REGION Conditions for the development of the mining industries of the Helena district are now far more favorable than they were in the '8os, or even the '905. Electric transmission lines traverse it in all directions and, as one experienced operator put it, "it is a difficult thing to get as far as three miles away from a power line." Helena is also conveniently located with respect to productive coal fields and lumber mills, where quick service on mine necessities is readily available. Through the Nor- thern Pacific and Great Northern, with their branches, and the good roads of the district, not only railroad cars but motor trucks are readily avail- able for the transportation of the ore or more finished products of the mines. Not only are these advantages to be advanced over those of an earlier HISTORY OF MONTANA 763 period, but Helena has become a smelting, milling and testing center of prominence. The Helena Commercial Club issued a booklet, in 1920, containing a valuable fund of information which sets forth the strong points of this phase of regional development, and upon that authority the writer bases many of the statements which follow and which have already been made. At East Helena is located the American Smelting and Refining Com- pany, operating the only lead smelter in Montana and treating ores of all kinds produced in the region tributary to the state capital. Under nor- mal conditions, the plant employs between four and five hundred men, with a payroll of $50,000 a month. The great smelter, which was started in 1888, treats custom ores exclusively and purchases lead, silver and gold ores. The plant is able to handle all the Montana lead ores, besides a considerable tonnage from the Coeur d'Alene District in Idaho. Its elec- tric power comes from the Canyon Ferry Dam, twelve miles east on the Missouri River. The plant comprises four large blast furnaces for smelting, with a total capacity of from 800 to 900 tons daily. Mines in the Helena region also have convenient access to the copper smelter at Anaconda, one hundred miles distant by rail from Helena. Helena has the important advantage of possessing the New York- Montana Testing and Engineering Company. It operates the only plant of the kind in the Northwest, where ores are treated in carloads. The company offers not only engineering and testing service to the mining men of the Helena District, but treats complex ores and ores of low grade for direct smelting. The plant has been in operation for three years, during which it has treated and tested ores from all over the state. During a portion of that period it has produced some of the highest grade man- ganese in the country. The plant has a completely equipped laboratory for the testing of small samples, both as to their feasibility for milling and smelting and also as a guide for treatment. Ores are tested free of charge for prospective shippers. Another advantage Helena offers to the miner of today is her roster of experienced assayers and mining engineers, both those operating in a private capacity and those connected with the United States Assay Office. The government office at Helena is one of five of a national character, the other four being located at Deadwood, South Dakota ; Seattle, Washington; Boise, Idaho; and Salt Lake City, Utah. In 1919 the business transacted at the Helena office ($835,644) was exceeded only by the receipts of the Seattle office. These offices were established, primarily, to afford the miner a ready market for his product, and as a means whereby the Government could secure gold and silver for coin- age purposes. The Helena office purchases bullion to the amount of about $1,000,000 annually. It may be deposited in any quantity and is usually paid for the second day after receipt. This is of special advantage to the small operator and to the concern trying out a plant or opening new ground, where test runs are made upon which quick returns are desired. The A MINING CAMP NEAR HELENA ONE OF HELENA'S BUSY MINES HISTORY OF MONTANA 765 saving in time and the cost of transportation to the nearest mint is in some cases of vital importance. When bullion is deposited, it is melted and assayed, dnd a Govern- ment check drawn to the depositor for the net proceeds. The gold con- tained is paid for at the regular price of $20.671 per fine ounce, and the silver at the market price. The Government makes only such charges as are estimated to be necessary to fit the bullion for coinage. They are the same at all federal mints and assay offices, as follows: $i for melt- ing, 21-2 cents per ounce for the amount of copper required for alloy, and a refining charge depending upon the weight and fineness, averag- ing 4 cents per ounce of bullion. In the case of refractory bullion, an extra charge may be made to cover the additional cost. Each check in payment for a deposit is accompanied by a report showing the weight received, weight after melting, gold or silver fineness and value, silver price, charges and net value. It is not necessary for Helena miners, as in some districts, to carry large stocks of tools, machinery and other equipment, as there are exten- sive hardware stores and distributing houses in the city to furnish all needed supplies, as well as engineering works and foundries to manufac- ture and repair all kinds of mining and milling machinery. Helena is the headquarters of the Montana Mining Association, the state organization of mining men formed to advance and protect the in- dustry, and to furnish practical information relating to all the mineral districts of the state for the benefit of investors and investigators. Which is an additional fact tending to establish the Helena District as pre-eminent in the mining development of Montana. MINERAL PRODUCTION OF THE HELENA REGION Various estimates have been made of the total production of the Helena Mining Region, as the district is officially designated. The latest figures to be prepared by the United States Geographical Survey (Bulletin 527) are as follows: Last Chance Gulch $35,000,000 Whitlatch Mine 6,000,000 Big Indian , 1 10,000 King Solomon 100,000 Little Nell 400.000 Alta 32,000,000 Blizzard 150,000 Blue Bird 250,000 Comet 13,000.000 Gregory 8,000,000 Minah 2.000,000 Ruby 1,250,000 Drumlummon 15,000,000 766 HISTORY OF MONTANA Later figures, compiled by L. S. Ropes, a well known mining engi- neer of the region, shows the approximate production of the Helena min- ing territory by districts. The estimates are substantially up to date, and are as follows : Unionville $ 4,110,000 Scratch Gravel 992,000 Grass Valley 495,000 Montana City 343,ooo Rimini 6,200,000 Porphyry Dike 1,525,000 Marysville 57,140,000 Elliston . 470,000 Clancy 655,000 Lump Gulch 2,500,000 Warm Spring Creek 805,000 Maupin 228,000 Wickes-Corbin 57,915,000 Basin 6,635,000 Elkhorn 15,215,000 Canyon Ferry 815,000 Winston 3,560,000 Indian Creek 265,000 Park 247,000 Radersburg 3,200,000 Placers in the Helena Region have recorded the following produc- tions : City of Helena $32,625,000 Marysville 3,200,000 Montana City 18,000,000 Maupin 50,000 Engineers have not been able to secure reliable data upon which to base figures on the riches also removed from placers in the Blackfoot, Elkhorn, Clancy, Basin and Boulder districts of the Helena Region. Great fortunes have been taken from the mountains and streams of Helena and vicinity, "and yet," as prophesied by a practical writer, "the stores of wealth have been but slightly tapped." It seems probable that the revival of the silver industry will start a swelling stream of wealth toward the already prosperous "Queen City of the Rockies," or "City of the Golden Glow." CHAPTER XXXII LIBERTY, LINCOLN, MADISON, McCONE, MEAGHER MINERAL Liberty County, politically created February n, 1920, and therefore one of the newest counties in Montana, is situated in the north central portion of the state, and is a county possessing many attractions for the ambitious farmer. Its land area of 1,458 square miles is contained within a somewhat elongated parallelogram, having a length north and south of sixty miles and a width east and west of twenty-four miles. Its northern boundary is the Canadian Province of Alberta. STATUS OF LIBERTY COUNTY The surface of Liberty County is in general level or slightly rolling, the more elevated portion being included within the region of the Sweet Grass Hills in the northern part, a region attractive to tourists by rea- son of its pleasing scenery and its good natural facilities for hunting and fishing. Even in that region fifty per cent of the land is tillable, while the cultivable land in the county amounts to about ninety per cent of its entire area, an exceptionally high aggregate. The drainage and water supply of the county are especially good, and are furnished by a number of streams the most important of which are Maria's River, Eagle Creek, Willow Creek, Cottonwood Creek and Pondera Coulee. Though there is some irrigated land in the county, most of it is non- irrigated; yet under ordinary conditions it produces abundant and ex- cellent crops without the additional expense attached to artificial water- ing. Agriculture and stockraising are the chief industries, yet these are still in their infancy, and 40,000 acres of tillable land, well supplied with water, which is everywhere obtainable, can be purchased at prices vary- ing from $15 to $25 an acre, or, in the case of grazing land, as low as $10 an acre. Improved irrigated lands sell from $25 to $75 an acre. Wheat, oats and flax are raised successfully and in considerable quantities, as also are garden vegetables, while sunflowers are raised for silage purposes. The timber in the county is confined almost entirely to the cottonwood along the streams. Liberty County possesses other resources which may in time be de- veloped into valuable commercial assets. Coal exists in considerable quan- tities, while among the lesser mineral deposits are gold, silver, lead and marble. The discovery of oil and gas are among the possibilities of the future. No commercial development of the mineral deposits has yet taken place, but their existence spells opportunity for those who are able to grasp it. In the meanwhile the land, the climate, with its growing season of 101 767 768 HISTORY OF MONTANA days, and the convenient markets and shipping points found in neigh- boring towns guarantee to the active and capable farmer the practical cer- tainty of a good livelihood with gradually increasing wealth. Transpor- tation facilities are supplied by the main line of the Great Northern Rail- way, which crosses the county east and west, and the Roosevelt Memorial Highway, running parallel with the railroad. The rural dweller in any part of the county can find a town or village at no great distance wherein to obtain supplies or market a part of his produce. Chester, the county seat, which has an altitude of 3,132 feet above the sea level, is the most important town in the county. It is situ- ated on the Great Northern Railway and has good banking and mercantile facilities. Among its more important institutions is a high school ac- credited for the two years course. Its citizens 'are up-to-date and disposed to aid one another in securing for the community a place in the vanguard of progress. A first-class hotel would be a valuable addition to local improvements and would doubtless be well patronized. Joplin and Lothair are also growing communities on the railroad, while Whitlash, Alma and Laird are important inland towns. A good foundation has been laid for the education of youth in the forty-six schools now established in the county, and the extension of school facilities will take place in accordance with local needs. Such, in brief, is Liberty County, an integral portion of the great Northwest the land of opportunity a home for busy men and women with bright hopes and abundant promise for the future. LINCOLN COUNTY The varied resources of the great State of Montana are occasionally illustrated within the limits of a single county, where we may find exten- sive grazing lands, a rich agricultural soil, with timber and mineral wealth sufficient to make many substantial fortunes. Such a description well applies to Lincoln County, a political division of the state created July i, 1909, and containing the liberal land area of 3,660 square miles. Lincoln County is found in the northwest corner of Montana, British Columbia lying to the north and the State of Idaho on the west. It is a mountainous and well timbered region, most of which still preserves the original wildness oi nature. A considerable amount of good agricultural land may, however, be found in the valleys. The largest of these is the Tobacco Plains Valley in the northeastern part, which is virtually the only one clear of timber, and through which flows the Tobacco River, one of the principal streams. The Kootenai River, carrying a larger volume of water than the Missouri, traverses the county for a distance of 100 miles, entering from Canada and flowing southwards for more than half the length of the county and then taking a westerly direction until it passes into Idaho. Its valley is the longest in the county, but is narrow. In some places between the valleys and the mountains are found a series of benches which, when cleared, are tillable farm lands. Smaller valleys are found in connection with the numerous small creeks. In the valleys the soil is HISTORY OF MONTANA 76 9 usually deep and black, while on many of the benches it is a light red volcanic ash, frequently underlaid with gravel. A gray loam is found in places both m the valleys and on the benches. The larger portion of Lincoln County is covered by the mountains, which are high and densely ed. Grand and picturesque scenery is spread out in almost every SCENE IN LINCOLN COUNTY direction, and the opportunities for big game hunting and for fishing are such as to make the region a paradise for tourists and sportsmen. The wealth of timber is unusually great, and it is said that more of the area of Lincoln County is included within national forests than that of any other county. Within its limits is included the entire Kootenai Forest of 1,617,140 acres, also 398,666 acres of the Blackfeet and 8,371 acres of the Cabinet National Forests. The lumbering industry is ex- tensively carried on and here may be found some of the largest saw mills in the state. Vol. 149 770 HISTORY OF MONTANA Mining is another important industry, the ores and formations being similar to those of the Coeur d'Alene district of Idaho. Placer mining has been carried on for many years and certain large areas are said to be suitable for mining by hydraulic methods. The principal metals which have been successfully mined so far are silver and lead, but gold, zinc and copper are also found. Promising mining properties are now in process of development by several large concerns. The growing season for crops is estimated at from forty-six to ninety- seven days. The county is excellent for grass, clover and timothy in par- ticular, and many of the farmers give their chief attention to hay and the hardier vegetables. Various kinds of fruit are also grown success- fully, including apples, pears, plums, cherries, and in the Troy section peaches. Land costs from $10 to $100 an acre, the price depending upon the character of the ground, its location and the amount of clearing and other improvements effected. Railroad communication is furnished by the main line of the Northern Pacific, and a branch line running from Rexford to the Fernie coal fields in British Columbia. The National Park Highway runs through the county east and west, supplying good road facilities in that direction, while the Electric Highway, which begins in Southeastern Montana, has its present terminus in Lincoln County. LIBBY AND OTHER TOWNS In 1920 Lincoln County had a population of 7,797. Its most impor- tant town is Libby, the county seat, which has an altitude of 2,053 ^ eet above sea level. It is a modern community, with good sewer and light systems, cement walks, graded streets, substantial business blocks and handsome and commodious residences. It also has a good high school accredited for the four year term. Next in importance to Libby is Eureka, a city located in the Tobacco Plains section, which at present is the chief agricultural district. It rivals the county seat in municipal improvements and is the home of the county high school, which, like that at Libby, is accredited for the four years term and gives additional courses in agriculture and normal training. Troy and Warfield are also busy and prosperous centers of population. Lincoln County possesses many attractions for the ambitious and in- dustrious settler, especially to one having some capital. The falls of the Kootenai River, between Libby and Troy, are capable of being developed into a superb waterpower, there are great mining possibilities, and a number of opportunities for establishing profitable tourist resorts. Log- ging operations have left considerable areas of cut-over or stump lands which, when cleared, will produce abundant crops. While the land is being cleared expenses can be met and even a profit made by carrying on stockraising and dairying, the abundance of grass and clover affording excellent grazing. In such a country industry backed by intelligence brings its due reward, and the pioneer of today is likely before many HISTORY OF MONTANA 771 years have passed, to be numbered among its substantial and well to do citizens. MADISON COUNTY Madison County lies in Southwestern Montana and has a land area of 3,588 square miles. Its history dates back to the Civil War period, the early settlement of the region being due to the discovery of the placer gold at Alder Gulch, May 26, 1863. After that event the population increased so rapidly that in a short time county organization was found expedient and accordingly, on February 2, 1865, Madison County was created. The settlement established at the head of Alder Gulch, just below the spot where gold was first discovered, was named Virginia City. It was incorporated by a special act of the territorial legislature in the '6os and became the territorial capital. It lies on the west bank of the gulch, and about half way between its mouth and its source. The gulch is about ten miles in length and has been placer mined from end to end. Silver, copper and lead have been found in paying quantities, in addition to gold. During the past twenty years the ground that was mined in the '6os, from Virginia City to Ruby Valley in Alder Gulch, has been worked over by big dredges by the Conrey Placer Mining Company and a large amount of additional wealth secured. This company has kept from one to five of these dredges in operation, though only one is now in use, as nearly all the ground that could be worked at a profit in this manner has been ex- hausted. Two companies are engaged in quartz mining the Greenback Mining Company and the Barton Gilch Mining Company. These com- panies, which are managed by Mr. A. H. Jones, employ approximately sixty men, and each mill has a capacity of fifty tons a day. This region is marked by the rough but impressive scenery characteris- tic of the usual mining district. At the head of Alder Gulch stands Baldy Mountain, a considerable elevation with an extended summit constituting a geological ridge or backbone. Stretching away from it in a more or less irregular course, may be seen the gulch or narrow valley, its steep sides here and there forest-clad, but in many places devoid of vegetation and possessing interest chiefly for the geologist or miner. Similar scenes may be seen in other parts of the county, the chief mining districts, aside from Virginia City, being found near Twin Bridges, Rochester, Sheridan, Pony, Norris and Red Bluff. The mountainous districts of Madison County occupy more than half its surface, and between the mountain ranges are some very good valleys in which agriculture and stock raising can be carried on successfully. North and south through the middle of the county, between the watersheds of the Madison and Jefferson rivers, stretches the Tobacco Root Range. Farther to the east is the Madison Range, while the Snow Crest, the Ruby and the McCarty ranges are found near the western side. The Madison and Jefferson rivers have cut out deep valleys connecting with those of their numerous tributaries on either side. The other important streams are the Beaverhead, Ruby, Big Hole and South Boulder rivers, each with its tributaries issuing from mountain sources, and providing 772 HISTORY OF MONTANA a water supply probably equal to that of any county in the state. Between the mountain ranges and the valleys are benches and low lying foot hills, where some non-irrigated farming is practiced, though they are chiefly used for grazing purposes. On Madison River are two hydro-electric plants operated by the Montana Power Company and having a combined installed capacity of 12,000 kilowatts. The company has also two storage reservoirs on this stream covering 17,430 acres, with a combined storage capacity of 14,915,000,000 cubic feet. The abundance of beautiful scenery in Madison County with the fine hunting and fishing, make it an attractive region to sportsmen, who come from all parts of the United States to fish on Madison River. Irrigated land in the valleys is worth from $40 to $125 an acre; grazing and non- irrigated land from $5 to $40 an acre. The Northern Pacific Railway has two branch lines in the county, one running from Whitehall to Alder through the Jefferson and Ruby valleys and the other from Sappington to Norris and Pony through "the Madison Valley. The Vigilante Trail, a highway of great historical interest, and now a state road, connects with all transcontinental highways. It branches off from what is known as the Yellowstone Trail at Cedar Point, about twenty miles east of Butte, thence takes a general southerly direction through the old town of Silver Star, Iron Rod, Twin Bridges, Sheridan, Ruby, Virginia City, from which place it passes over the range into the Madison Valley to Ennis, and thence up the valley to Yellowstone on the west boundary of the Yellow- stone Park. This trail is being greatly improved for travel and today work is progressing on a hard surface road leading from Virginia City over the mountains fourteen miles to Ennis. Along this road and in other parts of the county are still standing log buildings of historical interest, some of them .associated with tragical occurrences of early days. VIRGINIA CITY OF TODAY Virginia City, the county seat of Madison County, has an altitude above sea level of 5,822 feet. Its present population is about 500. As pre- viously mentioned, its incorporation dates back to the '6os. It is divided into three wards and has a mayor and six councilmen. Business and commercial enterprises are up-to-date and thriving. The Elling State Bank has a capital of $50,000, a surplus of $50,000 and total deposits of approximately $600,000. The Madison State Bank has a capital of $50,000, a surplus of the same amount and total deposits of approximately $300,000. The mercantile establishments are those of J. Albright, cloth- ing; Buford Mercantile Co., groceries and hardware; R. Vickes, dry goods, and C. W. Rank, druggist. The Anaconda Hotel and the Virginia City Hotel afford good accommodations for the traveling public, and the Virginia Garage is well established in its line of business. The medical profession is worthily represented by Drs. L. F. Molleur and L. C. LeClar, and the legal by M. M. Duncan, one of the old residents and practicing lawyers of Montana, George R. Allen, L. H. Bennett, H. P. Beckett and E. P. Reid. HISTORY 'OF MONTANA 773 Virginia City is supplied with water by the Virginia City Water Com- pany, owned by Mrs. Sallie Bickford, a colored lady who has resided here for upward of fifty years. The water is derived from springs lying immediately above the town. During the last two years or so Col. Wil- liam Boyce Thompson of New York, who was born in Virginia City, has had under process of construction here a fine library building to be known as the Thompson-Hickman Library, which he proposes to turn over to the town this summer (1921), and which will be an important addition to local institutions. One room of the library building will be devoted to FIRST BANK IN MONTANA, VIRGINIA CITY a collection of interesting relics connected with the history of this region, which the citizens have collected during the last few years and which are now on exhibition in a small building. Virginia City was the cradle of Masonry in Montana, and there are now two lodges located here, Virginia City Lodge No. i, and Montana Lodge No. 2. It is also the home of Virginia City Chapter No. I, Vir- ginia City Commandery No. i, and a chapter of the Eastern Star.^ Vir- ginia City has the unique distinction of being the smallest town in the United States to have an Elk lodge. It is known as Oro' y Plata Lodge, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, No. 390. The oldest resident of the town is Robert Vickers, proprietor ^ of the clothing store previously mentioned, who came here in the spring of 1865 and is now about ninety-two years old. There are few of the old t u e a w u o D O 3 o HISTORY OF MONTANA 775 historic structures still standing. Among those which are may be men- tioned the building in which the five road agents were hung on January 14, 1864; the Gilbert Brewery, which was, it is believed, the first brewery -constructed in Montana; the building in which the Montana Post was published, and a portion of the building in which the territorial officers had their office when Virginia City was the capital. OTHER MADISON COUNTY TOWNS Among the other important towns of Madison County are: Twin Bridges, a busy commercial center and stock shipping point at the junction of the Beaverhead and Jefferson valleys ; Sheridan, situated in the Ruby Valley, surrounded by rich farm lands, and which is one the chief stock shipping and mining centers ; Ennis, a distributing center in the midst of a stock growing section in the Upper Madison Valley; and Pony and Harrison in the Lower Madison Valley, which are trading points for a wide area. The State Orphans' Home is located at Twin Bridges. SCHOOLS AND GENERAL FEATURES Madison County possesses an excellent school system, the result of many years of careful supervision. Besides the rural schools of the country districts, there are good graded schools in the chief community centers, and five high schools, one each at Virginia City, Sheridan and Pony, each accredited for the four years term ; one at Twin Bridges accred- ited for three years, and one at Ennis, accredited for the one year term. The county presents special opportunities for the development of the tourist business, stock growing, farming and mining. The crops which have been most successfully grown in Madison County are alfalfa, clover, timothy, wheat, oats, barley, rye and potatoes. Potatoes raised in the county have won numerous prizes at state and national expositions." The Jefferson Valley in particular has become noted. as a potato district. McCoNE COUNTY McCone County, situated in Northwestern Montana, with the Missouri River for its northern boundary, is emphatically a land of present oppor- tunity, due, paradoxical as it may seem, to the lack of that convenience considered nowadays as most indispensable to progress rail communica- tion. There is at present not a mile of railroad within the county, though it contains several good towns and a number of promising villages ; yet so rich is the land and so suitable for farming and grazing that many settlers have been already attracted and in 1920 the population was 4,747. Its boundaries had been defined and county government established April, 1919. Its land area is 2,740 square miles. The surface of McCone County is for the most part rolling and is interspersed with many attractive and fertile valleys. The soil is a choco- late loam richly clothed with native grasses. Though there are no com- 776 HISTORY OF MONTANA mercial stands of timber, cotton wood and ash are found along the streams. The water supply is adequate and for the most part reliable. The eastern part of the county is drained by the Redwater River, while a number of smaller streams empty into the Missouri on the north and Dry Creek on the west. Lignite coal has been discovered in various places and the dis- covery of oil and gas is a possibility of the future. The natural advantages of the region, modified by the lack of rail communication, caused the first settlers to take up stock raising as the most convenient and remunerative occupation, and it has since continued to hold first place, though of late, with the favorable soil and a growing season of in to 125 days, general farming has made good progress and is likely to become the leading occupation in the future. All that is nec- essary to stimulate the latter industry is the construction of a railroad through the county giving access to profitable markets, and this improve- ment will doubtless eventuate at no distant date, as the Great Northern has surveyed a main line through the county, which has been completed save for a gap of about 150 miles, the temporary suspension of work being due to the prevailing tightness of the money market. With im- proved financial conditions the closing of the gap is a practical certainty and will mark the beginning of a new era in this region. The long hauls necessary to reach a railroad cause land to be cheaper in McCone County than in most other parts of the state, and have at the same time delayed heavy settlement, less than half of the tillable area of the county being now under cultivation. The average annual precipitation is greater in McCone than in most of the Eastern Montana counties, and therefore non-irrigated farming is the general rule, though there is a small quantity of irrigated land. Corn of excellent quality is easily raised and the acreage devoted to it has been for some time steadily expanding. Other profitable crops are wheat, oats, barley, rye, alfalfa and garden produce. The county possesses good local roads^and two highways, one running north and south and the other east and west, have been projected through it. TOWNS OF McCoNE COUNTY The county seat and largest town in McCone County is Circle, which in 1920 had a population of 452. Its chief establishments include a large flour mill, two banks, two newspapers, six stores, a hotel and theatre, two livery barns, two garages, two restaurants, rooming houses, blacksmiths' shops and other lines of business. It has three churches and a high school, the latter accredited for a one year term. The location of the town on the proposed line of the Great Northern Railway gives it a good prospect of becoming a division point. The next largest town in McCone County is Brockway, which is also a business center, having good general stores, a bank, flour mill, news- paper, garages, amusement hall and a creamery, the last mentioned being the only enterprise of its kind in the county. Brockway has also a high school accredited for the two year term. Other towns in the county HISTORY OF MONTANA . 777 are Vida, Nickwall, Sand Creek, Terrace, Riverside, Weldon, Prairie Elk, Hamblin, Redwater, Paris, Watkins, Pattonhill, Nina, Bonin and Horse Creek. The coming of the railroad is sure to open up opportunities in some of these towns for successful business enterprises. McCone County has about fifty school districts and seventy schools, including the two high schools already mentioned. Its citizens as a class are enterprising and law-abiding, with good neighborly characteristics, hospitable to new arrivals and willing to pull together in all things calcu- lated to promote local interests and the general prosperity of the county. MEAGHER COUNTY Meagher County, situated close to the central part of Montana, is one of the oldest counties in the state, having been created November 16, 1867. Its early settlement was due to the discovery of gold in Madison County in 1863, an event which attracted miners and prospectors to the state and resulted in the discovery of other various sources, of mineral wealth throughout the mountainous regions, including Meagher County. The county has a land area of 2,369 square miles and a general elevation of 5,000 feet above sea level, more than half its surface being mountainous. The principal ranges of mountains are found on the northern and southern boundaries, the northern boundary being marked by the crest of the Little belt range and the southern by that of the Big Belt range. The drainage and water supply of Meagher County are exceptionally good. The principal stream is the Smith River, which, rising in the Castle mountains, flows through the county in a northwesterly direction and is fed by numerous smaller streams having their sources in the mountain ranges to north and south. Its valley, some fifty miles long by twelve to fifteen wide, is the chief farming district and is practically all irrigated, the land being chiefly in the possession of stockmen operating on a large scale and here raising their forage for winter feed. The valley soil is alluvial, while on the benches it is a chocolate loam. In the eastern part of the county some non-irrigated farming is practiced. Another im- portant stream is Sixteen Mile Creek, which, like Smith River, rises in the Castle Mountains and flows west through a magnificent canyon, finally joining the Missouri at Lombard. The extensive stock industry includes the raising both of cattle and sheep. Though hay is the chief crop raised, the soil produces heavy yields of grain, samples of which have proved prize winners in state exhibitions. Garden vegetables also thrive well. As already intimated, mining was taken up at an early day, silver, lead, copper and gold being the chief minerals found. For some years the industry flourished, but after the surface deposits had been secured interest declined and has been revived only recently. The application of modern methods and improved machinery will doubtless result in additional profit. In the northern end of the county are some undeveloped coal deposits. Meagher county's wealth in timber is chiefly contained in the national forests included within its borders, and aggregates 624,910 acres. Of this 778 HISTORY OF MONTANA amount 77,722 acres are contained in the Absaroka Forest, 1,065 m tne Gallatin Forest, 133,489 in the Helena, and 413,634 in the Jefferson Forest. Some lumbering is carried on, but the industry has not yet realized its full possibilities. Like most mountainous regions, Meagher County can boast of attractive scenery and there is excellent fishing in many of the streams. Meagher County is tapped by the main line of the Milwaukee Rail- road, which crosses the southern part of the county east and west, a branch line running from Ringling to White Sulphur Springs eighteen miles north. The Y-G-Bee Line Trail between the Yellowstone and Glacier parks also runs through the county, while the maintenance of good roads and state highways has received careful attention. WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS White Sulphur Springs, the county seat, is the chief distributing point in the county and the only town of importance. In 1920 it had a popula- tion of 574. Though small in size it is one of the oldest towns in the state and one of the richest per capita. It is well built and provided with good modern improvements. Here are found thermal springs, owned by John Ringling, the well known circus proprietor, which are said by physi- cians to have high curative properties. The town also has a good high school accredited for the four years course. Education is provided for in Meagher County by an adequate number of rural and graded schools, in addition to the high school above mentioned, and all are kept in a state of satisfactory efficiency. MINERAL COUNTY Mineral County, having a land area of 1,224 square miles, was created August 7, 1914. It is situated in the extreme western part of the state, its western boundary line following the crest of the Bitter Root range, on the other side of which lies the State of Idaho. The northern boundary is formed by the crest of the Coeur d'Alene Mountains. A large part of the county's area, or 723,755 acres, is included within the Lolo National Forest, which, with the large private holdings, makes it one of the most heavily timbered counties in the state. Mountains predominate throughout the county/ but are relieved by the valleys of the two principal streams, the Missoula and Clark's Fork of the Columbia, which are fed by numerous tributaries. These valleys are long, though in places narrow, and possess an extremely fertile soil, and are, moreover, backed by productive bench lands, forming together an agricultural region hardly to be excelled in the state. The growing season is estimated from 63 to 1 10 days, and several kinds of grain, clover, timothy, vegetables and small fruits and berries are profitably raised. Agriculture, however, is yet in its infancy here, as also is dairying, though the latter is making rapid progress. The excellent pasturage afforded by the cut-over lands, of which there are thousands of acres in HISTORY OF MONTANA 779 the county, and a plentiful supply of the purest water, together with con- venient and reliable markets, make this industry very remunerative along the Missoula and Clark's Fork rivers. The abundance of hay for winter feeding is another advantage not lost sight of by practical dairymen, and more cows are being brought into the county and creameries planned in the smaller towns. It is not unlikely that these efforts will result in elevating Mineral County to a place among the best dairying districts of the state. Cut-over lands sell from $10 to $25 an acre, while cleared and well improved farms bring $50 to $100 an acre. At present, however, lumbering and mining are the chief industries. The largest saw mills are located at St. Regis and Henderson, that at the former place being one of the largest in the state. The supply of timber is ample for many years' operations, and this industry, therefore, may be expected to hold its own for an indefinite period. Mining enterprise has resulted in profitable finds of silver, lead, gold and copper. The mining districts are near Superior and in the western part of the county near Saltese. Many tourists are attracted to this region by the magnificent mountain scenery and the unusually good fishing and big game hunting. Mineral County is easily reached, being traversed by two important railroads, the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul and the Northern Pacific. The latter road has also a branch line running west from St. Regis to Wallace, Idaho. The National Parks Highway and the Yellowstone Trail also traverse the county. TOWNS AND SCHOOLS The county seat of Mineral County is Superior, which is also the principal town. It is located on the Clark's Fork, between mountain ranges, and has an estimated population of 400. In addition to a number of retail stores it contains a bank with deposits of more than $100,000, a theatre, churches and excellent schools. Two weekly newspapers are also published here. The other important towns of the county are Deborgia, St. Regis and Saltese, all having railroad communication. Education has been provided for in an adequate number of rural and graded schools, supplemented by two high schools, one at Superior, accred- ited for the four years course, and the other at St. Regis, accredited for the two years course. CHAPTER XXXIII MISSOULA COUNTY (MISSOULA) Missoula, the name both of the county and its seat of government, is one of the most musical words of the Salish tongue connected with the Indian nomenclature of Montana. It is derived from the native In-mis- sou-let-ka, the English translation of which is "The River of Awe." The phrase especially refers to the River Missoula, the waters of which gath- ered from five great valleys pour and dash through the beautiful city of Missoula and might well strike awe into the sensibilities of the modern human, to say nothing of the primitive Indian who had greater leisure than the man of today to consider its grand and ever shifting movements. COUNTY OF THE FIVE VALLEYS Not all of the counties of Montana are so favored as is Missoula, nor have all of them the natural resources of this county, which allow its people a choice of various occupations. Located midway between the north and south boundaries of Western Montana, 4 it has been known as "the County of the Five Valleys," and of these five all are productive. The Bitter Root Valley long has been known because of the fine quality of its apples ; the Blackfoot Valley is noted for its live stock and wheat ; the Flathead Valley is one of the best farming districts in the state for diversified agriculture; the Missoula Valley raises thousands of tons of hay and grains annually, and the Flint Creek Valley is a producer of agricultural crops of all kinds. Missoula County is practically square in size, being fifty-five miles long from north to south and fifty miles wide from east to west, and all of the county is in a mountainous region, with the Flathead Valley in the northwest section, comprising about 210,000 acres of agricultural land, mostly irrigated and rolling country. The Missoula and Grass valleys, situated in the central part of the county, are irrigated and agricultural, comprising 70,000 acres. The Bitter Root Valley, in the south central part, and the Blackfoot Valley in the east central district are narrow and fertile, that part of the former in Missoula County containing about 20,- ooo acres, and of the latter 25,000 acres. LUMBERING Naturally Missoula County is largely agricultural and hay and grain are among some of the principal crops, while much fruit is raised. Tim- othy and clover are raised all over the county and in some parts of the Flathead Valley alfalfa is a principal crop. But while agriculture has a 780 HISTORY OF MONTANA 781 leading place among the industries, another of perhaps equal importance is lumbering, the total amount cut annually for the county being approxi- mately 150,000,000 feet. The timber lands of the county are very exten- sive, and the eastern half and southwest portion of the county are almost solid timber land. Pine, fir and tamarack are the chief species. The Anaconda Copper Mining Company has one of the largest and most up- to-date mills in the Northwest, at Bonner, seven miles east of Missoula, the annual capacity being 100,000,000 feet. The Western Lumber Com- pany also has a large mill at Milltown, with a capacity of 25,000,000 feet, and Polleys Lumber Company has a plant at Missoula with a capacity of 20,000,000 feet. There are several other plants which have a combined capacity of 5,000,000 feet, and logging camps are located in all parts of the county. Blooded stock raising is a growing industry, and other enter- IRRIGATED ORCHARD NEAR MISSOULA manu- prises which are thriving are several woodworking plants, and a facturing plant at Missoula City the output of which consists of culverts and flumes. DRAINAGE AND WATER SUPPLY Missoula County is splendidly provided for, as to drainage and water supply. The sources of water supply for all irrigation purposes are from the many mountain streams fed by snow and glaciers. The prin- cipal stream is the Missoula (or Hell Gate) River, from which the county derives its name, which enters the county at the extreme southeastern corner and follows a northwesterly course for its entire width. The Missoula River is fed by the Blackfoot River east and the Bitter Root River which runs north and south, four miles west of Missoula. Jocko River, which runs westerly through the central part of the county, supplies the United States reclamation projects for the lower part of the 782 HISTORY OF MONTANA Flathead. The Clearwater River runs from the extreme north end of the county in a southerly direction for about forty miles, where it empties into the Blackfoot, and both the Blackfoot and Clearwater are noted as fishing streams. The Rattlesnake Creek is the source of water supply for Missoula City and is one of the finest streams in the Northwest for domestic purposes. Government tests and analyses have shown the water of this stream to be chemically pure. In rural districts the domestic water supply is from wells and from natural springs developed into gravity systems for community use. EVOLUTION OF MISSOULA COUNTY Missoula County antedated the territory several years. In December, 1860, the Legislature of Washington Territory divided the County of Spokane and created the County of Missoula, with the county seat at or near the trading post of Worden & Company, at Hell Gate Ronde It then embraced all those portions of the present counties of Missoula and Deer Lodge lying west of the main range of the Rocky Mountains. Mis- soula County remained a portion of Washington Territory until Idaho Territory was organized on the 3d day of March, 1863, when it became a portion of the latter. On the 26th of May, 1864, Congress created Montana Territory and the first Assembly, which met at Bannack, in February, 1865, located the county seat at Hell Gate. To attain its present form, parts were taken from Missoula County, in 1893, to form Flathead and Ravalli counties and to add to Sanders, in 1906, and Min- eral, in 1914; while a part of Powell County was annexed to Eastern Missoula County in 1915. Missoula County is well settled, being the fifth in population of the Montana counties. The census of 1920 gives it 24,041, as compared with 23,596 in 1910. Of the county total, the city itself has 12,668. The average value of improved irrigated land ranges from $65 to $125 per acre, and improved non-irrigated land is valued at from $45 to $65 per acre. Small improved tracts adjacent to towns sell at from $350 to $700 per acre. Non-improved cultivable lands, grazing lands, sell for approxi- mately $25 per acre. There are three National Forests in the county, Lolo, Lewis and Clark and Missoula. Missoula County enjoys the benefits of a modern, up-to-date school system. There are sixty-three public schools, three parochial and one Americanization night school, and in the city of Missoula City alone there are ten grammar schools and one county high school. Many of the rural schools have been consolidated and numerous motor busses are used to transport the children to and from the school buildings. In addition to the University of Montana, Missoula City has a first class business College. HIGHWAYS, SCENERY AND TOURISTS' TRIPS Two transcontinental railroad lines, the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul, electrified, and the Northern Pacific, traverse the county, the latter HISTORY OF MONTANA 783 having a divisional terminal here. Local daily trains are made up at Missoula and operated to the Bitter Root Valley, to Hell Gate Valley, Grass Valley, the Coeur d'Alene and the Flathead. There are also, in summer, many automobile stages to each of these valleys. One electric line runs from Missoula to Bonner, seven miles distant, and the principal state highways are the Yellowstone Trail and the National Parks High- way. Hunting and fishing are to be enjoyed all along the main traveled highways, and ideal natural camping grounds along good streams are available in all sections. The Mission range of mountains, in the Flat- head Valley, with its glaciers and lakes, is unsurpassed for scenery. The Bitter Root, Blackfoot and Flathead Valleys also possess wonderful scenery, and visitors in this vicinity are generally directed to visit Lolo MONTANA BUFFALO STILL RANGING Hot Springs, and Salmon and Seely lakes. Automobile tourists who pass through the county will find ideal camping grounds provided for them by the Missoula Chamber of Commerce in the City of Missoula. A trip that finds much favor among the tourists in this region is that of the Western Montana Park-to-Park Highway Route. Leaving the western gateway of the Yellowstone, the trail enters a scenic wilderness where arise the extreme headwaters of the Missouri River. Deer and elk are found in the hills, and the fisherman finds his labors well rewarded. The road follows the Centennial Valley along the Bitter Root Moun- tains into Monida, where the Oregon Short Line and the principal road to Salt Lake City are met. The line of the railroad is kept to Armstead, where the beautiful memorial to Sacajawea, in honor of the squaw who piloted Lewis and Clark, has been erected by Montana women. From Armstead the way leads to Dillon, where is situated the State Normal College. Bannack, the first capital of Montana and the scene of early gold discoveries and of many of the most important events in the state's history, lies just beyond. Hangman's Gulch, where the Vigilantes rid the 784 HISTORY OF MONTANA state of several bandits, is near Bannack and on the trail. Here begins the fertile Big Hole Valley, rich in soil and possessed of natural charms. Near Wisdom, farther on, is the Gibbon battlefield, the scene of the defeat and downfall of Chief Joseph and his hardy band of Nez Perces. From Wisdom across the Continental Divide into the Bitter Root Valley, the local governments and the United States Forest Service together built a scenic road. It follows an easy grade through the mountains and leads at last into the Bitter Root at Medicine Hot Springs. Thence the highway runs straight down the valley to Missoula. From Missoula the road runs across the former Flathead Indian Reservation, skirts the bison reserve where buffalo still range,* and penetrates the land of the Salish, peace-loving Indians who still live in their native picturesqueness. The Flathead's wide prairies have been thrown open to settlement and white farmers have made the land blosson beside the tepee villages of the red man. The highway then runs along the banks of Flathead Lake to Kalispell and thence through an attractive country to the gateway of Glacier Park. THE CITY OF THE FIVE VALLEYS Missoula, the county seat of Missoula County, is known both as "Montana's Garden City," and as "The Fine Little City in a Fine Big Country," likewise as "The City of the Five Valleys." It had its incep- tion in 1865, when two traders, Frank L. Worden and Christopher P. Higgins, who had built a post at "Old Hell Gate," five miles west of the present city of Missoula, reached the conclusion that their business could be transacted to better advantage at the meeting point of Rattlesnake Creek and Hell Gate River, and accordingly laid the cornerstone for the present city of more than 12,000 people. The city was incorporated in 1883, reincorporated in 1887 under the general laws, and in 1917 adopted the commission form of government of three men, a mayor and two commissioners. Missoula lies at an altitude of 3,223 feet above the sea level, which, while not too high, insures a cool, dry, health-giving climate. During the summer the nights are cool, with breezes descending upon the valley from the snow-capped mountain peaks. The winters, while seldom severe, afford enjoyment to the cold-weather sportsman, permitting sleighing and skating during a considerable season. The average annual rainfall is 15.5 inches. By reason of its location and natural advantages, Missoula is one of the important mercantile and manufacturing centers of the Northwest and is a leading financial, industrial, wholesale, commercial and railroad distributing point for Western Montana. One of the factories of the Great Western Sugar Company has made its home at Missoula, con- structing a plant there which cost $1,500,000. From 400 to 600 employes * Remains of famous Pablo herd, started in 1880, at Ronan, Missoula County, and sold, although not all delivered, to the Canadian government. The first lot was shipped in 1907. HISTORY OF MONTANA 785 work in the plant, which forms an incentive to the best sugar growers of this region. The creamery at Missoula has a daily output of 2,000 pounds of butter, and other important industries include a flour mill, a sash and door factory, a potato chip factory, vinegar and cider factories, two brick and tile plants, book binding and book making plants, and a lithographing establishment doing work for firms throughout the North- west. There are three live and progressive newspapers. Missoula is a well-governed and well-conducted modern city and its conveniences and utilities compare favorably with large cities through- out the country. For the most part, the residence streets are either boulevarded or parked and there are several miles of paved streets, more than loo miles of cement walk and more than twenty miles of street railway service track. Electricity for lighting and power is obtained from a power plant seven miles east of the city, where approximately 25,000 horse-power can be produced. Practically all the buildings in the busi- ness section of the city are heated by steam from a central plant, and a gas plant furnishes that commodity to those who prefer its use. The water supply has been chemically proven among the purest in Montana, and is handled by a gravity system. The city maintains a strict sanitary inspection, extending to all food-stuffs which are sold, and rigid dairy inspection. Architecturally, Missoula is one of the handsomest cities of the state. The Montana Building was erected at a cost of $120,000, the Federal Building $175,000, and the courthouse, one of the finest in Montana, $250,000. Among the fraternal orders the Elks' Temple, Masonic Tem- ple and the homes of the Knights of Pythias and the Odd Fellows are handsome edifices. The Missoula Chamber of Commerce, a well-organ- ized and energetic body of which D. D. Richards is secretary, owns its own home, a structure valued at $30,000. The city likewise has four strong banking institutions. Greenough Park, lying in the northwestern part of the city, is a natural playground in which Rattlesnake Creek takes its tumbling, crystal course through the midst of virgin woodland which has been cultivated only in so far as to remove the underbrush. Sacajawea Park, in the southwestern part of the city, has become a pleasing reality through the efforts of the Missoula Women's Club, and another park in Hammond Division, presented to the city by the South Missoula Land Company, has been developed and adds its attractions. The Milwaukee Railroad has reclaimed the south bank of the river in the vicinity of its station, making it a beautiful little park, approached by rustic bridges, and the Northern Pacific Railroad, by parking and installing an artistic fountain and statue of Capt. John Mullan, has made the vicinity of the station extremely attractive. Missoula's theater-goers enjoy some of the best productions staged. Missoula offers to its residents the benefits of a Free Public Library, which was founded in 1894 by the Library Association, and endowed in 1902 by Andrew Carnegie. In 1917 there was added the county library Vol. 150 786 HISTORY OF MONTANA > department, available to all residents of Missoula County, the second of its kind to begin operations in Montana and the first to be operated in connection with an old establishment. There are five branches, two located in the public schools at Ronan and St. Ignatius, two in the stores at Frenchtown and Potomac, and one in a private home at Carlton. In addition to this branch system, the library serves its out-of-town patrons through the parcel post, the sending charges for which the library pays. The collection now contains 20,116 volumes, and Mrs. Grace M. Stod- dard is librarian. The institution is under the supervision of a governing board of trustees, appointed by the city council. Missoula has three hospitals, the Northern Pacific and St. Patrick's, and the hospital at the County Poor Farm, which is located three miles northeast of the city. In the city is located a well-organized Young Women's Christian Association, of which Mrs. E. E. Kinsman is secre- tary; the executive office of the Missoula, Ravallf and Sanders Counties Medical Society, of which Dr. J. J. Tobinski is secretary-treasurer; and the Western Montana Fair Association, of which F. P. Keith is presi- dent. The office of the state orchard inspector is located at Missoula, and from this office there is a rigid prohibition maintained against the importation of infected fruit. This is necessary, as the region is an excellent fruit country for the growing of pears, plums, cherries, crab- apples and strawberries, particularly in the Rattlesnake Valley, which begins to the northeast of Missoula, twenty-five miles distant, and which was thrown open to settlement in 1909. The winter in this region is moderated by the Chinook, or warm Pacific coast wind, which has a salutary effect upon the growing fruit. In the thirteen churches of Missoula, nearly every denomination is represented. The credit for building the first church in the city is given to Dr. Thomas Corwin Iliff, who located at Missoula in 1871, and Sep- tember 15, 1872, dedicated the Methodist Episcopal Church, which was attended by people of all denominations. Prior to this, as early as 1863, Father Grassi had built a log church about six miles below Missoula, three-quarters of a mile beyond the old Town of Hell Gate, which later became the Catholic Church of St. Francis Xavier, and a little later he and Father Menetry erected another at Frenchtown. These two churches were erected many years before a church was built at Missoula, but it was not until December n, 1881, that the first Catholic Church was opened for service within the city limits, Rev. Joseph Menetry being the pastor. St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church is now housed in an edifice which was dedicated on October 9, 1892. A Presbyterian Church was organized in 1877, and the Christian and Baptist (Immanuel) churches followed in 1884. The first Methodist Episcopal was formed at an early day, the Swedish Congregational and the Swedish Evangelical Lutheran (Immanuel) were founded in the '905, and the Protestant Episcopal, Church of Christ (Scientist), Trinity Methodist Episcopal, African Meth- odist Episcopal and others were established at a still later date. In 1916 the Presbyterian and the Congregational churches at Missoula united. HISTORY OF MONTANA 787 EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM Missoula has reason to be proud of its educational system which provides ten grammar schools and the Missoula County High School, while the city is likewise the home of the State University, of Montana's College of Arts and Sciences, and Schools of Business Administration, Forestry, Journalism, Law, Music and Pharmacy. The Roman Catholic denomination provides for St. Joseph's School, the Sacred Heart Acad- emy and Loyola High School. The grammar schools are distributed in various parts of the city so that every child is within easy walking dis- tance of his place of educational training, Hawthorne, Franklin, Wil- lard and Roosevelt schools are situated on the south side of the city, while Central, Prescott, Lincoln and the City Manual Training buildings are in the eastern part, and Whittier and Lowell on the north side. The manual training building also provides for the city's domestic science department and is well equipped -for both subjects. Every one of the ten schools has a commodious playground, and the schools are presided over by the city superintendent. They also have a supervisor of music and one of drawing, and a large corps of competent teachers is employed. Within the county borders there are thirty-nine school districts and most of the districts maintain standard schools. The Catholic school system is an excellent one, in which St. Joseph's School, for boys under the high school age, and Sacred Heart Academy, for girls, are presided over by the Catholic Sisters. Some of the students t of these institutions are from Wyoming and Idaho, but 50 per cent are residents of Missoula. The two schools have an excellent playground. Loyola High School, the Catholic school for boys, is conducted by the Fathers of the Society of Jesus. The Missoula County High School is the best equipped secondary school in Western Montana, and the present buildings represent an out- lay of $150,000. For nearly ten years the high school has maintained a manual training department in which the boys are taught mechanical drawing, drafting, architecture, topographical drawing, etc.; and a domestic science department, in which the girls are taught costume design- ing, dressmaking, cooking, dietetics, household management and house- hold decoration. The commercial department is well organized and has been a regular part of the school curriculum for eight or nine years. STATE UNIVERSITY While the first years in the life of the University of Montana, which was created by an act of the State Legislature in 1893, were ones of hard- ship, the institution today holds place among the best of the western universities. For the four years of its infancy the institution held its classes in the rooms of one of the city public schools, under Oscar J. Craig, the first president, and his four associates, but in 1897 the Legisla- ture issued bonds to the amount of $100,000 for two buildings, and two Missoula residents donated the present campus site which includes forty 788 HISTORY OF MONTANA acres at the foot of the mountains which enclose the eastern end of the valley, and 520 acres on the slopes of Mount Sentinel. This mountain rises abruptly 2,000 feet above the plain. Today the university has five large and well-equipped buildings, as well as other structures of a tem- porary character which will be replaced in the future with larger and more substantial buildings. University Hall is the administration building in which are also located the assembly hall of the university and class- rooms, lecture rooms and laboratories. Science Hall is occupied by the School of Pharmacy' and the Department of Chemistry. Natural Science Hall, which was completed in January, 1919, is a modern, three-story laboratory building, containing the classrooms and laboratories of the departments of biology, botany, home economics and physics, as well as a STATE UNIVERSITY, MISSOULA large lecture room, equipped with stereopticon and motion picture appara- tus. Craig Hall is the women's dormitory, entirely used as a domicile for the women students of the institution. The gymnasium is equipped for the physical education of all students, and adjoining it is Dornblaser field, the athletic ground, with its stands and tracks. Library Hall contains the university library, the law library, the classrooms of the School of Law and other lecture and classrooms. The Forestry and Music buildings are frame structures, affording temporary quarters for these schools. The hospital is designed for the isolation and treatment of students who may be suffering from contagious or infectious diseases. Simpkins Hall and Cook Hall are the buildings erected for barracks. They were remodeled so that the former serves as a men's dormitory and the latter is the armory of the R. O. T. C. and temporary quarters of the School of Journalism. President Craig remained at the head of the university until 1908, when failing health compelled his resignation. He was succeeded by Clyde A, Duniway, who came to Montana from Stanford University. During the administration of President Duniway, the summer session HISTORY OF MONTANA 789 was inaugurated and the School of Law established. In 1912, Edwin Boone Craighead, of Tulane University, succeeded President Duniway. He continued in office until 1915, and under his presidency the schools of Journalism and Forestry were established, the School of Pharmacy reorganized, and the departments of Business Administration and of Domestic Science were added to the College of Arts and Sciences. In 1915, Prof. Frederick G. Scheuch was appointed acting president and continued in that capacity until the summer of 1917. Ed-ward O. Sisson was appointed president of the university in 1917, coming to Montana from Idaho, where he had held the office of state commissioner of education. In July, 1921, Doctor Sisson was succeeded by Dr. Charles H. Clapp, former president of the Montana State School of Mines. MISSIONARY WORK OF THE RAILWAYS Missoula is situated in the midst of a rich tributary country, being located in the one logical spot for a city where the five valleys came together. In the '8os, during the construction of the Northern Pacific Railway, the directors of that line sent out prospecting parties to examine all the passes through the mountain ranges of Western Montana. It was natural that they should wish as direct a route as possible from Butte to the Pacific coast, but the preliminary surveyors were left no choice in the matter. They found that there was but one way open to the rail- road, that being to follow the lead of the Indian tribes, of the Lewis and Clark expedition and of the Mullan Military Highway, and swing north down the Hell Gate River and through Hell Gate Canyon, at the mouth of which the little town of Missoula had been already estab- lished. Later, several railroads endeavored to pierce the mountains in some other place, but failed, and in 1907 the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul found its only course to pursue, that of paralleling the Northern Pacific, Missoula thus securing its second transcontinental railway. In traversing this region, the railways have found that they go through a rich region. The Hell Gate* River formed two valleys from which they could draw upon the Hell Gate Valley above Missoula and the broad Frenchtown plains below the city. A few miles to the east of Missoula, the Blackfoot River joins the Hell Gate, making its immense drainage basin tributary to the city and south from the city itself for ninety miles lies the rich valley of the Bitter Root River. A few miles to the west of Missoula, on the other side of a low pass which the Northern Pacific crosses, the broad expanse of the Flathead Valley stretches northward forty miles from the railway to Flathead Lake. The Bitter Root and Frenchtown valleys were sparsely settled when the Northern Pacific first came through Missoula, but it was not until the advent of railway transportation that the development of this part of the state really had its beginning. In those days, when Montana had just been granted state- hood, nearly all of Western Montana was included in the one County of Missoula. The rapid growth of this region can be demonstrated in no better way than to make note of the fact that instead of one county, this 790 HISTORY OF MONTANA i territory now includes five counties within its borders. As the valleys increased in wealth and population, they dropped away from the mother county and set up governments of their own, but Missoula still remains the richest and most populous of them all, for it contains the central point from which they all radiate. DEVELOPMENT OF THE VALLEYS % Included in the Hell Gate Valley is the district along the Hell Gate River from Garrison to Missoula, a distance of seventy miles. The valley varies from a narrow canyon with hardly room for the railway tracks to a width of six or eight miles. At Drummond, forty miles from Missoula, the Flint Creek Valley branches off to the south, and in it are the rich farm lands and mines of Granite County. Agriculture, lumber- ing and mining form the principal industries of Hell Gate Valley, and primitive mountain scenery greets the eye on either side, a scenery made more inviting by the fishing and big game hunting which are included with it. The valley is provided well with railways and highways, both the Northern Pacific and the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railways traversing its entire length, while at the present time automobile traffic is prolific, coming over the National Parks Highway and the Yellowstone Trail. Chief among the numerous small towns that dot the valley are Garrison, Drummond, Bearmouth, Gold Creek, Bonita and Clinton. The Blackfoot Valley, the development of which is a matter of com- paratively recent date, comes into Missoula from the northeast. The Anaconda Copper Mining Company built the first railway up the valley in 1911 as a logging road to keep its Bonner sawmills supplied, and later the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul took over the road and completed it to Potomac. This has now been graded to Ovando, a distance of sixty miles from Missoula, although the valley extends some thirty miles beyond that point. While there had been some ranches in the valley prior to the coming of the railway, that innovation held out a greater inducement and was the means of attracting numerous homesteaders. Grain ranches, stock farms and large grazing lands are the principal assets of the country included in the valley, where there are also magnifi- cent forests. The beautiful lake regions and the fishing of the Blackfoot Valley attract many summer visitors, an increasing number of whom have established regular camps, a regulation of the forest service pro- viding that five-acre tracts may be taken over by an individual for this purpose. In the autumn months hunters flock to this region. The larger of the towns include Bonner, McNamara's Landing, Lincoln, Sunset, Potomac, Clearwater, Ovando and Helmville. Bonner is a lumbering center, seven miles east of Missoula. Extending for thirty miles along the Hell Gate River, west of Mis- soula, is the Frenchtown Valley, an old and established community which dates its settlement from 1860, when Jesuit priests set up a mission at Frenchtown. The valley is naturally almost free from timber, the land is gently rolling, and geologists explain the openness and flatness of the HISTORY OF MONTANA 791 whole region by stating that it was once the bottom of a huge lake. As is the case with other valleys around Missoula, the Frenchtown district is well supplied with transportation facilities, both of Missoula's trans- continental railways extending* through it, the main branch of the Mil- waukee, and the Cceur d'Alene branch of the Northern Pacific. Numer- ous automobile roads extending through the valley are kept in the best of condition. The name "Grass Valley" formerly applied to the French- town district indicates the product it is especially adapted to, which makes it an excellent livestock country. Hereford cattle from the Deschamps ranch of this county have frequently topped the Chicago market. Grain raising is also becoming an important industry, and most of the crops in the valley proper are under irrigation, although dry land farmers are getting good results from their methods of cultivating the more gentle rolling foothills. Frenchtown, from which the valley takes its name, is the chief town. There has been in existence for some years the idea that the Bitter Root Valley was settled by General Price's left wing, such an impression having been founded on the remark of a veteran of the Civil war. In fact, the date of its settlement goes even back of the war between the states many years, for it was in 1841 that Father DeSmet invaded the valley and founded St. Mary's Mission, near the present community of Stevensville, and since then the sunny climate of the Bitter Root and the fertility of its soil have led to its becoming one of the most populous valleys of the state. The richness of the Bitter Root was early recog- nized by the Northern Pacific Railway, and one of the branch "feeders" of that system was built sixty miles up the valley to Darby, although some of the best lands lie beyond the railway terminal, the valley extending thirty miles farther south to the Ross' Hole country. An excellent high- way goes the length of the Bitter Root, and the beauty of the high, rugged ridge of the Bitter Root range, with its occasional Lolo or St. Mary's reaching above the other peaks, brings much travel to both the highways and railway. The hundred and one streams which pour down from the mountain snow fields furnish the tourist with all the trout fishing that he can desire. The valley extends directly south from Missoula. The gently-rolling lowlands are practically all under cultivation, and great irrigation projects, such as the big ditch of the Bitter Root Valley Irriga- tion Company and that of the Marcus Daly Estate, in addition to numer- ous smaller systems, furnish the water necessary for the crops. But, as in the Frenchtown district, the dry land farmers have shown that the cultivation of the foothills can be made to pay even without irrigation ditches. Horticulture is an important industry of the valley and the Mclntosh red apple and the Bing cherry have made the name of the Bitter Root known throughout the country. Other fruits of the tem- perate zone also thrive in the valley. The dairying business is another important pursuit of the ranchers and grain and stockraising also come in for their share of attention. While the lumber industry is not as important as at one time, it still adds much to the wealth of the district. The people of the Bitter Root have given much attention to the subject 792 HISTORY OF MONTANA of education, and in addition to an excellent graded school system, high schools are maintained at Hamilton, Victor and Stevensville. The first- named is the county seat of Ravalli County and a thriving city of 3,000 population, situated fifty miles south of Missoula. Other leading com- munities are Corvallis, Darby, Lolo and Carlton. The Flathead Valley, lying northwest from Missoula, was one of the last of the five valleys to develop, but when development was com- menced it was carried on with a rush that has continued right up to the present. Formerly the valley was held as a reservation for the Flathead tribe of Indians, but in 1910 it was thrown open for settlement to the homesteaders, and its rolling prairies have been transformed into broad fields of wheat and oats. This valley includes the Jocko Valley and that of the Flathead River from Poison, on Flathead Lake, down to Perma, in addition to which there are the smaller side valleys of the Little Bitter Root, the Moeise and Camas Prairie. In the lofty Mission Mountains and in Flathead Lake, the valley has its scenery, which as is almost invari- ably the case in Montana, is accompanied by good hunting and fishing. Formerly the valley was not well equipped with transportation, but of recent years the Northern Pacific has built .a branch up from Dixon to Poison, on Flathead Lake, which traverses the valley and thereby con- nects up with the Great Northern at Kalispell, through Flathead Lake. The main line of the Northern Pacific runs through the Jocko Valley. During the earlier days of settlement in the valley, the lack of suitable transportation facilities, as to railways, had a beneficial effect upon the highways, as good roads were a necessity and the movement thus started has been continued uninterruptedly, the slogan of "good roads" having been a popular one in the valley for a number of years. Several auto- mobile stage lines, inaugurated before the advent of the railway, continue in operation, and the entire region is covered with a network of high- ways. Grain and stock are the chief source of prosperity on the Flat- head, and both irrigated and dry farming are followed with success. The United States reclamation service has placed much of the valley under water from its lateral ditches. The leading town of the Flathead Valley is St. Ignatius, the home of the original mission for the Indians estab-* lished by the Jesuit Fathers, a community in which farming is the lead- ing industry. Arlee and Ravalli are other more or less important points, while Dixon and Perma are points on the railroad in the valley proper. Ronan is devoted largely to lumbering and farming, and is a community of about 600 population, located on the automobile roads in about the center of the valley. OPPORTUNITIES FOR DAIRYING While Missoula County is one of the well-developed and fairly thickly settled counties of the state, there are still numerous opportuni- ties for men of ambition and energy to be found in this region. Its resources are so numerous and its advantages of such a superior nature that it attracts permanent settlers in quest of a field of activity that has 793 not been worked out by over-development. One of the industries in which opportunities are presented here is the dairying line. Forage for cattle is of the best to be found in the western part of the state, and the yield of milk from the cows fed on alfalfa, clover and timothy hay is of excellent quality. In the Bitter Root Valley there are several creameries, particularly at Hamilton and Stevensville, as well as the large industry of this kind located at Missoula, which has done a splendid business in the sale of butter, ice cream and milk. The poultry business is another one which pays, this being especially true in the Bitter Root Valley. The former Flathead Indian Reservation is likewise developing into a dairying community. Irrigation in various sections of Missoula County has progressed wonderfully during recent years, greatly enlarging the area of productive land and thus providing a wonderful field for agri- culture, and the quality of the products raised in this region has been proven by the number of prizes which Missoula County vegetables, grains and fruits have taken at state, sectional and national fairs and expositions. Reliable and thorough transportation and climatological and power resources have opened opportunities in a manufacturing way, as well as for mining development and agricultural industry, and, all in all, the county would seem to be one in which the man of ambition and in- dustry should find the opportunity for the accomplishment of his desires. MUSSELSHELL, PARK, PHILLIPS, PONDERA, AND POWDER RIVER COUNTIES While by no means one of the larger of Montana's counties, Mussel- shell, with a land area of 2,903 miles is by no means one of the least important. One of the best of the dry farming counties, it likewise pre- sents conditions markedly favorable to stock raising and its coal produc- tion, in proportion to its size, is of a nature that gives it a certain prestige among other mining districts. Lately, also, the county has assumed additional importance because of the discovery of an excellent grade of oil, an industry which promises to make Musselshell County a point of much interest to operators and investors in the near future. SETTLEMENT OF THE MUSSELSHELL COUNTRY The permanent settlement of this region began between 1880 and 1885, when a number of cattlemen located along the streams. Some years before, horse-stealing had been carried on along the Musselshell, and stock had ranged on the rich grazing land, which was formerly an old-time haunt of the buffalo, but no one ever attempted to get title to property. Later, when the sheep and wool industry partially displaced cattle raising, land was taken up along the streams in order to secure control of the water rights and of the rich bottom lands which yielded bountiful crops of blue joint and timothy hay. The value of the bench lands for grain and other crops was then unknown. In 1908, the Puget Sound and Billings and Northern Railroad were completed through Mus- selshell Valley and the transition from a cattle and grazing to a farming country began. When the Northern Pacific Road first started on its long way to the Pacific coast, great land grants were made to the corporation by Congress. Since that time, each odd-numbered section in the majority of townships in Musselshell County has been owned by the Northern Pacific. By the summer of 1911 most of the government land had been taken up and developed into farms, and to further develop the country the commer- cial organizations of the various towns began to make insistent demands upon the Northern Pacific for the opening of its lands. Recognizing the justice and previous benefit of that policy, the railway placed these odd-numbered sections on the market. These lands were in all respects equal to those which had been homesteaded and have produced banner crops of wheat, oats, rye, barley, flax and vegetables. The movement of settlers to the lands mentioned had its effect in bringing a demand for 794 HISTORY OF MONTANA 795 a new county, which was accordingly organized from parts of Fergus, Meagher and Yellowstone. AGRICULTURE AND LIVE STOCK RAISING Musselshell County was created March i, 1911, and was named after the river which traverses it from east to west. It is located just south of the geographical center of Montana, and is approximately sixty-five miles from east to west, and forty-two miles from north to south. The Musselshell River irrigates about 12,000 acres along its banks, and is the principal source of water supply for the county, although Willow Creek, Flatwillow Creek and Swimming Woman Creek serve to irrigate several thousands of acres of farm lands lying in the north end of the county. Water for domestic use is obtained from the Musselshell for several towns along that stream, while wells for domestic purposes fur- nish an ample supply on farms, water being found at a depth of from twenty to sixty feet in most sections of the county. At the present time there are probably about 15,000 acres under ditch and much of the remainder of the county can be irrigated, but for the most part agriculture is carried on by the dry farming or non-irrigated method, and this has produced excellent results. The soil varies in differ- ent parts of the county, along the river being a heavy loam which pro- duces high yields of all grains, corn, alfalfa and garden truck, while on the benches a limestone gravel soil predominates which is easily culti- vated and is particularly suited for wheat raising. In the extreme north- ern and southern parts of the county and along the Bull Mountains, the land is rolling and in some places mountainous, suited for grazing, and, where open, produces good crops. All classes of soil in Musselshell County are of good depth. The central portion of the county is for the most part level, with frequent benches, which are particularly suited for conserving moisture and usually produce splendid wheat crops. The principal crops grown are wheat, oats, rye, barley, corn, flax, alfalfa, timothy, clover, potatoes, beans and vegetables of all kinds. Much corn and sunflowers are being planted for silage, and sweet clover is also prov- ing a splendid forage crop. Lands in Musselshell County are reasonably priced and the county offers opportunities to thrifty agriculturists who possess sufficient capital to establish themselves. For raw agricultural lands, $15 to $30 per acre is asked, and for improved land $20 to $75 per acre. Irrigated land brings from $40 to $75 per acre, and grazing land, which here is more or less rough and unsuited for cultivation, sells at from $5 to $10 per acre. In all communities, the price set on the various kinds of land depends to a large extent upon how far they are situated from towns and railroads, and what improvements have been made by their former owners. Aside from farming, the principal industries of the residents of Mus- selshell County consist of cattle, hog and sheep raising and coal mining. There is still much room for development in the stock raising industry which has not attained its highest state of perfection in this region, but 796 HISTORY OF MONTANA which has been followed with success by growers in several sections. An excellent grade of semi-bituminous coal is obtained in the Bull Moun- tain coal field, and the largest mine at Roundup produces approximately 3,000 tons daily, while the coal production of the five largest mines reaches 6,000 tons daily, which is capable of increase to double that amount. An industry which is now attracting much attention is oil de- velopment, three wells sunk in 1919 and 1920 having produced oil of an excellent quality and many more being drilled in various parts of the county. Thus far, coal and petroleum have been the only minerals found in appreciable quantities, although there is known to be a deposit of sap- phires in the county, several hundred specimens having been gathered. Timber of good quality is found in merchantable quantities in the Bull and Snowy mountains. LINES OF TRANSPORTATION Musselshell County lacks nothing in the way of good transportation facilities. It is traversed from east to west by the main line of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway, and from north to south by the Great Northern Railway, running from Billings to Great Falls, and several state and national highways intersect the county. The Custer Battlefield Highway, extending from Omaha to Glacier Park, crosses the county from south to north, passing through the county seat of Roundup. The Montana Electric Trail follows the line of the Milwaukee Railway from west to east across the county, passing through Lavina, Roundup, Musselshell and Melstone, and the Glacier Cutoff, starting at Custer on the Yellowstone Trail, passes through Musselshell and Roundup and northward to Glacier Park. As attractions to tourists, the county offers several fine fishing streams within easy reach of the larger communities and highways; in the Bull Mountains beautiful scenery is to be found; on the beaches there are wide stretches of agricultural land; in season there is to be secured good hunting for duck, prairie chicken, sage hens, wild geese and even deer; the oil fields can be seen in operation from the Custer Battlefield Highway, an hour's trip from Roundup, and one of the largest shaft coal mines west of the Mississippi River is at the county seat. The advantages offered in the way of educational training in Mussel- shell County include 145 schoolhouses, served by 180 instructors. Of these, 125 are rural schools, twelve are graded schools and eight are high schools. Roundup, the county seat of Musselshell County, was founded in 1909, and is the largest coal mining camp on the main line of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway between Miles City and Butte. It is the center of distribution for twelve oil fields within forty miles of the city, as well as the hub of a large farming and stock raising district, and coal mines within four miles of the city have a pay roll of $150,000 per month. This is a thriving and progressive community which maintains four churches, and has paved streets, a cluster street lighting system, HISTORY OF MONTANA 797 modern electric light, water and sewer systems and a new reservoir of 1,000,000 gallons capacity. Musselshell, a community of 300 people, has farming and stock rais- ing for its chief developers, although there are a number of active coal mines in the neighborhood. It is the oldest town in the county and is pleasantly situated on the south bank of the Musselshell River in the Bull Mountain coal field. To the south the land is rolling prairie with many beautiful and fertile valleys. A trading post, which planned to become a great commercial center, was established on the north bank of the river, about opposite the present town, in the year 1877. A store and postoffice were opened on the town site of today. The old Fort Custer-Fort Maginnis road crossed the river at that point and for a long time the place was known simply as the Crossing. Melstone, with a population of 400, is a railroad division point, and is the nearest rail gateway to the Mosby oil fields, being likewise conveniently situated in a community in which farming, stock raising and coal mining are prose- cuted. v These communities all offer inducements to those desiring to make a permanent home, and opportunities are numerous. All maintain good school systems, Roundup having a high school. In 1907, the St. Paul Road was built into Musselshell County and the event was followed by an even greater growth than it had previously en- joyed. Its population in 1920 was 12,030. PARK COUNTY The name of Park County, which is located in the south central por- tion of Montana, is taken from its proximity to the Yellowstone National Park, whose northern boundary is formed by the county's southern line, and access to which from the north is had through this county. The county is practically oblong in shape, being 100 miles in length, from north to south, and fifty miles in width, east to west, and has a land area of 2,671 miles. Gallatin County forms its western border, Meagher County bounds it on the north and Sweet Grass County on the east, with the exception of the extreme southeastern corner, where Carbon County forms its boundary line. Two large fertile agricultural valleys occupy the center, of the county, one, the Shields valley, varying from fifteen to thirty miles in width, and the other, the Yellowstone, from two to twenty miles. Upwards of 100,000 acres are under irrigation and most of it has been highly developed. The Yellowstone and Shields rivers are the chief streams and both have numerous tributaries flowing the year round. Through the heart of Park County passes the transcontinental line of the Northern Pacific Railroad, and a branch line from Livingston taps the Shields River Valley, while another from the same city goes to Gardiner, the official entrance to the Yellowstone Park. Many im- portant highways cross the county, including the Yellowstone Trail and National Parks Highway from east to west, and the Yellowstone-Glacier- 798 HISTORY OF MONTANA Bee Line Highway and the Geyers-to-Glaciers Highway north and south. The county has many improved roads. The soil in the valleys of Park County is a rich black loam with a clay subsoil. The Crazy Mountains appear in the northeastern part of the county and most 'of .the southern part is also mountainous. Outside of the city of Livingston, the main industries of the county are agriculture, dairying and stock raising, including the raising of registered stock, and mining in the southern part of the county. The principal crops are hard winter and spring wheat, oats, barley, rye, seed peas, alfalfa, timothy and clover, and vegetables and sugar beets thrive. Much hay, chiefly timothy and alfalfa, is grown, and the county has been noted as a prize-winner in national as well as state competitions on practically all of its crops. Park County stands high in mineral resources. Gold, silver, lead, zinc, chrome, black manganese, red and brown hematite iron, tungsten, scheelite, molybdenum and nickel are found in the southern half of the county, and there are also deposits of coking and bituminous coal, gypsum, limes and high grade polish granite. Much commerciaMimber is found in the county, and nearly 1,000,000 acres are included in national forests, there being 677,639 acres of Park County land in the Absarokee Forest, 75,512 acres in the Beartooth Forest and 188,960 acres in the Gallatin Forest. Improved irrigated land sells at $75 to $150 an acre, improved non-irrigated bench land at $25 to $50 an acre, and grazing land at $10 to $15 an acre. MINING DAYS IN PARK COUNTY As a country rich in mineral deposits, Park County has been promi- nent in the history of Montana since the early days. One of the first placer mining camps in the territory was at Yellowstone City, which was situated near the modern site of Emigrant, in the western part of the county. Although mining has lost the glamour of its early history, it is still carried on there by individuals and a few minor corporations. At various times, new mining districts have been developed such as the New World, with Cooke City in the southwestern part of the county as its center; Crevasses, Sheep Eater, Independence, Natural Bridge, Jar- dine, Boerum, and the coal fields at Electric, Shields River Valley. The New World mining district contains some large ore deposits, the devel- opment of which has been retarded by lack of transportation. Gold, silver, lead, copper, iron, zinc and fire clay deposits are found in this district, which covers about two hundred square miles. Capt. William Clark, of the famous expedition, saw the country of what is now Park County, in July, 1806, and Jim Bridger, the famous scout and guide, spent the winter of 1844-45 in what became known as Emigrant Gulch with a band of Crow Indians. Various government expeditions crossed the county, going both east and west, and in 1863 the prospectors and town builders commenced to filter in. Among the most famous of the latter incursions was the party led by James Stuart. In the same year, Thomas Curry found gold in Emigrant Gulch, but the HISTORY OF MONTANA 799 richer prospects of Bannack and Virginia cities, diverted the settlers farther west, although after John Bozeman opened his new overland route, via Bozeman pass, many of them passed through Park County, by way of the present site of the city of Livingston. Curry and his companions having found gold in Emigrant Gulch some twenty-five miles above the point where the Bozeman trail left the Yel- lowstone, and desiring to share their good fortune with the emigrants from the east, met some of the first parties at that point and induced some of the gold seekers to abandon the trip to Virginia City and try the new diggings up the Yellowstone. These found good prospects and at once went to work. A meeting was called and Curry mining district was formed about the middle of August. It was not long before there were two or three hundred people digging up the ground in Emigrant Gulch. When coarse gold was found in paying quantities preparations for founding a town at the mouth of the gulch were made. By March, 1865, seventy-five log houses had been built and the settlement had a population of about 200, and a few miles down the valley a saw mill was erected. In the fall of the year so many left Emigrant Gulch and Curry District for the more promising ShorthiU's district that Yellowstone City was almost abandoned. The years 1865-68 in Park County were troublous ones, on account of Indian depredations, and in the latter year the boundaries of the Crow Reservation were so changed as to throw open to settlement the portion of the county east of the Shields River. Dr. A. J. Hunter had developed the hot springs property which bears his name, various parties were traversing what is now Park County on their way to Yellowstone National Park, and by the treaty of 1880 all of the territory in the present county was taken out of the Crow Reservation. LIVINGSTON FOUNDED AND COUNTY CREATED In 1882, the agitation was begun for the creation of a new county from that part of Gallatin east of the Belt range mountains ; in August of that year the first business house was opened at Clark City, the present site of Livingston. In November, the town site of Livingston was sur- veyed by the Northern Pacific Railroad Company, which had previously selected the site upon which Clark City had commenced its life. The nucleus of Livingston was fixed a little to the north of Clark City nearer the railroad track (the National Park branch of the Northern Pacific) in August, 1883. Livingston then quickly absorbed Clark City, and that growing community led the movement of eastern Gallatin County for the formation of a new county. Finally, after much political ma- neuvering, Governor Preston H. Leslie approved the bill for the forma- tion of Park County in February, 1887. Its provisions went into effect in May, and during the intervening period the territory of the new county was attached to Gallatin for judicial purposes. At that time the popula- tion of Park County was 4,500. Several unsuccessful attempts have been made to move the county seat from Livingston and to take slices from the county. Livingston has 800 HISTORY OF MONTANA had a rapid initial growth, as a division town of the Northern Pacific, and has since increased in a substantial way both in population and public improvements. Livingston and Park County played an important part in the great American Railway Union strike of 1894, which covered the period from June 26th to July I9th. No lives were lost, but blood- shed was narrowly averted upon several occasions. TOWNS OF THE COUNTY Livingston is a modern, growing community and one of the most important cities in the state. The trading center for a rich agricultural and stock growing territory, it is situated on the banks of the Yellow- FIRST HOUSE ERECTED IN LIVINGSTON stone River, on a level plateau, 4,491 feet above sea level. Livingston is a railroad division point, being on the main line of the Northern Pacific and the junction of the main line with two branches. The city has large local railroad shops and general railway offices, flour mills, cigar factory, creamery, three granite cutting yards and brick yards, as well as four banks, and is tributary to the Shields and Paradise Valleys, which are rich in minerals and lumber. The city has three wards and is a well governed and maintained community with paved streets -and local im- provements of modern character, among its principal buildings being a Court House, City Hall and Federal building. It likewise maintains a Carnegie Library, two newspapers and four banks, and has seven public schools and a high school, as well as two hospitals. Its Commercial Club is a live organization, and the city is also the home of a post of the Grand Army of the Republic and of the United Spanish American War Vet- erans. A rifle range is maintained on the outskirts of the city. Nestled close to the very heart of the Rockies, Livingston is surrounded by kalei- doscopic mountain scenery, and is connected by an attractive automobile HISTORY OF MONTANA 801 drive up the beautiful Paradise Valley, one of the famed mountain canyons of the slate, to the lava arch through which the tourist is ad- mitted to the Yellowstone National Park. Livingston maintains a free automobile camping resort, with well-kept grounds, bordered on two sides by the Yellowstone River, shaded by large trees, and provided with electric lights, city water and wood and sanitary conveniences. These camping grounds are across the river from the business district of the city. Gardiner, second to Livingston among the urban centers of Park County, is the gateway to the Yellowstone National Park. It contains the official entrance to the grand public grounds of the nation in the form of an impressive stone arch through which pass thousands of tour- ists annually. Naturally, the town derives considerable profit from this summer procession of pleasure seekers and finders ; it is also the outfit- ting point for a considerable mining district. Gardiner came into exist- ence in 1883 with the completion of the Park branch of the Northern Pacific Railroad, and takes its name from the Gardiner River which empties into the Yellowstone near the place. In addition to Livingston and Gardiner there are a number of smaller towns in Park County which are progressive. Among these are Wilsall, which maintains a creamery and ten miles northwest of which there is a cheese factory; Pray, which has a large lime kiln; Emigrant, with a flourishing stone quarry ; and Clyde Park, which is the trading center for a prosperous agricultural district. In addition to a modern high school and four large grade schools at Livingston, there are high schools at Wilsall and Clyde Park and sixty-five common schools in the rural districts. As tourist attractions, Park County presents splendid big game hunting in season, and fine fishing, and naturally many tourists are attracted by this county being the gateway to the Yellowstone National Park. Hunters' Hot Springs is one of the best known resorts in the state, and Chico and Corwin Hot Springs are likewise well and favorably known to the traveling arranged among themselves, assigned the Civil Practice act to Chief public. PHILLIPS COUNTY Among the counties of Montana which contribute of their soil to both the agricultural and mineral wealth of the state, Phillips County has its established place. With the exception of the Little Rocky Mountains in the southwestern part, the county is nearly all prairie in character and is practically all cultivable, and this fact serves to make agriculture the chief industry, but the mountainous region referred to has produced a large amount of gold and various parts of the county have produced lignite coal, so that the mineral resources, while secondary, are by no means unimportant. Like various other parts of the state, Phillips County bears the tinge of romance. In the fastnesses of the Little Rockies the notorious Kid Curry and his gang of outlaws lived and Vol. 151 802 HISTORY OF MONTANA defied the forces of law and order in the early days, and, surrounded by the beautiful scenery to be found in the same region, are to be found the headquarters of some of the old-time western cattle outfits, for Phillips was originally a cattle county prior to the coming of the agri- culturists. Phillips County was created February 5, 1915, and was named in honor of Wendell Phillips, the American orator and abolitionist. It lies in the north central part of Montana, extending from the Canadian boundary on the north to the Missouri River on the south. The broad and fertile Milk River Valley cuts through the center of the county, east and west. With a land area of 5,266 square miles, Phillips is one of the larger counties of the state, and is 101 miles north and south and sixty- five miles east and west. The soil of the county is mostly clay loam, although some gumbo is found, and there are nearly 100,000 acres of irrigated land, chiefly in the Milk River Valley, under the Government reclamation project. The chief crops are wheat, oats, flax, alfalfa, corn and beans, and these are being raised in goodly quantities, although agriculture along the Milk River is still capable of much development. In fact, the region may be said to be new. Settlers are only practically laying the foundations at this time, and diversified farming and dairying are just beginning. Stock raising is an industry which is growing, and this, likewise, is capable of further development. Improved irrigated lands sell for around $75 per acre, improved non-irrigated for $25, non-improved lands for $15 and grazing lands for $10. Thus far, as noted, the chief mineral resources seem to be the gold that is found in the Little Rockies, and the lignite coal in various parts of the county. However, there are several structures thought to be favor- able for the finding of oil, and if such proves to be the case, a new indus- try will be opened up for operators and investors. In the southwestern part of the county is the Jefferson National Forest, in which is found timber of commercial value, and cottonwood is reasonably plentiful along the Missouri and Milk rivers. The Milk River is the principal stream of Phillips County, and Beaver Creek and other tributaries rising in the Little Rockies flow into it from the south, while a number of streams that rise near the interna- tional boundary line flow into it from the north, notably Whitewater and Frenchman creeks. Water for domestic purposes is found in wells ranging from 12 to 300 feet, depending upon the locality. The main line of the Great Northern Railway passes through the county east and west, following the Milk River for the greater part of the way, and this is the only railway system to connect with the county at this time. However, the Canadian Trail, which extends across Montana in a south- westerly direction, passes through the county and the mining districts of the Little Rockies. The Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Highway parallels the Great Northern Railway straight across the county. For the tourist, there is much to be found of an attractive nature in this section of the country. Lake Bowdein, which is situated a few miles east of HISTORY OF MONTANA 803 Malta, is one of the best duck hunting localities in the west. Large num- bers of native wild fowl nest there, and it is one of the stopping places for the northern ducks when the flight is on in the fall. Visitors invari- ably are drawn to the Little Rockies and to the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation, located just to the west of the county line. Phillips County has 112 graded schools and three accredited high schools, and a total of 146 instructors are employed. Malta, the county seat, is an up-to-date community and the chief trading center. Other good towns tributary to large farming districts are Bowdoin, Dodson and Saco. PONDERA COUNTY While Pondera County is one of the youngest in the State of Mon- tana, having been created April i, 1919, it is likewise one of the most progressive, in several ways, and during its life as a separate county this locality has made rapid strides. It is situated in the northwestern part of Montana and was formed from several other, counties, notably Teton, and has a land area of 1,658 miles, being eighty-four miles long east and west and from eighteen to thirty miles wide north and south. The Continental Divide of the Rocky Mountains marks its western boundary, and the Blackfeet Indian Reservation and Maria's River its northern boundary part of the way. This is one of the regions which still retains many of the old traditions of the West of the early days, although the tendency of recent years has been toward development of all the resources of the county along material lines, and twentieth century progress has largely subjugated the free-and-easy, open-handed methods of the past. Pondera County takes its name from the Pondera River, which is found in the eastern part of the county. The principal streams in the western part, running north, are Birch Creek, Blacktail Creek and Dupuyer Creek, emptying into Maria's River. Well water is found at depths ranging from 20 to 200 feet, depending upon the locality. About 125,000 acres are under irrigation, the majority of this acreage being included in a Carey project of the Valier Land and Irrigation Company. The eastern two-thirds of the county is tillable, but the western portion of the county is mountainous and is valuable chiefly for stock raising and grazing. The soil is a black loam of considerable depth in most places. At the present time wheat, flax, oats, barley, potatoes and alfalfa are the chief crops, but the county is still in a state of early development, and as settlers on the irrigated lands are becoming better established, more diversification in crops is being noted. For one thing, more forage is being raised and dairying and stock raising are being included in the operations of the more progressive agriculturists. These two vocations, farming and stock raising, are the chief occupa- tions of the residents of Pondera County and will probably remain so, as the county for the greater part is best adapted to the pursuits of the soil. However, coal has been found in the western part of the county in surB- 804 HISTORY OF MONTANA cient quantities to make mining profitable, and wells are being drilled for oil on several formations which look promising. Naturally, should the latter mineral be discovered in sufficient quantities it may change the entire aspect of the industrial situation in the county. As to timber in Pondera County, some commercial wood is found in the western part of the county, and there are 121,616 acres of Pondera County land included in the Lewis and Clark National Forest. Transportation facilities in Pondera County are highly acceptable. Through Burlington trains from Chicago to the Pacific coast use the Great Northern Railway through the eastern part of the county as a main line, and the Montana Western Railway, connecting with the Great Northern at Conrad, runs northwesterly to Valier, serving the irrigated district. The Geysers-to-Glaciers Highway, the Y-G-Bee Line Highway and the Banff-Grand Canyon Road traverse the county north and south, and local roads are well maintained. Irrigated land in Pondera County sells at $90 to $125 an acre. Non-irrigated farming lands range irom $15 to $50 an acre, and non-improved, non-irrigated lands sell at from $10 an acre up. For those who desire to settle permanently in the county, develop- ment of the agricultural and stock raising industries will prove the most interesting and profitable investment. For those who are visiting the com- munity merely as tourists, good hunting and fishing are provided in the western part of the county, while the Blackfeet Indian Reservation on the north affords opportunity to study the western Indian in his native environment. Conrad, the county seat of Pondera County, is the most important town in the county, and is the distributing center for a rich and growing locality. It has all modern improvements, including a high school accredited for four-year terms, in which, among other courses, are given manual training, domestic science, commercial and normal training. Valier, the second largest town, is a modern community and a growing one, with an accredited four-year-term high school, and is in the heart of the irrigated district. Other important community centers, all of which have good graded schools, are Dupuyer, the oldest town in the county; Brady, Williams, Manson, Ledger and Fowler. Williams is the headquarters of the Community Club of the irrigation project, the first organization of its kind in the county. The first Project Fair was held under the auspices of this club, and the first Pondera County Fair in connection with the second annual Project Fair. The county fair has been made a permanent annual event and is doing much to stimulate interest in modern methods of farming and stock growing. POWDER RIVER COUNTY Prosperity and development of the West have always followed the railroad. Wherever the iron horse has made his way he has been trailed by the forces which make for advancement and settlement, but until his tracks have wended across a stretch of country that locality will never HISTORY OF MONTANA 805 realize its fullest possibilities. Lying in Southeastern Montana, its south- ern boundary marking the northern boundary of Wyoming, Powder River County, so-called from the stream of that name, is remote from any railroad, and stock raising is the chief industry, although practically all the best homestead lands have been entered upon. Surveys have been made for a railroad from Belle Fourche, South Dakota, to Miles City, Montana, and whenever the line is built there will be a rapid development of the agricultural industry in the county, and the communities, all small at this time, will offer many opportunities in various business ways. Powder River County has a land area of 3,337 square miles, and the northern and eastern portions of the county consist of rolling prairies with pine and cedar brakes. The western and southern portions are rough and broken in places, with hills of considerable size, and this locality will in all probability always be used for grazing purposes. The soil in the districts adapted for agriculture is chiefly a deep, fertile loam, and alfalfa and corn are the leading crops. Some small grain is raised, there are a few old orchards in the county and those that have been prop- erly cared for have done well, and small fruits, vegetables and melons are successful. Cattle raising is now the chief industry and there are many old-time big cattle outfits operating in this region. Practically all the irrigated land in the county belongs to these ranches, having been developed to furnish winter forage. The Powder River flows northeasterly through the county, and into it flows the Little Powder, which drains the southern portion of the county. Otter Creek, Pumpkin Creek and Mizpah River are other streams which flow more or less during the year, and a number of artesian wells, developing a. good flow, have been brought in. There is considerable lignite coal in the county, but no prospecting has been done to ascertain what other mineral resources, if any, the county possesses. There are some commercial stands of timber, cottonwood, wild plum, box elder and ash growing along the streams, while pine and cedar are found in the hills. There are 395,000 acres of the county included in the Custer National Forest. CHAPTER XXXV POWELL, PRAIRIE, RAVALLI AND RICHLAND COUNTIES Powell County lies on the western slope of the main range of the Rocky mountains in Western Montana, about midway between the north- ern and southern boundaries of the state. It was created January 31, 1901, and has an area of 2,329 square miles. Most of the surface is mountainous, but there is quite an amount of good farming land in the Deer Lodge Valley around Deer Lodge, and also in the Big Blackfoot Valley around Ovando. Lesser agricultural areas are found all along the streams. The soil in the Deer Lodge Valley varies from a rich black loam to a light chocolate, and is underlaid by a gravelly sub-soil which in places appears on the surface. POWELL COUNTY IN GENERAL The county is well watered by several important streams, which are fed by numerous mountain tributaries. The Deer Lodge River flows northerly and then westerly through the southern half, the Big Black- foot River westerly, and the Little Blackfoot River and Nevada Creek in a southerly direction through the northern half of the county. The south fork of the Flathead River has its source among the high moun- tains in the remote northern end of the county and flows northerly. Of the 1,621,360 acres contained within the area of Powell County, 626,209 are included within national forests, divided as follows: 169,765 acres in the Missoula Forest, 70,930 acres in the Deer Lodge Forest, 271,000 in the Flathead Forest and 114,514 in the Helena Forest. Agricultural land values are determined by the location, altitude, mar- kets and crop adaptability, and vary from $20 to $150 an acre. Alfalfa and wild hay are the principal crops, but wheat, oats, barley and flax are also raised, as well as dairy products, poultry, swine and vegetables, the last four named products finding a ready market at Butte and Anaconda. The valleys in the northern half of the county are chiefly devoted to hay to furnish winter forage for the live stock. Mining has been developed in the southern half of the county, the principal mining districts lying near Elliston on the Little Blackfoot and on Nevada Creek near Ophir. There has also been some mining near Deer Lodge. Silver, lead and gold are the chief minerals developed. The mineral possibilities of the northern half of the county have not yet been ascertained, as little prospecting has been done there. That moun- tainous region, with its good hunting and fishing, has strong attractions for tourists, especially those of sporting proclivities, and at Ovando may 806 HISTORY OF MONTANA 807 be found experienced guides ready to take parties into the primitive wilderness. A LITTLE HISTORY Deer Lodge Valley, along the river by that name, Deer Lodge, the county seat, and other names and features of the region, are forcible reminders of the days of Indian occupancy and lore. It is said by Gran- ville Stuart that the name Deer Lodge is derived from the Hot Spring mound in the northern part of what is now Deer Lodge County the mother of Powell, Silver Bow and Granite counties. The Butte men- tioned, in the upper part of the valley, was called by the Snake Indians the Whitetailed Deer Lodge, from the fact that the variety of deer men- tioned were very abundant in that region, and that the steam arising from the mound resembled smoke issuing from a native lodge. The settlement of what is now Powell County was an outcome of the discovery of gold at Gold Creek by a party led by the Stuarts, in 1858. Though unable at the time to develop the placer, they returned and began work in 1862. The news of their discovery led to the founding of Ban- nack and Virginia City, and the eventual settlement of Western Montana. CITY OF DEER LODGE Deer Lodge, the county seat, is in the center of the valley, and con- tains about one-half of the total population of the county, which amounts to 6,909 according to the 1920 census. It is a little city of beautiful homes, substantial business houses and such modern municipal utilities as a gravity water system, the source of which is in the mountains to the east, electric lights and park improvements. In several sections of the city, the "lodge" idea has been brought out in a way which is most artistic and sylvan. In that respect, Deer Lodge town is among the unique communities of Montana, if not of the states. Its setting is majestic and charming, situated, as it is, between the main range of the Rocky mountains in the east and a spur of the main range on the west, at the foot of Mount Powell, one of the loftiest of Montana's peaks. The altitude of the city is about 4,500 feet above sea level, and is surrounded by mountains, with gentle valleys and broad benches rising from the Deer Lodge River to the adjacent heights. When the town was originally platted by the pioneers from the East, it was designed that Deer Lodge should become a city of homes, and at an early day trees were planted along the streets and in the surrounding districts. That policy was also in line with the prevailing ambition of the earlier days to bring the territorial capital to Deer Lodge. Albeit that ambition was not realized, the result has been to make Deer Lodge one of the most delightful shaded cities in Montana. Surrounding Deer Lodge are some of the largest ranches in Montana, as well as numerous farms productive of wheat, oats, barley and flax. fc I I w s 5 w w Q HISTORY OF MONTANA 809 It is within an hour's ride of Butte and Anaconda, and the great mining district of the state, and, as its transportation facilities are good, is one of the large shipping points of the state. The southern part of Powell County is traversed by the main lines of the Northern Pacific and the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railroads, and the Milwaukee road has made surveys for another line through the northern part, between Great Falls and Missoula. The principal automobile highways running east and west also pass through the county and are kept in unusually good condition. The main roads fork at Garrison, one branch going to Butte and the other to Helena. A few years ago Deer Lodge was made a division point on the Mil- waukee road, since which time it has developed considerably. It has become a railroad town of some importance, the company's shops furnish- ing employment to a considerable number of men. MONTANA STATE PRISON The Montana State Prison was located at Deer Lodge twenty-four years ago, and is an imposing pile of buildings. The records show that there are about 600 prisoners, but as the system of parole and employ- ment on state buildings and public highways is in force, at times more than a half have spent various periods in valuable labor outside the prison walls. Among the buildings thus erected by prison labor have been the office of the prison; men's and women's dormitories at the State Hospital for the Insane at Warm Springs, Deer Lodge County, and the dairy barn and power house, the State Tuberculosis Sanitarium at Galen, same county. As a very small percentage of those paroled is reported as having violated their privileges, the system (in view of its financial returns) appears to have been a success. Deer Lodge furnishes good educational facilities in thoroughly or- ganized graded schools and the county high school which, in addition to the regular curriculum, provides a course in agriculture under the provisions of the Smith-Hughes act; also, the St. Mary's (Catholic) Academy is well conducted. Other towns, besides those mentioned, are Elliston, on the Little Blackfoot, a mining center, Ovando and Helmville. The last named is the principal town in the northern part of the county. PRAIRIE COUNTY Prairie County lies in Eastern Montana, midway between the northern and southern boundaries. It was created February 5, 1915 and has a land area of 1,742 square miles. Its maximum length east and west is seventy-two miles and its maximum breadth twenty-one miles. In the northwestern part of the county are the Mountain Sheep Bluffs and the surface is more or less broken. In the remainder of the county it is rolling. 810 HISTORY OF MONTANA The principal stream is the Yellowstone River, which flows in a northeasterly direction, bisecting the county, and is fed by a number of tributaries, the most important of which on the south, in Prairie County, is Powder River. Stock raising and non-irrigated farming are the chief industries. The prevailing type of soil is a chocolate loam and the prin- cipal grain crops are raised including wheat, oats, rye, barley, corn and flax. Alfalfa and considerable wild hay are also raised, and some attention is being given to corn and sunflowers for silage pur- poses. Considerable reclamation is projected, including the irrigation of 30,000 acres from the Yellowstone and Powder rivers. Farmers on the non-irrigated lands are devoting their chief attention to live stock. Non-irrigated land can be purchased at from $10 to $75 an acre and graz- ing land from $7 to $15 an acre. Cottonwood is found along the creeks, but there are no commercial stands of timber. A considerable quantity of lignite coal of good quality has been found in the county, and some prospecting has been done in districts thought favorable for oil and gas. The population of Prairie County in 1920 was 3,684. The transcontinental line of the Northern Pacific traverses the county, keeping close to the Yellowstone River. The main line of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul enters the county from the southeast and from Cato west follows the Yellowstone. The Yellowstone and Red trails cross Prairie County from east to west, merging into one trail at Fallen. At Terry they are joined by the Powder River Trail, extending from Moose Jaw, Canada, to Denver, Colorado. The roads out of Terry, Fallen and Mildred are graded. The county seat of Prairie County, which is also the principal town, is Terry. It is situated in a natural artesian basin along the Yellow- stone River between the mouth of Powder River and Fallon Creek. Its altitude is 2,250 feet. In 1920 it had a population of 794. Terry is served by the Northern Pacific and Milwaukee railroads and is the chief distributing center of the county. It is a modern, up-to-date town with a community club and a community church, and is the headquarters of the Farm Bureau, the County Fair Association and the Roundup. Mildred and Fallon are growing towns; Mildred on the Chicago, Mil- waukee and St. Paul Railroad and the Yellowstone Trail, and Fallon on the line of the Northern Pacific at the junction of the Yellowstone and Red trails. Terry, Fallon and Mildred have good graded schools. Terry also has a high school accredited for a four year course and at Mildred there is a high school with a two years' course. Forty rural schools are distributed throughout the country districts of the county. The bench lands in the vicinity of the principal communities have been well improved, but there are large areas of railroad and other lands avail- able for purchase. RAVALLI COUNTY Ravalli County, created by separation from Missoula County April i, 1893, has a land area of 2,391 square miles. It lies in Western Mon- HISTORY OF MONTANA 811 tana and comprises the greater portion of the Bitter Root Valley. It is bounded on the west by the Idaho line, which follows along the jagged range of the Bitter Root, on the east by the Granite County line, marked out by a spur of the Rockies, and on the south by the Continental divide. With a length north and south of approximately seventy miles. It has a width of about eighteen miles, and is hemmed in by mountain ranges on all sides save the north. The Bitter Root River, a large clear moun- tain stream, is fed by numerous tributaries coming down from the mountains on both sides of the valley, and the tourist may here find beautiful scenery with splendid hunting and fishing. HISTORIC ASSOCIATIONS Bitter Root Valley has its historic associations. In 1805 Lewis and Clark, crossing over from the Big Hole, passed down the valley on their route westward. Here also, in 1841, the Jesuit fathers established the first church in Montana, St. Mary's Mission, which still stands in what is the town of Stevensville. They also plowed, seeded and har- vested the first acre of land in Montana. The Nez Perces in their out- break of 1877 swept through the valley, and the Flathead Indians made it their home until they were removed to the Flathead reservation in 1891. It was here that Marcus Daly established his racing stud and bred some of the most famous winners on the American turf. RESOURCES OF RAVALLI COUNTY Up to the present time Ravalli County has developed no mineral resources. Its pioneers were mostly lumbermen, who established what was for a time the dominant industry, but which now holds a secondary position. Though they cut over thousands of acres of land in the county, large commercial stands of timber still remain. There are 1,129,567 acres included within the Bitter Root National Forest and 7,900 acres within the Lolo National Forest. Many of the early settlers who came here to cultivate the land en- gaged extensively in fruit growing, which industry for a time put on the aspect of a "boom." But too little regard was paid to location and the character of the soil, and as a result some met with failure. Better judgment, guided by experience, has served to stabilize the industry and make it profitable, and there are now about 35,000 acres in the county laid out in orchards. Many former orchard tracts have been planted to hay and grain, for dairy herds and swine. General farming, dairying and flour milling are also carried on successfully. Most of the farming is done under irrigation. The greater part of the land surface is roll- ing, with considerable slope near the foothills. Here and there the slope is broken by bench lands some of which have been placed under the ditch. The soil varies from a gravelly light soil to a deep loam. The farm crops in general consist of hay, both wild and tame, wheat, oats, 812 barley, potatoes and other vegetables, apples and cherries. The price of irrigated land is from $100 to $200 an acre; non-irrigated land about $30 an acre, and grazing land from $7 to $15 an acre. The transporta- tion facilities are adequate to present needs. A branch line of the North- ern Pacific from Missoula runs practically the entire length of the valley, which is also traversed by the Park-to-Park road link. Ravalli County has made ample provision for education. Besides the rural and graded schools there are high schools at Hamilton, Stevens- ville, Corvallis and Victor, each accredited for the four year course. The Hamilton High School also maintains a teachers' training depart- ment. Though having an elevation on over 3,000 feet on the Pacific side of the divide, the climate of Ravalli County is in general mild, extremes of temperature being comparatively infrequent. In the development of the tourist trade, dairying, horticulture and the raising of blooded live stock, new settlers may find abundant opportunities for industry with the prospect of an adequate reward. HAMILTON AND VICINITY The largest city in Ravalli County is Hamilton, the county seat, which is a town of modern conveniences, substantial business blocks and hand- some residences. It has also good educational and religious facilities. It is situated near the center of Bitter Root Valley in the midst of a fine apple country, and with pine forests in the vicinity. Among its industries are a large sawmill, a sash, door and box factory and a lath mill. Adjoining the town is Bitter Root Stock Farm, founded by the late Marcus Daly, now owned and managed by Mrs. Marcus Daly. This estate contains 22,000 acres and is one of the finest, if not the finest, in Montana. A picturesque locality near town is known as Forest Hill. The City of Hamilton contains eight churches, among which the most notable are the Methodist Episcopal and the Presbyterian. The former was erected in 1893. Three substantial banks provide adequate financial accommodations and three newspapers are here published. There are two good hotels and an active Chamber of Commerce, with J. E. Shoudy as secretary, is going good work in inaugurating local improvements and keeping the citizens imbued with progressive ideas. Another important local institution is the Hamilton Public Library. Three and a half miles from the city the County Poor Farm is located. The other community centers of Ravalli County are Stevensville, Corvallis, Victor and Darby. Stevensville, with a population of 1,250, is the second city in point of size, and has the distinction of being not only the oldest town in the county but also in the state. It is situated on the Bitter Root branch of the Northern Pacific Railroad, twenty- eight miles south of Missoula and is the center of a fine fruit country. Among its local institutions are two banks, two newspapers, a co-operative creamery, flour mill and seven churches. The creamery is the only co- HISTORY OF MONTANA 813 operative institution of the kind in the state and is one of the most successful enterprises of that character in the United States. It markets all kinds of dairy products, including poultry. RICHLAND COUNTY Richland County is situated in the northeastern part of Montana and has the shape of an irregular right triangle, with the Missouri River, flowing eastward, as its northern boundary, and North Dakota as its eastern. It was created May 27, 1914. Its land area is about 1,900 square miles. The greater part of the surface, indeed nearly all of it, YOUNG APPLE ORCHARD IN RAVALLI COUNTY is underlaid by lignite coal, which is to be had for the digging and is sold commercially for local use. The principal streams are the Yellowstone toward the east, flowing in a northeasterly direction to join the Missouri near the state line; the Missouri on the north, and Redwater Creek on the west. They have numerous tributaries, many of considerable size. The average depth of wells is 40 feet. A range of hills runs northeasterly through the county, marking the divide between the Missouri River and Yellowstone River watersheds. Along the course of these streams, long before gold was discovered in Montana, fur traders had built posts and lived adventurous and almost solitary lives, their exploits and experiences adding many a fascinating page to the history of the West. The timber in Richland County consists mostly of cottonwood, which is found along the streams, with some pine and cedar in the rough portions, but there are no commercial stands of timber in the county. Seventy-five per cent of the surface is suitable for cultivation. General farming and stock raising are the chief industries, the latter carried on chiefly in the northern part of the county. Dairying is also followed 814 HISTORY OF MONTANA successfully and to a considerable extent in the irrigated districts. The land in the Yellowstone Valley through the county is irrigated from the Lower Yellowstone Project, constructed by the United States Rec- lamation service in 1908. Along the tributaries of the Yellowstone more land is irrigated from private ditches. The valley land is practically level and is characterized by a rich soil, with no stones, gumbo or sage- brush, except in spots. The Yellowstone Valley is from two to six miles in width and smaller valleys are found along the tributary streams. The bench lands for the most part are rolling and somewhat rough along the creeks and rivers, but quite level in places. The soil here is a chocolate loam, practically free from stones, and underlaid with a clay sub-soil. On these lands wheat, corn, oats and flax are grown successfully. The irrigated districts are devoted chiefly to alfalfa, sugar beets, potatoes and other vegetables and some grain. The average value of improved irrigated land is $150 an acre, improved non-irrigated farming land $40 an acre, non-improved bench lands $25, and grazing land $10 an acre. Transportation facilities are furnished by two railway systems, the Great Northern and the Northern Pacific, and other lines are in pro- jection. The Great Northern has a branch running south from Mondak to Sidney, while another branch of the same system enters the county from Dakota at East Fairview and connects with the Mondak line. This is part of a proposed new transcontinental cut-off which has been built west in Richland County as far as Richey, Dawson County, but the construction of which was interrupted by the war. A line westward through Sidney has been projected by the Soo road, and the Northern Pacific has projected a line from Sidney to Killdeer, North Dakota. The county roads, which include several state highways, are kept in good shape. The county seat of Richland County is Sidney, which in 1920 had a population of 1,400. It is a general milling and market town and is the only railroad center in the county. Among its industries are a creamery and a flour mill. It has a modern system of public utilities, including water works, sewerage and electric lights. Its altitude is 1,978 feet above sea level. The other principal towns of the county are Fairview, Lam- bert, Savage and Enid. Education has been well provided for in Richland County and there are seventy-four school districts under efficient superintendence. Sidney had a good high school, with a department for the training of rural teachers. The population of the county in 1920 was 8,989. CHAPTER XXXVI ROOSEVELT, ROSEBUD, SANDERS AND SHERIDAN COUNTIES The county which possesses the distinction of being named in honor of the great American president, statesman, soldier and naturalist, Col. Theodore Roosevelt, is one of the youngest of Montana's counties, hav- ing been created February 18, 1919. Its early history is that of Sheridan County, of which it was formerly a part, and of North Dakota, which state forms its eastern boundary line. Situated as it is in the north- eastern part of the state, during the early days it was the scene of many conflicts between the Indians and the white settlers, but this matter is covered in another chapter of this work, dealing with the settlement of the pioneers who pushed over the line of the territory from North Dakota and points to the east and south. FARMING AND STOCK RAISING Roosevelt County has a land area of 2,355 square miles, and is eighty miles long and thirty miles wide. Its altitude, 1,922 feet, is the lowest in the state. It is exclusively an agricultural and stock raising county, and while non-irrigated farming predominates over the irrigated method, when the Fort Peck Indian Reservation Reclamation Project in the western part of the county is completed by the United States Government, 152,- ooo acres will be irrigated in one body. All of the county is practically a rolling prairie country, with a soil varying from a deep heavy chocolate loam to a light sandy loam, well adapted for large scale operations, a fact which was recognized by the Montana Farming Corporation (a Morgan concern) which has leased several thousand- acres on the Fort Peck Reservation and is raising wheat and flax on a big scale. In addition to these, corn and hay are the chief crops, although before the coming of the agriculturally inclined settlers this region was noted among stockmen for its growth of heavy, luxurious and nutritious grasses. Aside from agriculture, stock raising is the chief industry, and much progress has been made in establishing pure-bred cattle herds. A Tri- County Stock Show for Sheridan, Roosevelt and Richland counties is held annually at Culbertson and is considered to be one of the most com- plete in the state. The Shorthorn herd owned by Lowe & Powers, at this point, is accounted the best herd in Northeastern Montana and Western North Dakota. Aside from the Missouri River, which marks the county's southern boundary, the principal stream in Roosevelt County is the Poplar River, flowing southerly through the county and emptying into the Missouri, 815 816 but there are also a number of smaller streams, notably Big Muddy Creek, all tributaries of the Missouri. Non-irrigated farms in this county sell from $25 to $50 an acre, irrigated farms considerably higher, and grazing land considerably less. Some of the lands under the ditches of the Fort Peck Indian Project are being sold by Indians who have received patent in fee to their allotments, at prices ranging from $30 to $50 an acre, the purchaser assuming the construction costs. MINERAL RESOURCES In the matter of timber, cottonwood and ash are to be found along the streams, but there are no commercial stands of marketable lumber. TRACTOR AT WORK IN ROOSEVELT COUNTY The mineral resources are much more valuable, for fine beds of lignite coal of good quality are found throughout the county, and there has been considerable prospecting for oil and gas. The indications for the devel- opment of these industries are considered promising. In case that such industries develop, there will be no serious difficulties in the way of secur- ing transportation facilities, as the main line of the Great Northern Rail- road parallels the Missouri River throughout the county, and a branch line runs north from Bainville into Sheridan County, while another branch from Snowden runs south into Richland County. The Roose- velt Memorial Highway follows the main line of the Great Northern. While itself still a county in its infancy, prior to its creation Roose- velt had the benefit of the work done in the way of development by Sheridan County, and this included the establishment of a public school system. In addition to rural and graded schools, there are four high HISTORY OF MONTANA 817 schools in the county. Those at Poplar, Culbertson and Wolf Point are accredited for the four-year term, and the school at Bainville for two years. According to the United States Census of 1920, Roosevelt County has a population of 10,347, and its assessed valuation is $20,060,127. WOLF POINT AND OTHER TOWNS The largest town in the county and one which seems to have a bright future before it, not only on account of the railroad shops but also be- cause of the large territory opening up around it in the Fort Peck Indian Reservation Reclamation Project, is Wolf Point, situated in the south- western portion of the county. This is a railroad division point on the main line of the Great Northern Railroad, and according to the 1920 census report had a population of 2,098. In 1916 this community was only an Indian agency town, with a population of 300 inhabitants. Today it has beautiful homes, fine churches, a good school system and progres- sive business establishments. Poplar, also located on the main line of the Great Northern Railroad, and on the Missouri River, is a town that is growing rapidly and by the 1920 census had a population of 1,152. This community is one that attracts interest because of the unique Indian Fair held every year. It is situated on the river whose name it bears. The little town of Mondak, in the extreme southeastern corner of the county, was made the temporary county seat at the time of the county's creation. One of the oldest towns in the eastern portion of the state is Culbert- son, which, with a population of only 347, has taken the lead in encourag- ing the growing of pure-bred livestock, and holds an annual stock show at which exhibitors come from various parts of Roosevelt and the ad- j'oining counties of Sheridan and Richland. Bainville, another town in the eastern part of the county, had a population of 396 at the last census report, but is growing rapidly because of its good railroad facilities. This town is also the site of a flour mill with a capacity of 550 barrels daily, the largest in Northeastern Montana or Northwestern North Dakota, which is supplied by grain due to its railroad facilities and is in constant operation. The town is also becoming quite a shipping point and pre- sents an opening for wholesale branch houses. Other thriving little towns, owing their importance chiefly to the fact that they lie in the midst of rich agricultural districts, are Froid, McCabe and Brockton. ROSEBUD COUNTY Correctly speaking, the Old West is of the past. There are some still remaining who recall the days of Indian fighting, miles of cattle ranges, daily privations and primitive conditions, but for the most part the ever increasing influx of settlers from the more eastern communities, has put the stamp of an advanced civilization upon even the most re- motely situated sections and day by day the old customs are passing further into the background of memory. However, in several isolated MODERN WOLF POINT SCHOOLS HISTORY OF MONTANA 819 cases there are to be found localities which have clung tenaciously to the long past, who have refused to accept in full the refinements of the twen- tieth century and who therefore retain some of the glamour of the Old West. One of these localities lies in Rosebud County, where, in the southern part, is situated the Tongue River Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation. Owing to the fact that this reservation is located far from any railroad, the Government's wards on this reservation have not had the opportunity of becoming spoiled by coming into contact with the AN OLD-TIME INDIAN CEREMONIAL pleasures and vices of their white brothers of the cities, and are more like the Indians of forty or more years ago than almost any other reservation Indians. Also, in the southern end of the county are to be found a number of typical old-time western cattle ranches, whose owners have fought stubbornly to continue their operations along the old lines and who have been successful in their determined stand because of their remoteness from railroad connections. -NATURAL AND ACQUIRED FEATURES Rosebud County, which is situated in the southeastern part of Mon- tana, was created February n, 1901, being formed from the western part 820 HISTORY OF MONTANA of Custer County, and derives its name from Rosebud Creek, an im- portant tributary of the Yellowstone River. The land area of the county is 4,993 square miles, making it the sixth largest county in the state, and it also ranks well as to wealth, its assessed valuation in 1920 being $35,- 475,463, although its population, according to the 1920 census was only 8,002. Sixty miles of the fertile Yellowstone Valley extends through its central part from east to west, and the county is irregular in shape, with a maximum length from east to west of 1 14 miles and a maximum breadth of eighty-four miles north and south. AGRICULTURAL AND OTHER NATURAL WEALTH Rosebud County is well watered ky good-sized streams. In addition to the Yellowstone River, there are the Tongue and Big Horn rivers and Rosebud, Sunday, Sand, Horse, Little Porcupine, Froze to Death, Alkali, Tullocks, Sarpy, Armells and Sweeney creeks. The geographical nomen- clature will suggest much to the modernist who is endeavoring to visualize the country as it was when the first settlers took up their abode in this region. There are three important irrigation projects in the county. On the south side of the Yellowstone River and just west of Forsyth, is the Yellowstone Irrigation Project of 5,000 acres. East of Forsyth on the north side of the Yellowstone is the Carterville Project of 10,000 acres, and on the same side of the river west of Forsyth is the Hammond Pro- ject of 5,000 acres. Many minor projects are found on smaller streams, but the entire matter of irrigation is covered elsewhere in this work and it is not necessary to go into it fully here. It may be stated, however, that there are about 30,000 acres of irrigated land in the county and 60,000 acres that are irrigable, nearly 2,000,000 acres of tillable land and 1,200,- ooo acres of grazing land. Naturally, in a county in which conditions are so favorable., agriculture and stock raising are the principal industries. Wheat, rye, oats, barley, corn, alfalfa, alfalfa seed and 'sugar beets are the chief crops. While the soil varies, the prevailing type is chocolate loam with a clay sub-soil. In some of the northern parts of the county, a heavy clay predominates but with proper cultivation gives good yields. Rosebud is considered a big corn county, has yielded banner crops of Turkey Red wheat, particularly in recent years, and also is a good county for various vegetables. Improved irrigated lands in Rosebud county will average $125 an acre in value, improved non-irrigable lands $30 an acre, .unimproved tilla- ble lands $15, and. grazing lands $7 an acre. ' For the most part, the stock raising industry in Rosebud County cen- ters about the Tongue and Big Horn rivers and on Rosebud Creek, although this vocation is followed to some extent in almost all portions of the county. Some timber of commercial value is found in the county, there being 104,000 acres of the county included within the Custer National Forest. Until recently, Rosebud County had not been considered as possessing minerals of any great value, but it is reported that the Northern Pacific Railway has completed a survey into the southern end of the HISTORY OF MONTANA 821 county to tap a field that is estimated to contain 2,000,000 tons of bitum- inous coal. Lignite is also plentiful. One of the largest potential oil domes in the state is in the northern part of Rosebud County and develop- ment work is now being conducted on it. Two transcontinental railways traverse the county from east to west, the Northern Pacific and the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul, and a fifty-mile stretch of the Yellow- stone Highway is in Rosebud County. EDUCATIONAL MATTERS The educational advantages provided for the children of Rosebud County include 100 schoolhouses, in which, in 1920, there were 1,938 pupils undergoing instruction. There are likewise five high schools, two of them accredited for a four-year term, with 122 pupils enrolled. FORSYTH, ROSEBUD AND OTHER TOWNS The county seat of Rosebud County is Forsyth, a community ac- credited with a population of 1,838, by the 1920 census report. Located forty-five miles west of Miles City, Forsyth is on the Northern Pacific and Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railways, and, as a Northern Pacific freight division point, is a trade center for the Yellowstone, Porcupine and Rosebud Valleys. It is a distributing point for an area 150 miles north and south and forty miles east and west, and gains importance through handling the product of a large wool country. Forsyth is a modern little city with three banks, two large, up-to-date hotels, -two newspapers, three churches and thirty-two retail stores. Six miles to the east of Forsyth is the local sub-station of the Montana Agricultural Station, where recent experiments have proven that Turkey red wheat can be produced in bountiful quantities in this county. Rosebud, the second largest town in the county, is the commercial center for the eastern part. Vananda, Sumatra and Ingomar are live towns in the northwestern part, the last-named being the headquarters of the sheep industry of Rosebud County and the site of a shearing plant which has a capacity of 6,000 head daily. SANDERS COUNTY For diversity of industries and for attractions offered to those who have an inclination for an outdoor life, few counties in Montana excel Sanders. Its varied topography serves to make the county a broad pan- orama of beautiful scenery, in which are towering mountain ranges, broad prairie basins, picturesque gorges and long stretches of timberland. Owing to its conformation, the county favors the pursuits of agriculture, dairy- ing, horticulture, mining and lumbering. Its great natural resources as to fish and game make it a favorite camping-ground of sportsmen from all over the country. Some of its industries have not been developed to 822 HISTORY OF MONTANA a great extent, having been but recently recognized as opportunities, but advancement is being made in various directions. Sanders County was organized March i, 1906, being formed from a part of Missoula County. It was named after the grand pioneer, first president of the State Historical Society, United States Senator and strong public character, Wilbur F. Sanders. Although the Assembly passed the bill for the creation of the county on the 7th of February, 1905, Colonel Sanders did not live to see it fairly organized, his death occurring at his home in Helena, on July 7th, of the year named. The County of Sanders lies in the northwestern part of Montana, the Idaho state line marking its western boundary, and is on the western slope of the Rockies, being skirted by the Coeur d'Alene mountains on the south and the Cabinet range on the north in a general way. Between these two ranges the Clark's Fork of the Columbia River flows westerly the length of the county. In places, the valley along the river widens out into broad prairie basins and in other places, becomes of a gorge-like narrowness. The Clark's Fork of the Columbia carries a larger volume of water than does the Missouri River in Montana, and is fed by numerous tributaries rising in both the Coeur d'Alene and Cabinet mountains. While agriculture, dairying and mining are making much progress, lumbering is the chief industry. There are over a million acres of Sanders County included within national forests, 37,815 acres in the Lolo Forest and 965,963 acres in the Cabinet National Forest. Along the Thompson River is one of the most valuable stands of white pine to be found in the United States, and the mountains have valuable tracts of yellow pine, fir, cedar and larch. Lumbering operations are carried on in various localities throughout the county and numerous large lumber camps are to be found throughout the timbered districts. Sawmills are found in most of the bigger towns and the industry is one which has a firm hold upon the county, being made additionally profitable by the excellent trans- portation facilities available. In the latter connection it may be mentioned that the main line of the Northern Pacific Railway follows the Clark's Fork of the Columbia through the county. The National Parks High- way and the Yellowstone Trail parallel the railway. Agricultural pursuits are confined to the valley of the Clark's Fork and along the tributary streams that flow into it, such as Thompson River and Prospect and Vermilion creeks. The bottom lands are of a deep sandy loam, while a gravelly loam predominates on the bench lands. In the western half of the county the land is either cut-over land or natural meadow, and almost all of it is irrigable by private projects. Near Thompson Falls, 3,000 acres in one tract are irrigated from the Thomp- son River. This section of the county is admirably adapted to dairying, clover and other forage crops growing in abundance, while the vast area of national forest reserve furnishes cheap pasturage. Wheat, clover, timothy, oats, potatoes, peas and barley are the principal crops, although many experimenters have had success with fruit-growing, especially in the main valley, where apples, plums, cherries, pears, strawberries and HISTORY OF MONTANA 823 some peaches have been raised in marketable quantities. While the de- velopment of mining as an industry in Sanders County has not been carried much beyond the prospecting stage, it is known that there are quantities of silver, lead, zinc, copper and gold, particularly in the mineral districts of the Coeur d'Alenes. The land area of Sanders County is 2,837 acres, which brings it under the general average of the fifty- four Montana counties, and it is about tenth smallest in population, which, according to United States Census report of 1920, is 3,949 souls. The mean temperature of the county is IN THE LUMBER COUNTRY in the neighborhood of 45.2, and the growing season is from n to 132 days. Lands in the cutover region sell at from $10 to $15 an acre, and in the prairie sections the price ranges from $20 to $100 an acre. The educational system of Sanders is well organized and of a high order, and in addition to the rural and graded schools of the county, there are three high schools, those at Thompson Falls and Plains being accredited to the four-year term and that at Paradise for a two-year term. Sanders County, as before noted, can compete with any section of the country as an outdoor land. Numerous well-stocked trout streams, wide areas of virgin forests inhabited by deer, elk, cougar, bear, wild- cats, mountain lions, bighorn and mountain goats offer the best of hunt- ing and fishing, and camp sites at beautiful mountain lakes are easily accessible by national forest trails. Hot springs, twenty miles from Perma, on the Northern Pacific, and located on the former Flathead 824 HISTORY OF MONTANA Indian reservation, is noted for its medicinal waters and mud baths. The springs, located midway between the towns of Camas and Hot Springs, have been leased by the Department of the Interior to a company which is developing them as a health and pleasure resort, the lease including more than 100 acres. Plans made by the leasing company included the building of an electric line connecting the springs with the railroad and extending beyond the springs about forty miles. The mud baths have gained something more than a local reputation as a cure for rheumatism, and unlike the great majority of baths of this kind throw out hot mud which runs away with the water. The waters of -Hot Springs, which are available throughout the year, have been found beneficial in the treat- ment of venereal diseases and intestinal troubles. TOWNS IN SANDERS COUNTY Thompson Falls, the county seat of Sanders County, is a town of 508 people, according to the 1920 United States Census report, and is advan- tageously located on the Northern Pacific and Clark's Fork, 102 miles northwest of Missoula, and in the geographical center of the county. It is a thriving little community, with a good waterworks system, and is in the heart of the mining and lumbering districts. It maintains two bank- ing institutions, two weekly newspapers, a good hotel and a number of retail establishments, in addition to having a graded and a high school and several churches. Four miles east of the Thompson River, on which Thompson Falls is situated, is located an irrigation project. The Montana Power Com- pany has made a big hydroelectric installation at Thompson Falls, the power being used to supply the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad. Plains, in the productive Plains Valley, is the outlet for a large portion of the former Flathead reservation region, and the center of a big live- stock country, in addition to which some of the finest farms of the county are adjacent to this town. Plains is also noted as having the longest' bridge in the state of Montana, crossing the Clark's Fork. Paradise, situated southeast of Plains, is a division point of the Northern Pacific. Perma and Dixon are agricultural centers in the eastern end of the county, and Heron, Noxon, Trout Creek, Whitepine, Alger and Belknap in the western end. SHERIDAN COUNTY While ranking thirty-seventh as to size among the counties of Mon- tana, Sheridan County is third as to population. This is due to the fact that, in proportion to its size, it probably has more small towns than any other county in the state, and that its agricultural districts are also well populated. This county, named in honor of the brilliant American mil- itary officer, Gen. Philip Henry Sheridan, was formerly one of the larger bodies of the state, including all of the territory now included in Roose- HISTORY OF MONTANA 825 velt County, and a part of what is now Daniels County, but with the formation of the latter county, in 1919, Sheridan's area was cut to 1,758 square miles. Its population in 1920, according to census reports, was I3.847- Sheridan County occupies the extreme northeastern corner of Mon- tana, and is bounded on the north by the Saskatchewan country of Can- ada, on the east by the North Dakota line, on the south by Roosevelt County and on the west by Daniels County. There are no mountains, three-fourths of the county's area is cultivable, and there is very little irrigated land, non-irrigated crops being raised almost exclusively. While the county has other potential resources, the value of which has not as yet been determined, it is exclusively an agricultural and stock raising community. Flax, wheat, oats, rye, barley, corn and hay form the prin- cipal crops, while some millet and buckwheat are raised, and potatoes and other root crops and garden stuff generally do well. Natural soil irriga- tion is secured from the Big Muddy River, which rises in Canada, traverses the county and eventually empties into the Missouri, and into which small creeks empty every few miles. Improved non-irrigated land averages $40 an acre, unimproved non-irrigated from $15 to $25 an acre, and grazing land about $10. In every locality of Sheridan County lignite coal is found, furnishing an easily securable and economical fuel. Several structures have been reported as having oil possibilities, but these, to date, have not been de- veloped. There is no commercial timber in the county, although cotton- wood is to be found along the streams. Agriculturally, Sheridan County is well developed, and also has plenty of elevators and flour mills, but there are openings still to be found for other industries that are dependent upon agriculture. Sheridan County is served by both the Great Northern and Soo lines. A Great Northern branch leaves the main line at Bainville and runs north through Roosevelt County to Plentywood, and there swings west, its present terminus being Scobey, the county seat of Daniels County. The Soo line has a branch that enters Sheridan County from North Dakota, a few miles south of the International boundary, and runs west to White- tail. There are good graded highways in the county. Being purely an agricultural region, without mountains to provide scenic beauty, Sher- idan County does not offer the attractions to tourists that are to be found in other sections of the state. Its people do not depend upon the tourists for a livelihood, being for the main part content to devote themselves to agriculture, an industry upon which is based the county's assessed valuation of $30,900,064. In the matter of education, Sheridan County is well equipped, having good graded schools throughout its territory and also maintaining four accredited high schools, the one at Plentywood being accredited for the four-year term. There are approximately thirty churches in the county, both Catholic and Protestant. Plentywood, the county seat, is located on the Great Northern Rail- 826 HISTORY OF MONTANA way, and is a flourishing community of 1,838 population. Medicine Lake and Antelope are other leading communities, and the county is thickly sprinkled with smaller towns which serve as trading centers for the sur- rounding rural localities. SILVER BOW COUNTY (BUTTE) Within the borders of Silver Bow County has been developed one of the greatest mining districts of the world, and its claims to major importance are further reinforced by its possession of the City of Butte, the metropolis of Montana. It is a county of topographical and geological abruptness. Situated in what may be termed the south-central-western portion of Montana, Silver Bow County has, along its eastern Boundary, the main range of the Rocky Mountains ; the Highland Mountains and the Big Hole River are at the southern boundary, and on the west its irregular boundary is marked by hills and mountains that separate it from Deer Lodge County. It was named for the principal creek in the county, a few miles west of Butte, which takes its course in the gen- eral conformation of a bow and is geographically notable as the ultimate eastern source of the north fork of the Columbia River. The county is of triangular shape, has an area of 698 square miles, and its altitude varies from a minimum of 5,000 feet to approximately 10,000 feet above sea level, as represented in Red Mountain and Table Mountain. The high altitude of the county places limitations upon plant growth within its confines, and while farming and truck gardening are conducted in a restricted way and the cultivation of certain varieties of flowers has been successful, the prominence of the county rests almost exclusively upon its great mining enterprises. COUNTY AND CITY ALMOST COEXTENSIVE Though Silver Bow County is the smallest and most compact of the Montana counties and its population is almost confined to Butte, it has the distinction of being the wealthiest and most populous in the state. Walkerville, Meaderville and Centerville are attractive suburbs of Butte and nearly the entire population of the county is found within a radius of five miles from the business center of the city itself. The census of 1920 gives to Silver Bow County a population of 60,313, and to Butte, the county seat, a population of 41,611. The county, with its present boundaries, was created on the i6th of Teb- ruary, 1881. The history of the county, as may be inferred, practically coincides with and is largely confined to that of the City of Butte. While the gold mining activities of the pioneer days were centered at other points in Montana, Silver Bow County and Butte were destined to eclipse all the sections of the state in this line of industrial enter- prise. Other chapters of this publication give adequate data concerning 827 828 the general development of mining enterprise in this county, but it may consistently be said that the history of mines and mining in Silver Bow differs materially from that of any other mining district in the world. The hills of Silver Bow County have given gigantic tribute from their caverned depths, and the world has known of and profited by the in- dustrialism that has been effectively staged in the passing years. BUTTE, A WORLD FAMED MINING CENTER In the pioneer days gold alone had lure for the venturesome pros- pectors and miners of Montana, and thus Butte first gained industrial recognition when a placer gold-mining camp was there established. Later the production of silver from the mines of the district held first rank, and finally Butte gained foremost prestige in the production of copper. In later years it has been found that commercial quantities of zinc and manganese add to the noble mineral wealth of the county, in connection with silver and copper. Fully justified are the following statements : "Butte is in many ways the greatest single metal-producing city of the world, and, according to the records of the United States Geological Survey, the mines of Butte produce more silver, copper and zinc than the mines of any other single mining district in the world. The approxi- mate production of silver in 1919 was $13,290,000; of copper, $33,687,000; and of zinc, $11,000,000. But 1919 was a sub-normal year, because of labor difficulties and the low price of copper. Normally the mines of Butte produce far over the hundred millon mark in these three metals, and in addition a great deal of gold, manganese and lead is extracted from the Butte ores. The normal underground forces and surface forces of workmen in the Butte mines average between 15,000 and 20,000 men. Almost the entire copper, zinc and silver production of Montana comes from the mines of Butte, as well as a great percentage of the manganese and gold mined in the state. For years Butte has been known as one of the most unique cities in the world from the sightseer's stand- point, but its wonderful mines have also been the lodestone that has drawn thousands of scientists to Montana. Some of the mines are now approximately 4,000 feet deep, the mechanical equipment is the best money can buy, and the scientific investigations and experiments that have been successfully carried on by the mine operators have been copied the world over." Co-ordinated in every particular are the records of development and progress in Silver Bow County and the City of Butte, and there can be no possible way, nor is there need for, differentiating these records. The county and city are one in an historical and industrial sense. EARLY HISTORY OF MINING Into the early history of mining in Silver Bow County it is not neces- sary to enter details in this connection, for earlier chapters than this have HISTORY OF MONTANA 829 amply covered the field and the province of the present work is rather to reveal the present than the past. A brief resume of initial activities, however, may be offered. In the year 1856 Caleb E. Irvine, accompanied by other prospectors, discovered signs of gold in Dublin Gulch, near the present Montana metropolis. In the locality they found also a prospect hole and other evidences of previous visitation, probably by hunters or trappers, who mistook copper for gold. In 1864 gold placer camps were to be found in the vicinity of Butte, but not a single house marked the site of the future metropolis. The decline of placer mining began in 1869. In these years none had conception of the value and importance of the silver, copper and other deposits that lay hidden in the hills of this district. Joe Ramsdell sunk the first shaft, shipped the first copper ore, and demonstrated the existence of copper in paying quantities, Henry Porter having located the Parrot mine on the ist of October of that year. Ramsdell named his shaft Parrot No. 2, and in 1866 he erected a little smelter which was the first in the Butte district. Expediency largely ruled in the early operations, gold, silver and copper each playing a part in the progressive drama staged among the sullen hills of Silver Bow County. W. L. Farlin was among the first miners to "work Butte quartz for the gold and silver it contained; this was in the year 1865 and the ore was shipped down the Missouri River. THE LATE EDWARD HICKEY Of a later period, but still early, was Edward Hickey, who, with a brother, located a claim that developed into the great Anaconda prop- erties. Mr. Hickey, who died at Butte, on April 25, 1921, was one of the first of the old miners to believe in copper and the great future of his home city. A New Yorker by birth, in 1867 he left the lumber camps of Wisconsin for Butte, whither his brothers had preceded him. He staked- an unusual number of claims, such as the St. Lawrence (he was born in St. Lawrence County, New York), the Anaconda, the Diamond, the Rock Island and the Tuolumne. With one of his brothers, he sold the Anaconda to Marcus Daly for a small amount, and it was some years before he made material progress in his mining ventures. From the sale of the Lizzie, he made $150,000. Not only did he spend several fortunes in furthering mining development, but he also invested in the banking business. At the time of his death, he was president of the Tuolumne Mining Company and had been president of the old State Savings Bank of Butte. Mr. Hickey was one of the most prominent of the old-time prospectors, was honest and popular, and during most of the half century of his residence in Butte was considered a successful business man. He was not in the class with Marcus Daly and William A. Clark, but was among the few working citizens of tough fiber and strong character, who, through the "tips and downs" of Butte, never lost faith in her ultimate progress. 830 HISTORY OF MONTANA PROGRESS OF BUTTE AS A CITY The period between 1869 and 1875 was one of depressing influences in and about Butte. In 1870 the population of Butte was estimated at 350, the original town site having comprised 180 acres. In 1880 the population had increased to nearly 5,000, but at that time the future metropolis had not even one graded street. The town site of Butte was laid out in 1867 and patented in 1876. Following in the wake of placer mining, lode silver mining operations began to assume importance and to attract foreign capital. Then came the discovery of the great wealth of the copper deposits of this district, and upon copper was based the permanent growth of the Montana metrop- *' ANACONDA HILL AND VICINITY, BUTTE olis. Progress was stimulated by the building of the Utah & Northern Railroad, over the line of which the first passenger train arrived in South Butte late in December, 1881, and in 1883 the Northern Pacific Railroad was completed and began to function to the definite benefit of Butte. Transitions and changes, every increasing industrial activity, de- velopment and progress on every side the elements of permanency con- tinued to manifest themselves more and more as Butte pursued the course of her industrial destiny. The city is established on the western slope of the main range of the Rocky Mountains and extends from the top of the celebrated Butte hill, which gives the city its name, to the wide plain that stretches at the base of this hill. The site is one of most picturesque aspects, with far views of hills and mountain peaks and mighty distances. Silver Bow Creek wends its way through the middle of the adjacent valley, beautiful homes, business buildings of the most modern metropolitan type, and normally the hum of productive industry, mines and mills, mark Butte as the leading center of a great commonwealth. HISTORY OF MONTANA 831 The facilities afforded by four transcontinental railways have natur- ally given Butte precedence as the leading jobbing and distributing center of Montana, and the wholesale trade of the city is of most diversified and important character. The main railway lines of the Chicago, Mil- waukee & St. Paul, and the Northern Pacific, the Oregon Short Line division of the Union Pacific Railway and the Havre division of the Great Northern give Butte direct shipping connections with every part of Montana, Idaho and Wyoming, besides which the short line of the Butte, Anaconda & Pacific Railway, connecting Butte and Anaconda, has a volume of freight tonnage that makes its service one of much importance. Many leading Eastern concerns maintain offices and dis- tributing headquarters in Butte, and a promise of the near future is the construction here of the largest live-stock yards between St. Paul and Spokane. The educational system of Butte and Silver Bow County has been maintained at the highest modern standard. The city has twenty public schools, with fine buildings, with a corps of more than 300 teachers and an enrollment of fully 10,000 pupils. Excellent parochial schools con- tribute also to the educational precedence of Butte, and in the city also are maintained well ordered business colleges, as well as several private musical schools. THE STATE SCHOOL OF MINES The crown of the educational system at Butte is represented in the State School of Mines, which is a department of the University of Montana. This admirable institution, the service and work of which are of the highest technical standard, was founded in 1895, and in the following year was initiated the erection of the main building. The lands appropriated for the founding and maintaining of the school were used as a basis for the issuing of bonds amounting to $120,000, and in 1899 an additional appropriation of $26,300 was made for equip- ment and maintenance. In connection with the State School of Mines is maintained the Montana State Bureau of Mines & Metallurgy, which was established in conformity with a legislative enactment in 1919, the director of this department being appointed by the State Board of Edu- cation, under whose direction the various reports of the bureau are dis- tributed. A fund of $20,000 for the maintenance of the bureau was appropriated for the biennium ending February 28, 1921. The State School of Mines functions exclusively in the preparation of young men for the mining profession, and prior to the World war 90 per cent of its graduates were engaged in engineering work many in positions of major responsibility. An official bulletin gives the fol- lowing statement: "Although the distinction between a purely vocational school and an engineering college has always been kept clearly in mind, the school has given its students a practical knowledge of mining sub- jects as well as a thorough education in theoretical principles. The fundamental subjects for all forms of engineering are given, and special 832 HISTORY OF MONTANA emphasis is laid upon the three main branches of mining geology, min- ing and milling, and metallurgy. The buildings and equipment of the school are modern in every respect, and the institution is one of maximum practical value in connection with educational work in the state. The equipment at the present time represents an appropriated outlay of $75,600. The departments of the school are as here designated: Mathematics, mechanics, chemistry, metallurgy, geology and mineralogy." Butte has its due complement of churches of all denominations. It has a well organized Young Men's Christian Association and its full quota of substantial fraternal and civic organizations. Its several hos- BUTTE PUMPING PLANT pitals are metropolitan in equipment and service, and its seven banking institutions have capital and surplus in excess of $2,000,000, with assets, in 1920, aggregating nearly $30,000,000. Butte is on the main Park-to-Park highway, the Yellowstone trail, and the proposed international highway to connect Utah and Canada. Butte has four hotels of the first rank, and theatrical, musical and other enter- tainments are offered in buildings that were erected for the purpose and represent the best standards of architecture and equipment. In the vicinity of Butte are found thirty or more model dairy farms, and the city is the distributing center of a widely extended farm area. Public utilities in the city are giving effective service and are of metro- politan standard. The local newspaper press has effectively represented the interests of the city and state and the leading daily papers, with HISTORY OF MONTANA 833 Associated Press service, challenge comparison with those issued in East- ern cities of far greater population. COLUMBIA GARDENS Provisions for rest and recreation are not lacking in the Montana metropolis, and the city takes special pride in its beautiful park and playground known as Columbia Gardens. This is a tract of about fifty acres, in a canyon a short distance east of the city, and for the develop- ment of this idyllic resort the city and state are indebted mainly to the generosity and loyal interest of Hon. William A. Clark. Competent judges have pronounced Columbia Gardens among the world's great moun- tain parks, and it is one of the few beauty spots on the continent to which no admission fee is charged. Attractive summer homes have been established by Butte citizens in the sloping country adjacent to the Co lumbia Gardens. The resort is easily accessible to Butte by street cars and it has realized Senator Clark's ambition to afford a place of recrea- tion and amusement for all classes of citizens. OTHER MINING DETAILS Butte has been built on mines and mining, and the industry must continue to set the city apart as a great industrial center for years to come, notwithstanding the temporary depression which has come in the train of the World's war. Because of the paramount importance of mining development in the Butte district, data concerning comparatively late activities may consistently be given in this connection. In 1864, the year in which original discoveries were made at Silver Bow Village, William Allison, Jr., and G. O. Humphreys had pushed on up the stream and pitched their camp on the present site of Butte. This statement is taken from an interesting historical narrative written by Henry C. Free- man, of Butte, and published in 1900. From the same source is here drawn further information. At the time of the arrival of Messrs. Alli- son and Humphreys there were no evidences of mining having been pre- viously carried on in the immediate vicinity of Butte, save that a hole was found that probably represented the excavation made by Caleb E. Irvine, as noted in an earlier paragraph of this chapter. Dennis Leary and H. H. Porter soon afterward appeared on the scene, and as rich placers began to be uncovered there came an influx of prospectors and gold-seekers from the older camps of the state. At this time Butte the village began and was given its name. Here, in 1864, was erected the first wooden house, on what is now Quartz Street. In 1866-7 the first school was established at Butte, with Colonel Wood in charge. Before the close of 1866 placer mining gave out, and unsuccessful efforts to flux ores were made. The law of compensation came to the fore at this time, for it was through the medium of the discovery and development of other metals than gold and silver that Butte was destined to rise to greatness. 834 HISTORY OF MONTANA In the year 1882 came the discovery of the great copper body of the Anaconda mine, and the effect was revolutionary. The following state- ments are worthy of perpetuation in this connection : "It was this event finally and completely established the permanency of the camp (Butte). The advent of the railroad in the previous year had removed all obstacles theretofore presented, and with the revelation that underlying all the mines operating along the hill outside of the Walkerville district was an enormous deposit of copper, came Butte's second transition to a camp of a new character, which doubled and trebled the importance of the pre- vious one, and old scenes were re-enacted upon a larger scale. * * * Both the western and eastern slopes of the hill (lying adjacent to the Anaconda) were now subject to the most careful scrutiny, and many mines sprang into existence. At the eastern extremity of the hill had sprung up the town of Meaderville (named for Charles T. Header, a California Forty-niner who came here in 1876, purchased undeveloped claims and, in 1881, erected the Bell smelter). Almost without exception it was discovered that in the mines of the hill proper, or that part lying south of Walkerville, the surface ones were richer in silver, but as depth was gained and the water level passed, their character was changed over- whelmingly to copper." In 1880 the silver mines of Butte began to attract trans-Atlantic capital, the Alice, the Lexington and one or two other mines being ap- preciable producers of silver, the value of which increased with the re- sumption of specie payments, incidental to the passing of the Bland- Allison act, in 1878. The result was that Butte became the liveliest mining camp in the world, "with more money per capita than any other place of its population in the universe." At the beginning of 1880 the Colorado and Meaderville smelters were in operation, and many silver mills contributed to the industrial life of the locality. The year 1880 likewise marked the creating of Silver Bow County, formerly a part of Deer Lodge County, and Butte became a full fledged city. Henry Jacobs was the first mayor and Charles S. Warren the first police mag- istrate. Marcus Daly came to Butte in the summer of 1876, and it has fit- tingly been said that his "memory must ever be associated with the rise, the development and the fulfillment of the copper business of this state." Mr. Daly was soon followed by William A. Clark, and the activities of these industrial giants of Montana have become an integral part of the history of the state and that of copper production. With the comple- tion of the Utah & Northern Railroad, in 1881, and the Northern Pacific, in 1883, the Butte district gained an undesirable class of citizens, and criminal activities required drastic subduing measures, for Butte had no intention of gaining reputation as a "bad town." In 1881-2 the Alice mine was sunk to the 5oo-foot level, but as yet the great wealth of copper in the district was but half suspected. The old Lexington mill was in active operation, at the corner of Broadway and Arizona Street, with Judge A. J. Davis as its owner. This eventually gave place to a larger mill, located between Walkerville and Centerville. The late '8os were HISTORY OF MONTANA 835 marked by the erection of the courthouse, a two-story and basement structure, at Butte, and also the city hall, which was to cost $90,000, but in the building of which, exclusive of the basement, the sum of $160,000 was expended. The Free Public Library occupies the basement and ground floor of the city hall building, and has been wisely developed and managed. The late Charles S. Warren was one of the founders of this uplifting institution. Fourteen years prior to the building of the Anaconda smelter, Joe Ramsdell and his associates built, near the Parrot mine, a small furnace for the smelting of copper, and, in the face of general ridicule, smelted about four tons of copper, which was sold in St. Louis for 28 cents a pound. The little plant was then sold to Charles Hendrie, who soon abandoned it. The Colorado smelter was the first successful copper smelter in the district, with a capacity of 25 tons, and with ore furnished by the Gagnon mine. Eight silver mills were in operation prior to 1880. In 1875 W. L. Farlin erected the second mill for the reduction of silver-bearing quartz, this, known as the Dexter mill, having later come into possession of W. A. Clark and having finally been dismantled. John Howe placed the Centennial mill in operation in 1876, this having been the third silver mill. The year 1878 brought overland from Salt Lake City the equip- ment for the old Alice mill, which used ore from the Rainbow ledge. The output of the eight silver mills for 1878 was about $1,000,000, Butte at this time was the richest mining camp in the world, and growth and development along all lines were vigorous. The Butte Miner, the first newspaper of the future Montana metropolis, was founded in 1876, with George B. Johnston as editor and H. T. Brown as manager. It was a success. Up to 1870 the placer mines of the Butte district yielded $9,000,000. From 1870 to 1880 the quartz mines yielded $3,000,000 and the placer mines $1,000,000. From 1880 to 1885 the quartz mines yielded $26,- 606,600. Thus the total for the period 1870-85 was $39,606,600. With repeal of the silver-purchasing clause of the Sherman Act of 1890, there came; in 1893, a veritable slump in silver production in Silver Bow County, and the Butte mines and mills closed down. Many of the employes in the mines and mills were then engaged by owners of copper properties, and the production of copper was materially increased. This is shown in the following tabulation of copper production in the Butte district : 1891 ........................... $ 23,435,000 189 2 .......... - ........................... 26,500,000 l8Q o ................................ 24,819,000 ''' 1894 ....- .................................. !895 ....................................... 30,880,000 Total . ...................... $133,123,000 836 HISTORY OF MONTANA The output for 1896 was estimated at approximately $32,000,000. The total product of the Butte placers and of the gold, silver and copper bearing quartz of the district from 1865 to 1890 aggregated $135,502,287, and from 1890 to December 31, 1896, the aggregate was $165,123,000. Butte produced, in 1900, about one-forth of America's copper out- put and one-seventh of the world's production. Butte has paid out in freight more than $9,000,000 a year, and the railroads entering the city have handled annually 17,300,000,000 pounds of freight furnished by Butte alone. Since the inception of copper production at Butte, Silver Bow County has given, up to 1915, the following output: Copper, 5,868,515,042 pounds; silver, 275,118,138 ounces; and gold, 1,270,739 ounces, with re- spective valuations as follows : Copper, $865,794,271 ; silver, $191,765,310 ; gold, $26,268,516. This makes a grand total of $1,083,828,097. The figures showing the production since 1915 have been given in the general chapter on copper mining. While the great Anaconda Company and its subsidiaries represent the dominant mining interest in Butte, a goodly number of independent companies have successfully operated in this district, including the fol- lowing: North Butte, Butte & Superior, East Butte, Davis-Daly, Butte- Alex Scott; Butte-Ballaklava, Pilot-Butte, Tuolumne, Rainbow, Butte & London, Butte & Great Falls, Bullwhacker and Butte-Duluth. Other corporate and individual concerns of importance have operated success- fully in this great copper field. To Captain A. B. Wolwin is given the honor of being the pioneer in the mining of the large low-grade ore deposits on and near the surface southeast of Butte, and the treatment of such ore by the leaching process. Under normal conditions Butte's mines have produced annually about $1,000 for each man, woman and child of the city's population, and there have been fully 12,000 men employed in the mines and mills, with a pay roll represented in $1,500,000 a month. The underground mine work- ings of Butte show the marvelous aggregate of more than 2,700 miles. The Anaconda mine, on Anaconda Hill, has been the largest of the Butte district, was the stage of the early activities of Marcus Daly and the nucleus of all of the great Anaconda properties. Its workings have been carried to a depth of 1,800 feet, in its operations employment has been given to a force of 1,400 men, and the weekly output has attained an aggregate of 9,000 tons. UNDERGROUND SYSTEMS AND MINE LITIGATIONS It is impossible to enter into details concerning the work on and in the Butte mines, to describe the wonderful system of underground workings, or to note the output of the various mines. All this must be left to specific articles of more technical nature than the review here presented. However, it is worthy of special note that the Butte district has a provision that can be claimed by few if any other mining districts. This is that one can pass from one mine to another on the different levels HISTORY OF MONTANA 837 for great distances. It is possible to descend the shaft of a mine in Walkerville and ascend through the shaft of another at Meaderville, two or more miles distant, and that without coming to the surface. This establishing of regular levels at given depths caused the entire abandon- ment of many surface workings of large mines, "even the ore being run into the levels of one mine centrally located, and all being hoisted through one shaft." The proximity and continuity of ore veins in the Butte district have resulted in many litigations of tremendous proportions. On this subject the following statements have been given: "The generally recognized mining laws hold that the establishment of the fact that any given vein 'apexes' in any certain claim, gives the owner of that claim the right to work the whole of said vein, wherever it takes him, if across the side bounding lines of such claim, although estopping him from proceeding beyond the end lines. With hundreds of claims, if not thousands, par- alleling each other, some line of one serving as some line of another, the opportunity for irreconcilable differences in many instances at once suggests itself." The record of clashing interests resulting from such differences is an interesting part of the history of the mining industry in Silver Bow County. Great has been the work of the gigantic smelters that have clouded the atmosphere of Butte in past days, and every phase of mining industry has found prodigious exemplification in this district, where has been written one of the greatest chapters in the history of mining enterprise. Description of methods of extraction and treatment of ores is not germane to this review, but even the brief outline here presented will afford an idea of the wonderful achievement that has been staged in Silver Bow County in the past and serve as an earnest of the revitalizing influences that shall work for the good of Butte after the period of world-war depression has passed. At Butte, there have been intervals of depression and inactivity, as is inevitable in industrial centers. The repeal of the silver-purchasing clause of the Sherman Act of 1890 brought a season of extreme de- pression in the mining industries of the Butte district, and both mills and mines closed down in 1893. The year 1921 also finds Butte endur- ing a trying tension that has come as a sequel of the World's war, and while the city's productive activities had fallen to low ebb, there is no reason to doubt her recuperative powers. The two periods mentioned are mentioned simply as instances of abnormal conditions which have temporarily deflected the general course of progress and prosperity. A brief, but appreciative estimate of the city is this : "Butte, from a one-time mining camp and later a city of smoke, has emerged into a city of beautiful homes, splendidly paved streets, fine public buildings, dignified business blocks, and is generally accorded the distinction of being one of the most metropolitan cities of its size on the continent." The mountains and valleys readily accessible from Butte offer un- rivaled attractions to the tourist, the lover of scenic beauties, and the devotee of the rod or the gun. The city itself maintains a high stand- 838 HISTORY OF MONTANA ard of education and religious work and service, and its civic and social advantages make it a most attractive place of residence, now that its former pall of smoke from the great smelters has been lifted to reveal a clean and beautiful city, with ideal climate and vitalizing atmosphere, with modern accommodations and excellent medicinal waters. The re- Within two hours ride of the city are four health and pleasure resorts, sorts noted are at Boulder, Gregson, Pipestone and Alhambra. CHAPTER XXXVIII STILL WATER, SWEET GRASS, TETON AND TOOLE COUNTIES Among the political divisions of the State of Montana, Stillwater County occupies a south central position. It was created March 24, 1913, and in 1920 had a population of 7,630. Its maximum length north and south is sixty-six miles, being almost double its maximum width of thirty-six miles. It contains much picturesque scenery and is a county of varied natural resources, which are but partially developed. From east to west the county is traversed by the Yellowstone River, the valley of which is characterized by a good soil of chocolate brown loam. The Stillwater and West Rosebud rivers are found in the southern portion of the county, and also Fishtail Creek. In the northern part, where there are several small streams, lies what is known as the Lake Basin country, regarded as one of the best non-irrigated farming districts in Montana. The southern part of Stillwater County is a region of high mountains, sometimes of magnificent aspect, which taper off into rolling hills near the Yellowstone Valley. The southern valleys are also favored with a good soil, the fertility of which is increased by irrigation, while the bench lands are devoted to non-irrigated farming and stock raising. Agriculture, stock raising and dairying are at present the chief indus- tries of the county. The usual farm crops are wheat, oats, barley, corn, peas, alfalfa, potatoes, melons and garden truck. Some fruit is also raised, strawberries doing particularly well. Large quantities of honey are also produced, in which respect Stillwater takes a leading place among the counties of the state. In the southern part of the county there are 92,096 acres of timber included in the Beartooth National Forest. Improved irrigated lands sell from $75 to $200 an acre, improved non- irrigated lands from $40 to $100, and unimproved non-irrigated lands from $15 an acre up. Coal and other minerals have been found in the southern part of Still- water County, but these mineral resources and the water power have not yet been developed on a commercial scale. North of the Yellowstone River much land has been leased for oil, and drilling has been under- taken. These several lines of industry, together with {hose now carried on, are susceptible of future development and make Stillwater County a region of favorable opportunity. The mountains also may be made an attractive resort for tourists when the locality is better known and after suitable accommodations have been provided. The scenery near the headwaters of the Stillwater and Rosebud rivers is as fine as can be found on the continent, and the streams in that region are noted for the fine trout fishing in spring and summer, while birds and game abound in 839 840 HISTORY OF MONTANA the fall. The lakes in the Lake Basin region offer splendid opportunities for waterfowl shooting. The railroad facilities of Stillwater County are furnished by the Northern Pacific Railway, the main line of which follows the Yellow- stone River through the county. The Lake Basin region in the northern part is traversed by a branch of the same road from Mossmain. The Yellowstone Trail highway also passes through the county, and various local roads, kept in good condition, connect the smaller valleys with the railroad. The only incorporated town in Stillwater County is Columbus, the county seat, which is also the chief trading center. It is situated at the junction of the Yellowstone and Stillwater rivers, and has an altitude of 3,698 feet. In 1820 its population was 897, It has a high school accred- ited for the four-year term. On the main line of the Northern Pacific are Park City and Reed Point, both good trading centers. The towns along the Lake Basin branch are Molt, Rapelje and Wheat Basin. In the southern part of the county the most important community is Absarokee, an inland town in the Stillwater basin. There are high schools at Park City and Reed Point, the former accredited for three years and the latter for two years. The county is well provided with rural schools. At East Rosebud Lake, in the heart of the mountains, there is a private summer school for teachers. Credit for work done there is given by the state department of education and also by the University of Montana. SWEET GRASS COUNTY The County of Sweet Grass came into existence as a political division of Montana early in the year 1895, having been organized from Meagher, Park and Yellowstone counties. It was reduced to its present area and boundaries by yielding portions of its original territory to Stillwater, in 1913, and to Wheatland County, in 1917. The county derives its name from Sweet Grass Creek, which flows from the eastern slope of the Crazy Mountains to the Yellowstone River, and to the late Judge William G. Strong belongs the honor of naming the county. The creek received its name from the abundant and fragrant grass which grows in its valley and which gives forth a peculiar odor like vanilla. Once enjoyed, the fragrance is never forgotten and brings a full appreciation of the significance of the name. THE COUNTY DEVELOPS As the Yellowstone Valley divides Sweet Grass County into two nearly equal portions, that portion of the state is identified with many of its great historic events, such as the Verendrye and Lewis and Clark expeditions, the Crow Indian treaties and agencies, and the trailings of the emigrants under such leaders as John Bozeman and James Bridger toward Utah, Oregon and the California coast. The first settlements were made along Sweet Grass Creek in the late '705, the chief sources HISTORY OF MONTANA 841 of supplies being then Bozeman and Miles City. With the completion of the Northern Pacific late in 1882 came a new order of things the modern order. The old stage stations that had done duty so long along the route from Bozeman to Miles City were replaced by railroad towns. Dornix, later replaced by Big Timber, became a center of population and, when Sweet Grass County was created, in 1895, the seat of its govern- ment and courts, The legislative act which created it provided that Big Timber should be the county seat until after the general election of November, 1896, when the matter of its location should be decided by the voters. In the meantime Sweet Grass County was to form a part of the Sixth Judicial District. The act also provided for the distribution of the indebtedness of Park, Yellowstone and Meagher counties, from which Sweet Grass was formed, the amounts of which were to be determined on certain fixed dates in the succeeding March and June. Such indebtedness was to be reckoned at the close of business March I, 1895. These matters were accordingly adjusted ; Sweet Grass County commenced to function on the 9th of March, 1895, and at the fall election of 1896 Big Timber was voted the permanent seat of justice and government. SWEET GRASS COUNTY OF TODAY Sweet Grass County lies in the south central part of Montana. It has the shape of an inverted right angle, the apex pointing south. The county is divided naturally into two portions a northern and a southern by the valley of the Yellowstone River, having a length through the county of fifty-five miles and a width of from two to five miles. South of the east-flowing river the land rises gradually to a high range of moun- tains, in which the Boulder and Stillwater rivers have their source. The rise north of the Yellowstone culminates in the Crazy Mountains, where are found the head waters of Big Timber, Sweet Grass and Otter creeks. Some timber is found in this region, in the northwestern part of the county, but the chief timbered area is in the southern end, where 200,273 acres of the county are included in the Beartooth National Forest. Min- erals of various kinds, including coal, have been found in the southern portion, but have not yet been commercially developed to a sufficient extent to determine their value. At present the most important industries are cattle and sheep raising, but dairying, swine raising and bee keeping have been started and are making satisfactory progress. General farming is also followed to some extent, the principal crops raised being wild hay and alfalfa, all kinds of small grain, and garden produce, together with some fruit. The chief agricultural districts lie in the valleys of the Yellowstone River and Boulder, Big Timber, Sweet Grass, American Fork and Otter creeks. There is a large Carey irrigation project in the county and much addi- tional land in the valleys is irrigated from private ditches. The soil varies from a deep black loam to a light soil with a gravel subsoil. There are considerable areas of good grazing land in the county. The price of 842 HISTORY OF MONTANA irrigated lands varies from $60 to $150 an acre, depending upon location and degree of improvement; non-irrigated farming lands cost from $15 to $30, and grazing land from $7 to $12 an acre. Tourists seeking rest and diversion amid the beauties of nature may find magnificent scenery and fine hunting and fishing in the southern part of the county. Along the course of the Yellowstone River the county is traversed by the main line of the Northern Pacific Railway, and also by all the main transcontinental highways. Surveys have been made for branch railroad lines through the northern part of the county, though construction work has not yet been started. The county presents wide opportunities for the further development of irrigated land, the water for which is now avail- able. In 1920 Sweet Grass County had a population of 4,926. More than one-quarter of the inhabitants, or a total of 1,282, were residing in the county seat, Big Timber, an attractive place with fine business establish- ments and residences. It is situated at an altitude of 4,072 feet above sea level and is the center of a rich region. It is supplied with adequate water works and an efficient electric system and its business interests include hotels, elevators, a creamery and a newspaper. There is esti- mated to be about 20,000 horse-power available from the Yellowstone River at this place. Besides the graded schools, the Sweet Grass County High School, accredited for a four-year course, is located at Big Timber. Other towns of importance in the county are Melville in the northern, and McLeod in the southern part. The rural and other schools are in a state of satisfactory efficiency. TETON COUNTY Lying northwest of the central part of Montana, on the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains, Teton County has a land area of 2,044 square miles, and a population (1920) of 5,870. It was organized, originally, from Chouteau County, March i, 1893, since which a part of its territory was attached to Toole County in 1914, and other portions were added to Pondera and to form Glacier (entire), in 1919. Originally, it extended from the Dominion of Canada to the present southern limits of the county, and was one of the largest political divisions in the state. The Blackfeet Indian Reservation then occupied its northwestern corner. It is estimated that about one-third the area of Teton County is adapted to irrigation, which has been already applied to about 100,000 acres. All of the central and eastern portions of the county are tillable, while the extreme western and southern portions are about equally divided between arable and grazing lands. A small area of the grazing land in the Rockies partakes of the mountainous nature of its surround- ings. The soil on the lowlands is a sandy or clay loam, while on the uplands or benches the subsoil is partly gravel and limestone formation. The county is favored with an exceptionally good water supply. The principal streams are the Teton, Spring Creek, Willow Creek and Sun River, the last mentioned of which furnished water for the irrigation of HISTORY OF MONTANA 843 30,000 acres in what is known as the Government Sun River Project, near Fairfield, in the east central part of the county. A supply of good well water may be obtained in most places at depths ranging from 60 to 100 feet. Indications of coal and oil have been found but as yet little has been done to develop mineral resources. Agriculture and stock raising are the chief industries. Most of the timber of commercial value is found in the western part of the county, where 250,000 acres are contained in the Lewis and Clark National Forest. Cottonwood and willows are found along most of the streams. Wheat is the principal farm crop, but barley, flax, alfalfa and sweet clover are grown in considerable quantities. Silos are becoming more common, corn and sunflowers being grown for forage. Irrigated land may be purchased for $75 to $100 and acre, while improved non-irrigated tracts bring from $20 to $100 an acre. The cost of grazing land is from $8 to $15 an acre. The mountainous sections of Teton County are replete with grand and beautiful scenery and the tourist may there find excellent hunting and fishing, especially if he is content to travel part of the way on foot with a pack outfit and thus reach those places the least affected by the settlement and development of the county. Railroad facilities are afforded by branch lines of both the Milwaukee and Great Northern railways. The main trunk highway of the county is the Park-to-Park Highway, which passes through it from north to south, and is gravel surfaced. The demands of education are met by sixty schools, including the county high school at Chouteau, accredited for a four-year course. This latter institution is housed in a handsome new building, equipped in modern style, which was erected at a cost of $100,000. Chouteau, which also enjoys the distinction of being the county seat, is an old established town, with modern improvements. Its commercial interests are served by three banks, which have a combined capital and surplus of $200,000. Its altitude is 3,810 feet. There are other good towns and market centers in the county, those on the Great Northern Railway being Bynum, Pendroy, Power, Button and Collins, while the Milwaukee has Fairfield, Farmington and Agawam. TOOLE COUNTY Toole County, situated in the northern part of Montana, with the Canadian line as its northern boundary, is an agricultural and live stock county, having practically no other industries, aside from the mercantile business in the towns. It was created from parts of Hill and Teton counties on May 7, 1914, and has a land area of 1,958 square miles. A part of its southern boundary is formed by Maria's River, which flows through the southeastern portion. In the eastern part are several creeks, the largest of which is Willow, which rises in the Sweet Grass hills and follows a southerly course through the county. In the Sweet Grass hills and elsewhere indications of oil and gas have been found which may 844 HISTORY OF MONTANA result in future development. Save for these hills, which occupy the northeastern corner of the county, and the brakes along Maria's River near the southern border, Toole County is a rolling prairie. Land values range from $10 to $50 an acre. A considerable advance in values is probable in the near future, owing to an important irrigation system, embracing between 200,000 and 300,000 acres, launched by the land own- ers and which will soon be under construction. At present wheat, oats, barley, flax and native hay are the chief crops, but irrigation will permit the extensive raising of alfalfa. Tourists may find picturesque scenery in the Sweet Grass hills. In 1920 the population of Toole County was 3,724. The county seat and principal town is Shelby, a railroad junction point, which is the trad- ing center for a large and productive territory. Its altitude is 3,286 feet and its population in 1920 was 537. Galata and Devon are farming towns in the eastern part of the county, and Sweet Grass in the northern part of the county is a port of entry from Canada. There is a high school at Shelby accredited for the four-year term and the county in general is well supplied with good rural schools. The growing season for crops is from 93 to 106 days. TREASURE COUNTY Treasure County, in the south central part of Montana, is devoted industrially to agriculture and the raising of cattle and sheep. It has a land area of 960 square miles and was created April i, 1919. Some coal has been found in the county and there is some prospecting for oil and gas. Cottonwood and ash are found along the streams, but there |s no commercial timber. The county is divided by the valley of the Yellowstone River, the soil in which is a deep loam, while on the bench lands the prevailing type of soil is a chocolate loam. An area of about 15,000 acres in the Yellow- stone Valley is under irrigation. Of the remainder of the county 114,- 788 acres are classified as suitable for non-irrigated farming, and 222,769 acres as adapted to grazing. The price of land varies greatly according to location, character of the soil and water supply. Irrigated land brings from $100 to $200 an acre, non-irrigated farming lands from $15 to $50 and grazing land from $5 to $12 an acre, The principal stream is the Yellowstone River, which takes an easterly direction through the county and is fed by a number of small creeks which flow into it both from the north and the south. The soil in general is well adapted to the production of small grains and hay, which are raised in considerable quantities. Corn is a par- ticularly good crop both in yield and quality and bears favorable com- parison with the corn belt product. The farmers in the irrigated district are giving special attention to the raising of alfalfa seed and are meeting with gratifying success, finding a ready market at good prices for all they can raise. Bee keeping is followed by some and the county produces a considerable quantity of honey. HISTORY OF MONTANA 845 Treasure County is crossed by the main line of the Northern Pacific Railway, which is paralleled by the Yellowstone and Red trails. The county seat, Hysham, is a small town of about 360 population. Its alti- tude above sea level is 2,667 fee t- Other population centers in the county are Big Horn, Rancher, Myers and Sanders. The further development of the present industries, including the raising of pure bred live stock promises well for the future prosperity of the county, even should no mineral development take place. Education is well provided for, there being good rural schools, and at Hysham there are graded schools and a high school accredited for the four-year course. VALLEY COUNTY Valley County, created March i, 1893, is one of the northeastern counties of the state and is bounded on the north by the Canadian line and on the south by the Missouri River. It is 1 10 miles long north and south and 73 miles wide east and west. Its land area is 5,447 square miles. From west to east the county is traversed by the Milk River, the valley of which will be almost entirely under irrigation when the Govern- ment Milk River Reclamation Project is completed. Private irrigation is also carried on. The farms on the rolling benches north and south of the Milk River Valley are not irrigated. With the exception of the Milk River Valley, several low spurs of hills and the brakes along the Mis- souri River in the southern part, the surface of the county is a rolling prairie. Practically all the land north of the Milk River Valley is suitable for cultivation. The soil consists of light and dark loams with either a gumbo or limestone base. The principal stream is Milk River, which is fed by many smaller streams flowing both from the north and the south. Many of these streams have a large spring run-off, and when reservoirs are constructed at available storage sites more land will be placed under irrigation. Cot- tonwood is found along the streams, but there is no commercial timber in the county. Lignite is plentiful in the county and the discovery of oil is a possibility of the future. At present the chief industries of the county are agriculture and stock raising. The principal crops are wheat, barley, oats, corn, flax, speltz, blue joint hay and alfalfa. Alfalfa seed is raised in considerable quan- tity and excellent vegetables are grown in abundance. Milk River Valley blue joint is rated one of the best forage feeds in Montana and even a stronger feed than alfalfa. Improved irrigated lands can be bought for $50 to $75 an acre, improved non-irrigated lands from $25 to $50 an acre, non-improved cultivable lands from $20 to $40 an acre, and grazing lands at $10 to $15 an acre. There are 40,000 acres under irrigation in the Milk River Valley Project. These lands have been but little improved but are capable of extensive development, and experienced farmers, espe- cially those who understand irrigation, can purchase land at reasonable rates. There are also good opportunities for farmers with capital on the non-irrigated lands. ,846 HISTORY OF MONTANA GLASGOW AND OTHER TOWNS Glasgow, the county seat, is an established town, the center of trade and shipping for a large section of the rich Milk River Valley. It is the seat of one of the ten United States land offices in Montana. The city has electric lights, water works, a public library, a good modern high school which gives a course in agriculture, two newspapers and substan- tial business houses ; also, a 4OO-barrel flour mill, and other evidences of a solid town. The 1920 census published its population as 2,059, making it the leading urban center of Northeastern Montana. Outside of Glasgow, the principal towns of the county are Hinsdale, CROP OF BLUE JOINT HAY Frazer, Theony and Oswego. Both the rural schools and those in the different towns number seventy-five throughout the county. The Milk River Valley is traversed through the county by main line of the Great Northern Railway. From Glasgow auto stage lines run north to Glentana, Opheim and Baylor. The Theodore Roosevelt High- way passes through the county, following the railroad and touching the towns of Oswego, Frazer, Nashua, Glasgow, Tampico, Vandalia, Hins- dale and Beaverton. In 1920 Valley County voted $200,000 worth of bonds for the construction of highways under the federal aid act. WHEATLAND COUNTY Wheatland County is situated in the central part of Montana and is almost square in shape, measuring thirty-six miles north and south by forty miles east and west. Its land area is 1,411 square miles. It was HISTORY OF MONTANA 847 created April i, 1917, from parts of Meagher and Sweet Grass counties, and in 1920 its population was 5,619. Its northern boundary follows for some distance the crest of the Little Belt range of mountains and the Big Snowy Mountains jut over on the remainder of the boundary. The land surface of that part of the county, therefore, is rough and broken, a condition which is also present in the western part. These mountainous districts are devoted chiefly to cattle and sheep raising. The soil in the farming districts is for the most part a chocolate loam. Wheatland County is one of the best in the state for non-irrigated farming, the lands for that purpose selling from $20 to $70 an acre when improved. Wheat, both winter and spring, is the chief crop raised, though barley, oats and flax are also produced in considerable quantities. WHEATLAND COUNTY WHEAT FARM The irrigated districts are located chiefly in the valley of the Musselshel) River, which flows through the county from west to east and is fed by numerous tributaries from the mountains. These districts produce con- siderable hay, both native and alfalfa. The irrigated lands fetch from $75 to $125 an acre. There are 6,809 acres of the Absarokee National Forest included within Wheatland County and 57,040 of the Jefferson National Forest. As to mineral resources, lignite has been found and prospecting for oil is now under way. The main line of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway passes through Wheatland County east and west, and has a branch running northward from Harlowton to Lewis- town and Great Falls. The main line is paralleled by the Electric High- way. The northeastern part of the county is traversed by the Great Northern line from Billings to Great Falls that is used by the Burlington to the coast. Harlowton, above referred to, is both the county seat and the prin- cipal town. It is a division point on the Milwaukee road and the terminus on the east of the electrified portion of the road. Large flour mills are located here which gives the town rank among the three largest milling centers in the state. It is well provided with modern conveniences, including electric lights, sewage and water systems. Its high school, accredited for the four-year course, also provides a course in agriculture 848 HISTORY OF MONTANA under the provisions of the Smith-Hughes Act. It has aso good graded schools. Other towns on the main line of the Milwaukee are Two Dot, Valencia, Winnecook, Shawmut and Pontiac; on the Milwaukee branch northward, Oka and Wright, and on the Great Northern, Judith Gap, Oxford, Nihill and Hedgesville. The last mentioned place has a high school accredited for the two-year course. Good rural schools are found throughout the county. WIBAUX COUNTY Wibaux County is situated in the extreme eastern part of Montana, midway between the northern and southern boundaries of the state, and with the Montana-Dakota line as its eastern boundary. Its land area is 883 square miles and it is the smallest exclusively agricultural county in Montana. Its political creation took place on August 17, 1914, from parts of Dawson, Fallen and Richland, in 1914. It attained its present bounds by relinquishing a part of its area to Carbon County in 1919 and receiving an addition from the county named. In 1920, the popula- tion of Wibaux County was 3,113. Practically the entire area of the county is tillable and that which is not farmed is devoted to live stock. The principal crops are wheat, oats, corn, barley, flax and potatoes. During the last two or three years par- ticular attention has been given to corn and its acreage largely extended. The soil in general is a deep loam. Improved non-irrigated lands bring from $25 to $50 an acre, and unimproved from $10 to $25 an acre. There are no commercial stands of timber. The only mineral resource yet discovered is lignite coal. The most important stream in Wibaux County is Beaver Creek, which flows northerly and then easterly into North Dakota. The other creeks in the county flow westerly into the Yellowstone River, the western part of the county sloping in that direction. The best developed agricultural section is in the Beaver Creek Valley. Transportation facilities are afforded by the main line of the Northern Pacific, which crosses the county east and west, and the Red Trail automobile road, which runs parallel to it. The railroad towns in Wibaux County are Wibaux, Yates and Beaver Hill, while the smaller towns in the country districts are St. Phillip, Edgehill, Dennis, Been, Brenizer and Carlyle. Wibaux is the county seat, the largest town and the chief trading center of the county. It has a good city water works and electric light plant, two banks, two news- papers, a flour mill, five elevators, with a combined capacity of 250 bushels, two hotels and a creamery, besides about twenty retail stores. It had a population in 1920 of 6n. It is here that the county high school is located, which, in addition to the ordinary studies has courses in agri- culture and home economics under the provisions of the Smith-Hughes Act, and a normal training department under the provisions of a state law. There is also a good graded school, and the schools in general HISTORY OF MONTANA 849 throughout Wibaux County are above the average in point of efficiency. This county affords good opportunities for agricultural and stock raising enterprise. Its growing season is from 107 to 116 days. The altitude of the county seat above sea level is 2,635 Vol. 154 CHAPTER XXXIX YELLOWSTONE COUNTY (BILLINGS) Lying in the southeastern part of Montana, and bordered by the counties of Musselshell, Stillwater, Carbon, Bighorn and Rosebud, is Yellowstone County, which was created February 26, 1883 and which is one of the best developed sections, agriculturally, in the state. The county was named after the Yellowstone River, which enters the county in its southwestern corner and traverses its entire width in a northeasterly direction, forming the principal source of supply for the irrigation ditches which contribute materially to the development that has brought about the agricultural prestige of the county. The Yellowstone valley, in which much stock is fed each year during the winter period ; is broad and level, while sandstone bluffs are a characteristic of its boundaries and above them begin rolling bench lands that extend for miles. In the southeastern part of the county rise the Pryor mountains. Although Yellowstone is primarily an agricultural and stock-growing county, within its boundaries are to be found industries of a varied character which establish its title as an important business center of the great Midland Empire, these for the most part located at the county seat of Billings. POPULATION, TRANSPORTATION AND FARMING While Yellowstone County is not one of the larger counties as to area, containing only 2,708 square miles, in point of population it ranks fourth, according to the figures given by the 1920 United States census, which placed the total at 29,600. For the most part this population is native American, many being direct descendants of the sturdy pioneers from the East who listed to the call of the West during the days of early settlement and began ranching operations in a country which repaid them well for their labors. The early settlers found the grazing lands of the Yellowstone valley well adapted for the feeding of live stock and this formed the principal industry for some years, the settlers who subse- quently came leaning more and more toward agriculture as they realized the fertility of the chocolate colored loam soil. With the settlement of the county came the necessity of a central point of transportation, and this brought into being the little community of Billings which has grown to important proportions as the natural trade center of a wide territory in Montana and Northern Wyoming. An important factor in the develop- ment of the county is the intersection of the Great Northern, Northern Pacific and Chicago, Burlington & Quincy railroads. As to the high- ways, the Yellowstone Trail, the Custer Battlefield Highway and the Bil- 850 HISTORY OF MONTANA 851 lings-Cody Way are among the important automobile roads in the county, and considerable hard surfaced highway has been built. Both irrigated and non-irrigated farming is followed, alfalfa, sugar beets, beans, potatoes and grains being the chief crops on the irrigated lands, and grains, flax, beans and alfalfa seed on the non-irrigated. The county has no developed mineral resources; some drilling for oil has been done in the county, but thus far this is largely a matter of specu- lation, although oil fields have been developed within 100 miles of Billings. Yellowstone County does not abound in timber either, although cottonwood is found along the streams and there is some pine in the Pryor mountains. There are upwards of 100,000 acres of irrigated land in the county which sells at from $50 to $250 an acre, while unim- proved and non-irrigated lands adapted to grazing and general farming range in price from $15 to $50 an acre. PROGRESS AND PRESENT STATUS OF BILLINGS The gently sloping plain, on the north side of the Yellowstone known as Clark's fork bottom, was the site of Billings. The origin of the place dates from the winter of 1876-77. At that time P. W. McAdow, J. J. Alderson, Joseph Cochran, Henry Colwell, Clinton Dills, Milton Summer and others settled at a locality two miles down the Yellowstone, about where the Northern Pacific bridge spans the river, and founded the little village of Coulson around Mr. McAdow's store. A saw mill was built in 1878 and the town entreprise looked so encouraging that the Minnesota & Montana Improvement Company attempted to purchase the site for a more ambitious project. As no satisfactory arrangement could be made with the Coulson people, Billings was laid out a short distance up the river. It soon outdistanced Coulson, although the older town was not wiped out, but continued to somewhat more than exist for several years. Billings was named after Frederick Billings, president of the Northern Pacific Railroad Company, in 1879-81. The original townsite was platted in March, 1882. On May ist, its first building was completed, a structure to accommodate the locating engineers, and a few days afterward a store for the townsite company; and other business houses and a number of residences appeared. By June, Billings contained 500 people and was enthusiastically called the Magic City. In 1882, was organized the Bil- lings Street Railway Company, and the horse line was completed in the summer of the following year the first street railway in the territory. The Improvement Company erected a depot for the Northern Pacific in 1883, which the railroad refused to accept. In the fall, the voters de- feated the proposed incorporation of Billings, but did have the satisfac- tion of seeing the completion of its first public school. The population of the place was then 1,500, and it had reached the position of the primary shipping point for live stock in Montana. In 1884, Billings had a large fire entailing a loss of $50,000, and in the following year a more destructive conflagration. In 1885 it was incorporated and John Tully was elected its first mayor. Other events of prime importance: Estab- 852 HISTORY OF MONTANA lishment of a system of water works, in 1886; introduction of electric lights in 1887 and the organization of the first effective fire department ; reincorporation as a city of the second class, in 1893, and the construc- tion of the Parmly Billings Memorial Library, in 1900. The location of the City of Billings in the center of the so-called Mid- land Empire, makes it the logical distributing point for practically 150 smaller communities. During the '8os, Billings was a trading post; the latest United States Census figures, 1920, credit the city with a population of 15,000. Its growth has been the outcome of the needs of agriculture and commerce in a district as large as three-fourths of New England, and it forms the chief financial, commercial and manufacturing center for a radius of more than 200 miles. Its strategic location as a railroad center mmmi^ BILLINGS TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO may be deduced when it is considered that the city is situated midway be- tween the Twin Cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Spo- kane, Washington, at the intersection of the Great Northern, Northern Pacific and Chicago, Burlington & Quincy lines, with railroads in seven different directions. It is difficult for the visitor from the far East or from other communities to realize that this is the same Billings which was the scene of so much Indian fighting during the early days of its career and the exploits of whose citizens during frontier times are still within the memory of the oldest inhabitants. While the war-whoop of the savage and the crack of the frontiers- man's rifle are to be heard no more, there are many things still to be seen by the tourist to visualize for him what conditions may have been in the early days. The city is located less than a day's automobile ride, 150 miles, from Yellowstone National Park, where are to be found elk, deer and grizzly bears in their natural surroundings. Much of the country is still in its original condition. It is a land of green valleys, each with a ribbon of shining river winding through it. Rolling prairies and green, HISTORY OF MONTANA 853 pine-clad hills greet the tourist, and in the distance the blue mountains with their snowy peaks lend a certain and definite charm. The mountain streams of the locality abound in trout and the fisherman is always sure of a good day's catch. The city is famed for its climate. Situated on the Yellowstone River, at an altitude of 3,117 feet, the mean annual temperature is 47.2 degrees, the average summer temperature being 69 degrees and the average winter temperature 29.2 degrees. The mountain ranges to the north, west and south protect the city and country surrounding from severe winds and moderate the temperature both in the summer and winter. These climatic conditions make the locality a particularly attractive one to tourists, and for their convenience the City of Billings maintains a park for the accom- modation of the travelers, and during the season of 1920 15,000 tourists were entertained. The Billings plan of conducting this park has been commended by the management of leading trans-continental automobile trails and cited as an example for other cities to emulate. The city is the gateway to the Beartooth mountains in Carbon County, east of the Yellowstone Park, where besides unusually good hunting and fishing the scenery is unrivaled. MODERN INSTITUTIONS OF THE CITY In striking contrast to the natural beauties and primitive surround- ings of the city are the modern structures and institutions of the twen- tieth century, the creations of a progressive people always restless to reach the pinnacle of achievement. Where, in the early days of the city's history, the eagle was king of the air, the aeroplane now wings its way, and progressive Billings has installed on the outskirts of the city an aerial landing field, marked and laid off according to government regulations and affording flying pilots a safe landing and "jump-off" place. The Billings airport is being favorably considered by the United States Government as one of the federal landing fields of the Forestry service. The honk- a-tonk and dance hall of the early days have given way to one of the largest auditoriums in the Northwest, with a seating capacity of 10,000 people; the Billings Coliseum, second in seating capacity to that of the Midland Empire Fair Auditorium, seating 2,500 people, having a perfect' dance floor and being equipped for large conventions and gatherings ; and six modern theaters which present the best of entertainment furnished by high-class road shows and traveling companies from the large eastern cities. In the way of entertainment also, the city owns and maintains a public swimming pool, tennis courts, shady parks and skating rinks. The grounds and buildings of the Midland Empire Fair Association are recog- nized as being second to none in the Northwest, and this exposition caters to the education and entertainment of a population of 125,000 within the Midland Empire territory. Where at one time the denizens of lake and stream were allowed to follow their own ways of life undisturbed, a Government fish hatchery is now in course of construction. Nature also, as it pertains to growing things, is being assisted in its course by the 854 HISTORY OF MONTANA Government irrigation projects, where, and on the irrigated lands near Billings, truck gardening is growing to be quite an industry. Celery is proving to be one of the best money crops and is being shipped to many parts of the United States, and asparagus, tomatoes, cabbage, sweet corn, cantaloupes, potatoes, squash, pumpkins, egg plant, onions and all garden produce grow luxuriantly. BUSINESS HOUSES AND INDUSTRIES It is a far cry from the little frontier hamlet and trading post, with its few ambitious but ramshackle stores, to the beautiful and prosperous city of today with its sixty-eight manufacturing, wholesale and jobbing houses. Four hundred retail stores in the city enjoy a substantial, steady patronage and are recognized as on a sound financial basis. The Billings market is credited with buying over $6,000,000 monthly. Among its big industries is a $2,000,000 sugar factory, the plant of the Great Western Sugar Company being the second largest in the world. The city has an independent packing company, handling a large number of cattle, hogs and sheep and turning out a product of high standard, the Billings Stock Yards Company having in the past handled more livestock than any sim- ilar organization in the Midland Empire. Another large industry is the Midland Iron Works, a thoroughly equipped establishment, capable of handling every kind of manufacturing and repair work. In addition, the plants at Billings manufacture flour, cereals, pickles, alcohol, many forms of galvanized iron products, sash and doors, gas, brick, mattresses, foundry products, bakery and packing-house products, dairy products, optical goods, candies, etc. The city has four national banks, ohe state bank and one private banking institution, and bank clearings have increased over 500 per cent in the last ten years. The city supports, through its people as sub- scribers and its merchants and professional men as advertisers, a large newspaper, the Billings Gazette, which issues five editions daily and carries the full Associated Press reports and special telegraphic news service. In the Western Newspaper Union, the city has the only house north of Denver, between the Twin Cities and Spokane, supplying paper, type, presses, printed and plate newspaper service, dealing exclusively with printers. The city affords excellent hotel accommodations. Two first- class hotels are equipped to accommodate 500 guests and the daily average of transients visiting the city is placed at 1,000 persons. There are sixty- five hotels and rooming-houses in the city. Like all well-governed communities, Billings has given much attention to its appearance, its municipal conditions, its civic accommodations and its public service. As to its streets, they are well-kept and several miles are paved, and the thoroughfares are wide and straight and lined with long rows of ornamental light posts, the street lighting service being of municipal ownership and the system being second to none of a city of this size in the Northwest. Cement walks have been installed throughout the city, and Billings has the second piece of concrete highway outside HISTORY OF MONTANA 855 a city limits in the state, known as the Polytechnic road, extending two miles in a northwesterly direction from the city and completed at a cost of $86,899.42. The city has a municipal band, several orchestras, high school musical organizations and Polytechnic Glee Club. Its educational facilities are of a high order, there being eleven school buildings, a high school and a parochial school, as well as a manual-training school, all equipped with every modern appliance for instruction of the most up-to- date sort. Schoolhouses throughout this part of the country have been given first consideration with the development of the section, and there is no child either at Billings or in the Midland Empire who is not con- veniently situated near a schoolhouse. In the Polytechnic Institute, the city has a college catering to young men and women desirous of fitting HOME OF BILLINGS COMMERCIAL CLUI; themselves for advanced college work. This institute occupies commo- dious grounds, with modern and well-equipped buildings and a faculty made up of well-qualified and earnest educators. Among other build- ings, the city boasts of two modern hospitals, one under the direction of the Sisters of Charity and the other under the direction of the Deaconess Association, and there is another in the course of construction at this time, in addition to which there are several institutions of a private char- acter. As a municipality, Billings is decidedly moral in tone. Perhaps some of the stories that come down from the old days as to the lawlessness of the little trading post have been embellished by the glamour which time is apt to bring; but it can be said beyond peradventure that conditions have changed since the '8os, due to the excellent work of the forces which have labored for higher standards of education, morality and good citi- zenship. The city now supports churches of every denomination and the houses of worship in the city are of modern architecture and construc- tion, tastefully and reverently decorated and pointed to with pride by the 856 HISTORY OF MONTANA people of the community. A modern Young Men's Christian Association building testifies to the standing of that organization in the city, and the community likewise has a well-conducted Young Women's Christian Association, the interests of the young women being given careful atten- tion by well-trained women in this line of community endeavor. Billings is the headquarters of the state secretary of the Young Men's Christian Association. For the younger lads of the city, there is a thrifty and ably- conducted Boy Scout Patrol, which made plans to entertain in 1921 large delegations of Boy Scouts from several large cities of the South. The Billings Public Library contains over 25,000 volumes and is conducted under the supervision of a paid librarian and staff. One of the principal contributing factors to the prosperity and welfare of Billings has been the Billings Commercial Club. This body, organized some fifteen or sixteen years ago, has now a membership of approxi- mately 400, including the leading merchants, bankers and business and professional men of the city. In January, 1919, it purchased the fine property known as the Elks' Club House, and is comfortably, even lux- uriously, installed for its work. The officers are as follows: W. E. Dowlin, president; W. P. Hogarty, vice president; Fred T. Lincoln, secretary-manager; H. W. Rowley, Roy J. Covert and Charles Spear, honorary vice presidents; E. L. Coleman, traffic director, and O. G. Brown, financial secretary. The building and equipment of this strong commercial organization represents an investment of $100,000, forming one of the finest community centers in the Northwest. The organization was successively known as the Billings Chamber of Commerce, and the Midland Club, before adopting its present name. Through this body, Billings cooperates with the farming interests of Yellowstone County and the Midland Empire, and the club has successfully fathered practical activities in the interest of the citizens of Billings and the farmers of the section. Billings is a city of substantial and attractive buildings. The Masonic Temple, as well as the home of the Commercial Club, is a handsome struc- ture. In the residential sections, there are numerous beautiful homes, where reside the progressive citizens who have there found the oppor- tunity to gain independence, and who have assisted the community to reach a position upon which it bases its claim of being the "next great city of the Northwest." TOWNS OUTSIDE OF BILLINGS Aside from Billings, the county seat, which is the most important town in the county, as well as in Eastern Montana, the principal town in Yellowstone County is Laurel, in the extreme southwestern corner, an important railroad town because of the junction there of the Great North- ern and Northern Pacific, as well as a good agricultural market for the surrounding territory. Other good smaller towns are Huntley, Worden, Ballantine, Comanche, Pompey's Pillar, Broadview, Custer and Shepherd. All of these communities have good educational facilities, for Yellow- HISTORY OF MONTANA 857 stone County has a modern public school system, with an accredited high school at Billings and the Billings Polytechnic Institute, an institution of higher learning which also offers inducements to pupils wishing a business college course. IRRIGATED AND NON-IRRIGATED LANDS In 1917 the Billings Chamber of Commerce issued an interesting booklet, containing much information regarding Billings and the sur- rounding territory in Yellowstone County, and much of the data contained has been used in the statements already made and form the basis for others which follow. Two types of farming are carried on in the Bil- lings country, these being the irrigated and non-irrigated methods. On SUGAR BEETS FOR THE BILLINGS FACTORY the highlands there are approximately 5,000,000 acres of productive lands suitable for farming without irrigation, while along the streams, the various creeks which form the tributaries of the Yellowstone, such as Buffalo, Pompey's Pillar, Razor, Crooked, Butter, Canyon and Pryor, there lie about 1,000,000 acres of fertile lands which are irrigated. On the latter, farming is of an intensive nature, and all sorts of crops which require large amounts of moisture are grown thereon. More than 250,- ooo tons of sugar beets are produced each year for the factory at Billings, and the growing of seed beans and peas for eastern markets has become an important industry. In the older parts of the Yellowstone Valley the farms are of considerable size and the beet growers are proportionately prosperous. While large amounts of labor are necessary the crops pay commensurately. Above the ditches, methods are entirely different, fields of many acres being the ordinary custom and huge tractors and heavy farming machinery being used on the rolling prairies to prepare the land for wheat or oats similar crops. Some thirteen years ago the Billings Chamber of Com- or 858 HISTORY OF MONTANA merce brought the Dry Farming Congress to Billings, and after this body had inculcated the idea that successful dry land farming could be con- ducted in the Billings country, the movement gained headway, experi- ments were made and the results were decidedly gratifying. When the homesteaders began their influx into the county, the railroads began dis- posing of their lands, and in every direction from Billings, the pivotal point, the uplands are now being cultivated and are producing large re- turns. Wheat yields from fifteen to fifty bushels per acre, oats under favorable conditions sometimes as high as 100 bushels, c(3rn from fifteen to sixty bushels, and flax as a sod crop from eight to twenty-five bushels. For some years past the people of the Yellowstone Valley have profited by the experience of older communities in the preservation of the soil, which is a natural alfalfa producer. No inoculation or soil treatment is necessary for the production of this crop, for the raw lands, plowed up and planted to alfalfa, produce abundantly. This gives opportunity for crop rotation, grain crops being first grown, followed by alfalfa, which enriches the land with its deposits of nitrogen. After a period of two or more years the alfalfa is turned under and the grain yields are in- creased. LIVE STOCK OF THE REGION At one time in its history, Billings was the largest inland wool market in the world and was the metropolis of Montana's stock-raising country. Sheep and cattle by the thousands were produced on the wide ranges and shipped east to be marketed, but of recent years stockraising, in a large measure, has gone hand in hand with farming, either on the bench or irrigated lands, and this has tended to make Billings a stock-feeding center. The cattle and sheep of the sugar-beet raisers are fattened on beet tops, alfalfa and grains, and many of these growers finish their product on a combination of beet pulp from the big sugar factory at Billings. As rapidly as possible, the agriculturists on the uplands have acquired herds of livestock, and have combined grain farming with stock- raising. Alfalfa, Soudan grass, millets, and sweet clover, and like forage, furnishes winter provender, and the farmers utilize the rougher sections of their properties for summer pasture. In the foot-hills and near the mountains, there are still to be found many old-time ranches, many of these running large bunches of cattle and sheep, and a goodly majority pasturing their livestock on the forest reserves in the summer time and bringing them down out of the moun- tains for feed in the winter. Of more recent years, however, the en- croachment of smaller stock growers, who have increased greatly since the passage of the "64O-acre homestead act," has had a tendency to do away with the great ranches of the past and the stock industry has come more and more into the hands of the smaller growers. The cattle and sheep "barons" of the olden days are a thing of the past in this county. Far from injuring the industry, it has been found that the net returns to the county have greatly increased with the change, for the lands under HISTORY OF MONTANA 859 the new system are producing a total of many more cattle and sheep than formerly, and the combination of farming, stock growing and home finish- ing is sending them to market in a much more valuable condition. DAIRY FARMING Another industry that in recent years has been one of growing im- portance is that of dairy farming. It was some years before the old-time ranchman, who raised his animals only for the beef, could be brought to realize the profit to be derived from this department of farming, but the newer arrivals, with modernized views, readily discerned the possibilities and there are numerous farmers in the Yellowstone Valley who devote at least a part of their efforts to this branch. There is no branch of farming BROADVIEW SCHOOL, TERRY -DISTRICT for which this section is better adapted, taking into consideration its cool summers, excellent quality of alfalfa and a ready market at all times for creamery products. Much importing of pure-bred milk cows from the East has been done by the more progressive farmers, and the industry has secured a firm and lasting hold. GENERAL EVIDENCES OF CITY'S PROSPERITY Necessarily, the city which forms the distributing point for this large territory and these varied and important industries, must be equipped not only with capable men and organizations, but with large financial re- sources, and public utilities of the most modern character. The individ- uals and commercial and trade organizations of Billings are products of the community's needs. They have realized the necessity of business-like action and have grown into their opportunities. As to financial resources Billings is accounted a wealthy city, its property valuation, exclusive of 860 HISTORY OF MONTANA moneys and credits, being estimated at $11,000,000. As to its public utilities, aside from its comprehensive railroad system, the Western Union Telegraph Company has sixteen trunk lines, capable of handling 16,000 messages daily if extended to the limit, and these have been known to handle as many as 10,000 messages within twenty-four hours. Billings is the district headquarters of the Mountain States Telephone and Tele- graph Company, and has direct connections with every large center in the state, smaller cities and rural districts. The receipts at the Billings Post Office (which is graded with cities ranging from 30,000 to 35,000 population) for the year 1920 were $176,807.85, an increase of 243 per cent for a ten-year period. The receipts of the postoffice exceed those of many cities twice the size of Billings. At the Union depot during the first nine months of 1920 there were 184,725 passenger tickets sold, representing a cash expenditure of $1,049,871.43. The total freight and passenger business during the same period amounted to $3,522,832.54. Taking everything into consideration, one may appreciate the attitude of the Billings writer who stated: "Many have been the prophets who have said that some day Billings would be a city of 50,000 or 100,000 people. With this goal not so far in the distance, those who have had the city's welfare at heart are bending every effort to see that Billings becomes, not only a big city, but a good city as well." CHAPTER XL BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF THE STATE As nearly as possible details have been given closely relating to the development of Montana as a body politic, and the progress of its people, individually and through their institutions. But, condensed as they are, the facts evolved in the writing of the story may lack cohesion and co-or- dination in the minds of some without the addition of various tables and lists which finally bind the narrative together. In the pages which con- clude this history, an attempt is made toward that end. AREA AND POPULATION OF COUNTIES 1870 TO 1920* (In computing the increase from 1890 to 1900 for certain counties, the population of Indian reservations in 1900 has been deducted from the total population of the county in order to make it comparable with the total for 1890, which does not include the population of Indian reservations. The deductions thus made for the several counties are as follows : Chouteau, 1,312; Custer, 1,454; Missoula, 2,129.) COUNTY Land area in square miles: 1920 POPULATION 1920 1910 1900 1890 1880 1870 MONTANA' U46.131 548,889 376.053 ^43,329 U42.924 39,159 20,595 Beaverhead 1 5.657 4,966 4,229 1,206 2,060 3,375 3,411 4.213 3,741 2,359 745 1,608 7,146 6,109 2,507 4,837 2,981 1,717 2,892 1,632 3,447 1,451 3,624 2,645 3,622 2,369 7,369 7,015 9,057 3,239 15,279 3,972 38,836 11,051 12,194 9,239 15,323 4,548 28,344 21,705 15,864 5,368 4,178 4,167 13,958 5.203 18,660 2,416 7,797 4.747 7,495 2.622 6,446 5,615 4,655 2,712 722 Big Horn 1 Blaine 1 3,491 13,962 2,641 7,533 Carbon 1 Cascade 1 28,833 17,191 14,123 12.725 12,988 25,777 10,966 7,891 2,443 17.393 8,755 4.741 5.308 2,056 15,155 Chouteau 1 3,058 2.510 180 8,876 517 38 177 4.367 Custer 1 Deer Lodge 1 Fallen 1 17,385 18,785 14,079 6,937 9,375 9,553 3,514 Flat head 1 Gallatin 1 Garfield 1 Glacier 1 6,246 3,643 1.578 Granite 1 Hill 1 2,942 5,601 21,853 3 638 4,328 5,330 19,171 6,026 19,145 2 464 6,521 1,531 5,040 Lewis and Clark 1 Liberty 1 McCone 1 7,229 4.190 7,695 2.526 4,692 4,749 3,915 2,743 2,684 1.387 Meagher 1 1 See changes in boundaries, etc. * Since the completion of the United States census of 1920, three counties have been created by the Legislative Assembly of Montana Daniels, in the north- eastern part, between Sheridan and Valley counties; and Judith Basin and Golden Valley, in the central part, separated by Wheatland county. 861 862 HISTORY OF MONTANA COUNTY Land area in square miles: 1920 POPULATION 1920 1910 1900 1890 1880 1870 Mineral 1 1,230 3,173 2,903 2,661 5,178 1 ,658 3,337 2,329 1,742 2,391 2,103 2,353 4,993 2,861 2,686 726 1,777 1,969 2,044 1,958 960 5,447 1,411 883 2,611 2,327 24,041 12,030 11,330 9,311 5,741 3,357 6,909 3,684 10,098 8,989 10,347 8,002 4,903 13,847 60,313 7,630 4,926 5,870 3,724 1,990 11,542 5,619 Missoula 1 23,596 13,964 14,427 2,537 2,554 Musselshell 1 Park 1 10,731 7,341 6,881 Phillips 1 Pondera 1 Powder River 1 Powell 1 5,904 Prairie 1 Ravalli 1 1 1 ,666 7,822 Richland 1 Roosevelt 1 Rosebud 1 7,985 3,713 Sanders 1 Sheridan 1 Silver Bow 1 Stillwater 1 56,848 47,635 23,744 Sweet Grass 1 4,029 9,546 3,086 5,080 Teton 1 Toole 1 Treasure 1 Valley 1 13,630 4,355 Wheatland 1 Wibaux 1 3,113 29,600 Yellowstone 1 22,944 6.212 2,065 1 See changes in boundaries, etc. CHANGES IN BOUNDARIES, ETC. The State. Total land' area includes 198 square miles in Yellowstone National Park. (Total population of park returned as in Wyoming.) Total population for 1900 includes population (2,660) of Crow Indian Reservation, now located in Big Horn and Yellowstone counties, returned independently in 1900. Total for 1890 includes population (10,765) for Indian reservations specially enumerated, not distributed by counties. Beaverhead. Part of Madison annexed in 1911. Big Horn. Organized from parts of Rosebud and Yellowstone in Blaine. Organized from part of Chouteau in 1912; part taken to form part of Phillips in 1915. Broadwater. Organized from parts of Jefferson and Meagher in 1897. Carbon. Organized from parts of Park and Yellowstone in 1895 ; part taken to form part of Stillwater in 1913; part annexed to Yellow- stone and part of Yellowstone annexed in 1919. Carter. Organized from part of Fallon in 1917. Cascade. Organized from parts of Chouteau, Lewis and Clark, and Meagher in 1887; part of Meagher annexed between 1890 and 1900. Chouteau. Parts taken to form part of Cascade in 1887, Teton in 1893, Blaine and Hill in 1912, and parts of Liberty and Pondera in 1919. Custer. Name changed from Bighorn in 1877; part taken to form part of Yellowstone in 1881 ; part, including Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation and part of Crow Indian Reservation, taken to form Rose- bud in 1901 ; parts taken to form Fallon in 1913, part of Prairie in 1915, and Powder River in 1919. Dawson. Parts taken to form Valley in 1893, Richland and part of Wibaux in 1914, part of Prairie in 1915, and Garfield and part of McCone in 1919. HISTORY OF MONTANA 863 Deer Lodge. Parts taken to form Silver Bow in 1881, Granite in 1893, and Powell in 1901 ; parts annexed to Flathead and Lewis and Clark between 1890 and 1900; part of Silver Bow annexed in 1903; part an- nexed to Silver Bow in 1917. Fallen. Organized from part of Custer in 1913; parts taken to form part of Wibaux in 1914, part of Prairie in 1915, and Carter in 1917; part annexed to Wibaux and part of Wibaux annexed in 1919. Fergus. Organized from part of Meagher in 1885; part annexed to Meagher and part taken to form part of Musselshell in 1911. Flathead. Organized from part of Missoula in 1893; part of Deer Lodge annexed between 1890 and 1900; part taken to form Lincoln in 1909. Gallatin. Parts taken to form part of Yellowstone in 1881 and Park in 1887. Garfield. Organized from part of Dawson in 1919. Glacier. Organized from part of Teton in 1919. Granite. Organized from part of Deer Lodge in 1893. Hill. Organized from part of Chouteau in 1912 ; parts taken to form part of Toole in 1914 and part of Liberty in 1919. Jefferson. Part taken to form part of Broadwater in 1897. Lewis and Clark. Part taken to form part of Cascade in 1887; parts of Deer Lodge and Meagher annexed between 1890 and 1900. Liberty. Organized from parts of Chouteau and Hill in 1919. Lincoln. Organized from part of Flathead in 1909. McCone Organized from parts of Dawson and Richland in 1919. Madison. Part annexed to Beaverhead in 1911. Meagher. Parts taken to form Fergus in 1885, part of Cascade in 1887, part of Sweet Grass in 1895, and part of Broadwater in 1897; parts annexed to Cascade and Lewis and Clark between 1890 and 1900; part of Fergus annexed in 1911 ; parts taken to form part of Musselshell in 1911 and part of Wheatland in 1917. Mineral. Organized from part of Missoula in 1914. Missoula. Parts taken to form Flathead and Ravilli in 1893, Sanders in 1906, and Mineral in 1914; part of Powell annexed in 1915. Musselshell Organized from parts of Fergus, Meagher, and Yellow- stone in 1911. Park. Organized from part of Gallatin in 1887; parts. taken to form parts of Carbon and Sweet Grass in 1895. Phillips Organized from parts of Elaine and Valley in 1915 Pondera. Organized from parts of Chouteau and Teton in 1919. Powder River. Organized from part of Custer in 1919. Powell. Organized from part of Deer Lodge in 1901 ; part annexed to Missoula in 1915. Prairie. Organized from parts of Custer, Dawson, and Fallon in 5- Ravalli Organized from part of Missoula in 1893. 864 HISTORY OF MONTANA Richland. Organized from part of Dawson in 1914; parts taken to form part of Wibaux in 1914 and part of McCone in 1919. Roosevelt. Organized from part of Sheridan in 1919. Rosebud. Organized from part of Custer County, including Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation and part of Crow Indian Reservation, in 1901 ; parts taken to form part of Big Horn in 1913, and Treasure in 1919. Sanders. Organized from part of Missoula in 1905. Sheridan. Organized from part of Valley in 1913; part taken to form Roosevelt in 1919. Silver Bow. Organized from part of Deer Lodge in 1881 ; part an- nexed to Deer Lodge in 1903; part of Deer Lodge annexed in 1917. Stillwater. Organized from parts of Carbon, Sweet Grass, and Yel- lowstone in 1913. Sweet Grass. Organized from parts of Meagher, Park, and Yellow- stone in 1895; parts taken to form part of Stillwater in 1913 and part of Wheatland in 1917. Teton. Organized from part of Chouteau in 1893 ; part taken to form part of Toole in 1914; parts taken to form Glacier and part of Pondera in 1919. Toole. Organized from parts of Hill and Teton in 1914. Treasure. Organized from part of Rosebud in 1919. Valley. Organized from part of Dawson in 1893 ; parts taken to form Sheridan in 1913 and part of Phillips in 1915. Wheatland. Organized from parts of Meagher and Sweet Grass in 1917. Wibaux. Organized from parts of Dawson, Fallon, and Richland in 1914; part annexed to Fallon and part of Fallon annexed in 1919. Yellowstone. Organized from parts of Custer and Gallatin in 1881 ; parts taken to form parts of Carbon and Sweet Grass in 1895 ; parts taken to form part of Musselshell in 1911 and parts of Big Horn and Stillwater in 1913 ; part annexed to Carbon and part of Carbon annexed in 1919. OTHER FACTS ABOUT MONTANA'S COUNTIES Assessed County and County Seat Valuation Beaverhead Dillon $ 29,843,639 Big Horn Hardin 21,848,839 Elaine Chinook 27,957,520 Broadwater Townsend 14,681,274 Carbon Red Lodge 27,680,837 Carter Ekalaka 10,383,482 Cascade Great Falls 126,497,581 Chouteau Fort Benton 49,902,252 Custer Miles City 27,421,886 Daniels Scobey . Dawson Glendive 2 3>937>495 Deer Lodge Anaconda 35,546,143 HISTORY OF MONTANA 865 Assessed County and County Seat Valuation Fallon Baker $ 16,388,475 Fergus Lewistown 105,374,149 Flathead Kalispell 49,860,167 Gallatin Bozeman 56,221 ^27 Garfield Jordan 14,850,957 Golden Valley Ryegate Glacier Cut Bank 12,627,674 Granite Philipsburg 12,055,739 Hill Havre 35,650,825 Jefferson Boulder 17,981,405 Judith Basin Stanford Lewis and Clark Helena 62,699,832 Liberty Chester 1 1,871,060 Lincoln Libby 21,263,555 Madison Virginia City 23,824,022 McCone Circle 16,756,515 Meagher White Sulphur Springs 18,414,780 Mineral Superior 1 1,893,514 Missoula Missoula 56,211,819 Musselshell Roundup 49>377,O I 3 Park Livingston 35,707,462 Phillips Malta 22,432469 Pondera Conrad 24,563,000 Powder River Broadus 9,892,657 Powell Deer Lodge 23,828,662 Prairie Terry 16,359,540 Ravalli Hamilton 21,991,788 Richland Sidney 23,993,882 Roosevelt Mondak 20,060,127 Rosebud Forsyth 35475463 Sanders Thompson Falls 23,564,786 Sheridan Plenty wood 30,900,064 Silver Bow Butte 128,411,371 Stillwater Columbus 25,813,430 Sweet Grass Big Timber .. .' 20,645,120 Teton Chouteau 27,060,3.31 Toole Shelby 18,504,672 Treasure Hysham 8,068,238 Valley Glasgow 3 I 8 57,796 Wheatland Harlowton 28,786,026 Wibaux Wibaux 11,640,730 Yellowstone Billings 84,595,256 Total . $1,663,176,666 866 HISTORY OF MONTANA COUNTY ORGANIZATION IN A NUT-SHELL When Montana was organized (May 26, 1864) it comprised the counties of Missoula, Deer Lodge, Beaverhead, Madison, Jefferson, Chou- teau, Dawson and Big Horn, as created by the Act of January 16, 1864, of the First (Lewiston) Legislative Assembly of Idaho Territory. These counties were recognized later in the creation of Legislative and Judicial Districts until the First (Bannack) Legislature established the new coun- ties of the territory of Montana, incorporating Dawson County into Big Horn County and creating the new counties of Edgerton and Gallatin and otherwise generally recognizing the old county boundaries : 2 Counties Date Created Missoula February 2, 1865 Deer Lodge . . February 2, 1865 Beaverhead February 2, 1865 Madison February 2, 1865 Jefferson February 2, 1965 Edgerton 3 February 2, 1865 Gallatin February 2, 1865 Chouteau February 2, 1865 Big Horn 4 .February 2, Meagher March 26, Muscleshell 3 April 10, Vivion 5 November 21, Lewis and Clark December 20, Dawson January 15, 1869 Custer February 6, 1877 Silver Bow February 6, 1881 Yellowstone February 20, 1883 1 Through the courtesy of the State Society of Pioneers. 2 The Organic Act of Montana properly recognized the meridian of Longitude West from Washington while the Bannack (First) Legislature recognized the meridian of Longitude West from Greenwich in establishing the county boundaries. The difference is 77 degrees and 3 minutes. 3 Name changed to Lewis and Clarke by Act of December 20, 1867, to take effect March I, 1868. Spelling of Clark corrected by Act of February 10, 1905. 4 One of the original nine counties created by Act of February 2, 1865, embrac- ing a region from meridian 27 of Longitude West from Washington to the 108 meridian West from Greenwich and North of the 47 parallel of Latitude and to the 109 meridian of Longitude and South of said 47 parallel of Latitude, embracing approximately 57,250 square miles. Attached to Gallatin County for Legislative and Judicial purposes. That portion North of the 47 parallel of Latitude was made Dawson County by Act of January 15, 1869, and Big Horn County South of that parallel was attached to Gallatin County. Name was changed to Custer County by Act of February 16, 1877. 5 Created by Second (Extraordinary) Legislative Assembly, April 10, 1866. County seat, Kercheval City. Name changed to Vivion County by Third (Extraor- dinary) Legislative Assembly, November 21, 1866. County seat removed to Smith- ton. Laws of both of said sessions were annulled by Act of Congress of March 2, 1867. HISTORY OF MONTANA 867 Counties Date Created Fergus March 12, 1885 Park February 23, 1887 Cascade September 19, 1887 Flathead February 6, 1893 Valley February 6, 1893 Teton February 7, 1893 Ravalli February 16, 1893 Granite March 2, 1893 Carbon March 4, 1895 Sweet Grass March 5, 1895 Broadwater February 9, 1897 Powell 6 January 31, 1901 Rosebud February 1 1 , 1901 Daly 6 March 8, 1901 Sanders February 7, 1905 Lincoln March 9, 1909 Musselshell February 1 1, 191 1 Hill February 28, 1912 Blaine March 2, 1912 Big Horn January 20, 1913 Stillwater March 25, 1913 Sheridan March 27, 1913 Fallen December 9, 1913 Toole May 7, 1914 Richland June 3, 1914 Mineral August 10, 1914 Wibaux .August 17, 1914 Prairie February 5, 1915 Phillips February 8, 1915 Wheatland February 22, 1917 Carter February 22, 1917 Garfield February 7, 1919 Treasure 6 February 7, 1919 McCone 7 February 12, 1919 Glacier * February 17, 1919 Pondera 7 February 17, 1919 Roosevelt February 18, 1919 Powder River 7 March 7, 1919 Liberty ! 9 2 o Daniels I 9*> Judith Basin 1 9 Golden Valley T 9 2 e Senate Bills Nos. 84 and 86, Acts of March 8, 1901, to change the name of Deer Lodge County to Daly County and change the name of Powell County to Deer Lodge County held unconstitutional April 8th in the case of State ex rel. Sackett vrs. Thomas, by the State Supreme Court, 25 Mont. 226. " Law to take effect April I, 1919- HISTORY OF MONTANA THE GOVERNORS OF MONTANA Sidney Edgerton First governor of the territory, June 22, 1864, to July 12, 1866. Green Clay Smith Second territorial governor, July 13, 1866, to April 9, 1869. James M. Ashley Third territorial governor, April 9, 1869, to July 12, 1870. Benjamin F. Potts Fourth territorial governor, July 13, 1870, to Janu- ary 14, 1883. J. Schuyler Crosby Fifth territorial governor, January 15, 1883, to December 15, 1884. B. Platt Carpenter Sixth territorial governor, December 16, 1884, to July 13, 1885. Samuel T. Hauser Seventh territorial governor, July 14, 1885, to February 7, 1887. Preston H. Leslie Eighth territorial governor, February 8, 1889, to April 8, 1889. Benjamin F. White Ninth territorial governor, April 9, 1889, to November 8, 1889. Joseph K. Toole First governor of the state, November 8, 1889, to January 2, 1893; also two other terms, January 7, 1901, to April i, 1908. John E. Rickards Second governor of the state, January 2, 1893, to January 4, 1897. Robert E. Smith Third governor of the state, January 4, 1897, to January 7, 1901. Joseph K. Toole Two terms. See above. Edwin L. Norris Fourth governor of the state, April i, 1908, to Janu- ary i, 1913. SamueF V. Stewart Fifth governor of the state, January i, 1913, to January i, 1921. Joseph M. Dixon Sixth governor of the state, January i, 1921- UNITED STATES OFFICIALS, JUNE, 1921 United States Senator Thomas J. Walsh, Helena. United States Senator Henry L. Myers, Hamilton. Representative, First District W. J. McCormick, Missoula. Representative, Second District Carl Riddick, Lewistown. District Attorney John L. Slattery. United States Marshal Joseph L. Asbridge, Helena. District Judge George M. Bourquin, Butte. District Court Clerk Charles R. Garlow, Helena. Surveyor General Gilman Bullard, Helena. Collector Internal Revenue J. A. Walsh, Helena. Bureau Animal Industry Dr. Rudolph Snyder, Helena. Reclamation Service Willis J. Eggleston, Helena. Immigration Service C. K. Andrews, Helena. United States Assay Office Herbert Goodall, Helena. HISTORY OF MONTANA 869 Federal Prohibition Director L. K. Devlin, Helena. United States Geological Survey Wm. A. Lamb, Helena. United States Supervisor of Surveys J. Scott Harrison, Helena. United States Weather Bureau Wm. T. Lathrop, Helena. United States Forest Service District Forester Fred Morrell, Mis- soula. United States Bureau of Crop Estimates Agricultural Statistician F. W. Beier, Jr., Helena. Agricultural Experiment Station F. W. Linfield, Superintendent, Bozeman. Branch Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis O. A. Carlson, man- ager, Helena, United States Land Offices, where applications for homestead, gas, oil and coal entries are made, are located in Montana at Billings, Bozeman, Glasgow, Great Falls, Havre, Helena, Kalispell, Lewistown, Miles City and Missoula. STATE OFFICIALS, JUNE, 1921 Governor Joseph M. Dixon. Private Secretary to Governor Will Aiken. Lieutenant Governor Nelson Story, Jr. Secretary of State Charles T. Stewart. Attorney General Wellington D. Rankin. State Treasurer J. W. Walker. State Auditor, Insurance and Investment Commissioner George P. Porter. State Superintendent of Public Instruction May Trumpet. Chief Justice Supreme Court Theodore Brantly. Associate Justices Supreme Court W. L. Holloway, Chas. H. Cooper, Albert J. Galen, F. B. Reynolds. Clerk Supreme Court J. T. Carroll. Adjutant General Charles L. Sheridan. State Engineer A. W. Heidel. Chief Commissioner Highway Commission George W. Lanstrum. Commissioner of Agriculture, Labor and Industry Chester C. Davis. Commissioner of Department of Agriculture and Publicity Charles D. Greenfield. Chancellor State Educational Institutions Edward C. Elliott. Register State Lands H. V. Bailey. STATE INSTITUTIONS Deaf Dumb, Blind Asylum . Boulder Tuberculosis Sanitarium . . . .Galen Agricultural College Bozeman Girls Vocational School . Helena Experiment Station Bozeman Industrial School Miles Ci y School of Mines Butte University of Montana . . . Missoula Soldiers Home .... Columbia Falls Orphans Home Twin Bridges Penitentiary Deer Lodge Insane Asylum Warm Springs Normal School Dillon 870 HISTORY OF MONTANA FINANCES, INDUSTRIES AND BUSINESS Scattered through numerous pages of the history are facts and figures relating to the banks, lumber mills, the dairies and the mercantile estab- lishments of the state, but the fourth biennial report of the Department of Labor and Industry, as well as the 1920 publication of the Department of Agriculture and Publicity, gives the very figures required to exhibit the general status of these elements which go so far to form the stability of the state. The aggregate resources and liabilities of the state, private and national banks of Montana on May 5, 1920, are compiled from figures furnished by the state examiner : RESOURCES State National Total Loans and Discounts $ 87,816,946.04 $ 69,238,857.84 $157,055,803.88 Overdrafts 412,477.22 201,731.43 614,208 65 Bonds, Warrants, etc 11,222,390.11 14,173,542.76 25,395,932.87 Stock in Federal Reserve Bank. Banking House, Fur. and Fix.. . Other Real Estate 107,000.00 3,480,647.34 1,523,598.45 352,950.00 2,591,914.55 627,537.05 459,950.00 6,072,561.89 2,151,135.50 Gold 241,722.50 185,465.80 427,188.30 Silver and Minor Coin 567,168.53 429,738.89 996,907.42 Currency 3,483,291.41 2,272,704.44 5,755,995.85 Due from Approved Reserve . . . Due from Other Banks 14,310,004.11 1,494,496.39 8,439,637.90 6,268,376.33 22,749,642.01 7,762,872.72 Checks and Other Cash Items. . Other Resources 635,757.98 322,561.40 748,897.41 866,901.16 1,384,655.39 1,189,462.56 Redem. Fund with U. S. Treas 216,387.72 216,387.72 Totals $125,618,061.48 $106,614,643.28 $232,232,704.76 LIABILITIES Capital Stock $ 11,985,000.00 $ 7,995,000.00 $ 19,980,000.00 Surplus. . . .... 3,821,464.61 3,966,822.00 7,788,286.61 Undivided Profits 1,510,636.42 2,005,425.91 3,516,062.33 Due to Banks 3,308,108.53 4,393,149.76 7,701,258.29 Demand Deposits. . ... 51,848,066.66 46,965,648.39 98,813,715.05 Time Deposits 42,206,752.34 31,772,084.51 73,978,836.85 Bills Payable 11,619,615.59 3,214,056.41 13,833,672.00 Circulating Notes Outstanding 3,869,174.15 3,869,174.15 Other Liabilities. . . 318,417.33 2,433,282.15 2,751,699.48 Totals $125,618,061.48 $106,614,643.28 $232,232,704.76 All of the banks under state supervision come under the department of the state superintendent of banks and his assistants. One assistant superin- tendent and four deputy bank examiners keep a close supervision on all of these state institutions. The state inspectors visit the banks for inspection twice each year. They verify the books and records of the business trans- actions and otherwise see that the bank is living up to the letter of the law. They have performed their duties so well that there has not been a single 871 bank failure in Montana in the past five years, and there have only been five bank failures in the state in the past twenty years. The state banks are required to take out state charters before engag- ing in business. The law requires that they keep on hand, as a reserve fund, 15 per cent of their liabilities, which is made up of the demand de- posits, time deposits, the amount due to other banks and cashier's checks. The amount of reserve on hand in the state banks June 30, 1919, aver- aged 20.5 per cent or $7,933,535 surplus over the required amount. A feature of the state banking laws, which protects the depositors, is the prohibition against the buying of the stocks of other corporations by the banks of the state. The banks can purchase United States bonds, state bonds, county bonds, city bonds and school bonds. The establishment of the Helena branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, headquarters for the Ninth Reserve District, has been noted. It is the only branch in the district. A large building was pur- chased, which, with vaults and improvements represented an investment of $150,000. The Helena branch carries at all times from $3,000,000 to $5,000,000 to serve the financial needs of Montana. On January i, 1920, there were 288 state and 142 national banks in the state. All of the national banks belong to the Federal Reserve System, and the state banks are rapidly joining it. THE SAW MILLS OF MONTANA Although the lumber industry of Montana is only about twenty years old, and most of the mills of the state have been established within the past decade, it has reached a high plane in the economics of the common- wealth, as is illustrated in the following table : Post Office Goods Manufactured or Handled Date When Established Capital Invested Lumber and ties 1907 1898 1918 1919 1907 1912 1903 1919 1919 1917 1916 1911 1906 1918 1912 1910 1906 1900 1914 1919 1915 1905 $ 6,000 6,459,733 50,000 30,000 1,500 5,000 350,000 2,000 10,000 3,000 3,500 5,000 1,000,000 19,100 5,000 3,000 84,000 5,000 25,000 1,000 1,500 50,000 Lumber and lath Lumber and wood fUolb- Ruttf Lumber Lumber /"I,. J Parlr Lumber Lumber Lumber Lumber C" L-o 1 a \rck Lumber Lumber Lumber Lumber Lumber and ties /"_,. P'Kflf Lumber Hall Lumber Lumber Lumber Lumber Lumber Lumber Kalisoell. . Lumber 872 HISTORY OF MONTANA Post Office Goods Manufactured or Handled Date When Established Capital Invested Libby Lumber 1919 1918 1910 1904 1916 1918 1910 1917 1917 1915 1917 1918 1909 1912 1916 1919 1911 1908 1912 1919 1900 1900 1907 1912 1916 1906 1919 1911 $1,500,000 3,000 3,000 5,000 2,000 850,000 343,000 16,000 18,000 3,000 70,000 12,000 100,000 4,000 10,000 2,000 2,500 4,000 4,000 2,000 100,000 1,000 3,000 10,000 370,000 30,000 20,000 1,000 Luther Lumber Lyon . Lumber Marion Lumber Melville Lumber . Milltown Lumber Missoula Lumber Missoula Lumber Patrick Creek Lumber and ties . . . Philipsburg Lumber Plains Lumber and ties Plains Lumber. . Poison Lumber Rema Lumber Rexford Lumber Ronan Lumber Ronan ... Lumber Roundup Lumber St. Ignatus Lumber Sheridan Lumber Somers Lumber Town send Lumber Trout Creek Lumber Varney Lumber Warland Lumber Whitefish Lumber Whitehall Lumber White S. Springs Lumber Total $11,607,833 Note : Several firms have included planing mill and logging operations. Timbers used in the mines of the state yearly, which include round timbers, stulls and poles, probably aggregate considerably more than 100,000,000 feet board measure, and are not included in the above figures. SMELTERS, CONCENTRATORS AND CYANIDE PLANTS Post Office Goods Manufactured or Handled Date When Estab- lished Capital Invested Yearly Output Tons of Ore Anaconda Smelter Copper Zinc * 128 400 Concentrator 1902 $12,500,000 |243,300 Butte Sampler 1.904 121,000 261,740 Butte Copper 1906 700,000 354,338 Cooke Copper 1911 350 000 Butte Zinc Concentrator 1912 7 500000 4 500 000 Deer Lodge .... Gold Stamp Mill 1910 20,000 10,000 E. Helena Lead Smelt. & Cone 1889 500 OOC 50,000 Great Falls. . . . Copper Refinery 1892 1,300,000 {13,244 Great Falls. . . . Reduction Plants. 1916 1,750,000 Great Falls. . . . Electrolytic Zinc 1916 3,500,000 f29,930 Helena Milling of Ores 1916 100,000 Jardine^[ . . Mill Gold & Tungsten 1914 100000 35 000 *128,400 tons of blister copper shipped to Great Falls refinery to be refined. t243,400 tons of zinc shipped to company's electrolytic zinc plant, Great Falls, for treatment. JMetals contained in electrolytic slimes shipped east for treatment. Tons of copper 993, ounces of silver 6,978,464, ounces of gold 42,816. The only copper smelting carried on at this plant during the past year was the treatment of zinc plant residue for recovery of copper, gold, silver and lead, the metal from the plants in operation being shipped to other smelters for converting and refining. HZinc dross produced and shipped from plants, 2,571 tons. HISTORY OF MONTANA 873 Post Office Goods Manufactured or Handled Date When Estab- lished Capital Invested Yearly Output Tons of Ore Kendall Gold Stamp Mill 1908 $150,000 24,435 Kendall Gold Stamp Mill 1918 100,000 17,805 Marys vi lie. Gold, Sil. Stamp Mill 1912 100,000 11,919 Marysville Gold, Sil. Stamp Mill Gold Sil. Stamp Mill . . 1915 1912 100,000 250,000 32,960 McAllister Cyanide Tailings 1919 50,000 8,000 Sil Mill & Cone 1900 500 000 Cyanide Mill 1905 200,000 Butte Blister Copper 1907 375,000 20,518,510 7ortman Cyanide Plant 1904 100,000 185,000 Totals $25,266,000 5,501,197 "Pounds of blister copper shipped to refineries to be refined. DAIRY PRODUCTS The dairy products of Montana are largely devoted to the manufac- ture of butter, the output of cheese being comparatively small. Fifty creameries and nine cheese factories represent the establishments which turn out this class of manufactures. The creameries, with their locations, dates of establishment and amount of capital invested, are as follows : Baker 1914 1915 1914 1911 1919 1916 1915 1889 1915 1919 1919 1919 1917 1909 1915 1915 1913 1918 1915 1916 1914 1919 1916 1916 1907 $ 5,600 50,000 4,500 35,000 3,000 7,170 1,400 1 ,000,000 30,644 5,000 15,000 5,000 7,600 6,000 10,000 10,000 4,000 5,000 6,100 6,750 4,000 7,000 7,500 100,000 15,000 Great Falls 1919 1917 1918 1914 1913 1917 1916 1916 1912 1917 1914 1914 1916 1917 1914 1912 1913 1906 1919 1917 1907 1904 1913 1911 1917 $ 25,000 9,935 9,000 12,000 10,000 10,000 5,000 20,000 13,000 75,000 25,000 '18,000 5,500 48,000 66,100 7,000 12,000 16,700 13,000 7,600 50,000 5,500 10,000 10,000 9,000 Belt Hamilton Hardin Havre Helena Helena Rnttp Judith Gap Kalispell Laurel Lewistown Lewistown Livingston Melstone Miles City Missoula Philipsburg Poison Red Lodge Roundup Ryegate Stevensville Townsend Grass Range .... Great Falls Whitehall Willow Creek . . . Worden Great Falls $1,843,500 The nine cheese factories which have all been established since 1915, are located at Ballantine, Belgrade, Central Park, Corvallis, Creston Elk Park, Reese Creek, Salesville and Wilsall. All but the first named, which is in Yellowstone County, are located in the valleys of Western Montana, where also are the majority of the creameries. The cheese factories are small, only $38,500 in capital being invested in the nine. 874 HISTORY OF MONTANA MANUFACTURE OF SOFT DRINKS AND CEREAL BEVERAGES Since the coming, and substantial enforcement, of prohibition this line of manufactures has been given an impetus in Montana, as witness this table taken from the report of the State Department of Labor and In- dustry : Post Office Goods Manufactured Date when Established Capital Invested Billings. Cereal Beverages 1900 $ 100 000 Billings Soft Drinks 1906 20 000 Billings Near Beer 1900 100 000 Bozeman Soft Drinks. . . . 1895 6000 Bozeman Soft Drinks 1915 3 000 Butte Cereal Beverages 1900 150 000 Butte Soft Drinks 1905 10000 Butte Soft Drinks 1888 10000 Butte Soft Drinks 1919 5 000 Butte Soft Drinks. . . . 1916 19 500 Dillon Soft Drinks 1919 3,000 Glasgow Soft Drinks 1919 3 000 Glendive Soft Drinks 1913 15 000 Great Falls Soft Drinks 1919 2,000 Great Falls Cereal Beverages 1895 300,000 Great Falls Cereal Beverages 1894 335000 Hamilton. . . . Soft Drinks 1919 1 500 Havre Soft Drinks 1908 6,000 Helena Soft Drinks 1866 7,000 Kalispell Soft Drinks 1914 100,000 Kalispell Soft Drinks 1919 8,000 Lewistown Cereal Beverages . 1904 45,000 Lewistown Soft Drinks 1915 10,000 Miles City Soft Drinks 1907 14,000 Missoula Soft Drinks 1918 18,000 Red Lodge Soft Drinks 1919 1,500 Red Lodge Soft Drinks 1916 11,000 Roundup Soft Drinks 1915 2,000 Total . . $1,305,000 BUSINESS ESTABLISHMENTS BY COUNTIES The following is taken from the census of Dun's Commercial Agency for July, 1920: COUNTY General Stores Grocery, Meat Confec- tionery. Etc. Grain Elev. Lumber Yards Garages Miscel- laneous Total Beaverhead . . . 20 10 22 1 3 24 83 163 Big Horn 20 8 13 4 2 12 59 118 Blaine 19 10 13 12 8 12 71 145 Broad water 9 5 9 1 4 5 33 66 Carbon 33 37 45 7 11 26 140 294 Carter 13 3 g 2 7 22 55 Cascade 35 103 126 36 21 73 495 889 Chouteau 34 H 19 37 13 24 94 232 Custer 11 19 19 5 6 18 131 209 Daniels 19 6 14 12 10 5 63 129 Dawson 23 8 15 16 11 10 90 173 Deer Lodge 4 36 46 2 15 112 215 Fallon 11 9 8 8 6 6 60 108 Fergus 46 33 56 45 25 42 211 458 Flathead 34 32 34 6 10 27 220 363 Gallatin 28 25 43 22 13 34 202 367 Garfield 15 5 2 1 1 3 18 45 Glacier 10 4 12 3 5 9 41 84 Glacier National Park 1 1 1 1 3 7 HISTORY OF MONTANA 875 COUNTY General Stores Grocery, Meat Confec- tionery, Etc. Grain Elev. Lumber Yards Garages Miscel- laneous Total Golden Valley Granite. . . . 16 7 3 g 6 9 7 9 26 76 Hill 31 24 8 42 82 Jefferson 12 7 27 141 275 Judith Basin. . . . 19 g 6 40 84 Lewis and Clark 21 44 12 65 177 Liberty 10 2 36 227 398 Lincoln 17 13 16 4 24 57 McCone 12 3 ........ 72 125 Madison 20 10 4 16 41 Meagher 9 3 10 18 66 145 Mineral 11 4 g 29 64 Missoula 30 36 57 Musselshell 20 15 20 228 411 Park 14 20 177 Phillips 39 14 '21 138 237 Pondera 19 4 13 67 162 Powder River 13 2 1 62 138 Powell 12 5 16 25 Prairie 9 4 5 103 Ravalli 17 12 18 60 Richland 24 10 18 167 Roosevelt 28 12 21 Rosebud 21 12 16 Sanders 24 4 16 Sheridan 30 10 17 32 Silver Bow 17 239 208 Stillwater 20 12 14 Sweetgrass g 4 4 Teton 29 6 18 29 Toole 25 3 5 13 5 Treasure 5 2 4 1 Valley 30 13 18 15 15 Wheatland . . . 14 9 15 12 7 15 Wibaux 3 7 s g Yellowstone 34 79 71 20 21 79 387 Total 1054 1023 1337 539 422 944 5571 10891 The special listings are of merchants engaged exclusively in the lines mentioned; and those whose businesses or combinations of various lines of merchandise make it impossible to place them in any specific listing, are grouped under the heading of miscellaneous. Thus, a man operating a store and garage would appear in the miscellaneous column. FEW FAILURES IN STATE The financial stability of any particular group of merchants is always plainly shown by the number of commercial failures occurring during any given period, and Dun's figures show that the number of failures in Mon- tana, in proportion to the total number- of persons engaged in business, has been very small. The following table tells its own story: Year Number of Merchants Number of Failures Assets Liabilities 1910. . 6,476 129 $ 632,414 $ 744,294 1911 6,796 115 747,801 897,031 1912 . . 7,274 32 159,120 249,706 1913 8,272 53 137,052 283,015 1914 9,359 91 687,142 886,756 1915 10,363 64 1,240,174 1,366,666 1916 10,971 80 561,386 603,700 1917 11,303 90 448,791 522,638 1918 11,871 95 868,714 880,397 1919 10,899 65 316,928 424,558 For the first six months of 1920 there were 40 failures with $274,611 liabilities, against 10,891 merchants engaged in business. 876 HISTORY OF MONTANA The above figures relate only to mercantile establishments and not to banks and bank failures, but Montana has been happily fortunate in the matter of having strong banks, and there have been only a few bank fail- ures in the entire history of the state. Both banking and mercantile insti- tutions are sound. INCREASE IN NET WORTH Some further idea of the financial strength of Montana's merchants is shown in the following table, showing the number of merchants of the various financial classifications : 1900 1910 1920 Net worth $200,000 to $1,000,000 24 78 592 Net worth $50,000 to $200,000 . 71 264 607 Net worth $20,000 to $50,000 166 369 635 Net worth $5,000 to $20,000 444 925 1758 Net worth $500 to $5,000 1011 2079 2929 Net worth indeterminate 1674 2861 4370 As stated in "Resources of Montana" (Charles H. Greenfield) : "The period of most rapid mercantile growth came shortly after the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway finished its lines through Montana, when it was demonstrated that Montana was destined to be a great farming as well as stockraising and mining state. Thousands of settlers flocked to Montana betwen 1910 and 1916, and immediately in their wake came many merchants, hundreds of whom met with signal success in their new fields. Many times stores were established in tents and tent houses and the demands of the new settlers for provisions, farm implements, etc., created a wonderful new business throughout almost the entire state. "The maximum number of merchants was reached in January, 1918, when there were 11,871 persons engaged in business in the state. As a result of war conditions, the number of merchants decreased rapidly dur- ing 1918. Before December, 1918, when state prohibition became effective, there were about 1,200 saloons in Montana, and only about 40 or 50 per cent of the saloon men engaged in other enterprises. During the last twelve months, however, the tide has again turned, many new enterprises have started, and many openings for other business enterprises have be- come apparent." OIL DEVELOPMENT IN MONTANA There are two producing oil fields in Montana at the present time, and from 70 to loo rigs are either actually drilling or soon will be drilling. In addition, hundreds of scouts are exploring the state and obtaining leases in districts where no oil activity has been manifested. Drilling operations at present extend from the northwest corner of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation, near the Canadian line, adjoining the Glacier National Park on the east, to the southeastern corner of Carter County, in the most HISTORY OF MONTANA 877 southeasterly part of the state. Conservative oil men believe that by next summer not less than 200 rigs will be in operation in Montana, but be- cause of the vast scope of territory thought to possess oil indications, they assert it will take at least three years to complete exploration work. The State Bureau of Mines, a department of the State School of Mines, made an oil survey in the summer of 1920 that covered approxi- mately 80,000 square miles. This work was done in co-operation with the United States Geological Survey and is the first comprehensive under- taking of the kind that has been attempted in Montana. The results of the work will be embodied in a bulletin which it is expected to have ready for distribution in February. When available, copies will be furnished upon application to the Montana School of Mines, Butte, Montana. The first discovery of oil in Montana was made in 1915 in the Elk Basin field in Carbon County, on the Wyoming line. This field has pro- duced regularly since that time, but the production on the Montana side has been coupled with the production on the Wyoming side, so in the mind of the public it has been considered a Wyoming field. What has been generally considered the first discovery of oil in the state was made November 6, 1919, by the Van Duzen Company in the Devil's Basin field, north of Roundup, in Musselshell County. Oil was struck at a depth of 1,175 feet - It: was of asphaltic base and for over a year produced about twenty-five barrels a day. It was then cased off so drilling to lower sands could be resumed. Water was struck when drilling was resumed, and operations have been suspended for the present. Discovery of oil by the Frantz Corporation February 18, 1920, in the West Dome of the Cat Creek field, Eastern Fergus County, at a depth of 1,015 feet, and subsequent developments in this field, are responsible for the present oil activity in the state. While production from this field has been considerably less than that indicated by newspaper reports, oil men consider the showing, for the work done, to be remarkable. They do not, however, consider the field fully proven. But they are confident that Montana is certain to be an important oil state. A two and a four inch pipe line have been laid from the West Dome field to the railroad at Winnett. In November 346 tank cars were shipped. Their capacity ranged from 144 barrels to 310 barrels. December 1 8, 1920, nine wells were under contract to deliver their oil to the pipe line. One of these nine wells had a cave-in, and was not delivering any oil at the time, though it had been producing, and is expected to produce again. Another well in the field, not under contract to the pipe line, produced some oil and then was capped. The producing wells in this field up to the middle of December, 1920, covered an area of approximately ten square miles. Drilling was proceeding in many places both within and wit! this producing area. ' There was a production in the Cat Creek field during November of 82 721 19 barrels, while shipments during November amounted to 80,941.5 barrels These figures were obtained from the Elk Basin Consolidated Petroleum Company, which, besides owning the only pipe line and tanks in this field also took over the wells and acreage of the Frantz Corporation. 878 HISTORY OF MONTANA Drilling for oil is actually under way, or rigs have been erected prepara- tory to drilling at many places in Montana. The following summary of- these places, while incomplete, gives an idea of the vast region in the state that is being prospected : One rig five miles south of Harlowton, Wheat- land County; one rig north of Judith Gap, Judith Basin County; two rigs near Shawmut, Wheatland County ; two rigs in Fallon County ; three rigs in Carter County; one rig south of Lohman in Elaine County; one rig on Blackf eet Reservation in Glacier County ; two rigs in Teton County ; one rig at Winifred, Fergus County; two on Black Butte Dome, Fergus County ; twenty- four in Cat Creek District, Fergus County (this is ex- clusive of the producing wells) ; from nine to sixteen rigs on Porcupine Dome in Rosebud County; one at Crow Rock, Prairie County; one near Jordan, Garfield County ; three on Brush Creek, Fergus County ; approxi- mately ten rigs in the Musselshell County field adjacent to Roundup; one on the Crow Reservation in Big Horn County. Besides these operations, scores of companies and syndicates expect to install rigs within the next four months in various parts of the state. Scouts of some of the big oil concerns are touring practically all that part of Montana east of the main range of the Rockies. Hundreds of thou- sands of acres have been leased for oil purposes in the state. Many of these leases have been obtained in districts where no drilling has ever been undertaken. By the Department of Agriculture and Publicity, Charles D. Greenfield, Commissioner. The horticultural interests of Montana, especially of the sections in the western part of the state, are expanding into a pronounced industry. Its growth is to the credit of its promoters, who, for twenty-four years have been connected with the Montana Horticultural Society. The great strength of its membership is drawn from Ravalli County, and especially centers at Hamilton and Stevensville, in the fertile Bitter Root Valley. A number also reside at Missoula, Kalispell, Big Fork, and other points in Flathead and Gallatin counties. Western Montana is the only really promising fruit-raising section of the state. The Montana Horticultural Society held its twenty-fourth annual session at Hamilton, from January 18 to 20, 1921, the following being in office : Ben Kress, Hamilton, president ; O. M. Gerer, of Hamilton, Fred T. Parker, of Missoula, Earl Mauzey, of Big Fork, and W. J. Cristmas, of Joliet, vice presidents; J. C. Wood (state horticulturist), of Missoula, secretary-treasurer. For the purposes of this article, the paper presented by Dr. M. J. Elrod, of Missoula, one of the well-known fruit-raisers of the state, is most adaptable, and it is given entire : "Mr. Wood asked me yesterday to give a little of the early history of the State Horticultural Society. I have always had a very great interest in this Society, because it was the first meeting of any kind that I attended after I came to the state. The President of the University said : 'You HISTORY OF MONTANA 879 will find some very bright minds there.' I don't know whether or not he meant for me to keep my mouth shut until I saw where I was, but I took the hint. At that meeting I was given an introduction to a consider- able number of people, a large majority of whom are elsewhere; some have died. From that day I have taken more pleasure in attending the meetings of the Horticultural Society than any other organization or any other affair which I have been called upon to attend in the state. At that first meeting, which was held in Missoula, and which was the third meet- ing of Horticulturists, the other meetings having been held before this association was organized, I find on reading over the minutes and the programs the names of these persons ; some of you know a few of them, and some, perhaps, know all of them. At this meeting were Kemp, Ed- wards, Evans, Harlan, Lehsou, Moss, Humble, Emery, Sutherlin, Bass, Bandmann, Whiteside, Willis, Maclay, Wilson, Gilbert and my own name. Of those whose names I read, Harlan is with us today. C. C. Willis was also present at our meetings. "The second meeting was held at Hamilton and I see added to the list of names O'Donnell, Stone, McCrackin; at this time Emery was presi- dent; at the meeting at Missoula, Harlan was president, with Edwards as secretary. "The meetings in these years were held the last of February and for a long time afterwards in February or late in January. "At that time, twenty-three years ago, it was not certain that winter apples could be raised. The idea of holding the meetings in the late January and February was to prove to the people of the state that it was possible to raise something else than fall apples. It was predicted that only fall apples could be raised, and, therefore, it was a waste of time to try winter varieties, and a great deal of attention was given to the exhibit. The people of the region held back some of their best fruit so as to make a creditable exhibition. It is not now necessary so to do. At that time it was very necessary, and they felt if an exhibition of nice, salable fruit could be made as late as February 23rd, it was sufficient proof to all that this was a fruit raising and fruit growing region. "The third meeting was held at Plains. Perhaps I might run along with a few of these meetings, to give an idea of where they were held and to suggest when certain things were taken up. At the meeting at Plains, Emery, who was then director of the Experiment Station, was president, and these names appear upon the program: Tiedt, Clark, Cooley, Mrs. Nichols, Fossum (our good friend who is with us tonight), Mrs. Baker and Olney of Yellowstone. I note this comment, which will be of inter- est to you, an authority quoted by Bandmann as showing that the codling moth would not become a dangerous pest in the State of Montana. A few years later the minutes show desperate efforts are being made to exterminate the codling moth. At this meeting I notice that Harlan recom- mended that the practice of growing bees be started in the state. "The fourth meeting was held at Kalispell in 1901. Emery was again president this I think, was the meeting at which they had such a stun- ning time as to whether they would elect him president or someone else. 880 HISTORY OF MONTANA "Mr. W. B. Harlan : It was at Plains. "Mr. J. A. Fossum: -It was at Kalispell particularly they had a great fight for the president. "At this meeting I notice the first mention of prayer at the opening meeting. I notice the following names appearing at this meeting on the program: Wood, Reed, Heideman, Bernard, Wooldridge from Hinsdale, on the Great Northern. There were complaints mentioned in the min- utes at that time of growers who said they had got summer varieties when they had ordered winter varieties, and there was much discussion as to the character and honesty of the tree dealers, because at that time there were being enormous numbers of trees placed and men didn't wish to buy a thousand or two thousand trees of winter varieties and wait five years until they had fruit to find they were something else. That is what many of them did. At this meeting local branches were provided for in the organization. "The fifth meeting, 1902, was held at Missoula; a good display of fruit is mentioned; Stone, who was chosen president, was ill, and Mr. Harlan presided, with Mrs. Ingalls of Kalispell as secretary. I notice on the program and in the minutes the following names : Pierce of Plains, Smith, who was the ex-governor, Prof. Shaw, Brandegee, Fortier, Traphagen and Allen of Lolo. The honey bee was again mentioned as an animal that could be developed. In this program was mentioned a banquet. I have some distinct recollections of helping to get up a banquet or two. I don't know whether this is the one or not. The minutes report the box adopted as the standard size was 10^x11^x18 inches. "The sixth meeting, 1903, was held at Stevensville, with Stone, who was president, ill in the East. Harlan served as president. I notice among the names that have not heretofore been mentioned Pace, former secretary of the State Fair, Tucker, Amos Buck, Nichol and Fisher. It was at this meeting that Bandmann made his argument, defending the Mclntosh as the apple that should be developed for the purpose of having one apple in the valley which would be a standard. Some years after his death, Mrs. Bandmann made a request of the Society that they confirm her statement that he had taken that attitude, as taking the initiative in start- ing the Mclntosh apple, which action the Society later took. "The seventh meeting, 1904, was at Great Falls, with Harlan as presi- dent ; the secretary's report is given complete in eleven lines. There was a cooking demonstration given in one of the rooms of the Rainbow Hotel and there was a large audience around the person who was making the demonstration. "The eighth meeting was held at Helena ; Harlan was president and Tucker was secretary pro tern. At this meeting Colonel Sanders made an address, the first privilege I had of hearing the Colonel. Mr. Atkin- son's name appears upon the program, as does that of Mr. Dinsmore, who opened up the country that is now the Orchard Homes at Missoula. At this meeting the Montana Stockman gave a silver cup for the best col- lection of winter apples and the State Fair gave a silver cup for the best display of fruit grown by one person. These cups given in the early day were very helpful in stimulating activity. HISTORY OF MONTANA 881 'The ninth meeting was in 1906. Dallman was president. This is where I came into it. I was chosen as secretary and served as secretary for several years. The pure food law and the creation of a state railway commission were endorsed. And here, 1906, the record shows the codling moth was very bad and the members of the Society are calling upon the public and mayors of cities to help in its eradication. At this time it was recommended that the State Board of Horticulture print the proceedings of the Society, and from that date to the present the State Board of Horti- culture has made appropriations for the publication of the minutes and proceedings of this organization. "The tenth meeting was held at Kalispell. Dallman was president, and at this meeting they proposed the naming of farms. Eleven names were given in the minutes. Much discussion about market development. There were 80 paid and 13 life members. "The eleventh meeting was held at Billings. Ex-Governor Smith was president. This meeting was combined with the Dairymen's Association. A cooking demonstration was given in the evening. A thousand were present at the opera house meeting. "The twelfth meeting was held in Hamilton. Smith was elected presi- dent, but before the year was up he passed away and O'Donnell, as vice president, served in his stead. There were 200 present at the opera house. It was recommended that the legislature pass a constitutional amendment permitting assessment for orchard protection. "The thirteenth meeting, in 1910, was at Plains, with J. O. Reed, for- merly of your town (Hamilton), as president. There was an exhibit of 50 boxes, 100 plates. At this time they had a woman's department, with canned fruits and other things on exhibit. Clark urged the Wealthy for eastern Montana. First reference to blight. It was decided the town having the meeting must raise 50 members. "The fourteenth meeting was at Missoula with Fred Whiteside as presi- dent. Elrod retired as secretary. M. L. Dean was elected. "The fifteenth meeting was at Great Falls, in connection with the Country Life Commission. C. C. Willis was president. "The sixteenth meeting was at Bozeman, 1916, with R. N. Sutherlin, editor of the Rocky Mountain Husbandman, as president. "The seventeenth was at Missoula with J. C. Wood as president. "The eighteenth was at Kalispell ; your humble servant was president, with M. L. Dean as secretary. "The nineteenth meeting was at Billings with W. J. Tiedt as secretary. "The twentieth meeting was at Plains, with M. L. Dean as president, Whipple as secretary. "The twenty-first was at Hamilton, 1918, with Mrs. Johnson serving in place of W. B. George, who was not present, and Whipple as secretary. "The twenty-second, with Mrs. Johnson as president and Strausz as secretary, was at Poison. "The twenty-third meeting was held at Missoula in 1920, with our good friend Platt as president and Strausz as secretary. "The twenty-fourth brings us down to this year, 1921. as being held at Hamilton. 882 HISTORY OF MONTANA "Two points of interest for you before I close. The first is that dur- ing the early years they took a vote as to the most important apples for the valley or for the country. The first record I have of this is in 1898. These are the apples that are reported by the committee : The Gravenstein, Spitzenberg, Delaware Red, Northern Spy and Salome. In 1899 they took a vote on the five best varieties. Here is the vote : Mclntosh, 45 ; Wealthy, 39; Alexander, 25; Duchess, 23; Northern Spy, 21, and Dela- ware Red, 1 6. 1900 is blank. 1901 gives the four best, for which a cup was awarded : Rome Beauty, Ben Davis, Canada Red and an unknown. In 1902 the vote was for the Delaware Red, Baldwin, Gano and Baltimore. From then on until 1909 none are given. In 1909 I read for the last time: The Baldwin, Spy, Gano and Spitzenberg. "The early days of the Horticultural Society, since they had no insect pests, were devoted to the care of the orchard, how to prune, the best varieties, experiments with the different varieties, the use of water, and so on. The different varieties were thoroughly discussed and a good many big prizes were offered for the best display. Several times they had $150 in prizes which would encourage the growers to bring their very best apples. "I came home the other day and said to my wife: 'What do you think has happened?' She said, 'I do not know.' I said, 'The inevitable has arrived, I have been asked to give reminiscences.' "I hope this little summary has been interesting to some of you. A final plea, if I may make it, would be this : Those men whose names I have read are nearly all gone. They are the men who have done the things the young men now don't have to do. They know these things are not necessary. The older men are most out of the harness. This organi- zation has done more than all the organizations in the state for the de- velopment of the fruit industry. It is worthy of continuance. There are enough young men and young women in this valley to make the Society of far more importance than it ever was in its past history. My plea is that all these young people take an interest and get their friends to take a membership in the organization and keep the thing alive. The fruit growing industry has had a little setback, but the country is as good a fruit growing country as it ever was and can grow just as good fruit and more fruit than it ever has grown. If there is trouble about insects, or prices, and the like, it is certain the fruit growing industry will continue. My earnest request is that these young people stay by the game." PRESENT HORTICULTURAL CONDITIONS The horticultural law divides the state into seven horticultural dis- tricts as follows: The first district comprising the counties of Dawson, Custer, Yellowstone, Sweetgrass, Park, Carbon, and Rosebud; the second district comprises the counties of Gallatin, Madison, Beaverhead, Silver Bow, Lewis and Clark, Meagher, Wheatland, and Broadwater; the third district comprises the counties of Cascade, Fergus, Valley, Chouteau. HISTORY OF MONTANA 883 Teton and Musselshell ; the fourth district comprises the counties of Missoula, Mineral, Granite, Powell and Deer Lodge; the fifth district comprises the County of Ravalli; the sixth comprises the counties of Flathead and Lincoln; and the seventh the county of Sanders. Counties formed since the law was enacted all remain in the district which included the original county. The Board of Horticulture, which is charged with the administra- tion of the horticultural law, is appointed by the governor, one member from each district for a term of four years and all serving without pay. The governor is ex-offtcio a member of the board. The members from the various districts are chosen for their practical experience in fruit growing and their interest and study in horticultural problems. The regular meetings of the board are held on the third Monday in February and September and special meetings may be called when matters of importance are to be considered. The executive work of the State Board of Horticulture is under the direction of the state horticulturist who is selected by the board. All fruit entering the state or produced within the state is subject to inspection with the exception of blackberries, cranberries, currants, goose- berries, loganberries, raspberries, strawberries, bananas and pineapples. Melons, cantaloupes and tomatoes are also exempt from inspection. In so far as it is possible to do so, fruit is inspected at the distributing cen- ters and at point of production. Butte, Helena, Great Falls, Billings, Havre, and Missoula are the points at which the greatest amount of incoming fruit is inspected. At these places carloads are received from the western states and distributed to nearby points. In the Bitter Root Valley, the Missoula Valley, the Flathead Lake section and parts of Carbon County locally produced fruit is inspected for pests and diseases before it is shipped. The railroads are forbidden by law to accept fruit for shipment before it has been inspected and passed as reasonably free from dangerously injurious pests and diseases. The inspection of fruit should be maintained in Montana with such thoroughness that new pests and diseases will be kept from the fruit sections just as long as possible and in such manner that the consumers will be protected from inferior and worthless fruit. The setting of fruit trees has been very small with the exception of home orchards. Very few commercial orchards have been planted within the last ten years, consequently only the older and well established nur- series are still operating. Nurseries within the state are inspected yearly and if the stock is found to be free from pests and diseases certificates of inspection are granted to the nurserymen. Very little stock is now grown in Montana. Most of the danger lies in the nursery stock shipped into Montana and too careful watch cannot be kept on these shipments. The State of Montana at the present time is maintaining three quaran- tines. They are directed against the spread of white pine blister rust, wheat rust and the alfalfa weevil. All horticultural inspectors are charged with the enforcement of the quarantine provisions. This work naturally 884 HISTORY OF MONTANA fits in with the fruit and nursery stock inspection and the inspection force is well organized to accomplish results. Orchard inspection is maintained throughout the fruit-growing sec- tions, the purposes of which are as follows : It enables the inspection service to keep track of the pests and diseases already present, to define the boundaries and to suggest methods of con- trol. To enforce and supervise the spraying of all orchards where dan- gerous insect pests or diseases are found. The following report on diseases and pests mentions only those which are of greatest importance : Apple Scab: This disease is prevalent throughout all the western portion of the state. It annually causes thousands of dollars' worth of damage in misshapen and unsalable fruit. The past few years being dry and unfavorable to the development of fungus diseases, but little damage has occurred, but will return with wet seasons. Scab can be controlled by thorough spraying with lime-sulphur. Bacterial Blight: This disease has done much damage in past years, but like the scab, is more prevalent during wet seasons and for several seasons has caused little damage. The more susceptible varieties, such as the Alexander and Transcendent crab, have largely disappeared, and for that reason the blight may never return with the same violence as in the past. The only known remedy is by cutting out the diseased parts, or removing entirely badly affected trees. Blister Mite: Apple and pear trees are attacked by this insect and badly affected trees lose their leaves before summer is over. This insect is a microscopic mite which feeds within the leaf, causing the character- istic browning of the leaves. The injury caused is worse during dry seasons than during rainy seasons. Bud Moth : The damage by the bud moth is increasing each season in unsprayed orchards. It can be easily controlled by arsenical sprays. Codling Moth : The codling moth is present in most of the cities and has been allowed to gain a foothold in nearly all of the orchard districts, except that of Flathead County. It can be controlled by spraying with arsenic of lead and in a number of instances has been completely eradi- cated. A campaign for eradication is planned for the coming spring. Oyster Shell Scale : This is the worst scale insect in the state. It is not of much importance in well cared for orchards, but it is present in practically all old and neglected plantings. While it is almost everywhere- present, it does not spread easily or rapidly from old to well cared for orchards. It can be controlled by thorough and persistent spraying. San Jose Scale : This is the most destructive of all scale insect pests, but has not as yet been found in Montana orchards. The opinion is prevalent that it cannot exist in Montana climate but it is prevalent in states where the climate is more severe than ours and we should not rely upon climate, and inspectors are cautioned to prevent its being ad- mitted on nursery stock or fruit. Leaf -Roller : The leaf -roller, which was first brought to the notice of the fruit grower three years ago, has rapidly increased until the past HISTORY OF MONTANA 885 season much damage was done and unless brought under control will practically destroy the fruit industry of the Bitter Root Valley. It can be controlled and steps are being taken to do so. Aphids: These sucking insects occur in practically all the orchards and are of many different species. The green aphids, which feed on the leaves and growing twig tips, are the most common, but in some places the woolly aphids, which feed both on the roots and upper parts of the tree, are becoming established. The green aphids can be controlled by spraying, but satisfactory results in combating the woolly aphids are hard to secure. The total damage to the fruit crop is not alarming. There are many other irisect pests of minor importance not enumerated in this article, but as they are doing little damage growers are not worried about them. From biennial report of J. C. Wood, State Horticulturist, fo*- 1919-20. HOT SPRINGS RESORTS The state is liberally supplied by nature with hot mineral springs of many kinds. They are popular resorts for seekers after health, rest and recreation. The following list gives the principal ones of the state, where hotels and 'bathing accommodations are provided : Alhambra Hot Springs, Jefferson County, near Helena. Barkels Hot Springs, Madison County, at Silver Star. Big Hole Hot Springs, Beaverhead County, at Jackson. Boulder Hot Springs, Jefferson County, near Boulder. Broaclwater Xatatprium, Lewis and Clark County, near Helena. Camas Hot Springs, Sanders County, near Plains. Chico, Park County, near Yellowstone Park. Elkhorn Hot Springs, Beaverhead County, near Dillon. Gregson Hot Springs, Silver Bow County, near Butte. Hunter's Hot Springs, Park County, near Livingston. Lo Lo Hot Springs, Missoula County, near Missoula. Medicine Rock Hot Springs, Ravalli County, near Como. Norris Hot Springs, Madison County, at Norris. Pipestone Hot Springs, Jefferson County, near Butte. Potosi Hot Springs, Madison County, near Pony. Pullers Hot Springs, Madison County, near Alder. Sleeping Child Hot Springs, near Missoula. White Sulphur Springs, Meagher County, at White Sulphur Springs. Zeigler Hot Springs, Beaverhead County, near Apex. NEWSPAPER DIRECTORY OF MONTANA Scattered notices of Montana newspapers have appeared in various pages of this history, but, as the press has done so much for the territory and the state, it is no more than just that a general view of its present status should be given. For this purpose the table on the following pages is published, compiled largely from facts given by the State Department of Publicity and the standard newspaper directories of the country: 886 HISTORY OF MONTANA u NEWSPAPER DIRECTORY OF MONTANA (1920) PUBLISHER . . .Examiner Print. Co. . . . Tribune Pub. Co. . . . Richard Hathaway I en en O < en _ _ / S J2 Ui - .Si CL,** 3 < "" 'c U* 2 o'S. WOK e- 1 - ~ ~ w !f. , \ ** |! o c u c w rt _ "" en lT 5 4) e "3 ro4> C" 1 t* C Ui -Q c 5 4) ;> *^3 ^_ *** C-H 1 f_H rt . ^^ hi. 4) 4) ^^ 4) C CQ ^ ^ -w c C^ C""* CM j^ fX~, ^^ ^> t ^^ PQ J^ . " .... .CU ^^ . i W 3 . ^ t3 H W U E O en """ +j . c : g O co co Jgl 1 u! c > H .CQU SEE *- rt ui C I* (**1 O "> W 2 Ol X'l 2 fc f-_ . ' ' V OS . --C c . : : ; < :u ; >, 1 II; 00 O ON i "-i ON o O ON OO ON OC ON ON ON N ON O O ~H 00 ON ON ON ON rj< tS ON ON ON r~ OO r*5 10 r*5 r+< O 0000 -* ^ -SON" OO OO -ON ON ON OO ON i -ss'1 u is C 8-gS. Ea-S 4) 41 Qa^ Independent Republican . c o c 5 8*1 *: 2-y 2 l III 1 4) 41 41 2 Qf^Q .5 .0 c C C g S"S*S 0-3 to 4) u o- aa P o ^ ni ' C J2"4J"O U U IIII|II|. i j uooooooooo -u HISTORY OF MONTANA 887 C. 4) I* 3 c c HKQ 6 g|co|w|| e d . .000 CQ 'C bo bo bo O* O^c.c.c.c . S . S . S . E ^ 6* < M hS S c/5 oi u _c 3 CQ i (/5 c 1 c e 8 +3 '+3 ,a rt c3^ ...Standard Pub. Co. u . . . . Democrat-News Co. . . . Democrat-News, Inc. . . . A. A. Franzke ; ; c ) UJ C C o ~~ HKQ si.l : c^-^-g rt 5 S O rt * C/)C/5^ U ~ -S , . . 'iJ "4! ; c c C/3C/5 "?QQ to en , o o . c c ; . Q '^ O ?~ -yj 1 .3 CQ Q 4> bo O K . . . .M. Poulson c e 8 ' "5 -~ ">: -idoNf>' : : c^-o^ icoo m O ON ^H ON 00 ON CN 00 OC ^O-H ON ON ON H o 00 ON ON 00 ON ON ----- ; --" i i ON ON ON Independent. . . Ind. Dem Independent . . . c.y.y.y.y c c Democratic. . . . Republican .... Independent . . . Republican .... Independent . . . Ind. Rep Democratic .... Independent. . . Democratic. . . . Democratic. . . . Republican .... Independent. . . Democratic. . . . Democratic Republican Republican Democratic Democratic Republican 4) 4) . . rt . . c Ss Democrat-News Judith Basin Farmer. . . . Fergus Co. Argus : : . . e : . . . . . . c rt c . 41 II Standard 8 H o "rt ^ ^ Times Enterprise . . Morning Ne U5 QJ .... :C rt ^ b r 3 '5 j^ i? i> T^ B ** ? rti *^ .S^ S 41 4> C 4> C 1 -S Independent Boys Messe Journal . . . Sentinel-Pos Citizen. . . . .Democrat. . Yellowstone Dawson Co. Pilot Geyser Simms Neihart CHOUTEAU Fort Benton Fort Benton Big Sandy Carter Geraldine Square Butte Montague sii Cij o o M U CJ Q rt U, ^^ 1> O O DEER LODGE Anaconda u u g /* 4) 41 r Oldls _]cQeC FERGUS Lewiston Lewiston Lewiston X X >s 4-1 4-1 uuuuu ..j en en en en en **? K _4> _4) _CU _4) JU g C/0 D U SS^i-i 1 OK 888 HISTORY OF MONTANA C OS t W Z il caog is i H TO u S 1 ^H 1 ^' g g ngs g h "~" *^ ** "T^ " fct, O O^ 3 . y. f^ >*- >W c/) < O R Bank ning n I GLAC C Bro HISTORY OF MONTANA 889 " c.5 C (A <2 S-5 5 c p c u o SJ >o * fi CJQ Cs *> 4> 3 O 4) CL T30. r T3 C^ a-" 3 Sc/> rt cfl ? i >-B 5 . wu Jc/5 > ,* !! i> ~ - . c. c u-o h . . . . c ... c- w.-rt rt S 38 : d-x^ : : SM Ifl .s-8 -SB : : .:; = .g c.Sj * ^g S ^g ^^- Kc E :& ra ^ rt^ ^ ^W^E^H g^wj ^" ^ U SJas ^ g = :^^^:| ^H *-^ oo < VHOO^"'*'^^^ ^HO* H ^ >< O^^ O ^-^O*^ ^^H r^OooO0' M> , ^i ...*_.. 4J .- 4_i *- 4->+J.+^ . 4J .. * . . +,* cc c c uu c c y t; c .y.y.^.y c c c c .y c .y c y c^5 c "OT3 S" 1 ^ "rtrtu'^cdrt'^rtrtrtrt "2*2 "c"^^" rt "c rto^^^t? ll il 1 i!H ill lil && III! II itilli 22 12 JJJbJiJJIII 22 22l2 II Illffl : : : : : i : :fc : : ^ : : : . & w--- ..B. :: .. 2 o > : : : : : : : i ;| i* * is.2 1.1 : 8 : : - I " .S "S 2c u-^ is 51i*^ fi^l ^1 2^ 1^ l^i^ 1 ! 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M ^^a cc 57 cec 5 c 5 Moi 'fc5oiJ5 QS I JI i W : S c . rt . :w g ^ .5 4> i-w U 4J -4-1 c c c g.S |. 9 E- "" i_ * ^, c e 1 .e U *O *O - rt 13 S S '""? ^s. ^ ^ i- o < u c/5"5"3 3.-= O 3 .h s JWE " < u HISTORY OF MONTANA 891 ~ s "5is CQ O Livingston Pub. Co. Hammond Printing C J. A. Lohman Oscar H. Loe I B 1 ^jj^l ui'C -o o Broadus Pub. Co. M _C 'E . "w 0_ c . . ^ "w Ju* H. G. Ketcham C. S. Clemmensen njSSQcEm E 0- > Ctf Ctf **"* *- M C C oj Q O O u rt O C- POWDER RIVER Broadus 4> 4) be be o-o o o _J 41 41 O OH U >>>> Pi OH RAVALLI Hamilton Hamilton Hamilton Stevensville Q : : *~l v (> >- *^ gel SS a Saunders Co. Ledg Alexander Watkin G. A. Williams Sanders Co. Sig en 2 ' . . r . ! ' : T3 ' : . e :;:';: - -s < 9 43 J W - . ( r> >,>> u ~ fc P a; sQ w C t ^2; ~*-M*H P op ,HP-*^Q- Q^O^O^&&O\O^O\O* bi cfl rt 33 5 aa O 4> c.y c c .y.y 2."g 2 2 !! 8,8 8 a E a E S . . 2-- 2 .a g = "" . E C C C C S.S.S.S. 4) 4> w . 4) : TJ 4)-rj :i s : ^ O S2.2 c . en -2 -M 3 o Si '- c & ~ P > >>E1S-^ k " "''c"C t/) rt <; ' s ^^"J ' W ii ^ I |J2I llll j SSI' HISTORY OF MONTANA 893 ca -;, o ca u! ^ .. * c cw E^ E E .5 4 2 41 > w c Q..I? o oiy c """i . (/) . 4) , U U 0tf > fa u >> o*^ < "o c *^r C j , , f 03 jlj li r-i ^^ C O c(* '" UE W ^ o toi c > ^|0^^c^ = CQ' ^ j! ^ o . C "-A 'S C c "H "*< . . . en 41 . . jz e 3 ; "3 _u "S oU c >)>>,[/} 03 [i, 1^ . . . .James T. Annin .... Francis T. Ellis . . . .Chas. M. Smith P. M. McPherson .... W. T. Sherman Os Ov "-;; oc 222 2 O\ O^ * O^ ^h O\ ^^ .y.y e.y S u l|5f||.j Republican .... Ind. Dem Independent. . . Ind. Dem Republican .... e j t a e y c c o J5'J 4) 4>- u c3 "H'e rt iS&8,8 u aE^^E 41 4> S ^ 4 1 oiQ^^Q u c c c 'w S ^ el's 1 8-i a C X 41 4 S"g -c Qo:^ ^ ; : : g : : : : .a c fi.aji c.a M ?l '" M - ?? "S C3 U 1^ CO P3 U tv E . E E |E cj P u J :> E -5 OS .... y : : : : -o "S^ J "'"* ^ E : : oi ~ Jj ,jj o ^ O O QJ *Q 4) ^ p , p^ ^] *r| i c s c . . . |j^ij 8 S "5 *S e V C .S u ' 41 U.J *] o 2 o III 1 w o q'C'^ * x= C/3 ^1 O : : : : : S S.ti'S jij Oi j= rt rt t3 : : fe ^E f- f- S rs j o 03 OJ C* CJ D > rt W> C6 ts 3 S-c ^'*'"rt fe ^ > - H g|||yi|| J 894 HISTORY OF MONTANA ed c 2.1 ffc (* fc,o c - EE-J U r_l X^ >4^ * \U \O *^ w rt rt rt " 1 r 'N 13 5 THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE STAMPED BELOW RENEWED BOOKS ARE SUBJECT TO IMMEDIATE RECALL LIBRARY, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, DAVIS Book Slip-55w-10,'68(J4048s8)458 A F731 Stout, T. S76 Montana, its story v.l and biography.