l\
IN
THE LAND OF CHINOOK
OR
THE STORY OF BLAINE COUNTY
BY
AL. J. NOYES (Ajax)
STATE PUBLISHING CO., HELENA, MONT
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1917
By A. J. NOYES
In the Office of Librarian of Q>ngress, at Washington
1134156
INTRODUCTION.
I shall offer no excuse for giving this story to the public.
Many will read it with delight; while others will cast it aside with
contempt. No man can write for all people — that is, to interest
all people — successfully.
While this is a story of Blaine county, many of the people
along the valley of the Milk river should find much that will
prove of an educational nature, as the material was gotten from
men who have been identified with the "Land of the Chinook"
for many years.
It is no easy matter to gather the incidents and stories that are
herein recorded. It requires days of travel, almost endless ques-
, Qi tions and much research to trace down a fact. What I have
placed before you is as truthfully done as possible. I find that
men get an idea they are right, and they tell, for truth, something
"^ which has been told to them that can not be traced to fact. Any
\ mistake that you find here was given as some other man saw or
understood the matter.
Harry Norton, an early-day newspaper man and prominent
, '; writer, said: "I know not what the truth may be; I give the
V story as 'twas told to me."
I could not conclude this without thanking those people who
were kind enough to render assistance in the work.
My first encouragement came from Thomas M. Everett and
Earnest Ekergren. From Everett I received very much of his-
torical value, as he has been one of the most prominent men con-
nected with this section of Northern Montana. Ekergren looked
at it from the standpoint of business ; in fact that such an attempt
should be encouraged by the people of the county. To Jack
Saddler I wish to extend thanks, as he gave me many names to
whom I have been and from whom many things of interest were
gotten. To each and all of the following, singly and collectively,
I extend my thanks: "Daddy" Minugh, Sam Goff, Bill Bent,
Billy Cochran, Col. Healey, Jim Snell, "Curley" Ereaux, Wm.
Hart, Jay Rhoads, Jesse Angstman, Herbert Anderson, Chas. A.
Smith, George Herendeen, Raymond Noyes, Jack Brown,
Bradley, Father Eberschweiler, Bob Stuart, "K" Lowery, Chas.
M. Russell, "Kid" Price, Si Gamble, Frank Dorrity and Mrs.
Moore for stenographic assistance; James Dorrity, Mrs. James
Dorrity, Arthur Scott, Min and Mrs. Arthur Cowan, Senator
Taylor, Joe Mosser, Louie Shambow, Billy Skillen, Bro, Van
Orsdel, W. B. Sands, Mrs. Lincoln, the first white woman of
Northern Montana; "Daddy" Marsh, Chinook Democrat,
Burton of Harlem and A. M, Allison of Chinook, for photos.
River Press of Benton, E. M. Kenedy, Vernon Butler, Ed
Broadwater, and last, but not least, my friend, Louis V. Bogy,
the first man to build a shack in Chinook.
May there be many happy days in store for each of them.
AL J. NOYES (Ajax).
DEDICATION.
To my son, Charles Raymond Noyes, who has struggled for
years to make a Dry Farm in Northern Montana yield a fair
return, this little story of the men and conditions in "The Land
of the Chinook" is dedicated by a loving father.
CHAPTER I.
The First Inhabitants of Blaine County Were
Indians — Grosventres and Assinniboines.
There is a story handed down by the Grosventres (Big
BelHes) that many, many moons ago, a time, in fact, so long ago
that it is now a myth, the Grosventres and Arapahoes came froni
the East and when they arrived at the confluence of the Missouri
and Yellowstone the Arapahoes turned to the south and the Gros-
ventres crossed the Missouri and followed its north bank. The
Grosventres speak of the Arapahoes as their children and it is said
that their language is somewhat similar.
The Grosventres claim to have gone as far west as the land
of the Blackfeet. In those days the Grosventres were quite a
powerful tribe and numbered many warriors. Anyway, it is said
they made it so disagreeable for the Blackfeet that they were
persuaded to take up their headquarters along the Milk river.
Even though the Indians were the first inhabitants of this
section ihey, by common consent, held as neutral ground the land
in this vicinity. They traded at the different posts that had been
built for that purpose along the Milk and Missouri rivers.
I say neutral ground — yes — among themselves, but not to
the Sioux when they came to this section to hunt the buffalo
which had taken refuge in this country.
Fort Browning was one of the first trading posts to be built
in what was after to become Blaine County. This post was a
short distance below the mouth of Peoples creek. When Ben
Phillips got his namesake cut off the old site became a part of
Phillips County.
This post was built in 1868 and was abandoned about 1872
for the following reason: As above stated, the Sioux came in
large numbers to hunt the buffalo, and their presence made it an
impossibility for the Milk River Indians to continue their trading
at Browning. This is proof that the Sioux were altogether too
powerful for the tribes of this section.
While the post was in operation the whites attempted to
farm. Their attempt was an abortive one, however, as all that
was done was the breaking of about fifteen acres of land which
was never seeded. This was, no doubt, the first land that was
8 IX THE LAND OF CHINOOK
ever plowed in Northern Montana or the Milk river. They did
put in some potatoes but there was no great success attending the
experiment as the potatoes they raised were very small.
After it was shown that Browning was no longer in neutral
ground the post was abandoned and the building of "Old" Fort
Belknap Agency, or post, across the river from what is now known
as Chinook, the county seat of our county, in '70 or '71.
There was probably not more than fifty miles difference as
to distance between these two posts. Why the Sioux did not
cover that distance and make it disagreeable for the people located
there, has, to my mind, only one explanation. All the other west-
ern and northern tribes had more or less in common and could
be relied upon to form a coalition to protect themselves from the
powerful people to the east.
There can be no doubt but it was these same people who had
caused the Grosventres and Arapahoes to leave the lands of their
fathers and seek new hunting grounds along the waters of the
Upper Missouri, in one case, and, in the other, to find more con-
genial homes in Wyoming and Colorado, But be the reason
what it may, the Sioux did not molest them very much at Belknap.
Thus we find that the Grosventres and Assinniboines were the
first people to inhabit Blaine County.
What kind of people were they? In fact, what kind of
people are they, as they are still quite a factor as far as popula-
tion is concerned in the county. In the first place, if I have been
correctly informed, they were friendly to the whites and I can
find but few instances where they ever killed them. One case
that was of particular importance happened in the following way :
A white trader came among them at one time and so far forgot
the rights of the other man that he eloped with the young and
comely wife of one of the leading Indians. The Indian, as soon
as he found his wife missing, set out in hot pursuit, overtook his
enemy and both firing at the same time, were killed. It is too
bad that the Red Man had to die, in this case.
It is only natural that we should like to know something of
the traits and peculiarities of these people whom we found when
we came here and who now occupy one of the most pleasant
sections of our county, the Ft. Belknap Reservation. They
number 1 400 to 1 500. Their tribal relations have become more
or less disrupted. They no longer have Chiefs to direct them
as they once did. (In the olden days of tribal relationship the
chief was all powerful. The hunters went out and killed the
game, which was brought in by the women to the tepee of the
head man and he divided it so that each family had some share.)
The young men of the tribe no longer feel that they must subject
THE STORY OF BLAINE COUNTY 9
themselves to the arbitrary ruhng of some one whom they think
has no more rights than themselves.
The father was the owner of his children and sold, as a gen-
eral rule, his daughter to the highest bidder or to the one who had
the most to exchange for her. Of course there are instances
where the father has allowed his friendship for some man —
whether young or old — to take advantage of his avarice and make
a present.
Courtship.
The courtship under such conditions could never have been
as is too often depicted by the person who wishes to throw the
mantle of romance around these people as they have done in so
many instances. The young Red Man could not have paid
much attention to the girl by saying soft things to her when he
knew that the way to her heart was through the pocket of her
father. The young Indian would see some girl that he wished to
purchase and would probably take a horse and tie it near the
father's lodge. If the father considered the horse, or whatever
the thing may have been, worth as much to him as the girl he
would untie and take possession. But if there was a possibility
of the swain coming thru with something more elaborate the horse
was left, apparently unnoticed until more presents, either horses
or trinkets, had accumulated to satisfy the greed of pater. One
can hardly consider that a courtship which has only one side, but
there may have been a coy look in the eye of the Indian maiden
to show the young warrior that she would be willing to follow
him to his lodge.
When the trade was finally made she was taken to the lodge
of her husband and began, at once, the arduous duties that the
women of the tribes were expected to perform. The drudgery
was their part of the contract and the bold husband was to hunt
the game and protect the wife from the bands of roving Indians
who would too willingly claim her as a trophy.
When an Indian had married the oldest daughter of a man
he could, if he so desired, marry each and all the daughters of
that man. Many of them had, for wives, as many as seven or
eight sisters. When there was more than one wife in a lodge —
one of the white men who had married into the Indian tribe, told
me he had seen as many as nine wives in the same lodge — the fav-
orite wife was the leader in all the domestic duties, and her word
was law. It might be that she was the oldest, or it might be
that she was any one of the nine down to the very last and young-
est, if she was the favorite she laid out the work and they all fell
to and did it. The tanning of hides, the drying of meat, the
10 IN THE LAND OF CHINOOK
making of pemican, or the clothes, was done in that way. Jeal-
ousy was the exception and not the rule in these large families.
The husband had complete control over the lives of his wives
and no one could gainsay it. If a woman proved untrue she
might be killed or disfigured, by having the ears or nose cut off.
This was certainly a mark more pronounced than appeared on the
brow of Cain. Men have told me that they have seen Indian
women bearing these horrible mutilations and going thru life for-
ever branded as untrue to their lords. One instance was called
to the notice of the writer as follows: A young man fell in live
with the youngest wife of an Indian of wealth. He fled with
her to a friendly tribe in a land far distant, but word came to
the bereaved husband that his wife was there. He called one of
his friends, a man of parts, and said: "In the camp of the s
you will find the woman who left me for a younger man. Go and
bring her back, see that she returns with you and I will reimburse
you for your trouble."
The journey was made and ten buffalo ponies — horses that
were particularly fitted for the chase of the buffalo — was the
price exacted. She was brought back to her lord and master and
he said: "Take her to her lodge." He asked the friend how
much he had to give for her release and he told him that the price
was ten buffalo ponies. TTie payment of the debt was made
at once and he went to the lodge where the young woman was
sitting, with her head bowed down with grief and fear, and cov-
ered in the folds of her blanket. She knew full well the anger
that was in the heart of her husband and also knew that her lot
would only be what he should desire. She had been given to
this man, so far as her body and life was concerned, not by any
law of God, but by the law of the most selfish of all beings, man.
Why should man, and especially one who was governed by a
law which he had made for only selfish reasons; one which
allowed him to run almost as loose as the beast of the field, make
a law to govern the woman and keep her bound in subjection?
I have no time for the fool man who thinks himself wiser than
the woman who was given him for the gratification of his desires
and to help him make this world a place that is really worth
living in simply because she was an after-thought of God. Bosh !
Man has lived a million years on this earth and instead of raising
the standard of life to the highest plain he has raised Hell in his
race for selfish aims.
Even in America where the woman is beginning to receive
some recognition, where she is being given a chance to help to
make the world better, to make it what God must have intended
it should become in order that one and all should get the best
THE STORY OF BLAINE COUNTY 11
that there is in Hfe out, even here, man beheves himself one
on whom all the responsibihties rest, and with whom all wisdom
and goodness lies.
This is a digression, maybe, but I believe it belongs right
where it is found. That Indian woman, of tender age, given to a
man old enough to have been her father and one who had several
women for the gratification of his passions, for that is all the
credit that can be extended to one who lives under such laws
and conditions, could not be to blame if some one nearer her
age had signified a desire for her as she was nothing but an
animal any way, according to the law of nature as practiced by
the primitive people.
And when her owner stood over her he was kind enough
to tell her the price, in horses, she had cost him for her safe
return to his lodge. "You are back to my lodge again and you
have cost me ten buffalo ponies," and with that remark he shot
her, not once, but ten times, a shot for each horse.
And that man that over-persuaded her to leave her husband
knew the Indian law and knew that the woman would meet that
fate, yet he, for a few ponies, surrendered her to be slaughtered.
This is only one instance that could be recorded of the frightful
price that some Indian women have paid for breaking their mar-
riage vows.
There is another thing that seems strange, and that is the dis-
position to change the conditions of the distribution of marriage-
able people, that is, that you will find many old men with young
wives and young men with old women for wives. The first time
the writer was on the reservation his attention was called to the
matter but the party who told him, though one who had lived for
years in that section, could throw no light on it. I must admit
that, to the writer, that was not the correct way of making the dis-
tribution. The why (?) was asked for such a custom and the
answer came from a man who had lived for forty years, more or
less, among the Indians, that it was simple, when known. "There
is no courtship, at least as we know it, known among the Indians.
The woman is a commodity to be purchased by the highest bidder,
as it were. The young and tender girls, even of seven or eight,
might be chosen by some old Indian who had many wives already,
if he had accumulated ponies or property with which to buy them,
while the aged wife of the same man might be purchased by
some younger man who was less fortunate or had not become
old enough to have made raids among his Indian neighbors and
stolen the requisite number of horses to give him a start in the
world."
When one takes this as the reason he no longer wonders at
the condition as he knows that the man who holds woman as
12 IN THE LAND OF CHINOOK
property can not and does not form affection for her. I have
heard, though, of Indian men who have been as much in love
with their wives as any one of the higher races in civiHzation
could possibly think. A gentleman told me of one man, and one,
too, who was a big chief, who would sit for hours and comb the
hair of his better half. This man could hardly leave her to go
to war or to the chase. Surely an exception.
Talcum Powder in Big Bunches.
Not many years ago when a child was born to one of these
women it was placed in the baby sack, and as a preventative for
chafing, was packed in the dry pulverized dung of the buffalo.
This had been rubbed until it had become an almost impalpable
dust. These mothers were much as the more civilized ones in
that some of them were very careful and changed their little ones
as often as necessary to keep them comfortable, while others
became careless and allowed the little one to suffer agony because
of the accumulation of filth about them. This dry dung is used
much as the Talcum powder of the white mother, but surely in
more generous quantities.
I have been told by men who have lived among them that
they were more cleanly before the advent of the whites than they
are now. Baths were of frequent occurrence and many were
known to open the ice and jump in. I recall a story of the
particular carelessness of one Indian woman in this part of the
state as related by Larpenture, a man who was at Ft. Union
years ago and who left a very interesting story or diary which,
in the hands of a noted writer, has become of much value to those
who like to study the conditions of men. He said: "It was
thought necessary by the factor of the post to go up to the Milk
River country and make a trade with the Indians in their winter
camp, so another man and myself were selected to make the trip.
It was one of those very cold and disagreeable winters when one
would have been much more comfortable at the fireside of a cabin
than out on the prairies of the Northwest in the Indian camp,
especially when they were camped where wood was hard to get.
We arrived at their place of encampment and it was so cold and
the snow was so deep that we could get about but little. We
had been invited to the lodge of one of the principal men and
was partaking of his hospitality, which had lasted for several days,
when the man who was with me began to lose his appetite. I
was somewhat alarmed at this as he had been able to make a
full hand at the table and this sudden change bothered me not
a little as I could hardly get my stuff back to the post if he
became incapacitated. I asked him what was wrong and his
reply was somewhat startling to one with a weak stomach, as
he said: 'I saw the squaw use her butcher knife to remove the
THE STORY OF BLAINE COUNTY 13
frozen increment from the nether garments of her papoose and,
without washing it, she proceeded to cut the meat for our supper,
and from that time till this I have not thought as much about eat-
ing as I have in changing boarding houses.' It is needless to say
we soon wound up our busmess and started for the Fort, though
it was a very serious matter at that time of the year."
There were instances among the tribes where separations took
place by mutual consent. There were also women in some camps
who would barter themselves for a price. These women had been
the wives of men who were not blood-thirsty enough to kill or
disfigure, but allowed them to live in the same camp a prey to
the desires of men.
Indians, though they appear stoical to the whites, are as full
of jokes, when left to their own devices, as are the whites. They
are fond of their tribal dances and have built several large dance
halls or houses on the reservation at convenient points. These
buildings are round. They congregate at these places often. The
writer was informed by a man who has lived for years among
them that the dances of today are too immoral for any use and
are more for the gratification of the animal passions than for
social enjoyment. That this is a fact was substantiated by a
young man who said that it was too true.
The advent of the white man did not benefit the Red. While
it is a fact that many good white men did marry Indian women
and were true to their family relations, there were too many who
lived for their personal gratifications — careless of the final results.
When the railroad came too many of the "Bucks" made the
mother of their children a commodity to satisfy the lust of the
grader and hanger-on.
The Indian would always steal from his enemy, but seldom
from his tribe. An incidence that took place several years ago
was related to the writer by William Bent, who said: "Bill
Hamilton, the frontiersman and author, boasted that there was not
an Indian in America who could creep up to him in the night
and relieve him of any of his possession. Bill would not sleep
any place except out in the open. There was a noted Indian-
horse thief, "Grosventre Jerry," who had never been known to
miss anything he had started for. The boys, knowing the
Indian's almost uncanny ability, wagered Bill that they knew a
man who would get something that he possessed, but, of course,
v/ould not state any definite time. Bill always laid down with
his gun by his side, his revolver under his head and a famous bull-
dog at his feet.
One night he made his usual preparations, hanging his field
glasses on some bushes at the head of his bed and placing his
revolver under his head. Jerry had been told that if Bill caught
14 IN THE LAND OF CHINOOK
him in the act of pillage it would be sure death. I do not know
what the incentive could have been that would cause the Indian
to take a chance such as was put up to him; the trying to secure
something from a sleeping man, noted for his caution, and espe-
cially from the bulldog that would have killed him if Bill hadn't.
The next morning old Bill raised a big disturbance because his
revolver, from under his head, and glasses, from off the bush, had
been taken, and neither himself, or the dog, heard the approach
of the thief. Bill never again boasted of his prowess but made a
particular friend of Jerry, for whom he would do anything."
I can not take too much of my time in recounting the tales
of these peculiar people, nor in trying to throw light on their
characteristics because this could not be done in one short chapter.
When everything is known of them and, of other races and peo-
ples, then we can say that they are a different people from any
others whom we know. The man who is the student of man-
kind — the ethnologist — will tell you that men are pretty much
alike the world over. Men are only pecuHar to us as they differ
from us in our mode of thinking.
That there can be no sin where there is no intent to do evil,
holds just as good among the various nations and tribes of earth
as it does in our own laws. The Indian woman who has been
tiaded and sold for the price that men would pay for her had
nothing in her ethics that would cause her to blush with shame.
The Indian who had been taught to steal the enemies' horses
should certainly not be condemned, too severely, as we find the
white men in their warfare doing things much worse.
The Indians worshiped the sun and other things as they
would worship rocks of peculiar shapes. Their theory of the set-
tlement, or the way they happened to be here was, as told to me
by one of the old men, so Wm. Bent says, as follows: "Long
time ago our people were on a big frozen lake and one of the
women had a papoose on a sled. We came to a place where
there was an elk horn protruding from the ice and the baby wanted
it and in our endeavor to procure it the ice broke, drowning some
and separating the party. Those who were on this side of
the hole came and settled this country." Who knows but what
the Bering sea was frozen over and that the Indian did come
to this land in that very way.
In closing this chapter on these people, who came here before
we did, I want to say that they are among us, and will become,
as soon as the reservation is thrown open, a part of us. They
will present problems for us to solve and in solving them let us
treat them as men who will have the same rights that we enjoy
as they are to be amenable to our laws.
CniLFA' EREAUX.
THE STORY OF BLAINE COUNTY 15
CHAPTER II.
"Squaw-Men."
If one were to speak about the men who have taken Indian
women, derisively, he would be considered as anything but wise,
in some parts of Montana. The fact is that some of the best
men had Indian women in the early days when women were at
a premium and before the advent of the pioneer white women.
I have met many of these men and have heard of many more
and must say that while many of them at this time are touchy
on the subject and would not like to have their names mentioned,
others do not care, as it is known that they live with these women
as affectionate husbands and fathers. They are married to them
by the white man's law and by that same law do they protect
them. The writer does not believe that the mixing of races
is the proper thing as the law of caste and congenality precludes
such a union.
The white man did not woo the woman in the prescribed
white man's way as that would not do when dealing with a race
that had a different law and that was governed by different
methods. If they were to secure the Indian woman who appeared
to be the most attractive to them, they had to pay the price as,
the Red man did. This price is, or was, not a general one, but
depended probably as much on the wealth and standing of the
Indian family as it did on the woman herself, that is on her per-
sonal charms.
Some times the price would be a horse or maybe a bottle of
whiskey that would soon disappear into the recess made for such
liquors, with the result that as soon as the effects of the "fire-
water" had died out the Brave would forget that he had made
the trade and trouble would occur.
I remember that one of the men of my acquaintance, while
in a reminiscent mood, told me some of his experiences. He
said: "I have had seven or eight Indian wives in my long and
varied experience on the plains. Let me see, how did I get the
first one? Oh, yes, I traded a second-hand cook stove for her;
and the second one, rung-in on me." Now probably the Indian
woman was not unwise when she "rung in" as she found that she
could get plenty to eat for what ever service she could render her
master.
Now this man was somewhat of a philosopher and I am going
to give the result of some of my conversations with him, though
some of the material recorded will be, in a way, a repetition.
"There was one custom that was used by the Indian woman,
and one of my wives used it on our children, and that was the
16 IN THE LAND OF CHINOOK
placing of the new bom child in the baby sack in which there
was a generous amount of pulverized horse or buffalo dung.
The child is swathed in this until about one year old. Why it is
done I do not know but believe it is to prevent chafing." How
is it that one finds old men with young women as wives and the
young men with the old women for wives? was asked. "The
young fellows never had property with which to buy the girl of
his age — and as marriage was simply to satisfy nature — they
could, for a nominal price, secure the old and cast-off wife of
some wealthy tribesman."
The Indian woman was the man's property and for infidelity,
his right, an undisputed one, was to kill or disfigure her. This,
no doubt, bred fear in her to such an extent that she was gen-
erally, in the early days, virtuous. This may be a poor defini-
tion for the word virtue, but probably many people are compelled
to lead virtuous lives — not because of their innate refinement that
one must respect in what he knows to be a good man or woman —
but for the same reason that the Indian woman remained true to
her lord and master — fear.
When the woman found a new master — thru the cupidity of
the old one — she must assume her new duties and proceed along
the new lines and new places that would be opened for her
thru her new owner. Such a condition could not have proved
conducive to the highest development of virtue.
The woman who holds her passion in control, because her
husband is a brute, who holds her life in his hands, cannot arise
to the same high plane as does the one who is governed by love
for and a desire to please her mate. The Indian woman was,
then, the slave that must do the bidding of the master no matter
what that would be. She left his camp fire, her children and
the little things which she had gathered about her, for which she
must have had some affection, to go to the lodge of any man, no
matter how repugnant he might be to her, at the behest of her
owner. I want to know who in h 1 ever gave any man the
right to dominate woman ? Surely it must have been a right given
by the rules of Hades rather than by a God who is supposed to
love.
While there was not and could not be^ — under such condi-
tion — love and respect that is supposed to exist between the more
civilized mates, there was an affection for the offspring, borne
by both parents. The father would take delight in assisting the
son with material wealth to help him become a brave. They all
appeared to be proud of relationship and wished to be known as
such to the third and fourth generation. There was one peculiar
custom which I could never get the reason for and that was the
"shame" feeling that the mother-in-law had for the son-in-law.
THE STORY OF BLAINE COUNTY 17
She was never supposed to see his face after he had courted
or purchased her daughter. She was never to enter his lodge
while he was at home.
Several of the stories that will appear in this work will be the
stories of men who are squaw-men. They were the men who
helped, to some extent, civilize the Indian. And it was from
them that much of the early story of the Northwest must be
had if had at all.
We find that some of the young men and women — half-
breeds if you will — are among the most respected of the inhab-
itants, because they behave themselves and try to live upright and
decent lives. While it is a fact that many of the unions between
the white men of the plains and the Indian women were only
matters of convenience, there were other men who were honorable
enough to make the union legal.
Affection of white men for their Indian children was not of
the same nature that was felt by the white father for the white
child. It can be better illustrated by the following story told me
by a cowboy who once rode the range of the reservation.
The Cowboy's Story.
"I was riding the range in the vicinity of an Indian reserva-
tion and got so I would attend the dances given by them. Their
tribal dances were not alone indulged in as they also danced many
of the square dances of the whites. I was young and probably
foolish. There was one of the young girls with whom I struck
up an acquaintance. Often I would drop my bridle lines at
their cabin door and call on her. She was, so far as I know,
as virtuous as any white girl. One evening, riding that way,
I got off my horse and walked into the cabin. As soon as I got
m the whole family left. This was, to me, a strange proceeding
as it had not occurred before. I made my visit short. Again I
called and the old Indian father kissed me on the cheek and
then they all left. I asked the girl the meaning of this seeming
affection — a thing that I had not experienced before. She simply
said: 'My folks like you, in fact would be willing for you to
become one of the family.'
"I soon retired and went to camp. A short time after this I
was at one of our camps attending to my horse, when one of
the men who has been identified with the Indians for years, came
in to the stable and watched me for a while. I could see that
there was something of importance on his mind although he hesi-
tated somewhat in finding an opportunity to express himself. At
last he said: 'I notice that you have been frequently, of late,
at the Indian dances. I don't Hke it myself and wish to tell you a
18 IN THE LAND OF CHINOOK
story. I came into this land when I was a young man. There
were no other than Indian women. I was, as you are, healthy
and passionate, and proceeded to purchase a woman, then the
only way of getting one. That same Indian woman happens to
be the little woman I am living with now. Soon nature operated
in its usual way and a little dark baby came to our lodge. It
was then that I pitied that woman, the mother of my child, and
pitied more, the child. This was my fault and I a white man.
Well, others came and I have stayed with the woman that I would
have wronged by leaving her. I have loved, not as the white
father would the child of his loins, but my love for them is more
of pity, that I had brought half-castes into existence where they
would alv/ays be handicapped. Now, my boy, I have told you
this little story of my hfe, hoping that you may never be the
father of any little child you will have to pity.'
"To see that little man standing, wrought by his feelings to
such an extent that the tears were welling up and flowing down
his cheeks, made an impression on me of such a nature that I
never went again to see the Indian maiden but lived to know no
affectionate pity for my babes as they are the babes of a white
mother."
That was only one instance that came to my notice when
after m.aterial to make a story. One other which I will relate
will give much the same results. My narrator said: "I recall
that one time I was riding with a cowboy who was of a good
family. I shall not tell his name as he is a mighty proud man
and might take exceptions to anything of a personal nature. He
was so proud that all of his clothes had to come from the east.
No clothing that would be shipped for the use of the ordinary
cowboy was good enough for this man who had been raised to
finer things. This day our conversation turned on the men who
had taken Indian women. He said: 'If I had a black bunch
of babies as has I would throw them into the Milk river
the same as I would any other animal that I wished to get rid of.'
To me that did not sound right. The sequal shows him in a
little different light. He secured a woman off the reserv'ation and
took her to his cabin. There was an Indian Agent who appeared
to have a little higher idea of right than those who had been there
before, as he issued an order that white men living with Indian
women must either marry them or else bring them back to the
reservation and leave them alone. This was not considered by
many of the white men as any business of the Agent. My friend
said he would do as he pleased. He did not at once take the
woman back. Once more the edict came forth to either marry
ihe woman or bring her back. There were no uncertain terms
and no fooling in the demand made at that time and on that
THE STORY OF BLAINE COUNTY 19
occasion. He loaded up the furniture and took her back and
was going to turn her adrift. When the time came he found that
he, the son of a noble sire, had unknowingly formed an affection
for this little dusky woman and he could not turn her loose. He
called in the proper authority and wedded her. Then to his
cabin came little dark fellows, not one, but many, and the Milk
river never became as the Ganges, the burial place of unwelcome
babes, so far as this man was concerned. He lives on the reser-
vation and lives for those children as few white fathers ever have
lived for theirs." These two instances should be proof of the
peculiar affection that the good white man has for his half-breed
offspring. They could be multiplied if one would wish to go
into the matter to a more thorough extent.
All of the men who came into the Indian country were not
men of high class by any means. They were wild and reckless
and were only after personal gratification. They were, many of
them, the cause of trouble between the whites and Indians. It
would not take much of a stretch of the imagination to prove that
a man who had gone to live with the Indians when he was a
young man could be lead to become a horse thief. There was
nothing an Indian would not attempt in the way of securing a
horse. A large number of them together would make it an
almost impossibility, as they could too readily be seen while try-
ing to get their position where they could get the horses with the
least amount of danger to themselves. This taught caution, the
one thing needed in doing this kind of work. Now the white
man who had no high standards could fall into this kind of work
and use the Indian as a shield. That is, he could cause the Indian
to be suspected, as he was noted for his love for someone else's
horse. This was known to have caused much trouble in the
early days of the settlement of the wilds of North America.
It is not an easy thing to go to a man and ask him anything
of a personal nature. Many of them are Hke a man of my
acquaintance, a man very prominent in the state and one for
whom a county was named, from whom I tried to get a story.
His reply was: "I only wish I could forget some of the things
that have occurred in my life."
Now he is not the only man who wishes to forget. Some of
the squaw-men of the reservation, so I have been told, would
like to forget. No one will ever write the stirring and true
stories of the early days, nor tell the truth about the Rustlers
who caused so much trouble among the stockmen. Many a man
who would have been hanged, if caught, twenty years ago, is a
respected citizen whom no one would ever suspect of having been
anything except what he appears at this time to be, a perfect
gentleman.
20 IN THE LAND OF CHINOOK
It can truthfully be said that the men who came to the west
and took up the roving life of the Indian did not as a general
thing accumulate much property. Nor did they, ordinarily,
benefit the Red Man by teaching him thrift and industry. The
early life on the plains was of such a nature that men could not
stay in any particular place for any given time as they never
tried to cultivate the soil or build permanent habitations.
The reason for this is plain; they had to follow the chase for
a livelihood and wherever the game went they would go if not
deterred by some stronger tribe.
No property that they could get would be anything but per-
sonal which only caused them more or less anxiety, as it was a
menace rather than a pleasure, as other tribes and people were
ever anxious to take it from them.
Their sustenance seemed to be a secured thing, as they could
not, in the early days, understand how it would be possible to
destroy the numberless buffalo that covered the plains from
Mexico to the great lakes of Canada.
I do not believe the ordinary Squaw-man ever found out much
of real value concerning the people among whom he went to live.
He was not a student of conditions nor did he care to find out
any of their peculiarities, or learn what they knew about them-
selves.
He worked along the lines of least resistance and simply knew
the Indian as a companion on whom he might rely if he was
friendly and knew the Indian woman as a matter of convenience
as she did the work around his tepee and gratified his physical
desires.
And far too many of them were men of no education who
were but little higher in the human scale than the people with
whom they cast their lots. Let us leave them and not condemn
them as we only "see according to our lights."
CHAPTER III.
Buffalo and Their Hunters.
One who never saw the buffalo in the times of plenty, when
they roamed the Great Plains in countless numbers from Texas
to the Canadian line, could not be made to realize, by written
word, even though it might be penned by the most gifted describer
of events and conditions, their immense numbers or the wonder-
ful life and variety they gave to those same plains.
BUFFALO OX TIIF PLAINS.
THE STORY OF BLAINE COUNTY 21
The Red Men, in all their picturesque costumes, rode the
plains in their chase for food and robes. Under them these herds
increased to millions and would have continued to have been their
main support for ages, as they killed and saved all portions, and
only hunted w^hen in need.
Many years after the advent of the whites the plains were
covered with these herds because the whites had not reckoned
their value as to hides. Many noted plainsmen got more or less
a questionable notoriety by their slaughter of these brutes. Buffalo
Bill, for instance, got his name and much of his fame in that way.
Bill was one who must have had more or less talent in the adver-
tising line as he was in a position to make the most of anything
of that nature that came to him. The fact that he was advertised
to such an extent that he became the chief guide when the Grand
Duke Alexis of Russia came to America to hunt, was the Red
Letter Day for Bill. Many a man to whom Bill could not hold
a candle, so the writer has been told by the old plainsmen and
hunters, have hardly been known to the general public.
Cree Halfbreeds.
These people were the natural offspring of hunters, as both
the father and mother were of that class. They were from
Canada and came to the Milk River section to hunt, as there
were not many buffalo as far north as they resided. I have an
idea that these same people used to hunt in North Dakota before
the buffalo were driven to the West along the Missouri.
Louie Shambrow, who came to the Milk river in 1 865 came
with these people. They were men who were used to the hard
conditions of the plains and were always willing to fight the
Indians, if necessary, in their struggle for existence. They were
a happy people who found enjoyment as they passed. One of
the first things they would do on arriving in camp would be to
put up the tent or lodge in which they held their dances. They
had a floor with them. The one thing that the priest could not
do was stop their dance. Many of these people were so fair
that they would be taken for whites. They had light hair and
blue eyes. Shambrow was for years thought to be one of them,
as he was with them when he was only twelve years of age. Not
many of them spoke English, so it fell to the lot of Louie to become
interpreter.
The conditions along the Milk river were well adapted to the
life they were to lead as the buffalo came to know the country
as grazing ground. These people built cabins in several places
along the Milk River valley and lived in settlements so that they
22 IN THE LAND OF CHINOOK
could be strong enough to protect themselves from Indians, and
also for their social life.
These people were too near of the Indian nature to have
exterminated the buffalo. It required the man who was a hunter
of hides for the money that was in it that would soon destroy the
last vestige of them. Then, too, it took the big trading companies
to encourage even these men before the work was fully accom-
plished. When the time came for their extermination hunters did
the work so rapidly that it was done so suddenly that all the
frontiersmen were astonished. One of the men who had been on
the plains for fifty years said that the hunter would begin in
the north and as the great herds began to move south they would
send telegrams to others that the herds were coming and in that
way they were met and slaughtered. Noted shots would employ
men to do the skinning and they would do the killing.
V. Bogy says that one of the noted hunters of those days
was Brisbeau, who at this time is living on the reservation. Bogy
said that this man had killed as many as 300 head at one stand.
They were about all killed from '82 to '85.
The bones were gathered in piles and the railroad did a
thriving business hauling them to the Eastern market. Pages
could be filled with the stories of the days when the men were
killing the buffalo. These men came from all over the West
and Southwest. Some will say that many of the buffalo hunters
became, later, the cattle rustlers as they got so they could see but
little difference between the Indian's cattle (the buffalo) and
the white man's.
Charlie Russell, the Cowboy Artist, once said to the writer:
"You can't blame the Indian very much for being sore at the
whites as they killed what nature had provided for their food and
did it wantonly."
It is true that General Miles had said that the only way to
subdue the Indian was to kill the buffalo so they could not sustain
themselves. The American Indian had been a problem ever since
the first white men landed on their soil. Those first white men
found a race that were not vicious. At least the overt act was
on the part of the race that should have been the best and should
have used its education and religion to uplift and enlighten. They
had no thought other than to make a dollar, with the result that
the Indian was taken and sold into slavery in foreign lands. Noth-
ing could be more cruel than the separation of families in such
a way. It was done in a way that taught the Red Man that the
white one had no kindly feeling for them. They could not see
that all the whites were not of the same class as they could only
judge those whom they first met and these certainly had treated
them in a most contemptible manner.
.^,
MKS. LIXL'ULX.
We came here in 1S7S ou the steamboat Bentoo, having talven fourteen
days to come from Bismarck to Fort Benton. Landing there we went overland
to Fort Bellcnap and found one man there, Tom 0"Hanlon, acting as post trader.
Tills reservation had been established several years before, but had been
abandoned and my husband. Major W. L. Lincoln, was the first agent upon its
re-establishment. He had supervision over about two thousand Indians, Gros
Ventres and Assinniboines. Mr. Lincoln served two terms, a period of eight
years, at the end of that time the reservation was opened to the railroad and
the Indians were moved to Harlem.
My son-in-law, C. G. Fish, was bookkeeper and his daughter Nellie, now
Mrs. Robt. Cline of Highwood, Mont., was the first white child born there.
:\Ins. W. L. LINCOL^.
Note from caption
River Vnllcv.
Mrs. Lincoln, first white woman to live in the Milk
THE STORY OF BLAINE COUNTY 2a
The Indian went to the plains of the far west and in that land
thought for a time they would be safe, but the cupidity of the
white race brought them also and they overran that, too, and
crowned all their efforts by the utter extinction of the supply that
nature had furnished for the Indian's sustenance.
There are two sides of this question but the settlement of it was
on the side of the majority. Whether this was right or wrong
must be decided by that ONE who made us all and who may
som.e time judge.
The American Buffalo or Bison was a wonderful animal that
lived in vast herds. Men have seen them in such great numbers
that no one who had no real experience in the early days could
believe that the stories told could possibly have any virtue.
In the early days when the steamboats were used as a means
of transportation on the Missouri, they had to be stopped while
the herds were swimming the stream. One man told me that on
one of his trips to a trading post on the Milk river he had to take
men and drive the buffalo out of the way so the ox teams could
get through as they were so thick the teams could not, with
safety, make their v/ay.
The buffalo hunter and wolfer were peculiar men who were
used to many hardships and who would go for months without
any other food than that killed from day to day or the jerked
or dried meat of some other killing. One man told me that he
lived for eight months on meat alone and for three months of
thai time without salt.
The hide was worth about five dollars delivered along the
banks of streams that one could navigate in any kind of a boat
and especially on such streams as the Missouri and Yellowstone.
The Government did not try to stop the slaughter but rather
encouraged it. It does not appear to me that there could have
been any romance attached to work of that nature. The Indian
had been subdued and was no longer a menace. If he had not
been in ihe minority the buffalo would still roam the broad plains
of this country in untold numbers.
CHAPTER IV.
First Settlement by the Whites.
"I will give the story as it was told to me, not knowing what
the truth may be," as Harry Norton, a once well-known News-
paper man said, when writing of the early days and the tales that
came to his ear.
24 IX THE LAND OF CHINOOK
There are three ways in which history can be obtained : Live
it, hunt the written records or get the stories of those who have
hved it.
Living at this time in Blaine county is a man on whom one
may rely for facts concerning the time which he has spent in
Montana, "Billy" Cochran is well known to all of the old-timers
on the Milk river and the writer will give a statement made by
him.
The first settlement in what was afterward to become Blaine
county was on Rock creek in the Little Rockies one mile east of
where Landusky is now. Wm. Cochran, John Dillon, O. B.
Nevins and Adam Armstrong left Fort Benton about the first of
October, 1865, in a mackinaw with goods with which to trade
with the Indians. On the 15 th day of that month they found
some Indians at the mouth of the creek from whom they bought
some horses. These were the Gros Ventres and River Crows.
The expectation was to trade with these Indians at the mouth of
the creek. The natives, however, said that the Sioux were too
troublesome as they would come as soon as the river was frozen
over and make it so disagreeable that there would be no enjoy-
ment in trying to stay in that vicinity and the better thing would
be for all of them to move to the mountains. We took their
advice and went up the creek and built four log cabins. Two
of these were on each side of the enclosure and formed two sides
of it while the stockade formed the other two.
There were about 500 lodges and probably an average of
five people to the lodge. We had no name for the post. There
were but few white men in the country that winter. There may
have been fifteen. I recall som.e of them: George Boyd, above
the mouth of the Musselshell, at Holly; "Old Man" Reavis,
Jake Leader (killed in 69 at the mouth of the Musselshell) ;
Cyprenne Matt and Jim Wells. Dave Pease (who helped to
build Ft. Holly) v/as at Ft. Union. We were in the Rockies
about four months trading for robes and had no trouble. Prior
to this time men may have made a winter camp in this section as
it is known that the hunters and trappers from Ft. Union would
often pass through it in their quest for game and pelts.
We know, also, that the Cree half-breeds were in the habit
cf coming to the Milk river to hunt and that they built cabins and
had several settlements up and down the valley. We find that
about 1868 Ft. Browning was built down below the mouth of
Peoples creek in what is now Phillips county. When the Sioux
came and made it unsafe for the other Indians to trade at
Browning it was abandoned and Old Belknap was constructed
in the early seventies just across the river from Chinook.
THE STORY OF BLAINE COUNTY 2.-»
It was hardly safe yet for men who were not Hving with the
Indians to begin to settle as there was still a chance to lose one's
scalp. In '79, after the Nez Perce war was a thing of the past,
the government came to the conclusion to build Fort Assinniboine.
Tliat post gave some security to the people, yet, once in a while
it seemed necessary for the soldiers to go out and hunt Indians.*
There are men living in the valley today who will tell you
that the Fort was really of more benefit to the contractors who
supplied the place with various articles than it was to the settler.
If one could believe all that is told of these days one could see
without any glasses the reason why some of the men now at the
head of affairs in Montana became so wealthy.
It is said that one load of hay would be hauled and delivered
so often that the teamster would need stop and grease his wagon
to keep the wheels from locking. A prominent citizen of the
Milk river told me he had never attempted to get a hay con-
tract while the Fort was in operation for the reason that no man
could expect to get his stuff accepted unless he first gave the
man in charge of those commodities a present.
In those early days when the Governm.ent had sent out men
to fill positions of responsibility too many of them fell through
the wiles of the tempter and were ruined themselves though the
men, whom they had made rich, escaped. A man told me that
one of these officers had been apprehended and sent to the peni-
tentiary, here he had remained for five years but that the man
who had been benefited was a pretty good fellow for "I saw a
check for fifty thousand dollars which he had gotten one of his
clerks to send the man." Now that man, who received the bene-
fit, is a much respected citizen and a banker as well as merchant
in this state today.
Though men came and went in the early days one could
hardly say that there was any real settlement on the Milk river
until the Great Northern Railroad was finished, or until it came
into that section. The railroad came in 1887 and people began
to settle along the river. At that time, the fact is, the whole
section was an Indian reservation and one could not settle with
any chance of holding a claim. The Reservation was thrown
open, or at least a part of it was, on May 1 st, 1 888.
At the time of the opening of the reservation the Great North-
ern advertised the Milk River valley as the only portion of Mon-
tana that could be farmed without irrigation and the valley was
settled up, especially around Chinook, and almost every 1 60 acres
was taken up and farmed without irrigation. In the fall of 1 889
a man by the name of T. C. Burns came to Chinook from the
Yellowstone where he had practiced irrigation. He and his
family filed on about 1800 acres d land under the old desert land
26 IN THE LAND OF CHINOOK
act which granted a section to each applicant and permitted a
homestead in addition to it. He started in the fall of 1889 to
build a canal from the Milk river to irrigate his claims. He
worked on his ditches till 1 890 when a suit was brought against
him by the Great Northern Railway, an injunction secured by
the company, stopping him from building the canal. The Com-
pany claimed that in 1 888 they had filed a water right covering
all the waters of the Milk river for tank purposes for its engines,
but the real reason given by the officials of the road was that
the building of the canal would put a damper upon the immigra-
tion from the east as it would lead the settlers to believe that irri-
gation was necessary and having no experience v/ith that kind
of farming they would refuse to settle the country. The case
dragged through the courts for several years and it was finally
decided in favor of Burns and the injunction dismissed.
In the meantime a succession of four or five years had caused
the most of the farmers to leave the valley as dry land farming
in the valley had proved a failure. The only people left in the
valley, except a few stockm.en, were the settlers engaged in the
construction of irrigation canals at Chinook and Harlem.
The first irrigated ranch in what is now Blaine county is the
one on which Thomas M. Everett is now living. Mr. Everett
owned it at that time also. His land was flooded and a fine crop
of hay raised the first year.
In 1889 there was a large crop raised from the overflow of
1888. In 1900 a ditch was constructed from Parallel Creek,
now called Thirty Mile. This ditch was built by Thos. M.
Everett, J. M. Everett and James E. Fox, from a point near
the James E. Fox homestead buildings.
The Harlem canal, from Milk river, was started in the sum-
mer of 1891 and the first water was turned on the land from
that canal in 1895. The Paradise Valley Canal was started
about the same time as the Harlem canal to irrigate the south side
of the river west of Harlem,
The lands along the Milk river were very smooth but were
generally covered with sage brush and needed cleaning before the
hay could be cut.
It was about this time that the cattle men began to fetch their
stock, as has been said in another place, they were compelled to
move from the older settled sections of the Territory to the lands
north of the Missouri as the grass was getting thin in the older
ones.
This caused the streams and watering holes to be filed on
as they were the only parts of the country the stockman thought
had any value. It had been proven by several futile attempts
that the dry lands would not raise a crop and if such should prove
THE STORY OF BLAINE COUNTY 27
the case then the water holes would always be very valuable, as
it was safe to say there would be all the grass needed by them
for years to come. But, then, they had not taken into considera-
tion that the sheep would come and make the stockman so much
trouble that he, too, would be required to stop his range busi-
ness and go into something else.
The people who lived on the Milk river in those days could
put their land under the ditch and protect their stock from the
hard winters, or they could get rid of them and sell their hay
to the west, as the kind of hay raised. Blue Joint, was much in
demand, as horse hay, by people as far removed as the coast.
There had to be trading points on the railroad, so Chinook was
started in 1888, that is, there was a station about three-fourths
of a mile up toward Havre from what is now the station, that was
known as Dawes.
When the railroad was being built into the valley Tom
O'Hanlon was running the store at Belknap. Louis V. Bogy
was working with him and they came to the conclusion that there
must be a town some place near the Agency. Tom had made
up his mind that the proper place would be on the creek some
place but "V." thought that the "little hill" would be much the
better place as the spring had shown that water would cover
the point which Tom had selected. It would be useless to try
and get a patent to the land as it would be out of the question
to homestead, as that would require too long, and the preemption
law was not in effect on the Milk river. It was thought wise to
have Bogy build a cabin and squat on the place picked out and
then when the reservation was thrown open they would have the
first right. So he built a little cabin near where George Cowan's
barn is now.
Bogy and O'Hanlon had no idea of making any money out
of the town site but were to turn it over to a town site company
which was composed of a Press Association that was financed
by several farm papers of the east. These people took it over
but did not get a title, so the Government had to reserve it for a
town site and the money from the sale of lots went into the
school district.
The name Chinook was chosen by D. R. McGinnis, one of
the newspaper men, so L. V. Bogy told the writer, and he
should know.
Rideout had the first hotel. The Chinook House; Wynkoop,
the Pioneer Restaurant; Kingsbury, the Townsite King; Kelsey,
the Feed and Grainman; Coombs, the General Store; "Uncle
Johnnie Lewis" with his stock of drugs; Lee Cumm, the China-
man, built the Montana hotel; Vincent, with his brick kiln; A.
H. Resor was the first blacksmith and then came Ballou, Elliott
28 IN THE LAND OF CHINOOK
of "The Bank," the unfermented juice man; Letcher, the barber;
Maney, the choice brandy man; Rainbolt Bros., furniture house;
Raymond of the Boston store; Judge Stevens, a notary pubhc and
first railroad agent.
T. C. Power and Brother same as Tom O'Hanlon; Barton
and Stam, heavy hardware; Lohman and Bartzen, general store;
Chas. A. Hanson, livery stable.
The foremost building of that day was the brick built by
Thos. O'Hanlon, 1889. Soon the old town hall was built by
popular subscription, and used for school and church by the little
band of pioneer educators and Christians of all denominations
numbering less than a score.
Miss Lizzie Curtis was the first teacher, and the trustees of
the district which was the tenth in old Chouteau, were Thomas
O'Hanlon, A. H. Resor and W. N. Woolridge. In 1893 they
built the first brick school house with two class rooms and a reci-
tation room. Prof. J. S. Whitehead was first principal. In '99
the W. H. Duke building was erected; later, 1900, the Lohman
block and the Bogy building; in 1901 the Chinook hotel.
Dr. Chas. F. Hopkins was the first physician, he came in
1890.
Akin to these pioneers, who have laid the foundations of a
strong and vigorous Commonwealth, are Wm. Duke, who
embarked in business here in 1898; Julius Lehfeldt, who pur-
chased the A. S. Lohman business in 1898; Attorney W. B.
Sands, who hung his shingle out in 1895. Frank Boyle, the
clothier; Marvin P. Jones, C. M. Williams, A. Perkins, John
C. Duff, G. E. Fuller, Samuel Houston, Thomas Dowen, E. S.
Sweet, John M. Montgomery, J. S. McKibbin, Ed. Price, A.
W. Ziebarth, "Daddy" Marsh and Frank O'Neal, the genial
landlords of the Montana hotel; J. F. Williams and a long list
of others have helped to make this a city of homes and one of
the nicest places of its size to be found any where.
In 1899 Chinook was incorporated and A. S. Lohman was
elected mayor; L. V. Bogy, J. W. Stam, Dr. C. F. Hopkins and
M. P. Jones aldermen, with Samuel Houston magistrate and A.
W. Ziebarth marshal.
When the new county of Blaine was organized the city of
Chinook had "pull" enough to become the County Seat. A
beautiful court house was erected that would be a credit to a city
several years older and for a county much richer. The people
of Chinook have gone about beautifying their city until today it
is one of the best built towns in the northern part of the state
and bids fair to grow for years to come. Its people are wide-
awake and are ones to whom we kindly express pleasure for having
received so many favors.
THE STORY OF RLAIXE COTTNTY 29
The little city of Harlem had its first start in 1 889. As it
was close to the Agency and only a short distance from the Fort
Belknap Indian Reservation there was some probability that it
would make a good point. The first house was built by Thos.
M. Everett; first saloon by Al Cecil; first store, Chas. A.
Smith; first hotel. Manning Bros.; first bank was opened in 1906
by eight men, Thos. M. Everett, Walter French, E. M. Kennedy,
Chas. Owens, who was cashier before Mr. Hatch; Carver, who
used to be president of the First National Bank of Chinook;
Sprinkle Bros, and Major Will Logan.
Steven Carver had organized a bank in Chinook. The first
white woman in Harlem was Mrs. John Manning. She came in
the fall of 1 889. The first white woman in this vicinity was Mrs.
J. A. Wise, who came in 1888 and setded on the little knoll
where Dr. Williams has his house now. The first wedding was
Al Cecil, who married a niece of Louis Riel. Their daughter
was the first white girl born in Harlem and is now the wife of
Ole Nelson.
Right here will be a good place to give some of the experi-
ences of the man who was the first merchant in the town, Charles
A. Smith. In the fall of 1888 I was at Rockey Point and
Johnnie Lee insisted that I stay with him that winter and hunt
wolves. John Lee, "Dutch" Louie and myself started for Valen-
tine Spring with traps and ammunition to catch wolves. We got
there and camped near a cabin, intending to stay all winter. Next
day we got some deer, then John started back.
I noticed the knuckle on my hand was sore, the second day it
got worse and the third I was down with inflammatory rheuma-
tism. I had to have help so Louie put me in the cabin and started
for the Point. I had to make my bed on the ground and never
left it till he got back. That night was the most terrible one I
have ever experienced because that old chimney was full of
mountain rats. As soon as it got dark they came and ran all over
me and even ate the hair off of my head and I couldn't do a thing
but yell at them as I could not move a hand in self-protection. I
got a little sleep in the day time and Louie came by night. I
hadn't had a thing to eat for two days.
In the morning he put me in the wagon and took me forty
miles. How I suffered. I got to camp and for six weeks I never
moved hand or foot. Mr. and Mrs. F. M. Marsh, now of
Chinook, took care of me.
In the spring the Curry boys got me, I was stranded, hadn't
a cent on earth, and took me to the Curry ranch. I stayed with
them for a couple of weeks and told the boys I was going to
pull out for the St. Paul's Mission to work. I took my blankets
30 IN THE LAND OF CHINOOK
and some bread and bacon and started on my walk of fourteen
miles to the mission. I worked there all summer till August and
then came down to Wayne creek and from there to Chinook. I
received $225 from Mr. O'Hanlon which I had coming for the
work at the mission. I made up my mind to come to Harlem.
There was nothing here then but a boxcar for a depot. The
first night I spread my blankets about where the depot is now.
The next morning we took our blankets to the bank of Thirty
Mile under the big trees and not far from where this house is.
I remained in that camp for about a week and then came to the
conclusion to start a little store here. That was in the fall of
1889. There was only one family, no store or hotel. Henry
Playmondin was going in with me.
I went to Chinook and had a talk with Tom O'Hanlon, but
he discouraged me. I reported to Henry, but hold him I would
go once more and see Tom. I met Chas. C. Conrad as I was
getting on the train, who was glad to see me, and asked me what
I was doing. I told him what I wanted to do and he told me to
come to Benton and he would give me what assistance I needed.
On Sunday I went to Benton. The next morning I called on
Conrad and he handed me a note to his head man telling him to
give me all the credit I wanted. I only had $167 and my part-
ner one hundred. We bought goods to trade to the Indians, out-
fit costing eight or nine hundred dollars. Got a small 9x12 tent
and had all our stuff sent down to Harlem by freight. Freight
moved sooner in those days so I soon got to Harlem and within
an hour from the time I landed there we had the tent up and
were doing business. That tent was pitched about where the
Rasmussen saloon is now. I slept under the counter which was
a plank I had brought with me. I took in about $28 the first
day and had a little trouble with my partner and bought him out.
I put up a log cabin 12x18 and that was the first store in the
place. Next year I built a store 24x30.
Al Cecil had a saloon about where Phil Buckley is now. He
was the man who took up the land on which the town is but he
never made anything out of it. By that time we had four box-
cars for a depot. I was the first postmaster and the postoffice
was a shoe carton. Everybody came in and looked to see if there
was anything for him and no questions asked. I improved a
little on that as I took a beer box and made it into an office and
it was much better as it had natural pigeon holes. Still every
one acted postmaster. We soon got so we were allowed to handle
postal money notes. These looked like a meal ticket and ran
from one cent to four dollars and ninety-nine cents. Then we got
the money order.
THE STORY OF BLAINE COUNTY 31
The first hotel was run by W. R. Sands with a store. C.
H. Barton came from Chinook and was a partner for some time
to later buy him out. The first school was taught by Martha
Matherson. The school was down along the tracks opposite Mike
Buckley's. This was in 1892. In the summer of 1892 they
built a school which is now Saddler's Hall, owned by me.
It then stood north and south. That and my store were the
only buildings, except Tom Everett's cabin on this side of the
track. The first white woman was Mrs. John Manning. Next
white family was Sands. My daughter was the second child
born, her name is Hazel."
Harlem today is quite a place and one of the best little towns
in Northern Montana. Two banks, one good hotel, four lumber
yards, four elevators, three large feed stables and several stores.
I can not name them all and it would hardly be fair to mention
some and not all.
There are some well known characters around the little burg
that one is sure to meet if he goes there. One of them is a large,
portly gentlem.an who wears a star and will sure capture you if
you don't look out. He is called, by all. Daddy, and while not
the father of his country he would like to be.
Then there is my friend Lon Ellis who looks like he was
always hungry but he isn't because he and "Daddy" often go
bear hunting up in the mountains and always take something along
so that they will not have to tighten their belts too often, as they
were never known to kill anything and have never been able to
find anything in their hunting except "dead soldiers." And if
you went to Harlem and did not find Bill Hart and Jack Saddler
trying to string some one it would be because they are dead. Yet,
all the same they are good fellows and I like them. Of course
you can't help meeting Bill Reed and Earnest Ekegren because
they are trying to get a corner on business, and deserve to, as they
are rustlers; when I say that I don't mean cattle thieves.
Then there is Charlie Kemp who actually thinks he knows
where there is some homestead land left and would locate you
if he had to do so by sneaking you over the line into Canada.
Who is that classy looking young fellow who is going over to
John Rancelers' picture show? Why that is Schultz. And
that fine looking little fellow that you see crossing the street to
guy som.e one in Jess Angstman and the fellow who has just run
across is Jay Rhoades looking for mavericks. Taken all in all
they are a pretty decent bunch that in some way, past finding out,
have managed to stay out of the "Pen."
32 IN THE LAND OF CHINOOK
CHAPTER V.
Prospecting and Mining in Blaine County.
It is an actual fact that the discovery of gold in the Little
Rockies is clouded to such an extent that, probably, no one will
ever be able to say: "I knew the man."
The writer, in his search for truth, has found only conflicting
statements. That William Hamilton's party was the first
authentic one concerning which we have heard there can be no
doubt. This was in 1868. "Bill" Bent was one of this party
and he tells their experience in quite an interesting way in the
story of his life which will be found in its proper place in this
work.
That any one else came until 1 884, when actual placer mining
began. Bent does not know, though he says: "I heard that some
men who had been mining in some of the Western camps got off
a boat, went to the Little Rockies and were never heard of again."
The writer can only give the different versions as they have
come to him but it will be too readily seen that it is not authentic
history. The story of Harry Rash came first to the writer and
it may or may not be true. I have no reason for believing that
it is anything but true as in a conversation with Charles Smith,
one of the first men to mine in that section, I asked if he knew
who discovered the gold in the Little Rockies and he replied that
he did not. He said: "I have always understood that 'Dutch'
Louis and Pike Landusky and some other man found it." Harry
Rash said that he was with "Dutch Louis" and Pike Landusky
and that he (Rash) found it. Daddy Minugh says that "It is
a cinch that Frank Aldrich was the man who found the gold in
the Little Rockies."
Now, if you go to Chinook for information of the early days of
the cow country, which means the Milk River section, the Bear's
Paw and Little Rockies, as well as the story of the peculiar class
of people that once builded their homes among the Bad Lands of
the Missouri, you will be told to see "Billy Skillen" the sage
of Old Fort Belknap. As we were in Chmook we went to see
"Billy." Here is his story.
Discovery of Gold in the Little Rockies.
"On the third of July, 1884, Bill McKinzie stole 'Spud'
Murphey's horse down on the Missouri river and started for Ft.
Maginnis, 65 miles away. Lee Scott at Rocky Point started
to look for McKinzie and the blue mare. The report of the
theft got to the cowboys and they caught McKinzie, close to
Maginnis, shot him and hung him on a big coltonwood tree about
THE STORY OF BLAINE COUNTY 33
one mile and one-half below the Fort on Hancock creek. About
the Fourth of July there was some trouble at the races over betting
between a white man and a breed. "Rattlesnake" knocked the
breed down and made him apologize and give back the money.
They rode into town (Lewistown) tied their horses in front of
a saloon and went in and got a drink. When they came out,
the citizens opened fire on them and "Rattlesnake" and one inno-
cent man were killed. From this time on the strangling of horse
thieves and road agents started throughout (Northern) Montana
and the Missouri river.
" 'Dutch Louis' ran a ranch on Crooked creek where these
men (toughs) would stop, going from the Missouri back and
forth. Suspicion fell on Louis. He, getting afraid, left his ranch
and went into the Little Rockies with Pike Landusky and Frank
Aldrich. They prospected for gold and found some in a creek
which they named Alder. When they found gold Pike left
to carry the news, coming through what vv^as after Landusky, to
North Moccasin to Maiden, giving his friends the news that gold
had been discovered in the Little Rockies. Mat Foley, Sport
Welsh, Denton Doer(?), Billy Leg and William Skillen left
that night for Maiden to outfit with grub, lumber and so forth
(George Herendeen sold this lumber to them) and with other
parties, Willard Duncan, Clois Steadman and Tony McFarlin
went down to Crooked creek, the Missouri river and to the Little
Rockies.
"A mining district was organized and Willard Duncan was
elected Recorder. This was the first discovery of gold in the
Little Rockies. No sign of other work ever having been done
was found by them in the Little Rockies. (Frank Aldrich says
that they were not the ones who found gold in the Rockies as
there was a pit 100 by 150 feet that showed that mining had
been done years before.) It was first suspected that this was
what was known as the lost Key's diggings,
"There must have been two thousand men in there that fall
as they came from every place on that stampede. Right after
the talk of big discovery, soldiers were ordered from Ft. Assinni-
boine to investigate the conditions there and report to the depart-
ment. They were under the command of Captain Potter of the
Eighteenth Infantry. He notified the miners that they could stay
there until such time as a report was made on the conditions but
that no liquor could be brought in as it was an Indian reservation.
Under the first investigation of the soldiers there, the first pit was
opened in Alder Gulch, the discovery running about one dollar
to the pan, on bedrock. (The writer was told that in order to
show the Captain that there was pay dirt some one 'Salted the
34 IN THE LAND OF CHINOOK
ground.' As to that the writer could not get Skillen to say.) The
department ordered a detachment of soldiers, under the leadership
of Scott, from Ft. Maginnis to be stationed at Rocky Point to
keep order and supervise the reservation.
"The heaviest gold found on the Litde Rockies was found
at the mouth of Alder Gulch, on a high rim, by "Nigger" Shelby.
Quite a little money was taken out at this point. The heaviest
piece of gold found in the Little Rockies was found by William
Skillen. This nugget weighed a little more than eighty-three
dollars. It came from Rock creek and was valued at seventeen
dollars an ounce. This nugget was sold for one hundred dollars.
"Gold quartz was discovered in the Little Rockies, in Mon-
tana gulch, by Pike Landusky. The first lead was discovered.
The August, by Bob Orman. There was also some small quan-
tities of galena in the creek beds." That is Billy Skillen's account
of the mines as he saw them in the Little Rockies. Men depend
too much on memory and do not think that some time they will
be called on for facts.
After the reader had gone through all that is recorded he will
find the story of the discovery of gold in the Little Rockies of
a contradictory nature. Why it is that people become impressed
with a thing as a fact that is more than half fiction, I do not
know, bat several have given me a story of the finding of gold in
this part of Montana. None of them were under oath to tell the
truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, as one who
is trying to gather facts and information for history can not afford
to try and get his material in that way, as men from whom he
was expecting facts would rebel if one even suspected they were
careless in their statements. As the lands where the gold was
discovered was on an Indian reservation no one would have a right
to stay there. If it could be made to appear that the values were
sufficient to prove that this ground could be made to produce
more as mineral ground than it could for Indian sustenance then
the Government allows the whites to remain in charge. When the
soldiers came there to make their investigation, the miners, so I
have been told (see above) salted the ground on bedrock so that
it would appear to carry more value than it really had. Be that
as it may the miners were allowed to stay and that part of the
mountain range south of the summit was thrown open so that
no more conflicts could occur as to the invading of the Indian
rights by the whites.
The bad lands of the Missouri, in those days, were more or
less the homes of many who could lay no claim to right living.
These men had come as buffalo hunters, traders, wolvers or what
not and many of them had become free-lances who could see no
THE STORY OF BLAINE COUNTY 35
particular use for law and order as they had done something some
time or some where to throw them beyond the pale. Some of
them became rustlers and made havoc among the big herds of
cattle that had taken the place of the vast herds of buffalo that
had so recently been wiped from the face of the earth by these
same hunters. Of course not all of these hunters and wolvers
could be considered bad men because some of the finest men on
the frontier helped to slay the Indian's food supply.
There were enough of them, however, who did not believe
in the property rights of others and these were the ones who made
it necessary to form a vigilance committee under the leadership
of Granville Stuart and Reece Anderson. These two men were
old pioneers of Western Montana who had passed through a
period of outlawry, in the early sixties, when it had become abso-
lutely necessary to form a band of valiant men to safeguard the
rights of men who could not protect themselves from a band of
men who had made the Western part of the state an unsafe place
until they were exterminated. i_i3^>i56
While this is not a part of the chapter on mining in the county
it was owing to the peculiar conditions of outlawry that at that
time existed that caused the gold to be found in the Little Rockies
if "Billy" Skillen is right.
It does seem too bad that we cannot get the truth of things
that happened not more than fifty years ago. Chris Keyes and
John Lepley found the first gold in what was to become Lewis
and Clark county. It was found at Silver Creek in 1 864. This
same man Keyes is the one that Skillen mentions as the man that
might have found the first gold in the Little Rockies as it is known
that he had written to Lepley to drop all he had and come. It
was not long after this that we find he was killed down on the
Missouri when on his way to the claim he had written to Lepley
about.
A noted character of the plains and mountains, Cyprienne
Matt, some one tells, heard that J. M. Arnoux, Tom Haley and
another man found gold in the Little Rockies in 1 866.
While Skillen may be right as to dates, it is a fact that the
first news given to the world of discovery of gold was September
3rd, 1884. And that "Dutch Louis" was the man, according to
most reports.
Frank Aldrich had come a few days after Louis. He went
to Ft. Assinniboine for grub and Louis panned, while he was
gone (two weeks and two days) One Hundred and Nine Dollars.
Bob Main and Charlie Smith and "Dutch Louis" and Frank
Aldrich were the first to begin sluicing and took out as much
as $20 per day to the man.
36 IN THE LAND OF CHINOOK
Frank Aldrich's Story.
"When and under what circumstances was the discovery
made?" was the question put to Aldrich by the reporter on The
River Press of Benton. "We struck it on the 15th day of June.
Charhe Brown and myself were prospecting the httle Rockies and
came upon Louis Meyers or "Dutch Louis" in this gulch. He
had found good indications but had not prospected the gulch
well. We proposed to crosscut the gulch working together, and
did so. We found two channels where good prospects were got.
On bedrock v/here we worked we got as high as $3.50 to the pan
and it averaged 25 cents. There is five feet of solid gravel that
will average a bit to the pan. (The discovery claim was set aside
for Aldrich, Brown and Louie.) We were not the first to find
gold there as near the mouth of the gulch there was a pit 100
by 150 that had evidently been sluiced out years before." This
discovery was made on Beauchamp's creek.
Generally when gold is discovered the news travels very
rapidly. That it did not get oui: in this particular case is because
of the fact that those fellows had no right in there prospecting
as it was an Indian reservation. The Government had learned
that when the prospector finds gold he will have it no matter where
it may be located so as soon as they could they threw open that
particular portion of the reservation as it would be much the wisest
thing to do. Had they attempted to have driven the whites out
would have resulted in too much expense.
Quartz was soon found and the quartz mining began to take
up the attention of many of the people and large mills for the
reduction of the ore was soon in operation. Some of them did
not prove of any value till some new process was learned so that
some of the largest mills for the reduction of gold ore in the
United States are now to be found in the Little Rockies as a result
of Dutch Louie's trying to hide out from the vigilantes.
Bear Paw Mountains.
It is not many miles from the Little Rockies to these mountains,
so men tried to find both placer and quartz in them.
We find in a report by Leon J. Pepperberg, the following:
"The placer deposits of the Bear Paw Mountains are of very
little importance, although some coarse gold has been recovered by
panning and crude sluice methods from the small gravel bars
occurring along the drainage ways throughout the group. Since
the early seventies prospectors have searched the mountains for
lode deposits, and although several pieces of promising looking
float which were reported as having been picked up within the
district were brought to Havre and Chinook, no vein of value
.^^""~;^'
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THE STORY OF BLAINE COUNTY 37
was discovered until about 1888. (V. Bogy says the lead was
first found in '78 by Lloyd.) In 1888 work was begun on an
argentiferous galena vein about three miles southeast of Lloyd
postoffice, by a number of Chinook business men.
Development was continued for several years and according
to L. V. Bogy, of Chinook, who is interested in the property,
about seven tons sorted ore was shipped to Great Falls for treat-
ment. The claim was patented in 1892 and since that time
nothing has been done with it.
In 1 906 Steven Randall discovered a vein of supposed copper
ore about three-fourths of a mile southeast of Clear Creek P. O.
Immediately after the discovery the Copper Gulch Mining Com-
pany was formed of Chinook men, to sink on the claims Randall
found. The shaft sunk on the site of the original discovery
showed the vein to carry values in lead, silver, gold and copper
and as a result of this showing much prospecting was done during
1906 and 1907 along the tributaries of Cleark creek, especially
around the head of White Pine Canyon. The district is not a
producer at the present time."
The veins that carry gold in the Bear Paw mountains are
very thin so far as known. There may be at some time values
opened up in that section. The leads of the Little Rockies have
been large and valuable because of that fact.
CHAPTER VI.
The Church in Blaine County.
The writer has been very fortunate in being able to find in
Father Eberschweiler, of Havre, one who has the early story of
the Catholic Church of Blaine County, as far as the records show,
well in hand. We quote from a letter from the Father the fol-
lowing: "Father De Smet was the first missionary who traveled
through the country in which the Assinniboines and Gros Ventres
lived, and through which Cree half-breeds, of Canada, roamed
in their extensive buffalo hunts. Then Father Point visited those
Indians in passing. Father Giorda came from Fort Benton to
them for only a few weeks before Easter, 1862, and baptized
1 34, mostly children ; after which he had to leave for work in the
far west.
"Under President Grant the missionary work for the Indians
of the United States was divided among the missionaries of
diverse beliefs. Under that order each reservation was exclu-
sively confided to a certain denomination. The care of the large
Ft, Kelknap Reserve was given to the Methodist preachers, none
38 IN THE LAND OF CHINOOK
of whom ever came to do any work. Nevertheless the Jesuit
Fathers were forbidden to reside in the reservation or do any
missionary work among its Indians. Anyhow some Fathers came
from the St. Peter's Mission, the headquarters of East Montana,
to visit the hunting Cree half-breeds. On one of these visits
Father Philip Rapaglio became sick and died on the 7th of
February, 1877, at a place near the present railroad station,
Zurich. This place is marked by a cross and now called "Priest
Point." He was buried in the basement of the Jesuit Church
of the Sacred Heart, the first church in Helena, which became
the cathedral of the first Bishop of Montana, Right Rev. J. B.
Brondel, when he arrived at the end of August, 1883. Father
Grassi visited the half-breed Crees, 1879; Father Damian till
1883; Father Bandini, 1884.
"At the end of August, 1883, Father Fredrick Hugo Eber-
schweiler, S. J., came from BurHngton, Iowa, to Helena; he
was attached to St. Peter's Mission and appointed to be the
first resident priest to which belonged a very large district. At
one of his visits to the garrison. Fort Assinniboine, Indians told
him that they greatly wished that a mission be founded for them.
The Father wrote to President Cleveland asking the permission
to erect a mission and school buildings on the reservation belong-
ing to the Fort Belknap Agency. On the first of November,
1885, he received the official letter granting the request.
"The exclusive distribution of Indian missions to special sects
was no longer upheld. He went to the Fort Belknap Agency,
showed his official letter to the Indian Agent, Lincoln, made
arrangements with the Indian trader, Thos. O'Hanlon, to build
there a log cabin which, for a time, could be a priest's residence
and a chapel. Mr. O'Hanlon was always a most generous friend
of the missionary until he (O'Hanlon) died.
"On the eighth of December, 1885, Father Eberschweiler
occupied the erected building, which was the first mission house
and church of any kind ever erected in the Fort Belknap reserva-
tion. During the winter his chief occupation was to learn the
Assinniboine language with the gratuitous help of Mr. William
Bent, the Indian interpreter, and to compose an Indian cate-
chism and to teach the children, who came from the Agency
school, to his chapel, to say and sing prayers.
"The Indians wished that their permanent mission should be
built in the Little Rockies, a sub-agency nearby, as many of the
Indians wished to settle near there. Their missionary formulated
their petition, to which their Chiefs subscribed, and sent it to the
President. Senator Vest recommended it to Congress, which
favorably received it; all to be settled in a treaty to be made.
v)t, ^'t^^'i*y' h -.fr/: y^
^^^•^
^'^- '
^ ,- .^r>
LV^fliK^--' .^. .f^l^linnX?
Sr. I'ATLS MISSION.
Drawiuff made 1911 by Iiuliao boy 12 years of ago.
THE STORY OF BLAINE COUNTY 39
"On the first of May, 1 886, the missionary went to the Little
Rockies and selected for the mission the place on Peoples creek
where it comes out of the woody mountains into a beautiful valley.
He then traveled to Fort Benton to find a contractor and workmen
for the erection of the mission buildings. Meanwhile a war
between the Balknap Indians and the Canadian tribe of Bloods
had started and no man would come into their land and expose
his scalp to be taken by either of the warring tribes. It was also
not possible to get the material for the buildings. The Great
Northern railroad was not yet built, nor Great Falls.
"In summer time steamers brought all kinds of articles up the
Missouri river from St. Louis to Fort Benton, from where they
were freighted to other places in Montana and Canada. There
was no surplus of lumber nor did any freighter like to come to
a country of warring Indians.
"Father Eberschweiler returned to the Little Rockies, where
he found some gold miners. He made a contract with Mr.
Umstet to erect, with the help of his companions, large log build-
ings for a residence for the missionary, a church, school and
dwellings for pupils and Sisters. The necessary lumber was
ordered and it arrived in the summer of the next year, 1887.
The work was begun; logs were cut in the near woods, the
foundation and basement was built. The corner stone was laid
on the fifteenth of September, 1886. The work was stopped
unfinished before winter. During the winter of 1 886 and 1 887
Father Eberschweiler remained at Fort Belknap.
"From January 18 to January 23, 1887, Indian commission-
ers from Washington made a treaty with the Indians by which
the lines of the present reservation were defined and their petition
regarding the Little Rockies agreed to and the selected place for
the future mission given to the Jesuit Fathers. Father Eber-
schweiler subscribed to the treaty as witness. That summer the
Belknap tribes and the Bloods smoked the 'Pipe of Peace.' The
mission buildings were, little by little, finished on the 15th day of
September, just one year from the day when we started.
"Father Eberschweiler traveled with some Ursuline Sisters
from St. Peter's Mission and some Indian pupils to St. Paul's
Mission and occupied its first mission buildings.
"The successors of Father Eberschweiler built, in the course
of time, large stone buildings for the flourishing mission."
Fredrick Hugo Eberschweiler, S. J,, was a native of Prussia,
Germany, He was born at Waxweiler, in the beautiful Rhine
province, on the 19th day of June, 1839, He pursued his
studies in the college at Treves, entered the Society of Jesus on
the 30th day of September, 1858. He was ordained a priest
on the 15th day of June, 1870. When the war broke out
40 IX THE LAND OF CHINOOK
between Germany and France he was a hospital chaplain. He
came to America in August, 1872, worked in Cleveland and
Toledo, Ohio; Burlington, Iowa, and finally in Montana and is
at this date (December, 1916) at Havre, Montana.
The St. Paul's mission is in a beautiful cover, or amphitheater,
at the northwestern base of the Little Rockies, and was built for
the education of the Fort Belknap Indian children. The place
selected is one of great natural beauty on Peoples creek where
it emerges from the canyon.
The main buildings are of stone and in good repair. The
church is stone and the entire ceiling is covered with paintings.
They may not be works of art of the highest kind but the themes
were chosen from and help tell in pictures, much of the story of
the Bible. To the American Indian this means more than written
word could ever convey as they were adepts in picture writing.
If not adepts it was their way of conveying their thoughts other
than spoken language or the sign.
That the Jesuit Fathers had any other desire than the upbuild-
ing of their church and the wish to assist the Red Man to become
civilized is not my business to find out. That they have tried to
reach out and preach the doctrines of their church to all nations
is a certain thing. That many of the brightest and most highly
educated of their belief have lived lives of unselfishness must be
the verdict of those who may be in no way associated with them
and may not at all believe as they do.
Certainly many good and true men and women have assumed
the mantle of chastity and celibacy to teach what they believe
to be for the best interests of mankind.
They have poled their boats up the swollen rivers of the
west; they have driven the light birch canoe across the wild, but
beautiful, lakes of the east; they have urged their dog teams across
the frozen tracks of the north; and sent their best men in to the
fever-stricken sections of the south; but here in Blaine County,
Montana, and beneath the pine-clad summits of the Little Rockies
they would meet with no particular hardships and could bend
their knees in grateful thanksgiving to their Father in Heaven for
the particular blessings He has bestowed upon them.
The mission proper consists of the large stone church above
mentioned and two four-story stone buildings, one for the boys
and the other for the girls. About forty of each sex, boys and
girls, find a home at the place. Father Boll was in charge at
the time the writer was there, December, 1916. Father Dinier
is the Missionary. Both of these men are French, and no doubt
highly educated.
Besides the buildings mentioned there are shops, stables, out-
buildings and a nicely arranged and well-kept farm.
REV. FATHER EBERSCIIWEILER.
Founder of St. PauFs Mission and a Grand Old Man.
THE STORY OF BLAINE COUNTY 41
Sister Josephine has been longer at the mission than any
other person.
Sister Eulaha has charge of the girls' school and Mr. I.
Nicholson, of San Francisco, is trying to instill into the minds of
the boys the right way of living that has been prescribed for those
who must now travel the white man's road. These boys do not
learn too readily, so the teacher said.
Connected with the mission is a trained nurse, who has her
home in the little cottage which is used for guests.
'As above mentioned this is a most beautiful location for a
church, school or ranch. It was first occupied by Col. Healy,
now of Lodge Pole, who had selected it as a place for his resi-
dence. He sold his cabin to the Fathers and went to another
place on the reservation as he, having an Indian wife, was granted
that privilege.
Father Eberschweiler's attention was called to the place by
William Bent, who was well acquainted with all of the Milk
River country. It was to Bent that the father had to go to get
some one who could help him translate the English into the
Assinniboine language.
Father Eberschweiler was one who had the appearance of
a man who had tried to live as he had preached. His vv^as a
most benign countenance, full of the milk of human kindness
which impressed me with his sincerity.
Just a short distance up the creek from the mission is a most
beautiful natural bridge which should be seen by any passing that
way or who visit the mission.
Rev. Peter Thompson.
The Catholics are not the only ones who are trying to upbuild
the Indian character in a religious way. Over near Big Warm
is the home of Mr. Thompson, a half-breed, who is giving up his
life to the advancement of his people. He is a Presbyterian and
has a nice little church which has the appearance of being well
cared for. We were not fortunate enough to meet this gentleman
though we called at his place. These are the only places on
the reservation where there are houses of religious instruction.
As mentioned by Father Eberschweiler the reservation was
given over, under President Grant, to the Methodists. There
were but few preachers of that denomination in Montana in those
early days and they were in the mines and not on the outskirts
of civilization as were the priests of the Catholic church. There
was but little chance that the ministers of the Methodist church
would be able to go among the Indians with as small a possibility
42 IN THE LAND OF CHINOOK
of being killed as the Jesuits, as the priests of that denomination
had been for years among the Red man and had taught
them to have respect, more or less, at least, for the Cross, which
was worn by them as an insignia that was so well known that the
Indians had respect for those who wore it. The preachers of other
denominations did not wear this badge of honor hence could not as
well protect themselves from the cupidity of the Red Man.
The Cree half-breeds who came to the Milk river as early as
1865 had their priests with them. These people came from
Canada and with them (while they were prosperous, as Louis
Shambrow tells us) their priests. He said: "These fathers were
the most prosperous ones that were in the camps during the days
when the buffalo robes were most plenty but as soon as the hunt-
ers became poor the priests no longer came." I suppose as long
as men live we will have imposters. It may have been that those
so called priests who followed the fortunes of the buffalo hunter
were only there for the purpose of getting wealth from their
ignorant people. This is not really a digression but as an explan-
ation why the ministers of the other denominations did not get out
among these peculiar people.
We find that the next man to try to reach the people with
the Word was "Brother Van." Now we have known Brother
Van Orsdel for years and feel that he thought he had work to
do among the whites, in the mining camps and out along the
streams where the scattering ranch homes were. They were just
as much in need of religion as were the Red Men of the plains.
But there is one thing certain and that is that so soon as others
came to take his place among those of his first choice he, with his
characteristic willingness to do his duty, got down in the cow
country and tried to help the cowboys. So we find that his is the
first name mentioned in his profession after E.
The first Protestant denomination to begin work on the Milk
river was the Methodist, as we find the following from ''Bro.
Van:" "The first Methodist Episcopal minister to visit Chinook
was Dr. W. B. Spencer of the Board of Church extension. This
was in July, 1889. He preached and sang in the hotel. The
same summer the Rev. Jacob Mills, Presiding Elder of the Boze-
man district, preached. At the Annual Conference held in Liv-
ingston, July, 1 890, the Great Falls District was organized which
took in all the country from the summit of the Rocky mountains
to the Dakotas, and from the Musselshell to the Canadian line.
"W. W. Van Orsdel was appointed Presiding Elder. There
were five preachers in the district. The Presiding Elder came
to Chinook in the month of September. He visited the town at
different times, and in February, 1891, Rev. George Logan of
THE STORY OF BLAINE COUNTY 45
Fort Benton accompanied him, and they held a series of meet-
ings for two weeks.
"The church was organized with nine members, as follows:
R. D. Perret and wife and their daughter Mabel, Peter Denny
and wife, H. D. Riegle and wife, Mrs. Gelder and Mrs. Rain-
bolt. Bro. Lewis Wilson and family came soon after.
"In July, 1891, the conference. Rev. R. A. Armstrong was
appointed pastor at Chinook and Glasgow, being the only Pro-
testant minister in the whole Milk River valley, in fact from Fort
Benton to Dakota. It was during his pastorate that the present
church site was secured and a subscription was taken, and the
church was built. To the best of our knowledge this was the
first Protestant church between Great Falls and Dakota. Brother
Armstrong served his charge for two years successfully. He was
succeeded by the Rev. Thos. Hicks, who remained but one year.
"In August, 1894, Rev. Allen Rogers was appointed pastor
of Havre and Chinook. During his successful pastorate a new
organ was purchased, and the interior of the church was finished.
A gracious revival was held and thirty united with the church.
J. A. Martin of Glasgow and Superintendent Van Orsdel assisted
the pastor. It was during this meeting that A. W. Hammer, the
Cow Boy Preacher, was converted and soon commenced his suc-
cessful ministry."
The people of Montana have known "Brother Van" for
many years and feel that he thought he had work to do among the
whites in the mining camps and out along the streams where the
scattering ranch homes were. These people were just as much in
need of religion as were the Indians of the plains. But there
is one thing certain, and that is, that as soon as others came to
take his place among those of his first choice he, with his char-
acteristic willingness to do his duty, got down in the "Cow Coun-
try" and tried to help the cowboys. So we find by some writer
who has not taken time to verify his story that "Bro. Van" was
the first one, after Father Eberschweiler, to preach the gospel
along the Milk river, but the foregoing account of Brother Van's
has given credit where credit is due and the one who wants facts
will find them in this chapter on the Church in Blaine County.
Other men who came here to help carry on the work were
Rev. Brewer and Revs. Stringfellow and Chrisler of the Episco-
pal church and Revs. I. N. Roberts, Baird, Mills and Day of
the Presbyterian church.
These men did their work well and left behind them the fruits
of their labor in the churches and schools that are to be found in
convenient places throughout the country.
44 IN THE LAND OF CHINOOK
CHAPTER VII.
Cowboy Days.
It took no stretch of the imagination for one to beheve that
cattle could be raised to advantage on the northern plains, Milk
river, and the mountains adjacent.
The plainsmen, traders, freighters and squawk-men, had seen
the actual conditions of each season. The buffalo that had ranged
in countless numbers needed grass, and plenty of it, to keep them
in good condition. It was know^n that there were seasons of
drought and seasons of plenty of rainfall; that many a winter
the snow did not fall and that the Chinook was almost sure to
melt the snows, if they came, and give the cattle a chance to live.
The years that the snow would fall deep and stay were exceptions.
To begin stock raising on the plains as soon as the whites
came would have been suicidal. The buffalo would have
destroyed all hopes of success, even though the Indians had
not been there to bar the way. Then, again, the mountains
and valleys of Western Montana were ideal places in which to
raise cattle, horses and, later, sheep, as hardly any snow would
fall, to lay, and the settlements precluded any possibility of loss
through Indian raids. The rustler had not become, so far as
Montana was concerned, a menace. But, in a way, the valleys
in the mountains were becoming settled and the stockman, ever
being afraid of being crowded, pulled for the eastern and central
part of the state as soon as the Indian was no longer on the war-
path, as too many whites had come to settle the country for it to
be longer safe for him to go on his raids for scalps.
The Judith and Musselshell were to be settled first — as they
were known to be less hazardous than the Milk river country.
When these sections became over-crowded (?) the stockmen
began to look for new pastures; and, as above mentioned, the
conditions were known in the Milk river section, they pulled for
there with their numerous herds.
As near as I can find out, though, Thomas O'Hanlon and
others of the Old Fort Belknap Indian Agency, were the first
men to see the possibilities of cattle raising in what is now Blaine
county. They could not, however, run them in large herds, as
the Indians were apt to get away with them. Tliey had to be
closely herded, which is not by any means a good way to raise
cattle to any advantage.
This, according to Mr. Joe Mosser, was in 1 878. They
had permission from the Agent, who had secured the privilege
from the Government. Al Shultz became the foreman of this
outfit. This was before the post was built at Assinniboine ; hence
before there was any protection to be had from the soldiers.
THE STORY OF BLAINE COUNTY 45
The cattle of the O'Hanion company must, then, be con-
sidered as the first to be raised. They were not raised exactly
under what might be called range conditions, though they fed
on the range.
In 1882 Simon Pepin moved his cattle from their range in
the west and Pepin and Broadwater run cattle for years. Louis
Shambrow, the noted scout, was one of their cow-punchers.
This must have been the first herd under range conditions as
I find that the next cattle to come in were those which belonged
to Granville Stuart, Kohrs and Bielenberg and others. They
had been running their herds south of the Missouri but got per-
mission from the Government to run them north of the river and
on to the reservation in the summer or fall of 1886, Daddy
Marsh told the following concerning the moving of the
cattle across the Missouri river in 1886. "The season was
exceedingly dry and Granville Stuart came to the conclusion that
it would be wise to cross them. He got permission from the
Government to take them to the reservation near the Little
Rockies. The water holes were drying up on the south side so
that when the cattle came to the Missouri at Rocky Point they
were in misery. There was a big bar of quick sand that ran
down quite a ways. I ccalled the foreman's attention to it and told
him that he had better station his men to change the course of
the herds as they approached the river so that they would not
get caught in the trap. Say, you couldn't stop the leaders, as
soon as they scented the water they rushed for it and soon hun-
dreds of them were hopelessly entrapped. The boys tried to haul
them out with their saddle horses and then hitched their teams
but no good was coming from their efforts. Soon a steamboat
came along and the Captain thought he could help so he ran out
a spar and they dug down and put the rope around the animal
and turned their engine loose with the result that they pulled the
brute in two and never pulled her feet out of the sand. The boys
had to use their six-shooters on the bunch and kill them to put
them out of the way. I tell you the half-breeds that were around
there had a picnic for days cutting in and getting what meat they
could." The winter which followed was one of the most dis-
astrous ever known to the stockmen of the Northwest. Books
could be filled with interesting incidents of that winter. Men
who had been considered wealthy — not considered, but actually
wealthy — came out the next spring without a cent, and some of
them in debt. Many were crippled so they never again recov-
ered. They simply lost their nerve and quit. Though the
range conditions were never again as bad, and they could have
made good, they would not try.
46 IN THE LAND OF CHINOOK
John Bielenberg and Con Kohrs — now men who have all
ihey need — lost all they had. Mr. Bielenberg told the writer
that that winter of '86-'87 they lost $400,000 worth of cattle.
They had enough with which to pay all their debts and as they
were noted for their ability to rustle and also a knowledge of
cattle and range conditions they were extended credit by A. J.
Davis, the rich banker and mining man of Butte, and got on
their feet once more.
Mr. Kohrs told the writer the following concerning that trans-
action: "My experience in the stock business savers somewhat
of the romantic. I was a green German boy when I came to
Montana. I was trying to get out of the territory and go west.
I was camped on the Deer Lodge river and was waiting for the
party to pull out when something occurred to change all my plans.
I had learned something about the butcher business as a boy and
thought I could make a living at that. While we were camped
on the Deer Lodge a man had a beef to kill and asked if I had
ever done anything of the kind. I at once told him I was sure I
could do the job and he told me to turn myself loose. Hie pay
that I was to receive was the head and neck. Now I want to
explain to you that we had been living on short rations for some
time and I was hungry and when that head was cut off I am
ashamed to say it had the longest neck I ever saw on a cow brute,
as it was cut off pretty well down toward the tail. Soon after
I had finished this artistic job, a man who was to be somewhat
noted in the story of Montana, Hank Crawford, came along and
learning that I was a butcher (?) told me he would give me $25
per month and board if I would go to Bannack and work for him.
Now twenty-five dollars was not much money in those days and
that did not appeal to me but that word board was the one that
made me consider his offer and take it, as I had not had enough
to eat for days. I was a very able-bodied man in those days and
did not know what tired meant but I was soon to learn it in all
of its variations. That fellow Crawford must have sized me up
for an animal of some kind, probably an ass, as the work first
assigned me was surely some job. He had bought three wild
heifers of some one on Cottonwood (the creek where the City
of Deer Lodge is now) and helped me take them out a few
miles and then told me that I was to take them to Bannack, a
place that I had never seen. (He had asked me where my
butcher tools were and I rustled a butcher knife and a hatchet and
borrowed a hand-saw from a friend. These were well wrapped
up and put in a wagon that some one was taking with them to
the mines.) When he turned me loose with those heifers they
were in no frame of mind to give me much trouble because there
were no other stock in sight. When I got the other side of
THE STORY OF BLAINE COUNTY 47
Dempsy creek the baby cows saw a band of cattle that belonged
to Bob Dempsy and they took for them as fast as they could go.
The weather was hot and the exercise, which I did not need,
caused me to get mighty warm. The fact is I was d d hot in
both mind and body. I chased those heifers and that band of
stock all over those hills trying to cut them out. It seemed to
me to be a useless expenditure of muscle and wind as it did not
seem to do any good. All at once I saw a man going by on
horse-back and I called his attention to my trouble and asked him
if he wouldn't use his pony to help those heifers change their
minds and get them strung out on the road to Bannack as it
seemed that I was about to run my legs off without accomplishing
anything. Sure I was a foot! That was what I meant when
I said that Hank must have taken me for some kind of an animal.
"I afterward learned that the gentleman who helped me
change the minds of those brutes and get them strung out on the
road again, was Dr. Glick. He cut them out and helped me for
a few miles and then rode on his way. It was one hundred and
twenty miles from Cottonwood to Bannack. We came by the Big
Hole and forded the river near the place where Brown's Bridge
was afterward built. This was the first place where I could
rest. I laid down thinking that the cattle would be tired enough
to rest for a while at least. I know that I had only been asleep
but a short time when I missed the heifers. I started on the back
trail and caught them before they could cross the river. This
was enough to satisfy me that they needed more exercise and that
my only hope was to keep them going. I got after them and
hazed them right along and when within a few miles of Bannack
Hank came out and met me and they were soon placed where
they could not run any more. I had made the 1 20 miles in about
36 hours. I only worked for him for one month at $25 per
month, as he soon found out I could keep his books so he raised
me to $ 1 00. I worked for him for some time and came to the
conclusion to go into business for myself. I saw several of the
miners and got them to loan me some money with which to buy
a starter in the business. Some one had several steers for sale
and I bought them with the borrowed money. I turned them out
up the Grasshopper just above town and that night they were run
off by the Indians or some one else and I had to begin over again.
The miners from whom I had borrowed the money knew the
shape I was in and they asked me what I intended to do and I
told them they must loan me some more in order to give me a
chance to make something to pay them what I had first borrowed.
They were nice fellows who were making money and they kindly
helped me again.
48 IN THE LAND OF CHINOOK
"When they discovered the mines at Alder I went there and
began the business. Every time I could find steers for sale I
got them and was a big cattle man in a very short while. I
bought the John Grant ranch in '66 and with it about 600 head of
cattle, probably the largest herd in Montana in those days. This
gave us headquarters until we got more than we could handle
to advantage in the Deer Lodge country so we had to change
our base and look to the range in the central and eastern part of
the Territory. A lot of us who had been in the business for years
soon found that the Judith was well adapted to stock raising so
we sent many of our cattle to that section. One soon expands on
the range, that is, he soon allows his herds to scatter into the
places where the best grass is to be had. It was in that way that
we got several miles east of the Judith country by the season of
1886. The grass being better on the north side of the Missouri
we got permission from the Government to put our cattle on the
Belknap reservation. That winter we made such a big losing
that we were broke. I met A. J. Davis one day and he said:
'Con, I hear that you have met with some heavy losses this past
winter, how is it?' I replied that we had, but that we had enough
to pay all we owed.' He then said : 'There is $1 00,000 to your
credit in this bank so you can start in the stock business as soon
as you want.' This was a surprise to me that the judge should
offer us a credit without solicitation on our part, so I asked him
how long the offer would hold good. I did not have any definite
plan in my head as to what I wanted to do. I soon came to the
conclusion to go to Oregon and look over the situation. I soon
found that I could spend the $100,000 and as much more in
what looked good to me. I wired Davis what I thought and
asked for an additional $100,000. His reply was to do what
ever I saw for the best. I had no sooner spent that money than
I found where I could use $60,000 more and so wired him. To
make my story short the judge allowed me to use that also. When
I returned to Montana I owed him $260,000. I will say
that that credit for which I had not asked came to us in time to
help us make a success in the stock business. I had lived so
long in Montana that Mr. Davis knew I had always met all of
my obligations."
The man who would have the nerve to attempt to drive three
head of wild range cattle on foot for over one hundred miles had
nerve enough to get out from under almost any serious load.
The ordinary cowboy would never have started on such a
trip. He would have invited Hank to or directed him to a most
decidedly disagreeable climate and gone off disgusted to think
that anyone took him for such a fool as to even try such an almost
impossible feat.
THE STORY OF BLAINE COUNTY 49
All COW men know how hard it is to drive two or three cattle
any place. In the large herd they will stay together and, even
though one happens to stray a little to one side, the main herd goes
on and the stray can be brought back without any serious trouble.
Take three head and if they do not stay together, and they are
not apt to, there is all kinds of hard feelings in the cowboy's mind
toward that little outfit. One will go one way, probably the
other two in another direction, or the three may make up their
minds to go in three different directions at the same time, while
the cowboy is sure that there is only one way at a time that he
can go. After the cattle have acted in this way for some time
there is only one place where the cowboy wishes them to be and
that is a place where the barbecue is certain and where they will
no longer bother him. It recalls to the writer's mind a little thing
that occurred at his ranch one day. One of his sons was trying
to cut out a saddle horse from a band of fifty horses and take it
to the corral. He was having a whole lot of trouble. Wm.
Montgomery, the big ranchman of the Big Hole, was looking
on and he said : "That boy of yours puts me in mind of a hired
man I had on my ranch. I sent him out after a saddle horse and
he began just as the boy is doing, to cut the horse out and bring
it in alone. He was not successful. He came and reported and
I asked him why he did not bring the whole band in? He turned
on me with disgust depicted in his face and said: 'How in hell
can you bring in a whole band when it is d d hard to bring
in one'?"
The brand of Kohrs was the D-S. The foreman was John
R. Smith. They had their headquarters on Dry Beaver at the
east end of the Little Rockies. The circle C, Bob Coburn, came
from the same section and located not far from Kohrs. Horace
Brewster was in charge of their stuff. Henry Seiben came about
the same time with Frank Arnett as foreman.
The Bearpaw pool came in 1891 with L. B. Taylor, now
Senator from Blaine county, as foreman.
Charlie Williams came with the Shonkin pool about the same
time.
"Si" Gamble came with the Tom Grain outfit in '89.
It did not take long to take up the range, that is, all that was
outside of the reservation. Thousands of cattle were finding
plenty to eat, and big frisky calves were growing and getting fat
to become toppers, as steers, on the Ghicago market. Hundreds
of cowboys and cowmen roamed all over Northern Montana
clear to the Canadian line. Wagons would start in the spring
and the boys would gather and brand the calves, then the beef
herd was to be gathered in the fall and taken to market.
50 IN THE LAND OF CHINOOK
The getting of the steers to the railroad some times required
days and even weeks. Of course weeks when men from Montana
had to drive their stock to Cheyenne to load in those times before
we had railroads in this country. To take cattle that distance
required care, as they must take on flesh and not lose any. The
way that could be done was to allow them to drift in the direction
they were to go and their ordinary travel to fill would take them
the required distance toward their destination for the day.
The fording of streams that must be crossed was not the
easiest thing in the world. When such streams as the Yellow-
stone are at their high times it is no fun to swim a bunch of cattle
and get your outfit over in safety. One man told me that it took
them three days once to cross the Yellowstone with a herd of Con
Kohrs' cattle and that eighty-three head were drowned in the
attempt.
On these trips there was the night herd to be stood. It might
be very easy pastime or it might, before morning, spell tragedy to
some of the cowboys who might be mixed in a stampede. But
it was a life the boys liked.
I recall a little story that was told me by Nick Bielenberg.
"Quite a number of years ago I bought some cattle of Granville
Stuart. We had to move them across the country to the railroad.
Granville was along with the outfit but as far as making a hand
was concerned he was no good. He was always a great fellow
to read. He thought it would be a good thing to take a whole lot
of books for the cowpunchers' enjoyment. Darned if I know
how many he had, but anyway a sack full. The way those cow-
boys would tackle those books was a caution. They would come
into camp and pick up a book and the cook would holler 'Grub
Pile' till he was red in the face and he could never get all those
fellows to come at the same time. Just as soon as a fellow would
drop a book some other galoot would grab it. The cook called
me aside one day and told me he was going to quit as the boys
thought more of Granville's books than they did of his grub. It
would never do to lose a good cook at that time in the game and
I told him not to say anything and I would see that they would
cause him no more trouble. It was the next day that we arrived
at the Yellowstone so I gathered up the books and threw them
into the river, thus starting the first circulating library ever known
in Montana."
Many an amusing incident took place in the cattle shipping
days. Some of the things would not bear repeating. A cowboy,
or several, if the train was a long one, would need to be along
to see that the cattle were not injured. When stock got down in
the car there was a chance that they would be tramped to death.
Care was required at all times to keep them on their feet. If an
THE STORY OF BLAINE COUNTY 51
animal was lying down in a natural way there would be no
danger unless it was so lying that it might be in the way and
upset some of its fellows and thus make a pile-up. There are
many things to do in such cases but it is not part of this story
to try to educate those who do not know how to ship cattle to
market. i i i • i j
After the boys got to market they would take in the town and
have a little innocent fun. If there was a one who was green
along it was up to them to see that he became wise to all that
was to be known.
There was a character in the range days of Montana known
to all Montana people either by sight or by name, "Two Dot"
Wilson. He was one of the big stockmen in the state but he was
the most careless man as to his appearance known in the country.
One season he made a shipment to Chicago and sold his
steers. The cowboys thought that they would have some fun at
the old man's expense so, as they were walking up the street they
met a policeman and told him that the old man coming behind
them was a vag as he had just asked them for money to eat on.
When Two Dot came up the police said "Come with me."
Wilson wanted to know why, but was told not to talk back that
he would know why soon enough. He went along with the
officer till he got to a bank where he did business and
asked the gentleman in whose custody he was if he could go in.
For some reason he was allowed to go into the bank and he
walked up to the cashier's window and said: "Can I get a check
cashed here?" "Why, certainly, Mr. Wilson, you have about
thirty thousand dollars to your credit, how much do you want?"
"D if I know how much this S , pointing to the
policeman, wants." It is needless to say that the man was some-
what taken aback and would have given quite a lot to have found
the cowboys who had given him a "bum steer."
But to return to the days of the range; the line riding in
winter, on cold and disagreeable days, was something that would
try men's souls. The life of the cowboy was by no means a
picnic.
It was a life that had much of the hum-drum in it as well as
the moments of fun and excitement. The class of men who
followed it were not much different than the ordinary ones, whom
we meet on the frontier. The writer has been all his life from
early boyhood a cowman, a ranchman, if you will. He never saw
the peculiar class of people of whom the story writers tell.
The fact is the cowboy was almost human, as will be seen
today, if you will try to get next to him and not be afraid.
In the last legislature, in Montana, we had Senators John
Edwards, L. B. Taylor, Meadors, Featherly and McCone. It
52 IN THE LAND OF CHINOOK
is said that you could actually approach these men and talk to
them without having your hand on your gun. These men were
noted cowboys and cowmen. Even the late Governor of
Wyoming, now Senator, John B. Kendrick, was a cowboy.
They can even run autos and dance the Turkey Trot with
the good-looking girls who most do congregate at Helena when
the legislature is in session (at least some of them can), and
have not killed any one for such a long time that if you were
to ask them when their last great scrap came off they might even
lie to you and tell you they never killed a man.
But I will tell you this, these same men — men who are at the
heads of affairs in Montana could, had they have wished, in
those range days when they were working as hard as men can
work, for "cattle punching" was hard work — could have taken
time to have thought up, and had brains with which things could
have been invented, to make the tenderfoot story-hunter see many
things that were the exceptions rather than the rule.
When you take into consideration that Charlie Russell, the
great cowboy artist; Frank Linderman, the poet and author;
Wallace Coburn, the movie picture actor, and Senator B. D.
Phillips, the foot-racer, cowman, politician, sheepman and mil-
lionaire miner, were all cowboys at some time in their lives, you
can see that you could, had you been at all susceptible, stung by
some of the original dope they could have mixed for you.
If these fellows didn't suit you, tackle young Dr. Treacy of
Helena, Chub Reed of the Big Flat, Jay Rhodes of Harlem,
George Barrows of Chinook, Bob Stuart of the Reservation or
Frank Landon and Tommy Flynn of the P. & O. bunch. Stung,
yes, so badly that you could not tell the truth again if you saw it
coming up the road in less than nothing.
It was in the fertile brains of just such men as these that the
great (?) cowboy stories have gone out to the gullible readers of
the east.
It was always a wonder to me that any of the cowboys ever
lived to grow up as there were so many shooting scrapes (?)
The boys were young and full of life — as it took a red-blooded
fellow to follow the trail; no place for a weakling.
They had their dances, which would be held as soon as
there were women enough to form a quadrille.
They even might indulge in the stag dance in order to keep
in practice. No doubt horses were run to test their speed and,
of course, there would be no interest to the onlooker unless he had
a wager up as to results.
The bucking horse held out a little diversion to the onlooker
but no particular fun for the chief actor — no matter what he may
say to the contrary.
. , , *
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JAY KIIOADS.
A wi'll-kuowii Cowboy of Blaine Coin
THE STORY OF BLAINE COUNTY 53
I am led to believe that once in a while a little game of stud
or draw-power might have been indulged in to pass away the
evening in the bunkhouse, not for love of the money but for the
excitement. Certainly some of the boys would go to the little
town and shoot it up — but mostly up — that is, their guns would
be held at such an angle that there was no danger from the
bullet unless it fell on someone. Some of them got full at times
and much wordy ammunition was fired point blank at a mark
which received no particular injury from the discharge.
Yes these were the cowboy days and to prove to you how
they could play their pranks for the unsophisticated, I will relate
a few of the incidents that have come to my notice. One of
them I will put under the following caption :
How We Got Rid of a Tenderfoot.
"He was a great big, finely-built fellow who had recently
graduated from a Chicago college but as he had fallen off so that
he did not weigh more than 220 pounds his dad thought he needed
a rest cure.
"Dad went to see the Rosenbaum Brothers, the livestock
commission men, and asked the senior member of the firm if he
would not try and find a place where his darling could go and
camp out and receive at the same time the attention due his
birth.
"Rosenbaum was well acquainted with several of the mem-
bers of the Bearpaw pool and wrote to Stadler and Kaufman, and
others, to get their consent to allow the boy to come and accept
the hospitality (?) of their cow camp. Of course a request of
this kind was soon granted and the young fellow came to Chinook.
It was in the spring of the year before active operations began
for roundup. George Barrows was foreman but he stayed in
Chinook and allowed Jay Rhodes and Frank Owens to look out
for the camp. Owens was really a bad man from Texas who had
used his gun or knife with serious effect several times.
"The Chicago boy was taken to camp to become a guest, as
he thought, and that the cowboys were to make his days, days of
pleasure and his nights long dreams of bliss.
"The cowboys rebelled at this as it is needless to say that they
could not see any good reason why they should play flunky to
some one who was able to take care of himself.
"Jay happened to be in Chinook one day and he called
Barrows' attention to the fact that their guest was too exacting
and they did not enjoy his company. George said: *Why don't
you get rid of him in some way? Don't kill him, but make it so
disagreeable for him that he will quit.'
54 IN THE LAND OF CHINOOK
"The first thing they did was to take him off on the range
one day and ride off and leave him and he was two days finding
camp again. They would try all kinds of things but he stuck.
"Shortly after losing him on the range, Owens went to
Chinook and got into trouble with a fellow and cut him severely
in the abdomen. He rode back to camp expecting that the
authorities might come at any time and take him, although, in
this particular case, he was not the aggressor. When Chicago
learned that Owens was really a bad man he began to fear him.
Owens would intimate that the water bucket was empty or the
fuel gone and big boy would hustle and see that they were
replenished.
"Cook would come in and make a statement that breakfast
was waiting and that it was time that the S had better get
up. The way they had of flying into their clothes was a caution.
Jay found out that Chicago was deathly afraid of rattlesnakes.
Near the camp, which was located near the Snake Creek battle
field, is a rocky butte that was the den of snakes. Jay went up
one evening and killed a good big fat fellow, as he wished to see
how persuasive it might be in getting rid of their guest. He put
it in one of Chicago's boots and as the cook was in on the play
they were to be routed out in haste the next morning. In he
came early and said: 'You fellows turn out in a hurry as I have
a hunch that the officers are coming.' This language was couched
in very explicit if not complimentary terms, so the boys jumped
up and hurried into their clothes, Chicago thrust one of his feet
into the boot that was empty and tried to get the other on but
found he was not able to do so, so he turned it up and the big
tattler fell at his feet in such a way that the head was toward
him.
"The big fellow said: 'Oh, my God,' and fell over in a
dead faint on the bunk, to be drenched by the cook with two
buckets of cold water from the spring. He was brought to and
told that he should act more manly in face of danger and not
faint. He ordered his horse so he could go to Chinook to see the
doctor before the poison could take effect. The doctor could
find no evidence of a bite so the young fellow rode back to camp
and packed his grip, no longer in need of a rest (?) cure in a
Montana cow camp."
Another story gives the same side to the life of the cowboy.
How We Were Double Crossed.
"Quite a number of years ago," Jay said, "I was foreman of
the T U, which had its headquarters on Cow creek, south of the
Bear's Paw mountains. I received a letter, one day, couched in
THE STORY OF BLAINE COUNTY BB
! .1 AMm
the nicest language I ever saw, from a party who wished to get
the job of cooking in our camp. The truth of it is we had a good
cook and did not want to change.
"The letter went on to explain that the writer had cooked for
bishops and others high in the ecclesiastical profession — and that
he was not alone a concocter of special viands — but was an enter-
tainer of no mean talents as he was a performer on musical mstru-
ments, as well as a vocalist. He hove in sight almost as soon as
his letter.
"A cowman who had a horse deal on down in the breaks of
the Missouri happened into camp that night with a box of cigars
and a bottle of whiskey. The cigars were opened, the cork pulled
and all invited to fall to and help themselves.
"The new man was asked to take a drink but he declined,
saying he never indulged. Then one of the boys asked him to
sing a song for their entertainment. To this he replied he could
not without his music. 'Certainly you can sing something,' his
tormentor said.
"So he sang 'Nearer, My God, to Thee' and 'Rock of Ages.'
(Very appropriate in such a gang and at such a time.) One of
the boys who was as full of hell as needs be, staggered over and
requested the singer to take a drink, at the same time pouring a
small amount of whiskey into a small cup that was on the table.
He declined with thanks. The cowpuncher did not take kindly
to this so he pulled a big gun from some place about his person
and pointing it at the party asked him if he would not have a
drink with him. 'Certainly I will drink,' was his reply. Several
times he felt it unhealthy to refuse the drink and the same influ-
ence got him to smoke his first cigar. It only required a few
moments for the whiskey and cigar to work to such an extent that
he could no longer hold a grip on something for which he never
had a desire, so he rushed to the hitching post and in his agony
called on his god to forgive him for having been compelled to
become drunk through force and to forgive him for having been
found in such company,
"It was now made up by the punchers that one of them, a
son of one of the owners and now a prominent doctor (Treacy)
of Helena should take the part of the stranger.
"When the next meal was called the young doctor requested
the bad man to pass the bread, to which no attention was paid.
Another request was made and the reply came back 'Go to h
you S I wouldn't pass you anything.'
"This unwarranted assault brought forth words from each
that could only be satisfied by the death of one or the other.
There was only one gun in camp and that belonged to me, but
the new man did not know that. There were only two cartridges
56 IN THE LAND OF CHINOOK
on the place. The duelists went out of doors and I gave orders
for all of the boys to stay at the table. Soon two shots were
fired and Holmes fell. One of the boys had rushed into the
kitchen, dipped a dishcloth into the juice of some raspberries, went
to the fallen man, bound up his wound which, to all appearances,
was in one of his shoulders. He was brought into the cabin and
placed on his bunk and I led the reluctant stranger in so he could
look at the poor boy who was about to pass away and told him
to forgive him for the ungentlemanly act of forcing him to take
a drink. His hand gripped my arm so it pained me. I told him
I was sorry that the thing had occurred but that it was a mighty
tough bunch of fellows and the shooting scrapes were of frequent
occurrence, but this was a little different than any that had taken
place before, and as Holmes was a favorite, the boys had made up
their minds to lynch his murderer, and as he was more or less
the cause of the trouble they would no doubt hang him also. My
advice was for him to go, and go at once.
"It is needless to say he lit out and camped in the cowshed
that night to make his escape the next day to the reservation where
he tried to find Major Logan, one of the members of the firm,
and tell him of the horrible thing which had taken place on Cow
Creek. Logan was in Helena, so the party sent word to Dr.
Treacy that his son had shot and probably killed one of the other
boys and that the place had become noted for several killings of
late owing to the particular number of bad men who had found
jobs on that particular ranch.
"The darned fool notified the Pinkerton agency of the affair.
Logan, to whom the doctor showed the telegram, told him it must
be a fake, gotten up for some reason among the cowboys for
the benefit of some tenderfoot, because no more peaceable bunch
of boys rode the Milk River range.
"I followed the tenderfoot into Harlem and learned that he
had notified the Pinkerton men and that some of them were about
to come and investigate and that Dr. T. was to come from
Helena. I at once sent a message to Logan 'Nothing doing,'
and he understood. Our friend went to Canada and wrote back
that the cowboys of the north were nowhere as bad as those of
Montana.
"But the way we got double-crossed in the affair was this:
We had one rider who was so deaf that no ordinary conversation
could be heard by him.
"Our cook was somewhat of a josher himself, so he took
Deafy down in the bmsh and explained the whole plot to him
and told him to take the shotgun and go in and cover Treacy
and ask him why he shot young Holmes. We were all lying
there in our bunks talking over the fun we had with the tender-
THE STORY OF BLAINE COUNTY 57
foot, who was even then hiding out in the cow shed, when in came
Deafy with the biggest shotgun I ever saw in my hfe and pointing
it at Treacy wanted him to explain why he had shot Holmes,
Say, you never in your born days saw a bunch of cowpunchers
light out and hit the high places. They almost tore the jamb off
the door trying to get out, at the same time with Deafy after them.
I sure was some scared myself and rushed for the cook room,
only to find the cook doubled up with laughter at the exit of the
bunch of bad men who could not face Deafy's gun.
"The cook had double-crossed us."
A great many people wonder why all who entered the cattle
business in the early days of Montana did not become rich. There
were several reasons and some of them were the peculiar climatic
conditions. One might have had a nice herd of cattle and the
winter of some one year would take their all. Then the rustler
had to be taken into consideration. The man who would go out
and gather your stock and kill or sell it or who would change
the brand was mighty hard to deal with. Then, too, the distance
from market made the prices so low that many could not possibly
continue the business.
As soon as the sheep man came the cattle man thought that
he could no longer stay, as the cattle were a little bit disgusted
with the scent of the little pest with the golden hoof. Cattle
have become used to staying on the same range and many men
who once fought the sheep owner are now raising both to advan-
tage.
The cattle range that gave way to the sheep and his herder
is now the home of the Dry Farmer, where all kinds of stock will
be raised, if one is to make a success.
CHAPTER VIII.
Sheep Days.
Men who would not attempt to take a dollar away from you
in any but a legitimate way would take a chance in the stock busi-
ness to crush your very existence, if possible, by using all the
Government range that you had formally used as a cattle range
for their sheep. There is something about a sheep that cattle and
horses do not like. Probably it is the scent. Sheep men and
cattle men have had their wars and if all that has ever occurred
in those feuds could be written one would surely have much of
intense interest.
It is probably the manner in which sheep are handled that
causes the destruction of the range. A sheep, if left to its own
device, will have a tendency to build up rather than to ruin the
58 IX THE LAND OF CHINOOK
grass. One can not leave a sheep in this manner as it would
be only a short time before the sheep business would be on the
bum and the fur business would be a poor one.
Now as to the first sheep in Blaine county. It does not appear
to be possible to find any one who will assert that he knows just
who the man was who tried out the experiment. Billy Cochran
says that in 1 888 or '89 B. G. Olsen had sheep in the section that
afterward became the county. All others seem to think that it
may be possible that he was the man. T. M. Everett says he
recalls that Nick Beilenberg and Joe Toomey had some which
they tried to winter on the Milk river just below the mouth of
the North Fork the season of '89-90. That was a hard winter
and their losses were almost complete. Joe Mosser said that he
could not say for sure but that Frank Sayer, of Benton, and
Olsen, both had sheep on the Milk river early and he did not
recall which was the first. The writer called on Mr. Sayer and
he said that some one had them before he did, so there you are.
Now the sheep business today, 1917, is one of the most
prosperous ones in which men have ever been interested since the
earliest recollection of history, in the stock business. Wool over
fifty cents, fat lambs on the market at $17.50, ewes at $18.00.
That it is now good is not saying that it was always one in which
a person could engage with any certainty of success.
There have been many men in what is now Blaine county and
what it was before Phillips county was cut off that have made
good in the business and are today the prominent men of the
county because they were successful in their undertakings.
And these men were not ones who were born with a silver
spoon in their mouths but were born with a desire for success and
with a determination to fight it out along any line in which they
got a start even if it took them not "all summer" but many win-
ters and summers.
Jurgan Kuhr, now one of, if not the largest sheep man in
the county, began in a very small way, but continued till today
he is a factor in the county. If you were to go to him for a
story of his success he would tell you that many a time he was
not sure of the final results. The Sprinkle Brothers, now men
of wealth, began, so the writer has been told, as herders of the
"Little fellow with the golden hoof."
Senator B. D. Phillips had at one time probably 100,000
running at large on the ranges of northern Montana and inside
of his large enclosures. The sheep business forced these men to
secure large tracts of land at prices that were low so that today
their land holdings would make them rich.
But if today the sheep business is one in which men would
like to engage there was a time when it was just the opposite.
THE STORY OF BLAINE COUNTY 59
Sheep were hardly worth anything, as their wool was as low as
six cents and their lambs only worth what a pound of wool is now.
Then there was a hazard in more ways than one attached to
the business. Out there some place on the northern plains, where
the grass was best, you had taken the band of sheep and turned
them over to a man, to whom, if he wanted to borrow fifty dol-
lars you would have thought twice. But he was one in whom you
had more or less confidence as you expected him to stay with
that band no matter what condition should arise. The tall grasses
of the range land might catch on fire and the destruction of all
you had would only mean minutes. Minn. Cowan told the writer
of one prairie fire that took place on Woody Island creek. Jurgan
Muhr had a band of sheep out in that country when one day a fire
started. The men in charge rounded them up and were trying to
get them to the bed ground and would then try and fight the fire
back. All their efforts proved futile. The grass was only about
eight inches high with a strong wind blowing, but h — would have
been a cool place alongside of it. The loss was between 2300 and
2400. That was certainly a big barbecue that Jurgan had not
planned, so roast mutton was the cheapest thing you ever saw.
Minn says: "My first experience in the sheep business was
none too pleaant. Shortly after I began to herd in the fall of
'93, in the month of October, a big blizzard of a day and night
came up. Everything looked alike to me but what I could see was
snow, snow, snow every place. There was no use in leaving the
sheep for that would have been very unwise and if one stayed
there would be a chance that you would be picked up as soon as
the storm was over as they would be sure to hunt for the band as
that meant money. I stayed right with that band for two nights
and two and one-half days. Even after the storm quit I could
not find camp. Chris Maloney found me about three o'clock the
third day. I had all the sheep. The sheep bedded down each
night. The second night they drifted to an old sheep shed where
there was a tent but no bedding, but as there were some pelts 1
managed to get by. It never occurred to me to leave them."
Scott Cowan, who has been a pretty successful sheep man in
the Milk River country, has had many and varied experiences.
He said: "The winters were by no means all bad and the life
of the herder was not too uncomfortable during normal conditions.
When the exceptionally hard ones came, much suffering came to
both men and flocks. I remember that one season one of the big
sheep men moved a part of his stock to Canada and did not get
there in time to make full preparatoins for their safety. The
result was a very heavy loss. The next spring some of his friends
asked him if his loss was very heavy and his reply was: 'No, I
saved some of the dogs and all of the sheep herders.' I recall one
60 IN THE LAND OF CHINOOK
winter that we had had bad luck by losing our dogs. We had
to take out snow plows and clean off a section of ground so the
sheep could spread out and feed. If the conditions were at all
favorable the boys would take their blankets and stay all night.
One morning for some reason I got it into my head that there
would be trouble if we took the sheep to any great distance from
home, so advised that it should not be done. About ten it cleared
up so I changed my mind and the sheep were started. When
we left home the sun was shining as brightly as could be. There
was a coulee at some distance from the house in which we wanted
them to feed as the grass was nice and thick. We had just arrived
on the feeding grounds when it began to cloud up and in a very
few minutes not a thing could be seen. I told my brothers
(Arthur, Minn and George) to hold them and I would go to the
house and get a little hay and that there would probably be a
chance of getting them back to the sheds. I got a 'half-breed'
sled and loaded on a little hay and started back to find the band,
which was done by accident as I had Fred Brockway, then only
a small boy with me, who called my attention to the trail the sheep
had made while being driven before the blizzard. When we
found the boys they were more or less excited, but I told them
to take it easy and we would pull through all right as we had
to stay any way. I left the sled at one end and we tried to hold
the herd by walking around it. We could not see one another
and did not meet unless we happened to come to the sleigh at
the same time.
"Along about evening the sheep began to bleat and began to
take interest in things so we thought we could get them
home to the shed. We started with the team ahead and had
only gone a few minutes when one of the boys shouted that
the band had broken in two. I stopped and went back to find
that the tail of the band had not moved at all. The leaders were
about two hundred yards in the lead so we had to get the two
bunches together and stay with them, I thought, so we began to
do so. In this we were not successful because, try as we might,
we could not find the leaders and did not get them together until
we came to Chris Maloney's place, where we were fortunate to
get the men so that they could get something to eat and to put
Fred who was, as I have said, only a small boy, in a comfortable
place to keep him from freezing."
Minn says of the same storm : "When I went in, Scott's face
was so badly frozen that I had to go out in his place. I had to
cut off his mustache so he could close his mouth. I did not get
back till about midnight though the band was only about one-
quarter of a mile away from Maloney's house. The next day we
got a team and snow plow and managed to get them to our place.
CHIEF JOSEPH.
The Indian who whipped evei-j- army that tried to capture him. not
excepting Miles, whom he had going if he (Joseph) had made one rush when
the buffalo came in sight.
THE STORY OF BLAINE COUNTY 61
which was only a mile and a half. The snow was probably three
feet deep. My face was so chilled that I did not get back to work
for over a week. I had been with that herd all that night. When
a man does a thing like that he earns all he ever makes in the sheep
business. That was on the 5 th day of February, 1895.
That was not the only bad winter we had up in that country,
for the winter of 1906-7 my brothers gave Gene Aiken $100 to
take a little grub and two pitchforks to the ranch and he was a
week making to Woody Island and back to Harlem."
After one of these hard winters the lamb crop would be small
as the mothers would have no nourishment for the little ones when
they came. The season of lambing was one always to be dreaded
as extra men were in demand and they were often hard to get and
sometimes harder to keep. When a person has property that gets
its start from the foundation such as lambs that do not come to
this climate strong enough to know there own mother, or worse
yet, a fool mother that does not know its own offspring, then he
surely had grief.
This article is not to educate the reader in sheep raising but
to give the story in a vague way of the sheep industry in our
county. A book could be filled if one were to get the stories of
the herders who have braved the storms of an Arctic winter for a
small consideration, to protect their charge from the wild animals
that roved the range or from the terrible blizzard that might prove
their undoing. We do not hear of many of the heroic things the
sheep herder has done in his fight for life and in the sacrifices he
has made to protect the property placed in his hands but, neverthe-
less he has been a factor in the upbuilding of many of the fortunes
in Montana today.
CHAPTER IX.
The Last Stand or the Battle of the Bear's Paw.
The last battle to be fought between the Indians and the
whites in Montana was commenced September 30 and finished on
October 5th, 1877, on Snake Creek, sixteen miles from Chinook,
now in Blaine county.
In order to give the reader who may have never heard the
causes that led up to this battle a clear view it will be necessary
to go back and explain the conditions prior to this last stand of the
Nez Perces.
Our first knowledge of these Indians came to us through Lewis
and Clark. The impression left by these explorers was one which
gave due meed of praise to them ; as it tells of their friendliness to
62 IN THE LAND OF CHINOOK
them and to the expedition under them. These men concluded a
treaty of peace that lasted through all the stirring times of north-
western border settlement.
The Nez Perces were always proud that they never shed one
drop of white man's blood.
The land that they claimed and held at that time was roughly
bounded by saying that it contained or comprised all the country
between the Bitter Root mountains on the East, the Blue Moun-
tains on the West, the Salmon river from below the mouth of
White Bird on the South, and the North Palouse on the North.
As Dr. Moody says: "It was a land of natural advantage,
warm in winter, cool in summer, abundant grass, plenty of water,
hills covered with game and all that would make it a lovely land
in which to reside, to the white as well as the Red Man." It was
mighty hard to give this land up to the behest of the white man.
"When the west-bound emigrant reached the Nez Perce
country he felt safe, for at no time did these people harass travel-
ers as did the tribes of the East."
It was only after a number of years when the whites looked
upon the broad acres with covetous eyes that trouble began.
"Before the dawn of history, of them, the Nez Perces had
been ruled by a dynasty of chiefs of which the Joseph of our day
was the last. His immediate predecessor was his father, called
by the whites, 'Old Joseph,' to distinguish him from his son."
The Oregon Trail ran through the land owned by these peo-
ple, and all together too soon for the Indian, the emigrant turned
his cattle loose along some rippling stream where he built his cabin,
fenced the land and began to turn the sod. This last act, to
the Indian, was desecration, as the earth was his mother and the
white man had wounded her bosom. Not alone did he do that
but he was coming in such numbers that he was taking the grass
that the Indian needed to feed his ponies.
"Old Joseph" had called the Indian Agent's attention to the
fact that the whites were taking their land and eating their sub-
stance, but this did no good. More whites came and clashes took
place in which an Indian was killed. (Remember this fact, the
whites did not only take the land but they were the first to shed
blood.)
The valley of the Wallowa was a particular section that the
Indians desired to hold. A treaty was made and signed June 1 1 ,
1855, by some of the Indians but never by "Old Joseph," who
was the one who was the most interested. The old chief died in
1 872 bequeathing the reins of tribal government to Young Joseph,
at that time about thirty-five years of age.
Before the old chief died he called his son to him and exacted
a promise that the Wallowa should never be given up.
THE STORY OF BLAINE COUNTY 63
Ere Columbus had set sail for India, these people had lived
in their beautiful valley by the flowing w^ater. Their dead had
been placed in consecrated ground w^hich had been moistened by
the tears of loved ones. No other sun ever shone as bright as did
this of theirs. They may have been savages but they were men,
as Gibbon found to his cost, as he was whipped on the banks of
the Ruby. They were never untrue to their fathers or their tradi-
tions, as is evinced by their having taken the war path. No party
of men, since the world began, ever put up a more glorious effort
for independence than did the Red Men of the valley of Wallowa.
Troubles of various kinds took place for years and culminated
in a war that began in June and ended in October, 1877.
The first man to be killed was Richard Devine, an old miner
who lived alone in a cabin above the m.outh of the White Bird,
on the Salmon.
That took place on June 15th. Col. Perry, who was sent
after the Indians, was defeated on the 1 7th of June and General
Howard started in to clean out the Indians. Several engagements
took place in Idaho in which the Red Men showed their ability
in a most signal way. They came to the conclusion to leave
the land which they had for so many years called home and go
through Montana to Canada, where they thought it possible to
establish a new residence.
That they had not thought of mistreating the people of Mon-
tana in making their passage through this Territory, is now known.
As there were two battles and several skirmishes in the section
now known as the State of Montana we must give something of
them in order, as was above mentioned, to enlighten the reader.
I know of no more interesting matter to publish in respect to
their coming to Montana than the one by Mr. W. B. Harlan of
Como, who was one of the men who saw all that he has herein
described.
The Fiasco at "Fort Fizzle" on the Lolo Trail.
Early in July in 1 877 word was brought to us in Western
Montana that Chief Joseph and his band of Nez Perce Indians
had broken out over in Idaho across the mountains from the Bitter
Root valley.
"Aggravated and enraged by the encroachments and depre-
dations of some of the lawless whites, the Indians had killed some
of the settlers, burned their homes and were sure enough on the
'war path.'
"After some inconclusive fights with the soldiers sent to sub-
due them, the Indians, some 900 strong, counting men, women and
children, but all well armed, started over the Lolo trail, their
64 IN THE LAND OF CHINOOK
objective point being the British possessions where they evidently
expected protection and immunity from arrest and punishment for
their crimes ( ?) .
"They were pursued at a safe distance by Maj. General
Howard, Col. Miller and about 600 soldiers of the regular army.
The Indians sent couriers into the Bitter Root valley asking the
Flatheads to help them fight and exterminate the whites. Chief
Charlos not only refused, but said he and his tribe would fight on
the side of the settlers if necessary.
"The Nez Perces then sent word that if they were allowed
to go through the valley peaceably, they would not fight the whites
or destroy their property. No answer was made to this offer as
no one had authority to make any such agreement.
"In the meantime the settlers of the Bitter Root, becoming
much alarmed for the safety of their families, placed them in old
Fort Owens at Stevensville and two new sod forts which they
hastily constructed at Corvallis and Skalkaho.
"The Indians were now reported to be on the Montana side
of the mountains and they finally encamped on Woodman's
Prairie, some ten or twelve miles up the Lolo from the Bitter Root
river. We learned that the soldiers from Fort Missoula were
going up to meet them and attempt to turn them back or obtain
their surrender or fight them, as the case might be. On a Tuesday
morning 35 men, pioneer settlers of the valley, left Fort Owens
for the Lolo. They were, of course, well armed and took with
them their blankets and a few days' provisions tied to their saddles.
"About where the town of Lolo now is they met Captain
Rawn in command of 25 soldiers. With him were Captain
Logan, Lieutenants English and Woodruth and two others whose
names I do not recall
"John Robertson, Cortez Goff and I were delegated to have
a talk with Captain Rawn and explain our situation to him. We
told him of the defenseless condition of the valley ; of the hundreds
of women and children, to say nothing of our property that would
be at the mercy of the Indians if infuriated by an attack that would
not and could not be a defeat for them.
"Captain Rawn, with somewhat of that contemptuous manner
that too often characterizes regular army officers in their mter-
course with mere citizens, would hardly listen to us, but did say
that he had been ordered to meet the Nez Perces and turn them
back or fight them and he proposed to do so with or without our
help, and added that 'he might as well throw up his commission
if he did otherwise.'
"We realized that a fight with the Indians, whether by sol-
diers or citizens would have the effect to make them hostile
towards us, so we decided to go with the soldiers and naturally
THE STORY OF BLAINE COUNTY tJo
placed ourselves under the direction and command of the regular
officers.
"Word was being sent out from Missoula to all western Mon-
tana for help, and for them to come running. The call was nobly
responded to, for in two or three days several hundred well armed
men from Missoula, Philipsburg, Bear Gulch and Deer Lodge,
together with 90 out of the 1 00 settlers of the Bitter Root valley
were at the front up the Lolo.
"But to return to my story, on that Tuesday night the soldiers
and citizens — 60 men in all — rode ten miles up the Lolo and went
into permanent camp in the heavy timber in a narrow part of the
canyon and about three miles below where the Indians were
camped on the big prairie.
"We immediately began felling trees and building log breast-
works, and with the help of new arrivals, had in two or three
days a very strong barricade across the gulch, behind which we
felt secure from an attack in front, the only direction from which
the commanding officer seemed to think an attack possible.
"There was no protection from the cross-fire of the Indians,
dodging from tree to tree on the mountain sides and it was the
belief of most of us, that in case of a fight, especially before our
reinforcements arrived, it would have been another Custer
massacre.
"On Thursday Governor Potts came up and with an escort
of about fifty men went to hold a pow wow with the chiefs at
the lower end of the prairie about half way between the opposing
camps. Here we were met by an equal number of Indians who
came down and stopped in line a hundred yards from us. Gov-
ernor Potts with Captain Brown rode out and met Chief Joseph
and Looking Glass with their interpreters and talked for a half
hour or more. The situation was just a little bit tense and strained
as we sat facing each other with guns ready for instant use and
each side watching for the first sign of treachery. We remembered
the fate of General Canby when killed by the Modocs in a similar
situation, but nothing happened and we rode back to repeat the
performance the next day.
"Nothing came of the meetings, the Indians refusing to turn
back or surrender, so the Governor went back to Missoula and
left the situation as he found it.
"Hie Indians had announced that they would move Saturday
morning, but it was as yet unknown to us whether they would
turn back or go north over a trail that would bring them out near
Frenchtown, or come down headed for the Bitter Root, with the
almost certainty, so far as v/e knew, of a battle.
"Early in the morning I was sent with five men as an advance
picket to a point a half mile from camp and high up the mountain
66 IN THE LAND OF CHINOOK
side to watch and report the movements of the hostile camp.
Lieutenant Enghsh loaned me his field glasses and we took a
position where we had a good view of their position.
"About nine o'clock I sent word that the Indians were driving
in their horses and breaking camp. Another man was sent in
when it was seen that they had packed up and had started down
the valley toward us. By the time we had decided to go in, the
Indians were below us and between us and camp, so we had to
make a hurried detour and dodge among the trees to avoid them.
"I reported to Captain Rawn that the Indians were beginning
to climb the ridge a fourth of a mile above our camp and w^ere
evidently going around us. He replied that it would be impossible
for them to go around on that steep hillside and it was only a scout
that I saw, and when I said I saw squaws and children with camp
stuff going up, he turned back into his tent with the insulting
remark that The trouble in this camp is that there are too many
God Almightys in it.' As partly explaining such conduct and
language, I will say that early that morning. Bill McQuirk, a
saloon keeper of Missoula, had brought in a demijohn of whisky
which was on tap in the headquarter' s tent, with the result that
when we finally broke camp an hour later the commanding officer
could hardly sit in his saddle and the second in command could
not, but was hauled out, stretched out upon an army wagon load
of tents and bedding.
"Quite a number of Flathead Indians were with us and
showed their true friendship by preparing to fight with us in the
expected battle. They had white cloths tied around their heads
so we could distinguish between friend and foe. I well remember
Delaware Jim's exhortation: 'Shoot low and kill horse, then shoot
Injun,' which would have been good advice if the Nez Perces
had been fools enough to attack in front, and on horseback
"As the Indians were passing around, a detachment of thirty
or forty citizens went out to the foot of the mountain, and a
little way up, to see that no surprise attack was made from that
direction, but with the exception of a few stray shots fired from
the hill into the barricade, no hostile demonstration was made, and
the whole body of Indians came down into the valley a mile
below us. 1 1 • J
"A half hour later we were ordered to mount and were hurried
down the canyon after them. Several miles below we were halted
in the edge of a wood facing a half mile of prairie where we
could see the Indians in the timber on the far side, and we were
told that here was to be the batde sure enough. We stood m
battle line for a half hour expecting an order to charge, but none
came. It was soon evident that the Indians had disappeared so
we were led peacefully down the road.
THE STORY OF BLAINE COUNTY 67
"Until we reached the junction of the Lolo with the Bitter
Root valley, none of us knew which way the Indians would turn;
whether they would go by way of Missoula or by the Bitter Root.
The former was the shorter route but was much more thickly
settled. When we reached the mouth of the canyon we found that
the Indians had gone up the Bitter Root valley and right there the
regular soldiers and all the volunteers from Missoula, Philipsburg
and Deer Lodge turned north to Missoula and left the Bitter
Root to its fate.
"We did nor understand then, nor do we know now, why
Captain Rawn, with more than five hundred men to back him,
should decline to fight that day, while only a few days before he
had been so anxious to open battle with only twenty-five. Whether
it was under the advice of Governor Potts, or under the influence
of Bill McQuirk's demijohn, has never been made public.
"This ended the Tiasco at Fort Fizzle," on the Lolo Trail.
"But the Bitter Rooters could not evade all the responsibili-
ties and solve their problems so easily.
"On that hot Saturday afternoon there were cooped up in Fort
Owens two hundred and fifty-eight women and children with just
four old men with two shotguns to protect them, while in the two
sod forts up the valley there were probably nearly as many more.
"Now that we were released from the authority of Captain
Rawn and knowing that we could have no outside help in pro-
tecting our families and homes, we were naturally anxious to get
past the Indians and beat them to the fort. We did not believe
that they would stop and camp till they were past the thickly
settled part of the valley, and well away from the soldiers and
volunteer citizens, they not knowing, so we thought, that the
Bitter Root had been abandoned by all but her own men.
"As about thirty of us, including just two from Missoula,
Judge Stephens and Mr. Kinney — afterwards state auditor —
galloped up the road across what is now known as the McLain or
McClay flats, we decided to leave the west side road near where
Florence is now, and cross the river at the Eight Mile Ford, thus
avoiding the Indians. What was our surprise as we topped the
Carlton bench to see, just in front of us, the whole Indian encamp-
ment. . .
"They had turned their horses out on the prairie and the
squaws were busy putting up their lodges on both sides of the road.
To the right and left we could see the gleam of rifles in the timber,
while in front were hundreds of Indians with guns in their hands,
waiting.
"We halted, and realizing that we could neither advance or
retreat, without their consent, and that to fire a gun meant instant
death to each and all of us, we sent a half-breed, Alex Matt, to
68 IN THE LAND OF CHINOOK
iheir camp to ask Chief Looking Glass to come down and talk
with us. Now it is known that while Joseph was the war chief
and was in favor of fighting the whites at every opportunity, Look-
ing Glass was the peace chief and was in command of the whole
expedition while on the march and it was his influence that saved
the valley, people and property, from destruction.
"Looking Glass came to us and as we circled around him
thirty or forty warriors, not knowing what our intentions were,
jumped on their ponies and came rushing down but drew up a
hundred feet or so from us and watched us.
"Acting as spokesman for our party I asked the chief if we
could go through his camp to our wives and children. With much
sarcasm, that we did not just at that time care to resent, he
replied: 'This morning when you were many and strong you
wanted to fight, but now that you are few you want to go home
in peace.' With much more in the same vein he told us, at last,
that we could go through his camp in safety. He and his warriors
then rode back to camp, we following slowly in single file.
"The Indians were lined up on both sides of the road with
guns in their hands, probably hoping for an excuse for shootmg
us down, but we gave them none, for just then we were 'too proud
to fight,' and even Bryan himself would have been satisfied with
our peaceful attitude.
"As I would pass a particularly ugly group in Chief Joseph s
part of the camp, standing with their guns half-raised and with
fingers on the trig<?ers, I could feel a nervous twitching of the
muscles of my back that belied the brave front I was putting up.
"As we passed the last Redskin, each of us urged his horse
to a lope and stopped for nothing until we had reached the fort,
where we found all well but somewhat anxious, as a deserter had
brought them word of an actual battle in progress.
"The next morning we took possession of all the whisky in
the saloons in Stevensville and locked it up in a cellar at Fort
Owen. That day the Indians came up and camped opposite
Stevensville. They came into town and announced that they
wanted supplies, that they would pay for them, if permitted, but
would take them anyway.
"The merchants of Stevensville were much criticised for sell-
ing goods to hostile Indians but, under the circumstances, they were
certainly justified.
"Looking Glass sat on his horse in the main street of the town
for two days watching that none of his people started trouble, and
on one occasion jumped off and jerked a quarrelsome warrior out
of a store and sent him to camp across the river.
"Having obtained their needed supplies the Indians moved
slowly up and out of the valley, apparently not fearing General
THE STORY OF BLAINE COUNTY 69
Howard, who always kept several days behind them. It was a
common report, at the time, that if General Howard found the
camp signs too fresh he would stop and wait a day or two and
this policy was followed until General Miles headed them off and
fought them to a surrender in the Bear Paw mountains near the
British line. In that battle Chief Looking Glass, the tried friend
of the whites, was killed.
"But the Indians as they left the Bitter Root valley (and in
going through which they destroyed nothing) were not aware of
the rapid approach of General Gibbon, who was bringing a few
soldiers from Fort Shaw, picking up those at Fort Missoula and
about forty whites from the valley.
"If they had known of him he would not have gotten to sur-
prise them in his attack on the morning of August 9th in the Big
Hole which, though a surprise, was not by any means a victory.
That is, though, another chapter in the story of Montana for some
other writer."
Mr. Harlan is a high-class citizen of Montana who would not
willingly take advantage of even an Indian. He has given a true
statement of one of those things not generally knownn — the way
the Nez Perces treated the whites in the Bitter Root. What a
lesson to those very same white men who claim civilization under
the advanced teachings of Christianity.
That chief of the Nez Perce tribe who held his warriors in
check the summer of '77 — who did not allow them to be even
insulting — was more of a follower of the Meek and Lowly One
than the same Bitter Root volunteers who had had their lives
given them only a few days before by that same chieftain who
could have, had he been the blood-thirsty fiend the Red Man
is so often depicted, taken all their property and ravished and
murdered their wives and children. What a wonderful lesson
could be learned by the nations at war in Europe today if they
would tear one leaf from that Red Man's life story and read of
his decency and honesty as he made good his given word.
The Battle of the Big Hole.
On the morning of August 9th. 1877, the Nez Perces were
surprised at a time when most of them were asleep. This fight,
which has been the theme for many a writer, was fought by Gen-
eral John Gibbon and one hundred and ninety-eight men, includ-
ing thirty-four citizen volunteers from the Bitter Root. Now, in
a way, I do not believe that those Bitter Root boys had any right
to be in that fight. In the light of these latter days I really
believe that most of them would like to forget that they were there.
Now I do not want to say that those men were not honorable men,
70 IN THE LAND OF CHINOOK
because I know they were. They were good citizens but ones
who did not hold the rights of the Indians as anything which a
white man should respect, especially when they were on the war
path. He was simply an Indian who, in their desire to settle the
country, had been a stumbling block that had to be destroyed.
They had not taken time to go into the matter, as they would in
the case of the white man, to see who was right, they had simply
given the best of it to the whites, no matter how little they
deserved it.
It was a good thing for Gibbon that they were there as,
without them, he would, without doubt, have been destroyed.
Even though the whites had surprised the Nez Perce they
could not retain the ground they had taken long enough to know
they had taken it. The Indians rallied and soon had recovered
the lost ground and made it so warm for the whites that they were
compelled to seek cover on a point where there was some timber
growing which could be used for fortifying, as many of the trees
had fallen down. Here, without anything to eat, the whites
were held for some time, not knowing what their fate would be.
The truth is they would have all been killed if it had not been
that Howard was known to be not far away. It was a fearful
battle to the Red Men and one that those of the whites, who were
engaged, will always remember. Over one-third of the white men
were killed or wounded and probably the same proportion of the
Red ones.
TTie Indians pulled up the Big Hole river and passed out at
its head and down Bloody Dick Creek to the Horse Prairie. On
Horse Prairie they killed several white settlers. It is the opinion
of the writer that the volunteers of Bitter Root were the direct
cause of the massacre of the men on Horse Prairie, As the men
of Bitter Root had been in the engagement with Gibbon they
(the Indians) could not tell whom their friends might be so they
became as all other people at war, more ensanguined.
After they had killed these men on Horse Prairie they went
into Idaho and began their long trip to the Yellowstone through
the National park on their way to Canada. While this was the
longest route it appeared to them much safer as there were many
less settlers with which to contend. In fact there were no settlers
along the route which they chose. They did not know, though,
that there were several troops of soldiers that the Government
could call at any time when necessary, and were almost within
striking distance of them and would be called if those who were
already after them failed in their attempt to conquer.
Not alone was General Howard after them but several com-
panies of citizen volunteers were on their trail.
3 O :;
THE STORY OF BLAINE COUNTY 71
One night they came back and surprised Howard and stole
many of his horses and mules. They also captured some people
in the park and one or two were killed or wounded but some were
turned loose to later find their way to the settlement.
The country through which they were traveling, especially in
the Natoinal park, was exceeding rough. They left Howard's
command in the rear and reached the waters of the Yellowstone
below the mountains and crossed over and started toward the
Missouri. They had a set-to with the soldiers who did not seem
strong enough to hold them, and continued on to the north and
crossed the big river at Cow Island.
In the days before the railroad the steamers would start for
Benton and go as far as they could. Some times they would get
to their destination and, when the water was too low, they would
only get as far as Peck, Carroll or Cow Island. This year they
must have gotten as far as the island, for the Indians captured and
destroyed a wagon train at the mouth of Cow creek and became
well supplied with provisions and other things which came in
handy.
After the destruction of this train they continued toward the
Canadian line but stopped when they arrived at Snake Creek at
a point on it about or almost one-half way from the Bear's Paw
mountains to the Milk river, sixteen miles from Chinook by the
wagon road, but several miles nearer by air line.
The ground which they chose for their encampment was about
twelve miles north of the mountains and to the ordinary observer
it showed no strategic strength. The writer had read all that he
could find descriptive of this battle and had been lead to believe
that the place was chosen for its impregnability by the wiley
Joseph.
The fact is it was chosen as any plainsman or mountain man,
be he white or Red, would have chosen for a camping place,
especially at that season of the year, October, for comfort.
No crags, no canyons, no timber or brush, no serrated peaks
or giant rocks, where the besieged could skulk and defy, because
of the strength of their position itself, a party superior to theirs
in number.
When the writer visited this place he was so surprised that he
told his son and another young man that surely this could not be
the place where Joseph held an army twice as large as his war-
worn warriors for several days before he had to finally give up
and say as he surrendered his gun "From where the sun now stands
I will fight no more forever."
Let me try to give a pen picture (if possible a photo will
accompanv this) of the field. The Snake creek runs in a north-
easterly direction from the mountains to where it runs into the
72 IN THE LAND OF CHINOOK
Milk. The great plains extend from the base of the mountains to
the north farther than the eye can see toward the Canadian coun-
try. The place chosen for the camp was a crescent shaped flat
or cove which laid on the east side of the creek. It is a strange
thing, but the peculiar shape of this cove or flat is typically primi-
tive and to even the casual observer not hard to trace as the back-
ground form the bow and the creek the string. The back of this
bow does not arise more than twenty-five feet high above the
bottom land on which the Indians had made their camp. At the
upper end of the cove is a cut bank that rises abruptly. This
particular cut bank did not offer much protection, though it did
help the Indians some as the whites could not approach near
enough from that direction to shoot without exposing themselves
to the marksmanship of a band of Indians of whom Lieutenant
Woodruth said after the battle of the Big Hole : "Don't try to
sharp shoot with them because they are the best shots I ever saw,
and I had several years' experience in the Civil war as well as
years on the plains fighting Indians." This cut bank came to the
creek at the upper end of the bow. The back of the bow was not
abrupt but it, too, came to the creek at the lower end in a bluff or
ridge. To the west or northwest, in front of the string (creek)
was a plain with a gradual slope toward the stream. From this
part of the field the whites had a good view of the Indian camp.
The whites came in from the southeast and the guides or scouts
found the Indians, or many of them, hunting buffalo which dotted
the plain in almost every direction. It is a fact that the Indians
thought that they were beyond the danger zone and as the buffalo
were in abundance they would stop right where they were and
lay in a supply of food as they had done so many times in years
past. Tired and weary with the long flight and their many fights
with the several armies which the Government had from time to
time sent against them, they had found the very acme of Indian
happiness in the numberless buffalo, so easy to be procured.
These same buffalo proved the temptation which, listening to,
proved their undoing as had the apple to our first mother in
another garden so long ago.
Out on the vast plains of the west the Indian and plainsmen
had found fuel in the dry dung of the buffalo which was called,
to make it sound more pleasing to the refined ear, "Buffalo chips."
Here where Joseph had chosen his camp fuel, water and grass
were abundant, an ideal place for a few days.
Coming in from the northeast was a small coulee that came
in and cut the back of the bow near the lower end of the camp.
This coulee had formed two mouths and it was because of that
peculiar formation that the point became a strategic one. Between
the mouths of the coulee was a triangular bar of about one acre in
THE STORY OF BLAINE COUNTY 73
area, with its base along the stream. The gulches formed by the
coulee were not more than four feet deep and of gentle slope and
not abrupt. The soil in the bottom of the ravine was alluvial and
easy to dig. The Indians had taken advantage of this particular
section and excavated many holes that were jug-shaped, as the
opening was much smaller than the main room. Some of these
holes were connected by tunnels. Behind these ravmes the bar
came to a point and offered a splendid view of the plain from
which the whites would approach. The point was used as a
means of defense by digging pits and placing some small rocks
close enough so they would be a protection from the rifle bullets.
To the north, the right hand side of the ridge which formed
the coulee, ran out a little, or one should say the creek cut around
the lower end of it so it extended out a little into the valley
or cove and on it there were some rifle pits fixed in the same way.
The peculiar formation of the triangle furnished the Indian a full
view of the soldiers' battle line to the west and the rifle pits gave
them the view of the rest of the field. After the Indians had had
time to entrench it was impossible for the soldiers to take their
position by a charge. Another thing that was in favor of the
Indians, they could get all the water they needed as their fortifi-
cations extended to the creek down the ravine.
Now the description of the battle as given by Miles or Howard
does not enter into detail. A story without detail lacks everything
that goes to make a story interesting. It has been the writer's
good fortune to have found some of the men who were actively
engaged in this fight and he is going to let them tell their stories
m their own words.
The scout who found the Nez Perce camp for Miles was
Louie Shambow, at this time (Dec, 1916) living in Havre. I
am going to allow him to give his description as I consider it very
interesting and because it has never been given to the public.
Shambow's Story.
"I had been one of Crook's scouts and had made a trip to
the Redwater, Dry Fork, etc., with 'Yellowstone Kelly.' I was
introduced to Miles by Kelly. Miles wanted me to work for him
and said he would give me the very best wages. I asked him
what they were and he said 'Seventy-five dollars a month.' As
J was at that time packing and getting $125 I did not feel that
the wages offered were any inducement so I told him that the
offer was too low but that I would consider the same price from
him that I was getting.
"His reply was not one that made me feel very friendly toward
him as he said in a tone, which I did not like, that he could get
74 IN THE LAND OF CHINOOK
good men for forty dollars, placing too much emphasis on good.
I turned on my heel and told him to get his forty dollar men,
thinking then that I would see him in h before I would work
for him at any price. When we got into the Little Missouri the
scouts they had did not know the country. They came to me for
information and I told Captain Clark of the Second Cavalry to
look to Miles' forty dollar men as I did not wish to interfere with
their plans.
"When we got to the mouth of Powder river a fellow came
from Keogh to tell us to come to that post as fast as we could.
We went to Keogh to get ready to go after the Nez Perces. We
crossed the Yellowstone in two or three days. The night after we
crossed the head man came to me and said : 'You will not go on
this trip.' I asked him why, and he replied that he wanted me to
break in a bunch of mules to pack. My reply was that I might
not want to stay; that I might go back to Wyoming. I went to
the quartermaster and told him I was going to Miles City and
when he wanted me he could send for me. In the course of four
or five days an orderly hunted me up and said the commanding
officer wanted to see me right away. I went over and he told
me that the Nez Perces had burned a bull train at the mouth of
Cow creek and asked me if I knew where it was. I told him
yes. To my answer he said: 'Here is a dispatch and I want
you to take it to General Miles.' I told him that I was no scout,
that I did not go much on General Miles anyway from what he-
had said to me, and as they could get forty dollar men they had
better get them. He turned to me and said: 'You had better
go, Louie, as Miles will be sure to make it all right with you; and
anyway there is no one else here that we can depend on.' A
little of that kind of talk and I fell for it and told him I would
go. 'When will you be ready?' My reply was that all I wanted
was a good horse and I would go. I started at once and overtook
Miles the third day out at the east end of the Bear's Paw. I
had a little trouble to get inside the guards but did so and delivered
my dispatch to the General and went to bed. The next morning,
so early that I could see no sense in it, they called me to go to
Miles' tent.
"He explained to me that the guides did not know the country
any more and wanted to know which way the Indians would go,
as they were supposed to join the Gros Ventres. I told him that
we were in the land of the Gros Ventres right now. He then
replied to me that he wanted me to find the Nez Perces. 'I will
give you ten Cheyenne scouts, see if you can find any trace of
these people, and I will make it all right with you, money will be
no object.'
THE STORY OF BLAINE COUNTY 75
"I started with the Indians and only had gone about four miles
when I found their trail. I sent an Indian back telling him the
place where the Indians were going and for him to come on. We
had only proceeded seven or eight miles when we saw a bunch
cf them running buffalo, probably ten or twelve of them. They
soon discovered us, as they had glasses. I soon noticed that they
were the Nez Perces as they had striped blankets — the other
tribes had solid colors. I sent another Indian back to tell the
General that we had found the Nez Perces and that they had
better hurry up. The Nez Perces took what meat they wanted,
as we did not crowd, not getting nearer than one-half mile.
"When they started for camp we followed but could see no
lodges but could see their horses, which were on the northeast side
of the creek. We had no business any nearer those fellows, so
hung around till Miles came.
"Finally he came up and asked me what I had found. I told
him what I had seen and that they were camped on Snake creek.
He wanted to know how far and I told him about four or five
miles. He told me he wanted me to take him to their camp and
I told him I could not see the camp but that I knew where they
all went in and came out. We got within a mile of them but
could not see them. Again he told me to take him right where
I thought they were and had the bugle blow for 'double quick.'
"We did not see a thing of them till we got within seventy or
eighty yards. (This was between eleven and twelve o'clock in
the morning.) The Indians were waiting for us and opened fire
and Miles stopped his command right there instead of making a
charge — and it was right there he made his big loss. (We buried
twenty-two men and they were dying all the way back.) I was
in the lead and thought that Miles was coming. The Indians
shot my horse three times and he fell dead and I was behind him
for an hour or more or until the bullets began to come through and
made my fortifications no pleasant place to stay. There was a
boulder about four or five feet from me and I wiggled to and got
behind it. It was not a large rock, only an inch or two above my
head when I was lying close to the ground. Pretty soon 'Yellow-
stone Kelley' and Haddow, a soldier, came to me and wanted to
know if I saw anything. I told them I did and that I was getting
some shots that counted. Haddow crowded up close to me and
placed his arm around me and I told him to lie low or they
would get him. I had no more than told him when a bullet hit
him just above the collar bone and ranged down. I looked back
and saw that he was shot to die, so I asked Kelley to take him
by the legs and pull him off and we would see if we could get
him to a place of safety. We started but he died on our hands.
76 IN THE LAND OF CPU NOOK
"Those Indians were the best shots I ever saw. I would put
a small stone on the top of my rock and they would get it every
time. They were hitting the rock behind where I was lying which
made me duck so hard that it made my nose bleed.
"The next morning after the first day's fight a bunch of
buffalo were coming into sight and the soldiers thought it was
Sitting Bull's outfit. They could see black horses, pinto horses
and every other kind and they called me and said that Sitting
Bull was coming,
"I told them it was buffalo. You see it had snowed that
night and the snow had blown into the hair of the buffalo and
made them look white and spotted. I told them it was buffalo and
took a horse that belonged to Miles and rode over and killed one
and brought some of the meat back. Miles gave me fits for it.
I believe that if the Indians had charged right then the soldiers
would have run like hell. I have been in harder fights than that
and will always believe that if we had not hesitated we would
have ended that fight in fifteen minutes as there were twice as
many white men as there were Indian warriors."
Surely that gives something that has never before been written
for the people to think about when they study the fight at Snake
creek.
The buffalo hunters that they had out had kept the Indians
from being surprised, and they had returned to camp in time to
be prepared to meet Miles with surprise and with such deadly
effect that he waited and gave the Indians time to fortify.
We want to give the reader something of the battle as
described by Col. Miles and then let him judge. Shambow says
that he saw the Indians hunting buffalo and that they saw him
and that they were ready for the soldiers when they made the
charge between 1 1 and 12 o'clock. Now what does Miles say?
"The Nez Perces were quietly slumbering in their tents evi-
dently without a thought of danger, as they had sent out scouts
the day before to see if there were any troops in the vicinity, and
as the scouts had reported 'none discovered,' but that they had
seen vast herds of buffaloes, deer, elk and antelope quietly graz-
ing on the prairie undisturbed, and no enemy in sight. The
Seventh Cavalry was thrown in line while moving at a gallop,
the commanding officer. Captain Hale, riding in advance. With
a smile on his face he dashed forward to the cruel death awaiting
him.
"Tyler's Second Cavalry was ordered to sweep to the left and
then turn down the valley and secure the horses. The Fifth
Infantry, under Captain Snyder, was deployed in the rear of the
Seventh Cavalry at first, and finally extending the line to the left.
i:r o
1
1
^Fn' *
^
§r-
||-
^'< f.
fe;
THE STORY OF BLAINE COUNTY 77
charged directly on the camp while the Second was sweeping the
valley of the horses.
"When the charge was made the spirited horses of the Seventh
cavalry carried that battalion a little more rapidly over the plains
than the Indian ponies of the mounted infantry, and it was
expected to first strike the enemy with the Seventh. The tramp
of at least six hundred horses over the prairie fairly shook the
ground, and, although a complete (?) surprise to the Indians in
the main, it must have given a few minutes' notice, for as the troops
charged against the village the Indians opened a hot fire on them.
(Italics are mine.) This momentarily checked the advance of
the Seventh Cavalp^, which fell back, but for only a short dis-
tance, and was quickly rallied again and charged forward at a
gallop, driving that portion of the Indian camp before it."
N. C. Titus
Says: "With slight reconnaisance. Col. Miles ordered Capt.
Hale to form his battalion (three companies of the Seventh Cav-
alry) in battle line advance and charge direct the southern end
of the camp, Capt. Tyler, with two companies of the Second
Cavalry and thirty Cheyenne scouts, was ordered to approach the
north end of the camp and prevent the escape of the Indians and
capture the ponies. Miles approached the left with three com-
panies of mounted infantry. The Seventh trotted forward in
battle line and from Col. Miles' column could be seen sweeping
forward over the undulating prairie, in the depressions out of
sight; on the ascending slopes and succeeding ridges, the orderly
columns reappear and roll over the crest and disappear. They
are at last near the lodges, they are lost to view of their anxious
comrades; for a few minutes the dreadful silence is unbroken;
then a few scattered shots are heard, followed by the terrible
roar and din of musketry. All are in suspense and press forward
to learn the fate of the gallant men of the Seventh. Some minutes
pass in awful uncertainty, when Lieut. Eckerson, alone, covered
with blood from his wounds, rushed to Col. Miles with the words:
'I am the only d d man of the Seventh Cavalry who wears
shoulder straps, alive.' In fact he had seen every officer shot
down, either killed or wounded.
"Miles ordered the infantry to attack and the four-pound
Howitzer to occupy the ridge northwest of the Indian camp. In
this attempt one rider and two out of the four mules were killed,
the gun left pointing toward the attacking force until night, when
it was stationed for defense."
Miles continues: "The Fifth Infantry, under Capt. Snyder,
charged forward to the very edge of the valley and opened a
78 IN THE LAND OF CHINOOK
deadly fire with their long range rifles (it was good that they
were long range) with telling effect.
"The infantry swept around to the left to enclose that portion
of the camp and force the Indians into a ravine. A great part
of the line encircling the Indian camp was dotted with dead and
wounded soldiers and horses. The fight had been sudden, rapid
and most desperate on both sides.
"Capt. Carter in one charge had thirty- five per cent of his
command placed 'hors de combat' I felt positive that we had
secured the beleagured Indians in their camp without a possibility
of escape. I did not, therefore, order a general assault, as I knew
it must result in the loss of many valuable lives and possibly a
massacre. (Massacre of whom? No doubt he meant his com-
mand.) The Indians occupied a crescent-shaped ravine and it
was apparent that their position could only be forced by a charge
or a siege. The first could not be accomplished without too great
a sacrifice.
"My one concern was the Sioux Indians under Sitting Bull
only fifty miles away in Canada. On the morning of the third
day of the siege the ground was well covered with snow and
scouts reported a large body of black objects on the distant hills,
moving in our direction. This occasioned much excitement among
the troops, and every eye was turned to the north, from whence
it was feared that Sitting Bull might come. I watched this with
much anxiety. It was soon found to be buffalo. It was surely
a relief to know it.
"Joseph came out under a flag of truce, and from him we
learned that the principal chief. Looking Glass*, and four other
chiefs had been killed, besides a large number of others killed or
wounded. He was informed that he must surrender.
"While Joseph was in our camp I directed Lieut. Jerome to
ascertain what they were doing in the village, supposing that he
would go to the bluff and look over into the camp. But mis-
understanding my instructions, he went down into the ravine,
whereupon he was seized and held until he was exchanged for
Joseph.
"Howard came up on the evening of the fourth and Joseph
surrendered at ten the next morning. Those who surrendered
with Joseph and those taken outside the camp numbered four
hundred. There were twenty-six killed in all and forty-six
wounded.
"I had twenty-two killed and forty-three wounded."
Joseph surrendered to Miles on one condition; that he was
to be allowed to return to his home in Oregon, Miles says that
^Looking Glass was killed at Big Hole — (Noyes).
THE STORY OF BLAINE COUNTY 79
he agreed to those terms but that the Government did not sanc-
tion it. Now you do not need to read between the hnes, for the
fact stands out as clear as the noon-day sun, that Miles did not
surprise Joseph but the soldiers were themselves surprised and did
not know what to do after they had met their first rebuff when
the Seventh charged the camp. It was in that one charge that
about fourteen out of the twenty-two were killed and over half
of the wounds were received. The repulse was of such a nature
that the soldiers got back to a place of safety. Miles says they
fell back. Louie Shambow, a man who had been in more Indian
fights than Miles, said that if they had charged, fifteen minutes
would have decided the conflict as there were twice as many
soldiers as there were Indians. Miles tells us that four hundred
surrendered. Did he any place tell in his life's story of what this
four hundred consisted? No, but others who wanted to play
fair, tell you that there were eight]^-nine men, one hundred and
eighth-four Tvomen and one hundred and fort])-seven children.
That kind of an outfit it took Miles six days to get and yet he
said they were "slumbering in their tents." If he was right and
those sleeping Indians put up such a scrap where would he and
his troops have been if those Nez Perce warriors had been awake
when the charge was made?
How many men did Miles have? Some say four hundred,
some say three hundred and fifty whites and thirty Cheyenne
scouts. Miles said: "The tramp of at least six hundred horses
over the prairie fairly shook the ground."
Joseph had made the most wonderful retreat in the history
of the world. He had taken his men, women and children and
property for nearly two thousand miles through the enemy's
country and had fought several battles, all of which were to his
credit. Here on the cold, bleak plains of northern Montana,
when the cold blasts of an early fall with its chilling storms of
snow made it too disagreeable without fire, for the women, chil-
dren and wounded, he had to quit. His almost indomitable
spirit was broken because the assistance he had expected from
his Red brothers had been withheld ; yes, turned to the assistance
of the white race, which had never been anything but an enemy
to the natives of America.
To give some idea of the kind of men the whites stripped
of their native land and forced into exile the writer has appended
the following comments.
Gibbon, after the fight at Big Hole: "Who would have
believed that those Indians would have rallied after such a sur-
prise and made such a fight?"
Titus said : "TTie humanity and noble generosity of the Nez
Perces in caring for the wounded soldiers on the battlefield fur-
80 IN THE LAND OF CHINOOK
rish the brightest page in Indian history. In fact the Nez Perce
had never scalped or mutilated the bodies of their dead foes or
tortured a prisoner."
Gen. Howard: "The leadership of Chief Joseph was indeed
remarkable. No general could have chosen a safer position."
Speaking of the battle on the Salmon river he says also:
"Joseph was able to hold out for several days against twice his
numbers at the battle of the Bear's Paw."
Again Howard said: "And even at last, the natural resources
of his mind did not fail him. Broken in pieces by Miles' furious
assault, burdened with his women, children and plunder, suffer-
ing from the loss of his still numerous, though badly crippled herd
of ponies, yet he was able to entrench and hold out for days
against twive his numbers."
Let us acknowledge that this was a man.
Mrs. James Dorrity's Story.
"I was a little girl of nine when the battle on Snake creek
took place. I remember of hearing the cannon, though, it was ten
or twelve miles away. My uncle Bent had been to the battle
field and on his return trip was captured by the Nez Perces who
took his clothes away and sent him home in a blanket. (Mr.
Bent says this is not wholly correct, that they only took part of
his clothes, as the reader will see in Bent's experience in another
place.) There was a little Nez Perce girl whom I afterward met
who managed to escape from the Indian camp.
"She got a short distance down Snake creek where she found
some horses, one of which she managed to catch. By using a
part of her clothing she managed to make a kind of a bridle so
she could ride and guide the pony. She was riding down a
coulee when all at once she saw two Indian women rise out of
some bushes. One of them had a broken arm. They persuaded
her to help them. She, in helping the wounded one on the horse,
pushed her clear over, and though the woman cried with pain,
she, girl like, could not help laughing. Years after, when she
was telling me, she could not keep a straight face.
"Along the Milk river in those days there were many half-
breeds living in cabins — really a considerable settlement — the girl
took the Indian women to one of these places — from which they
could be assisted to escape into Canada. The young girl went
to Fort Belknap and when a little older married Left Hand,
an Assinniboine. Both of them died, later, on the reservation.
She was part Flathead — her father belonging to that tribe — and
happened to be on a visit to her grandparents in Idaho when
the war started, so never got back to her people. She spoke very
good English.
O '/I
S ^ c
7! ^ •
THE STORY OF BLAINE COUNTY 81
"The Indians at Fort Belknap were not allowed to harbor
a Nez Perce. Two Indian women and three men came for
succor; they were taken to a lodge where they were fed their
breakfast then driven to a large sandbar on the river, about five or
six miles west of Chinook, where they were killed by Long Horse,
a Gros Ventre.
"One of the Indian women had the papoose sack on her back
filled with the clothing of her dead baby, of which she was so
careful she would not allow any one to touch. This was a
brutal thing to do but the whites, especially General Miles, had
told the Gros Ventres that they must not harbor a Nez Perce
under pain of death themselves.
"Whether Long Horse was really mean, and did this brutal
act for fun, or whether he was actuated through fear of what
Miles had said can never be known as he is dead and can never
tell his story.
"And the woman, an Assinniboine, who rode to see the death
of the Nez Perces, died last year, so we can never probably know
the exact truth. According to the story of the Flathead girl
Joseph had been in camp on Snake creek for four days before he
was attacked by the soldiers.
"Joseph thought he had passed beyond the point where there
would be any more danger from the whites. Buffalo were abun-
dant and Snake Butte was black with them. They had killed
and were curing and jerking meat for their winter's use and had
several par fleshes full of the meat in their lodges and they were
more or less a protection when they were attacked.
"It was after both of her grandparents had been killed that
she made her escape. It was surely a sad thing to think about;
these Indians who had never injured any one until driven to fight
by the misdeeds of the whites whom they had never injured, even
when they could have done so with safety, could not go to their
own race and receive the protection that one would extend to a
stray dog. After all their struggles they had to succumb to the
strength of the white men and to their rapacity.
"I will always remember this cruel thing with horror."
CHAPTER X.
Stories of Plainsmen.
Billy Cochran.
"I was born within two miles of Atlanta, Ga., June 1 3th,
1 844. My last work in the east was steamboating on the Missis-
82 IN THE LAND OF CHINOOK
sippi river between St. Louis and St. Paul. Father was the cap-
tain of the Pembina. Came to the conclusion to go west, so out-
fitted at Burlington, Iowa, in March, 1861. We crossed the
Missouri at Plattsmouth and followed up the South Platte all
the way to the mouth of Cherrie and was on that stream all winter.
"June 1st, 1862, went to Salt Lake via old Fort Bridger.
We had started for the Salmon River country and at Salt Lake
we heard of the discovery of gold on Gold Creek. We pulled
out and went up and prospected some along the Snake, with no
success, and arrived at the mines in Bannack the first of October.
We remained there that winter and the next spring a party of us
went prospecting. The party consisted of John Morehouse, my
uncle, John Cochran, Bill Bevins, Jeff Perkins, Adam Miller,
better known as 'Horn' Miller, and myself. We got some ground
in Alder but by August first had discovered Bevin's gulch, which
was named for Bill as he panned the first pan of dirt. (There
was a trial by the miners' court of a young man accused of rob-
bery and the judge was a man by the name of Darvvin, the story
will be found in the 'Story of AJax'.) Bevins was a rich camp
No. 6 above discovery, paid fifty dollars to the man per day. I
continued to stay around Bevins till June, '64, when I went to
Benton for a short time but came back and the winter of '64-5
went on the Silver Bow stampede where I only remained one
month. In February, '65, I went to Helena and got some ground
on Grizzly, where we made a little money. Later we located
Ora Fino park. Our party consisted of Bill Williams, Dick
Jones, Henry Newton, John Hardrick and my brother John and
myself. We made some money when we had water. (I left
Bevins with $28,000.) We worked all the summer of '65
and then came down on the Missouri, as related to you in my last
fall's talk.
"In 1866 I went to work for the Northwest Fur company,
fifteen miles above the mouth of the Musselshell and built old
Fort Holly.
"Jim Wells, George Boyd, Charlie Conklm, Fox,
Louie Brampar, Jake Leader and Jack Brown were there after
the post was hung up. Fort Peck was built in 1867 and I was
there. I recall a little thing that happened on a huntmg expedi-
tion; there was Bill Martin, O. B. Nevins and myself m the
party. We needed meat so we went for buffalo. Everything
was going along smoothly and we were getting plenty of game
when the first we knew when we were going back to the fort we
were ambushed by about forty or fifty Indians who had heard us
shooting and wanted to get us. We met them right in the trail.
We managed to stand them off until after dark and made our
escape; they got me in the leg.
Who built the t'ii
BILLY COCHRAN.
it Trading Post in what is n
o\v Blaiine County.
THE STORY OF BLAINE COUNTY 83
"In 1 866 McGinnis brothers had a wood yard at the mouth
of the Musselshell. Jack Brown, O. B. Nevins, John Dillon,
Adam Armstrong and myself were at Holly. A young fellow
deserted from Camp Cook and had started to work for McGinnis.
Along about the latter part of September one of the McGinnis
boys came to Holly, where he arrived in the morning, and told
us a war party had killed the young man whom they had working
for them. He said he was sure he was dead, though he had not
seen him. We went up and found the young man, he was dead
with his head cut off and smashed with an axe.
"There were two men at work cutting hay a short distance up
the river from us. Three days after we got back from burying
the boy. Jack Brown, George Boyd and myself were out on the
river bank in the evening when we were startled by hearing some
one shouting from the other side of the stream. It was too dark
to see anything but Jack said that was surely a white man that
was hallooing so he called but got no reply. We had a skiff and
could have gone over but the Indians once in a while did those
things to entice one over into their ambush so, as we received no
answer, we did not go.
"The next morning our outfit was hired to go up the river
and hunt for the two men. We took a mackinaw and cordelled
it up the stream. We knew the bottom where they had been at
work and were going toward it when about half way up we ran
onto some tracks on a sand bar. This bar was about seventy-
five yards in width, that is, it was about that distance from the
river back to the brush. We followed the tracks back to the
river bank and in the bushes there was a large log. When we
came to it Nevins said : 'These tracks are fresh, could have only
been made recently.' I jumped on this log so I could look around
a little and was not surprised to see a man lying naked, just on
the other side. He had on one sock. He was dead, though he
had only been dead a little while. He was mutilated in a most
horrid and unmentionable way. We continued on to their camp,
which we found destroyed, but could find no traces of the part-
ner. Indians afterwards told us that they had seen a crazy man
who was naked out there somewhere in the breaks of the Missouri.
"In November of 1867 Adam Armstrong, O. B. Nevins
and myself left Old Fort Holly and came out by our old
fort on Rock creek, put out poison for wolves, then followed
Beaver creek to the mouth and made our camp at Tiger Buttes.
We wintered there that winter. Wolves were plenty and we
were getting more than we could handle. We would always skin
those that were found before they were frozen and pile the
frozen ones up and cover them with brush or anything that came
handy so we could find them when winter broke up. It is a fact
84 IN THE LAND OF CHINOOK
that by spring we had so many that we needed help to skin them
so Nevins and I went to Peck and hired three men, Henry Keiser,
John Dillon and Bill Martin, to help us. We were to pay them
five dollars a day; we had no grub, had been living on meat
straight for eight months and for about three months without salt.
"As it required a lot of meat we would hunt, that is the part-
ners, each alternate day. It came my day to hunt and, as three
days before, I had seen a bear track I was very anxious to secure
him as the meat we had been getting was very thin at that sea-
son of the year while a bear might furnish us with some grease.
In the meantime the men were all busy in taking off the hides.
This was on the banks of the Milk river and at points where the
buffalo had to enter the river they had made deep trails in the
bank. It was about a mile from where the boys were at work
that I saw something dark in one of these trails. I thought it was
a bear and pulled down to fire when five or six Indians jumped
for the brush on each side of the trail.
"I had a Henry rifle, one of the first in that section, which
had cost me $180. I also had a muzzle-loader which I generally
used for game. I want to say that I had killed an elk and was
getting out of the timber when I saw my bear?
The Indians had gone over the cut bank, but as the river was
full of ice they could get no farther. There was a coulee that
ran from the river back to the buttes and I thought by making for
that there would be some possibility of reaching the boys, save
my scalp, as well as theirs as there was a chance that they did not
know anything about a war party being out at that time of the
year. I made for the coulee and got in it and was running back
toward the buttes when I was seen by the Indians, forty-two of
them, and they separated and tried to head me off. When I
started to run they shot and hit me in the back of the neck but
as it was a spent arrow the thickness of my buckskin shirt saved
my life, though there is a scar which I am still packing. I had
unslung my Henry and it was owing to that that I got away
because I was doing something that the Red fellows did not
understand, shooting without stopping to load. My first shot
killed one and the second hit one in the leg. Armstrong and
Nevins heard me shoot and they came to my rescue. We man-
aged to escape and reach camp, where they held us for three
days without even allowing us to build a fire. They were making
it so disagreeable for us that we came to the conclusion to get
away as we had nothing to eat and were getting no rest that any
one could enjoy. I knew the Indian nature well and was sure
they would never leave us till they had killed some one to get
even on the fellow which I had shot the first day. At the end of
the third day, in the night, we went to the river as the ice had
THE STORY OF BLAINE COUNTY 85
run out, and in the dark found three dry logs big enough to hold
up our guns and into that cold water we went and swam to the
other side and went to a butte where they kept us three days. We
could not build a fire and could not shoot anything so had to
depend for food on the poisoned carcasses of the buffalo which
we had put out for wolves. Of course we knew there was no
danger as the manner in which we had put the poison out was to
skin the front part of the animal and scarify it into which we
sprinkled the strychnine. This left the hind-quarters perfectly
good so we felt safe on trying to satisfy our hunger on the meat
that had been killed for other purposes.
"I forgot to say that the other boys, believing us dead and
seeing the large number of Indians which had attacked us, made
for Peck as fast as they could go.
"We at last came to the conclusion to go back to camp and
also try and find the boys whom we had left skinning the wolves,
not knowing that they were in a place of safety. When we got
to the river we got some dry logs with which to make a raft and
try and get over without getting wet. All we had was willows
with which to bind the logs together. Armstrong was placed so
he could watch the other bank and to see if there were any
Indians in sight. Our idea was to get the raft ready and get on
and keep close to the shore till we could drift down far enough
to land on the opposite side in a place free from brush. Every-
thing was ready and Armstrong was called and as soon as he
reached us he told us that the timber on the other side was full
of Indians and that we were to get up on the bank as soon as we
could, but not till he came down and held the raft, for if we were
to leave in a hurry the Indians would think that we had discov-
ered them and they would shoot us before we could get up the
bank, but if he came down they might get us all when we got to
the other side. He came down and got hold of the logs and
told us to get, and we did, where we were soon safe but they got
poor old Adam by the time he had gotten to the top of the bank
and before he could get to a place of safety behind a tree. The
wound was clean through his body and he died that afternoon.
We got him back into the brush where we stayed so we could
hide the body and figure on making our escape.
"We managed to get away and went to Peck, where we
found the others safe. We got Dillon and Bill Martin to come
back so we could get Armstrong's body and give it decent burial.
"We did not save all of our hides but managed to get 1,700
rafted down the Milk to the Missouri where we waited for a boat
so we could sell them.
"There had been a mail contract from Diamond City to Fort
Abercombrie on the Red River of the North. I packed mail on
86 IN THE LAND OF CHINOOK
this route for a time and then came to the conclusion to go down
the Missouri. A couple of us got in a skiff and went down to
Randall, from Fort Union. When I got to Randall I hired out
as scout and courier to Capt. Otis (?) I carried mail for him
between two of the posts till the spring of 72, when I bought two
four-mule teams and began to freight between Randall and the
Spotted-Tail Agency, 300 miles, head of White River.
"On one of the trips I had charge of Huston's six teams and
with us were thirteen teams that belonged to another outfit with
Bill Emery as wagon boss. We camped at the crossing of White
river which was half way and the stock were all turned out and
the night herders took them in charge and put them on good feed.
It was the custom for them to start for camp early in the morning
just before day. As they came in they would call one of us who
would go out and take charge till they had their breakfast, then
the stock would be harnessed and we would pull. The next
morning early the herders called and I went out to meet them and
asked where the stock was and they said that they were in the
river bottom a short distance below. A person could not see any
thing at that time in the morning so I concluded to ride so as to be
far enough down the stream to be below the stock, which was a
mixed bunch of horses, cattle and mules. Just about daylight I
could hear the mules running so I started to head them off as they
were going down the stream and away from camp. The first
thing I knew the horse was shot and the bullet hit me in
the foot. I turned and started my horse for the higher ground
but looked and saw some one on the other side of the river and
pulled my gun to shoot, when some other fellow to the side or
kind of back of me shot and hit me in the side right under my right
arm as it was raised to shoot. The bullet went almost through me
and lodged near my left shoulder blade. My horse ran about five
hundred yards when he fell dead. I fell by his side and soon saw
two Indians sneaking up to get me but that was their last sneak
because I hit one of them as he was coming toward me in a stoop-
ing position, in the top of the head and as the other fellow straight-
ened up he got his and fell close by his chum. It was about five
that afternoon before the boys found me.
"The Indians had seen me but they did not dare come within
gun shot. In those days if you were hauling for the Government
and the Indians raided your train you would get pay. I was haul-
ing for private parties and as the Indians got all my stock and
the freight I had to pay $2,000 beside the loss of my outfit. That
broke me completely as I was in the hospital for eight months.
Of course my first act was to stuff a part of my shirt into the
wound and keep from bleeding to death.
THE STORY OF BLAINE COUNTY 87
"After I got so I could travel I went to Cheyenne and got a
couple of horses and with Tom Russell went to Salt Lake City.
My uncle, John Morehouse, was there. I wintered with him
that winter and came back to Montana in 73.
"About that time I was packing mail from Randall; the
distance was quite a long ways. There was one station where I
generally put up and one day when I came there I noticed sev-
eral fellows who went out a little before I did and when I came
up they surrounded me and rode for a short distance when one
of them said: 'What have you got in the sack?' I told him
that I did not have anything that he wanted but he replied that
he would be the judge as to that and for me to fork it over. I
turned and they had me covered so that it would have been
foolish for me to try and help myself. They took the sack and
I rode to the post where we formed a posse and went back.
Sommers, the leader, was killed but we never found the other
fellows. (When Billy said: 'Sommers was killed but I did not
kill him,' I had to take his word for it but there was something
in his eyes that belied the words as it is known that few men ever
on the frontier were ever in his class when it came to shooting,
but of course there was a posse there at the time and some of
the others may have shot first.) This put an end to a tough
gang because as soon as the leader was killed the others never
came back. They went to Canada.
"To resume, in the fall of '76 I was in Deadwood, White's
gulch. Pike Landusky and I were going to Spearfish for some
reason and when we got ready to start were told that the Indians
had stolen some cattle from a sawmill company and that they
would give us twenty-five dollars a head for all we could find.
"When we got to Centennial valley we were overtaken by
five or six others and they reported that the Reds had stolen a
big band of horses. We went on and soon overtook them but
most of them got away. There was one whom we were chasing so
close that he quit his horse and jumped over a cut-bank into some
wild cherry bushes. These bushes were so thick that we could
not see any one. Soon others came and there was plenty to sur-
lound the place and get him if he showed himself. They rolled
rocks down but he simply took them and made a breast work so
that he would be pretty safe if any one went down. The place
was shot so full that no one could hardly think that he could
possibly be alive. A man by the name of Brown said he was
going in and get that fellow and we tried to dissuade him but it
was no use so he went down, saw the Indian and shouted: 'I've
found him,' and there was a shot and Brown was dead. Another
tellow went in and he was killed also.
88 IN THE LAND OF CHINOOK
"All the other fellows quit except Pike and myself but as
Pike wanted to stay we did and just about daybreak the fellow
came out, supposing all had gone, in which he made the mistake
of his ife for it was soon safe enough to go in and get the two
bodies. I never traveled with a better man than Pike Landusky.
I was a messenger on the stage coach in the Hills in '76. In
'77 I was at the Crow Agency and went with Howard to Miles'
battle field on Snake Creek."
Few men in Montana have a more interesting life study than
the study of this sketch. I regret very much that it was not pos-
sible to get more of the interesting incidents that have been a part
of his life. There is too much of interest left untold and before
long we must get it for the future historian. He is the sub-agent
of the Belknap Indian reservation, and resides at Hayes.
William Bent.
This man is one who has had a most varied experience.
The son of Col. Bent, the noted frontiersman who built Bent's
Fort on the Arkansas, in Colorado, was born in St. Louis in 1 846.
He was the nephew of the famous Kit Carson by a marriage. Mr.
Bent said: "I remember Carson and Freemont and have eaten
with them when they had been at my father's house after some
of their trips that have helped to make the story of our country.
In the light of my own experience I can come to but one conclu-
sion and that is my Uncle Kit was an over-rated man. These
same hair-breadth escapes, these same trials caused by hunger and
cold have been gone through by many a man who has helped to
make this country and not one word has been written into the
story of their deeds. Kit happened to have his lines cast close
to those of Freemont, who had a way of using his pen to advan-
tage ; and getting himself into the limelight of public opinion and
approval. So it has been with many of the men of our frontier.
The famous Buffalo Bill never could hold a dim light to some of
the men who are living today in Blaine county. Many of these
may have never been heard of on account of their modesty."
William Bent is about five feet and eight inches tall and
shows that he has had a good constitution. I do not know what
the color of his hair has been but at this time it is gray. His eyes
are blue and his voice low and pleasing. TTiere is no sign of dis-
pleasure in mode or jesture, when speaking of things which most
men would rather forget. His whole make-up is one that would
distinguish him as a plainsman who had been brought up under
such an environment that he has taken it for granted that he had
his life cut out for him and that it was filled, more or less, with
enjoyment. That he married Indian women and made them the
BILL I'.LXr. -DAliKV MINllJIL
Two Characters of Milk Rivor.
THE STORY OF BLAINE COUNTY 89
respected mother of his children is something that the ordinary
reader unfamiliar with the early days of the western territories,
can never be made to understand. These men, like Bent, intro-
duce you to their wives and children with as much pride as would
the whitest of white men to the whitest of white women. And
why not? When these men came to make it possible for the
chicken-hearted, of these days to come, after all the real rough
places had been planed off the map, and establish homes where
they can live in no fear of the wild beast or the more savage men
who once roamed these hills, valleys and mountains, they did not
find any other to mate with but the daughters of Red Men. That
they took them in a legal way, some times, there can be no doubt.
Not all of them were high-minded enough to unite themselves in
wedlock as many of them simply bought their women to discard
them and leave them the fruits of that connection to rear as best
they could.
No father can love his white child with any more affection
than do the fathers of these half-caste youngsters. When I say
that I mean any of those men who are worthy to be fathers. The
reason is, as explained to me by one of them, as follows: "Can't
you understand that these children are to become handicapped in
their race for life because of their blood? Well understanding
that you must know that the right kind of a father feels that he
has been responsible for their lot and for that reason tries in every
way possible to make their lives as pleasant as he can by throwing
his love and protection about them."
No man has had any more to do with the cilivization of the
Milk river than Bill Bent. We will not say that he settled in this
section with that end in view, as that would not be correct. The
establishing of the reservation was somewhat due to his influence
over the Indians as well as was the treaty to allow the building of
the railroad.
The Indians have seemed at all times to have had confidence
in him. Bent has not been one who has made it his life's work
to profit by his knowledge of them and of their ways.
He can leave no other heritage than the one that comes to
the Indian as his right, the right to select a piece of land whenever
the reservation is thrown open. In other words, he has not made
a fortune through his connection with the people. Right here I
want to say that I believe that the white man, instead of teaching
the Indian to work, has himself, like the Indian, learned to follow
the lines of least resistance.
"My father was Col. Wm. Bent who built Bent's fort on the
Arkansas. Mother was Sarah Sullivan and came from Indiana.
Her folks before her fought at Valley Forge and nearly, as I
could ascertain, in every war since. My father was a frontiers-
90 IN THE LAND OF CHINOOK
man and had several Indian wives before he married my mother.
He and Kit Carson married sisters, that is Indian women.
"I was born in 1846 in St. Louis. One of my father's broth-
ers was Provisional Governor of New Mexico and was killed by
the Mexicans. Just when I do not know. (It took place in
1847.) When I was a small boy I went with Lieut. Gunnison
and his men to explore the Gunnison river. My father supported
Albert Sidney Johnson during the trouble with Mexico. Old
Col. Leavenworth was also a friend of father's.
"I went to school, in a kind of private school at St. Louis, and
my room-mates were two Spaniards who were the sons of Senor
Romero, a minister to the United States during Grant's admin-
istration. These boys were Fernando and Bernado. Fernando
killed Bernado while at school. I remained in school for quite
a long time as mother was trying to keep me out of the war. An
uncle said I was old enough to go to war and help save his
negroes. When mother died, as some of my friends were going
to join the army, I went with them and remained till it was over.
I was wounded at Chickamauga, in the second day's fighting.
"When I returned to St. Louis I thought some of going to
Mexico to join Maximilian but instead drifted north and came to
Atchison and met Bill Anderson, one of Quantrell's men. I
remained for a while with an old fellow named Murphy and then
drifted west with some people into the Platte country and there
fell in with a Spaniard called 'Sago.' We wandered around quite
a lot and at last got into the Yellowstone park from which place
we went via Bozeman to Virginia City, where we arrived in
June, 1 866. I did not mine, though I was offered $8.00 per day
to do so. I left the same summer and went into Dry Gulch near
Helena. I left Helena with Henry McDonald and went down
to the Musselshell country. We drifted around there until that
winter and in 1866-7 rode the Pony Express from Diamond City
to Fort Hawley on the Missouri.
"Two men always rode together. Two went from Hawley
to Wolf Point. (That point received its name from a large num-
ber of wolves that had been caught and piled up by Charlie
Conklin and two other fellows, but the Indians came and they
never got a chance to skin them.) The route extended on past
Union, Devil's Lake to Fort Abercombrie, on the Red River of
the North. I quit riding the spring of '68. 'Liver Eating' John-
son rode one or two trips with me. While I was riding with
Johnson was when I first met Billy Cochran; he was camping
at the east end of the Little Rockies.
"In the fall of 1868 they began to hire men at Fort Benton
to build Fort Browning on Peoples creek in the Milk river coun-
try. This was about the fourth day of August and Hubbel and
THE STORY OF BLAINE COUNTY 91
Hawley, the Northwest Fur company hired the men to build a
trading post and a place for a representative of the government.
After the h ort w^as finished there were too many men and we were
told to look out for ourselves. Bill Hamilton, one of the men,
said, 'Boys, suppose we go into the Little Rockies and hunt for
gold.' Bill would not work at the fort as he would not work at
anything like that, he was trapping and hunting most of the time.
We formed a party with Bill as leader. Bill, Joe Wye, Fred
Merchant, John Thomas, myself and three others made the
party. This was in the fall of 1868. We went round on the
east end of the mountains and prospected on Dry Beaver. We
found gold, but not in paying quantities, and that was, to my
knowledge, the first gold found in the Little Rockies." In reply
to a question Mr. Bent said: "I heard, through a man named
Grinnell, that some men who had been mining in the west went
east and on their return got off the boat and went into the Little
Rockies and were never heard of afterward. Grinnell was later
killed by the Indians.
"Tlie ground froze up on us before we could do much and
we threw everything in the mining line away. Bill was not very
religiously inclined and after the ground froze up he cussed
God Almighty. We killed some elk and packed the skins to
Benton. I stayed there a while and took supplies back for wolf-
ing on the Milk river. The wolfing party consisted of the same
men with the exception of Joe Wye, who would not come. We
went on the Upper Milk river into the Piegan country." (Here
some incidents happened to come into the old man's mind and we
record them because they are too good to miss.) "I want to tell
you a little story about Major Culbertson and Agent Fenton.
The major was a great lover of whisky and one winter at Old
Fort Belknap the major was pretty full most all winter and no
one could tell where he was getting his supply. There was a
cellar in the cabin in which Culbertson lived and Fenton was
agent. That fall the Indians brought in a two-headed buffalo
calf and as it was a curiosity, Fenton wished to secure it, so he
could take it the next spring back to the Smithsonian Institute.
In order to keep it he sent for a large keg or small barrel of
alcohol and putting the calf head in it put it down cellar for safe
keeping. There was no whisky to be kept there as it was an
Indian reservation.
"When spring came the agent sent a couple of men down for
the keg and told them it was heavy and that they should be care-
ful not to drop and break it. When they got down they found
the keg was not at all heavy and so reported to Fenton who,
on examination, found that it was too true as there was but little
92 IN THE LAND OF CHINOOK
except dry calf heads as the Major had found and tapped the
keg and used the Hquor for Hbations.
Another Incident.
"Old man Meldrum was trading down on the Missouri near
Fort Union one time and some Indians came and they seemed to
have something on their minds, though he was anxious to trade
he could only do so when they got good and ready. There were
several different parties of them and they had been around quite
a lot since he had seen them and they were recounting the strange
things they had seen on their trips. One party said they had seen
funny things in the south and the party that thought they had seen
the funniest thing was one that had been to Fort Benton. 'We
have seen the white man's mother.' Meldrum said: 'Are you sure?
Was it the Queen of England or was it a white woman in the
country?' 'No, it was the white man's mother and how different
from us did God make her. We were raised on our mother's
breast but they, the white men, are so different.' Meldrum asked
what she looked like and how she was different. 'Well, it did
not look like us, it was spotted and had a tail.' The white men
had a milk cow at Benton and the Indians sneaked up when they
were milking and saw some of them drinking the milk so that
was the reason they thought it was the white man's mother.
"The Indians claim that the white men drove the buffalo back
into their holes from which they came. They had rounded them
all up, drove them into the hole and closed it up so they could
not get out. Even 'Old Nosey,' the chief of the Assinniboines,
could not be argued out of the question. He said they had done
it so as to make the Indian come around to the white man's ways.
"At the time that Major Logan wanted to fence the reserva-
tion the Indians did not want it done as they had been fooled so
often that they were getting sore. They said if I would come
to the council they would listen. It was satisfactorily arranged
and the reserve was enclosed.
"I have trapped on all the streams of the Bear's Paw and
Little Rockies and have many experiences. In the fall of 1869
a steamer was stuck on a sand bar and could not be moved. She
had a load of supplies, whisky, etc. Major Reed said that they
would go down and wreck the boat as she had a hole stove in
her. He hired several men who were around there and took two
teams. Major went himself. I forget all of them but Jim Wells,
Anderson, John Thomas, Billie Smith and Steve Tabor and
Jim Campbell and several others. They wanted me to go but I
told them they were going to get into trouble, so went into the
Little Rockies and put in forty-four days alone. This was near
THE STORY OF BLAINE COUNTY 93
the Middle Butte on the east end. I do not think I am supersti-
tious, but living alone for that length of time got me. I got so
things began to puzzle me. Every morning I would go out and
get on a big rock where I could look all about. When game
was quiet I knew no Indians were about, if it was movmg I
knew that war parties were out. My wolf baits kept me pretty
busy, so busy in fact that I could not skin all of them so had
to pile them up. While I was living there alone the game would
come right down to the cabin but I was afraid to shoot on account
of the Indians. , i • w/i i
"I used the fat of the wolf to fry my dough banks m. While
in the camp that winter there was one thing that occurred to me
which I never could understand. I had been out all day, as the
baits had turned up several wolves, and while they were fresh I
skinned them. The result was that when I got back to the cabm
I was very tired. It was almost dark when I arrived, so I built up
a good fire and sat down in a cam.p chair and JDegan looking at
the fire when all at once I seemed to hear a sigh. There was
a little hole that I used for light in one end of the cabin not far
from where I was sitting. When I heard the noise or whatever
it was I turned and cold see a dark face and two large eyes look-
ing at me. I sat there spellbound, could not move hand or foot.
The fire was burning brightly and my gun was close to me, but
for a time I could not reach for it. I can not say how long I
sat there but at last I grabbed my gun and went out but could find
nothing, not even a track. That face was just as plain as yours
is at this minute, I can't understand what it could have been.
"Another time after I had been out all day with my traps I
returned home late in the afternoon. I noticed some tracks. At
first I thought it was a bear when I remembered there were no
bears in that section. Then I came to the conclusion it was an
Indian hunting my cabin. I went into the house and was there
a little while when I looked out and noticed something moving
on the hillside toward the spring. I went out where I could have
a better view and saw the object get down on all fours and drink.
When it raised up I could see it was an Indian woman, but in
the most terrible condition I ever saw. I drew her attention by
whistling and she made a peculiar noise through her teeth. Her
feet were bare and her face was frozen till it was black and partly
gone. I watched her as she started to move away from me and
thought I would shoot her and put her out of her misery. I
actually raised my gun to fire the fatal shot but thought better
of it and she left. I never saw her afterward, but in relating my
story at Browning, some of the Gros Ventres hearing it said she
was a Crow. They told the Crows about it and a young man
from that tribe came to me and told me that he thought it must
94 IX THE LAND OF CHINOOK
be his mother as she had strayed off from their camp and had
become lost. He was very anxious to find her and said his folks
were wealthy and that he would give me the finest horse in the
Crow tribe, besides other things, if I would go and try and find
her. I never went.
The Steamboat Party.
"To return to the party under Major Reed : All the rest of
the fellows went with the major. Moses Solomon and Jimmie
Dwyer were there also. They went down to Peck first, then
started to the wreck and when about ten miles from that post
noticed some Indians in the hills. Some thought them Assinni-
boines. Tom Campbell did not like their action as he knew
Indians pretty well. The boys continued on their way, however,
and as they were going over some hills they noticed some Indians
on both sides. They were not molested but allowed to come
down from the hills into the trap the Indians had set for them.
The party proved to be Santee Sioux who were hunting elk.
Just as soon as they got in the bottom the Indians closed in on
them and they tried to withdraw but the Indians kept them going
and they began to run their four-horse teams in order to make
their getaway but the Indians were running on both sides of the
teams and soon began to fire on them. They shot one of the
leaders in Mose Solomon's team. Mose then cut his other horses
loose from the wagon and the other boys jumped off and ran
for a cut bank that was close by. They jumped over the bank
into the willows but before they got there they killed McGregor,
John Thomas, Steve Tabor and Montgomery. In the meantime
Mose and Jimmie Dwyer had jumped on a mule and started to
get away with the Indians after them. They shot Mose in one
foot and one bullet passed between them without injury. The
other fellows were held in the willows. Some of the Indians
came up on one side and some on the other and they were so
close, so the boys said, that they could hear them drop their trade
balls into their guns. Billie Smith killed one of the most noted
Indians in the Sioux nation in that fight. The boys were held
in the brush till night, when they abandoned their wagons and
walked back to Peck. Tom Campbell escaped on a big black
horse that belonged to me and brought the news to Peck.
The Nez Perce Campaign.
"A year before the battle, where Joseph was captured by
Col. Miles, there were a lot of Nez Perces that came down with
horses to trade and some which they gave away as presents to
the Assinniboines. They told them that they expected to have
THE STORY OF BLAINE COUNTY 95
trouble with the whites in the country where they Hved. It appears
that some of the Nez Perces agreed to the seHing of a certain part
of their reserve in Idaho but that a large number opposed it but
anyway the Government allowed them to be crowded off without
their consent. They tried to remain anyway but their agent told
them they must move to another place. They explained that it
would never do as their stock would be sure to go back to the old
range and then there would be trouble with the whites as they
would never let them get their stock once it got in their possession.
They were right about this, because it actually happened. A
short time before the battle I was at Old Fort Belknap when I
received word from Fort Benton. Major Algers was in charge
of a little band of troops there and he sent word to me to keep
the Indians well in hand as the Nez Perces were traveling this
way and were fighting down on the Missouri. Murray Nichol-
son and Eph Woolsey had been paid $500.00 to bring me the
letter.
"I at once called the Indians together in council and told them
that the people who were here the summer before with all the
horses and presents were fighting the soldiers and that the soldiers
were after them and coming this way and that the best thing they
could do would be not to have anything to do with them as the
soldiers would punish all they found in arms. In less than an
hour's time after the council was over some of the Nez Perces
came. The majority of the Nez Perces were south of the Mis-
souri and coming toward the Bear's Paw. There were five Nez
Perces that came. About two days after, quite early in the morn-
ing, we heard scattering shots south of us, between us and the
Bear's Paw. The Indians who were out in the hills came in and
said there was lots of shooting and they thought there must be a
battle. A little snow fell that night, about an inch. That evening
we heard the big guns and I said the fight is on. The next day we
still heard the shooting and I was holding the Indians as close as
I could. Some of them wanted to go and find out what was going
on, but I told them it would be better for me to go for if I ran
into the soldiers I would be safe. So I started and kept going
toward the sound and got south of the West Fork of Snake creek
and it became so dark that all I could see was the flashes of
the guns once in a while. I got up to where I could see the
pickets in one place and laid down and waited till morning. As
soon as it was light enough I went to one of the men on picket
and explained who I was and he told me to go in. I could see the
whole thing, the pits of the Indians, and the breastworks of the
soldiers, and away back were the tents. I went over and reported
to Miles. My first attempt was not very successful for I saw
a fellow all togged out whom I saluted as I was sure it was the
96 IN THE LAND OF CHINOOK
general, but noticed that some of them laughed and pointed to
another. Miles himself. In my report I told him what the Assin-
niboines were doing and the orders I had from the War Depart-
ment through Algers. He told me to go back and keep them in
hand and see that they did not get in the fight. I called his atten-
tion to the fact that his was but a handful compared with the
number of Sioux who were at Pinto Horse Butte under Sitting
Bull and that it was only seventy miles, which would be but a
short ride for an Indian. I also told him that all of his pits were
a defense on the side toward the Nez Perces and that if the
Sioux came he would be in a bad fix as they would come in from
the rear. (The Nez Perces had sent for the Sioux but they did
not come.)
"After going back and telling the Assinniboines what Miles
had said I returned to the battlefield. I think it was the fourth
day of the fight that Miles, Sweeny, Arthur Chapman, an inter-
preter from Idaho, Captain John, a Nez Perce, and myself went
down to have a talk with the Indians. John was sent down into
the pit to talk with the Nez Perces while we laid down peeping
over a hill. He rode a pinto horse with a hospital sheet tied to
a pole. He would stop and wave the flag and halloo at them
and at last he was allowed to approach near enough to carry on
a conversation. You could still see them throwing out the dirt,
as they were occupying all their spare time fortifying. After a
little some of the Indians came out and John went out of sight
for a few minutes and then appeared again with six or seven of
them. They all had their guns with them and Miles said to
Chapman: 'You tell those fellows not to use any treachery be-
cause there are hundreds of men looking through their sights ready
to shoot.' They shook their heads and came on. Of course we
did not know who they were. We started towards Miles' tent
but as a lot of officers began to crowd around, the Indians stopped
and Miles said to Arthur: 'What's the matter with them?'
Chapman replied that they did not like the officers to be so handy
so Miles ordered them back as they were confusing the Indians.
We all went over to Miles' tent and he got some camp stools for
the Indians, but not enough as some had to sit on the ground.
They sat there a while and then he said that they had better have
a smoke but for the Indians to furnish the tobacco as then they
would be sure it was all right. After a while Miles began to talk.
He said that it pained him to do what he was doing but it was
his duty. They did not make any reply. Captain Baird and
another officer were taking down everything that was being said
in writing. When Miles was talking he was addressing a very
fine tall Indian who was sitting on a stool not far away. When
Chapman was doing his interpreting he was looking and talking
THE STORY OF BLAINE COUNTY 97
to an Indian sitting on the ground. The Indian to whom Miles
was talking would hardly say anything but the Indian sitting on
the ground would smile. A little while after I noticed an old
gray-haired officer come in and stand way back, he only had
one arm and the coat sleeve was pinned across his breast. As
soon as the Indians saw him they seemed to be awful angry, their
eyes blazed. This was Howard.
"Miles once more addressed the Indian sitting on the stool
and asked him if he hadn't had enough of this by now. But the
Indian did not reply. Miles turned to Chapman and looked for
an answer. Chapman had noticed that Miles had addressed all
his talk to the particular Indian who would not reply and as Miles
looked at him he said (pointing to the one on the ground) Why
don't you ask him? Miles said: 'Who is he?' 'That's the
leader. Chief Joseph.' Miles was surprised but he got up and
handed his stool to the Chief and from that time all his remarks
were made to the proper person. Joseph said that White Bird
did not want to surrender and that he would take one more night
so as to give him a chance to think it over. During that night
White Bird escaped with his two wives and went over the line.
The next day, the last day of the fight. Miles said: 'I want
you to go down to the river and tell the Indians down there not
to kill any more Nez Perces. About seven Nez Perces were
killed by the Assinniboines.
"The day that Joseph surrendered he said he thought the
river was the line and that the Indians would be friendly but as
they were enemies he would give up. He handed his gun, muzzle
first, to Howard but Howard said: 'No, that man, pointing to
Miles, is the one who won it.' He then turned and handed his
gun, butt first, to Miles. I have always thought that if Howard
had reached for that gun he would have been shot.
My Capture by the Nez Perces.
"When I left the battlefield to go to the river to tell
the Indians what Miles had said I was captured by some of the
Nez Perces that had escaped. One of them talked to me and
said: 'You are a soldier.' To this I said 'No.' He said: 'You
are a liar you are a soldier and you came right from them and we
saw you.' I replied that I was not a soldier but belonged on the
river and that my children were the offspring of an Indian mother.
They asked me if I was living with the Indians to talk some of the
language to them. I talked Crow and made several attempts to
talk several different Indian tongues so they would know that
I was not lying. Then they noticed the horse which I was riding
and it belonged to the Government. 'Why are you riding a Gov-
98 IN THE LAND OF CHINOOK
ernment horse if you are not a soldier?' I told them that I had
a small pony which had played out and that Miles had given me
this one so I could go down to the river and do some good work
for them. I swore to God in the Indian fashion that I was telling
the truth, and they shook hands with me and told me to ride and
ride fast. I started out but turned back to say something but
they motioned me to keep going on and I took them at their
word. Miles had offered me twenty-five ponies, the pick of the
band, and five hundred dollars for the capture of White Bird,
dead or alive."
Bent is at this date. May, 1917, near the reservation.
Ranch Mouth Snake Creek,
Fort Belknap Ind. Reservation, 7/30—1915.
Mr. Thos. Dowen, Chinook, Mont.
Dear Sir: Your letter of the 20th just received. In replying
I would say the small brass cannon, you mention in your letter,
was brought to the territory, now the State of Montana, early in
1850 in mackinaws (boats) cordelled by Choteau's men, or by
Alex Culbertson to Fort Union (afterward Fort Buford), then
again to Fort Benton by river; then again down the river to Fort
Hawley, above the mouth of the Musselshell river, then when
this place (Hawley) was abandoned in 1868 it was hauled by
bull team to the new Fort Browning, on Milk river. I was then
at Fort Browning helping to build this post when the two cannon
were brought there by the Northwest Fur company by Louis
Hubble and Geo. Boyd in charge. The mate of this gun is at
Fort Belknap Agency now. When we abandoned old Fort
Browning in about 1870 we hauled most everything up to the
new post, Fort Belknap then being built up to near where Chinook
is now. As we had hauled about everything our last, next trip,
was to be some flooring v/e had torn up, and the two brass cannon,
one in the northeast and the other in the southwest bastions (block
houses) corners of the stockade. In making our next to last trip
we had not gone ten miles, when, looking back, we saw an
immense column of black smoke and a little while after saw a
war party of hostile Sioux Indians following us. We then knew
they had burnt the abandoned old Fort. We had left nobody there.
Afterwards when we went back we found the old Fort partly
destroyed; that is the southwest bastion, was completely burned.
This cannon you are asking about was in this fire (bastion) ; the
other cannon, its mate, was taken up to new Belknap, near where
Chinook now is; then afterwards to the new Agency near Harlem.
These small guns were used twice at Browning on the hostiles.
We also used them to salute the friendlys, when large trading
■i
■^\\ \Ab '
1
. 1
■ !
4
if'
'i
THE STORY OF BLAINE COUNTY 99
parties, loaded with buffalo robes and skins, came in to trade with
us. There was never any military or soldiers stationed at old
Browning, only once, Maj. Freeman with two companies of infan-
try stayed at old Fort Browning about one month, no others. The
most important man in Indian affairs here then was Maj. A. J.
Simons; (Alex Culbertson and myself, his interpreters.)
Yours respectfully,
W. BENT.
Harlem, Montana.
If there is any more information you would like on this sub-
ject, please let me know.
Joseph Mosser.
"I was born in Alsace, France, July 1 0th, 1840. I came to
the U. S. in 1 846, to New Orleans. We came in an old sailing
vessel and were sixty-one days on the ocean. My grandfather
was with Napoleon and was one of the few who came back from
Moscow. (His name was Joseph Martin.) We did not remain
very long in New Orleans, but went to Kenton county, Kentucky.
I remember seeing Daniel Boone's name carved on a tree on the
Licking river. TTie date was there but I do not at this time recall
it. We farmed in the summer and in the winter took bolting and
staves down to Cincinnati in flat boats. I was in New Orleans
in '61 when the war broke out, when the first gun was fired at
Fort Sumpter. We got a steamboat and were captured at Helena,
Arkansas, and held three days. They had a grudge against Cin-
cinnati as arms were coming from that city to Arkansas. The
boat was the Queen of the West. When I arrived in Cincinnati
I tried to enlist but they would not accept me as they said my
lungs were too weak. We leased a farm and moved to it in '64.
In '64 I left St. Louis for Fort Benton on the steamer Benton.
Thomas Ray was captain and Henry A. Dolman chief clerk.
We arrived at Benton, June, '64. I did not go to the mines as I
saw too many who said provisions were so high that a small
amount of money would only last a short time, so I returned to
St. Louis on the same boat. I worked up and back and received
$65 per month. When we arrived at St. Louis I was put on as
watchman for a few trips to Cairo. I was in business in Cincin-
nati from the summer of 1864 to 1868, and again went to work
on the Success, under the same captain and clerk that had run on
the Benton. After reaching Benton I went back to the mouth of
the Musselshell, then called Kirtzville, at that time supposed to
be the county seat of Dawson county. James Brewer (who was
afterwards at White Sulphur Springs) was Sheriff. Bert Whit-
son and some other man were the County Commissioners; no
100 IN THE LAND OF CHINOOK
Judge, just a Justice of the Peace. I was appointed Deputy
Sheriff to care for some property (cord wood and a yoke of
cattle) . There were two stores there at that time, George Clen-
denning-Montana Hide and Fur company, and Jacob Smith
at the head of a Helena firm. I put in my time at that place till
some time early in the winter chopping wood. About Christmas
I went to Rocky Point and worked for Lohmire and Lee, who
had a wood yard. I worked for them until the spring of '69,
when I went down to the mouth of the Musselshell with John
Duffy in a skiff. It was only a short time after we arrived there
that the fight took place between the men in the post and the
Santee Sioux. It was ten or eleven in the morning when about
125 or 150 Indians got themselves in readiness to wipe us out.
The first we knew we saw them on a rise a short distance away,
waving their blankets and shouting that we were dogs, cowards
and everything they could think of to belittle one. They shouted
that we dare not fight. Finally one of the boys said: 'Let's
give the a go anyway.' To this the others agreed. Clen-
denning said that that would be all right, but not to leave the
place in his care all together as we might get into something
that we could not carry through in the best kind of shape, or, in
other words, v/e might get wiped out. Some ten or twenty stayed
with him.
"There was a deep, cut bank coulee that ran into the Mus-
selshell, a short distance from the fort, and fifty or sixty of the
enemy got into that thinking to cut us off from the fort when
we went after the fellows on the hill. If it had not been for
Jake Leader's dog we would no doubt have fallen into their trap.
The dog scented the Indians and looked over at them and Jake
followed him up and was peaking over when an Indian shot him
in the point of his nose and the bullet came out the back of his
head. (See the Story of Billy Cochran) . After this four men
went across the Musselshell in a skiff, and came up opposite this
hole and began to throw shots in so fast the Indians could not
stand it so that they had to get out. Thirty-one or thirty-two
of them were killed. These men were Frank Smith, James
Wells, Joe Girard, a little Frenchman, and sonieone else.
(Cochran says Frank Smith, Jim Wells, G. R. Norris and him-
self were the four men) . The fight did not last long after it got
well started, maybe one-half hour. The Indians were too badly
scared to return but kept running as long as they could, but some
got so full of lead that they had to stop. The last one to get
out of the hole was a half-breed boy who ran toward the whites
and said: 'Me good Injun,' to which 'Liver Eating' Johnson
replied: 'If you are good you are in d d bad company,'
and raising his gun killed him. Then he took out his knife and
THE STORY OF BLAINE COUNTY 101
cut out the liver and putting one end of it in his mouth took his
knife and cut off a piece and said: 'Boys try a piece of this,
it is as good as antelope liver.' This act gave J. J. Johnson
the name w^hich he ever afterwards carried, 'Liver Eating' John-
son. Soon after this fight I went up to Rocky Point on the first
boat. In those days if a person wanted to go any where he was
careful not to start till it was dark as the Indians were always
lying in wait for him. I was in a good many scraps with the
Indians but was very lucky in getting out whole. Three of the
boys were killed at Carroll Point. They were old man Lee,
Drew Denton and Charlie Williams. These men were going
along the river when they saw the Indians and they got into
some brush to hide, but the Indians saw the tracks and charged
their position. Old man Lee was killed when he rose up and said
'How, How.' He was shot in the head, Williams was flesh
wounded in the shoulder; he had a lot of cartridges and a bul-
let hit some of them and they exploded and he cried out: 'God,
Drew, I'm blown up.' Drew replied: 'Never mind that, keep
shooting.' That same bunch of Indians were at my place that
morning and had run us into the stockade. (This was in April,
1870.) Drew and Williams came up on the other side of the
river from us and shouted across to us and we went over and
got them about two o'clock in the morning. They said they had
fought the Sioux all day and that old Lee was dead. We went
down about two days after this and buried him, close to where
he fell. There was evidence of a good sized scrap. The Indians
told some one that they lost eleven men at that time. This was
at Carroll Point. They were trying to make it the head of
navigation, instead of Benton. I quit the river in 1871 as the
boats quit running, to any extent, and most all the wood yards
were abandoned. I had only made a living during my business
career on the Missouri. I had five hundred cords of wood (that
went into the river afterwards) and one yoke of cattle which were
killed by the Reds, so I backed the wagon into the river and
let go too. I did this to keep the Indians from getting the spokes
with which they made handles for their whips. I had made
more money chopping wood for three dollars per cord than I had
in running the business for myself. There were only six boats up
the river in 1870 and as high as forty were running in the old
days before the railroad was built to Corrinne. The railroad
changed the conditions on the upper Missouri. When in the
wood business on the river we trapped and hunted and tried to
make a little extra money in that way. Wolf hides were $2.50;
coyote, $1.25; lynx, $5.00; bobcats, $1.50; foxes, $1.25. In
1870 I went to work for Tom Bogy at Claggett (old Camp
Cook). That was the year that Billy Claggett was elected to
102 IN THE LAND OF CHINOOK
Congress. TTie vote for him at that place was unanimous. There
were only five of us, just enough for three judges and two clerks.
That night we sat in a game of freeze out and played to see
who would have the pay we were to get as judges and clerks of
the election. I won the pot and sold my script to Tom Powers
for sixty cents on the dollar. I was helping Bogy at anything
needed and would have charge of the store whenever he was
away. We had four horses which the Indians swam the Missouri
and stole from us. I had gone to get them, not knowing that
there were any Indians near. The boys shouted for me to come
and, supposing the Reds were right on top of me, crawled under
a cut bank. These were Fort Peck Indians, as we got the horses
back from them a little later.
"To go back a little in my experience on the river. I will say
that in '64 we had left a barge at Fort Benton as he had adver-
tised that we would take passengers. We had gone down to
Fort Gilpin (Gilpin was an old Indian trader) for freight but
could not get back on account of low water. While near this
place we were cutting wood when the Indians came and chased
us back on the boat — only one man was hit. This was my
first experience with wild Indians in their real wild state. I
did not think that these fellows meant any trouble till they began
to shoot. I made for the boat under a cut bank, stubbed my toe
and fell over and over. I heard one of the boys say They have
got one of our men.' I raised up running and replied 'Not by a
d n sight.' I was soon on board. We cut the line and
throwed the anchor out till we could get up steam. We wanted
to get an Indian head for a trophy to stick up on the flag staff.
We were never able to get it as there were too many Reds out
there in the timber and the boys kept shouting for us to come m
as they could see the enemy all about us.
"We had to wait for the barge before we could pull out.
When it did come it had forty or fifty men who were going down
with us. We sold the barge and pulled out. It was no picnic
in those days steamboating on the Missouri. In 1 872 I left Ben-
ton and went to Bismark and from there to Covington, Ky.,
where I bought a news stand in the postoffice. It was only a
short time after this when carriers were established and the peo-
ple no longer came after their mail, so it broke me. Jesse R.
Grant, the father of General U. S. Grant, was the postmaster at
that time.
"In seventy- five I came back to Claggett, as Bogy had kept
writing to me. This gave me a job as soon as I got off the boat.
(Bogy sold soon after this to Jim Wells.) Bogy was to go north
and establish a line of posts so went east for goods. I did not
go with him as T. C. Power wanted me to stay with Wells. I
THE STORY OF BLAINE COUNTY 103
remained at this place till March, 76, and went to Benton and
became a watchman on the levee, as they did not have warehouse
room.
"In June I went to Bismark and from there to the Black Hills,
Deadwood, seeking a fortune in gold mines, chasmg fantoms as
it were. I stayed there till 78, but did not succeed. I got into
Deadwood a few days before Wild Bill was killed and heard
the shot that killed him. That v/as truly a tough place.
"Those were the days when the Indians were bad. In fact,
they had become such a menace that the merchants of Deadwood
offered a bounty of $25 for all Indian heads brought in. A
greaser brought one in and collected his pay and a short time
after this a Texan came riding up the street (Main street) with
an Indian head tied to the end of his lariat, quirting his horse all
the way up. He made such a show of himself that he could
not collect the bounty. He was very angry and said: 'You
would pay a greaser but you would not pay a white man.'
"Calamity Jane came in with Crook's soldiers. She was a
mighty fine looking girl. She always dressed in buckskins.
"I left the Black Hills and went to Old Fort Belknap and
went to work for Tom O'H anion. We had come from the
'Hills' on horseback but had no trouble. Major Lincoln was the
agent in those days.
"I remained for two years with O'Hanlon and then bought
a freight team and began to haul from Benton to Belknap. Fort
Assinniboine was started in '79. I hauled freight to it also, from
Rocky Point.
"I also hauled grain from Maple Creek, Canada, to Assinni-
boine. T. C. Power had had the contract to furnish corn and
oats to the post and as the grain could not come up the river on
account of low water the grain was shipped in bond to Canada
on the Canadian railroad and hauled to Assinniboine by team.
Major Field, who succeeded Lincoln at Belknap, was a mighty
fine man and though this was an Indian Reservation he told me
he had inside information that the reservation would soon be
thrown open and that I had better settle some place — any place I
chose.
"In 1884 I cut 1260 tons of hay on Big Sandy for the Post
at two dollars per ton, cutting and bunching. Broadwater had
the contract and got twenty dollars delivered.
"Owing to the advice of Field I went to Clear Creek and
located a ranch about thirty miles from Chinook. I put the first
trout into that stream that were ever in it, they were furnished
by the Government and had come from Colorado, 8,000 finger-
lings. TTiere had been no trout in any of the streams that ran
lOi I\ THE LAND OF CHINOOK
to the Milk river. There were some on the south side in Eagle
and Birch. Birch was full of them in 1 876.
"Bear's Paw was full of elk, deer, mountain sheep and buf-
falo. One season a party of us had come to hunt elk in the
Bear's Paw but the buffalo had eaten the grass off so we had
to go back. On this trip I got snow blind and they had to tie me
on my horse and take me back to the Musselshell.
"I run cattle and horses on my Clear Creek ranch till 1916,
when I sold out and moved to Chinook to reside. I had seen the
oats grow in favorable seasons in the tracks of the roundup
wagons but could not believe that such land would ever grow
crops in paying quantities. I had seen Milk River without any
water except what was in holes and the fact that Old Fort
Belknap was located where it was, was because there was a
large hole there that never went dry.
"The cattle business began in '78 in a small way by Tom
O'Hanlon and others. The cattle had to be close herded. Al
Shultz was foreman of the company a little later,
"Permission had to be gotten from the Government or agent
who had secured the privilege from the Government. As to
sheep, I can not cay who really did try them out first. Frank
Sayer brought in some in '89 and B. G. Olsen came in '89 or '90.
They had them down on the east end of Bear's Paw.
"Old Fort Belknap was built of cottonwood logs cut on
Milk river. I contracted to cut and haul some fir logs with which
to construct buildings in '86. This timber was secured in the
Bear's Paw and hauled thirty miles. Two of these buildings
still stand on the old Agency about 500 yards from the old
buildings.
"In trading with the Indians the value was according to the
Indian's desire. A sky-blue bead that was purchased at the cost
of fifty or sixty cents per gross would be exchanged for a robe
worth five or six dollars at the rate of fifteen beads for a robe.
"As we are talking and thinking of these things I recall in a
way many things that I could not think of as they appeared, con-
secutively, but one thing I now recall was that only a short time
after the battle at the mouth of the Musselshell in '69, probably
that same fall, a number of Indians came one day without their
women or children and said they would like to trade. One
of the men who could understand them told Clendenning that
they were not there on any legitimate business and that we must
watch them. They examined the goods, asked prices, and told
what they would be willing to pay for them. They went out and
gathered all the bones of the dead Indians and came back to
the stockade again. When they all got inside, the gates were
closed, as the interpreter heard them say they would kill the
GEORGE IIERENDEEN.
The last of the Great Scouts
THE STORY OF BLAINE COUNTY 105
whole bunch. There were only seven or eight men. The closing
of the gates was something the Indians could not understand, so
they asked the reason for such an act and were told that as they
had come there to kill the whites, they, the white men, had come
to the conclusion that they could all die at the same time. How
is that? The Indians wanted to know. The interpreter said:
'You saw that man go into the cellar — that place is full of powder
and when the first shot is fired by you that place will explode and
all of us will be blown into eternity at the same time. In fact it
will save the trouble of a lingering death by gunshot wounds.
"This was too much for the Red's nature to stand so they
begged that the gates be thrown open so they could go on their
way to the final burial of the remains of their people who had
fallen by the same band of white hunters the spring before."
It must have been a peculiar class of men who were around
those wood camps and about the trading posts in those days.
Some of them were mighty good citizens but many were only
noted for their bravery but not for honor. — A. /. No^es (Ajax).
George Herendeen — One of the Last of the
Great Scouts.
One of the characters of Blaine county is that most unassum-
ing of all men, George Herendeen, the subject of this sketch.
He was born in the fall of forty-six on the Western Reserve,
twenty-eight miles east of Cleveland. His parents died when he
was thirteen. After the close of the war he went to Indiana and
lived with an uncle for some time. The hum-drum life that one was
to live in the Middle West did not appeal to George, so he came
to the conclusion to "Go West" and try to grow up with the
country.
Colorado, especially Denver, was a section that was heard
of as a mining country more than any other, except California,
in the sixties, and to Denver, George went. He does not say what
he did while in Colorado. From there he went to New Mexico
and while he does not say what he did while there we infer that
he was cow punching, as we find that he is headed for Montana
in '69 helping to drive a herd of Texas cattle. He came through
Wyoming into Idaho via Taylor's Bridge, on the Snake, into
Montana via Horse Prairie. These cattle belonged to Housen
Cooper. The winter of '69 and '70 George stayed at Horse
Shoe Bend near Three Forks, and held the cattle.
From that time on he was engaged in various things until '73,
when he went to the National Park with Captain Jackson of
Bozeman. In this party were Taylor Blivens and Sam Shank-
106 IN THE LAND OF CHINOOK
land, clerk of the Crow agency, and several more, ten in all.
Their object was to look over the park and blaze trails. This
experience gave our subject a knowledge of that most interesting
section of the United States so that he knew it so well that he
was selected by one of the noted hunters, later as guide.
The Seventy-Four Expedition to the Yellowstone.
In the spring of 1 874, February, 1 49 men left Bozeman for
the Yellowstone expedition. This was one of the dirtiest and
most disagreeable springs to the pioneers of Montana.
There were twenty-two teams, of all sizes, from a two-horse
to an eight-yoke of cattle. Nels Story furnished the big Prairie
Schooners for the big teams and probably most of the cattle. The
object of this trip was not given out at the time the boys started,
as they would not have been allowed to continue their journey
had the object been known to the authorities. Their object was
to prospect for gold, but they said they were going to look out a
route for travel.
Even their organization was left till they got over to the Yel-
lowstone. They followed down that stream and prospected on
the Porcupine, where they had been led to believe gold could be
found in paying quantities by a man who had deserted from the
army. They crossed the Yellowstone with the intention of going
south to the Powder river and prospect that stream also. They
had no sooner crossed that river than trouble commenced for
them. It came in great big gobs and was flung at them by almost
the whole Sioux nation under Sitting Bull. Trouble of that kind
did not disturb these fellows in the least as they were there looking
for it. Seldom has there been gathered together such a band of
men. Each one of them was a captain in himself and needed no
guiding hand, but they had selected one who was "Johnnie on the
Spot," Frank Grounds.
From the moment they got across the river they had to fight,
and while they were in several battles only one man was killed.
The Indians thought it an easy matter to wipe them out, but
they soon found that it was not possible Even Sitting Bull told
his young men that they were wasting their time and too many
lives on such a bunch of foolhardy fellows. The story of that
expedition is a book in itself and much of it has been written and
is in the Historical Society at Helena.
The boys came through in safety, though they did it under
difficulties that would have been too serious for any men not
toughened to the life of mountain and plains.
In 1875 we find that Herendeen is ready once more to try
the Yellowstone country. He has not been deterred by the trials
THE STORY OF BLAINE COUNTY 107
and troubles of the year before as they are the things of yester-
day, forgotten, in a way.
Nelson Story had some mackinaws built on the Yellowstone
for the establishment of trading posts on the lower river, as George
said : "We made two boats thirty-six feet long, at Pease's ranch
above where Livingston was afterward laid out. There were
twenty-eight of us. We were to meet the Coulson line of steam-
boats that were to come up the river. The steamer got up the
river near where Billings is now on the tenth day of June. They
blazed a cottonwood tree and went back. We continued on
down the river and camped on an island to be free from the
Indians. From there we went to Pease's bottom and built a stock-
ade. We were only four or five days putting the logs up.
"Major Pease, John Peck and I took a boat to go on down
the river and see where the steamer was. We were five days and
nights going to Fort Buford, at the mouth of the river, and found
that the matter was off so far as the steamer was concerned. We
arrived at Buford the morning of the Fourth of July.
"We had to be mighty careful going to Buford as there were
quite a number of Indians in that section that were not at all in
love with any one who was entering the Yellowstone country with
an object of settling it.
"Pease went east, I waited and caught a steamer up the
Missouri and was all the fall getting to Helena. Got their fair
week, the first day. I remained around Helena till after the fair
and then took the stage for Bozeman. The next day after arriv-
ing in Bozeman I went over to the Yellowstone, just below Liv-
ingston, took a boat and went to Baker's battlefield and built me
a 'dugout' and stayed there all winter and wolved.
"The next spring, in March, the Government sent four troops
of the Second Cavalry and others to take all the people out of
the Yellowstone. I was the only one at my place (See the rest of
his story). I was loaded up and taken to Fort Pease. Major
Brisban had sent Paul McCormick to tell me that he was to
take me out. I objected to being moved as I was not doing any
harm. Brisban persuaded me to go and taking my pelts in the
wagons we went to Pease and back to Bozeman.
"Of the twenty-eight men at Pease eighteen of them had been
killed and wounded, four killed and fourteen wounded.
"That spring Gibbon had come from Fort Shaw and had
organized at Fort Ellis. He had four troops of Seventh Infantry.
He wanted me to go with him as scout, but as the Government
had not made arrangements for pay, other than a teamster at
$16 per month, I would not go. Paul McCormick and I built
a boat and went down the river and found Gibbon at Fort Pease.
lOS IN THE LAND OF CHINOOK
"Paul got a chcince to take a message back to Bozeman and
then he brought back some goods and started a canteen. There
were several boats at Pease that Gibbon was going to take, but
I told him that I was one of the men to help build the fort and
as I was the only one there the boats belonged to me and he
could not have them. I told him I would take Captain Clifford
and the boys down, as we could scout and cover more ground
that way than on the land. (I did not work for Gibbon.) We
traveled down the Yellowstone pretty near the mouth of Powder
river. One morning we took a boat to go down the river. Major
Brisban, a soldier or two and a couple of Indians, were in the
boat. He did not say what his object was but we soon found
out that it was to see if there was a steamboat down the river,
as it was about time that the forces were getting together. We
run through the Wolf rapids and found a steamboat just landing.
We went on the boat and found General Terry and staff. We
learned that Custer was coming across from Fort Lincoln and
was expected any day. Terry, the day before, had sent scouts
out but they had been driven back and he was worried as to
how he could get word to Gibbon.
"He told me he would give me $300 if I would take a dis-
patch to Gibbon that night. I started out and got to the camp
about three in the morning. Gibbon did not move. Terry
steamed up to where Gibbon was, the next day. We then went
to the mouth of the Rose Bud. Custer's command came up on
the opposite side and camped. That afternoon they had a council
of war on the steamer (Far West) about the campaign. Custer,
Gibbon, Brisban and Terry were there. Custer sent for me to
come across the river and see him. When I reached them they
had a map lying on the table and as I stepped up Custer put his
finger on the map and said: 'Do you know that place?' I
told him I did and he replied : 'You are the man I want.'
"That evening we started for what was to be Custer's Battle
Field. I knew all that section of the country like a book and
was not long in leading him to the place concerning v/hich he
had asked me.
"When we arrived at the point where the battle took place
Custer turned to Reno and said : 'Lead out and take the scouts.*
Those were the last words we ever heard him say. Reno went
to the stream and retreated to the bluffs to a place of safety. In
doing this there were thirteen soldiers and Herendeen who had
not heard the command and they were left in some brush. It
is said that it was the knowledge of Herendeen's plainsmanship
that rescued the men and took them to a place where Reno was.
"Afterwards when the Government was investigating the
failure of Reno to do his full duty that day, Herendeen was
THE STORY OF BLAINE COUNTY 109
called as a witness to Chicago and was complimented by the offi-
cer in charge by saying, after the trial was over: 'Mr. Heren-
deen, I believe you are the only man who has told the truth.'
"Such a remark from such a source and at such a time was
certainly a compliment. Herendeen could only see that the truth
was what was wanted at that time. He is not one who talks
much and has no wish to pose as anything but just an ordinary
frontiersman who was doing his duty. He could not have had
the fear of Indians very strongly in him as you find him all the
winter, before, in his lonely 'Dugout' on the banks of the Yellow-
stone, where he was not safe for weeks on account of the Red
men. For days he did not feel safe in going over five hundred
yards from his camp as the signs were too numerous of the
enemy. He never speaks of any of his experiences as out of the
ordinary, just natural occurrences.
"When the last battle had been fought he became a guide in
the National park to Colonel Picket and was there with him in
1 880 killing bear and showing the Colonel how to get bruin.
"He was elected a complimentary member of the Society of
Montana Pioneers at Bozeman in 1914. He attended the anni-
versary of the Custer Batde in June, 1916, and expects to help
mark the trail that Custer followed from the Powder river to his
death, in 1917.
"Truly a frontiersman of whom it may be said when he goes
on his last hunt, 'He played the game like a man'."
The following little incident was told the writer by the old
soout, George Herendeen. It is one of those things that happen
to the old plainsmen in their lives on the frontier and which they
consider as of no particular moment, that is, of not enough inter-
est to the general public to bear repeating: "The expedition of
seventy-four to the Yellowstone county was one full of quite
interesting things. We always took them as ordinary occurrences,
so thought little of them. In fact we thought no more of them
than would the people who live the hum-drum of every day exist-
ence in any walk of life.
"We had gone down the north side of the Yellowstone to
the mouth of the Porcupine, which we had prospected, and made
up our minds to cross the larger stream and go to the south, just
where we did not care, as we had plenty of provisions and good
transportation. On March 25th we made the crossing and were
compelled to camp for five days on account of a big storm of
snow which started soon after we were over.
"The country to the south was rough, coulees, rolling hills and
ridges, on which there were some scrubby pines.
no IN THE LAND OF CHINOOK
"On April 1st we had resumed our march and had chosen
a coulee as it was the only means of approach to the hills cmd
benchlands that overlook the Yellowstone on the south.
"We had about twenty wagons, well guarded, as we had
plenty of men. In all commands you will find some fellow who
was more or less foolhardy — willing to try any experience once —
and this particular day the hero (?) must be Charlie Dryden,
a long-legged youth who carelessly rode on in advance of the
party up the coulee and on to the divide. On that divide there
was a great big surprise awaiting him. If he is alive today he
will, no doubt, recall vividly the occurrence and while he may
have no picture of himself as we saw him, he would not care
to dispute our version of the affair as we were looking at it from
another angle.
"It must not be considered a digression at this time to prepare
the reader's mind for the cause of Charlie's excitement.
"While we were camped on the Yellowstone in the storm we
had made big fires that caused great volumes of smoke to arise
to such a height that any roving bands of Indians, though miles
away, might see.
"Now that was just what happened. When Dryden passed
over the divide he was discovered by a band of thirteen young
Indians who, no doubt, were out to see what the smoke had meant.
They were riding toward him when he was seen but they had
time to disrobe and with nothing but their breech clouts as cover-
ing made for him with the expectation of soon affecting his cap-
ture alive. There was one thing that they had not taken into
consideration and that was that that particular pony which Dryden
had under him was a race horse with the speed of light and
which no Indian pony could approach and particularly so with
the fear they had put into the heart of her rider at that time.
"On hell-bent came the pony and not far behind the Red
boys in full pursuit, expecting that they would be successful.
They did not know that the advance guard was coming and that
they would soon run into a trap, as they only knew that there
was a lone white man who had strayed and who looked good
to them. On Charlie came with his long legs fanning the side
of the pony like the wings of an old-fashioned windmill. The
advance guard opened up and he was safe. The Reds then
turned and rode back but the whites gave them no time to pick up
iheir saddles and clothing which were soon discovered and ap-
propriated. This little thing did in no way disconcert the main
body and we continued with our journey until time to camp.
"There may be some guiding hand to lead us so that we, for
a time, escape, what appears, by the breadth of a hair, from
places of danger. After we had gone into camp and had some-
THE STORY OF BLAINE COUNTY 111
thing to eat five of us started out to look over the oountry in
order to pick out the most desirable road or to find if it would
be possible to proceed at all over a section of country where no
wagon had ever been before. The party consisted of Frank
Grounds, the captain of the expedition, Buck Buchanan, 'Wild
Cat' Bill Hamilton, the noted plainsman and author, 'Yank'
Everetts and myself. We had proceeded but a short distance
when I saw a deer track which led me to suspect that it could
be followed and its maker killed. The other boys continued on
while I struck out for the deer. Only a short distance away was
a small grove of pines to which the track lead. When I had
arrived at this place the desire for deer was soon dispelled as there
were plenty of fresh pony tracks which I knew to be the marks
of the Indians, so I started to overtake the four men who were
ahead. The point to which they were making was a wooded
hill. They were at the bottom of this rise and could not see the
summit. What caused me to look up I do not know, but I did,
and on the hill I could see an Indian on horseback waiting for our
approach. I was probably five hundred yards away but I pulled
up my rifle and blazed away, at the same time shouting to the boys
to look out for the Indians.
"As soon as I shot I ran towards the boys and they began to
fall back toward me — shooting at the top of the hill as they
retreated. Bill Hamilton was deaf as a post and was much in
the way as he could see nothing to shoot at and the others had no
time, under the circumstances, to explain anything to him and
tell the trouble. The boys began to spread out. Buck and myself
to the left about one hundred and fifty yards from the other
three. We would retreat and stop and hold the Indians while
the others fell back. This continued until we could retire to a
place of safety or until the boys in camp came to our aid. As I
have said Bill could see nothing to shoot at but knew something
was wrong some place as Frank had hold of him trying to pull
him back. At this time Buck and myself were some one hundred
and fifty yards back and Bill, seeing us, pulled his gun and was
going to use it as he had an idea we were showing the white
feather and leaving the others to do all the fighting. Buck saw
Bill and said: 'See that old , he is pulling his gun on
me.' With that remark he leveled his gun on Bill and that changed
the old fellow's mind to such an extent that we had no more real
trouble from him. In the meantime the Indians kept firing at us
but we were too far away for the old guns they had to do us
any harm. It only took a few minutes till the boys came and we
got back to camp.
"Jack Bean and Bostwick were standing picket duty
some two hours later when Bostwick, who was a harum-scarum
112 IN THE LAND OF CHINOOK
fellow, wild as he could be, came to the conclusion he would go
and have a talk with the Indians. He had not taken into consider-
ation that these fellows were not dressed for company and for
that very reason were in no good humor for a visit from a white
man who was one of the party who held all their clothing, except
their breech clouts and a little war paint which adorned their
bodies and that April 1 st is not warm enough to allow one to be
in a pleasant frame of mind when so dressed. They allowed him
to come pretty near to them, but when he came close enough to
carry on a conversation he had changed his mind and made for
the camp with the band after him, with the result that he got
four flesh wounds from some old cap and ball pistol that did
not lay him up, for he was ready for the fray only four days after
on the Rosebud, when the whole bunch attacked us.
"He would, though, have been killed had it not been for
Jack Bean, as an Indian was so close to him that he was trying
to knock him off his horse with a quirt.
"That night we fortified a little by digging rifle pits. We had
fifty-six head of oxen in the gulch below our camp where they
were left to graze. Richardson, a butcher of Bozeman, was
watching them. Some time during the night an Indian was trying
to crawl up and drive them off when he was seen by Richardson
and shot. This alarmed the camp and when asked why he shot
he explained what he saw and that he thought he had hit his
man. This proved a fact, as soon after this we could hear the
wounded fellow calling for help which must have been rendered
him as we did not find him the next day.
"In the light of today one may say that the escape we made
that day was more or less miraculous. If I had not seen the deer
track and followed it to the bunch of timber where I found the
pony tracks we would no doubt have all been killed, as the
Indians were waiting for us and could have held us at their mercy,
as it would have been a complete surprise."
James H. Snell.
I was born August 4, 1854, West Moreland, Pa. We
moved from there to Rock Island, 111.. I was then a year old.
My father was a contractor on the Rock Island railroad during
that year. We then moved from there to Nebraska City which
then comprised two stores, the names of which were Philadelphia
No. 1 and Philadelphia No. 2. I was about two years old
at that time. Vv^e then crossed the Missouri river, which was
called the boundary at that time, and my father took a farm or
homestead nine miles west of Nebraska City and I remained there
until I was ten, about 1864. We then moved west upon the
JAMES SNELL.
Scont and I'lainsniau with Miles at Battle of the Bear's Paw.
THE STORY OF BLAINE COUNTY 113
Platte river to Fort McPherson, Nebraska. We remained there
until 1866, then I went east to school in Missouri, a little place
called Phimore. I went from there to Pennsylvania to school.
In 1868 I came back to Nebraska college, three miles southwest
of Nebraska City. In 1871 I moved back to Cheyenne,
Wyoming, and in 1874 I was with the expedition that went into
the Black Hills to take out the first white men that were digging
gold there. I then went from there to Fort McPherson and then
back to Cheyenne. In 1 876 I was with Crook's expedition after
the Sioux in Montana. I was with General Crook's command at
the time of the Custer massacre. I was probably about 70 miles
from the battle, but we never went to the battle. In 1877 we
went back that winter and wintered at Camp Carland, Wyoming.
In the spring of 1877 we started out under the command of
General Hart and we were held at Fort McKinney, near old
Fort Reno; then we came on down to the Yellowstone to the
mouth of Tongue river, what is known as Fort Keogh. During
the early part of the spring and summer we went on another
expedition to South Dakota to Hart River and Cannon Ball after
Indians and over to Old Man's Butte, then returned to Fort
Keogh about the first of September, where we were ordered to
Fort Custer to join General Buwell's command to get after Sitting
Bull. The expedition broke up, then we returned to Fort Keogh
and General Miles was ordered out to see if he could not inter-
cept the Nez Perces. He had a dispatch that they had crossed
the Missouri river at Cow Island, between the Bear Paws and
the Little Rockies. The dispatch was brought down by Johnnie
Buckman (Father) by skiff on the Missouri river. We then
made forced marches day and night after that and v/s had to
abandon the wagon train at Pochette with 100 soldiers and
cannon to guard same. We then traveled day and night after
we got fhe dispatch. The scouts discovered what was supposed
to be the whole camp on Big Beaver creek at the foot of the
Bear Paws. We charged in on them, supposing them to be the
whole camp, Vv^hich proved to be only the rear guard. Then we
formed a line of battle and followed them up. The infantry was
mounted on Indian ponies which we had taken from the Indians
up on Mud creek and they being poor riders formed a poor line
of battle and we had to stop and form over again. TTiis was on
Sunday morning, October 1, 1877. There was about four
inches of snow on the ground. It was about nine or ten o'clock
in the morning. We followed them over to Snake creek from
Peoples creek and when we got up on the ridge on this side we
formed a line of battle and again we charged the camp as soon
as we saw that it was down in the bottom. The Seventh Cavalry
was the right battalion and the Second Cavalry was the left bat-
114 IN THE LAND OF CHINOOK
talion and the Fifth Infantry was the center battaHon in reserve,
and the horses of the Indians were on the left side under the
care of the Seventh Cavalry. Sergeant McEwen had placed his
little Rodman gun in the center of the battalion. The Indians
had raided a store up at Highland and also a wagon train loaded
with supplies for western points. These goods were piled up in
the camp and back of them ; it formed a kind of breastwork. We
fought the Indians from then until the third day and then we had
a peace talk and we had a good interpreter who could talk good
Nez Perce and Miles offered him or anybody $300 if he could
get them to surrender. Up to this time the Indians supposed that
this was Howard or Gibbons or some other command which they
had defeated. We talked a while on the third to get them to
surrender. In the meantime we had sent back for the wagon,
train that had the munition and soldiers. We were talking with
Chief Joseph and another Indian called Mox Mox and at
the time we were talking to them Lieutenant Jerome and Cayuse
George, the interpreter, were down in the Nez Perce camp and
when the train came in sight on the hill some one in the right
battalion, the Seventh Cavalry, fired his gun off accidentally or
intentionally, and then the peace talk was all off. TTiis was
along in the evening and they kept Lieutenant Jerome and Cayuse
George and we kept Joseph and Mox Mox in our camp all
night and shooting was going on every now and then all night.
They told Lieutenant Jerome and Cayuse George to keep down
as they did not want them to get killed. Snell said: "If I had
owned the whole world I would have given it to have been out
of that fight — at one time — as I never saw such shots in my life."
The clothes I wore were all riddled with bullets. The next morn-
ing they stopped firing long enough to trade back. We gave
them Joseph and Mox Mox and got Jerome and George. Gen-
eral Miles made a present of a pair of shoes to Joseph. Joseph
said he did not want to fight the whites but was compelled by
the other chieftains. After we swapped back war was resumed
and continued until the coming Saturday evening. They came up
and surrendered their arms. They thought Miles was going to
send them back home if they surrendered. The next morning
we started back for Fort Keogh. We camped the first night
just below my present residence, at the east end of the Little
Rockies, about a mile and a quarter of where I am now located.
Little did I think then that I would be located here. In all my
Indian career I never was in a standing fight until I struck the
Nez Perce tribe. General Miles gave me eight head of ponies
and a span of mules for carrying water for the wounded soldiers
when nobody else would go. Captain Snyder was ordered by
Miles to take a certain position and about thirty of the Nez
THE STORY OB^ BLAINE COUNTY 115
Perces held this position and fought this company of soldiers
from a little ridge, they being about seventy-five yards apart and
forcing the soldiers back. If the Indians only knew, they had
Miles defeated. Some of these holes were joined by tunnels. I
never went up against anything like the Nez Perces in all my
life and I have been in lots of scraps.
I was the first United States marshal in the eastern part of
the mountains of Montana.
"Daddy" F. M. Marsh's Story of Kid Curry.
In the early story of old Chouteau county and in that part
that afterward became Blaine county. Kid Curry, the outlaw,
was very prominent.
I have no wish to say anything wrong of this man, but to try
and tell a little concerning him and some of the reasons or causes
which made him a hunted man.
"Daddy" Marsh, the man who must be considered one of
the characters of Chinook, was for years a trader on the Missouri
at Rocky Point. From him much of the following was learned:
"It must have been in the summer of 1884 that Hank and Kid
Curry came to our place looking for work. They soon got a job
riding for the Circle Bar. As they were among the last to begin
work for that outfit for the season they were compelled to quit
as soon as the busy season was over. They were industrious and
needed something to do. They had a pony and with a half-
breed sled, as a means of conveyance, cut and hauled, from the
breaks of the Missouri, something like forty cords of pitch pine
knots, for which they received about eight dollars per cord the
next spring when the steamboats began to run. They began
once more, when spring opened, to ride for the Circle Bar.
"As they were very saving they thought it a good plan to
take up a ranch near one which was owned by Pike Landusky.
The boys were illiterate — never having had a chance to go to
school so could not write their names. Hank said to me one day:
'Daddy, I would give all I have if I could write as well as you
can.' I explained that that was surely a probable matter, if he
would try. 'What! Do you think I can learn to write?' he
asked. I told him yes and sent and got a Spencerian copy book
and told him to practice. Every moment he could spare he would
work along that line. Soon after this he told me the happiest
day of his life was when he was able and did write out an order
for some goods at my store. To tell the truth, I could not
believe my eyes when I saw that order with his name signed to it.
"I said that he went to live near Landusky — Landusky had
been a plainsman for years and had in some way gotten into a
fight with the result that his under jaw had been shot. Pike was
116 IN THE LAND OF CHINOOK
as kind-hearted a man as could be and would give the shirt off
his back to one whom he liked. When he was loaded with 'rot-
gut' he was as senseless as any fool. At such times he forgot
everything manly. Hank Curry, for some reason, thought the
less one had to do with Pike the better off he would be, so told
the Kid to use him right but never have any business relations
with him. It seems that Pike borrowed a plow of the boys and
did not return it, but when they got it back it was very much
worse for wear.
"I might say that by this time two more of the boys had come
to this section — Johnnie and Lonnie. John was a little fellow
who soon learned to pack a gun and wanted to be bad.
"In this same section of the country lived Winters and Gill.
There was also, another man living there who had some trouble
with his wife and she became the common property of several
others, to become intimate with Johnnie Curry later. Her hus-
band sold their ranch to Winters, who took possession. After
the woman became the property (?) of John Curry he came
to the conclusion to drive Winters off the land as he claimed
the woman had as much right to it as her husband, but that she
had not received anything for her portion. One day he rode up
and told Winters that he would give him just so long to vacate
the place. Winters was not by any means a man who would
easily surrender his rights and so explained himself.
"Not long after this he looked out and saw Johnnie coming
riding one horse and leading another. He placed his double-
barreled shotgun near the door so it would be handy. Johnnie
called to him and when he opened the door Johnnie shot but
the bullet went wild and hit in the jamb just over Winters' head
and before he could shoot again the shotgun had done its work
and Johnnie Curry would no longer ride the range.
"Prior to this, though. Hank had taken sick and died with
consumption, so the balance wheel in the whole Curry machine
had been destroyed.
"Kid Curry had gotten into trouble that had caused his
arrest by Sheriff Buckley. For some reason, Buckley placed
the Kid in the custody of Landusky. Landusky remarked he now
had the Kid where he had long wanted him and was not at all
particular in the choice of language used in addressing him. He
had also chained the Kid with a log chain for safe keeping,
though there could have been no particular reason for doing so.
"After the Kid had come back from Benton he told several
that he intended to whip Landusky for the insulting remarks —
remarks that took into consideration the chastity of his mother —
and which no self-respecting man could possibly allow to be ad-
dressed to him without trying to punish the person who made them.
THE STORY OF BLAINE COUNTY 117
"In fact he had told Pike that when he returned he would
surely take revenge. Pike, after his return, tried to make friends
but the wound was so deep that nothing he could say could
possibly pacify his enemy. Jim Thornhill tried to keep the Kid
away as he was sure of the final results, that is, that one or the
other would be killed. The day of the tragedy came and the
Kid walked into Jew Jake's saloon, where Pike was drinking with
his friends. Kid explained what he was there for and handing
his gun to Thornhill started in and punished Landusky till he
cried enough. Taking a handkerchief from his pocket to wipe
the blood from his face he pulled, as he returned it to his pocket,
a revolver which, in some way, failed him or the Kid would have
lead the procession to the lonely grave yard on the south slope of
the Little Rockies instead of Pike.
"Thornhill saw the movement and shouted: 'Look out. Kid,
he's going to shoot!' At this Curry jumped and grabbed his gun
which was held out to him by Thornhill and Pike fell shot to
death.
"If Curry had given himself up he would — so most think —
have been discharged — as Thornhill, who was arrested and tried
for complicity, or as an accessory, received no sentence. Curry,
however, seemed to fear jail and imprisonment; he was not cap-
tured and became an outlaw."
(Billy Skillen has this to say: "The leading up to the killing
of Landusky was over the dispute about a plow between the
Curry brothers and Landusky. At the time the trouble started
Pike Landusky was acting as deputy sheriff and arrested the
Kid and Lee Self, taking them down to his ranch at the mouth
of Rock creek. He put them in charge of his brother Tony. Lee
Self made his escape. Some time after the trouble was over.
Pike Landusky was standing in front of the bar in Jew Jake's
and talking to Jake when the Kid, his brother Lonnie and Jim
Thornhill walked into the saloon. The Kid and Pike had a
little conversation when the Kid grabbed Pike by the shoulder
and turned him around facing him and struck him in the face
several times. When he quit Pike asked him what he had struck
him for and Kid told him for the abuse he had to take when
he was in his power and could not help himself. Pike was trymg
to get his gun when the butt showed and Thornhill saw it and
shouted: 'Lookout, Kid, he is going to shoot.' Kid threw his
arms around Pike and held him close and reached down and
'drawed' his gim and pulling it up between them to Pike's breast
and Pike fell dead. Reaching into Pike's pocket he took his
gun and the three went out of the saloon, got into a wagon and
drove up the gulch and were gone. Lonnie Curry was arrested in
Chinook afterward by Wm. Skillen, acting as deputy sheriff, and
118 IN THE LAND OF CHINOOK
taken to Benton and lodged in jail. He stood trial. After hear-
ing the evidence of the state's witness, Jew Jake, Judge DuBoise
ordered the jury to stand up. He told them that if they brought
in a verdict of guilty it would have to go to a higher court as the
state's witness showed that Kid Curry had killed Landusky in
self-defense. That acquitted Lonnie Curry and Jim Thornhill
was never arrested.")
"The killing of Johnnie Curry by Winters was a well-known
fact and he was advised by his friends to leave the country, but
this he would not do. One morning as he was coming out of
his cabin he fell at the hands of his assassin, who was hiding
near his outbuildings.
"TTie night before he was killed, Jim Thornhill went to a
neighbor's house and stayed — no doubt to prove an alibi. This
led people to believe that the Currys had killed Winters. As
Gill was a partner of Winters he took much interest in the matter
and tried to trace up his murderer or murderers. He was told by
his friends that the safest thing he could do was to saddle up his
horse and leave the country if he placed any value on his life.
TTiis he Vvould not consent to do. Detectives have hunted for his
remains, but no one has ever been able to find one single trace
of either horse or rider — the work of destruction had been so
thoroughly done.
"On July 3rd, 1901, the Kid led the gang that held up
No. 3 at Wagner. They blew up the .express car and got several
thousand dollars of unsigned currency that was going to Tom
Marlow's bank in Helena. They escaped to the Little Rockies
and it was a long time before the Kid was apprehended, in Knox-
ville, Tenn., in 1903. His arrest took place when the police
raided a negro gambling house in the outskirts of the city. The
Kid, ever suspicious, and always 'heeled,' smoked up the place so
badly that he caused two or three funerals to soon take place in
that southern city.
"TTie officials got it into their heads that the man whom
they had arrested was the famous Kid Curry. Frank O'Neal, a
one-time sheriff of Chouteau county, and his wife were sent for
to identify the man. Mrs. O'Neal saw him but he was too wise
to recognize her. Frank, himself, did not see him.
"Before the trial came off the guard was found tied up to
the cage and the favorite saddle horse of the southern sheriff was
missing, never again, probably, to be returned to his stall.
"The Judge of that particular district was in Harlem one
time and was asked by an old-tim.e friend of the Kid's how he
managed to escape. The reply was: *It seems that the Kid
had a sister out west who was rich and she exchanged about
$25,000 of her cash, with the sheriff, for her brother's freedom.'
t'lIAS. .M. RUSSELF^-Cowboy Artist.
THE STORY OF BLAINE COUNTY 119
"By men who seem to know — it was the band of horses owned
by Jim Thornhill, a particular friend of Curry — that had been
sold, the money sent to the sister, who used it to help her brother.
"Kid Curry! No one of his old friends — and he seems to
have many in the land of the Chinook — knows where he is. None
of them seem to care to express themselves in anything but terms
of affection, as they seem to think he might come back some
time and place them in such a condition that they would cease
to have an opinion.
"It is said that he was not the only man on the Milk river
who deserved a prison sentence; also that his true name was
Logan."
CHAPTER XI.
Charles M. Russell.
Probably no other man who ever lived in what is now Blaine
county will be as well known to posterity as the subject of this
sketch. Charles M. Russell was born in St. Louis, Missouri,
March 19th, 1865. He came to Montana over the Union
Pacific and Utah Northern to old Red Rock, then the terminus,
of the latter line. From Red Rock he came via coach to Helena.
He came with "Pike" Miller, or Willis Miller, as he was known
to others.
Col. Shirley Ashby tells of the first time he ever saw Charlie.
"He had arrived in Helena with Miller, a man with whom I had
some previous acquaintance and meeting me I invited them to my
place to lunch. I really had never seen as green a looking boy
as Charlie Russell was the day he came to my house. After
we had lunch Miller said that Russell had an idea that he could
draw some and might become an artist. He turned to him and
said: 'Charlie show Mr. and Mrs. Ashby what you can do.*
He took a piece of black wax from his pocket and made a little
horse which we kept for years. Charlie's hair was too long and
I thought he needed shearing." In a conversation with Russell
the writer got the following: "We did not stay over two weeks
in Helena and bought a four-horse team and wagon. The lead-
ers were brown saddle horses and the wheelers bay. The saddle
horses were not the best but a fellow could ride them. We
started for the Judith Basin via Diamond, White Sulphur Springs
and Judith Gap. Jack Waite and Pike had sheep and my first
job in Montana was herding them. I wasn't much of a success.
You see it was like this, I didn't think the boys had money enough
to keep me supplied — as I could lose the d d fools about as
fast as they were turned over to me. Then Pike and I had a
120 IN THE LAND OF CHINOOK
row about a saddle horse and I found that there was a job herding
horses at a stage station so I quit. Before I could put in an
application, however. Pike double-crossed me by seeing the party
first and telling him that I was no good. Part of it was true
because I will confess now that I was a bum sheep herder.
"Have always had a tender spot in my heart for him as I
needed that job. Losing out there I went to live with Jake
Hoover on the South Fork of the Judith. He was a hunter.
"In the spring of 1 882, in April, I returned to St. Louis and
remained a month and then came back to Montana on the North-
ern Pacific. A cousin — a boy about my own age — came with
me but he died soon after in Billings with the mountain fever. I
left Billings on his horse, broke, and started for the north country.
Just out of the city, on Alkali creek, met John Cabler with about
forty saddle horses, on his way to receive some doggies. They
were a mixed bunch of the following brands: Z, C T and 12.
He asked if I wanted work and I said yes.
"I night herded for him, my first job of that kind. At Ross'
Fork we met the Judith round up and I took a position as horse
wrangler with that outfit. I night herded horses in the spring
and beef in the fall. Never did take kindly to broncos as my
mind and theirs did not seem to work in unison. The fact is I
only punched one season (83) and that was on the Shonkin
range.
"I could always draw a little; can't remember my first work
in that line as I was too small. No, I never dreamed of fame.
Story of the Last of Five Thousand.
"Why that story is generally well known isn't it? Oh, you
have heard different reports? Well, it was like this: The
winter of '86-7 was a noted one. I was with Jesse Phelps on
the O. H. ranch. Jesse got a letter from Louie Kaufman asking
how things were. He sat down to write a letter and explain
things and I told him I would make a sketch and put in. The
sketch was a — R cow, Kaufman's; nothing said about the last
of five thousand — only, 'Waiting for a Chinook,' was the name
given it. It was on a piece of writing paper and was only a
small thing of probably 2x4 inches. No letter was sent. Ben
Roberts got it from Kaufman and later sold it to Wallis Huide-
koper, who says he may give it to the Historical Society.
"It was done in water colors that I used to pack in a sock in
those days.
"Indians are quite observing as I recall a picture I painted of
Bill Jones. In the braids of his hair he had seven brass tags or
buttons w^hich are used for ornamental purposes. I failed to get
THE STORY OF BLAINE COUNTY 121
in more than five and he soon called my attention to the fact and
asked that the others should be put in. When this was done
he looked at it and said, 'Good.' Not long after this I was down
on the reservation and was called into Bill's lodge as he said
he wanted to show me something. He had a package which he
began to unwrap and after a time he exhibited the picture which
he had tacked to a board and holding it up said: 'Bill Jones,
Good man, son of a .' It seems that Bill's vocabulary was
very limited and as he wished to use all that he knew in his con-
versation, he always wound up with the last phrase. As I never
had any acquaintance with Bill's family he may have been telling
the truth.
"No, I am not the 'Chip of the Flying U'. I knew Bertha
M. Bowers and she married Sinclair, the cow-puncher whom we
used to call 'Fiddle Back.'
"My Indian study came from observation and by living with
the Blackfeet in Alberta for about six months. I don't know
much about them even now; they are a hard people to 'sabe'."
When asked what he considered his best picture, he replied :
"I have never painted it yet. I feel that I am improving right
along. It takes me longer to paint a picture now and I work
harder. The highest price I ever received for a picture was $5,000,
the one in the Capitol. If some of the high officials had had
their way that work would have been done by an eastern man.
"I was married in the fall of 1 896 to Nancy Cooper. I never
could remember the month or date — you would have to ask her
about that. We never had any children until recently, when we
adopted a little boy. Say, they are some people, those little
baby fellows and no one could love that fellow more than we do.
"Yes several of my pictures were sold in New York. Had
some in London but the war stopped the sale.
"Oh, yes, Linderman has told you about a reception in
London? Well, it was about like this: Sir was giving
a reception to which Mrs. Russell and myself were invited. I
was handed our hostess for my partner when we went into the
dining room, and I was surely handed some bunch, for she was so
large that we could not both go through the door of the dining
room at the same time so I stepped back and carelessly trod on
her train. Say, she squatted and pulled on that encumbrance like
a cayuse on a rope. I got off as soon as I felt the strain, but
not before she had ripped quite a lot of her gown, and then I
simply straddled the long-tailed dress and went in tandem until
there was room enough to go in double harness again.
"What seemed to be the funniest thing to me in London was
when I wanted to get my watch fixed. I slipped into a jewelry
store and asked a fellow if he could 'fix' my watch; he said 'Naw.'
122 IN THE LAND OF CHINOOK
I knew that they could as I saw them at work. I stepped out and
meeting a man whom I knew had been in the U. S. I said : 'What
does a fellow have to say to these guys when he wants to get his
watch fixed?' 'Why I don't know what you mean Russell.'
Well, it is like this, my watch won't go and I don't know how to
make these fellows understand. 'Oh, don't you know, you
should have said repahred'."
"There is altogether too much civilization; no place to camp
out any more. I have a saddle horse and ride each morning, but
a fellow has to ride in the alleys, if he rides in the city, as the
pavements are so smooth a horse can't keep its feet. There was a
time when I could tie my horse in Central avenue in front of the
Silver Dollar, but a fellow would be in a h of a fix now as
there are too many autos; you can't get near the sidewalk. My
wife has an auto and I ride with her once in a while but I just
as leave go in a street car." (While the writer was getting a
story from Charlie he was busily engaged on one of the historical
paintings which he is doing for Cole, the Duluth millionaire, of
which there are to be four. Three of them represent scenes in
the life of "Buffalo Bill," "Killing of Yellow Hand," "Hunting
With Duke Alexis," "Discovery of Cheyenne Camp" and one
Lewis and Clark, "The Meeting of the Shoshones" on the
Beaverhead, While talking to me he was working on "Killing
of Yellow Hand." In the studio at the time was the young boy,
Joe De Young. He is also a St. Louis boy, 23 years of age,
though he does not look to be more than sixteen. He is deaf.
He bids fair to become a noted man as he is working under
Russell. Was at work on a picture at the time.
Charlie Russell came to Montana as a boy of fifteen and at
once became identified with the range country. Fifteen is not
an age when one can expect much wisdom in a boy — and espe-
cially when one is thrown in with a free and easy lot of fellows
such as the majority of cowboys were. One can readily see that
a youth would be apt to fall into the faults his associates had.
Charles M. Russell is now known as a national character. As
he said: "I do my work because I love it." Sawing wood, dig-
ging ditches and working in disagreeable occupations would not
appeal to one of Russell's temperament. He is a great story
teller and was fond of the cowboy life and the cowboy pranks.
He would try anything once, and if he liked it try it again. Night
herding gave him more chance to visit and study the different
classes of men and the conditions, as he saw them, than if he
had been a full-fledged cowpuncher Dutting in long hours on
the range. He rode in the Judith and later came to the Milk
river country, where he was well known. In order to give some
of the human side of this now noted man the writer went to some
THE STORY OF BLAINE COUNTY 123
of the old-time cowpunchers and asked them for a lineup on him,
any little story they thought would be of interest. He was able
to gather some very active and interesting incidents connected
with the subject, on the Milk river and especially Chinook. They
are as follows: "I first saw Russell," Jim Dorrit says, "at High-
wood, Canada, at a ranch where I had gone for a horse. He
and his partner, who had a broken collar bone, were stopping at
an English ranch. There was no oil in the place so the boys had
rigged up a light (of ill sounding name) with some grease in a
small dish and a rag for a wick. One of them would stir the grease
while the other would read a few lines. Neither of them could
read very well then and they would comment on it in a comical
way. He was drawing some in those days but was not considered
much of a painter."
Much of the following was told by Bob Stuart and K. Lowery
and they are true. They are old-time friends of Russell.
Bob said: "The winter of '91-2 Charlie Russell, Al Mal-
lison, Toney Crawford, 'Kik' Price, John Thompson, Trumbel
(cannot recall his first name) and myself got a cabin and started
in to batch.
"W. C. Kester of the Chinook Opinion gave the boys quite
a little space and dubbed us 'The Hungry Seven.' We had about
$175 which we put in the 'pot' and got as many supplies in the
grub line as we could. We were all young and full of fun, but
some of the stunts look better now, than they did then, to those
on whom our little jobs were pulled off. Charlie and the 'Kid'
should have been preachers — if preachers are not lied about —
because they were mighty fond of chicken. As they had none
themselves they went on still hunts for them in the evening when
one was less apt to see them than if they went in the day time.
Kester had a fine bunch of chickens, which was too much of a
temptation for the boys, so one night Charlie and the 'Kid' made
up their minds (and that was not hard) to raid his hen house.
Russell stood guard while the 'Kid' went in to secure the birds.
He was to give the high-sign if anything turned up, and it did, by
Kester coming to the back door of his house. Charlie saw him
and in his excitement pushed the chicken house door to and rushed
for the cabin as fast as he could run, leaving the 'Kid' to the
tender mercy of Kester, if he should be found. Kester went out
loaded for bear but finding the door closed went back to the house
and the 'Kid' soon arrived at the cabin with some fine birds. We
proceeded to get them ready for eating as we had no wish to
wait till morning as we never knew what would turn up, and
another thing, we would be sure we would know where they
were. Charlie was hardly over his nervousness by the time the
Kid came. The chickens were about done and the table set
124 IX THE LAND OF CHINOOK
when there was a loud knock on the door. Russell grabbed the
hot frying pan, pushed it under one of the bunks. When the door
opened there stood Frank O'Neal, the sheriff.
"You could almost hear those fellows teeth chatter. Frank
could hear the chicken frying in the hot grease under the bed and
he said: 'You are having a feast, aren't you — well, go ahead,
all I want is to get three or four of you fellows as witnesses on a
case that is to come off in Benton.' Kester never really knew who
got his chickens, but he went into his house and told his wife that
he wished he could have gotten a shot at that fellow who ran
away.
"In those days there was a lady who was a very active church
member. She had made up her mind to invite the minister to a
chicken dinner the following Sunday and had told Kid Price
about it. She evidently did not know him or she would have
withheld such information because he went that night with Rus-
sell and stole the two young birds that were to have been the
'piece de resistance.' Not only did they get the roosters, but they
dressed them, cut off their heads and took them and the feathers
and placed them in the back yard of the pastor. When the lady
got ready to kill she missed the poultry and seeing the Kid, sought
his sympathy. He was much surprised but recalled that he had
seen fresh chicken feathers as he passed the preacher's house. Of
course they might not have been from the missing chickens, and
then again they might, as no one could tell. The lady had a
little boy who went over to the minister's home and soon returned
with the heads, saying: 'They are ours alright.' The lady went
to church but marched out with her head held high and the
preacher got left.
"I also remember Charlie's first girl. He had become intro-
duced to her and wanted to take her to a dance. He was to
get a team and take her but as he came to the conclusion he could
not drive he got me to take her and he rode on horse back. He
had taken her to several dances and thought he was making an
impression. One night he had her to a dance at Chinook. They
were sitting having a nice little sociable chat when one of the
stock men named Charlie Williams came in and entered into a
conversation with her in which she turned her back to Charlie
Russell. She sat there for some time very much interested in
what Williams was saying and Russell, becoming disgusted,
tapped her on the shoulder and said: 'I'm here yet,' got up
and left her and never tried again to win her affections.
"It is kind of funny what will come into a fellow's head
when thinking of those old days. We did not have much money
so Charlie thought he had made a good fellow of himself and
established a credit at Lohman's. He came back highly elated.
THE STORY OF BLAINE COUNTY 125
I guess he must have bought about forty cents worth of tobacco
and papers for the makings, when he was shut off in the follow-
ing way: When he ordered anything he had a way of holding
up a finger, which meant 'Charge that.' One day he went for
a few things and held up his finger and Lohman said : 'Russell,
that finger of yours is too long already.' Russell returned to the
cabin and put in two days painting a picture for which he received
seventy-five dollars and told us never to buy another thing of
Lohman.
"Those were great days. Charlie was a prince alright, with
one of the biggest hearts any man ever had. He was never a
cowpuncher because he never liked the wild horses. I recall one
night when it was raining and he had to go on the night herd.
He put on his slicker and that made the horse nervous and he
soon got nervous, with the result he had to crawl on again. One
night on the Big Sandy, Charlie and myself were trying to hold a
bunch of beef and as it was getting late in the fall it began to
rain, which turned to sleet and our slickers would simply pop
every time we moved. The storm was coming from the northeast
and the cattle began to drift toward the Coal Banks on the
Missouri. Charlie said: 'What are we going to do?' I told
him if he would go ahead and try and keep them back I would
bring up the drag. He soon came back and said: 'I can't hold
them, they are going in every direction; let 'em go to h — ^ — and
we will get them next fall.' I replied all right, but you will have
to make good with the boss. In speaking to Charlie about this
particular night he said he recalled it very well. That they had
a time finding the camp and when he did he got so near the tent
he stepped right on the face of 'Missouri Jim,' the boss."
When in Chinook the writer told "Kid'' Price what Bob
Stuart and K. Lowery had told me and he said he never batched
with such a bunch, as he had too much respect for himself. "I
had a little money with which I bought two mavericks and gave
to them but they traded the meat off for questionable pleasure and
I had to steal chickens to keep the sons of guns from starving.
You ask Russell if he remembers the time that Judge Richie was
after us with a blunder-bus and we could not make as good time
as we wanted to as we had a chicken under each arm." When
the writer got to Great Falls he called Russell's attention to the
stories he had heard and asked if the boys had been stringing him.
"No, they have all told you pretty near the truth, except the
'Kid,' because he did batch with us and he was the fellow that
gave pretty near a whole steer away and was the only one to
receive any direct benefit. Did the 'Kid' tell you about the time
one of the ladies ( ?) of Chinook, who was a splendid cook, told
him if he could furnish the chickens she would get up a nice
126 IN THE LAND OF CHINOOK
dinner and invite the gang? Well, he ought not to have forgotten
that. He got the chickens and a splendid dinner with all the
'fixin's' was the result. She bragged about what fine fowl they
were — that she had never eaten better — and well she might, for
when she went to feed her birds the next day they were gone.
"Those were good days in Chinook, Say, how is 'Daddy
Marsh'?" When answered that "Daddy" was fine, he asked:
"Does he drink any these days?"
The writer replied that "Daddy" had told him that he had
not taken a drink for nineteen years. "Why, 'Daddy' must be
a liar because I was down to Chinook about ten years ago, and
the whole town was drunk — at least that is the way they appeared
to me."
In closing this I want to say that Russell has been told that
these little things — giving the other side of the picture — are to be
printed. They only show the human side of a genius. Russell
has become a famous man, but today he said: "I can't paint an
Indian head with Ed Paxon, nor can I mix his colors."
The uncouth Missouri boy who came to Montana with
"Pike" Miller could hardly have expected to go down in the
story of our state as one of its famous men. When the wealth of
Daly or Clark shall have been dissipated — and grand structures
become dust — the works of Russell "The Cow Boy Arist," will
be treasured by those who like art. He has painted a condition
that, but for him, would have been lost to future generations.
CHAPTER XII.
Topography of the County.
Blaine county is bounded on the north by Canada, east by
Phillips county, south by Phillips county and the Missouri river,
and west by Hill county. The area is 42 1 9 square miles and it is
not easy to state the number of inhabitants, as it being a new sec-
tion, people are coming in very fast. Information received at
Helena states the number of inhabitants as 1 0,830 ; assessed valu-
ation, $5,587,686.00.
It is really in the valley of the Milk river. The river rises in
the Rocky mountains and runs north into Canada and then south
into Montana, thence in a southeasterly direction to the Missouri.
The major portion of the county is plains and bench lands, with
the Little Rockies and a part of the Bear's Paw range on the
south to form some relief to the general monotony of the country.
All of the Bear's Paw are not in Blaine county, as part of
them are in Hill county. The range does not constitute a true
mountain range, but consists, in the eastern part, of a group of low
The following is a fac-simile of a letrer from Clias. M. Kussell. the Cowboy
Artist, to his okffiiend "Kid" Pricc\ of whom Rn.-sell said: "The 'Kid' could
sure ride tlie bad oik's."
KM
^
C. M. RIT.SELL
^^^ ^ y-'- ,/' '^ ^'-.v '^hrVLL ^viU 'tt-. CU- ..■iux
U l<
y «
■^'
C. M. RUSSELL
r-
r.^nA ^^ ''' ' ^ ' " " '^'-^
H^WaAJ- \ W-^K. ^i-U i^t,5<-^ /«-^ l^-cUct ,*,^?^ i^HUtl- Hi ^^rpt.
4gf~^^
:;■/
C. M. RUSSEL-L-
- ^ :■ i ." ■ •'
THE STORY OF BLAINE COUNTY 127
rounded buttes more or less separated from one another, and in
the western part of a series of dissected ridges gradually rising
higher toward the west to their culmination in Baldy or Bear Paw
mountain and Centennial peak. The highest, Bear Paw, being
7040 feet above the level of the sea, and about 4000 feet above
the plains.
The Little Rockies are the part of the south boundary that
separate Blaine and Phillips counties.
The Little Rockies have very promising gold quartz mines
on which there is one of the largest gold producing plants in the
world. This section was only a part of Blaine county until such
time as would be necessary to pull the string and get a county
for Ben Phillips. The Little Rockies appear to be a true moun-
tain range with a length of probably twenty miles and a width
of ten. In the canyons of this range one finds many beauty spots
and at one place not far from the Saint Paul's Mission is a very
pretty Natural Bridge that is formed over a dry canyon.
Several fine mountain streams have their source in these
mountains and flow toward the Milk river, or more particularly
into Peoples creek, which is a stream rising in the Bear's Paw and
flowing in an easterly or northeasterly direction to the Milk river,
near Dodson.
Snake creek also rises in the Bear's Paw and flows north-
easterly into the Milk river, near Harlem. The valley proper of
the Milk river is three or four miles wide and is susceptible of
irrigation and will respond very nicely to cultivation when under
water. The soil is very heavy clay or "gumbo." The Milk
river is a small sluggish stream that can be and may be when the
wise (?) men at the head of affairs in Washington wake up, a
considerable factor in the upbuilding of the state, as up in the far
western portion of the plains is the St. Marys river that has its
head among the mountains of Glacier park. That stream flows
into Canada, but the water can be diverted and sent to do much
good in a section where good water is at a premium.
The northern portion of the county is a high bench or plateau.
Much of the county can be and is at this time successfully culti-
vated.
CHAPTER XIII.
Political History of Blaine County.
At the time when what is now Blaine county was being set-
tled by the "Dry Land Farmer" there was in Montana, the sec-
ond largest county, in area, of any state in the Union. The
128 IN THE LAND OF CHINOOK
largest was in California, and was some two or three thouscind
square miles larger than the old Chouteau of northern Montana,
which contained over sixteen thousand square miles.
It was probably perfectly proper in the days of the stockman,
when it was sparsely settled, for only one county to exist, as the
business could be transacted at Benton without too much expense.
When all of the available land was taken up for farming, the
people found that there was some excuse for making new counties,
so the reason for the division of Chouteau county might be con-
sidered from two standpoints : One was that the enterprising citi-
zens in various parts of the county were desirous of obtaining a
county seat for themselves and the other one was of the size of
the county and the distance to the county seat, which was at Fort
Benton, in the southwestern part of the county.
In 1 893 a bill was introduced in the legislature to organize
Blaine county to consist of what is now Blaine and the east third
of Hill county, including the city of Havre. This bill passed
one house and lacked one vote, I believe, in the other house.
Another effort was made to organize this county in the name
of Bear Paw county in 1901 or 1903. Ex-Senator T. M.
Everett was then in the house and George Bourne was in the
senate. The bill passed the house very quickly but was held up
in the senate until the next to the last day of the session. Enough
senators were pledged to pass the bill, but on the morning the
vote was taken, J. M. Kennedy, senator from Deer Lodge
county, got up late and came in just after the vote was counted.
It lacked one vote of a tie. The lieutenant governor had agreed
to vote for the bill in case of a tie. Kennedy expressed great dis-
appointment and chagrin at being late.
It seemed hardly possible that we could get another bill back
to the house and through the senate before time for closing the
session, but we went at it resolutely, and by changing the boun-
daries slightly on the south to meet the objections of McNamara
& Marlow, who were opposing the bill, we got it to the commit-
tee and the house ordered the bill printed the first day. When
we took the bill to the state printers they claimed they could not
get it out until the next morning, which meant death to the bill.
Nothing daunted, however, we hired a private printing outfit to
get it printed during the night. About nine in the evening some
one came in and bribed the printer who was employed on the
work. However, we found another to do the work and placed
sentries at each door so no one could get in. At about eleven,
when we were ready to go to press, the power was turned off and
we had neither power nor light to run the press. There was a
hand power press in the building, however, and we started that
and by working all night, were able to have the bill out the first
THE STORY OF BLAINE COUNTY 129
thing in the morning. For those who knew Charhe Barton in
his hfetime, it may be a surprise to know that he was one of the
chief pushers on the hand press. I venture to say he sweat more
on that job than on any job since he was a young man. The bill
was quickly passed through the house under the leadership of
Ex-Senator Everett, who was a prime favorite in that body, and
it was brought to a vote in the senate late that evening. This
time Kennedy was there, but instead of casting his vote in favor
of the bill, he cast it against it, as did one of the other senators
who had previously voted for it, and county division was dead
for two years at least.
The next effort was made in 1907, and included the same
territory as the former bills; that is, all of Blaine and about one-
third of Hill county. By this time Havre had become quite a
city and its people were very much opposed as it left them very
much to one side of the county, the west line of the county run-
ning near Fort Assinniboine. This time the county was to be
named Bear Paw county. In this case, the bill passed the Senate,
with Harlem as the temporary county seat, but did not get a
favorable vote in the house. The fight to name the temporary
county seat between Chinook and Harlem was very heated, but
the personal popularity of Senator Everett, and the fact that
Harlem was almost in the geographical center of the proposed
county, gave Harlem the best of it.
In 191 1 another bill was prepared and printed for the crea-
tion of Blaine county almost according to its present lines. These
lines were agreed upon by the people of Havre, Chinook and
Harlem previous to the preparation of the bill, and probably the
bill would have passed if it had not been for the enactment of
the general law authorizing the organization of counties by the
people within the county. When that bill was passed, no further
effort was made to create Blaine county by act of the Legislature.
In the summer of 1911, the people of both Havre and
Chinook commenced the agitation of county division. The Havre
people wanted a county to embrace all of what is now Hill and
Blaine counties, with Havre as the county seat. The Chinook
people naturally preferred a different arrangement, and they very
quietly prepared a bill for the creation of what is now Blaine
county, then they started a very energetic campaign to get signa-
tures, sending out fourteen teams or more the first day. Before
the Havre people realized what was being done, the Blaine county
people had almost enough signatures to insure the submission of
the question to the people. The Havre and Harlem people pro-
posed to fight the Blaine county proposition, and circulate instead,
petitions for the creation of the county of Hill to include Blaine,
but when it was found by the Havre people that the Blaine
130 IN THE LAND OF CHINOOK
county petition was almost completed, they abandoned the hope
of defeating the organization of Blaine county, and they immedi-
ately commenced the circulation of Hill county petitions to em-
brace only that part of Chouteau county as later organized into
Hill county.
The original law for the creation of counties by the people
was very indefinite, and the proponents of Blaine county were
compelled to get an order from the Supreme Court before the
Commissioners would order the election. In the meantime, the
Hill county petitions were prepared and filed and election was
held on the same day in both counties in February, 1912. The
Hill county returns were filed one day earlier than Blaine county,
so Hill county was in fact, the first county organized under the
law for the organization of counties by the people, but Blaine
county was the first to circulate and file petitions under this law.
As soon as the Commissioners ordered a vote on the Blaine
county petitions, would-be office holders got busy. Chinook citi-
zens contented themselves with the county seat. All officers were
elected from the eastern part of the proposed county. A non-
partisan convention was held at Dodson, presided over by Mr.
McCandless, manager of the Ruby Gulch Mining company at
Zortman. Everything went off peaceably and every one ap-
peared to be fairly well satisfied. The vote was very strong in
favor of the creation of the county. The selection of a name for
the new county was left to Attorney W. B. Sands, who prepared
the petitions for circulation.
At the time Blaine county was created, the first officials were :
L. B. Taylor, senator; John Collins, representative; Thos.
Dowen, E. M. Kennedy and Robert Coburn, county commis-
sioners; Isaac Neibaur, sheriff; Daniel C. Kenyon, treasurer; J.
Dwight Jones, clerk of the district court; Vernon Butler, clerk
and recorder; William Johnson, assessor; Donald L. Blackstone,
county attorney; Miss A. L. Short, superintendent of schools;
Preston M. Bosley, public administrator; Dr. Kosciusko, coroner,
and A. G. Middleton, county surveyor; all Progressives, as it
was a Progressive year in this part of Montana.
At the time of the creation of Blaine county there were two
aspirants for the county seat, Chinook, situated within eight miles
of the western boundary of the county; Harlem, which was situ-
ated very near the geographical center of the county, east and
west. The geographical location of the two towns should have
given the county seat to Harlem, and perhaps would have done
so, except for the fact that Senator Ben. D. Phillips, who lived
in the southeastern part of the county (or to be exact, owned
large interests there and who lived the most of the time in Oak-
land, Cal.) had in view a further division scheme which would
THE STORY OF BLAINE COUNTY 131
segregate the eastern part of the new county, and with the west-
em part of Valley county create a new one, which was to be
named for him. In order to carry out his dream he entered into
an agreement with the town boosters of Chinook to deliver the
vote of the east portion of the county to Chinook for the county
seat.
The Honorable (?) B. D. Phillips, being the principal
owner of the mines in the Little Rockies, as well as one of the
largest sheep men and land owners of the state, was in a position
to deliver the vote, and hence the county seat as he had agreed
to do.
It is easy to see why Chinook got the county seat; because
the man who could see into the future far enough to work the
people for personal reasons and for selfish motives, without regard
for their personal interests, wanted to strengthen a future plan by
which he could again tear asunder the new county which he had
helped create and from its members make something that was to
bear his name so the future generations would know that he had
lived. Had I been Ben I should have left this to some other
generation or to other hands to place my name on the scroll.
Two years is only a short time in the story of a county, but it
is long enough to see the scheme of the honorable gentleman
carried into effect. The new county of Phillips was created out
of the sections as above mentioned.
The assessor of Blaine county in one instance at least, assessed
Mr. Phillips on a portion of his mining property in the Little
Rockies. This was something that had seldom been done when
the property was in old Chouteau county. This act in itself was
teaching him that he must get busy and create a county where
his political influence would be of value, as it was a little on the
wane, as too many new people were coming in as settlers who
were not acquainted with him and did not feel under any obliga-
tions to him.
He wanted a county which he could control, politically, and
especially as to taxation of mines, so he manipulated the lines
of the new county of Phillips so as to take in all his property,
and at the same time leave as much political opposition as was
possible, out.
After all is said and done, we have got to take our hats off
to Ben Phillips. A great many mean things have been said about
him and have been published about him in some of the leading
magazines in the country. To me, who has known him for
many years, there is much that can be said in his favor. Ben
Phillips was brought up under a peculiar environment. It was
not given to him to be raised in the most refined way, for his was
132 IN THE LAND OF CHINOOK
always the life of the pioneer, among the miners and the cowboys,
whose ideas would not reflect credit upon those of the people of
today. Now, do not misunderstand me. I am not going to say
that those old-time fellows were bad, or that they were not just
as good and, maybe, better, than the majority of the people of
today. To them their code was good, for the reason that there
were nowhere near as many laws or fads as now. They lived
close to nature and did many things that, at this time, would put
men in jail, or the penitentiary, or keep one fined to such an
extent that one would be continually broke. If the writer were
to stop right here, one would say that those old fellows, who
were brave and hardy enough to break the trail into this new
country, subdue the savages, drive out the wild beasts, and con-
quer adverse conditions, were a mighty hard lot who had been
driven from their old haunts by better men who simply wanted to
rid themselves of a nuisance. Such is not the case by any means,
and the writer, himself, one of them, thanks the Giver of All Good
that he was one of the old pioneers of this great state.
It was not wrong in those days to fish or hunt without a
license. It is now. It was not wrong to play poker or gamble
in those old days, nor to pass the time away, for the sake of
change, in the hurdy house. It was not wrong to run a foot-race
or try the speed of the pony you thought so much of and which
was a part of you. It wasn't quite so bad to drink in those old
days, as men were not drinking poison, as their drinks were not
adulterated, as now.
Men in those days did those things and broke no laws. They
were within their rights then, but now they would be beyond
the pale.
Many a good woman danced in the hurdy house and raised
boys who have escaped the penitentiary, and girls who did by
no means become outcasts in society.
Many a man who now fills in, in life's most responsible places
were saloon-keepers, hurdy-house owners, Indian agents or trad-
ers, prize fighters or gamblers, and their sons and daughters hold
their heads just as high and occupy just as honorable positions in
society as do the sons and daughters of the minister or jurist. To
us, of today, this was lax and certainly not right. To them, I
repeat, not wrong.
If the subject of my sketch had enjoyed the higher educa-
tion or been raised in an exclusive set, he might have been honored
for his brilliant abilities that had been used for the express pur-
pose of upbuilding the race and to set an example for this genera-
tion which, to attain, would have been the best heritage he could
have left his children. Phillips became a power in old Chou-
THE STORY OF BLAINE COUNTY 133
teau county to such an extent that he was elected to the state
senate. But Phillips got into the legislature of Montana at the
wrong time. He got into it at a time when two Gladiators had
cast their gauntlets into the political arena and proposed to gain
their ends, even if they debauched the state and besmeared the
fair names of their best friends, so that future generations could
not cleanse them from the filth.
The fight of Clark and Daly made the one particular dark,
unerasable, blot on the fair page of Montana's political story.
Before their day men had fought for political supremacy, in a
less contemptible way, and left no trail covered with political
derelicts, without an honorable aim, to guide, or a friendly hand
to help them on their way. Yes, the great plains of the east, the
mountains and valleys of the west, had men returned to them
whose names were covered with filth and slime that the purest
water ever distilled from the fairy forms that fall from heaven
and fold their arms around our granite peaks, can never wash
away.
And Phillips, and many more, men even who had been raised
by the fairest mothers and the most princely fathers, under the
best environment, fell when tempted by these men who were just
as devilish in their day, and propably even worse, than that Devil
who took his Lord on the mountain top and tried to seduce Him
with promises. But let us not judge these men who sold them-
selves too harshly, my reader; you never had $50,000 or prob-
ably $10,000 promised you for your vote, and if you have not,
don't condemn these men who fell.
Clark and Daly were equally guilty when the fair name of
Montana was bandied about and made a thing of reproach in
a political way. It was a matter of fancied wrong on the part of
Daly, and to fight fire with fire that caused Clark to fight back.
Clark's superior brains and larger quantities of money gave
him the victory, dearly bought though it was.
But to return to Phillips, he was and is a man who made
a good neighbor and one who helped to upbuild the section in
which he lived. It appeared to me that he was kind and very
generous with his neighbors in more ways than one, and the fact
that he was able to hold these people in line and get such a stable
monument, a county, erected in his name, proves it.
Many funny things in a political way were in practice even
in the early days of our history. Many of them may have been
fabrications, but they are more or less interesting reading at this
time.
In the days when the Honorable Martin Maginnis was
elected delegate to congress from the territory of Montana, there
13i IN THE LAND OF CHINOOK
was a voting precinct at a point on the Missouri river, in the
southeast portion of what was later to become Blaine county,
known as Wilder's Landing. The election was pretty close be-
tween Maginnis and his opponent and for a long time it was not
known who was elected. Finally the returns came in from
Wilder's Landing, casting some four hundred and odd votes, all
for Maginnis. At that time there were about one dozen voters
in the vicinity, but the government was holding near there four
hundred mules used in transportation of supplies from Wilder's to
Fort Assinniboine. It is unknown as to who positively cast the
vote for Maginnis at that precinct, but it was generally supposed
that those four hundred mules, in sympathy for their ancestor, the
Democratic Donkey, cast a solid vote for Martin.
It is also said that a great many amusing things happened in
politics in northern Montana before the days of the Australian
ballot and the registration of voters. One incident is related of
a certain work or construction crew of one hundred or more men
under the guiding hand of the Hon. Jerry Flannigan, since of
Butte (he died in the Placer hotel during the meeting of the
legislature of 1917, being at the time one of the representatives
from Silver Bow county) who started in voting at the first pre-
cinct this side of the Dakota line and voted that day at every
precinct along the line of the Great Northern from that point
to Havre, and including that place.
This was the same Jerry Flannigan who had conducted, for
many years, a bull train for Col. Broadwater and it was as such
that he learned railroading. He was also, the same Jerry to
whom Col. Sanders, when handing a ragged bill to him for fare,
to which Jerry objected, said: "If you don't want it give it to
the company."
It is said there was a time when even the best citizens of
Harlem were susceptible to that particular thing we call the root
of all evil, as our friend Mac, who was running for senator of
Chouteau county and having plenty of money, and not desirous
of defeat, sent his henchman and foreman to our precinct, noted
for its Republican partisanism, and openly purchased at ten dol-
lars per vote, all those who were willing to exchange their man-
hood for so trivial an amount.
We who now find ourselves possessed of homes here on the
broad plains of Northern Montana, in the County of Blaine,
have a duty to perform that will prove our worth to future gener-
ations. We live but a day and are then gathered to our fathers,
to become dust as they, but let us build in this new common-
wealth, well, so that no ill reproach may be attached to our
memories.
THE STORY OF BLAINE COUNTY 135
CHAPTER XIV.
(Tune, Beulah Land.)
I've reached the land of wind and heat
Where nothing grows for man to eat;
This awful dust and scorching heat.
In all the world is hard to beat.
Chorus :
Oh, Idaho land.
Oh, Idaho land.
As on the alkali beds I stand,
I look across the sage-brush plains
And wonder why it never rains
Till Gabriel blows his trumpet sound
And says the rain has all gone 'round.
The farmer goes out to his corn,
I never saw him look so lorn.
He is amazed, he's almost shocked
To find the corn amid the stalk.
Chorus: Oh, Idaho land, etc.
The people here are all one race;
Starvation stares us in the face;
We do not live, we only stay —
We are too poor to move away.
Dry Farming.
That the great plains of Eastern Montana were always to
benefit the stockman was the idea that prevailed in the minds of
the wisest of those who had come in the early days to make their
homes — in what was then known as the "Buffalo County" —
later, when those animals were driven out, to become the home
of the big stockman; whether engaged in cattle, horse or sheep,
it did not matter.
The extinction of the buffalo was a thing that was accom-
plished in a manner that was heartrending to the Indians, but so
effective that it only required a short time to so thoroughly efface
them that where millions roamed in the '70s, none were to be
found in the later '80s. General Miles, so it is told, had said that
the most successful manner of subduing the Indian would be the
complete annihilation of the immense herds of buffalo that were
used by them both as food and a medium of exchange, as the
136 IN THE LAND OF CHINOOK
hide had become valuable or was valuable as a unit well known
to both white and Red. (Their extinction will be told in its
proper place.)
By whom dry farming was first attempted in Montana I
do not know. I would like very much to give credit to that
person who began something which has since made many homes
for those who have been willing to try to subdue the dry lands
on the great prairies of our state, as well as the hills and bench
lands above the ditch.
The fact is that "Dry Farming" is simply a term which is
used in contra-distinction to irrigation. The modes of farming
are as different — in a way — as the individual farmer wishes. It
is true that the conservation of the moisture can be done by using
a certain formula that has been, and is being taught by the scien-
tific or "book farmer" which simply means one who is observant
enough to note conditions and what produces them, with the
faculty of reducing them to writing so that some one else can have
the advantage of his knowledge, which is the result of observation.
The writer has been in Montana for over fifty years and has
seen all the changes take place that have changed the buffalo
pastures into fruitful fields, the benches and hills into farms and
orchards and that leads one to believe that the great state of
Montana is even now in its swaddling clothes.
In 1909 he was working for the state as an agent in the
department of the State Lands. This gave him an opportunity
to go over much of the country, as a part of his duty was to
appraise for the sale and lease.
(While working in this capacity he feels particularly proud
of certain work which was accomplished through him and which,
were it not for a matter of history, he would not relate. He saw
that the school lands of the state were being used by some, not
alone for grazing, but for agriculture as well. He could not
believe that this was looked at in the correct light by the men in
charge of the land office, and so told them. This was a matter
which was something new to them and was not looked upon
kindly by those who were over him. He went to the Governor,
Edwin L. Norris, and gave him an explanation of his idea and
wishes, and the Governor, ever-ready to secure the best results for
the people of Montana, called the Board of Land Commissioners
together at once and a resolution was passed at that meeting mak-
ing a grazing and also an agricultural price which should be paid
by the lessee. This resolution which the state board passed at
that meeting has made, so Joseph Oker said, "Hundreds of thou-
sands of dollars for the school fund.")
The writer feels that he has been well repaid for the thought
that came to him, as the results have been so beneficial to the
THE STORY OF BLAINE COUNTY 137
state at large. He could see no reason why any one should extract
the substance from the soil of land owned by the state without
paying for it.
He admits that though he had seen many fine crops taken
from the land above the ditch in the Gallatin valley, he was not
wide-awake enough to see the possibilities and probabilities of
the Great Plains to the east.
There was a reason why the hills and bench lands of the
inter-mountain section might produce crops above the ditch, as
the conformation of the mountain ranges caused more precipita-
tion than was known to exist on the lands far removed from such
influences.
He had seen the accounts of the experiences of the Hon.
Paris Gibson, of Great Falls, who had claimed that there was
no such thing as desert land in Montana, and that one could make
a success by using the methods that had been advanced by the
book-farmer.
He had also seen articles by Professor Campbell, who had
been compelled to stick with his claim in South Dakota because
he was to poor to leave.
He had met Professor Linfield, of the Montana Agricul-
tural College, at Bozeman, and listened — as he had too many
others — v^dthout heeding the advice of this man who had given
up his life to agricultural pursuits, believing, but never positively
asserting that he knew, that the arid lands would prove his pre-
delictions, and make homes for thousands of hardy pioneers who
would try out the experiments of the Scientific Farmer.
The writer was in Bozeman and the Professor asked him
if he intended to attend the Dry Farming Congress which was
to convene at Billings the coming fall. As he was working for
the state he could hardly see how he could quit his work for a
week and put the state to the expense of a visit of that nature,
when he did not really believe that the state would receive any
benefit in dollars and cents.
He thus explained the matter to the Professor, who came
back : "Noyes, you go to Billings and attend that meeting and
you will have learned enough so that for every dollar you will
spend the state will be reimbursed to such an extent that you will
be glad you went, and that you took my advice. It is needless
to say that I accepted the gentleman's advice and never missed
one of the talks, morning or evening, during the whole meeting.
Men were there from all over the known world. I listened
to them with wrapt attention, when they told how things could
be done that would open the eyes of those who did not want
to see.
138 IN THE LAND OF CHINOOK
I saw the results of their labors in the many beautiful displays
of grains, vegetables and fruits — all raised on land above the
ditch, and some of them where drinking water was at a premium.
I met many of these men. Among others, I met one who
had at one time been in my employ, working in the dairy or at
any kind of labor that a ranch required. He was at that time
in the employ of the government as an expert, to become later
the Dean of the Agricultural College of the state of Kansas,
and one of the leading agronomists in the world, William Jardine.
Professor Linfield was right, the author had learned a
lesson and put at once into practice the information that had
come to him, by placing a higher value on the lands susceptible
to agriculture.
He recalls one piece of land, not far from Manhattan in the
Gallatin valley, on which he placed a value of $22.50 per acre
and which was thought by the boys in the land office too high —
in fact so high that a re-appraisement must needs be made before
the state could realize on it. The same fall that land was sold
at Bozeman for $5 1 .50 an acre.
How THE Writer Learned of the Land on the Milk
River or Northern Montana.
In one of his trips to the Northern part of the state he had
stopped at Harlem to look over some land, from which place he
was to go as far as Coburg and Saco. On the train from Harlem
to Coburg was a pioneer plainsman, John Forgy, who told him
of a section of country to the north and just south of and border-
ing on the Canadian line, which was noted for its fine soil and
excellent water. He also said that some of the people in Harlem,
with J. J. Hill and the Agricultural College of Montana had
begun to experiment along agricultural lines. While the writer
listened attentively to the gentleman he could see no reason why
he should at any time take advantage of the information. The
one thing that impressed him the most favorably was the good
water, as that was an unknown quantity along the bottom lands
of the Milk river valley.
After attending the Congress he explained to his wife — who
had always been willing to follow his fortunes (as The Story of
Ajax will prove) that he thought it would be a good idea to look
into the section of country concerning which Forgy had told him
earlier in the season, and that probably they might repair their
broken fortunes by taking up a piece of land and by using some
of the knowledge that he had absorbed by listening to the men
who had succeeded along the lines which he now contemplated.
THE STORY OF BI^INE COUNTY 139
Not caring to go at this matter blindly, he went to see Pro-
fessors Linfield and Nelson, two of the men under whom the
work had taken place at the experiment farm north of Harlem —
and sought their advice, as well as what knowledge they had
secured through their work and observation.
Both of these gentlemen spoke in glowing terms of that par-
ticular section of the state; told what they thought of its future
and explained what had been done, handing a pamphlet that gave
a description in concise language. They thought that they knew
of no particular place — then to be had — that would prove better
adapted to what one wanted — the making of a home on the
prairie.
The writer also sought information from Senator Thomas M.
Everett, of Harlem, a man who had made a success as a ranch-
man on the bottom lands of the Milk river under irrigation, and
who had been instrumental in having the experimental station
started to see if it could not be demonstrated that the land was
more valuable for agriculture than it was for grazing.
The senator replied to his letter, giving him the results of
what had been done and saying that the year just passed (1909)
the grain, especially oats, had produced over one hundred bushels
per acre and that everything else that had been put in the ground
that year had done so well that many people had come to the
conclusion that no longer was the raising of crops, in that section,
problematical, but an assured fact, and they were beginning to
homestead the lands that were near the 'farm.' This letter was
not one that was misleading in any way, just a good, common
sense communication to one who wished for facts, so far as the
facts could be known.
The writer came to the conclusion to go and make a personal
investigation. He also thought it would be a wise idea to go east
with an illustrated lecture on dry lands of Montana and try to
secure emigrants whom he thought were coming to the state.
On the second day of February, 1910, he got a team, and
with Hans Twete, who had taken land near the experiment sta-
tion, as driver and guide, went to look over the country.
While several had located that fall there was only one house
occupied and that was by Bob Gorsuch and brother. A young
Dane who was building a shack three or four miles east, was
staying with the Gorsuchs that winter. We accepted the hos-
pitality of Bob, who had seen the experimental farm while the
grain was being harvested the fall before, and concerning which
they gave such glowing accounts. (Bob never stayed long enough
to prove up as the hot and dry seasons so completely discouraged
him that he sold his claim for a small amount and quit.)
140 IN THE LAND OF CHINOOK
Here was a new world to conquer and to one used to the
life of a pioneer there could be no great hardships to encounter
that would deter any one with nerve. We returned to Harlem
the next day well satisfied with what we had seen and learned.
To go east and secure many emigrants who would be willing
to pay for the correct information as to a good location was
thought to be an easy thing. I must admit that the attempt was
made without any good results and a return to Montana was
considered the best thing to be done, if we wanted to get a claim
for ourselves, as we found that J J. Hill and the big railroad
interests of the country were doing all they could to see that the
free homesteads of Montana should be taken up, as they could
see that they could derive some benefit, at least while the opera-
tion was taking place. Then, too. Hill had seen the Dakotas
build up and thrive.
The writer and his son (Raymond) hurried back to Harlem.
When we arrived there we found that almost every man, woman
and child had become obsessed with a wish to help locate the
"Scissorbills" and secure a little of the money they were bringing
into the country — get it while they could, as too many of them
had no hope that these people would succeed in making a per-
manent home for themselves.
The truth is, the stockmen had seen the hot sun burn the grass
to a crisp or had seen the seasons when no grass had grown at
all for lack of moisture. Then some, who had stock, thought that
the Dry Farmer would secure their pasture and, while they could
not make a living themselves they would drive the stockman from
his rightful possession, as the buffalo hunter had driven the Indians
from their hunting grounds, as they had left nothing to hunt.
The scramble for land was on. Any one who had come to
the Northwest through the gateway of St. Paul could not help
but see the splendid display that had been gotten together by the
Great Northern Railroad company. One could hardly believe
that Montana could produce such a variety of products that were
there assembled. Such profusion; such quality and quantity. It
was truly enough to make the homeless man turn his pockets to
see if he could find enough to take advantage of the low (?)
cost of homesteading.
Of course Hill's men and Hill himself did not say that all
people could and would make a success, but the door of oppor-
tunity was standing ajar and to him who would push it open
and delve deeply and wisely among the treasures there assembled
would surely find some gem of great value.
So they came, men and women, from all over the middle and
eastern states to take advantage of the chance thrown out to them.
THE STORY OF BLAINE COUNTY 141
In those days when we were trying to settle the lands on the
big prairies we had all kinds of discouragements in the advice
given by those who did not, for several reasons, wish us to stay.
The writer recalls that one morning he came from his room and
listened to the impassioned speech that a gentleman was making
concerning the influx of settlers. He said, among other things:
"Any man who has no more principle than to locate men on these
plains in northern and eastern Montana, where the drouth and
hot winds will surely sap the strength from every plant that they
attempt to grow should be hanged by the neck until he is dead.
No greater crime could be committed than the one now being
carried into effect. These people will come here, led by false
representation, and when they have tried and failed they will be
broke, paupers, on the hands of those who can ill afford to
assume such a responsibility. Why, I will agree to haul with one
four-horse team, and at one time, all that they can ever raise."
I have never doubted but what that man, at the time he was
making that talk, believed what he said, and actually thought
he was telling the truth.
I listened to him for some time and then told him he sounded
to me much like a stockman who wished that what he was saying
would come true. That he had personal reasons for saying what
he did in order to keep people from taking up the range. I told
him that he surely did not know what he was talking about, but
that he was not to blame for that as many of us in Montana
had thought as he had, but that we were not yet enlightened to
the fullest concerning the possibilities of the country. I admitted
that up until a very short time before I had thought and talked
as he had, but that we must face the issues as they were pre-
sented to us, and one of them would be the taking up of all the
land that was at all susceptible to agriculture. I told him what I
had seen at Billings and left him completely silent with a parting
shot to "stop and think."
Before going on to give some of the actual experiences that
took place under my observation, concerning the farming of dry
land in Blaine county, I wish to give credit to those men who
first thought there was some possibility of making the land, if
rightly farmed, produce enough for a livelihood.
The First Dry Experiment Station.
Dry farming in an experimental way was begun in 1905 to
determine the feasibility of raising crops without irrigation in what
is now Blaine county. This was the first experiment station in
Montana. This station was financed by a few of the business
men of Harlem — Charles A. Smith, Charles H. Barton, Henry
M2 IN THE LAND OF CHINOOK
C. Turner and Thomas M. Everett, with a few small contribu-
tions from some of the other citizens.
The first year's crop was sown on the sod and was only a
partial success. About ten to fifteen acres were put in in wheat,
oats, barley and flax.
The following year the same parties, in connection with the
State Agricultural college and the Great Northen railroad,
selected a section of land near the place we had used and which
Congress set aside for ten years for experimental purposes. Dry
land farming was carried on upon about 1 00 to 1 60 acres of land
for five or six years, with a yield that demonstrated beyond a
doubt that dry-land farming, if carried on scientifically, would
produce a good yield, at least every other year, with summer
fallow. The crops averaged, during that time, from fifteen to
forty bushels of wheat; twenty to one hundred bushels of oats;
eighteen to forty-five bushels of barley, and ten to eighteen bush-
els of flax per acre. Corn and garden stuff were grown in the
same way.
This work was carried on until the cultivation of dry farms
was general and it was no longer necessary to carry on the farm.
All the first settlers who came into the country seemed to be
of the opinion that the land in the immediate vicinity were the
only lands that could be successfully cultivated, so they were the
first taken up. (We have to thank the Hon. T. M. Everett for
the above information.)
To resume our narrative : We find that the spring of 1 909
many settlers came to locate the dry lands in what was soon to
become Blaine county.
The spring was early and the month of March was dry and
hot with not a vestige of moisture.
Of course there was a possibility that there would be plenty
of rain in the growing season and a few people came to the
conclusion that they would put in a few acres.
The writer had no idea from any thing of a practical nature
what farming meant.
It was at last agreed upon, by others of his party, that he
was to go to the west and get some horses, machinery, etc., and
put in as large an acreage as possible. He returned with six
head of horses and the breaking of the sod began. It was too
soon demonstrated that there was too little moisture to allow one
to plow. Our first breaking consisted of about two acres. This
land was planted with potatoes which cost $1.75 per sack at
the railroad, which was 30 miles away. It took eight sacks to put
in what we considered the proper amount.
After the seed was in, all we could do was to wait for the
heavenly sprinkling cart to come along cind with its aid, and the
THE STORY OF BLAIXE COUNTY 143
revivifying rays of the summer sun, cause those tubers to spring
into Hfe, producing something which would be a thing to eat,
if not "A thing of beauty."
While we were waiting for the water wagon to come along
and do its part we began to have our day dreams. We could
imagine the many fine things we could buy when we had har-
vested the crop (?) If we could get much of a yield and the
price was as good as in the fall as it was when we bought the seed
we could take a trip to California or some other place where we
could be far removed from the rigors of an almost Arctic clime.
In fact we spent that money in many ways, in our minds (and
that is the only way we ever had to spend it) while we were
waiting for the rain.
That season there must have been a great big umbrella or a
mammoth Zeppelin hanging over our northlands, as no moisture
fell. We had seen some place that the rain falls on the just and
the unjust. We couldn't have been either one or the other as
no moisture fell in quantities sufficient to cause the spuds to get up
a sweat.
The hot sun came and the waves, of hot air, as they rolled
in billows over the parched fields left no moisture, for a time long
enough, to bring to life any of the seeds that many a time, under
more auspicious conditions, must have dotted those vast plains.
No flower sprang into existence to entice the bee with its
fragrance, and not a bird warbled its sweet song to break the
awful stillness that surrounded the "shack" on the thirsty prairie
we had selected for home (?).
No blast that ever blew across the seething flames of Hades
could have more thoroughly withered the small blades of grass,
as they tried to lift their heads from mother earth, than did those
hot winds that came from a h , of a self-made nature.
Prairie fires caught in the grass of a year that was dead — and
in the month of June — when all the land should have had a
carpet of green with clusters of flowers to beautify the scene,
swept every vestige from the soil and left it a black, bleak space.
Our potatoes? Why, they would not grow. They, many
of them, even refused to sprout and were dug, later, and eaten
after they had remained in the ground all summer. Other people
did not fare any better than we did. It was surely a year to
be remembered.
The experimental farm was worked and while it did not
produce a large crop it did, however, produce something and was
not a complete failure.
This was proof of what the Professors had said: "Conserve
your moisture and you will be sure to have some kind of a crop."
144 IN THE LAND OF CHINOOK
The writer and his wife left this uncongenial section to secure
work in a more favorable field so that the younger ones of the
family might remain and hold down their claims.
No hay had grown and the only means of keeping their
horses during the coming winter would be either to cut the dead
grass or haul hay from the Milk River valley, thirty miles away,
and pay a high price for it. It was thought wise to cut the dry
hay, but it proved any thing but a success. The horses were
allowed to go to the range each day and in that way they were
brought through, though they were in very poor shape to do
much work the next spring.
The spring of 1911 found us with fifty to sixty acres of land
ready for seeding, as there had been a little moisture during the
winter.
As flax had been high the year before we came to the con-
clusion to put in at least fifty acres into that seed and try a
few acres of wheat and oats. The flax, for seeding, had cost us,
laid down on the farm, four dollars per bushel. With the mois-
ture we had that spring and the persuasive heat of the sun's rays
properly applied that fifty-acre tract looked like the blue waters
of some wonderful lake, or a garden of flowers, that was soon to
produce wealth in the myriad bolls that were to take their place.
The boys could see success every time they looked upon that
smiling field and our neighbors, with more experience than we,
congratulated us on a crop that would produce 1000 bushels.
But, alas, for our dreams and speculations, they were to be nipped
in the bud, as the hot sun tempered the wind to "sear" the flax,
and instead of having 1000 bushels, we had 84!
This was really and truly a disappointment, that to be appre-
ciated to the fullest extent, must have been felt to be thoroughly
understood.
Mother and myself, with two of the young people, would
leave the farm for the winter, thus placing the care of the stock
in the hands of one who would be able to care for it ; as it would
be much more economical than to try and haul our wood as the
boys had done the year before, thirty miles.
We had the flax seed for several acres of ground for the
next year's seeding. We did succeed in getting several acres of
new ground ready. We put the ground we had had the year
before into flax into oats. We sowed a few acres of wheat but
put most of our new land into flax. That year (1912) proved
that nature could smile on the dry plains if she wanted to.
The birds came back and once in a while a bee could be seen
flying among the flowers! Yes, flowers! Many beautiful bloom-
ing plants came to beautify the scene and their delicate perfume
filled the senses with pleasant memories. Every one who had
THE STORY OF BLAINE COUNTY 145
been fortunate enough to have land prepared had his hope, in a
final success, renewed. It was a bumper crop.
How strange it is we do not have all our hopes fulfilled. It
must be that being human — and full of mistakes — our desires are
not wise ones, or they would culminate more often in pleasure.
So far as we were concerned (I mean all the new comers
when I use the word we) the desires were by no means of a
selfish nature. We had come to a new country with limited means,
which had been too soon dissipated through, to me, the malicious
action of Nature itself.
We had tried to produce our bread "By the sweat of our
brow," and completely failed. The land had been prepared as
well as we knew how, the seed had been sown and cultivation
had been given, but Nature smiled in derision on every effort of
puny man and withheld her assistance, without which man can
accomplish no more than can the most microscopic specimen known
to the scientist.
But this year nature smiled on all our work and the pro-
duction was lavish throughout the whole world. As has been
mentioned, we paid high prices for seed two years before, but
when the bumper crop was ready for market the price had become
so low — 104 for flax, 15 cents for oats and sixty cents for wheat,
that no one under those circumstances could make both ends meet.
TTiis made the third season on our dry farm, two of which
were complete failures, that would have made us objects of
charity (as it did some others) if we had not had other means
of support, and one fat one that did not m.uch more than return
the cost of production after the haul of thirty miles to the railroad
had been made. Surely not much encouragement to one who
had expected better results.
People began to feel discouraged and look forward to the
time when it would be possible to get a title to something that
appeared almost worthless — so they could go to some other place
where there was a possibility of getting a sure return for their
labor and capital. Others, who had been wiser and had fol-
lowed the advice of the "Book farmer" (to summer fallow) had
been more successful than those who had gone on heedless of the
wisdom of the careful experimenter.
Man. himself, is not more erratic than nature. If there is any-
thing in heredity man should be excused in the final reckoning
for all his peculiarities of temperament and activities because his
mother, nature, has treated him with more incivilities and actual
punishment than could ever be dreamed of in the minds of man.
She had taught him to be selfish, as he has to hoard the accum-
ulations of the fat seasons for the time which is sure to come, the
lean ones. If it had taught him a sense of proportion, so he could
146 IN THE LAND OF CHINOOK
have known his needs, and secreted only enough to gratify them,
then he would not have developed, to such an extent that he lost
all sight of the needs of his neighbors in his blind greed for more
than he could use, but which, if distributed, would have relieved
the pressure on his more unfortunate brother and made his life
a thing of pleasure and not a cause of remorse and misery. (I
must admit that I am not writing a work on moral philosophy,
simply the story of a new county in the great state of Montana.)
The dry years of 1910 and 191 1 made the stockman laugh
with glee. No longer could the "Scissorbill" possibly stay in a
section that had so wilfully withheld all support.
The writer heard them as they were sitting in the shade of
their more comfortable roofs, in town, say: "Another year will
get them. They cannot stay." If the homesteader moved the
stockman would be more than repaid for the few years' worry
they had endured, because the buildings, wells and improvements
would be left, things of value to them, but of no earthly use to
the man who had tried and failed.
It has been the belief of the writer that those people who
came to the state in 1910-11 were more unfortunate — if they were
compelled to stay on their places — than were those who came
later, when crops were actually raised through their first
endeavors.
The years 1912-13-15-16 had proven conclusively that there
was a possibility of making a home on the dry plains. The year
1913 had not by any means proved one full of success, but it
had not been a failure. These years marked the destruction of
the range for range purposes alone. Houses of more pretention
began to take the place of the little black shack, stables displaced
the sod hovel, trees were planted to break the monotony of the
bleak prairie, schools and churches in convenient places had been
erected, and peace and plenty began to cause the smile of con-
tentment to suffuse the faces of many that had begun too soon
to be lined with care.
All the known land that had any agricultural value, was soon
in the bands of the private owner and began to take a money
value, and was a thing sought for by those who would not at
first believe.
We would like to write of some of those who have passed
through the different stages and name them, but if we should
give credit where due to the men and \vomen who have helped
to make the county of homes we would only have a book of or
a list of names and not conditions.
We have given only a few of our own experiences, as thou-
sands of people on the dry farms had the same that we did and
they can lay claim to any thing in particular that they wish to
THE STORY OF BLAINE COUNTY 147
take home to themselves — as all went through about the same
heartrending troubles before they were successful — if they had
families.
The young men or young women were more fortunate, as
they could leave and find employment in more favorable locali-
ties.
Some one will tell the story of his or her life on the arid
plains in such detail that the tears will flow down the cheeks of
the sympathetic and the heart will throb in unison with him
who was brave enough to stay and win success through hard and
self-sacrificing endeavor.
That success has been won is proven by the fact that all the
land was taken up in a few years and that elevators that once
had not a bushel of grain, were full to bursting, and that instead
of one or two in a county, dozens were needed ; that banks, stores,
churches and schools were multiplied in sections that only a few
years ago was the home for a few stockmen whose cowboys and
sheep herders "Were monarch of all they surveyed."
148 INDEX
INDEX
Page.
Chapter I.
The First Inn. Etc , 7
Chapter II.
Squawmen 15
Chapter III.
Buffalo and Their Hunters 20
Chapter IV.
First Settlement of Whites 23
Chapter V.
Prospecting and Mining 32
Chapter VI.
The Church in Blaine County 37
Chapter VII.
Cowboy Days 44
Chapter VIII.
Sheep Days 57
Chapter IX.
The Last Stand "61
Chapter X.
Stoi-ies of Plainsmen 81
Billy Cochran 81
Wm. Bent 88
Joseph Mosser 99
George Herendeen 105
James H. Snell 112
Daddy Marsh, Curry Story 115
Chapter XI.
Charles M. Russell 119
Chapter XII.
Topography of County 120
Chapter XIII.
Political History of Blaine County 127
Chapter XIV.
Dry Farming 135
INDEX
149
Page.
Aiken, Gene 61
Alexis 21
Aldrich, Franlc ....32-33-35-36
Anderson, Bill 90-92
Anderson, Reese 35
Angstman 31
Araipahoes 7-8
Arnoux, J. M 35
Armstrong, Adam 24-^-85
Armstrong, R. A 43
Arnett, Frank 49
Ashby, Col. S'hirley 119
Assinniboines S
Baird, Capt 96
Baird 43
Ballou 27
Bartzen 28
Barton, Chas. H 28-3H29-134
Barrows, Gep 52-3
Bean, Jack 111-112
Bent, Col 88
Bent, Bill 13-14-32-48-88-9-99
Beilenberg, John 46
Beilenberg, Nick 50-58
Bevins, Bill 82
Blackstone, Donald L 130
Blackfeet 7
Blivens, Taylor 195
Bogy, V 22-27-28-37
Bogy, Tom 101-2
Boll, Father 40
Boone, Dan'l 99
Bosley, Preston M 130
Bostwick Ill
Bourne, George 128
Bower, Bertha M 121
Boyle, Frank 28
Boyd, Geo 82-,3-98-24
Brampar, Louie 82
Brewster, Horace 49
Brewer, James 99
Brewer, Rev 43
Brisban, Major 107-8
Brisbeau 22
Broadwater, Col 1,34
Brown, Jack 82-3
Bryan, W. J 68
Buchanan, Buck Ill
Buckley, Sheriff 116
Buckley, Mike 31
Buckley, Phil 30
Buffalo Bill 21
Burnes, T. C 25-26
Butler, Vernon 130
Cabler, John 120
Calamity Jane 103
Campbell, Prof. 137
Campbell, Tom 94
Page.
Campbell, Jim 92
Canby, General 65
Captain John 96
Carson, Kit 88
Carter, Captain 78
Carver. Steven 29
Cecil, Al 29-30
Chapman, Arthur 96-7
Chinook, Who Named 27
Chrisler, Rev 43
Claggett, Billy 101
Clark and Daly 133
Clendenning, Geo 100-104
Cleveland, President 38
Coburn, Robert 130
Coburn, Bob 49
Coburn, Wallace 5
Cochran, John 82
Cochran, Billy 24-58-90-100
Collins, John 130
Conklin, Charlie 82-90
Conrad, Chas. C 30
Cowan, Geo 27
Cowan, Minn 59
Cowan, Scott 59
Cowan, Arthur, Minn., Geo 60
Cooper, Housen 105
Cooper, Nancy 121
Grain, Tom 49
Crawford. Toney 123
Crawford, Hank 46
Culbertson, Major 91
Ctimm, Lee 27
Curry Boys 29
Curry, Kid 115-116-118-119
Curry, Johnnie and Lonnie 116
Curry, Hank 115-116
Curtis, Miss Lizzie 28
Custer 106
Darwin 82
Davis, A. J 46-S
Dawes. Station 27
Day, Rev 43
"Delaware" Jim 66
Dempsey, Bob 47
Denton, Drew 101
Devine, Richard o3
De Smet, Father 37
De Yon, Joe 122
Dillon, John 24-83-4-5
Dinier, Father 40
Dolman, Henry A 99
Dorrity, Mrs. James 80
Dowen, Thos 98-130
Dryden. Charlie 110
Duke. William 28
Dutch Louie 29-32-3-5-6
Duncan, Willard 33
Du Boise, Judge 118
Dwyer, Jimmie 94
150
INDEX
Page.
Eberschweiler, Father 37-8-9-43
Eckerson, Lieut 77
Edwards, Sen. John 51
Ekergren, Ernest 31
Ellis, Lon 31
Emery, Bill 86
Eulalia, Sister 41
English, Lieut 64
Everett, T. M 26-9-58-128-9-139-142
Everett, J. M 26
Exipress, Pony 90
Featherly, Senator 51
Fenton, Agent 91
Field, Major 103
First Land Plowed 7
First Irrigation Ditch 26
Flanuigan, Jerry 134
Flynu, Tommy 52
Forgy, John 138
Fox, James E 26
Fox 82
French, Walter 29
$50,000 Check 25
Gamble 49
Gibbon, General 8-63-70-79-107
Gibson, Paris 137
Glick, Dr 47
Gill 118
Giorda, Father 37
Goff, Cortez 64
Gorsuch, Bob 139
Grant, General 37-41-90-102
Grant, John 48
Grant, Jesse R 102
Great Northern R. R 25-6
Grinell 91
Gros Ventres 7-8
Grounds, Frank 106-111
Haddow 75
Haley, Tom 35
Hale, Captain 76-7
Hamilton, Bill 13-32-91-111
Hammer, A. W 43
Hanson, Chas. A 21
Hardrick, John 82
Harlan 63-9
Hart, Bill 31
Hatch, Mr 29
Healey, Col 41
Herendeen, Geo 33-105-9
Hill, J. J 138-40
Holmes 56
Hoover, Jake 120
Hopkins, Dr. Chas. F 28
Houston, Samuel 28
Howard, General....27-64-9-79-l-3-8-80
Hubble, Lewis 98
Huidekoper 120
Page.
Jardine, William 138
Jerome, Lieut 114
Jew Jake 117
Johnson, Albert S 90
Johnson, Liver Eating 90-100-101
Johnson, William 130
Jones, Dick 82
Jones, Bill 120-1
Jones J. Dwight 130
Joseph, Chief 63-5-8-71-78-9-80-1-
94-97-114
Josephine, Sister 41
Kaufman, Louie 120
Keiser, Henry 84
Kelsey 27
Kemp, Charlie - 31
Kendrick, J. B 52
Kennedy, E. M 29-130
Kennedy, J. M 128
Kenyon, Dan'l. C 130
Kester, W. C 123-4
Keyes, Cris 33-5
Kinney 67
Kingsbury 27
Kohrs, Con 45-6-9-50
Kosciusco, Dr 130
Kuhr, Jurgan 58
Larpenture 12
Landon, Frank 52
Landusky 32-87-8-115-6
Leader, Jake 14-82-100
Leavenworth, Col 90
Lee, John 29
Lehfeldt, Julius 38
Lepley, John - 35
Letcher 28
Lewis, Johnnie 27
Lewis and Clark 61
Lincoln, Major 103
Lincoln, Mrs. W. L 23
Linfield, Prof 137-9
Linderman, Frank 52-121
Lomire and Lee 100
Looking Glass 65-8-9-70
Lohman, A. S 28-124-5
Logan, Major 29-56-92
Logan, Geo 42
Logan, Capt 64
Lowery, K 123
Maginnis, Martin Hon 133
Main, Bob 35
Mallison, Al 123
Maloney, Cris 59-60
Maney 28
Manning, Mrs. John 29-31
Marlow. Tom 118
Marsh, F. M 28-32-45-29-115-126
Martin, J. A 43
INDEX
151
Page.
Martin. Bill 82-4-5
Matherson, Martha 31
Matt, Cyprenne ....24-35
Matt. Alex 67
Meadors. Senator 51
Meldrum 92
Merchant, Fred 91
Middleton, A. G 130
Miles, General 22-43-713'-4-<>-7-8-9-81-
94-5-6-7-114-135
Mills, Rev. Jacob 42
Miller, Wallis 119
Miller, Col 64
Minugh, "Daddy" 32
Montgomery 94
Montgomery, William 49
Moody, Dr G2
Morehouse, John 82-87
Mosser, Joe 44-58-99
Murphy, Spnd 32
McCone, Senator 51
McCommiek 107
McDonald 90
McGregor 94
McKinzie 32
McNamara 12S
McQuirk 67
Neibaur, Isaac 1.30
Nelson, Ole 29
Nelson, Prof 1.39
Nevins, O. B 82-3
Newton. Henry 82
Nicholson, I. 41
Nicholson, Murray 95
Norris, G. R ' 100
Norris, Edwin L 136
Norton, Harry 23
Noyes, Raymond 140
Oker, Joseph 136
Old Nosey 92
Olson, B. G 58-104
Owens, Chas 29
Owens. Frank 53-4
O'Hanlon. Tom ....27-8-30-38-44-5-103-4
O'Neal, Frank 28-118-124
O'Neal, Mrs. Frank 118
Paxon, Ed 126
Pease, Major 107
Pease, Dave 24
Pepin, Simon 45
Pepperberg 36
Perkins. Jeff 82
Phelps, Jesse 120
Phillips, B. D 7-52-58-130-1-3
Picket, Col 109
Pinkerton 56
Plnymondin, Henry 30
Point. Father 37
Page.
Point, Priest's 38
Potts, Gov 65-7
Potter. Capt 33
Power, T. C 28-102^3
Price, Ed 28
Price, Kid 124-5
Quantrell 90
Rainbolt Bros 28
Randall, Stevo 37
Rash, Harry .. 32
Rawn, Capt G4-6-7
Ray, Thos 99
Raymond 28
Reavis, Old Man 24
Reed, Bill 31
Reed, Chub 52
Reed 92-4
Reservation Open 25
Resor. A. H,.. 27-8
Rhoades, Jay 31-52
Richardson 112
Rideont 27
Riel, Louis 29
Roberts, I. N 43
Robertson, John 64
Roberts, Ben 120
Rodgers. Allen 43
Rosenbaum Bros 53
Russell, 0. M 22-52-119-122-3-4-5
Russell, Tom 87
Russell, Mrs. C. M 121
Saddler, Jack 31
Sands, W. R 31
Sands, W. B 28-130
Sanders. Col 134
Saver, Frank 59
Scott. Lee 32
Seiben, Henrv 49
Schultz 31
Shambow, Louie 21-42-73-79
Shankland, Sam 106
Shelby, Nigger 34
Short. Miss A. L 130
Shultz, Al 104-44
Sinclair 121
Sitting Bull 78-96-106
Skillen. Billy 32^34-35-117
Smith, John R 49
Smith, Chas. A. 29-32-35-141
Smith. Frank 100
Smith. Rillv 92^4
Snell. .Tames H 112
Snyder, Captain 76-7-114
Solomon. Mose 94
Spencer, Dr. W. B 42
Sprinkle Bros 58
Stam 28
Stadler & Kaufman 53
152
INDEX
Page.
Stevens. Judge 28-07
Story. Xels lOG-7
Stringfellow. Rev 43
Stuart, Bob 52^123
iStuart. Granville 45-50
Sullivan. Sarah 89
Sweeney DO
Tabor, Steve 92-4
Talcum Powder 12
Taylor, L. B 49-51-130
Terry, General 108
Thompson. Rev. Peter 41
Thomas. John ...91-2-4
Thompson. John 123
Thornhill, Jim 117-119
Titus, N. C 77
Toomey. Joe 58
Treacy, Dr 53-56-7
Trimble 123
Turner. Henry 142
Twete, Hans 139
Page.
Umstet 39
Waite, Jack 119
Wells, Jim 24-82-92-100
White Bird 97
Whitehead, J. S 28
Whitson. Bert 99
Wild Bill ..; 103
Williams, Charlie 49-101-124
Williams. Bill 82
Williams. Dr 20
Willson, "Two Dot" 51
Winters 116-8
Wise. Mrs. J. A 29
Woodruth. Lieut 64-72
Woolridge. W. X 28
Woolsey, Epli 9
Wye. Joe 91
Wynkoop 27
"Yellowstone Kelley" 73-5
Ziebarth 2-28
