George Smith resident of Gilt Edge for 66 years, recalls area's past.

              George Smith, Resident of Gilt Edge for 66 years, recalls area's past
By Cheryl Rageth
December 18, 1966
"When I came to Fort Maginnis in 1895, I landed in jail."George Smith then went on to explain his stay in
Fort Maginnis. He was about 2%years old when his parents came from Wisconsin by way of Fort
Benton. They travelled overland to Lewistown, from Lewistown to Maiden, into old Fort Maginnis.
Smith's father was a carpenter and it was his job to finish tearing down the jail, officer's quarters,
barracks and the old store of the abandoned fort. The only place for the family to stay was in the Fort
Maginnis Jail. The other buildings were either occupied or being torn down. Gilt Edge was starting to
boom, so the most natural place for the Smiths to go after the job at Maginnis was completed was the
gold town. Smith's father and uncle moved much of the lumber from the Maginnis barracks to Gitt Edge
where they are credited with building about half of the then prosperous town. The town of Gilt Edge
was the busiest in this part of Montana territory in 1900 with three gold mines running. The largest
cyanide mill in the United Stated to process low grade gold ore was one of these three. The population
was counted in the town and along the roads to the three mines and it was estimated that 1,500 people
called Gilt Edge their town. lt was also in the year 1900 that the Barry family heard about the gold boom
and decided this was the town for them, and moved from Belt. George Smith's wife, lva, was one of the
Barry girls to come from Belt.
ln 1901 a new school house was built, boasting three rooms and two stories and a community room, to
boot. There was a hospitalfor the Miner's Union with Dr. Graham and Dr. Attix working in the gold
town. Smith recalls that "Gilt Edge had the miners, sheep herders, and cow punchers while Lewistown
was then the smaller of the two towns. The mines around Lewistown made it grow along with getting
the railroad in 1903." Twice a year, the lndians would camp in our back yard while on their way to
Yellowstone to fish. They would sell their wares of leather goods and beaded moccasins." Smith told of
the time, '"Two old lndian squaws came into our house, smiled and did lots of pointing. All we could do
was smile back since neither Mom nor I could speak lndian. The lndian women went to the table,
emptied the sugar bowl, and salt and pepper shakers into their little leather wrist pouches .They smiled
again and out they went. They returned later with a leather horse shoe beaded with the words "Good
Luck" as a present for my mother"
"There were plenty of cowboys coming into Gilt Edge to celebrate and maybe stay to shoot the town up
for excitement. We had a jail to accommodate them, when needed. I remember one celebration that
happened when I was a youngster. A cowboy known as "Panhandle Bob" was at Patsy Dwyer's saloon
drinking after leaving his horse and rifle at the livery stable and checking his gun with Patsy. "Panhandle
Bob" wanted to go home and for some reason Patsy didn't want to give him back his gun. "Panhandle
Bob" was going to settle this argument once and for all-so out the door he went to the livery stable for
his rifle." Smith telts how he was standing outside the open door of the saloon watching to see just what
would happen when "Panhandle Bob" came back with the rifle. "Old Bob was standing with his foot on
the bar rail with the muzzle of his rifle resting on his foot. The argument kept on, getting hotter all the
time. Patsy reached over and got "panhandle Bob's" gun from under the bar and shot Bob right between
the eyes. Killed him on the spot. That night, Jim Washburn, owner of the clothing store took Patsy to
Lewistown to turn him in to the sheriff. They put the body of "Panhandle Bob" in the jail for safe
keeping. Patsy pleaded self defense and never spent a minute in jail."