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HERITAGE OF ONE OF NATURE'S WONDERS
GIGANTIC WARM SPRINGS
By
Marie Vanek
In the heart of Central Montana we are endowed with a circle of mountain ranges, the beautiful Judith
Mountains to the east, and to the northwest two ranges the South and North Moccasin Mountains, every bit
as beautiful, ever popular for the rock and game hunters, landscape and areas rich in recreational value.
As early as 1840 individual members of the Metis Indians penetrated the area to help the traders and
trappers in their ventures into a beautiful valley affording as fine a grazing and agricultural district as could be
seen in the territory. Trappers found many kinds of animals to trap and hunt, to use for food. They found an
unusual wide stream of warm water fed from an unusual warm spring that never froze over in the winter that
flowed the length of this valley of abundant grass as far as the naked eye could see. Here was an opportunity
to explore the mountain ranges for the treasures that were to be had for those that were wiling to brave the
wild unexplored territory.
In the early seventies (1874), through this section of the country came one of the leading freight lines,
known as the Carroll Trail, a wagon road, located 25 miles above the mouth of the Musselshell River and south
of the Missouri River, later known as Rocky Point. From Camp Carroll the road headed in a southward
direction toward the Judith Mts., around the north end of the Judith's' proceeding to Camp Lewis.
In 1876 - following the battle of the Big Horn, Lt. Nelson came across some French halfbreed families
and advised them to come to the Judith Basin and locate on Warm Spring Creek in 1878. Pierre Laverdure and
his wife Judith Berger came to Camp Lewis in 1879 and settled in central Montana. They were French
halfbreed Indians and are believed to be among the first settlers in the area. He was a trapper, spoke 5 Indian
languages, namely, Chippewa, Cree, Piegan, Assinebone, and Sioux and he could understand sign language.
When he came to Fort Lewis there were about 50 other Indians families with them. Camp Lewis was about 10
miles from the warm spring area.
From article by Ed. Degnar "about 1872, the Judith Cattle Pool, owned by various rich mining men of
Butte and Helena, was located on Warm Spring Creek and the Judith Basin country, which H.P.Brooks as
foreman and wagon boss of the Two Bar Wagon and Horseshoe Bar Ranch, trailed 5,000 head of Spanish cross
bred California and Texas long horn steers and turned them loose along the Judith River. They were very hardy
cattle, died only by accident or starvation. They could out smart the best cattlemen, and would strike fear in
the hearts of the bravest cowboys who ever handled them. They were high strung animals. They could smell a
change in the weather, or water for many miles when thirsty. These longhorns were turned loose in the Warm
Spring-Judith River area country to roam".
As early as 1879, a well known cattle ranch, The Horseshoe Bar Ranch, had its origin in the original
properties established by H. P. (Governor) Brooks on Warm Spring Creek, representing the interest ofT. C.
Power in Helena. The ranch was developed into one of the finest stock ranges in central Mont.
From Will Sutherlin: "1892 -In the canyon between the Moccasins is the home of Henry P. Brooks, the
Pioneer of this warm spring creek, and in fact of eastern Meagher County (then). He has a most beautiful place
consisting of fine meadows, big pastures and ample crop growing lands. A field of 16 acres, stretching along
below his dwelling, is decidedly the finest crop I have seen growing, and that his crops grown for the past four
years have yielded well and without artificial irrigation, no ditch having been completed to the fields. Mr.
Brooks maybe termed one of the cattle kings of this country. He commenced with a small herd several years
ago, and cattle have increased until he counts by the thousands".
In the fall of 1880 Henry W. Brooks was bound from southern Montana, driving a herd of cattle with his
men, issued for the Indian Reservation north of the Missouri area. They arrived on Warm Spring Creek where
the grass and water were abundant for their herd on the creek bottom where they wished to camp and rest.
Next morning they awakened to several inches of wet snow. They had anticipated to proceed on with their
drive, hastily ate their bacon and hotcakes and coffee. Suddenly a fierce wind transformed the light snow into
Object Description
| Rating | |
| Title | Heritage of one of nature's wonders: Gigantic Warm Springs |
| Description | History of the Warm Spring Creek area and its importance to the development of the power plant buildt to supply water to the Kendall gold mine. Part of the article about the power plant is based on an article by Glen C. Morton called "Power plant electricity for gold mine operation on Warm Spring Creek and Kendall ". |
| Creator | Marie Vanek |
| Genre | Documents |
| Type | Text |
| Language | eng |
| Date Original | 1985-06-10 |
| Subject (keyword) | Warm Spring Creek; Moccasin Mountains, Montana; |
| Subject (AAT) | Gold Mines; |
| Rights Management | http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
| Contributing Institution | Lewistown Public Library, Lewistown, Montana |
| Geographic Coverage | Kendall, Montana. Henry Brooks. Theodore Lindsey. Bill and buck Buchanan. Harry T. Kendall. Oscar Stephens.Wencil J. Vanek. |
| Digital collection | Central Montana Historical Documents |
| Digital Format | application/pdf |
| Physical format | Typed document |
| Digitization Specifications | Canon MX310 300dpi |
| Full text of this item | HERITAGE OF ONE OF NATURE'S WONDERS GIGANTIC WARM SPRINGS By Marie Vanek In the heart of Central Montana we are endowed with a circle of mountain ranges, the beautiful Judith Mountains to the east, and to the northwest two ranges the South and North Moccasin Mountains, every bit as beautiful, ever popular for the rock and game hunters, landscape and areas rich in recreational value. As early as 1840 individual members of the Metis Indians penetrated the area to help the traders and trappers in their ventures into a beautiful valley affording as fine a grazing and agricultural district as could be seen in the territory. Trappers found many kinds of animals to trap and hunt, to use for food. They found an unusual wide stream of warm water fed from an unusual warm spring that never froze over in the winter that flowed the length of this valley of abundant grass as far as the naked eye could see. Here was an opportunity to explore the mountain ranges for the treasures that were to be had for those that were wiling to brave the wild unexplored territory. In the early seventies (1874), through this section of the country came one of the leading freight lines, known as the Carroll Trail, a wagon road, located 25 miles above the mouth of the Musselshell River and south of the Missouri River, later known as Rocky Point. From Camp Carroll the road headed in a southward direction toward the Judith Mts., around the north end of the Judith's' proceeding to Camp Lewis. In 1876 - following the battle of the Big Horn, Lt. Nelson came across some French halfbreed families and advised them to come to the Judith Basin and locate on Warm Spring Creek in 1878. Pierre Laverdure and his wife Judith Berger came to Camp Lewis in 1879 and settled in central Montana. They were French halfbreed Indians and are believed to be among the first settlers in the area. He was a trapper, spoke 5 Indian languages, namely, Chippewa, Cree, Piegan, Assinebone, and Sioux and he could understand sign language. When he came to Fort Lewis there were about 50 other Indians families with them. Camp Lewis was about 10 miles from the warm spring area. From article by Ed. Degnar "about 1872, the Judith Cattle Pool, owned by various rich mining men of Butte and Helena, was located on Warm Spring Creek and the Judith Basin country, which H.P.Brooks as foreman and wagon boss of the Two Bar Wagon and Horseshoe Bar Ranch, trailed 5,000 head of Spanish cross bred California and Texas long horn steers and turned them loose along the Judith River. They were very hardy cattle, died only by accident or starvation. They could out smart the best cattlemen, and would strike fear in the hearts of the bravest cowboys who ever handled them. They were high strung animals. They could smell a change in the weather, or water for many miles when thirsty. These longhorns were turned loose in the Warm Spring-Judith River area country to roam". As early as 1879, a well known cattle ranch, The Horseshoe Bar Ranch, had its origin in the original properties established by H. P. (Governor) Brooks on Warm Spring Creek, representing the interest ofT. C. Power in Helena. The ranch was developed into one of the finest stock ranges in central Mont. From Will Sutherlin: "1892 -In the canyon between the Moccasins is the home of Henry P. Brooks, the Pioneer of this warm spring creek, and in fact of eastern Meagher County (then). He has a most beautiful place consisting of fine meadows, big pastures and ample crop growing lands. A field of 16 acres, stretching along below his dwelling, is decidedly the finest crop I have seen growing, and that his crops grown for the past four years have yielded well and without artificial irrigation, no ditch having been completed to the fields. Mr. Brooks maybe termed one of the cattle kings of this country. He commenced with a small herd several years ago, and cattle have increased until he counts by the thousands". In the fall of 1880 Henry W. Brooks was bound from southern Montana, driving a herd of cattle with his men, issued for the Indian Reservation north of the Missouri area. They arrived on Warm Spring Creek where the grass and water were abundant for their herd on the creek bottom where they wished to camp and rest. Next morning they awakened to several inches of wet snow. They had anticipated to proceed on with their drive, hastily ate their bacon and hotcakes and coffee. Suddenly a fierce wind transformed the light snow into a ragging blizzard of ice. The cattle bolted, panic stricken were on the move, the men had to act fast to deter them into the trees and brush in the coulee. The cattle would not face into the storm. Brooks hoped that they storm would soon blow over, however the storm did not let up for several days. Every time they decided they could move another big storm would move in bringing more deep snow and making it harder for the animals to get any feed. Their ponies were turned in with the herd and they were able to paw for their food. Consequently they had to settle to make the best of their enforced Camp. They were lucky to have been visited that winter by the Chippawa-Crees and the Metis people who lived in this area. They gave them what help they could to these stranded drovers. Finally in Feb. the severe weather broke and Henry W. Brooks and his drovers were ready to move their cattle out to make their delivery of the beef to the Indian Reservation north of the Missouri River. Their camping site became well known for many years in the stories told by fellow drovers like George Jackson and neighboring settlers. Theodore Lindsey, another pioneer came to this area from Iowa on a steamboat, Red Cloud, taking 6 weeks to make the trip, arriving June 2, 1881. Coming up the Missouri River he had heard about this area, having in mind his place for settlement with his daughter, Mildred and his wife. Coming by team and wagon loaded with supplies and belongings they stopped first on Warm Spring Creek. His wife, Sarah Jane, is believed to be the first white woman to arrive in this area. He took out a homestead desert claim around the rimrock bend of Bull Creek Valley only about 2 miles from Warm Spring Site. They built a log house of pine logs which were plentiful and entered into agricultural farming which did very well for him and soon he found himself in a good financial condition and owning 1800 acres of land of which 500 acres were under cultivation. He had a steam engine to break the virgin land and a threshing rig. He did raise a few cattle. For a growing family of 6 children he needed a better and larger home. He proceeded to build one out of sandstone hauled by teams from the rimrocks above Warm Spring Creek a mile away. Lime was hauled about a mile from the quarry north of the house. The sand came from an area east of the location. It became a very fine home of the area with running water piped gravity flow from a spring Ii mile away and carbide lamps. The carbide was piped into the ceiling and wall fixtures installed in the twelve room house. The woodwork was hand carved. There was a glass cupboard and pass thru between the living room and dining room which were opened to provide a larger space when community dances were held at the Lindsey home. Some of the ornate stairway railing was acquired from the Horseshoe Bar Ranch house on Warm Spring Creek. It took 2 years 1901-1902 to build this edifice. Some time before the year of 1883 Bill and Buck Buchanan, bachelor brothers, gold prospectors came from Calif. To the mountains of Central Mont., to the Yogo Gulch in the Belts but didn't care to mine sapphire stones so they crossed the wide empty Judith Basin, going north and east, no fences blocked their progress, just a vast grassy area with ranges of mountains in the distance, only the ancient buffalo trail and the newer ruts of the emigrant wagons made lines across the endless miles of grass. The second night out they came to the Big Warm Spring and made camp. Next morning they found to their surprise that they were near a big cow camp. They went over, and the men they met were the Brooks brothers Henry and John, another pair of bachelors who were destined to make history for Central Mont. They were stock ranchers. Many tales of their experiences were exchanged. The Buchanan Bros. did not go underground but were strictly placer miners. First they built a cabin with a stone fireplace in it. They are thought to be the first to lead other prospectors to finding gold in the North Moccasins. Their mining venture was of short duration due to the lack of ore of paying equality. Thereafter, steadily the gold prospectors with their pick and shovels came on horse back, buggy buckboard and wagons over the cattle trails for the Judith River, coming from the west, along Warm Spring Creek and others came over the Carroll Trail from the east, Thus about 1890 Kendall gold came into existence with the discovery gold ore at the head of Flannigan's and Mason's gulches in the foot hills of the south eastern part of the North Moccasins. Slowly the trails that they made developed into a road with little grading and filling, making way for the construction of a mining camp, which required building materials, machinery and supplies. One ofthese trail roads came by the Big Warm Spring and angled north and eastward across the North Moccasin Mountains to where Kendall had its beginning. The first record of freight teams over the old trail to the North Moccasin mining district was reported in the March 2, 1898 issue of the Fergus Argus as Follows: "Freight teams reached the Moccasin Mining camp this week from Fort Benton loaded with a Huntington Centrifugal Mill of 40 ton capacity to be used for grinding the ores taken by F. W. Wright from the mines known as the Buchanan Groups". "In the year of 1898 Harry T. Kendall, a young engineer, purchased the mining claims owned by a prospector named Charley Allen. Those claims were located near the mouth of Mason's Canyon in the south end ofthe North Moccasins, about 11 miles north of Warm Spring Creek. In the spring and summer of the year 1901, Kendall built a 59 ton per day capacity cyanide mill on his claims. The mill was operated by steam and the necessary water to operate the mill was piped from a good spring about % mile up mason's Canyon. The mining operations became more extensive and a much larger mill was needed to process the ore. In June 1901 a new mining venture was incorporated in the name of "Kendall Gold Mining Co" capitalized at $2,500,000 and in the fall and winter of 1901 - 1902, the 50 ton mill was quickly torn down and a new 500 ton daily capacity mill was built on the same site. As the water supply of the spring in Mason's Canyon was inadequate to supply the requirements of the new mill, it was decided to build a power plant on Warm Spring Creek to supply electric power to operate the new mill by electricity and pump the necessary water from the creek the six miles across the mountain to the new mining operation". Oscar Stephens was at that time the owner and operator of the large Horseshoe Bar Ranch in the Warm Spring Valley on which the gigantic warm spring is located. In April 1901, Stephens sold to the mining company a water right of suffient water from the spring to operate the planned power plant. In the latter part of June of the same year, the Kendal gold Mining Co. contracted with William Mason for the building of the necessary diversion dam at the Big Spring, which flows 50,000 gallons of water per minute and of the excavation of the ditch to convey water from the plant site. He also leased to R. K. Neill the necessary land to construct the irrigation ditch for five years, which was a Quit Claimed Deed from Oscar Stephens to the Kendal Gold Mining Company a corporation in Feb 15, 1906. "The ditch was to be 16 feet wide at the bottom and a little less than 2 miles long with a carrying capacity of about 10,000 miner inches of water". This ditch is still used by present day ranches along this ditch, using it for irrigation oftheir alfalfa fields and other crops. "A power plant building was constructed about down steam from the ranch buildings of Oscar Stephens, about a mile east of the Lewistown - Fort Benton Stage Trail and 14 miles north east of Lewistown". Machinery for the plant and 4 inch heavy cast iron pipe for the six mile water line from the plant to the Kendall mine was shipped by rail to Harlowtown, which was the terminus of the "Jawbone" railroad. From Harlowtown it was hauled, in the winter of 1901- 1902 by 2 long stings of freight teams to the site of the power plant a distance of 75 miles. The plant was a hydroelectric, a 7,000 volt alternating current electric generator. An under-shot water wheel force pump, forced a four inch pipeline of water from the plant to the Kendall mine, an elevation of 1,250 feet above the elevation to the plant into a concrete tank on a hill top above the Kendall mine. When the pump was in operation it delivered 100 gallons of water per minute to the concrete tank and the water pressure was between 600 to 700 pounds per sq. inch. A three wire transmission line to convey electricity from the plant to the Kendall mine was constructed along the route of the pipe line ditch. There is still evidence in places across the mountain where this line transgressed. Power was also used to operate the Barnes-King mine and mill and to light the town of Kendall. In addition to streetlights on Kendall's main street, almost every home in the mining camp was lighted by electricity. A telephone line was also installed on the power poles which gave telephone service between the plant and the office at the Kendall mine. The estimated cost of the new mill and the power plant with its power and water lines was estimated at approximately $180,000. In the year of 1919 the lessees of the Kendall Gold Mining Co. mine discontinued operations and in 1923 the King Mine finally closed down. The Warm Spring Power plant closed in 1925 never to operate again. The waterwheel turbine, with its automatic governor and electric generators were sold and shipped away. The cast iron section of the water pipe line to the mine of Kendall was dug up and sold as scrap. The power building was finally torn down and most of the stone hauled away, leaving only the foundation and a small portion of the two walls. The mining interest ended up in the hands of McClean Gold Mining Co. After McClean died his wife turned the handling of her business over to Glen Morton who tried to dispose of the power plant, mine and ditch. In the year of 1925 Mont. Power got control of the Warm Spring power plant and the ditch, buying out the project for $25,000 and then practically abandoned it. They did keep a caretaker for the McClean Gold Mining Co. interest. From the notes of Henry Shipman Pres, of Kendall Ditch Co. 1969. "Formally the ranchers held 10% of the flow of the ditch which was more that was needed as long as the ditch was well cleaned out according to the wording in the agreement of purchase from Oscar Stephens who was the owner and operator of the Horseshoe Bar Ranch. They did not take them up on it for many reasons. Finally, Mr. Schmidlap, represantive of Mont. Power was able to sell his Companies rights to Walter Lehman, who had some mining interests that he wanted to get water on in The South Moccasin Mts. And then try selling it and the mine together as a unit. However, he had not read over the deed well enough to know that he had any responsibilities as far as the ditch was concerned until Geo. Wendt pointed it out to him after he had already recorded his deed. The ditch was badly in need of a new head gate where the water was taken out of the Gigantic Warm Spring, to keep the spring floodwater put. Realizing the expense he immediately went to the Manager of the Rural Electric Association, which had recently been formed, and offered to sell the power site and ditch with holding power interest or water interest for him. The R.E.A. engineers were buying power from Montana Power but had in mind the building of there own plant so as to be completely cooperative unit. On investigation the lawyers advised them to acquire Mr. Lehman's interest but only concession that they allow him for use of the water was the privilege to bring Red Cross Swimming Classes to the spring. Then that was far as all the original rights of the Kendal Mining Co. concerning the Warm Spring, ditch and Power Plant were purchased at that time. Over a period of time the ditch had filled up with debris, water cress had become a problem to the land owners, but with proper head gate which was installed at R.E.A. expense the ditch became workable. After Fergus Electric R.E.A. made arrangements for power from Fort Peck over Mont. Power lines the Kendall Power Plant was no longer practical. After much dickering and other interests at hand for the ditch and land the ranchers along the ditch, consisting of Geo. Wendt, Dean Burnham, Henry Shipman and Wencil Vanek decided that for the best interest of all they would buy the R.E.A. share in the ditch. Due to difficult times they decided that they could raise $250 each a total of $1,000 was accepted and they became owners and known as "The Kendall Ditch Co. in__. It is not incorporated but is run for the mutual interest of its members. George Wendt, Pres., Wencil Vanek, Vice Pres., Henry Shipman Sec., Dean with Henry Burnham Ditch Rider. All held their respective offices until they deceased with Henry Shipman retiring, selling his interest to David Vanek, Wendt place sold to Bob Phillips, leaving Dean Burnham as the original member and Marie V. Vanek as successor to her husbands interest. Wencil J. Vanek, son of a local Pioneer rancher, Joe F. Vanek of Brooks, MT. area struck out west to find employment in the state of Washington, worked in the orchards and ended in Los Angeles, California where he enrolled in a Diesel Mechanic School, received a certification. Not finding any employment in this field, he returned back to his home state and his former community of Brooks hoping something would come about for a job. The spring of 1938, Chan Cook, then with Cook-Reynolds Co. offered to rent him the 480 acres of land that Mr. Lindsey had defaulted on, with the option to buy, which he accepted. The land had not been developed for farming but had a potential for grazing and hay. Purchasing some old ewes from Mr. Hughes and acquiring a few milk cows with calves he forged ahead to see what could be done with very little machinery and a team of horses borrowed from his father. He cleared brush to make for more farming ground, developed an irrigation project that had a water right out of Upper Warm Spring. June 14, 1940 he got married and April 1, 1941 contracted for the purchase of the real estate with the Big Warm Spring. Heavy growth of willows and brush of all kinds surrounded this area. The spring itself was covered with a solid mass of growth of willows, marsh, cat-tails, moss, algae and water cress with only a small area open where some of the area people would come to use as a place to swim. Having lived in this area all his life, being acquainted with the desire of the local peoples interest in recreation, picnicking and swimming he worked to make some improvements around this area for these interested. There was an island across the creek where the dam had been put in by the Kendall Mining Co., that he cleared of brush and trimmed the box elder trees that grew there, making it a very pleasant place to picnic on a Sunday afternoon. In 1948, he purchased an old Diesel International Crawler that proved to be very helpful in clearing the brush, grading the uneven ground and around this area and building the road to the spring. He had big dreams in getting the place developed for recreation by now, however, World War II came along, there was no time to put much effort into this project as the main interest was to produce food to help the war effort. Shortly after World War II, 1949-1950 Mr. and Mrs. Wencil Vanek realized that there was a potential of Warm Spring with such an abundance of fresh clear warm water, constantly changing ideal for swimming. Mr. Walter Lehman had encouraged them to do something whatever was feasible to clear some of the water area of its debris. He was interested in teaching people swimming though the Red Cross program. Since the Vaneks agricultural use of the resource for irrigation was limited, they decided to develop the swimming hold, engaging drag lines and trucks to haul tons upon tons of age old debris, vegetation, buffalo bones and putrid moss, until a solid bottom of porous gravel was revealed throughout the area, where you could see clearly the even underground spigots surging up though stones and gravel, feeding at a constant flow 50,000 gallons a minute of 68 degrees warm water into 15,000 square feet of swimming area. It is estimated there is a complete change of water every 5 minutes, pure to drink. The only mineral content being from its source of limestone of Calcium 132.9 MG/l; Sulfate 335.8 MG/L; Magnesium 40.3 MG/L; Nitrate .814 MG/L; Sodium 3.4 MG/L; Bicarbonate 195.2 MG/L; Fluoride 1.3 MG/L. The flow of water is diverted into the Kendall Ditch Co. ditch for irrigation purposes in the summer and the rest of the water becomes Warm Spring Creek which is the key to one of the most-diversified farming districts in the area, diverting water to two more irrigation projects before it flows into the Judith River. This creek has been known famous for its rainbow trout fishing. In 1952-53 Mr. Vanek planted a foot row of Golden Willows that would enhance the perimeter of the area and provide shade shelter and a place for picnickers. Other facilities were added as more people welcomed the opportunity for a place to recreate. A bath house with changing rooms, and toilet facilities were erected. In 1965-67 all new wooden docks were built surrounding the swimming area and new grass lawn planted throughout. It is in their interest to keep the surroundings as close to natural state as can be possible. A kiddy pool was added, fenced off from the main pool. Plenty of picnic tables are located under the trees and the building and a lifeguard stand for the lifeguard supervisor that is employed during the summer months. It has become a popular recreation spot drawing people from far and near, located 15 miles from Lewistown. It is truly one of the best natural attractions in the whole of Central Montana. June 10, 1985. |
| Local Identifier | SC 1.1 |
Description
| Title | Heritage of one of nature's wonders 1 |
| Type | Text |
| Contributing Institution | Lewistown Public Library, Lewistown, Montana |
| Digital Format | application/pdf |
| Digitization Specifications | Canon MX310 300dpi |
| Full text of this item | HERITAGE OF ONE OF NATURE'S WONDERS GIGANTIC WARM SPRINGS By Marie Vanek In the heart of Central Montana we are endowed with a circle of mountain ranges, the beautiful Judith Mountains to the east, and to the northwest two ranges the South and North Moccasin Mountains, every bit as beautiful, ever popular for the rock and game hunters, landscape and areas rich in recreational value. As early as 1840 individual members of the Metis Indians penetrated the area to help the traders and trappers in their ventures into a beautiful valley affording as fine a grazing and agricultural district as could be seen in the territory. Trappers found many kinds of animals to trap and hunt, to use for food. They found an unusual wide stream of warm water fed from an unusual warm spring that never froze over in the winter that flowed the length of this valley of abundant grass as far as the naked eye could see. Here was an opportunity to explore the mountain ranges for the treasures that were to be had for those that were wiling to brave the wild unexplored territory. In the early seventies (1874), through this section of the country came one of the leading freight lines, known as the Carroll Trail, a wagon road, located 25 miles above the mouth of the Musselshell River and south of the Missouri River, later known as Rocky Point. From Camp Carroll the road headed in a southward direction toward the Judith Mts., around the north end of the Judith's' proceeding to Camp Lewis. In 1876 - following the battle of the Big Horn, Lt. Nelson came across some French halfbreed families and advised them to come to the Judith Basin and locate on Warm Spring Creek in 1878. Pierre Laverdure and his wife Judith Berger came to Camp Lewis in 1879 and settled in central Montana. They were French halfbreed Indians and are believed to be among the first settlers in the area. He was a trapper, spoke 5 Indian languages, namely, Chippewa, Cree, Piegan, Assinebone, and Sioux and he could understand sign language. When he came to Fort Lewis there were about 50 other Indians families with them. Camp Lewis was about 10 miles from the warm spring area. From article by Ed. Degnar "about 1872, the Judith Cattle Pool, owned by various rich mining men of Butte and Helena, was located on Warm Spring Creek and the Judith Basin country, which H.P.Brooks as foreman and wagon boss of the Two Bar Wagon and Horseshoe Bar Ranch, trailed 5,000 head of Spanish cross bred California and Texas long horn steers and turned them loose along the Judith River. They were very hardy cattle, died only by accident or starvation. They could out smart the best cattlemen, and would strike fear in the hearts of the bravest cowboys who ever handled them. They were high strung animals. They could smell a change in the weather, or water for many miles when thirsty. These longhorns were turned loose in the Warm Spring-Judith River area country to roam". As early as 1879, a well known cattle ranch, The Horseshoe Bar Ranch, had its origin in the original properties established by H. P. (Governor) Brooks on Warm Spring Creek, representing the interest ofT. C. Power in Helena. The ranch was developed into one of the finest stock ranges in central Mont. From Will Sutherlin: "1892 -In the canyon between the Moccasins is the home of Henry P. Brooks, the Pioneer of this warm spring creek, and in fact of eastern Meagher County (then). He has a most beautiful place consisting of fine meadows, big pastures and ample crop growing lands. A field of 16 acres, stretching along below his dwelling, is decidedly the finest crop I have seen growing, and that his crops grown for the past four years have yielded well and without artificial irrigation, no ditch having been completed to the fields. Mr. Brooks maybe termed one of the cattle kings of this country. He commenced with a small herd several years ago, and cattle have increased until he counts by the thousands". In the fall of 1880 Henry W. Brooks was bound from southern Montana, driving a herd of cattle with his men, issued for the Indian Reservation north of the Missouri area. They arrived on Warm Spring Creek where the grass and water were abundant for their herd on the creek bottom where they wished to camp and rest. Next morning they awakened to several inches of wet snow. They had anticipated to proceed on with their drive, hastily ate their bacon and hotcakes and coffee. Suddenly a fierce wind transformed the light snow into |
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