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History of transportation reveals central Montana development
By HAROLD SYLTEN
Great Falls Tribune Oct 18, 1931
JOURNEYING over hills and through valleys of Montana, the traveler occasionally finds the
vanishing indication of an old trail. Around these highways of an era now in the past lies an aura
of romance; the potential stories that would in the aggregate tell a history of Montana rich In
lore and magnificent in adventure. Dreams of many men are encompassed in ragged ruts that
years of rain have washed into miniature gullies or in shadowy trails clinging to precipitous,
hillsides.
In the story of transportation is woven history and progress of any country. In the review of
changing facilities of transportation; the method of bring goods into a virgin country, contact is
made with the many factors that have entered, into such progress. A survey, of the history of
transportation facilities in central Montana is probably but a cross -section of similar histories,
in other parts of the state.
C. B. Worthen of the history department of Fergus County high school, an authority on central
Montana history, has remarked in discussing early trails that he does not believe the Judith
Basin was inhabited to any extent, by any tribe of Indians prior to the fur trading era. It is
certain there were relatively few Indians in the Judith basin in the thirties, forties, and fifties.
Hunting trails of all tribes crossed valleys and mountains of the Judith basin, teeming with wild
game. Probably among the, first is the hunting trail of the Gros Ventres, south of the Missouri,
or, as it was better known, "the trail of the potbellies."
Mr. Worthen plans to write-the story of early trails in Judith basin. It is a story worth, telling and
Mr. Worthen is capable of telling it: There is a vast background for the story-the adventurous
steps that led to the coming of the railroad.
Lewis and Clark, in their Journey west, touched what is now the Judith basin. Captain Lewis got
his first glimpse of what is now Fergus County, from the butte in the Armells country. The party
camped for a night at the mouth of the Judith River latter part of May, 1805.
Traders in twenties
A large party of Rocky Mountain company fur men, numbering some 200, trapped in this
territory in the twenties and traded in the Great Falls region, for a season. That party came,
from the Wind River country in Wyoming. Jedediah Smith and Bridger were familiar with the
Judith basin territory in the thirties. Someone should popularize Smith for he belongs in the
same niche in history that is now occupied by Daniel Boone, Kit Carson, Jim Bridger and others.
Father DeSmet returning to St. Louis from the Missoula country, held one of the first peace
parleys in Montana with, a group of Indians at the mouth of the Judith river in 1846. Maximilian
of Wied, famous traveler and geographer, saw the Judith basin in 1833. Fort Piegan, Fort
McKenzie, Fort Chardon, Fort Union, and, many other western posts heard tales of the
wonderful basin in their stirring days. And that is but a minor beginning in the story that could
be told.
For in the story of, transportation, as it would apply to central Montana, should be written the
Object Description
| Rating | |
| Title | History of Transportation Reveals Central Montana Development |
| Description | An overview of the history of transportation in Central Montana. |
| Creator | Harold Sylten |
| Genre | Newspapers |
| Type | Text |
| Language | eng |
| Date Original | 1931-10-18 |
| Subject (keyword) | Transportation; C. B. Worthen; Carroll Trail; Railroads; Snowstorms; |
| Rights Management | No copyright restrictions |
| Other contributors | Great Falls Tribune, Great Falls, Montana |
| Contributing Institution | Lewistown Public Library, Lewistown, Montana |
| Publisher (Original) | Lewistown Public Library, Lewistown, Montana |
| Geographic Coverage | Central Montana |
| Digital collection | Central Montana Historical Documents |
| Digital Format | application/pdf |
| Physical format | Typed manuscript |
| Digitization Specifications | MX310 Canon Scanner |
| Full text of this item | History of transportation reveals central Montana development By HAROLD SYLTEN Great Falls Tribune Oct 18, 1931 JOURNEYING over hills and through valleys of Montana, the traveler occasionally finds the vanishing indication of an old trail. Around these highways of an era now in the past lies an aura of romance; the poten¬tial stories that would in the aggre¬gate tell a history of Montana rich In lore and magnificent in adventure. Dreams of many men are encompassed in ragged ruts that years of rain have washed into miniature gullies or in shadowy trails clinging to precipitous, hillsides. In the story of transportation is woven history and progress of any country. In the review of changing facilities of transportation; the method of bring goods into a virgin country, contact is made with the many factors that have entered, into such progress. A survey, of the history of transportation facilities in central Montana is probably but a cross -sec¬tion of similar histories, in other parts of the state. C. B. Worthen of the history department of Fergus County high school, an authority on central Mon¬tana history, has remarked in discussing early trails that he does not believe the Judith Basin was inhabited to any extent, by any tribe of In¬dians prior to the fur trading era. It is certain there were relatively few Indians in the Judith basin in the thirties, forties, and fifties. Hunt¬ing trails of all tribes crossed valleys and mountains of the Judith basin, teeming with wild game. Prob¬ably among the, first is the hunting trail of the Gros Ventres, south of the Missouri, or, as it was better known, "the trail of the potbellies." Mr. Worthen plans to write-the story of early trails in Judith basin. It is a story worth, telling and Mr. Worthen is capable of telling it: There is a vast background for the story—the adventurous steps that led to the coming of the railroad. Lewis and Clark, in their Journey west, touched what is now the Judith basin. Captain Lewis got his first glimpse of what is now Fergus County, from the butte in the Armells country. The party camped for a night at the mouth of the Judith River latter part of May, 1805. Traders in twenties A large party of Rocky Mountain company fur men, numbering some 200, trapped in this territory in the twenties and traded in the Great Falls region, for a season. That party came, from the Wind River country in Wyoming. Jedediah Smith and Bridger were familiar with the Judith basin territory in the thirties. Someone should popularize Smith for he belongs in the same niche in history that is now occupied by Daniel Boone, Kit Carson, Jim Bridger and others. Father DeSmet returning to St. Louis from the Missoula country, held one of the first peace parleys in Mon¬tana with, a group of Indians at the mouth of the Judith river in 1846. Maximilian of Wied, famous traveler and geographer, saw the Judith basin in 1833. Fort Piegan, Fort McKenzie, Fort Chardon, Fort Union, and, many other western posts heard tales of the wonderful basin in their stirring days. And that is but a minor beginning in the story that could be told. For in the story of, transportation, as it would apply to central Mon¬tana, should be written the sagas of the Missouri river. The story of the Lady Grace, the Flirt, Last Chance, Castalia, the Don Cameron, the Mol¬lie Moore and other river steamers would tell but a portion of the whole and would be but a few of the river steamers that plied the waters of the Missouri in the early days of Montana transportation. It was not until 1868 that river traffic assumed the proportions of an industry. The Chippewa and Fort Brull came up the river in 1859, the Chippewa and Key West in 1860, no boats made the entire trip in 1861, and in 1862 there were four and in 1863, two, one of which made it only as far as Cow island. It was in 1861, that the Chippewa burned at Dis¬aster bend. This boat was bound for Benton and was carrying smug¬gled alcohol for the American Fur company, Indian annuity goods and 25 kegs of powder. Traffic Is Heaviest From 1866 until 1869 the Missouri river saw its heaviest annual traffic: Thirty-one boats made the trip in 1866, 39 in 1867, 35 in 1868 and 24 in 1869. Eighteen of the 24 had to double trip from Dauphin rapids to Benton that year. In 1872, 12 boats made the trip and the Far West, on June 30, pulled up to the wharf at Fort Benton and claimed the quickest trip on record, coming from Sioux City in 17 days and 20 hours, with Martin Coulson as master. The summer of 1878 marked the peak of the river traffic, when 46 boats made the trip. The Big Horn arrived at Fort Benton April 29, the, earliest arrival on record, and Colo¬nel McLeod left Sept 23, another record. It can readily be seen that the story of river steamers is but one of the threads that should be woven into history of early transportation. A diligent search through govern¬mental reports, though not recom¬mended as entertainment, often re¬veals material that can be woven into the fabric of central Montana's history. For instance, the report of the secretary of war, "being part of the message and documents com-municated to the two houses of congress at the beginning of the sec¬ond session of the 43rd congress, Vol. 1, 1874." Part of the report of Brig. Gen. A. H. Terry from headquarters depart¬ment of Dakota, written Sept. 9, 1874: "Early in the season I was in¬formed that an effort would be made to open a new route of communication with the settled portions of Montana, by the construction of a wagon road from Helena, Mont., to a point on the Missouri river near the mouth of the Musselshell river, and I was applied to for a military pro¬tection, for the depot proposed to be established on the river, and for trains passing over the route. It was represented to me that, although the "distance from Fort Ben¬ton to Helena was but 140 miles, while from the mouth of the Musselshell to the same point is 210 miles, yet the avoidance of 350 miles of ex¬tremely difficult navigation between the two points on the river would make the new route by far the most economical, and, besides that, the season during which freight could be carried by it to Helena would be nearly two months longer. Yielding to these representations, I caused an escort to be furnished to the party engaged in opening the road and di¬rected a summer camp of one com¬pany of the Seventh infantry to, be established at the village of Carroll, the point selected as a depot on the river, and directed another company of the same regiment to be en¬camped at Big Spring creek in the Judith basin, at a point intermediate between Carroll and Camp Baker. Reservation Established —"After that the road was opened and after these troops had been sent to their stations, I received a copy of the executive order of Jan. 31, 1874, setting apart a reservation of the Mountain Crows, and then discovered that the new road crossed it in what was supposed to be its most valuable part. Had I been aware of this fact, should not, of course, have given aid to the opening of the road or pro¬tection of trains passing over it, but before the discovery was made large quantities of freight were already in the course of transportation over it and other, large quantities were enroute to Carroll. "It seemed impossible to withdraw protection, at once without inflicting great injury on very important interests I therefore determined to let the troops remain there until the close of the season. They will return to their permanent stations soon after the end of this month. I respectfully suggest that steps be ¬taken before the opening of the navigation next spring to obtain the consent of the Crows to establishment of this route of communication; It is I think, of great importance to the people of Montana, for, until the Northern railroad shall be pushed, to the foot of the mountains, this will be the cheapest route; for freight to and from the settled portions of the, territory. This was signed by Alfred H. Terry, brigadier-general, U. S. A., command¬ing, and the adjutant general, mili¬tary division, of the Missouri Chicago. A book could be written on the various angles this Communication, alone discloses. Report of Surveyors It was eight years before that the report of surveyors of the Missouri River and Rocky Mountain Wagon Road and Telegraph Company had es¬tablished, in one sense, necessity of a road that would eliminate dangers of water transportation from the mouth of the Musselshell River to Fort Benton. The main line of the road, mentioned in that survey was from Virginia City, across. the divide via Gallatin, Bozeman and Big Horn cities to the mouth of the Yellowstone, with a branch diverging from it, at a point a few miles east of Virginia City, which led by way of Hot Springs and Crow creek to Helena and thence by White's gulch to Ker¬cheval City at the mouth of the Musselshell. Routes located under charters of the companies consolidated with this company were from Fort Laramie to Bozeman City and from Kercheval City by way of the South fork of the Musselshell and Twenty-five Yard creek to Gallatin and Virginia Cities. The story of the pony express and mail from Kercheval to Helena, Fort Hawley to Helena and from Musselshell City to Helena should be written in a longer story of early day transportation for in 1867 and 1868, C. C. Huntley, who had that unenviable contract, had a fearful time with Indians, who attacked the riders and rifled mail sacks. Establishment of the Carroll trail, the Diamond R freighting outfit and numerous other similar groups, all have a place in the intricate pattern that led to the coming of the rail¬road. Later establishment of stage lines and bitterness that arose in many towns left off the main lines should, be added. The constant maledictions heaped on a stolid govern¬ment by residents of Maiden would make a story. Mail destined for Lewistown and Reed's Fort would leave Maiden on a Thursday and reach Lewistown the following Sunday if entrusted to the regular lines. A man could have walked the distance in a short day. The Benton Southern line had been established to place Fort Maginnis in direct communication with old Camp Lewis on Spring creek. White Sulphur Springs, Fort Ellis and other military Points enroute and settlements north and south in the country traversed. At that time residents of Maiden conceded it was the most feasible route but by the summer of 1884 the old line between Spring creek and Fort Maginnis was nonentity to 99 percent of the population. They pointed out that the mail coming east or going west was to or from Maiden, Andersonville and ranchers tributary to these points. The mail instead of coming from Spring Creek by way of Andersonville to Maiden and thence to Fort Maginnis, they asserted, passed over the Judith range of mountains three miles south of these points carrying all mails to Fort Maginnis, where it lay in the post office for 48 hours before it was brought to Maiden by the Junction City-Andersonville line. Always before residents of the Ju¬dith basin, and particularly Maiden, being at that time the self-constituted hub of the universe, lay the mirage of the coming of the railroad. It was in October, 1883, that the Northern Pacific left a surveying party on the Yellowstone; 10 miles east of Pompey's Pillar and 20 miles west of Junction City to run a line up to the coal lands In the Bull Mountains. Maidenites and other residents of the basin were elated. The branch, in starting from this point, they observed, would tap the most productive portion of the country between the Yellowstone and the Missouri and would, as a matter of course, pass through Maginnis and Maiden, enroute to Fort Benton. Power Enthusiastic If the coming of the railroad into the fertile Judith basin had depended, on the optimism of its inhabitants, it is certain that the "Steam cars" would have delighted the residents of Maiden before the frost of the first winter had somewhat dismayed them. Not that they were alone in their unbounded belief in the coming of transportation facilities. A news article in the River Press of Fort Benton in the fall of 1883, one of many of such glowing stories, was partly responsible for this state of mind. Commodore Power is talking about Fort Benton's prospects for a railroad in the near future: "It would not surprise me if the Canadian Pacific was the first in the field with a branch road from their line to this city;" Commodore Power pointed out to a River Press reporter "I am inclined to think this from what I have learned since I came here but as soon as one road is started it will be a race as to which gets the advantage. We have a new and inviting field for railroads and the time is not far off when they will begin extending lines in this di¬rection. A branch of the Canadian Pacific, a branch of the Northern Pacific, the extension of the Manitoba, the exten¬sion of the Utah and Northern and perhaps of the Denver and Rio Grande, to say nothing of the North¬western and Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul, are certain to strike us, and when one starts there will be a grand rush into northern Montana, with Fort Benton as the objective for all. I tell you this is to be the railroad center to the territory and we need not wait until our hair is gray for the happy consummation." Hauser Meets Directors To repeat in any detail the numerous similar railway rumors that con¬stantly aroused to a high pitch of enthusiasm all of the inhabitants of central Montana, would take many pages. Governor Hauser met directors of the Northern Pacific and at once it was certain that the matter under discussion was the Billings to Fort Benton railway sponsored by the Northern Pacific. That was in 1888. In 1890, the Big Horn Southern, from Helena to Castle, then, a booming mining town, was equally probable, and in 1892 the Belt branch of the Great Northern from Arlington to Lewistown was all the talk. By 1890, however, this whistling in the wind had proved to be burden¬some. There was some justification for the plaintive remonstrance of central Montana for by that time there was 1,924 miles of rail¬ways in Montana, with a total assessed valuation of $6,523,382. It is of some interest to hurriedly review mileage of Montana, railways in 1890. The Oregon Short line and the Utah and Northern, passing through Madison, Beaverhead, and Silver Bow counties, had 126.40 miles of rail¬way, valued at $653,832: The Mon¬tana Union in Silver Bow and, Deer Lodge counties, with a mileage of 71.6, was worth $310,200. The North-ern Pacific and the Great Northern had the greatest mileage, the former having in its main line alone 7826 miles, valued at $1,760, 850 and, the Great Northern, passing through what was then Dawson, Chouteau and Cascade counties, had 441.3 miles. The Northern Pacific, in addition, had the Gallatin branch, as it was then known. In Gallatin Jefferson, Silver Bow and Madison counties, 99 miles long and worth $309,600. There were 20.1 miles, in the Helena Jef¬ferson railway, traversing Lewis and Clark and Jefferson counties, and the Great Falls & Canada railway in Cascade and Choteau counties, with a total mileage of 133 miles and val¬ued at $399,000. And the Rocky Fork & Cooke City railway must not be forgotten, with a mileage of 44.3 and an assessed valuation of $117,000. The name it is apparent was a misnomer, Cooke City is still waiting for a rail way, figuratively speaking but hasn't the slightest expectation to getting one, and its residents do not particularly care it is suspected. Not so excited Passing hurriedly over the beginning of the Montana railway and the recurrence of the “railway Fever” a little article in the Fergus County Argus of Jan. 18, 1900 gives some impression of the manner in which railway rumors were being received at the turn of the century. Under an ironic head which said, with commendable brevity, “here it whistle” a brief paragraph disclosed that W. F. McFarland met the superintendent of the Montana railway at Leadboro the latter part of December and the superintendent told McFarland to tell the people of Lewistown that we will be there next fall. “Of course no one is expected to get excited over the prospects of a railroad, “the editor sagely observed” no one will rely too much on rumors, but there is good ground for believing that the Montana railroad people contemplate building here as soon as possible, though it may not be during the present year” By the latter part of 1899 however the Northern Pacific ghost was in the field again. This time it was rumored that the Montana railway contemplated building from Martinsdale to Merino and then from Merino to Billings to furnish the Northern pacific with a loop to eliminate the Bozeman tunnels. Another rainbow appeared in the eastern sky early in January of 1900, despite the fact that it was a trifle early for rainbows. Under a Bismarck, N. D. dateline, the following news story appeared in many state papers. "BISMARCK, Jan. 10 — General Washburn today filed with the sec¬retary of state here papers changing the name of the Bismarck, Washburn and Fort Buford Railway to the Bis¬marck, Washburn, and Great Falls railway, the intention being to ex¬tend the line to Great Falls through the Judith Basin. Washburn also in¬tends to follow the old survey of the Aberdeen, Bismarck, Missouri valley road to Aberdeen Washburn has already shipped here part of the rails and ties and expects to begin work as soon as weather conditions prevail. Harlow Tells of Plans In February, Richard A. Harlow told a Helena Independent reporter that he had no definite plans for the building of the Montana railway further than Merino and the probable loop for the Northern Pacific had no basis in fact. Construction of the "Jawbone" to Merino, however, was still going on. In one sense Merino later became Harlowton. A. G. Lom¬bard, chief engineer for the Montana railway, laid out the terminal for the new railway on a quarter section of land due west of Merino, being on a little bench, just above the valley of Antelope creek, a mile from the Musselshell Lombard put on a big sale of lots at Harlow, as he called it, June 12, 1900. The "Jawbone" so called because, when it first started in 1893 about the only capital had was the "jaw¬bone" of its promoters had at last reached, a point only a few miles, comparatively from Lewistown. On a Friday afternoon in November, 1903, Mayor L.W. Eldridge of Lewistown drove the last spike which figuratively speaking completed the railroad into Lewistown, Walter Smith, president of the Business Men's, association, wielded the sledge which sent home the spike opposite the "golden 'spike' A large crowd witnessed the ceremony which was the consummation of years of hopeful waiting on the part of the people of Lewistown and the Judith basin. The driving of the "golden spike" that November afternoon marked the official completion of Lewistown's railway. "No high ex¬plosives were touched off there was no flambeau procession through the streets a newspaper article pointed out "There was simply a feeling that Lewistown was getting what was due her”. Winter Incident Probably in all kindness the winter of 1903-04 should be forgotten. There is a certainty that the resi¬dents of Lewistown and the sur¬rounding country looked with a great deal of doubt on the "Jawbone" rail¬road that had entered the city with such loud huzzas but at a few months before. "Travel by many is considered a very pleasant sort of pastime and eminent physicians frequently rec¬ommend it to their health broken patients as a restorative”. A Lewistown resident observed in February, 1904, as his foot found a resting place along the bar of the Silver Dollar saloon. He contemplatively combed a number of icicles out of his mus¬tache and added, with certain grimness: "But, there are occasions, when, like all other forms of pleasure, trav¬eling loses its charm and possesses many of the essential elements of downright hardship." This outburst had been caused by a recent trip undertaken by the Rev. Henry Quickenden, James H. Char¬ters and a group of others over the new Montana railway. To put it briefly, this is what, occurred: The party of gentlemen left Lom¬bard Thursday evening on the “Jawbone" railway, reaching Harlowton at 1 o'clock on a frosty Friday morn¬ing. Leaving Harlowton, with a coach and five freight cars, the al¬ready chastened locomotive started for Lewistown. And as the gentleman in the Silver Dollar saloon phrased it “the unfortunate train hasn't reached Lewistown yet" and that was Sunday evening. Snow Front and Rear The locomotive, with five freight cars and the coach, struck a number of small drifts that cold February morning but managed to buck them all with success until it approached the Roberta switch. Here it was compelled to stop. Backing up a few rods they uncou¬pled the engine and tender and prepared to plow through. They succeeded, in a measure, and were par¬tially through the half-mile drift before they had to stop, They started to back up to take another run at the mountain of snow blocking their way but to their consternation the wind had filled the cut behind them. There the locomotive stood—unable to go either backward or for¬ward. On the train were 20 employees of the railroad and they attacked the drift with shovels. All day they shoveled snow and as rapidly as they opened the drift before them the gleeful wind whipped it full behind. Wet, tired and hungry, they went back to the train. All Friday the rail¬way employees and passengers lived on provisions that Superintendent Hoar, with remarkable foresight, had carried with him. Nine passengers, including three ladies, were com¬fortable as long as they had fuel but when the engine became snow¬bound, their source of fuel was gone. Superintendent Hoar broke into the freight car and found some coffee and some rolls some of the men also made a tour inspection and in one car found some liquor and in a short time were obl¬ivious to the terrors of western rail¬roading. Charters managed to send a message to Garneill and that afternoon a bobsled arrived. Newspapers Critical That was one of the many stories that reflected but little credit to the Montana railway. Assuredly, newspapers of Lewistown found an enormous supply of potential copy in the sufferings of that public utility. A columnist, under the headline "A Few, Lines 0' Type" wrote: "The old, old story of the Burlington building through this country has been lately reviving. We don't care a continental where it comes from—the Burlington, the G.N. N. G. C. O. D. or, the North Pole, just so we do finally get a railroad. The expansionists are a decided majority in Lewistown and this splendid isolation is getting exceedingly wearisome.” Under the caption, '"Road Still Coming" this embittered Lewistown editor later told his readers that "The back page of our esteemed contem¬porary, The Great Falls Tribune, ran short of stuff Friday night and in his desperation was compelled to go back among the archives, 'dig' up an old and, as everyone thought, an outworn tale, embellished it with a few touches of modernity and a big head and sent it forth once more to stir up in the bosoms of Lewistown readers the mingled sentiments of hope and regret. The old, old story, sweeter to the ear of a Great Falls newspaper man than ever was the voice of the siren to the wandering runs in this manner, and here the editor picked up the story from his "contemporary" telling of the possi¬bility of the formation of a company to make a preliminary survey for a railroad from Great Falls to Miles City by Lewistown. The Great Falls Tribune had obtained the story on the Miles City Independent. Another "Jawbone" Rumor Rumors of that type, constantly were responsible for skyrocketing dreams in Lewistown Richard Harlow returned from the east, to stir up activity in his own Montana "Jawbone" and immediately people heard that his visit east had been to get capital for an eastern outlet for his railway by the way of Forsyth. A Lewistown editor painstakeingly laid out a probable route for the edification of his readers and pointed out conclusion that the road was almost a certainty for it was certain that Northern Pacific was looking for a more direct route to the coast a route that would eliminate many of the expensive grades that year after year proved to be so troublesome. There is a certain familiarity about that story. Lewistown papers were not constantly inimical to the “Jawbone” and its difficulties. It was early in March, 1904 that a San Francisco paper of the yellow journal type, it was recorded, carried a story al¬leged to have been sent from Lewis¬town giving lurid details under equally lurid headlines of a story of two trains with 20 passengers lost and buried in Fergus county snowdrifts. “This article is untrue in a few minor details,” a Lewistown editor ironically observed. "In the first place no trains have been lost; in the second place an account of such a thing was never sent out of Lewis¬town. We have not the best railroad in the world and our climate, especially in the winter months, is not of the Florida or southern California variety, but we do object to the saf¬fron hued sheets on the outside pil¬ing it on harder than it really is." Shull is Robbed Feb 9, 1904, the first train in two weeks arrived in Lewistown and Aaron Shull, still a Lewistown resident and at that time a passenger engineer, arrived with it. Shull had been fighting snowdrifts between, Garneill and Harlowton for weeks. He went to sleep at night in the pump house at Roberts and someone stole $300 from his pockets. That was one of the minor tragedies of that winter. There were other tragedies. Sher¬iff L. P. Slater now with the Internal Revenue Service had been desirous for some time to take a number of prisoners out of the county. He had one prisoner destined for Deer Lodge, two crazy men for Warm Springs and one prisoner he wanted to place in the custody of the Meagher county sheriff. Would Sheriff Slater take a chance on being marooned in some snowdrift with that company for sev¬eral weeks? He would not. It is remembered Sheriff Slater made somewhat of a record in rapid transportation later that year, how¬ever. This was the talk of the Judith basin for many weeks. One Friday morning in May Slater left Lewis¬town for Deer Lodge with a prisoner, a sheepherder who had received two year for "rolling" one of his cronies to the extent of $200. He reached Logan, where he found that the North Coast Limited was late enough to permit them to make a through connection to Deer Lodge, which they did. The prisoner was handed over to the prison authorities the evening of the same day they left Lewistown. That was a record. After delivering his prisoner, the sheriff caught a Northern Pacific flyer and returned to Lombard in time to catch a passenger train on the Montana rail¬way reaching Lewistown 86 hours from the time he had left the city. This was food for conversation for many weeks. Politicians get stuck The "Jawbone" and its troubles even cast a shadow over the political arena of the county. One Sunday in April, Frank Wright, Judge E.K. Cheadle, Harry H. Boggs, Edward Brassey, George J. Wiedeman, Oscar Stephens and Rudolph von Tobel, re¬publican delegate to the state convention at Helena, left by "private conveyance" and caught the south¬bound. "Jawbone" passenger train four miles beyond Ubet. "They start¬ed out bravely enough" the Fergus County Argus, of that time, tells a news story; but, the train had proceeded but about two miles when the engine ran dry. The management, with its usual foresight had pro¬vided a number of buckets with which to carry water from the water tank to the engine. This thought¬fulness was appreciated by the pas-sengers as the train crew might have been supplied with pint cups and the wait might have been tiresome." It took the enthusiastic group nine hours to reach Harlowton and when they arrived there they were told of a washout down the line. The train with an apparent unconcern proceeded anyway but when it reached Twodot that was as far as they could go. As a matter of course the coming of the railroad had somewhat discouraged the many stage lines in central Montana. W. C. Doherty, Manager of the Great Falls to Lewistown line, who had 96 horses in service in that stretch and was carrying more passengers than the railway, was not a bit discouraged. In fact, in April, 1904 Mr. Doherty in an interview with a Great Falls Tribune reporter, told of a proposed expansion. Mr. Doherty proposed to put two Locomobiles in operation between Great Falls and Lewistown with a guaranteed time of eight hours. That was a novelty indeed. Lewistown people were rather skeptical of this proposition. However they remembered, too well, when Manager Wil-son of the Harlowton line tried it. He imported a chauffeur from St. Louis to run it and, though the chauffeur was a success, the auto¬mobile wasn't. It couldn't even make the first hill out of Harlowton. Auto Law Cited It was the beginning of the auto¬mobile age as far as Lewistown was concerned. Austin, W. Warr had re¬cently purchased a new Packard and George. J. Bach was the proud pos¬sessor of a Rambler. Two other prominent business men had also in¬vested in a "gasoline buggy" though their friends had pointed out that Montana roads were not adapted to that type of transportation. As a matter of course, roads in Fergus County were still in the "cow trail" era. There were a number of buggies strewed along these "cow trails" within a short time. The Montana cayuse, although an adaptable crea¬ture, could not appreciate the fuss that Mr. Warr’s, Packard and Mr. Bach's Rambler made and showed their disapproval by galloping madly away. This was dangerous, the ed¬itor of a local paper observed. "In view of the fact that there are four automobiles in Lewistown, it has been suggested that the Argus print the law on the subject of the con¬trol of such machines" he observed. "All persons owning, controlling, operating or managing threshing machines, sawmills, automobiles or steam engines of any kind are required, in moving the same along public highways, on meeting any person or persons on horses, mules or other animals, in vehicles of any kind, drawn by horses, mules or other animals, to shut off the steam, come to a halt at a distance of 100 yards from the place of halting on said highway. This rather stern law, the editor said came from session laws of Montana, 1903; chapter XLIV, article XI,'section 88: " Moore a Thriving Place There is no completion to the story of "the coming of the railroad" as far as Lewistown is concerned. That proud little inland city is still wait¬ing for railroads to come. But that is another story. In June, 1904, to prove to the state that it was a town of some consequence, Lewis¬town invited a Helena delegation over and they came 200 strong. W. D. Symmes, president of the Lewistown Businessmen’s association at that time, welcomed them, from the portico of the Day House, gave the Helena residents a mammoth key to the city and showed them the town. At the Culver Opera house that evening E. K. Cheadle made another address of welcome and speeches were made by Thomas. A. Carter, David Hilger, W. H. Smith, Maj. Martin Maginnis and Richard A. Harlow. During the day, it must be remembered, many of the visitors were attracted to the store of Wood¬man & Charters by the display of 16 gold bricks valued at $32,000 taken from the Barnes-King mine. Before finis is written to this story some reference should be made to Moore, for when the railway was con¬structed from Harlow to Lewistown Moore was an important city and "bids fair to be one of the most im¬portant trading centers in the coun¬try. In May, 1904, there were two gen¬eral stores, one owned by William Barney former Rockford merchant, and the other by the G. R. Wilson Company, with P. H. Tooley In charge. A. D. Barney of Philbrook was erect¬ing another store and two saloons were doing a big business. Joe Kipe was the proprietor of a small hotel and E. E. Rink was in charge of the Montana Lumber company's branch. There was considerable talk about erection of a Methodist church, dur¬ing-the early part of 1904. Merchants pointed out that, during the summer more than 7,000 acres would be 'sown to hay ' and grain and 10,000 acres of virgin land would be turned over on the Rock Creek bench. |
| Local Identifier | SC 2.1 History of Transportation. |
Description
| Title | SC 2.1 History of Transportation 1 |
| Contributing Institution | Lewistown Public Library, Lewistown, Montana |
| Digital Format | application/pdf |
| Full text of this item | History of transportation reveals central Montana development By HAROLD SYLTEN Great Falls Tribune Oct 18, 1931 JOURNEYING over hills and through valleys of Montana, the traveler occasionally finds the vanishing indication of an old trail. Around these highways of an era now in the past lies an aura of romance; the potential stories that would in the aggregate tell a history of Montana rich In lore and magnificent in adventure. Dreams of many men are encompassed in ragged ruts that years of rain have washed into miniature gullies or in shadowy trails clinging to precipitous, hillsides. In the story of transportation is woven history and progress of any country. In the review of changing facilities of transportation; the method of bring goods into a virgin country, contact is made with the many factors that have entered, into such progress. A survey, of the history of transportation facilities in central Montana is probably but a cross -section of similar histories, in other parts of the state. C. B. Worthen of the history department of Fergus County high school, an authority on central Montana history, has remarked in discussing early trails that he does not believe the Judith Basin was inhabited to any extent, by any tribe of Indians prior to the fur trading era. It is certain there were relatively few Indians in the Judith basin in the thirties, forties, and fifties. Hunting trails of all tribes crossed valleys and mountains of the Judith basin, teeming with wild game. Probably among the, first is the hunting trail of the Gros Ventres, south of the Missouri, or, as it was better known, "the trail of the potbellies." Mr. Worthen plans to write-the story of early trails in Judith basin. It is a story worth, telling and Mr. Worthen is capable of telling it: There is a vast background for the story-the adventurous steps that led to the coming of the railroad. Lewis and Clark, in their Journey west, touched what is now the Judith basin. Captain Lewis got his first glimpse of what is now Fergus County, from the butte in the Armells country. The party camped for a night at the mouth of the Judith River latter part of May, 1805. Traders in twenties A large party of Rocky Mountain company fur men, numbering some 200, trapped in this territory in the twenties and traded in the Great Falls region, for a season. That party came, from the Wind River country in Wyoming. Jedediah Smith and Bridger were familiar with the Judith basin territory in the thirties. Someone should popularize Smith for he belongs in the same niche in history that is now occupied by Daniel Boone, Kit Carson, Jim Bridger and others. Father DeSmet returning to St. Louis from the Missoula country, held one of the first peace parleys in Montana with, a group of Indians at the mouth of the Judith river in 1846. Maximilian of Wied, famous traveler and geographer, saw the Judith basin in 1833. Fort Piegan, Fort McKenzie, Fort Chardon, Fort Union, and, many other western posts heard tales of the wonderful basin in their stirring days. And that is but a minor beginning in the story that could be told. For in the story of, transportation, as it would apply to central Montana, should be written the |
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