People of
Beaverhead County, Montana
Biographies
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"Elijah Ames is one of the representative farmers and stock growers of Beaverhead County, his finely improved ranch being located one and a half miles north of Grant, his post office address. Mr. Ames is descended from distinguished old colonial stock and the family has been prominently identified with the annals of New England for many generations.
Elijah Ames is a native of the old Bay state, having been born in Marshfield, Massachusetts on October 26, 1850, the fifth in order of birth of the nine children of Elijah and Sarah (Thomas) Ames, natives of Massachusetts, the father having there devoted his life to farming and to work at carpentering. Sarah (Thomas) Ames was also born in Marshfield, as was her father, he being a farmer by occupation, and it is a matter of record that he sold to Daniel Webster a house in which the great statesmen made his home for some time and where he died. The great-grandfather of Mrs. Ames was Gen Thomas of Revolutionary fame and the house in which she was born and passed her youth was erected during the Revolutionary period. The Thomas family is descended in a direct line from John Alden, that notable character in the history of Plymouth colony, and the hero of Longfellow's beautiful poem. Mrs. Ames was of the seventh generation descended from this noble colonist.
Elijah Ames, the immediate subject of this review, received a common-school education in his native state and was reared to the sturdy discipline of the New England farm. He there continued in agricultural pursuits until 1872, when he came to the west, locating in the vicinity of Cheyenne, Wyoming where he engaged in stock raising for ten years, at the expiration of which he came to Montana and purchased his present ranch, most eligibly located in Beaverhead county and now comprises 3,000 acres. Here he devotes his attention to the raising of high grade beef cattle, running an average of 3,000 head. He also secures large yields of hay from his ranch. He has been energetic and progressive in his methods and his success stands in evidence of the advantages Montana offers to men who have the energy to apply themselves vigorously. In 1900 Mr. Ames erected an attractive modern residence on his ranch, now one of the fine country homes of this section of the state while all other improvements on the estate are of the best order. In politics Mr. Ames observes the duties of citizenship by exercising his franchise in support of the Republican party, but has never sought nor desired official preferment.
On
Jan 17, 1900 Mr. Ames was united in marriage to Miss May Sprague, a native of
Marshfield, Massachusetts and the daughter of Albert T. Sprague, a sea captain
who sailed out of San Francisco for a number of years; his father also
having followed a seafaring life and was the first to carry the American
flag up
the Black sea. The Sprague family was established in New England in
the days of the Pilgrim fathers and in the ancestral line were John Alden
and
Peregrine White."
("Progressive Men of Montana", A W Bowen
& Co. "True soldiers of fortune were the valiant pioneers who came to the great west and laid the foundations of now opulent and populous commonwealths and among the names of those enrolled as pioneers of Montana special reference may be consistently made to that of Mr. Barrett. He was one of the early settlers in Colorado, joining the rush of gold seekers to that section when it was known as Jefferson territory. He is now one of the prosperous and influential citizens of Beaverhead county and is a representative and extensive farmer and stock grower. Mr. Barrett comes of stanch old Irish lineage and is a native of the Emerald Isle, born in County Mayo, February 2, 1840, the son of Thomas and Nancy (McDonald) Barrett, the former a farmer by occupation, whose death occurred when Martin was about seven years of age. His widow immigrated to American in 1847 the year after the death of her husband, accompanied by her nine children, of whom Martin was the sixth in order of birth. They located near the village of Hespler, at that time known as New Hope, in the Province of Ontario, Canada and there our subject attended public schools, laying the foundation for that broad fund of information which has come to him from reading and application and through association with men of affairs in later years. He early began work on the farm, and when fifteen years of age entered upon an apprenticeship at the trade of tanner and currier, continuing to assist his widowed mother in the support of the family until he had attained the age of nineteen years, having devoted five years to acquiring his trade. He was a youth of ambitious spirit and was determined to make himself a place in the world. Thus, in 1859, when he was nineteen years of age, we find the young man making his way to the west. He first located at St. Joseph Missouri, securing whatever work came to hand, and in 1860 he drove an ox team in a freighting outfit from Atchison to Salt Lake City. He returned with the outfit and in the following year he drove with a one horse wagon across the plains to Colorado, where he passed the summer, quartz mining in Gold-dust gulch. In 1862 he was employed in mines at Central City and Nevada City and in the fall of that year returned to his home in Canada, where he passed the winter. In the spring of 1863 Mr. Barrett returned to St Joseph and formed a partnership with Joseph Shineberger. They secured an outfit and drove their mule team across the plains to Montana, the train of which they formed a part having no trouble with the Indians. Our subject and his partner arrived on Horse Prairie, Beaverhead County on July 7, 1863 and turned their attention to stock raising. Mr. Shineberger went to Alder gulch where he engaged in mining, while Mr. Barrett assumed the management of the ranch. By mutual consent this partnership was dissolved in 1871, Mr. Barrett becoming the sole owner, which now comprises about 4,500 acres, one of the most valuable estates in the county. Here he is extensively engaged in the raising of high grade shorthorn cattle, his favorite type, and he usually runs about 2,000 head of stock on his ranch. The ranch is equipped with the best of improvements and facilities, including a commodious and attractive residence, modern in its appointments and shows on every hand the distinctive evidences of the refinement and culture of those who there make their home, the best of literature and fine specimens of art production showing that Mr. and Mrs. Barrett thoroughly appreciate the ideal phases of life, while the hospitality of the home is unequivocal and most gracious. In addition to his stock interests Mr. Barrett secures large yields of hay from his ranch, much of the land being exceptionally fertile and prolific. He is one of the representative stockmen of the state, and is ever on the alert to forward the interests of this great industry, being at the present time stock commissioner for Beaverhead County, in which position he has rendered most effective and timely service.
His political allegiance is given to the democratic party, as the candidate of which he was elected to represent his county in the territorial legislature, in 1879. In 1885, at the time when the legislature was practically on the point of voting a subsidy for the Northern Pacific Railroad, Mr. Barrett was one of six men who left Helena and went to Fort Benton where they found Hon. W. G. Conrad, who they induced to return at once to Helena, and through is influence the subsidy bill was defeated and a great burden averted from the territory, which was soon to assume the dignity of statehood. Mr. Barrett has various capitalistic interests in the county and is one of the stockholders of the Dillon State Bank. His religious faith is that of the Roman Catholic Church of which Mrs. Barrett is also a communicant. They pass the winters either in California or Montana, returning for the summer season to their beautiful ranch home and to the invigorating climate of Montana. The ranch is located sixteen miles west of the village of Red Rock, the post office address of our subject.
On August 6, 1867, Mr. Barrett was united in marriage with Miss Alice E. Cook, who was born in East Townsend, Huron County, Ohio, the daughter of Hiram and Mary (Vining) Cook, natives of the state of New York, whence they removed to Ohio about the year of 1840. Seven years later they removed to Michigan where they made their home until 1864, when they located in Missouri. In 1868 they came to Montana and located in Boulder, where they passed the remainder of their lives. Mrs. Barrett's great grandfather in the paternal lines was a soldier of the war of the Revolution; her grandfather bore arms in the war of 1812; and her father was captain of Company H, 25th Michigan Volunteer Infantry in the war of the Rebellion. Mrs. Barrett came with her brother to Montana in 1867, and here her marriage to Mr. Barrett was solemnized. They have no children."
("Progressive Men of Montana", A W Bowen
& Co., Chicago, Illinois, Among those who became identified with the history of the great west in the early pioneer days and the record of whose lives is replete with items of interest as touching the scenes and incidents of life on the frontier is Mr. Beehrer, whose fine ranch property is located four and a half miles east of the village of Willis, Beaverhead County, and who merits consideration as one of the sterling pioneer citizens of Montana and as a progressive and successful business man. Mr. Beehrer is a native of Germany, having been born on Dec 4, 1836 of stanch old German Christiana Hoechner. Charles A. Beehrer was a prominent farmer and business man in Germany having there operated a brick yard, lime kiln and plaster of paris mill where he remained until his death as did his wife whose maiden name was Christina Hoechner. Charles A. Beehrer was reared and educated in the Fatherland, where he was apprenticed to learn the coopers trade, becoming a skilled artisan. After thus equipping himself he determined to seek his fortunes in America where he immigrated in the year 1855, arriving at the port of New York City in June and soon afterward making his way to Ann Arbor, Michigan where he remained about eight months. He then learned the brewing business at Kalamazoo and traveled about the state for a time in order to perfect himself in all the details of this industry. In 1857 he went to St. Joseph Missouri where he was employed in a brewery; subsequently he associated himself with another young man and took a contract for the building of beer vats, and remained in that city for one year. He then went to St Louis, to Philadelphia , back again to St. Louis and finally to Kansas City where he remained during the winter of 1859-1860. In the spring he secured a mule team and outfit and with others started for Denver, Colorado. The gold excitement then being at its height. He reached his destination on the 5th of June and at once turned his attention to mining, securing some placer claims, realizing but little from its operations. He then went to Montgomery, Colorado where he took contracts for the erection of some large barns and five other buildings. He finally traded his contracts for a pair of boots and a revolver and after the buildings had been completed he went up the gulch to a mine he had previously secured, and there remained until his stock of provisions was practically exhausted. He was determined to continue work on the mine and went to Denver to find employment until he could secure another lot of provisions. He was not successful in finding a job, but met a man who wanted a partner in the butchering business. Mr. Beehrer availed himself of the opportunity thus afforded, and the two established themselves in business and put into operation the first meat wagon ever run in what is now the city of Denver. The enterprise proved profitable and our subject followed it for three months, when he sold his interest and opened a saloon in the same city; but his plan of closing the doors of the establishment at ten o'clock each night was viewed as a strange innovation. In the spring of the following year, 1863, he disposed of this business and brought a small brewing outfit, which he loaded onto wagons and started across the plains for Montana, arriving in Virginia City on the 1st of July. The following day he turned out a small amount of beer, the first ever manufactured and sold in the state and he recalls the fact that he carried the 22 gallon keg on his back to the saloon, having only twenty five cents in his pocket at the time of making the delivery. But he was well repaid, receiving $88 for the keg of beer. He continued to manufacture beer at Virginia City until October 1865, when he disposed of the plant and business and turned his attention to buying and selling cattle. In 1863 Mr. Beehrer was a member of the Vigilance Committee at Virginia City, and on the night when George Ives was hung he went out with a party to secure horses for the purpose of pursing and capturing other road agents at Deer Lodge, but they were too late, the bandits having made their escape when the party reached Deer Lodge. He thereafter was prominently concerned in the capture and execution of several of these notorious outlaws who were a menace to life and property, and it was through the efforts of such brave and earnest men that Montana was eventually freed from the grasp of a band of outlaws whose deeds were more despicable than the savages. In 1866 Mr. Beehrer took up a ranch of 320 acres and he was there residing at the time of the gold excitement at Reynolds City now in Powell County where he engaged in the mercantile business, having a large stock of goods. He also provided an acquaintance with funds to engage in the brewery business, but he proved to be dishonest and our subject assumed control of the brewery and conducted the same until he was able to sell the property when he returned to his ranch. In 1865 he went to Helena and erected the original plant of what is now the great Kessler Brewery, selling out to Mr. Kessler in the fall of the same years. The two gentlemen were stanch and intimate friends for a long term of years. December 12, 1869, Mr. Beehrer started for California and upon reaching Los Angeles purchased a band of horses which he drove through to Montana, being one hundred and twenty six days on the road. In the spring of 1873 he took a band of beef steers to Cheyenne, Wyoming for shipment to Chicago, the second lot of cattle ever shipped from Montana to that city. He continued to raise and ship cattle until 1876 when he returned to his old home in Germany for a visit, stopping in England where he took unto himself a wife, the bride accompanying him on his return to Montana. They took up their residence on the present ranch, which is a valuable property, with the best of improvements including an attractive residence of modern design and conveniences, the place comprised 780 acres and including the original claim taken up by the owner so many years ago. In 1881 Mr. Beehrer assisted a friend in the erection of a brewery in the City of Butte, but the venture proved a failure under the management and our subject was constrained to assume control of the plant and business which he conducted until 1885, when he disposed of the property, known as the Butte Brewery, and returned to his ranch. Here he gives his attention principally to raising high grade horses, though he formerly was extensively engaged in the raising of shorthorn cattle. His political support is given to the Republican party, but he has never been an aspirant for political office. He traveled about, buying and selling horses and cattle for a number of years, having held a government contract for supplying horses in 1880. In June 1877 Mr. Beehrer was united in marriage to Miss Emily Clough who was born in England but was studying music in Germany at the time she because acquainted with our subject. She returned to England and there her marriage was solemnized as has already been noted. Her father, Charles Clough, was a leading lawyer of Bradford, England. Mrs. Beehrer returned to England in 1877 for the purpose of recuperating her health which had become much impaired, but returned to Montana in 1882 and now presides with gracious dignity over their attractive home, which is a center of refined hospitality. Mrs. Beehrer is an accomplished musician and a lady of distinctive culture. Our subject and his wife have no children. Link to Charles Beehrer Brewery
Link to Kessler Brewery
article which mentions Charles Beehrer
John Fernando Bishop Sources: "History of
Montana", 1913; 1870 census Beaverhead Valley; 1880 census Beaverhead Valley;
In the spring of 1863 Mr. Bishop came to Montana in East Bannack and mined in Bivins Gulch. He subsequently was a freighter between Virginia City and Salt Lake for three years. Finally he settled down in Beaverhead Valley, about eight miles below Dillon and went into the stock raising business. John Bishop was the first justice of the peace in Beaverhead Valley. He is shown in Beaverhead Valley in the 1870 census with personal estate valued at $7,000. He went to Oregon and purchased a band of stock sheep with Richard A Reynolds and drove them to Beaverhead County. They were the first band of stock sheep ever driven into the state of Montana. Mr. Bishop married Jennie F. Painter (daughter of Edwin and Hannah Painter) in Warsaw, New York on Sept 14, 1874. They had three daughters: Mildred E. (wife of Leslie A. Thompson); Mary P. (died at the age of 5); and Jean Frank. He is shown in the 1880 census in Beaverhead County with wife Fanny, and daughters Millie (age 4) and Mary (age 2).
He sold his ranch in 1899 and made his residence in Dillon. The 1900 census in Dillon, Beaverhead County shows Mr. Bishop with wife Jennie F.; daughter Jennie F. He was a member of the Montana Masonry, Beaverhead Social Club, on the board of managers of the Montana State Normal College. The 1910 census in Dillon Shown John, wife Jennie, daughter Jean F. Daughters Mildred and Jean were members of the DAR through Enos Bishop, their great grandfather.
1920 census in Dillon had John Bishop, wife Jennie, daughter Jean F. He died 23 Nov 1928, Beaverhead County and is buried at Mountain View Cemetery. The 1930 census shows Jennie still living at the age of 90 in Dillon with daughter Mildred Thompson, two of Mildred's children and daughter Jean F. Bishop.
Everett Hiram Brundage
Source: "History of Montana", 1913; Find-a-grave
Everett Hiram Brundage was born at Fort Bridger, Wyoming 13 April 1863 to Hiram Brundage and Elizabeth Holiday. His parents removed to Pennsylvania after his birth until he was about six years old. In May 1869 his parents came to Virginia City Montana. In 1880 Mr. Brundage came to Dillon. He was engaged in his fathers printing business at Sheridan Montana, and came back to Dillon. He became an editor and managed the Dillon Tribune. Next he became engaged with O. E. Morse in a furniture and grocery business. He took over the undertaking business; founding the Brundage Funeral Home.
He was a Mason, affiliated with the knights of Pythias, a member of the sons of Montana, loved to hunt and fish, loved baseball and was an active member of the Episcopal Church. He obtained a patent with Oscar Ernest for improvements in a combination tool in 1896. Everett Brundage married first to Margarett C. Duncan 26 June 1888, Madison County, MT and had son Everett Duncan Brundage (1889-1932). Margarett was born ca 1865. He married second to Louise C. Staudaher in Butte, Montana on 12 Oct 1890 and had children: Hiram M. (1892-1973); Thomas R (1894-1902); Justin Douglas (1897-1958) and Dorothy (1903-1918).
Sources: "History of Washington, Idaho
and Montana 1845-1889",
Born in Ohio, 23 April 1840. Among immigrants of 1863 who settled in Beaverhead County. At the age of 23 years he came to Montana with a horse-team and established himself on Alder Creek, freighting goods from Salt Lake for 4 or 5 years in company with E. C. Bennett, who came with him from Ohio.
1870 Census: Beaverhead Valley: William Carter, 30, OH, stock raiser Anna Carter, 23, England Clara, 8 months old, born Montana
1880 census, Beaverhead River, Beaverhead County, MT William Carter, 40, OH, VT, VT Farmer Anna, 24, wife, Wisconsin, England, England Caroline, 10, daughter, MT Ada, 8, daughter, Montana Frederic, 6, son, Montana Lee, 5, son, MT Guy, 1, son, MT Tom Wincet, 22, laborer, works in ranch, England.
1900 census, Dillon, Beaverhead, MT William B. Carter, born Apr 1840, OH, VT, VT Anna B Carter, born Oct 1847, Wisconsin, Eng, Eng Fred W., born Sept 1872, Montana Lee S., born Feb 1874, Montana Florence C., born Jan 1884, Montana Anna B., born April 1887, Montana
Died 24 January 1916, Dillon, buried Mountain View Cemetery
Son of Rev. Enoch Conger, who was instrumental in organizing the Mansfield Ohio Congregational Church in 1835 and Ester West. Born 25 April 1834, in
Ohio; he was named for Rev. Everton Judson. He died 12 July 1918 in
Honolulu, Hawaii after suffering a massive stroke. He had gone to Hawaii
to be with his beloved daughter Daisy and her husband J. B. Poindexter. Everett's body was returned to Dillon for burial at Mountain View Cemetery.
Pallbearers were J. H. Gilbert, Ernest Orr, W. C. Orr, Albert Stamm, F. A. Hazelbaker
and Frank Nelson. He was accompanied to Dillon by Judge J. B. Poindexter and
Poindexter's daughter Helen. (His obit is shown on Find-a-grave and
Fold3.)
Courtesy of findagrave Everton Conger moved to Fremont, Ohio to establish a dental practice in 1856. War broke out and he enlisted in Co. F, OH 8th Infantry Regt. on 19 Apr 1861. Mustered out on 18 Aug 1861 at Columbus, OH. After he left the 8th Ohio he went home to marry Emma Kate Boren on October 17, 1861 in Richland, OH. She was the daughter of Levi Boren who was the postmaster. She was born about March 1846, and she died in 1905, presumably in Dillon Montana area. After marrying he was commissioned an officer in Co. A, West Virginia 3rd Cavalry on December 1, 1861 to full Capt. Promoted to Major on September 21, 1863. Mustered out on 21 Sept 21, 1863 By the end of the War he had suffered two or three severe wounds and accepted detached duty as an agent serving directly under the direct command of the War Department.
According to Civil War Pension index: Lt. Col, 1st DC Cavalry; Co. A, 3rd WVA Cav. Filed 25 June 1869, application 145098, Cert 104277. After the Civil War, Everton returned to Ohio to study law in Chauncey Conger's Law office (his brother). He was admitted to practice in Illinois in 1869. He practiced law in Carmi, IL, where he is shown in the 1870 census as a dentist. He built a house in Carmi with the reward money, which still stands today and has a Historic marker. Conger stayed in Carmi from 1869 to 1880.
Later he was appointed an associate justice on the Montana Territory Supreme Court in 1880 by Secretary of War Stanton or by President Rutherford B. Hayes. In 1883 he was suspended from the bench due to a political dispute. He was cleared of wrong doing and was later reappointed by President Grant. Everton Conger and was elected Prosecuting Atty of Beaverhead County until 1889 when Montana became a state.
1870 census, Carmi, White County, Illinois:
Everton Conger, 36, dentist, OH;
Emma, 26, keeping house, OH; Charles, 7, OH; Daisy, 2, OH;
1880 census: Fostoria, Seneca County, Ohio:
Everton J Conger, age 46, married,
Appellate Judge in Montana, born OH;
1900 census: Dillon, Beaverhead, MT (Washington St) 55-59:
E J Conger, born Apr 1835, age 65,
married 39 years, OH, no occupation shown;
1900 census: Dillon, Beaverhead, MT (Washington St) 57-61:
Charles Conger (Everton's son),
head, born Oct 1862, widowed, OH, County Assessor;
1910 census:
Children: Charles West (Oct 1862-1917), married Jessie Lerrette Cummings, 16 Jan 1889, Dillon, Beaverhead Co MT; Margaret Daisy (15 Nov 1868-22 March 1918), married Joseph Boyd Poindexter, 22 Apr 1897, Dillon, Beaverhead Co MT
Raymond S (Aug 1874- ); Earl J (Feb
1876- );
Lucia A. Darling Park Montana Historical Society, Library and Archives Dept.
Lucia Darling was the niece of
Montana's first Territorial Governor, Sidney Edgerton, and one
of the territory's first school teachers. This collection
consists of a diary (June 1-September 1863) covering her
overland trip to Montana with Edgerton's family. Also included
are a reminiscence entitled "The First School in Montana," (Bannack);
reports (1878-1885) she wrote as lady principal of Berea
College; and a mining claim in the Bannack Mining District.
[Diary same as MF 124a. Remininscence published in Vol. 5,
Contributions to the Historical Society of Montana. Partial
typescripts included.].
This collection contains one diary
kept by Lucia Darling during her trip to Bannack (June
l-September 17, 1863; typescript copies are also in the
collection); an eight-page typescript reminiscence by Lucia
Darling Park entitled "The First School in Montana"; a claim
certificate from Beaverhead County (1864); three letters from
Lucia Darling Park (1904) to Mrs. Howey concerning the diary;
reports (1878-1885) she wrote as lady principal of Berea
College; and a mining claim in Bannack Mining District. [The
diary has been microfilmed (Microfilm 124a.] (Small Collection
145)
Lucia Aurora Darling was born
October 9, 1839, near Kalamazoo, Michigan. Her mother, Pauline
Edgerton Darling, was the sister of Sidney Edgerton, of Talmadge,
Ohio. In 1839 Lucia went to live with her uncle's family. At the
age of 14 she began teaching school in Akron, Ohio. In 1863
Lucia travelled west with the family of her uncle, Sidney
Edgerton, who had been appointed chief justice of Idaho
Territory. They wintered in Bannack, in what later became
Montana Territory. Lucia Darling opened a school in the family
home and was one of the territory's first school teachers. After
returning east, Lucia taught school for the Freedmen's Bureau in
Selma, Alabama; studied at Oberlin College; and served as lady
principal of Berea College in Kentucky. She held that position
for 9 years. In 1885 she married Servetus W. Park and moved to
her husband's hometown of Warren, Ohio. There she became active
in Presbyterian missionary work, the Ladies Aid Society, and
helped found a cooperative marketing exchange for women. Lucia
Darling Park died August 18, 1905 in Warren, Ohio.
Sidney Edgerton Family papers Sidney Edgerton was a chief justice and governor of Montana Territory. This collection consists of general correspondence of the Edgerton family including letters written while crossing the plains, and later while living in Bannack, Montana Territory. Also includes biographical material on Sidney Edgerton and legal documents. In 1863, he received the appointment as chief justice of the newly formed territory of Idaho which then included Montana. He left Akron, Ohio, on June 1, 1863, accompanied by his wife Mary and their children, his nephew, Wilbur F. Sanders, and several others. They traveled the Missouri River by steamboat to Omaha, Nebraska, where they joined a party going to Lewiston, Idaho. The group traveled by ox wagon via the Platte River, Fort Laramie, South Pass, and Red Rock into Bannack where they were forced to stop on September 17, 1863, because of the onset of winter weather. Sidney Edgerton returned to Washington in the fall of 1863, carrying gold in the lining of his coat to display to congressmen, and succeeded in getting a bill passed creating the territory of Montana and defining its present boundaries. On the return trip, he learned of his appointment by Lincoln as the first governor of Montana Territory. He held that position until July 1865, when he took his family back to Ohio. He died in Akron Ohio, July 19, 1900, at the age of 82.
The members of the Edgerton’s family and wagon-train party were also
to become prominent in Montana. Wilbur F. Sanders became a famous
vigilante and politician and was Montana’s first U.S. Senator.
Martha Edgerton Rolfe Plassmann, the oldest daughter, became a
writer of early Montana history, and Lucia Darling, a niece, has
often been credited with having been Montana’s first school teacher. 1834-1924 "History of Southern Montana" by Alva Noyes
Mr. Graeter has resided longer in
Beaverhead County than any other person. It is not easy to get a
connected story from a person after he has become eighty years of
age. In my note book, I find the following: Augustus Graeter told me
a few things the morning of the 28th of May, 1914. “I remember
seeing W. A. Clark, with a pack on his back, when he was starting
for Horse Prairie. He had on a soldier's overcoat and one tail of it
had been burned off by getting too near a camp fire.” “When I got to
Bannack I had just two $1.00 gold pieces, and it did not take long
to spend them. Mail came in via Walla Walla, and cost $1.00 for a
letter, and that is where my money went.” Question: “How did you get
your money to start your first store?” “Well, I guess I must have
made it in the mines, as the ground was mighty rich, and the bedrock
not deep. We would pack the dirt down on our backs to the creek and
wash it out. We did not take any dirt that we could not see gold in.
At last we whip sawed some lumber and made some sluice boxes which
we put up in the creek, placed our dirt in them and stood in the
creek and dipped up the water, and washed the stuff in that way.” He
laid the first foundation on the claim on which Denver was built.
Quite a number of us were sitting in Paul's Furniture Store in
Dillon one day, Robt. Wing, W. B. Carter, Mart Barrett and the
writer, when Gus became reminiscent. “I remember,” he said, “that
two of us cut wood in Wisconsin one winter, and sold it for 37 1/2
cents per cord.” Bob Wing said: “What did you eat?” “Oh, we never
suffered for that matter; never did go hungry in my life,” was the
reply. “Yes, I did get out of grub once. We went to Fort Lemhi on
our way to Florence, cached our stuff and intended to go to Bitter
Root for the winter; got a Blackfoot guide, who took us through the
Big Hole, and over into Deer Lodge Valley, on Warm Springs Creek,
near enough to see the mound at the springs. He took us up the
creek, into the timber, right in the wrong direction. I guess he
knew the way, but was probably afraid of the Flatheads. We turned
about and went to Lemhi, but before we got there we were out of
provisions and we were compelled to fill up on service berries. We
went south, bought some more grub, and did think of going to Fort
Colville, in Washington. We started for that place, and one night we
camped in a small grove up the Grasshopper, and when we woke up in
the morning we found ourselves surrounded by Flathead Indians, who
had stolen our horses, and had driven them over to the Butte, near
Painter Creek. When they found out that we were white men, they
said. 'Good morning,' and told us they thought we were Bannack
Indians, or they would not have taken the horses. Some of the boys
went with them to their camp and they gave us some nice meat. “Well,
when we got to Birch Creek, some fellows came along and told us that
gold had been found on Grasshopper. We went back, and I have been in
Montana ever since. “Say, you talk about cutting hay with a scythe.
The softest snap I ever had was cutting hay in Wisconsin, and
selling it for roughness to the farmers who needed it for their
stock. I do not remember how much we did get for it. I really do not
believe that I have ever been any happier than the winter I cut wood
in Wisconsin.” Gus Graeter was always an industrious man, and did
much toward the upbuilding of Southern Montana. He mined, built
ditches, was a merchant, county officer, a successful stockman,
built an electric lighting plant for Dillon, and is a banker—always
an early riser. He tells of being ten miles on his road to the
timber, when the sun comes up. Chris Snyder says that when Gus was
on the ranch, he would get up before daylight, go into the hen house
and cuss the roosters because they did not crow early enough to wake
the hired men. A Horse Prairie ranchman said: “I remember that a
neighbor saw a fellow going along the road with his blankets on his
back. On inquiry as to where he was going, he said: “To work for Gus
Graeter.” “H—l, throw your blankets away, or trade them for a
lantern; they never sleep on that place.” Mr. Graeter is now over 82
years of age, and busy.
He died 14 Jan 1924, buried Mountain
View Cemetery, Dillon, Montana |
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Suzanne Andrews
suzanneboggsandrews@outlook.com
MTGenWeb County Coordinator
Beaverhead County, MT