A history of Montana, Volume II, Part 125

Author: Sanders, Helen Fitzgerald, 1883-
Publication date: 1913
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1002

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Immediately upon arriving in Montana, Mr. Couch had been employed as a mining expert by Col. C. A. Broadwater. Almost his first work in the state was the examination of the Broadwater properties at Neihart. Almost a year was devoted to the examination of other mines in which Colonel Broadwater was interested. It was under his direction that the important mines at Castle were developed. His family joined him in Butte

This Sauch.

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at about the time he became manager for the Boston & Montana Consolidated Copper & Silver Mining Com- pany when they organized the company. Largely upon his advice, the company decided in 1889 to erect the huge smelters at Great Falls. Mining men generally had no confidence in the plan but the work was rushed to completion. Within two years after the smelters were completed the company began to pay dividends. From that time so long as Captain Couch remained in control dividends, output and employees all increased together. In 1896, a new feature in the company's affairs so displeased the captain that he handed in his resignation. By that time, however, he was inde- pendently wealthy in his own right. He invested a portion of his capital in a gold dredging enterprise on the Feather river near Oroville, California. This was the beginning of the development of gold dredging by steam, the first boat for dredging in placer mining being built at the mandate of Captain Couch. This process, a success from the first when established on the Feather river, has since become known as the best system of its kind on record and is in general use in all parts of the world where placer mining is available.

In 1889, Captain Couch purchased from Robert Vaughn, the Sunnyside ranch on Sun river about thir- teen miles from Great Falls. Sunnyside was the first homestead filed on in that section of Montana. Robert Vaughn having pre-empted on it in 1869. The ranch as purchased by Mr. Couch twenty years later included one thousand acres of land, together with all the live stock. The land is cross fenced for pastures, meadows, orchards and grain fields. The water supply is all that could be desired. A large irrigating ditch taps the Sun river near Fort Shaw twelve miles above the ranch. A system of cross ditches is so arranged that every foot of the land is watered. On a commanding site near the center of this estate overlooking the wind- ing river, the captain erected a substantial brick house. This house of twelve commodious rooms is so skill- fully and comfortably arranged as to be in every sense a home. Here, some members of the captain's family still reside.

For many years Mr. Couch took a keen delight in the breeding and raising of blooded cattle and horses. Many of the finest animals of the state were bred upon his ranch. It was due to his efforts that the race track on the west side was established, thirty thousand dol- lars of his fortune being invested therein. Among his most cherished horses were Lustre, 4,385 national regis- ter of French draft horses, and Forest Chief, then at the head of trotting stock, and a descendant of a long line of thoroughbreds. Most of six hundred head of registered cattle were kept on the Smith river ranch at the junction of the Smith and the Missouri rivers. This ranch consisted of about one thousand one hun- dred acres of land and was worth a fortune in itself. The value of the cattle it would be difficult to estimate. They were mostly thoroughbreds of the Shorthorn, Hereford and Hotskin breeds. Through his study and experiments in the breeding of stock, Mr. Couch con- ferred an inestimable favor on his state, being directly responsible for the raising of the standard of cattle in Montana.

During the early days of her statehood, the captain was recognized as the leader of the Republican party in Montana. He had but to reach out his hand to grasp the highest office it was in her power to bestow. In 1892 he was urged to accept the nomination for governor but declined the honor with decisive kindness. His iron will and great personal magnetism combined with his love of the human race made him always a leader of men whether in a political campaign or a mining community. Althoughi his political satellites were willing to obev the slightest beck of his hand, he never used his power for his own aggrandizement nor

for that of his personal friends. After 1894 he gave little time to politics although in 1896 he was a strong advocate of the free and unlimited coinage of silver. It was a great disappointment to him that the party to which he had given such loyal service could not embrace this principle to which the local conditions of Montana lent such importance. Even so, the captain was never anything but a stalwart Republican.

Capt. Thomas Couch was married on the twenty- eighth day of December, 1873, to Miss Rachael Webber, the daughter of John Webber of Goshen, Utah. Mr. Webber was a native of South Wales, having been born at Myrthr Fydvil in October of 1855. He came to America while still in his boyhood, settling with his parents at Austin, Nevada. Here he was known as one of the pioneer miners of that state.

Mr. and Mrs. Couch became the parents of seven children. The oldest son, Thomas Couch, Jr., was born at Goshen, Utah, on the fourteenth day of June, 1878. He is now one of the trustees of his father's vast estate residing at Great Falls and active manager of the entire estate which now is divided into the Couch `Brothers' Company, and the Couch Investment, incor- porated companies which embrace the entire estate and Thomas W. is president of both companies. Edwin G. is a rancliman in Cascade county, Frederick M., the third son is just older than Racheal Mary, the only daughter. She is now Mrs. Lee M. Ford, of Great Falls. Albert C. and John D. Couch are students of Leland Stanford University at Palo Alto, California. Here, too, the mother, Mrs. Thomas Couch, makes her home. William, the youngest member of the fam- ily is just past sixteen.

Captain Couch was thie idol of his family. To his sons he was always a good comrade, a friend and ad- visor as well as their final authority on all questions of import. Big of nature, broad of view and generous to a fault, he found in his great wealth a means of satisfying his humanitarian instincts and to this end it gave him much satisfaction. His charity was individual and unostentatious. He neither built libraries nor en- dowed schools, but the hearts of thousands of laboring men ached at his passing. It was his fondest claim that no man ever came to him for assistance or advice and went away unconsoled. The very geniality of his presence was a comfort in time of stress. He never knew failure except as a stepping stone to success. His optimism was contagious and with it as a slogan it seemed easy to always push on to victory.

His friendship once given was infallible and eternal. The best that he had belonged equally to his friend. The captain was a man of intellect and cultured literary tastes with no mean education to assist him. As a young man he contributed many articles on literary and scientific subjects to such journals as the Inter-Mountain and the Salt Lake Tribune. Had he found the leisure to pursue this line of work he might be known today as a writer as well as a mine expert and a ranch king. His writings reflected the true character of the man. It was concise, forceful and big of viewpoint.

D. T. CURRAN. A native of Ireland, Timothy Cur- ran came to America when a young man. For a time he lived in Rhode Island, and there he met and married a young woman from the same country as that he was born in, Mary Wharton of same county, Ireland. Shortly after their marriage they moved to northern Michigan, and here in Negaunee, their son Daniel was born on July 19, 1861. During his residence in Michigan, Mr. Curran worked in the iron mines. Later they moved to Sibley county, Minnesota and engaged in farming. Mr. Timothy Curran still lives there, a hale and hearty farmer of four score and six. His wife died in the fall of 1901 at the age of 74. There were two daugh- ters and seven sons in the family of Timothy and Mary Curran, and all are living at the present time.

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Our subject is the oldest of the Curran family. He received his education in the Michigan public schools, and later in those of St. Paul. Upon going into busi- ness, he first engaged in the grocery business in St. Paul, and then went to Bismarck, North Dakota, where he was in the same line of work.

In 1883, Mr. Curran came to Montana and settled at Livingston. He was employed in Winston Brothers' store there for a time, but after a while he went into business for himself. In 1889, he came to Missoula and worked for the H. W. Mclaughlin Lumber Company. Like most of the people of his ancestry, Mr. Cur- ran has an aptitude for public life, and he is an active member of the Democratic party. He had been in Missoula but two years until he was elected city treas- urer and held that office two years. Then, in 1893, Mr. Mclaughlin was elected sheriff, and Mr. Curran entered his office as under-sheriff and served in that capacity for four years. When this period was over, he was elected sheriff and served a two-year term. In 1902, Mr. Curran started his present business, the D. T. Curran Hardware Company, and of this he has made a conspicuous success. He not only pos- sesses the qualities which make him popular and a leader in his party, but he also has those which in- sure success in commercial undertakings. But even his active participation in business has not excused him: from the claims of public life. In 1906, he was elected county commissioner, and is now chairman of the board. The county has no more devoted or effi- cient officer, nor any who enjoys a wider popularity.

Mrs. Curran was born in Frenchtown, Missoula county, and is the daughter of Gen. Joe Marion, whose name and record are known throughout the state of Montana, as he was one of its most popular and distinguished citizens. The marriage of Miss Ida Marion to Mr. Curran took place at Missoula, in 1893. Mr. and Mrs. Curran have two daughters, Lucile, now a student at Notre Dame University, and Marion, at home. The family are communicants of the Catholic church and Mr. Curran is affiliated with the Knights of Columbus and with the Woodmen of the World. Both he and his wife are of the type which Missoula is fond of claiming as representative of her citizenship : popular, successful and public-spirited.

LAUGHING GEORGE BURSON, OLD-TIMER. Probably there is no man in the western part of Montana who is more generally and popularly known and who has a greater host of friends than the Honorable George Bur- son, perhaps more commonly known through the Coeur d'Alene mining country, and the state of Montana as "Laughing George."

Mr. Burson was born at Schoolcraft, Michigan, May 18. 1835, and there he spent his boyhood days.

He came to St. Paul, Minnesota, when about seven- teen years of age, living in that city for twenty years, coming to Thompson Falls in 1883, in the early days of the Coeur d'Alene mining excitement.

At that time this town was the easiest point from which to reach the Coeur d' Alenes, and George con- ceived the idea of establishing a half-way stopping place between here and the mining camps.

He erected several substantial log cabins about fif- teen miles out on Prospect creek, where he provided accommodations for man and beast for eight years.

At that time there was only a trail into the Coeur d' Alene country and everything had to be packed in, either by man or horse. George was one of the most

stalwart men in the district and would take something like one hundred and fifty pounds on his back and carry it from the Thompson Falls railroad station to his half- way house in half a day.

When the weary traveler reached the Burson half- way house he always met a hearty welcome, whether he had money or not, and if George had received pay for all the people and teams he has fed he would today be a wealthy man. Even in times of adversity and bad luck he continues to keep his Mark Tapley good dis- position.

One day when he was on the hill working on some of his antimony properties, Frank Griswold came up to inform him that all his cabins and barns and about everything he had on earth was burning down.

George said: "Ha! ha! ha! I wonder what damn fool set those cabins on fire."

Only one of the original cabins still stands but this is today known as the "Mountain House."

Mr. Burson is the owner of one of the best lead- silver mining properties on the creek, known as the Jim Fisk, and also a group of patented antimony claims.

He has one sister, Mrs. H. M. Milliner, living in California, and many distant relatives scattered through- out the United States, but never leaves Thompson Falls longer than to spend a few months in the sum- mer at the halfway house, looking after the work on his mining property.

Politically, George is a "dyed in the wool" Democrat, casting his first vote for Buchanan, and has voted the straight ticket ever since.

History fails to show any record that George ever possessed a temper. Always pleasant and joyful, hon- est and generous, always the gentleman, and if merri- ment is any indication of longevity, his inspiring laugh will be heard for many years to come.

DR. RALPH S. HEDGES, a successful physician and a prominent and influential citizen of Musselshell county whose residence is in Melstone, is a comparatively young man in years but may really be termed a Mon- tana pioneer, for he became a resident of this com- monwealth in 1883 when it was yet a territory and has lived here ever since, with the exception of the time spent in acquiring his professional training. Born and educated in the East and reared there to a respon- sible age, he has had the opportunity to judge and to select between the east and the west and by choice he has remained a citizen of Montana, one who says he would not care to live anywhere else.

Dr. Hedges was born in Carthage, New York, No- vember 6, 1867, and was two years old when his parents removed from there to Newburg, New York, where he grew to the age of eleven. He then became a student in Greylock Institute in Massachusetts and after two years there he took up studies at Williston Seminary, Easthampton, Massachusetts as a prepara- tory course for Yale University. His studies were dis- continued in 1883, however, when his parents removed to Montana, and instead of completing his education as previously planned he took up life on a ranch in Custer county, Montana, about one hundred miles from Miles City, where he assisted his father in ranch- ing and in the stock business until 1886. In that year he, his father and his uncle took up the breeding of fine horses and continned it there until 1889, when they moved to the north side of the Yellowstone river, about twenty miles from Glendive, where they con- tinued in their previous line of business until 1894. Having decided on the profession of medicine as his life work, Dr. Hedges then began his studies in Rush Medical College at Chicago and concluded them in the Bellevue Hospital and Medical College at New York, where he received his degree and was graduated in 1899. With this thorough preparation he returned to Montana and started out in the practice of his pro-

goku & marshall

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fession at Glendive, remaining there nearly two years before locating at Lewistown, Montana, where he prac- ticed until 1909. After a short period spent in Buffalo, South Dakota, he returned to Montana and has since been located at Melstone, where he has already gained a representative clientele and is recognized as a skilful, conscientious and in every respect reliable practitioner.

Dr. Hedges is a son of Dr. Montreville M. Hedges, a soldier of the Union during the Civil war and a native of New York who made his final home in Mon- tana. He was a doctor of dentistry and a great horse- man and after coming to this state was extensively interested in the raising of thoroughbred horses, own- ing many fine herds of blooded stock. He passed to the life beyond in 1911 at the age of sixty-nine and was interred at Lewistown by the side of his wife, who had passed away in 1907 at the age of fifty-nine. She was Miss Josephine W. Smith prior to her marriage, a native of Ireland whom Dr. Hedges married in New York state and who bore him two children, the eldest of whom is the immediate subject of this review.

While a student in college Dr. Ralph S. Hedges was married at New York City on December 31, 1896, to Miss Mand LeBeau, whose parents are residents of London, Ohio. To this union have been born three daughters; Helen L., now a high school student, and Ruth L. and Grace L., both pupils in the grades. Dr. and Mrs. Hedges are communicants of the Episcopal church and the latter is a member of the Ladies' Guild and takes an active part in church work. Dr. Hedges is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and in politics has always been identified with the Republican party, in the work of which he takes an active interest. While a resident of South Dakota he served as coroner and county physician and his qualifications and adaptabilities for public position have caused him to be frequently solicited to accept higher political honors, but he has always refused. While closely devoted to this profession, Dr. Hedges' interests are broad. He enjoys athletics, especially an interest- ing game of football or a good boxing match, and is appreciative of the arts and of literature, in the latter of which his preference is for history. In manner he is courteous and genial, an agreeable companion in social life and one whose personal characteristics ren- der him popular with all whom he meets in business or social relations. He has spent nearly thirty years in this state, has witnessed its accomplishments and is familiar with its resources and possibilities, and has an abiding faith in its future. Here he has given of the best of his energies and ability in professional service and has so directed his life that in each of his locations he has come to be recognized as a citizen of the high- est worth and standing. It is as a citizen of such qualities that we are pleased to give him mention among the representative men of Montana.

JOHN S. MARSHALL. Illinois was the birthplace of the present mayor of Lewistown. His parents, John S. and Hannah L. Marshall were both natives of Penn- sylvania, whose families moved to Rock Island county, Illinois, and settled on farms in that picturesque sec- tion of the state. The marriage of the elder John Mar- shall took place in Illinois and here the five children were born, John S. Junior, being the youngest. The date of his birth was October 2, 1860. Four years later, his father came out to Montana intending to bring his family later, if the locality seemed desirable, but after two years he died at the early age of thirty- six, and is buried at York, Montana.

The earliest recollections of John and his brother were of responsibility. When but five years of age, the former began to be a wage earner, and to turn over to his mother the slender emoluments of his services as errand boy to his grandfather. When he first left

the public school, it was to learn the business of a tele- graph operator, and he followed this profession for several years, but when about twenty decided that there was not enough money in such work. He decided to come west and made his plans accordingly, so the year of 1883 found him on his way to Montana. After investigating various locations in the state, he came to Fergus county, and took up land. He still owns this ranch and his residence of the county has been con- tinuous since his first entrance into it. It was to stock raising that Mr. Marshall turned his attention when he first took up his land and he has followed it ever since with signal success.

Five years after settling in Montana Mr. Marshall re- turned to Illinois on a pleasant errand. On November 27, 1888, he was united in marriage to Margaret E. Shook, of Whiteside county, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James Shook. The nine children of this marriage were all born in Montana, and all still reside here. Of the five boys, Dana, the eldest, has finished school, and is now running one of his father's farms in the county. In this he is assisted by John S., junior, the third in point of age. Frank, the second son, resides in Lewis- town with his father and mother. He is the present city clerk. Mildred, the eldest daughter, is attending high school, while the other members of the house- hold, Raymond, Nina, Grace and Blanche, are in the grades. Kenneth died January 26, 1911, age 14.

Mr. Marshall's brother, Frank Marshall, also came to Montana and now resides at Great Falls where he is deputy clerk of the court. Two of his sisters, Ella and Emma, also live in the state. The former is the wife of Z. S. Baker, one of the successful ranchers of Fergus county. Emma Marshall is now Mrs. Milton Collins of Basin, Montana. Mr. Collins is engaged in mining in that city. Priscilla, the other sister, is Mrs. George Howell, and has lived in California ever since her marriage. The mother of this family lived to the age of sixty-six, when she passed away at the home of her son in Fergus county. The date of her death was August 10, 1897, and she is buried in this county.

Mr. Marshall has several avocations, the pursuit of which in no way interferes with his vocation, which is ranching. For one thing, he is devoted to music and is a violinist of no mean ability. For a score of years he has played in the orchestra. Musicians are not generally considered to be strong in the more practical matters, nor are they often men of affairs, but all gen- eralities are likely to have shining exceptions in Mon- tana and Mr. Marshall's case is one in point. Another matter to which he gives much attention is politics. He is one of the pillars of the Democratic party, in which organization he is one of the most able as well as one of the most popular members. He was the choice of the county for the post of assessor in 1906, and he held that office for four years. In the spring of 1911 he was elected to the office which he now holds, that of mayor of Lewistown. In the lodge of the Woodmen of the World he has filled all the chairs and also in the Odd Fellows. He is an active member of the Judith club and is affiliated with the Methodist church, in which Mrs. Marshall is one of the most zealous workers.

Though a lively conversationalist, and easy of man- ner, Mr. Marshall has the reputation of not caring for society. This, however, only indicates that he is fond of the society of his own family, with whom he spends the most of his evenings. He has been a baseball player of prowess and now is a habitue of the bleachers when the national game is in progress. Being a stock man he naturally likes horse races too. Mr. Marshall is a remarkable example of a man who has, though thrown upon his own resources in childhood, not only succeeded in acquiring a competence, but has also found time to cultivate those tastes which enable one to take the real satisfaction out of the manifold opportunities for higher enjoyments which this life affords.

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JAMES T. FARRIS has been identified with the growth and prosperity of certain portions of the state of Mon- tana since 1883, when as a boy of eighteen he came to Helena with the first car load of hogs ever brought into the state. From caring for the interests of his father in Helena, Mr. Farris became connected with newspaper work and in that field of endeavor has since then been devoting his energies to the editing and pub- lishing of a succession of newspapers in this section of the state.

Mr. Farris was born in McDonough county, Illinois, February 22, 1865, and is the son of Buford and Mary (Williams) Farris, the former a native of Kentucky and the latter of Missouri. The father was a Con- federate soldier, and passed his later life as a farmer and stockman, gaining no little prominence in Missouri in that capacity. He died in 1907. The wife and mother, who was a graduate of the Howard Payne Col- lege of Fayette, Missouri, is now living with her son, John C. Farris, a prominent merchant of Wallace, Idaho. Of the three children born to these parents, one is deceased, leaving John and James.

In the year of his birth, the parents of James T. Farris moved from Illinois to Washington county, Kentucky, where they lived until 1874, after which they removed to Marysville, Nodoway county, Missouri. The son, James, attended the country schools in both places and also the high school of Marysville, from which he was graduated at the age of eighteen years. It was in 1883, soon after he left school, that he made his first trip to Montana in the interests of his father, bringing a car load of live hogs, as previously men- tioned. He sold the hogs in Butte at the phenomenal price of 18 cents the pound, live weight. He remained three years in his father's employ, then went to the Bitter Root valley and settled at Stevensville, where he established and edited the Western News. After three years he removed to Hamilton, still in the search for improved health, a condition which had caused his first removal from Helena. For three years he con- tinued in Hamilton where he published a paper and then he sold out his interests and moved to Darby, Montana, in which place he established the Darby Sentinel, a publication which he controlled for four years. He then went to East Helena and founded the East Helena Record, of which he continued the editor and publisher for seven years. The irrigation possibili- ties of the Milk River valley caused him to move to Hinsdale, where he published the Montana Homestead, and he later came to Glasgow, the county seat, where he has since engaged in the publication of the Valley County Independent, a paper which has proved most successful in the past, and which promises much for the future. The Valley County Independent has ever been a paper of the most fearess attitude, and the position of the editor on matters of signal moment to the county and city has won to him the warm praise and support of a large number of the best citizens of the county.

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A history of Montana, Volume II, Part 125

Author: Sanders, Helen Fitzgerald, 1883- Publication date: 1913 Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Publishing Co. Number of Pages: 1002

Author: Sanders, Helen Fitzgerald, 1883-
Publication date: 1913
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1002