A history of Montana, Volume II, Part 13

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

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John 7 Bishope

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necessary to an understanding of the character and work of one of Montana's most conspicuous citizens.

Charles D. McLure, so many years of whose early life were spent on the western frontier, was of a race of pioneers, two generations before him having been in the vanguard of the progress to the west. He was born at Carrollton, Carroll county, Missouri, Febru- ary 22, 1844, and was reared principally in the city of St. Louis, where he attended the public schools. His first regular employment and first earnings were as col- lector for a railroad company, at a salary of seventy- five dollars a month.

In 1860, when he was sixteen years old, he joined a freighting outfit on the way from Nebraska to Denver, and was thus introduced to the fascinating adventures and hardships of the west. Although a boy in years, he was fitted better than most men for struggling with the conditions of the new and developing country along the slope of the Rockies. After three years of freight- ing in Colorado he came up to Virginia City with a band of cattle, the route being over trails dimly blazed and through the Sioux infested valley of the Platte. He discharged the responsibilities of this trust, and thus arrived in the region which has practicaly ever since been the scene of his career.

Having accumulated a little capital, and having plenty of initiative and courage, in 1865 he engaged in freight- ing on his own account, operating an outfit between Virginia City and Salt Lake City for one winter, and then between Helena, Benton and Fort Copeland to the mouth of Milk river. After that he transferred his energies to mining. His first venture was in Confeder- ate gulch for one year, his associates being Charles Dahler, Ivey Myers and W. H. Parkinson. He then moved to the Unionville district, where he located one particularly valuable lode, an extension of the Whit- lach Union. But he was soon convinced that success in quartz mining depended upon a thorough knowledge of geology and metallurgy, and having reached this con- clusion he proceeded with characteristic energy to equip himself for what has been his life profession. Return- ing to Missouri, he studied the science that underlies mining, and when he returned to Montana it was to take charge of the old Centennial mill in Butte.

In 1877 Mr. McLure assumed the management of the already famous Hope mill at Philipsburg. In this lo- cality he found the field of achievement for which all his previous life had been a preparation. It was largely due to the energy and skill with which he handled the Hope mill that that property yielded its rich revenues to its owners, and while there his attention was at- tracted to the unpromising prospect that had been opened in Granite Mountain. Interesting though they are, the details of the story cannot be told here. Briefly narrated, he displayed his remarkable faith and miner's intuition as to the stores of silver awaiting behind the granite fortresses of this mountain. In 1880 he took a bond on the property, with difficulty got together capi- tal to make the venture, and started the attack on the great ledge. After weeks of unprofitable work, with no prospect of anything better in sight, a day came when there was no more money available. The digging of that day did not change conditions, and with the last shift it was apparent that operations must suspend, for a time at least. The last shot was fired on the evening of that day. It hurled bonanza ore upon the muckers' planks. and in an instant transformed Charles D. Mc- Lure from an almost penniless prospector into one of the greatest mining men of the times.

The Granite Mountain has produced more than twenty-five millions to the wealth output of Montana. Most of it and of other enterprises in which Mr. Mc- Lure was a prominent factor went to make millionaires elsewhere, but he has retained a share of it all, and for thirty years has been ranked among the successful and wealthy men of this state. As another writer has

said: "There are many mills among the Montana Rockies which are monuments to the courage of this remarkable man, many hoists which are testimonials to his daring. When he was confident there was ore to be found, he never hesitated a minute to risk his all to find it. In the face of discouragement, he became the bolder and more determined. The harder he had to fight, the better he fought. And it stands today as his record that he was almost invariably right. When he had adopted and approved a property, he knew no rest until he had demonstrated by development the correct- ness of his theory regarding it. Obstacles which would have dismayed an ordinary man, he brushed aside as if they were nothing. He had his goal set and he worked straight toward it. He did not drive blindly at it, but he worked inteligently and effectively; he planned his campaign, and he followed his plan through thick and thin."

What Montana means to him in the light of his own experience Mr. McLure tells in his own words : came to Montana when there were very few roads. I have seen it grow from an unorganized territory to its present development. I saw it through its pioneer days when we had some of the best immigration that ever came west from all parts of the Uinted States. I left Montana in 1881 expecting to reside in St. Louis. But the mountains and valleys, the beautiful climate and the people of Montana, and the state in general, were more attractive to me than I realized, and I have re- turned."

Mr. McLure was married in St. Louis in November, 1885, to Miss Clara M. Edgar, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. T. D. Edgar, of that city. They are the parents of seven children, four sons and three daughters, namely: Park, Edgar, William R., Marianna, Clara E., Charlotte and Charles L. All of them reside in this state, and Edgar and William are married and have homes of their own. They received excellent schooling, and some of them are college graduates.

Mr. McLure has for years been one of the leaders in the public life of the state, and is one of the most prominent members of the Democratic party of Mon- tana. He is a member of the Society of Montana Pio- neers and he and his wife are members of the Episcopal church. At his home in Philipsburg he has a very fine private library. Though he began life's battles when a boy, and spent many years among the crude scenes of a frontier state, he has acquired, along with a broad and deep experience of men and affairs, a cultured ac- quaintance with books and their contents. Much of his study has been directed along scientific lines, es- pecially in connection with his profession, and as a met- allurgist he has high rank. Much that he has achieved during nearly a half century of residence in Montana has been wrought into the history of the state. To state his career in concise language, he first came upon Mon- tana's soil as a freighter and became one of the state's greatest men.

HON. SAMUEL WORD, who died in 1907, was a pioneer and an eminent citizen of Helena, who came to the west before the existence of Montana as a state or territory, and in this district he was ever a leader in affairs of moment. His ancestors were among the early settlers of South Carolina who came from Scot- land previous to the American Revolution. From two brothers of the name, sprang the Words now scattered throughout Virginia and other southern states.

Samuel Word was the son of William and Susan Boyd (Banton) Word. The father was born in Powell's Valley, Tennessee, in 1808, and in early manhood re- moved from that state into Knox county, Kentucky, where he married, and in that county Samuel Word was born at Barboursville, on January 19, 1837. The Word family then went to Somerset, Pulaski county, and subsequently in 1856 to Kansas, later moving on

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to St. Joseph, Missouri, and there the father died when he was seventy-three years of age. His widow sur- vived him for a brief period, and was of the same age as her husband was at death when she passed away. William Word was a farmer by occupation and both he and his wife were faithful adherents of the faith of Alexander Campbell, the founder of the Christian church, of which they were members.

Samuel Word, their son, received educational ad- vantages of a somewhat meagre nature, due to the undeveloped educational system prevailing in our country in his youth, but he was naturally studious, and early in life displayed a strong tendency toward the law. In time he entered the office of Andrew J. James, afterwards attorney-general of Kentucky, and though he studied diligently, he found himself handi- capped as much by his lack of earlier education as by his limited financial means. He was sufficiently grounded in the rudiments of education, however, that he found it possible to further his own fortunes by teaching those less advanced than himself, and after teaching for a considerable period, he was able to enter Bethany College, in Virginia, where he applied himself so assiduously that his health failed him under the strain. After a season of rest at home, he again entered upon his legal studies, entering the office of Silas Woodson, afterwards governor of Missouri. Un- der the able preceptorship of Mr. Woodson he con- tinued with his studies until 1858, which year found him qualified to enter upon the active practice of his profession, and he located in Oregon, Holt county, Missouri. He formed a partnership with Col. James Foster and soon was in command of a flourishing prac- tice. It was here that he met and married Miss Sarah Margaret Foster. She was a native of Clay county, Missouri, of Scotch-Irish ancestry, her father having been a native of Ireland and her mother, who was Miss Helen J. Thompson prior to her marriage, being of Scotch descent. Four children were born to Samuel and Sarah M. Word; William F., a prominent min- ing engineer of Helena; Robert Lee, an attorney and ex-judge of the supreme court; Charles F., an attorney and May.

Shortly after his marriage Mr. Word started for the west, bent upon success and firmly convinced that in this as yet but partially explored country there were opportunities in multitude for the ambitious man. This was in 1863, at a time when Montana was yet embraced by the territory of Idaho, and to Alder Gulch, famous in mining history, Mr. Word made his way. He engaged promptly in mining ventures, but a brief season was sufficient to convince him that he could make more rapid progress by means of his profession than was possible to him in the prospecting business. This willingness to "make haste slowly" proved to be the foundation of his ultimate splendid success. One year in the practice of law in Alder Gulch was a sufficient "try out" of the west for Mr. Word, and he accord- ingly returned to Missouri, settled up his affairs in that state, and brought his wife to Virginia City.

It was in 1865 that Mr. 'Word was appointed by Governor Edgerton territorial prosecuting attorney to fill an unexpired term in the first judicial district. His abilities for the office were soon made manifest in a most practical way, and he was later elected reg- ularly to the place, filling the position for a two year term. In addition to his legal activities, it is freely asserted by men of prominence in Helena and there- about that Mr. Word was one who imparted great impetus to the mining industry in the territory in 1884-5, and it was he who conceived the idea of plac- ing the stock of the famous Drum Lummon mine on the market. Furthermore, to Mr. Word is due much of the credit for the early development of the coal industry in Montana, as he, in company with Hon. Walter Cooper and others, opened its first coal fields.

They obtained the Rocky Fork coal fields and were associated in the industry with the following well-known men : Samuel T. Hauser, Henry Villard, Thomas F. Oakes, then president of the Northern Pacific; James L. Platt and James B. Hubbell. A railroad of fifty miles in length was built from Laurel to Red Lodge where the coal fields were located, and while other coal fields have since been developed, theirs was the initial enterprise of that nature and the first in the development of one of the great natural industries of the state.

Mr. Word was always an active Democrat, and in the various campaigns in which that party figured, he has done much, both on the stump and in party coun- cils, to bring about its success.

In 1897 Mr. Word was sent to Dawson City, Alaska, as counsel of the North American Transportation Com- pany, where he continued until June, 1900, later going to Cape Nome, where he was located for some little time. Mr. Word was a member of the house of rep- resentatives (fourth and extra sessions 1867). Member council sixth session 1869-70. Member house ninth session 1876. Member tenth session 1877. Speaker eleventh and extra sessions 1879. Territorial legislative assemblies. Member constitutional convention 1886. President of Society of Montana Pioneers 1891-2. He was a Mason of high degree, being a member of all its branches, and he was Grand Master of Masons of Montana in 1887. He was a splendid type of the best citizenship of the west, and as a man of big affairs, exceptional executive ability and the highest integrity, he won for himself a name second to none among those of the pioneers of his time in the state of Montana. Died at Helena, Montana, September, 1903.

ROBERT LEE WORD. Born in Virginia City, Montana, June 22, 1866. Parents were Samuel Word and Sarah M. Word. Went to Ann Arbor high school, Philips Exeter Academy and Columbia Law School. Admitted to the bar in 1889. Clerk of the supreme court from 1887 to 1889. Member of the law firm of Word, Smith & Word from 1800 to 1892. Mem- ber of the law firm of Smith & Word from 1892 to 1896. Appointed associate justice of the supreme court of the state of Montana to succeed Wm. H. Hunt in June. 1900. Married November 14, 1900. Has four children, three boys and one girl. Member of the law firm of Word & Word from 1901 to 19II; which firm was dissolved by the death of Chas. F. Word in June, 19II. Since then has practiced law alone.

WILLIAM LOWE. Hailed everywhere by his fellows as the "Grand Old Pioneer," upright, honorable, splen- did, a man among men, one cannot mention the name of William Lowe anywhere in the state of Montana without bringing forth words of such praise as it is not often given men to listen to, and expressions of grief that in its genuineness is the greatest proof of the af- fection and esteem in which this fine old citizen of Montana was held. He has gone from among his old friends, but the strength and power of his memory is undiminished, and his influence is still felt among those whom he left behind. It is not often that one has the opportunity of writing the life of such a man. A fine business man, an earnest, energetic citizen, active in all movements for the betterment of his section of the country, it is not thus that he is re- membered. It is his personal character that made him so well beloved, and so influential. People may forget that he built up a great business from practically nothing, but they will never forget his generosity, his little, almost unseen deeds of kindness, his rigid stand for truth and honor and justice tempered with mercy. With men like William Lowe behind them, men who stood for all that is highest and noblest in human

Millian Laure

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nature, just the inspiration that is to be gained from the knowledge that they are descended from such a race of men ought to give the men of Montana su- perior advantage over the men of most sections of the country.

William Lowe was a native of England, having been born there on the 17th of February, 1829. His par- ents came to America and settled in Rhode Island when he was a tiny child. Here William grew to manhood. attending the public schools of Providence, where his parents lived, and imbibing all the sturdy and vigorous moral and physical vitality that was in the very air of that old settlement. After the completion of his education he learned the tinner's trade, and this busi- ness or modifications of it, he was destined to follow more or less throughout the whole of his life. He fol- lowed his trade for a time in Providence, and here he married and began his wedded life. His first child was born here, but died in infancy. In 1858, following the same instinct that led his parents to cross the ocean, he crossed the great stretch of country to the Mississippi river and settled in Iowa, at Canton, in Jones county. Here he set up a hardware and tinning business, in which he met with considerable success. He operated this business until 1863, when he made an- other westward move and came to the territory of Mon- tana. Those days might be called pre-pioneer days, for there were scarcely any white men in the country at all, and these were to be found in the mining camps, save for the few traders and trappers who were the first to penetrate the fastnesses of Montana's moun- tains. The plains were covered with buffalo and the mountains were teeming with Indians. It was not hard to live, for the country swarmed with wild game of all sorts, and in fact conditions of life were much like those of the first settlers in New England and Virginia in the days when America was a new and practically unexplored country.

Mr. Lowe went to work in the mines near Virginia City, which was only a rough mining camp, and during the next eighteen years he resided in that part of Montana. During all of this time he was principally engaged in mining and prospecting for indeed there was little else to do in the country. He had enough experiences to fill many books and to give texts for many a story that would be decried as the merest fiction and as impossible even in yellow-backed liter- ature. He was a warm personal friend of Colonel Sanders when the latter was federal or territorial judge for Montana. He witnessed the first lynching that ever took place in the territory, the man being put to death by the Vigilance Committee, which had been organized to see that justice was administered, and who took summary means of executing it. The law breakers at that time could keep beyond the pale of the law, of which indeed there was very little, and the Vigilance Committee was a very necessary institu- tion.

In 1881 Mr. Lowe came to Dawson county, and settled at Glendive, where he remained for the rest of his life. He opened a hardware store and tinning shop here, in a tiny little log building. As the town grew Mr. Lowe's patronage became larger, and he was enabled to gradually increase his facilities, but on his arrival Glendive was nothing but a log trad- ing post, and his stock in trade was very meager. At the time of his death he owned one of the largest and most complete stocks of hardware to be found in Montana and this was housed in a fine two-story brick building. This large business was partly due to the growth of the town and the greater demand for what he had to offer, but his personal popularity had a great deal to do with his prosperity, and there was not a man in the whole country round about who did not know that when they traded with Mr. Lowe

they were sure to get honest values and the best that was to be had in the hardware line.

Mr. Lowe was married in 1857, at Providence, Rhode Island, to Helen Baird. Seven children were born to them, two of whom died in infancy. Edwin died at the age of fourteen and Esther, at the age of twenty. The living children are Mrs. F. ank Fleming, of Glendive, Montana, and the two sons, Guy R. and Ray G., who, succeeding their father in the business, are keeping up the standard set by him. They are known throughout Dawson county as straightfor- ward, reliable business men, and the business which their father founded bids fair to be as prosperous in the hands of the sons as it was in the hands of the father. It is no more than people expected, however, for a son necessarily inherits some of the traits of his parents, and in this case the boys had the advantage of a wise and careful training. Their mother was a delightful old gentlewoman, to use an old fashioned term which suits her perfectly, refined and gentle, and she was the devoted wife and mother for many years, dying in 1885.

In politics Mr. Lowe was a stanch Republican, and his sons have here also followed in his footsteps. Among his papers were found some curious relics that date back to the early days of this party, among them being a newspaper bearing the date Thursday, July 2, 1863, and printed in Vicksburg, Mississippi, on the back of a piece of wall paper. In fraternal affairs Mr. Lowe was a Mason of long standing, having become a member of the lodge at Canton, Iowa, before coming west and always holding his membership in that chap- ter.

The death of Mr. Lowe occurred on the 26th of May, 1912, and at the time he was the oldest resident of Dawson county. So passed from among us one of the noble spirits of the earth, one of the men who make life seem worth while and who inspire others to live up to their highest ideals and forget that "money talks," for instance, or any other of the stock phrases that make up the practical world's philosophy. Mr. Lowe proved that one could make a comfortable living honestly and the regard with which he is spoken of by every one shows that the lessons taught by his life will not soon be forgotten.

WILLIAM B. CARTER, For a half century William B. Carter has been identified with the growth and development of this section of Montana, having located here when the present state was yet a portion of Idaho. Since 1868 he has been devoted to ranching, and has in the years that have elapsed acquired one of the most valuable ranching properties in the state. He is a man who has seen western life in all its varied phases, from the days when the new settlers lived in momentary expectation of Indian raids and depredations of law- less characters of every sort to the days of comparative quiet and the present even trend of events in the great western state.

William B. Carter was born in Geauga county, Ohio, near Cleveland, on April 23, 1839, and is the son of J. H. Carter and his wife, Caroline G. C. (Burgess) Carter, both of whom were natives of Vermont. The father died in Ohio at the age of seventy-five years and the mother in the same state when she was eighty- seven years old. The country schools of his native com- munity gave to William Carter such schooling as he was permitted to receive as a boy, and he was employed about the farm home until he was about twenty-two years of age, when in 1863 he started for California. He stopped in Salt Lake. Utah, on the way out, and on July I, 1863, reached Bannack. Soon thereafter he went to Alder Gulch, arriving at Virginia City in the same montlı. He on the evening of the day he arrived . there obtained employment, receiving five dollars a night for his work on the claim of Colonel Woods, one of the

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well-known miners and prospectors, who was also known as a preacher in the mining camp, where he held regular Sunday services. Here Mr. Carter worked for one hundred nights, then returned to Salt Lake City and purchased three yoke of cattle and a wagon, and brought a load of provisions to Virginia City. He arrived with his load of supplies on Christmas day, 1863, and from then until 1867 he continued in the freighting business. Since that time he has given his energies to the stock business, sheep, cattle and horses being the products of his ranch. He has a fine place of sixteen hundred acres in the vicinity of Dillon, where he lived with his family until 1882, in which year they moved into the town of Dillon, and here have resided ever since.

It is needless to add that Mr. Carter has enjoyed a splendid success in his operations. His present circum- stances speak for his business prosperity, and he is everywhere regarded as one of the financially respons- ible men of the city and county. In the early years of Mr. Carter's operations in Montana he had a partner in the person of B. C. Bennett, their association con- tinuing from 1863 to 1867. Their relations all this time were of the most amicable order, and were only discon- tinued when Mr. Bennett returned to his old home in Ohio, married and settled in his former home, dying there in 1895.

On July 4, 1868, Mr. Carter was married to Miss Anna Selway, who was born in Racine, Wisconsin, and came to Montana in 1864. She is one of the pioneer women of Montana, and is the mother of seven chil- dren, as follows : Carrie E., Ada B., Frederick W., Lee S., Guy J., Florence C. and Anna B.

ORSON N. NEWMAN. Probably within the confines of the Yellowstone Valley there is no family better known than that of Newman. Certain it is that its members have been closely identified with the almost phenomenal growth and development of this section since earliest pioneer days, and many now bearing the name are hold- ing positions of importance in public and private life. Since colonial times in America members of the New- mnan family have been leaders in the settlement of new sections of the country, and among the representatives of the name in Montana the venerable Orson N. New- man, of Billings, stands pre-eminent. He was born in Orleans county, New York, February 15, 1830, and is a son of Joel and Hannah (Lyon) Newman.

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A history of Montana, Volume II, Part 13

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