A history of Montana, Volume II, Part 17

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

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niscences of the early days are most graphic and in- teresting and the same merit collation and publica- tion, the province of the one at hand being such as to permit only the briefest outline of his career. A most interesting brochure was recently issued by the Timber- man, a lumber paper published at Portland, Oregon, the text of which was an article prepared by Mr. Holter and entitled "Pioneer Lumbering in Montana." In this pamphlet he gives a most interesting account of many of his experiences in the pioneer days of Montana,-a record which it is possible for him to amplify indefinitely, in the production of equally valu- able historic data.

Anton M. Holter was born in the little seaport town of Moss, on a fjord thirty-two miles south of Chris- tiania, Norway, and the date of his nativity was June 29, 1831. He is a son of Foin and Berta M. (Floxstad) Holter.

Ambitious and self-reliant, of alert mentality and vigorous physical powers, Mr. Holter finally determined to seek his fortunes in America, to which country a tide of immigration was setting in from the Norseland countries, with the result that he had learned much concerning opportunities afforded in the New World. He matured his plans, and on the 8th of April, 1854, about two months prior to his twenty-third birthday anniversary, Mr. Holter, in company . with others of his countrymen, set sail for Quebec. They arrived in the Canadian city on the 25th of the following month. They thence set forth by railroad for the United States, and this was Mr. Holter's first experience in railway traveling,-an experience which proved most disconcerting and sorrowful, since in an accident to the train five members of his party were killed, while others were severely injured. Upon arriving at Rock Island. Illinois, it was reported that some of the immigrants has suffered attacks of cholera, and the quarantine officers forthwith were on the alert, besides which none of the immigrants could gain accommodations in any of the hotels or lodging houses. Mr. Holter, de- termined not to be detained and scarcely knowing what was the difficulty, as he had no knowledge of English, seized his trunk and forced his way through the quarantine ranks to a boat on which he embarked, without any idea as to the destination of the vessel. He proceeded up the Mississippi on this boat and finally made his way to Freeport, near Decorah, Iowa, where he joined one of his boyhood friends and where he soon found employment at his trade. He received for his services twenty dollars a month, twice the amount given him for a whole year's labor in his native land, and the young immigrant accordingly gained renewed faith in the tales he had heard concerning the wonderful opportunities in America. His initiative faculty did not long remain in abeyance, and he carefully saved his earnings and began to speculate in town lots, upon a modest scale, with the result that at the end of the year he had accumulated property valued at three hundred dollars.

Mr. Holter passed the winter of 1855-6 in working at his trade in the city of St. Louis, Missouri, and in assisting in construction work on the line of the Mis- souri Pacific Railroad, which was being extended to Jefferson City, that state. In the meanwhile he had passed some time in the state of Iowa, and returning to that state, he passed the major part of the ensuing four years at Osage, the judicial center of Mitchell county, so that he was thus identified for a time with the pioneer activities of the Hawkeye state. Within the period mentioned he made several trips into the Sioux Indian country in western Iowa and Missouri, and on one of these expeditions he was among the first to arrive on the scene of the historic Spirit Lake massacre.

In the spring of 1860, Mr. Holter joined the hegira to the newly discovered gold fields in the Pike's Peak district of Colorado, to which territory adventurous

gold-seekers had been flocking in large numbers within the preceding year. In Colorado he was joined by his brother, Martin M., and they were fairly successful in their mining and farming operations. Concerning his initial identification with Montana Mr. Holter himself has given the following account, which is well worthy of reproduction, and in the connection it will be re- called that during his sojourn in Colorado the present state was known as Jefferson Territory. His state- ments, appearing in his article on pioneer lumbering in Montana, are as follows: "After three years' resi- dence at Pike's Peak I returned to my former home in Iowa, and in the spring of 1863 started, with a team of oxen, back to Colorado, where I stopped about six weeks. During this time a company of two hundred men was organized to go to what was then called Stinking Water, Idaho, but what is now known as Ruby River, in Madison county, Montana. This com- pany left Colorado on September 16, 1863. It was well organized, having a captain and other officers, and was governed by a formal set of rules and regulations. The weather was pleasant and the food for the stock was excellent. Hunting and fishing were especially fine,-too much so, in fact, for so much time was spent in sport that we made slow progress, and finally a Mr. Evenson, with whom I had formed a partnership and with whom I afterward did business under the firm name of Holter & Evenson, and myself became fearful that we would be unable to reach our destination before winter, and we decided it was best for us to leave the train and strike out for ourselves at a greater rate of speed. We had purchased a second-hand saw-mill out- fit, intending to go into the lumbering business on reach- ing our destination. There were yet at least a thousand miles to cover, so one morning we yoked up our oxen and struck out alone. During the night a few more teams overtook us, and every night thereafter other teams caught up with us, until we were about forty souls in all. We had some heavy snow storms during November, but finally reached Bevin's Gulch, our tem- porary destination, about eighteen miles from Virginia City, Montana. The remainder of the company, how- ever, got snowed in, and, so far as I ever learned, never reached Montana.

"Mr. Evenson and I finally selected a location for our saw mill, and after considerable hardship we reached the top of the divide between Bevin's and Ramshorn gulches, on December 7th. There we went into temporary camp, with no shelter beyond that afforded by a large spruce tree. As the snow was getting deep and there was no feed for stock, I started the next morning for Virginia City,-eighteen miles distant,-with the cattle, hoping to sell them. Finding no buyer, I started to take them out to the ranch of an acquaintance, twenty-five miles down the Stinking Water. On the way I was held up and robbed by the notorious George Ives and his companion, Irvin. After I had complied with Mr. Ives' command to hand him my purse I was ordered to drive on. He still held his revolver in his hand, which looked suspicious to me, so, in speaking to my team I quickly turned my head and found that he had his revolver leveled on me, taking sight at my head. Instantly I dodged as the shot went, and I received the full force of the unexploded powder in my face, the bullet passing through my hat and hair. It stunned me for an instant, and I staggered against the near leader, accidentally getting my arm over his neck, which prevented me from falling. Al- most at once I regained my senses and faced Ives, who had his pistol lowered, but who raised it with a jerk, pointing at my breast. I heard the click of the ham- mer, but the gun missed fire. I ran around the oxen, which became very much excited, and my coming in a rush on the other side scared them still more, and they rushed against Ives' horse, which in turn got into a tangle witlı Irvin's horse, and during the confusion I struck out for some beaver dams which I noticed close

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by, but the men soon got control of their horses, and, to my agreeable surprise, they started off in the oppo- site direction. What had apparently changed their pur- pose was the sight which now met my eyes also, that of a man who had just appeared over the hill and who was driving a horse team, with which he had approached to a point near us. I learned afterward that Ives and Irvin had stopped at Laurin, about two miles from the point where they overtook me, and that Ives had fired five shots at the bottles on the shelves because the bar- tender refused them whiskey, this accounting for the fact that only one charge was left in his revolver when he attacked me. At the camp, the next day, Mr. Even- son disfigured my face badly in extracting the powder. So, with my face bandaged up, in the cold and the snow, we managed to build a brush road on grade around a steep mountain to our mill location on the creek. We made a hand-sled with cross-beams extend- ing outside the runners far enough so that when neces- sary we were able to nip it along with handspikes on each side. With this hand-sled we removed our outfit to the creek, and we did all the logging this way during the entire winter. We first built a cabin and a black- smith shop, but the latter soon became more of a ma- chine shop, for when we came to erect the saw mill we met with what seemed insurmountable difficulties. As I knew nothing about a saw mill I had left the pur- chase of the outfit to Mr. Evenson, who claimed to be a millwright by profession, but it developed that he had either been very careless in inspecting this machin- ery or that he had not understood it, for so much of it was missing that it seemed impossible to get a working-' mill out of the material at hand. As there was no foundry or machine shop in this part of the country, we were at a loss to know what to do, but were deter- mined to erect a saw mill of some kind, so out of our rubber coats and whip-sawed lumber we made a black- smith bellows, then we burned a pit of charcoal, while a broad axe driven into a stump served as an anvil. Mr. Evenson knew a little about blacksmithing, so I began to feel somewhat at ease, but soon discovered what seemed to be the worst obstacle yet. This was that we had no gearing for the log carriage, not even the track irons or pinion, and to devise some mechan- ism that would give the carriage the forward and re- verse movement became the paramount problem. After a great deal of thought and experimenting we finally succeeded in inventing a device which years later was patented and widely used under the name of the "rope feed." Incidentally I may say that we found this to be such an excellent appliance that we later used it in most of our portable mills, and I have been informed that several manufacturers used and recommended this, charging an additional three hundred dollars for it on small mills.

"However, returning to the point, in order to con- struct this we had first to build a turning lathe, and when we began to turn iron shafting it took much ex- perimenting before we learned to temper the chisels so that they would stand the cutting of iron. To turn the shafting, which we made out of iron wagon-axles, Even- son would hold the chisel and I, with a rawhide strap, wrapped around the shafting, taking hold with a hand on each end of the strap, would give a steady, hard pull with the right hand until the left touched the piece we were working on, then reverse, repeating the process until the work was finished. These were strenuous days, and we worked early and late in the face of most discouraging circumstances. We manufactured enough timber for the sixteen-foot overshot waterwheel, the flume, etc. As we were short of belting, we made it out of untanned ox-hide, and it worked well enough in the start. We finally got the mill started, and we sawed about five thousand feet of lumber before we had a beast of burden in the camp."

The foregoing account of Mr. Holter's determined efforts in the development of the industrial enterprise,

of which he was one of the first representatives in Mon- tana is given reproduction simply to indicate the ad- verse circumstances and conditions which he had to face. It would be impossible to enter into full details concerning his subsequent operations along this line, but it may be said that his progress was marked by many difficulties and exactions, against which he held himself imperturbed to as great an extent as possible. Competition was aggressive and insolent, miners di- verted the water demanded for the operation of the original mill, and one difficulty after another had to be adjusted. Needing more machinery for the second sea- son of mill operations, Mr. Evenson proceeded to Den- ver to obtain the equipment, but learning of the fabulous prices that were being paid for flour, nails, and other supplies, he invested the money in such commodities in- stead of buying the requisite machinery. On the return trip he encountered heavy storm and lost not only an appreciable portion of his freight, but also a number of his teams. The goods which he succeeded in bringing through to Montana were sold at a high price, but the venture as a whole proved unprofitable in a financial way.

Concerning the progressive policies which were fol- lowed by Mr. Holter and which brought about his use of morc modern appliances in his lumber business it is unnecessary to speak in detail, but it should be noted that it was due to him that the first planing mill was established in Montana, and that his operations were extended to cover virtually all of the principal mining camps in the territory. Other mills were established, with team power, lumber prices became depressed, and partnership relations proved unsatisfactory, with the result that Mr. Holter finally purchased Mr. Evenson's interest in the business which they controlled. and formed a partnership with his brother, Martin Holter, under the firm name of A. M. Holter & Brother. By the two brothers the first planing mill in Montana was established in the summer of 1865, and the same was operated in conjunction with the saw mill which they had established on Ten Mile creek, about eight miles distant from Helena. The firm maintained headquarters botlı at Virginia City and Helena. In speaking of con- ditions of the lumber business, Mr. Holter has written the following succinct statement, touching matters after he had made a trip to the east for the purpose of pur- chasing new machinery:

"I arrived in Helena on the 17th of May and found the lumber business in a bad way. The firm of A. M. Holter & Brother had closed the mill with the first snow storm in the fall and had sent all the live stock to win- ter quarters, so in a short time they were out of lumber and also out of business. My first move was to hurry the men after live stock and to prepare to start the mill. Shortly after I had left Helena in 1866 the cutting of prices began, and from this time on the custom of sell- ing for what you could get prevailed. The prices ob- tained by A. M. Holter & Brother for the year 1867 and up to August, 1868, averaged about fifty dollars for common lumber and sixty dollars per thousand feet for sluice, flume, and the better grades, but during the month of August we reduced these prices ten dollars per thousand, without consultation with other dealers. We had reduced the price of planing-mill work to twenty-five and twenty dollars per thousand, according to quantity and ten dollars for surfacing. Shingles sold for six dollars and lath for twelve dollars. We main- tained the prices on the last three items, as we had no competition on these. I finally got the mill started and also erected a new mill on Spring creek. Several more mills sprang up in the vicinity of Helena, mostly oper- ated by inexperienced men, on borrowed capital, at a high rate of interest, so they soon came to grief. I bought up some of these saw mills in 1868 and 1869. We also added to our holdings a water mill near Jeffer- san City, in Jefferson county, and a portable steam mill

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that we located near Lincoln, in what is now Lewis and Clark county."

In 1868 Mr. Holter and his brother established, in Helena, the first sash and door factory in Montana, and the plant was operated by them until October, 1879, when it was destroyed by fire. Mr. Holter continued one of the foremost figures in the lumber industry for many years, and was the pioneer in establishing a lum- ber business at Great Falls, in 1886, where operations still continue. In 1889 Mr. Holter became associated with William Thompson in the organization of the Mon- tana Lumber & Manufacturing Company, operating in the western part of the new state, with main offices in Helena and Butte. Later he was actively identified with lumbering operations in Idaho, Oregon, and Alaska, and no one has stood so clearly as an authority in this field of enterprise in Montana as this venerable and honored citizen of Helena. In 1867 he became asso- ciated with his brother in the establishing of a general- merchandise business at Helena, and the same was finally changed into a general hardware business, which is now conducted under the title of the A. M. Holter Hardware Company and which is one of the most im- portant and extensive enterprises of the kind in the entire northwest, the trade being both wholesale and retail.

The progressive ideas and liberality of Mr. Holter have been manifested along many lines, and he is one of those who have done much to further the develop- ment and upbuilding of the state that has long repre- sented his home. In 1890 he with others made applica- tion for the use of the waters of the Missouri river near Helena for power purposes and had a bill enacted by congress permitting a dam to be erected across the river. This was the start of hydro-electric development in Montana. Mr. Holter was also one of the organizers and incorporators of the company that established the first water-works system in Montana, this having been the Virginia City Water Works Company, which was incorporated in January, 1865. The installation of the system was attended with great difficulties, owing to the meager facilities available. Water was to be carried a distance of two miles, and the pipe were made of logs through which a three-inch hole was bored by means of an augur that was made by hand in a local blacksmith shop. These primitive conduits were fitted into each other by the tapering of one end into the proper aper- ture in the next log, and an iron band was placed about the outside log to prevent the bursting. These bands in many instances had previously done service as wagon hubs on vehicles that had been brought across the plains, and the faucets and valves were made by hand. Mr. Holter's natural mechanical genius came into effective play in this connection at many times when the prob- lem of construction and service seemed impossible of practical solution.

In 1875 Mr. Holter and his brother bought from Fred- erick Utsch, a German inventor, the rights to manu- facture what was known as the Utsch Jig, a machine for concentrating ore. This was the first jigging ma- chine ever worked successfully in the mining business and was probably the most valuable and effective, in promoting the mining industry ever introduced in the northwest and first used successfully at the Bunker Hill Sullivan mine, Wardner, Idaho. In 1898 he was actively concerned in the organization of the Sand Point Lum- ber Company, at Sand Point, Idaho, the same being now known as the Hambird Lumber Company. In a general way the following characterization made by one familiar with the career of Mr. Holter is of special significance. by reason of its absolute consistency : "He is one of those rugged, indomitable spirits to whom the com- ing generation inhabiting the northwest, and especially Montana, will owe in a large degree the magnificent heritage that awaits them." Further than this it may be said that Mr. Holter is a man of distinctive culture and one deeply appreciative of the finer ideals and more

gracious social amenities of life, and that his broad mentality and fine constructive and administrative pow- ers have been exercised most effectively in positions of distinctive public trust.

Admirably fortified in his political convictions, Mr. Holter has been a consistent and resolute advocate of the principles and policies of the Republican party, and his faith has not wavered in the face of recent party reverses. He had the distinction of being the first Re- publican ever elected to office in the city of Helena. In 1878 he was elected a member of the territorial legis- lature, and in 1888 he was elected a member of the city council of Helena, of which municipal body he was chosen president. In 1889 he was elected a member of the house of representatives of the new state, and he had much to do with shaping the fundamental policies and laws of the commonwealth which has honored and been honored by him. He has served as president of the Helena board of trade and has been identified with every progressive movement for the benefit of the capital city. He was one of those primarily instru- mental in securing to Helena its present fine high school building. He erected the Holter block, in which his hardware business is conducted, and also his attractive residence, on North Benton avenne-a home known for its gracious and unostentatious hospitality. He retains a deep interest in all that touches the welfare and his- tory of his home city and state and is one of the active and valued members of the Montana Pioneer Society, of which he has served as president. He is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, in which he has received the chivalric degrees in the Helena commandery of Knights Templars, and his religious views are in har- mony with the tenets of the Lutheran church, in whose faith he was reared, Mrs. Holter being a communicant of the Protestant Episcopal church.

At present, in his eighty-second year, he is strong mentally and physically. In addition to his own busi- ness affairs he finds time to attend to work pertaining to the public good. He and a few other admirers of the late Wilbur Fisk Sanders met a few years ago and decided to place in the State Capitol building a statue to perpetuate his memory. Mr. Holter was elected president of the association formed. From this begin- ning the last legislature enacted a bill creating the Sanders memorial commission, Mr. Holter president. The work of this body is now nearly finished and the statue about ready to be put in place.

Judge F. K. Armstrong, Mr. Jno. M. Holt, and Mr. Holter have just appraised and purchased for the state the state hospital for the insane from private owners. These men were appointed by the governor, and their appraisal was approved by the voters of the state at the last election.

In 1867, in the city of Chicago, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Holter to Miss Mary Pauline Loberg, who, like himself, is a native of Norway, and their home life has been one of ideal associations and in- fluences. Concerning their children brief record is given in the concluding paragraph of this review.

Norman B., who was graduated in Columbia Uni- versity, in the city of New York, as a member of the class of 1891, is vice-president of the A. M. Holter Hardware Company and secretary of the Holter Com- pany, besides having the active supervision of the ex- tensive business interests built up by his honored father. He is one of the prominent and popular factors in the business and social activities of Helena and is well upholding the high prestige of the name which he bears. He wedded Miss Florence Jefferis, daughter of Charles M. and Sarah (Bell) Jefferis, of Helena, and the two children of this union are Marian and Richard M. Clara H., the second child of the subject of this sketch, is the widow of Percy H. Kennett, who was a stepson of Hon. Samuel T. Hauser, who was the first resident governor of the territory of Montana, and the surviving children of this union are Holter P. and

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George H. Edwin O. prepared for Yale University in historic old Phillips-Exeter Academy, at Exeter, New Hampshire, and after his graduation in Yale, in 1894, he entered the law department of Columbia Uni- versity, in which he likewise was graduated. He is now engaged in the successful practice of his profes- sion in New York City. He married Miss Sarah Sage, daughter of Dean Sage, of Albany, New York, and they have four children-Sarah, Elizabeth, Mary, and Edwin O., Jr. Albert L., the next in order of birth, was likewise afforded the advantages of Phillips-Exeter Academy, and is one of the well known and popular young business men of Helena. He has been a zeal- ous worker in the ranks of the Republican party and has served as a member of the legislature of his native state. Austin M. died at the age of five years. Aubrey M., after a preparatory course in the Taft School, at Watertown, Connecticut, entered Yale University, in which he was graduated in 1905, and he is now treasurer of the A. M. Holter Hardware Company. Percy W., the youngest of the children, was graduated in Yale University, as a member of the class of 1907, and died, in Helena, on the 23d of November, 1908, at the age of twenty-three years. He married Miss Emma Gamer, daughter of Frederick Gamer, of Helena.

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A history of Montana, Volume II, Part 17

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