A history of Montana, Volume II, Part 29

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

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In the spring of 1870 Mr. Heldt resigned his position to accept that of bookkeeper and general utility man for the post trader, having in addition to his other duties those of postmaster, stage agent and express agent. For eighteen years he remained in this position, or positions, and among the joys of his life was that of his duty as postmaster of arising every morning, with the thermometer often at forty below, and the hour be- tween one and three, to receive the mail and express matter from the stage en route from Helena to Ben- ton. In 1873 Mr. Heldt was honored by election to the legislature from the northern portion of Lewis and Clark county. In these days there was no such thing as even a whisper of bribes. If any one was even sus- pected of being a grafter he was ordered from the country, and the government was run by a set of honest straightforward men, not politicians. The capital was located in Virginia City, and when Governor Potts called a special session, it meant a trip of 225 miles, to be accomplished, but it was a relief to some of the members when during the regular session the capital was moved to Helena.

On the 22nd of December, 1874, Mr. Heldt was married to Miss Mary Watson, of Virginia City, the occasion being celebrated by a big dance which was tendered the popular young people by their friends. Their honeymoon consisted of a two days' ride on the Gilmer and Salisbury stage to Helena, where they remained for a few days. On the morning which they had set for their departure for their home in Fort Shaw, the weather which had hitherto been mild, had again turned cold, and there was now several inches of snow where there had been none before. This did not deter them, however, and they climbed aboard the stage and set out. Soon the snow was axle-deep, and shortly after passing Dearborn station, which they reached that night, the driver lost his way. The pros- pect of wandering around on the prairie all night, with the snow two feet deep, and the thermometer standing at forty below zero, was not inviting. At last, almost by chance they found the road again, and reached the next station at four o'clock in the morning. At last the bride and groom arrived at Fort Shaw, having been twenty-six hours making the journey, after a honey- moon that was a bit more thrilling than even they cared to experience again. Until 1888 Mr. Heldt re- mained in Fort Shaw, and then selling the J. H. Mc- Knight Company business with which he had been connected he moved to Great Falls, Montana, where he has since resided.

Mr. Heldt has had many experiences in hunting buffalo, and like all others who were in the west during the years when the buffalo was a common ob- ject, can not understand their sudden disappearance.

He tells a story of a buffalo hunt that took place in 1872. About ten miles northeast of the point where the city of Great Falls now stands, the party found the herd. It is impossible to say how many buffalo were in the herd, for as far as the eye could reach, the prairie was black with the huge, shaggy beasts. There were at least a hundred thousand, and probably many more. It was during this hunt that Mr. Heldt had a hairbreadth escape. He wounded a buffalo bull so severely that he could not travel, and stood looking piteously at him. Mr. Heldt therefore, got down from his horse that he might make more certain of his shot and so relieve the poor beast's sufferings as quickly as possible. He was about fifty feet away from the buffalo, when suddenly the animal came to life and leaped forward in great jumps, head down. Mr. Heldt made a flying leap for his saddle, per- forming a feat that would have made him worth much money to P. T. Barnum, could he have been a witness, and putting spurs to his horse when the buffalo was only five feet distant. Up until 1875-6 the J. H. McKnight Company bought from the Indians and half-breeds about five thousand robes during the season, and after that year they could buy none, so abruptly did the bison vanish.

The first fire department in Virginia City, or in fact, in Montana, was organized in 1865. The apparatus con- sisted of a truck, two ladders and two hooks. The name of the company was the Hook and Ladder Com- pany, No. I, and Mr. Heldt was the secretary. One of his chief treasures is his belt, inscribed with the letters, "Secretary, Hook and Ladder Co. No. 1." The uniform was made up of a pair of black doe skin trousers, red flannel shirt and red cap. On the Fourth of July, 1865, in the midst of rain and snow, they had their first great parade, in which the center of interest was a six-horse Wells-Fargo coach. At the firemen's ball which took place in the evening, the tickets sold for $10.00 apiece. Mr. Heldt was also the first city mar- shal in Montana, serving in Virginia City, and he is the oldest notary public, with a continuous record for service, in the state. He was first commissioned by Governor Edgerton, who was the first governor of Montana, and since that time he has served without a break.

Mr. and Mrs. Heldt became the parents of two chil- dren, both of whom were girls and both born in Mon- tana. Florence R. is now the wife of Captain L. J. Fleming, of United States Cavalry. The youngest daughter, Frances Gibbon, at present living at home, being unmarried. Mrs. Heldt died on the 8th of Febru- ary, 1903, at Great Falls, and is buried in the family lot at Helena, Montana.

JOSEPH MILLER LINDLEY. Few citizens have been more closely identified with the interests of Bozeman than Joseph Miller Lindley, whose activities in this city have extended over a period of forty-seven years, dur- ing which time he has held high rank in business, pub- lic and social life. Although his business interests have been large, he has found time to associate himself with earnest and hard-working bodies with the city welfare at heart, and the services he has rendered his commu- nity cannot be overestimated. Mr. Lindley was born August 6, 1840, near Vernon, Indiana, and is a son of James M. and Melissa (Biggs) Lindley, the former a native of New York, who died in Indiana at the age of forty-five years. He was one of the pioneer farmers of the Hoosier state, whence he had been taken by his parents in childhood. His wife was a native of Indi- ana, but spent her last years at the home of one of her five children, in Hastings, Nebraska.

Joseph Miller Lindley continued to reside on the home farm until he was sixteen years of age, and secured his primary education in the district schools. In 1857 he joined a party en route to Minnesota for the purpose

Henry L. DesHombres

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HISTORY OF MONTANA

of taking up farming land, and first located near North- field, Minnesota, where he remained until the spring of 1858. At that time he went to Jacksonville, Illinois, where he entered the college, the president of which was a brother of the late American comedian, Sol Smith Russell. After his graduation, in 1860, Mr. Lindley re- turned to his old home in Indiana, but after a short visit went to Atchison, Kansas, and on to Colorado, subsequently returning to Kansas. Owing to a severe drought, he abandoned agricultural pursuits and spent the winter of 1860-'61 in Atchison, but in the spring of the latter year entered the state service, the governor having made a call for troops to protect the frontier from depredations by the "border ruffians" and the gathering Confederates. Mr. Lindley had previous ex- perience as a soldier, having been engaged in Indian warfare, but was not regularly enlisted until May, 1861, when he was mustered into Company K, First Regiment, Kansas Volunteer Infantry, Capt. George G. Fairchild. The regiment was at once ordered to the front and joined the troops at Grand River, Missouri, under command of General Lyon, July 7, 1861. The command followed General Price down to the Arkansas line, and then fell back to Springfield, Missouri, where General Lyon participated in his last battle. During the terrific engagement at Wilson's creek, Mr. Lindley re- ceived a bullet which, to this day, the physicians have been unable to extract. While in the General United States Hospital at St. Louis, Missouri, he was dis- charged, being unable to perform further duty, and was then sent to his regiment for discharge at St. Louis. Returning to Kansas, he was employed as a "wagon boss" on a line of freight wagons, his division being from Nebraska City, Nebraska, to Denver, Colorado, via Omaha, from Denver on to Salt Lake City, and from Leavenworth to Ft. Laramie and other United States forts. Subsequently he made two trips from Salt Lake to Virginia City, Montana, and on the 4th of December, 1863, left Alder Gulch and secured passage by stage from Salt Lake for California, going as far south in that state as Los Angeles, and returning with merchandise by the southern_ route to Virginia City. The experience of Mr. Lindley as a pioneer, frontier pioneer and plainsman, in point of danger, hardships and excitement, is seldom equalled in the annals of early western life. It was in the spring of 1864 that Mr. Lindley returned to Virginia City, Montana, and shortly after his arrival in the territory he came to the Gallatin valley with much of the merchandise, sold it out and engaged in farming and freighting between Fort Benton and Helena. In 1865 he abandoned this enter- prise and settled on a farm on· Middle creek, where he continued to reside until 1871. He then engaged in the cattle business on the Shields river, buying the cattle in Utah in 1872 but selling out, however, in 1882. In that year he platted a sub-division in Bozeman, known as the Lindley & Guy addition, through which the finest residence street in the city, Lindley Place, passes. He likewise began loaning money and opened a store for selling farm implements, but closed the lat- ter two years later to interest himself in the real estate, insurance and loan business. During the last fifteen years he has acted in the capacity of United States agent of pensions. On August 22, 1892, Mr. Lindley organized the Bozeman Land and Loan Company, and in 1909 was the organizer of the Lindley Concrete Com- pany, manufacturing building material, blocks, brick, chimney blocks, tile, posts and ornamental work, as well as burial vaults. The factory is situated at the south end of Rouse avenue, while the office is located at No. 55 East Main street.

Mr. Lindley was married at Janesville, Wisconsin, Jan- uary I, 1882, to the widow of Capt. H. C. Miles. She was born near Vernon, Indiana, and her father was the stepfather of Mr. Lindley. Politically Mr. Lindley is a Democrat and his initial vote was cast for Grover

Cleveland for president. On April 9, 1882, he was elected alderman from the Fourth ward in the first city elcction and later served two more terms. During this time he was influential in securing a number of improvements for his community. A member of the Bozeman free library board, unbeknown to his as- sociates, he wrote to Andrew Carnegie and managed to secure his support. He is a charter member and was one of the organizers of William English Post No. 10, Grand Army of the Republic, named in honor of Will- iam English, an old schoolmate of Mr. Lindley's and adjutant of the One hundred and first Illinois Volunteer Infantry. Adjutant English was killed at the battle of Big Hole, during the frontier war with the Indians, and his remains were carried back to Jacksonville, Illi- nois, and buried at his old home. Mr. Lindley is senior vice-commander of the Department of Montana, Grand Army of the Republic, and in 1911 was elected com- mander of his home post in Bozeman. He was also prominent in the formation of that noble society, Pio- neers of Gallatin county, of which he was secretary and treasurer in 1896, 1897 and 1898, president from 1899 to 1900 and then re-elected secretary and treasurer in 1900 and 1901. He has devoted much time in the in- terests of this organization, which is preserving for pos- terity a record of the lives and activities of those courageous men who made the settlement of this sec- tion possible. He was a member of the first city council of Bozeman, was the first president of the Chronicle Publishing Company of this city, and his name has been associated, in some capacity or another, with every en- terprise or movement which has promised to be of benefit to the community. In all the walks of life he has gained and maintained a spotless reputation, and no man is held in higher esteem in the Gallatin valley.

HENRY L. DES COMBES. Truly a pioneer of Montana is Henry L. Des Combes, of Belt, whose advent to this state dates back to the territorial days of 1864 and who for nearly half a century has been identified in various ways with the life of this growing commonwealth and knows by experience the vast and remarkable changes that have taken place there.

Mr. Des Combes was born in St. Louis county, Mis- souri, on the IIth of December, 1838, and comes directly of Swiss and French antecedents. Frederick Des Combes, his father, was a farmer and a native of Switzerland. He emigrated to America in 1828 and became a pioneer settler in St. Louis county, Missouri, where his after life was given to agriculture on the old Chouteau farm. He died there at the age of sixty- eight. His wife was Christina Preise, a native of France and born near Alsace Lorraine. She died in 1880. Four children were born to the union of these parents.

Mr. Des Combes received his education in the public schools of Kirkwood, St. Louis county, Missouri, and until twenty-six years of age his life was spent on the farm. In 1864 he with a party of some thirty men from St. Louis started across the plains for Montana and arrived at Virginia Citv on the 5th of August, their trip being without incident. On arriving there Mr. Des Combes took up work in the mines, at which he con- tinued until the following November when he removed to Helena and was the fifth to erect a cabin there. He also assisted in laying out the streets and in naming them. In that day he was the owner of a large portion of what is now the most valuable property in Helena, but not foreseeing the city's future he sold all of this property at practically what it cost. There he also built the Overland hotel. the first modern building in the capital city. He followed mining in various parts of the state until 1880 but never proved very success- ful in his ventures, making nothing more than a liv- ing, though he owned properties that later developed some of the best mines in the state. In 1888 he re-

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HISTORY OF MONTANA

moved from Cora, where he was ranching, to Belt, to which place the railroad had been built by that time, and there was elected a justice of the peace and notary public, which offices he has filled ever since. During his residence at Cora he served on the school board ten years.

He is a Democrat in party allegiance but has never taken an active part in political affairs, and his interest in the development of Belt is shown by his membership in the Commercial Club. Mr. Des Combes has made his way in life by his own efforts and unassisted by capital and what he has accomplished is the result of long years of honest and energetic endeavor. He stands for the highest and best citizenship and has so lived that he has drawn to himself the high regard and esteem of his fellow men. Mr. Des Combes is unmarried.

GEN. LESTER S. WILLSON. Distinction through mili- tary prowess commands universal admiration and re- spect and when men go to war and battle for principle what they accomplish possesses worth far beyond the struggling for conquest. The United States has pro- duced heroes whose military achievements are not shadowed by those of any past age. There are military men in Montana as in other states, now in peaceful activities, who surmounted such difficulties and faced such grave dangers for many stormy years that these might justly entitle them to undying fame, and among those whom the Treasure state delights to honor is Gen. Lester S. Willson, of Bozeman. Gen. Willson is a native of the Empire state, having been born at Can- ton, St. Lawrence county, New York, June 16, 1839, and is a descendant of a line of illustrious ancestors reaching back to the time of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. His parents, Ambrose and Julia A. (Hill) Willson, had seven children, all of whom grew to maturity.

General Willson attended the public schools of Canton and supplemented this by a course in an excellent acad- emy at that place, after leaving which he was employed as a clerk in the store of an uncle. When the Civil war came on he offered his services in defense of the Union as a member of Company A, Sixtieth Regiment, New York Volunteer Infantry, in which he enlisted in August, 1861, under Capt. William B. Goodrich. He was advanced to the rank of sergeant in September, 1861, to second lieutenant in October, 1862, to first lieu- tenant and adjutant a month later, and was offered a captaincy the day his commission as adjutant was re- ceived but declined the promotion. In August, 1864, he was made a captain, in October the same year a lieu- tenant-colonel, a colonel the next May, but not mus- tered by reason of reduced number of men in regiment, and a brevet colonel and brevet brigadier-general after he left the service, with rank from March 13, 1865, the last honors being conferred upon him from the recom- mendation of the two commanders of the Twentieth Corps, Generals Hooker and Slocum, "for gallant and meritorious service under General Sherman at Atlanta." His early duty in the service was in guarding the Bal- timore & Ohio Railroad, and in the Virginia campaigns under Banks and Pope in 1861 and 1862. He was later in the hardest of the fight at Antietam and again at Chancellorsville, where he was severely wounded and compelled to retire from active service for a time. He rejoined his regiment as the army was preparing to move for the Gettysburg campaign, but his wound broke out afresh and he was ordered to Washington for treatment. In September, 1863, he went south with the Twelfth Corps under General Hooker, and participated in the battles of Wanhatchie, Lookout Mountain, Missionary Ridge, Pea-Vine Creek and Ringgold.

On November 24, 1863, largely through his efforts and personal influence, his regiment veteranized and re- enlisted, said to be the second one in the service to take this step. The next spring with the Third Brigade,

Geary's division, he took part in all the battles of Sher- man's campaign, from Chattanooga to Atlanta, Savan- nah, Goldsborough, Raleigh, up to and including John- son's surrender. During much of this time he served as aide, assistant inspector-general and assistant adju- tant-general of the brigade. The Sixtieth New York and the One hundred and eleventh Pennsylvania divided the honor of having been the first regiments in Atlanta, and the first to unfurl their colors from the top of the city hall. Alby Davis, Wellsville, Ohio, disputes with W. W. Ewing, Eighty-fifth Indiana, that the Third Division, Twentieth Corps, was first into Atlanta. The Sixtieth New York, Third Brigade, Second Division, Twentieth Corps, was the first in the city and hoisted our flag on the city hall. As assistant adjutant-general Mr. Willson was the first officer to enter Savannah at the head of his regiment, and received the surrender of the city at the hands of Mayor Arnold. At the earnest solicitation of Gen. H. A. Barnum, commanding the Third Brigade, he carried his lieutenant-colonel's com- mission without muster from Atlanta to Goldsborough, remaining as assistant adjutant-general of the brigade. Until the declaration of peace he was in constant, every- day service, never leaving his command except on ac- count of wounds; and by his close attention to duty and resourcefulness in action, stood in the confidence of his several chiefs, Generals Sherman, Hooker, Slocum, Geary, Greene and others, and on many occasions was entrusted with peculiarly intricate and dangerous du- ties. He was accredited with being a most faithful and intelligent officer and of his regiment Maj. Gen. George S. Greene has said: "It was one of the best in the service."

After the close of the war General Willson was ap- pointed assistant quartermaster-general of the state of New York with the rank of colonel. The office had the adjustment of many large business matters with the railroads pertaining to the transportation of troops, supplies, etc., balances between the state and the gen- eral government, the disposition of accumulated sup- plies belonging to the state, and other matters of mag- nitude and importance, involving large amounts of money. He resigned the office in March, 1867, to en- gage in business in Montana, and has been in this state ever since, mining, merchandising, banking, and other pursuits occupying his attention. From 1883 to 1886 he served as quartermaster-general of the territory with the rank of brigadier-general. He has always voted the Republican party and been active in its campaigns, having served as a member of its national committee, and holding other important places in its organization. He was a member of the territorial legislature in 1868-69, and in 1900 was a candidate for presidential elector for his party. General Willson is well known in financial circles and is a director of the Commercial National Bank of Bozeman.

On March 2, 1869, General Willson was married at Albany. New York, to Miss Emma D. Weeks, a native of Vermont, and three children were born to this union, of whom two are deceased, one son, Fred F., still sur- viving. General Willson is a Mason, belonging to Boze- man Lodge No. 18, A. F. & A. M., and is a charter mem- ,ber of the William English Post, Grand Army of the Republic. He has filled most of its offices and has been department commander of Montana. He also belongs to the Loyal Legion of the United States in the com-' mandery of New York.

CHRISTOPHER H. WATERMAN. The days of the early settlement of the state are as half-remembered dreams to such of the pioneers of Montana who remain to recall their memory, and it is hard to believe that the present prosperous and flourishing Treasure State, the center of commercial and educational progress, was only a half century ago only too often the scene of savagery, the home of wild animal and wilder man, a place of dangers

C. H. Waterman Catharine. C. Waterman.

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HISTORY OF MONTANA

and of perils, whence only the courageous dared to come, and where but few could hope to win success. Such has been the nature of the American people, however, that their ambitions have always taken them to the new places, causing them to cast their lot with those who pave the way for civilization, and every section of the East contributed to its full quota to the population of the new country. From the state of Vermont came many who were to represent the best type of citizenship during the early days, and among these, one who ex- perienced all the hardships and privations of pioneer ex- istence, is Christopher H. Waterman, of Bozeman, a resident of Montana since 1864. Mr. Waterman was born in Rutland county, Vermont, January 24, 1826, and is a son of John and Caroline (Hilliard) Waterman, Vermonters by birth, who eventually removed to the Holland purchase in western New York, where they spent the rest of their lives in agricultural pursuits, the father dying when forty-five years of age, and the. mother passing away when eighty-one. They had a family of eight children, of whom Christopher H. is the only survivor.

Christopher H. Waterman was reared to manhood on the New York homestead, whence he had been taken when he was but one year old, and his education was secured in the district and select schools. He was twenty years of age when he left home to go to Michi- gan, but after a year returned to New York and adopted a seafaring life, a vocation which he continued for fourteen years. During this time he served as first mate on some of the finest vessels afloat, and for seven years was captain of smaller craft. In 1851 he went to Cali- fornia, and for two years sailed on vessels running out of San Francisco, and then, with others, obtained con- trol of an island lying to the west of that city, where they engaged in securing seal oil, eggs, furs, etc., and within two months had marketed 10,000 dozen of eggs at $1.00 per dozen, and sold $3,000 worth of seal oil, the venture netting them a neat profit. Mr. Water- man then returned to New York, and as first mate of a large vessel started for Havre, France, and at the New London Hotel in that city met and married Miss Catherine Boyle, a sister of the landlady of the hotel. She was born in Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland, June 13, 1835, daughter of John and Catherine (Devlin) Boyle, natives of the Emerald Isle. Her father was em- ployed for many years in the gas works at Paisley and Glasgow, Scotland, and died March 1, 1842, at the age of forty-seven years. His wife long survived him, com- ing to the United States with her children, and dying November 21, 1887, at the venerable age of eighty-six, being then an inmate of the home of her daughter, Mrs. Henry Monforton, of Bozeman. Mrs. Waterman is the only survivor of her family of nine children. The youngest brother, Capt. Peter T. Boyle, served gallantly in the Sixty-third Regiment, New York Volunteer In- fantry, during the Civil war, and met his death in the Battle of the Wilderness, May 5, 1864. Mr. and Mrs. Waterman have had three children, as follows: Jerome B., born December 17, 1862, and died October 26, 1911, married (first) Miss Dora Sales, by whom he had one son, Fred, and after her death married (second) Rose V. Johnston ; Catherine L., who married William L. Mc- Donnell and has four children, Erval, Annie C., Cath- erine and Wm. W .; and Charles R., born in Middle Creek, Gallatin county, November 15, 1860, elected in 1906 county commissioner for a term of two years, and re-elected in 1908 for six years, was married November 7, 1894, to Miss Mary C. Arnold, and has four children, Marie, Evelyn, Charles A. and Edith C. The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Waterman took place November 30, 1859, Chaplain E. N. Sawtelle, United States chaplain to the port of Havre, officiating at the ceremony. After reaching the United States the ceremony was repeated by Rev. Father Van Gorp, of the Catholic church. After his marriage, Mr. Waterman returned to New York, Vol. II-7

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A history of Montana, Volume II, Part 29

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