A history of Montana, Volume II, Part 38

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

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When he was thus assassinated, Mr. Largey was in liis full manhood and vigor, and both the time and the method of his death, at the height of his usefulness, gave the whole Northwest a great shock and excited universal lamentation. He was an inspiration to Mon- tana, and an especially valuable man in his own com- munity. With a genius for affairs of magnitude and the enterprise and ability to conduct them to success, he was a great power in the development and progress of the state. Sunny in disposition, captivating in man- ner, entertaining in conversation by reason of wealth of wisdom and facility of expression, and charitable to the last degree, he was one of the most useful and popular men in the state. He was the life of any party of which he was a member, having a great fund of wit. His attitude toward any public or private duty was one that few people consistently carry out, for he never shirked a duty were it one owing to his town or state or to the great Northwest as a whole.

The Butte Daily Inter-Mountain, in commenting edi- torially upon his untimely death, said: "P. A. Largey was one of the foremost citizens of the state, and for twenty years has been a leading and influential citizen of Butte. His money is invested in a score of enter- prises for the upbuilding of the commonwealth. In Madison and Jefferson counties he had profitable inter- ests. In Silver Bow he has been merchant and miner 011 a large scale. As president of the State Savings Bank, he was prominent in financial circles, being rec- ognized as a conservative, honorable and able financier, and personally lie was a very rich man. His estate will figure over a million dollars, the Speculator (copper mine) alone having yielded him a very large fortune. As a man, as a husband, a father and a citizen, Patrick A. Largey stood high. A better hearted man never lived. He was devoted to his family and his friends. He was public spirited and liberal to a fault. His quiet humor endeared him to everybody. He had op- ponents but they were not his enemies ; he had business differences with others. but he always thought he was right in his convictions." Mr. Largey, as has been said, left a large estate, an estate that reflected his business foresight and excellent judgment in the subsequent in- crease in value. He owned much real estate and valuable mining properties. The Speculator, a large dividend payer, and the Center Star at Rossland, British Colum- bia, being among the most valuable. Mr. Largey con- tributed liberally to charity, and all public movements had his cordial and substantial support, practices that have been continued by the family-a chapel for St. James Hospital, large contributions for the construction of the Church of the Sacred Heart at Butte, together with substantial aid to churches in other cities, as well

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as provision for the education, both academical and technical, of many a youth of promise, the child of poor but worthy parents,-benefactions bountiful and far-reaching in character, but unostentatiously given.

CHARLES HENRY AUSTIN, rancher and financier, is one of the most prominent men in Cascade county. His operations have been on a large and generous scale, and he has built up a business that long since · placed him in the front ranks of western ranchmen. In addition to his interests in that direction, he has become connected with practically all the big indus- trial and financial concerns in the town of Cascade, in many instances being the prime mover in the organizations, and in all of them holding large and responsible positions, well suited to his splendid ability and business acumen. Beginning in the west with no capital beyond his magnificent brain and his dom- inant will and unalterable strength of purpose, Mr. Austin has left his mark upon every avenue of indus- try that has aided in the development of his state, and is justly recognized as a leader among his fellow men. Born in Burlington, Vermont, February 6, 1844, Charles Henry Austin is the son of William and Eliza- beth (Harrington) Austin, both natives of the Green Mountain State. The father was a merchant tailor in his native city and there passed his life, his death occurring in July, 1844. The mother died in Burling- ton in 1902 at the advanced age of eighty-three years. Five children were born to them, all sons, of which number Charles Henry was the youngest. He was educated in the public schools of Burlington to the age of fifteen years, and his first employment was on a neighboring farm, where he worked to the age of eighteen years. When the war broke out he promptly enlisted for nine months in Company C of the Twelfth Vermont Volunteers and served eleven months. He saw much active service in that time, participating in the battle of Gettysburg, and a number of other engagements of somewhat less importance. After his term of service had expired, he, with a friend, went to San Francisco, and a little later went to Austin, Ne- vada, where he worked in the mines for twenty-two months. From there he went to Montana, going overland with a team as far as Salt Lake, there he bought a saddle horse and packed him and with two other men led him to Montana. He left Austin on March 20, 1865, and reached Virginia City on May 5th ; he remained there but a short time, going on to Silver Bow and Helena, where he engaged in mining and prospecting. He was thus occupied in that section for two years, when he gave up the uncertainty of mining for the more sure business of ranching, and he located on the Missouri river, eighteen miles from Helena. His first small venture in that business was sufficiently successful to show him that there was a splendid future for him in the ranching business, and he has continued in it ever since, broadening out and expanding his interests with the passing of the years until today he is acknowledged one of the most im- portant ranchers in the state. He remained at Craig for two years and in 1870 removed to Lewis and Clark county, about four miles out of Cascade. In 1882 he moved to Chestnut valley, Cascade county, and he has ranched there since that time.

In 1909 Mr. Austin assisted in organizing the First State Bank of Cascade and was elected president of that institution. He is also president of the Cascade Land & Live Stock Company, a large and prosperous concern which operates over nine thousand acres of land. In 1891 Mr. Austin established the Cascade Mercantile Company, of which concern he is the presi- dent, and he is also the president of the Cascade Realty Company. He is one of the organizers of the Cascade Milling Company and is a member of its directorate, and is vice president of the Home Lum-

ber Company, as well as being actively identified with most of the industrial and financial concerns of any standing in Cascade. On the live stock company ranch of Mr. Austin he has a herd of more than a thousand head of cattle and more than one hundred horses.

The phenomenal success of Mr. Austin is directly attributable to his own splendid ability and good man- agement. He was practically penniless when he came to Montana and his early experiences in the west were marked by severest hardships and privations. He slept for weeks without the shelter of a tent in the mining regions, wrapped in a blanket and lying on the snow-covered ground. Mere hardships, how- ever, were insufficient to quench the fires of persistence, and the ultimate course of his life has amply demon- strated the remarkable character of the man.

Mr. Austin is a Republican in politics, but takes no active part in the political affairs of his county, being busily engaged in the management of his own affairs. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, affiliating with Rainbow Lodge No. 28 at Great Falls, and he and his family are members of the First Methodist church at Great Falls.

On February 10, 1876, Mr. Austin was married to Sarah E. Hough, daughter of Joseph Hough, a native of New York state. Four children were born of their union,-one son and three daughters. Gertrude P., who became the wife of John Oliver, is now deceased. William H., the only son, died on February 1, 1912, at the age of twenty-six years. He was married to Ethel Christenson, and lived at the ranch of which he was manager. The remaining daughters Ruth and Mary Joyce, still share the parental home at 800 Fifth avenue, North, at Great Falls.

EDWARD H. COONEY. One of the pioneers of the state of Montana, and one who from childhood has seen the wonderful growth of the great Treasure state, is Ed- ward H. Cooney, subject of the present sketch and a resident of the city of Great Falls. Born at Fort At- kinson, Iowa, February 14, 1865, son of Thomas and Maria A. Cooney, he reached Alder Gulch, Montana, the following July and can truthfully be said to be a native son.

Mr. Cooney was educated at various places in the district schools of Montana and completed his school- ing in the Helena high school in 1883. During the time he was attending school, and afterward, he was associated with his father in the cattle business but later settled in Wickes, Montana, where he embarked in busi- ness on his own account, subsequently he removed to Butte where he engaged in newspaper work.

In 1896 Mr. Cooney came to Great Falls as répre- sentative of the Anaconda Standard, continuing in this capacity for three years, when he resigned his position to become city editor of the Great Falls Leader, of which he later became editor and owner. Mr. Cooney, Charles M. Webster and J. W. Freeman purchased the newspaper plant and conducted it as a co-partnership for several years, Mr. Webster and Mr. 'Freeman selling their interests in 1906 to H. B. Mitchell and F. M. Tenny; Mr. Cooney still retains his interest in this business and is president of the Leader Publishing Company.

Mr. Cooney filled the office of manager and active editor until 1907 when, under the Roosevelt adminis- tration, he was called to the position of postmaster of Great Falls, being reappointed by President Taft. Mr. Cooney was in the first state legislature of Mon- tana from Jefferson county; in 1898 he was elected a member of that body from Cascade county; he was also a member of the school board and trustee for Great Falls for ten years; he is president of the Northern Montana Fair Association and president of the State Press Association. At the last Republican

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state convention of Montana, held in Great Falls, Sep- tember, 1912, he was defeated by a narrow margin for the nomination for governor of Montana.

Although his business and official interests have de- manded the major portion of his time and attention, Mr. Cooney has not denied himself the pleasure of com- panionship with his fellowmen and is counted one of the cleverest after dinner speakers and all round orators of the state. He is widely and popularly known in fraternal circles as well, belonging to Cascade Blue Lodge No. 34, A. F. & A. M., Great Falls Chapter No. 9, Black Eagle Commandery No. 8, of which he is past eminent commander ; and the Red Cross of Constantine. He is also connected with the Woodmen of the World; has been state treasurer of the Elks for three terms, and is past exalted ruler and grand representative of Great Falls Lodge No. 214, B: P. O. E.

On November 17, 1890, Mr. Cooney married Miss Georgia Day, daughter of George W. Day, a pioneer settler of Minneapolis where he was the pioneer lum- ber manufacturer and the first man to establish a flour mill at the falls of St. Anthony. Mr. and Mrs. Cooney have had three children, one of whom died in infancy; Eugene B., the first born, met an accidental death by drowning in 1905 when fourteen years of age, and Louise, born at Butte, passed away at Boulder, Mon- tana, when she was sixteen years old. Mr. and Mrs. Cooney are general social favorites, and their home at 226 Third avenue North is a center of quiet refinement.

HENRY BOSE was born on the sea coast of Germany and came to Montana in the spring of 1865. The year previous to his coming to Montana was spent in Cali- fornia, where he was employed in a grocery store in San Francisco. Mr. Bose liked California and would no doubt have remained there had he not been advised by the doctor to go to a higher altitude and rough it, this being the only tonic that would help him, he being sickly.

Now, early in 1865 the big stampede to the Big Bend mines and the Blackfoot placer mines in the newly created territory of Montana was cansing quite an ex- citement in San Francisco. Mr. Bose and another young fellow made up their minds to "Embark for the Land of Gold." They left San Francisco by steamer for Portland. After staying there a while they got a boat to The Dalles, where all the miners and prospectors got their outfits and horses. They bought horses, saddles and packs as well as their grub, blankets and all necessary tools for their trip and for prospecting. The Dalles at that time was a very busy place, horses, saddles, as well as pack-saddles, chaparejos, ropes and cinches, all were expensive. They had a riding horse each and two pack-horses with lots of good grub, for they had heard provisions were very dear in Montana. They had good warm blankets and every necessity, but no luxuries like tents, dutch ovens or other comforts for the trail.

They started and came on the old Mullen trail. It rained a great deal and the roads were bad, and Mr. Bose experienced the hardships of his life on this trip, being a weak consumptive and the cold and wet was hard on his cough. When they reached Little Spokane they found that the Mullen road by way of Coeur d' Alene mission was not passable and had to come the old Kootenai trail north of Pend d'Oreille lake and over Cabinet mountain. They lost two horses and were glad when they were able to lay in some supplies at the old Warden & Higgens store at Old Hellgate.

They took in the first stampede in Flint Creek and each recorded a claim there, and as their money was about gone they concluded they had better go to Last Chance Gulch, get something to do and earn some money with which to open their claims. On the trip to Last Chance on Green Horn Gulch, between Black- foot and Helena, Bose sold his last horse for $45.00

and with this money together with a little he had brought with him he bought a half interest in a sack of flour. However, they both found work in Last Chance Gulch, and built a cabin. Mr. Bose continued sleeping in the open and began to get better rapidly in the Montana climate. Mr. Bose was soon able to buy a horse again, and with a good saddle horse he was in- dependent and soon got acquainted in the good, jolly, sociable set of fellows that managed to blow in about all they made. The following is one of Mr. Bose's reminiscences of the early days in Last Chance Gulch : "Late in the fall of 1865, he and his partner had a small cabin way up on Bridge street, a log cabin with no glass window, a flour sack nailed across an aperture taking its place. They both had been down to D. Flowerree's in the evening and as they went to Mather & Crackers billiard hall, his partner said to him: 'I guess there's going to be a necktie party tonight.' He had to ask . his partner for an explanation. They stayed up unti. about ten or eleven o'clock and went to their cabin and turned in. They both worked hard and went to sleep at once. They had not slept very long when they heard a terrible noise in the street. Some fellow was begging for his life. They both got up. Mr. Bose wanted to light a candle, but his partner, who was older and more experienced stopped him. They were compelled to listen to the fellow's pleadings until they died away in the distance. This was a new experience to Mr. Bose and was nerve-racking to say the least. The next morn- ing, as they went to their work in Dry Gulch, they could see on the old pine tree near Belenburg's slaughter house a man hanging on a long rope. This explained the necktie party his partner spoke to him about the evening before."

He followed the life of a placer miner until 1872 when placer mining seemed to have ended and the great Montana territory began to be depopulated. The Black Hill excitement took a great many away and the re- mainder went to Cedar Creek. He somehow strayed up to Fort Benton, the gate city, where all supplies had to come from at that time. It superseded the times of '65 when everything had to come in by pack train from Walla Walla, The Dalles or Salt Lake City.

Fort Benton was then the great Mecca, a lively place. Sometimes in the spring, as many as five large Missouri river steamers were at Benton at one time, some load- ing and some unloading. He got work as a general roustabout with a large mercantile firm by the name of I. G. Baker Co. The work consisted of baling and assorting furs and buffalo hides. After a while he hired, out to a Frenchman named Gerard who kept a trading post at Fort Berthold down the river. He left Fort Benton on the steamer. Nellie Peck, and had an inter- esting trip. When the boat landed at Fort Peck to load on some fur they were prevented from landing by old "Sitting Bull's" band, Hun Ke Pau Poo, Sioux Indians. Capt. Grand Marsh and Doc Terry had to go ashore, and after a long pow wow and several barrels of crackers, syrup and sacks of bacon had been sent ashore, they were finally allowed to handle the bales of fur to the boat. On that trip the steamer tied up near the mouth of the Musselshell to let a herd of buffalo cross the Missouri river. They only went as far as Fort Rice, where Mr. Gerard had some ponies and a lot of fur cached and had to bring it north to Fort Berthold. This was a time that the Crees, Mandans, and Blackfoot Indians were at war with the Sioux and on account of it the government built Fort Abraham Lincoln at the mouth of Apple creek. On that trip they met General Custer in his long flowing white curls and in command of the 7th Regiment of U. S. Cavalry. They had a very hard time getting back to Berthold, having to travel at night and hide themselves in the daytime, but finally got home without losing a man. He remained there a while but it was too dull for him. He again made for Benton, traveling overland through old "Sitting

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Bull's" domain. Upon arriving at Benton he got a position with the cattle outfit headed for all the North British posts. Starting in at Bella river they delivered cattle at each post. Going by way of Hoop Up they traveled all along the Saskatchewan river, stopping at Battleford, Prince Albert, old Con Appelle, and finally the tail end of their drive was completed at old Fort Geary, Manitoba, in 1872. They did some travel- ing. He stayed in the British possessions seventeen years and a better, fairer and more honorable people he never found in all his travels. He married a Cana- dian girl and three of his children were born in Mani- toba. He spent some of his most pleasant and happy hours in old Rupert's Land. He returned to Montana off and on, but finally in 1891 came to the Flathead and settled in Kalispell.

WINTHROP RAYMOND. The sudden death on the third of September, 1912, of Winthrop Raymond, of Sheri- dan, Montana, has taken from us one of the best known and most beloved of the old pioneers of the state of Montana. There is hardly a phase of the industrial and business life of Madison county with which he was not intimately connected at some point in his career, and in all of his enterprises he showed that indomitable spirit, that unswerving honesty and frankness that have char- acterized the pioneers of the West from the earliest years. He is well known and will be long remembered by lovers of good horse flesh as the owner of a ranch which bears the reputation of having shipped from its borders many of the finest horses ever raised in the state of Montana. He was perhaps best known, however, as the founder of the flourishing little town of Sheridan, which he himself platted in 1890. Although he had retired from active business before his death, Mr. Ray- mond never ceased to take a deep interest in any matter affecting this town, where he made his home, and he was ever ready to aid in any project which had the advancement of the city as its end. Aside from the personal grief that the citizens of Sheridan must feel, there is also the sorrow for the loss of a public bene- factor and friend.

Cincinnati, Ohio, was the birthplace of Winthrop Ray- mond, the date of his birth being the 22d of October, 1847. His father, who was Daniel F. Raymond, was born in Connecticut in 1786. He was a man of great gifts and of powerful intellect. He was a lawyer by profession and was a brilliant member of the bar, his activity in political circles also giving him prominence in the circle of men who were making the history of his times. He was noted for his literary ability, and wrote the first book on political economy published in this country. He also was the man who originated the idea of a national banking currency. He did not live in the state where he was born for very many years, most of his life being spent in Maryland, and the years imme- diately preceding his death in the state of Ohio. Here he died in 1849, at the age of sixty-one years, and he now lies buried in Cincinnati. He married Delilah Mat- lick, in Virginia, in 1837. His wife was a native of the Old Dominion, being a member of one of the oldest Virginia families, and it is easy to be seen whence came some of that courage and pioneer spirit that ani- mated the soul of Winthrop Raymond, for after her husband's death she not only raised her large family, but finally came across the plains to Montana. She died at Belmont Park, Montana, in 1896, at the age of eighty- three, and is buried in Virginia City. Winthrop Ray- mond was the youngest of six children, and of these one only survives, Mrs. Sarah Herndon, who is living in Virginia City.

Shortly after the death of his father, which occurred when young Winthrop was about four years old, his mother moved with her family to Missouri, and there the lad grew up. About fourteen years of his life were spent here, and here he received his education. When

he was eighteen he, together with his mother and broth- ers and sisters, started for the West, coming directly across the plains to Montana, and reaching Virginia City on September 7, 1865. Since that time he lived until his death in Madison county, and contributed in every imaginable way to its growth. As a boy he was as fearless and intrepid as he was when a man, and he soon found work, in the rapidly growing mining camps of Alder Gulch, hauling wood and rock in and about Virginia City. He carried many a stone which is now a part of the buildings of the older section of Virginia City, which was then a vigorous mining camp. Later on he took a contract for the erection of the quartz mill at Summit, in Alder Gulch, and after this had been com- pleted he, in company with his brother, Hillhouse, suc- cessfully engaged for several years in the freighting business, their route lying across the mountains and plains between Summit, Montana, and Corinne, Utah. In 1870 Mr. Raymond engaged in a wholesale mercan- tile business in Virginia City, going into the business on a larger scale than most men would have dared to try in a new country, but Mr. Raymond's faith was fully justified, and for many years he and his brother were the big wholesale grocers of Virginia City. In 1880 the mercantile business was disposed of and the brothers turned their attention to ranching and stock raising, an industry in which they had been interested since 1876. It was in this year that Mr. Raymond's brother went to Kentucky and there bought a hundred head of the finest standard bred horses he could find and these horses laid the foundation of the famous Belmont park ranch stock. The ranch itself consisted of nearly six thousand acres of the best land in the section, all under fence, and from this ranch, which was started by Mr. Raymond and his brother, have been shipped such fa- mous horses as Belmont and Tempest, and many others of their high standard. In 1889 Mr. Raymond engaged in the banking business in Virginia City, as one of the firm of Raymond, Harrington & Company, selling his interest in 1888 to Amos Hall. He continued to loan money and lend his aid to the promotion of new enter- prises until 1889, when he purchased the Bateman ranch, and in 1890 platted the townsite of Sheridan and placed the lots upon the market. Mr. Raymond was a mem- ber of the Society of Montana Pioneers, the Sons of the American Revolution, and the Benevolent, Protec- tive Order of Elks.

Mr. Raymond was married in Omaha, Nebraska, on the 28th of February, 1876, to Hanna E. Bateman, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. R. P. Bateman, of Montana. Four children were born of this union, one boy and three girls. The eldest of these, Carrie B., is living at home. Daniel W. is married and lives at Helena, Mon- tana, where he holds the position of secretary of the state board of stock commissioners. The two younger girls, Delilah E. and Mary, are both at home. He had one grandson, Winthrop Hillhouse.

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A history of Montana, Volume II, Part 38

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