USA > Montana > Yellowstone County > An illustrated history of the Yellowstone Valley : embracing the counties of Park, Sweet Grass, Carbon, Yellowstone, Rosebud, Custer and Dawson, state of Montana > Part 24
USA > Montana > Park County > An illustrated history of the Yellowstone Valley : embracing the counties of Park, Sweet Grass, Carbon, Yellowstone, Rosebud, Custer and Dawson, state of Montana > Part 24
USA > Montana > Dawson County > An illustrated history of the Yellowstone Valley : embracing the counties of Park, Sweet Grass, Carbon, Yellowstone, Rosebud, Custer and Dawson, state of Montana > Part 24
USA > Montana > Rosebud County > An illustrated history of the Yellowstone Valley : embracing the counties of Park, Sweet Grass, Carbon, Yellowstone, Rosebud, Custer and Dawson, state of Montana > Part 24
USA > Montana > Custer County > An illustrated history of the Yellowstone Valley : embracing the counties of Park, Sweet Grass, Carbon, Yellowstone, Rosebud, Custer and Dawson, state of Montana > Part 24
USA > Montana > Sweet Grass County > An illustrated history of the Yellowstone Valley : embracing the counties of Park, Sweet Grass, Carbon, Yellowstone, Rosebud, Custer and Dawson, state of Montana > Part 24
USA > Montana > Carbon County > An illustrated history of the Yellowstone Valley : embracing the counties of Park, Sweet Grass, Carbon, Yellowstone, Rosebud, Custer and Dawson, state of Montana > Part 24
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In 1883 some Pittsburg men made a short run in the old Eastern Montana Mining & Smelting company's smelter under the direc- tion of A. Wills. Several other runs were made in the same smelter in 1885. Large sums of money were spent by the Republic Mining company that year in building a smelter and development work. The Republic smelter be- gan running in 1885 and was in operation one year. Of the later history of this district we shall tell in another chapter.
Undoubtedly the most important event in the history of Park county was the building of the Northern Pacific railroad, which was completed through that part of Montana terri- tory which later became Park county in De- cember, 1882. Prior to this time the county was little better than a desert wilderness. True there had been considerable activity in differ- ent parts of the county at one time or another, but there had been no permanent development. such as was to follow the building of the rail- road. Scattered over the county, in the valleys, were a few improved farms, but these were more in the nature of an experiment than any-
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HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY.
thing else. Besides these, the only other occu- pants of this broad country were a few hunters and venturesome prospectors. Before 1882 there was not a town in the county, if we ex- cept the little group of prospectors at Cooke
City and the station called Benson's Landing, near the present site of Livingston. Of the wonderful change in conditions between the years 1882 and 1907 we shall tell in the next chapter.
CHAPTER II
PASSING EVENTS-1883 TO 1907.
The year 1883 marked the beginning of a new era in the territory which a few years later was set off as Park county. With the building of the main line of the Northern Pacific rail- road across the county and the completion of the Natioanl Park branch to the southern boundary of the county came a new order of things. Where before there had been only a few scattered settlers and prospectors, now came large numbers of people of all classes and conditions. Prospecting and mining be- came more active; farmers and stock raisers came and settled upon the miles of heretofore unoccupied government and railroad lands ; railroad laborers were employed by the hun- dreds; towns sprang up at several different points along the line of the railroads and were rapidly populated ; all was life and activity ; a boom was on.
So great was the influx of population and so firm was the belief of the people that the growth was bound to be permanent, that agita- tion for the formation of a new county was early begun. Before we take up the story of the several attempts to bring about the forma- tion of a new county from the country sur- rounding the new town of Livingston, let us go back and review the political history of this part of the territory of Montana.
When the first Montana legislature was in session at Bannack during the winter months
of 1864-65, a law was passed, approved Feb- ruary 2, 1865, dividing the territory into nine county divisions. Among these was one named Gallatin. Now the members of this first leg- islature were not very well informed concern- ing the geography of Montana (in fact, neither was anybody else), and the bounding of these counties was largely the result of guess work. But least capable of being traced than any of the political divisions was the county of Galla- tin. With a map of the state of Montana and a copy of the territorial session laws of 1864- 65 in front of one at this time, one is at a loss to discover just what were the intentions of the law makers of that day regarding the boundaries of Gallatin county. But with pa- tience one may arrive at something like this : Gallatin county, as created at that time, prob- ably included the greater part of the present. county of that name, all of the present Park and Sweet Grass counties, and greater or less portions of the present counties of Carbon, Yellowstone, Fergus, Meagher and Cascade. Since that time many changes have been made in the boundaries of this old county, until to- day it contains only a small portion of its origi- nal territory. We shall mention only a few of these changes-those that had direct bearing upon the territory embraced within the bound- aries of the present county of Park. An act passed by the legislature of 1871-72 made the
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HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY.
Yellowstone river the eastern boundary of Gallatin county, the rest of the former county being included in the Crow Indian reservation. Thus, for some years after this act, that part of Park county which is west and north of the Yellowstone was included in Gallatin county, while the rest was in the reservation. An act approved February 14, 1881, provided that that portion of the reservation which was to be ceded according to the provisions of the treaty of 1880 should again become a part of Galla- tin county, and when the treaty was finally rat- ified on April 11, 1882, all of Park county was again in Gallatin county. In 1883 a part of east Gallatin county was taken for the forma- tion of Yellowstone county, but none of the territory so taken came from the present Park county, and when, in 1887, Park county was finally created, it was taken wholly from Galla- tin county.
It was in the latter part of the year 1882 that agitation was begun for the creation of a new county from that part of Gallatin county east of the Belt range mountains. Livingston was then but a hamlet of log huts, but with am- bition ; the Park branch had not yet been com- pleted and none of the towns which are now along that route had yet come into existence : Cooke and its surrounding ore deposits had just begun to attract attention; the other min- ing districts of the proposed new county, with the exception of Emigrant, had not been devel- oped; the fertile farming valleys had a very meager population; the stock ranges were al- most unpastured-and yet the people of Liv- ingston and vicinity asked for a county of their own. In the first issue of the first newspaper published in Livingston and Park county (Livingston Gazette, December 19, 1882,) we find this request for the new county of Villard :
Considerable talk is indulged in concerning the division of Gallatin county. As at present constituted, it is a bulky empire and a great inconvenience for citi- zens of this section and further down the Yellowstone to be forced to travel to Bozeman to attend court. We are told that Custer, Dawson and Meagher counties
will demand division during the approaching session of the legislature; and while at it we advise that the legislative knife be drawn across Gallatin county and deliver this portion from the hands of the Philistines. In the future geography it will be known as Villard county, with Livingston as the county seat.
The plan for the division was hastily con- ceived and hastily acted upon. But at the leg- islative session which convened January 8, 1883, the divisionists came near accomplishing their desires, the bill being defeated only by a small majority. The opposition to the bill was solely on the grounds of doubt as to the permanency of the settlement of this part of the country, then just begun.
The National Park branch of the Northern Pacific railroad was completed on August 30, 1883, and the first through train made the trip over the line on September I. This line, a lit- tle less than fifty-two miles in length, extend- ing from Livingston southward to Cinnabar, was an important factor in the development of Park county. New towns sprung up at dif- ferent points along the line. Farmers no longer hesitated about making homes in the upper valley of the Yellowstone, and mining men no longer delayed the work of develop- ment of mines in the vicinity. The road as- sured the travel of tourists to and from the Yellowstone National Park for all time to come through Park county. In less than five months from the time work was begun regular trains were running over the road. The last rail was laid August 30, and the last spike was driven by A. H. Bailey without ceremony. Stations were estaglished on the line at Bris- ben, Chicory, Dailey, Sphinx and Cinnabar. about ten miles apart, and towns were at once started at Chicory and Cinnabar. It had been the original intention of the railroad company to build to the northern boundary line of the park at Gardiner, but owing to its inability to get control of that townsite, the corporation stopped work at Cinnabar, three or four miles down the river from Gardiner. It was believed at the time that Cinnabar was to
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HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY.
be only the temporary terminus of the road. and that it would be completed, probably, the next year. As a matter of fact, it was just nineteen years later when the road was com- pleted to Gardiner.
For some time after the building of the main line of the Northern Pacific, trains were run over the Bozeman pass, but in the winter of 1883-84 was completed the Bozeman tun- nel, through the Belt range of mountains. Work on the approaches to the tunnel had been commenced in the autumn of 1881, and upon the tunnel proper in the spring of 1882. Day- light was let through the tunnel on Saturday, December 22, 1883; the first train went through Saturday, January 19, 1884; and the first regular passenger train two days later. The tunnel when completed was 3,610 feet in length, 17 feet wide, 21 feet high in the center, and the mountain rose to a height of 236 feet above the roof.
Having failed to secure the erection of a county by the legislature of 1883, and as the next session would not be held until 1885, the people of Livingston and the eastern part of Gallatin county in the spring of 1884 took the matter of a new county direct to the congress of the United States. Petitions, almost unani- mously signed by the residents east of the Belt range, were forwarded to Washington. and were filed in the house of repre- sentatives by Hon. Martin Maginnis, Mon- tana's delegate, on April 14th. The petition asked for the formation of a county to be called Park. Congress, as was expected by all but the most sanguine, refused to act in the matter. It had the power, but not the inclination, to interfere to such an extent in the government of a territory.
Defeated in the halls of congress, the people of eastern Gallatin county now turned their attention to the coming session of the legisla- ture. Upon the approach of the general elec- tion of 1884 preparations were made to capture the Gallatin county representation in the legis-
lature-to secure the election of men favorable to division. Both political parties united to accomplish their object. The east side sent delegates to the democratic county convention instructed to demand a majority of the legis- lative ticket but to grant to the west side all the nominees for county offices. This proposi- tion was, in outward expression, assented to by the people of Bozeman and the west side, but when the convention met another program was inaugurated. The west side refused to permit any county division sentiment on the legisla- tive ticket, and at the same time seized upon all the nominations for county offices. At the republican county convention other tactics were adopted. The demands of the east side deli- gates were readily allowed, and legislative nominations satisfactory to the east side dele- gates were made.
At the election in November all the demo- cratic nominees on the legislative ticket were elected-all hostile to the county division move- ment. Fourteen hundred votes were cast in those precincts which it was proposed to cut off into a new county. The people of Livingston declared emphatically that they had been be- trayed by the people of Bozeman in the elec- tion. The organ of the east siders, the Living- ston Enterprise, thus stated the facts from an east side view point : "The people of Bozeman, by means of deceitful and lying telegrams and communications with the people of the east side, cajoled and cheated the latter into voting for a certain county ticket. while they (the Bozeman residents) massed themselves into a phalanx that elected such candidates for the legislative offices as were opposed to county division."
One councilman and three representatives was Gallatin county's representation in the leg- islature at that time. Those elected were Frank K. Armstrong, councilman ; and George R. Nichols, John M. Robinson and Mr. Martin, representatives. The last named died between the time of the election and the convening of
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HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY.
the legislature, and a special election was called to elect a successor in December. The east side residents were determined to have repre- sentation in the legislative halls, and, putting party affiliations aside for the time being, they set to work quietly to elect a man to the va- cancy who was favorable to division. They found such an one in H. M. Sloan, put him up as an independent candidate, canvassed the county and secured his election by a remarkable plurality-almost a majority over both anti- division candidates. As an index to the feel- ings of the city of Livingston, in that precinct the vote stood : Sloan, 437; Pease, 7; Eaton, 2.
By the time the legislature convened in January, 1885, the feeling between the two sides of the county was bitter and assumed almost the form of a sectional feud.
Thus relations between the two commun- ities was decidedly strained when the legisla- ture took up the proposition of forming a new county. Conditions were complicated by the attempt of Yellowstone county to secure a large slice of eastern Gallatin county, and this matter was fought out before attention was turned to the fight for the new county.
A few days before the defeat of the above mentioned effort Mr. Sloan introduced his bill for the creation of Bridger county, that name having been substituted for Park in honor of that well known trapper and fur trader, James Bridger. With the introduction of the bill came two petitions, one signed by 833 citizens of eastern Gallatin county, asking that the bill pass ; the other with 259 signatures of residents of the county of Gallatin, protesting against the division of the county. The bill and the petitions were referred to the committee on towns and counties, of which Mr. Norton, of Yellowstone, was chairman.
Both the east and west sides had lobbies at work at Helena and the fight for and against the bill waxed warm.
The house proceeded to consider the bill.
On the motion to adopt the report of the com- mittee of the whole (to indefinitely postpone) the report was adopted by a vote of 13 to 9. The Bridger county bill was killed !
The fight had been a bitter one. It was said that it cost the people of Bozeman $10,000 to defeat the bill, and it certainly cost the peo- ple of Livingston a large sum to have it beaten. The Livingston Enterprise on March 7, 1885, said :
"Thus the bill was killed. We need not enter into any lamentations over it. We may as well make a grace of a necessity and bow to the enevitable. Perhaps, also, it is useless to investigate the causes that led to the defeat ; perhaps it is impossible to discover them. We have ever tried to show the merit of the Bridger county bill and the just grounds for its pas- sage. It possessed these qualifications to a degree superior to any bill ever submitted to the consideration of a Montana legislature. It was not defeated for lack of merit nor because of opposition among the people of the proposed county. The friends of the division of Gallatin county, though beaten, may at least lay to their souls the flattering unction that they fought a good fight-that they did all in their power."
The people of the future Park county were not spending all their time, however, in an en- deavor to have the new county formed. Other things occasionally occupied their attention. The boom days of 1883 had now departed; the unnatural stimulus caused by the employment of the hundreds of railroad builders was with- drawn, and the different communities settled into the even tenor of their ways. In Living- ston this retreat from the abnormal to the nor- mal was felt more than in the county at large There a town had sprung up supported in a large measure by a floating population, and when this was withdrawn Livingston was found to have outgrown the surrounding coun- try, upon which in the future it must draw its trade. The prevailing hard times throughout
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HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY.
the country at large during the year 1884 also had its effect here. By the winter of 1884-85 times were positively dull.
But conditions adjusted themselves in a very short time. Livingston retired from its position as a rip-roaring railroad camp into a sedate and orderly village. New settlers came into the country, and in 1886 prosperous times were again at hand. The winter of 1886-87 was the most severe in the history of the country. Owing to the deep snow, the cold weather and the fact that preparations had not been made for the care of stock in such an em- ergency, there was a big loss to the stockraisers of the county.
The people of eastern Gallatin county were determined that the new county should be formed at the session of the legislature which would convene January 10, 1887, and they went about the accomplishment of their desires in a systematic manner. So early as July, 1886, they laid their plans. They were suc- cessful in securing able representation at the November election, and then began the cam- paign in earnest for the new county.
A meeting was held at Fowlie's hall, in Livingston, on Thursday evening, December 2, for the purpose of considering the question and taking initiatory steps. E. Goughnour was chosen chairman of the meeting and C. S. Hef- ferlin, secretary. The questions involved in the division issues were thoroughly discussed by a number of gentlemen present, and it was the opinion of all the speakers that all efforts should be made openly and squarely, relying solely upon the merits of the proposition to bring it to a successful issue. A committee consisting of Messrs. G. H. Carver, James Thompson, J. H. Elder, C. S. Hefferlin, D. P. Van Horn and M. D. Kelly was appointed to raise funds to carry on the campaign. This committee was empowered to select some one to procure from the assessor's books at the county seat a list of all the taxable property on the east side of the range, that portion of Gal-
latin county Which it was proposed to segre- gate. M. D. Kelly was appointed to do this work.
After the citizens had armed themselves with figures from the county records, they drew up a petition, which was printed and cir- culated throughout the eastern part of the county for signatures, and which was signed by nearly every voter on the east side. This was the petition :
The undersigned, residents of the eastern portion of Gallatin county, Montana territory, respectfully pe- tition the legislature of Montana, and represent-
That Gallatin county is one of the largest and wealthiest in Montana, and is naturally divided into an eastern and western portion by the Belt range of mountains.
The western portion of this county consists prin- cipally of the fertile Gallatin valley and a portion of the Madison valley, and already has a rich resource in the products of the soil, while not more than two-fifths of its arable land is at present occupied and cultivated. Bozeman, the county seat. is situated in the western portion of the county.
The eastern portion of this county consists mainly of the Yellowstone valley and its surroundings grazing land and mining country. It is rich in gold, silver and coal deposits, and contains cattle ranges of great im- portance. It contains the well known mining localities of Clark's Fork, Bear Gulch, Crevice Gulch, Emigrant and the Boulder district, and is at the gateway of the National Park, the travel into which is an important resource to the said eastern portion.
The total assessed valuation of the real and per- sonal property in Gallatin county for the year 1886 was $5.575,000; of this amount $2,118,860 was for real and personal property in said eastern portion.
The total number of acres of Northern Pacific rail- road land surveyed in Gallatin county is 656,425, and of this amount 501,414 acres are in the eastern portion of said Gallatin county. Under a law passed by Con- gress in 1886 all this railroad land is now subject to taxation.
The total number of taxpayers in said eastern por- tion for the year 1886 was 1.224.
During the year 1886 Gallatin county collected $8.769.50 in license which came from, or related to, the eastern portion of the county.
The total amount of taxes for the year 1886, from real and personal property, in the eastern portion was $31.782.90. This makes a total as received from licenses and taxes on real and personal property of $40.551.90.
Under the existing laws, the fees of the recorder, sheriff and other county officers now form part of the county's revenues, and the tribute the eastern portion
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HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY.
annually pays to these officers in fees would very ma- terially augment the last named total.
The residents of the eastern portion of said Gallatin county are now compelled to cross a mountain range in going to and coming from the county seat, which entails a great loss of time and money, and is in most cases a burden and hardship upon them. The residents of the eastern portion, knowing that the western por- tion of the county has no interests in common with them, and feeling they have sufficient taxable property to enable them to derive a revenue that would carry on a county government without increasing the burden of taxation; and from the foregoing showing respect- fully petition the said legislature that the said Gallatin county be divided along the said Belt range of moun- tains, and out of the eastern portion aforesaid a new county be created.
Councilman Samuel L. Holliday, of Gal- latin county, introduced in the council on Fri- day, January 21, 1887, the bill for an act to create the county of Park and for the election of officers thereof. It was read for the first and second times and referred to the commit- tee on towns and counties. The next day Councilman Edward Cardwell, chairman of that committee, reported the bill, with the re- commendation that it pass. The bill found smooth sailing and on Wednesday, January 26, passed the council by a vote of II to I.
The next day the bill appeared in the house and was referred to the usual committee. Then what little opposition there was to the bill was put forth. On the 29th a petition was re- ceived from citizens of the west portion of the county, containing the names of 261 residents, asking that the matter of the formation of the new county be submitted to the qualified voters of Gallatin county. The bill remained in com- mittee until Monday, February 14, when it was reported back with numerous amendments. One of these amendments provided that the bill should not take effect for two years. These amendments were, apparently, not satisfactory, and on motion of Representative Frank K. Armstrong, of Gallatin county, the bill was re- ferred to a special committee consisting of the members from Gallatin county.
A substitute was prepared by this commit-
tee and reported back on Friday, February 18. The substitute was accepted and the bill passed the house by a unanimous vote. That same day the bill was concurred in by the council, and on Saturday, February 19, the speaker of the house and the president of the council signed the bill. Concerning the receipt of the news in Livingston, the Enterprise, on Feb- ruary 19th, said :
"Yesterday morning about ten o'clock the town was thrown into a state of considerable excitement by the receipt of a telegram an- nouncing that the bill for the creation of Park county had passed the house by a unanimous vote. But very few anticipated that so sudden and truly gratifying action would be accorded the measure, and the news was hailed with great delight, cheer upon cheer of gladness re- sounding from every quarter of the town, and there was as much noise and commotion on the streets for a time as ever emanated from an Apache scalp dance. Everybody gave ex- pression to unbounded gladness, and there was music in the air, so to speak. At last the east side is about to get its just deserts by the creation of Park county, and a prouder county will not be in the territory."
Governor Preston H. Leslie approved the bill February 23. The governor hesitated to affix his signature to the bill because of the wording of the debt clause, which he thought to be slightly imperfect. After he had looked up the Montana decision on the subject he be- lieved he had found sufficient information to warrant him in approving of the clause and he signed the bill.
The boundary lines of the new county of Park, as described in the act, are given in a former chapter.
This description of the boundaries of Park county would have but little meaning to any- one who was not familiar with the boundary. lines of neighboring counties and of the Crow Indian reservation at the time they were de- scribed. For the enlightenment of those we
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