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 27
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 27
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 27
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 27
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 27
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 27
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 27
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No point in Montana possesses a location of more natural beauty, or one that awakens so much enthusiasm in picturesque surround- ings, as does this place. Nothing that adds to the charm of mountain scenery is lacking, while supplemental to this is the more peaceful landscape of river, plain and woodland. In every direction the view is bounded by lofty mountain ranges and towering bluffs. To the south lies the Absaroka, or Yellowstone, range from which Mount Baldy-an old time land- mark-with its almost perpetual snow cap, appears to tower above all others. The west- ern horizon is formed by the more uniform and less lofty Belt range. To the northeast is seen a circle of rugged peaks that are covered with snow during the entire year; these are the Crazies. Northwest of the city are the Bridger mountains. Just north of the city lim- its rise high bluffs, from which an excellent view of the city can be obtained.
But it is not alone the natural scenery that charms the visitor to Livingston. Here is a model town in many respects. The townsite is as level as a billiard table ; the streets are wide and straight. The business section of the city is built up almost entirely of brick, while in the residence portion are hundreds of handsome
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HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY.
and substantial homes. Concrete walks cover the entire city, and most of the streets are parked. The people of Livingston take a pride in their city, and the result is that they have one of the finest looking towns in the northwest.
As a business point Livingston ranks well with the towns of Montana. It is the division headquarters of the Northern Pacific railroad, and here are located the immense shops, round- houses and supply stores of that company. The payroll of the Northern Pacific at this point at the present writing is over $80,000 per month. In addition to this large payroll are many manufacturing establishments, employ- ing large forces of men. Livingston is the commercial center of a large country devoted to mining, farming and stock raising, and all roads lead to the county seat.
The founding of Livingston was a direct result of the building of the Northern Pacific railroad through this part of the country.
When the Northern Pacific railroad was pushing its way westward through Dakota and the Yellowstone valley the construction forces were outfitted and maintained in the new and comparatively unsettled country by supply stores established by the contractors at points where there were prospects for the founding of permanent settlements or where railroad work could be conveniently centralized. Wherever these stores were located the floating popula- tion that followed the construction force would make a stand, and towns or camps would spring into existence as if by magic.
On the 14th day of July, 1882, a represen- tative of Bruns & Kurtz arrived at the settle- ment with orders to look up a site for the store his employers were to establish for the benefit of the construction crew, and around which a town would naturally spring up. Two days later George H. Carver, later one of the lead- ing business men of the city and for many years a prominent figure in Park county poli-
tics, arrived on the ground. He and the rep- resentative of the construction company pitched a tent on the night of the 16th on the present site of the city of Livingston-the first habita- tion in the town. That same day there arrived 140,000 pounds of merchandise, loaded in wagons and drawn by 140 oxen, the property of Burns & Kurtz. The store was opened in tents on the first day of August, and the first business house of the town of Clark City (named in honor of Captain William Clark) was established.
The establishment of the "company store" was only the beginning. It was only a short time until a flourishing town made its appear- ance. Within ten days the entire encampment had moved up from Benson's Landing, and a town sprung up along one street by the river nearly parallel with, and conforming somewhat to, the present Clark street. Clark City at first was composed almost entirely of tents, but gradually cheap frame buildings took their place. To show what the growth of Clark City had been during the few months of the summer and fall of 1882, we will say that at the November election the town polled 348 votes for delegate to congress. When the first construction train reached this place on the first day of December there were here the fol- lowing business houses: Six general mer- chandise establishments, two drug stores, two hotels, one hardware store, two restaurants, two watchmakers, three blacksmiths, two wholesale liquor dealers, two meat markets and thirty saloons. People who have had any con- nection with early railroad building in the west will realize that the thirty saloons of Clark City were not out of proportion to the other business houses when compared with other camps of that day.
When the town of Clark City came into existence on the bank of the Yellowstone river that place was fully 100 miles from the end of the railroad and practically out of communi-
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HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY.
cation with the outside world. So it was un- known to the citizens of Clark City that the officials of the Northern Pacific had marked on their maps a town at this place called Livings- ton, in honor of Crawford Livingston, of St. Paul, a director of the Northern Pacific cor- poration.
It was not until the month of November, 1882, that the townsite of Livingston was sur- veyed for the railroad company by Robert J. Perry, and it was on December 21, of the same year, that the plat was recorded in the office of the clerk and recorder of Gallatin county by T. F. Oakes, vice-president of the company.
The platting of the new townsite was the death knell of the town of Clark City. On the new site the town was built further to the north, in the vicinity of the railroad track. Here in the fall and winter of 1882 sprung up quite a little town. Now, of course, the sites of both cities are included within the city of Livingston, but then there was quite an inter- vening space between the two settlements. There was never any question which was to be the town, and the business houses of Clark City at once began to move to Livingston. The removal was not all accomplished in a day, and it was late the next summer before the last in the old town packed up their belongings and became identified with the newer town. Al- though the railroad company held the lots at a high figure, they sold readily, and it was estimated in September, 1883, that up to that time the company had realized $200,000 from the sale of lots. As the construction crews moved to the west, a large part of the rough element went with them, and the young town settled down upon its prosperous career. It was announced that Livingston was to become the division point and that expensive shops were to be located here, insuring the perma- nency of the town. This had a wholesome ef- fect, and in the majority of cases good, sub- stantial buildings were erected.
On December 19, 1882, there was estab-
lished the Livingston Gasette, the city's first newspaper. In the first issue was a directory of the business and professional men then in the city, which was as follows :
Hotels-Villard House, John P. Nolan; Park Ho- tel, Fred Sparling; Downen's Hotel.
Restaurants-Young's; The Saddle Rock; Bakery, Christopher McGrath.
General Stores -- I. Orchal & Bro., general merchan- dise ; Geo. A. Carver & Co., general merchandise ; C. T. Wernecke, grocery; F. A. Krieger, furniture; Wilson & Dekay, general merchandise.
Wholesale Liquors-J. Schreiner ; J. Murray & Co. Drug Stores-The Pioneer, Wright & Bartlett ; Bryan & Hofflin.
Saloons -- Bank Exchange; Headquarters Saloon, Draper & Lilly; H. Dions; Don. McArthur; Stoel's Billiard Hall; The Exchange, S. L. Beck; Woolsey's Side Board; Wenstrom Bros .; Mckenzie's Saloon.
Planing Mill-Randall & Davis.
Carpenters-Myers & Schultze, A. L. Brown, Frank Davis.
Lumber Yard-Dabney Bros.
Lawyers-J. A. Savage, William Frye.
Physicians-W. H. A. Campbell, G. W. Grant.
Theaters-The Palace Varieties, Boge & Martin ; Arcade Music Hall, Myers & Ryan.
Miscellaneous-Hoffman & Co., news depot; M. B. O'Dell, jeweler ; Edward Martin, water wagon and draying; James Carroll, blacksmith shop and livery ; McGugin & Beaman. Livingston and Bozeman express line; Nicholas Imo, barber shop and bath rooms; C. A. Carson, A. G. Carson and J. W. Allen, Livingston Gazette.
In this list were included business men in both the old and new towns. Some may have been omitted from the Gasette's list, but this was practically the list of business and profes- sional men who wintered in the town. It will be noticed that many of the saloons which had been here a short time before had departed, following the advance of the construction crews.
The year 1883 was a memorable one in the history of Livingston. From early in the spring until late in the fall all was activity. People poured into the new town by the hun- dreds and all kinds of new enterprises were started. From a hamlet of temporary struc-
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HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY.
tures Livingston advanced in one year to a well built city, with over an hundred business houses and a population of about two thousand people. Its growth was phenomenal; it out- stripped all its rivals along the line of the Northern Pacific.
The most important factor in the growth of Livingston during the year was the building of the Northern Pacific shops.
The effect of this work was immediate and lasting. No sooner had the work begun than the town began to assume new airs. What was left of the old town of Clark City moved over to Livingston. All the business men came and with them, in many instances, came the buildings in which they had been doing busi- ness. No longer were cheap structures put up; now that the permanency of the city was es- tablished, brick was the principal material used for the business houses. The first brick build- ing was put up in the spring of 1883 by Henry Frank, who had been the leading clothier in the old town. Most of the new business houses erected that year were put up on Main street.
A bank controlled by Stebbins, Mund & Co., and managed by A. L. Love, cashier, was established early in the year. This was fol- lowed by. the First National Bank, which opened in temporary quarters on July 17th. C. Livingston was president; M. Fogarty, vice president ; and the directors were Messrs. Hol- liday, Donnelly, Pease and Halloran. Busi- ness houses sprang up by the dozens; the saloons were increased in the summer to 39, and all did a thriving business, due largely to the large number of transient laborers in the city.
One of the first considerations of the peo- ple of the new city was fire protection, and the first steps were taken to organize a company on July 10th, when 25 or 30 citizens met at the office of Frye & Le Roy. D. F. Buchanan presided over the meeting and Harry Heimerd- inger was secretary. On July 17th occurred
the formal organization of a hook and ladder company.
While all this activity in business matters was going on educational and religious mat- ters were not neglected. A good school was maintained throughout the school year, al- though handicapped by want of suitable quar- ters, which difficulty was remedied the follow- ing year.
The first church survice was held in the office of Judge Seward, in the old town, on the first Sunday in February, 1883. Rev. H. C. Simmons, of Fargo, Dakota, Superinten- dent of the American Home Missionary so- ciety of the Congregational church for northern Dakota and eastern Montana, preached the service and there were about 30 present. In the evening another service was held in a bag- gage car near the freight depot, which was attended by about 20 persons. On September 2nd, Rev. Simmons organized a Congrega- tional church society with nine members and the following officers : R. M. Douthitt, deacon ; Rev. W. E. Archibald, clergyman; Mrs. F. L. Mintie, treasurer; F. L. Mintie, G. T. Cham- bers and G. W. Potter, trustees. A church edifice was erected the same fall. But before this was completed a Methodist Episcopal church had been organized and a handsome structure built, the first in the town, at a cost of about $5,000. The corner stone of this edi- fice was laid with appropriate ceremonies July 25th. Although they did not erect a building until several years later, the members of the Episcopal church had an organization in 1883, and were ministered to monthly by Rev. Frank B. Lewis, of Bozeman, the first service being held in May.
Only one secret society was organized dur- ing the year. This was Park Lodge No. 7, I. O. O. F., which came into existence in May with a membership of 12. We shall here break into the chronological order of events long enough to tell of the formation of all the secret societies organized prior to 1890. These with
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HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY.
their dates of organization and number of charter members were as follows:
Date of Charter Organization Members
Park Lodge No. 7, I. O. O. F. 1883
I2
Farragut Post No. 7, G. A. R. 1884
25
Livingston Lodge No. 32, A. F. & A. M .. . 1884
IO
Knights of Labor 188.1
Chapter of Masons 1885
15
Yellowstone Lodge No. 10 K. P. 1886
2.
St. Bernard Commandery 1887
13
Khurum Lodge No. 4. A. & A. S. R. F. M 1888 II
Scandinavian Society 1889
Sometime during the year 1883 the Liv- ingston Enterprise published a directory of the city, in which were 891 names of permanent residents.
The matter of better school facilities was taken up early in the year 1884. An election was held on February 23rd to decide whether or not bonds to the amount of $7,000 should be issued for building a school house. The voters decided in the affirmative by a vote of 67 to 4, and in July the contract was let to M. V. Broughton for $9,900. Before the fall term opened Livingston was supplied with an up-to-date and handsome school building.
The season of rapid growth and feverish prosperity which prevailed during the year 1883 was not lasting, and was followed by a reaction. And on August 24, 1884, the First National Bank closed its doors, adding to the pinch of adversity.
Notwithstanding the removal of many peo- ple from the town, the permanent residents did not show much of a diminution, as is evi- denced by the fact that 657 votes were cast in the town at the election on November 4, 1884.
Misfortune never comes singly. Follow- ing the reaction of 1884 came a year of dis- asters from fire. All these things coming to- gether were enough to break the spirit of most any community, but in Livingston they only stirred the people to greater activity.
The first of the series of fires came on
Saturday, May 2, 1885. This was the small- est one and resulted in the loss of only $15,000. Covered by $7,200 insurance.
The next fire came on August 4th, bring- ing a loss of $17,850, covered by only $3,450 insurance. Sixteen buildings were destroyed, being those first erected in the town after the removal from Clark City.
The most disastrous of these fires started about 2:30 o'clock on the morning of Monday, November 30th. An entire block on Main street in the business center of the town was entirely destroyed, causing an aggregate loss of nearly $70,000, covered by about one-third of that amount of insurance. The fire was a stubborn one, and it looked for a time as though the whole town was doomed. The old fire company had gone out of business, and there was no organization in fighting the flames. Great excitement prevailed; large stocks of goods were removed from the threat- ened stores and handled with such reckless- ness that they might better have perished in the fire. The fire was undoubtedly the work of an incendiary.
All three of these fires were believed to have been of incendiary origin, but nothing more than suspicion could be traced to the guilty parties. Some of the people of Living- ston took it upon themselves to see that incen- diaryism ceased, and one December morning the town was found to be chalked with the well known sign of the vigilantes-3-7-77. An or- ganization had been quickly formed, who sent out warnings to all the "tough" element of the town, ordering them to leave by a certain time. Many left without further urging; others stayed. A band of masked men, armed with rifles, waited upon those who remained, and by persuasive argument with a rope suc- ceeded in determining all that Livingston was no place for them.
Other measures were adopted to prevent disastrous damage from the fiery element. In | December money was raised by subscription
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HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY.
to buy fire fighting apparatus. There were no water mains in the city at that time, but the people did the best under the circumstances ; they organized a fire company, and bought buckets, ladders, etc., with which to fight the lurid leveler.
Just as the little city was begining to re- vive from the setbacks of the previous fires, fate sent another fatality, seemingly for the purpose of destroying renewed hope and fort- itude on the part of the citizens. This fire occured Sunday evening, May 23, 1886, when damage to the amount of $37,000 was done to buildings and stocks on Main street, while insurance was $20,400.
These fires, all within a year's time, had the effect of marring the beauty of the town and for the time being of demoralizing business. But they were not lasting disasters. After each fire the people set about rebuilding, in many instances much more substantial struct- ures than those that were destroyed. This de- termination to stay with the town was born of a knowledge that its resources were ample.
During 1886 about $100,000 was spent in building improvements, including the erection of eleven brick business blocks.
The years 1887 and 1888 were prosperous ones for Livingston-particularly the latter. There was no boom, but a healthy growth. During the summer of 1888 there were over 100 residences erected.
The town had now advanced to such pro- portions that it was decided to again under- take incorporation, and this time it was success- fully accomplished.
Although about 350 were entitled to vote at this election, only 86 took advantage of the privilege, the result being 46 votes in favor of incorporation and 40 against. The small number of votes cast was a matter of much sur- prise, as the question was one of great import- ance and interest to everybody and had been thoroughly discussed by all citizens. The En-
terprise thus explains the paradox : "The only way that we can account for the small ballot cast is the general feeling of indecision on the part of the voters as to whether it were better to incorporate or not. Many of our most prominent business men acknowl- edged that they were on the fence in the mat- ter, and it is known that several who were the most prominent in the opposition changed their minds at the last hour and voted for it, and vice versa."
An order declaring Livingston an incor- porated city of the second class was made by the county board December 3, and on the 15th provision was made for a special election to be held Saturday, January 26, 1889, for the purpose of electing city officers. "The city was divided into three wards, and judges and clerks of the election were appointed.
Party lines were not drawn at this initial election. A caucus was held, at which a ticket was nominated. No other ticket was put in the field, but several independent candidates asked the suffrage of the people, and two of them were elected. Four hundred and seventy- seven votes were cost, divided among three precincts as follows : First ward, 153; second ward, 109; third ward, 215. Two aldermen were elected from each ward.
The first meeting of the city council was held on Thursday, January 31, 1889.
While 1888 had been a prosperous year for Livingston, the next year distanced it com- pletely. The Enterprise stated that the growth of the town that year for permanency had been unparalleled in the history of Montana. Over $350,000 was expended in improvements. Among the important events of the year was the establishment of an electric lighting system. The Livingston Electric Light company was incorporated in June, with a capital stock of $25,000, all held by Livingston men. The company began the erection of its power house October 15, and on December 23 the lights
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HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY.
were turned on. Eight arc lights and 150 in- candescents was the patronage of the company at the beginning.
At the regular annual election held April 29, 1889, all the nominees of the citizens' cau- cus were elected. The vote of this election is not available.
Among the other improvements of the year 1890 was the installation of a system of water works by the Livingston Waterworks company.
Notwithstanding the marked financial de- pression throughout the country in 1891, the growth of Livingston was not retarded.
The campaign preceding the annual elec- tion of April 13, 1891, was enlivened by the en- trance of a third party "Citizens." The mem- bers of that organization held a convention and placed a ticket in the field, most of the nomi- nees being those of one or the other of the old parties. The "Citizens" movement had but little effect upon the result. The Republicans elected mayor, marshal, treasurer, clerk and attorney and one alderman; the Democrats elected two aldermen; an Independent and Citizens nominee was elected police magistrate. Seven hundred and forty-five votes were cast.
During the year 1893 a handsome new school building was erected in Livingston.
The year of the panic, 1893, was a hard one for Livingston, as it was for nearly every town in the United States. It was marked by numerous business failures and a period of extreme hard times. The first disaster was the failure of the Livingston National Bank, which closed its doors July 7. This caused a loss of upwards of $70,000 by the business men of Livingston and cast a gloom over the whole business life of the city. The Merchants Bank failed July 27, and this disaster was followed July 31 by the closing of the National Park Bank, the last banking institution in the city and Park county. It reopened on September 25. of the same year, but the results of its failure at the time being were disastrous. Fol- lowing these bank failures several business
houses went into bankruptcy. The business of the city was at a standstill, and complete re- covery from the depression did not occur for several years.
The month of June, 1894, was replete with interesting events. It marked the beginning of the great railroad strike, the story of which we have told in the preceding chapter; the overflowing of the Yellowstone river upon a portion of the town, and the inundating of the greater part of the rest of the town as a re- sult of a cloudburst.
On Monday, June 4, the river reached a height of eight feet, ten inches, on the gauge board on the Main street bridge, the highest point ever recorded. The water in many places overflowed the banks and inundated the bot- tom lands on both sides of the stream. Di- rectly opposite the city thie water flowed out over McLeod's island for a distance of several hundred yeards, but did little damage except to wash out several small bridges on the Island road. About twelve o'clock on the day the water was the highest the dyke along the north bank of the river, which had been put in to protect property in Riverside addition, broke at I street and flooded all that portion of Riverside addition as far north as Lewis street. Houses in that locality to the number of 25 or 30 were surrounded by water, which rose to a height of two to six feet. So suddenly did the flood burst upon the residents of that locality that it was with difficulty that they and their household goods were removed to places of safety. Several boats were quickly constructed to reach those whose houses were cut off from wagon transportation by the deep water, and before night all had been rescued from the in- nundated district. The greatest damage was the destruction of gardens, and that loss was almost total, causing a serious hardship to several who depended almost entirely upon this resource as a means of livelihood. Only by strenuous efforts was the Main street bridge saved from going out, great cargoes of trees
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HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY.
and timbers from other bridges which had gone out being forced down against it witlı terrible force. The river remained at a high point until the 8th, when it began to recede, and all danger was past.
On the 5th the town was visited by a de- structive flood, resulting from cloudbursts both north and south of the city. Preceded by a rain of two hours the cloudbursts came almost simultaneously, one in the hills north of the city and the other on the plateau across the river. Within an almost incredibly short time the gulches north of the city were converted into raging torrents that poured their contents down the hillside. The sweeping waters came directly toward the Northern Pacific railroad, striking it near Yellowstone street. The track temporarily diverted the flood east- ward along Front street and the com- pany's right of way. The track at Yel- lowstone street was about three feet above the level of the street, but it offered only moment- ary resistance to the flood, which was soon sweeping over it and converting Park street into a rushing stream. The water found its way eastward along that thoroughfare, pre- senting the appearance of a wall of moving water. Within a few minutes it reached the business portion of the city, filling every base- ment and cellar as it proceeded on its way to find an outlet into the river. At two points where the flood washed over the track the grade gave way and left the ties and rails with- out support for a distance of twenty or thirty feet. On the north side of the track another stream, several hundred feet in width, found its way eastward, carrying with it sidewalks and crossings, finally reaching the Northern Pacific shops, which were flooded to a depth of two feet. The flood lasted half an hour, when the water began to recede. It disappeared al- most as rapidly as it had accumulated. The damage to the railroad company was several thousand dollars and that to the business houses in the city fully as much. The cloud-
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