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 32
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 32
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 32
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 32
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 32
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 32
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 32
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In our description of the topographical features of Park county we shall first take up the mountains. As stated before, about two- thirds of the county's surface is mountainous. Along the western side of the county is the Belt range of mountains, the crest of which is the dividing line between Park and Gallatin counties, and the eastern base of which is the western boundary of the Yellowstone valley. These mountains present an interesting study in the various gigantic forms caused by vio- lent upheavals in ages past. To the north of
this range are the Bridger mountains, which lie almost wholly in Gallatin county, but which extend for some little distance into Park coun- ty. In the northeast corner of the county are a mass of rugged, snow covered peaks known as the Crazies, a most curious and beautiful range of mountains. In the southeastern part of the county is the Absaroka range, which covers the greater part of the county east of the Yellowstone river. This name was bestowed on these mountains about the year 1885, in honor of the immemorial home of the Crow In- dians, Absaroka, which was in the valley of the Big Horn river to east of the mountains. The range was first known as the Yellowstone mountains, and in 1873 was rechristened by Major Jones, Sierra Shoshone. They are also sometimes called the Snow or Snowy mountains.
In the Absaroka range within the bound- aries of Park county are the following promi- nent mountain peaks and their elevations above sea level : Haystack Butte, 10,997; Emigrant Peak, 10,960; Needle Mountain, 10,933; Pyr- amid Mountain, 10.720; Sheep Mountain, 10,- 628; Mount Cowan, 10,600; Mineral Peak, 10,250; Chico Peak, 10,200; Sunset Peak, 10,200; Mount Delano, 10,086; Doane Moun- tain, 8.650; Old Baldy, 8,640; Monitor Peak, 8.450. One of the best known of these moun- tain peaks is Old Baldy, the highest in the im- mediate vicinity of Livingston, which rears its bald head to the southeast of the county seat lown.
While that peak has been known as Old Baldy since there were white settlements in the county, it was known by all the old trap- pers and fur traders as Crow Test Peak. Ac- cording to E. S. Topping, who has written en- tertainingly of the early history of the Yel- lowstone valley, the name had its origin in the fact that in the early days, one test of the bravery. strength and endurance of a young Crow warrior was his ability to climb the steep rugged sides of that mountain and re-
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HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY.
main there for a time. He declared that he had known young Crow bucks to occupy a position on the extreme peak of that mountain for twenty-four hours, clothed in nothing whatever except the circumambient air and a proud sense of vic- tory. Thus did ambitious Crows win their spurs and prove their right to enter upon the active duties of tribal life and anticipate in horse stealing expeditions against the Sioux, and other feats of bravery and prowess.
To the west of the Yellowstone river and forming a part of the Belt range is Cinnabar mountain, one of the most prominent physical features of southern Park county. It was so named from the color of its rocks, which have been taken for cinnabar, although the red color is due to iron. There is a great red gash down the side of the mountain, which is known as the Devil's Slide. There is an old legend con- cerning this, to the effect that the imps of hell had been coasting down this mountain and had left a red streak of blood, marking the course from summit to base. The poet has told of it in rhyme :
Ages ago, one could easily see, Yellowstone valley had been on a spree ; The mountains had risen, canyons had sunk, Old Mother Nature got terribly drunk ; The devil, as drunk as devils could be. Slid to the bottom of Cinnaharee.
But Electric Peak, also in this vicinity, leads all the others in height, grandeur and character. It is 11.155 feet high and is on the northern boundary line of the National Park. It is a mountain of mineral, and the electrical display upon its peak during a thunder storm is beautiful and appalling. On July 26, 1872, Henry Gannett ascended this mountain with surveying instruments, when he was overtaken by an electric storm. He reported his experi- ence as follows :
A thunder storm was approaching as we neared the summit of the mountain. I was above the others of the party, and. when about fifty feet below the sum-
mit, the electric current began to pass through my body. At first I felt nothing, but heard a crackling noise, similar to a rapid discharge of sparks from a friction machine. Immediately after, I began to feel a tingling or pricking sensation in my head and the end of my fingers, which, as well as the noise, in- creased rapidly, until, when I reached the top, the noise, which had not changed its character, was deaf- ening. and my hair stood completely on end, while the tingling, pricking sensation was absolutely pain- ful. Taking off my hat partially relieved me. I started down again and met the others 25 or 30 feet below the summit. They were affected similarly, but in less degree. One of them attempted to go to the top, but had proceeded but a few feet when he re- ceived quite a severe shock, which felled him as if he had stumbled. We then returned down the moun- tain about three hundred feet, and to this point we still heard and felt the electricity.
Park county is exceptionally well watered. and it is fortunate that this is so. Nearly all the land in the county needs to be irrigated before it can be cultivated, and the numerous streams in all parts of the county furnish an abundance of water for this purpose.
The principal stream of the county is the Yellowstone river, which enters from the south, traverses the county in a general north- erly direction for about 55 miles, then turns abruptly to the east, and after a journey of about 20 miles leaves Park county at the town of Springdale. This mighty tributary of the Missouri has its source in the mountains south of the Yellowstone National Park, in which region also are started the streams that form the Snake and Colorado rivers, that flow into the Pacific, and the Big Horn, which with the Yellowstone in time find their way into the Atlantic. The Yellowstone flows through the lake of the same name, then leaves that beauti- ful body of water, flowing in a northerly direc- tion for about 150 miles to the great bend at Livingston. There it wheels to the east and holds that course in a general sense for an hundred miles, when it swings slowly but sure- ly to the northeast and continues for three hundred miles or more, finally mingling its waters with those of the Missouri. A peculiar
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HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY.
feature of the Yellowstone is the fact that all its tributaries of importance come from the south side. There is not one stream of conse- quence flowing into it from the north. From the south come such important streams as Clark's Fork, Big Horn, Tongue and Powder rivers, while from the north probably the most important is the comparatively small Shields river.
Within the county of Park there are in the neighborhood of 40 creeks and rivers, of suf- ficient size and importance to bear names, which empty into the Yellowstone. From the east or south side come the following creeks : Mendenhall, Greeley, Lock, Mission, Poison, Chicken, Suce, Deep, Pogl, Pine, Barney (formed by Cascade, George and McDonald), Shorthill, Strawberry, Elbow, Neill, Emi- grant, Six-Mile, Cedar, Bassett, Trail. From the north or west side these creeks empty into the Yellowstone : Ferry, Dry, Owl, Fleshmean, Billman, Strickland, Trail, Eight-Mile, Big, Dailey, Rock, Tom Miner, Mulhern (formed by the Cottonwood. Dickson, Deaf Jim and Hoppe), Beattie, Reese. Besides these creeks are Shields river, flowing in from the north, and Gardiner river, which enters the Yellow- stone on the southern boundary of the county, all of the river except the mouth being in the National Park. In the southern part of the county there are also a number of other tribu- taries of the Yellowstone, which empty into that river in the National Park, but which rise and flow for the greater part of their length within Park county. Among these are Eagle creek, Bear Gulch creek (formed by North Fork, Pine and Palmer creeks), Crevasse creek and Hell Roaring creek, of which latter steam Grizzly creek is a feeder. Two other important streams in this part of the coun- ty are Buffalo creek and Slough creek, which are branches of Lamar river, which in turn enters the Yellowstone within the National Park.
Next to the Yellowstone, the most import-
tant river of the county is Shields river, one of its tributaries. This stream is noted be- cause of its historical importance and because of the rich valley through which it flows. The name was bestowed upon it by Captain Wil- liam Clark in 1806 in honor of one of the members of the famous Lewis and Clark ex- pedition. But among the early trappers it was known as Twenty-five Yard creek. Lieuten- ant Bradley, who visited the river in 1876, said in his journal: "Two reasons are assigned for the name: its width, which isn't 25 yards, but much less; and the asserted fact that it rises only 25 yards from the source of another stream, which I can neither affirm nor deny." Shields river, as it flows through the valley, is increased in volume by the addition of num- erons tributary streams, some of them of con- siderable size, that have their sources in the neighboring mountains, and which by corro- sion have created little valleys throughout the plateans that extend from the river to the mountain ranges. The creeks that find their way into Shields river from the east side are Crazy, Rock, Cottonwood, Dry, Little Indian, Big Indian, Horse. Daisy Dean, Elk, Porcupine, Antelope. From the west come Willow, Ray, Bangtrail, Canyon, Brackett, Looking Glass, Flathead, Cottonwood and Potter.
In the extreme southeastern corner of the county are a number of more or less important streams. One fork of Clark's Fork takes its rise there and is fed by Tidewater, which is wholly within Park county. Soda Butte creek also rises here and flows thence into the Park. It is fed by the Republic and Miller creeks.
Along the boundary line between Park and Sweet Grass counties flows Boulder river, which empties into the Yellowstone at the town of Big Timber. The greater part of this river is in Sweet Grass county, but in several places it makes a dip into Park county. The West Boulder river, one its principal tributaries, rises in and flows for the greater part of its length in Park county. Its branches are
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HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY.
Davis and Grouse creeks. The western tribu- taries of the Boulder river, which are almost wholly in Park county, are the following creeks: Cowan, Froze-to-Death, Falls, Great Falls, Chippie, Four-Mile, War Eagle, Copper and Sheep. From the east two creeks enter the river within the boundaries of Park county. They are Up and Down creek and Basin creek.
The principal industries of Park county are mining, agriculture and stock raising, and it is hard to tell which should be placed first. It was the minerals of the county that first led to its settlement. For some years this was the only industry of the county. Then, when the railroad was built, settlers rushed in and be- gan raising stock and tilling the soil, and all three industries have been carried on ever since.
The mining products of the county are principally coal, gold and silver. Among the other minerals of the county, but which have not yet been extensively developed, are copper, lead, iron, platinum, tin, bismuth, zinc and cin- nabar. The coal mines are found in the foot- hills of the Belt mountains, on the west side of the Yellowstone river. The precious metals are found in the Bear Gulch district, in the vicinity of Jardine, in the New World mining district about Cooke, and in the Boulder dis- trict on the east side of the county. Concern- ing the mining of gold and silver in Park county a writer a few years ago said :
But little of the hidden wealth stored up ages ago in these mountains has been discovered. while it is nevertheless a fact that Park county has been pros- pected only in a superficial way. Whole districts, ag- gregating an enormous area, and filled with the great- est possibilities have been unvisited by those of prac- tical knowledge in quest of hidden mineral deposits. It is no exaggeration to say that if the practiced eye, aided by a knowledge of metalliferous formations searches among the mountains for a day it is certain to find locations that will justify work and explora- tion. This is as true of the old districts as it is of those but seldom visited. As an example the district of Bear Gulch had been prospected to a certain ex- tent for more than thirty years, when a common land- slide in the spring of 1898 revealed to the naked eye
one of the richest lodes of gold bearing ore in the state. The Boulder district has been worked for its placer diggings for many years, when during the sum- mer of 1899 E. H. Cowles, an expert placer miner, had used his hydraulic works so thoroughly that on reach- ing bed rock, the leads of many rich veins of gold bearing quartz were revealed to him. The Emigrant district was until recent years only worked for its rich placer gold; but great possibilities await the develop- ment of the recent discovered quartz leads in the Great Eastern, St. Julien and the North Star.
The smelting of the ores in Park county has only been in operation in the New World mining district. This district is only in its infancy ; but fabulous pos- sibilities for her future are often given as the judg- ment of prominent mining experts.
Gold to the value of many thousand dollars is ob- tained annually by the Bear Gulch Mining and Mill- ing company.
Gold, fine ounces, 3,487,814-$71,065.93.
Placer mining to some extent has always attended the discovery of gold. It has been extracted from the gravel, either by the old process of panning, or the more expensive methods of dredging and hydraulics. About one-half million dollars have been realized from the partly discovered placer districts of Emigrant gulch, while the Boulder district and Bear and Crev- asse gulches by their past year's output bear evidence of many millions of dollars in undeveloped dust and nuggets.
While it is true that in this district silver usually accompanies gold in some quantities at least, of the few discoveries that have been made in silver leads, the de- crease in its marketable price has caused such proposi- tions to remain idle for the time being. The production of silver in Park county for 1898 was about 60.34 fine ounces, with a coming value of $78.01. Some of the assays made of silver in the New World mining district yield 150 ounces per ton and are now lying dormant.
The status of gold and silver mining in Park county at the present time is told in the annual report of William Walsh, state mine in- spector. The report was made early in 1907 and covers the preceding year. The report says :
The mining of precious metals in Park county dur- ing the past year has made quite satisfactory progress. The chief mineral district of the county is at Jardine, formerly called Bear Gulch, where the Kimberly Gold Mining company has its operating property and plant, and there are also many prospects in the vicinity that are especially promising. It is unquestionably a fact that there is a large mineral area in this county in which there are great bodies of gold ore that only await the investment of money in development and
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HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY.
mills, to produce fortunes in return for comparatively small investments. This area is over 20 miles square and will compare favorably with any gold district in the range. A characteristic of the district is that val- ues constantly increase with depth. The field is not even prospected, there being as good claims to be dis- covered as those now located.
The following is the production of metals for 1906:
Gold, fine ounces, 3,487 814-$71,065.93.
Silver, fine ounces, 1,268.74-$1,640.39.
The Kimberly Gold Mines: This group consists of fifteen claims located at Jardine. The property has been thoroughly developed by tunnels running in length from 250 to 900 feet, the aggregate lineal feet of the workings being over 16,000, and the exploration is steadily pushed ahead, placing immense reserves of ore ahead of the drifting and upraising have been con- structed during the present year. The veins in the upper workings lie flat, and the ore occurs in large chambers. The country formation is schist and shale, and the strike of the veins is east and west. The ore value is in gold. The output of the mine is treated in a forty-stamp mill and cyanide plant, and this ca- pacity is to be increased one-third, the mine now being in shape to produce 700 tons of ore per day. The plant is operated by electricity. The company has done a great deal of surface exploring and in this work dis- covered shelite ore in such quantity that a mill is be- ing erected for its treatment. There are 80 men em- ployed in the mines and mills. The mills are well ventilated and provided with proper protection. The property is owned and operated by the Kimberly Gold Mining company, Mr. H. H. Ryan being the superin- tendent, and Mr. W. G. McQnillan the foreman.
The Crevasse and Helena Chief Mines: These mines are located four miles east of Jardine and are owned by Mr. W. G. Conrad. There are three claims in the group, and they are operated under the supervision of Mr. J. G. Fletcher. who is employing thirty men. The mine is developed with a 1,200 foot tunnel that exposes large bodies of ore. During the present year 800 feet of work has been accomplished, and upraises made to the surface that afford exits and good ventilation. The veins are well defined fis- sures with a dip to the southeast at an angle of 45 de- grees and run in width from three to six feet. The ore is an iron oxide and carries gold as its chief value. The country formation is gneiss, shale and granite, with the latter as the hanging wall of the veins. A 20-stamp mill is located near the workings and is treating from 600 to 700 tons of ore per month. It is intended to en- large the mill to forty stamps and equip it with the most improved value-saving machinery.
The Buffalo-Montana Mining Company: This is an old property, located at Cooke, and is sixty- five miles east of Gardiner, the entrance point, to the Yellowstone National Park. The mine has been idle
for years, but now the old workings are being retim- bered and put in shape for the extraction of ore, and new departments is in active progress, over 300 feet of exploration having been accomplished since the re- sumption of the work the past summer. The company smelter, that has been idle for something like twenty years, has been repaired and put to work treating 50 tons of ore per day taken from the old dumps. The resurrection of this property, and the starting of the smelter which is to be remodeled and made thoroughly modern in the near future, marks a new era in the min- ing history of Cooke. The company is employing 100 men. Mr. Chas. Eaton is the superintendent and Mr. N. P. Trendennick is the foreman.
The mining of coal is one of the important industries of Park county and one of the old- est. The principal coal mine is at Aldridge, where about four hundred men are employed, and about as many more engaged in coke burning. Until recently the mine at Cokedale was in active operation. In other portions of the country coal has been mined on a limited scale.
Rich deposits of copper have been discov- ered in the Boulder and Six-Mile districts, but lack of capital has prevented development Copper occurs as a by-product in the output of gold and silver.
Iron ore is also found in the Boulder, Six- Mile, Emigrant, New World and Sheepeater districts. The ore has only been utilized in the fluxing of the more valuable metals, with which it is found as a by-product.
Farming has become one of the most im- portant, if not the most important, industries of Park county. In the early history of the county this was not considered an agricultural country, and very little effort was made to till the soil. But in recent years there has been a marked change in the industrial pursuits of the county, and diversified farming has estab- lished itself as a sure means of livlihood. The former large numbers of cattle and sheep, grazing at will on the vast pastures, have been cut up into smaller bands, and it has been found a more profitable way of engaging in the stock raising business. Now the stock
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HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY.
raiser also engages in farming, and the results are beneficial to the farmer and the community as a whole.
The farming lands of Park county are most all located in the valleys of the Yellow- stone and Shields rivers and their tributaries. The soil is what is termed semi-arid, as it is in nearly all parts of Montana. Only occasion- ally could crops be raised without irrigation, and no one thinks of trying it, because the lay of the land is such that irrigation is easy to bring about. Perennial streams flow down from the snow capped peaks surrounding the valleys, and the construction of irrigating ditches is a work of only comparatively small labor. The streams are numerous in the agri- cultural lands ; their currents are swift. When once the ditches are made the settler can bid defiance to the exigencies of the season. The system of irrigation here is the most perfect in the world, combining light expense, an abundance of water, and a constant descent.
It is acknowledged by all that there are two portions of the county that excel the other places. These are Shields valley and Para- dise valley, the latter a portion of the upper Yellowstone. For productiveness, uniformity of climate, fertility of soil and wonderful nat- ural resources these valleys have no compeer in Montana.
Paradise valley, lying between the lower and middle canyons of the Yellowstone, is so called from the evidences of prosperity and pleasing picture of contentment on every hand. A single instance is yet to be recorded of a traveler through the valley failing to express admiration for its wonderful beauty. The sub- lime in nature is expressed by the awe inspir- ing scenery of the upper Yellowstone more fully to the onlooker than ever brush or pen portrayed it. Flanking the valley on the east the tall serrated peaks of the snowy range rear their heads, cleaving the low lying clouds like a wedge, an impassable barrier, and seeming to guard the seclusion of the valley like huge
sentinels, grim and vigilant. To the west stretch the rounded heights of the Belt moun- tains, less imposing than those to the east, but not less interesting from a geological point of view. These ranges, after running parallel north and south for thirty-five miles, gradually trend toward each other, until they almost meet, forming the lower and middle canyons of the Yellowstone, and enclosing the valley, that lies in an oval shaped basin. The valley is thirty-five miles in length and from two to eleven in width.
The general topography of the valley is level. The alluvial deposits along the river form the bottom lands proper. 4 These are flanked on each side by a bench rising about 40 feet high, which slopes gently upward until it merges into the steep ascent of the moun- tains. Here and there an isolated butte rises upward from the bench lands. This bench land is ribbed every few miles with strips of timber that follow the course of the Yellowstone's tributaries as they rush down from their moun- tain sources, creating by erosion little valleys that intersect the bench lands at right angles with the general course of the valley. These streams furnish, throughout the summer, abundant quantities of water for the purpose of irrigation. Rising as they do in the snow fields of the surrounding mountains, they are steadily fed by the melting snows through the months of June, July and August, the time when plenty of water for growing crops is most needed. The topography of Paradise valley also renders irrigation an easy matter.
Shields river valley, with its many trib- utary valleys, occupies nearly the entire north- ern portion of the county. The river empties into the Yellowstone at a point about eight miles northeast of Livingston, and from this point northwest for a distance of about 50 miles extends the valley, one of the richest in Montana. The valley has an average width, including the bench lands of twenty miles, making a total area of 640,000 acres. The
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HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY.
Crazy mountains, one of the loftiest and most inaccessible in Montana, border the valley on the north and east with an apparently impas- sible front, while it is enclosed on the west by the less rugged Bridger mountains. The river valley proper, bordered by the bench lands, will average a width of one mile. It is very fertile and is much less liable to early frosts than any other locality in the state east of the Rocky mountains. The soil is a rich alluvial deposit, making it the finest kind of hay and grain producing land.
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