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 52
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 52
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 52
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 52
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 52
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 52
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 52
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Billings has increased $2,000,000 in value."
A government undertaking known as the Huntley project, is fast nearing completion. This will irrigate something like 30,000 acres of land in the recently ceded Crow reservation. This canal starts near Huntley, and the lands which will be irrigated by it lie in a general way north of the Burlington & Missouri River railroad and both north and south of the Northern Pacific.
Although Yellowstone county is not known as a mining country, there are vast deposits of coal there, and some little mining has been carried on. Says Mr. Storrs, of the United States geological department, in his report of March, 1902 :
"The coal fields of Montana form a nearly continuous belt extending in a northwest-south- east direction entirely across the state; but most of the fields have not been investigated in detail. As in Wyoming the plains region east of the Rocky mountains, extending into the Dakotas, is underlined by beds of lignite coal of varying quality. The Bull Mountain district of 55 square miles lies in Yellowstone county, about 45 miles northeast of Billings on the Northern Pacific railroad. The bed is from 10 to 16 feet of lignite coal. But little coal is now mined there. The Clark's Fork district crosses the Yellowstone 22 miles west of Billings and extends north to the Mussel- shell river, though without known valuable beds.
CUSTER BATTLEFIELD
A HERD OF BISON
PART VI ROSEBUD COUNTY
CHAPTER I
CURRENT EVENTS.
Rosebud county is correctly named the "historical county" of Montana as it was in what is now the confines of Rosebud county, that occurred those stirring incidents that opened up the valley of the Yellowstone for occupation by the white man. Here it was that Custer and his brave men met with defeat, and General Miles thrashed the Indians at Little Muddy and Lame Deer. The full and com- plete accounts of these battles are given in pre- ceding chapters and also other interesting in- cidents relating to the subduing of the Indians and the settlement of this great domain by the whites.
The first white settlers to enter the territory now embraced in Rosebud county, came in the fall of 1876 and too much cannot be said in com- mendation of these hardy pioneers who braved the many dangers of frontier life at a time when the Indians were on the war path and their war parties scattered over all parts of the territory. Among those sturdy men who risked their lives to build homes in this then virgin territory, we find: Peter Jackson, Archie Mc- Murdy, and James Simpson, who came here in 1876, and were followed the next spring by: grew rapidly. New settlers came in and lo- John Guy, Wm. Mouatt, Ben Green, Tom
Carter, John Justin, who settled at Pease Bot- tom : Mr. Murphy, Thomas Alexander, Thomas Hammond, Frank Andrews, M. Curran, who settled at Forsyth in 1877. Mr. Tolbert settled on Froze-to-Death creek in 1877 and Joseph Gee and N. Boyle settled at the mouth of the Rosebud: George Mace settled at Howard the same year. In 1878, we find Joseph Isaacs, Mr. Nichols, Mr. Nortman, George King, Wm. Roche, James Norman, James McGraw, Mike Conklin, James Parker, Dick Kennedy and W. B. S. Higgins had taken up their settle- ment here. John Guy, who settled at Pease Bottom must be given the distinction of being the first to break land and try the possibilities of this section along agricultural lines. Thomas Alexander was the first to have a band of cat- tle in this territory which was in 1878, but Dia- mond Carpenter and Robinson were the first to run a large bunch of cattle in this section. The first band of sheep was brought into this territory in 1881 and they also belonged to Thomas Alexander.
The Northern Pacific railroad was built through this section in 1882 and the population cated along the creeks and rivers and engaged
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HISTORY OF ROSEBUD COUNTY.
in stock raising, which industry thrived won- derfully. The severe winter of 1886-7 was a hard blow to the stockmen, but it was the means of giving them a valuable lesson. Up to that time they had had no thought of winter feeding and had never made preparations for doing so, but since that time, though it is sel- dom necessary, nearly all the stockmen have been in a position to feed their stock should the winter be severe enough.
The government agency at Lame Deer was established in 1888, buildings were erected and an agent was stationed there. A school was started and has always been well attended by the Indian children. The fact that a govern- ment agent was stationed there has probably been the cause of several Indian outbreaks be- ing nipped in the bud, and much protection to settlers and their property.
The history of Rosebud county is so closely connected with that of Custer county that it must necessarily be brief and only those points are taken up that are already not in- cluded in the history of Custer county. The matters of historical importance up to the time of the creation of Rosebud county are limited.
The first agitation for the creation of a new county was started in 1893, but little in- terest was manifested, however, until 1895 when the principal issue in Custer county was the cutting off of the present county of Rose- bud. The people in favor of county division were successful in electing the men whose opin- ions coincided with theirs and House bill Num- ber 12 was introduced by Representative James S. Hopkins, which provided for the creation of Rosebud county. They were unsuccessful in passing the bill through the legislature and still remained a part of the large county of Custer. Two more unsuccessful attempts were made to bring about the division, in 1897 and 1899, and it was not until 1901 that the bill passed the legislature and the new county was formed. On February 1I, 1901, Governor Tocle appended his signature to the bill with a
gold pen provided by James Hopkins of For- syth who still possesses the pen as a souvenir. Following is the enabling act :
ROSEBUD COUNTY.
Senate bill No. 21. An act to create the county of Rosebud. to define its boundaries, and to provide for its organization.
Be it enacted by the Legislative Assembly of the State of Montana :
That all that portion of the State of Montana em- braced within the following boundaries shall be known as, and shall be. Rosebud county, to-wit: Beginning at a point where the township line, running between ranges forty-four and forty-five east, in the county of Custer, in the State of Montana ; when surveyed and extended south, will intersect the northern boundary line of the State of Wyoming: thence north, along said township line, observing the jogs or offsets in said line, to its intersection, when surveyed, and extended, north, with the county line running east and west along, between Custer county and the county of Dawson, in said State of Montana ; thence west along said county line to the middle of the main channel of the Musselshell river and the east boundary line of Fergus county ; thence up the middle of the main of said river and along the meanderings thereof in a southerly direction. to a point where the same is intersected by the county line running between the counties of Yellowstone and Cus- ter: thence in a southeasterly direction along said county line to the junction of the Yellowstone and Big- horn rivers; thence up the middle of the main chan- nel of the said Bighorn river and along the mean- derings thereof in a southeasterly direction to the in- tersection with the aforesaid northern boundary of the State of Wyoming; thence east, along the boundary line to the place of beginning. The town of Forsyth situated within the boundaries above described shall be the county seat of said county of Rosebud until the permanent county seat shall be designated in the mode and manner provided by law.
SEC. 2. That the indebtedness of said Custer coun- ty, as the same shall exist on the first day of March, 1901, shall be apportioned between the said counties of Custer and Rosebud by first deducting from said indebtedness the amount of all moneys on hand and all moneys belonging to said Custer county, and also de- ducting the value of all real estate and personal prop- erty within and belonging to Custer county on the said first day of March, 1901, and the remainder of said indebtedness shall be apportioned between the said counties of Custer and Rosebud respectively in proportion to the amount of taxable property in each of said counties, said amount of taxable property to be ascertained by a commission consisting of the boards of county commissioners of said Custer and Rosebud
1
HISTORY OF ROSEBUD COUNTY.
321
counties and Charles H. Loud, judge of the seventh judicial district, which said commission shall meet at the court house at Miles City, on the 15th day of March, 1901, and shall take, as the standard for such apportionment of indebtedness the assessment for the year 1900 as determined by the board of equalization of said county of Custer.
SEC. 3. That it shall be the duty of said board of county commissioners of Rosebud county, in the event it should be found, upon the adjustment of such in- debtedness, that the said county of Rosebud should as- sume and pay any amount of same, to cause to be made and delivered to the said county commissioners of said Custer county, warrants on the county fund in the sum of one thousand dollars each, and fractions thereof, if such there be. for the amount found to be due, which said warrants, upon presentation, shall be indorsed by the treasurer of said Rosebud county, "Not paid for want of funds," and shall thereafter draw interest as other county warrants.
SEC. 4. It shall be unlawful for said board of county commissioners of Rosebud county to issue any warrant or warrants in any amount or sum, or to incur any indebtedness, or enter into any contract, or incur any liability for or on behalf of said Rosebud county, until they have fully complied with the provisions of Sections 2 and 3 of this act.
SEC. 5. That the board of county commissioners and the treasurer of said Custer county shall, at their regular meeting during the month of March, 1901, as- certain the amount of money in the school fund be- longing to (whether apportioned or not) the several school districts embraced within the limits of said county of Rosebud which have been carved out of the county of Custer, and the county treasurer of said Custer county shall, during the month of March, 1901, and upon receipt of the warrants specified in Section 3 of this act, transfer and pay over to the treasurer of said county of Rosebud, such moneys as may be on hand at the said March meeting of said board of county commissioners of said county of Custer, and as by them and the said treasurer thereof, found to be- long to the school districts of the said county of Rose- bud. Said funds to be transferred shall be held by the treasurer of the county of Rosebud, where they were originally designated and bonded.
SEC. 6. The following named persons are hereby appointed to the following offices, the name of the ap- pointee being placed opposite the office to which he is appointed : Freeman Philbrick, W. W. McDonald, and Hunter Terrett, commissioners; Charles W. Bailey, clerk and recorder; Charles Davis, sheriff; T. W. Longley, treasurer; James B. Grierson, clerk of the district court; Fred L. Gibson, county attorney ; Gertrude M. Higgins, superintendent of common schools; R. W. Snook, public administrator ; J. F. Ken- nedy, coroner; Charles B. Taber, county surveyor.
Said officers shall have the powers, duties and priv- 21
ileges as are by law conferred upon like officers in other counties of the state of Montana, and they shall be entitled to receive the same emoluments, salaries and fees, as are conferred by law upon like officers of other counties of the same class in the state, and shall in like manner give bonds and enter upon the discharge of their respective duties upon giving a bond within ten days after the passage and approval of this act. and they shall hold their respective offices until their successors are elected and qualified, and be subject to all repealing laws applicable to other similar offices generally. The bond above provided for shall be ap- proved in the same manner as the bond of other county officers, and filed and recorded in the office of the county clerk of the county of Rosebud. Provided, how- ever, that such salaries shall not commence until such officers shall enter upon the discharge of their duties and shall have qualified according to law
SEC. 7. The county commissioners of said Rose- bud county shall have authority to contract for the transcribing of such parts of the public records of said Custer county as they may deem useful and necessary to the said county of Rosebud and the inhabitants thereof, or they may appoint and depute some capable and discreet person to transcribe the same, and for such purpose shall have access to the records of said Custer county.
Said transcripts, when completed shall he carefully compared with the originals by the county clerk of said Custer county, who shall be entitled to receive a compensation of five dollars per diem while actually engaged in the performance of such duties; and when found to be correct, shall by him be so certified under his name and seal, and thereafter the records so tran- scribed and certified to shall be received and admitted in evidence in all courts of the state, and shall be in other respects entitled to like faith and credit as said original records.
SEC. 8. The county commissioners of said county of Rosebud, for the purpose of funding and paying any indebtedness which may be incurred by reason of as- suming any of the indebtedness of Custer county. are hereby given the authority to issue on the credit of their respective county, coupon bonds, to the amount suffi- cient to enable them to redeem any or all legal out- standing warrants or orders, equal in amount to said indebtedness so incurred, which said bond shall be sold at no less than par and in the mode and manner pro- vided by law for the issue and sale of county bonds.
SEC. 9. That the treasurers of Custer and Rose- bud counties shall, at the time of the adjustment of the indebtedness as provided in Section 2 of this act, make out and transmit to the county commissioners of said Rosebud county, lists of all delinquent taxes within the limits of Rosebud county, as above established, shown by the records of their respective offices.
Provided, That no delinquent taxes due to the county of Custer shall be considered in the adjustment of the debts as hereinbefore provided, but it shall be
322
HISTORY OF ROSEBUD COUNTY.
the duty of the treasurer of Custer county to collect such delinquent taxes and to turn over to the treasurer of Rosebud county its pro rata share of said taxes as he may be able to collect within thirty days after mak- ing such collection; Provided further, that should there be any surplus of funds in the hands of the treas- urer of Custer county after adjustment. as hereinbe- fore provided. said surplus shall be divided between the counties of Custer and Rosebud in the same man- ner as hereinbefore provided for dividing the in- debtedness.
SEC. 10. All district and township officers within the said county of Rosebud, whose election or appoint- ment is not herein provided for. shall or may continue to hold office and exercise the duties pertaining thereto, until the expiration of the term for which said officers were elected or appointed.
SEC. 11. The county boundaries of said Custer county are hereby altered to conform to the boundaries of said Rosebud county, as established by this act.
SEC. 12. The said county of Rosebud is hereby added to and made a part of the 7th Judicial District of this state, for judicial purposes, and all that part of the Crow Reservation lying east of the Big Horn river is hereby attached to Rosebud county for the pur- pose of taxation and for judicial purposes.
SEC. 13. This act shall take effect on March Ist, 1901.
SEC. 14. All acts or parts of acts in conflict with the provisions of this act are hereby repealed.
Approved : February II. 1901.
The officers of the new county entered upon their duties in the early part of March and at once took the necessary steps to bring about a settlement of affairs with the mother county of Custer. After a careful accounting it was as- certained that the total indebtedness of Cus- ter county was $274.000 and that Rosebud county's porportion was 32.85 per cent of the whole, or $45.259.50, and warrants were drawn for that amount payable to Custer county. The taxable property of the new county was found to be $2,187.639.
On June 3, 1901, two of the commissioners appointed resigned. They were W. W. Mc- Donald and Freeman Philbrick. Thomas Alexander was appointed in place of McDon- ald and Thomas E. Hammond was appointed to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Philbrick.
The county has as yet never had a county
seat contest, although the town of Rosebud re- cently attempted to circulate a petition for that purpose. They were unsuccessful and the mat- ter was soon forgotten.
The assessed valuation of taxable property in Rosebud county since its formation has been: 1901, $2,829, 114; 1902. $4.047.033; 1903. $4.464.761 : 1904, $3.870,251 ; 1905, $4,- 404,670 : 1906, estimated, over five million dol- lars. The number of acres of land assessed in 1905 was 833,108; farming and grazing lands, 206,290 ; valued at $470,263; Northern Pacific lands, 626,818, valued at $263.343; horses, 7.730, valued at $193.951 ; cattle, 44.055, val- ued at $988,046; sheep, 214,486, valued at $536,952 ; Angora goats, 100, valued at $400; hogs, 162, valued at $961 ; railroad property and roadbed valued at $1.328,963.
The settlement of the Crow Indian reserva- tion, which was recently thrown open for set- tlement, will add much to the resources and population of Rosebud county. More than 500,- 000 acres of this tract lies in the county and much of it can be irrigated while the rest is ex- cellent grazing lands. The conditions for obtain- ing this land were the same as those under the homestead law, except, that each person draw- ing a piece of land had to pay four dollars per acre for it. One dollar down and the balance in three equal payments, the second payment to be made at the end of the second year, the third at the end of the third year, and the fourth at the end of the fourth year. The ap- plications for this drawing were not as numer- ous as expected on account of the government reserving much of the irrigable land. Among the irrigable tracts thrown open was the Myers and Sanders flats, located in the valley of the Yellowstone river west of the town of How- ard. Land in this district was especially de- sirable on account of the fertility of the soil and its easy access to railroad facilities.
The Yellowstone valley is the most fertile of the valleys of Rosebud county and agricul-
323
HISTORY OF ROSEBUD COUNTY.
ture has become one of the main pursuits of the settlers. The valleys of the Tongue, Rose- bud, Big Horn and Little Big Horn rivers as well as other smaller streams are very fertile and large quantities of hay, grain, vegetables and fruit are raised here every year.
The scenery along the rivers is very beauti- ful, the valley being covered with a dense growth of cottonwood and the surrounding hills covered with a mat of grass. The canyon of the Big Horn is considered one of nature's grandest works of scenic beauty. One of the wonders of nature is found on Greenleaf creek about 60 miles from Forsyth in the shape of an ice well. Some years ago a man named Wm. Campbell started a shaft while prospect- ing for gold and after getting down 30 or 40 feet complained of the extreme cold. The per-
spiration from his face would run down and form ice drops as it fell. Being somewhat superstitious he decided to quit and did so. This was the starting of the ice well. As a rule in summer, the ice forms within a few feet of the top. While the ice itself makes the well a natural curiosity, it is the formation of the ice during the hottest period in the sum- mer, that makes this well a great natural curiosity ..
The Milwaukee railroad is to build through Rosebud county and is now at work on the right of way. The route is up the Yellowstone river on the north side until it reaches a point opposite the town of Forsyth, when it runs in a northeasterly direction to the Musselshell river. This will open a large section to settle- ment.
CHAPTER II
CITIES AND TOWNS.
The town of Forsyth, the county seat of Rosebud county, was started in 1882, when the Northern Pacific railroad was buikling through this section. It was the winter ter- minus of that road in 1882 and was located on the Yellowstone river, 45 miles west of Miles City. The selection of the site was a favorable one as the valley of the Yellowstone has an average width here of about 11/2 miles, where the land is level and fertile, and is almost in the center of the county.
The town gets its name from Col. James W. Forsyth, of the seventh cavalry, who was well known in this section during the Indian troubles. It was platted by the North- ern Pacific Railroad Co., in October, 1882, and was chosen by them as the end of the freight division between Glendive and Billings.
The first merchant in the town was Charles
Young, who opened up a general merchandise store here in the spring of 1882, and was soon followed by Fred Henning. George Taylor, H. R. Marcyes and Manchester and Bryan, David Sweet started the first restaurant the same year. In 1883 Thomas Alexander en- tered the mercantile business here.
The town was visited by a disastrous fire in August, 1888, which destroyed twenty thousand dollars worth of property. Seven business houses on Main street between Ninth and Tenth streets were burned to the ground. The origin of the fire is unknown. The insur- ance on stocks and buildings was about eight thousand dollars.
For many years the growth of the town was very slow and little progress was made and it was not until the year 1901 that the people awakened to the fact that Forsyth had
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HISTORY OF ROSEBUD COUNTY.
a future. Since that time great building ac- tivity has been experienced and the town has had a rapid and healthy growth.
A disastrous fire occurred July 8, 1901, when the Occidental hotel, a three-story frame structure, was burned to the ground. It was occupied by its own employees and about twenty-five boarders, mostly railroad men. Twelve persons occupied the third floor and but two of these escaped without jumping from the windows. The inmates of the lower floors left the building in time to escape injury but lost most of their personal effects. All of the ten who leaped wrom the third floor were in- jured and bruised by the fall. The more spe- cific hurts were as follows: Albert Smith, left hand and fingers burned; Carl Schroeder, right foot burned and ankle sprained; J. V. Saleno, hips injured; Stephen Bolen, right hip bruised, nose and cheek badly cut; Gus Ahl- gren, bruised head and left knee; John Faler, right arm broken: John Roeu, hands and face burned, side injured, ribs broken; W. S. My- ers, sprained wrist and face burned ; Fred Roeu, arm sprained and body bruised; Aman Ahor- lick, bad cut and head bruised. All of them suffered much from the jar. In fifteen minutes the walls had fallen and the fire had spread to the coal dock and engine house. A barrel of gasoline was stored in the engine house which soon exploded and in a brief time the buildings were in ruins. The line of cars were pushed to a place of safety. In the morning it was discovered that one man had lost his life in the conflagration. The charred body was seen in the ruins and by means of grap- pling hooks an effort was made to draw it forth. The attempt was only partially suc- cessful as only the head and trunk could be re- covered, the rest having been burned away. It was afterwards found that the remains were those of Jacob Braun of Hebron, N. D. The origin of the fire is unknown.
The town boasts of one of the finest school buildings in the state where a very efficient
corps of teachers is employed. The present building cost about $12,000, and a new build- ing is now in the course of construction which will cost when completed about $8,000 and will be used for the grade pupils, the old building will be used for the High school department.
Four different churches have organizations here, though but two of them have buildings, the Methodist and Presbyterian. The Epis- copal and Catholic denominations are expected to erect edifices in the near future.
Forsyth is naturally the outfitting, mercan- tile and banking center of the country, supply- ing sheep, cattle and ranch outfits for a radius of over one hundred miles and affording ample facilities for the transaction of all manner of business.
In 1904 the county voted bonds for $50,- 000 for the purpose of building a bridge across the Yellowstone river at Forsyth. The bridge was completed in 1905 at a cost of $57,000. With adequate bridge facilities closer rela- tions have grown between the residents of the north side and the townspeople and a marked increase in trade and business has been ex- perienced.
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