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 54
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 54
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 54
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 54
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 54
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 54
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 54
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of the loss suffered by Custer and his brave soldiers awoke the whole country to the fact that a great and fertile portion of the public domain was practically under another sover- eignty. This fact, only a few scattered pio- neers of the Northwest and the army were cognizant of, but it was suddenly brought to the attention of the whole nation embellished by the details of the horrible massacre which enraged the country. The army was at once ordered to occupy the Yellowstone valley, and two military posts were established, Fort Cus- ter, at the confluence of the Big Horn and Lit- tle Big Horn rivers, a few miles from the site of the famous Custer battlefield, and Fort Keogh, at the confluence of the Tongue and Yellowstone rivers, each named in honor of a hero of the massacre. This was done to add to the effectiveness of the troops and for the protection of the incoming rush of settlers.
The army established its headquarters at the cantonment at the confluence of the Tongue and Yellowstone rivers in the fall of 1876, and in the spring of 1877 the first influx of settlers reached what is now Miles City and established a settlement at the edge of the reservation. The settlement grew rapidly and in a very short time it had a population of over two hundred souls. Among the early settlers of Custer county were: W. H. Bullard. W. F. Schmalsle, scouts under General Miles, H. C. Thompson, train master for the army, C. W. Savage, Chas. Brown, N. Borchardt, Maurice Cohn, Bassinski Bros .. John J. Gra- ham. Jack Johnson, Tom Irvine, Chas. Milier, Peter Peterson, A. Carmichael, A. Flanagan, John Anderson, Louis Payette, Ed Flynn, Chas. Archer. John W. Smith. M. Hurley, Major Grover, Wm. Strong, George Miles, J. Cooper. Henry Bender. J. W. Montague, Hugh Hoppe. J. H. Grimmet, Dan Hamilton, Fay Bros., A. Maxwell. John Burke, Tom Bishop, John Seaman, D. Ringer. Louis Bach, O. C. Rogers, Smith Irvine. J. A. Allen, Gus Bloom, Louis Clark, Tom Mason. John Chin-
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HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY.
nick, Barney Colloran, Jack Woodliff, Frank Doe, - Harris, - - Sherman, Henry Da- vis. All of the above and many others whose names are lost to history arrived in the year 1877 and settled here. Among these early settlers we find that Henry Bender was the first rancher. He had a ranch just below the old town where he raised garden truck and hay with which he suplied the soldiers at the fort. J. H. Grimmet started a truck garden a short distance up the Tongue river in 1878 and was the second rancher in the vicinity of Miles City. J. W. Montague had started a ranch on the Yellowstone in 1877, near where Terry now stands where he raised considerable hay, which found a ready market among the gov- ernment contractors and others who were freighting from Bismark. To Chas. Brown belongs the distinction of being the first dairy rancher. He owned a ranch about two miles up the Tongue river. Mrs. Brown brought the first chickens into Custer county in 1878 and the poultry business was a success from the start. Eggs reached the fabulous price at times of twenty-five cents a piece. Soon after Mr. Brown's venture into the dairy business, he was followed by M. Kircher and his son, Al. Fay Bros., and Dan Hamilton were also among the first to try the possibilities of ranching in the new country.
In February, 1877, the legislature of the territory of Montana, still having in mind the disaster that befell Custer and men, passed the following resolution which was approved Feb- ruary 3. by Governor B. F. Potts: That in commemoration of the dauntless courage, the disciplined valor, and the heroic death of Lieut .- Col. George A. Custer, and his men of the seventh regiment of cavalry, who fell in battle with the Sioux Indians, on the Little Big Horn river, in the territory of Montana, on the 25th day of June, 1876, the name of said Little Big Horn river, shall be changed to Custer river, and the same shall hereafter be known as Custer River. This resolution failed
in its purpose and the name of Little Big Horn is still retained by that historic stream.
By an act approved Febraury 16, 1877, the name of Big Horn county was changed to Custer county, but the boundaries of the coun- ty remained the same as before. B. F. Potts, then Governor of Montana territory, named N. Borchardt. D. A. Ringer and John W. Smith as the first board of county commissioners of Custer county with instructions to meet and organize the county by appointing county officers and selecting a county seat. This board held its first session June 14, 1877, and its first official act, after naming Mr. Borchardt as chairman, was to designate the town of Miles City as the seat of government for the new county. This was followed by the ap- pointments of A. Carmichael as probate judge, John McCormick, county clerk; Matt Carroll, treasurer; Hugh Hoppe, sheriff; Chas. John- son, assessor, and A. B. Hicks as coroner. For Miles precinct, the only precinct in the county, Russell Briggs was named as the first justice of the peace and M. T. Hall as first constable.
The first tax levied in the county was eigh- teen mills on the dollar, which was apportioned as follows: Territory three mills, county eleven mills, school three mills, poor one mill. The first assessment returned by the assessor showed that within the vast area of the largest county in the United States, there was a prop- erty valuation of only $100,197.
The first grand jury in Custer county was called in the fall of 1878, and the panel in- cluded the names of Chris Hehli, T. C. Burns, C. L. McKay, James Simpson, Emery Vine, Chas. Brown, Wm. Burke, A. W. Church, J. M. Gilman, John Woodliff, Fred Barrell, George Ives, Arch McCurdy, James McGraw, J. W. Montague, L. J. Whitney, J. M. Riddle, James Bottoman, David Toner and J. B. Hubbell. The first trial jury was made up of J. A. Trumel, J. B. Wright, Clark Tingley, Lewis Clark, Michael Burker, Julius Balzer,
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HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY.
Paul Borchardt, Louis Bach, W. H. Adams, Henry Bender, George Eastman, James Cooper. John Chinnick, Al. Clark, Ole Jolm- son, Mat Ilgen, Fred Miller and George Troeschman.
During the years 1877-78-79 and 1880, the population of Custer county increased very rapidly and centered in and around Miles City and up and down the Yellowstone river, while a few more venturesome than the rest started homes along the Tongue river some distance from its mouth. The establishment of Forts Keogh and Custer and the activity of General Miles in controlling the Indians had rendered the Yellowstone valley safe for settlement. A continuous line of farms were located along the north bank of the Yellowstone and each one showed some cultivation. A sawmill, the first in the Yellowstone valley, had been started in 1877 by W. H. Bullard, with a capacity of 5,000 feet per day. This was lo- cated about fifteen miles east of Miles City, and furnished the lumber for most of the frame buildings erected in the vicinity of that town.
According to the territorial treasurer's re- port of 1878, there were three births in Cus- ter county and no deaths. The report of county industries were as follows: Oats, 164 acres, 6,835 bushels ; wheat, 12 acres, 430 bushels ; rutabagas, 1/2 acre, 7,500 pounds; 119 milch cows, 10.980 pounds of butter and cheese ; 1,200 sleep, 7.500 pounds of wool ; I sawmill, 75,000 feet of lumber ; six acres of onions, 160 bushels.
The hunting and slaughtering of buffalo for their hides had been one of the principal sources of trade in Custer county since its first settlement. In 1881 the killing of buffalo reached the high water mark and was the be- ginning of the end of the monarch of the prairie. Through courtesy the killing of the buffalo was called hunting, but it was nothing less than butchery. The method used in kill- ing buffalo was for a hunter to go out with
perhaps a half dozen "skinners" and establish a camp near some well known feeding ground. Having concealed himself before dawn the hunter would be ready to commence killing as soon as the herd would rouse themselves and begin their morning graze. The heavy rifle made but little noise and when a buffalo would drop from no apparent cause, those around him would sniff his carcass apprehensively once or twice, and seeing nothing to excite them, would again fall to grazing. only to ineet the same fate as soon as their movements gave them the proper exposure. The ignorant brutes refused to stampede and usually staid in one place until the last survivor had dropped. Large scores were made, often run- ning as high as fifty or sixty and even up to a hundred killed in a day, when conditions were favorable. The number was only limited by the number of "skinners" a hunter had in his camp, as they never killed more than could be skinned while the carcasses were yet warm and it was almost impossible to skin a carcass after it had become cold. The hides were sup- posed to be salted, rolled and piled so that they would be safe from the weather and easy of access for the teams to be sent out after them in the spring. Some did this, but many did not and many skins were spoiled in this man- ner. Usually the hunter was a man whose only asset was his ability to shoot, but he had no trouble in finding many willing to stake him for $800 or a $1,000 with which to buy an out- fit. Owing, probably to the deep snows that made it almost impossible for the herds to move, the winter of 1880-81 was the record breaker in buffalo killing, it being estimated that 250,000 were killed in Custer county dur- ing that year. In the spring of 1882 about 180,000 hides were shipped out of Custer county and this was supposed to represent only about 75 per cent of the number killed, the rest being lost through careless handling. When the fact is taken into consideration that this killing had been going on for several
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HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY.
years previously and that it was continued for a year or two after this, we must grant that this locality did its full share in the extermina- tion of the noble animal. With the exception of a few captives, the buffalo is now extinct.
The advent of the Northern Pacific rail- road which built its line through Custer county in 1881 and 1882, brought about a com- plete change in the commercial conditions then existing here and opened up new lines of in- dustry. Many new settlers began to arrive and many farms along the creeks and rivers in the interior of the county were located upon.
It was in the year 1881 that the people of Custer county first became aware of the fact that this section was peculiarly adapted for range purposes. It was because of a peculiar experience of a "bull train" belonging to the "Diamond R," that suggested the idea of the value of this section as a winter range. This train, enroute from Fort Buford to Fort Custer and heavily laden, became snow bound near the Crow reservation, and was abandoned by the "whackers" who turned the oxen loose to rustle. The poor animals, almost too weak to stand, were expected to go off somewhere and die. The snow was three feet deep and nothing but sage brush and greasewood in sight. Greatly to the surprise of their owners, almost the entire band of sixty were seen a few months later in the very pink of condition. This story spread quickly and widely and be- fore the people of this section were hardly aware of the fact, the cowboy of the south- west and Texas had displaced the buffalo hunter. The change was sudden and complete, and during the years between 1881 and 1885 great wealth was dumped into Custer county in the shape of range cattle. Not only were the experienced cowmen of the southwest tak- ing advantage of this rich, virgin range, but also the wealthy men of the eastern states were making a rush to get into the business.
The sheep industry preceded the cattle in- dustry in Custer county by several years. The
first were brought into what is now Custer county by a Mr. Burgess, who started from California with a bunch of 1,400 sheep in the fall of 1876. They were a cross between the Merino and Cotswold breeds. He arrived here about the end of September, having con- sumed two seasons on the trip, and located on Tongue river on the site of the present Miles City. In the following fall the band was pur- chased by George Miles and moved to a range higher up the river.
In 1879, a band of Indians killed a man named Lynch on Powder river. They were caught, and brought to Miles City, the county seat, and tried for the offense. Three of them were found guilty and sentenced to be hung. The gallows were erected and every- thing in readiness for the hanging. But the Indians, who believe that hanging in public, is the worst possible form of death, defeated the ends of justice by hanging themselves in the jail. They took the belts from their breech clouts and fastened them together. One hung himself to the steel door of the cell and when he was dead he was taken down by the other, and he then proceeded to hang himself in the same way. The other Indian who was in a separate cell, a few nights after took the string from his moccasin and tied it around his neck so tightly that he choked to death. Thus, by their own hands three of them be- came good Indians.
In 1880 settlements had advanced so rap- idly along the Yellowstone and Tongue rivers, that the Indians, because of their raids on stock and their stealing proclivities, became a nuisance to the settlers. A petition was cir- culated through the valley, praying con- gress to remove the Crow Indians from their present reservation to some locality more eligi- ble for the Crows and less inconvenient for ad- vancing civilization. The Yellowstone Journal of that year said: "As the matter stands the Crow Indians occupy the finest portion of the Yellowstone valley, and while owning only one
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HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY.
shore of the river, they practically exclude the white settler from peaceful occupation of the other shore also. The probability of valua- ble mines being discovered on the reservation makes it important on behalf of the Indians themselves that they be removed while it is possible for the measure to be peacefully ef- fected, and the present time seems peculiarly propitious for the purpose. They have al- ready signified a willingness to sell out and re- move farther north. Perhaps, however, the best settlement of the whole Indian problem would be Secretary Schurz's proposition to convert them into settlers by forcing them to enter upon and cultivate the land on the same footing with whites. That would finish them."
In August, 1880, a man by the name of Catfish Sandy and a partner were attacked by a band of raiding Indians on the Mizpah. Sandy wounded two of the Indians and made his escape, but his partner was not so fortunate and was killed by the Indians. Sandy at once notified the commanding officer at Fort Keogh, and under the guidance of Sandy they at once started for the scene of the disturb- ance. Arriving there they found the Indians in a ravine near by where they had retreated for safety. Upon the approach of the sol- diers, they opened fire, killing one man and wounding another seriously. The officer in charge seeing that the Indians were well armed and had plenty of ammunition, sent a runner back to the fort for reinforcements and in the meantime placed a strong guard around the Indians to they could not escape. A company was at once sent to their assistance, taking with them a three-inch field piece. Upon the arrival of the company a scout was sent for- ward to demand the surrender of the guilty Indians, telling them that they were sur- rounded and could not escape. Accordingly, they came out and gave themselves up, and were taken to the post where two of them were placed in the guard house and the wounded were taken to the hospital.
were never made to suffer for their murderous assault.
A commemorative monument was placed at Fort Keogh in 1883 in memory of those who fell fighting the Sioux in Montana and em- braces the Bear Paw, Big Hole, and other fields as well as Custer. The sides of the mon- ument are highly polished and on one side is the following inscription : "To the officers and men killed, or who died of wounds re- ceived in action in the Territory of Montana, while clearing the district of the Yellowstone of hostile Indians." On the other three sides are cut the names of thirty-nine officers and privates, with regiment and company to which each belonged, and the place and date of the action resulting in their deaths.
In 1883. in August, it was reported that the Indians were on the warpath and the Yel- lowstone Journal of that date, said, "There are numerous reports of Indian troubles among the cattle and sheep men along the Tongue and Powder rivers, it being asserted that a hunter on Ash creek, a tributary of Powder river, was found dead in his cabin. It was surmised that he had been giving the Indians a square meal from the appearance of the cabin and received a bullet in the back that cost him his life as a reward for his hospitality. The Cheyennes have mostly left the Keogh reserve and have set out for the head of the Tongue river to join the balance of the tribe. They muster about 800 fighting men and can do great damage before they are forced to lay down their arms. There is an evident determination among the ranchers and stockmen to take the law in their own hands should the trouble wax greater, and extermination at the hands of these hardy pio- neers will be about what these hostiles will get. The river Crows have joined forces with the Cheyennes, and daily reports are promulgated of the depredations they have committed. Ex- termination, root and branch, is the only set- tlement of the Indian question." No ac- They tion was taken in regard to the dep-
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HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY.
redations of the Indians but public feel- ing ran very high. In 1884, the in- terior department listened to the reports and complaints of the settlers of the Tongue and Yellowstone valleys and estab- lished a new agency for the Cheyennes be- tween Lame Deer and the Little Muddy and removed these thieving Indians to that locality. But, even this did not stop them from killing the settlers' cattle and sheep whenever they felt in need of fresh meat, and sometimes a herder was killed while protecting his herd.
In the early part of 1884, Bishop Brondel, of Helena, established a mission among the Cheyennes on Otter creek. The Yellowstone Journal, in speaking of that mission in 1885, said: "A resident priest and three Ursuline Nuns of Toledo, Ohio, took charge of the work of civilization and education. During a short space of time a good deal of work has been accomplished. The school numbers over fifty children. The present buildings were entirely too small and not adapted for the purpose and therefore a new and spacious mission school is in course of erection. The main part is 40 by 35 feet, the additional part 22 by 16 feet and both are two stories high. A contract has been made with the government to educate forty Indian children at the mission ; they will get their board, clothing and education at the school. The day is not far distant when the Cheyennes on the Tongue and surrounding country will be Christianized and civ- ilized, and have their own ranches, stock, gardens, and finally become good, law-abiding citizens and useful members of society. All this will be the fruit of educa- tion." This prediction, made twenty-one years ago, is now verified and the Cheyennes are peaceful, industrious and law-abiding citizens. They realize the value of education and their children, whenever possible, are sent to the mission schools, where they receive a thorough training in all the essential branches, and many are sent east to finish their educations.
In 1883, the dismembering of Custer coun- ty was commenced when the territory now comprising the county of Yellowstone was cut off. Considerable trouble was experienced be- fore an amicable settlement was reached in regard to the amount that Yellowstone county was to pay the county of Custer. Custer coun- ty claimed about $54,000 as her just dues from Yellowstone county, and af- ter taking the matter to the courts where it was argued and discussed for over three years, it was finally settled in July, 1886, and Yellowstone paid over to Custer county the amount decided upon by the courts of $45.793.81 as full and final set- tlement.
The year 1883 also marks the darkest page in the management of the affairs of Custer county. It was during this year that the board of county commissioners was discharged from office by the legislature for misappropriation of funds and other irregularities in office. The board of county commissioners, the coun- ty clerk and county treasurer were indicted by the grand jury. The county treasurer had taken several thousand dollars to go east and buy furniture for the new court house. He was last heard of in St. Paul, but from there all trace of the treasurer and the money was lost. The county clerk skipped out of the country, but was later apprehended in Texas and brought back and lodged in jail. A trial was held, but owing to the fact that the sym- pathizers of the men were in control of the powers of justice, it was found to be impossi- ble to convict them for the offenses charged. The Custer county court house was in course of construction that year and was finished in 1884. The actual cost of the building was estimated at about $30,000, but it cost the county of Custer $100,000, but as the cost of material and labor was much higher in those days than at present, it may have cost the con- tractor $50,000 to finish the building. This was the greatest steal ever perpetrated in the
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HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY.
county, and from forty to fifty thousand dol- lars of the county's money went into the pock- ets of the powers "that were" at that time. Since that time the records of Custer county have been clean and the people of the county have been wise in their selection of men to manage the affairs of the county.
The winter of 1886-7 is a .memorable one in the history of Custer county, as it was in that year they suffered such tremendous losses in the stock business. The county did not get over the results of that winter for a number of years, and a great industry shrunk to almost nothing. It was the latter end of the winter that did such telling work on the stock, as it came when the cattle were weak and un- able to stand the terrible storms and cold weather. The big outfits, owned by eastern capitalists, were usually in charge of a cowboy who had no business ability or a man from the east who knew nothing of the cattle business. They, wanting to make a good showing with the owners, often reported a very light loss in the spring, probably one per cent, when it was usually about ten per cent. In the spring of 1887, to make good their former reports, they charged up abnormal losses and thereby saved their reputations. The actual loss for that winter was estimated at sixty per cent. The little fellows, the "nesters." or grange ranch- ers as they were called, suffered much less than the big outfits, as they had only small bunches of stock, and were able to feed them. The idea of winter feeding had never been practiced by the large owners, but after that they saw the advantages of it and there are now but few of them who do not make provi- sions for feeding in winter if it is found nec- essary. Of course, winter feeding is not to he thought of if the stock can live on the range, as free grass is the basis of the profits. Win- ter ranging is not inhuman as one might sup- pose because the range steer will usually find a better shelter in the "bad land" breaks than can be constructed by man and the feed in its
natural state is surely more toothsome and nu- tritious than when made into hay. As dem- onstrated by the buffalo, it is alright for stock bred on the range, but it is hard on eastern cat- tle brought in the first year.
After the hard winter, things ran smoothly in Custer county for several years, the stock- men recuperated from their loses, the county grew rapidly in wealth and population, and everyone prospered.
In 1890, the Indians, becoming more bold in their depredations , killed a sheepherder named Ferguson and a man named Gaffney. The murderers were caught, tried and convicted, but as was usually the case, the Indian Protective Association, an or- ganization formed in the east, came to their aid and saved them from paying the just pen- alty for their crime.
Indian raids were kept up for a number of years and thousands of dollars worth of stock was killed which was the property of the set- tlers on the Rosebud and Tongue rivers. Con- ditions reached such a state that Captain J. T. Brown formed a company of militia among the settlers for the protection of their property. In 1897 this company was mustered into the service of the state and christened "Co. C, First Reg. N. G. M." The roster of the company was as follows: Captain, Joseph T. Brown: First lieutenant, George W. Brew- ster; second lieutenant, John McKay; ser- geants, D. M. Hogan, Mat Winters, Florence Ford, Julian Schwadle and James King; Cor- porals, L. A. Alderson, Lincoln Robinette, Lee Tucker and Theo. Salkerson; buglers, Her- man Wehler and Lewis McLauchlin : privates, Clay W. Bailey, Arthur H. Crowell. Z. T. Cox, Theo. P. Danby, Edward Daw, Frank Gardi- ner, Frank Griffin, P. E. Groffman, J. C. Hope, G. W. Humphries, Myron W. Hunt, Arch Kelly, John Craft, W. H. Lyndes, W. D. Lin- nille, Frank Lambert, R. T. Larsen, Ben Mc- Kinney, Ed McGeehee, Chas. E. Miller, Ray- mond Mitchell, John Mahoney, Jos. B. Moore,
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