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 55
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 55
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 55
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 55
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 55
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 55
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 55
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HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY.
W. Pennoyer, J. C. Ratcliffe, A. Robinette, H. Stevens, Swen Swenson, G. Stanley, To- bias Silverson, R. H. Taliaferro, M. A. Wolfe, Thos. Worman.
The troop was "mounted infantry" and its arms and ammunition was furnished by the state. The object of having the company mustered into the state's service was twofold. First to secure prestige among the Indians and second, to obtain the necessary arms and am- munition to make the organization effective. While the company was never called upon to quell any Indian trouble, they were always anxious to be, in order to atone for past of- fenses and losses at the hands of the Indians.
Captain Brown's troop was in April, 1898, transferred to the cavalry as Troop C, and rep- resented Custer county's contribution to the state's quota of soldiers called to serve in the war with Spain. Captain Brown's orders were as follows: "Your company has been trans- ferred to the cavalry as Troop C. You will increase your command to 100 men, which with the commissioned officers, will make 103. You are liable to be called out at any moment, with three other troops of cavalry. Enlist the best men you can ; 419 cavalrymen will leave the state. I do not think it will be for any great length of time. The men will take their own horses along. See that they are a good lot. If you have 100 men like those I saw at Ashland your troops will not be beaten in the United States. Do the best you can and hurry up. Try and have the horses all one color. Yours very truly, James W. Drennan, Adj. Gen., Helena, Montana."
This troop was called out and went to Chickamaugua, where they spent several months of inaction, which did not suit the boys of the Custer county troop, as they were an active lot and used to the life on the plains. They were greatly disappointed in not being sent to the front.
Considerable excitement was stirred up in Custer county in 1898 by the report that In-
dians were on the warpath, and for a time things looked squally. A man named Hoover had been killed by the Indians and upon the refusal of the Indians to give up the murderers, the troops were sent there to take them by force. A few of the Indians refused to sur- render and held out until their leader was killed, when they came in and gave up the mur- derers. It was some time before the Indians resumed their former occupations and the set- tlers again felt safe Many of the settlers had left their homes and gone to Miles City be- cause of the threatening attitude of the In- dians. The murderers were tried and one con- victed and sentenced to be hung, but he was reprieved and now lanquishes in the state's prison at Deer Lodge. This was the last of the Indian troubles in Custer county and since that the red men have applied themselves to the more peaceful pursuit of tilling the soil and advancing in the scale of civilization.
In Custer county, within whose borders lies the historic spot where Custer and brave men fell, it has been the custom for many years for both whites and Indians to pay a loving tribute to the memory of the brave men who fell there. In 1899, the people of two states met here to honor the memory of the brave Custer and his soldiers and below we give the glowing account published in the Yellowstone .Journal of June 9, 1899:
As if mindful of the awful scenes enacted on the spot almost quarter of a century before, nature was in her most savage mood last Tuesday when the crowds began to gather at the Custer battlefield to observe Memorial day and pay tribute to the memory of the heroic dead who are sleeping so peacefully on the rolling hills overlooking the Little Big Horn. Lowering clouds overcast the sky and hid the genial face of the sun, which vainly strove to break though the veil of somhre hued darkness and lend a gleam of brightness to the picture of sadness. The song of the birds was hushed and only the hum of the many voices could be heard. A strong wind blew from the west and made mournful music among the trees that line the banks of the little stream which flows in picturesque curves through the valley and like a thin band of
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HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY.
silver wends its Way to the north where it joins the Big Horn. Nature's tears were ready to fall, but as if considerate of those who had come so far to reverently lay the emblem of peace and love on the sacred ground which holds in lasting embrace the dust of those who fell on that fateful 25th of June, the clouds slowly rolled away and the sky gradually as- sumed a brighter hne until at last the sun shone in all its splendor, and though the wind still continued to sing among the trees and bushes and occasionally give way to wails that at times sounded like the shrieks of the dying. the scene became less gloomy and the picture more animated. The crowds that had arrived from two states for whose peace and security the bat- tle had been fought, began to scatter and while some prepared to picnic and eat their dinner, others climbed the long hill that leads to the highest part of the field where stands the monument that marks the place where the last stand was made by Custer and the few men who still remained after the main body of his little army had been annihilated by the savage foe. Inside the enclosure where stands the monument under which the bodies of the slain lie, hundreds of flowers were placed and the dry parched ground was covered with them. Flowers also reposed at the foot of the little wooden cross that tells the exact spot where Custer fell, and in hushed tones the story of his death and that of his men who found a glorious end on that blood drenched knoll was repeated.
At last the hour had come when the formal exer- cises of the day were to begin and the crowds drifted in the direction of the little canopied stand that had been erected about 200 yards from the monument from which the speaker was to address them. In front was the battlefield with its little white headstones dotting the landscape, and the long rows of other headstones placed over the graves of the dead who had fallen on other fields where the white man and the savage had contended for supremacy in the many wars that have been fonght in the years gone by and which have made it possible for the people of today, to dwell in peace and security in one of the richest and most beautiful regions of this vast and beautiful land, for the battle- field is now a national cemetery and the dead from many places in Montana and Wyoming have found final sepulchre there. Back of the stand and in front of the audien e lay the valley of the Little Big Horn and while listening to the stirring speech of Colonel Sanders, their eyes could travel over the place where the first signs of the Indians had been beheld by the white man who were so soon to fall victims to the implacable hatred of the red men. Like on that day made famous in song and prose the tepees of the red men dotted the plain and gently loping hillsides. but these were of a friendly tribe and added to the com- pleteness of the picture nature so kindly painted. Standing at "parade rest" to the left of the platform was a company of the national guard of Wyoming
and on the right the Billings band. The address by Colonel Sanders was undoubtedly one of the most elo- quent listened to by any body of people on memorial day in the entire county. At its conclusion. the sol- diers formed into a body of fours and with the band and citizens marched up the hill where the tall flag- staff stands from which the stars and stripes floated. A dirge was played and then the ceremony of decorat- ing the graves was commenced. A company of boys from the Indian school at the Crow agency in gray uniforms, were given flags and with deft fingers they soon planted one over each grave and the serried rows of mounds looked like a field of red, white and blue. The band played again, a bugler sounded "taps," a volley was fired by a squad of soldiers and the cere- monies were over.
In 1900, an order was promulgated by President Mckinley by which the Northern Cheyennes Indian reservation was definitely and permanently defined, the new boundaries being given so as to include all the land on the west side of Tongue river between Cook creek and Stebbins creek, or to be more technical, parts of townships 2, 3 and 4 south, ranges 43 and 44, east, being parts of six townships or abont 100,000 acres.
An agreement was negotiated in 1899 by which the Crow Indians ceded all that por- tion of the reservation north of the Fort Cuis- ter Military reservation, aggregating one mill- ion acres, for which they were to be paid $1,150,000, of which $300,000 is to be applied to an enlargement of the irrigation system on the reservation, $50.000 for fencing the In- "dian cattle range. $150.000 for the purchase of cattle, $50,000 for the purchase of sheep, $25.000 for the new school buildings, an-1 $10,000 to be applied to miscellaneous par- poses. The remainder, aggregating $500,000. was to be held by the government at 4 per cent interest and a ten dollar cash annnity paid ont of the increment to each Indian. This cession still left the Crows with 2,000,000 acres of land to make future deals with. This treaty opened up a tract of land that has long been known to be very desirable for farming and grazing. By legislative enactment that por- tion of the tract lying west of the Big Horn
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HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY.
became a part of Yellowstone county and that portion lying east a part of the county of Cus- ter. The division was nearly equal, about a half a million acres on each side of the river.
This tract was thrown open for settlement in 1906 and the registration commenced at Billings, Miles City and Sheridan, Wyoming. on the 14th of June, and the drawing was made at Billings during the first days of July.
The county of Rosebud, in which is located all that part of the Crow reservation which was recently thrown open for settlement, was cut off from Custer county in 1901 and the west line of Custer county made to follow the eleventh guide meridian due south to the Wyo- ming line. Thus Custer county, the mother of counties, with the creation of Rosebud county, lost the distinction of being the largest county in the United States. The area of the county is even now larger than some of the eastern states, having an area of 11,592 square miles.
The assessed valuation of Custer county as far back as could be ascertained has been as follows: 1877, $100,197; 1890, $4,661,- 251 ; 1891, $5.950,251 ; 1892. $7.815.139: 1893: $7.816.569: 1894. $6,888.349: 1895. $5,137.248: 1896, $5.907,018; 1897. $6.757,- 441 : 1898. $5.906.666: 1899. $6,118.703 ; 1900, $6,463, 194: 1901. $4,571,012; 1902. $5.842,434: 1903. $6.646.872: 1904. $6.035,- 655: 1905. $6,680.850: estimated for 1906. over $7,000,000. The falling off between 1892 and 1896 is due to the hard times, and in 1902 the cutting off of Rosebud county is responsi- ble for the decrease in valuation.
The financial statement of the county clerk for the fiscal year ending November 30, 1905. shows that county was in excellent shape finan- cially with a balance of $161,549.73. The to- tal bonded indebtedness was decreased $90,000 and the net indebtedness decreased $3.186.46. Total amount of taxes collected was $115,- 008.16 and a total delinquency shown of $9.997.03. The tax levy for the year 1905
was 22.5 mills for county and state purposes. The total value of the property owned by the county amounted to $125.900, which was a very conservative estimate.
The range industry for which Custer coun- ty has long been noted is generally understood to refer to cattle, but after years of depressing conditions the sheep and horse business has revived with surprising energy and is now as important a factor in Custer county as the cat- tle business. For a number of years prior to 1898 horses were a drug on the market and could not be disposed of at any price, but with the breaking out of the war, the demand in- creased and prices have been steadily going up since that time. The same conditions pre- vailed in the sheep business but an increased demand and higher prices has placed the sheep man on the same footing as the cattle and horse raisers and together they are moving along and growing more prosperous and wealthy with each advancing year.
The superiority of Montana horses and cat- tle has only in the last few years been recog- nized throughout the eastern states, but now the number of stock buyers that congregate at the sales, held several times a year at Miles City, increases each year and thousands of horses and cattle are purchased here and shipped to the eastern markets. From 25.000 to 30,000 head of horses and cattle are shipped from Custer county each year and about 60,000 head of sheep and seven or eight mill- ion pounds of wool.
While the stock industry is at the present time the principal asset of Custer county, one must not overlook the rapidly increasing agri- cultural possibilities of this section, as
in all stock counties the agricultural possibilities have had their light hid under a bushel; but the time has now come when the farmer is gaining a foothold and the large holdings of grazing lands are being cut up into small farms, and, aided by an adequate system of irrigation, are producing wonderful
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HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY.
crops of fruit, vegetables, grain and alfalfa. "The valleys of the Yellowstone, Tongue and Powder rivers as well as every small creek that empties into these streams is dotted with farms that have been brought up to a high state of cultivation. This is all due to irriga- tion. Owing to the limited rainy season farm -. ing is prohibited in Custer county unless irri- gation schemes are utilized.
The first irrigation enterprise was started at Miles City in 1882, when Joseph Leighton and W. B. Jordan conceived the idea of taking water out of the Tongue river about fourteen miles above Miles City for the purpose of re- claiming the arid valley between those points. In 1882 the canal was surveyed, a portion of it excavated and a dam constructed. Owing to faulty construction the first dam was carried out in the spring of 1883, but the company again rebuilt it that year. In the spring of 1884 this dam was also wrecked. Many of the original stockholders became discouraged, financial difficulties arose and the company went into the hands of a receiver. As fast as funds could be raised the work was carried on and soon the original fourteen miles was completed. It was reincorporated in 1890 un- der the name of the Miles City Canal and Irri- gating company. The canal is now twenty-five miles long and has cost about $150,000. There are 25,000 acres of land tributary to the canal that are susceptible of irrigation but not more than one-fifth is being utilized for farming pur- poses. Land that went begging at $2.50 per acre before the canal was built, is now worth $100 per acre. There are a large number of smaller irrigation enterprises scattered through the county and every one is being worked with gratifying results.
In the matter of fuel, the county is es- pecially well favored, the whole country being underlaid with immense deposits of lignite coal. Very little is known of this coal out- side of the Yellowstone valley, because it is yet in an immature state and will not admit of
export. It makes an excellent fuel and in a sparsely timbered country like this it is a boon to the inhabitants. It crops out everywhere, in "cut banks" bad and land buttes, in veins of from two feet to six feet in thickness and the exposed coal can be mined with but little labor. The denser and more mature coal is found at a depth of about twenty-five feet be- low the surface. When freshly mined, it is as black and glossy as cannel coal, but exposure to the air causes it to slack and fall to pieces and prohibits export. It is sold to local consumers at $2.50 per ton and is much cleaner to use than the common bituminous product of other parts of the state. During the past few years, experiments have been made with considerable success to find a way to stop this coal from slacking, and, as nothing is impossible to science, the time is not far away when Custer county will be the coal depot of the western states.
The climatic conditions of the Yellowstone valley are all that could be wished for. It would be hard to find any country in the world where the climate is of such invigorating and healthful quality as in this section. It is a land of sunshine and pure air which is so essential to the health of every human being. But it is a land of extremes and the thermometer has been known to range 200 degrees up and down the scale, from 60 below in winter to 135 above in the summer. But, these extremes are very uncommon and it seldom gets below twenty degrees in winter or over 100 in the summer. On account of the thin, dry atmosphere, ex- treme heat or cold are not felt nearly as much as in more humid climes. A sunstroke has never yet been heard of in the Yellowstone val- ley according to the accounts of all old timers. The healthful qualities of this section are well attested by the numbers of bright, healthy, rosy cheeked men and women who live in this country of sunshine where out door life is pos- sible, and where bacteria and microbes do not flourish.
CHAPTER II
CITIES AND TOWNS.
MILES CITY.
The city of Miles, started in 1877, owes its origin to the establishment of Fort Keogh on the Tongue river in 1876. Fort Keogh was established by General, then Colonel. Nelson A. Miles in 1876 and was first located about two miles from its present site at the west side of the Tongue river where it empties into the Yellowstone. It was then known as the "Cantonment," and the buildings were only temporary affairs thrown together for shelter until the buildings could be constructed at the present site, which were completed during the years 1877 and 1878. The site on which Miles City is built was at that time a part of the mili- tary reservation which extended for two miles down the Yellowstone river. Here on the very edge of the reservation, a small town was started in the year 1877. In less than one year the town, which was called Miles City in honor of Colonel Miles, who was then the com- manding officer at the post, boasted of a popu- lation of over two hundred souls.
The first merchant in what is now called the "Old Town" was Mr. C. W. Savage, who had come here in the year 1876 as post trader for the army. He at once saw the opportunity for a profitable business and got in on the ground floor. He was soon followed by Maur- ice Conn and Bassinski Bros., all of whom ar- rived here and went into business in the year 1877. As is usual with all new communities. dance halls and saloons were plentiful and did a thriving business. Transportation in those days was dependent upon the condition of the waters of the Yellowstone for steam-boating. the stream being navigable for loaded boats only during the season of high water, which
usually occurred in June when the snows were melting in the mountains. Other freighting was done by wagon train in the summer, fall and winter, overland from Bismarck, but this mode of transportation was very expensive and usually, only luxuries that could stand the high tariff. were sent in in this way. A semi-week !; mail service was enjoyed by the inhabitants of Miles City, which came overland with a sched- ule of four days from Bismarck, the distance being about 300 miles. Day and night travel was included in the schedule, but at this time it was more night than day on account of the danger from small war parties of Indians, who on several occasions made their presence known and once ambushed a stage driver and left his bones to whiten on the plains.
The post being nearly completed, late in 1877, the troops occupied it, and their removal left a distance of four miles between Miles City and the source of its greatest trade. This was too far away for convenience both to the troops and the townspeople, and in March, 1878. the military authorities issued an order throwing open that part of the Fort Keogh reservation lying east of the Tongue river. The people of the old Miles City at once arose, al- most en masse, and hurriedly moved westward two miles, to the very edge of the Tongue river where the military had established a ferry and opened an official gateway to the post.
A townsite company was formed whichi laid out the new town, put nominal prices on lots and apportioned the business locations in a way that was satisfactory to all. The tem- porary log shacks with dirt roofs that had filled the temporary wants of the residents of the old town were not considered in keeping with the growing importance of the new town,
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HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY.
and many of the new buildings, which were nearly all frame, were quite fastidiously adorned.
The change of location made no change in the name of the town and in 1878. Miles City. began to have the appearance of a lively up- to-date town. A garrison full of soldiers and the usual complement of followers and citi- zen employes made a good payroll. This was enlarged by the earnings of a small army of government contractors' men, high salaried - clerks in the stores and the continued influx of the inevitable tenderfoot who always has, and who will always continue, to flock to frontier towns and there be relieved of his surplus. The first store in the new town was started by James B. Hubbell & Co., and was soon fol- lowed by C. W. Savage and Maurice Conn, who moved up from the old town in the sum- mer of 1878. It was during this year that many of the residents considered it safe to have their families come to this place and many women and children came up on the early boats and some later came overland.
The first Fourth of July celebration held in this section of Montana was held at Miles City, in 1879. General Nelson A. Miles was made chairman of the day and delivered a patriotic address. A good program was ren- dered throughout and the old timers to this day lovingly remember the first Fourth ever held in the Yellowstone valley.
Miles City now enjoyed great prosperity. beneficial improvements were going on every day and it was beginning to realize its im- portance as a factor in the settlement of the Yellowstone valley. A live, weekly newspaper was established in July. 1879, and the many advantages of the town were spread through "the states."
The value of a live, wide awake newspaper to a town which has a good "booster" at the helm, is shown in the following excerpt from the Yellowstone Journal of February 7. 1880 :
Miles City is in Custer county. in a portion of Mon- tana territory, rather more than one-third larger in area than the whole state of Pennsylvania. It is a lively, bustling, successful town. *
* * There are 300 buildings in the place and somewhere in the neigh- borhood of 750 inhabitants. * *
* The town is rapidly growing and in view if the fact that it was started only a little over a year ago, it may with con- fidence be regarded as destined in time to justify its name of "city." We have carpenters, blacksmiths, painters, dining halls, saloons of every grade. the higher grades predominating, excellent drug stores, depots of fancy notions, theater, school, court house. jail, and in fact everything requisite to maintain a town of an independent footing, excepting. indeed, a firstclass hotel suitable for the' accommodation of tourists and business men temporarily sojourning here, which would be a paying investment from the start. Add to the above that Miles City is an orderly place in which riotous demonstrations, should they be attempted, would be promptly and inflexibly repressed, where the presentation of a pistol in a threatening manner sub- jects the offender to a heavy fine, and even the wanton discharge of fire arms in the streets is a punishable of- fense, and the eastern reader will be able to gain an idea of the community."
In spite of the optimistic view of the writer of the above, Miles City, during the years 1879-80 and part of 1881 was consid- ered a tough place and harbored a number of road agents, cattle and horse rustlers, and other desperate characters, such as "Calamity Jane," "Cayuse Laura," "Big Nose George" and his gang, and many others who were the followers of those mentioned above. Society at this time demanded that all men should meet on the same level and absolutely no comment was made when a prominent citizen was seen playing against the "bank" or setting up the drinks at one of the many soirees of the demi- monde.
In the spring of 1881, the town of Miles was almost entirely submerged by water. The ice in the Yellowstone and Tongue rivers broke up about the same time, and, gorging at the mouth of the Tongue, caused the water of the Tongue river to back up and inundate the town. The flood lasted two days and all cel- lars and first floors of the buildings were un- der water. The merchants wore rubber boo:s
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