An illustrated history of the state of Montana, containing biographical mention of its pioneers and prominent citizens, Part 123

Author: Miller, Joaquin, 1837-1913. cn
Publication date: 1894
Publisher: Chicago, The Lewis pub. co.
Number of Pages: 1216

USA > Montana > An illustrated history of the state of Montana, containing biographical mention of its pioneers and prominent citizens > Part 123

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Democratic party, and on various occasions has rendered his party efficient service, having served as chairman of the County Committee and as a member of the State Cen- tral Committee.

DR. E. D. LEAVITT, Butte City, Montana .- Among the pioneer physicians of Montana is Dr. Erasmus Darwin Leavitt. In some respects unlike what is generally sup- posed to be the usual type of that useful member of frontier society, we find him a man of unusual culture and refinement, and one whose gentlemanly qualities would always afford him ready access to the best society in the land, and whose professional skill, wide general knowledge and practice place him in the front rank of physicians of the great Northwest. He is a native of the State of New Hampshire. ITis father, who was also a physician and a native of the same State, had acquired considerable local note in that profession, and was of English ancestry. ITis mother's maiden name was Fran- ces Mary Powers. She died shortly after his birth, and was buried among the granite hills where she had been

criminis in the late political theft of this State. I here and now declare in the presence of a citizenship to whose interests I am attached by every sentiment of gratitude and duty, which twenty years of continued confidence and sup- port on its part can inspire; and in the presence of Him who, until the judgment day, will have no terrors for the leaders of the Republican party, that no act of my political life is the sub- ject of less regret, and none more defensible upon principles of statesmanship, right and justice, than the humble attempt made by me to uphold the law, the honor and reputation of this State against the combined efforts of men whose leadership contrived that resolution of censure, and whose vicious conduct is only varied to-day by substituting misrepresentation and falsehood, where a year ago frand and re- volution were employed.

" In endeavoring to see peacefully seated members of the legislature, who incontestibly received a majority of the votes cast at the elec -. tion, I represented the people of Montana. I know the people of this State. I know them better than the men now on trial before the country, and I here assert that, right or wrong,

born. When he was quite young his father moved to Cayuga connty, in the State of New York, and for nearly ten years followed his profession in that locality. Sub- sequently he moved to Berkshire county, Massachusetts.

Dr. E. D. Leavitt must have carefully improved his early advantages, for at the early age of sixteen years we find him a teacher in the common schools in Massa- chusetts. At that time, under the inspiration of Horace Mann, the schools of that State began to assume the high reputation which has since been justly accorded them throughout the nation. For several years he followed this vocation, during which time by private study and some academical advantages, he so qualified himself as to be admitted to the sophomore class of the Wesleyan University, at Middletown, Connecticut, and he would have been readily admitted to the junior year in that col- lege but for the rigid rules regarding the age required for admission, his youth being his only disqualification. Here for three years he so faithfully devoted himself to the study of its curriculum that soon after his graduation

yours Truly E. D. LA cint

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HISTORY OF MONTANA.

wise or foolish, every political act of mine in connection with the organization of the first legislature of the State of Montana, is not only approved but honored and applanded by every man whose opinion I regard.

" And so I say to the small, shriveled and ar- rogant beings who inspired that resolution, who are skillful only to scratch with poisoned weap- ons, and in seeming to see the things they do not, to take it back to their masters, and tell them that, measuring my words, and holding myself personally responsible to any man who feels himself aggrieved, I denounce their action as a wilful and deliberate perversion of history, and a weak and transparent device to avoid the responsibility of the greatest crime ever com- mitted in Montana against the principles of popular government.

"In this contest we shall not hesitate to ex- plore and investigate with them the domain of national politics; but we do not intend to be diverted from the first great and paramount duty of erecting once again the standard here of constitutional government and home rule, which has been assailed and overridden by the leaders of the Republican party in Montana at

he was selected as the principal of the Great Barrington Academy, Massachusetts, where among his duties were the teaching of Greek, Latin and higher mathematics. The reputation he maintained in that institution as its principal induced his alma mater, the Wesleyan Univer- sity, to confer upon him a few years later the degree of Master of Arts.

While occupying that position the desire to follow the profession of his father rather than that of a teacher took strong possession of him, and as time permitted he began the study of medicine. The first course of medical lec- tures which he attended was at the Albany Medical Col- lege, New York. Subsequently he attended lectures and enjoyed instruction in medicine in the medical depart- ment of Harvard University, Massachusetts. While there, in the spring of 1859, the Pike's Peak gold excitement broke out. A friend in Iowa solicited him to join an ex- peditiou into the region now known as Colorado, for the purpose of investigating its reputed wealth. There was no time for delay. The expedition must start in a few

the behest of unscrupulous and designing poli- ticians at Washington in order to perpetuate Republican power. Let us first clean out the Augean stables, disinfect and deodorize the senate chamber of this State, revise that arith- metic which declares seven a inajority of sixteen before it takes root in our public schools, and administer to returning boards a rebuke that will linger with them as long as life lasts. In short, let ns

"Strike the long-aimed blow And rend the tyrant chain.

" Let us be a State indeed, not merely in name. The men who filched from us the fruits of our first victory as a State, defied her laws, and placed the bar sinister across her bright esent- cheon, are now on trial before the great pop- ular tribunal of Montana. On one side stands Liberty robed in law, in her hands the consti- tution for which we worked and voted, and all the interests of the people; on the other stands selfish, sordid and arrogant leadership, self-con- stituted and defiant, always repulsed and fairly repudiated at the polls, but resolved by brute force to again break into public office. Hun- dreds of honest Republicans will join hands

days. The question was presented, Should he wait a month, during which he should receive little instruction and accomplish little study and secure his diploma? or should he join the proposed expedition, and perhaps ac- quire in a day the wealth others sought for with a lifetime of toil? The fabulous tales of gold discoveries were too alluring to be resisted. He joined, with his friend, Dr. C. R. Bissell, an expedition which had inscribed upon its banner, "Pike's Peak, or Bust," and the summer of 1859 found him a gold miner, delving in the canons and ravines of the Rocky mountains for the promised wealth. But the dream of gold which lured so many of the first prospectors to Colorado, across the plains and sands of the Great Amer- ican Desert, was realized but by very few, and the ac- complished young Doctor belonged to the majority upon whom fortune did not lavish any great favors. However, with that courage and energy which characterized his ef- forts, he followed the fortunes of that section, at times engaged in mining, and at others pursuing his profession. In 1862 reports reached him that the coveted gold lay

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HISTORY OF MONTANA.

with you in discrediting and defeating the dan- gerous, demoralizing, degrading and debasing methods of such a leadership, but to you and the Democrats of Montana must be entrusted the organization in this great crisis.

" Finally, fellow-citizens, as you love liberty, law, honor and self-government upon the one hand, and abhor deceit, fraud, corruption and venal returning boards on the other, I ask you to organize and work until the election is over; and my word for it, the Democrats of Montana, patient, tireless, vigilant, invincible, will again stand sentinels of the State, guarding faithfully her sacred honor, and proclaiming aloud the glories of constitutional government."

As the campaign progressed this issne was made more prominent and characterized by the fiercest discussion that was ever provoked in the State.

T. H. Carter, who had been elected to Con- gress the year before by over 5,000 majority, and who in interviews in Chicago and elsewhere had subsequently endorsed the returning board outrage, was re-nominated for Congress by the Republicans against Mr. Dixon. The result of the election wiped out the majority of Mr. Car-

farther to the northwest, and in its quest, in the fall of that year, he reached what is now Bannack City, Mon- tana, of which place he was one of the founders. It soon after became the first capital of the young Territory. Being among the first arrivals he secured some good mining claims and delved for the golden treasures with pick and shovel, and not without reward. Though some success crowned his labors he soon found that he had more reputation as a physician than as a miner, and that there was greater profit, as well as fame, in allowing some one else to wield his pick and shovel while he at- tended to his profession. His thorough general educa- tion, his professional ability and his tact in making friends gave him pre-eminence among the physicians of the new Territory.

During the time he lived in sonthern Montana he en- joyed a very extensive practice which often extended, upon important occasions, into adjoining Territories, where his reputation as a physician had spread. He en- tertained the true Western spirit, with "a heart large

ter of the year preceding, and gave Mr. Dixon a majority, demonstrating that whenever a great principle is at stake patriotism in Montana can be appealed to with a confidence proportioned to the intelligence of the people.

Two years later Mr. Dixon was beaten for Congress by C. S. Hartman. The legislature that convened in January following was on joint ballot Democratic, and would have chosen a Democratic successor to W. F. Sanders, whose term expired in 1893, had it been left free to make a choice, uninfluenced by undne combina- tions. W. A. Clark, who had never flinched from his duty as a Democrat, and who, on all occasions, regardless of the bad treatment he had received at the hands of the disaffected of his party, responded freely to the call of his party in every campaign, and who had contrib- uted more than any other one man in material aid and personal influence to the success of his party in electing a Democratic legislature, was made the cancus nominee of his party for the position of senator to succeed Mr. Sanders. He would have been properly chosen but for the interference of his old enemy, the Anaconda Mining Company. Obeying the edict of its

enough to enfold all men as brothers." He shared the hopes and disappointments of the early miners, sym- pathized with them most sincerely in their misfortunes and rejoiced with them in their triumphs. When one of them in sickness called for his aid, no matter whether in poverty, lingering on some bed of pine boughs in some lowly cabin, or in some camp to which access was to be obtained only by some obscure and dangerous trail or up some unexplored mountain cañon, he answered promptly, although it may have cost him a perilous journey amid falling and drifting snows or across swollen mountain torrents. Perhaps never in any country has a physician enjoyed more fully the confidence and esteem of the people than did Dr. Leavitt that of the people of Beaver- head county, during those early and eventful years of common hardship and vicissitude.

In 1869 he returned to Harvard University and after attending another course of medical lectures there re- ceived the diploma to which he had been entitled for ten years, and which conferred upon him the degree of Doc-

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HISTORY OF MONTANA.

owners, its manager appeared at the capital, avowing his determination to defeat Mr. Clark at all hazards. He called around him a num- ber of Democrats, over whom he seemed to have an unace >intable influence, and induced them to ignore the caucus action of the Democratic party and cast their votes for W. W. Dixon, who was the Congressman from this State, and also the attorney of the Anaconda Mining Com- pany. By adhering to the fortunes of Mr. Dixon until the adjournment of the legislature, this little cabal succeeded in defeating the choice of the Democracy for United States senator, and no election took place, by reason of which Montana has been left for two years past with- out its proper representation in the United States senate.

The executive, J. E. Rickards, who had largely contributed to this result, sought to remedy this unfortunate condition of affairs by

tor of Medicine. Since that time he has been admitted to several of the leading hospitals of New York city, and has there taken observations upou special and general diseases and their treatment. Among the special diseases to which he devoted much time and great attention dur- ing these protracted visits were those which pertain to the eye and ear. In pursuing his observations and studies upon these disorders he had the advantage of the instruc- tion and skill of several noted specialists,-among them the celebrated Dr. Knapp. Dr. Leavitt is one of those physicians who not only hold that the profession of med- icine is a learned one, but that it is also a progressive one. Upon his table will be found the most approved literary, scientific and medical periodicals, and these show the significant marks of careful examination.

In the struggle between law and order and the road- agents in Montana in those trying early days the Doctor was on the side of the former, but when Plummer and several of his confederates were arrested at Bannack he took the ground that they should have a fair and open trial before being executed. Many of the vigilant com- mittee were disposed to agree with him, but their leader, who will some day, it is said, write the story himself, re- plied to his plea by unrolling a coil of rope and saying: " Boys, about how long shall we cut these ropes?" Delay and argument were then ended by action.

The Doctor has always taken a considerable interest in politics. When the late civil war commenced he was classed as a "War Democrat," but before it ended he

going through the farce of appointing Lec Mantle to succeed Mr. Sanders. It is needless to say that the senate rejected Mantle's appoint- ment, saying that Montana's exeentive had no authority to make the same. This appointment, made by Governor Rickards, was no less aston- ishing to his own friends than it was surprising to the friends of the appointee.

Mr. Dixon, the leader in the Democratic party, and Mr. E. D. Matts, who led the faction that defeated Mr. Clark, in placing themselves outside the pale of party caucus and usage, thereby bringing defeat to their party, have relegated themselves to complete obscurity in their party. In the case of Mr. Matts his con- demnation was emphasized in the election of November, 1894, when he was a candidate for the legislature in a largely Democratic district, and was badly defeated. His " Voice" will no longer be heard in the councils of the Democracy.

found himself fully in accord with the Republican party. Owing to his recognized popularity that party, in Mon- tana, gave him its nomination iu 1876 for Delegate to Congress. At that time the Democrats had quite a ma- jority in the Territory. Ile made no canvass for the position. It is just, however, to say that the usual Dem- ocratie majority in the Territory was considerably lessened that year, in spite of the fact that it was the year of the Presidential election, when partisan lines were most strictly drawn. Beaver Head county, although usually Democratic, gave him a fair majority, and Bannack, where he lived, honored him with more than two-thirds of its vote, although it was usually strongly Democratic, -a fitting tribute by those who knew him best to his in- dividual worth.

In 1881 he was married to Miss Annie Thralkeld, an accomplished and most agreeable young lady, a native of Kentucky. To them have been born three children, two sons and a daughter. The daughter, Frances Mary, alone remains to make glad their household.

In 1884 the growing importance of the city of Butte and its promise of soon becoming the commercial and mining metropolis of Montana induced him to move to that place, where he now resides, an honored citizen and and a successful practitioner.

He is by nature a genial and agreeable gentleman courteous in his personal and professional relations and regardful of the opinions of others, thongh perhaps with- holding his assent: he "takes each man's counsel, but

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CHAPTER XXXIII.

A SAMPLE MONTANA CITY-IN THE COW COUNTIES-CATTLE-HORSES-SHEEP-SCHOOLHOUSES. CHURCHES-PEACE, PLENTY AND UNIVERSAL PROGRESS.

T IS refreshing to get down out of the fever and fluctuations of the gold and silver and copper mines of Montana, to descend from the head to the heart, as it were. As a few of the leading mines and mining camps in the mountains must represent the story, the struggles and the triumphs of a hundred others which may be called the head, so a few of the pastoral and agricultural centers must speak for the valleys, the heart. It is pleasant, too, to forget the wars. I take first the town or city of Billings, in Yellowstone, a part of Custer county. Yet right here and over across the Yellowstone river you see the saber crossing the saber on all the maps. Here is the "Sturgis battle ground;" there, across the Yellowstone, is the "Baker battle-ground," of 1872; up yonder in the mountains the "Custer battle- ground," of the fatal and never-to-be-forgotten June 26, 1876; a little further on, the " Crook battle-ground," of the same month and year;

reserves his judgment." He is guided in the matter of professional ethics not alone by the rules laid down in the printed code, but by the unwritten and fundamental principles of good breeding,-by what the highest cour- tesy and the most humane impulses require. He is noted for his liberality of views toward other members of the profession and is very popular with them, and they, with commendable cordiality and unanimity, not long since crowned his years of practice with professional honors by electing him to the position of president of the Med- ical Association of the State, immediately upon its organ- ization. He has been also president of the Board of Medical Examiners, of which he is still a member.

His name will be most kindly recalled not only in the towns and villages and mining camps in the section of the State where he so long lived, but by many dwelling

"Sibley's fight," "Massacre Hollow," "Fort Phil Kearney," "Fort Reno," forts all along here, np and down and right and left and away across the mountains into Wyoming.

But let ns get back. Billings is young, rich beautiful, and heir apparent to untold millions. She was founded early in 1882, has 2,000 in- habitants and is half way between Portland and St. Paul. She is 240 miles from the State capital. Her two banks are in all ways solid The place looks ten times its age, if you take stately buildings as a criterion. It is possessed mainly by people from the maple regions of the north, and it is shaded by these autumnal chariots of fire. It is a city of schoolhouses and churches.

I have before me a newspaper, the Billings Gazette, published in Billings, Montana, July, 1894. It contains only fifty pages. I propose to clip the substance of several of its articles on stock-raising and agriculture.

in isolated farm houses, situated on some distant mount- ain stream or in some lonely mountain gorge, and this by reason of his prompt attention and his words of cheer and his skillful ministrations in the hour of distress and sickness. The " Old Timers" will always point to him with warmth and pride as their ideal pioneer doctor.

PATRICK J. HAMILTON, one of the earliest settlers of Butte City, and an enterprising business man in this bustling city, was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1834, of Irish parents and ancestry. He was educated in his native country, and in 1854, when twenty years of age, he emigrated to the land of broader opportunities to make his own way in the world.

Arriving at New Orleans without money, he began his life struggle digging ditches in the swamp, in that sultry and malarious country, and at length contracted fever;

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HISTORY OF MONTANA.

" Since the early '60s cattle have been ranged on the rolling prairies, broken lands and moun- tains of Montana, but with the disappearance of the buffalo the range-cattle industry attained its great proportions in eastern Montana. From 200,000 head of stock cattle ranging out-doors in 1877 the number has increased year by year until in 1893 the State auditor's books fall not far short of 1,000,000 head. The cow counties are Custer, Fergus, Dawson, Choteau and Yel- lowstone, these five counties holding within their lines as many or more than the balance of the State combined. Particularly in the conn- ties mentioned was the raising of cattle on the range conducted in the truly Western mode. Supply stations or ranches were built on some living stream, enough of hay put up to feed the saddle horses of the foreman or range manager, and the brand and range recorded. Thousands of Texas cattle were driven over the trail in those early days under contract, brand- ed and turned loose on the range, perhaps never seen again until the spring round-up.

" Double-wintered Montana Texans com- manded a fancy price in 1882-3-4, as much as 86.25 per hundred being paid for these fat, grass steers on the hoof at Chicago during

and but for the kind offices of the Sisters of Charity he would have died. The following year, after he had fully recovered, he went to St. Louis, Missouri, where he was employed at the depot of the North Missouri Railroad. After working there a season he determined to break away from civilization, by going to the headwaters of the Missouri river. On his way he was in Kansas, at Le- compton and Lawrence, and at length reached Omaha, Nebraska, where he met Judge Clancy, and engaged in work for him in his brick-yard, at $30 per mouth. He received his pay for the first month, but for the second the Judge said he had no money, but would give a cor- ner lot or the two inside ones for the wages, saying they would be worth $5,000 a lot inside of five years. He also desired Mr. Hamilton to take up 360 acres of land near by on a hill, saying that the capital of Nebraska would be there! and also that the great transcontinental railroad would pass that point, and in a short time the land would be worth $10,000. At that time several other places

these years. Sections of the State which at one time were the favorite grazing ground of the cattle king are now given over to the shep- herds and farmers. * *

"A number of wealthy cattlemen reside in Billings, which they make their headquarters, and from here issue instructions to their re- spective range foremen. Stock yards of ample dimensions are built along the railroad right of way a mile east of Billings, from which the fall shipment of beef cattle for Chicago can be easily handled. Supplies for the large outfits of this eastern country are usually purchased in Billings, and the custom of the cow ranches has always been eagerly sought after. The returns from marketing the beef steers are had in the early fall, supplementing the returns from the wool men. These several industries are cited as parts of the fabric, making Billings prosper- ous and showing why it must grow.

" In latter years the cowmen have fenced claims on the water courses, securing where possible an open range, but invariably running a granger ranch along with the cattle and cut- ting down expenses. Cattle are known by the brand they carry and every cowboy knows the location and owner of the ranch.

claimed the same, and Mr. Hamilton, by not following the Judge's advice, lost one of the finest opportunities of his life.

After this he worked on the Presbyterian mission on the Blackford Hills for a year, completing the work, then returned to Omaha and found the truth of the Judge's prophecy. Next he went to Decatur, Nebraska, took 160 acres of land adjoining the town site; soon afterward he was offered$3,000 in cash for it, but he held on to it, and in 1857 the crash came and he could not sell it for a dol- lar! IIe had taken his oath of citizenship in Iowa, but when he filed on his land he had not obtained his full papers, aud he was beaten out of his claim. He then worked at swamp-land ditching, making $10 a day; and as the scrip with which he was paid was worth only half its face he took 160 acres of swamp land for it, and also bought two lots in the flourishing town of Onawa, and nine lots in Decatur, Nebraska.

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An illustrated history of the state of Montana, containing biographical mention of its pioneers and prominent citizens, Part 123

Author: Miller, Joaquin, 1837-1913. cn Publication date: 1894 Publisher: Chicago, The Lewis pub. co. Number of Pages: 1216

Author: Miller, Joaquin, 1837-1913. cn
Publication date: 1894
Publisher: Chicago, The Lewis pub. co.
Number of Pages: 1216