An illustrated history of the state of Montana, containing biographical mention of its pioneers and prominent citizens, Part 140

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 140

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John II,, their third child, spent his young life in Ohio and Michigan, attending school in Detroit. In 1859 he went to Colorado, where he sold goods until 1864, at

Deer Creek north, to Cone Butte and east to Fort Maginnis. In all this vast area, in every valley, on every mountain side, from base to summit, and every foothill, we find shaft and tunnel in upon veins of ore which everywhere intersect these mountains.

There are three classes of veins in these mountains: contact veins between the limestone and porphyry, or igneous rocks; crevice veins, cutting the highest ridges and the lowest valleys; and blanket veins, lying between the rock strata and on the surface of the strata. So far the con-

which time he came to Virginia City, Montana, and en- gaged in the live-stock business. In 1867 he went to Sil- ver City and opened a miners' supply store, and for seven year supplied the miners at that prosperous camp with their merchandise. Next he removed to Helena, three years afterward to Rock Creek, near Prickly Pear canon, and in the latter place he followed the business of raising cattle for three years. In August, 1880, he came to Fort Benton, purchased ground and built his present residence and became more extensively engaged in the stock busi- ness than ever, pastnring his stock on the Shankland tract, where he has a large, free range and he has had as many as 40,000 head of cattle at one time. As he has been prospered in his business he has invested in real es- tate in Fort Benton. He has erected several houses and business blocks in the city. He was one of the organiz- ers of the Stockmen's National Bank, at Fort Benton, and is one of its directors. Mr. Green is thus a gentleman of upright, honorable character, has made a success of life in Montana, and has acquired the reputation of being one of Fort Benton's most wealthy and valuable citizens. In politics he is independent.

He was married June 28, 1863, to Miss Isabella Mor- row, who was born in Canada, October 10, 1847, a danghter of Markham Morrow, a Montana pioneer of 1863. Mr. and Mrs. Green have had six children. Two have died,- little Genette in her fifth year, and Eben Ward at the age of three years. The surviving children are Charles, Wal- ter M., William J. and Frances E.

E. H. GAGNON, an architect, contractor and bnilder of Billings, was born in Maurice county, Canada, in 1854, a son of Mitchel and Marguerite (Revard) Gagnon, of French descent.

Our subject resided in Canada until seventeen years of age, and received a liberal education in the graded schools. After completing his education he learned the cabinet maker's trade, afterward followed carpentering and is also an expert architect. He has drawn plans for many of the best buildings in and around Billings. Mr. Gagnon began contracting at the age of twenty-three years, after which he spent six years at the Black Hills, one year of that time having been devoted to placer min-

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tact veins have been most developed and have shown vast quantities of ores in deposits some- what irregular, as might be expected. The crevice veins have not appeared so large and have not been so much worked. Of the blanket veins but little is as yet known: those seen have not been much developed.

The ores of this mining region are very vari- able in both the characters and quantities of the metals they carry. We find regular quartz car- rying gold and silver, good milling ores. We also find soft material like mud, rich in gold,

ing. He is in the strictest sense one of the fathers of Billings, as he began with its birth in 1882, and has been a prime factor in its improvement ever since. The most important feature of a town is its buildings, and Mr. Gagnon has performed his part well in constructing resi- dences and business houses for the citizens of Billings. He owns a fine brick residence and valuable real estate in the city, manufactures large quantities of brick, and owns a ranch of 229 acres of land on the Yellowstone river, three and a half miles from Billings. In political matters, Mr. Gagnon has cast his vote with the Demo- cratic party during former years, but is now undecided as to what party will best represent his principles. He is a favorite with all who know him, temperate in his habits, and liberal in his views.

DR. I M. ROCKEFELLER, of Anaconda, is one of the repu- table members of the medical profession of Montana.

He is a native of the State of Pennsylvania, born No- vember 6, 1842. His people were early residents of New Jersey, his grandfather, William Rockefeller, having been born there. William Rockefeller had five children, four sons and a daughter, and he lived to be seventy-six years of age. One of these sons, Godfrey Rockefeller, the Doctor's father, was born in Pennsylvania in 1821. He and his wife, nee Mary Ann Neice, had two sons and two daughters. IIe continued to reside in Pennsylvania all his life, and died in the seventy-third year of his age. Hlis widow is still living, now at the age of sixty-eight years.

Irvin M. is the oldest of their children. He was edu- cated in the public schools of Elysburg, Pennsylvania, re- sided on his father's farm until he attained manhood, and was reading medicine in the office of Dr. Joseph Rob- bins when the Civil war began; and in 1862, when it be- came evident that the war was to be a great one and the country needed her loyal sons to defend her, he enlisted in Company C, One Hundred and Thirty-first Pennsylva- nia Volunteer Infantry. He served in the Army of the Potomac and fought at Antietam, Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, after which, his term of enlistment hav- ing expired, he received an honorable discharge and re-

sometimes silver. Galena and carbonate of lead, copper pyrites and carbonates of copper, carry- ing silver and gold, are abundant. There are also various ores of iron and manganese rich in the precious metals. These lead, iron and inan- ganese ores will be valuable as fluxing ores for those more refractory. All the mines and bright prospects in and around Maiden in the Judith mountains would make a very long list as they appear in my notes; but we can give only some of the districts, with a general idea of the valne of their mines.

sumed the study of medicine, graduating in the Jeffer- son Medical College, Philadelphia, in the spring of 1865. He then served as assistant surgeon in the regular army one year. At the end of that time be settled down to the practice of his profession at New Columbia, Pennsylvania, where he did a successful practice until 1888, when he decided to make his home in the mountains of Montana, and came to Anaconda. Here he has since been a suc- cessful practitioner. Upon coming to Anaconda, he formed the partnership with Dr. Leisler, his brother-in- law, which has since continued with marked success.

Dr. Rockefeller was married, in 1871, to Miss Harriet Leiser, a native of Pennsylvania and a daughter of Mr. Jacob Leiser, of that State. She is the sister of Dr. Lei- ser, of Helena, and also of Dr. Leiser, of Anaconda. Dr. and Mrs. Rockefeller have one child, Howard, a graduate of the department of pharmacy, in the Northwestern University, of Chicago.

Dr. Rockefeller is a member of the G. A. R., and in pol- ities is a Republican. He is a skillful physician, and a citizen of the highest integrity of character.

E. S. HOLMES, agent for the Northern Pacific Express Company at Billings, was born in New York, in 1843, a son of Sylvanus and Mary (Stone) Holmes. The maternal ancestry are of German descent, and were among the early settlers of New York. When our subject was quite young his parents moved to Pennsylvania, where his father served as Circuit Judge and United States Marshal for many years. The son was well qualified for public position had he settled his mind in that direction, being of strong, vigorous physique as well as large men- tal capacity.

He became ambitious to move westward, but, when the disruption of the Union was threatened, his patriot- ism overcame pleasure, and accordingly, in 1864, he en- listed in the One Hundred and Ninety-ninth Pennsylva- nia Volunteer Infantry, Company H. IIle filled the im- portant as well as hazardous position of Color Sergeant. At the close of the struggle Mr. Holmes was discharged at Richmond, Virginia, and returned to Pennsylvania. Again the Western fever beset him, and in the spring of

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Maiden has the Spotted Horse and many other good mines. Cave Butte, six miles north- east of Maiden, has a large number of good dis- coveries in the porphyry, limestones and slates of the district. Near Fort Maginnis are the St. Paul, Crescent, Judith and others. On Red mountain we saw the Northern Pacific, Silver Reef and Tom Paine. On Sheep Mountain is the Big Four. The Occident is six miles south- west of Maiden. On Deer creek are the Iron Duke, Elk Horn and Big Horn. There are a

1867 he arrived in St. Paul, Minnesota, where he had op- portunities to invest a small sum, which long before this would have yielded millions of dollars by increase in value, but, like many others, he treated the offer with disdain. Mr. Holmes worked for wages in the construc- tion of the St. Paul & Mississippi railroad, afterward en- gaged in business at Fergus Falls, was employed for a time as express messenger on the Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad, and held the same position on the Northern Pacific Railroad prior to accepting the local agency at Billings, assuming the duties of the latter office in 1884. Mr. Holmes is liked by all who know him, and has had a wide experience in frontier life.

He was married in 1868, to Miss Lizzie Walrath, a native of Illinois, and they have one son, Robbie. Mr. Holmes has filled the chair of Noble Grand in Star Lodge, No. 41, I. O. O. F., and is also a member of the A. O. U. W. He was reared under the influences of the Congre- gational Church. In political matters, he acts with the Republican party.

WILLIAM W. MOORE, a prominent furniture dealer of Billings, was born in Washington county, Ohio, in 1860, a son of Sampson and Margaret (Wilson) Moore. The father, a farmer by occupation, moved with his family to Iowa when our subject was eighteen months old, where the latter grew to manhood on a farm, and received a good education at Oskaloosa College. After attaining his majority be engaged in farming in Iowa, but afterward embarked in agricultural pursuits and stock-raising in Kansas, raising principally horses, of which he is an ex- cellent judge. In December, 1891, Mr. Moore brought a number of fine driving horses to Billings, and immediate- ly opened a livery stable. In the following year he sold his stock and purchased a herd of sheep, which he also soon afterward sold at a handsome profit. In June, 1893, lie embarked in the furniture business in this city, and in this line he enjoys a large and lucrative trade, and has a well filled store.

Mr. Moore was married, in 1880, to Della Cummings, a daughter of William Cummings, formerly a prominent farmer of Indiana. In political matters our subject is a stanch Republican.

million feet of good pine lumber and a good stream of water on these claims. Silver Wing is on Crystal mountain. Large bodies of iron ore, limonite, were observed in Arnell Gulch and in other localities.

Limestone is found in all parts of this region; so there will be no lack of fluxes and flnxing ores for the furnaces which shall pour out the precious bullion contained in these hundred mines. Placers have been discovered and work- ed with greater or less success in various

HON. FRANK H. WOODY, of Missoula, may justly claim to be one of Montana's pioneers. Coming to what now is Montana, in October, 1856, when the western portion of Moutana was a portion of Washington Territory, he has resided in the country ever since, and nearly all of the time in Missoula county, thus giving him a residence in Montana of thirty-eight years. During those thirty-eight years he has, without removing, been an inhabitant of three Territories and one State. The western portion of Montana was, in 1856, Washington Territory, then Idaho, then Montana Territory, and finally the State of Montana.

Mr. Woody was born in Chatham county, North Caro- lina, on December 10, 1833, and upon bis paternal side was of Quaker descent, and upon his maternal side of good old Revolutionary stock. His early life was that of a farmer, with only very limited educational advantages. At the age of eighteen he entered New Garden Boarding School (now Guilford College), a Quaker institution of learning near Greensboro, North Carolina. After remain- ing at this institution one year, he left and went to the eastern portion of the State and secured a position as a teacher in the public schools of that State, and taught for six months, and then removed to Indiana, and attended another Quaker school during the summer of 1853, and was then engaged in teaching in the public schools of that State until April, 1855, when, catching the Western fever, he removed to Kansas; but, not being satisfied with that country, and still eager to see more of the great West, he joined a merchant train bound for Great Salt Lake, and remained with the train until it arrived at a point west of old Fort Laramie. Ile afterward traveled with an emigrant train bound for Shoalwater bay, in the Territory of Washington, and remained with it until it reached Independence Rock, a once noted point on the Sweetwater river, near the South Pass. At this point, becoming sick, he was forced to remain several days and eventually fell in with a party of Mormons bound for Salt Lake, and went with them to that place, reaching there on the 15th of August, 1855. Being still feeble and desti- tute of means, he was compelled to remain in Utah until the fall of 1856, when he joined a party of traders coming to the "Flathead country" (now Missoula and Ravalli

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gulches of the Judith mountains. Water, an absolute necessity in all mining operations, gushes ont in fountains on every mountain side and flows in never failing streams down every ravine and valley to supply the waters of Judith river, and Dog, Deer, Arnels, Box Elder and McDonald creeks. These fountains and streams were full and flowing in the summer and fall of 1889, the dryest season ever known to the oldest pioneers in Fergus county. The forests of pine, fur and spruce cover all these moun-

counties) to trade with the Indians, and about the middle of October arrived on the Hell Gate river, near where the town of Missoula now stands.

From that time to February, 1866, he followed different pursuits, and was engaged in freighting, mining and mer- chandising, and on the date last named he was, by the Board of County Commissioners of Missoula county, ap- pointed County Clerk and Recorder of Missoula county which office he held until the next election, when he was elected to the same office, and held it continuously, by re- election, until the fall of 1880, when he declined to again become a candidate. During a portion of this time he also filled the office of Probate Judge of said county, that office having been consolidated with that of County Clerk and Recorder. Also, during eight years of this time he filled the office of Deputy Clerk of the Second Judicial District Court for Missoula county. During the time he was acting as Deputy Clerk of the District Court he com- menced the study of law, and, having completed his course, was, in January, 1877, by the Supreme Court of Montana, admitted to practice, and immediately entered upon the active practice of his profession, and soon built up an extensive clientage, and took rank as one of the leading lawyers in western Montana. In 1869 he was elected a member of the Legislative Council for the coun- ties of Missoula and Deer Lodge, but, there being a ques- tion as to the legality of the session of the Legislature fol- lowing, he did not attend.

In 1892 he received the nomination of the Democratic party of Missonla county as its candidate for the office of District Judge for the Fourth Judicial District, and was elected by a handsome plurality over his two competitors, and is at this time Judge of said district, which is com- posed of the counties of Missoula and Ravalli.

In 1871 Mr. Woody was married, at Missoula, to Miss Lizzie Countryman, daughter of Horace and Elizabeth Countryman. Mrs. Woody is a Californian by birth. There are now living, as the issue of this marriage, one son and three daugbiers, named respectively Frank, Allie M., Flora P. and Thomasine E. Woody.

During his long residence in Montana Mr. Woody has ever been active in all public affairs, and has left his im- print upon much of the history of our young State.

tains and will furnish timber in abundance for all mining purposes, and fuel where wood is better than coal.

But nature has laid up in mineral coal, stores of fuel all around Maiden far in excess of that in all the forests of the State, and sufficient for the supply of all the future wants for domestic and mining purposes.

The twenty-stamp mill at the Spotted Horse is the only mill now running at Maiden. The large amounts of bullion worked out by this

C. B. HART, a farmer of the Bitter Root valley, located one mile south of Hamilton, was born in Tompkins county, New York, September 8, 1843. He is of English and German ancestry, who located in the Colonies prior to the Revolutionary war. His father, John H. Hart, was born on Long Island in 1816, and was married to Miss Abigail Smith, also a native of New York. In 1844 they located in Berrien county, Michigan, where he cleared a farm of 160 acres, but in 1866 he sold that land and re- moved to Kansas. He also improved a farm in that State, and his death occurred there at the age of seventy-two years. His wife is still living, aged seventy-six years. Their family consisted of two sons and a daughter, two of whom are now living.

C. B. Hart, the oldest child in order of birth, received his education in the Albion College, Michigan. After reaching years of maturity he came to Montana, where he engaged in freighting in the Bitter Root valley, and also followed mining at Virginia City and Blackfoot. Since 1883 he has resided at his present location, and gives his attention to the raising of grain, hay and stock. Mr. Hart also condnets a large dairy.

April 3, 1883, he was united in marriage to Mrs. Mary S. Elliott, widow of L. C. Elliott, a worthy and brave Montana pioneer of 1863, who was killed by the Indians in the Big Hole battle, August 29, 1877. Mr. and Mrs. Elliott had two children,-Lucy and Louise. Our sub- jeet and wife have one daughter, Clara Julia, and the three girls are all at home. Mr. and Mrs. Hart are mem- bers of the Presbyterian Church, and the former affili- ates with the Democratic party.

JOHN L. DULIN, who has been prominently connected with the hotel interests of Billings and with the Northern Pacific Railroad, was born in Illinois, March 5, 1852, a son of George and Clarissa Ann (Slattery) Dulin. The maternal ancestry is of Irish descent. His father was a shoemaker by trade, and his uncle was in the Anderson- ville prison during the war. IIe was liberated, but died before reaching home.

John L., our subject, moved with his parents to Iowa in 1855, where he grew to years of maturity. In 1879 he came to Montana, and for a time was engaged in hunting buffaloes, then a profitable business. In 1887 he was em-

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inill and brought to the Helena market from time to time, have been the cheering events in these dull times. The regular appearance of Provard and his load of yellow bullion have kept up the hopes of our mining men.

Maiden needs a railroad to make it one of the most productive mining camps in the State.

GRANITE COUNTY.

The Granite mine with all its products, good management and care for its workmen, has mnade Granite a paradise for good miners. This

ployed as track foreman for the Northern Pacific Rail- road, continuing in that capacity until 1891, after which he conducted the Cleveland House, until recently. After selling the hotel, Mr. Dulin invested the proceeds in real estate in Billings, is also an interested partner in a valt- able coal mine on the railroad between Billings and Red Lodge, and has been largely interested in live stock.

Mr. Dulin was married November 24, 1887, to Anna C. Myers, a daughter of Jacob and Mary Myers, of Iowa. The father was a farmer, merchant, superintendent of smelting works, and at one time held an interest in the Cambria Iron Works. Mr. and Mrs. Dulin have three children,-Jacob L., Harry R. and Catherine. In his social relations, our subject is an active member of the Brotherhood of Section Foremen; religiously, he belongs to the Methodist Church; and politically he was formerly a Democrat, but is now independent.

FRED H. FOSTER, Mayor of Billings, was born in Min- neapolis. Minnesota, in 1856, a son of Robert and Lueinda (Mc Millan) Foster. The father was a merchant by occu- pation. Fred received his education in the University of Minnesota, and afterward read law with a view of making it his profession. Owing to poor health he decided to travel westward, and accordingly, in 1879, came to Mon- tana with the advance of the Northern Pacitic railroad, as a member of the engineer corps. He followed civil engineering, and also did considerable work for the com- pany in their extensive improvement at Spokane, Wash- ington. Mr. Foster located in Billings, then the old town of Colson, in 1881, and, although a young man, may ap- propriately be termed one of the fathers of the city. In 1881 he engaged with P. W. McAdow in a mercantile business, but two years afterward, in company with Messrs. Babcock, McCormick and others, he embarked in real estate transactions in Billings. They own valua- ble land near Billings, which is destined to become a part of the city in the near future. Mr. Foster is a man full of hopeful enterprise and confidence in the ultimate prosperity and growth of his town, for which he has spent large sums of money, is a prudent and conservative Mayor, and is persevering in his efforts to improve the morals of the little city. IIe was a member of the first Board of Commissioners that organized Yellowstone

property is founded on a large fissure vein in granite, filled with ores rich in brittle silver, ruby silver and some native silver. The amount of underground workings is very great. The map of them looks like the plat of a city. The Ruby shaft commenced 300 feet below the np- per stopes, was down some 1,200 feet at the close of last year and is expected to reach a depth of 2,000 feet in the near future.

There are three first-class mills on the prop- erty, two at the mine and one at Rumsey, con-

county, also a member of the first Board of School Trus- tees, was County Clerk and Recorder from 1889 to 1893, and was elected Mayor of Billings in the latter year. Mr. Foster was a leading member of the commission which secured the opening of the Crow Indian Reservation to white settlers in 1892, for which he spent several months in Washington and did efficient work in passing the bill through Congress. ]Ie is chairman of the Republican central committee of Yellowstone county, also a member of the Republican State central committee.

Mr. Foster was married, in 1882, to Miss Georgia, a daughter of Horace and Margaret MeLaughlin, of Park county, Montana. They have four children,-Herbert H., Clara L., Robert and Annabel. The family are Epis- copalians in their religious views.

WILLIAM H. HOUSTON, one of Missoula's prominent citizens and successful business men, was born in Logans- port, Cass county, Indiana, May 7, 1853. IIis ancestors emigrated from Ireland to this country during its early history and settled in the South, where several genera- tions of the family were born. Mr. Houston's father, Harry Houston, was born in Tennessee in 1795, he served in the war of 1812, and lived to be seventy-five years of age. He was twice married and was the father of four- teen children. His second wife, whose maiden name was Orvellia Julian, and who was a native of Kentucky and of Scotch descent, died at the age of fifty-three years. Six of this family are still living.

William H. Houston was reared principally at Logans- port. His advantages for schooling were limited, his education being that gained chiefly in the school of ex- perience. He was a mere lad when the Civil war broke out, but four of his brothers were in the Union ranks and he remembers distinctly the troubles and anxieties of those dark days. When he became old enough to do for himself he engaged in railroading, first as a brakeman on the Panhandle. Later he was on the Wabash road, and still later he was engaged in railroading in Texas, and from time to time he was promoted until he became a conductor of passenger trains, in which position he serv- ed for five years. In 1883, when the Northern Pacific was built, he came to Missoula, rented the Grand Central Hotel, and for two years was engaged in the hotel busi-

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An illustrated history of the state of Montana, containing biographical mention of its pioneers and prominent citizens, Part 140

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