An illustrated history of the state of Montana, containing biographical mention of its pioneers and prominent citizens, Part 156

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 156

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As a token of gratitude from the school children of Helena, he was the recipient of a splendid gold badge set with precious stones. During his illness the greatest solicitnde for his recovery was evineed throughout the city and State.

In 1866, when it became necessary to raise troops to protect the settlers of Montana from Indian depredations, the subject of our sketch raised three companies of vol- unteers and reported for duty, Helena being headquar- ters. Ile went to the front and remained in active ser- vice until the Indians were subdued. The following year (1867), when the Sioux and Crow Indians had killed John Bozeman, several prospectors on the lower Yellow- stone and the people of Gallatin and adjacent valleys pe- titioned the Governor for protection. In response to Gov- ernor Meagher's call, General Curtis raised two companies in Helena, known as the Curtis Squadron of Scouts,-and at the head of these remained until the campaign was over. On their march through Gallatin, the ladies of that place presented General Curtis and his squadron with an ele- gant silk Guidon, to show their appreciation of their bravery in defending the settlers' homes.

of that metal, which makes it a very desirable fluxing ore to smelt more refractory kinds.

The Mountain Chief and "88" belong to the same company and will be worked together. Four or five veins have been opened on this property. There are four shafts; the deepest is down 310 feet on the vein; and there are sev- eral tunnels which will strike the veins at vari- ous depths; the lowest now, in 600 feet, will tap the vein 2,300 feet in and 1,000 feet below the top of the main shaft. This mine has a double- track tramway down the side of the mountain, so run by a wire cable that the loaded car going down takes up the empty one. It also has a

After this, General Curtis was appointed Chief of Ord- nance on the staff of the Governor, which position he held for a number of years. He is now Brigadier General, and Inspector General of the State of Montana. He has also held the position of Aid-de-Camp to nearly all the Gov- ernors, and, in this capacity, during the administration of Governor Toole, he was detailed to proceed to the Chey- enne Agency on Lame Deer creek to investigate and re- port the canse of the trouble between the Cheyennes, the settlers and the stock-growers, for which services he was officially thanked by the Governor.

General Curtis' connection with the Fire Department of Virginia City has already been referred to. He has ever since been enthusiastic in this line of work, and to him the citizens of Helena owe much for the safety of the city from the devouring element of fire. In 1865 he organized three fire companies, consisting of 162 of the best men in the city of IFelena, and for 20 years he has been off and on Chief of the Fire Department. In 1882, in appreciation of his services in this position, he was presented with a solid-silver trumpet.

General Curtis was elected one of the Aldermen of Hel- ena in 1882, and had the honor of being chosen president of the Council. While serving in this capacity, he was ever on the alert to advance the best interest of the com- munity.

He is a member of the Board of Trade, and served as one of its executive officers. Ile has also served as a member of the Board of Health, and in every position to which he has been called he has rendered valued service to his fellow citizens, often largely to the neglect of his own private affairs. Some tokens of appreciation pre- sented to him have been already noted. He was also the recipient of a chronometer watch, which cost $500, pre- sented by the first regiment he commanded.

January 1, 1863, his Catholic friends presented him with a very fine gold watch, valued at $300. During his occupancy of the postoffice, he was presented with a hand- some gokdl-headed cane, and at another time the citizens

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smelter and a concentrator of the Fort Scott pattern and construction.

There are a number of mines on Carpenter creek, as the Uncle George and Whippoorwill, Butte, Silver Reef, Bullion, Silver King, Savage, Silver Queen, Rainbow, Colorado and Parnell, Magnolia, Snow Shoe, Liberty and Fleishburg, northeast of Neihart. Some two miles away is the Benton group of mines on Big Baldy. The Ripple, Tom Hendricks, Snow Drift, Lexington, Ontario, Cornucopia and Eureka, -- all of these have been more or less developed and appear well for the work done.

It may be proper to add that the amount of pine and red fir suitable for domestic and min-

of Butte, appreciating his services in the National Guard, presented him with an elegant gold-mounted sword, val- ued at $250. In all these mementoes he takes a pardon- able pride.

On the 10th of June, 1872, General Curtis married Miss Mary Louise Hanratty, an accomplished young lady, a native of St. Louis, Missouri, her people having resided at that place since 1819. They have had nine children, of whom six are living, as follows: William H., Mary Leonora, Charles Louis, Estella Margaret, Francis Cleve- land, and David Paul.

General Curtis has been a very active member and or- ganizer of some of the best societies of the State and na- tion-including the Pioneer Society, the National Asso- ciation of Fire Engineers, National Guard Association of America, Good Templars, Father Mathew Total Abstin- ence Society, the Irish Laud League, the Irish-American Society, the Firemen's Veteran Corps, the Catholic Knights of America, the Ancient Order of Hibernians, the Knights of Pythias, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks,-of nearly all of which he has been Presi- dent, and of the last named he is a Past Exalted Ruler, and is now District Deputy Grand Ruler of Montana. IIe also belongs to several social clubs.

General Curtis has saved eight human lives during his eventful career. Many anecdotes are told of his bravery and intrepidity.

In the Yellowstone and Northwestern Wyoming Expe- dition of 1873, of which he was master of transportation, he saved two men from being drowned. In this exploit he broke his wrist and one of the bones of his right hand. "For his untiring euergy and enthusiastic devotion to duty" he was highly complimented by Major Wm. A. Jones, Corps of Engineers, United States Army, who had charge of the expedition. His last perilous exploit was in company with Deputy United States Marshal Sam Jackson, when they ran down, fought and captured the

ing purposes and good water is ample to supply all demands; and there are vast quantities of good coal at Belt and Sand Coulee and Otter Creek, on the railroad to this favored mining camp.

The Barker Mining District is located in the northeast spurs of the Little Belt mountains, and the Barker mine was the first discovery made in it, in 1879. Since then more than 500 claims have been located and many of them have been patented. This district includes a wide area of mountains and valleys covered with dense forests and watered with numerous never failing streams. In riding over this favored re- gion and seeing the thousand prospect holes,

desperado Charley Jones' gang, who robbed the North- ern Pacific express and passenger train on the Yellow- stone river in August, 1893.

General Curtis is fond of the society of ladies and chil- dren, has a passion for flowers and music, and is gener- ous and charitable to a fault, a genial companion, true friend, and he deserves the esteem and confidence in which he is held by his fellow citizens of Montana.

HON. A. J. DAVIDSON, the second son of Samuel M. Davidson and America Ann, nee Billups, his wife, was born in Franklin county, Missouri, on the 13th day of Au- gust, 1843; was educated at the common schools of his native State; and in 1863 drove an ox team across the plains to Montana, coming most of the journey on foot. Ile and his party were about three months on the road, their destination being Virginia City, which place was reached in safety in November of that year.

His first work in Montana was cutting logs in the mountains, with which some of the first houses in Vir- ginia City were built. A little later he engaged in placer mining, and was thus occupied in the winter of 1863-4. He then opened a miners' supply store, which he con- ducted until the spring of 1865. At that time he came to Last Chance and mined in Gr.zzly Gulch until fall, when he went to Ophir Gulch. From the latter place he went to IIelena and secured a place in the grocery house of J. H. Kinsel, where he remained a year; then he went to Diamond City and took charge of the grocery house of Gay, Lewis & Company, remaining there during the sum- mer of 1867. The following year he formed a partnership with George B. Mann and opened a grocery store on Main street, Helena, where he was engaged in a success- ful business for a number of years, and finally disposed of his business to his partner. Then he turned his attention to the purchase of hides and wool, in which he has since continued, handling large quantities of both. In 1876 he purchased the harness and saddlery business of W. C. Lo-

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shafts and tunnels one cannot fail to be im- pressed with the vast amount of work which has been done by the miners of Barker during the last ten years. The rocks containing these mines are granites, syenities, prophyries, lime- stones and variegated argillaceous shales. The mines are in crevice veins, contact veins, veins of segregation and blanket veins, which are so unmerons that prospectors have found but little difficulty in discovering new prospects every year since the first was opened. These veins are filled with ores of iron, manganese, copper and lead, all of which carry gold or silver or both. The most of them are smelting ores, which have enoughi lead, iron and manganese to

benstein; in this business he met with success, and soon afterward not only enlarged it but also added to it a stock of carriages and wagons. In 1883 he was burned out, and subsequently he opened up a stock of farming imple- ments, and has since been doing a wholesale business. Mr. Davidson has also been interested in numerous other business enterprises in Helena and elsewhere in this State.

On December 3, 1889, the firm of A. J. Davidson & Company was organized, it being a stock company com- posed of several of the best men in the State, and of this organization Mr. Davidson is president and manager. They have branch houses in Butte City and Bozeman, where they handle a large amount of grain and produce, as well as doing an extensive business in this line at Hel- ena. Mr. Davidson has also invested largely in mines and in city real estate. IIe was one of the organizers of the Merchants' National Bank, and is its vice-president; he is also vice-president of the ITelena Consolidated Wa- ter Company. To the live-stock business he has given considerable attention, and in this industry has invested largely, being the president of no less than three com- panies, namely: Chotean Live Stock Company, which owns between 6,000 and 8,000 head of cattle; Moccasin Live Stock Company, owners of 7,000 acres of land and 7,000 head of sheep; and the Davidson & Parker Live Stock Company. Besides these he is a stockholder in various other enterprises, indeed he is one of the most enterprising business men of Helena.

April 5, 1874, he married Miss Sallie Davenport, a na- tive of Liberty, Clay county, Missouri, and a daughter of Major William Davenport, now of Helena. They have had three children, two daughters, Olive and Elizabeth (deceased), and one son, William Parberry.

Mr. Davidson's political affiliations have always been with the Democratic party. While he has never songht or desired office, he has on several occasions accepted

make them good fluxes to work with more re- fractory kinds. Many of the prospects in Barker have been so developed as to prove them per- manent and valuable mines; others show such large bodies of rich ores as to invite liberal investments, and hundreds of others show pros- pects bright enough to induce further develop- mient.

The Silver Bell and the Wright and Edwards have been worked more than any other mines in the district. The Silver Bell was closed six or seven years. Large quantities of ore have been taken out of it and run in the Barker smelter, and the mine has a good reputation with the miners at Barker. It has the reputa-

prominent positions, the duties of which he always per- formed with the strictest fidelity to his party. He served with Hon. Martin Maginnis as one of the two represent- ative Democrats from Montana in the national convention of 1888, which nominated Mr. Cleveland for the presi- dency. In 1888 he was chosen chairman of the Demo- cratic State Central Committee. In the Democratic Na- tional Convention of 1892, which for the third time nom- inated Mr. Cleveland, he was chosen as the member of the Democratic National Committee for the State of Mon- tana. In November, 1892, he was elected a member of the Third Legislative Assembly, but, before taking his seat, was stricken with rheumatism, which confined him to his bed. However, although unable to walk to the legislative halls, he insisted upon being carried to the joint sessions of that body, and every day during that session, reclining in a chair, had his vote recorded for his true friend and noble Democrat, W. A. Clark. Although Mr. Davidson's friends asked the Republican members of this body for a pair in order that he might be carried to a warmer climate, where recovery was certain, with a heartlessness unparalleled in political annals a pair was refused! The handful of Democratic traitors who pre- vented the election of Mr. Clark to the Senate hoped in vain when they desired that Mr. Davidson should be ah- sent from the joint sessions of the Legislature. By his noble and disinterested stand in this life struggle of Montana's Democracy for the right, he has endeared himself to every true lover of Democratic principles in this State.

Mr. Davidson is one of the prominent Masons of the State, having held many offices of trust and honor in the fraternity, to the entire satisfaction of that ancient craft. ITe was elected Grand Master of the Grand Lodge, A. F. & A. M., of Montana, in 1882, and in 1890 was elected Grand Commander of the Grand Commandery, K. T., of Montana. Mr. Davidson is also a thirty-second-degree

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tion of yielding an average of twenty-one ounces of silver per ton and fifty per cent of lead. From eight to ten thousand tons were smelted. The Wright and Edwards mine, in Dream Gulch, has been worked by shaft and tunnel. It sup- plied the furnace with some seven or eight hun dred tons per month for more than a year. The vein is in granite and porphyry, and the ore at the surface was oxide of iron and carbonates and sulphurets of lead, carrying gold and silver; but deeper down the ores were iron pyrites, galena and blende. These ores yielded in the furnace about forty ounces of silver, besides the gold and a large per cent of lead.

Mason and a member of the Mystic Shrine, having been one of the charter members of the Montana branch.

JOHN C'APLICE, dealer in general merchandise, Butte, Montana, is a native of county Tipperary, Ireland, born early in 1830, and is a son of Thomas and Mary Augusta Mulcahy, natives of the Emerald Isle. Three children were born to them,-John, M. S. and Alice, of whom our subject was the eldest. The parents both departed this life before the children had passed from childhood's es- tate, the father dying when John was a lad of ten years and the mother some four years later. Orphaned thus early the children were taken in charge by their maternal grandparents, John and Catherine Mulcahy.

At the age of about eighteen years John emigrated to the United States, first locating near Philadelphia, where for a year and a half he was employed on a farm. Hear- ing of the boundless West and the extraordinary advant- ages it possessed, he set out in 1854 for this promised land in quest of fortune, being ticketed to St. Louis. While en route, at Oswego, Kendall county, Illinois, the fine scene of western prairies presented to him at that point, together with encouragement from a resident with whom he had formed an acquaintanceship, caused him to leave the train with a determination to here cast his lot. Full of the vigor of youth and of undaunted spirit, he put in a crop, which did not yield the desired returns, and being attacked with chills and fever, he sacrificed the product of his year's work, " pulled stakes " and went to Newton, Iowa, where he operated a coal bank for one year. In 1857 he went to Sioux City, then a primative town of four hundred whites and Indians. Great finan- cial depression existed at that time, owing to the memor- able panic of that year, and, again sacrificing, he went to St. Louis, Missouri, and subsequently to St. Joseph. At this point he fitted out in the freighting business to Col- orado, in which line he was actively engaged for a little more than two years. This business at that time was

The Pride of the West is another well devel- oped mine, which shows good mining and large quantities of ore. Some ten tons were shipped to Wicks, which yielded 887 per ton. Thirteen sacks, sampled at Great Falls, gave 220 ounces of silver and some gold.

The Moulton and Tiger have a hard black cre of the oxides of iron and manganese mixed, which is very rich in places. These mines are on Galena creek. From some other mines they are taking out and shipping ores to Great Falls and other places. The May and Edna mines, in the Barker District, are improving, as depth is obtained, beyond the expectation of their

fraught with dangers and hardships innumerable, and longing for a business with wider scope and correspond- ing profits, he set out in 1863 for Montana, which was just then coming into prominence as a Mecca of fabu- lous mining wealth. Locating in Alder Gulch, now Madison county, in partnership with Major Renan, now deceased, and Ed Cardwell, at present of Jefferson county, he engaged in mining and merchandising, con- tinning until 1866. The venture was successful, but in- vestments turning out badly, losses were heavy. Other- fields promising better, he went to Helena to prospect that field and located a number of paying finds.

In the meantime he had established stores in the min- ing camps of Emmettsburg, Mcclellan and Lincoln, Deer Lodge county. In this connection it may be men- tioned that merchandising in the West at that time was carried on under conditions peculiar to regions inacces- sable by railroads. Freights were enormously high. It cost $11 per hundred pounds from the jobbing house to the terminus of the railroad, and then from 400 to 600 miles must be covered by pack-train transportation, by which it cost $10 per hundred pounds in addition. Sell- ing for cash was out of the question. Large bills were sold to men who had not yet seen the "color " of their finds. Their expectations were often not realized and loss to the dealer resulted. Remoteness from the centers of trade necessitated purchasing in large quantities and of every conceivable thing that entered into the wants of the people. Camps were pitched in a locality where paying " color " had been found, and immediately the merchant was on hand with his goods to supply the hardy miners. Thus the business of the firm was scat- tered over a large area of country, and in addition to the places already enumerated the firms in which Mr. Caplice was interested had branches in Cedar Creek, Phillips- burg and New Chicago. The aggregate of their busi- ness often reached half a million dollars or more per an- num. In 1877 they established a store in Missoula.

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owners. Wilson, Northern & Company are ex- tracting fine galena and carbonate ores, and are now taking out about three tons per day in pros- pecting their claim, the Wyandotte.

I may add, in forming a just idea of the numerous mines and prospects in the Barker District, let us see a partial list of those examined and deemed worthy of mention. Wright and Williams, Pride of the West, Barker, Ledger, Burkhart, Black Hawk, Fashion, Mary W., Ida F., Empire, Madison, Belt, Grace W., Bertie, Carter, Hiawatha, Manhattan, Lynn, Smith, Paragon, Ida May, Moulton, Tiger, Maginnis, Eclipse, Meek's Vein, T. W. Harrison, Sunset, Wyandotte, Cosmopolitan, Baltimore, Silver

About this time the placer mines began to fail and the population moved on to find lodgment where the pre- cious metal existed in better-paying quantities. By these frequent removals of goods by pack train great expense was incurred, necessitating most exhorbitant prices for goods, the freight alone often costing more thau the orig- inal price of the goods.

In 1878 the firm of John Caplice & Company concen- trated their business in Butte. Before doing so, this en- terprising and always reliable firm passed through busi- ness ordeals unlike in character anything that could hap- pen where the conditions were different. Heavy losses, amounting to twenty-five per cent. or more were sustained by the change in the money standards, and the railroads reaching the firm's field of operation so reduced freights that the vast quantities of goods carried by the house and freighted for hundreds of miles by pack train placed them at a serious disadvantage with new competitors, and again great losses resulted. During all the vicissi- tudes attending the firms of which Mr. Caplice was a leading and directing spirit, all obligations were fully met and without impairing their credit.

The coucentration of the firm's somewhat scattered business in Butte, in 1878, has proved the soundness of Mr. Caplice's judgment as well as verified his faith in Butte's becoming the great commercial center of Mon- tana.

Mr. Caplice has always been liberal in his politics; in- tegrity of purpose has always characterized his business relations, and his worth is duly recognized and appreci- ated by a host of friends and business acquaintances throughout the great "Deposit " State.

During his long residence in the Territory and State he has always been more or less interested in mining, al- though in that branch of industry it can be said he has been more passive than active. Ile has spent a princely

Belt, Zilpah, Fisher, Great Western, Bell Will- iams, Daisy, Forget-Me- Not, Chamberlain, Red Cloud, Jumbo, May, Edna, Gray Eagle, Alex- ander, Charlotte and Keystone. One man has abont forty locations on one hill east of the smelter, which were not examined. This list might be increased indefinitely; but those named must be enough to impress one with the great number of mines and prospects at Barker.

Barker has an abundant supply of pure water and more good timber than any mining district in eastern Montana, and is in railroad connec- tion with the great coal fields of Sand Coulee, and Belt creek and Otter creek, and perhaps

fortune iu assisting others in search of the yellow metal, and it too often happened that the inside of a mountain proved as worthless as the outside.

A life of varied and changing scenes has been his. Of large mental resources he has power to quickly adapt himself to the circumstances and conditions peculiar to the settlement of a new country. As conditions of en- vironment change, corresponding changes in business methods must be adjusted to the new requirement, and pace kept with the ever-changing, progressive spirit of our remarkable Western civilization. Although Mr. Caplice has been devoted to his business, he has found time to cultivate his mind in the graces of thought em- enating from learned men. He is clear in his deductions, concise in his statements and a spirit of frankness and candor characterizes him in manner and speech. Broadly American in his views, there is no place in his composi- tion for the bigot's narrowness, the radical's offensiveness or the idle-day dreaming of the visionary schemer.

Time has dealt kindly with Mr. Caplice, and in spite of his three score years he maintains a robustness and erect- ness of physique belonging to younger years. Sanguine in temperment and maintaining a fine equipoise in dis- cernment, his decisions, according to his knowledge, are to the side of justice and tempered with mercy.

Neither the honors or emoluments of public office have ever allured him, as he has had no ambition in that direc- tion. Always a stanch Democrat, to the principles of his party he yields fealty and support. He has held the of- fice of County Commissioner in the counties of Missoula, Deer Lodge and Silver Bow, acquitting himself with credit in the discharge of duties incidental to the office.

In 1854 he married Joanna Burke, who bore him two children Frederick W. and Mary A., now Mrs. George E. Rockwood.

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those of the Judith Basin. A prosperous future is dawning upon this favored district. Capital will be drawn to its rich mines and bright pros- pects, the pick and the shovel will convert a hundred bright prospects into productive mines, and the miners, who have remained steadfast through the dark years now coming to a close, will soon meet their reward in hopes realized and honest labor rewarded.

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An illustrated history of the state of Montana, containing biographical mention of its pioneers and prominent citizens, Part 156

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