An illustrated history of the state of Montana, containing biographical mention of its pioneers and prominent citizens, Part 56

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 56

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With all Montana tearing away at all her placer fields at once, no wonder that gold poured out and down the yellow Missouri like water. I find it set down on good authority serving in his fourth year, having the honor during these four years of being Chairman of the Board. In 1890 Governor Toole appointed Mr. Marion a member of the National Guards of Montana, making him a member of his staff, with the title Brigadier-General. We are with- out fear of being disputed when we state that Mr. Marion is one of the most influential men in Missoula county.

Of his private life, we record that his first marriage occurred in St. Hyacinthe, Canada, October 24, 1864, the lady of his choice being Miss Marie Louise Josephine Dufresne. She joined him in his pioneer home in Mon- tana, shared with him many of the privations and hard- ships of frontier life, and lived to enjoy the prosperity which came to them in later years. Her death occurred September 27, 1887. She left seven children,-Emma, Ida, Joseph, Albert, Willie, Anna and Aime. Emma is now the wife of Mr. C. McGowan, of Flat-Head county. Ida is now the wife of D. T. Curran, of Missoula. In March, 1891, Mr. Marion wedded Mrs. Maria Zelia Morin. She had a daughter, Regina, by her former husband, and by Mr. Marion she has two children, Alfred and Jean Baptiste.

Mr. Marion's political affiliations are with the Demo- cratic party.

FRANK J. NESBITT, the obliging Postmaster of Boze man, Montana, was born in Ontario, Canada, in 1854, son of James Nesbitt, a manufacturer of candles, soap, etc., of Ontario.

Frank J. received his education in a collegiate insti- tute, in Ottawa, Canada, and in 1880 he came to the United States, locating in Kansas City, where he was in the employ of the Chicago Lumber Company for three years. He came to Bozeman, Montana, in 1882, and was at first employed as manager in the lumber business for Lynde & Company, at Salesville, who furnished the lum ber, buikling material, efe,, to the Montana division of the Northern Pacific Railroad Company. He was at the head of their business here for about eight years. The company was then merged into the Gallatin Mill Com-

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HISTORY OF MONTANA.

that a single shipment down the river from Fort Benton about this date amounted to the enor- mous figure of 830,000. Meantime, the silver mines were also lapped, and men from the quartz eaverns and tunnels of California and Nevada now came to the front and began to burrow into the very heart of Montana hills. Gold now flowed in such a stream that for the first time in the history of Montana we can be- gin to note and estimate its annual product. Of course there is no absolute anthority at this date, 1865, for saying exactly what Montana gave during that year to the commerce of the world, but $20,000,000 is as near to the figure

as I shall venture, though it has been placed very much higher, and some have set it as low as $18,000,000.

The first magistrate appointed by Governor Edgerton, in 1865, was named Miles, and he performed the first marriage in Helena. May, same year, preachers eame to Helena, as well as to Bannack, Butte, Virginia City, and other camps, with the people, and were of the people from the very first. Father Taylor, now bishop of Africa, came to the camps of California the first year gold was found. In truth, I never saw a mining camp without preachers and preaching on Sundays. The first Methodist

pany, of which he became a stockholder and of which he was chosen secretary and treasurer. Their mills are located at Salesville, twelve miles west of Bozeman and on the west Gallatin river, where their average yearly product is 1,500,000 feet. They also handle large quanti- ties of luiuber cut by other mills. Mr. Nesbitt still re- taius his stock and official position in this enterprise. He was appointed Postmaster at Bozeman, under President Harrison's administration, in March, 1892.

In 1885 Mr. Nesbitt married Miss Lida E. Rogers, daughter of Edward and Christina Rogers, of Mt. Vernon, Ohio, her father being a merchant of that city. Mr. and Mrs. Nesbitt have had two children, the elder of whom, Lida Marguerite, is living; the other died in infancy. A son was born August 11, 1894. Mrs. Nesbitt died August 16, 1894. 1Te and his wife are both members of the Presbyterian Church, in which he is a Deacon, aud he is also a member of the Independent Order of Foresters.

PROF. II. (. OSTIEN. The State of Ohio asserts herself even in the heart of the Rocky mountains by sending her sons and daughters from home educational centers to fill up the professional ranks in this almost boundless West. Professor Ostien, principal of the city schools of Livings- ton, is one of these Ohio men who is occupying a promi- nent and useful position in Montana. Of his life we pre- sent the following resumé:

II. C. Ostien was born near Tiffin, in Seneca county, Ohio, in the year 1860, son of William aud Matilda (Schu- bert, Ostien. His mother's people settled in northwest- ern Ohio in 1832, and the following year the Ostiens took up their abode in Wayne county, Ohio; but in 1840 re- moved to Tiflin, where William Ostien was engaged in agricultural pursuits. The Ostiens are descendants of German ancestry.

The subject of our sketch attended the public schools bear Tillin in his early boyhood, and was afterward a student in the Elucational Institute at Titfin, as also "the well known educational institutions of the State

Ile graduated in both the scientific and classical courses at the National Normal University at Lebanon, Ohio. After his graduation he taught school for some time in Seneca county; in 1886-7 he was principal of an academy at Bartlett, Washington county, Ohio; was for four years superintendent of city schools in Neligh, Nebraska; and since 1891 has been a resident of Livingston, Montana. Upon his arrival here he at once accepted the position of principal of city schools, in which he has since served most acceptably. Under his efficient management the educational interests of the city have made rapid strides in advancement. The city has three commodious school buildings, employs ten lady teachers, and the number of pupils enrolled is 540. The first class that graduated here was in June, 1893.

Professor Ostien is a member of Modoc Lodge, No. 109, Neligh, Nebraska, in which he passed all the chairs. He affiliates with the Democratic party and takes a com- mendable interest in public affairs, but is not an active politician.

MRS. MARTHA J. CRAMPTON, Superintendent of Schools of Yellowstone county, Montana, is a resident of Billings. This estimable and accomplished lady is filling a position the second term, for the duties of which she is eminently fitted. She was first elected to the office by the Repub- licans when the State was admitted into the Union. Her duties as County Superintendent were so well performed that the Democrats were quick to nominate her for re-election, and really all were so well pleased with her management of the educational affairs of the county that she was re-elected in 1892 by a good majority. At the time she assumed charge of the office there were twelve school districts in the county, and during her administra- tion that number has increased to twenty-seven, and at this writing there is one other application for a district. The number of school districts has not only been increased, but also the schools have in every way been placed on a better footing: new buildings erected and nicely furnished

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HISTORY OF MONTANA.

sermon in the Montana mines was by a Coloma man at Bannack. Night schools and debating societies early had place in the mines; and books of a good character, brought into the mines by armny officers and heads of trading and trapping posts, and left behind on going away, were not nearly so scarce as is generally believed; so that, with no theatre, no lighted city to walk in, the miner read innch. His mind was not distracted, his conscience was as clear as a bell; he had contributed to the commerce and wealth of the world. That day he had made money for himself, perhaps-possibly innch money that day,-but he had taken it from no

and various other improvements made. On her visits to the schools throughout the county, Mrs. Crampton fre- quently drives from sixty to seventy miles. She has an able corps of teachers. Their annual institute held at Billings, in October, 1893, was well attended and was ably conducted by Mrs. Crampton, assisted by Professor Emery, principal of the schools at Billings.

Mrs. Crampton was born in Utica, New York, where she spent the first seventeen years of her life. From Utica the family removed to Brooklyn. Her parents, John D. and Anna (Morris) Jones, were boru in Wales. Her father is now nearly eighty years of age. Her mother died at the age of fifty-seven. Mrs. Crampton received a college education in her native town, and after complet- ing her course spent a few months in teaching. Teach- ing, however, was too confining for her and was not con- genial to her taste, and she retired from the school-room. She was married in 1875 to Robert Crampton, of New York city, their union resulting in the birth of three children, two of whom are living, -- Love and William Herbert. Their son Ilarry died when in his fifteenth year.

Mrs. Crampton, while residing on a ranch and perform- ing all the duties of caring for her house, personally educated her children; and when she assumed the duties of County School Superintendent her children were as well advanced as those of like age who had regularly attended school. She came to Montana in 1883 with impaired health, but has now regained her strength and vigor. She is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Crampton is affiliated with the A. O. U. W. Politically he is independent.

ANGUS BROWN, master mechanic in the shops of the Northern Pacific Railroad Company at Livingston, Mon- tana, is master of his trade in the fullest sense of the term, and is also master of public issues. His well-poised intellect and determined energies are such that had he turned his attention to politics or to any other field of

man either by frand or fine persnasion in the way of commissions, and so he read much and he remembered much.

As Helena rose in the scale of population- about 10,000 at this date-Virginia City (Alder Gulch) declined by degrees from the 14,000 to near half that number. Such are the fluctuat- ing fortunes of newly-found mining countries; and such are the difficulties of the historian along these lines. For what would be the exact truth, statistically speaking, to-day, would not be nearly the truth to-morrow.

The winter of 1865-6 introduced one of those wild "stampedes" not infrequent with

labor he would have made a success. In the special line he has chosen to follow he has proved himself equal to all occasions, and among the prominent young men of the great Northwest he occupies an enviable position. Of his life we make record as follows:

Angus Brown was born in Bradford, Simcoe county, Ontario, Canada, in 1865, son of Archibald Brown, a noted carriage manufacturer of that place. After receiving a common-school education, young Brown was apprenticed by his father to learn the trade of machinist of a manufac- turer in Woodbridge, Ontario, by the name of John Able. The contract of apprenticeship was as explicit and bind- ing as is a deed to property in the United States. The article signed by his father reads that "Angus Brown shall serve five years at the machinist's trade. The first year he is to receive $124, the second year $144, third year $164, fourth year $184, and fifth year 8204. All lost time to be made good; $2 to be received each week during the year; balance to be paid at end of each year." Ile was further bound not to indulge in strong drink and not to frequent saloons.

In 1880, soon after mastering his trade, Mr. Brown came to the United States and was employed at Mon tague, Michigan, in the Hendrick & Wilson Contract Machine Works. Later he was employed by the Chicago & West Michigan Railroad Company, at Muskegon, Mich igan, and from there went to Minneapolis, Minnesota, and entered the employ of the Minneapolis & St. Louis Railroad Company, remaining with that company fifteen months. He then returned to Ontario and worked a short time for John Able, his old employer. His sojourn in the United States, however, with their great resources and vast possibilities for a young man, had greatly impressed him, and he accordingly came back to Min- nesota, and at Brainard accepted a position as machinist for the Northern Pacific Railroad Company. Not long afterward he was offered a position at Winnipeg, by the Canadian Pacific Railroad Company, which he accepted;

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HISTORY OF MONTANA.

gold-hunters. They are ever on the alert, and their vivid imaginations, long fed on excite- ment, lead them often into the very jaws of death. This was called the "Sun River stam- pede." Numbers perished in the snow and a greater number were made permanent cripples from exposure.

The gold yield of 1866 is set down variously at from $15,000,000 to $20,000,000.

The last, and yet you may now say the first, of the Pleiades is Bntte, in Silver Bow, the smallest county in Montana, yet the richest, paying taxes on more than $5,000,000 worth of property.

but upon his arrival there he found an unpleasant labor trouble existing, and not wishing to become complicated with it he returned to Brainard, Minnesota, and in March, 1882, again entered the employ of the Northern Pacific, in whose employ he has remained up to the present time- He was foreman of the Brainard shops from 1884 to to 1886 inclusive. Then he was promoted to the position of master mechanic of the Yellowstone 'division, with headquarters at Glendive, Montana. He succeeded James Mc Naughton as master mechanic at the Livingston shops in June, 1890. He has charge of the Yellowstone and Montana divisions and branches, extending from Glendive on the east to Helena on the west, with 800 miles of road including branches, and has 400 men under his jurisdiction.

In connection with the sketch of Mr. Brown's life we make reference to some of his relatives, of whom he should be justly proud. His father's cousin, Archibald Kirkland, M. D., was a prominent man in Ontario politics on the Conservative side, and represented Simcoe county in the legislature for six years. Archibald McMurchy, a brother of Mr. Brown's mother, is a prominent educator, having occupied the position of principal of the Toronto College Institute for a period of twenty-eight years. Professor MeMurchy has two sons who are prominent lawyers in Toronto.

In his religious affiliations Mr. Brown is a Presbyter- ian. Politically he is a Republican, and is a man who is destined to become prominent in public life when his true value is known. During the presidential campaign of 1892 he surprised an audience at Livingston, that for the first time heard him deliver a speech, which, it is -aid by his political opponents, was a masterpiece of reasoning supported by incontrovertible facts. Ile is wir -suming and never seeks notoriety, but is just such a man as the people shoukl call to represent them. With- ont doubt he will one day occupy a high place in the choice of the people.

The story of Butte, so named from nature, as were nearly all other camps founded by the Saxon with his swift sabre ents of short speech, is a drama of many acts. First came the two Elser brothers, Bndd Barber and a Mr. Allison, from Alder Creek, early in the summer of 1864. They found fair placer mines and set to work near the pretty river bend of Silver Bow; then one of the party went back to Alder Creek for supplies, and, strange as it may seem, there were plenty of men ready to leave a place that was literally paved with gold to go with the new departure .*

I had a younger brother who was one of

Much more might be said of the life of this interpris- ing young man, but enough has already been given to serve as an index to his character and to place him where he truly belongs, among the foremost citizens of this part of Montana.

* In 1865-6 the first book was published in Montana, by one of its first citizens, Granville Stuart. It was call- ed " Montana As It Is," and aside from its historical im- portance, already certified to by my generous pilfering from its pages, it contained later a Snake and Chinook Jargon dictionary. As the book is out of print, and as the Chinook is no longer in use, I am tempted to quote a page of this compound or made language. I do not know when it was first used. I first used it in 1852. Stuart in his preface says:

"The 'Jargon' so much in use all over the North Pacific coast among both whites and Indians, as a verbal medium of communicating with each other, was origin- ally invented by the 'Hudson Bay Company,' in order to facilitate the progress of their commerce with Indians, of which there are more than fifty tribes in Oregon and Washington, and as many more in British Columbia; and while there is general similarity of language among them, leading one to suppose that at some remote period they all talked one tongue, yet each tribe has at this time a dialect of its own, differing in many respects from all the others; and as it was impossible for the traders to learn all the languages, and yet it was necessary to have some medium of conversing with each tribe, the ‘Chi- nook Jargon' was gradually formed and introduced among them, and is now universally used by all these tribes in their intercourse with the whites.

"The 'Jargon' is founded on the language of the Chin- ook Indians, and the hulk of it is composed of words from their dialect, to which is added a great many French words, and a few English ones; there is, besides, a great many Nez Perce words, and a few from many of the other tribes."

MONTANA'S FIRST SETTLER.

FIRST STORE IN BUTTE-1864.

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IIISTORY OF MONTANA.

the early owners of a claim on Alder creek; but he decided that the mines were too deep to pay for working, having taken lessons in mining mainly in the shallow placers of Florence; and so he gave up his Alder Creek claim for a song, returned to Eugene, Oregon, to try and bid his parents good-by, and follow my elder brother away to the Civil war. Such were the uncertainties attending mining in the early days in Montana, and such was the incapa- city of the gold miners to look below the sur- face. At the same time it should be conceded that this boy brother was, perhaps, carried away by the excitement of war. He never

I take the following from page 120 of Mr. Stuart's Jook. Let it not be entirely despised, for the time was, and not so long ago, when every man, woman and child, red, black or white, in Montana, knew and talked this "Jargon."

ENGLISH. CHINOOK JARGON.

Good morning,

Good evening, friend, .Kla-how'-iam six.

Good day,

Come here.

Chah'-co yoek/-wah.

How are you ?. .Kah'-ta mir-kah?

Are you sick ? Sick nah? mi -- kah?

A little, a little fever Ten'-as cole -sick.

Are you hungry? .Nah? o'-lo mi-kah?

Are you thirsty? .Nah? o'-lo chuck mi -kah?

Will you take something to Mi'-kah nah? tick'-ey-nuck'- eat ? a-muck?

Will you work for me? Mi -- kah nah? tick-ey-mam- mook ten -nas ick'-ta?

At what? Ick -tah?

Cut some wood Mam -mook stick.

Certainly . .Con'-wit-kah.

What will you take to cut Con'-ze-ah tol -lah mir-kah all that pile tick -ey spose mam -mook con'-a-way o'-cook stick?

One dollar .. Ict tol -lah.

That is too much: I will Hy'-as o'-cook, ni'-kah pot-

give you half a dollar ... latch sit -cum tol'-lah.

No; give me three quarters. Wake six; pot'-latch clone

quah /-tah.

Very well, commence . Close cock/-wa, mam'-mook al -tah.

Where is the ax ?. Kah la hash?

Here it is Yock,-wah.

Cut it small for the stove. Mam-mook teur-nas stick

spose chink'-a-min pie ah.

went, and the other brother came back to us. His old partner, Pleas. Johnston, long Wells- Fargo's agent in this region, speaks nobly of him in a publication which I have used in a preceding note; but Johnston is in error when he says he was killed at Gettysburg. He sur- vived his injuries in the war, and died in my arms at Easton, Pennsylvania, where I buried this gentlest man I ever knew.

Allison and his partner stand credited on the books of the Historical Society of Montana with having first set eyes on this last yet first of the seven stars of gold. These two men were the first inhabitants of Butte. They mined

Give me a saw Pot -latch la see.

I have not got one; use the Ha'-lo la see; isk -um la

ax.

hash.

Have you done? .Mi -kah nah? co/-pet mam'- mook?

Yes

Na -wit-kah.

Bring it in.

Mam -mook, chah -co stick-

co' pa house.

Where shall [ put it ?.

.Kah ni -kah marsh o'-cook

stick?

There

Yah -wah.

Here is something to eat Yock -- wah mit'-lite mi -kah muck'-a-mnek.

IIere is some meat.

Yock'-wah mit -lite moos'-

moos mnek '-a-muck.

IIere is some bread.

Yock'-wah mit -lite sap'-i-lel

muck'-a muck.

Bring me some water ('late-a-waw isk -um chuck.

Where will I get it?

Kah' nikah isk'-um?

In the river.

Cor-pa chuck yah -wah.

Make a fire.

Mam -mook pir-ah.

Boil the water.

Mam -mook lipy'-lip chuck.

Cook the meat.

Mam'-mook pie-ah o'-cook

Inoos'-moos.

Wash the dishes Wash o'-cook la plah'.

In what?

. Cor-pa kah?

In that vessel.

Cor-pa orcook la plah.

Come here, friend .Chah'-co yock'-wah six.

What do you want ?. lek' tah mi-kah tickrey:

Where do you live? . Kah' mir-kah house?

Where do you come from ?. . Kah' mi -kah chah'-co?

Where are you going ?. .. Kah, mi -- kah clat -- tah-waw?

Do you understand English? Mi-kah cum -tux Boston

waw/-waw:

Are you a Nez Perce ?.. ... Nez Perce nah mi-kah:

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HISTORY OF MONTANA.

entirely on the surface, having no more idea of the millions beneath than had poor old Com- stock the first year that he spent in Nevada digging for gold and tracing it down into the bed-rock till it turned to silver.

But a tradition is preserved, and is fully credited by the conservative and exact Histor- ical Society, that Mr. C. E. Irvine, who pioneered that region in 1856, at the head of a party, saw umnistakable signs of pre-historic quartz mining on what is now called the Original lode, consisting of a hole in the rotting quartz as deep as a man's length with elk-horn gods and other mining signs lying about. But

WILLIAM COLEMAN, the representative pioneer mer- chant of Deer Lodge, came to Montana in 1866 and for nearly three decades has been identified with its interests. Before settling down as a merchant he prospected and mined in the various mining sections of the Territory, and has ever since been more or less interested in mining op- erations. His business career has brought him into con- tact with all classes of people of the Northwest, and, in- deed, there are few men here who are more familiar with every phase of life from the early mining days on down to the present time, than is William Coleman. A sketch of his life will be one of interest to many.

William Coleman was born in Germantown, Montgom- ery county, Ohio, January, 25, 1847. He is a descendant of German ancestors who were early settlers of Virginia and removed from there to Pennsylvania and finally to Ohio. In Ohio his grandfather, George Coleman, was l:orn. He cleared up a farm in the Western Reserve and on it spent the whole of his life and died. During the war of 1812 he commanded a squad of friendly Indians and thus rendered his Government valuable service. He and his wife were the parents of eleven children,- six sons and five daughters. His son John, the father of our subject, was born on the farm in Ohio, March 6, 1811. He grew up there and married Miss Mary Boyer, a native of the same place, and they had six children, three sons and three daughters, all of whom are living. The wife and mother died in the fifty-sixth year of her age. She was a faithful member of the Lutheran Church, with which he also has been identified for many years. Ile is now eighty-three years of age and still resides at the old home place in Ohio.

William Coleman was the fourth born in his father's family. He was reared and educated in the village of Germantown and there learned the trade of carriage blacksmith. When the great civil war broke out he was not old enough to be a soldier, but as he grew older and the war continued to rage he was not to be restrained from

of this first act in the great historical drama of picturesque and beautiful Butte we shall never know anything more, perhaps.

The old California merchants now in Mon- tana were loth to find fault with the gold dust, for it did not vary greatly in its value from one end of California to the other; but here in Mon- tana it was found that while gold in one gulch might mint as high as $20 per ounce, another gulch might yield gold dust that would mint only three-quarters as fine. This kept open the door of frands and impositions; and as dust grew more scarce and the merchants had smaller margins, they met at Helena and passed the fol- lowing resolutions, in February, 1867;

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An illustrated history of the state of Montana, containing biographical mention of its pioneers and prominent citizens, Part 56

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