An illustrated history of the state of Montana, containing biographical mention of its pioneers and prominent citizens, Part 7

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 7

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

high, broken, and crowned with some pine and dwarf cedar; the leaf of this pine is longer than that of the common pitch or red pine of Vir- ginia, the cone is longer and narrower, the im- brications wider and thicker, and the whole fre- quently covered with rosin."

And thus much for the climate, timber, soil, fish, fowl and wild beasts,-all things that in- terest and instruct, in truth, are here, which these bold first men of Montana beheld,-the baby State in embryo!

CHAPTER V.

DISCOVERY AND DESCRIPTION OF THE GREAT FALLS-REMARKABLE EXPLOSIONS-SILVER!

F the reader must regret to tear himself from the story of these first men in Montana, what must be the despair of the writer who must leave them and attempt his way alone? What with their daily encounters with ferocious wild beasts, the contemplation at night of stars as large as lilies in the cold blue north from some mountain top, their discovery of new and won- drous little flowers at their feet in fertile val- leys, the abrupt mountains of snow that rose before as if to hold them at bay forever ! And then that roaring continually in their ears far away and as if coming down and out from under the white and unknown world of snow ! We will not attempt to write the description anent this discovery of the great falls of the Missouri, whatever the reader may say or care. For this work of theirs is not only a part of the history of Montana but of the world, and can- not be improved upon. Says the journal:

"June 13 .- Having traveled seven miles after first hearing the sound, he reached the falls abont twelve o'clock. The hills, as he ap- proached, were difficult of access, and two hun- dred feet high: down these he hurried with im- patience, and, seating himself on some rocks under the center of the falls, enjoyed the sub- lime spectacle of this stupendous object, which since the creation had been lavishing its mag- nificence upon the desert, unknown to civiliza- tion.

"The river, immediately at its cascade, is three hundred yards wide, and is pressed in by a perpendicular cliff on the left, which rises to about one hundred feet and extends up the stream for a mile. On the right the bluff is also perpendicular for three hundred yards above the falls. For ninety or a hundred feet from the left cliff the water falls in a smooth, even sheet over a precipice of at least eighty feet. The remaining part of the river precipi-

HISTORY OF MONTANA.

tates itself with a more rapid current, and, be- ing received as it falls by the irregular and somewhat projecting rocks below, forms a splendid spectacle of perfectly white foam, two hundred yards in length and eighty in perpen- dienlar elevation. This spray is dissipated into a thousand shapes, sometimes flying up in columns of fifteen or twenty feet, which are then oppressed by larger masses of the white foam, on all of which the sun impresses the brightest colors of the rainbow. Below the fall the water beats with fury against a ledge of rocks, which extends across the river at one hundred and fifty yards from the precipice. From the perpendicular cliff on the north to the distance of one hundred and twenty yards, the roeks are only a few feet above the water, and when the river is high the stream finds a chan- nel across them forty yards wide, and near the higher parts of the ledge, which rise about twenty feet, and terminate abruptly within eighty or ninety yards of the southern side. Be- tween them and the perpendicular cliff on the south, the whole body of water runs with great swiftness. A few small cedars grow near this ridge of rocks, which serves as a barrier to de- fend a small plain of about three acres, shaded with cottonwood, at the lower extremity of which is a grove of the same trees, where are several Indian cabins of sticks, below which the river is divided by a large rock, several feet above the water, and extending down the stream for twenty yards. At the distance of three hundred yards from the same ridge is another abutment of solid, perpendicular rock, abont sixty feet high, projecting at right angles from the small plain on the north for one hundred and thirty-four yards into the river. After leaving this the Missouri again spreads itself to its previous breadth of three hundred yards,

though with more than its ordinary rapidity. "The hunters who had been sent out now re- turned lomled with buffalo meat, and Captain Lewis encamped for the night under a tree near the falls. The men were again despatched to hunt for food against the arrival of the party, and Captain Lewis walked down the river to discover, if possible, some place where the ca- noes might be safely drawn on shore in order to be transported beyond the falls. He re- turned, however, without discovering any such spot, the river for three miles below being one continued succession of rapids and cascades, overhung with perpendicular bluffs from one hundred and fifty to two hundred feet high; in short, it seemed to have worn itself a channel through the solid rock. In the afternoon they caught in the falls some of both kinds of white- fish, and half a dozen trout, from sixteen to twenty-three inches long, precisely resembling in form, and in the position of their fins, the mountain or speckled trout of the United States, except that the specks of the former are of a deep black, while those of the latter are of a red or gold color: they have long, sharp teeth on the palate and tongue, and generally a small speck of red on each side behind the front ven- tral fins; the flesh is of a pale yellowish red, or, when in good order, of a rose-colored red.

"June 14 .- This morning one of the men was sent to Captain Clarke with an account of the discovery of the falls; and, after employing the rest in preserving the meat which had been killed yesterday, Captain Lewis proceeded to examine the rapids above. From the falls he directed his course southwest up the river. After passing one continued rapid and three cascades, each three or four feet high, he reached, at the distance of five miles, a second fall. The river is here about 400 yards wide,

HISTORY OF MONTANA.

and for the distance of 300 rushes down to the depth of nineteen feet, and so irregularly that he gave it the name of the Crooked Falls. From the southern shore it extends obliquely upward about 150 yards, and then forms an acute angle downward nearly to the commencement of the four small islands close to the northern side. From the perpendicular pitch to these islands the water glides down a sloping rock with a velocity almost equal to that of its fall. Above this fall the river bends suddenly to the north - ward. While viewing this place, Captain Lewis heard a loud roar above him, and, crossing the point of a hill a few hundred yards, he saw one of the most beautiful objects in nature: the whole Missouri is suddenly stopped by one shelving rock, which, without a single niche, and with an edge as straight and regular as if formed by art, stretches itself from one side of

HON. W. C. GILLETTE, who has been a resident of Mon- tana ever since 1862, and is now one of the prominent ranchers of Lewis and Clarke county, is a native of Or- leans county, New York, born March 10, 1832, of French Huguenot ancestry, who were among the early settlers of Connecticut.

His grandfather, Caleb Gillette, served as a soldier of the Revolution. His father, Orimel Gillette, was born in Connecticut, in 1802, and moved to New York, where he married Miss Julia Ferris, a native of the latter State. They settled in Onondaga county, where he was a suc- cessful practicing physician for many years, living to be eighty years of age. His wife died in her sixtieth year. They had two sons and three daughters. One of the sons, Orimel, was a soldier in the Union army, a member of the One Hundred and Seventeenth New York Infantry, and was killed at the battle of Fort Fisher. At present only two of the family survive, namely : Warren Caleb, the subject of this sketch, and Eliza P., who is now his house- keeper, both having remained unmarried to the present time.

Mr. Gillette, the eldest of the children, attended the public schools, and ultimately Oberlin College. In 1856 he went to Chicago, and clerked for four years in a wholesale hat store, owned and conducted by the firm of E. R. Kellogg & Company. Next he engaged in business on his own account in Galena, Illinois. In 1862 he be- came impressed with the idea of coming to Montana, as gold had been discovered here; and accordingly he left by the way of St. Louis in July, 1862, and came up the 3

the river to the other for at least a quarter of a mile. Over this it precipitates itself in an even, uninterrupted sheet, to the perpendicular depth of fifty feet, whence, dashing against the rocky bottom, it rushes rapidly down, leaving behind it a sheet of the purest foam across the river. The scene which it presented was indeed singularly beautiful; since, without any of the wild, irregular sublimity of the lower falls, it combined all the regular elegancies which the faney of a painter would select to form a beau- tiful waterfall. The eye had searcely been re- galed with this charming prospect, when, at the distance of half a mile, Captain Lewis observed another of a similar kind. To this he immedi- ately hastened, and found a cascade stretching across the whole river for a quarter of a mile. with a descent of fourteen feet, though the per- pendienlar pitch was only six feet. This, too,

Missouri river; but when he and his companions arrived below the month of Milk river, they were obliged for the lack of navigable water to take to the land. After spend- ing about a week in camp, they proceeded overland to Fort Benton. After traveling on the route from that place for two days, they were surrounded by a large party of Indians, who were divided among themselves what to do with the emigrants, some being in favor of making them return, and some for permitting them to go on. One of the chiefs finally succeeded in persuading the others to let the emigrants proceed. The latter, how- ever, being in doubt what to do, held a meeting and de- cided to return to the camp on Milk river; and as soon as they turned their horses upon the back track the redskins objected, and compelled them to proceed to Fort Benton. At Fort Benton they remained a few days and then moved to a point in Prickly Pear canon, where some emigrants from Minnesota, who had preceded them, were camped. At this camp they remained until their supplies, which were delayed down the Milk river, were forwarded by the steamboat company to Fort Benton. Upon the arri- val of the supplies at Fort Benton they were freighted to Deer Lodge, and eventually the whole company of which Mr. Gillette was a member arrived safely at Bannack. Mr. Gillette had brought with him a little stock of miners' supplies, which he sold at Bannack, receiving gold dust in exchange.

In 1863, when gold was discovered iu Alder Gulch, Mr. Gillette moved his stock of miners' supplies to Virginia City, and was in business there two years, in partnership

HISTORY OF MONTANA.

in any other neighborhood, would have been an object of great magnificence; but, after what he had just seen, it became of secondary inter- est. His curiosity being, however, awakened, he determined to go on, even should night over- take him, to the head of the falls. He there- fore pursned the southwest course of the river, which was one constant succession of rapids and small cascades, at every one of which the bluffs grew lower, or the bed of the river be- came more on a level with the plains. At the distance of two and a half miles he arrived at another cataract of twenty-six feet. The river is here 600 yards wide, but the descent is not immediately perpendicular, though the river falls generally in a regular and smooth sheet. For about one-third of the descent a rock pro- trndes to a small distance, receives the water in its passage, and gives it a curve.

with James King. During this time they were engaged in packing goods from Fort Benton to Virginia City and Helena. This business of transportation was attended- with great danger, both from the "road agents " and from the Indians. As early as 1862-'63 Mr. Gillette made vari- ous trips from Fort Benton and Bannack and return, crossing the Missouri river at or near where the city of Great Falls now stands. On one occasion the Snake In- dians stole a number of his animals at what is now called Sun River, and he rode a distance of sixty miles in the night to Fort Benton to procure other horses. On his return to Bannack Mr. Gillette found that some of his horses had been recovered from the Indians by settlers who knew the animals. At another time, when wholly unarmed, he was met hy two armed Indians on horseback, one of whom rode up and caught his watch-chain. Mr. Gillette caught the Indian by the wrist, and the latter then let go, backed his horse a step and brought his gun to bear upon Mr. Gillette. The latter, looking the Indian in the face, concluded that he meant business, and gave him the watch, and in this way got off with his life. After many such experiences he would sometimes con- clude that he would not make such trips again; but in consideration of the profits obtainable in pursuing the business, he continued these trips until the spring of 1863.

In 1865 he and his partner, Mr. King, opened a toll road in the Prickly Pear canon, a distance of ten miles. This was an expensive enterprise, as they had none of the machinery for doing such work as is at hand at the present day ; but the task could not be delayed, on account

"On the south side is a beautiful plain, a few feet above the level of the falls. On the north the country is more broken, and there is a hill not far from the river. Just below the falls is a little island in the middle of the river, well covered with timber. Here, on a cottonwood tree, an eagle had fixed her nest, and seemed the undisputed mistress of a spot to contest whose dominion neither man nor beast would venture across the gulfs that surround it, and which is farther secured by the mist rising from the falls. This solitary bird could not escape the observation of the Indians, who made the eagle's nest a part of their description of the falls, and which now proves to be correct in almost every particular, except that they did not do justice to their height. Just above this is a cascade of about five feet, beyond which, as far as could be discerned, the velocity of the

of the necessities of the settlers and miners. These men undertook this job with two plows, which cost $175 each, and the rest of the work was done with pick and shovel. The work was finally completed, at a cost of $40,000; and in two years the tolls paid back the cost of the road, but after this the business was not so good. They continued to take toll until the charter expired, in 1875. This road proved of great value to the country, and a financial suc. cess to the men who had the energy and enterprise to carry out the improvement to a successful issue.

At length they retired from mercantile business at Helena and engaged in placer-mining at Confederate Gulch until 1877, doing a large and successful business. They employed a number of men and took out a great deal of gold, clearing up in one season $10,000.

Finally Mr. Gillette engaged in the sheep business, which he has followed for the past seventeen years. He has become the owner of 12,000 acres of ranch land, and has now 18,000 sheep, a grade of Merino, best adapted to north Montana. He has built a fine residence on his land near Craig in Lewis and Clarke county, where he and his sister now reside. Mr. Gillette has interested himself in the public affairs of the Territory and State ever since his arrival here. He is a Republican, and as such he has been elected twice to the Territorial Legislature, serving through both terms, and also to the Territorial Council, and to the Constitutional Convention which formed the present State Constitution of Montana. Attending strictly to his own business affairs and to the public duties de. volved upon him, he is now enjoying a well-merited prosperity.

Gate of The M

SCENE ON THE MISSOURI RIVER, MONTANA.

HISTORY OF MONTANA.

water seemed to abate. Captain Lewis now ascended the hill which was behind him, and saw from its top a delightful plain, extending from the river to the base of the Snowy monnt- ains to the south and southwest. Along this wide, level country the Missonri pursued its winding course, filled with water to its smooth, grassy banks, while about four miles above it was joined by a large river flowing from the northwest, through a valley three miles in width, and distinguished by the timber which adorned its shores. The Missouri itself stretches to the south, in one unrutHled stream of water, as if unconscions of the roughness it must soon encounter, and bearing on its bosom vast flocks of geese, while numerous herds of buffalo are feeding on the plains which surround it."

Once more we must quote from the journal of July 4, for it seems so startlingly near the discovery of silver in Montana that you can but pause and wonder; for surely from what the French mountaineer says there must have been some old tradition about the existence of silver mines in Montana even before the coming of Lewis and Clarke.

* * July 4 .- The boat was now completed, except what is, in fact, the most difficult part, the making her seams secure. We had intended to despatch a canoe with part of our men to the United States early this spring; but, not yet having seen the Snake Indians, and not knowing whether to calculate on their friendship or enmity, we have decided not to weaken our party, which is now scarcely suffi- cient to repel any hostility. We were afraid, too, that such a measure might dishearten those who remained; and, as we have never suggested it to them, they are all enthusiastically attached to the enterprise, and willing to encounter any danger to ensure its success.

"We had a heavy dew this morning.

"Since our arrival at the falls we have re- peatedly heard a strange noise coming from the mountains in a direction a little to the north of west. It is heard at different periods of the day and night (sometimes when the air is perfectly still and without a cloud), and consists of one stroke only, or of five or six discharges in quick succession. It is loud, and resembles precisely the sound of a six-pound piece of ordnance at the distance of three miles. The Minnetarees frequently mentioned this noise, like thunder, which they said the mountains made; but we paid no attention to it, believing it to have been some superstition, or perhaps a falsehood. The watermen also of the party say that the Paw- nees and Ricaras give the same account of a noise heard in the Black mountains to the west- ward of them. The solution of the mystery given by the philosophy of the watermen is, that it is occasioned by the bursting of the rich mines of silver confined within the bosom of the mountains,"

as when Cortez and his men Stood silent on a peak in Darien."

August 12 they had reached the hidden sources of that river, which had never be- fore been seen by civilized man; and as they quenched their thirst at the chaste and icy fountain-as they sat down by the brink of that little rivulet, which yielded its distant and modest tribute to the parent ocean-they felt themselves rewarded for all their labors and all their difficulties. They left reluctantly this in- teresting spot, and, pursuing the Indian road through the interval of the hills, arrived at the top of a ridge, from which they saw high mountains, partially covered with snow, still to the west. The ridge on which they stood formed the dividing line between the waters of

HISTORY OF MONTANA.

the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. They followed a descent much steeper than that on the eastern side, and at the distance of three-quarters of a mile reached a handsome, bold creek of cold, clear water, running to the westward. They stopped to taste, for the first time, the waters of the Columbia; and, after a few minutes, fol- lowed the road across steep hills and low hol- lows, when they came to a spring on the side of a mountain. Here they found a sufficient quan- tity of dry willow-brush for fuel, and therefore halted for the night; and, having killed nothing in the course of the day, supped on their last piece of pork, and trusted to fortune for some other food to mix with a little flour and parched meal, which was all that now remained of their provisions.

At last, after incredible toil and privation, the advance of the party met with friendly Shosho- nee Indians and began progressing toward the great sea. Here is an account of a repast with the mountain sovereigns of Montana:

"August 15 .- Captain Lewis rose early, and, having eaten nothing yesterday except his scanty meal of flour and berries, felt sore in- convenience from hunger. On inquiry he found that his whole stock of provisions consisted of but two pounds of flour! This he ordered to be divided into two equal parts, and one-half of it to be boiled with the berries into a sort of pudding. After presenting a large share to the chief, he and his three men breakfasted on the remainder. Cameahwait was delighted with this new dish. He took a little of the flour in his hand, tasted and examined it very narrowly, and asked if it was made of roots Captain Lewis explained the process of preparing it, and he said it was the best thing he had eaten for a long time."

Passing on down and out of Montana to the root-diggers and fish-eating Indians that camped in dismal and dirty bands along the banks of the Snake and Columbia rivers, they encountered only hunger and incredible hardships.

Let modern men who fancy they have to en- dure hardships read of their regular diet, when they dined at all, on Indian dog from day to day; dogs purchased of the withered Indians, often with a man's last coat, and such dogs!

"September 13," says the journal, "our whole stock of animal food was now exhausted, and we therefore killed a colt, on which we made a hearty supper."

"September 19 .- Captain Clarke

found a horse, on which he breakfasted, and hung the rest on a tree for the party in the rear."

"October 2. * Were obliged to kill one of the horses."

"October 10. * * We made an ex- periment to vary our food by purchasing a few dogs." But not a murmur! Nearly half a year distant still from the ocean, and knowing they must return this same way, if they re- turned at all, there was no thought of retracing their steps to the mountains and prairies of Montana which they had so recently left teem- ing with game. They kept right on. Fish, dogs, horses, roots, dogs, fish! sometimes days and nights with nothing at all to eat!

And that is the story of nearly half a year among these withered fish and root eaters till they again went through the same terrible scenes and got back to the mountains of Mon- tana. Here they divided and so descended both the Yellowstone and Missoula rivers, thus ex- ploring not only the Columbia from the source to the sea, but the three great rivers of Mon-

HISTORY OF MONTANA.

tana to the east, from one end to the other. There is nothing so glorious and unselfish to be seen in all history.

And thus much for the observations of these daring sentinels on the extreme outposts in the service of our country, on the climate, soil, seenery and savages of Montana. In bidding these brave men a final farewell we can but turn and smile at any attempts to dignify these miserable camps of Montana Indians west of the Rocky mountains. They were mainly home- less, tentless, tribeless nomads, at best only a degree above the brutes till partly civilized. Their dogs were domesticated wolves or coyotes. Their horses, which they doubtless stole and had continued to steal from the Spanish mis- sions far away to the south for a century or so before the coming of these first white men among them, were perhaps the first factors in what little civilization they finally attained; for the lowest savage, once mounted on a Nez Perce horse, * can but feel some sort of exaltation and

*The hardy little Nez Perce horse, sometimes pied or "calico" in color, sometimes blue, and sometimes as black as coal, and always beautiful, is quite well known in a way; but few people, I fancy, know what remark. able courage and sagacity he has. In 1862 and 1863 I was engaged in carrying gold dust out of the Idaho mountains. One day when descending a steep trail on a densely wooded mountain side I found the trail blocked by a tree that seemed to have been suddenly blown down by the wind, and a newly opened trail leading off to the left. My Nez Perce pony stopped, threw back his ears and almost sat down on his haunches as I mercilessly drove my spurs into his flanks. We were often cruel in those hard, swift rides, for time was precious and peril waited on every moment spent between stations. We always dashed on a hard gallop, the load of gold dust in the " catenas" hanging down on either side of the saddle bow, the reins in the right hand and a cocked pistol in the left. I spurred until the great Spanish spurs were streaming with blood from the pony's flauks, but still he would not budge an inch in the newly cleared trail. At last, gathering up all his strength, he poised in the air and then plunged headlong on down the hill over the fallen tree. In the leap my pistol was shaken from my hand, and while I was drawing another from my "catenas" there came a rain of lead from the company

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

An illustrated history of the state of Montana, containing biographical mention of its pioneers and prominent citizens, Part 7

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