An illustrated history of the state of Montana, containing biographical mention of its pioneers and prominent citizens, Part 71

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 71

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).

In his political affiliations, Mr. Delury is Democratic. He is a member of the A. O. U. W., and of the Young Men's Institute, and is identified with the Catholic Church.

*I take the following list mainly from a single page of a single county in Leeson's History of Montana, which I believe to be entirely accurate for I know some of the facts and persons of my own knowledge. True, many of these murders occurred at a later date than that of which I now write, but observe that all this long list is from within a single county:

Little Tex, killed by Bloods, at the Blackfoot farm, Sun river, in April, 1866. Fitzgerald, by Bloods, at St. Peter's Mission, in 1866. Lagree and Hunicke, murdered by Blackfeet and Bloods at Three Tree Coulee, January 9, 1866. William Berry, killed by Bloods, on Elbow river, in 1874. Joe Munroe, killed by Bloods, on Old Man's river, in 1874. Miller, killed by Bloods, on Old Man's river, in 1872. McMullen, wounded by Assiniboines, near Bow river, in 1874. Two unknown men killed by Assiniboines, near Milk river, in 1874. The bodies were found tied to trees and filled with bullet holes. Ed. Grace, killed by Assiniboines, in 1873. A party of men, women and children, killed by Bloods, near Porcupine mountains, in 1865. A soldier, name unknown, killed by Piegans, on Marias hill, in 1873. Wei and Mitchell, killed by Piegans, on Badger creek, in 1875. Joe Day

to say nothing of the wounded, among whom I find the account of a woman who still lives, having been scalped and left for dead by the Sioux. From the bottom of a single page of a list of early settlers, given by the Historical Society of Montana, I clip this foot-note show- ing what became of some of them.

"1 killed by Crow Indians, on Big Horn river, 1863; 11 killed by Indians, on Yellowstone river, 1867; 1 killed by Indians on Salmon river, in March, 1863; 1 killed by Indians at mouth of Marias river, 1865; 11 killed by the road agents, in 1863; Buffalo Joe, killed by Indians, on Salmon river, 1865."

CHARLES WHEELER HOFFMAN was born in Niles, Michigan, September 2, 1846. He remained there until he was seventeen years old, receiving a common-school education.

In 1863 he went to Fort Randall, on the Missouri river, and when the military post at Fort Buford was establish- ed, in 1866, he received the appointment as Post Sutler at that post, This was at that time the very heart of the Sioux country. Hostile Indians surrounded Fort Buford nearly all the time, and his life there was necessarily full of thrilling experiences and narrow escapes.

In the fall of 1868 he returned East and was married at Buffalo, New York, April 27, 1869, to Miss Elizabeth B. Penfield. Being appointed Sutler at Fort Ellis, Mon-

and Iloward, killed by Piegans, near the Marias river, in 1875. John Rock, killed by Blackfeet, mouth of Sun river, in 1875. Jack Gorman and Frank Keisser, killed by Assiniboines, in 1875. Frank Robinson, killed by Gros Ventres, near Cow creek, in 1877. Joseph Spear- son, killed by Bloods, on Belly river, in 1870. Nelse Kyse, George Huber and one man, name unknown, killed by Sioux, on Squaw creek, near the mouth of Mus- selshell river, in August, 1866. Andy Harris, killed by Assiniboines, on Milk river, in 1867. One soldier, killed by Piegans, at Camp Cook, in the spring of 1867. Bozell A. Bair, wounded by Piegans, on Eagle creek, in 1867. Paul Vermette, killed by Indians, on the Teton river, in 1866. Champion, killed by Arapahoes, at Fort Hawley, in 1867. Malcolm Clark, killed by Piegans, in 1869. Charles Carson, killed by Piegans, on Dearborn river, in 1866. Jake Leader, killed by Sioux, at mouth of Mussel- shell river, in 1869. McGregor, Taber, and two other men, names unknown, were killed, and one man wounded, by Sioux, near Fort Peck, in 1868. The murder of the builders of the town of Ophir, occurred iu May, 1865. Six men killed by Bloods on Old Man's river, early in 1865. Ross and McKnight, killed by Sioux, at mouth of Mussel-

Сненотрима

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HISTORY OF MONTANA.

Of course these brave men were trained fighters, cautious and cool-headed; but no pre- cautions could match the wild redmen, ever on the alert and born to kill and plunder.

Montana had more than five hundred gold- bearing gulches, scattered somewhat widely over and along the Rocky mountains. Her five great basins had at least five times five hundred plateans and valleys and streams, where men were making homes, also scattered.

The following indictment which was drawn by the United States Marshal, W. F. Wheeler, speaks for itself and shows to what desperate resorts the people were driven. As this is drawn by an officer of the Government and

tana, he brought his wife West immediately after their marriage, and they have made their home at Bozeman ever since. Here Mr. Hoffman has been connected with many enterprises. Ile is now engaged in coal-mining, merchandising, farming, stock-raising and banking, being vice-president of the Bozeman National Bank.

He has served as Alderman of the city of Bozeman and County Commissioner of Gallatin county. He was elect- ed a member of the House of Representatives of the Fifteenth Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Mon- tana, joint member for Gallatin and Meagher counties of the Council of the Sixteenth Assembly, and when Mon- tana became a State he was elected a member of the first State Senate, and re-elected to the Second Assembly, being now President pro tem. of the Senate.

Governor Leslie appointed him Quartermaster General on his staff, and he has ever since served in that capacity, being re-appointed by Governors White, Toole and Rickards.

shell river, in 1871. Nat Crabtree, killed by Piegans, near Camp Cook, in 1868. Old man Lee, killed, and Charley Williams and Drew Denton wounded, by Sioux, near Carroll, in 1870. McArdle and comrade, killed by Crows, near Benton, in 1869. Tom Russ, killed by Sioux, near Fort Peck, in 1873. Michael Thebault, killed by Piegans, on the Teton, in 1868. James Quail, killed by Piegans, Dear Silver creek, in 1869. One man, name un- known, killed by Piegans, on Sun river, in 1868. Clark, killed by Piegans, on Sun river, in 1868. Dauphant, killed by Sioux, near the mouth of Milk river, in 1865. Charley Desronin, killed by Indians, near the Bear Paw, in 1870. Little Frenchie, killed by Assiniboines, on Milk river, in 1869. One man, herder for Carroll and Steel, name unknown, killed by Indians, on Milk river, in 1869. Sam Rax, killed by Bloods, on Eagle creek, in 1869. Jim Watkins, wounded by Piegans, uear Benton, in

signed by citizens under oath it must be ac- accepted as a truthful statement of the condi- tion of affairs at that date:

" The Grand Jury of the United States for the 3d Judicial District of Montana, have ex- amined a number of witnesses, and from the evidence presented to them find that the people of this district have suffered within the last few months great loss of life and property from predatory bands of Indians. We have been furnished the names of nine or ten citizens who have been murdered in cold blood by them. Over 300 head of stoek have been stolen within two months past and we believe that within six months fully 1,000 horses have been stolen,

GEORGE R. WELLS, M. D., United States Examining Surgeon, and County Physician for Park county, Montana, is a resident of Livingston. Of his life we present the following brief biography:

Dr. George R. Wells was born in Greenville, Kent county, Michigan, July 9, 1862, son of John E. and Mary E. (Smith) Wells, his ancestors being of English descent and having long been residents of the United States. Dr. William Wells, his grandfather, was a prominent phys- ician and a relative of the Hon. Gideon Wells. In early life John E. Wells was engaged in mercantile pursuits, but later turned his attention to milling and at this writing is largely interested in flonring mills in Lake county, Michigan.

After a preparatory education in the Saginaw high school, George R. Wells began the study of medicine and took a regular course in the Rush Medical College, where he graduated February 16, 1886. Having completed his college course, he entered upon the practice of his pro-

1868. Old man Long, Foster and Jordan, killed by Sioux, near mouth of Pouchette. Seven unknown travelers, killed by Sioux, on the Missouri river, above Fort Peck, in 1868 Two men, names unknown, killed by Sioux, at mouth of Musselshell, in 1868. Four men, names unknown, killed by Sioux, at mouth of Musselshell, in 1873. George Horn, killed hy Assiniboines, on Cow creek, in 1874. Bill Morrison and John Hughes, killed by River Crows, on Arrow creek, in 1877. Antelope Charley and Cook, killed by Piegans, at mouth of Eagle creek, iu 1873. Little Rock, killed by Sioux, on Judith mountain, in 1874. Old man, name unknown, killed by Piegans, on Warm Spring creek, near the Judith river, in 1874. Buckshot and Poulett, killed by Assiniboines, at Rocky Spring, in 1871. Joseph Gipperich was killed by Bloods, on St Mary's river, in 1872.

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HISTORY OF MONTANA.

and a number of valuable citizens sacrificed, whose names we could not learn. The Piegans, Bloods and Blackfeet, who all talk in the same language and constitute the Blackfeet nation, have moved their women and children north of Montana, and in that country have procured ammunition and improved arms. This is a declaration of war on the whites of Montana, and some measures should be taken to meet the emergency. The civil authorities have not the means and the people are not able to bear the expense of pursuing and punishing these rob- bers and murderers, who destroy our property and lives, and come and go like the wind. Ours

is a contest between civilization and barbarism, and we must risk our lives and sacrifice our hard-earned property to defend them, unless the general Government gives us the means of de- fence. To this we are entitled, as we have left homes of comfort in the East to plant civilization in the wilderness. It is evidence that the ' Pend d'Oreilles,' who make periodical journeys from their homes to the valley of the Yellowstone, on hunting expeditions, through some of the settled portions of our Territory, are guilty of horse-stealing if not of murder. Their passage through our settled valleys should be prohibited by the authorities. The

fession in his native State. About a year later he went to Gold Hill, Colorado, where he practiced until 1889, at that time going East and entering the New York Post- Graduate College for Physicians, from which institution he received a diploma March 18, 1890. The following May he came West again, this time locating in Living- ston, Montana, where he has since continued to reside, and where, during this brief period, he has established a most enviable reputation as a physician of more than ordinary ability. Soon after coming here he was appointed United States Examining Surgeon.

Dr. Wells is a member of the Masonic fraternity, Reed City, Michigan, No. 363, A. F. & A. M .; Livingston Chap- ter, No. 7, R. A. M .; and St. Bernard Commandery, No. 6, K. T. He is also a member of the K. of M., and A. O. U. W., being Examining Surgeon for the latter organization. Ile is also Examining Surgeon for the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen, for the Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York, the Pacific Mntnal Life of San Francisco, and the National Life of Montpelier, Vermont. While Dr. Wells is not a politician, he takes a commend- able interest in public affairs and is a supporter of the Republican party.

Dr. Wells has a brother, Cephas Wells, who is also a member of the medical profession, being a practicing physician at Chase, Michigan, a graduate of the Louis- ville (Kentucky) Medical College.

September 22, 1886, the subject of our sketch was mar- ried to Edith Z. Marsh, daughter of Orlando and Francis (Quance) Marsh, her ancestors being among the early settlers of New York.

CRAIG C'ORNELL, a Montana pioneer of 1864, and one of the enterprising and successful farmers of the Beaver Head valley, is a native of the State of Indiana, born in Porter county, January 8, 1839.

Mr. Cornell is of Scotch descent, his great-grandfather Cornell having emigrated from that country to Long Is- land previous Io the Revolution. Some members of the

family participated in the struggle for independence. Mr. Cornell's father, Isaac Cornell, was born in Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, April 17, 1792. He was married in 1818 to Miss Priscilla Morgan, a native of Virginia, born in 1800. They moved to Ohio and settled in Wayne county, where they resided until 1835, at which time they removed to Indiana, where he cleared up several farms, being among the pioneers of that State also. He died in Indiana, January 22, 1874, in the eighty-first year of his age. His good wife had passed away November 25, 1859, in her fifty-ninth year. They were honest, up- right and industrious, and were the parents of eleven children, of whom five are still living.

The subject of this sketch was their tenth child. He was reared on the farm in Indiana on which he was born, and remained at home until he was twenty-five years of age, his education being received in the district schools. In 1864 he crossed the plains to Montana, came with a mule team and was sixty days on the journey. He came direct to Bannack and worked at mining, receiving $6 a day. In 1865 he was engaged in prospecting at Helena and in other parts of the Territory, and in 1866 he located the ranch on the south side of Dillon where he now re- sides. Here he owns 1,000 acres of land and his wife is the owner of 115 acres. His chief farming products are wheat, oats, timothy, and alfalfa hay. He has also been largely interested in the stock business, raising horses, sheep and cattle, he being the pioneer dairyman of his section of the country. His cattle are Holstein and Short- horn, his horses are Norman-Percheron, and his sheep Shropshire and Merino. His stock and premises are indicative of the intelligent and prosperous farmer.

Mr. Cornell had "bached" in Montana until November 16, 1871, when he was married in Indiana to Miss Eliza Keller. She was born in Ohio, June 30, 1845, daughter of John Keller, a native of Maryland; moved with her parents to Indiana, and there she and Mr. Cornell were

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HISTORY OF MONTANA.

River Crows murdered two white men near Fort Benton abont the 20th July last and took their horses to their camp.

" In none of these cases of murder and theft have the Indians been pursued and pun- ished. Our population is necessarily scattered along the valleys, or isolated in mining camps and gulches, and hence is exposed to sudden attacks from Indians. We make this statement, which is substantiated by truthful evidence, and respectfully request that it may be sent to such officers of the general Government as are en- trusted with the care of the Indians, and our protection by military force, trusting that they take the steps necessary to give us full pro-

schoolmates. They have four children, Isaac Rosco, Estella, Mary Viola, and Miron C. At this writing their son, Isaac R., is attending college.

Mr. Cornell has been a consistent Democrat all his life. He is a Master Mason and a citizen of the highest integ- rity. During his long residence in Montana he has made a most satisfactory record.

DANIEL DWYER, ex-Mayor of Anaconda, Montana, and one of the best-known contractors and builders in the State, is a native of the Emerald Isle. He was born in county Cork, Ireland, in 1850, is a son of John and Mary (Murphy) Dwyer, and passed his youth and early man- hood in his native land. In May, 1873, he emigrated to America, and upon his arrival in the United States select- ed Houghton county, Michigan, for his location. There he was successfully engaged in contracting and building nntil 1878, when he came to Montana.

Mr. Dwyer's first location in Montana was at Butte, with the building of which town he was prominently identified. He there erected for himself the first two- story brick building in the town, and he also erected for other parties many substantial buildings. In 1883, when the town of Anaconda was laid out, he was among the first contractors on the scene, and has been engaged in contracting here ever since, building and extending the immense Anaconda Smelting Works. It was not, how- ever, until two years after he began business here that he located permanently in Anaconda. In the fall of 1891 he erected his magnificent residence on Park avenue, No. 408. Besides this he owns a fine residence on the corner of Park avenue and Locust street, and the handsome hrick block on Main street that is occupied by the Smith Drug Company. Ever since he located here he has not only been identified with the material growth and progress of the city, but he has also taken an active part in educational and other matters. In 1890 he was elected a member of the Board of Education,

tection, or, if the means in their hands are not adequate, that they will represent our exposed and dangerous position to the heads of govern- ment at Washington, who have authority to punish or prevent Indian outrages.

" Grand Jury Rooms, Helena, M. T., Octo- ber 9, 1869.

"Signed: G. W. Tubbs, foreman; D. W. Buck, A. A. Green, James P. Mabbett, John H. Curtiss, Moses Morris, Benjamin Stickney, Jr., E. S. Mansfield, Wm. Simms, D. M. Gillette, E. L. Baker, Felix Poznainsky, L. Behm, W. F. Richardson, Hugh Glenn."

To sum up all this sad business briefly, no State, or group of States, shows half such suf-

on which he served two years, and in May, 1892, he was elected Mayor of the town. After serving one term as Mayor, he declined a re-election. In partnership with a Mr. Cosgrove, and under the firm name of Dwyer & Cosgrove, he is now constructing large copper-smelting works at Salt Lake City.

Mr. Dwyer was married in 1881 to Miss Mary Driscoll, daughter of Jeremiah and Mary (Sullivan) Driscoll, residents of county Cork, Ireland. Mr. and Mrs. Dwyer have five children living-John, Robert Emmet, Dannie Eddie, Michael and Ann Christina. They lost one child, William George, at the age of fourteen months.

Mr. Dwyer and his wife are members of St. Paul Catho- lic Church, Anaconda.

JAMES B. HAWKINS, the present Sheriff of Custer county, and residing at Miles City, was elected on the ticket of the People's party, in 1892, and is a model Sher- iff. Ile neither drinks intoxicants nor uses tobacco iu any form; nor did he use a dollar in his campaign for office, while his opponents, both Democratic and Repub- lican, spent money liberally, and called our subject the " ghost-dance " candidate! Yet he was elected, and his fidelity to his official duties proves the wisdom of the ma- jority of voters in the county, as all now agree that he is the right man in the right place. lIe is both vigilant and wisely courageous, and withal a genial gentleman.

He had served as Deputy Sheriff un ler J. W. Johnson for two years,-1882-3-and Deputy Sheriff and jailor under Sheriff Irvine for three years, -- from December, 1886, to November, 1889. In the fall of 1892 he was elected by a majority of fifty-eight over the Republican candidate, and 113 over the Democratic.

Mr. Hawkins was born in Utica, New York, July 10, 1819, a son of Martin and Harriet (Ballou) Hawkins. His mother was a relative of President Garfield's mother, and her ancestry were early settlers in Connecticut, her re- moter ancestry being Freuch Huguenots. Mr. Hawkins'

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fering as this which Montana endured in these early years. Had not the men been trained fighters, every one, the place would have been blotted out, as a white man's land, on any one of many occasions.

President Grant came nearer to a wise and swift solution of the Indian question than any one before or since, when he proposed making wards of all wild Indians under the direct guardianship of army officers. But he was diverted at once from this high purpose by the absurd and untenable grounds taken by all the bad Indian agents and traders and like selfislily interested persons, to the effect that an army or federal officer could not at the same time hold

paternal ancestry were lrish. His father was for several years engaged in the livery business in Utica, and died when the son was seven years of age. After that event the mother moved with her children to McHenry county, Illinois, where they resided two years, and then moved to DeKalb connty, same State, where James grew up on a farm, receiving a common-school education. There were four children in the family. Thomas B., the eldest, enlisted, before he was sixteen years old, in the Fifty- second Illinois Volunteer Infantry, in Company G, and served under General Sherman until June, 1865. He was in the famous battle of Alatoona, Georgia, and in all the battles from Chattanooga to the surrender of Johnston, and was in the grand review at Washington, District of Columbia: he now resides in Texas. James B, our sub- ject, is the next in order of birth. Sarah Ellen, the next, died in 1885; and William is the present jailor, under the authority of his brother.

In 1869 Mr. Hawkins started to explore the great West, intending first to join a friend, James Ashbaugh, theu in the live stock business near Bannack, Montana; but on reaching Omaha he turned to Atchison, Kansas, where he remained until the spring of 1870, when he went to Abi- lene, that State, and engaged with a cattle outfit, which was his beginning as a " cow-boy." That summer he spent in herding cattle, taking one herd to the Platte river. For two years he was engaged in driving cattle from Texas to Kansas, and one season he followed farm- ing in Blanco county, Texas.

At Blanco City, May 25, 1874, he enlisted in Company D, of the frontier forces known as "Texas rangers," under Captain Rufus Perry. It was a State military or- ganization, formed for the purpose of suppressing the outlaws who were so numerous and active at the time, and also for the purpose of guarding against the hostile invasion of Indians, who sometimes made raids into the State, stealing horses, etc. The company were mounted

a civil office. Of course this clause in our fundamental law was intended only to forbid the holding of a civil office with emoluments by an acting federal officer. An ariny officer can take care of an Indian, so far as any legal grounds to the contrary can rightly be raised, as well as he can take care of his horse or his child.

Grant knew, from his long service in Oregon and elsewhere, that an Indian cannot restrain his warlike, plundering habits any more than can a child refrain from taking hurtful sweets when too much tempted.

The Indian, best or worst, is a child. Let the man who really loves the Indian see to it that

on their own horses, which were paid for by the State if lost in the service. The company went out with seventy- five men, with Mr. Hawkins as Sergeant, which position he filled during his term of service,-two and a half years; and he was in the saddle about half the time, scouting and sometimes skirmishing with the Indians. On one of these expeditions they encountered Indians, and in exchanging shots Mr. Hawkins was wounded in the knee by a shot from an Indian. While engaged as scout for the United States Government, the two Chey- enne Indian scouts with Mr. Hawkins were killed. This was in 1880 on the Rosebud, in Custer county, Montana. Many thrilling adventures he experienced, which gave lessons of value to him in his responsibilities as Sheriff. He was discharged from his duties in Texas November 6, 1876.

During the following winter he spent most of the time traveling in New Mexico. He reached Custer City, South Dakota, March 11, 1877, in company with " Doc " Long and Andrew Wilson, comrades from Texas. In May of that year they went to the Big Horn river, where there was a mining excitement. Not finding the field very promising, and meeting two old Montana prospect- ors near Deadwood, they were induced to come to Boz -- man, in the Gallatin valley ; but at the Little Horn river, on the way, they met a company of soldiers, the captain of which advised them to halt at the present site of Miles City, where he was confident that they could procure em- ployment in the construction of Fort Keogh. They ac- cordingly stopped there, but instead of engaging in fort- building they cut grass, which was then abundant in the valley, and they made hay, which they sold to the Gov- ernment at $25 a ton, for use at the fort, and they cleared $1,200, thus netting $100 to each of the party in one month.

Soon thereafter Mr. Hawkins located a ranch on Grave- yard Bottom, twenty miles above Miles City, on the south

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he is taken care of as a child; that he is re- strained, guarded, kept from temptation to plunder. Looking at it, not from the point of protection to the white man at all, but entirely from the Indian's side, I say he must be kept from pulling destruction down on his own head. The white man, with the continual inundation from other places, will survive, and civilization, in the centuries to be, will not greatly miss the few hundreds or thousands that the Indian may yet massacre, if still left to do his will, as peace commissioners sentimentally insist; but where willbe the Indian? He can be perpetuated only by being protected,-protected from himself.

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An illustrated history of the state of Montana, containing biographical mention of its pioneers and prominent citizens, Part 71

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