An illustrated history of the state of Montana, containing biographical mention of its pioneers and prominent citizens, Part 74

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 74

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Again a Senator was to be elected to succeed Colonel Sauders, by the Legislature that convened in Helena in January, 1893. In this body the Populists, with three members, held the balance of power. Mr. Clark again received the Democratic caucus nomination, but a small contingent of Democrats, under the avowed leadership of Mr. Marcus Daly, refused to go into caucus or to abide by the decision of the majority. As a consequence the contest was protracted through the entire session of sixty days, and the gavel fell at the last joint session with no election for United States Senator.

It was a memorable contest, in which party and fac- tional strife ran high. On the last ballot, and one or two preceding ones, Mr. Clark came within two votes of an election, receiving the support of one Populist and several Republicans, in addition to that of the faithful band of twenty-six Democrats that stood true to him from start to finish. Mr. Clark headed the delegation to the Demo- cratie National Convention at Chicago in 1892, and has been justly recognized by the administration in the dis- tribution of federal patronage in :h . State.

In concluding this reference to a unique career, it may he safely said that no man in Montana has been more highly honored by his party, or has more richly deserved the confidence and leadership by oue accord awarded to him. At all times and under all circumstances he has been faithful to his party,-as constant and true-fixed as

close after a time. In a narrow pass the spilt flour was suspiciously plentiful, and Joe led across the spurs of the mountain toward what is now Sisson. It was called Strawberry Valley then, and was kept by two brothers by the name of Gordon. We were desperately worn and hungry, and they treated us well.

" As said before, there were and had for some time been rumors of coming trouble. Joe and I turned back from Sisson to give the alarm and get help along the river. Portuguese Flat, which it took us two days toreach through the mountains, as we dared not take the trail, was the nearest post. Dog Creek, the ghost of which may be dimly seen in Delta row, was then a prosperous camp and full of men. Judge Gibson, then the only magistrale in the

the northern star. Enjoying many victories in business affairs and having been repeatedly honored by his fellow- citizens, it remained for the year 1894 to bring to Mr. Clark his greatest triumph and most enduring laurels. In this year the permanent seat of government of Mon- tana was located. In 1892 the first capital contest, in which several towns were entered, resulted in leaving Helena and Anaconda in tde field as the only candidates which could lay claim to the suffrage of the people. Helena was the temporary capital. Anaconda being the Anaconda Company's candidate, had immense financial backing and enjoyed the advantage of a powerful politi- cal alliance. For a time it seemed that this town, owued and controlled by one corporation, would win the day. People who feared the consequences of such an outcome were without a leadership upon which they could lean with confidence. Helena forces were without organiza- tion. At this juncture W. A. Clark, whose home is within plain view of the Anaconda mines in Butte, and who was therefore surrounded by the strongest Anaconda influ- euces in the State, cast aside all personal and political ambitions and entered the fight for the people. From the day that he made his position known through the columns of his newspaper, the Butte Miner, until election day, he was the recognized leader of the Helena forces. Not only did he contribute liberally of his time and means, but he took the stump and addressed the people in the principal cities of the State, making a most powerful and eloquent appeal to their pride and patriotism. Never in the history of this or any other State was a battle more intense or exciting; never did the people more keenly feel that their rights and liberties were at stake, and never did a citizen receive a greater or more spoutaneous ovation than that which Mr. Clark enjoyed wheu, after having unquestionably snatched victory from defeat, the people of the State gathered in thousands at Helena to do him honor. The citizens bore him on their shoulders from his traiu, placed him in a carriage, and then, de- taching the horses, took their places at the pole and triumphantly hauled it to the city as a victor's chariot.

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country, bad married an influential chief's danghter, and, by a wise and just course, had gained great authority, and had keep this tribe, the Shastas, from taking part in the great up- rising which finally spread all over the coast. The Indians had determined on a war of exter- mination. It ended in the utter extinction of many tribes in Oregon and some in California.

"Courage was not lacking in those days, but coolness and experience in Indian warfare were wanting. Gibson had all these. So had Moun- tain Joe; but Joe had lost an eye by an arrow, and the other eye was not good. So he deferred to Gibson. Major Dribelbies, then sheriff, and Ike. Hare, each took active part in trying to keep down the uprising of savages, and also in getting up an expedition against those in revolt,

It was a battle never to be forgotten, and the un- precedented expressions of gratitude which were show- ered upon Mr. Clark formed a climax of triumph such as rarely crowns the efforts of man. It was a victory which easily gives Mr. Clark rank as the first citizen of his State, and one of the most commanding figures of the West.

In March, 1869, Mr. Clark was married to Kate L. Stauffer, a highly accomplished lady of Connellsville, Pennsylvania. The couple started on their wedding day for their distant home in the mountains. They made their residence at Helena, and here their first child, Mary C., was born, in Jaunary, 1870. Locating that year in Deer Lodge, their other children were born in this town, with the exception of the youngest child, Francis Paul, who was born at Paris, France. Six children were born to Mr. aud Mrs. Clark, one of them, Jessie (twin sister of Katharine L., now living), died in Deer Lodge in April, 1888, at the age of three years. The eldest, Mary C., was happily married in April, 1891, to Dr. E. M. Cul- ver, of New York city, a successful practitioner, and is the mistress of a beautiful home in the metropolis. Charles W., their eldest son, is a graduate of Yale Col- lege, and has supplemented the regular academic course by taking a degree in mineralogy, thus fitting him for a successful career in the mining world, and is now in full charge of a copper mine and smelting plant at Houston, Idaho. In 1879 Mr. Clark took his family to Paris, where they remained three years, all of them besides himself having acquired a thorough knowledge of the French language. Ile then sent them to Dresden, Germany, for two years to acquire a knowledge of the German language. During these years Mr. Clark speut the winters in Eu- rope, and he and Mrs. Clark and the elder children traveled extensively throughout Europe, and in parts of Asia and Africa. In later years, besides their beautiful home in Butte, they have maintained a residence in a fashionable district in New York city, where a portion of each year was spent, and where the younger' boys, Will- iam A. and Francis Paul, are preparing for college.

while Joe and I went back, and, with such friends as we could gather, waited at the base of Castle Crags for Gibson and his men.

" Amazing as it may seem, he brought but about fifty, all told, Indians and whites; and vet he was the only man who could have done as well. The miners were already more than disgusted with the country, and Indians rarely fight Indians in a general uprising like this. Mountain Joe could raise but ten men of his own.

" Gibson led straight up Big Castle ereek, as if avoiding Castle Crags and the savages en- trenched there. He kept himself almost en- tirely with his Indians, and hard things were said of him by the worn and discouraged white volunteers. They suspected that he was afraid

On the 19th day of October, 1893, Mr. Clark met with the greatest loss of his life in the death of his wife, which occurred at the family residence in New York city, after a brief illness. The deceased was a lady of rare intelligence and refinement, a fitting helpmate for her active and ambitious husband, and her death was sincerely mourned by many Montana friends.

This sketch of Mr. Clark is necessarily general in its character. To go into the interesting details of his life, of the struggles of his early manhood and successe's of later days, would require a volume in itself, and one that would not be lacking in interest. Enough has been sub- mitted, however, to prove that he is entitled to a place in the first ranks of the brave, determined, energetic and self-made men of the West, who have builded a new em- pire in the Rocky mountains in the last quarter of a century.

Mr. Clark is yet in the prime of life, and is pushing on to greater and grander achievements. Ilis wealth is variously estimated at from five to ten millions of dollars, but he is still the same warm and steadfast friend, the same genial companion as of yore. He has accumulated riches without arrogance, a rare instance indeed. Above all Mr. Clark is a good citizen, public-spirited and patri- otic, proud of his State and of the greatest mining camp on earth, which is indebted in so large a measure to him for its present prosperity.

JOSEPH HORSKY, real-estate dealer at Helena, Montana, is a native of Austria, born October 6, 1842. He spent his youth in his native land, and emigrated with his par- ents to this country, settling in Johnson county, Iowa, near the city of Cedar Rapids. His early education was received in Austria, and after their removal to the United States he attended school in Iowa and Nebraska, his par- ents having moved from the former State to the latter. From Nebraska he went back to Iowa, and in 1859 started for Colorado, but at this time inducements were offered him to remain in Nebraska, which he did, and until 1862 was with his parents engaged in farm work.

In 1862 Mr. Horsky went to Colorado and engaged in

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HISTORY OF MONTANA.

to make the fight, and was trying to join the regulars under Crook in the Trinity mountains.

" At last, when our shoes and moccasins, as well as our patience, were worn out, he turned sharply to the right, making the entire circuit of the Castle. We rested by a deep, dark lake which the Indians call the abode of their devil, Ku-ku-pa-rick, and they refused to approach its grassy, wooded shores.

"Here Gibson, leaving his Indians for the first time, passed from man to man as they crouched under the trees. He told them that there was to be a fight, and a fight to a finish; that the hostiles were not an hour distant, and that no one could turn back and live, for if we did not kill them they would kill ns. He told

quartz mining, continuing there until January, 1864. At that time he returned to Omaha for his brother John, and together they started for Montaua, arriving in Virginia City on August 27, of that year. He resided in Virginia City until February, 1865, when he came to Helena, and from that time up to the present he has given his atten- tion to the real-estate business, having considerable prop- perty in Helena and also large ranching and stock in- terests.

Mr. Horsky was married July 4, 1885, to Lettie Carr, and they have two daughters. He is a member of King Solomon Lodge and Helena Chapter, No. 2, and also of the A. O. U. W. Politically, he is a Republican, but is not a politician and has never been an office-holder.

HON. WILLIAM O. SPEER, Judge of the Second Judicial District Court of Silver Bow county, Montana, is a native of Pennsylvania, born August 26, 1846. His grandfather, William Speer, emigrated from the north of Ireland to America soon after the Revolution, settling in western Pennsylvania, where he was an industrious farmer. He was one of the lay members of the Covauters' Church who took an active part in forming the new division of that denomination. His son Robert, the Judge's father, was born in Carlisle, that State, married Charlotte Cov- ert, a native of the same State, and in 1855 moved to Iowa, settling in Davenport, where for many years he followed his trade of carpentering. IIe had seven chil- dren, of whom three are now living. Ile with his wife still survives, he being now in his eightieth year.

ITis eldest child, whose name heads this sketch, was educated principally in Davenport, graduating at the high school there. He theu read law under the precep- torship of Brown & Campbell of that city, and was ad- mitted to the bar in 1874. After practicing two years alone, he formed a partnership with N. S. Mitchell, which continued three years.

In 1880 he came to Butte City and at once opened a successful practice. Soon afterward he took part in the formation of Silver Bow county, aud, being a stauch Re- publican, also participated efficiently in the canvass with IIon. W. F. Sanders: and in 1882 he was a candidate

us that they had come down out of the Castle to kill deer, and so their arrows were not pois- oned, and that we could swim.

" He broke us up in parties, putting good and bad together, with Indians at the head of each. He told me to go with Joe, whom he sent to make a show of attack on the side next to Soda Springs. When near the hostiles Joe put me behind a tree on the edge of a small open place, and told me to stay there. Then he went on, creeping through the dense brush, to place the other men. I put some bullets into my mouth so as to have them handy, but I do not know what I did with them. I fired a few shots after Joe opened the fight, but hit only brush and rocks, I reckon. And now

against W. F. Pemberton for the office of District Attor - ney, but was defeated. In 1884 he was elected a member of the Legislature, in which body he was chairman of the Judiciary Committee. In 1887 he was elected City Attorney for Bntte, and was re-elected to this position in 1888, both times being opposed by the candidacy of Judge MeHatton. In 1889 he again ran for the office, Frank E. Corbet being the candidate on the Democratic ticket; but the entire Republican ticket was defeated that year. In 1890 Judge Speer received the appointment of Superin- tendent of the Census for the State of Montana. In 1892 he was made a non-partisan candidate for Judge of the Second Judicial District of Silver Bow connty, which position he has since filled, giving uniform evidence of his fitness for the place. He has a fine judicial mind, is thoroughly conversant with the law, and is a man who has the credit of being self-made; and he pleasantly re- marks that he is "not a bit proud of the job." In his every-day life he is a very pleasant and agreeable gentle- man.

To fraternal orders and other absorbing interests out- side of his profession he has not devoted a great degree of attention, but he is a member of the I. O. O. F. and of the A. O. U. W .; and it is indeed a matter of wonder that such a pleasant, good-looking gentleman should have remained single all his life.

GEORGE PASCOE, President of the Board of Aldermeu of Bntte City, has been a resident of Montana since 1872.

Mr. Pascoe was born in England, July 8, 1845, and is a descendant of one of the old English families. He was educated in his native land and there spent five years of his early life in acquiring proficiency in the business of landscape gardening, this business having attained great perfection in that country. In April, 1872, he emigrated to America, and for some time was engaged in landscape gardening on Long Island. Believing that the West af- forded better facilities for accumulating property, he di- rected his course toward Montana and that same year, 1872, took up his abode in Deer Lodge. At first he worked at whatever employment he could secure, and for a num- ber of years had a position in the Insane Asylum, under

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pandemonium! Indians do not often yell in battle; but on both sides of us now the velling was simply fiendish. They yelled from the top of the Castle to the bottom, it seemed to me.

" We had taken the enemy entirely unawares, asleep, most of them, after the morning's chase, and our first shots brought down their dozing sentinels on the rocks. Finally there was some parleying, and the yelling, the whiz of arrows and the crack of rifles stopped. Then some Indian women came out and across the little gorge to Joe and his men, and I, thinking they had all surrendered, walked out into the open. Gibson called from the rocks ahead of me and to my right: . Boys, the fight now begins, and we've got to git them or they git us. Come on? Who will go in with me?' I answered that I would go, for it was all a picnic so far as 1 had

Dr. A. H. Mitchell. After that he went to Walla Walla and purchased sheep, and for some time continued in the sheep industry with fair success. In 1882 he came to Bntte City and entered the employ of the Silver Bow Brewing Company. For some years past he has had the management of the depot at Butte City, in which capacity he has shown himself to be a capable and successful busi- ness man.

During his residence in Butte City, Mr. Pascoe has be- come deeply interested in its affairs and has proven him- self a public-spirited and enterprising man. He has in- vested in quartz mining and also largely in real estate, own- ing a number of residences in the city. In politics he has been a life-long Republican. In 1887 he was elected by his party to the office of Public Administrator, and in 1889 was elected one of the Aldermen of Butte City. In this latter capacity he has served two full terms and is now serving on the third. For the past two years he has been president of the Board and a part of that time acting as Mayor of the city. During his long service in the Conn- cil he has made himself thoroughly conversant with the affairs and needs of the city, and is one of its most useful officers.

In fraternal circles also is Mr. Pascoe prominent and active. He is Past Grand Master of the I. O. O. F. of the State of Montana, and is Grand Representative of the Sovereign Grand Lodge of I. O. O. F. He has been Sec- retary of the local lodge, K. of P., for eight years, and has served as Representative to the Grand Lodge several years, also Secretary of the Encampment of the I. O.O. F. ever since it was organized. He is also a member of the A. O. U. W., is Treasurer of the lodge, a member of the Grand Lodge, and a member of the committee on its laws.

Mr. Pascoe is a widower and has two children, Alice and Mary, both born in Butte City.

FRANK BOUCHER, an enterprising and successful cloth- ing merchant of Butte City, was born October 26, 1858, a native of Quebec, Canada, of which city his parents, Enos

yet seen, and I ran around to him. But there was blood on his hands and blood on his face, blood on all of his Indians, and most of the white men were bloody and hot.

" The red-skin enemies used arrows entirely. They could tell where we were, but we knew where they were only when we felt their sting. Gibson led, or rather crept, hastily on, his head below the chapparal. No one dared speak, but when we got in position, right in the thick of it, our men opened. Then the arrows, then the yelling, as never before! The women and chil- dren prisoners down with Joe set up the death song, as if it was not already dismal enough. The savages bantered us and bullied us, saying we were all going to be killed before the sun went down; that we were already covered with blood, and that they had not lost a man. I had

B. (a prominent farmer) and Victoria (Deschene) Boucher, were also natives. They had ten children, of whom nine are still living. The elder Boucher died February 5, 1889, in the eightieth year of his age, and his wife is still liv- ing, a resident of the old homestead, now in her seventy- fifth year.

Their seventh child, the subject of this sketch, was edn- cated in the public schools of Quebec and spent three years as an apprentice to the blacksmith's trade. In 1879 he came to Butte, and there being nothing for him then to do in his line, he ent cord-wood for the first two winters, at $1.50 per cord, and then he opened a shop OD Arizona street, where he carried on his trade as a black smith for two years. Then selling out he engaged in the livery husiness, with a partner, and drove a very remunera tive trade for six years. Then he sold this business and engaged in the clothing trade, in company with E. A. Dany, putting in $10,000, while Mr. Dany gave to the business the advantages of his experience: but at the end of eleven months they were in debt $24,000, while they had only $18,000 in stock. Seeing something wrong, Mr. Boucher gave his partner a few hundred dollars to get him out, mortgaged his assets and pulled victoriously throngh, paying all the indebtedness alone, and mean- while making a signal success with his business. He now has a large and commodious store on 45 East Park street, filled with a choice stock of clothing, gents' furnishing goods, hats, caps, boots and shoes, and he is considered one of the most successful and reliable business men of the city. He is a bright, capable and enterprising mer- chant.

Mr. Boucher was married in 1890 to Miss Laura Adams, a native of New York, and they have a daughter, named Mary Hallie.

As to fraternal relations Mr. Boucher belongs to the A. O. U. W., the Select Knights, the Knights of Labor, the Maccabees, the National Union and the Canadian Insti- tute. In his political sympathies he is a Republican, and he and his wife are members of the Catholic Church.

HISTORY OF MONTANA.

not yet fired a shot since joining Gibson, and, rising up to look for a target, he told an Indian to ' pull the fool down by the hair,' which he promptly did.

" The battle had lasted for hours. The men were choking, and the sun was near going down. We must kill or be killed, and that soon. We must do our work before dark. The white man has little show with an Indian in battle at night.

" Gibson gathered all who could or would go, and took still another place by storm. Then Lane fell, mortally hurt by an arrow in the eye. I saw Gibson's gun fall from his hand from the very deluge of arrows; then all was blank, and I knew no more of that battle.

"The fight was over when I came to my senses, and it was dark. A young man by the

CHARLES P. BLAKELEY of Bozeman, Register of the United States Land Office for that district, was born in Daviess county, Missouri, June 6, 1834. His earlier edu- cation was acquired in the common schools of the dis- triet, he remaining on the farm with his parents until he reached his eighteenth year.

In 1854 he went to Kansas and took up a farm in that troubled border region. One year later he drove an ox team to Fort Laramie and back for the Government, returning again to Kansas, and in 1856 was married to Miss Elizabeth Downen. They took up their residence on a farm near Iowa Point, Kansas, remaining there until 1861, in which year they sold ont and removed to Missouri. The war breaking out, Mr. Blakeley was among the first to offer his services to the Southern cause, entering Gen- eral Price's army. Ile continued in service until January, 1862, returning then to his home in Missouri. Here he was taken prisoner and confined at St. Joseph, Missouri, for seventeen days, when he and two others escaped by overpowering the guard and getting off in the darkness. Ile went direct to Iowa and remained there nearly a year, and on the seventeenth of April, 1863, accompanied by his wife, he left Omaha for the West.

His destination was the far-off Salmon river country of Idaho. They stopped in Colorado that winter, and on the 16th of May, 1864, started for Virginia City, Montana, the fame of the Alder Gulch placers having reached them. The summer of 1864 was spent by Mr. Blakeley in Alder Gulch, where he mined some and conducted a small dairy. On the 4th of October, 1864, they removed to the Gallatin valley, locating a ranch on the west branch of that stream, at which place they resided until 1870.

Mr. Blakeley and John Nelson built the first bridge across the West Gallatin river, at what is now Central Park. In 1870-1 he mined on Gold creek, but with indifferent results, and soon returned to the Gallatin valley, locating this time at Bozeman. In 1874 he moved to a farm further down the valley and engaged princi pally in stock-raising. In 1878 he drove his stock to the

name of Jameson was trying to drag me through the brush; and it has always seemed to me that a good many people walked over me and trod on me. I could hear, but could not see. An arrow had struck the left side of my face, knocked out two teeth, and had forced its point through at the back of my neck. I could hear, and I knew the voices of Gibson and Joe. They cut off the point of the arrow, and pulled it ont of my face by the feather end. Then I could see. I suffered no pain, but was be- unmbed and cold as we lay under the pines. Joe held my head all night expecting that I would die. Gibson had the squaw prisoners carry his wounded down to the pack-trail on the banks of the Sacramento. They laid us down under some pines and pretty juniper trees on the west side of the swift, sweet river. And

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An illustrated history of the state of Montana, containing biographical mention of its pioneers and prominent citizens, Part 74

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