An illustrated history of the state of Montana, containing biographical mention of its pioneers and prominent citizens, Part 75

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 75

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Yellowstone country and again took up his residence at Bozeman, where he has since continued to reside.

Mr. Blakeley has always taken a lively interest in poli- tics. He voted at the first election ever held in Montana. The first primary in Gallatin county was held at his house.

He has attended nearly every Democratic county con- vention since, and nearly all State and Territorial con- ventions. In 1865 he was nominated for County Clerk and was elected by several hundred majority, but the canvassing board threw out the votes of all the precincts save Bozeman and Gallatin City, thus preventing his seating. Ile was elected Representative to the Legisla- ture in 1866, that body being known as the "Bogus Leg- islature." From 1879 to 1882 he acted as Under Sheriff performing also the duties of Assessor, becoming thus thoroughly acquainted with the business men of the" connty. In 1882 he was elected Sheriff of the county, and defeated for the same office in 1884. He was again elected a member of the Legislature in 1888 and re-elected the succeeding year to the first State Legislature, being chosen Speaker of the Democratic House during the leg- islative block, of ninety days, so memorable in Montana's legislative history. In May, 1894, Mr. Blakeley was appointed, by President Cleveland, Register of the Boze- man Land Office, which position he now holds. Through this long public career he served the people of his county faithfully and conscientiously, and enjoys the esteem and confidence of the community in which he has been so important a factor.

IIis good wife crossed the plains with him in 1863, and is still at his side. They have no children. Mr. Blakeley is still an active figure in the political conventions of Gallatin county. His past experience has eminently fitted him for the position to which he was so justly appointed, and his many friends throughout that section will find him an efficient and able servant in this capacity. Ile is known all over the State, and known for his earn- estness in supporting any cause he espouses.

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Charles . Tlakcle

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how tender and how kind these heroic men were! I was as a brother to them now, -- their boy hero. Only the day before I had been merely ' Mountain Joe's boy.'

"Gibson's loss in killed was considerable for so small a number engaged,-several Indians, though only one white man. Indians never give their loss, because of encouragement to the enemy; and Mountain Joe and Gibson, for a like reason, always kept their list of killed and wounded as low as possible, and spoke of the battle of Castle Crags as a trifling affair. Yet General Crook, in his letter to Captain Gibson, marveled that he ever got out with a single man.

" I had promised to mark the grave of Ike Hare with a fragment of granite from Castle

GEORGE A. DOUGLAS, a farmer near the Boulder Hot Springs, was born in Chateaugay, Franklin county, New York, March 7, 1831. His ancestors were natives of Scot- land, and came to America prior to the Revolutionary war. His father, Augustus Douglas, was born in Ver- mont in 1785, but when a young man moved to Franklin county, New York, aud was there married to Miss Sophia Sylvester, a native also of Vermont. They had five chil- dren, three of whom still survive. The wife and mother died at the age of forty years, and the father was after- ward again married. He was an honest and industrious farmer, and lived to the age of ninety years.

George A. Douglas, the subject of this sketch, was reared to manhood on his father's farm, attended school during the winter months, and remained at home until twenty-three years of age. He then started to make his own way in the world, first going to Wisconsin, and worked as a fireman on the Milwaukee & Mississippi Railroad. He next secured and improved a Government claim of 160 acres of land in Nebraska, remaining there nine years. In 1861, on Christmas day, he was united in marriage with Miss Calista Allen, a native of Ohio, and one child was born to them while residing in Nebraska: Mary E., now the wife of Frank Cook and a resident of Montana. Mr. and Mrs. Douglas and little daughter crossed the plains with ox teams in 1864, was ninety-six days in making the journey, spent the first winter in Vir- ginia City, this State, and then located on the land which he now owns in Jefferson county. Mr. Douglas first secured 160 acres, on which he built a log cabin, and he- gan a life of honest industry. He raises grain, hay and cattle, has a large free range for his stock near his farm, and has owned as many as 200 head of cattle and a num- ber of horses at one time. Ilis cattle are a grade of Shorthorns.

Six children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Douglas in Montana, viz .: Clara M., born in Virginia City, Janu- ary 31, 1865, is now the wife of Temple Grady, and re- sides near her parents; Elmer Allen; Arthur W., tele- graph operator at the Great Northern depot at Boulder;

Crags, so that those who pass up and down the pleasant walks around Castle Crags Tavern might look with respect on the resting-place of a brave man and an honest legislator of two States. But my little tablet would seem so pitiful in the mighty presence of Mount Shasta. And it is Crook's monument, and Dribelbies' and Mountain Joe's. The finger of the In- finite traces and retraces in storm or sun the story and the glory of their unselfish valne here while the world endures. It is enough.

" There are those who care to read of savage incidents in these border battles, but such things should be left to obsecurity, and I shall set down but two here. The first of these was the treatment of the dead Modoc chief. Docas Dalla, by the chief of our Indian allies. When

George A., John Franklin and Pearl. Mrs. Douglas is a worthy member of the Presbyterian Church in this city. In his social relations, Mr. Douglas is an active member of the Independent Order of Good Templars, is a Repul - lican iu his political views, and is one of the representa- tive citizens of his community.

THOMAS A. CUMMINGS came to Montana in 1867, and has since been one of her most worthy citizens.

He was born in county Kilkenny, Ireland, August 3, 1845. His father, Patrick Cummings, was born in Ire- land in 1818, reared in his native county, and in 1843 mar- ried Miss Ellen Fitzpatrick, who was born in the same county and is a member of his own church. They emi- grated to America in 1849, settling at Evans' Mills, Jeffer- son county, New York. Being a blacksmith by trade, he followed his vocation ever since he came to this country until he retired from active life. He still resides there, seventy-six years of age: and his wife also is spared to him, one year older. They are faithful adherents of the Catholic faith, people of industry and worth. Of their eight children only two survive.

Thomas A., the first-born, was attending high school when the news of the firing upon Fort Sumter was tele- graphed over the country, President Lincoln issued his call for volunteers, the cry to arms resounded throughont the land and the entire North aroused as it were from a sleep. In every hamlet the fife and drum were heard. At the same instant the patriotic zeal of Cummings was excited to the fighting heat, and August 29, 1861, he en- listed as a member of Battery C, First New York Light Artillery, which was attached to the Fifth Army Corps, the Army of the Potomac. Ile served his term, and in December, 1863, re-enlisted in the same battery and served till the close of the war. Ile participated in the battles of Mcclellan's, Burnside's, Hooker's, Meade's and Grant's armies, was at the surrender of Lee at Appomattox, and participated in the grand review of the victorious army at Washington in 1865. During his entire time of service he didnot receive even the scratch of a wound. He was honorably discharged June 27, 1865. All this before he

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the body was dragged before him, where he stood in the heat and rage of battle directing his men, he threw off his robe, and, nearly naked, leaped on the naked body (for it had already been stripped and scalped), and there danced and yelled as no fiend of the internal regions could have danced and yelled. He called his fallen foe by name, and mocked and laughed, and leaped up and down on the dead till the body was slippery with blood which gushed from its wounds, and he could no longer keep his footing. Yet after all it was only the old Greek and Trojan rage, the story of Homer in another form of expression; and Castle Crag was Troy above the clouds.

" One more incident, as described to me by the son of this same furions chief on revisiting the battle-ground: This son of the chief was but a lad at the time, and so was left by his father with two Indians and a few white men, who were too lame and worn out to rush into the fight, in charge of the blankets, supplies and so forth. They were left in the little depression

had attained his twentieth year! IIe returned to his home both a veteran and a victor.

April 1, 1867, seized with a desire of adventure and of improving his financial condition, he started up the Mis- sonri river, intending to make the rich Territory of Mon- tana the scenes of his future activities. Landing at Fort Benton July 8, he proceeded to Ilelena, where he was employed during the winter of 1867 by Vanderburg & Ellis. In the spring he obtained a position in the hard- ware business of John Kenna, in which he continued until the autumn of 1869. In 1869 he was employed at Blackfoot City, as manager for the Montana Hide and Fur Company. Iu 1870 he went to Washington Gulch and opened a store on his own account, and continued it two years.

In 1872 he was appointed Indian Agent for the Flat- head Indians, but his appointment was not confirmed. In March, 1873, he was, by President Grant, appointed Col- lector of Customs for Montana and Idaho, and served four years, when he was reappointed by President Hayes, in 1877, and served a second term of four years, being then succeeded by H. W. Hunt, now Judge of Lewis and Clarke county, who, after serving a part of the term, re- signed to receive the appointment of Attorney General of Montana. In December, 1884, President Arthur re- stored Mr. Cummings to his former position as Collector of Customs, which position he held until June, 1889.

Since 1887 Mr. Cummings has been actively engaged in the cattle business. In the meantime he has been a special officer of the Treasury Department. He has built two residences in Fort Benton, the last, a very commodi- ous one, in 1893, in which he and his interesting family reside. They are active and highly esteemed members of the Catholic Church, having aided in the building of

or dimple in the saddle of the mountain a few hundred feet above and to the south of Crook's or Castle lake, and in the Modoc pass or trail.

" When Gibson forced the fighting as night came on, the hostiles separated, some going down the gorge as if to reach their stores of arrows in the caves of Battle Rock (for their supplies must have been well nigh spent by this time), while others stole off up the old Modoe trail that winds up and above and around the lake, and in which the son of the chief and other Indians, as well as some whites, lay concealed. And here in this dimple on the great granite backbone that heaves about and above the lake, here above the clouds, amid drifts and banks and avalanches of everlasting snow, the wounded fugitives, with empty quivers, and leaving a red path as they crawled or crept on and up over the banks and drifts of snow, were met by their mortal enemies, face to face.

" If you will stand here facing Battle Rock to the sonth, and with your back to the lake, which

their house of worship and in all the interests of the church. Politically, Mr. Cummings has always been an active Republican: is now secretary of the Republican State Central Committee, and is a respected and influen- tial citizen of Montana.

September 4, 1880, he married Miss Mary Gallager, a native of Carthage, Jefferson county, New York, and a daughter of Richard and Maria (Sherwood) Gallager. On her father's side she is of Irish ancestry, and on her mother's American. She was American born and bred. Her father was an Englishman, and her mother a Scotch woman. Mr. and Mrs. Cummings have three children, namely: M. Marguerite, Helen S. and Thomas S. C.

S. W. LEWIS -In the person of this gentleman we find a large volume of fraternal feeling, hope, perseverance and fortitude, as will be observed as we follow his foot- steps through life.

Mr. Lewis was born in the West Indies, May 19, 1835. When a small child he came with his parents to the United States and located in Newark, New Jersey, where his boyhood days were spent. His mother died in 1844. and his father in 1847, leaving young Lewis and a younger sister. From 1847 to 1852 he spent in traveling from town to town, and in the various places where he stopped working at his trade, that of barber. He soon became eager to see the great West, and at the same time he had great concern for the welfare of his sister, Edmonia. He finally secured her a home in the family of Captain S. R. Mills, where he knew she would be kindly treated, and where he paid her tuition at school. His anxiety with regard to her thus being relieved, in the spring of 1852 he went to California.

Upon his arrival in California, Mr. Lewis opened a bir- ber shop on Commercial street, San Francisco, where he

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lies only a few hundred feet to the rear, though far below, you will see how impossible it was for the wounded savages to escape down the rugged erags to the left, or up and over the crescent of snow to the right. They could not turn back; they could not turn to the left nor to the right; and so they kept on. Two of them got through and over the ridge and onto the steep slope of snow, and slid down almost to the lake, where they lay for a few moments concealed in the tall grass. But their relentless red enemies followed their crimson trail, found and tomahawked and scalped them where they lay and threw their bodies into the lake.

" Like all decisive battles with swift-footed savages, this one covered a large field. The fighting, or at least the dead, and the blood on the rocks and snow, reached from the south shore of Crook's lake to the north base of Battle Rock. The cross-cut in the white spruce tree by the hand that writes this, and not far from the northernmost bank of the lake, may be set down as the outer edge of the battle- ground in that direction.

did a good business for two years. Next he went to Sierra county, that State, where he engaged in barbering and also in mining, continuing the same successfully until 1862. Failing health at that time cau ed him to relin- quish his hold on business, and the following two years he spent in travel, visiting the various cities and other points of interest in Europe and also stopping for a time at the West Indies He returned to San Francisco in 1864, but as business was somewhat dull there at that time he directed his course toward Portland, Oregon, and soon afterward went to Idaho City. At the last named płace he engaged in business, erecting buildings, etc., and in 1866 met with misfortune in the way of fire, two of his fine buildings being consumed. And we here state that before starting on his trip to Europe, and while op- erating in Sierra county, he accumulated $5,000 in gold, which he had on deposit with two different firms in San Francisco. Both of these firms failed and he lost every dollar. But. not discouraged, he went to work with re- newed vigor to make more.

In 1866 he made a tour of Montana, visiting Virginia City, Helena and other points, and finally located at Elk Creek, where he purchased a lot and erected a building. Later in the season, however, he changed his residence to Helena, where he was engaged in business until late in 1867. He then opened a shop in Radersburg, and at the same time traveled and worked at his trade in other min- ing camps. He had in the meantime traveled with shows, he being an expert sleight-of-hand performer and a first- class musician. And all these years, be it said to his credit that he never indulged in strong drink and never gambled : in fact, he did not know one card from another.

Although far away from his sister, Mr. Lewis still paid

" You will find small stone cairns set up here and there on heads of granite rocks that break above the snow. It is the custom for an Indian, when passing the scene of some great disaster, especially if alone, to place in a conspienons position a stone by the way in memory of his dead. He never rears his monument at one time, as does the white man. Ile places but one stone, often a very small one, and leaves the rest to time and to other hands.

" Mountain Joe, Jameson (now of Port Gamble, Washington) and others have pub- lished accounts of this fight, so that I must say no more. But I will add Captain Gibson's story of it from its own trembling hand:

"GIBSON'S SWITCH, Sacramento River, "July 25, 1893.

" In the year 1855, there being a great rush of miners here, the Sacramento river and other streams became muddy, thereby obstructing the run of fish. The Indians became very indignant on account of it stopping the run of fish, which was their principal living. They eommeuced making preparations for hostilities

her expenses at school, first at McGrawville, New York, and afterward at Oberlin College, Ohio. While at Ober- lin she first showed talent as a sculptor. One of the pro- fessors in the college had a peculiar visage and wore glasses. There had been some putty left in the college building by repairing workmen, and this putty she used in making a bust model of the professor, which she had on her stand in her room, and which, when observed by ladies visiting the college was pronounced an excellent likeness. These friends advised her to cultivate her talent in that art. She accordingly consulted her brother by letter and he cordially entered into the plan and fur- n shed her means with which to go to Boston, where she placed herself under the instruction of an eminent sculp- tor, Professor Brackett. She soon passed beyond his ability to teach her, and her brother, pleased with her progress, furnished her the means to continue her studies in Italy. Hon. William H. Seward was then Secretary of State, and from him she received letters of introduc- tion to the American consuls at Florence and Paris, who paid her marked attention. She arduously pursued her studies as a sculptor, and soon became master of her pro- fession. The name of Edmonia Lewis, a resident of Paris, France, is now known the world over as a famous sculptor. She has produced many noted pieces of art, and received a gold medal from King Victor Emanuel, of Italy, as a mark of bis appreciation of her taste and skill. It is needless to say that no one feels prouder of her ac- complishments than her brother.

In the fall of 186; Mr. Lewis came to Bozeman and es- tablished himselt in business on Main street, where he has since continued successfully. In 1870 he erected his business house on Main street, and since then he has

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by getting into strongholds, the principal one being the Castle Crags. Captain Crook eame to the east fork of the Trinity about twelve miles from here with a company of regulars, and went out to Castle Crags with a view to break up the band, but failed to engage them.

"I sent him a letter telling him that the way I was situated, so that, by raising some men, I could destroy them. His answer was to do so, which I did. We had a severe fight, -- some men killed and a number wounded. We also found that the arrows were Modoc arrows, also amongst the dead two Modoc chiefs. I sent word of the battle to Captain Crook, and he gave it his hearty approval, and thanked me.

" We had and have every reason to believe that the Indians intended to consolidate and make a general outbreak, as the Modocs did soon after do; and there is no doubt but they would have done it had it not been for that battle as aforesaid at Castle Crags. Captain Crook was afterward a famous Indian fighter, General Crook. I was enabled to reach these Indians, which Crook could not, through my

from time to time put up other buildings in the town, which he rents. In 1890 he completed his present hand- some and commodious brick residence, fronting on Boze- man street, which, with its beautiful lawn and tine shade trees, forms one of the most delightful homes in the city.

Mr. Lewis was married August 1, 1883, to Mrs. Malissa Bruce, nee Rai lia, a native of St. Joseph, Missouri. They have one child, Samuel E., aged seven years. Mrs. Lewis is a member of the Baptist Church and is a woman of many estimable qualities.

M. A. FLANAGAN, a druggist and the Postmaster at Fort Benton, came to Montana in 1866.

He was born in Dubuque, Iowa, January 6, 1841, a son of Matthew and Mary (McNarama) Flanagan, natives of Ireland who came to America, married in New York State, settled upon a farm in Iowa, and for several years, in addition to farming, the father was a contractor and builder of highways. They had two children: Mary, now the wife of Hon. T. C. Power; and Michael A., whose name introduces this sketch. The father died in the fifty-sixth year of his age, and the mother at the age of sixty-five years, both devout adherents of the Catholic faith and people of the highest respectability.

Michael A., the eldest child, was educated in the public schools of Dubuque and at Sinsinawa Mound College in Wisconsin; was in the grocery business in Dubuque, Iowa, two years, and then, allured by the gold excitement in Montana, crossed the plains and arrived at Virginia City, Montana, in July, 1866; after about one and a half years' sojourn between Virginia City and Helena he came to Fort Benton. At first here for a number of years he was in the emoloy of T. C. Power & Brother as their book- keeper. In 1875 he started out in the drug business,

father-in-law, Wielputus, the chief of the Shastas. We took twenty-nine of his men with us. R. P. GIBSON.

" This, you note, is of recent date. It is, in faet, a dying man's last utteranee. Finding himself near the edge, he called on the sur- vivors to meet him once more on the old battle- field on the thirty eight anniversary. The mayor of Oregon City answered, answered from the cemetery there for Mountain Joe. Major Dribelbies, the old sheriff of Shasta, is buried in Oregon. Ike Hare, his associate, lies buried within a stone's throw of Castle Crag Tavern. Years after the battle, when we met in the north, and when the new country was organ- ized, the Shasta men there who had known ns of old, in their loyalty and in memory of our battle days, made one of us a judge, one of us a sheriff, and one of us a senator.

"Gibson and I went on the battle-ground alone at this last roll call, for only Jameson besides survives, and he is very ill. We marked with a Greek cross on a white spruce tree the spot where we had rested above and beyond the

being the pioneer in that line in Fort Benton, and has continued in it ever since, having a successful trade. In addition to drugs and patent medicines, he deals also in paints and oils.

Mr. Flanagan has been an intelligent Republican all his life, and in 1880 received the appointment of Post- master, and has now held that position for more than twelve years, giving perfect satisfaction. He has finan- cially succeeded in business; has a ranch near the city and real estate within the corporate limits, and has built both his store building and a good residence, which is one of the pleasantest homes in Fort Benton. Mr. Flana-

gan is a gentleman who has attended strictly to his own business, and has never sought office or desired it. He has always taken an active part, however, in the public enterprises of the town, is enterprising and liberal, and he and his family are highly esteemed by the entire community in which they have so long been active and respected citizens.

Mr. Flanagan was married in 1873, to Miss Elizabeth V. MeKinley, a native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and the daughter of John McKinley, of Dubuque, Iowa. Mr. and Mrs. Flanagan have four children: M. Genevieve, Grace, Virginia and Frank T. Both parents are active and prominent members of the Catholic Church. Mrs. Flanagan has had much to do with the erection of the church edifice, and in fact has been indentified with all its growth and prosperity.

HON. THOMAS L. GREENOUGH, one of Missoula's most successful business men, was born in Davis conuty, Iowa, October 25, 1851.

Thomas Greenough, the grandfather of our subject, was born in Scotland, and emigrated from that country to

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lake, and then followed the line of stone mounds or cairns to the south and above the lake, past the lesser lake in the saddle of the ridge that divides the water of Castle lake from those of Castle creek. The battle was fought directly under the highest crag in the northwest corner of the great castle, although on the other side of Little Castle creek. This battle rock is con- spienons above all other spires or rock of Castle Crags for hours on the way around the spurs of Mount Shasta to the north.

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An illustrated history of the state of Montana, containing biographical mention of its pioneers and prominent citizens, Part 75

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