An illustrated history of the state of Montana, containing biographical mention of its pioneers and prominent citizens, Part 87

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 87

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JOHN L. SWEENEY, Missoula, is ranked with the Mon- tana pioneers of 1864. Following is a brief record of his life:

John L. Sweeney was born in Canton, Ohio, January 23, 1821. His grandfather, John Sweeney, was born in county Roscommon, Ireland, and when a young man em. igrated to the United States, landing here just at the close of the Revolutionary period. He and three of his sons fought in the war of 1812. He died in his sixtieth year. In his family were five sous and one daughter. One of these sons, Murry Connor Sweeney, our subject's father, was born in Alhany, New York, January 24, 1793, and August 13, 1818, was married to Miss Susan Myres, a na- tive of Pennsylvania, born in 1790, a descendant of Penn-

located midway between the upper and lower geyser basin: . Began operation March, 1888, with eruption every minute and a half, the inter- val increasing up to every two and a half hours as late as November, 1888, ceasing before the opening of 1889. At each eruption, immedi- ately preceding was an upheaval of some fity feet high, followed by the one great explosion in which the water was thrown two hundred and fifty to three hundred feet, and frequently hurling stone one foot in diameter five hun- dred feet from the erater. Seven years before, in 1881, it behaved the same.' 'The number of springs,' says Lieutenant Doane in his re- port, is not less than fifteen hundred. They all vary in time, force, deposit, and color of water. * * * Taken as an aggregate, the Fire- hole Basin surpasses all the other great won- ders of the continent. It produces an effect on the beholder that is utterly staggering and over- powering. During the night we were often awakened by the hissing of steam and the roar of waters as the geysers spouted forth in the darkness. A constant rumbling as of ma-

sylvania-Dutch ancestry. At the time of their marriage she was a widow with one child and he was a widower. They became the parents of four daughters and one son, the son being the subject of our sketch. They removed to Canton, Ohio, soon after they were married, and there he worked at his trade, that of hatter, until 1848, when they went to Madison, Wisconsin. He died in Madison, aged seventy-seven years, his wife having preceded him to the other world, her death occurring at Galena, Ill- inois, iu her sixty-fourth year.

John L. Sweeney was the second born in their family. He was reared in Ohio, receiving only a limited educa- tion, and early in life working for his father at the hat- ter's trade. Later he learned the trades of chairmaker and painter. He was married at Canton, Ohio, Septem- ber 22, 1842, to Miss Henrietta Kaley, and they coutinued their residence in Ohio for a number of years. They had eight children there, four only of whom are now living.

In 1864 Mr. Sweeney crossed the plains to Montana, landiog at Virginia City on the third of August. He was engaged in mining at Alder gulch uutil 1868, when he returned to his family, and after a short visit with them ceme back to Montana. Again he engaged in mining, this time on the bar opposite Virginia City. He helped to bring water to the bar, and afterward in six weeks he and two others took out $10,000. Then he invested in the Pine Grove Flume Company. In this company he was interested with five others, and together they worked twelve years, taking out a great deal of money. The cost of operating their mine, however, was so great that their profits did not amount to much.

In 1870 Mr. Sweeney and her four children came out to Montana and settled at Deer Lodge, Mr. Sweeney, in the

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chinery filled the air, which was damp and warm throughout the night.'

"Colonel Barlow, who discovered and named the Comet geyser, says: 'A roar was heard on a hillside a hundred yards distant, and rushing on we saw water rising to a surpassing height. I approached nearer; a sudden rush of steam drove me back, following which the water was impelled upward and upward and upward, till it seemed to have lost the controlling force of gravity. The roar was like the sound of a tor- nado. This geyser played to the height of over two hundred feet. It began at five o'clock in the afternoon and continued for twenty min- ntes.'

"Bayard Taylor, that truthful and conserva- tive traveler, whose records all men respect, says: . Set like a gem in the center of this snow-rimmed crown of the continent, is the loveliest body of fresh water on the globe; its

meantime, having opened a furniture business there; but she was destined not to enjoy her new home long, for her death occurred May 15, 1873. Of her children we record that Frances Emogene is the widow of Charles Thourgla- mau, and is a resident of Butte City, Montana; Susan Lavina is the wife of Dr. O. B. Whitford, a prominent physician of Butte City ; and the two sons, Louis Connor and George Lewellan, are working a placer mine of their father's.

In 1874, the year following his wife's death, Mr. Swee- ney removed to Silver Lake and engaged in placer and quartz mining. There he worked hard for four years aud sank all his money. In 1878 he came to Missoula, and again established himself in the furniture business, man- ufacturing the furniture he sold, and doing an extensive business, and soon he was again on the road to prosper- ity. He was the first man to manufacture furniture in Missoula. When the railroad was completed he shipped some furniture from the East, and he also engaged in the undertaking business. In 1889 he sold a balf interest in his establishment to Thomas Williams, subsequently sold the other halt to Mr. Flyn, and has since been retired. During his residence in Missoula he has built four houses besides his warehouse, one of which is the commodious and substantial brick residence in which he and his wife reside, his second marriage occurring July 18, 1882. Mrs. Sweeney's maiden name was Eliza Jaue Rogers, but at the time of her marriage to Mr. Sweeney she was a widow and had two children. She was born August 18, 1829.

Mr. Sweeney is a member of the Montana Pioneer So- ciety and of the Masonic fraternity, having been made a Mason in Canton, Ohio, in 1844. He affiliates with the Democratic party, but during his busy life has given little attention to political matters. While he has met with misfortune in various ways, he has in the main had a suc- cessful life, and is now ranked with the worthy pioneers of the State of his adoption.

dark blue surface at an elevation greater than that of the highest clouds and higher than the loftiest mountains of the East. * The curious, the beautiful, the wonderful. * * * A museum of unparalleled and incomparable works.'

"The soul seeks eagerly to know whence? Why? Here, where the highest mountains of the continent are piled and lapped and crossed and intertwined, where the surface of the earth ought to be the most solid and impenetrable; here, where surely the earth's ernst is thickest, we find the fire bursting throngh and blazing through and blazing to the stars. Here, where the everlasting snows should cool the ardor and impatience of the earth, we find her most ardent and impatient. Here, where are the loftiest and highest mountain tops, in defiance of that law which says the waters shall seek their level, we find these awful fonntains bursting even

HON. RICHARD OWEN HICKMAN, Montana's State Land Commissioner and ex-Treasurer of the Territory, is classed with the Montana pioneers of 1864.

He was born in Shelby county, Kentucky, November 1, 1831. The progenitor of the family in America, an Epis- copal minister, and a native of England, came to this country early in the history of the Colonies and settled in the Old Dominion. James Hickman, our subject's grandfather, was apatriot soldier in the Revolutionary war, served all through that long struggle, and after the war reared a family of ten children. Ile lived to be ninety years of age. In his family of nine sons and one daugh- ter, William, the third born, became the father of Richard O. William Hickman's birth occurred in Virginia, Sep- tember 1, 1790. In 1810 he went to Shelby county, Ken- tucky. where he was subsequently married to Miss Mary Cardwell, a native of Virginia, and two years younger than himself. They continned to reside in Kentucky until 1833, when they removed to Illinois, where Mr. Hickman took claim to Government land and where he resided up to the time of his death. He died at Spring- field in 1874. With the early history of Illinois he was prominently identified. He served as a member of the State Legislature, and for several years was a Judge of Sangamon county. For sixty-five years he was a worthy member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. His good wife died in 1835, soon after their removal to Illinois. In their family were eight children, the subject of this sketch being the seventh born and one of the six who are still living.

The earliest recollections of Richard O, Hickman are of his life on his father's frontier farm in Illinois, he being about two years old at the time of their removal there. On that farm he was reared. He went to school in the primitive log schoolhouse near his home, but for the most part his youthful days were spent in farm work. When he grew older he took a course in Esterbrook's

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above the clouds. Here, in defiance of an eter- nal enmity, we find water and fire woven and wound together, warp of fire and woof of water, woof of water and warp of fire, till a great broad blanket of green is woven and spread above the battling seas of fire and flood for man safely to walk upon.

" Why? What is your theory of it all?' I asked this of some learned men who had been sent out from England to observe and report to their Government. ' We had a theory when we came,' observed the leader, gravely; 'we have none now.'

"And I admit that I heard that confession from the lips of one of the ablest of living inen with satisfaction. In an age of universal meas- urement and data, and explanation and theory, when men do all things, and learn all things, and theorize on all things, leaving nothing at all to God, I am glad to find that mystery and

high school, in Springfield. In this and in the dear school of experience he was educated.

In April, 1852, young Iliekman severed home ties, and, as a member of a party of thirty-two men, started over- land for California. They left Independence on the fifth of May, and after the usnal experience on the plains, arrived at Nevada City on the seventeenth of August. He began placer mining on the South Yuba river, twelve miles below Navada City, and after a fall's work found himself the possessor of $2,500. He continued mining several years, at different places in California, with varied success. While mining ten miles below Downie- ville, in Jim Crow cañon, he found a piece of gold that weighed thirteen ounces. He was in California eleven years, a part of the time trading in miners' supplies. At Orleans flat he invested in a quartz mine and lost heavily. He and his partners had expended their money aud were $18,000 in debt. Their creditors allowed them $11,000 for the mine, and two of the company paid the rest, Mr. Hickman paying $6,000. At this time a friend of his, a banker, backed him for $1,600 to buy an express route from Nevada City to Eureka. On this route he carried the mails and freighted, and in two years made money enough to pay all his debts. In 1863, on account of ill health, he sold out, receiving $2,500 for his business, and returned to his home in Illinois, making the journey by way of the Isthmus. IIe remained in Illinois during the winter and until the month of March, and finding his health but little improved he decided to cross the plains again, and accordingly started for St. Joseph, Missouri.

Upon his arrival at St. Joseph, Mr. Hickman found a party preparing for a journey to Montana. IIe joined them. He purchased three wagons and twelve yoke of oxen, loaded his wagons with miners' supplies, and in due time landed safe at Alder Gulch. There he disposed of his goods at a fair profit, and returned to Illinois in

majesty still have stout embattlement on our mountain-tops together.

"Let deep mystery and unapproachable maj- esty and impenetrable confusion and fierce eon- tention hold carnival here under this eternal canopy of earth-born clouds, till man is willing to admit that there is surely a Builder beyond his utmost measurement, and data, and leveling down.

"Let poetry have some place here; some one last battlement of rally. The railroads have enough. Spare this one spot of this vast con- tinent. Draw around this one last shrine, O, my sombre Druid woods! Keep your phumed regiments forever, fir and pine and cedar tree and tamaraek, in dense array; mountains of granite, hurl men back who would come here faithless! Fire and flood, divinities of these deeps, speak, speak with your two thousand burning tongues from your fearful eminence, and declare to man that he is not yet God!"

order to vote for Abraham Lincoln as President, Mr. Hickman's health in the meantime having greatly im- proved. In April, 1865, he again purchase l an outfit at St. Joseph, Missouri, and started for Montana, this time coming by way of Bitter creek and Soda Springs, arriv- ing at Virginia City, September 16. Here he disposed of his goods and wagons, left his cattle in charge of a man who was to fatten them, and on the 28th of November started on horseback for Walla Walla, thence on to Portland, where he took steamer for San Francisco. Much of the route then traveled by him is the one over which the Northern Pacific now runs. At that time there was only a ranch house on the site of the present thriving city of Spokane. He made the trip through this country with a view to buying cattle. Upon his arrival in San Francisco he purchased a stock of wines, liquors and tobacco, shipped the same to Los Angeles, there loaded his goods on wagons, and started overland for Montana, expecting to reach his destination by the first of May. On account of various delays, however, it was not until the 8th of June that the journey was com- pleted, and at this time merchandise had begun to ar- rive by steamer from St. Louis to Fort Benton. His freights were thirty-one cents per pound in gold dust, and the freights by steamer were twelve cents per pound in greenbacks. The difference was so great that he met with a loss. The man with whom he had left his cattle had sold them, taken the money and skipped the country.

After these misfortunes Mr. Hickman engaged in freighting. Later he started a store at Silver Bow, but also continued freighting. hauling goods both for him- self and for other parties. In 1868 he turned his atten- tion to ihe dairy business at Alder Gulch, also to buying and selling cattle, and in this business he has been en- gaged more or less ever since. For some time he was a stockholder in various mines, but sold his mining

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CHAPTER XXVI.

PROGRESSIVE MONTANA-SOME POLITICAL HISTORY-MANY LAWS AND MANY LEGISLATORS-GOV- ERNOR POTTS AND REFORMS-NEW RAILROADS AND NEW GOVERNORS-IMPORTANT PUBLICA- TIONS.

W ILLIAM H. CLAGGETT, the Republi- can delegate to Congress, was succeeded by Martin Maginnis. That this was a good and capable man is evidenced by the fact that he succeeded himself continuously for ten years, -- a record almost without a parallel in the history of Territories.

The messages of Governor Potts teem with paternal interest in his people, whom he gov- erned long and, as a rule, well; for he was Gov- ernor of Montana for fourteen years. His most notable acts were the calling of extra sessions of the Legislature. The first proclamation for an extra session was dated March, 1873, the legislative body to meet in April. The purpose of this is hardly clear, and in now looking over the records of those days the reader cannot help

stock advantageously and invested more largely in lands. He now has a stock ranch of 1,200 acres in Madison county, where, besides his large herds of cattle, he is also raising grain, hay and vegetables. He was among the first to introduce into Montana thoroughbred short- horn cattle.

Mr. Hickman has affiliated with the Republican party ever since it was organized. In 1869 he was elected a member of the Legislative Assembly of Montana, that body being composed of thirty-nine members, of whom he and two others were the only Republicans. In 1871, when the Territorial Treasurer defaulted, Governor Potts appointed Mr. Hickman to take charge of the office and straighten out its affairs, and for four years he served as Treasurer of the Territory. The capital was then at Virginia city. When it was removed to Helena he re- signed his office. Afterward he held several minor offices from time to time up to 1876, when he was elected a delegate to the National Republican convention held at Cincinnati. In that convention he aided in putting

recalling again the remark of Buckle, who said; "The best legislative enactment that could be made would be an enactment repealing all en- actments," so confusing and contrary and idle do they now seem. The one thing notable during this session was the approved bill ena- bling counties to subscribe to the capital stock of incoming railroads.

In the autumn of 1873 Montana lost what may be termed her " first citizen," James Stuart, who died at Fort Peck, in the forty-second year of his age. His brave young life is the heart of Montana's early history.

To him reference was made as follows, in the Daily Rocky Mountain Gazette, of Helena, Montana, under date of October 8, 1873:

"Mr. A. J. Simmons was yesterday in receipt

General Hayes in nomination for President. In the fall of 1876 he was elected a member of the Tenth Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Montana and served two years, strongly opposing all the subsidy bills that were introduced. In 1878 he was nominated by his party for member of the Legislative Council, ran as an anti-subsidy candidate, was elected, and served one term in which he rendered efficient service to the Territory. He also served in the special session following. In this session a bill came up which exempted railroads from taxation, and which would have become a law had not Mr. Hick- man and five other members gone to Fort Benton, leaving the Council without a quorum, and in this way defeating the measure. In 1882 he was again elected to the Legis- lative Council, and again in 1886, the latter year being elected President of the Conncil, in which capacity he also served in the extra session that was called in Sep- tember, 1887. In 1889 he was elected a member of the Constitutional Convention that formulated the constitu- tion for the new State, and in October of that year was

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of a telegraphic dispatch from Sun river, signed by Granville Stnart, and stating that his brother, James Stuart, had died on the 30th ultimo.

"Mr. Stuart was a native of West Virginia, and a member of a well-known and honorable family. He was educated for the medical pro- fession. Being imbned with a taste for adven- ture, and a decided bent for Western exploration, which was developed at an early age by reading the explorations of Lewis and Clarke, Bonne- ville, and others, he, in company with his brother, left Iowa shortly after the discovery of gold in California. In 1857, James Stuart, Granville Stuart, and Reece Anderson left Cal- ifornia to return to the States. Granville was taken sick in Malad valley, and the party win- tered in that vicinity, and turned ont to make a living as traders and mountaineers. They re- mained until 1858, having in the meantime prospected for gold, and found as high as ten cents to the pan, on what is now Gold creek, in Deer Lodge connty. In 1858, the Stuart

elected State Treasurer, thus having the honor of being the first State Treasurer of Montana. In this latter office he served until Jannary, 1893, and would, no doubt, have been re-elected but for a clause in the State constitution forbidding a second term in succession. February 11, 1893, he received the appointment of State Land Agent from Governor Rickards, in which office he is now ren- dering efficient service.

Mr. Hickman was married August 8, 1872, at Indian- apolis, Indiana, to Miss Maggie Perrill, a native of Chilli- cothe, Ohio, and a descendant of an old Virginia family. They have two daughters: Gertrude and Reta, both at home with their parents.

Mr. Ilickman joined the I. O. O. F., Forest City Lodge, No. 32, in California in 1855, has held nearly all the chairs in the order, and is now a member of Virginia City Lodge, No. 7. He was made a Master Mason in Quitman Lodge, No. 88, at Orleans, California, in 1858, and is now Past Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Montana, Past High Priest of the Grand Chapter and Grand Treasurer of the Grand Commandery. Ile is a member of the Pioneer Society of Madison county and also of the State Pioneer Society. In every walk of life he has made a worthy and upright record, and is most worthy of the high esteem in which he is held by the eople of Montana.

brothers returned to Ft. Bridger, but in 1860 came back to Montana, and engaged in trading and prospecting, and discovered gold at several points in the Deer Lodge basin; and, with An- derson and others, established a trading-post on Cottonwood creek, near the site of the present town of Deer Lodge. In 1862, the Stuart brothers, by their letters to friends in Colorado, induced a considerable number of parties to start for this vicinity, who arrived at Deer Dodge about the middle of June, and pros- pected Pike's Peak and Pioneer gnlches. Later in the same year, the Bannack mines were dis- covered by parties who had turned aside from the Salmon river stampede to join the pros- pectors who were camped near Deer Lodge. The discovery of Alder was made the next year, and since that time the history of the Territory is well known. * *

"The deceased was a man of fine intellectnal capacities, extensive reading and close observa- tion. He was of quiet disposition, but deter-

JOSEPH FAUL, proprietor of the Anaconda Brewery, Anaconda, Montana, was born in Munich, Bavaria, Ger- many, June 13, 1837.

His early education was obtained in his native land. At the age of nine years he began working in a brewery, and to this buisness his whole life has been devoted, his success in this line being well known. In 1883 he emi- grated to America, landing in New York city. After working in a brewery in New York for three years, he went to California and entered the employ of the cele- brated Bacca Brewing Company of San Francisco, with which he remained until 1888. That year he came to Montana and identified himself with Anaconda. Here, with his own hands, he erected a log building and in it established himself in the brewing business, his efforts being attended with prosperity from the first. The pro- duct of his brewery is of a superior quality and finds a ready market in Anaconda and vicinity.

A brief glance at the life of this successful brewer shows him to be the possessor of that thrift and enter- prise so characteristic of his countrymen. IIe is a mem- ber of the A. O. U. W., and has the good will of a large circle of friends in Montana.

Mr. Faul is unmarried.

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mined and indomitable character, and never shrank from danger or fatigue in carrying out his purposes.

" Granville and Thomas Stuart, A. J. Sim- mons, Inspector Daniels, Capt. Dan. W. Buck, W. B. Judd, J. X. Biedler, John Cochran, George W. Boyd, Jno. G. MeLean, and Abel Farwell started on their tedions journey of 500 miles to Deer Lodge, where he had requested to be buried by the Masonic lodge, of which he was a member. The journey occupied twelve days, seven of them being through the Sioux coun- try. It is related, as an instance not unworthy of note, that at one point in the journey sixty Sioux warriors suddenly appeared on the edge of a ravine close to them, and, recognizing Agent Simmons, approached and inquired the meaning of the procession. On learning the coffin contained the body of Po-te-has-ka (the Long Beard), each Indian dropped his head, clasped his hands, and pressed them upon his month in their expressive sign language that a

ANGUS MCINTYRE, who is found among the respected business men of Phillipsburg, and who is also ranked with the pioneers with the State, forms the subject of this article.

Mr. McIntyre was born in Canada, February 18, 1838. His father, William McIntyre, a native of the Highlands of Scotland, emigrated to Canada in 1820 and settled in Gleugarry county, where he was subsequently married to Miss Jennie Monroe, also a native of the Highlands of Scotland. He cleared up a farm and made a good home and there he and his wife reared their family of four sons and two daughters, and on the old home place the vener- able father is still residing. The mother passed away in 1880.

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An illustrated history of the state of Montana, containing biographical mention of its pioneers and prominent citizens, Part 87

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