USA > Montana > Blaine County > In the land of Chinook; or, The story of Blaine county > Part 14
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dinner and invite the gang? Well, he ought not to have forgotten that. He got the chickens and a splendid dinner with all the 'fixin's' was the result. She bragged about what fine fowl they were-that she had never eaten better-and well she might, for when she went to feed her birds the next day they were gone.
"Those were good days in Chinook. Say, how is 'Daddy Marsh'?" When answered that "Daddy" was fine, he asked : "Does he drink any these days?"
The writer replied that "Daddy" had told him that he had not taken a drink for nineteen years. "Why, 'Daddy' must be a liar because I was down to Chinook about ten years ago, and the whole town was drunk-at least that is the way they appeared to me."
In closing this I want to say that Russell has been told that these little things-giving the other side of the picture-are to be printed. They only show the human side of a genius. Russell has become a famous man, but today he said: "I can't paint an Indian head with Ed Paxon, nor can I mix his colors."
The uncouth Missouri boy who came to Montana with "Pike" Miller could hardly have expected to go down in the story of our state as one of its famous men. When the wealth of Daly or Clark shall have been dissipated-and grand structures become dust-the works of Russell "The Cow Boy Arist," will be treasured by those who like art. He has painted a condition that, but for him, would have been lost to future generations.
CHAPTER XII.
TOPOGRAPHY OF THE COUNTY.
Blaine county is bounded on the north by Canada, east by Phillips county, south by Phillips county and the Missouri river, and west by Hill county. The area is 4219 square miles and it is not easy to state the number of inhabitants, as it being a new sec- tion, people are coming in very fast. Information received at Helena states the number of inhabitants as 10,830; assessed valu- ation, $5,587,686.00.
It is really in the valley of the Milk river. The river rises in the Rocky mountains and runs north into Canada and then south into Montana, thence in a southeasterly direction to the Missouri. The major portion of the county is plains and bench lands, with the Little Rockies and a part of the Bear's Paw range on the south to form some relief to the general monotony of the country.
All of the Bear's Paw are not in Blaine county, as part of them are in Hill county. The range does not constitute a true mountain range, but consists, in the eastern part, of a group of low
The following is a fac-simile of a letter from Chas. M. Russell. the Cowboy Artist. to his old friend "Kid" Price, of whom Russell said : "The .Kid' could sure ride the bad ones."
C. M. RUSSELL GREAT FALLS, MONTANA
June 1st 1417 Fund Kid its been some
Years since I laid on any bellis in the Shade of a wagon, and built pictures, but I haven't
forgotten, and I will always remember you were my agent, the first one to boost my game and sell my work in Chinook. Why amsorry often takes me back to the range, and camps we know so well. There's not wenig of the
right now I know more dead men those live zes? and if you count back you find its the same with you. Hurly Seven years do lived in Montana, but I'm among strangers now.
There's only two old timer of our bunch around here, Henry kosten , and Fut Vin.
C. M. RUSSELL " "ALA
out in. Fr Fron pull aften, ties get sim cows 212 merk. line aint improved In lotta hin, you know the wien was very aleviler the regle "the plantas, bad now you could Ent a Sandwich while you walk around the middle the fruit a bank in the town of Kyser but traded it up in2 u antomitte and a white fared bull, and from what I here of him 022 a chafaure Id valher vide the bull than table chances with best Put sits on line beat uten
tic driver an a friend of mine.u Told me the rocks with pot once , and once is all be wanted he said le Cost low heat and would have been conser his falce turchi if he bradent faut them in his pocket. Henry, Inten still has die ransengbut winters in town. low house is near me and we of in mut and talkover old time. about two years ago
rauch ti in lynest prohibition farmer. and while Hunkes in town shooting coal in the 1/02 /112 na Aw : Ping y the front porch, .12 Prohibit is tresig Que don't you the ferver cause the boots are frage
int Every Mein, thats look like Stortscharnier a(2 ) trote, una uno en raven couldad nete
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THE STORY OF BLAINE COUNTY
rounded buttes more or less separated from one another, and in the western part of a series of dissected ridges gradually rising higher toward the west to their culmination in Baldy or Bear Paw mountain and Centennial peak. The highest, Bear Paw, being 7040 feet above the level of the sea, and about 4000 feet above the plains.
The Little Rockies are the part of the south boundary that separate Blaine and Phillips counties.
The Little Rockies have very promising gold quartz mines on which there is one of the largest gold producing plants in the world. This section was only a part of Blaine county until such time as would be necessary to pull the string and get a county for Ben Phillips. The Little Rockies appear to be a true moun- tain range with a length of probably twenty miles and a width of ten. In the canyons of this range one finds many beauty spots and at one place not far from the Saint Paul's Mission is a very pretty Natural Bridge that is formed over a dry canyon.
Several fine mountain streams have their source in these mountains and flow toward the Milk river, or more particularly into Peoples creek, which is a stream rising in the Bear's Paw and flowing in an easterly or northeasterly direction to the Milk river, near Dodson.
Snake creek also rises in the Bear's Paw and flows north- easterly into the Milk river, near Harlem. The valley proper of the Milk river is three or four miles wide and is susceptible of irrigation and will respond very nicely to cultivation when under water. The soil is very heavy clay or "gumbo." The Milk river is a small sluggish stream that can be and may be when the wise (?) men at the head of affairs in Washington wake up, a considerable factor in the upbuilding of the state, as up in the far western portion of the plains is the St. Marys river that has its head among the mountains of Glacier park. That stream flows into Canada, but the water can be diverted and sent to do much good in a section where good water is at a premium.
The northern portion of the county is a high bench or plateau. Much of the county can be and is at this time successfully culti- vated.
CHAPTER XIII.
POLITICAL HISTORY OF BLAINE COUNTY.
At the time when what is now Blaine county was being set- tled by the "Dry Land Farmer" there was in Montana, the sec- ond largest county, in area, of any state in the Union. The
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largest was in California, and was some two or three thousand square miles larger than the old Chouteau of northern Montana, which contained over sixteen thousand square miles.
It was probably perfectly proper in the days of the stockman, when it was sparsely settled, for only one county to exist, as the business could be transacted at Benton without too much expense. When all of the available land was taken up for farming, the people found that there was some excuse for making new counties, so the reason for the division of Chouteau county might be con- sidered from two standpoints: One was that the enterprising citi- zens in various parts of the county were desirous of obtaining a county seat for themselves and the other one was of the size of the county and the distance to the county seat, which was at Fort Benton, in the southwestern part of the county.
In 1893 a bill was introduced in the legislature to organize Blaine county to consist of what is now Blaine and the east third of Hill county, including the city of Havre. This bill passed one house and lacked one vote, I believe, in the other house.
Another effort was made to organize this county in the name of Bear Paw county in 1901 or 1903. Ex-Senator T. M. Everett was then in the house and George Bourne was in the senate. The bill passed the house very quickly but was held up in the senate until the next to the last day of the session. Enough senators were pledged to pass the bill, but on the morning the vote was taken, J. M. Kennedy, senator from Deer Lodge county, got up late and came in just after the vote was counted. It lacked one vote of a tie. The lieutenant governor had agreed to vote for the bill in case of a tie. Kennedy expressed great dis- appointment and chagrin at being late.
It seemed hardly possible that we could get another bill back to the house and through the senate before time for closing the session, but we went at it resolutely, and by changing the boun- daries slightly on the south to meet the objections of McNamara & Marlow, who were opposing the bill, we got it to the commit- tee and the house ordered the bill printed the first day. When we took the bill to the state printers they claimed they could not get it out until the next morning, which meant death to the bill. Nothing daunted, however, we hired a private printing outfit to get it printed during the night. About nine in the evening some one came in and bribed the printer who was employed on the work. However, we found another to do the work and placed sentries at each door so no one could get in. At about eleven, when we were ready to go to press, the power was turned off and we had neither power nor light to run the press. There was a hand power press in the building, however, and we started that and by working all night, were able to have the bill out the first
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THE STORY OF BLAINE COUNTY
thing in the morning. For those who knew Charlie Barton in his lifetime, it may be a surprise to know that he was one of the chief pushers on the hand press. I venture to say he sweat more on that job than on any job since he was a young man. The bill was quickly passed through the house under the leadership of Ex-Senator Everett, who was a prime favorite in that body, and it was brought to a vote in the senate late that evening. This time Kennedy was there, but instead of casting his vote in favor of the bill, he cast it against it, as did one of the other senators who had previously voted for it, and county division was dead for two years at least.
The next effort was made in 1907, and included the same territory as the former bills; that is, all of Blaine and about one- third of Hill county. By this time Havre had become quite a city and its people were very much opposed as it left them very much to one side of the county, the west line of the county run- ning near Fort Assinniboine. This time the county was to be named Bear Paw county. In this case, the bill passed the Senate, with Harlem as the temporary county seat, but did not get a favorable vote in the house. The fight to name the temporary county seat between Chinook and Harlem was very heated, but the personal popularity of Senator Everett, and the fact that Harlem was almost in the geographical center of the proposed county, gave Harlem the best of it.
In 1911 another bill was prepared and printed for the crea- tion of Blaine county almost according to its present lines. These lines were agreed upon by the people of Havre, Chinook and Harlem previous to the preparation of the bill, and probably the bill would have passed if it had not been for the enactment of the general law authorizing the organization of counties by the people within the county. When that bill was passed, no further effort was made to create Blaine county by act of the Legislature.
In the summer of 1911, the people of both Havre and Chinook commenced the agitation of county division. The Havre people wanted a county to embrace all of what is now Hill and Blaine counties, with Havre as the county seat. The Chinook people naturally preferred a different arrangement, and they very quietly prepared a bill for the creation of what is now Blaine county, then they started a very energetic campaign to get signa- tures, sending out fourteen teams or more the first day. Before the Havre people realized what was being done, the Blaine county people had almost enough signatures to insure the submission of the question to the people. The Havre and Harlem people pro- posed to fight the Blaine county proposition, and circulate instead, petitions for the creation of the county of Hill to include Blaine, but when it was found by the Havre people that the Blaine
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county petition was almost completed, they abandoned the hope of defeating the organization of Blaine county, and they immedi- ately commenced the circulation of Hill county petitions to em- brace only that part of Chouteau county as later organized into Hill county.
The original law for the creation of counties by the people was very indefinite, and the proponents of Blaine county were compelled to get an order from the Supreme Court before the Commissioners would order the election. In the meantime, the Hill county petitions were prepared and filed and election was held on the same day in both counties in February, 1912. The Hill county returns were filed one day earlier than Blaine county, so Hill county was in fact, the first county organized under the law for the organization of counties by the people, but Blaine county was the first to circulate and file petitions under this law.
As soon as the Commissioners ordered a vote on the Blaine county petitions, would-be office holders got busy. Chinook citi- zens contented themselves with the county seat. All officers were elected from the eastern part of the proposed county. A non- partisan convention was held at Dodson, presided over by Mr. McCandless, manager of the Ruby Gulch Mining company at Zortman. Everything went off peaceably and every one ap- peared to be fairly well satisfied. The vote was very strong in favor of the creation of the county. The selection of a name for the new county was left to Attorney W. B. Sands, who prepared the petitions for circulation.
At the time Blaine county was created, the first officials were: L. B. Taylor, senator; John Collins, representative; Thos. Dowen, E. M. Kennedy and Robert Coburn, county commis- sioners; Isaac Neibaur, sheriff; Daniel C. Kenyon, treasurer; J. Dwight Jones, clerk of the district court; Vernon Butler, clerk and recorder; William Johnson, assessor; Donald L. Blackstone, county attorney; Miss A. L. Short, superintendent of schools; Preston M. Bosley, public administrator; Dr. Kosciusko, coroner, and A. G. Middleton, county surveyor; all Progressives, as it was a Progressive year in this part of Montana.
At the time of the creation of Blaine county there were two aspirants for the county seat, Chinook, situated within eight miles of the western boundary of the county; Harlem, which was situ- ated very near the geographical center of the county, east and west. The geographical location of the two towns should have given the county seat to Harlem, and perhaps would have done so, except for the fact that Senator Ben. D. Phillips, who lived in the southeastern part of the county (or to be exact, owned large interests there and who lived the most of the time in Oak- land, Cal.) had in view a further division scheme which would
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THE STORY OF BLAINE COUNTY
segregate the eastern part of the new county, and with the west- ern part of Valley county create a new one, which was to be named for him. In order to carry out his dream he entered into an agreement with the town boosters of Chinook to deliver the vote of the east portion of the county to Chinook for the county seat.
The Honorable (?) B. D. Phillips, being the principal owner of the mines in the Little Rockies, as well as one of the largest sheep men and land owners of the state, was in a position to deliver the vote, and hence the county seat as he had agreed to do.
It is easy to see why Chinook got the county seat; because the man who could see into the future far enough to work the people for personal reasons and for selfish motives, without regard for their personal interests, wanted to strengthen a future plan by which he could again tear asunder the new county which he had helped create and from its members make something that was to bear his name so the future generations would know that he had lived. Had I been Ben I should have left this to some other generation or to other hands to place my name on the scroll.
Two years is only a short time in the story of a county, but it is long enough to see the scheme of the honorable gentleman carried into effect. The new county of Phillips was created out of the sections as above mentioned.
The assessor of Blaine county in one instance at least, assessed Mr. Phillips on a portion of his mining property in the Little Rockies. This was something that had seldom been done when the property was in old Chouteau county. This act in itself was teaching him that he must get busy and create a county where his political influence would be of value, as it was a little on the wane, as too many new people were coming in as settlers who were not acquainted with him and did not feel under any obliga- tions to him.
He wanted a county which he could control, politically, and especially as to taxation of mines, so he manipulated the lines of the new county of Phillips so as to take in all his property, and at the same time leave as much political opposition as was possible, out.
After all is said and done, we have got to take our hats off to Ben Phillips. A great many mean things have been said about him and have been published about him in some of the leading magazines in the country. To me, who has known him for many years, there is much that can be said in his favor. Ben Phillips was brought up under a peculiar environment. It was not given to him to be raised in the most refined way, for his was
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always the life of the pioneer, among the miners and the cowboys, whose ideas would not reflect credit upon those of the people of today. Now, do not misunderstand me. I am not going to say that those old-time fellows were bad, or that they were not just as good and, maybe, better, than the majority of the people of today. To them their code was good, for the reason that there were nowhere near as many laws or fads as now. They lived close to nature and did many things that, at this time, would put men in jail, or the penitentiary, or keep one fined to such an extent that one would be continually broke. If the writer were to stop right here, one would say that those old fellows, who were brave and hardy enough to break the trail into this new country, subdue the savages, drive out the wild beasts, and con- quer adverse conditions, were a mighty hard lot who had been driven from their old haunts by better men who simply wanted to rid themselves of a nuisance. Such is not the case by any means, and the writer, himself, one of them, thanks the Giver of All Good that he was one of the old pioneers of this great state.
It was not wrong in those days to fish or hunt without a license. It is now. It was not wrong to play poker or gamble in those old days, nor to pass the time away, for the sake of change, in the hurdy house. It was not wrong to run a foot-race or try the speed of the pony you thought so much of and which was a part of you. It wasn't quite so bad to drink in those old days, as men were not drinking poison, as their drinks were not adulterated, as now.
Men in those days did those things and broke no laws. They were within their rights then, but now they would be beyond the pale.
Many a good woman danced in the hurdy house and raised boys who have escaped the penitentiary, and girls who did by no means become outcasts in society.
Many a man who now fills in, in life's most responsible places were saloon-keepers, hurdy-house owners, Indian agents or trad- ers, prize fighters or gamblers, and their sons and daughters hold their heads just as high and occupy just as honorable positions in society as do the sons and daughters of the minister or jurist. To us, of today, this was lax and certainly not right. To them, I repeat, not wrong.
If the subject of my sketch had enjoyed the higher educa- tion or been raised in an exclusive set, he might have been honored for his brilliant abilities that had been used for the express pur- pose of upbuilding the race and to set an example for this genera- tion which, to attain, would have been the best heritage he could have left his children. Phillips became a power in old Chou-
.
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THE STORY OF BLAINE COUNTY
teau county to such an extent that he was elected to the state senate. But Phillips got into the legislature of Montana at the wrong time. He got into it at a time when two Gladiators had cast their gauntlets into the political arena and proposed to gain their ends, even if they debauched the state and besmeared the fair names of their best friends, so that future generations could not cleanse them from the filth.
The fight of Clark and Daly made the one particular dark, unerasable, blot on the fair page of Montana's political story. Before their day men had fought for political supremacy, in a less contemptible way, and left no trail covered with political derelicts, without an honorable aim, to guide, or a friendly hand to help them on their way. Yes, the great plains of the east, the mountains and valleys of the west, had men returned to them whose names were covered with filth and slime that the purest water ever distilled from the fairy forms that fall from heaven and fold their arms around our granite peaks, can never wash away.
And Phillips, and many more, men even who had been raised by the fairest mothers and the most princely fathers, under the best environment, fell when tempted by these men who were just as devilish in their day, and propably even worse, than that Devil who took his Lord on the mountain top and tried to seduce Him with promises. But let us not judge these men who sold them- selves too harshly, my reader; you never had $50,000 or prob- ably $10,000 promised you for your vote, and if you have not, don't condemn these men who fell.
Clark and Daly were equally guilty when the fair name of Montana was bandied about and made a thing of reproach in a political way. It was a matter of fancied wrong on the part of Daly, and to fight fire with fire that caused Clark to fight back.
Clark's superior brains and larger quantities of money gave him the victory, dearly bought though it was.
But to return to Phillips, he was and is a man who made a good neighbor and one who helped to upbuild the section in which he lived. It appeared to me that he was kind and very generous with his neighbors in more ways than one, and the fact that he was able to hold these people in line and get such a stable monument, a county, erected in his name, proves it.
Many funny things in a political way were in practice even in the early days of our history. Many of them may have been fabrications, but they are more or less interesting reading at this time.
In the days when the Honorable Martin Maginnis was elected delegate to congress from the territory of Montana, there
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IN THE LAND OF CHINOOK
was a voting precinct at a point on the Missouri river, in the southeast portion of what was later to become Blaine county, known as Wilder's Landing. The election was pretty close be- tween Maginnis and his opponent and for a long time it was not known who was elected. Finally the returns came in from Wilder's Landing, casting some four hundred and odd votes, all for Maginnis. At that time there were about one dozen voters in the vicinity, but the government was holding near there four hundred mules used in transportation of supplies from Wilder's to Fort Assinniboine. It is unknown as to who positively cast the vote for Maginnis at that precinct, but it was generally supposed that those four hundred mules, in sympathy for their ancestor, the Democratic Donkey, cast a solid vote for Martin.
It is also said that a great many amusing things happened in politics in northern Montana before the days of the Australian ballot and the registration of voters. One incident is related of a certain work or construction crew of one hundred or more men under the guiding hand of the Hon. Jerry Flannigan, since of Butte (he died in the Placer hotel during the meeting of the legislature of 1917, being at the time one of the representatives from Silver Bow county) who started in voting at the first pre- cinct this side of the Dakota line and voted that day at every precinct along the line of the Great Northern from that point to Havre, and including that place.
This was the same Jerry Flannigan who had conducted, for many years, a bull train for Col. Broadwater and it was as such that he learned railroading. He was also, the same Jerry to whom Col. Sanders, when handing a ragged bill to him for fare, to which Jerry objected, said: "If you don't want it give it to the company.
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