Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume II, Part 3

Author: Stout, Tom, 1879- ed
Publication date: 1921
Publisher: Chicago, American Historical Society
Number of Pages: 1126

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Mr. Weldon did more or less placer mining for three years, coming back to Deer Lodge in 1865. On the trip over he met W. A. Clark. Both men were horseback. Mr. Clark asked the price of to- bacco and was told it was one dollar per pound. It is a matter of history that Mr. Clark bought all the tobacco he could get at a dollar a pound and more after the price was raised on him. He freighted it over into Montana and sold it for six or seven dollars per pound.

Then followed a succession of pioneer experiences for Mr. Weldon. The ranch he took up in Deer Lodge Valley he sold, and in 1866 moved to Galla- tin Valley, and after being there a while was eaten out by grasshoppers. In 1867 he went to Lemhi, Idaho; in 1868 to Sweetwater, Wyoming; and in

1869 to Green River, being there when the Union Pacific Railroad was built. After some eight or nine years of eventful experience he returned to Wisconsin and Northern Michigan, and for eleven years was identified with the great lumber industry. Mr. Weldon has been a permanent resident of Montana since 1882. His first location was at Fort Maginnis, and he took up a ranch on the East Fork of Spring Creek, about twelve miles from Lewis- town, and was busily engaged in ranching until he sold his place in 1912 and made his home in Lewis- town.

In 1871 Mr. Weldon married for his first wife Susan Dyke. On October 15, 1878, he married Mrs. Rosetta (Elsworth) Downing. By the lat- ter marriage he has one daughter, Marian E., who is the wife of Ray S. Conger, of Lewistown. Mr. Conger is a son of Judge Everton J. Conger, an early member of the bench and bar of Montana and now a resident of Honolulu.

Mr. Weldon recalls a number of experiences connected with his pioneer journey to the great Northwest. A few of these incidents are repeated. The ferry across Snake River used by the Wel- don party had been in operation only a few days. Some 200 wagons had congregated awaiting an opportunity to cross. An effort had been made without success to stretch a hemp cable across the river. One party, under the leadership of Judge M. H. Lott, had contained a man of considerable experience in that line. Judge Lott informed the proprietor of the ferry that he had a man who could fix the cable for them. They seemed re- luctant to avail themselves of his services. After repeated failures they hunted up the judge and his man and after some negotiations the latter was asked how much he would charge. That mat- ter, it was decided, should be determined by Mr. Lott. Judge Lott said when the cable was placed right his party was to be taken over first and free of charge. This proposition was accepted, the cable was adjusted and the Lott party inaugurated the successful operation of the ferry.

After passing through Hell Gate, Mr. Weldon recalls the party went on to French Town, com- posed of Canadian French and half breeds. The firm of Higgins & Worden kept a trading post at Hell Gate, and at Fort Owen, now Stevens- ville, the principal trader was Maj. John Owen. At French Town one of the wagons broke down, and a delay was occasioned until a new axle tree could be made of green fir. The rest of the party went on, passing several good camping places ; finally night coming on they found themselves in heavy timber, and then arose a discussion whether they should advance or turn back. Two going ahead a short distance found a trail turning off to a fine park with grass and water, making an excellent camping place. Next day most of the party went on, but Mr. Weldon and companion stayed to wait the coming of the delayed wagon and also rest their horses and air their blankets. Soon a mounted Indian appeared, who watched them a few moments and disappeared. This alarmed the two men and they decided at once to break camp and follow the advance party. While they were hitching to the wagon the Indian reappeared and tendered them a mess of ripe wild plums. The plums were accepted and in return they gave the visitor some bread, but still they thought it best to move on lest they fall into some trap. After traveling all day they did not catch up with the advance party, so they camped alone. The follow- ing day they caught up with those ahead and the

HISTORY OF MONTANA

party with the repaired wagon also reunited with them.

The journey brought them near the Coeur d'Alene Mission, the principal building there having been erected without a nail, nothing but wooden pegs to hold the timbers together. The Indians seemed friendly and wanted the whites to join in friendly sports. First they had a wrestling match. One of the whites, John Bainbridge, finally consented to wrestle with a husky Indian and was thrown by the latter. There was only the one fall. The Indian was ready for other challengers but none cared to enter the list. Then a horse race was arranged. A horse for which Mr. Weldon had "traded" at French Town, and ridden by Mr. Wel- don's partner, won the race. The partner, John Argell, was quite full of fun, a good singer, and having won the horse race was considered quite a hero. Later he won a foot race. He was now a great favorite with the Indians, who wanted him to stay with them, offering him a lot of furs and his choice of two comely squaws-offers that were not accepted. While at the Mission about 5,000 bushels of grain were cut with knives and threshed · with flails.

Mr. Weldon recalls several instances of the friendly attitude of the northwestern Indians When their party reached the Spokane River he and a companion thought they would fish along the stream. The trail seemed to follow down the river, and they went along thinking they would come to a ferry. They soon came to where the whites had left the road and taken to the river. The water was quite wide and rather swift. Mr. Weldon cut a stout stick of good length and size he could handle and successfully crossed. His companion, though able to swim, followed him only with great reluctance. Soon as they pro- ceeded towards the camp they met an Indian on horseback. Riding up to Mr. Weldon he turned his horse around and invited him to ride behind. He had probably seen the two men at the ford and singled out Mr. Weldon as the more aggres- sive of the two. Mr. Weldon accepted the in- vitation, riding into camp, while his companion walked. There they found that the men with the wagons had met this Indian at the ford and for a present of tobacco he had piloted them over the river, thus saving quite a bill for ferrying a few miles below.

FRANK B. CONNELLY, one of the oldest and solid- est business men of Billings, has been a resident of that city over thirty years, coming here after an experience in the wholesale hardware business in Chicago. He has used his early training and his ability to promote and build up one of the largest wholesale establishments in the Northwest, con- ducted under the title of F. B. Connelly Company, of which he is sole owner.

Mr. Connelly, who is also a member of the Mon- tana State Senate, was born at Middletown, Iowa, September 5, 1862. His great-grandfather Connelly came from the north of Ireland to Pennsylvania in colonial times. His father, Samuel J. Connelly, who was born at Mingo, near Pittsburg, Pennsyl- vania, in 1831, was reared and married at Mingo, was a graduate of Washington College in South- western Pennsylvania, and soon after marriage moved to Middletown, Iowa, and in 1866 settled at Galva, Illinois. He spent two years as a farmer there and then moved to Toulon, Illinois, where he was in the livestock and hutchering business. He died at Galva in 1904. During the Civil war he served as a member of the State Guards, was a

republican always and an active member of the Presbyterian Church. Fraternally he was affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Samuel J. Connelly married Mary Johnson, who was born near Pittsburg in 1833 and died at Mid- dletown, Iowa, in 1865. She was the mother of five children, Frank B. being the youngest. The oldest, Alice Anna, lives at Galesburg, Illinois, widow of George P. Flint, who was a farmer and stock shipper. Thomas J. died in September, 1915, at his farm twelve miles west of Billings. F. L. Connelly was in the insurance business and died at Lewis, Iowa, in 1913. William, the other child, died in infancy. Samuel J. Connelly married for his second wife Eliza J. Kennedy, who was born in Pennsyl- vania and died near Pittsburg. She was the mother of two children, one of whom died in infancy. Her surviving daughter is Mrs. Nannie M. Flannigan, wife of a carpenter and building contractor at San Diego, California.

Frank B. Connelly acquired his education at Toulon, Illinois, leaving high school at the age of eighteen. In the meantime he had learned the trade of cheese maker. When nineteen years old he went to Chicago and for four years was connected with one of the large wholesale hardware firms of that city and acquired a thorough knowledge of the busi- ness in every detail.

On coming to Montana in 188< Mr. Connelly be- came connected with the hardware and implement house of Babcock & Miles at Billings. In 1894 the business was changed to the A. L. Babcock Hard- ware Company and Mr. Connelly was one of the active officials of the concern until August 1, 1904. He served as secretary and manager. During 1904 he was cashier of the Yellowstone National Bank, but in August of that year started his independent enterprise as a wholesale implement dealer. The business has since been known as the F. B. Connelly Company. This company is the distributing agency for some of the best known automobile and ma- chinery houses in America. They handle the Holt Caterpillar engines and Combined Harvester for Montana and Wyoming, the Austin and Western lines of contractors and road building machinery the Marion Steam Shovel Company wares, the Gar- ford motor trucks and Troy trailers, the Ford cars and trucks for Billings and vicinity, and, the Ford- son tractor. The plant and offices of the F. B. Con- nelly Company are at 423 North Broadway.

It is a familiar truth that the business man is often the most useful citizen of any community. Mr. Connelly was twice elected an alderman in Billings. He was elected to serve as a member of the House of Representatives during the eleventh session in 1909, and during that session was a mem- ber of the ways and means, banks and banking, towns and counties committees, and he introduced a bill requiring the railroads to maintain a bulletin at the depots for the reporting of the arrivals and departures of trains. He was also instrumental in amending the drainage law of that session. Mr. Connelly was elected a member of the State Senate in November, 1918, and during the 1919 session was chairman of the compensation committee in the Senate, chairman of the joint compensation commit- tee, and a member of the finance and claims, insur- ance and highways committees. The bill providing for the location of a State Normal School at Bil- lings was one that received his active and special support. Mr. Connelly, at his own expense, circu- lated the petition among the members of the House and the Senate to the governor to call an extra session to devise ways and means to use Montana stone instead of Indiana limestone in public building

HISTORY OF MONTANA

construction in Montana. The session was called and Mr. Connelly was successful in carrying the measure through. He was a member of the Re- publican National Convention that nominated Wil- liam H. Taft for president.

Mr. Connelly is a republican in politics. He is affiliated with Ashlar Lodge of Masons, Billings Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, Billings Commandery, Knights Templar, Billings Consistory of the Scottish Rite, and Bagdad Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Butte. He is a charter member of Billings Lodge of Elks and was the third exalted ruler of the lodge. He has been prominent in the Billings Midland Club, which incorporates the Chamber of Commerce, serving as president of the latter body in 1918, and as president of the Midland Club in 1919. In every way possible Mr. Connelly has exerted his influence in behalf of war auxiliary movements, and is presi- dent of the War Chest Fund of Billings. One of his sons was in the war as an officer.

Mr. Connelly married at Burke, Wisconsin, De- cember 1, 1885, Miss Flora E. Hart, a daughter of Rev. J. C. and Faithful (Holmes) Hart, both now deceased. Her father was a Baptist minister. The living children of Mr. and Mrs. Connelly are noted briefly as follows: Frank G., who received a high school education at Billings and is associated with his father in business; Lieutenant Kenneth A., who attended high school and was a student in Beaver Dam Academy at Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, when the war came on, and went with the National Army to France, serving with the rank of lieutenant until mustered out in February, 1919, and is now con- nected with his father's business; Lenora D., a graduate of the Polytechnic Institute at Billings and wife of Homer L. Guiler, connected with the F. B. Connelly Company; Glenn Hart, a student in the Billings High School; and Dean, a grammar school pupil.

GEORGE W. EASTMAN. It is not from hearsay evidence but from actual experience that George W. Eastman, now living retired at Lewistown, can speak of the life and affairs of Montana over forty years ago. He was a freighter, stockman, buffalo hunter, miner, and prospector and public official in the early days of the state, and was almost in daily contact with men good and bad, conditions favor- able and adverse.

Mr. Eastman has lived much of his life on the western frontier. He was born at Calais, Maine, April 19, 1855, a son of John and Mary A. (Han- son) Eastman. His father was a native of East- port, Maine, and his mother of St. Andrews, New Brunswick. About the close of the Civil war the Eastman family came west to Minneapolis, Minne- sota. John Eastman was a lumberman, an indus- try to which he was trained in Maine. He was employed as a timber cruiser and a contractor in getting out logs, and followed that industry both in Minnesota and Wisconsin. He died in Min- neapolis at the age of sixty-four, and his wife passed away at the same age. George W. East- man was the sixth of twelve children, eight of whom are still living. His father was a whig and republican and a member of the Methodist Church.

George W. Eastman received his early educa- tion in Maine, later attended school in Minnesota, and acquired a practical knowledge of the lumber business in the great woods of the Northwest, at first under his father and then as an employe of the saw milling firm of Eastman, Bovee & DeLait. For several years he was employed as an edger in a sawmill.

He and his brother formed a partnership and on April 18, 1877, left Minneapolis by rail for Bis-

marck, Dakota, and thence by the steamer Batche- lor came up the Missouri River to Fort Benton and thence proceeded up the Yellowstone twenty miles. There they took a contract cutting cordwood for the Government. August 2, 1877, they reached Miles City, Montana, where they contracted with Smith & O'Toole in getting out timber to build the Post Sutler Building for the Government. The trees were cut and hewed from eight to sixteen miles above Miles City and then floated down the river to that point. Some 8,000 or 9,000 logs were han- dled by the Eastman brothers. In the fall of 1877 Mr. Eastman began freighting between Bismarck and Miles City. The summer of the following year he helped put up hay for the Government and in the fall of that year began hunting buffalo. These buffalo hunts were conducted chiefly for the hides. During the fall he also prospected as a miner and in the winter of 1879 engaged in the stampede to the Panther Mountains. During the seasons he continued hunting buffalo until Novem- ber 9, 1882, when he returned to Miles City and the following spring came overland to that por- tion of Meagher County that is now Fergus Coun- ty. He was thus one of the pioneers of Fergus. County, He contracted with the Collar Mining Company at Maiden to get out 600 cords of wood, and also did teaming for that company. During the summer of 1885 Mr. Eastman was placer min-' ing in the Little Rockies for Davis & Hamilton. Along about that time he pre-empted land on Warm Spring Creek and took up a homestead and desert claim, and that brought him to the business which he followed successfully for over twenty years, stock raising and farming. Mr. Eastman sold his ranch in 1912 and then located near Lewistown, where he was in the grocery business until 1916, at which time he formally retired from business re- sponsibilities.

Mr. Eastman was brought into contact with the public affairs of this city by his appointment as deputy sheriff of Miles City in 1882. He served a short time and then resigned. He and his brother had much experience with the criminal element of lost over $18,000 in stock, buffalo hides and other material, taken from them by the Indians and white outlaws. One time he made a trip to the head of Powder River and over it into the Black Hills, returning by way of Fort Custer and at Sheridan had a brush with the Indians, but failed to regain any of his lost stock. It is the testi- mony of Mr. Eastman that the bad white men were much more dangerous than the Indians, and most of the trouble was caused by white outlaws, who frequently incited the Indians to mischief, knowing that the blame could be easily shifted to the Red Men. Mr. Eastman has been through much hard and dangerous experience, but has retained his kindness of heart through all, and enjoys a host of friends in many parts of the state. In politics he has affiliated with the republican party.

On April 10, 1902, Mr. Eastman married Minnie A. Maciles. She died November 4, 1902. On March 24, 1908, he married Mary A. Dye.

WILLIAM BERKIN. Recently a Montana paper published an interesting sketch of one of the oldest living pioneers of the state, William Berkin, who is now in the shadow of his ninetieth year and has spent nearly sixty years in Montana Territory and State. A great deal of Montana history is briefly sketched in the newspaper article and por- tions of it are properly quoted.

William Berkin was the pioneer transportation magnate of Montana. He came up the Missouri

Halliam Berkin

HISTORY OF MONTANA

River nearly sixty years ago, and from a modest start of pack horses built up the Diamond R trans- portation organization which took first rank in the territory and served a wide stretch of country. He figured in many adventures, fought Indians, part- nered with Senator W. A. Clark, employed Col. Charles A. Broadwater and Sam Pepin as bull- whackers, shipped the first ore out of Butte by bull team to Corinne, Utah, by rail to San Fran- cisco and then to Swansea, Wales, made and lost fortunes, passed up opportunities to make millions, and now in the ninetieth-odd year old winter of his life is peacefully passing his declining years on a stock ranch in Meagher County.

The broad highways that now traverse the state and make automobile riding comfortable were buf- falo trails when Berkin came to Montana. He brought with him a stock of goods and herd of pack animals, shipping his outfit from St. Louis to Fort Benton by steamboat. He built his own roads from Fort Benton to Bannack and Virginia City and other mining camps, blazing his way across the trackless prairie land and through mountain fastnesses, and founded the little Town of Boulder, capital of Jefferson County, just because the grass of the Boulder Valley was succulent and sweet, the place afforded sustenance and shelter for his live stock and it was on the road from Fort Benton to the placer mines.

But he did not keep his pack train long. Gold on the bed rock of many Montana streams was bringing thousands of argonauts into Montana, and he could not pack goods into the camps fast enough, so he effected the transportation organization which afterward became the famous Diamond R freight- ing outfit. This concern grew with the country, and in a short time Berkin found himself at the head of sixty bull teams. Each team consisted of twelve yoke, or twenty-four head, of oxen, with three wagons to the team.

Charles A. Broadwater, who afterward became a famous empire builder and famed all over the West, found his first employment as one of Berkin's bull-whackers, and Sam Pepin, who was later to be associated with Broadwater in enterprises of magnitude in Northern Montana, was employed by Berkin in a similar capacity. Each of these men had charge of one of Berkin's bull teams. In all he had about 2,000 head of work cattle, and employed about 100 men, bull-whackers and station tenders.

He and his men had many battles with the Indians, the country in the 400 miles that his teams traversed from Fort Benton to the gold camps being infested with hostile red skins. Every time a man started from Fort Benton in charge of one of Berkin's bull teams he took his life in his hands, but such was the spirit of the men of those days that he could always find plenty of men willing to go with him on the venture.

The business grew and prospered with the de- velopment of the country, the population of which was increasing by leaps and bounds. Berkin, in an effort to maintain his supremacy in transpor- tation, decided to establish what became known later as the "Diamond R Fast Freight," operating between the gold camps and Salt Lake City. This consisted of units of ten mule teams, each team hauling three wagons. He organized his equip- ments so that one of these teams left Salt Lake City on one end of the line and Helena on the other, every day, with stations for relays and change of animals all along the several hundred miles that stretch between the two points. The undertaking was very successful from the start. It necessi-

tated the maintenance of an immense equipment of horses, mules, and a small army of drivers, but it speeded up the delivery of freight in a manner that was very satisfactory to the mercantile estab- lishments in the mining camps, which depended on the Diamond R to keep their stocks replenished. Freight rates were high, but everyone was making money, and there was no haggling as to prices. The man who was taking out $100 in gold dust every day was not inclined to be stingy, and bought luxu- ries at fabulous prices.

Berkin continued in the freighting business until the '7os. In the meantime he had brought his fam- ily to Boulder, where he made his home, and had become interested in mining. He had acquired some placer property near Boulder, and in 1868 put in a ditch, at considerable cost, to bring wa- ter to these placers. The venture proved fairly successful. About the same time he became inter- ested in the quartz possibilities of Butte. With W. A. Clark and Captain M. Wall, president of the Diamond R, he owned the Mountain Chief Mine on the Butte Hill. Ore from this property he hauled by bull team to Corinne and shipped it to San Francisco by rail, and from San Francisco by boat around the Horn to Swansea, Wales, for treat- ment. Even with the enormous cost of shipping the ore it proved profitable, but he considered it too slow, and sold his interest in the property for $3,700. It is now worth $25,000,000 or more. If he had held on to his Butte realty it would have made him fabulously wealthy. He bought the lot at the corner of Park and Main Street, on which the Rialto Theater stands, now worth perhaps $2,500 a front foot, for twenty dollars.

He was very much interested in the Vigilante movement, which rid the territory of Henry Plum- mer and his band of cutthroats. He had had enough experience with these men on the road and in the lonesome places to appreciate the good that would come to the territory by their elimination, and made a special trip to Virginia City to be ini- tiated into the Vigilantes. Once in he became one of the right hand men of X. Beidler and Neil Howie, executives of the Vigilantes. His courage and fighting prowess were such that when Mon- tana was admitted to statehood he was named as the first United States marshal of the district, an office that it took a brave man to fill.

William Berkin was born in England in 1830 and learned the machinist's trade there. In 1856 he married Sarah Jane Hall, also a native of Eng- land. Their first three children were born in the old country, one of whom died. Fannie and John came with them to America. William Berkin came to this country in 1860, and followed his trade at various cities and while at St. Louis was an employe of the American Fur Company. In 1862 he came up the Missouri River to Montana, land- ing at Fort Benton. He brought his wife and chil- dren from England, and they arrived in the ter- ritory of Montana in June, 1865. Five other chil- dren were born to them in Montana: William A., who died at the age of twenty-eight; Thomas A .; Sarah; Elizabeth, deceased; and Hattie.

THOMAS A. BERKIN, a son of the veteran Mon- tana pioneer and Indian fighter William Berkin, is one of the oldest native sons of this state, and for his part has played a busy career as a stock man and farmer and is also one of the well known public officials of Fergus County.

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Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume II, Part 3

Author: Stout, Tom, 1879- ed Publication date: 1921 Publisher: Chicago, American Historical Society Number of Pages: 1126

Author: Stout, Tom, 1879- ed
Publication date: 1921
Publisher: Chicago, American Historical Society
Number of Pages: 1126