Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume III, Part 156

Author: Stout, Tom, 1879- ed
Publication date: 1921
Publisher: Chicago, American Historical Society
Number of Pages: 1144

USA > Montana > Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume III > Part 156

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O'Fallon was then the terminus of the Northern Pacific Railroad, though track laying was proceed- ing westward and reached Miles City ahout the holidays of that year. The Town of O'Fallon, in Mr. Gifford's description, contained a section house, H. A. Bruns & Company Bank, a saloon, a store of the construction company, with the section house as the hotel. A big sign over the door of the "tent saloon" bore the words "Rev. C. A. Duffy's Saloon," and that was not a joke, since the proprietor had really been a preacher.

Arriving in Montana, Mr. Gifford at once began looking up business for himself and covered the county for miles around, visiting hunters. Some of the hides and meat he bought came from the present site of Ekalaka, and one of his customers was the frontiersman David H. Russell. Other men of the early days were his customers, including a number who became permanent and aided in the civic de- velopment of the region, such as Red McDonald and Oscar Brackett. There was sufficient in his line to keep Mr. Gifford busy all the winter, and the fol- lowing winter he established himself at Sully Springs, now in North Dakota. The buffalo dis- appeared, and with it the industry built on that denizen of the prairies and only a single carload of meat did Mr. Gifford ship in 1883.

In the spring of 1883 Mr. Gifford entered into a. partnership with Marquis de Mores, a French soldier and son-in-law of Baron von Hoffman of New York. They were general merchants, and Mr. Gifford re- mained with the outfit until fall, and then drew his wages and profits and re-entered the buffalo meat and hide business in Dakota. The only band of those animals left in that region worth attention contained about 5,000, and the night before Mr. Gifford reached them old Sitting Bull and his warriors dropped in on the buffaloes and killed 2700. Mr. Gifford got only a carload of the meat, though he secured many hundreds of hides sold him by the Sioux.

The last phase of the great buffalo hunting in- dustry was the gathering up of bones, in which thousands were engaged for a number of years. These bones were shipped in immense quantities to the East. Mr. Gifford tried that enterprise in the region of the Missouri River, above the mouth of Big Dry Creek, and accumulated about 600 tons of bones for shipment down the Missouri. How- ever, that season water was so low that no boat could reach his cargo and he abandoned them.

Mr. Gifford located along the Great Northern Railroad in 1887 and engaged in the business of furnishing meat to the contractors and horses for the outfit during that summer. For a few years he marketed horses in Dakota among the farmers, and gave much of his time for several successive years in an effort to collect what was due him. With the closing up of that experience he returned to Fallon, and that town has been his headquarters ever since. Mr. Gifford erected his present home in 1889, then the best house in Custer County outside of Miles City. He also entered a pre-emption, his home being its first improvement. Here he established a horse ranch, breeding the heavy horses, and introducing

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some blooded stallions for the purpose. The market for his horses was found at home and in the states further east. When horses became so low in price that handling them was unprofitable Mr. Gifford became a "cow man," handling chiefly range stock, with a few Shorthorns mixed in his herd. Eventu- ally he developed adjacent to Fallon a ranch of 2480 acres and another smaller ranch of 1120 acres north of Marsh in Dawson County. From these ranches he sent a few cattle to market, and old time cattle men readily identified his stock by such brands as Diamond G, the Circle Arrow and the Box 2.

Mr. Gifford sold his cattle in 1918, and since then hardly more than twenty-five head have borne his brands. For several years past he has been the representative of an English company loaning money on farms, and through his agency a half million dollars have been spread out over this region. On his own land he has experimented with farming, dry farming, and has tasted both the bitter and sweet of such experience. By a system of irrigation, pumping water from the Yellowstone River, he has achieved much more favorable and reliable results.

Mr. Gifford has never made himself a factor in politics in Montana, though he has generally voted . at elections and on national issues is a republican. He is affiliated with Terry Lodge of Masons, having been raised in that order in recent years.

At Cromwell, Minnesota, February 22, 1894, he married Miss Angelina Pearce, daughter of Samuel Pearce and a sister of the late Robert R. Pearce of Baker, Montana. Mrs. Gifford was born at Dorchester, England, in the Town of Sherbourne, September 30, 1870. In 1874, almost before she can remember, she was brought to the United States by her father, who came over with the Yovel colony. Mrs. Gifford received her education in the Burling- ton school in Becker County, Minnesota.

MRS. JANET WHITNEY. Wholly devoted to home and domestic duties through all the best years of her life, there is not much to record concerning the life of the average woman. A celebrated writer once said that the future destiny of a great nation de- pended upon its wives and mothers. In the settle- ment of the great Northwest woman bore her full share of hardship, sufferings and other vicissitudes, helping man in the rugged toil of wood and field, cheering him when cast down and discouraged, sharing his dangers and rejoicing in his success. In a compendium such as the one in hand woman should have definite representation, for in many respects they have had a large part in the development of the section of country included within the scope of this work. Among the noble, self-sacrificing and patient mothers of Montana, she whose name appears at the head of this sketch should receive specific mention, for she has earnestly and courageously done her part in the great drama of civilization enacted here.

Mrs. Janet Whitney was born near Paisley, Scot- land, on November 10, 1858, the daughter of James and Christina Walker, of whose children four sur- vive besides Mrs. Whitney, namely: John, of the Alzada locality in Montana; Mrs. Grace Howell, of Butte County, South Dakota; Henry Walker, who is located on the Little Missouri in Carter County, Montana; and Mrs. F. M. King, of Alzada. James Walker, the father of these children, came to the United States, locating in Montana, where he spent the remainder of his life as a stockman and farmer, and his death occurred at Alzada in 1912. His widow still survives, at the age of eighty-one years. Janet Walker was married on March 29, 1875, in Bradford County, Pennsylvania, to Robert John- stone. The latter was born in Fifeshire, Scotland, in 1853, and was there reared, his education being

somewhat limited, though sufficient to enable him to conduct his own business affairs. He became a coal miner, and at the age of seventeen years he immigrated to the United States, locating first in Bradford County, Pennsylvania. From there he went to Boone County, Iowa, where he spent three years, going from there to Mongona, South Dakota, where he continued to follow his trade of mining. He then accompanied his older brother, Thomas John- stone, to the Black Hills, then the center of the mining world, and there he engaged in gold mining for about three years. Later a little band of pio- neers, of whom Robert and Thomas Johnstone were the leaders, came to the valley of the Little Missouri River and there made settlement, being among the earliest to locate in that region. There he preempted land along the Little Missouri, but unfortunately his death occurred in March, 1890, at the compara- tively early age of thirty-seven years, and his widow was left alone with six small children and the title to the ranch not completed. Mrs. Johnstone bravely set herself to the task of rearing and educating her children and operating the homestead, to which she had converted the ranch. In addition to proving up the Johnstone entry the Government permitted her to prove up another claim for herself some years afterward. During the trying years she bravely performed any work which would enable her to keep up the family exchequer, doing family wash- ings, selling eggs from her barnyard fowls, and in many other ways known to the pioneers maintaining herself and rearing and educating her children.

To Mr. and Mrs. Johnstone were born the fol- lowing children : Christina, the wife of Al Vannett, of Powder River County, Montana, and the mother of three children, Howard, Hazel and Freda; Thomas, who died in childhood; James, a ranchman on Willow Creek, Montana, married Losa Ingalls, and they have two children, Orville and Arthur ; Caroline became the wife of Orville J. Brownfield, a ranchman near Pinicle, Montana, and they have seven children, Earl, Lloyd, Ethel, Edgar, Benjamin, Nora and Della Frances; Bert, a ranchman in Carter County, married Emily Butcher, and they have three children, Mildred, Stanley and Donald ; John, who now occupies the old homestead, where he is ranching and farming, married Linnie Watts, and they have three children, Edith, Esther and Ella.

In 1893 Mrs. Johnstone became the wife of George Whitney, but the union was not entirely satisfactory and for a second time Mrs. Whitney was thrown upon her own resources. For a time she ran a road ranch near old Five Mile in addition to operating her home ranch, and thus was able to carry her burden alone. As a ranchwoman Mrs. Whitney has built up a splendid, though modest, herd of white face cattle. She managed and directed her affairs with discrimination and good judgment, and at the outbreak of the World war she invested her surplus in cattle, but after the close of the war she disposed of her stock and retired from the cattle business.

By her union with Mr. Whitney she had four chil- dren, namely : Clara, the wife of Roy McCulley, of Michigan; Austin, of Alzada; George, who at the age of eighteen years was slain by an irrespon- sible assassin; and Evelyn, the wife of Wilbur Davis, of Carter County, who served two years during the recent war on the French fighting line and went "over the top" several times, without in- jury. Roy McCulley, the other son-in-law, was also in the foreign service, as a truck driver. Howard Vannett, Mrs. Whitney's grandson, was in the ambu- lance service in France for more than a year.

Mrs. Whitney is in many respects a remarkable

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woman. Denied in her youth of a fair opportunity for an education, she determined to make up for that deficiency by her own efforts, and in this she succeeded so well that she became a well informed and intelligent woman. Because of her accomplish- ments in the face of discouraging handicaps and her splendid qualities of character she has earned and now enjoys the sincere respect and esteem of all who know her, and she is eminently deserving of record in a work of the character of the one in hand.

CHARLES L. WOOD. Among the successful ranch- men of Carter County and one who has been a prominent factor in the region about Alzada for a number of years is Charles L. Wood, who has for many years been identified with the life and in- terests of the Northwest. His time has been devoted to the stock industry in the main, and his efforts have resulted in good not only to himself but to the com- munity as well.

Mr. Wood was born in Andrew County, Missouri, May 3, 1868, but he grew up in Nodaway County of that state. His father, Benjamin Wood, moved from Virginia to Missouri about the year 1840 and settled in Andrew County. He spent his life as a farmer, and died there about 1872. He married a Miss Cummings, who preceded him in death about one year, and they were the parents of the follow- ing children: Mattie D., who died as Mrs. Cressler ; William W., of Belle Fourche, South Dakota; Har- vey F., whose home is in Norfolk, Nebraska; Charles L., the Montana ranchman; and Arthur A., a contractor at Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Charles L. Wood was orphaned by the death of his parents when but four years of age, and was reared in the home of an aunt, Mrs. Alpheus Dear- ing, his father's sister. His early life was spent on a farm, and the educational training he received came from the rural schools. He remained with his rela- tives until the spring of 1886, and at that time started out in life for himself. He turned his face westward to join a brother, traveling by rail to Buffalo Gap, South Dakota, the then terminus of the railroad. He had money sufficient to cover the journey but no surplus capital, and it was necessary to find immediate employment, and in fact the money used for his traveling expenses had been borrowed from his brother, and it behooved him to find a means of sustaining himself and repay the loan.

On leaving the train at Buffalo Gap he took the stage to Deadwood, and began work on a valley ranch there, receiving $35.00 a month during the summer season, this having been about double the wage he could have obtained in his Missouri home. From the Deadwood ranch " he went into Crook County, Wyoming, spent the winter with his brother there, and then began work on the range and had his first experience at "cow punching." The ranch was the "T+T," belonging to the Driskill Brothers of Texas, and was one of the oldest properties of the region. Mr. Wood remained with that com- pany during the summers until 1898, having in the meantime, after accumulating some cattle of his own, devoted the winter months to their care. His first cattle brand was "H-W," which he owned in company with his brother. His affairs subsequently drifted into a partnership with H. C. Wier, and they developed a considerable herd of cattle ranging over Mr. Wier's holdings along the Little Missouri River, operating under the firm name of C. L. Wood & Company. But after six years the partnership was dissolved, Mr. Wood taking a stock of goods which the firm owned in Alzada in exchange for his interest in the stock. He thereafter remained in the

mercantile business until the fall of 1916, when he disposed of those interests and returned to the stock business. His present cattle brand is the well known "3M," and until 1918 he confined his efforts to cattle exclusively, but in the fall of that year sheep entered into his stock raising, and judging from his ex- perience sheep bring quicker returns and produce more satisfactory results than cattle and are the favored stock.

Mr. Wood secured his first Government land in Wyoming, proving up both a homestead and a pre- emption in Crook County. He still retains his home- stead, and also other lands acquired by purchase, some of which are under irrigation and substantially improved, and portions of the tract are producing alfalfa. In Carter County, Montana, where he now resides, he acquired a considerable range for his stock by purchase. He lived first in Custer County, then in Fallon, and by a more recent political organization has become a resident of Carter County. During six years of his residence in Fallon County he served as a county commissioner, being for a year and a half of that time on the board with B. C. Baldwin and Thomas Fitzsimmons, but owing to the great distance he had to travel on official business and the frequency of these trips to the county seat he resigned the office. Since 1904 the Town of Alzada has been his home, and during the past two years he has occupied his present commodious resi- dence. He is as extensively engaged in the cattle business as in former years, and is breeding an ex- cellent strain of White Face animals. During several years he has been one of the prominent shippers of the region.

In Belle Fourche, South Dakota, on the 19th of September, 1906, Mr. Wood was married to Miss Leona Zimmerman, a daughter of John J. and Leah (Stover) Zimmerman. Her father came to Mon- tana from Mechanicsville, Iowa, and settled on Five Mile, then in Custer County, in 1883. But he subse- quently returned to Iowa and now resides at Mar- shalltown in that state. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Zimmerman are: Elmer D., who resides in Miles City, Montana; Ida, the wife of Charles Johnston, of Powder River County, this state; Ola, who is engaged in ranching on Five Mile; Ami, a stockman of Carter County; Mrs. Wood, who was born in Iowa March 7, 1881 ; and Gomer, of Alzada. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Wood, Alvin L. and Genevieve.

Mr. Wood voted with the democratic party until 1904, when he gave his allegiance to Mr. Roosevelt, but has again returned to the democratic party. . Dur- ing the early days in Wyoming he frequently attended county conventions of his party. In his fraternal relations he has membership in the Masonic Order, belonging to the Blue Lodge at Sundance, Wyoming.

JOHN F. Buck. Since he came to Southeastern Montana many years ago the gentleman of whom this sketch is penned has been a witness of many important changes in this vicinity, and his reminis- cences of the early days here are most interesting and entertaining. But change is constant and gen- eral, generations rise and pass unmarked away, and it is the duty. of posterity as well as a present gratifi- cation to place upon the printed page a true record of the lives of. those who have preceded us on the stage of action and left to their descendants the record of their struggles and achievements. The years of the honored subject are part of an in- dissoluble chain which links the annals of the past to those of the latter-day progress and prosperity, and the history of this section would not be com- plete without due reference to the long, useful and

J.Carey Withers from

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successful life Mr. Buck has lived, having been adequately rewarded in one of the most important fields of labor-farming and stock raising. Gener- ous and big-hearted, kindly in disposition, he has never lacked for friends, and many of them will peruse his life record, as here presented, with interest.

John F. Buck was born about fifty miles east of Montreal, in the province of Quebec, Canada, on June 24, 1856. He is the son of Martin Buck, also a native of the province of Quebec and a life-long farmer. The family originated in England, whence the progenitors came to America and settled in Vermont during the colonial period, later members of the family immigrating to Canada. John F. Buck was reared and educated in his native province, and in his youth he assisted his father in the labors of the farm. A strong desire to see more of the world induced him to come to the United States. Crossing the border at Detroit, he came direct to Nevada, where he went to work in the mines. Industrious and economical, he soon found himself with some capital, but he remained in the Eureka mines several years, gaining some valuable experience in connection with mining. From there he went to Terryville in the Black Hills, where he was employed in the gold mines for three years, being night foreman of the Caledonia mines.

In 1885 Mr. Buck made a prospecting trip into Southeastern Montana to locate a ranch, coming with a team and camping outfit. He selected his first location at the head of North Tie Creek, this now being the Allen ranch, but Mr. Buck occupied it about thirteen years, establishing himself in the horse and cattle business there. Their pioneer home, built of pine logs, was of three rooms, with a half story above, and barn and sheds were like- wise constructed. Mr. Buck first handled grade Shorthorn cattle, which he ran for several years under the brand "cross V cross," and the first shipment of his cattle he drove to Rapid City, 150 miles away. Eventually disposing of his first ranch, Mr. Buck made a location near the head of Dry Creek, on which he filed, and this became the nucleus of the splendid ranch and fine estate which he now owns and occupies. His first residence here was of logs, containing five rooms, and this sheltered the family for ten years, when he erected his present substantial, commodious and well arranged home, which comprises ten rooms and was erected in 1908. Everything about the place is in keeping with the house, the general appearance of the ranch in- dicating the owner to be a man of taste and excellent judgment. When he came to his present ranch Mr. Buck changed his cattle, taking up the Hereford strain, and has been breeding the pure stock for almost a quarter of a century, his cattle, while not registered, being considered as good as any to be found in this section of the country. His ranch comprises 3,000 acres (4,000 acres including the son's holdings) and extends well toward the head of Dry Creek. It is all under fence and is stocked with about 300 head of cattle, which are running under the old brand. Mr. Buck farms for feed, although he has harvested some splendid crops of grain. Corn is his best feed grown for stock, utilizing the fodder when cut green. Oats have yielded him seventy-two bushels per acre and wheat, forty-two bushels per acre.

Soon after he came to Montana Mr. Buck did considerable hunting for big game. Buffalo were then scarce, but deer and antelope were plentiful, and among his hunting companions were two lawyers, Captain Cohn, of Des Moines, and Mortimer C. Tracy, the present dean of the Carter County bar.

Mr. Buck has lived in three counties without chang- ing his place of residence. He first lived in Custer County, out of which Fallon County was created, and then Carter County was organized. Mr. Buck encouraged the latter move, and at first election he was chosen a member of the Board of County Com- missioners. The board of which he is now a mem- ber, and of which he is chairman, has now in hand the project of building a new courthouse, which with its furnishings will represent an outlay of about $28,000. In 1919 about $21,000 was spent on road building in the county, and in 'this and other ways Mr. Buck evidences his progressive and enterprising character.

Politically he has always given his support to the republican party, and has taken an active interest in local public affairs, attending the conventions of his party whenever possible.

Mr. Buck was married at Terryville, South Dakota, on February 21, 1883, to Azubah Scott, who was born within about six miles of her husband's birthplace in Quebec, on December 23, 1859, being the daughter of Thomas Scott. She accompanied an uncle to the United States in March, 1882, and met Mr. Buck at Terryville. To Mr. and Mrs. Buck have been born two sons, Frank, who is a ranchman near Ekalaka, and Jay, who is his father's helper and also operates a ranch of his own. He married Carrie Jennings and has two children, Henry and Mary.

A few years after coming to Montana an Indian scare resulted from the killing of Sitting Bull and caused a few settlers in this locality to prepare for defense against the expected attack. They gathered at the Buck ranch, guns and ammunition were collected, barrels of water placed in the cellar, and provisions provided for at least eight or ten days. A tunnel was also dug from the residence to an out- side cellar for the protection of the women. But the Indians were headed in another direction and the scared settlers returned to their respective homes. That was the last Indian scare in this part of the state. During the subsequent years Mr. Buck has performed his full share in the great task of de- veloping the country and has been an eye witness of the wonderful transformation which has taken place here. Because of his accomplishments and his high personal character he has long enjoyed the fullest measure of confidence and esteem on the part of all who know him.

THOMAS CASEY WITHERSPOON, M. D. Chief sur- geon of the Murray Hospital at Butte since 1907, Doctor Witherspoon has earned a national reputa- tion as a surgeon and his attainments have gained him recognition wherever the prominent men of his profession come together.

Doctor Witherspoon, who first came to Butte more than thirty years ago, though his residence in the state has not been continuous, was born at Natchez, Mississippi, and is of southern ancestry and more remotely of Scotch. Two Witherspoon brothers came from Scotland in colonial times, one locating at New Jersey and the other, the ancestor of Doctor Witherspoon, Andrew Witherspoon, lo- cated in South Carolina. A cousin of Andrew Witherspoon was John Witherspoon, whose name is affixed as a signer to the Declaration of Independ- ence. The Witherspoons were prominent Scotch Presbyterians. A Doctor Witherspoon of that church married a daughter of John Knox.

Doctor Witherspoon's father was Thomas Casey Witherspoon, Sr., who was born at Greensboro, Ala- bama, in 1835. He spent his early life at Greens- boro, Mobile and Montgomery, and as a young man became a planter in the vicinity of Natchez. He

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lost most of his property during the war, in which he served as a Confederate soldier under the com- mand of General Lee, and was with Stonewall Jackson until that gallant leader was killed. He was in the battles of the first and second Bull Run and Gettysburg, was once taken prisoner but made his escape, and in one battle was severely wounded in the left arm! In 1878 he removed to St. Louis, where he followed the occupation of a cotton buyer and broker until 1898. In that year, associated with a Mr. Bush from Boston, he established the firm of Bush & Witherspoon Company, cotton brokers at Waco, Texas, and did a large and successful business there for a number of years. In 1914 he retired and removed to Los Angeles, where he died in 1916. He was a stanch democrat, an active Presbyterian, and manifested many of the stanch characteristics of his forefathers. He married Mary A. D. Conner, who was born at Natchez, Mississippi, in 1845, and died at St. Louis in 1897. Her father, William Conner, was of Irish lineage, was a Mississippi planter, and married a daughter of Dr. John Gustin, who was of French ancestry. Doctor Witherspoon is the oldest of four children. Leslie and Gustin, twins, died in infancy. His brother William Conner Witherspoon is a traveling salesman.

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Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume III, Part 156

Author: Stout, Tom, 1879- ed Publication date: 1921 Publisher: Chicago, American Historical Society Number of Pages: 1144

Author: Stout, Tom, 1879- ed
Publication date: 1921
Publisher: Chicago, American Historical Society
Number of Pages: 1144