Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume III, Part 195

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 195

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of the Shorthorn strain, the first of that particular breeding it is believed to have been brought into this country.

In 1913 Mr. Bowman formed the Spearhead Stock Company, consisting of himself, his wife and his son, and this firm are the owners of the Bowman ranch and stock interests. The boundaries of the estate have grown from the claim of a half section entered by Mrs. Bowman, and where are located the head- quarters of the ranch, to an area of more than 20,000 acres, and the Spearhead brand was adopted as the principal brand for the stock. During many years the concerted energies of Mr. Bowman and his fam- ily have been spent upon this property and toward its success as a stock proposition. For a period of twenty years or more Mr. Bowman served as an inspector for the Montana Sheep Growers Associa- tion.

He began his political activities as a democratic voter, having perhaps inherited his opinions from his forefathers and the community in which he was reared. But eventually he became dissatisfied with the party, and when Colonel Roosevelt launched the progressive movement Mr. Bowman favored the party and gave it his cordial support. With the clos- ing of this movement and its reunion with the re- publican party he became a republican, feeling that the cleansing that had long been needed had been accomplished and is of the opinion that the salvation of the country as a liberty-loving and democratic form of government lies therein. In his home com- munity Mr. Bowman was early identified with the movement for the establishment of public schools, and was instrumental in the organization of the first school and furnished the building in which it was held. He also petitioned the setting off of the Knowlton school district and was a member of its school board for a number of years.

Mr. Bowman was married at Seneca Castle, New York, November 22, 1885, to Miss Lillie M. Odell, relative of B. B. Odell, a former governor of New York, and a republican leader of that state. She was born September 1, 1865, a daughter of John and Mary (Brown) Odell. Her paternal grandfather settled in the City of New York, where he was a mechanic, and acquired considerable real estate. He subsequently moved to the northwestern part of the state, and there his son John spent his life. John and Mary Odell were the parents of four children, Wil- liam, Lillie, Malcom and Mary. The youngest child, Mary, married Adelbert Hull. Mr. and Mrs. Bow- man have one son, Elbert Francis, who was born in Custer County, Montana, June 23, 1889, and was reared on the ranch in which he is now a business partner with his father. He is now president of the Spearhead Stock Company. During the period of the World war he volunteered for service and was as- signed to the S. A. T. C. (Students Army Training Corps) at the State University, Boulder, Colorado, until the signing of the armistice. On June 12, 1918, in South Park, Minnesota, Elbert F. Bowman was married to Miss Gaylord Clark. She was born in South Park, Minnesota, was given a liberal educa- tion, and, was principal of the South Park High School of Minnesota when married.

During many years Dan H. Bowman has been a member of the Odd Fellows fraternity, maintaining his membership in Beaver Lodge No. 65, at Ekalaka, Montana.

DANIEL W. SLAYTON, of Lavina, is one of the pioneer ranchers and sheep men of Montana. He was born in Steuben County, New York, November

6, 1862, and spent part of his early life in the State of Virginia. He came to Montana in 1884, forming a partnership with his brother Dalon F. Slayton at White Sulphur Springs. After three years they dis- solved partnership. Daniel W. Slayton's interests as a land holder and sheep man grew, and for a number of years he handled the finer grades of wool sheep, numbering thousands. One of his ranches was on Folsom Creek, fifty miles north of Billings. In 1897 he bought the Moser ranch in the same locality, this being the pioneer ranch of this section. In 1901 Mr. Slayton bought the Trask ranch near the Town of Lavina.

In November, 1887, he married Miss Lizzie E. Ellis, a native of Massachusetts. Five children were born to their marriage: Lydia Elizabeth, Daniel Ellis, Albert John, Ernest Gardner and Ruth Catherine.

MICHAEL GILMORE. A real pioneer of Montana, and one who has spent sixty years of his life within the borders of the state, Michael Gilmore came to this region before Montana was even an organ- ized territory and, contrary to the general rule, came from the West. He was born and reared in Oregon, Marion County being his native heath and September 29, 1835, his birth date, and was trained to the ranch business there. His school advantages were slight, as he never attended an organized in- stitution of learning, but taught himself to read and write and to transact business, with the object of becoming a useful citizen.

When Mr. Gilmore left Oregon he went to Fort Walla Walla, Washington, following the Columbia River on horseback to Wallula, and then crossing over to the fort, where he secured a position as a teamster for the Government. Later he carried the mail from Walla Walla over a portion of the road to Fort Benton, but after two years of this work, when the Mullen Company discovered the gold deposits on Gold Creek in 1862, left his mail job and began prospecting on his own account. Mr. Gilmore found some ore but too little to prosper him, and left prospecting there to go over to Ban- nock. There he secured a mining claim and worked it six months, but as it was poor pay also he joined the Jim Stewart expedition to Tongue River and came down into what is now Custer County. The report being false as to the gold discovery at the month of the Tongue River the party returned toward Bannock, but hearing of a big strike in Al- der Gulch rushed to that territory and secured claims. Mr. Gilmore worked his claim on the main gulch and also on the Sweeny bar and panned out wealth in profusion, the pans running from $5 to $15 each, but as there was no water there he had to sack his dust and carry it to some water hole to wash it. He mined thus for two years and then, in 1866, went to Butte and spent the summer in mining, but the gold was not good. He then changed his vocation and embarked in the butcher business with Tom Stevens, at a time when the present large City of Butte comprised but a few log buildings and one short street.

Leaving Butte and returning to Gold Creek, Mr. Gilmore started a hutcher shop and remained until 1877. It was at this time that the Nez Perce In- dians went on the warpath, deserting their Idaho reservation, and came through that region, where they committed numerous murders and depredations. Mr. Gilmore, being familiar with the territory, se- cured a position as scout from the quartermaster with the United States command, and scouted all

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summer, taking an active part in the Big Hole fight, an arrow wound scar on his left ear still testi- fying how close he was to death.

Following this event Mr. Gilmore in 1877 came to Miles City, Montana, and continued his work as scout and interpreter for the Government. He could speak three different Sioux languages in addi- tion to their sign language, and spent two years with the Government in this work. Subsequently he went back to his first love, mining, and for sev- eral months was around Deadwood in the Black Hills, but gave up his work there when hearing of General Bradley's expedition, which he joined at Fort Laramie and camped at Stonesville, now Alzada, on the Little Missouri River. The general's troops were scouting over that country after the Sioux, many of whom were captured and taken back to their reservation. He was with General Bradley two years, and when he left him went to Pierre, South Dakota, where he established himself in the meat business. He was married while there, and when he left Pierre went to Nebraska and took up a homestead in Dawes County, upon which he spent ten years as a farmer. When he left Nebraska he returned to Montana and has since been a factor in the development of the state. He entered a desert claim on the Mizpah, and his home has been here now for twenty years. He took 11: the cattle and horse industry, which he followed extensively for many years, but with the closing of the open range by settlement of the country has fallen back on a measure of farming as a liveli- hood. Mr. Gilmore is convinced from his acquain- tance with this region that it is not intended for farming, and that it is not likely to become a farming region. He believes that God made this country for stock only ; silk worms will not thrive here, and other industries practiced in localities wholly different are generally failures.

Mr. Gilmore's sturdy nature comes from an Irish father, Michael Gilmore, and a French mother who was born in Canada. His parents were married in Oregon, where both passed away, and of their seven children he is the only survivor.

Mr. Gilmore married Julia Ada, a native German woman, who was his companion for thirty-two years and died May 3, 1911, at the age of fifty- three. Their children were seven in number and two died in childhood. Those living are: Michael, in the National Army during the World war, serv- ing at Camp Lewis, and now managing his father's ranch, married Louise Vautier ; Thomas L., a ranch- man on the Little Powder River, who married Lu- cile Gilland and has a daughter, Sarah Allene; Daniel M., who was a National Army soldier at Camp Lewis, and now on his father's ranch; and Julia Marie. Mr. Gilmore has always voted the democratic ticket. His only public office has been that of school director of District No. 28, an office which has also been held by his eldest son.

HUGH R. WELLS. As state chairman of the demo- cratic party the name of Hugh R. Wells is asso- ciated with some of the most striking achievements of that party in Montana, and he has helped make a great deal of political history. In his home com- munity of Miles City he is known as a prominent business man, long identified with the ranching in- dustry and also with banking.

He was born in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1872, son of Robert W. Wells and grandson of Jesse Wells, of Jefferson City, Missouri. Robert W. Wells married Alice M. Mosley, a daughter of Judge Mosley, who was Indian agent for the United

States at Old Wyandotte, Kansas, when that was a mere village and when his daughter Alice was a small girl. Judge Mosley afterward lived at New Madrid, Missouri. Mrs. Robert W. Wells was a niece of General Parsons of Missouri and was related to the family of the famous Henry Clay. Robert W. Wells spent his boyhood and early mail- hood at Sacramento, California, but married in Missouri and afterward was in the mining indus- try and real estate. He died at the age of seventy- eight years at Fort Worth, Texas, where his widow is still living, aged seventy-nine. Their children were: Guy M., of New Mexico; W. R., general livestock agent of the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fé Railway at Fort Worth, Texas; Hugh R. of Miles City; Stephen R., salesman for a wholesale mer- cantile house at Fort Worth; and Mamie, wife of Modrel Yoakum, president of a potash company at Omaha, Nebraska.

When Hugh R. Wells was three years old his parents moved to Texas, and he grew up in Tar- rant County and its chief city, Fort Worth. He attended the high school of Fort Worth and a busi- ness college, and from early youth his experiences were those of the ranch and range. He has known every phase of the great cattle industry, and was a cowboy when that occupation meant real work, hardship, adventure and danger. After reaching young manhood he entered the employ of the "C" outfit, and later worked for other companies as a cowboy. From the '8os on until he came to Mon- tana he was essentially a cow man. Among the numerous brands used by him was "L bar L." Many of his operations were in the Panhandle country, and he frequently drove stock over the trails to Dodge City, Kansas, and other railroad points.

Mr. Wells came into Montana in the fall of 1900 and was general manager of the "Hat X" ranch. twenty miles north of Miles City. He brought that outfit of cattle and horses from the Pecos River country between Eddy and Roswell, New Mexico, where he had been an independent operator and cattle man for many years. Mr. Wells bought the remnant of the "Hat X" ranch above the Yellow- stone and also a large horse ranch under the Brand "T Flora de Luce," raising at first saddle horses and afterward draft horses. His was one of the most important and best known stock outfits of recent years. Mr. Wells is still interested in stock on the Powder River, having a few cattle, horses and sheep below Broadus on that stream.

In recent years he has given much of his time to banking. In 1917 he organized the Miles City National Bank, and was elected its president. His fellow officers are Robert Yokley and C. N. Lukes. vice presidents, and L. K. Hill. cashier. The bank has a canital of $125,000. Mr. Wells is also presi- dent of the Montana Horseman's Organization and is former secretary of the Montana Stock Growers' Association.

The fact that Mr. Wells was honored politically when a young man by his associates on the ranch and range speaks highly of his real leadership. When only twenty-one years of age he was elected sheriff of Midland, Upton and Crane counties in Western Texas, served two terms, and was other- wise connected with the democratic party in that state. He brought the same politics to Montana and in 19II was chosen sheriff of Custer County. After his two year term there followed an interim of two years and he was then again elected, finally retiring from office in 1917. Mr. Wells was elected a representative from Custer County to the Four-

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teenth Legislature, serving under Speaker George Ramsey. He was the hrst man from Eastern Mon- tana to be elected chairman of the steering commit- tee in the Legislature. He was also chairman of the livestock committee, vice chairman of the finance committee and a member of other house commit- tees. Governor Norris appointed him a member of the livestock commission and he was made its vice chairman. After his election as state chairman of the democratic party in Montana he was active in the campaigns which elected Governor Stewart and Senators Myers and Walsh. He is the second resi- dent of Eastern Montana to be honored with a state chairmanship. Mr. Wells is also vice presi- dent of the State Highway Commission and a mem- ber of its executive committee, which launched $3,000,000 worth of permanent road work in the state. His party chairmanship was in a large meas- ure responsible for the greatest democratic major- ity ever given a presidential candidate in Montana. In 1916 President Wilson received a majority of 34,000, figures that have never been equaled in Montana.

Mr. Wells is one of the oldest members of the Elks Lodge in Miles City, and has contributed much to the influence of that organization. He was one of the members who planned and carried out the construction of the Elks Home. He has represented the lodge in a number of state meetings. He was a charter member of the Odd Fellows Lodge at Midland, Texas.

At West, Texas, Mr. Wells married Miss Laura A. Holt, a daughter of Judge J. O. Holt, a promi- nent old time Texan who for many years was in the stock business. Judge Holt married a Miss Fannin, a niece of Governor L. S. Ross of Texas. The Holt family of Texas are connected with the noted Holts of Durham, North Carolina, where the name for generations has been prominently iden- tified with cotton milling. Mr. and Mrs. Wells were married in May, 1894, and their children are Hortense Louise, John Oscar and Monta Cato. Hortense finished her education in the Ward-Bel- mont School for Girls in Nashville, Tennessee. The son, John O., while a student in the University of the South at Sewanee, Tennessee, was one of the thirty-eight boys in the United States selected for West Point Military Academy. He was also recom- mended for a second lieutenancy by the Students Army Training Corps of Sewanee. He declined the appointment to West Point in favor of the commission offered him by his own university.

EDWARD P. O'BRIEN. An early recognition of the opportunities and responsibilities of life and a laudahle ambition to plav a creditable part are en- couraging facts concerning the younger class of business men in the western country today. Well educated as a rule, many early seek a test of per- sonal independence, and the success that they ulti- mately achieve is usually well deserved. In this connection mention may be made of one of Mon- tana's prominent young business men, whose activi- ties since leaving school have made him familiar with ranching. lumbering, merchandising and bank- ing, Edward P. O'Brien, who is manager and cash- ier of the First National Bank of Plevna.

Edward P. O'Brien was born at Hastings, Min- nesota, January 31, 1890, the twelfth of a family of thirteen children born to Daniel J. and Mary (Casey) O'Brien. Daniel J. O'Brien was a well educated young man when he came to the United States. He was born in 1840, in County Kilkenny, Ireland. He reached Minnesota in the early days

of the Civil war, enlisted as a soldier in the Tenth Minnesota Volunteer Infantry and served through the war with such valor that special honor was given him by his commanding officers. When the war was over he secured Government land in Da- kota County, Minnesota, where he followed farm- ing and stockraising for a number of years. He was then elected county treasurer, at which time he retired from his farm and resided at the county seat of Dakota County for the eight years he con- tinued in office locating then in the City of Hast- ings, where he engaged in the insurance business during the rest of his active life. In politics he was a democrat, and he was a faithful member of the Roman Catholic Church. His death occurred in 1899. At Lakeville, Minnesota, he married Mary Casey, who was born in 1848, at Cold Spring in Putnam County, New York, and now resides at Plevna, Montana.

Edward P. O'Brien attended the public schools at Hastings, Minnesota, and after graduation at- tended the high school, and completed a commer- cial course in a business college at Minneapolis. In the fall of 1909 he came to what was then Cus- ter, but is now Fallon County, Montana, and home- steaded, fourteen months later commuting, paying for his land. He then was employed by his brother- in-law in the lumber business at Helena, Montana, remaining there until he had gained a knowledge of that line of work. After his return, in associa- tion with his brother R. P. O'Brien, he devoted considerable attention to his farm and ranch, to which the brothers added tracts and embarked in the real estate business at Plevna. Here he also became interested with his brother, R. P. O'Brien, in the hardware business, the firm style being the Plevna Hardware Company. In 1917 Mr. O'Brien sold his hardware interests to his brother, in the meanwhile being one of the organizers of the First National Bank of Plevna, since which time he has devoted his attention to this flourishing institution as manager and cashier. He has demonstrated busi- ness qualities of a high order and enjoys the esteem and confidence of his fellow citizens.

On August 24, 1916, Mr. O'Brien was united in marriage to Miss Gertrude E. Kelley, who was born at Sheldon in O'Brien County, Iowa. They have two daughters. Mary Marcella and Agnes Elizabeth. Mr. O'Brien is a member of the Roman Catholic Church, and belongs to the Knights of Columbus.

FRANK MAINS, one of the enterprising young men of Baker, is a member of the Tribune Puh- lishing Company, Incorporated, publishers of the Baker Sentinel, and has been a resident of the county seat since September, 1013. He was born at Defiance, Ohio, March 18, 1880, a son of Frank J. Mains.

Frank J. Mains was born in Ohio in July, 1853. and after attending the public schools of his native state learned the printing trade. Subsequently he bought the Defiance Democrat, first issued as a weekly and later as a daily as well. This was a strongly democratic paper. the organ of the party in that region, and Mr. Mains had as his associ- ates in business Congressman W. D. Hill and State Senator Elmer White of Ohio.

Frank J. Mains was married to Amanda Hart- man, a daughter of William Hartman, who be- longed to one of the old-established families of Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Frank J. Mains became the parents of the following children: Frank, whose

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name heads this review; Hud C., who is a job printer of Aberdeen, South Dakota; Fred, who is a printer at Cleveland, Ohio; Horace M., who is associated with his brother Fred; and Lemuel, who is a machinist at Defiance, Ohio. The grandfather, John Mains, was also born in Ohio, and he spent his entire mature years working as a tailor at Somer- set and Defiance, Ohio, dying in the latter city. His wife bore the maiden name of Catherine Irwin, and of the six children born to them Frank J. was the oldest.

Frank Mains attended the public schools of Defi- ance, Ohio, and learned the printer's trade in the office of the Defiance Democrat, then issued by his father. After he attained to his majority he be- came secretary of the Crescent-News Company of Defiance, and after two years founded the Mains Printing Company, which he conducted for two years when he sold and came west to Aberdeen, South Dakota. For five years he conducted a job printing business of his own in that city, and then, selling his interests, came to Baker in September, 1913, to become manager of the Baker Sentinel. After several years, during which time he main- tained this connection, Mr. Mains retired from it. and in company with Carl R. Pleissner bought the Fallon County Times, then owned by Butte H. Tip- ton, and in September, 1917, became its manager. In August, 1920, he severed his connections with this medium and became associated with the Tribune Publishing Company in a like capacity.

On September 1, 1912, Mr. Mains was united in marriage with Miss Florence Dowe, a daughter of John F. Dowe, at Defiance, Ohio. Mr. Dowe set- tled at Defiance at an early day and was first iden- tified with the handling of ship timber. Mrs. Mains is the eldest of his seven children. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Mains are as follows: John F., Margaret Elizabeth and William D.

A democrat by inheritance and conviction, Mr. Mains cast his first presidential vote for Judge. Allen D. Parker in 1904. He is a Blue Lodge Mason. A sound, dependable business man, he has won the approval of the people of Baker ever since he first came to the city, and is regarded as one of its constructive citizens. In his capacity of a publisher he has plenty of opportunity to boost Baker, and never fails to do so, being deeply inter- ested in its development in the highest sense of the word.

JAY M. COMSTOCK. manager and stockholder of the Carpenter-Webster Lumber Company. of Ba- ker, has heen a forceful factor in the business life of this city since April, 1910, when he organized this company and took charge of its operations. In the spring of 1919 the company absorbed by pur- chase the business and stock of the Morrow Lum- ber Company, and its yards are now among the largest in this part of Montana. The company is capitalized at $250,000, and its officials are as fol- lows: Charles Webster, president, and C. H. Car- penter, secretary and treasurer, and both are mem- bers of the board of directors.

Jay M. Comstock was born at Storm Lake, Iowa, on March 31, 1873, a son of Edgar Comstock, a re- tired business man of Oregon, Wisconsin. Edgar Comstock was born in Vermont, where he was reared to be a farmer, leaving that state for Wis- consin at an early age. In 1897 he went into the lumber business at Oregon, Wisconsin, and re- mained in it until his retirement. A strong repub- lican, he was elected on his party ticket to the

city council of Oregon. He was married to Anna Main, a daughter of Robert P. Main, a farmer who lived in the vicinity of Oregon, Wisconsin, and an ex-Union soldier. ' Edgar Comstock and his wife became the parents of the following chil- dren: William R., who died at Mobridge, South Dakota, leaving a wife and son; Jay M., whose name heads this review; Ethel M., who is the widow of Roy Richards, of Long Beach, California, and has three sons; Frank C., who resides at Post- ville, Iowa; and Lenora E., who is the wife of Frank C. Cole, of Elroy, Wisconsin.

Jay M. Comstock spent his childhood and boy- hood at Oregon, Wisconsin, and there received a public school education. Entering his father's lum- ber yards, he acquired a practical experience in the lumber business which has stood him in excellent stead in after life. When he attained his major- ity he left home and came west to Ramsey County, North Dakota, where he was manager of the yards of the Saint Anthony and Dakota Lumber Com- pany, holding that position for five years. He was then taken sick, and after a period of ill health extending over eighteen months he went to South Dakota and conducted a yard at Stratford for the Imperial Lumber Company for three years.

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Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume III, Part 195

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