Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume III, Part 79

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 79

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· Mr. Sargent was scout for the party that went up the Yellowstone River on the steamboat Far West to Terry's Landing with a boatload of sup- plies under Col. O. H. Moore, and from that place he was detailed to go in search of General Custer's command coming out from Bismarck. He met the command near the present site of Medora, Mon- tana, where it joined Terry's command, and the force, with him as scout, moved on to the mouth of Powder River. At that point General Custer left General Terry and took his command up Powder River to the country in which his army was soon to be annihilated, while General Terry took his command, under the guidance of Mr. Sargent, to the mouth of the Rosebud. There Mr. Sargent left the command and returned to Fort Buford with dispatches for the commanding officer. He was not sent back to General Terry's command until after the Custer massacre, and subsequently he was transferred to Fort Buford, where he belonged.

During the winter of 1876-7 Mr. Sargent left the Government service as a scout and took up civil pursuits under Joe Leighton, Indian trader, and was sent to Wolf Point to build a store for him and for eighteen months after the store was com- pleted and opened was in charge of it, and subse- quently he assisted in building the first store erected at Poplar which latter store was owned by John Thompson and Company. It was about this time that Mr. Sargent became agency interpreter at

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HISTORY OF MONTANA

Wolf Point and later at Poplar. In his communi- cations with the several tribes of Sioux Indians he became acquainted and somewhat intimate with Chief Sitting Bull, Chief Gall anl Chief Red Stone, the latter head chief of the Assiniboines at Wolf Point. Medicine Bear was the big chief at Poplar, but Thundering Bear and Many Horns, Long Fox, Crazy Walker, Black Catfish and numerous others of the lesser chiefs were to be seen daily at that point, all of whom have passed to the "happy hunting ground." Mr. Sargent relieved old Major Culbert- son when he was appointed interpreter at that point, the latter retiring and returning to his home in Illinois, where he soon afterward died.

Following the completion of his work as inter- preter Mr. Sargent engaged in hunting and trap- ping along the Missouri River, and also carried on a good business selling wood to the steamboats. A green buffalo hide was worth then $2; a beaver pelt brought from $5 to $10, and a coyote skin brought from $1.50 to $2. After trapping for a time he went back to Wolf Point and entered the store of W. B. Shaw, where he spent two years, and then once more became a Government employe as farm instructor to the Indians at Boxelder, a sub-agency of Poplar.

During 1886 Mr. Sargent realized that with the construction of the railroad through this region set- tlers would begin to come in and that if he desired to have his choice of a homestead it was advisable to make an early selection, and so he took as his claim, as before stated, the present site of Nashua. He built his first house on the bank of the Porcu- pine, which continued to be the site of his residence until the erection of the new Sargent home in 1920. For a number of years he was engaged in ranching, although in 1888 he put in a stock of goods in the same log house he was using for postal purposes, as he had been appointed postmaster the preceding fall, and either he or a member of his family has held the office ever since, save for two years when the appointment was refused, and he is the present postmaster of Nashua. The name of Sargent has been connected with the mercantile trade of the place since the initial opening of his store. .

Mr. Sargent played an important part in the in- corporation of Nashua, and secured for it a sep- arate school district from that of Glasgow, and he served it for twenty years as a member of the school board. He was one of the prime movers in the creation of Valley County, which was formed from old Dawson County, and was a member of the first jury impaneled in Valley County. He also assisted in surveying the first road in the new county.

Charles C. Sargent was born January 21, 1846, in either Louisiana or Texas, although he prefers to claim the Lone Star State as his . birthplace, a son of William and Phebe (Lee) Sargent, natives of Alabama and Mississippi, respectively. The par- ents had two children, the elder being Catherine, who married H. T. Dauley and spent her life in Texas. His parents migrated to Texas, about the time their son was born, and located at Galveston, but not long afterward the father made a trip to Hot Springs, Arkansas, and there died. His widow owned a number of slaves and a large plantation, but lost practically everything during the war be- tween the states. In spite of being born in the South, the sympathies of Charles C. Sargent were with the Union, and he left home when only fifteen years old and enlisted in the Fourth Arkansas Mounted Infantry at Batesville, Arkansas, and when his first period of service had expired he re- enlisted at Cape Girardeau, Missouri, in the Second

Missouri Light Artillery, Battery G, and served with General Steele's army, and also with that of Gen- eral Curtis west of the Mississippi River. Later he was under General Washburn east of the Mississippi River in Tennessee, and participated in the battles of Pea Ridge, Batesville and Waugh's Farm, and then for a year was stationed with his regiment at Memphis, Tennessee, protecting that city. He re- ceived his honorable discharge at Saint Louis, Mis- souri, in July, 1865, without having been wounded, but with a six weeks' experience as a prisoner of war. He was captured while on a march through Arkansas, being absent from the main body "rustling dinner" for himself and four of his companions, but he was exchanged at Little Rock, Arkansas, from which point he made his way to his command as best he could.

Still only a lad in years, Mr. Sargent's adven- turous spirit could not be satisfied with ordinary happenings, as he found during a few months he spent with his sister in Union County, Illinois, and in January, 1866, he enlisted once more, with the exciting and praiseworthy service above noted. He was sent into Montana from Jefferson Barracks, Saint Louis, but he re-entered the service at Mem- phis, Tennessee.

Long before' he had attained to legal age Mr. Sargent, while in the uniform of a Union soldier, in 1864, cast his first vote for Abraham Lincoln for the presidency, and has continued to give his sup- port to the candidates of the republican party, and feels that now, more than ever, his party is the one which gives this country the best government for all classes.

Charles C. Sargent married his present wife at Chicago, Illinois, she being Miss Rose Ann Carey, a daughter of Bryan Carey, and a native of that city. His children, born of a former marriage, are as follows: Mrs. Ralph Berger and Mrs. Rose Brocksmith, both of whom are residents of Nashua.

Mr. Sargent is the owner of the town site of Nashua, and was one of the organizers and is presi- dent of the First National Bank here. He has borne his part in much of the needed county improve- ments, including the building of churches, schools, bridges and roads, and has always felt that in doing so he was but rendering a service that was to be expected of any man who laid claims to being a good citizen, for without them no community is in the progressive class.

WILLIAM M. LEONARD, a dairy farmer near Glas- gow, has been a resident of Montana since 1907. He came to this state from Park River, North Dakota, but is a native son of Wisconsin, born in Green Lake County of that commonwealth March 25, 1862. During his infancy the family moved to Minnesota and settled in Goodhue County, where the son was reared as a farmer lad.

Ebenezer Leonard, his father, was born in the State of New York February 28, 1818. He went out to Wisconsin in his young manhood and was married in Green Lake County to Miss Mavilla Leonard, of the same family name but not related. She was born in the State of New York in October, 1823. After locating in Minnesota, Mr. Leonard bought land near Zumbroda, and in that locality he made their home for many years, finally re- moving to Red Wood County, where Mrs. Leonard died at Springfield in 1898. Ebenezer Leonard de- voted his life to mixed farming and stock raising, remained in moderate circumstances, reared and edu- cated a numerous family of children and always proved a worthy citizen. He was a republican in his political affiliations, but belonged to no fraternal

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HISTORY OF MONTANA

order or church. Mrs. Leonard was a daughter of a trader who lived in Northern New York, along the Canadian line. The following children were born to Ebenezer and Mavilla Leonard: Emma, who died unmarried; Ernest, of Tacoma, Washing- ton; Joel, who is farming near Minneapolis; Mary, the wife of Isaac Fletcher, of Los Angeles, Cali- fornia; Cynthia, who married Charles Gillette, of Colrain, Minnesota; William M., of Glasgow, Mon- tana; and Mabel, wife of Ed Peters, of Addie, Washington.

William M. Leonard gained a limited school train- ing at Zumbroda, Minnesota, in his youth, and after he established a home of his own his parents lived with him throughout the remainder of their lives. He became a farmer at Red Wood Falls when he reached the age of maturity, was married there, and spent twelve years in that county, during a part of the time serving as a road supervisor. After again selling his interests there he located at Hutchinson, Minnesota, where he resumed farming, but after four years disposed of his interests and moved to Park River, North Dakota. During eight years of his residence there he was engaged in the imple- ment business, later was engaged in the livery busi- ness and was a dealer in horses, and when he dis- posed of his interests in North Dakota he came out to Montana and having friends at Glasgow, settled in that vicinity.

Purchasing land four miles east of the county seat, Mr. Leonard again became a farmer. In time he discovered that a mixed enterprise of farming and dairying was better adapted to this region, and he proved so successful in the business that he was chosen as one of the six experimental farmers of the state, and his farm was chosen as the scene of his operations. He held that distinctive place for four years, and during that time tested out sugar mangles as a food for hogs, determining it to have a good food value, and also tried out sor- ghum as a stock food proposition and found it to be profitable and reliable to grow. Flax was one of the important crops experimented with, and one year he had seven different varieties on his farm, but only a few of the varieties measured up to the requirements. Four different kinds of flint corn and three other varieties of Dent corn grew side by side in rivalry for the verdict as a reliable corn producer.

Mr. Leonard also carried on dairying with his farming operations, having brought some splendid Shorthorn milch cows with him from North Da- kota. He has sold cream ever since he has lived in the state, and has gained the reputation of be- ing the head of this enterprise in this region. In his judgment a farmer without a monthly milk check is taking too long a chance in this country. Hogs have been grown on his farm at a profit. His ranch comprises 360 acres, improved with modern dairy barns, kept as clean as possible, a hog shelter and other necessary farm improvements. The Leon- ard residence is a two-story, seven-room house, and the water supply on the farm is ideal. His was the . first well dug on the "bench," and he found an abundance of soft water at a depth of fifty-six feet.

Mr. Leonard encouraged the movement for a county farm bureau, and his advice has been sought in the carrying on of the work and in the selection of its managers. In reviewing the thirteen years which he has spent in Montana he regards them as a period well and profitably spent.

Mr. Leonard grew to mature years in a repub- lican community, and he cast his first national bal- lot in the support of those principles, his first vote going to James G. Blaine, and he has the distinc-

tion of having voted at each succeeding national election since, always supporting the republican nominee. He is a Master Mason, belongs to Park River Blue Lodge of North Dakota, and is also a member of the fraternal order of Modern Wood- men. The family are members of the Congrega- tional Church.

On the 25th of September, 1887, Mr. Leonard was married to Mrs. Emily Baker, a daughter of Olan B. and Harriet (Hubbard) Leatherman. Mrs. Leonard was born near the birthplace of her hus- band in Wisconsin, September 20, 1857, was liberally educated, being a high school graduate, and dur- ing several years taught school in Red Wood County, Minnesota. Her father, who had migrated from Wisconsin to Minnesota, was a retired farmer during the latter part of his life. Mrs. Leonard, who was the youngest of his four children, passed away in July, 1919, the mother of a large family of children. The oldest, Ethel, is the wife of Paul Grasscup, and they are living on the Leonard farm. Ione married Bertrum P. Langen, of Glasgow, and has two children, Leonard and Robert. Martin, who is a farmer in Webster, Wisconsin, married Mamie Johnson and has a son, Lloyd. Cecil, a resident of San Francisco, California, is head of the reconcilia- tion department of the Bank of Italy, and during the World war served in the Aviation Corps as a second lieutenant, trained in different camps in the United States, spent about a year overseas, and took part in the flying on the German border just before the war ended. Emily, the youngest of the chil- dren, is with her brother in San Francisco, and is a stenographer with the Federal Construction Com- pany, and in training as a vocalist. Harriet, Mrs. Leonard's daughter by her first husband, is the wife of James Hemphill, of Rensselaer, Indiana, and has issue Sanford De Leo. Frank Leonard is an adopted son of Mr. Leonard and is a machinery ex- pert at Park River, North Dakota. He married Kate O'Harra and his children are: Harold, Rob- ert and Margaret.

RICHARD W. GARLAND, of Malta, is one of the early settlers of what is now Phillips County, and his Montana citizenship is as old as the state itself, since he came here in 1889. He was formerly in the rail- road service as a station agent, and went from that into merchandising, an interest which he still con- tinues, though'his chief efforts for many years have been devoted to an extensive farm and ranch.

Mr. Garland was born at Cargill, Ontario, Can- ada, February 7, 1860, son of Patrick and Eliza (Whitney) Garland, both of Irish ancestry. His father was born at Carlton Place, County Lanark, Ontario, spent all his life in that locality as an in- dustrious carpenter and farmer, and died at the age of sixty-nine. His wife was born at Perth in County Lanark, a daughter of Richard Whitney, and she died at the age of seventy-four. Her children were: Richard W., of Malta; Ann Jane, who married V. J. Johnson and died in Ontario; William H., a ranchman in Phillips County, Montana; May, wife of C. S. Johnson, a resident of Cantaur, Saskatche- wan, Canada; Eliza, wife of H. G. Robinson, of Malta, Montana; and Belle, wife of C. W. Hunter, of Cantaur, Saskatchewan.

Richard W. Garland spent most of his youthful years on his father's farm, attended local and grade schools, and just before entering high school decided that his education was sufficient and from that time until his majority lived on a farm. He then began learning telegraphy in the office of the agent of the Grand Trunk Railway at Cargill, and from operator he qualified himself for the performance of duties

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HISTORY OF MONTANA

as a station agent. In 1889 he came to Montana as an employe of the Great Northern Railway Com- pany, his first position being as cashier and operator at Fort Benton. Later he was assigned the duty of opening the Sand Coulee station, and subse- quently was agent at Dodson until 1891. In that year he left railroading to become a merchant at Malta, and his eight years' training as a railroad man proved invaluable as a business experience. He had established a small store at Dodson, and on mov- ing to Malta he became a partner with R. M. Traf- ton, the firm of Trafton and Company continuing for five years, when Mr. Garland sold out to his partner and then bought an interest in a similar busi- * ness with W. Tucker. Tucker and Garland re- mained as a firm at Malta four years, at the end of which time Mr. Garland sold to his partner his interest in the groceries and hardware and after that conducted an exclusive dry goods store on his own account for several years. Selling out, three years later he and F. W. St. Hill bought the old business, and the new firm of Garland and St. Hill existed for three years. Selling out again to his partner, Mr. Garland concentrated his energies next upon his growing ranching interests. He had al- ready entered the horse business and in 1900 he abandoned this and bought a band of sheep, which he ran on his ranch twenty-four miles north of Malta on Little Cottonwood Creek. That has been the scene of his ranching efforts ever since. He continued as a sheep man until 1917, and since then has emphasized the horse industry with some cat- tle. He began ranching on a tract of 1,000 acres, but gradually extended his operations over a much larger domain by the use of leased lands; 670 acres of his land are under the Milk River Irriga- tion Project, and about 400 acres under cultivation for the growing of native hay and alfalfa. His op- erations rank him as one of the extensive farmers of the state. Though he left merchandising at Malta many years ago, he is still interested as a merchant, with a business at Freewater in Phillips County.

He has had a rare experience in the postal serv- ice. He was postmaster at Dodson after Mr. Cleve- land's second election, later for many years_was postmaster at Malta, and is now postmaster at Free- water. He has filled the office under every presi- dent since Grover Cleveland's second election. In politics he is a republican, but has been retained in postal service and has given it his most efficient energies under the various administrations. He cast his first presidential vote in 1892 for Benjamin Har- rison after taking out citizenship papers at Glas- gow.

Mr. Garland was one of the first Board of Com- missioners of old Valley County, serving five years, his associates on the board being C. S. Stafford of Culbertson and C. W. Hunter of Saco. That board built nearly all the first bridges of the region then embraced in Valley County, and established on a permanent basis the affairs of the county after the work of the temporary board.

At Cargill, Canada, Mr. Garland married for his first wife Miss Esther Ellen Keyes, a daughter of George Keyes. She died at Great Falls eleven years after their marriage, leaving no children. Sep- tember 29, 1897, Mr. Garland married Miss Sarah Ann Routledge, who was born near Cargill, On- tario, July 6, 1873, daughter of George Routledge, who was of English ancestry and a farmer. Mrs. Garland was the fifth in a family of nine children. To Mr. and Mrs. Garland were born four children: Richard Edwin, now associated with the manage- ment of his father's store at Freewater; John Ar-

thur, attending high school at Malta; and George William and Earl Whitney.

LAZARE EREAUX. One of the most interesting pioneer characters of the Milk River country is Lazare, universally known as "Curley," Ereaux. Everyone belonging to this region north of the Mis- souri River knows him, and few can tell his real name. He is known everywhere as "Curley," and seems to have always borne the name. He was born in the Province of Quebec, Canada, on Wolf River, July 8, 1841, a son of Michael Ereaux.

Michael Ereaux was also a Canadian by birth, but, as the name indicates, came of French ancestry. His first wife bore the maiden name of Mary La Verne, and they became the parents of the follow- ing children: Judy, who spent his life in Canada ; Mitchell, who came to the United States in young manhood and passed the remainder of his life in Morrison County, Minnesota; Lazare, whose name heads this review; Joseph, who died in Minnesota and left a family; Dametra, who married and died in Minnesota; Mary, who married a Mr. Valle and died in Minnesota; Arguette, who married a Mr. Vartineau, died in Minnesota; and Julia, who is Mrs. Jo Ducette.

Lazare Ereaux learned to operate a farm while he lived at home, but was given no educational ad- vantages whatever. When he was only eleven years of age he came to the United States with his par- ents, who located near Little Falls, Minnesota. Later Michael Ereaux, having lost his wife, re- turned to Canada, was again married, and lived to be over ninety years of age.

Lazare Ereaux was engaged in farming in the vicinity of Little Falls, Minnesota, when he heard of the expedition Captain Fees was organizing to take emigrants from that section into the Treas- ure State of Montana, then still a territory. The idea pleased him and he joined the expedition, which left Saint Cloud, Minnesota, fifty-three men strong, and after three months reached Fort Ben- ton. There were no happenings calculated to dis- turb the party, and the Indians gave them no trouble, nor did they even threaten them until after they reached Montana. At Devil's Lake the party found General Sibley's army 1,500 strong, there to make peace with the Sioux, and when Devil's Lake had been passed they saw their first buffalo. From then on buffalo meat was included with their rations.

Reaching Bannock in the fall of 1863 the party dissolved, and the members began to carry out plans for acquiring great riches through the shovel- ing of a little dirt. They had come to the region imbued with the idea that gold was lying about only waiting for them to pick it up, and bitter was their disappointment at finding that then, just as always, wealth can only be acquired through intel- ligently laid plans and hard work. The winter was unusually severe, and as was but natural in a newly opened district there was little employment to be secured after the emigrants had realized that the "treasure" of the great territory was securely guarded by the forces of nature.

It was at Bannock that Lazare was given his nick- name of "Curley" by the lady with whom he se- cured board, and it has stuck to him, and he uses it almost entirely, except when signing his name to documents. When he arrived at Bannock he had but $5, and did not retain it long, as a friend of his, who thought he was a faro adept, induced him to loan the bill for another "try" at the game, with the result that both were "broke" in about thirty minutes. However, an energetic young man

SOCIETY

Lazare Ereaux vwife

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HISTORY OF MONTANA

like Mr. Ereaux who had been self-supporting from the age of eleven years was not much disturbed by the fact that his pockets were empty, and he im- mediately secured employment with a logger and was sent into the timber. Owing to the intense cold he and his companions nearly froze to death, and received no money for a month's work. Board was then $3 a day, and some idea of his personality can be gained from the fact that he managed to secure accommodations and get his employer to stand behind him for the debt he was forced to incur.

With the coming of spring, work was abundant and "Curley" Ereaux had plenty of it at $6 a day, although he tried to obtain $7. As soon as he had accumulated a little money he and two others un- dertook to build a bridge over the Big Hole River on the main road to Virginia City, and began the job all right, but numerous obstacles arose and it was not completed until after a disagreement among the partners, which resulted in Mr. Ereaux sell- ing his interest in the project for $1,000, and with this money bought a freighting outfit and entered into a period of prosperity.

He was engaged in freighting between Fort Ben- ton and Virginia City, hauling goods and passengers at fabulous prices, the rate for the latter being $200 each. From this it will be easily seen that Mr. Ereaux was the owner of a "bonanza" business, and in a position, had he saved his money, to be- come a plutocrat in a hurry, but like so many young men of that period, and of today for that matter, he was a reckless spender. His stream of gold seemed to ooze with opportunities for spendthrift habits, and when he left this business three years after he had entered it he was not burdened with his surplus.

Once more he was induced to undertake a bridge venture, with two partners, one of them proving to be the late "John Barleycorn," who kept himself in the background until actual construction of the bridge commenced over the Sun River, and then showed himself master of the man with whom Mr. Ereaux had formed his association. Disgusted and disheartened by his realization of the unreliability of his drunken partner Mr. Ereaux simply walked away from the job and never received any com- pensation for his share of the work.

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Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume III, Part 79

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