Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume III, Part 98

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 98

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

The first of November Mr. Ingram was back in Helena and during the winter of 1868-69 he taught a school at Willow Creek on Jefferson River. The next spring he went to Corinne, Utah, reaching there the ninth of May and the next day went on by train to Promontory, where he witnessed the driving of the golden spike linking together the Union and Central Pacific railroads. While at Pro- montory he conducted a billiard hall for Ephe Garns, later moving the billiard equipment to Ogden, which city became the official junction point of the Central Pacific roads. April 1, 1870, Mr. Ingram accepted employment as a brakeman on the Central Pacific with a run west of Ogden. After four months he removed to Kilton, ninety miles west of Ogden, and conducted a barber shop six weeks. He left there for the Snake River diggings, at what is now Twin Falls, and ten days after reaching that point opened a grocery store at Upper Falls. In order to get his goods on the ground it required a wind- lass and rope in effecting the descent of 200 feet. The next fall Mr. Ingram bought the S. P. Bridger and Company store at Clark's Ferry. The spring of 1871 brought him for a third time to bank- ruptcy as a merchant, and out of a capital of $4,000 he left for Montana with a horse, a pointer dog, a double barrel shot gun and $60 in money. Reaching Helena again he took employment with the Northern Pacific Railroad Company during the first preliminary survey in the Territory of Mon- tana. He was a railroad commissary, and the next winter he trapped and hunted on the Yellowstone. In March, 1873, he left Bozeman for the Yellow- stone National Park, and there built for Horr and McCarthy the first log house in the park at Mam- moth Hot Springs.

This work done, he went to the Crow Agency, now called the Old Mission, nine miles below Liv- ingston, and began work for F. D. Pease, Indian agent, holding different positions, part of the time as superintendent of sawmills, in charge of the beef

herds, and general superintendent of farm work. In April, 1874, Mr. Ingram went to the Judith Basin, and for Storey and Dawes, whose post building is still standing at Lewiston, became one of a party of four who took seventy-five wild horses from the ranch at Emigrant on the Yellowstone and deliv- ered them to Dawes to be traded for buffalo robes from the Indians. A few days after delivering the horses Mr. Ingram formed a new connection with the Diamond R freight outfit, going to Car- roll on the Missouri River, seventy-one miles from Livingston. He hunted in the vicinity of Carroll until the first day of July, when the first steamboat arrived from Bismarck. It was the Penina, under the command of Capt. Dan Maratta. With dis- patches of the Diamond R Company on the same day Mr. Ingram started for Helena, leaving at sun- rise and leaving the capital city on the evening of the third of July, having traveled 235 miles in three days, changing horses three times. The Diamond R Company then employed him to run an express from Helena to Carroll, and he operated that during the summer and fall of 1874. He was again in Helena from the first of November until the first of Jan- uary, 1875, and then started for Carroll, reaching there the first of February. This jouney was notable because it was made in the coldest winter ever known in the State of Montana. One night while he was camped at Hoply's Hole the Government thermom- eter at Fort Benton registered 65 degrees below zero. The average temperature for the month of January, 1875, was 1472 degrees below. The snow was also four feet deep in the Judith Basin and Mr. Ingram was four days in traveling thirty miles. In the spring of 1875 he took another commission from the Diamond R Company to carry mail from Fort Buford to Carroll, that being practically half of the route of the Government contract from Bu- ford to Helena. He ran the mail until the first of May, 1876, when the route was discontinued. A. steamer then took him to Benton, and about the first of July he went by boat to Bismarck, and by team to Deadwood City in the Black Hills.

Mr. Ingram has many interesting reminiscences of the Black Hills country during the mining ex- citement. For a time he clerked in the grocery store of Miller and McPherson, next bought a saw mill, and also owned a third interest in the No. 4 mine at Deadwood Gulch. Another owner of this mine was William Gay, who afterward was hanged at Helena for the murder of Sheriff Rader of Meagher County.

September 30, 1877, Mr. Ingram married Miss Lizzie Nichols, who was born and reared in the Bitter Root Valley of Montana. Their marriage was the first in the Black Hills at which a minister of the gospel officiated. Two children were born to their marriage, the first dying unnamed. The sec- ond, George W., was born July 24, 1880, and was killed while serving with the American Volunteers in the Philippines in 1900. Mrs. Ingram died in May, 1883.

Mr. Ingram remained in the Black Hills until the fall of 1885, when he went to Chicago and soon afterward left for Honduras, Central America, as superintendent of the Chicago and Honduras Min- ing Company. His business duties took him on to Venezuela, where he made a report on a placer mine, and he returned north by way of New Or- leans to Chicago and thence to the Black Hills. He served as deputy United States marshal in charge of all of Dakota Territory west of the Missouri River. The United States marshal at that time was his old acquaintance, Capt. Dan Maratta. Resign- ing in July, 1889, Mr. Ingram returned to Montana,

1002

HISTORY OF MONTANA

reaching Butte in August, and directly after the great fire left for Spokane, Washington. In the fall of 1890 he returned to Montana from Spokane, and during the past thirty years neither his busi- ness nor inclinations have taken him far from the City of Helena, which he has regarded as his per- manent home. However, he has been constantly ac- tive, serving as assistant inspector of seals, weights and measures for the city, as deputy marshal under William McDermott, three years as assistant freight agent under Henry Neil, and for the past ten years has been state agent for the Preferred Accident Insurance Company of New York.

On Christmas Day of 1887 Mr. Ingram married for his second wife Miss Minnie Craig, .of Dead- wood. A son and a daughter were born to their marriage, Craig and Doris Ingram. Craig served with the rank of ensign in the navy during the World war and was twice overseas. Doris is an instructor of home economics in the Red Lodge High School. Both children are graduates of the State College at Bozeman. Mr. Ingram is affiliated with the Eagles, the Woodmen of the World, Knights of Pythias, Elks, and as an ex-Confederate is a stanch demo- cat in politics.

JOHN E. LEWIS, who is one of the proprietors of the Glacier Park Hotel, is a Montanan whose name is not unknown and unappreciated throughout the nation. He is a pioneer hotel man, and through his individual efforts and the institutions over which he has presided has wielded a tremendous influence in promoting the growth and development of the wonderfully scenic country in which Columbia Falls, his home town, is located.

Mr. Lewis was born in Iowa in 1865, a son of Samuel and Catherine (Oberichter) Lewis. He is a college man, having graduated from the Iowa State University in 1889. He has spent practically all his active life in Montana, coming to the state in the fall of 1890. For a time he lived at the Indian trading post of Egan in the Flathead coun- try, and was employed by Ramsdell Brothers, gen- eral merchants. In 1891 he moved to Columbia Falls, and is now one of the oldest permanent residents in that town. He built the first hotel there, named The Columbia, and operated it a number of years. Later he assumed the management of the large Gaylord Hotel. As the country grew and attracted an ever increasing volume of tourists Mr. Lewis recognized the need of and made plans to establish there a large, modern and commodious hotel at Glacier Park. As a result a few years ago the great hotel was completed, standing at the north end of the park and with convenient access to Lake McDonald. The Glacier Park Hotel has 152 rooms, and every season its accommodations are taxed to the limit. The Glacier Hotel has entertained many celebrities, including many parties from Europe. It maintains a thoroughly competent staff, and every effort is made to serve the most exacting and dis- criminating tastes of the guests. This is one of the few hotels where wild game is still a regular part of the menu. In season it is possible to order venison or the meat of the Mountain Goat and even bear meat. The management of the Glacier Park Hotel is under the personal supervision of Mr. and Mrs. Lewis, who for many years have given their personal attention and the utmost study to hotel keeping as a profession.

Mr. Lewis married at Missoula Miss Olive Sell- man, also a native of Iowa and daughter of Benton and Emily Sellman. She was educated in an Iowa high school. Mr. Lewis is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, the York and Scottish Rite Masons, with

the Elks, Independent Order of Odd Fellows and Modern Woodmen of America, and Mrs. Lewis is a member of the Rebekah Lodge. Politically he is a stalwart republican, and for years has been an ardent admirer of the late Colonel Roosevelt. Some members of the Roosevelt family have been enter- tained in his hotel. In the interests of the great national Glacier Park Mr. Lewis has been called to Washington several times to consult with the De- partment of the Interior and act as a competent witness upon matters relating to its improvement.

Mr. Lewis and his former partner, Mr. C. C. Miller, now have under appraisement a plan for remodeling the Gaylord Hotel at Columbia Falls, to serve the needs of a first class modern hostelry at that point. Their plans if carried out will involve an expenditure of at least $25,000. Mr. Lewis is a successful business man and has been thoroughly public spirited in connection with every matter where the vital interests of the Flathead country were at stake.

Under appointment from President Roosevelt he served five years as receiver of public moneys at the Kalispell Land Office. Mr. Lewis is an en- thusiastic baseball fan, and in his younger days was a star player. He made a record in baseball while a student in college, and during one vacation he played on a professional team and drew a salary of $2,500, then an almost unprecedented sum for a professional ball player. Mr. Lewis possesses a splendid physique, and is still more of an athlete than many younger men. Many will recall the per- formance by him at Columbia Falls several years ago, when standing at the Odd Fellows Building he threw a baseball over the width of two streets and completely over the three-story Gaylord Hotel, a throw which for distance would probably equal the world's record."

JOHN S. WISE. To the old time generation of Montana, and to hundreds of tourists who have sought out the charms of the scenic Montana, John S. Wise is best known as Jack Wise, the pioneer guide of Glacier Park and an old time Indian fighter.

He was thrown into the midst of excitement and events of more than passing interest when only a boy. He was born at Mendon, Illinois, April 9, 1860, a son of George Wise. When eleven years of age he shipped as a cabin boy on the steamer Old Far West under Captain Johnson, and jour- neyed up the Missouri River to the head of naviga- tion, Fort Benton, Montana. That was in 1872. At Fort Benton he worked for a time for the T. C. Power Company in their general merchandise store. He soon began trading with the . Indians, exchang- ing guns, ammunition and provisions, and was what was known as an "enlisted trader." In return for these manufactured products he received from the Indians furs and also the dried buffalo meat known as pemmican. Mr. Wise quickly accommodated himself to the hazardous vocation of Indian trading. More than once he visited an Indian camp on pur- poses of peaceful trade, and discovering a hostile at- titude made the best of his escape. He was at Fort Benton from 1872 to 1876, and then determined to start out for himself. He traveled down the Missouri River to old Fort Peck, an Indian trading post that had been abandoned in 1874, and moved to the Polar Creek Agency. At that time, asserts Mr. Wise, the Indians were wild and ugly. The Government was issuing bacon and flour, but the Indians having an ample supply of fresh meat did not appreciate the value of Government provisions. Mr. Wise has seen them pile bacon and burn it, empty the flour on the ground, saving only the sacks for use as blankets.

1003

HISTORY OF MONTANA

Through these various experiences Mr. Wise mas- tered all the arts of woodcraft known not only to the white men but to the Indians, and became a skilled hunter and trapper and was a scout who excelled even the Indians in following a trail. Dur- ing the winter of 1881 and 1882 he engaged in hunt- ing buffalo at the mouth of Little Dry Creek on the Missouri River at the place known as Bill Nor- ris' Store. The buffalo was killed only for their hides and the carcases allowed to spoil on the ground. Mr. Wise has seen as many as 250,000 hides piled on the ground.

In time Mr. Wise decided that his personal wel- fare demanded a permanent home, and in 1887 he pre-empted 160 acres in the Flathead Valley, across from Columbia Falls. In 1900 he homesteaded an- other 160 acres at the head of Lake Five. In 1895 he married Miss Sallie Decker, of Bozeman. Two sons were born to their marriage, Harry, now de- ceased, and George. Mr. Wise married for his sec- · ond wife Mrs. Rachel Scott, of Walla Walla, Wash- ington.

At the time of the Spanish-American war Mr. Wise volunteered in Company H of the First Mon- tana Volunteers, and was mustered in at Helena. He went with this regiment to San Francisco, then to the Philippine Islands, and saw eighteen months of service before he was discharged at the Pre- sidio in San Francisco. He is an active member of the Spanish War Veterans, and in politics is a democrat.

Mr. Wise participated as a scout and as a volun- teer in some of the last Indian hostilities in Mon- tana, particularly in the rounding up of some of the notorious bad men. Perry Paul and Lalla See were two notorious Indians that had killed two white men while sleeping in camp. Later a white man named Duncan from Post Falls, Idaho, was killed by an Indian named Pascel. Three prospectors near Libby were also murdered by an equal number of Indians. These outrages caused the white men to arm them- selves, and Mr. Wise played a helpful part in hunt- ing out the murderers. Two of the Indians were captured and hanged at Demersville, Mr. Wise be- ing present at the execution, and subsequently Ralph Ramsdell, a deputy sheriff, caught Antley and brought him to Egan. Mr. Wise and four other men rounded up Perry Paul and Lalla See, catch- ing the former at Antwines Ferry on the Pend Ore- ille River. Lalla See was captured at Camas Prairie, but escaped to Ravalli and surrendered to Duncan McDonald. He was later hanged. Four Indians were hanged at Missoula, Perry Paul, Lalla See, Antley and Pascel. Mr. Wise was also present at the surrender of the noted chief Rain-in-the-Face at Polar Creek in the fall of 1880. He had served as a scout with the forces under the command of Colonel Ilgers, of the United States regular troops, who received the surrender of Rain-in-the-Face and turned him over to Colonel Miles. Mr. Wise was also present at the surrender of Sitting Bull in the spring of 1881 at Fort Buford, at that time being retained as a scout in the service of the regular army.

Mr. Wise has seen a remarkable panorama of change occur in Montana during the nearly fifty years of his residence. These changes have been especially noteworthy in the Flathead country. He is familiar with every valley, every mountain trail, and practically every nook and corner in the Glacier Park and surrounding region, and has acted as guide to hundreds of tourists and travelers, includ- ing many celebrities from the East. Mr. and Mrs. Wise have an attractive home three miles west of Belton on the Northern Transcontinental Highway

between St. Paul and Seattle. Their home is at the head of Lake Five in very picturesque surround- ings, and they offer splendid and unique accommo- dations for the traveling public, where many tour- ists stop a few hours or a few days, enjoying the products of Mrs. Wise's kitchen, and the fishing and hunting in the vicinity. Jack Wise is not only one of the best guides in the northern country, but is a social, companionable spirit whose friendship is sought by many prominent men. He is a char- acter of Flathead County who is indispensable to the history of that locality.

JOE E. CHOISSER. The community of Forsyth holds a distinguished regard for the late Joe E. Choisser, who died at his home in that city October 21, 1919. He had been a resident of Montana more than forty-five years, and his years in the state were signalized by a high degree of business enter- prise, an initiative that made him a leader in com- munity affairs, and he exemplified all the best tra- ditions of the patriotic American.

He was born at Eota, Minnesota, January 15, 1866, son of William and Mary Jane (Provine) Choisser. His father was a native of Illinois and his mother was born in the State of Tennessee. While Joe Choisser was born in Minnesota, he was reared chiefly in Illinois, and acquired his early education in the common schools of that state. When very young he began to be depended upon at home as a helper in the family support, and whatever capital he began business on later was made with either his head or his hands or both. He was seventeen years of age when he accompa- nied the family to Montana. The family party consisted of his father and mother and seven chil- dren. They made the journey by rail to Miles City and took up their home on a ranch on Rosebud Creek, about seven miles above the Town of Rose- bud. That was the family home until recent years, and is everywhere in that region still known as the Choisser Ranch. The good mother passed away at the ranch in 1906, but the father now lives at Forsyth. William Choisser was a Union soldier dur- ing the Civil war, and is one of the few surviving veterans of that struggle still living in Rosebud County. Of the seven children five survive: Mrs. Charles Taber, of Forsyth; William, Jr., also of Forsyth; Mrs. W. A. Twitchell, of Glasgow, Mon- tana; Earnest, of Forsyth; and Mrs. C. D. Foster, of Castle Rock, Montana.

After coming to Montana Joe Choisser did not long remain with the family on the ranch, but trav- eled about over the state or territory, following dif- ferent occupations. He selected as his permanent home Forsyth and established himself in business there. For twenty years he was one of the busiest men of the community, identified with various com- mercial and civic enterprises, and as a builder of the town erected his first business house on Main Street. He became the owner of much property and eventually employed his capital in the construc- tion of the Choisser Block, a three-story brick build- ing, the upper floors of which are the chief part of the Alexander Hotel, while the lower floor is occu- pied by the postoffice and business concerns.

During the World war Mr. Choisser was one of the real leaders in Rosebud County, serving as chair- man of the County Council of Defense, chairman . of the executive and finance committee of the Red Cross, and as a member of the State Draft Board. He was very liberal of his private means to support war work, and in every way proved himself a genuine American. He was one of the few of the county who went the limit in the purchase of baby bonds.

1004

HISTORY OF MONTANA

Mr. Choisser had also served as a member of the State Fair Board of Montana. He was a stanch republican, having learned his politics from his old soldier father. However, his mother being a South- ern woman by birth and training, presented to him the principles of Jeffersonian democracy. Mr. Chois- ser was always interested in county politics, and was an interested spectator at nearly all the sessions of the Montana Legislature, though he never sought an office for himself. His only fraternity was the Elks. His social and community side was well de- veloped and his benevolences were in keeping with the needs of the people and institutions among whom he lived. He believed in church, made contribu- tions to all the local denominations, but was espe- cially interested in the Presbyterians, since Mrs. Choisser was of that faith. His generosity extended to the needy everywhere, and hearty, generous good fellowship was one of the dominant characteristics of his life.

At Miles City, Montana, September 25, 1901, Mr. Choisser married Miss Florence Gilliland, who since the death of her honored husband has shown the ability of a thorough business woman. Mrs. Chois- ser came to Miles City with her parents. She was born in Douglas County, Nebraska, daughter of Jasper Newton and Elizabeth (Hickey) Gilliland, her father a native of Missouri and her mother of Illinois. Her father gave his entire life to active business, though he lived quietly and with no part in politics beyond voting as a republican. He died at Forsyth, October 23, 1919, at the age of sixty- three, just two days after the death of Mr. Choisser. Besides Mrs. Choisser the children of the Gilliland family are Mrs. Thomas Moran, of Wyoming, and Newton J., who is manager of the Alexander Hotel of Forsyth.

Mrs. Choisser has one daughter, Kirtlye Wini- fred, who attends grade school at Forsyth. Mrs. Choisser acquired her education in Montana. Dur- ing the World war she was superintendent of sur- gical dressings in the local Red Cross Chapter and also chairman and later vice chairman of the Chap- ter. She is an active member of the Presbyterian Church.

LOUIS BYRON WOODS. Since July 1, 1918, Mr. Woods has been assistant general freight and pas- senger agent for the Great Northern Railway, with headquarters at Helena, and with the entire State of Montana as his jurisdiction. He has known hardly any other line of experience except rail- roading, beginning as a telegraph operator soon after his graduation from high school.

Mr. Woods was born at Waverly, Bremer County, Iowa, May 5, 1872, son of James Weston and Ade- line Estella (Walling) Woods. His father was a native of Boston, Massachusetts, and was an Iowa pioneer. He was in the West early enough to take part in the Blackhawk Indian war, in which he served with the rank of colonel. Later he became a lawyer, and was also a lawmaker of the State of Iowa, helping formulate the first constitution. He died in Iowa in 1883. His first wife was Caro- line Wells, a native of Illinois, who died in Utah. The only living child of this union is Judge Wil- liam W. Woods, a prominent lawyer and judge of the District Court at Wallace, Idaho. The second wife of James W. Woods was born in New York State and survived her husband many years. She was the mother of two sons, George W. and Louis B. The former is a newspaper publisher at Belle Plain, Iowa.

Louis Byron Woods attended grade schools in Iowa, and when he was eight years of age his

parents moved to Eldora in Hardin County. There he completed his high school education, and after learning telegraphy was made a station agent with the Minneapolis and St. Louis Railroad. Later he transferred his services to the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railway, and was with that company until 1890. For a time he was employed by the Cudahy Packing Company at Omaha, and spent eight years as station agent and telegraph oper- ator of the Union Pacific Railway in Wyoming.

Mr. Woods' first location in Montana was at Boulder, where he served as block train despatcher for the Great Northern. He was transferred to Belt, and then to Helena, where he was promoted from station agent to the traffic department. His headquarters were moved to Butte in 1903, where in 1909 he became general agent of the freight department of the Great Northern, and from those responsibilities was promoted at the date above given to assistant general freight and passenger agent. At about that time he removed his home to Helena, where he resides at 110 South Beattie Street. His offices are in the Power Block. In his career as a railroad man he has always filled with credit to himself and benefit to his employers various posi- tions, and has frequently won honorable mention and high commendation from superior officials.

Mr. Woods is interested in fraternalism, being affiliated with Laramie Lodge No. 3, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, at Laramie, Wyoming, Hel- ena Chapter No. 2, Royal Arch Masons, at Helena; Zabud Council No. 2, Royal and Select Masters, at Butte, Treasure State Camp No. 6306, Modern Wood- men of America, at Helena, and the Royal Neigh- bors of America. While living at Butte he was a member of the Silver Bow and Anaconda clubs. In politics he is a democrat and during his earlier residence in Helena represented his ward in the Central Committee in 1902. Outdoor sports make a strong call upon his interest, especially hunting and fishing.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume III, Part 98

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