Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 1, Part 16

Author: Bowen, A.W., & Co., firm, publishers, Chicago
Publication date: [19-?]
Publisher: Chicago : A. W. Bowen & Co.
Number of Pages: 1374

USA > Montana > Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 1 > Part 16

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CHARLES A. BROADWATER .- Out of the depths of his mature wisdom Carlyle wrote: "History is the essence of innumerable biogra- phies." Farther than this, what source of valid information may we have touching all phases of thought and accomplishment? "The true grandeur of nations is in those qualities which constitute the true greatness of the individual," said Sumner, and the final causes which shape the fortunes of indi- vidual men and the destinies of states are often the same. They are usually remote and obscure ; their influence wholly unsuspected until declared by re- sults. When they inspire men to the exercise of courage, self-denial, enterprise, industry and call into play the higher moral elements; when they lead men to risk all on conviction, faith-such causes lead to the planting of great states, great nations, great peoples. That nation is grandest which produces the greatest and most manly men, and the intrinsic safety depends not so much upon methods and measures as upon that true manhood from whose deep sources emanate all that is pre- cious and permanent in life.

Rising above the masses there have been in all ages and in all localities men who, by their exalted character and intellectual powers, left a deep in- pression upon the institutions of their time; and in Montana it may be said, without exaggeration, there has been no man who moved upon a loftier plane of action or represented a truer nobility of char- acter and exalted purpose than Col. Charles Ar- thur Broadwater, the distinguished subject of this memoir. He was essentially a leader of men and a director of opinion, and his career was one of singular activity touching affairs of great scope and importance, and yet without one esoteric phase, its record being as an open scroll which will bear the closest scrutiny and disclose no shadow, no blot thereon. At all times and in all places he was known for his fidelity to purpose, his lofty prin- ciples and liis strict adherence to the ethics which govern the highest type of human existence. These qualities, together with his great services in con- nection with the development and upbuilding of the state of Montana, won for him an exalted place in the esteem of his fellow men, and none is more worthy of consideration in any work purporting to enter record concerning those who have lived and labored to goodly ends within the confines of this great commonwealth.

Col. Broadwater was born at St. Charles, Mo., on September 25, 1840, a son of Charles Henry

PROGRESSIVE MEN OF MONTANA.

and Anne Broadwater. Charles Henry Broad- water was a Virginia planter, and removed from his ancestral home in Fairfax county to Missouri, and purchased a large cotton plantation near St. Louis. In 1861 Charles A. Broadwater went to Colorado; but it was in Virginia City in 1863 that Col. Broadwater became known and identified with Montana and her subsequent history. Here he entered into the life of the then active mining camp as a freighter, handlng a pack train belong- ing to the firm of King & Gillette, subsequently becoming associated with Capt. Nick Wall, who represented John J. Roe & Co., of St. Louis, Mo., the founders of the celebrated "Diamond R" trans- portation lines. Here it was that Col. Broadwater first exhibited these qualities which marked his suc- cess in subsequent undertakings. He was gen- eral superintendent of the "Diamond R" lines until the spring of 1869, when Mat Carroll, George Steele and E. G. McClay purchased the outfit in the name of E. G. McClay & Co., Col. Broadwater remaining as superintendent, then became a part- ner and continued as such until 1879. At this time the first railroads began to push their way into the territory, and Broadwater turned his attention to contracting. His previous connection with the "Diamond R" line had made for him many ac- quaintances among government officers, and with their influence he secured a number of contracts. Among the first was one for furnishing material for the construction of Fort Assiniboine, a con- tract that required a great deal of executive ability. The time given for its execution was limited to six months, but by close management the con- tract was successfully completed and a similar one secured for Fort Maginnis, whereby he cleared a great deal of money and became the leading part- mer in traderships at both posts. At the former he was associated with Robert L. McCulloch, since · cashier and vice-president of the Montana National Bank. At the latter point he was associated with ex-State Senator C. J. McNamara, with both of whom he was interested in various business ven- tures up to the time of his death.

The transit from the superintendency of various trains of wagon transportation to that of a railroad was natural, and, for Col. Broadwater, very easily accomplished. Although lacking experience in the workings of a railroad he soon acquired a fa- miliarity with its complicated details and displayed marked ability in that direction; and when J. J. Hill, of the Montana system, decided to push his

operations to the coast, he selected Col. Broad- water as his manager and local representative in the state, and on the organization of the Montana Central branch, Col. Broadwater was made presi- dent of the company. These positions at the head of the railroad movements of the Great Northern system gave Col. Broadwater the opportunity and field for action which he desired. He was at the head and front of this great enterprise throughout its construction in the state of Montana, and in this stupendous undertaking was found equal to every emergency. It was work to his liking, and in the war of wits which taxed the management of an enterprise of this kind he found his true ele- ment, and the opposition of a powerful rival was confronted with the ready resources of a master mind. Contending with sharp, shrewd men, he became as sharp and as shrewd. His natural re- sources, prolific through previous years of traffic in this state, now stood him well in hand and he was never so much himself as when he had scored a point over opposing forces. Many incidents of the spirited contentions between the forces of the Northern Pacific interests and those presided over by Col. Broadwater could be cited; but where the difficulties seemed thickest his talents shown most brilliant and elicited the admiration of his adver- saries as well as his friends. Under his supervi- sion as president of the Montana Central Railroad from Butte to Great Falls, via Helena, and the Rimini & Marysville and Neihart branches were constructed. But it was not in the building of these short lines that the greatest service was ren- dered to the state by Col. Broadwater. It was due to his untiring and assiduous efforts that Pres- ident Hill was induced to extend his road into He- lena and Butte, and long before that gentleman had decided to build over the present routes Col. Broadwater's active and earnest efforts resulted in having this route selected. In this undertak- ing, as well as almost all others which mark the career of this brilliant life, we can see a liberality of effort which but displays the actual grandeur of his character. Not for himself were these tre- mendous undertakings pushed to completion, but for the constituency for whom he labored and that constituence was Montana and his chosen city, Helena. To no single man's effort within the state can be traced the results which are to be seen in the undertakings of Broadwater. The hotel and natatorium are probably the most brilliant and enduring conceptions of his life, and in points

PROGRESSIVE MEN OF MONTANA.

of design and execution but demonstrate the liber- ality of his humanitarian efforts. Long before the beautiful city of Helena became a city, when it was but an uncouth mining village resting upon the sides of Last Chance gulch, was this edifice and the purposes of its construction first formulated in the mind of its promotor. The buildings and their surroundings are the most perfect in their appoint- ments of any resort in the northwest, and stand to-day the pride of Helena and pre-eminently the chief of Montana's many attractions. Its con- struction required a faith in the future of Helena which few possessed, and to many it seemed a rash and perilous venture. The plant with its equip- ment involved an expenditure of some $700,000, and, with the limited population of the state at the time of its conception, carried with its con- struction the necessity of operating the hotel for a number of years at great expense to the promoter. It was probably in view of the necessity of creating a source of revenue for this magnificent resort that the idea of establishing a military post at Helena first presented itself. Nor is it improbable that the previous connection which Col. Broadwater had with the government work at Assiniboine and Fort Maginnis first encouraged the promotion of the hotel and resort at Helena. It was in the final fulfillment of this design that the Colonel un- dertook the great work which finally resulted in his death. The Montana National Bank was an- other institution which owed its inception to the busy brain which made it one of the soundest finan- cial institutions of the northwest. At its begin- ning, in 1883, it was a small concern, but under the fostering care of its able projector it grew into the powerful factor in the state's financial affairs which he left at the time of his death.

Col. Broadwater's investments and business en- terprises extended in every direction. He was largely interested in other banks throughout the state, and at Great Falls and Neihart was a promi- nent stockholder in the First National Bank at each place and a heavy stockholder in the townsite of Great Falls. His mining and cattle interests are to be found all over the state, and his wealth at the time of his death was estimated at from a million to a million and a half of dollars. His death was probably as unexpected to himself as it was to his friends throughout the entire state, and his many enterprises were all in that unfinished condition which marked out the necessity of much future work and development. His death came at a crit-

ical time in his own affairs and the affairs of the state, and in the urgent and dire need which the recent financial distress engendered through out the silver-producing districts his stalwart generalship was more than missed.

The management of these vast properties has since fallen in the hands of Mr. Thomas A. Mar- low, a nephew of Col. Broadwater, and a young man of remarkable business qualifications. R. S. McCulloh was designated as executor, but re- signed after about two years of service. Mr. Mar- low was then appointed on request of the heirs, and developed in the administration of these af- fairs such marked business qualifications that he was elected president of the Montana National Bank at the time of its reopening after the panic of the summer of 1893. Mr. Marlow, ably assisted by Mr. Albert L. Smith, his efficient cashier, has taken the reins of this banking institution into his hands with the determination of sustaining the reputation which was so magnificently established by its able founder, and has proved himself an able official at the head of its affairs.

The entire career of Col. Broadwater, from his first undertaking within the state up to the time of his death, shows a well formulated plan of life. Founded on the broad basis of humanitarianism, he was a most zealous advocate of the modern movements of international progress. Demo- cratic in principle, as well as in politics, he carried his convictions into every action of his life; and when wealth smiled propitiously upon his efforts he still retained his kindly interests and genial coin- radeship for those with whom he had labored. Gov. J. K. Toole, in speaking of Col. Broadwater's death, says : "I have never known a death to touch a whole community as deeply as has this. Every body seems to realize that a potent if not a domi- nant factor in social, commercial and political life is gone. No man in this state ever inaugurated and carried to a successful issue more great enter- prises than did Col. Broadwater. None knew the people better or had more of their confidence. He was a man of clear foresight, who knew himself and knew the way before him. He led the way in all he did ; he was fruitful of resource, adroit in attack, masterful in defense, relentless in pursuit. His friends are counted in every profession, every avocation and walk in life. He was lenient witlı those in his debt and charitable to a high degree : and accustomed to bestow favors in a manner so easy, so graceful, so natural, that it created

PROGRESSIVE MEN OF MONTANA.

a pleasing sense of gratitude without any special thought of obligation. He was of gentle mein ; but knew how to remember, how to resent and how to avenge. The city that he loved and in which he lived and wrought so much ought to record its lamentations in silent signs of universal mourning."

Above all let it be said that he was a man, a prince among men. There are those who have ac- quired successes in life in the financial and political world, who may have reached to greater results, but few there are among the world's great men who occupied the place in the hearts of their con- stituencies that Col. Broadwater filled in his. His death was mourned by all who had ever known him, and the messages of condolence . from the highest tribunal in the land echoed in unison with the cry from the hearts of the very children of his state in the same grateful, loyal, loving sorrow which bespoke that true homage from his humbler friends that was paid to his memory by the lowly as well as the great. His last sickness was the di- rect result of influenza, which laid hold upon him while in New York city. He was there prepara- tory to the senatorial fight for the Helena Post bill, in which he was much interested, and an active and zealous advocate ; and it was while mak- ing this fight that he brought on a relapse of the attack from which he had partly recovered. The bill was passed, but Col. Broadwater had fought his last battle. He returned to Helena victorious in his efforts, but broken in health and constitution.

When the hotel Broadwater was reopened for the of broad humanitarianism a lesson of greater im- port and stronger impact than could the written sermons of a volume or an era of dogmatic oratory. Always a man of close and profound thought, he was pre-eminently a man of action.

season almost the entire community turned out to see him. The Colonel remained upon the veranda during the evening, exchanging greetings of cheer and accepting congratulations upon the success of his efforts in Washington and the hopeful outlook for the satisfactory perfecting of his plans. This was his last appearance in public. A cool breeze had been blowing from up the valley, and he re- tired with a severe chill which developed into con- gestion of the lungs. The strain of the past month had been too much for him, and the excitement attendant upon the opening of his hotel had a bad effect. He gradually failed until Monday morn- ing following, when he breathed his last. His last struggle for life was aggravated to some extent by a weak action of the heart ; this, with the strain of his active work in Washington and the previous at- tack of influenza, comprised the combined forces which finally brought him to his death. Its an- nouncement threw the entire state into the pro-

foundest gloom. All business was for the time suspended and messages of condolence poured in from all over the world. President Harrison was among the first to send his words of sympathy from the executive mansion, and throughout the state adversary and friend alike paused to add to the universal sorrow their words of tender and reverential tribute. The business houses of He- lena, his chosen and beloved city, closed their doors; and lowered flags and mourning buntings but lent to the cause their mute appeal to the mem- ory of the sacred dead.

From a historical standpoint the life of Col. Broadwater enters to a far greater degree into the present conditions within the state than any other of the earlier factors. His fertility of conception may be credited as the original source of an im- measurable after-result whose potential must re- main as yet within the scroll of future years. His life portrayed a character of more than mere genius in! a chosen profession; in fact, he had no profes- sion. His capacity was too broad to limit to the boundaries of a single walk in life. It covered the entire breadth, from a pleasant spoken word to a child at play to the shrewd, tactful commander of an army; the heights and depths perfectly bal- anced by a well-lighted plane of genial warmth where all could meet him in an atmosphere of per- fect ease. Unassuming in this self-poise he left the fields of literature and religious controversies to those better suited, and taught by his example

B ENJAMIN C. BROOKE, M. D .- Devoted to the noble and humane work which his profes- sion implied, Dr. Benjamin Coddington Brooke was ever faithful and indefatigable in his endeav- ors, and not only earned the due reward of his ef- forts in a temporal way, but also proved himself eminently worthy to exercise the important func- tions of his calling by his ability, his abiding sym- pathy and his earnest zeal in behalf of his fellow men. His understanding of the science of medi- cine was broad and comprehensive, and the pro- fession and the public accorded him distinguished place among the practitioners of Montana, while

PROGRESSIVE MEN OF MONTANA.

love and veneration were his in the city of Helena, where he lived and labored to goodly ends. Dr. Brooke was a native of West Virginia, born in Morgantown, Monongalia county, on April 1, 1822, the son of Dr. Thomas Frederick and Mary (Cod- dington) Brooke, natives of Prince George's and Allegany counties, Md. The father was a prac- ticing physician of Prince George's county, whence he eventually removed to West Virginia, where his death occurred, his widow thereafter coming to Montana with her son, Dr. Brooke. The grand- father likewise was a physician, and was a native of Scotland whence he came to America and lo- cated in Maryland, where he passed the residue of his life, honored for his sterling character and high professional attainments.

Dr. Benjamin C. Brooke received education in the schools of Virginia, in which state also he pre- pared himself for that profession honored and dig- nified by four different generations of his name. He continued his technical studies in the Cincinnati Medical College, and later graduated in the cele- brated Jefferson Medical College, of Philadelphia. Dr. Brooke in 1854 began the practice of medicine in Kansas City, Mo., being one of the pioneer physi- cians of that section, while in 1858, at the time of the gold excitement at Pike's Peak, Colo., he went to Denver, where he located until the spring of 1863, when he came to Montana and established himself at Virginia City, thus becoming one of the pioneers of Montana, where he lived to attain dis- tinguished honors as a physician and a man among men. In 1866 he removed to Helena, and here he continued in the active practice of his profession until his death, May 9, 1891. Of his long and faithful service the record is written in the grateful memories of those to whom he ministered. He was a man of marked business ability and was in- terested in various mining enterprises, as well as in farming and stock growing. To the matri- monial union of Dr. Brooke and Sarah Mackbee six children were born. Two sons and two daugh- ters are living, as is the widowed niother, now ven- erable in years. One son, Lee D., a graduate of the law department of the University of Virginia, is now engaged in the office of the Terminal Rail- way at St. Louis, Mo., while the other son, Dr. Ben C. Brooke, is the worthy successor of his father in medical practice in Montana's capital city, spe- cific reference being made to him on other pages of this work. The two daughters are Mrs. Dr. Rudolph Hoaskey and Miss Lalla M. Brooke.

B )EN C. BROOKE, M. D. - Among the younger representatives of the medical profes- sion in the capital city of Montana is Ben C. Brooke, M. D., who, to his skill as a physician and surgeon, has also the added distinction of being a native son of Helena, where he has given evidence in his case at least of the fallibility of the old adage that a "prophet is not without honor save in his own country," both in professional and social circles, his practice being of representative order. He was born in Helena on May 9, 1872, the son of Benja- min C. and Sarah (Mackbee) Brooke, to whom in- vidual reference is made elsewhere in this work.

In his native city Dr. Brooke was reared to ma- turity, securing his literary education in the public schools and then turning his attention to the tech- nical work of preparation for his chosen profes- sion. He began reading medicine in the offices of Drs. Treacy & Carmichael, under whose effective preceptorship he advanced rapidly, and in March, 1892, he matriculated in Bellevue Medical College, in New York city, graduating from this institu- tion of high standing in March, 1896. Thus thor- oughly fortified for a brilliant medical career Dr. Brooke returned to Helena, and forthwith opened an office and a practice as a physician and surgeon. He has ever kept abreast of the advances made in medical science and is known as a close student and as one who gives much time and thought to original investigation. In 1898 he took a post-graduate course in the New York Polyclinic to place himself in touch with the rapid advance of medical devel- opments. He is secretary of the Helena Medical Association and the Medical Association of Mon- tana and is a member of the Rocky Mountain Inter- state Medical Association. He takes interest in the work of each, and is also a close student of the best medical literature. He has been president of the board of health of Lewis and Clarke county for two years, and is now serving his second term as county coroner. He has been secretary of the State Medical Society for three terms, being the present incum- bent, and is highly esteemed by his professional con- freres in the county and state. Fraternally the Doctor is a member of the Woodmen of the World, and in politics he belongs to the Democratic party.

JOHN J. BUCKLEY, M. D .- One of the best known and most thoroughly skilled physicians and surgeons of the northwest, is Dr. John J. Buck-

PROGRESSIVE MEN OF MONTANA.

ley, now incumbent of the office of chief surgeon of the western division of the Northern Pacific Railroad, who is distinctively one of the progres- sive citizens of Montana, his home being Missoula. He is a native of Delhi, Delaware county, N. Y., born on April 13, 1853. His parents were Dr. Horatio and Elizabeth (Case) Buckley, both of whom were born in New York. The father, one of the leading physicians and surgeons of the state, was a graduate of the University of the City of New York, and also read medicine under the di- rection of Dr. Mott, one of the eminent physicians of that day.

Dr. John J. Buckley was the elder of the two children and received his preliminary educational training in the public schools of his native state, after which he attended Delaware Academy, at Delhi, N. Y., after which he began the reading of medicine under the effective preceptorship of his father. He then entered the medical department of Columbia, N. Y., College, in the city of New York, completing the prescribed course and gradu- ating as a member of the class of 1878. Dr. Buck- ley took up his abode in Missoula in 1887. Upon coming to Missoula he was made chief surgeon for the western division of the Northern Pacific, which has in Missoula a modern and finely equipped hos- pital. The upper story of the building is fitted up as a residence for the chief surgeon, and here Dr. Buckley has an attractive home. The Doctor is a member of the American Congress of Physicians and Surgeons, the International Association of Railway Surgeons, and he has been vice-president of the National Association of Railway Surgeons. He is also a member of the American Clinological Association, American Medical Association and the Montana State Medical Society. In politics the Doctor is a stalwart Republican, and he has held offices of public trust, having served as president of the state board of health and the board of edu- cation of Missoula. Fraternally the Doctor has advanced to the thirty-second degree of the Scot- tish Rite, his position in the Masonic order, his affiliations being still with the various bodies of the order in Fargo, N. D.

LEXANDER METZEL .- No class of the A American people is entitled to more credit than the hardy pioneers, who, leaving comfort and comparative ease behind them, braved every danger

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Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 1, Part 16

Author: Bowen, A.W., & Co., firm, publishers, Chicago Publication date: [19-?] Publisher: Chicago : A. W. Bowen & Co. Number of Pages: 1374

Author: Bowen, A.W., & Co., firm, publishers, Chicago
Publication date: [19-?]
Publisher: Chicago : A. W. Bowen & Co.
Number of Pages: 1374