Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 2, Part 120

Author: Bowen, A.W., & Co., firm, publishers, Chicago
Publication date: [19-?]
Publisher: Chicago : A. W. Bowen & Co.
Number of Pages: 1092

USA > Montana > Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 2 > Part 120

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Mr. Lillard came to Virginia City, Mont., in the spring of 1866 and engaged in prospecting on the Yellowstone, Shield river and Deep creek. In the summer of 1868 he removed to Sun River and was a stock-tender for the Wells-Fargo Stage

Company until the spring of 1869, subsequently herding for the Diamond R Freighting Company. Following a short trip across the Canadian line, Mr. Lillard passed the winter of 1870 in trading with the Indians north of Sun river, and the spring and summer of 1870 in trapping and prospecting along Deep creek, among the mountains and in other localities. Then, until 1873, he was en- gaged in wolf-hunting on the Belly river and on the present Blackfoot reservation, and the suc- ceeding three years he ranched on the Teton river. In May, 1877, Mr. Lillard located a squatter's claim in the Black Leaf district, Teton county, subsequent- ly securing a homestead, to which has been added by his family Indian allotment claims, until the whole numbers 880 acres, all devoted to farming, garden- ing and horses and cattleraising. The marriage of Mr. Lillard occurred at Milk river in March, 1870. He has eight children now living : Thomas, a promi- nent lawyer of the Indian territory; Robert, a ranchman on the Black Leaf river; Nellie, Joseph, John, Cora and Lucy, residing at home. Michael died at the age of nineteen years. Mr. Lillard is an intelligent and well-educated man, well versed in legal matters and public affairs, broad-minded and progressive in his views, and in sympathy with the Republican party. .

JAMES L. LE NOIR .- The subject of this re- view comes of stanch old southern lineage, and is himself a native son of the sunny south. Coming to Montana in the year 1888, he has not failed to take advantage of the opportunities presented, and is today numbered among the successful stockgrow- ers of Valley county. Mr. Le Noir was born in the immediate vicinity of Bladen Springs, Choctaw county, Ala., on the 19th of July, 1864. His father, Dr. James L. LeNoir, was likewise born in Ala- bama, near old Cahaba, which was a long time the capital of Alabama, and there he was for many years engaged in the practice of his profession, continuing in its work up to the time of his death, which occurred in the fall of 1886, at St. Stephens, Ala. He was an officer in the Confederate army during the Civil war. He was a man of integrity and marked professional ability, being one of the most influential citizens of Washington county. His wife, whose inaiden name was Malinda Lou Secrest, was born in North Carolina, about the year 1828, and she still lives in Alabama, being

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cared for with true filial devotion by her children, four of whom reside in their native state, while James L. is a resident of Montana.

The early educational discipline of James. L. Le Noir was secured in the public schools of his native county, and in a private school at St. Steph- ens, where his father located when our subject was still a mere lad. He left school at the age of twen- ty years, and thereafter was identified with agricul- tural and mercantile pursuits near St. Stephens for about three years. In 1888 he came to Miles City, Mont., and the ensuing three years he was engaged as a cattle-herder in that vicinity, South Dakota and Minnesota. In the spring of 1892 Mr. Le Noir came to Valley county, and in the following year located his present ranch, on Beaver creek, about twelve miles east of the town of Malta, taking up two claims, and thus having a valuable ranch of 320 acres. Here he has since devoted his atten- tion to the raising of sheep, cattle and horses, and has been so careful and discriminating in his ef- forts that he has been rewarded with a due meas- ure of success, conserving his resources by the normal expansion of his operations and by mak- ing excellent improvements on his place. In poli- tics Mr. Le Noir renders a loyal support to the Democratic party.

JOHN W. LELAND .- Practically the entire life of Mr. Leland has been passed in the west amid the exciting scenes and adventures of the pioneers of the early 'sixties. His advent into the great country lying west of the Missouri dates back to the Pike's Peak stampede of 1859, and it has been his lot to witness many Indian tragedies, as well as to endure the hardships of a plainsman's life. John W. Leland was born at Manchester, Ind., on February 8, 1835, the son of Elbridge G. and Eliza Leland, the father a native of Massachus- etts and the mother of Ohio. In earlier life E. G. Leland was a cooper, but later a successful farmer. The mother was a member of the Method- ist church and the father a Presbyterian; and politically a Democrat. Mrs. Leland died on May 31, 1852. Her husband survived her, dying in 1878.

After attending the public schools until eighteen years of age, J. W. Leland rented a farm of 120 acres, upon which he remained until 1858. Remov- ing to Illinois he worked for a year at Lodi for wages, averaging less than $18 a month. In the

first flush of the Pike's Peak excitement of 1859 he went to Leavenworth, Kan., purchased an in- terest in an ox team, and joined a large train going to the gold regions. On this two-months trip no difficulty was experienced with hostile Indians, although they saw many dead bodies and talked with those who had barely escaped with their lives. At Pike's Peak they found the coun- try swarming with gold seekers, many of whom were doomed to bitter disappointment. The first mining experience of Mr. Leland was a failure, but going six miles above Denver he devoted the winter to hunting with good success, as game was plentiful. In the spring of 1860 he moved to Canyon City, secured an interest in a squatter's claim, and went to ranching where on the site of the town of Florence. Two years later he went to Idaho and while on the way saw 125 horses and an entire stage outfit stolen by Indians. The night after this occurred they camped at Pacific spring, and the next morning, July 4th, ice had formed a quarter of an inch thick in their culinary utensils. During their passage of sixty miles across a desert they suffered greatly for want of water until they reached Green river. This stream was crossed by swimming the stock, but were compelled to make boats with which to take over their outfit. At Snake river they discovered a ferry, the Mormon proprietor of which demanded $7.00 apiece to take the 400 wagons across; the result was that they again swam the stock. Then came another sixty-mile travel without water, in which the party suffered horribly, and while they were in camp at Three Buttes the Indians stole four mules and two horses. Later the Indians returned the stolen animals, the reason for this action was probably that the train was approach- ing the camp where were their squaws and pap- pooses, and they were afraid the whites would avenge themselves in some manner. Mr. Leland says that the Indians in this camp had an im- mense amount of gold coin, evidently taken from emigrants ; they had killed one, a Mr. Campbell, who had about $7,000 in his possession. The Indians seemed to know nothing of the value of this gold, as they would exchange it for any kind of goods in lavish manner, a twenty-dollar gold piece for a small tin pail, etc. At one place they found a trunk that, from letters it contained, seemed to have been the property of some Ohio people who had been massacred by the savages. Thirty miles east of Boise City they came to the place of an

J. W. Leland

R. H. Clarkson

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Indian tragedy in which a whole train of emigrants had been murdered, their outfit burned, and all that was left were the scattered iron works of the wagons. In crossing Boise river one of their party named Stewart was drowned. After his death the party traveled together, crossing Piatt river and going on to Weaser river. There the four wagons of Leland's company separated from the others and took a short cut, as they supposed, through the mountains toward Florence. They had but one horse, and the second day out one of the men shot himself through the foot and the . horse had to carry him. They traveled up Weaser river one day and then went into the mountains. Two days later they found that they could get no further with the wagons and they camped there two days, fixing pack saddles to carry their goods on the oxen's backs. But on undertaking to put the packs on the oxen they became restless, and by the time the goods were properly arranged on their backs they were frantic and stampeded and never stopped until they were free and the supplies scattered over a space as large as a ten- acre lot. After many attempts the oxen became accustomed to the pack saddles and carried their loads pretty well, except when the numerous yel- low jackets swarmed around them. It was almost a daily occurrence for several oxen to stampede from this cause. A few days later they came to Piatt lake and then to Boise basin, where Mr. Leland engaged in placer mining for two years, going thence to Umatilla, where he engaged in pack train freighting. He came to Helena, Mont., in 1866, but in a short time went to California gulch and worked in the placer mines for $7.00 per day for fourteen days, the only labor for wages he has ever done in Montana. Returning to Helena he joined a party of fifty in a stampede to the Gray Bull country, Wyo., but the expedition proved a failure. When he came back to Helena, in part- nership with one Thomas, he purchased an interest in a lime business, afterward disposed of at a fair profit. After a short time of placer mining he repurchased the lime business in which he con- tinued until 1869. Then passing a winter in Ore- gon, in 1870 Mr. Leland located at Cedar creek, Missoula county, purchasing an interest in a mine which proved fairly productive. This he disposed of in 1875 and secured an interest in a ranch near Helena with a man named Gerow. They bought sheep, and in the fall of 1876 they had a band of 600. Mr. Leland assumed full charge of all the

sheep and the ranch. The former he removed ten miles north of Helena, continuing the business until the fall of 1880, the sheep having increased to 2,300. He then sold a half interest in the band, leased the other half to the purchaser and in 1883 he disposed of the entire flock, 4,000 head, and removed to Helena, where he remained until 1886. He erected the first house in Mauldin's addition, the next house to the present residence of Mas- sena Bullard, and purchased an interest in a gen- eral store at Cottonwood with Charles Lehman, continuing in this business until 1890, and was in- terested in another store in Utica also, closing that out in 1890. For a year he remained quietly on his Helena ranch, but in 1891 he secured and removed to his present property, three and one- half miles west of Belt, at first purchasing 160 acres of Charles Turner, but 500 acres have since been added; and here he is successfully engaged in farming and stockraising. In February, 1896, Mr. Leland and W. J. Kennedy engaged in the hard- ware business at Belt, as the Belt Hardware Co.

Politically Mr. Leland is an active Republican. He was married on October 2, 1873, to Miss Mary Abraham, a native of Canada and a daughter of James and Maria Abraham. They were born in Ireland, and the father was a successful farmer ; an Orangeman and a stanch Democrat. The fam- ily came to the United States in 1866 and settled in Boone county, Iowa, where Mr. Abraham died on August 6, 1886, and where his widow still re- sides. Mr. and Mrs. Leland are the parents of three children : Elsie C., Walter E. and John W., Jr.

R DOBERT H. CLARKSON .- Among the native sons of Merrie England who have cast in their lot with that of the state of Montana is Mr. Clark- son, one of the prominent and prosperous cattle- growers of Choteau county, his well improved ranch of 160 acres being located in the Milk river valley, one and a half miles east of Chinook. Mr. Clarkson was born in the county of Cumberland, in the north of England, on May 29, 1859, the son of Robert and Margaret (Graham) Clarkson. He was reared on the parental farmstead, receiving his educational discipline in the common schools. He devoted his attention to agriculture in his native land until 1882, when he immigrated to the United States and proceeded to Joliet, Ill., where he en- tered the employ of Hon. George H. Monroe in

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the capacity of gardener and teamster, remaining thus engaged until 1886, when he continued his way westward, making Gallatin county, Mont., his destination. Here he entered the employ of Maynard & Briggs, of Madison county, on their sheep ranch, where he remained two years, at the expiration of which period, in August, 1888, he came to Milk river valley, where he homesteaded his present ranch of 160 acres. In company with John T. Burrell he purchased 3,000 head of sheep which he brought to the ranch, but during the ex- ceptionally cold and rigorous winter of 1889 the greater portion of the flock perished, entailing a large loss. Thereafter he turned his attention to the growing of cattle, in which line he has been successful from the start, while he has made im- provements on his ranch that compare favorably with any other in this section, the property increas- ing in valne as the years pass by. Mr. Clarkson is alert and enterprising, contributing well to the development and advancement of this section of the state and taking a lively interest in public af- fairs of a local nature. He is a stockholder in the Fort Belknap Canal & Irrigation Company, and was one of the organizers of the Extension Ditch Company, of which he is president.

In politics Mr. Clarkson gives allegiance to the Republican party ; fraternally he holds member- ship in Bear Paw Lodge, I. O. O. F., and Chin- ook Camp of the Modern Woodmen of America. In 1891 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Clark- son to Miss Emma Wade, daughter of John Wade, of Chenoa, Ill., an influential farmer and stock- grower. Our subject and his wife have three in- teresting children who lend cheer to the home cir- cle : Bertie, Susie and one son, George W.

L EMUEL M. LINE, M. D .- For four genera- tions the ancestors of Dr. Line lived at Boons- borough, Md., where he was born on November 14, 1861, and where his parents, grandparents and great-grandparents were also born. His great- great-grandfather, Martin Line, removed from Lancaster county, Pa., in 1760, to Maryland and purchased a farm from Lord Baltimore, the original deed for which is still in possession of the family. The Doctor's parents were R. H. and Margaret R. (Thomas) Line, who removed to Nebraska in 1885 and engaged in farming, where they are yet living. The Doctor received his elementary education in the schools of his native town and after being

graduated from the high school began the study of medicine with his older brother, T. H. Line, M. D., then practicing in Illinois, who has since gained celebrity as a writer on medical subjects and is now living at Omaha. After a course of preliminary study under direction of his brother, Dr. Line en- tered Rush Medical College, Chicago, and subse- quently took a finishing course at the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Baltimore, Md., from which he was graduated in 1884. He then located in Nebraska and began to practice at Ogalalla, where he remained until 1894, when he came to Montana, settling at Columbus where he purchased the drug store formerly belonging to Dr. Moore, which he still owns and conducts, practicing medi- cine at the same time. He has built up a large and representative business in each line of activity, giv- ing to every feature of his work careful and con- scientious attention, and always displaying a cour- tesy and grace of manner that wins all who come in contact with him. He was married on September 3, 1890, to Miss Mary A. Campbell of DeWitt, Iowa, a daughter of R. H. Campbell of DeWitt, Iowa, whose father immigrated to America from Scotland. They have two children : Robert Camp- bell and Ruth Marie. The Doctor is active in fra- ternal relations, holding membership in the United Workmen, the Modern Woodmen, the Woodmen of the World, the Maccabees and the Red Men. He is a medical examiner for a number of these orders and also for several old line insurance companies, and is local surgeon for the Northern Pacific Rail- road. In politics he is a Republican, and has been active in the service of his party. While in Ne- braska he was for some years chairman of the county central committee, and since his arrival in Nebraska has been frequently a delegate to the county and state conventions. From 1885 to 1888 he was county physician for Keith county, Neb., and was also physician to the board of directors for the insane in that state. In his profession he is progressive and studious, omitting no effort to keep abreast of its front rank and well posted in its latest discoveries. He took post-graduate courses at the Chicago Polyclinic in 1895 and 1902. He is a member of the Montana State Medical Associa- tion. One of his brothers, Rev. Francis M. Line, is a minister in the Reformed church at Rymers- burg, Pa. The Doctor is one of the leading stock- holders and the secretary of the Columbus Opera House Company and is interested in considerable other real estate.

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C HARLES LOCHRAY has been conspicuously identified with the development of the coal in- dustry of Montana, and is recognized as one of its representative business men. With the interests of Montana he was identified before the advent of railroads. Mr. Lochray was born on March I, 1852, in Glasglow, Scotland, and the sterling char- acteristics of the Scottish race have been exempli- fied in his life of signal usefulness. His parents, Charles and Jane Lochray, born in the north of Ireland, came to America in 1852, when Charles was about six months old. They were very de- voted Catholics. His father engaged in successful mining in Pennsylvania. Both parents died in Iowa, the mother on August 2, 1878, and the father on November 16th, of the same year.

Charles Lochray attended the public schools of Mercer county, Pa., and had been an active mine worker from the age of thirteen years, up to 1874, laboring successively in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Illinois. In 1874, with his brother Patrick, James Timmons and his son, Mr. Lochray went to Fort Dodge, Iowa, where they used drills in prospect- ing for coal and opened the Carbon mine, a valu- able deposit. Continuing prospecting until 1878, they secured options on other coal lands, some of these being for purchase and others for a royalty. The principal mines opened were the Carbon, Snake creek, Angus, No. I shaft of the Climax Coal Company, at Angus, Iowa, and the Keystone, all proving paying properties. Mr. Lochray later operated a mine on South Blizzard, Webster coun- ty, Iowa, and then became a prospector for the Cli- max Coal Company, retaining this incumbency for some time. In 1884, in company with the well- known Hamilton Brown, a leading capitalist of St. Paul, Minn., and Hon. Howell James, Mr. Loch- ray commenced to make a thorough investiga- tion of the western coal fields, and thus came to Helena long before the Montana Central Rail- road had been constructed ; thence they drove to Great Falls, which then had but two permanent buildings, one a frame house of one and one-half stories, and the other a board saloon, square in form, six feet in height and covered with a canvas roof. This pretentious institution was conducted by Dr. Spurgeon, and near it was a sawmill, owned by Ira Myers. The party inspected the mines at Sand Coulee, Deep Creek and Eagle Rock, after which they were joined by Walter Cooper and in- spected the mines at Bozeman and Billings. The company was then joined by a Mr. French, who

had charge of the prospecting outfit for the Bull mountains, and the four gentlemen drove over to Rocky Ford, now Red Lodge, the result of their labors being the organization of the company that built the railroad into Red Lodge. After the mines of Timberline, Chestnut and Cokedale had been duly inspected the party returned east in the fall of 1884.

In the spring of 1885 Mr. Lochray returned to Helena with a complete prospecting outfit and crew, traveling by wagons. When they arrived at the Missouri river it was so swollen as to de- tain them three days, when they succeeded with much difficulty in crossing by ferry to Great Falls. Proceeding to Sand Coulee Mr. Lochray directed the prospecting by drills, completing the work before the close of the year and preparing for ex- tensive development. In the meanwhile he had taken a homestead claim of 160 acres and re- turned to Iowa for his family, whom he brought to Sand Coulee in June, 1886. Up to 1894 Mr. Lochray was very prominently identified with the development and working of the Sand Coulee coal mines. Of his own mine, the well known Black Diamond, the product is of superior quality. Mr. Lochray has devoted attention to the raising of horses and ranching, and has a fine estate of 600 acres two miles north of Sand Coulee. He has ever taken a lively interest in the advancement of his town, county and state, was one of the or- ganizers of the public schools of his village, and for twelve years a member of the school board. He has also been active in the Republican party of Cascade county, aiding to bring about its ef- fective organization.

In the fall of 1889 he was elected to represent his county in the First legislative assembly of the state, was chosen his own successor and serving also in the Second state legislature. He was a working member, and in his second term was the prime factor in securing the enactment of a law governing and regulating coal mining, a measure of unmistakable value.

Mr. Lochray is a charter member of Cascade Lodge No. 34, A. F. & A. M., of Great Falls, and takes a deep interest in this time-honored fra- ternity. He is a man of strong individuality and ability, while his integrity has gained the respect and esteem of the public. On February 14, 1881, he was united in marriage to Miss Marie L. Do- herty, a native of Illinois, and the daughter of John P. and Mary Doherty, natives of Ireland

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and Lancaster, Pa. John P. Doherty came to the United States in 1833 and was one of the earli- est settlers in Iowa and Minnesota, and for six- teen years he was the president of the Des Moines River Land Settlers' Union, fighting for the set- tlers' rights and claims in congress. He died on July 10, 1895, and his widow on July 12, 1896. Both were members of the Catholic church, and their remains were laid to rest in the cemetery at Sand Coulee. Mr. and Mrs. Lochray have had three children: Florence, who died at the age of five years, Thomas F. and Louise.

W ILLIAM M. LORING .- "From Maine to California," was some years ago a common expression, indicative of the wide range of our country, and while it may have lost somewhat of its value as a correct designation, it is still ex- pressive of a vast scope of territory and many longitudes, all of which have passed under the observation of William M. Loring, the interesting subject of this brief review, one of the younger builders of Montana, especially along the lines of fraternal association and religious development.

Mr. Loring was born at Calais, Me., September 3, 1862, a son of Bela W. and Helen M. (Hayden) Loring, natives of Maine. They were the parents of ten children, of whom our subject was the eighth. He attended the public elementary and high school at Calais until he was seventeen years old, and then began active business life as a clerk and salesman in a crockery and glassware estab- lishment, working one year, and spending the next in a similar capacity in a boot and shoe store. After that he worked as clerk and salesman in a confectionery store until the summer of 1881, when he went to New York city and engaged in the sale of rubber stamps for six months, returning home at the end of that time and taking a posi- tion in the employ of the American Express Com- pany. After a time he left the company and again engaged in the confectionery business, in which he continued until the fall of 1883. He then yielded to a longing for a wider view of the coun- try and removed to California, locating at Calla- han's ranch in Siskiyou county, where he worked in his brother's general store and made good use of his leisure by learning telegraphy. He spent five years there profitably, and then removed to Yreka in the same county and went into the ser-

vice of the Western Union Telegraph Company as an operator, remaining in the employ of the com- pany until the summer of 1890. In that season he made a visit to his old home in Maine, and while there temporarily accepted a position in the em- ploy of the American Express Company, which he continued to fill until the fall of 1891, when he once more turned his face toward the setting sun and came to Montana, locating at Philipsburg, where he took the place formerly occupied by his brother as telegrapher in the Western Union telegraph office, and also began serving as assistant to the post- master of the city, both of which positions he has held continuously ever since.

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Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 2, Part 120

Author: Bowen, A.W., & Co., firm, publishers, Chicago Publication date: [19-?] Publisher: Chicago : A. W. Bowen & Co. Number of Pages: 1092

Author: Bowen, A.W., & Co., firm, publishers, Chicago
Publication date: [19-?]
Publisher: Chicago : A. W. Bowen & Co.
Number of Pages: 1092