St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1886-04-03
WOMEN IN THE NORTHWEST.
How Brave Girls Acquire Health,
Wealth and MatrimOny.

Maiden (Mon.) Letter in Cleveland Leader.
This little town from where am penning
these lines has q name which would imply
that 1t Is made up of girls and nobody else,
but such Is not the case. Maiden Is rough
frontier mining town, where the fair sex are
sadly in the minority, but where they are
needed about as badly as in any other spot
In this whole Northwestern country. Mon
tana is a paradise for females, and so is
Idaho, Wyoming, Washington, and even
Oregon. What few girls we have out this
way are full of pluck, grit and enterprise.
and every single one of them could get
married twenty times over. il such thing
could be imagined Here in Maiden. which
Is now the county seat of Fergus, the new
county created at the last session of the
Montana legislature. there are neither
young girls or madens There Is not an
unmarried lady in the whole town, which
would therefore make il safe retreat for
bachelors to fly 10. This scarcity of ladies
is not confined TO this one locality, but is
prevalent all over the territory. The only
ones who seem TO have more than their
share are the MormOns. of whom there are
number in western Montana and an I'M
limited number scattered through the beau
tful valleys of Idaho. Miss Jennie Corson,
! the ''ShepherdeSs of the West" came to
Montana some years ago and took up a sheep
ranch in Meagher county. She did it all
alone and unaided. After awhile she sent
for her lazy brother in Chicago and made
him overseer of her fiOcks. Matters went
well with her, and soon she had fine band
OF sheep, and as valuable ranch property as
there Is In Montana. She took up some
land under one or another of the govern
ment acts, proved up on time, and became
landed proprietor. Now, it happened
that the next claim to her own was taken
up by an enterprising young man named
Severance, who, like his fair neighbOr. first
started sheep ranch and then got hold of
some of the soil. They tended fiocks in
company for some time, and then Severance
proposed marriage. He was accepted, and
the two happy wOol-growers united their
fortunes and have been doing better and
better ever since.
There are other girls in Montana Just ex-
aetly like Mrs. Severance, nee COrson. but
more are wanted. There are some real old
ladies out here who have taken up claims,
who run dairy or keep a store, but who
are leetle TO aged TO think of matrimony.
One dame of this description has a ranch
store out on the prairie near Livingston,
rides horse and shoots like a man, keeps
post Office and Is the owner of 100 acres
lately the property of Uncle Sam. Another
lady living on Boulder creek named Sarah
Davidson shot bear in January last. and
with the bounty received for il, as well as
the sale of the meat and hide, she paid for
a sewing machine.
Not every girl wants to get married, but
all OF them want TO vote. Only last year at
the elections in western Montana for terri
torial school superintendent there were
four Riehmonds in the field. Three of
them were females and the fourth-a man.
In BOzeman old placards on the fences can
still be seen appealing TO the passers-bv to
vote for Miss Hamilton, the 'People's
Choice" Miss Hamilton got there and her
competitors were all left, 1.-THE man" bring
ing up the rear. Helena has lady super
ntendent of schools who has Indian blood
in her veins and who is highly educated.
She has also marked dramatic talent, play
ing Charlotte Cushman's roles in theatre
Gals.
As before remarked, the women of this
Northwestern country are endowed with
plenty Of pluck and grit; also an abundance
OF indomltable courage. One evening lately
herd of Arizona goats, which were being
herded by Miss Teresa Tallert on Lost
river, came home early and rushed for the
corral, heavy log concern eight feet high.
The gates were opened and the herd let in.
after which the brave little lady, dashing
over the prairie, mounted on her fiery little
brouchO, secured the foothills, but found no
cause for alarm.
In the night Miss Tallert was aroused by
her dog whining at her ear. and getting up
discovered sope wild animals in the corral.
She went in and found four mountain lions,
md xrfth
tackled them with an axe. Two of the
lions jumped the corral and fed. The
other two rushed toward her. She dealt
one blow with the axe. laying his rump
open TO the bone, then both fled. The next
morning fifty of the valuable goats were
found dead and thirty wounded, fourteen
of the latter dying afterward.
4 mountain lion attacked the cattle of
Ben Mason, of Powder river, only last
Sunday, and killed two heifers and COW.
Mr.. Mason was absent at the time, but his
wife took up arms against the beast, fol-
lowed him through the snow for some dis
tanee, overlook and shot him. That's
pluck for YOU.
j. W. Proctor of Billings had occasion
to visit the ranch of Tom WadswOrth, ON
the MusSelshell, last week. WadswOrth
has band of several hundred of the finest
horses there are on the north side of the
Yellowstone river, and has also a wife who
is an expert hOrsewOman. Ii seems that
Mrs. Wadsworth Is not only an accom-
plished rider, but as a huntress can take the
laurels from the MarquiSe de Mores, Lady
Florence Dixie, and all the other ladies who
make pretentions in that direction. Mrs.
Wadsworth ehaseS antelope on horseback,
shoots them down while going at full gal
lon and in fact combines the arts of eiviIi-
cation with the skill of the abOrigine. Now
Proctor Is crack shot. with somewhat of
reputation to back him Up. and he was
rather aStOniShed and taken aback when
Mrs. WadswOrth challenged him to shoot
Ing match. They set up target. and it is
sufficient TO say that Proctor was beaten
fairly. Mrs. Wadsworth making the top
score. After the unexpected defeat Proc
tor headed up GOulding creek for Bull
mountains, and when lie supposed he was
the only white man in that region came to
another ranch, hid away among the mount
aims, from which ranged away about two
hundred OF a sleek-looking,,eattle as one could
wish to see. When approaching the ranch
Proctor met young lady all alone on
horseback coming down rocky mountain
path, whom he describes as the incarnation
OF ethereal beauty. After some talk about
the weather and stock he was invited to
partake of her hospitality. which he ac-
eepted gracefully. Proctor did not know who
his fair entertainer was, but everybody i'm
this section knows her to be the Young
shephereeSs named Nina Roman, who Is
ranehng ii ali alone among the mountains.
Proctor christened her the Belle of Bull
Mountains.