The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1890-10-26

tney Weko 00t down 000 t9k0u 0Woys
Standing at the corner Of the buildinG
and looking across the gully on the opposite
hill You may see . few squares OF rough
board fences. It is the old huryinR ground
aud is populated mostly by men who died
with their boots ON. The i've desperadoes
are lying here among the rest. This vas
the biggest execution ever known ia Alder:
pointed to with interest. There is nothing
to mark the spot, which was on the low
ground between the graveyard and the frame
building referred to. In some respects It
was the most sensational execution OF all,
for slade in point of intelligence and ap-
pearance was the superior of the others.
He was good deal of q gentleman and was
smart business man when sober. when
drunk he was perfect devil and would Kill
his best friend on the slightest .pretext
when charged with liquor; and besides, he
was absolutely fearless. One of his favor
down through the town firing revolvers at
the store windows and raising Cain every
where. This practice was so dangerous
to all good citizens that the merchants were
accustomed to shut up their stores when
S!ade was drunk. As this habit grew upon
the rope route became of serious considers
ton. Finally, when he attempted to kill
Judge Alexander Davis, the good people
arose in their wrath and ended his career.
He had certain qualities that attached him
to to good many people: He was generous
square fellow when sober. But it came to
. question Of whether Slade or the citizens
had TO Leave the town and 6lade went. ]
found good many people who still think
that he ought not to have been hung,
though the preponderance Of evidence
seems plainly to have been with the prose-
cution. In his case. as often happens, there
ls more sympathy for man whom dead
than living. The most sensational feature
IN his affair with the Law was the wild ride
OF his wife, only to reach her husband after
bis body was cut down and laid out in the
Virginia hotel. One man told me that her
cries were heard in Nevada when she found
that she was just in time to be too late. No
one in Virginia now knows what became Of
the woman
These are among the darker pictures in
Alder suggested BY remaining scenes. There
block down is little one-story frame build
ing now given over to the services Of Uncle
Sam. It looks as it did in the DAYS when
Captain James II. Mills and Hugh McQuaid
stuck type there for the old Montana Post,
the s. first newcpaper in the territory: There
were the handsomest men in all Montana at
That time: Hugh was slim youth then |
with pair Of red cheeks that were the talk |
Of the ladies. and the captains tall and
efece form and handsome face attracted |
squal attention. The Post was made an ex-
cellent newspaper for any town through the |
hard work and brains of these young |
men,. II was here that the first
printing press in Montana was brought
and the first printing ever done
was an an order from Mag Mccormick the
'eigning queen Of the demi monde. She
gave grand ball and issued general invi-
'ation through hand bills struck of by the
aew press, The ball was great social sue
'ess and was attended by miners, business
non. doctors, lawyers, and some say the
preachers Of the town. Over ON the other
!ide OF the street and farther up was
Madam MaRraw's oheateau de pleasure. It
vas next door to q little book shop run by
Iohn Ming, who afterwards accumulated
fortune and died leaving an opera house
Ind costly residence in Helena. No one
Inows Just where this building stood.
The buildings in which the first Montana
legislature met have long ago been removed.
hey were situated on jackson street near
10. 10. They were ordinary frame affairs
nd were easily destroyed. The legislature
fterward met in the Masonic temple, over
be store Of Richard 0. Hickman, the pres
ut state treasurer and in various other
onvei-ient places until the capitol
as removed to Helena, an inci.L
ent which the old time Virginians
ave not yet forgotten. Farther down the
treet 10 an old battered frame building
nth the windows broken and general air
I dilapidation. On the front in letters of
aiding black is still the sign .sss.44-