The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-09-29
FOUNDERS RAN THE TOWN
A Deserted Station on the Northern
Pacific Blossoms Into a Boom
ing City.
the Present Headquar-
ters for Contractors on the
Great Northern.
prcssed-A Secret Society for Preserv-
Ing the Peaco In the Future.

John b. King. formerly q resident of Mis-
soula. but now living at KootenAi, Idaho
wss a visitor in Helena yesterday. II,
predicts that for the next twelve or fifteen
months Kootenai will be the ~liveliest towr
in the northwest, with a death rate equal Il
a city of $4,000. As that town has onl,
about 1000 inhabitants this statement was
received with some i~ncredulity. After Mr.
King had explained the situation he was re.
garded as being probably very close to the
mark.
Kootenai is the Quitting point for Burns
Il Chapman, contractors on the Great
Northern extension. and for ten DAYS up to
the ed Of September they were receiving a
daily average of ten carloads of freight. p.
Welch Il Co., contractors for another Soc
tion of the road, also make Kootenai their
headquarters. As q result, a place which
was until a month or SO ago
one Of the most lonely, barren
and desolate stations in Idaho is to-day a
booming frontier town, made up in large
part of thieves, thugs, fallen women. tin
horn gamblers and the riff raft of the
northwest. To support these people, there
are the thousands of laborers employed by
the contractors. For a little while the bet
ter element endeavored to keep the control
of the town in their own hands, but we're
compelled to yield to sheer force of num-
bers. Matters came to such q pass about
three weeks ago, and bold highway robber-
lea were of such frequent occurrence, that
men who had lived on the frontier for years
and never carried a gun were compelled to
arm themselves and be ready for the round
orr IN n w NC DnII NO 4 vTnhk DnnvNIA |
were held up in broad daylight n their
valuablcs taken; and so little did the
FOUNDERS fear punishment that the least
resistance was followed by a bullet or a
thrust.
Ihs laborers employed on the extension
there are from 5000 to 5000 of these men
working in the vicinity of Kootenai, and
when they come to town if it is not possible
TO run them against a skin" game and rob
them in that way some of the gang would
keep on their trail until the opportunity
offered to slug the unfortunates and then
rob them. So far was this carried that il
= laborer known to have money managed to
get on q train without being robbed he
would be followed and held up elsewhere.
A half dozen hurdy gurdy houses are
running. while all the well-known skin
one day there were seven robberies, aRgre-
eating $1,000, two fatal shooting ARRAYS
and a number of minor attractions of the
Two coroners' inquests, with the
verdict. "Came to his death at
the hands OF persons unknown" were the
only attempts made to fasten the crimes on
the guilty parties.
Finally Sheriff Mcclure, of Rathdrum.
sent for. He seems to be pretty we'll
known to the Kootenai gang. because a
number of the hardest characters left the
town when they heard he was coming. He
a few days, and cleared the at
oarturs the old gang is congregating again,
md when Mr.. King left the s%urs-thlng
games and the FOUNDERS were nearly aa
as they were before McClurs's
'isit. But the breathing spell from the
eiRn of terror was taken advantage of. and
he reputable men now have q secret society
which is very popular among the law abid-
ng citizens of frontier owns. If the tough
lement becomes too numerous and too
ggressive there will be work for the under
aker n not for the sheriff.