The weekly tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1891-1894, 1893-04-14
A MONTANA ROMANCE,
The story Related BY a Conductor on
the Great North
crn.
"A Kinder of a Claim. But Not the
Kind You're Think.
in Of"

L never read or hear OF the Mountains
that l do not recall a story told by a con
ductor on the Great Northern road, says
a writer in tho Chicago Tribune. We
we're going to Butte. The train had just
crossed the river at Great Falls. From
that point the road begins its eastern as
cent Of the range, whose tops are
whitened with snow all the year round.
A wide plain spreads out between the
line of the road and the range. AS the
train was getting "a fresh hold on the
rails" as one Of the party expressed it,
the conductor stood on the rear platform
of the coach and looked steadfastly at
one spot until it was lost.
SCOT a claim anywhere around there?"
asked a traveller, who had noticed the
conductors longing look.
"a kinder of a claim he replied, 'but
not the kind you're thinkin' Of"
How he came to tell us makes no diff
fererce now. Here is what he said:
bout a year ago, ] think it was, a
young man was put on my train by the
conductor who brought him to where |
take it. He had been east. His folks
lived down there, | believe. He had been
west a good many years, was a cowboy,
then a deputy marshal, then a boss of a
ranch, and then he got to %speculatin' in
Anaconda. He had lived the sort of a
life out here that a man was expected to
live in them days. lie was a hard citi.
zen, and then a good one. Blest il |
know just where lie had quit off, but he
did. He finally got to lovin' a girl, and
just when he was harin' it the wust way,
she ups and marries a ood~-for-nothin'
dude that came out here and got to
clerkin' in a rag house. Then the young
man I'm talkin' about he goes east to
wear out his %feeliu's | reckon. And he
was gone all summer. They said he was
at the seaside. [ thought when | heard
that as how he would not last long.
When a man quits this climate to 90 to
the seaside there must be something
mighty hard about his case. il a mar
can't get cured here he needn't 60 any
where else.
swell. when he was put in my care
there was four or five Of the boys with
him. They had heard he was comm
back, and they met him way down this
side Of st. Paul. And they nursed him
all the way and fed him just as if he had
the wlnder of the car all the time, day
and night, but he wasn't sayin' nothin'.
When we got to Great Fails he looked
out of the car wlnder nj smiled. 1t
was the first time the boys had seen him
do that since they met h NJ, an they
thought he was gettin' well. He asked
them to set him up in his berth so he
could see. And he looked at the moun-
tain tops out there, covered with the
Wilderness of God, an the foot of
the mountains that is washed by the
pures water this side Of the divide. The
train was just gettin' a good hold on the
rails wnen the poor fellow sank back, an
the lex thing | see the boys was takin'
the pill er from under his head. Then |
knowed it was all ovrr. Then one of the
boys came to me an asked If would take
$1,000 to stop the train. | told EN- /
could do nothin' of the sort.
They said money WAS no object. Then
| asked EN- what was up, and one of
EN- told me that he-meanin' the dead
man-had made a last request that he
be taken from the train and buried in
sight of the mountain that had the snow
on it, the one that had caught lis eyes
first after we had come over the river
They said th"y had promised him tney
would. ! asked 'em where they would
get a box and they said a man as good
as he was didn't need a box; that The
angles would take care of him as soon as
he Was laid away. ! asked EN- what
they would do if the train wasn't stop
ped. They held a short parley and SAID
in a most respectful way, which un-
d%erstood, that they had to carry out the
wishes of the deceased at all hazards;
that they could stop the train if | didn't.
| understood EN-. l pulled the cord and
went forward, and while the engineer
was mendin' the locomotive, which got
out of sorts jest then. tn funeral pro-
cession moved out, an the dead was
buried out there in full sight. 1t SO hap
pened that we got the locomotive fixed
Just rs the funeral was over. and we
took the pail bearers into Butte that
night.
"And | never pass that spot that |
don't look out there where they laid him.
| amt never seen any of the pail bearers
since, and | don't know the name of the
young man they buried. Do you know,
gents, that his grave is green all the year
round? once thought Of putting up a
gravestone at the head. but. thinks J.,
it's mont of my business. and, besides,
the boys said the angels was guin' to