The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1895-02-25
THIS WAS IN EARLYDAYS
Stories Suggested by Judge WoOdy'S
Address.
CAMELS ON THE LO-LO TRAIL
When the Mules Saw the lmpor-
tatIons From the Eastern Des-
erts They Broke for the Tim
Der and Howled Like Mad.

MIssoUIA, Feb. 24.-The very interest
ing address of Judge Woody before the |
board of trade last evening has recalled |
many interesting incidents regarding |
early times in Mlssoula. Judge Woody |
mentioned briefly the pack train OF
camels that was brought in here TO carry !
freight from Walla Walla to Missoula
and points up the Big Blackfoot. Inc
animals were a part of the band that tue
government imported for freighting across
tho Mojave desert. They could carry
heavier loads than a mule train, but were
so much slower that they did not meet
with the expectations of the men who IN
troduced them and were not used very
long. There are many stories told oil the
experiences of these camels in the noun
tains. They were in charge OF Turk
with an unpronounceable name which no.
body remembers, and the mountain trails
proved too much for them. The Turk was
in constant trouble with other packers, as
his camels were n constant terror to
mules and horses and their appearance
would throw an ordinary pack tram into
CONSERVATION.
One incident is related of a packer who
was returning to tho coast with n long
mule train and up on the divide near SAL
tese met the Turk and his camels. Tho
mules began to squeal when they caught
sight of the first camel and as one after
another of the strange beasts appeared
the mules quit squarey and broke for the
timber. 1t was a perfect stampede and
the packers were delayed for week in
rounding up the frightened mules. Tho
poor Turk was blamed for 1t all and tried
in vain TO appease the wrath OF the mule
SINNERS. They had it in for him and his
camels and the poor Moslem never came
so near to getting thrashing and then
missing il.
But probably the most ludicrous Incl
| dent that occurred while the camels were
| in use here was one which Eph Hac kett
told to a STANDARD reporter to-day, and
which is familiar to all old timers. The
camel train was somewhere in the upper
Blackfoot country, when a fierce storm
| overlook them and the animals were
| driven into a quaklng lisp grove for shelter.
| There they huddled, their tawney SIDES
being dimly visible through the quivering
| leaves of the thicket, while the storm
ragged around them. party OF prospec-
| tors was at this time crossing the valley,
and one of them, an Irshman, caught
sight of the camels as they stood in tho
brush. He thought that they were moose
| and saw an opportunity to win fame as n
hunter. Motioning to his companions in
n cautionary way, he whispered, "hape
schtill, byes, and we'll get them, livery
wan" No sooner had he said this than
he drew bead on one of the poor
creatures and it fell dead where it stood.
Then the poor Turk was wild. He tore
his hair and called upon Allah and the
prophet to be his witness that the infidel
dogs were after him. He called down upon
A. Tr;. al in tho
extensive vocabulary of a Mohammedan
and prayed vehemently that the Irish
mans seed might wither upon the face
OF the earth and his name be forgotten.
He was finally appeased by the payment
of several hundred dollars, and the Irish
man never won fame Us hunter OF
moose.
This unpopularity of the camels and the
fact that the mountain trails were so dill
cult, caused the camel train business &c
lapse into inocuous desuetude in n short
time and the Turk and his train returned
to q climate where there is warmer
: weather and less water than there IS In
Montana. But they are distinctly re
|. membered by all the old-timers. who tel
l stories by the yard of the days wher
,, camels brought supplies into Missoula.
The other story that was suggested b,
j | Judge Woody's address is the account
{ how wildcat Bill" tho original settle
G of Missoua, started monte game ant
{ skinned everybody and how the suckers
i got their money back. Bill was runnin
4 the game in his cabin and had won abou
l. all the dust that there was in the camp
}, One day his victims got desperate and do
termined to get even with the fellow !
some way. so they called quiet meetin
and laid their plans. Bill went into tn
hills a short time after this and, while h
g was absent, his victims pulled out til
staple in his cabin door and gained Ell
IS trance to the room where they ha
s dropped their dust. They found the card
= and marked them. Then when Bill cam
o back they went against his game agaiI
& This time they we're uniformly successfu
IS and they didn't stop playing until Bl
q had lost more than he had won fror
l. them. The fellow never knew how the
II beat him and kept playing in the hope {
IS finding out. But his fondness for none
s. was greater than his curiosity and h
i finally quit. But his victims would hay
" | tl,.,. ,..la