Fergus County argus. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1886-1946, 1897-12-08
abundant evidence of delays
line:
state OF Montana ISIS.

line:
state of Montana l.
County of Fergus. u.s.
On this fourth day of December in
the year one Thousand eight hundred
and ninety-seven. before me Halsey
X. Watson, a notary public in and
for the county and state aforesaid,
personally appeard William w.
LARSEN, known to me to be the same
person whose name is subscribed TO
the within instrument, and being
first duly sworn depOses n says:
That my name is William w.
LARSEN and that my place of resi-
dence for six months last past has
been Burton, Teton County. Mon
tana; that on the twenty-ninth day
of November, 1897, / engaged passage
on the stage running from Great
Falls to LewistOwn. Montana,
" hich stage also carries the United
States mails, and that l paid Tor my
passage thereon from Great Falls to
Lewistown;
That because of the fact that,
whereas, 1 was previously informed
that l would be transported to
Lewistownin 36 hours, and thatld did
not arrive until Friday morning,
December 3rd, during which interval
1 was put to much Inconvenience
and expense. and at the request of
f. j. Bower of Stanford, Fergus
county, Montana, and at the further
request of several citizens of Lewis
town, l desire to make a statement
Of the circumstances which delayed
the stage on that trip and of b
reasons why the mail which was re-
ceived by the coach ON which i
Travelled, from the postmaster at
| Great Falls Monday morning at
$50 a. M. did not reach Lewistown
until $50 a. m, the fOllOw wing Friday.
The stage left Great Falls Monday,
November 18th, at $50 a. m, with
the United States mail and about
1000 pounds of freight and express;
when about three miles out of Great
Falls one of the horses became ex-
hausted and it was necessary to I'M
hitch and proceed with three horses;
when we reached "Lawson's Re
Sort" about five miles out of Great
Falls, the team was so badly played
out that it was necessary to unload
the freight; we reached h stage
barn at Box Elder with much diff
Guilty and here we received a very
poorly fed team and proceeded to
Belt, reaching there at about 2:30 p.
IN. Here we took dinner, during
/ III Ill NhS . Stoou uhBIo
tected from the cold wind; about 8 p.
m, we continued our journey as far
as Root Hog a stage barn, where
we remained until 8 O'Clock Tuesday
morning. AT this station we were
furnished a team, which / was reli-
ably informed had been fed nothing
that morning but a small quantity
of oats, and this team hauled us to
Geiser, which we reached at 1910 p.
IN. Here i was informed that there
were two fresh teams and one fresh
driver, but the latter said he "wOuld
not start for Stanford that after
noon if the mail did not go out for
one month";" The agent at Geiser
did not seem to care whether the
mail proceeded or not n we were
Obliged to stop at his house until
Wednesday morning, The at $3.50 a.
m. we started for Stanford. l left the
coach and walked ahead, reaching
there 30 minutes before the stage ar
rived. Up to this time we had
travelled on runners although the
sleighing was very poor, being faI
better wheeling almost the entire
distance. In the journey we had
scraped over h bare ground and
rocks so much that the runners were
worn away and the sleigh wa use
less.
From Stanford to Lewistown the
sleighing was good, but we were
compelled to take a wheeled cOn
veyance. We remained at STANFORD
over night and left for Lewiston Al
, 10 "a. m, Thursday, reaching Phil
, brook at 6 p: m, and LewistOwn Al
$50 a. M, Friday morning. Decembel
3rd. The horses along the route ar,
, not half fed and there appears to b'
; no management of the line except
that of the drivers, who are not re
|. sponsible. Had IN line been proper
: ly managed and the stock used beer
kept in proper condition, it is m!
= belief the drive would have beer
, made i'm SO hours.
( tSigned) WM. w. LARSEN.
Subscribed and sworn to before
2 me this fourth day of December
, 1897. HALSEY r. WATSON,
/, EI( Notary Public in and fot
seai-J Fergus County, Montana.