The Roanoke times. (Roanoke, Va.) 1897-1977, 1897-02-10

for almost six months. Hc was ii Pooh
Ban with vengeance. His name is E.
j. Fox, and he is fond of telling how
no ran Cavalier county in the first win
ter of its existence. lit camo about i'm
this way:
Cavalier county had been named, but
unorganlzed, for several years up to
1854. 1t consisted of large strip of
land, all owned by the government, "
ing west of the western boundary line
of Pembina county About that timc
P. Ntzhugh, of Bathgate was elected MS
representative of Pembina county in
the legislature, and it occurred to him
and to Attorney w. ]. Mooney of the
same village that it would be we'll TO
organize Cavalier county and add to it
the three ranges i'll the western part of
Pcmblna county. This western part of
Pcmblna county was very much higher
than the rest of the county, and was
situated, the people said and say vet.
ION the mountain. So McHugh cot II
bill through the legislature defining
Cavalier county as it is today.
That WAS i'll the winter of lSS4-5.
A courthouse was built at Langdon,
which WAS designated rs the comfy
seat. and at the election in November
various county officers were elected.
But none OF the county officers came to
Langdon 10 live. 1t WAS already Il bad
winter and they could see no reason
why they should como if there was
some one there 10 take chargc of the
records. So they united iii asking L. j.
Fox. young man just from Canada.
tn fake fh,r,-n of fl,,,
mer Fox accepted the position. or posi-
lions. and i'll December took charge of
the affairs of the county The court
house WAS then IL large building-in
fact, too large for use Fox decided
that it would be better to leave it va
cant until spring. and he took up his
abode III Il one room claim shack. = the
only other building in town. This was
about - by 20 feet in dimensions. and
there he lived and did business that
winter He was deputy clerk of the
courts county judge, county treasurer.
county auditor and register OF deeds.
The sheriff lived i'll the country and the
superintendent of schools lived iuSt
across the Manitoba line The sheriff
did not serve out his term. for he was
put III jail for shooting Il man in Il fight.
There was not another living soul with
i'll two miles
Fox lived entirely alone, and did his
own cooking, except the bread baking.
which was done bv ncighbor three
miles away. Langdon, though the coun-
~ seat. WAS not yet il postofficc. The
postmaster of olga, in the eastern part
OF the county, used to send over IL large
package of letters and papers about
twice week to the people whom he
knew lived near Langdon, and Fox
would give To these people their mail
when they called for it, There was not
one settler 40 miles To the west. but
about 40 and 30 miles northwest. near
the Manitoba line, there were several
settlers, and some of these used to drive
that great distance to ''filc" on Il home
stead or II tree claim When they did
that, Fox had 10 give them their meals
and lodgings. and i'll fact, he had often
to keep Il sort of hotel.
The winter of lSSl-5 was very cold
and at night Fox used often to lie
awake and listen to the billiards. howl
around his little shack He was kept
busy, however. for there were many
HiiliSS, ItSl:tcllllSS OIL mort SJScS ana Il
few deeds. An average OF two or three
men would come to see him daily on
business, but he seldom saw woman.
Nearly all the settlers near him at that
time We're bachelors. who aftcrward
went back to Canada to get married;
and indeed lNoX did the same. Every
body WAS poor. and yet they all seemed
TO enjoy themselves. though they had
to haul their wheat from 30 to 10 miles
TO market
The winter passed very swiftly. and
i'll the summer Mooney and McHugh
came with their families Then other
settlers began to pour III. Buildings
went up, as if 10y magic. and in IL few
months there We're Il poStotficc and Il
dozen dwellings. Talk of IL railroad hc-
gan To be heard. and in II few months
II came Then indeed Pooh Bah Fox
had to surrender his glory. lie chose f"
take up the humble position of supcrin
tcndcnt of the schools of the county
and he still retains the place He is dis
posed to think that. III spite of the com
forts and convcnicnccs of the present
mode of life here. he enjoyed himself
more that winter when he was monarch
OF all the government offices of Cavalier
county. -Lmn%don On. d.. Cor. Chicago
Record
Discernment.