The Press., 1897-06-10
HE WAS A POOH BAH.
HOW YOUNG FOX RAN A WHOLE
 COUNTY IN DAKOTA.

He Held All the Offices For One Winter
 and Rather Enjoyed the Experience,
 Though 1t Is Presumed That He Was
 Sometimes 8 Little Lonesome.
 There is a man ill this town who was the supreme ruler of the whole county for almost six months. He was Pooh Bah with 8 vengeance. His name is E. J. Fox, and he is fond of telling how he ran Cavalier county in the first win ter of it's existence. It came about in this way:
 Cavalier county had been named, but unorganized, for several years up tc 1884 It consisted of la,.ea strip of land, all owned by the government, ly ing west of the western boundary line of Pembina county. About that time P. McHugh of Bathgatc was elected as a representative of Pcmbina county in the legislature, and it occurred to him and to Attorney w. J. Mooney of the same village that it would be well to organize Cavalier county and add to it the three ranges in the western part of Pembina county. This western part of Pembina county was very much higher than the rest of the county, and was situated, the people said, and say yet, Ion the mountain. y So McHugh got bill through the legislature defining Cavalier county as it is today.
 That was ill the winter of 1894-5 A courthouse was built at Langdon, which was designated as the county seat, and at the election in November various county officers were elected But none of the county officers came to Langdon to live. It was already bad winter, and they could see no reason why they should come if there was some one there to take charge of the records. So they united in asking E. J. Fox, young man just from Canada, to take charge of the offices until sum- mer. Fox accepted the position, or posi- tions, and in December took charge of the affairs of the county. The court house was then 8 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 in one room ''claim shack, !" the only other building in town. This was about 15 by 20 feet i'll 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 ill the country and the superintendent of schools lived just across the Manitoba line. The sheriff did not serve out his term, for he was put ill jail for shooting a man in fight. There was not another living soul with ill two miles.
 Fox lived entirely alone, and did his own cooking, except the bread baking, which was done by neighbor three miles away Langdon, though the coun- ty seatE was not yet postofice. The postmaster of Olga, in the eastern part of the county, used to send over 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 50 miles northwest near the Manitoba line, there were several settlers, and some of these used to drive that great distance to "file" on home stead or a tree claim. When they did that, Fox had to give them their meals and lodgings, and, in fact, he had often to keep sort of hotel.
 The winter of 1884-5 was very cold, and at night Fox used often to lie awake and listen to the blizzards howl around his little shack He was kept busy, however, for there were many filings, registerings of mortgages and a 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 were bachelors, who afterward went back to Canada to get married; and indeed Fox did the same. Every body was poor, and yet they all seemed to enjoy themselves, though they had to haul their wheat from 50 to 75 miles to market.
 The winter passed very swiftly, and in the summer Mooney and McHugh came with their families Then other settlers began to pour in. Buildings went up, as if by magic, and in few months there were 8 postofice and dozen dwellings, Talk of railroad be- gan to be heard, and in @ few months it came Then indeed Pooh-Bah Fox had to surrender his glory. He chose to take up the humble position of superin- tendent of the schools of the county and he still retains the place. He is dis posed to think that, in spite of the com forts and conveniences 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. (N. D. Cor. Chicago Record