Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1900-02-16
DR., WutTF0RO
REMINISCENT
Tells Some Experiences Of
Early Days.
INTERVIEWED IN ZION
Escaped lynching-Stirripg Times
and Much Gold in Alder Gulch
An Epic Poem.
INTERVIEWED IN ZION

-. D.. WnltIOrd or Butte, appeared In
Wednesdays issue of the Salt Lake
Herald. DR.: Whitford is one of the pio-
neer physicians of Butte and has a an
eventful history, only a portion of which
appears in the article, which is as fol-
lows:
Any one who allows his eyes to rest
upon the sturdy frame of DR.. O.. B.
Whitford of Butte, who is at present
'quartered at the Knutsford, would size
the 6~5-year-old practitioner as being a
man with a history. Last night DR..
Whitford admitted, in an off-hand way,
that his lot had fallen among stirring
scenes incident to a pioneer OF the west.
He said: Il bear several arrow scars
on my anatomy which were presented to
me by a band Of Cheyenne Indians at
Julesberg, Colo, in 1853, but the narrow
est squeak l had was at the hands of a
Methodist preachers who was with a
company of agonauts crossing the plains
in eastern Colorado. I am an agnostic,
and I guess I aired my opinion too free
ly. At any rate. a lynching bee was
on the tongue of a prairie schooner was
servant as star performer; as a result,
I had to cache myself for a few days."
The pioneers real historical epoch,
however, commenced when he reached
likes Peak, where he INDUCED in min
ing, and, to use his own words: Jim
DAs - - In 1Ay
self owned half of the site of Denver, but
I sold and moved out. In those days
l used to go out on Cherry creek and
pick up mica for gold dust and send 1t
back east in goose-quills, until I learned
better. The men were crazy in those
days. Travelled with old Major Bridger
then, with "a train Of 1900 men; old
Bridger- was the damnedest liar / ever
knew. He would fill them up with yarns
0 icycles. of gold hanging OF the
rnnkc nm fho h o1,1c Of tina oran1r or1
when We struck mica in the sand they
would sc crazy l had a wagonload of
tools with me n on those occasions I
would sell the picks at So apiece. VIII IN
the mob claimed down they would want
to hang Bridger. and then l had to do
the cache act and keep him out of harms
way for a week or SO. The boys would
throw their tools away in disgust and
I would buy them in at two bits each,
to seM out again on the lex Strike I
made quite a little "a that way"
DR.. WhitfOrd claims to hav been one
of the first men into Alder gulch, now
Virginia City. Mont, and tells some in
terestlng yarns regarding the way the
men used to throw the dust around in
those" days. He said last night: For
two years during the time l was there.
there was 5000, 900, 900 Of gold dust taken
out of the pIacers. I remember we'll
Preacher Colonel Woods. who at one
TIME was taking out $4,000 of placer
va pSA NNSAs l SSSA 14l1l IuhC ll49
wife n two daughters up co the dance
saloon and fill the woman's apron, who
stood at the door, with gold dust until
it ripped and the dust went IN the floor
for the poor. Less than three years
after he couldn't pay my bill for medical
services. Talk about times! Why, I
rave seen 5000 men drunk at one time in
Alder gulch, throwing their stuff around
in handfuls for the poor. I remember
we'll one fellow, a blacksmith by The
name of Dump. who tied two $4,000 sacks
Of dust to the pOmmel of his saddle and
cut half a dozen holes in the bottoms
of the bags, to go ripping and rearing
through the town. scattering the gold,
shooting and yelling like a devil. Ten
years later we gave him a pauper's
kept their money!"
The old pioneer went On to relate the
| circumstances of a reunion of old-timers
held in Virginia City recently, m for
the edification of those around him, re-
cited an epic poem composed by himself
for the occasion. He said that those
old-timers bawled like so many babies
when he delivered the last verse, which
was as follows:
"For what is life but a ripple at sea
Compared to the thousands yet to be-;
To the millions unborn, who in time
will appear
And travel the blazed trails of the OLD
pioneer"
poet came down to Salt Lake City in re.
sponse to a telegram from Donald Gil.
lies, the Butte mining man. He VIII
proceed with Mrs. GiNies and child tt
Hot Springs, Ark. to-day, where the pa
tents will be under his treatment.