Fergus County argus. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1886-1946, 1904-10-05

My brother. A. NJ. Walker, and
went TO Virginia City to remain till
this man returned from Missoula. We
were notified OIL the 18th OF Decem.
Der. 1868, TO go to the mill at once.
December 18th, at noon, we shoul.
dered our blankets and that after.
noon walked to Pete Dayley's ranch,
j6 miles distant. getting there some
little time after dark. As soon as we
had gotten there Dayley asked us il
We had met a team, describing Il,
We answered that We had. He said
Dutch Pete's body vas in that wagon:
he said those men were a party of
hunters. They had been down the
Sinking Water hunting, that n of
them had shot a bird on the wing
He watched where 1t fell, then work.
ed his way through the brush and
found that the dead bird had fallen
on the body of Dutch Pete, real name
roboult. The hunters were taking
the body to Virginia City.
Shortly after Dayley revealed this
news TO us, Alex. Garter came there
ana stopped for the night. Dayley
informed him of the finding of To
BOUTS body; he seemed TO be i'll at
ease all evening and that night he
went to bed in Mrs. Dayley's best bed
with his hat, o%vercoat, boots and
spurs on, and had his lace mare brid.
led and saddled and tied to the bach
window of his room. He skipped out
some time during the night. He eyi.
IDENTIFY believed that the finding OF
TobOult's body would produce such
evidence as would start a wave VI
Indignation throughout the length OF
Alder Gulch and over the whole coun
try that could not be stepped. think
that he made straight for their head.
quarters at Long Johns. No doubt
he was anxious to post his companions
in crime of the finding of Toboults
body and that he wanted to be with
his kind. | don't believe that Alex
Carter was ever in Alder Gulch after
that night.
There were seven or eight men at
Dayley's that night, every one OF
whom knew Carter. All knew that he
was one of the road agent gang as
well as he could know 1t without the
most positive proof. Each one there
was satisfied in his own mind that II
Carter caught any one of them out
OF a lonely trail and knew that he
had money, that he would shoot him
in the back for the purpose of rob
berry. To stop at a ranch, TO be In
a small room, to touch clothes, to cal
al the same table, to converse, to SLEEP
in an adjoining room with such a on
Is an environment not desirable tc
any one. Even at this date. 1904
in looking back Ii seems that the find
ing of Toboult's body in the manner
it was, was almost miraculous, for nc
one. ave a hunter, had any business
in that vast aera of thick. entangled
brush, and had not the dead bird, In
its downward fall to earth, pointef
to the evidence S 70 long hoped for, II
might never have been discovered;
and had il not. who knows how many
good men might have fallen victims
in the same way and by the same
criminal band before the day of retri
button dawned?
On the morning of December 10th
brother Milt and | left fete Dayley'.
ranch and walked up to the saw mil
on Mill creek. ten miles from Day
ley's. Milt and | ran the mill up I,
and including Christmas day. w,
were aiming to saw out enough lum
Der by horse power ~ construct a,
overshot water wheel and to make ;
lumber flume. expecting then to oper
ate the mill by water power as sooi
as the spring season opened
That first night after supper, We dis
closed to the crew of men at the mil
about a dozen Of them. including Mr.
Dammell. what we had learned tn,
night before. The consensus of tn,
opinion of the men of that little oh
scure camp cached away in the noun
tains, was that the tmding of To
BOUTS body would be the beginnin.
of the end of the road agents in tina
part of Idaho. IL was not very Ion,
until we learned that a bold. heroi,
band of men was In the saddle and b.
the l~iberality of others, the sinews o
war were not lacking, and the pray
ers of all the good people were goinI
up for the success of the undertake
ing. From this time on we kept on
ears close to the ground to hear wha
news the ticker would bring us. Thu
saw mill we had was quilt in ST
Louis in 1851, then shipped to Fl
Union, and was there 10 years. |
had been built before the days of bah
| NIT natal and thn arhnr an In NJ =.
cast iron boxes. There was no lar,
oil or machine oil in the country. w,
could use tallow on the larger an,
coarser and smaller motion gearing
but IL was a failure On the arbo
shaft.
Hardenbrook. brother Milt and ]
when laying in our outfit at Den
yer. had gotten quite a good-size,
bottle of caster oil for medicine. W,
had not used any of 1t, so we jus
gave that to the saw mill, using 1t on
ly on the arbor, and only a few drop
at a time. II proved to be as goo
a medicine for the saw mill as TO
ourselves.
Early in January, 1864, we had
very cold spell of weather. Arctic
overshoes having not appeared yet
and there was not a pair Of overshoeI
of any kind in our camp. all usini
leather boots.
Our mess of fourteen men ran GU
of meat and II was SO cold that NJ
one would venture to 60 10 miles 70
it, none being prepared to travel II
| A.. Na1la.t u,AatlAr. hut aftar N fnu
days Mr.. Gammell told a Mormon DO,
there that two of them would take
pack animal and go TO Louraine's
l6 miles away. and get some beef
They went that day and when the!
arrived at Louraine's they told Gram
nell there was a quarter Of beef o.
the rack he could have. but awhil'
after night Red and Brown CAM
there with twenty-five other men
they called for their summers AM