The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1908-04-28
PIONEER TALKS
EARLY BILLINGS
Z. c. KINDS TELLS OF THE TOWN
IN THE EARLY EIGHTIES.
INTERESTING INCIDENTS
Was Associated With the Late Alex
ander Frazer in Paying for Work
on Road Between GIendive and
Helena-Notices Great Changes.
From Sundays Daily

From Sundays Daily.
Z. g. Kinds, one of the first men to
go through Billings when it was found
ed in the early sos, Is in the city Wis
iting his old friends, who like himself,
lived here when there was nothing
more than two or three saloons and
several wooden shacks to mark the
townsite Of Billings. This is Mr..
Kinds second visit to Billings since
he left for the coast in the fall of
1883, having visited here about five
years ago.
Mr.. Kinds was associated with the
late Alexander Frazer as paymaster
on the railroad between Glendive and
Helena. Their entire territory had
to be covered BY wagon. Every pay
ment made by the railroad in their
district was made directly through
them SO that they were responsible
to every one OF the thousands Of en-.
gineers and laborers engaged on the
road.
When City Was Founded.
Speaking about the city as 1t was
when he lived here compared to what
it is now, he said: what was known
as Billings then was a cluster of
wooden shacks and tents. When l
first drove in to this district the town
Of Coulson was the principal business
and commercial center: Heman Clarke,
Of the firm of Clarke & Westbrook,
who had the contract for building the
railroad from Glendive to the Mullen
tunnel, vas the man who founded
Billings. He had the town laid out
and offered his employees the first OPP
portunity to buy the lots. Not many
Of US had enough faith to sink any
money in such a sorry looking place
as it was then and consequently lit
tie of the land was sold. j remember
very we'll the wide stretch of sage
brush that vas here. It was not even
a decent place to camp as there was
hardly a drop Of water ITO. be had.
Clarke purchased all the railroad
land around here and in order to get
something for his investment he con-
structed the Big ditch for irrigation
purposes. He built a large mercantile
store on the site now occupied by
Yegen Bros store which In time came
to have the biggest trade along the
road, people coming from Wyoming
and the eastern and central parts OF
the state to purchase their supplies.
Indians Were Numerous.
1.-The Indians were very numerous
then, but we never had any trouble
with them in this locality. The
spring before I came here, that was
in 1881, Rain-in-the-face and his war.
like tribe was driven into Miles City
from where they were sent down the
river in boats to the Missouri and
over into North Dakota where they
were finally lodged OF the Standing
Rock reservation.
81 don't remember many Of the old
land marks because everything seems
to be 50 changed since then. I re-
member the first hotel was the Grand,
situated about where the railroad de.
pot is now. There were no banks and
whenever a person desired to bank
his money he generally came around
to our ONCE. which was considered the
only banking institution.
Old Friends Have Changed.
Il have met several Of my old
friends, some for the first time In 80
years and / couldn't believe some OF
them had changed so. Colonel H. w.
Rowley vas ope Of the first surveyors
on the road when it reached here; N.
G. Bachelor was in the Clarke store,
and Frank Mann was operating the
first street ar. Besides these there
were Fred Foster. "a. u. Babcock,
Judge Goss, Dan Leamy and E. B.
Camp who are all still in Billings.
ION the way here I took occasion to
stop or at Bismarck, N. D., and Miles
City where / worked when paymaster
Of the railroad. Both Of these places
/ noticed as being very much improved
in appearance since then, but nothing
like what has been done. here. I think
that Billings is the liveliest town on
the Northern Pacific and many more
changes have been made in the Vel:
lowstone valley than in any other
place on the system. This place has
been transformed from a barren and
apparently worthless prairie into q
modern business center and l believe
that there are even greater changes to
be made in the future than in the
past"
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