davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Wolf Point herald. (Wolf Point, Mont.) 1913-1940, 1920-08-05
CALAMITY Jane"
AS COUNTY CHARGE
FEMALE SCOUT WHO SERVED
WITH CUSTER AND CROOK
ENDS DAYS IN POORHOUSE
Enlisted Under Guise of a Man; Per-
formed Great Service Against the
Indians and Only Escaped the Gus
ter Massacre Through an Attack
of Pneumonia.

Calamity Jane" who severa.
years ago ended her days in the poor
house at Bozeman, was one of the
most picturesque characters in the
history of the western border life. AT
the time of her admission to the poor
house, nearly 20 years ago, she had
become feeble, the exposure during
her long service as a government
scout and Indian fighter finally un-
dermining her rugged constitution.
Calamity Jane" who had figured
in many dime novels of western adj
venture, had an actual career fully
as exciting as the most realistic
writer could conjure. In private life
she was Mrs. Martha Burk, rough in
exterior, uncouth in manner, Hitter
ate, but possessing a great heart, a
wonderful knowledge of the plains
and more nerve and courage than one
man in a hundred.
She was born in Princeton, Mo-, in
1852. When she was 13 years old
her father, j. Canary, started with his
wife and six children, of whom Mar
tina was the eldest, for the Montana
gold fields. On this overland trip the
girl learned to ride and shoot as we'll
as any of the p~lainsmen. Shortly
after the family reached Montana
the mother died. Canary did not find
gold and turned back, poorer than
when he started. At Salt Lake City
the father died, leaving Martha to
care for the brood of children.
In 1870, learning that General
Custer was at Fort Russell, Wyo.,
she proceeded thither in the hope of
finding employment as a scout.
Knowing that her sex would mitigate
her chances, she donned the habili-
ments of a cowboy. General Custer
gave the slender cowboy a trial at
riding and shooting, questioned him
closely as to his knowledge of the
country and engaged him at once as
a scout.
The sex of the new scout was soon
discovered, however, but her ability
was such that General Custer retain
ed her on the staff, administering a
slight reprimand for the deception
From this time on her life was crowd
ed to the limit with adventure. She
p%rospered on hardships, slipped out
of Indian traps, did magnificent work
as a scout and rose high in the esti-
nation of the entire force.
In 1872, during the campaign
The Wolf Point herald. (Wolf Point, Mont.) 1913-1940, 1920-08-05
TRAIL, LEADING TO VIRGINIA.
CITY, TRAvERSES MOST HISTORIC GROUND
BY RAN WARD.

The folks who live beside the JEFF
~ferson, Or up and down the Ruby
and even along the upper Madison
are all a flutter with excitement
They have made a great discovery
not of gold or precious stones, as one
might readily suspect-but what to
them seems even more important
They have suddenly discovered that
right beside them runs the most in
teresting bit of road in all the vest
a road where history, romance and
adventure crowd and jostle one an
other in shameless fashion.
This discovery they propose to cap
i~talize, and to exploit to the Utmost,
hoping to lure the wary tourist in un-
told thousands to visit their fertile
valley and thriving towns. Guide
books r being written, maps com
piled, sign posts painted and the road
itself is undergoing extensive repairs
and alterations. This road, which
has been named the Vigilante trail,
the most direct route between yell
lowstone park and Butte as any one
a measuring stick may easily as
certain.
It's real beginning is where it joins
The Yellowstone trail at the foot of
Cedar hill, more than 20 miles from
and not far from the reputed
spot where Sacajawea was captured
while bathing in the Jefferson by a
hostile tribe and carried away by
hem to slavery.
In later years she returned with
he mighty Lewis and Clark, guiding
.hese intrepid explorers up the river
taking the same general course
he road now takes-through Silver
star to Twin Bridges. Here, where
he river forks, they made camp and
The Wolf Point herald. (Wolf Point, Mont.) 1913-1940, 1920-08-05

victed after a fair and impartial tria
and led him off at once to a neigh.
boring corral, the gate of which
could be easily converted into a first
class gallows.
Poor Slade! He had been one oil
the boys that feared no noise. In a
hundred desperate and bloody en-
counters, wherein he was the party
of the first part, he had exhibited
such nerve, GOODNESS and sang-froid
as to win the admiration of his
friends and the wholesome respect
of his enemies, but now when he had
become the party of the second part,
on the receiving end, he broke down
completely, begging on his knees, to
see his wife. This last request the
miners voted down emphatically, for
once before, on a similar occasion,
when SHADES wife had been brought
to bid him a last farewell she had, at
the right moment, whipped out a
pair of loaded pistols, helped her
lord aboard her horse and galloped
safely away through a barrage of
small shot from the astonished on
lockers.
III mluerS ulu not care TO see
her show a second time, so when
some n rushed up, saying that Mrs.
Slade could even then be seen driving
her foam-flecked horse at headlong
speed over the hill and down the
road, they kicked the box from I'M
der the still weeping victim and left
him dangling in the Montana air.
Within a few minutes the last of
them had skunk down the canyon
and so avoided witnessing the awful
sorrow of a bereaved woman or lis
to the dreadfully profane i'm
precautions she hurled at their guilty
heads and to the terrible bloody VOWS
she made for vengeance.
The boosters for this trail say that
nowhere can be found a stretch of
road that has seen such stirring
times as this; few, if any, exhibit
such lavish display of scenery and
at all is more intimately con-
with the early history of the
state.
The Wolf Point herald. (Wolf Point, Mont.) 1913-1940, 1920-08-05

by lending the notorious resort an air
OF genteel responsibility which is
neither merited nor deserved.
Haunt of George Ives.
Of all those who loitered around
this old house the most renowned was
George Ives, the desperado. He was
the arch WILLAMETTE first in every
kind of devilment. He was likewise
the first victim of the newly-formed
vigilante committee. They captured
him not far from this place, put him
astride a horse and set out for Ne
vada where they proposed to try him.
Ives begged to be taken on to Vir-
ginia claiming that the ~populace of
the lower town must be prejudiced
against him, for he had once while
there killed a dog that had bit him.
The road in those days, as it is now,
was a fine piece of highway and it
tempted one then as it does now to
test it out for speed. A series of
races e. Dor in progress with Ives
and his captors as competitors. Ives
The Wolf Point herald. (Wolf Point, Mont.) 1913-1940, 1920-08-05

horse seemed to be a slow one unit
in one of the longer sprints he show
ed unexpected form, leaving the field
far behind. He failed to stop at the
finishing line but kept going over
fences and creeks, across country
with the whole Vigilante committee
in full cry behind him. When finally
recaptured he was loaded with log
ging chains, hauled into court and on
December 81, 1868, at the end OF
three days trial, was hanged. His
companions in crime, Red Yaeger
and G. w. Brown, the latter a sort
of bartender at the Robbers Roost,
were rounded up and also hanged
within the next two weeks.
Hanging of PIummer.
The Vigilantes, now warmed up to
their work, roamed up and down the
trail, seeking whom they might de-
YOUR. They travelled south to Ban
mack, where they hanged the sher-
if, Plummer, and his two deputies,
Ray and Stinson on a gallows Plum
mer had erected to hang some one
else on. They rode over the pass to
Deer Lodge and down to HeIlgate,
executed on their way a half dozen
assorted malefactors. In all they
visited summary justice on 80 PEG
pie.
A Strange Case.
Another murderer, James Brady,
by name, they caught red-handed
gave him a quick but fair trial and
dangled him from the nearest limb.
The execution was no sooner over
than the supposed murdered victim
recovered consciousness. He had not
been killed, but merely stunned.
Some weak-minded and tender-heart-
ed individuals thought that the muir
derer should have been spared be-
cause his victim was a man of strong
constitution and had recovered in
spite of all expectations. The ma
jority of the people, however, could
not see what the state of the mans
health had to do with the crime of
the villain who shoots him.
The road and it is a fine road along
here, every foot of which has seen
in its time, some sort of violence,
wends its way up the canyon, past the
gold dredges and old placer diggings
to Virginia City. Between this lat
ter town and Ennis stands Virginia
hill, which to the west-bound trav-
eler appears to be one of the long
steepest, meanest and most exas-
oerating hills in the whole state of
Montana.
1t Is a low gear hill-heart-break-
ng, nerve-racking, never ending
sort of a hill that goes up and up I'M
,easingly with never a change of
grade or trace of Level spot to break
is dread monotony. AS the road
Winds it's tortuous way up through
he crooked r%avine, a dozen vistas are
brought to view each showing a
of road the end of which
promises to be the summit but when
cached proves to be nothing but the
of the next ascending lap.
A Great Resting Place.
About half way up or just at the
pot where ones patience is exhaust
d, his temper is lost and his engine
boiling furiously, there is,
apply, a fine clump of shade trees
rowing on either side of the road,
nth a bubbling spring and a rustic
ench beneath them. Every trav-
Ter stops here to rest a while, to
his thirst, to cool his engine
The Wolf Point herald. (Wolf Point, Mont.) 1913-1940, 1920-08-05

against the Cheyennes, she saved the
life of Captain Egan, carrying him
from the battlefield after he had been
severely wounded. AS soon as he
could speak, he christened her Ca
lamity Jane, the heroine of the
plains"
She participated in all the fight
ing with the C%heyennes from 1872
to 1875, during which latter year she
went with General Crook and his
command to the Black Hills to rescue
the miners and settlers from the
Sioux, In 1876 she was ordered
north with important dispatches for
General Custer. This was a fearful
ride in the face of the most incle-
ment weather and hostile savages.
She found it necessary to swim the
Platte river at Fort Fetterman, and
thereby contracting pneumonia which
resulted in a long illness and pro-
tracted %furlough. Yet this illness
saved her life; otherwise she would
have persisted with Custer and his
men.
AS soon as she was able to resume
duty she was employed as a mail car
rier between Deadwood, S. D., and
Custer, Montana. She was with the
party that captured Jack Mccall, the
desperate who assassinated William
wild Bill Hickok. She cornered
him in a meat market and forced him
to surrender under pain of death by
a cleaver she had procured.
In 1884, while visiting in Ell Paso,
Texas, she met and was married to
Clinton Burk, and of this marriage
a daughter was born. Her husband
died in 1895 and from that time on
all the love and tenderness she could
muster was bestowed upon her girl,
laboring night and day that the
daughter might be educated and grow
up among cultured and gentle peo-
pie.
The Wolf Point herald. (Wolf Point, Mont.) 1913-1940, 1920-08-05

busted themselves for some days in
overhauling their equipment and in
spying out the surrounding country.
One of these forks, the one from
the southwest, was, on account of its
boldness, clearness and rapidity,
named Wisdom, by Captain Lewis, in
honor of one of the cardinal virtues
of President Jefferson. The other
stream, which came from the north
west, had an easy placid flow, and
so was named Tranquility, in honor
of another cardinal virtue of the pre-
sident. Since wisdom ard tranquility
were the chief attributes of Jeffer-
son, the man, it was only fair that
they should be the chief tributaries
ct Jefferson, the river, but alack,
one is now called The Big Hol1 and
the other was named Stinkingwatec
Lewis and Clark with their pack.
ers, guides and voyageurs, made
their way up the Jefferson, although
this part of the river is now known
as the B~eaverhead, to the great cliff,
10 miles south of Twin Bridges,
which they christened Beaverhead
rock, because of a fancied resembl-
ance to the animal, but which is Of
ficially known as Point of Rocks.
After Lewis and Clark came the
hunters and trappers, for here was
the happy hunting grounds. The
foothills swarmed with deer and an
telope, while the river bottoms were
alive with beaver and other fur
bearing animals. For possession of
these many a bloody and desperate
battle was fought, first against the
Indians and then among themselves.
In one of these fights near the
Point of Rocks, a hunter named Potts
was killed, and his partner, Golfer
taking to his heels broke all records
down the river. Through Twin
Bridges, Silver Star and Whitehall
he sped never stopping, never even
h~esitating till he had reached the
broad Missouri. This same Golfer
was the first white man to visit the
park-and his descriptions of that
place earned for it the name of Col
He'll.
In the early sos gold was discov-
cred at Bannack and Virginia City,
and a connecting road was soon es-
tablished. This road, now part of
the Vigilante TRAIL, quickly became a
workshop or place of business,
as it were, for the road agents, who
levied toll on every passer by robbing
and numbering with the greatest i'm
punity. At every turn from Ban
mock to Virginia City, they held up
pack trains and individual
miners, killing those who resisted,
beat those who had nothing. So com
Dlete their sway so stern their rule,
that more than 200 lives were lost
along that road, and there were none
hinder save the sheriff, Plummer,
Ind he, as every inc now knows, and
as every one suspected, was their
chief. He was hanged in due time
md his grave may be seen on the
,idehill at Bannack.
The headquarters of these des-
)eradoes was at Daley's ranch, or the
Robbers roost. The fine old inn is
till standing beside the road a few
niles from Sheridan, but has lately 6
profaned by the touch of an
lonest and pious farmer, who has {
improved" it filling the rooms with
frightened children and the yard
With chickens and ducks and other
of domestic felicity; there s
The Wolf Point herald. (Wolf Point, Mont.) 1913-1940, 1920-08-05
Boulder Thompson May Return

William Boyce Thompson, former
ly of Helena and a we'll known min.
ing man and financier, arrived in
New York from Montana with more
debts than money, writes Merle
Crowell in the American magazine.
Colonel Thompson later made a big
fortune in mining and he has always
maintained his faith in Montana's
mineral sections. He is said to be
contemplating taking over some big
properties in Montana.
The Wolf Point herald. (Wolf Point, Mont.) 1913-1940, 1920-08-05
Philipsburg Mines Active.

Mines in the Philipsburg district
are now turning out more than 500
tons of manganese daily, the product
is being shipped to the eastern mart.
Last year Montana led the nation in
the production of manganese, the
Philipsburg district being a big fac
tor in establishing this record.
In addition to the manganese out
put, the Philipsburg mines are pro-
ducing more than 400 tons of silver
ore daily. More than 1000 men are
now employed in the district.
The Wolf Point herald. (Wolf Point, Mont.) 1913-1940, 1920-08-05

With less excitement than he
displayed when he pulled in a big
trout such as he was landing every
few minutes, William Jennings
Bryan received the announcement
that he was nominated for the
presidency of the United States a
fourth time.
The news of the action of the pro-
hibition party in naming him to head
their ticket was read to him from a
copy of the Bozeman Chronicle while
he fished from a row boat in Madi-
son lake, near Norris.
HE didn't seem a bit excited
about it. 1t W seemed to spoil the
good time he was having fishing and
made him anxious to hurry to the
nearest telegraph station and dis
claim the honor which he's grown so
accustomed to-"
That is the way Mrs. Carroll Walk
er of Butte described the informal
fashion in which the great Common
err, CARRIED in a faded old suit of
jeans, heard the news that he was
named as a presidential candidate.
"As my father read it to him, he
calmly went on throwing out his line,
just as if it were an ordinary piece of
news" she said. ,
Accompanied by her father,
Charles Stevens, for many years a
we'll known newspaper man of Butte
and now editor of the Bozeman
Chronicle, Mrs. Carroll motored to
Pony Wednesday afternoon to hear
Mr.. Bryan, who spoke there on the
Chautauqua circuit. 1t was there
that they accepted his invitation to
accompany him to Ennis for his even
ing lecture, and to go fishing with
him the next morning in Madison
lake at Meadowcreek.
This fishing trip wasn't on his
travel schedule, but Mr.. Bryan SEEM
ed to get a lot of fun out of the idea
that he was away off there in the
wilderness, II miles from the near
est railroad and that for once he
needn't be bothered by kilograms
and messages to spoil the days
sport. He wouldn't even have heard
about his nomination if the morning
stage hadn't brought a copy of the
Bozeman Chronicle up to Meadow
creek Inn," she said.
Unprepared for the fishing trip,
JIG PoAtJ OOAlOWOd ohkh O4dlPlACAb
they needed at the inn, but they
weren't ready for the advent of a
game warden, who demand
ed their fishing licenses. "Of course
we didn't have any so Mr.. Bryan
bought them for all of u.s." Mrs. Car
roll said. Fishing is always good
in Madison lake but Mr.. Bryan SEEM
ed to have better luck than any Of
us.
From the agents office in the
little N. P. railroad station in Norris,
Mr.. Bryan sent his telegram declin-
ing the nomination of the prohibit
ion party. 1t was probably the big
gest piece of news that the operator
aver licked off and he seemed much
more concerned about it than the
distinguished Nebraskan who prob
IDLY is used to such things"
Leaving Norris, the party went by
automobile by way of the West Gal
attn canyon to Bozeman and at a
upper at the Club cafe the fish he
in the Madison were served
hat evening before Mr.. Bryan's
,hautauqua lecture engagement.
At BoZeman, where they had been
earching wildly all day to locate
i'm, Mr.. Bryan found sheaves Of
elegrams, among them one asking
i'm to accept the dry party's nom
"If it hadn't been for that
tray copy of the Chronicle from
he had heard of it as he sat
it probably would have been
ews to him at that" Mrs. Carroll
aid.
The Wolf Point herald. (Wolf Point, Mont.) 1913-1940, 1920-08-05
BRYAN FISHING !
WHEN NEWS CAME
MORE EXCITED OVER TROUT HE
HAD JUST CAUGHT IN MADI-
SON THAN NOMINATION

Commoner Hurried to Little Station
at Norris and Sent Telegram De-
Ginning Nomination for President
on the Prohibition Ticket; Is Good
Fisherman.
The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1920-07-30
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The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1920-07-30
JACK IS SORE
WILLS COT TO
FULTON FIRST

New York, July 30.-Jack Demp-
sey was the saddest man in the
Armory Monday night when Full
ton took the boards for keeps.
Darn 1t. why didn't they save
him for mer were the words that
fairly dew from his lips as Fulton
went down. Jack saw $4,000 fit
ting by fOr every second of the 10
counted over Fulton. No question
but he would have earned that
much for himself in a return bout
with his supposedly dangerous
rival.
Fulton's amazing collapse at a
time when he seemed to be little
hurt dumbfounded everyone, Tom
O'Rourke most Of all.
We'll. l guess it's all the luck Of
the game, but l do claim that the
punches that floored Fulton finally
were deliberate FOULS" said
O'Rourke. He held with one hand
and beat Fred to the floor with a
succession of right,hand punches.
1T was the distinct understand
ing in this bout that neither man
was to hit and hold or even indulge
in clinches. The governor asked
that a capable man be appointed
referee so that this matter of hold
ing would not be abused. OF
course it's all over now and too
late to talk about it. Fulton. is
badly hurt. A doctor who knows
him came to his room and found
two of his ribs fractured. Fulton
was having great difficulty in
breathing until the doctor bound
up his side.
Wills? A good man, a very good
one. I'll back him if he boxes
Dempsey. l think he hits too hard
and comes too fast for any man in
the world. 1t is all right for Demp-
sey to be in there knocking over
someone who is not hitting him
back, but Wills will be doing that
and for that reason l think he can
beat Dempsey"
However. Wills won, and won in
jig time. and so the story ends. He
Is entitled to consideration and
this makes it seem as if he will get
1t. AS soon as the bout. was over
Paddy Mullins, his manager
brought Wills over to the side OF
the ring, where he introduced Wills
m tho oh a npion Thew chooly hands
and as Wills left the ring Jacb
Kearns said in answer to a direct
question:
"Of course we'll fight Wills
Dempsey will fight any man in the
world. That goes. Dempsey is 9
public servant. and if the public
wants him to fight Wills then he'll
fight him. That's Dempsey's trade
and nobody is barred"
The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1920-07-30

tap to Lenahan, but scored when
LeDahan hit him with q throw to
Snyder, the hall rolling to the
stand and w. Glox pulling up at
third. McInery followed N. Glox
across the plate on Lenahan's
error. Cc.trin threw ont Rychner.
Dixon famed.
Eighth Inning.
Bloomington: Purpura got Sny-
der's fly. Lenahan flied to W. Glox.
Jantzen out, Benson to Glox. Den
mis- was in fine form. No runs, no
hits, no errors.
ROCK ISLAND: Dennis popped
to C0ltrin. Murphy famed. Keller
man threw. out Purpura. No runs,
no hits, no errors.
Ninth Inning.
Bloomington: Dunn, batting for
Romine, singled to left and took
second on Kellerman's safe hit to
center. 1t looked like a rally till
Coltrin forced Dunn, Rychner to
Benson. Thompson tapped weakly
to Dennis. Fothergill. up in the
pinch. popped weakly to Murphy
ending the game. No runs, two
hits, no errors