The Wolf Point herald. (Wolf Point, Mont.) 1913-1940, 1921-03-17

camped LOT the night on Dempsey
creek, eight miles out.
Early Days in the Valley
In a historical sketch of Louis r.
Maillet, one of the best known of
the pioneers of Montana, the follow
ing interesting description of the
first white men in Deer Lodge valley
is given:
Johnny Grant had moved his
stock from Hams fork in the fall of
1859 to Little Blackfoot in Deer
Lodge valley. Here he had built two
log houses and corrals (the first ha-
citations of white men in the valley)s
In the spring of 1860 Grant return
ed to the emigrant road (the Ore
gon trail to the Pacific). In Octo-
Der, Maillet left the home of Captain
Grant on the Beaverhead Gather OF
Johnny Grant, and went to the Little
Blackfoot, where he found that John
ny had not yet got in from the emf
grant road, where he was trading.
Johnny had left his large band of
cattle and his houses in charge of
Joe Prudhomme, who was putting
up another hewn log house for Grant.
Maillet helped with the building Of
the house until Grants arrival.
After 10 days Grant and families
came in. He had bought a small
stock of goods on Green river (un-
doubtedly from Jim Bridger), and
a little store was opened. Maillet
was placed in charge the same fall.
"Legris, a Canadian; Tom Camp
bell, Bostwick and Pete Martin, a
greaser, all married to Indian and
halfbreed women, came from Fort
Union and built houses on the Little
Blackfeet, across from the Grant
houses, so that quite a settlement was
started. The Stuart brothers, Reson
Anderson, Tom Adams, John Powell,
James Meininger and Frank Goodwin
all settled at American Fork, now
known as Gold creek.
"As there were so many people in
the valley, dancing was proposed as
a winter amusement. The
from Fort Union had learned to
dance at the trappers' dances there,
and soon there were dancers enough
among them to form two cotillion
sets. Maillet says he enjoyed this
winter Of 1S60-61 better than any
other winter he ever spent in the
mountains, and everyone else SEEM
ed to find it equally pleasant"
First Holdup in Montana
1t was this same Maillet who had
the distinction of figuring as the VIC
tim of the first attempt at a holdup
in Montana by the notorious Plum
mer gang, this being the initial crime
of the orgy of murder and robbery
that ended in the wiping out of the
road agents by the Vigilantes. 1t
happened that in the summer of 1862
Maillet and one Thibault were riding
from He'll Gate to Deer Lodge, when
suddenly, as they rode out of a ra-
vine between the mouth of Bear
creek and the foot of the Flint creek
hills, two men rode out of a coulee
and covered them with double-bar-
relied shotguns. Maillet at once rec
ognized them as Henry Plummer and
Charlie Reeves. AS 0 o as they rec
ognized Maillet they lowered their
guns and laughed, saying they had
done it for a joke.
The reason Maillet and his com
panion escaped with their lives was
because. a few months previously,
after Plummer and Reeves had killed
a man in Orofino gulch and were
trying to escape pursuit, they over
tOOh hol14C ~ AZ OA kAo
road. Maillet had taken a good deal
of pains to give them information
concerning the country surrounding
Deer Lodge, which they needed. He
did not then know of the murder
they had committed. 1t was in re-
turn for this favor hat they saved
life.
Throughout all the stirring times
of the COS and 70's in western Mon
tana, Deer Lodge figured, and innu-
merable stories of thrilling incidents
that happened there could be writ
ten. There are many men living In
valley who remember the excite
ment incidental to the Nez Perces
war and the Battle of the Big Hole.
The messenger sent out by General
to secure aid for his stricken
forces after the last fight rode into
Deer Lodge after a desperate ride
and reported the disaster to the
troops. The wounded from
he battle we're taken there for treat
nent.
But Deer Lodge is not resting on
is historical reputation. 1t is a live,
l~ustling town of 1000, and, as
Iayor Frank Conley said the other
lay, expects to have a population OF
10000 people in the course of time.