Morris tribune. [volume] (Morris, Minn.) 1880-2000, 1922-08-11
Early Montana Days
Recalled by Pioneer
C. R. A. Scobey Prominent Figure in
Early History of State and Town
Bears His Name

Montana knows Cnem no more eA-
cept as the oldtimer recalls past age
an age Of chivalry on the long trail
an age of hard-riding COW punchers
who sat day and night in the saddle
when the roundup was on or gambled
their earnings freely beside the
Pickering freight during the dull
hours; an age of lonely cabins sill
- houetted against the crimson of a
frontier sunset; an age of iron-fsted
cowmen, fearless and defiant, yet in
their way, gentle as lambs and tim
id as children. ft5I
6 Adventuresome souls, they, who
turned their backs on an established
posterity to follow the long trail that
led up the valley and wound hither
and yon among the foothills of an
r infant empire. 1t was in those days
of free range and big outfits that C.
R. A .Scobey of this city pushed on
to the frontier and established him
self on the banks of the Yellowstone
river to run three COW outfits, two
of which he was interested in. 1t
was in the early eighties and the
buffalo hunters had but left, the
railroads had not yet arrived, but
we're slowly forcing their way to
common meeting point from the east
and from the west. Montana, 500
miles as the crow flies from border
toborder, east and west, and 400
from it's southern border to the In
ternational line, boasted but 1S9, 200
souls scattered far and wide over it's
domains. s5g,#E
Mr.. Scobey busted himself for a
number of years along the yellow
stone and Missouri rivers with his
cattle outfits and then was appointed
Indian Agent, which post he held for
10 years in the early days. Accord
ing to the local pioneer, there was
not very stable form of local gov
ernment or court procedure on the
plains in those days and oftentimes
it was necessary for the citizenry to
take things into their own hands re-
gretable as it might have been.
However, we'll organized vigilance
committees did tolerable when it
came to taking care of the lawless
and no one paid much attention to
a shooting affair other than to give
decent burial to the ill-fated one
who was killed fair and peaceable-
like in gun argument. For those
who had respect for neither God
nor man and got "to acting up"
there were trees handy and rope that
would stand a. mans weight.
Despite the lack of officers and
other arms of the law that are so
evident these days, Montana was
much safer in the early days than
Stevens county is today, according to
Mr.. Seobey, insofar as stealing and
petty thieving is concerned Folks
never locked their doors and when a
man left his cabin for a day or a
month or a year he never locked any
doors but left his place open for the
shelter and comfort of whoever
hight happen along the trail Moth
ing ever disappeared but what it
came treking back within the next
few months
In 1884, following a general clean
up of bad men, numerous hanging
bees and the running down or driv-
ing out of the cattle rustlers, Mon
tana settled down to a peaceful and
orderly way of doing business 1t
was along about this time that Mr..
Scobey met the late Sheriff Frank
Zahl who was then a deputy in an
adjoining county. Mr. Scobey pays
high tribute to the late Sheriff of
Stevens county and accords him the
honor of having been one of the fin
est deputies in Montana's early his
tory.
After riding the range in the Fort
Beauford country up and down the
Yellowstone and Missouri rivers for
number of years, Mr.. Scobey was
appointed Indian Agent at Fort
Peck, which position he held for ten
years. 1t was while he was in this
work that folks living in little ham,
let 20 miles north of Poplar let it
be known that they wanted a post
Office up there. Mr.. Scobey was at
Poplar at the time and being about
the only man thereabouts who could
manipulate typewriter it fell upon
him to make out the necessary pa
pers. Being well known throughout
that country and of an accommodating
d nature, Mr Scobey put down, his
own John Henry when urged by
those present and thus created the
post office of Scobey, Mont, now a
thriving town situated in the heart
of good grain country, Mr.. Sco-
bey has never seen his namesake al
though he often hunted over the
G townsite in the early days little
s dreaming that his hunting ground
would some day give birth to a.town
and that all mail destined for that
place would be addressed with his
name 4rs1 49,
Mr.. Scobey now carries mail on
one Of the rural routes out OF Morris
and while usually in an excellent