The circle banner. [volume] (Circle, Mont.) 1914-1939, 1923-06-22

! W1Lnin an ace OF starting another en-
il gagement. The she'll dropped direct
ly into the camp of one of the Chi
nese leaders and killed and manned
about dozen.
Duane left Pekin with his regi
ment on November 8, 1860, just be
fore the cold weather set in, and
spent the winter at Manchester, Eng
land. Shortly after his arrival there
his Oldest brother, Sergt. Thomas
Duane, of the Sixty-fourth regiment
who had fought through the entire
indian mutiny, arrived home He
was taken i'll the day after his arri-
val and died three days later Duane
attended his funeral, which was held
at Chelsea.
On June Is, 1863, the day before
his birthday, Duane received his
honorable discharge from the British
army at Aldershot, with enough
characters to do any man" For dis
tinguished service before Pekin he
was awarded medal, which was
made further valuable by an addi-
tional clasp.
Comes to America
Life at home held no appeal to the
young soldier, and hearing of the
wonderful opportunities offered in
America, he gathered together his
belongings and with his army pay
purchased a ticket to the United
States. The Atlantic seaboard failed
to satisfy him, so he drifted first
to st. Louis and then to Kansas City
Learning of freight outfit that was
making preparations to start for
Montana, he applied for work and
was assigned the task of whacking
a bull team. The freight outfit
crawled into Virginia City, the prin-
cipal camp in the historic Alder gulch
district, the latter part of 1864.
Il didn't like the looks of the
camp and 16 hours after my arrival,
was on my way" he said.
On reaching Nevada City, the next
camp, Duane met up with frontier
character known as Drummer Dan,"
and the two struck up a friendship.
Duane was promptly dubbed "Black
Paddy" and still retains the appel
lat1on. With his new-found partner
he spent the winter of 1864 working
claim on what was called hummer
Dams bar hummer was an exper-
fenced miner and taught Duane the
fine points of the game. Between
them they accumulated a fair-sized |
grub stake, which was stolen from |
hummer when he started with it for |
Virginia City.
1T was hard blow for us, but I |
had the satisfaction of witnessing |
the hanging of number of the cut
Threats who worked that sort of
game, before shook the dust of that |
section from my boots" the old gem
tleman said in referring to the Incl
dent.
To Silver Bow
Then came reports of a new strike
on Silver Bow creek, near where the
present city of Butte stands. Duane,
ever fresh for adventure, threw his
pack over his shoulder and started
for the new diggings, where he ar
rived in 1865. After laboring two
years in vain endeavor to coax the
yellow metal from the sands, he dis
covered himself in debt to the
of $1,000.
Realizing the future held nothing ,
for him at Silver Bow, Duane, or ra-
Their Black Paddy, as he was best
hhOWh, again ulb Inc tIdll w ullC
wading the Little Blackfoot river,
which was high at the time, he mar ..
rowly missed being drowned, and
only succeeded in saving his life by
hold of an over-hanging
willow. When he pulled himself up
IN the bank, his entire worldly pos ,
sessions consisted of the clothes on
lis back. His pack, containing his
var medals and discharge papers,
lad disappeared down stream.
Duane decided to locate when he !.
srrived at Bear Gulch, which became l
me of Montana's many gold produc-
ng districts. He staked out claim
bout II miles from the site of the
resent settlement of Bearmouth.
After spending IL years mining in
he district, during which period he
truck it rich several times, he decid-
d to return to what is now the met z
opolis of a-Butte-where :
g arrived, dead broke, in 1877. e
cunning across an old acquaintance, Z
lob McMinn, he borrowed $500 and ?
reused the ire of his benefactor by I
sfusing to take more.
Turns to Gardening
Butte was a more orderly town in
lose days than it is today" the old r
mer said. "a man could lie in the z
rect with thousands of dollars II
orth of gold dust on him without N
chance of being robbed, while today t;
1u are not safe with As cents" u
He worked in Butte for a time, c.
hen he conceived the idea of start G.
g truck garden, and broke ground Il
few miles from the camp. Ct
81 stayed there and made good m
oney for five years." he said. 81
Many was the time I received 500 az
r wheelbarrow of vegetables.
ute was a great camp in those days W
Id I spent my money like the rest W
the boys" to
Leaving Butte, Duane next located 70
ar Anaconda, where he continued TO
raise vegetables, until he became DC
liable to do the work. DC
Physically, he is far from being te
e man he was in pioneer days. His w
years of strenuous life have left Ia
cir marks, but his mind is still hi
ear and he remembers dates and in OF
Tents of the distant past. He was XII
ways a great lover of literature, In
tn a preference for the classics DIR