The Wolf Point herald. (Wolf Point, Mont.) 1913-1940, 1923-06-21

range of the piece, but he also came
within an ace of starting another en-
gagement. The she'll dropped direct
ly into the camp of one of the Chi
nese leaders and killed and manned
about a 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 a 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 a 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.
81 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 a frontier
character known as "Bummer DAM
and the two struck up a friendship.
Duane was promptly dubbed BLACK
Paddy" and still retains the appel
With his new-found partner
he spent the winter of 1864 working
a claim on what was called hummer
~ y bpL was Gil GADCI-I
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 a hard blow for us, but l
had the satisfaction of witnessing
The hanging of a number of the cut
who worked that sort of a
game, before l shook the dust of that
section from my BOOTS" the old gen
.leman said in referring to the Incl
lent.
To Silver Bow
Then came reports of a new strike
Silver Bow creek, near where the
present city of Butte stands. Duane,
fresh for adventure, threw his
pack owe his shoulder and started
,or the new diggings, where he ar
lived in 1865. After laboring two
years in a vain endeavor to coax the
metal from the sands, he dis
himself in debt to the
of $1,000. s
Realizing the future held nothing ?
or him at Silver Bow, Duane, or ra- :
her Black Paddy, as he was best :
,nown, again hit the trail. While :
the Little Blackfoot river, y
which was high at the time, he mar d
owly missed being drowned, and I
My succeeded in saving his life by u
hold of an over-hanging :
yillow. When he pulled himself up 1
n the bank, his entire worldly pos y
essions consisted of the clothes on C.
is back. His pack, containing his y
ar medals and discharge papers, Y
ad disappeared down stream. N
Duane decided to locate when he d
at Bear Gulch, which became II
ne of Montana's many gold produc- d
lg districts. He staked out a claim r
bout IL miles from the site of the q
resent settlement of Bearmouth. "
fter spending IL years mining in
lie district, during which period he "
it rich several times, he decid- u
/ to return to what is now the met n
opolis of Observation-Disclosures p
3 arrived, dead broke, in 1877. q
unning across an old acquaintance, Ca
OBJ McMinn, he borrowed $500 and p
reused the ire of his benefactor by II
to take more. Id
Turns to Gardening W
Butte was a more orderly town in
days than it is today" the old II
mer said. ga man could lie in the %
rect with thousands of dollars p
orth of gold dust on him without M
chance of being robbed, while today "a
III are not safe with As cents" 10
He worked in Butte for a time, CO
hen he conceived the idea of start ca
G a truck garden, and broke ground I'd
few miles from the camp. CT
81 stayed there and made good IN
oney for five years." he said. sl'
Many was the time I received 500 as
r a wheelbarrow of vegetables.
lite was a great camp in those days We
ID I spent my money like the rest WI
the boys" 10
Leaving Butte, Duane next located To-
ar Anaconda, where he continued To-
raise vegetables, until he became De
to do the work. pc
Physically, he is far from being tel
e man he was in pioneer days. His we
years of strenuous life have left "a
cir marks, but his mind is still nj
ear and he remembers dates and in OF