The Kevin review. [volume] (Kevin, Mont.) 1922-1929, 1923-04-12

Henry rifle, his mind must go back
to the time when the man who lived
a day through considered that he had
much the best of life and was thank
full.
He does not look like the plains
swashbuckler. He is small and of
modest demeanor. One would not
pick Cochran for a gun fighter. But
in his eye is reflected the dauntless
spirit of the duellist. He has lived
a life of great adventure. He came
to Montana as a gold hunter. A year
after his arrival he struck it rich
in Bevins' gulch and in a single sea-
son cleaned up 100000. He was then
but 10 years old and his fortune last
ed him through the winter. Then
he became wolfer and Indian fighter,
scout and shotgun messenger. AL
ways he was in some endeavor in
which his life was at hazard, and
more than once has he felt the i'm
pact of the leaden messenger of his
foe.
Cochran's father was one of the
ante bellum captains of a Mississippi
river steamboat. Young Cochran
grew up on the deck of his fathers
boat, the Pembina, plying between st.
Louis and St. Paul. The river talk
of those days was of the wonderful
country of the west, land of sudden
fortune and adventure. These tales
fired the imagination of the river
bred youth, and in 1862 he crossed
the plains to Salt Lake on the old
Bridger trail.
Made Fortune in PIacers
Talk of gold discoveries on the
Salmon river started Cochran into the
north country from Salt Lake. His
expedition was headed for Gold
Creek when news of the Bannack dis
covery came, and he arrived there in
October, 1852. All the good ground
in the Grasshopper diggings had been
taken up and young Cochran went on
the Virginia City stampede. He did
not secure a claim in Alder, but in
August Of the following year had To-
Gated pay in Bevins. That season he
made his cleanup of $4,000. In
1866 he went to work for the North
west Fur Trading company, and he
helped to build old Fort Holly. Fort
Peck was built about a year later.
II remember my first brush with
the Indians" said Cochran. Half a
dozen of us, who were at Fort Peck,
went buffalo hunting. We had good
luck and were on our way back to the
fort when we were ambushed by hos
tiles. They had heard us shooting
and laid a trap for us. We made a
rough standoff with them until dark
and then managed to escape to the
fort. I carried an Indian bullet in
my leg back to the fort as a souvenir
the encounter.
every day or two something oc-
Cured which would remind us that
our lives hung on threads. A young s
wood chopper disappeared and we
him behind a log, not far from
he fort, with his head split open. &
1.-TWO men were cutting hay up (
he river a short distance from the |
ort. They disappeared. A little
letail was sent from the fort to hunt
hem up. We found the dead body
# n of them, scalped and naked, s
tut could find no trace of the other T
nan." q
Fight With Indians D
Ii tOCul du DSCduuo q nOilCi- y
With two others he went into camp +
t Tiger Buttes. Cochran thus des- e
ribes his experiences as a wolfer: t;
evolves abounded. We we're soon
more than we could handle. d
ve made practice of skinning those b
lat were not frozen. The frozen p
we piled up to wait until +
1ring for skinning. We caught so g
ANY wolves that we had to hire ST
Tree men to help us skin them. We b
ere living on meat straight. Every Ia
one of US would go out to get tt
le game which r~eplenished our lar "
,r. tt
zone day l ran across a fresh bear al
ack, and decided to go after Bruin.
took along my Henry repeating
file. 1t was a splendid gun, and s.
ere were but few like it in the ter OF
tory. 1t had cost me $3.50 in gold pc
list, and l valued it like a man to
ould a good wife. hs
II had killed an elk and started NJ
It to look for my bear when I saw'ra