The Wolf Point herald. (Wolf Point, Mont.) 1913-1940, 1923-11-15

@t
Tor the same reason, that it wa.
overrun by southern men, escaping
from draft into the Confederate
army"
Belligerent Non-C ombatants
This was half the story. 1t should
further read that many of these flu
g1tlves tarried in Colorado, until
Its war governor called for a draft
Of Union men, when the southern
ers quickly Were over the border,
and awa'," into Idaho, the neigh
boring territory. Like most non
~combatants, this southern element
was more belligerent than one
which had learned from experience
the true inwardness of war; and it
was this element, constituting as it
did the majority of the voters of
Montana, with which Governor
Edgerton, chosen representative of
the Lincoln administration, had to
deal.
Quoting further from Montana
histories, Joaquin Miller tells us
the governor was "A little too
eager to drag in the wal that had
been raging so fierce and so far
away" Miller further claimed that
this var agitation (Which not only
had been" but was then "raging'0
did not appeal to the southerners,
who were more interested in the es-
tablishing of law the advancement
of education and the Improvement
of the few towns then in existence.
Of part of this claim another
historian says, "Edgerton was abb
solute ruler of the territory for
some months, and under his direc-
ton and authority the first steps
were taken to enforce the laws"
To this may be added, the governor
and a few other Unionists furnish
ed the money necessary to meet the
territorial expenses for several
months, until the general govern
ment remembered the needs of its
new territory. With regard to the
matter of education, it should be
noted, that it was a niece of the
governor - Lucia Darling - who
taught the first school in Montana.
Stout, in his history records,
"Partisanship over issues of the
war were as intense in Montana as
in the older territories and states.
Governor Edgerton, coming from
an Ohio hotbed of radical republi-
canism, was the leader of the Mon
tana Unionists in every sense of
the word, and his young nephew
(Co1. w. F. Sanders, M. E. P.) was
brisk running mate"
This confirms the statement
often made, that the action of the
legislature in changing the county
name, was directed as much against
Colonel Sanders, as against his
Edgerton Declares for Union
So far the reader will form his
of Governor Edgerton
rom what others have said of him.
let him speak for himself, in
he words Of his first message to
1ontana's first legislative assem-
'ly, that gave such offense to many
# that body, always keeping in
mind the fact hat they were utter
d during the Civil war, and before
he assassination of President Lin
DIN:
although we are far removed
rom the scene of strife which is
Iow devastating n portion of our
ountry, we cannot be indifferent :
0 the result of the struggle. We
re a part of the great American
alton, and a part of that nation
We must ever remain, her interest,
ser prosperity, and glory must ever
e dear to the heart of every loyal
lan."
What conclusion can the reader
raw from the foregoing testimony
Their than this: In condoning the
of Edgerton county-in
er failure to remove the stigma
he placed on her first governor, to
HON she must ever be SO greatly
ldebted-Montana stands to date
onvicted both of ingratitude and
f being tacitly in sympathy with
isloyalty to our government. Gov
rnor Edgerton needs neither vim
ication nor recognition of his SER
ice to this state. So long as time
1dures, all the west slope of the
-ockies included within our Dor
ers, will be his lasting monument.
is Montana who is called upon
, remove the smirch from her rep
tation that she acqaired at the re-