The circle banner. [volume] (Circle, Mont.) 1914-1939, 1923-12-14

lOO Id SC. VIC hioSuSd II OliSS q WIN
for four weeks, sold it for gold foi
double the amount we paid for il
| in greenbacks at St. Louis. One
dollar in gold then was worth 81 in
greenbacks, as it was about the
most critical time of the war
81 could relate many incidents
that occurred while on this eventful
trip. 1 was 1o years old, now 70.
1.-THE first job Of printing was
200 cards, which read;
"'Good for One Dance and Two
Drinks s.tt.s s4
'One Dollar
eve charged $12 in gold dust for
the 200 cards. The next job want
ed was full sheet poster in two
colors of ink, advertising a prize
fight. We printed them bill
about 8x10 inches. 1t was the lar
gest the material would permit.
"Soon after the paper made its
first appearance we had many visi-
tors and applications for work. We
paid ST. per 1000 ems for setting
type. The universal remarks made
by the people when they came into
the office was: This begins to look
like civilization
Vigilantes Hang Seventeen
"The miners would come to town
on Sundays to buy provisions and
whisky enough to last them per-
haps a week. One Sunday l saw
as many as so or 100 drunken men
on the main street in Virginia City,
fighting. No arrests were made,
as there was no law, no court of
any kind, no officers, only the Wig.
lance committee, composed of the
better class of citizens. x y
"The vigilance committee had
caught and hung on this gallows II
of a band of 80 robbers and muir
derers. The balance of the gang
left the country or became better
citizens. Plummer and Skinner,
prominently mentioned in western
novels, were the leaders of this
band of robbers.
Gulch Was Rich Producer
There was very rich mining in
the gulch at Virginia City at that
time and $4,000 day could be
washed with pan. 1 saw one mug
get worth $3.50.
'At that time in Virginia City
and along the gulch it was esti-
mated there were 10000 or 1900
people and not more than twenty
women and they were of the red
light class. There were but few
streets. The houses were mostly
built on each side of the gulch with |
logs covered with dirt. Some dug
in the side of hill or mountain,
and did their cooking on the earth |
outside. A great many lived in the
wagons they came in, some in tents,
slept in the printing office with |
the bundles of paper for bed, but
oftener upon the ground.
Wages were SIS per day, gold
dust; flour, so cents the pound;
beef, so cents the pound. No such
thing as potatoes or vegetables of
any kind to be had, except that we
got onions some times.
Free Hand Ruled
Saloons and gambling houses
we're plentiful. The whole front of
he log building would be open,
nothing to hide the half log bar or
tables. Border life was
'een in all its original wildness.
frontier civilization was
n all its freedom, no prison, no
all to hold in awe the lawless ele-
nent.
Everybody carried their gold
lust in buckskin bags and when
hey paid for anything it was al
Ways weighed. Six and one-fourth
:ents was the least amount that
ould be weighed. Everybody kept
heir greenbacks and spent the gold
lust, while in the states it was the
everse as gold was worth 81 or
more.
''The counters in the stores were
ogs sawed through the center, with
he flat side up, holes bored in the
lalf log and stakes driven in to
lold it up. aBra7as
Shoots a Buffalo @
''In those early days the journey
nto this new country was very
ventful one, large herds of buffalo
we're frequently seen, and elk, bear,
rairie dogs and rattlesnakes
bounded. While on the way up
he river the boat was landed to
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