The Wolf Point herald. (Wolf Point, Mont.) 1913-1940, 1923-11-15
GOVERNOR THOMAS FRANCIS MEAGHER, BORN 100
YEARS AGO, WAS "A MOST ROMANTIC FIGURE

f er, responding to the toast 9Th.
ladies of America" said in thu
course of his speech: "if, in tn,
vicissitudes to which all matron.
are exposed, danger should fall up
on the great republic, and if The
choice be made to us to desert OF
befriend the land of Washington
and Franklin, / for one will prefer
to be grateful to the Samaritan
rather than be loyal to the Levite.'
At the close of the Civil wal
Captain Clark and General Meagh-
er met again for the first time
since the Dublin banquet.
Captain Clark referred to their
former melting and to the pledge
given by Meagher, and said: Gen
eral, you have nobly kept the prom
Use you then made"
In Montana
The first Montana legislature
met Dec. II, 1864. Sidney Edger-
ton had been appointed governor
some months previously and had
held absolute sway" according to
early Montana history. When the
Legislature convened the following
we're the officers of the new terri
tory: Sidney Edgerton, governor;
General Thomas Francis Meagher,
secretary of the territory; H. L.
Hosmer, chief justice; L. P. Willis
ton and L. E. Munson, associate
justices; E. B. Neatly, United
States district attorney, and George
N. Penney, United States marshal.
First Governor
In the history of this state, COM
piled by D. ]. Stewart and M. A.
Leason, in 1882, and published by
Warner, Beers & Co., the state
ment appears: General Meagher
was in reality the first governor
of the territory" Governor Edger-
ton having left the territory short
ly after his appointment.
In July, 1865, Meagher left New
York for Montana "and arrived at
Virginia City in September of the
same year." quantity says the his
torical account. There he found
the duties of governor, as we'll as
secretary, d~evolving upon him, ow-
ing to the absence of Gov. Sidney
Edgerton.
The General didn't fail to make
known his political convictions,
Notwithstanding the fact that he
was a federal appointee.
In a letter addressed to the dem
ocratic convention held at Helena
Feb. II, 1866, he said: Gas a dem
ocrat I took the field; as a demo-
crat went through the war the war
over, I am precisely the same
as when it broke out. There are
few people who can forget, though
there are many people who will de-
the delight with which the dem
ocratic support, given to the repub-
administration, from the out
set to the close Of the Civil war,
acknowledged by the partisans
of the administration"
While IN ardent supporter of the |
democratic party, Meagher was all
so fair to his republican opponents.
At an address which he delivered
in New York in 1862 shortly after
the battle of Fredericksburg he
toasted the political opposition as
follows: "The heroism of both
- united they could whip
the world" These sentiments he
repeated in Montana.
He aroused antagonism within
he ranks of his own party by his
attitude toward the conquered
South. In defending himself
criticism on this score, he
aid, regarding the southern people,
It the Helena convention of the
democratic party:
Tribute to the South
con the battlefield, which they
leroically held for four tempestu-
Jus years, the soldiers of the south
lad lowered their colors and /
heathed their swords.
"The spirit in which they sur
endered, as well as the spirit in
which they fought, entitled them to
aspect, honorable consideration,
he frank confidence of their adj
.ersaries and the generosity of the
olossal power to which they were
orced to %capitulate. What I said
the war, the same am I now
repaired to repeat, should another
ebellion be set on foot and the re-
be declared in danger.
"But the war is over, and l for
will never D1ant thnrnc where |