The circle banner. [volume] (Circle, Mont.) 1914-1939, 1923-03-30

"ORMER Senator t. c. Power,
whose death occurred in Hell
ena recently, was among the
last of little group of outstanding
men who came to Montana in the
early days and assisted materially
in developing this section from a
wilderness into great common
wealth. He came to the state to re-
side permanently in 1867, and ever
since that time has been fore
most figure in the financial and
business world. He was active in
many lines, and nearly everything
that his master mind gave attention
succeeded. He established many
mercantile institutions and trading
establishments, was big factor in
the fur trade, and operated a fleet
of steamboats,, plying between Fort
Benton, then the head of naviga-
ton on the upper Missouri, and St.
Louis, then the outfitting point of
all the northwestern country. This
fleet, the famous "Block P" line,
was the controlling factor of river
navigation until the coming of the
railroad.
Senator Power was born in Du-
buque, Iowa, May %, 1889. His IA
Their, Michael w. Power, was born |
in Ireland, and his mother, who was |
Catherine McLeer before her mar
riage, was born in Hagerstown, Md. |
Michael Power came to the United |
States when boy and settled in |
Iowa, at that time one of the from
tier districts, new and undeveloped. |
He was married to Miss McLeer in
1886 in the village of Peru, a sub
urb of Dubuque. BY occupation he
was a farmer He also conducted
merchandising for some years, be-
sides engaging in lead mining. He
was true type Of the Industrious
and ente-c--slng emigrant from the
Emerald isle and did his full share
in introducing civilization into what
is now one of the most prosperous
and enlightened States of the Union
He died near the site of his original
settlement in the fiftieth year of his
life. His wife survived for years,
reaching the age of rs years before
passing into the beyond. They were
the parents of four children, John w.
Power, Miss Sarah E. Power, Mrs
T. l.. Martin and Senator Power.
Ambitious for Education
The childhood and youth of SEN
ator Power was passed on the farm
in Iowa, and he being the eldest of
the children, his services were early
requisitioned for farm work. In the
country schools of those days he re-
ceived the rudiments of an education,
and being of studious mind and
natural lover of books, ne determined
10 supplement his earlier educational
advantages with term at college and
he completed a course of
.hree years at Sissinawa Mound col
ege, in Wisconsin, during which he
gave special attention to the sciences
Ind civil engineering. After finish
ng his college course he taught
chooI for some time.
A Real Trail-Blazer
In 1860, finding an opportunity to l
in an enterprise more to his
liking, he gave up teaching and Q
Oiuou d surveying party III Inc la !,
,otas. This wild life on the plains :
o appealed to him that he was never
more in his element than when with {
he surveying and engineering
quads, exploring new land and set
ing monuments for the guidance of G
uture settlers. He followed the bus y
ness of surveying for the govern =
aent and in private employment for
period of two years, at the end of Il
his time he joined an expedition that W
scended the Missouri river. f
At Fort Benton in 1867 II
In 1867, Senator Power opened a p
eneral merchandise store at Fort m
,enton for the accommodation of the fl
ettlers and the military garrison, b
nd also traded extensively with the t.