The Carbon County chronicle. [volume] (Red Lodge, Mont.) 1924-1924, 1924-10-22
MADISON COUNTY
PIONEER PASSES AT
LONG BEACH, CAL.
CAREER OF JAMES Nj. PAGE Is
NOTABLE IN CIVIC AND COM
MUNITY SERVICE.
Served In the Major Engagements OF
Civil War; Fought With Custer In
Famous Battles; Spent Weeks in a
Confederate Prison.

The death recently Mt Long
Reach, Cal, of James NJ. Page, 80,
of Twin Bridges, counts the pass
ing of another of Nontana's pi-
oneerS. and the close Of a life that
was soundly constructive, and that
contributed much to early state
DEVELOPMENT. MIR. Page was a pi-
.oueer rancher and raiser of pure
bred stock in Madison county
where he made his home from the
states earliest days.
Mr.. Page was widely known am
ong the pioneers of the state and Nas
one of Montana's most progressive
stockmen. He was the owner OF
about 100 acres of land, mostly
in the Madison valley. The home
ranch about five miles from Twin
Bridges was noted for the pure-bred
shorthorn cattle and Belgian horses
that it produced. The town OF Page
Vile. located In the valley was named
in honor of the late pioneer.
He first arrived in Virginia City
in 1866, after a long period OF mer-
ftorious service in the union army
The story of his engagements and es-
capes during the civil war is replete
with hazardous experiences. He en-
erged from the war with the rank
of lieutenant.
James Madison Page was born in
Crawford county, Pennsylvania, July
%, 1899, the youngest of five child
rem of Wallace and Nancy Page. Both
maternal and pascrnal grandfathers
of Mr.. Page we're soldiers Of the re-
yolution, and he himself, served
with valor and distinction in the CT
vii war.
After the death of his father, his
mother removed to Michigan in 1S43,
and it was in the public schools of
West Leroy that he received his
first schooling He was four years
old when his mother moved west,
and from his tenth to his twelfth
year, he lived with an uncle In the
northern part of Michigan. He then
ran away and secured work on a
farm and was enabled to attend
school in the winter. He resided in
Michigan until he was 23 years old,
when on August IA, 1862, he enlist
ed In Company A, Sixth Michigan
Volunteer cavalry, OF which he be-
came commissary sergeant. join
ing the army of the Potomac, the
regiment was assigned to picket duty
at Fairfax courthouse during the
winter of 1862-63. and then went
forth against the army of General
Lee. The first great battle In which
kis regiment participated was Get
tysburg, and of the n men In Mr..
Pages company who went into the
fight, only 26 came out alive.
On Sept. 81, 1863, Mr.. Page was
one of "a members of his company
captured by the Confederates after
the battle of Orange Courthouse. The
lamented General Custer was bril-
gade manager of the cavalry CEN
tered at Culpepper Courthouse, and
at that battle General Custer was
wounded and the command devolved
to Colonel Sawyer OF the First YER
mont cavalry. The same day the
Sixth Michigan cavalry engaged with
General A. P. Hills corps, and one
result was the capture noted above.
OF the 23 prisoners who were con-
fined at Libby, Belle Isle, Anderson
Vile, and Millen prisons, only Mr..
Page and one other lived to be par
oiled on November 81, 1864. Mr..
Pages normal weight was 205
pounds, and when he was released,
so great had been the privations and
the hardships, of prison life that he
weighed only 125 pounds Upon re-
joining his company, Mr.. Page was
promoted to first sergeant and was
later given second lieutenancy. He
received his honorable discharge on
June Is, 1865. He then entered the
Eastern Business College in Chicago
and was graduated in 1865.
Arrives In Montana In 1866.
In the spring of 1866 Mr.. Page
went to Leavenworth, Kansas, from
across the Plains to Montana, and ar
rived in Virginia City on June 20.
His party encountered a band of
Sioux Indians not far from Bridger,
Utah, and though a conflict seemed
imminent, 1t was averted without
bloodshed. In the fall of 1866, Mr..
Page turned his attentions to farm
ing in the Madison valley, associa2-
INK ulluScll with " ~ foiANJf 49,
breaking 80 acres, the land being the
portion of the valley then known as
Sodom. They paid cents pound
In gold for seed wheat and Mr.. Page
invested his entire capital in this
way. Grasshoppers destroyed the
crop the following spring, but Mr..
Page continued farming until 1859
when he went to Utah and purchas-
ed horses, which he brought through
to the Beaver head valley to Madison
county. Before the civil war, Mr.
Page was connected with public sur.
veys In Minnesota and In 1873 he
again took up his profession of civil
engineer and was employed in gov
eminent surveys of the Majority o.
the Montana counties.
In 1875, MIR. Page was elected tn,
county surveyor for Madison county
and In 1882 Joint representative o
Madison and Beaverhead counties II
the territorial legislature. He wa
reelected in 1884 In 1895 he re
ceived from Governor Richards TIL
appointment of state land agent, ant
served until 1897.
Besides his ranching interests, Mr.
Page invested In mining property AM
was the owner OF valuable mines Il
Madison county.