The Wolf Point herald. (Wolf Point, Mont.) 1913-1940, 1924-11-06

? ant valley divide had been broker
4 Work had been almost entirely sus
pended and the road from Virgins
City down the gulch was lined witt
/ men, women and children, some O
them laughing and crying in turn
in anticipation of the first squarl
meal to be their lot in a period o
several weeks. Not a few hitched III
light rigs and went out to meet thu
trains so as to get a small supply O
flour in advance of the arrival of the
wagons in the town.
The first big outfit to arrive il
the gulch "a the OK train of BishoI
John Sharp of Salt Lake City, which
had left Pennington, Utah, April 8
it consisted of % wagons and arrived
at Nevada May %, and was unloaded
there. 1t was followed the next day
by n of Howard & Livingstone
trains, which had been snowbound
On the Snake river since October OF
1854, and a mule train of w. S. God
be & Co., of Salt Lake City, which
had made the trip in a little over
three weeks. A second of Howard
& Livingston's trains which had been
blockaded all winter by the snow,
arrived May oath, and other outfits
laden with provender and supplies
followed in rapid succession.
Then the men of Montana, with
their wives and little ones, began to
eat, drink and be merry, again, only
remembering the starvation episode
as a nightmare soon to be forgotten
in the plentitude of good things
which they were able to again obtain
and enjoy.
Although it was past the middle Of
April when flour reached the market
price Of $45 per sack, some of the
f~ar-sighted ones began to see the
signs of impending famine many
weeks before that date, and several
of the s~hrewdest took steps accord
ingly. Before the end of March.
measures were taken to secure con-
troll of all the flour that could be
gotten hold of. The manipulators of
the corner" laid their plans with
shrewdness. 1t was a we'll known.
fact that there was an abundance of
flour lying snowbound in Beaver
canyon and on the Snake river bot
toms.
Most of the flour was but little
more than a hundred miles away.
But, between it and the easily trav-
eled mountain roads of the Sinking
Water valley lay Beaver canyon and
the Pleasant Valley divide-the only
avenue of ingress to the territory
and these were covered with snow to
a depth of rs to 40 feet. It was !
only at an enormous expense that
the Overland Stage company was
able to keep open connections be-
tween the north and south sides of
the divide. No freight could possibly
the divide before the middle of
May, if that soon.
The manipulators took advantage
of the situation and went to work as
quietly as possible, purchasing all
the flour in sight that they could Sc
cure, with the result that from a
market quotation of from $14 to SIS
per sack at the close of March, the
price rose steadily until it cached $45
On April 16, when flour ceased to be
4 quotable article on the market,
and the price was regulated only by
elasticity of conscience. AS might
expected, prices, in some instances,
reached fabulous figures, going as
high as $110 a sack, and many a
made a "stake," through his be-
ing possessed Of a few sacks of the
product.
When matters had reached this
popular feeling began to be
aroused on the subject, and with a
Dromptness, characteristic of all new
communities, the people be-
stirred themselves to find a remedy
the threatening danger. AS it
had been with the Vigilance commit
zee a few months previous, so it was
With the flour committee on the ev-
9ning of April IL, 1865. A meeting
If citizens was called at Nevada, to
which Virginia City residents were {
invited, and subsequently adjourned
o the latter place. Few speeches {
made, but those few were tense t
nd to the point. {
The story of how the price of J
lour had trebled in two weeks was |
ecited; the jump from $45 to $11O {
n a single day was briefly but fore |
bly, dilated upon; a committee on I
esolutions was appointed with in |
tructions to report Immediately. In {
5 minutes thereafter the commit
report was received and adopted, l
in n hour and a half from the t
Ime of the converting of the meet f
lg it was adjourned and it's ennis t
ries were or their way, armed and t
quipped with popular authority to n
Leze and confiscate all flour, re- l
ardless of quantity or ownership, d
pom the payment therefor of $50 I
er sack for st. Louis flour, or S27 Il
er sack for the Salt Lake article. n
The edict was carried into effect Il
lie next day, and was attended with y
cry little disturbance-in fact, not 7
nything worth mentioning-nearly 81
7erybody interested acquiescing
uietly in the verdict of the people F
) expressed in the public meetings
Nevada and Virginia City.
OnIv ono rario,s