The Bozeman courier. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1919-1954, 1926-11-19

CONTINUED form the Feature Page)
owned by BOwles ana Reed. PhilbrOOk was
then known as Lowe Crossing and a man
by the name OF Bill Clegg ran a saloon
there. Utica did not exist then, and the
principal settlement on the Upper Judith
was the mining camp OF YOgO, which was
her a year or two past its glory, but was
still inhabited by a few miners and pros
peetors. Ptgeye Basin was then the home
OF Red Mike, who ran s. trading post; Et-
ten Brothers, and BabcOek and David. A
man named Carver also had a ranch near
the foothills Of the river.
Jake rode a horse that he called by the
beautiful name Of Cuts, a heavy bay with
a stripe in his face, as good a mountain
horse, as ever Travelled the trail. " ="
"Jake's ranch was on the South fork Of
the Judith. At that time there was no
wagon road into 1t. Nothing but a mar
row strip o IA trail. A few trees felled
Shut off from the outside world, it was a
hunters paradise, bounded by walls Of
mountains and containing miles of grassy,
open spaces, more green and beautiful than
mountains behind them, swarmed with deer,
elk, mountain sheep and bear besides beav-
er and other small fur-bearing animals.
Nature had surely done her best, and no
king Of the Old-times could have claimed a
more beautiful and more bOuntiful dOmain.
"Jake's cabin was situated at the upper
end OF the first big park, close to the creek.
This cabin was the work of mountain men,
made with an axe and an auger and not a
nail in it. Instead, wooden pegs and pins
were used. The roof and floor were of dirt,
with a stone fireplace. There were, in re-
atty, two cabins, Joined together by a
shed, the second cabin being used as q
hidehOuse. There was but one window
composed Of three panes Of glass, set
lengthwise in the logs. In the main cabin,
besides the fireplace, was q bunk made Of
poles, filled with fir bOughs. There was al
so a rough table, made Of pine poles, hewed
flat on the upper side, a stool or two Of
/ fhn Comn rnnorh rnnEn ohnnf .nnnnnnnFnd khn
furniture. To a man who loved the noun
tains, nothing more was needed.
"Since then / have been in the best no.
tells in Europe and America, but no food
they produced could touch that which came
from Jake's frying pan. The latter, with
coffee pot and camp kettle in which the
beans and dried fruit were cooked, cOmplet-
ed the kitchen equipment. He could make
better bread in a frying pan than high
priced chefs can on a modern range.
"As l have said, Jake was an all-rsuad
mountain man., and he knew more Of ma
lures secrets than any scientist I have ever
happened to meet"
Jake never lost hope. He could not have
been the prOSpectOr that he was If he al
lowed anything to shake his faith in his
calling. To the day Of his passing from
this earth, he evinced a desire and q hope
TO return to his former "diggings" in Mon
tana. AS evidence Of this, in an interview
at Lake Union a couple Of years before his
death, he said: You can tell them in
Montana that I'm coming back there next
fall, and that I'm going to make a few
more strikes in the hills before l cash in
I know where there are some gold leads
that will make peoples eyes bulge out
That state has not been half prOspected
lyet-nOt even for gold, which is the easiest
of all the richer metals to find" But Jake
Hoover "cashed in" before next fall
came around.
A little more than two years ago., "th'
IprOspectOr', at his humble Lake UniOI
cabin, still dreaming of pay gravel
/ noCcnH fnfO the nnEnnVn OUf hnVOnd fhl
!, Great Divide, taking with him his secrets
, both fancirul and real, Of the many leads
? that still lay concealed in the heart Of tn
Rockies.