The Kevin review., 1926-09-02

us Olu LImSTS memories OI Lu6 early
west are growing faint, but wheI
Hy comes to town, our youthful as
pirations and follies spring into be
ing again, until it seems only yes
} terday we were all care free ire
sponsibles gazing into the rosy fu.
ture of land of promise alas
among too many of us still unful-
| filled
Hy was also a recent visitor in
Fort Benton, the occasion being the
annual gathering of the Montana Pi-
oneer Society, and what more nat
ural than he should be selected to
drive the old Concord coach as a fea-
ture of the parade organized for the
occasion? Among the passengers
honored with seat in this promin-
ent part of the procession was the
/ Governor of Montana, the Congress-
man from the Second District, and an
army officer of high rank, but Hy's
thoughts were not directed toward
these notables. The distinction and
responsibility rested lightly upon him
| for he was again the debonair and
careless figure of the early day trans
portation system of the west, tooling
his four-in-hand with cOnsummate
skill and dignity, as in the days of
yore when the responsibility of sched-
ule time and safety of passengers,
treasure and mails was carried solely
upon his capable shoulders.
In his youthful days through fair
weather and foul, under clear and
sunny skies, through dust and desert
heat, again fighting sleet and bliz-
zard, over mountain trails and val
ley plains, held to the job by unflag-
ging loyalty and a sense of duty of
far more Importance than the meag-
er wages, unsensed on the part of the
casual observer whose visionl grasped
only lowly wage worker whose out
ward bearing carried nonchalance
totally inadequate to the heavy re-
sponSibility apparently resting so
lightly upon his mind. Hy was still
the persontification of a character
of the west that has passed, along
with the horse, the mule and the
"bull," those quaint and patient
quadrupeds that played such an i'm
portant part in the winning of the
wilderness, and now relegated to all
but oblivion in this motorized age.
To the observer whose memory |
recalled former scenes of similarity, |
and there were many gathered in |
Fort Benton on that day, the spec +
tacle was one which recalled the |
misty and romantic period of youth,
the less pleasing features of life
in those times remaining only faint
blur upon the mind. 1t is difficult
for the present generation to visual
ze the very real discomforts, even
Derils of stage coaching. The early
lay stage driver was a man of sched-
lie, cog in Uncle Sans scheme
If mail transport, and then as now,
,romptness and regularity, regard
eSS of weather or any other extran-
,ous matters, was imperatively in
listed upon. That the governments
in the stage driver was
veil placed, has been attested upon
Iumberless occasions.
Al Rowe used to drive out of Fort !
'enton, covering the first "swing" (
o Twenty Eight Mile Spring and re- {
urn. Rarely in the summer time {
Tas there any great variety in the '
ally routine, but in the winter over
waste of snow covering trails and t
andmarks, through bitter cold and S
aging blizzard it is no child's play i
/ elements that contain a real haz- I
rd, often creeping up insiduously t
nd mostly impossible to guard /
gainst. In winter there were few t
for no one travelled by C
age in cold weather if they could r
ossibIy avoid it, and usually in the a
everest cold and storm periods, the t
lail was carried horseback. There S
as no 'parcel post" in those days t
nd few newspapers, so the letter b
lck did not add greatly to the bur- D
en- of the horse and usually sched- v
lie time was made. Al was strip e
ng of twenty, Injured to hardship, c
nd thought nothing of the fifty-six Il
lie ride each day, though inclined IL
complain somewhat of the quality Il
! his saddle stock. Some days he t:
ould get well-gaited and lively W
ount, and on others perhaps j
old stager, and occa- B
onally mean bronc that had to be fl
Ibdued. 1t was the run of the fl
age stock and had to be used in e
rn for riding purposes. a
One bitter morning he set out W
ith no premonition of trouble, ar
wing at the stage station at the o,
,rings on time, but found no mail u
Waiting him. Pat Curley was the N
wing" mail carrier between the jc
,rings and Sun River Crossing. Al fo
aited for a time and then set out id
a fresh horse to meet Curley, but dl
Curley appeared and AL continued N
to Sun River crossing with his hi
lii sacks and retraced his way to si
rt Benton. Curley was lost and tr
NAMED lost for nine days when he on