The Bozeman courier. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1919-1954, 1927-01-21

er valley. 1t was the citizens Of this then
roe, had ridden thus far on his long jour
ney to the hunting grounds of the Pie
gans. In him you would have seen the
first white person to view much of north
ern and central Montana, and the first
white boy to travel the trails Of what is
now the state in which we live.
And, had it further been your OppOrtun-
ity to follow these Piegans, when they
broke camp after a few days on the site
Of what is now Great Falls, you could
have seen sights and participated in ex-
periences the tongue or pen of man will
never adequately describe.
On down the river a short distance and
then over the divide into the Arrow Greek
basin, they wend their way. Here, this
to hunt the eOuga and here they chase the
buffalo. Here they meet the war. parties
of the marauding Crows; here they near
the Piegan hunting grounds; for, in a
few days they cross on over into the val
ley Of another small stream into the
Judith Basin-wher they will spend
many months hunting and making war
against their always enemies, the Crows,
who always made continuous forays into
the Piegan buffalo country.
To the judith Basin
Thus, following this caravan from the
vicinity Of the big falls OF the Missouri
to the point where now stands the city
of LewistOwn, you would have seen, in all
it's triumph, its pride, its cOntentment, a
| MUuuEAA4A 4a(G - BGOlAC III a III
ly advantageous land rich in fur and meat
you would have seen the Piegans at home
in their own hunting grOunds-the Judith
Basin.
What is far more historically import
ant, you would have followed the first
representative of the white race into what
is now known as perhaps, the richest ag-
ricultural section of this state. You would
have watched him at the first dawn Of each
day, with his foster Indian brother and
his foster Indian sister, rope their horses
- v,,N~, nFp -, n nou dfwo.ffOn pwOua nm
to explore some new section of the cOun-
try and seek some new k ind Of game.
You could have seen this lad in this
Judith Basin country, at a time when
Piegans and Crows we're about to enter
upon a bitter conflict, accomplish that
which the redman, himself, had never been
bring the chiefs of these two nations to-
!, gether in council, there to smoke the pipe
Of peace.
First White Man in the Basin
) Year, after year, and on until the in
roads of a relentless civilization drove the
Piegans out of their own land, you could
/, have watched this youth grow to manhood
with these people, each season helping them
, secure a living from the natural resources
of the Judith Basin.
| Hugh MunrOe, or Rising Wolf" as was
This Piegan name, was the first white man
to explore the plains and mountains Of
the Judith BaSil country.
The PrOspectOrs
The Piegans regularly visited the Basin
each hunting season until SON years af-
ter the white hOrdes had arrived at the
mining camps of southwestern Montana
TERRITORY; and, it was not until about 1870
that the prOspectOr and adventurer start
ed to Overrun the defiles and divides Of
Reeds Fort had been established for
taking care of a fast diminishing fur trade,
but the great nucleus OF settlement In this
wonderfully ~resOurceful area came with the
prOspectOr who discovered gold In the
valleys gulches and in the sands Of It's
tributaries. 1t was then that sprang up
such camps as YOgo Gulch, Anderson, Utica
being Maiden; which became a settlement
of sufficient size and influence to cause 1t
to lay claim to the cOuntyseat when Fergus
county was created in 1885.
The promising town Of Maiden was 10
Gated on unsurveyed government land. This
rendered 1t impossible that title to any
of the tOwnsite pass by deed, and no deeds
were given for the lots. All that was ne
cessary to constitute possession was a fence
around the holdings, but in case this ev1.
could he jumped. One instance has beer
cited by DR.. l. NJ. Beatty, whO was one Of
Maiden's first residents, Of a Mrs. Ott'
Anderson, who laid claim to two lots no
far from the Frank Sage Livery stable
1.-THE fencing surrounding Mrs. Anderson
lots was in need OF repair, and she haC
asked Pat Skinner, a big, hurley Irishman
to fix It. After Pat had started on thu
work, a very dignified white man who wa
known as Hungry Wolf, appeared OF
the scene, carrying a shotgun order
panying his requests with dire threats. Tn
Irishman, emitting a roar, jumped forward
and grabbing the gun, broke it and threv
the pieces into the brush, while "Hungr,
IF Wolf retreated up the gulch.
= Maiden's Police Court
U This practice of attempted jumping
is was, however, discouraged, after 1t had be
come necessary for the local Vigilanc
Committee to publish in the Mineral AT
gus a stern warning bearing the fatefU
signature, "3-7-7T".
L. DIT. Beatty Is responsible for another tai
of early-day Maiden, which has to do wit
the pioneer methods Of netting out justice
10 It appears that a prominent stockmen ma
a imbibed a little too freely at Johnson
hotel and insisted on using language dis
i tinctly unsatisfactory and unbec0mtng
II, any man even in those days. The Pre-
prietOr threw him out and was arresCe
he but discharged, while the stOckman Wa
~, hailed into the court of the local justice
va the peace. Here a fine Of $3.50 was in
posed. The stOckman protested viLlentl
to and declared that there was not that muc
- How much you gOt?" asked the a
II cOmmOdating justice. ThereupOn Ct
stockman "firsked" himself and announce
"Weii," said the Judge, well let it {
az at that and be id careful it don
on III was in the month Of June. 1880, thi
its Anderson and Jones found gold in Il
gulch at this point, and this prospectin
ne party was soon Joined by G. G. Snow ar
de II. ]. Mcfarland. AS was true in q
m history Of every new discovery, the e.
~ citing news which travelled fast, attract:
locations were made in Alpine War