The Bozeman courier. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1919-1954, 1927-05-27

the beaten paths of modern-day traf-
this district is probably less familiar
to M-ontanans than any other such his
toric section of the Treasure state.
With its gold mines which have pro-
duced millions of dollars, its adjoining
ranges where in days gone by sheep and
cattle men staged their bitter n bloody
its historic ranches where cattle
thieves. road agents, train robbers-the
men" of thirty years ago-main-
tanned their headquarters and rendez-
vous and it's murder mysteries, the Lit
tie Rockies area stands second to none
in romance of the most exciting order.
Famous Gold District
III Little Rockies comprised one OF
the richest gold districts of Montana.
The Ruby Gulch Gold Mining company
of Zortman, the August Gold company
at I~andusky, the Fergus Mining COM
pany, the Rawhide, the Ninety-Slx ana
other mines produced fortunes Tor their
owners. 1t was not until n early
nineties that mining was carried on in
this district, the first claim OF any I'M
portance being located and worked by
Bob Orman and Pike Landusky. 1t was
in honor of the latter that the mining
towns. in America, was named. In a very
short time Orman and Landusky took
$40. 900 from their claims, despite the
fact thu they were forced to work und
difficulties. The leads they had uncov-
cred were located within the borders OF
Fort Belknap reservation, and they were
lOICG0 W JUN ~ Vic
part under cover of night, sacking their
ore and transferring it on packhorses to
the nearest railroad point, from where 1T
was shipped to Aurora, Ill, for treat
ment in the shelters there.
The news of the strike spread and a
stampede followed. Isolated as that sec
ton was. the new mining district at
tracted a motley crowd OF miners, gam
blers and adventures in search OF gold
and the excitement which always fol-
TA-rDI ~ FIn rr~oln nf q nnUT n1CnOUnFW
Prosecutors, trappers and cowboys were
followed to the new location by robbers,
horsethieves and others who came TO
Landusky to drink and gamble and ply
their nefarious arts. Much OF the Wh1skey
that was sold. at old Landusky, 1T has
been said, was of local manufacture and
was a LIQUID not at all to peace
and harmony. Gun fights were frequent
occurrences and life was held even more
lightly for a time than in the older gold
camps of the Vigilante days. And, many
a plot of ground in that part of the Lit
tie Rockies. with marks now e1aced by
time and the elements, is the site of a
miniature "boothin" cemetery.
A BOOthm Cemetery
Away up on the crest of these Little
Rockies in the enter of a wind-swept
plateau, is one of the boothiu plots in
which are two lonely graves
by a weatherbeaten picket fence. And,
today, if the one that have mold
lereO III IOeSe narrow bIG1lCllcS lOI' L4lAlJy
wears or more could rise, take form and
speak, they could unfold a story Of ro-
nance, of the lure of yellow metal and
frontier adventure, OF passions aroused
by the presence Of new-found wealth, OF
| jealousy indie by the light OF WOmenS
eyes, of gunplays and as-sassinations, OF
a feud that attained national notoriety,
of brigandage and maraud1ng all cuI-
minating in the inevitable penalty OF
the transgressOr. Here in this little plot
i~o-% 4to hOv,oe Of feDfI-ap TonH11cKU shot
down in Jew Jake's saloon by a member
of the Curry gang; and here lie the re-
mains Of Johnny Curry, one OF the Ia
nous Curry trio.
Down the slope and but a gunshots
distance from This little boOth1u ceme-
terry stands the now ghost city, Of Lam
dusky, once the theatre Of those stirring
events which divided Northern Montana
into two camps, and from which rad1-
ated the escapades Of the Curry gang,
reaching across the continent and into
the far away republic Of Argentine.
The Death of Ohm Curry
The story of the Curry boys n their
adventurous life in Montana has become
common knowledge. This John Curry
was found final resting place in this
Montana from Missouri in the early
eighties to join his brothers who had
already sought out the wildS of that new
country, much because of the fact that
the more civilized sections had become
unhealthy places of bod Soon after
his arrival in the upper Missouri region,
John Curry began to cultivate a reputa-
! ton as a bad man. One day, while in
dulging IN a pasttime not uncommon in
+ Landusky-that of shooting up the town
"a cOwpuncher shot one of his arms off
o Not satisfied with this punishment, Cur
~ some months later declared wal
p against a rancher by the name of Jim
. Winters, who lived nearby. Curry or
. dered Winters to leave his ranch, giving
o him but a limited time in which to so do
Armed with a rifle one day, he rode uI
to the Winters ranch house, with the
) evident intention of killing Winters
n However, the tables turned on the ag'
q gresSor, and the rancher shot the des'
perado twice with a shotgun, infictine
o mortal wounds. Later, the famous Kid
! Curry, seeking revenge for the death o.
his brother killed Winter from ambush
: During the years from 1870 to 1884
long after law and order had come tt
western Montana mining camps, in TIT
days when border la~wlessness. reigneC
Throughout Central and Northern Mon
ltana, when were enacted many dramas il
which the principal actors were desper
ADDE'S, sheriffs, horse and cattle thieve
and v~igilantes, Pike Landusky was al
outstanding figure. Scenes which wer
common enough along the trails leadin
to and from old Bannack and Virgins
4 City, in the early sixties, were frequentl
M reenacCed IN the judith Basin, along Tn
Lower Musselshell and in the Milk Rive
valley and the wilds of the Little Rockies
and Pike" lived the life.
Powell pike" Landusky
Powell Pike Landusky used to sa
that he was half French and half Polish
He arrived at Fort Benton on a steame
in the spring of 1854, and proceeded t
VI Last Chance Gulch (now Helena), bu
not until he had he had httingly cele
= brated his arrival in the new west by
fist fight On the levee at Benton in whicl
it is said, he nearly killed a steamt
l~roustabOut.
Then a lad of but eighteen year
Landusky was in the prime of h
youth. He was a long, lank, green couI
try boy. In fact, as n oid-timer put /
he was so green looking hat after h
arrival at Last Chance, he was contiI
ually the butt of miners jokes. 1t wi
because of his kidding" that he OF
day received The peculiar cognome
which remained with him until the ds
of his death. One miner in particuli
had been most active in teasing Il
- "tenderfoot kid" This miner was a bull
81 and of the type that never knows whe
to stop. One day, in the course Of b
III