The Bozeman courier. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1919-1954, 1927-09-23
WHY EDGERTOM COUNTY WAS
= RENAMED LEWIS AND CLARK
BY MRS. NJ. E. PLAssN1ANN

s6NO YOU know why the name of
Edgerton county was changed?"
H. Intercepted the pioneer whose
native state was Virginia, and
then proceeded to answer the question
without waiting for my reply. cit all
grew out of the feeling aroused by the
rogers AFFAIR. There was a law prohib-
lung anyone holding office who had
borne arms against the government.
NOW Colonel Rogers was elected a mem
Der OF the first territorial house Of rep
resentatives. He had fought on the
confederate side, and I reckon that's
where he got his title. Anyway, he was
always called colonel. When he was
asked to take this oath, he refused to
do so. and the governor would not let
him take his seat. Rogers was a mighty
nice man."
THAT is true, for I remember him
WELL" I returned. HE was a gentleman
in looks r name My father had the
utmost respect for him, and would have
preferred his presence in the legislature
to that Of some others. whose sense Of
honor was not so acute. But here is
the Dilemma in which the governor
found himself. He was an executive
sworn to uphold the laws of his country,
then in the throes of civil war. If he
had permitted Colonel Rogers to become
a member Of the legislature he would
have been false to his country and to
his oath"
Il know that now-they couldn't
either of them help doing what they
did" admitted the pioneer.
I might have supplied the further in
formation during this conversation had
I then been cognizant Of the fact that
there was another prominent Montanan,
no other than the late Judge PembertOn,
who likewise refused to hold office at
that time because he could not consci-
e%ntiously a this oath. Judge Penn
A.-AA~ 100 - FrsDnI nF Ehn nnvornnr
and often a visitor at his house. This
mention to prove that personal feelings
had nothing to do with the stand taken
by the governor.
The situation here in that formative
period Of Montana was far more critical
than is generally understood. The Civil
war was still undecided. Here, in this
new territory the two forces were OPP
posed with the ~Confederates largely in
the majority. The same condition OBJ
tanned in the adjoining territory Of
Idaho. That some were in sympathy
with the south IND others with the
north, as I have previously stated, was
due to the differing environments III
which they had been reared rather thar
from an intelligent view Of what caused
the strife. People do not think n war
time; they are victims of hysteria a.
was ~abUndantly proved in the late war
The hysteria of the Civil war was no
the product Of propaganda, but a flamt
which had long been ~smouldering. Her
the question was not which was in thu
right, the north or the south; it wa
whether Montana should remain a par
of the United States which called it int
being, or renounce all allegiance to tn
government.
However strong may nave been tn
sympathy Of the majority of our citizen
with the COnfederacy, I believe they wer
all too war-weary to nave waged othe
than the verbal strife which continue
long after peace was declared. But hoy
were the Union officials to know this
heir part was to hold the fort" whic
they did against overwhelming odds. A
the officials could not be punished fo
their loyalty when the opportunity of
fered, and the war spirit was not out