Plentywood herald. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1908-current, 1928-12-20

territory. Miners left from there for the
various mining camps in western Mon
tana. while those who had come to en-
gage in h stock business spread to
the east. Steamers came to Fort Benton
during the early part of the season.
Later boats would get only to the Marias
and then further and further down
stream until toward the close of the
season they would not reach further
than Rocky Point, or the mouth of the
Musselshell. These boats would come
as far upstream as possible n then
their cargoes would be transported to
Fort Benton by bull teams.
They Raised Horses
For a number of years Mr.. Leavens
and his father raised horses in the
Judith basin. having their range on Lit
tie Rock creek. Horses commanded a
good price INT raising horses was as a
rule more profitable INC demanded less
work than cattle raising. Horses once
accustomed to a range seldom drift per-
manently away. Mares who have had
colts will endeavor to return to the same
place when about to foal and Mr.. Leav-
ems says they have had mares which
had been brought in from the Sun river
country. cross the Missouri to return to
their old pastures at foaling time.
The Judith basin was a rich n beau
III IOultlG dQlilk tit QdlS VI l4lt
open range. There was no ~sagebrush in
the area. Wild s~unflowers grew in great
patches knee high and the yellow fields
as the wind came waving through them
made a beautiful sight. The native grasses
also grew tall over most of the area, fur
nishing abundant feed for the horses
and cattle. 1t was a rich game country
also and the rancher had no difficulty
in obtaining plenty of wild meat of
both animal and fowl.
Usually twice a year, spring n fall,
the elder Leavens would go to Fort Ben
ton to buy q load of grub which would
furnish the staple articles of diet for the
next five or six months. A large store
of flour, sides of salt pork, which were
used instead of bacon, dried fruit, sugar,
salt, and similar articles would furnish
the bulk Of the load.
When they first came to the region,
a number Of French Canadians, under
the leadership of an old voyageur named
Juneaux and Pau Morase, had settled
on the present site of Lewistown, where
had built a stockade which was
known as J~uneaux's trading post. The
stockade was of the common type with
a square building at each corner COM
manding the sides and protecting them
from attack. The walls of the log cabins
furnished the sides OF the ~stockade, to
q large extent. In the center was a
space into which wagons and animals
could be driven.
Spoke In q Whisper
The trading post consisted Of a long
log building. AT one n of the long
counter were dry goods, while at the
other end the store was a~bundantly sup
piled with wet goods. Juneaux had
some affection of the vocal cords and
could speak only in a whisper. Ed Bras
sey, who died a veal or W ago, was at
that time the schoolmaster at the post,
teaching the children of the settlement,
many of them half breeds of Cree an
cestry. For the first ear that they
were in that section, they received their
mail at the Juneaux post.
One hot summer day, Leavens, with
another young fellow, were riding through
the country and cam to Spring creek,
a few hundred yards from the stockade.
Grass grew down to the waters edge n
with the clear water in a pool made by
the stream, 1t was q real beauty spot.
Tempted by the clear water, the two lads
peeled off their clothes and Leavens
dived in. The water was icy cold n
he came up, chilled to the bone.
"How's the water?" his comrade shout
ed. Fine" he managed to yell al
though he could hardly get his breath
to talk. The other lad jumped in, came
up sputtering and looking at him re-