Plentywood herald. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1908-current, 1930-05-01
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Paul, who furnished the stock. The
trip was made in a covered wagon,
Mr.. Shannon hauling the entire stock
of drugs, together with his tent and
personal belongings, overland, taking
several weeks for the trip. A few weeks
later Mrs. Shannon came by train rs
far as the tracks had then reached,
a point west of Forsyth, where her
husband met her and took her the rest
Of the way to Coulson.
There was a hurry of every kind
of business to get established at the
new camp, TO meet the needs OF the
large crew of railroad workers as well
as the expected influx of a more per-
manent population. A few weeks after
the time that Shannon and Hull estab-
lished the Pioneer drug store, the firm
of Hersey and voolfolk also made its
appearance and made ready to open
another drug store. An item a little
later caustically notes at the appear
ance of a third druggist that the COM
ing of a third drug store to a place
SO healthful that no mi had yet died
there of disease was not in response
to any insistent demand on the part
of the public.
During the summer of 1882, business
houses began to desert Coulson almost
as rapidly as they had appeared, and
as most of the stores were still in
the nomadic stage, the proprietors
merely folded up their tents, placed
their goods in a wagon and moved over
to Billings. The firm of Shannon and
Hull followed the example Of others
and moved TO the rising city two miles
further west. An opportunity to sell
the business came before they had
opened up in their new location, and
the Pioneer drug store went into other
hands.
After selling out his drug business,
MI. Shannon engaged in stock ranch
ing in the Bull mountain country
between Billings and Roundup for a
number of years, but later bought an
irrigated ranch near Myers in what is
now Treasure county. This farm is
o operated by a son
In 1893, Mr.. Shannon, like many
other early Montanans, followed the
lure of Klondike gold and for two years
prospected for gold in parts of Alaska
and the Yukon territory. He was a
great lover of the mountains and for
several years had charge of the East
IeOoCbu0 pAOpNi " W. oiS OWiiSist
Christian Yegen and John Chapman.
He interested himself in getting a road
built to the first summer resort in the
Beartooth mountains. He maintained
a cabin at the lake until his death.
He accompanied Fred Inapnit on sew
eral exploring trips into the noun
tainS.
Just as the boom as Coulson and
Billings brought an embarrassing num-
Der of drug stores as well as other
commercial establishments. it was also
the signal for a number of doctors to
enter the field. Before the railroad
days Coulson had been without a ply
sician, while a stock of household
remedies of tried effect, kept at the
Meadow general store, took the place
Of q drug store. The only physician
in a wide area was the post surgeon al
Fort Custer, some so miles distant.
DR.. j. H. Rinehart, an army surgeon
at Fort Custer, came to Coulsoil on
urgent calls on q few occasions, when
there appeared a chance of saving a
disease stricken or more often a badly
injured man. A year or two after Bill
lings was established, he located in
the new town, remaining there until his
death.
In the spring and summer Of 1882
four or five doctors arrived in Billings
and opened offices. While several OF
these were competent physicians who