Plentywood herald. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1908-current, 1931-10-01
GEORGE w. FRENCH is ONE OF FEW STATE
PIONEERS WHO WAS OM BAMMACK WHEN
PlUMMGR WAS HANGED BY v~0G0lANTES

Elizabeth Hughes, a native Of Eng
land. After a wedding tour of England
the young people settled in Wisconsin
remaining there until they left for the
West in 1868.
When he left Wisconsin he took with
him a small brewery outfit. Eventual
ly. he erected this brewery in Bannack
with a second floor above it, used as a
hall. 1t was here that the beloved
Bishop futile used to hold services in
Bannack. The story is told that once,
as he preached, the floor began to set
tie violently, and the Bishop rushed
cut through a rear door. Seeing that
the floor held safely, Bishop futile
returned. With the remark, self pre-
servation is the first law of nature"
he went calmly on with his services.
When the French family got to Ban
mack, this Montana camp where they
had no wish to go, they campeo on
Yankee Flat. They arrived Friday
night, and had been in their wagons
for six months. On Saturday a big
hearted woman came to see them, and
invited them all to dinner Sunday. She
was Mrs. Durgan, often spoken of as
"the widow Durgan'', who ran the no.
tel. Needless to say. they didn't turn
the invitation down, and on Sunday ate
inside a house, at a table, for the first
time in half a year.
The family stayed, in Bannack for
seven years. Here the children went
to school to Miss Darling, niece of Gov
ernor Edgerton. George and his BROTH
ers and sisters were among the rlrst
children to go to school in Montana.
The education that such pioneers as
Mr.. and Mrs. French, well-informed
and travelled, and early teachers like
Miss Darling, were able to give children
is astonishing. With meagher material
advantages, they gave their children
sound and finished schooling that
would be a reproach to some of our
present day high schools. There were
nine children in the family, seven of
whom grew to adult life. Two children,
Henry, aged 8, and Lizzie, aged 4, were
drowned while the family lived at Ban
mack.
The family moved to Argento in 1870.
Argenta is Is miles from Bannack, and
IL miles from Dillon. A. M. Essler dis
covered the first silver mine in Mon
tana at Argenta in 1866 or 81. The
town was then called Montana City,
but since there was another Montana
City, in the territory, when Mr.. French
took his family there he renamed the
place Argenta.
The place names of early Montana
reflect the coming of a lettered class
of pioneers. Many of them, like the
name of Argenta for a silver camp, are
classical in their fitness. 1t is well
known, of course, that the earliest
comers were in large measure men of
superior birth and training. These
first families, although intimate and
cordial with those proven worthy of
their friendship, were not quick to adj
NIT strangers to their intimate circle,
especially after the influx from sur-
rounding territories became heavier.
George French continued to attend
school in Argenta until he was II years
old, then became interested in mining
and operated both placer and quartz
mines for many years. In 1896 he was
elected county treasurer Of Beaverhead
county, and served for two terms; then
was elected clerk of the district court,
and at the expiration of his service re-
turned to Argenta. Besides extensive