The Hardin tribune-herald. [volume] (Hardin, Mont.) 1925-1973, 1934-12-14

the dam. Then I pulled out for Ophir
gulch ON the West side Of the divide and
I mined there for a few days, and then
they had an excitement on Madison
gulch at the head of Nevada creek. I
got interested in mining with a man
by the name Of Day and John Brown.
We worked that claim until October.
It was a little placer mine and that
fall we dissolved. I came back to Crow
creek and we went on to Sixteen Mile
to hunt. Spent the winter hunting
there with a man by the name of Col
Inns, an Irishman whose name I have
forgotten, and George Powell, and I
hauled game w to Virginia City, also
load to Helena, for which I got
l to 20 cents per pound. In the spring
of 1866 I was on Crow creek and Leon
ard was working for Col. c. A. Broad
water. Leonard joined us at Crow
creek that winter. In the spring he
went to Utah with the team, and I hir-
ed out by the month to SWEET and
Metzger, driving team. That trip took
us until July before we got back. Then
we got together at Helena. He came
up with a load of barley and sold 1t to
Nick Kessler for the brewery, and then
we bought another team from Billy
Lennon. He sold it to us on time and
agreed to furnish us freight from Salt
Lake up here and we made that trip
in the fall of the year and earned mon
ey enough to pay for the team, six yoke
Of cattle and the wagon.
We bought. our outfit of winter sup
plies, went down on the Missouri river
20 miles south of Sun River crossing
(the old Fort Benton crossing). There
was a man by the name Of Scofield and
two brothers whose lanes I have for
gotten. They each had two teams. We
had nothing to do but hunt that win
ter, and in January, IA young Indians
came along and camped with us over
night. They were very friendly. In the
morning when they were ready to leave
they asked us for some vension which
we had hanged up and I gave them a
whole deer, and they cut it up in
chunks SO they could carry it easily
(they were all afoot). They looked
suspicious to us at the time as each one
of them had a good lariat. One of our
outfit in camp-Charles Femister, who
was from Utah and was familiar with
1ndians-wanted to kill every one of
them and put them under the ice. MI.
Scofield, being quite an old gentleman
and of some experience, objected to his
method, thought we had better treat
them kindly and get rid of them in
that way, which we did. Two days lat
er they stole every horse we had but
one (there were IS head of horses-the
n remaining raj SO afraid of Indians
they could not get near enough to take
it,. We afterwards. found out that ON
their way back they stole quite a few
horses on Sun river, and in the mean
time we got together and made up a
purse to send out a party to see if they
could not get the horses back. We sue
ceeded in getting a Frenchman by the
of Vel, who had one of the Black
feet squaws for a wife, and who could
understand their language and knew
their ways. We got him to act as in
terpreter, and they went out on the
Marias and succeeded in trading for the
horses. They cost us about $13 per
head to get them back and that is all
they were worth.
"This ran it into February, 1867, and
then that spring we pulled out in May
for Fort Benton. We made two trips,
n from Fort Benton to Helena, and
one from Fort Benton to Deer Lodge.
Then we were to 60 down to Fort Peck
after some freight. The steamboat Fort
Peck landed at a point south of Glas-
gov which they called Fort Peck. They
were unable to come up the river to
Fort Benton because of low water. On
way in we met the Garrison &
Wyatt trains. They were on their way
back. They had been as far down as
Fort Union after freight. At the lower
end of the Big Bend of Milk river one
outfit had a man killed by the Indians,
and the next night Garrison & Wyatt
had a man wounded by the Indians.
They tried to prevail upon us to turn
back and not go down, but we conc!Ad-
ed to take chances and make the trip
all right. The freight we got belonged
to the firm of Kenny g. Jack, a hard
ware firm in Helena.
THAT closed our summers work. |
When we got back it was late in the
fall. After delivering the freight we
returned to Jul winter quarters on The
Missouri river and in the spring of SO
went on the road the same as usual
and made two trips from Fort Benton
to Helena and one to Virginia City. The
teaming was very slack and that fall
we bought cattle. We bought from 80
to 100 head and took them down to our
headquarters on the Missouri river, and
in the fall got a wood contract to haul
wood from below Sun River crossing to
Fort Shaw GOO cords Of wood.
After We got through with that con-
tract we went into winter quarters. Did
nothing but hunt and look after the