Montana oil and mining journal., 1935-07-27

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Of them settled on homesteads IN Pts
. Eye basin after the rush at Yogo Bill
, Babc0ck was one of those character
who seemed to live only in pioneer
! days He could tell the tallest stories
in the neighborhood He came into
Montana from the South Dakota gold
i fields, where he was one of the earliest
proSpectOrs, but he almost didn't get
here. He picketed his mules one night
In making camp somewhere In eastern
Montana, and in the morning found
that they had gotten loose and he could
not get near them on foot. He decided
to Grease them with his rifle; that is,
! shoot so that the bullet hit the little
nerve right where the name started,
which, If properly done, would stun the
animal. Bill, however, wasn't as good
at singing bullets as he was at sling
! ing words. and killed both his mules.
Other travellers found him sitting
disconsolately on one Of his fallen steeds
and gave him lift into Cotton Bill
was responsible for the story Of the
trapper who trained a Jack rabbit to
act as decoy to catch coyotes and foxes.
The rabbit would scare them up and
get them to chase him to the trapper'S
cabin, where he would rap two times
with his hind legs as a signal. When the
door was swung open the rabbit would
run into large, open cage inside, with
a little hole in the back through which
he could slip after drawing bis eager
and unsuspecting victim into the trap.
"It would have worked out all right, :"
said Bill, II the darned rabbit hadn't
got ambitious and brought in a whole
family Of polecats.v
Jake Hoover was another Judith bas-
In proSpector and rancher with the
'gift of CAB" Stop me If you've heard
this one, but it is supposed to have
started with Jake.
Harness was very scarce in the eaaly
days" said he, @and / made a set out
Of green buffalo hide. used the new
harness on my team going after load
Of wood, but on the way back 1t beg VI
to rain and the harness began to
stretch. The horses kept travelling and
the harness kept stretching, but the
wagon remained right where It was
So / went on home with the team, Grove
them around q tree two or three times
and went TO bed. In the morning the
Szza #@B sza&Mzx@ hzaEA tAas MHsaess
had shrunk and brought up the wagon
and there was my load Of wood stand
ing by the tree"
Barker was silver mine of the eight
les. It, too, was in the Little Belts, but |
easier to reach from the other side. /
There were three towns In the early
day8 and one, Hughesville, is still run !
ming. The ore was worth about $46 In 4
silver, with a high percent of lead A
man by the name OF Hi Wright was one
CT those to discover it and when IL was
sold his share Was about $600 600. It /
went the way of most easy money, in
the resorts Of Fort Benton and he was
soon back on the job-broke. He said,
They called me a prince when went
in with $50 900, but when was broke
they called me a bum. They can make
bum out of a prince quicker in Fort
Benton than any place ever saw"
Barker was the first camp in this
section to get q railroad. This was
particularly significant of the way it
was regarded as a mining camp. Tt
was not long after the railroad was
completed before the camp began to go
down hill and the railroad was aband-
oned. Until the st. Joseph company
took over the diggings there were only
a few proSpectors hanging around the
once prosperous town just another
dead village, waiting for new processes
and uses for its metals to come alive
again.
To nearly everyone in central Mon
tana, and particularly In Fergus county,
the name Maiden is synonymous with
mining. It was discovered In the Judith
mountains In 1880. There were a num-
Der Of prospectors In. the hills at that
time. but the discovery is usually at
tributed to Skookum Joe. But whoever
tt. it was a lively spot for the
next couple Of years.
The Spotted Horse mine is usually
accounted to be the richest OF the two
most important mines, the other being
the McGinnis. There were about five
mines out OF "a that paid well and
many others made grubstakes.
p. w. Maiden, twho was the trader
at Cotton for many years. developed the
Spotted Horse mine and the Spotted
Horse mine developed Maiden. When
Fergus county was divided from
Meagker county. Maiden was thought .
1f as the new county seat and being !
he metropolis Of the county. as Maiden
vent, SO went the elections. BY 1884
{ was On the tobcggan slide and the
1ew little town Of Lewistown became
he county seat
AS X0g0 had It's Black A6iIly, 30 Maid
N had q Black Fanny. She lived on
he outskirts OF Maiden and washed I
he miners shirts for q living 1t Is said /
hat one pTuspecGor, IN alcoholic graf y
tude fow the snowy shirts she did up '
or him each week, gave her O Cup Q