The Hardin tribune-herald. [volume] (Hardin, Mont.) 1925-1973, 1936-03-13

~ out a plan OF at
tack against Sitting Bull, famous Sioux
leader and medicine man.
Incoming settlers following the course
of the railroad then under construc-
ton, to a considerable number, were
diverted into the Rosebud valley. Many
homesteads were located, some of
which are still occupied by the orig
inal settlers: The valley became popu-
lated with sturdy men and women who
and fortunes incidental to those early
days. The history of their struggles
furnishes one of the most interesting
chapters of frontier life.
Having determined upon the loca-
t ticia,e Of t the diviS nenoE Roitnit; rai H;RS of: Of
Gee with the idea of acquiring his
land. He was informed of the plan
of the Northern Pacific Railway Co.
to set up a new town. His land was con-
v~eniently located between two points,
which the company officials felt would
the future. The formalities Of the oc-
caSion were observed. An alluring Of
fer wa made. but the representations
made by company officials were futile.
Gee refused to come to any terms. An
other site had to be found for the
division point which the railway COM
pany deemed necessary in those early
days of the SlOwer-moving rolling
stock.
Tom Alexander had taken up al
homestead on the south bank of the
Yellowstone river about 10 or II miles
west of the mouth of the Rosebud.
Gee had turned a deaf ear to the offer
with considerable interest to the prop
osition that q town and a railroad di-
vision point be set up on his property. |
He was impressed by the possibilities.
The result was that Alexander sold
his land to the company, and it was
upon his homestead that the little city
Of Forsyth was built: The name me
m~orializes Col. James w. Forsyth of the
It'll Cavalry, who became widely known
in southeastern Montana during the
troublous Indian warfare days.
Sam Newnes found Forsyth a tented
city upon his arrival in May, 1882.
Only one log shack stood on the main
He spent his first night with some
companions standing behind a large
cottonwood tree. A group Of cowboys,
taking umbrage at some incident, were
engaged in shooting up the town.
They rode up and down the main
street, taking a shot at ANYTHING which
not until late the following day that
quiet was restored with the arrival of
a United States marshal.
Three men were killed when a car
Of steel and lumber was wrecked in
the early part of July, 1882, at a point
about four miles west Of Forsyth. One
near the slough, which became known
thereafter as Dead Mans Spring." AL
buffalo hunter by the name of Muir
ply set up a small fort here, which
served to protect white travellers pass
ing that way.
"A year after his arrival at Forsyth,
Of 40 acres. The log cabin which he
built in 1886 is still standing on the
trail leading west from Forsyth, and is
n of the Oldest landmarks in that
region;
community anua was was being }znnsn LETT to t. the 81 build tIl-
ritory surrounding it. Hunting buffalo
became the principal pastime of many
of the settlers. The late Peter Jackson,
who made two Jumps" from his home
in Tronjam: Norway, to reach the
Rosebud valley often related his ex-
ing. one winter. Incidentally, in the
spring Of 1873 on the American Fork,
jackson killed the largest bear ever
shot in the territory or state. 1t weighed
1000 pounds. Jackson, a young man of
%, left Norway in the spring of 1863,
and arrived in Wisconsin in Septem-
Der of that year, remaining two years,
and employed as a lumber jack. Hear
ing that gold had been discovered in
Last Chance gulch, at Helena, Jackson
came to Montana in 1871, remaining
there two years. In 1873 and 1874 he
spent most of his time hunting at the
head Of the Musselshell, near what is
now Harlowton. His hunting range