The Hardin tribune-herald. [volume] (Hardin, Mont.) 1925-1973, 1936-01-17

CIe trees C1leTeaOOuG uaQ Deen hacked
with knives; That page was written IS
point of time is another, up in Yellow
stone park, above the first falls of the
Yellowstone river where there are still
to be seen blackened stumps of trees
with deeply cut circles burned in, and
from these stumps, leading down the
p%recipitous sides Of the canyon, wagon
bent rifle, the bar of bullion, the hack
ed trees near Clark's fork and the
rutted canyon sides in Yellowstone
park together tell the story of a har-
rowing time in Montana's history, hav-
ing to do with General Miles and Gen.
eral Howard, and more particularly
dian fighters and unofficial scouts I'M
der Miles-Crandall and Old Horne
Miller, who IS years ago, was young
Horne Miller.
Horne Miller may, I am told, be said
to be the founder of Cooke City. He
was a trapper, buffalo hunter and
proSpector as well as Indian fighter.
With Pike Moore he came from st.
Louis, Mo-, by steamboat into Mon
eating johnson, secuted for a time
along the Missouri river. Then wan
derlust and the itch for gold led Moore
and Miller on up into the mountains
near Soda Butte Greek where later the
town of Cooke City sprang into being.
During the first months Of its infancy
it numbered four inhabitants - Bill
Donahue, Crandall, Horne Miller and
Pike Moore, who built their log cabins
close IS a challenge against the weight
of solitude.
For two years the four men braved
the hardships of cold winters and hot
summers in the stiffness of the un-
peopled mountains, often snowbound
for months, trapping, living on wild
game, and always digging for quartz
or panning for dust. Not one of them
ever struck a rich find although Miller
did occasionally take a few nuggets
as to stir the curiosity of others. Nat
urally he refused to give away the
secret of the location of his diegings
but it was supposed to have been at
the base of Saddle Mountain in a re-
gion later set aside as Yellowstone a
tional park. Visitors to the park may
notice a small stream circling the
known as MILLER creek" The only
tangible commemoration to a man WHO
contributed his humble part toward the
building up Of the west. Another in
significant stream emptying into
Clark's fork has been named "Crandal
creek" Tor the man VINO was killed by
Redskin bullets while serving as scout
under General Miles.
They never found wealth, these four
men, but the quartz which Miller took
into Bozeman over the mountain trail
was big enough and rich enough to
attract the interest of many, and o
the quiet valley was filled with pros
pectors eager to reap the harvest which
the patient toll of the four had Gown.
And so the town of Cooke City came
into being, first and last a mining
town, unique, SCARED by the tragedies
it has known, withdrawn from the
hustle of the world, interesting in that
it has escaped the touch of moGern-
ism. One Of the few of Montana'S towns
to retain the glamor of early day ro-
nance. Steadily Cooke City grew until,
during its pinnacle of prosperity it is
said to have boosted the largest post
the state, serving some 5000 patrons
from the surrounding region.
Finally sufficient quartz-lead, sill
yer and gold-was found in the moun-
tains to necessitate a smelter, and so
an old, Mexican type Smelter-one Of
the first in Montana-was erected at
bars Of bullion. And it was at this
time, while the fever for gold wa in
mems veins and while the little noun
tain town wa putting up a determ-
ined struggle for existence that the
Nez Perez tribe started on the war
path, they too, struggling for their
tribal existence. They were mainly vic
torious for awhile, spreading horror
and blOOdShed in their wake. shifting