Montana oil and mining journal. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1931-1953, 1936-04-18
Frank Sm1dersonsWa Montana Pioneer
When City of Billings Was Open Prairie
BY GLENDoLM DAMON WAGNER


UGH HAS been written of those
III N daring Adventures who came
I'VE west in the early days and die
.4W4 spectacular things-waged wal
on the Redmen, hunted big
game, proSpected for gold. They played
their part In the settling Of the plains
but no bigger part than the hundreds
of sober, Industrious men who proved
their faith in the new land by merging
their destinies with it, building perman-
ent homes, raising families, blowing
buffalo sod and planting 1t to wheat.
To the latter we owe the important
farming industry without which there
would have been no civilized west.
Among the pioneer farmers who Wis
Toned q prosperous future in the vast,
silent plains was Frank Sanderson.
That restless spirit Of adventure and
courage OF youth which are the germs
of all American growth possessed him
In 1873 when he was Is, he left the
security Of an orderly existence in Illi-
nOis to come west, locating at first
near Reno New. There he worked for
a time. In 1879 he was sent with band
of sheep to the wilds Of Montana Ter
ritory near Helena. On that tedious
overland trip there were plenty of adj
ventures, many real dangers from In
dams and road agents, but such hazards
were Just part Of the days work. The
incident that stood out most wildly In
Mr.. Sandergon'S memory and which
made Of him hero In the eyes OF his
co-workers had to do with a vegetable
dinner. For weeks, as they drove their
band slowly along, inching their way
across the plains, they had been living
on bareback and salt pork, until the
monotony Of the fare got on their
nerves. One afternoon, while Frank
was riding off alone searching for
water holes, he came upon veritable
mecca set down in those endless miles
Of unpeopled prairie, little sod shack,
and, surrounding 1t, the luxury Of a
garden. Every vegetable the men had
been hungering for was growing there
green onions, turnips, cabbage, beets.
potatoes. At first the boy feared 1t
must be q mirage, like the lake that
shimmers before the eyes Of 5hirst-
tormented men in a desert. But q very
substantial young Dutch woman an
swered his quick knock at her cabin
door and dispelled all doubts. A deal
was made and soon Frank was riding |
triumphantly back to camp with his :
treasure. AS he told the story his eyes !
twinkled with relish. He dug a pit, he /
said, lined it with stones, built fire
and, while the stones we're heating, ar
ranged his vegetables in the big iron
kettle-a layer Of turnips, one Of salt
pork, one Of onions and potatoes and
cabbage, until the kettle was filled to
the brim. He set 1t into the red-hot
pit, packed it with sod and waited.
Presently, across the plains, was waited
an unfamiliar, tantalizing odor that
brought the other herders dashing up,
shifting curiously. And that supper!
Whenever you asked Mr.. Sanderson for
stories of the early-day west he in
variably began with an account of his
steaming kettle and of how they all
gathered around 1t, eating and eating
until not one morsel remained.
When the band of sheep was sold at
Helena that winter Frank drove stage
for a time between White Sulphur
Springs and Fort Custer. Then he
worked as a farm hand for Westbrook
and Meadow on their ranch near the
present site of Billings. At that time