Montana oil and mining journal. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1931-1953, 1936-12-19
Stage Line Opened After Indians Were Quoted

Travellers In Montana before the
railroad era had in general three
choices In mode Of transportation,
and in certain sections, = fourth.
They could so afOots horseback, or
by stagecOach. For the fourth choice
they could travel by water In boat
or canoe on some Of the states
rivers or lakes. The bull team and
horse freight outfits are not in
cIuded, for those who went with
them usually had TO go afOOt, re-
gardless of their intentions, or the
promises Of the drivers when they
started.
Needless to say, a stagecoach trip
was filled with action. Galloping four
horse teams and humping coach over
the trail we're followed by the hustle
of eating and changing teams at the
stage stationS-and there was always
the possibility that the stage might be
held up and the passengers robbed.
One of the most useful stage lines in
Montana was that between Miles City
and Bozeman, established in 1877 1t
had been contemplated for several
years and when put into operation,
proved an important factor in speeding
the development Of the eastern part
of the state. One thing that deferred
its establishment was the fact that the
route during the early seventies was
through a distinctly hostile Indian
country. The campaign against the
Sioux which ended in the Custer mas
sacre, and the subsequent routing Of
redmen, allayed the fears Of citizens
sufficiently to bring about the installa-
ton of the line
Some of the earliest settlers became
stage drivers, or maintained stage sta
tionS. At Saltwater were the Country
mans: at Rapids, Isaac Hensley; at
Coulson, P. w. Meadow; at Huntley,
Omar HOskins and Thomas McGirl, who
also operated a ferry across the yell
lowstone river. Still farther down the
Yellowstone river towards Miles City,
the famous frontiersman, Liver Eat
ing" Johnson had a station.
Hazardous and Trying Ordeal
Those who started on a stage jour
ney had no assurance they would get
through on time, or indeed at all. The
coaches were usually crowded, If not
with passengers, with baggage and mail
for people along the route. There were
breakdoWns and delays as the result OF
steep grades and deep ruts, and now
and then swollen streams to ford which /
held up the procession.
The conYeniences at the stage sta I
tions were meagre. Liver Eating"
Johnson's idea of the comforts Of life, |
for instance, we're probably not such I
as to favorably impress a traveller from /
the more effete east The squalor and
lack of sanitation that existed in many /
of the stations made the time Of de-
parture from them the most impressive /
memory of the visit, regardless Of the /
enthusiasm which had attended the ar
rival with its hopes for period of rest,
relaxation and refreShment that would |
take the edge off the remainder of the
trip.
Although the hostile Indians were
pretty well cleaned out in the Yellow
stone valley before the Miles City
Bozeman stage line was inaugurated,
there were times when Indians caused
some IneaSinesS to travellers. In 1877
when Chief Joseph and his band Of
Nez PerceS were in the Clark's Fork Of
the Yellowstone country, jerkey, So
called because 1t was a SpringlesS We
hicle different from the old Concord
coach, fell into their hands.
Indians and Road Agents
Chief Joseph was too much Of gen.
eral to overlook such an opportunity
for further establishing himself with
his people as a man Of dignity. He
turned his horse loose and rode the
jerkey in triumphal progress down the
Clark's Fork valley, its sole passenger,
until, at Canyon creek, the soldiers
made it so hot for his band that he {
had to catch up his horse and, with his I
followers, take to the hills for safety.
Much more to be feared than the I
indians were the road agents who r
prang up as the line prospered. More
han one stagecoach driver lost his life q