Montana oil and mining journal., 1937-06-12
THE PASSING OF A VALUED FRIEND

Sadness over the loss OF a highly re-
spected friend and advisor comes to
the officers and members Of this Or
ganizatiOn as these lines are written.
It is the sudden passing of Calvin e.
Hubbard, veteran abstractOr, of Great
Falls.
MFR. Hubbard, one OF the most public
spirited men I'm north Montana, was
stricken with pneumonia as he was
participating in the boat race up the
Missouri river. He was a man of 81
years but one OF great strength and
virility. He appeared to be in the best
of health as he undertook the hard
journey as a member of the crew Of
the City of Great Falls, racing three
other boats representing neighbOring
cities, from st. Louis to Fort Benton.
"CaI" Hubbard was the outstanding
character In the history-making race
which was to mark the last trip of
river craft up the Missouri river before
this stream is closed TO navigation by
the Fort Peck dam. He was pfctur-
esque in his bucIEsIKin suit and fur
cap, relic costume of pioneer days,
which he wore on this trip. He carried
also a flint lock rifle such as used
by the sturdy pioneers who came up
the Missouri river in the early Sixties
to venture forth in a new country,
prospecting for gold. The role fitted
him for ne truly looked the part of
the sturdy pioneer. At each stop dur
ing the race he distributed souvenirs
and publications descriptive of the
scenic attractions of MOntaTsa. His
presence added zest to the trip and
lent dignity TO the enterprise which
tod rsf IN
the race.
He became suddenly i'll Tuesday and
was removed from the boat at Pierre,
s. ID. Within "a hours he had passed
away.
1t was ''Cal" Hubbard who taught
us a great deal about legal titles and
abstracting. 1t the early days of this
organization the writer was news
paper man who visited the oil fields
to get the exciting news of those days.
The writer learned about how some
men were actually made ''rich over
night and soon found out that these
fortunate ones were not stock buyers
or drilIers or even the operators, but
the landOwner-the men who received
part of the production, free of cost
of production.
With little more than a general idea
how royalties work, the writer began
buying a little royalty, here and there,
sharing with landowner the risk by
buying and the opportunity to parti-
cipate i'm any wealth that might come
from discovery of oil on his land.
Friendly oil operators began giving
the writer tips" on where wells were
to be drilled, making it possible for
him to buy royalties ahead of the
drill, closing his purchases before the
landowner knew of the plan to drill.
With the guidance of the best geOlO-
gists and operators, the writer soon
found himself with more propositions
than he could handle, even though he
was very successful from the start.
The earliest purchases were among
the most prOfitable.SOOn friends in
Great Falls asked for opportunity to
join in these purchases and the writer
found that six or eight persons going
in together could buy greater amount
of royalty for a lump sum than could
the same number of persons buying
separately. So it was that this or
ganizatiOn came into existence, as a
cooperative buying agency.
1t was not long until we learned
that there was more to buying royalty
than TO get a signed deed, TO be filed
for record. We encountered the case
Of a landowner named Miller, i'm Cat
Creek, who didR't know as much about
royalties, apparently, as we did. He
'old royalty at a merry pace, forgetting