Montana oil and mining journal. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1931-1953, 1938-05-21

! GdSJGTQ hOlbdIld pIdIlS-t4Ac flIbud441
unmarked grave Of a pioneer-win this
spring become an important link in the
state highway departments program to
/ preserve details of Montanas history
and to acquaint visitors with the lore
Of the old west as exemplfied in this
state.
workers for the plans division Of the
! department at the present time are
completing a marker to be installed at
the grave as a headstone, identifying
4 the mound of rocks and earth guarded
previously by only native shrub. In
addition, a small historical signboard,
similar to the larger ones erected by
the department at historically impor-
tant points throughout the state Is to
be placed on the roadside near the
grave.
The plot is one of the many which
line almost forgotten frontier trails,
long since blanketed by modern high
ways. Hereafter, though, this one grave
is to have a distinction all its own
Last August John T. Lienesch, 10
year-old native and resident Of ORAL
lon, Ill, started on a western motor trip
with his wife and daughter, not as
casual tourists but as explorers of from
tier trails that had beckoned to him
since childhood.
Where Uncle Slain
An uncle, William K. Thomas, with
his 8-year-old son, Charles and his
driver, Joseph Schultz, had left the old
Illinois homestead in 1866 to journey
by way of the Bozeman trail or Bridger
cutoff to the Gallatin valley on the
headwaters Of the Missouri river in
Montana. The trail was a mere wagon
track threading through badlandS, roll
ing plains, and treacherous fords. 1t
forked off of the oregon trail at old
Fort Laramie, Wyo., and in violation Of
a treaty, crossed the hunting grounds
Of hostile Sioux and Cheyenne Indians. |
But it was a short cut" to the rain
bows end-a time-saving route for
those who dared.
william Thomas kept diary. It tells !
of starting with a fine mule team and I
covered wagon; Of Journeying by boat
from ST. Louis to AtchiSon, Kan; of /
there joining wagon train Of emf !
grants; Of hardShipS and minor dis /
aSters along the way; of Indian attacks
and dry camps; of accompanying a
military outfit guided by the famous
old mountain man, Jim Brldger, sent
to build Fort G. F. Smith on the Big
Horn river in Montana.
BOSS" Of the wagon train was Hugh
Kirkendall, early-day Montana freight
er and wagonmaster, whose grandson,
Hugh Kirkendan Potter, is at present
a resident of Helena and a member OF
the Montana highway patrol.
In Grow Country
When they reached the site of the
new fort, Thomas, his son, and Joseph
Schultz jubilantly pushed on with two
other wagons. They were in the
country of friendly Crows. No need to
wait for the protection Of the slower
of teams. A portion Of his
diary entry for Aug. II, 1866, reads:
~ 4or~ fIevon villas
Then they stopped, thinking it was
safer to wait for the train. I deter
mined, trusting in the Lord, to go
ahead" And then the diary tells of
forging ahead alone, Of finding a
spring and walling it up and naming it
Thomas spring. A few days later, on
Aug. %, the diary abruptly ends with
This entry: Aug. 22-Wednesday morn
ing at o'clock we left Thomas spring,
drove up the branch a mile, crossed It
and took over the hills . Nooned at
! little creek. In the afternoon we drove
,hree miles from there and camped for
he night on a nice little branch. Broke
1ur champagne bottle"
Two days later the crawling covered
wagon train overlook them. Their
campfire was still blazing but William
md Charles Thomas lay dead near the
ooted wagon, their bodies fun Of Sioux |
rrows. The little diary and other books
we're scattered about on the ground.
Schultz, evidently surprised and killed
While fishing, was found near by on the
'ank of the stream. There was hRSty
luial in one grave, a muttered prayer,
nd the wagon train moved on.
In time word filtered back TO the
outhern Illinois farm with q vague
Of the graves location as
where the Bridger trail to the gold
ields strikes the Yellowstone river"
The story, so familiar in the annals
t the west, made a tremendous inn
ression on 7-year-old John Idenesch.
low, 70 years later, he was following
he old trails In hopes Of finding the
xact location Of the tragedy. At Lodge
SraSs he read one of the Montana
highway departments roadside histor-
al markers. It told of the ruins Of
'ort G. F. Smith, IS miles to the west.
Te knew then he was nearing the end
( his quest. Near Reed Point and e
fray Cliff he traced early settlers who a
innly recalled hearing the tale from c
arents and neighbors. At last he found f
n old-timer who sent his grandson to Y
how John LieneSch the exact spot s.
n