Montana oil and mining journal. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1931-1953, 1938-05-14
BY ELMO


- names beIoagi ~ to ? past gen gen
stood for thriving communities
pulsing with pioneer life. On one Oc-
casiOn they were scenes Of marching,
augered miners, more or less organized
and determined 10 carry the day for
their cause. But after long march
and a glimpse of a few soldiers and a
posse of armed citizens, their ardor
AIdridge, across the mountain ridges
west and a little south Of Corwin
Springs in the upper Yellowstone
valley, was a coal mining camp in the
COS; it was an important community
in the industrial life Of its day. Today
the name is associated only with a
lake nearby. The coal camp Is gone,
and no one resides there.
HOrr was the coke oven town on the
Yellowstone just south Of Corwtn. The
coal was brought from the mountains
by tram and flume to feed, at its hey
day, hundred coke ovens. Horr today
is known ,aS Electric The coke ovens
lie in ruins, crumbling monuments to
a one-time boom town.
Cinnabar was the town at the or
iginal end of the Yellowstone park
branch Of the Northern Pacific, three
miles below Gardiner at the park
boundary. 1t has completely disap-
peared.
Trouble in 1896
A stretch Of country between the
Yellowstone river and the mountain
ridge, now a game refuge for the park,
plus a few small ranches, was the line
of march through Horr and Cinnabar
when the Aldridge miners went on the
warpath in March, 1896. 1t was one Of
those affairs which, while it lasted,
provided plenty of thrills for those in
VOlved: an affair where anything might
have happened, and nothing much did.
j. E. Strong, new mine Superintend-
ent at Aldridge was visited at his cabin
on a Sunday afternoon by a mob Of
rs to 100 Austrian and Hungarian
miners and told to leave the camp
within four hours. There had been no
grievances voiced by the men, he de-
clared later He told the men If they
had a grievance he would be glad to |
discuss it with them. They repeated |
their order that he leave. He suggested
a compromise-that the men go about
their affairs and return to see him |
in four hours.
PhOned for Help
When the crowd was gone he phoned !
DR.. Allen at Horr and asked that he
send help to Aldridge. He could not |
tell the whole story, as others had ac- |
cess to the party line. DR.. Allen inter |
preted the message correctly, however, |
for apparently there had been rlImors |
of trouble in the air. DR.. Allen first |
called the officers in charge of troops |
at Yellowstone park, who refused TO
become involved. He then wired Sheriff !
George T. Young of Livingston for aid. |
AS soon as possible Sheriff Young |
and a posse. consisting of B. D. Shelf
field. William Mitchell, James Foster,
w. B. Altimus, Ed Shaw, e. B. Whit |
itch, Ed Bennett, Deputy Sheriff Bell |
r~l~A Nj
by special train to Mulherin station,
just below Horr. At Mulherin they
were met by George Welcome, father
of the present George Welcome Of
Gardiner, who informed them that
there had been no trouble to that time,
but their arrival at Aldridge might |
prevent bloodshed.
Rifles in the posse were left on the
train in charge of Undersheriff Ely,
and the posse went on foot, armed
with revolVers, the four miles into the
mountains to Aldridge, reaching there
at 3 o'clock Monday morning. They
found Strong, his assistant superin-
tendent j. L. Barry, John Walker and
DR.. Allen barricaded in the cabin.
Much relieved by the presence Of the
posse, Strong told his story.
After calling the officers DR.. Allen
and Walker had gone to Horr to render
what assistance they could. When the
miners returned late in the evening
they were met by four men with guns.
They were told to select a committee
of three to talk with Strong In the
cabin. The committee told Strong the
miners had extended the time for leav-
ing the camp to a. M, Monday, and
that Barry must go with him. For the
first time, said Strong, he learned what
the grievance was. The miners were
paid by the ton for digging coal, and
they were charging short weights at
the company scales. The miners fired
q volley of shots when they left, to
their determination to rid
the camp of the superintendent and
Barry
Two months previously Strong had
come from Birmingham, Ala, as super
succeeding j. H. Conrad,
who resented his summary dismissal
Conrad remained in the camp and
made every opportunity to incite dis
content. He even gave orders to the
men contrary to Strong's. Strong had
ordered Conrad to leave, and he be-
lieved Conrad had retaliated by stir
ring up a riot.
Outside reports were that the man
agement of the mines had changed
in an effort to get
!