Glacier County chief. [volume] (Browning, Mont.) 1931-1940, 1939-11-10
BY EDWARD b. REYNOLDS

uuIlHS tHOSe paIlOuS 1IOHtleI udyS
when Montana was in the making,
men rode the tide of events, leav-
ing behind them tales of courage,
industry and tenacity. They not
only left stirring records of pio-
neer achievement for the diges-
ton of present day historians but
they spiced them with bits of "hu-
man interest,"" replete with pathos,
humor and the homely naturalness of
great men.
Among the history making events of
Montana's past was the linking of the
Northern Pacific railroad at the mouth
Of Independence gulch in Powell coun-
ty, Sept. 8, 1883. The event was marked
by the driving of the golden spike"
and it was a great day, not only in
the annals of the then territory of
Montana but throughout the entire
United States.
Many are the stories which were told
of that memorable day and. possibly
those stories were exaggerated to pro-
duce the legend of the golden spike
At least there is no positive proof that
a golden spike was used, SO possibly it
was a symbolic term rather than an
actual spike of precious metal. But
whatever was used, it was a golden
epoch in Montana's past and men
whose names are recorded in history
and men whose names are forgotten,
but who nevertheless made history,
gathered together to celebrate the &C.
caSion.
Grant Borrows a Light
There was a farmer, who lived
somewhere below Missoula, at the cele-
bration and. as he walked along the
platform erected by the railroad COM
pany to accommodate people attend
ing the spike-driving, he met Gen. U.
S. Grant The wind was blowing so
strongly that the general was finding
As the farmer was smoking a cigar;
the general stopped him and asked
if he could light his own cigar from
that of the farmers.
With nervous fingers the farmer
proudly complied and when the general
ting,,ished his cigar instead of con-
tinuing his smoke and placed it In his
pocket. General Grant bluShed like a
schoolgirl although he pretended not
to notice the farmers act. When they
r ths eeear e% s eas farm
1t is needless to say that the fresh
cigar also was carefully wrapped in
the farmers handkerchief and it is
also needless to say that for many
years the. farmer proudly showed his
county farmhouse with the description,
Yep, that's the very cigar General
Grant used to light his own with and
that's the one he gave me with his
compliments. 1t happened like this. I
was walking :"
Plans Go Awry
There was another man named Grit
fiths, who owned a stock ranch near
resident of Los Angeles. Griffiths had
driven two of his fast colts to Helena
to place them in the hands of a
trainer. He planned to return on one
of the trains moving toward the spike
driving. which was scheduled to take
place not far from his Drummond
ranch home.
Naturally Griffiths had never ridden
on train. When he came to Montana
in the early sixties he had arrived by
California and then had travelled over
land to Montana. He had never even
seen a train before so he was not
posted on the procedure. However, he
wanted to see the spike-driving and he
also wanted to go home, so he quietly
boarded the first train which came
along.
Now it so happened that the railroad
management had issued tickets and
some sort of an invitation badge and
only those who had them could ride
on the trains. No regular passenger
Helena or east of Missoula.
The train had Just gotten under way
when the conductor approached Grit
fiths and requested his badge or pass.
Griffiths didn't. have one, but being
man of wealth. he promptly asked
the conductor how much he wanted
and told him his destination. But his
money might have been counterfeit as
far as the conductor was concerned.
The bell cord was given jerk, the
in, To stow NJ
about one mile from the depot
Furiously Griffiths trudged back
toward the telegraph shack which
served as depot. Before he had
be Sy ana raT the he ms wa he5o ana
together with the tables reversed in
that the rancher was telling the hobo
of his troubles.
Hobo Helps Him
"Youse can't ride the BEAM" said
the hobo, but I'll fix you out all
When the pair arrived at the depot
another train was getting ready to pro-
coed west. The hobo ran along the
train and selected likely looking car.
Then he returned and took his rich
a S,taI!, i;t to it. instructing him to
had a controlling interest in the rail-
road.
Griffiths tossed him a dollar and
said, Here's a silver dollar and should
I get through all right and ever see
you again I'll give you four more, but
II get put off I shall come back and
Griffiths walked into the car. He
passed a couple of well-dressed men
and took a seat opposite a common
looking. man of middle age. In a mo-
ment the two had struck up a con-
verSation and before the train started
the good-natured stranger had heard
the stockman's story. They became
friends Immediately and enjoyed a
spirited argument on the relative merits
OF Shorthorn and Polled Angus cattle;
except for this argument they agreed
on everything.
Upon arriving, the distinguished
looking rancher was noticed by his
friends in the company of the rather
fleShy and plainly dressed stranger.