Glacier County chief. [volume] (Browning, Mont.) 1931-1940, 1939-08-04
NATIVE son, Is,
Is REMINISCENT
JOHN HENRY MARDIs, BORN m
VIRGINIA CITY, LOOKS FOR
WARD TO MEETING
Parents Came to State in Wagon Train
Guided by John M. Bozeman; Son
Was Rider for Years With Buffalo
BINS wild West Show.

John Henry Mardis, who will be
Is on Nov. ! of this year, is look
ing forward to the annual conven-
ton of the Society of Montana
Pioneers to be held in Butte Aug.
II, Is and 10. He said that at last
years meeting in Helena he was
the "kid of the bunch" John
Henry, who years ago was given
the nickname of "Old Grizzly"
also "Rattlesnake Jack" was born
at Virginia City, the second child
come overland from Iowa, with John
n. Bozeman (after whom Bozeman
was nameO as the guide for the train.
They arrived at Bannack Aug. IA,
1868; and later pushed on to Alder
built the first log cabin in the camp.
The family lived for time at Alder
gulch, then moved to Bozeman where
Mardis took up land-a homestead and
pre-emption-three miles south of
town. It was there that their son, the
learned to ride, among other things,
an accomplishment that finally took
him to Europe with Buffalo Bills wild
vest show. He says Cody was every
stories have. given him credit for. Il
have seen him hit a silver dollar that
was thrown into the air for him." said
Mardis. mot once but many times"
Never Took Aim
Incidentally, he said that the old
when they fired. They Just up and
pulled" he declared. "You NAV not
know it, but whenever you point your
finger at anything you are pointing
directly at the object. It is the same
pull. Thats all there IS to it."
in the Bozeman district during the
first four years the family lived there.
He talked about the vast herds of
Of how his father experimented with
them as beasts Of burden. He drove
them like oxen," he said, but they
weren't much good. They didn't take
t 70 1t very good. My dad had herd OF
ne told. also, Of the great buffalo
river near Fort Benton. He said some
fasteners conceived the idea of kill
ing them off for their hides. The car
hides being shipped east: They killed
them by the thousands" he said. 1T
tana buffalo"
He said that at an early age he
was sent by his father to the ranch
by Two Dot Wilson. The present town
OF Two Dot Is named for him. Wilson
had come to Montana in the same
wagon train as the Mardis family. He
Mardis. $50 my father sent me to him
and they raised me. They eventually
made me foreman of the ranch. They
had 1900 cattle and 5000 horses. After
the Wilson's died, some nephews came
from the east and took possession of
the ranch.
Often Saw Russell
Mardis said he often saw Charley
Russell. the cowboy artist, but had
no personal acquaintance with him.
Russell was farther north, in and
around the present site of Lewistown::
the ranch" said Mardis, II went west
and worked for the Lux and Miller
outfit in the Malheur country IN Ore
gon-the Oregon desert. 1t was the
worlds largest ranch at that time"
in orego r Msrd ne one sf up With VaM ga
falo Bill and became a rider in his
wild west show. The show was taken
to Europe, where it was seen by many
of the crowned heads. On his return
a wild west show that originated in
idge. "It went broke in Cincinnati"
said Mardis, "and I came back to
Montana. I have been around the state
ever since"
In addition to holding membership
in the state society of pioneers, Mar
dis is a charter member of the Pho
neers' society of Gallatin county, or
ganized Nov. Is, 1893. He wears gold
medal given to him by the Society of
Montana Pioneers on which is a rep
lica of the Mardis cabin in Alder
gulch.