Montana oil and mining journal. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1931-1953, 1939-08-05

to Missoula, where Mary attended the
/ first public school in the town. There
were l3 pupils, with Mrs w. w. Dick
/ inson as teacher. And here. as always,
hung over the settlers the daily
shadow of Indians. One day Mary,
beyond town to pick wild flowers. A
I drunken Indian was lying in the grass
ready and willing to be amused. He
ordered the children to dance for him.
All Of them managed an escape ex-
cept little Mary, who, IN her fright,
stumbled and fell. The drunken IN
dian repeated his insiStent desire for
a dance, and Mary, inspired by terror,
did dance. She says no modern litter
bug could execute so many intricate
steps as she did that day for the en-
tertainment of the red man. But she
finally eluded him, unframed.
The next move took the Rea family
to Deer Lodge. In 1860 the town was
know as Spanish Fork, due to the pre-
In 1852 Captain LeBarge arrived, with
metropolitan ambitions, built a store.
laid out streets, and called the town
LeBarge City In 1864 company came,
reorganized the town, and renamed 1t
Deer Lodge, from an Indian phrase
which means: Lodge Of the White
Tailed Deer"
The mining camp of Butte was the
next home of the Rea family. At that
time, In 1876, 1t was a village of three
streets, and some COW trails, with
population of about 300. Mary recalls
wildly the day news came TO Butte Of
the Custer disaster and the consterna
ton on the blanched faces OF all the
townspeople, for the security Of estab
liShed civilization was still an expert
ment in the west, and fear of the red
men was still alive in the hearts Of
the pioneers.
However, instead Of tragedy, Mary
Rea was to find romance in Butte. In
1880 she was married. Three years later
she and her husband returned to Deer
Lodge and there the wandering, event.
full life Of Mrs. Walton settled into
calm.
She doubts that the young people Of
this modern age know how to squeeze
every ounce of fun out of life as they
did when she and her husband were
every possible occasion, at every pos
sible place. The erection of a tiny
kitchen or leanto or granary was always
celebrated with a dance. The young
people went long distances in wagons, !
danced until midnight, enjoyed supper, /
fast, and then, perhaps, danced some
more.
Community Hunting Parties
Getting together a congenial crowd
they would start out on hunting and |
fishing trips, always In wagons, with I
beds, stoves, camping equipment and /
plenty of fruit jars In the back. Then, /
at likely spots, while the men fished /
and hunted, the women gathered /
huckleberries and canned them over 1
campfires. Sometimes, when their de- 1
lightful hegira was ended, they would /
find themselves 200 miles from home |
Walton was a member Of the early
day Deer Lodge band. Often the mu-
sicians would go on a fishing trip,
taking with them. their wives, their
instruments and planks for a dance
floor. Those evenings, Mrs. Walton
says, are among her most beautiful I
memories. She pictures wildly the
roaring campfire against the back
ground Of dark pine trees and the
dance music Of the band sitting up
to the tips Of hushed mountain peaks.
At IS Mrs. Walton is stiIl young,
alert, vitality interested In the progress
Of her beloved west The drama that
began In the oven OF cookstove out
on Wyoming's plains, with menacing
war cries Of Indians shrilling the sir,
has merged into the tranquility Of
beautiful memories.