Glacier County chief. [volume] (Browning, Mont.) 1931-1940, 1940-10-18
Gold Strike i'm Emigrant Gulch Was Lure|
Which Opened the Yellowstone Territory

IlOJ DTtNellG lloAii Pa
| in governmental affairs, for in Oc-
| tober. 1864. only a few weeks after
the discovery in the Shorthill district,
an election was held and delegates
| elected to attend the first territorial
| convention. held in Bannack. conyen-
| ing Sept. IL, 1864, and adJourning rep;
! 9, 1866. Unfortunately the names OF
| these delegates are not obtainable,
| but no doubt they served their con-
| stituentS well at that first memorable
! convention.
So long as the pleasant fall weather
! prevailed that year, the miners kept
| busy working their claims. But in the
latter part of October, the water IN
| the sluiCe boxes began to freeze every
| day and the men we're forced TO abaE-
! don work and seek more suitable To-
cation a few miles farther down the
! glllch.
/ preparations to spend the winter. A
| this same time, two Frenchmen, Frank
Gin Gin and Augustus ArchambeIu.
brought in a wagon train loaded with
provisions and merchandise and opened
a large store. They also built mum
! Der OF cabins which were sold and
! rented to the miners.
Named Yellowstone City
Thus was founded the first settle
, ment in the valley. The name given
10 lUlS lllllG lUNu VI IIlLlAIB SlllIl
was Yellowstone City. 1t was built in
the shape Of parallelogram: -Four
streets, running parallel with the
gulch, were laid out and bore th2
names of First street north. Main
street. First street south and Second
street south, the latter named street
being the one alongside the gulch.
south, along the entire length OF the
streets, ran ditch which supplied
the city with water. The intake OF
this ditch was about two miles up the
gulch, and the water was led through
the entire length of the town. being
returned to the gulch at the lower
extremity of Second street south. At
four stations through the town. tile
ditch had been scooped out, causing
four deep pools to be formed. which
served as reservoirs at such times
when the water became very low CT
the ditch froze solid in winter.
The buildings, numbering about 90,
were CONSTRUCTED. chiefly OF unhewn
logs the roofs being covered with pine
poles and grass and finished with
earth. Two stores, the larger being
20 by 80 feet, a blacksmith shop. A
restaurant. and 20 BY 26 foot bunk
house. constituted the business houses
of the city.
Food Prices High
During the first winter of 1876,
food was scarce and sold at exorbtaEt
prices. Flour in sacks of 90 pounds
sold for s29 in gold: coffee, 81 PEI
pound: tea, $3.50; sugar. 60 cents per
pound. and tobacco. S. a pound. SmOl'-
Ing tobacco sold for while weight
for weight with gold, that is, an ounce
of tobacco for an ounce OF gold. As
gold was valued at about Sl8 per
ounce. this made the price of tobacco
nPar1yv c2Q0 q Mound in unlI pr- ohN,,+
$3.50 in greenbacks. Carriers were paid
about 81 cents for taking a letter to
Virginia City, a little more than 100
miles away and rs cents for bring
ing one back.
The population varied from 300 10
900 inhabitants, of which perhaps 20
were women and children. Four
Frenchmen lived together in the ex-
IRENE northeastern corner of the city
and were the jolly boys of the camp.
Charles H. and Jim Soule, the two
men who discovered the supposed
"Cinnabar ore mine at Cinnabar
station on the Northern Pacific rail-
Dr. Hull. recorder of the abandoned
Curry district" and his son. Capt
Al Hull, as he was known then, or
Hon. J. A. T. Hull, former United
States representative for IL successive
terms from Iowa, came in later and
purchased. claims up the gulch but
never realized much on the purchases.
A Pioneering Picture
As a whole, the little settlement was
busy place during the mining sea-
son. Let us see 1t as it was in those
days of 1854 Long before the suns
rays peep into the mountain girded
valley. rises the smoke from the
breakfast cooking fires from half
hundred cabins To and from the flow
ing ditch come and on q n,lr, of
the men, dipping their buckets into
the pools, bringing home fresh water
for their morning cup of coffee. From
the bunkhouse emerge a group Of
husky, hungry prospectors, striding
hastily to the. kitchen or restaurant
to find out if their breakfast is ready.
Across the street from the kitchen,
Archambeau, the storekeeper, is lust
opening the store to sell pick or
shovel to some early customer and
across the way the blacksmith can be
heard hammering away on his impro-
vised anvil, shaping a bolt or repairing
tire for the stage which leaves that
day for Virginia City. Good cheer and
rough, good-natured fellowship pre-
walls all around and everyone is eager
to start for the diggings Morning
breaks none too soon, nor does day
light last too long for men who have
digging.
After breakfast, out they 60, carry
ing their lunch along. AS soon as
they reach their various claims, they
start their work. pausing only a brief
spell to eat their monday lunch or
now and then to examine some eX-
ceptionally precious find.
Thus the day wears on, until the
shadows fall over the valley and slow
ly creep up the western slopes of the
mountains, gradually darkening their
pine-c!ad slopes and finally leaving
the evening sunlight. Then it is that
the tired men gather up their spoils
and return home. Soon the evening
meal is eaten, after which they as
semble in groups about the town, light
their pipes, or take chew, If they