Montana oil and mining journal. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1931-1953, 1940-01-06

does not tell the truth; investiga-
ton reveals that Mary BlackmOre
was not a titled lady and her hus
band was not a British lord. This
error is not in any way due TO
deceit on the part of the Black
mOres for they did not attempt to
pass themselves off as anything
but exactly what they were, a
young couple of good English fam
lily out TO see the world. It was
the good people of the pioneer viii
lage of BOzeman who bestowed up
on the BlackmOres the titles of
lord" and lady"
William Blackmore and his beautiful
bride arrived in BoZeman in the spring
of 1872. They were among the first
tourists who came to Montana eSpe-
cially to see the wonders of Yellow
stone national park. They came with
a wagon train over the Bozeman trail
in the days when the Indians were
still taking pot-ShotS at whites who
made themselves good targets. They
made an incongruous picture as they
rode into the false-fronted main street
of BoZeman, with their piles of fancy
baggage all about them.
Were Dashing Pair
The BlackmoreS were a daShing
couple and although they were not
actually titled people they were mem
bers of English county families, the
landed gentry. They referred casually
and honestly to the great OF Europe
who were their close friends. Mary
Blackmore told of attending Queen
Victoria's royal court. The ladies Of the
budding frontier society of Montana
took the Blackmores up" with ven
geance. The couple made a triumph
ant visit to Helena where they were
entertained by the mining kings. While
their expedition into Yellowstone park
was being prepared, they became pop
ular with Bozeman people and hunt
ing parties in the district were organ
lied in their honor. No one knows who
first started to call them lord" and
lady" but their names appeared with
titles in Helena papers of the period.
While the Blackmores were still in
Bozeman, Mrs. Blackmore became i'll
and the Wilson's. a pioneer family,
took her into their home. There she
died of the fever in the summer of
got under way.
When they had started their travels
the BlackmoreS had made an agree
ment that If either died enroute burial
would take place where death occurred,
and the survivor would continue the
journey. Keeping this pact, william
Blackmore buried his wife in Bozeman
and In appreciation for the kindness
shown his wife by the townspeople
during her illness, he purchased five
acres Of land containing the town
graveyard and presented it to the
people of Bozeman. Over Mary Black
more's grave he placed the unusual
pyramid tombstone.
william Blackmore continued his
journey into Yellowstone park and
then returned to England where he
published several articles about Mon
tana. A peak near the park Is named
in honor of the EngliShman and his
wife.
While he was in Montana, Black
more signed his name always as plain
William Blackmore," and in the jour
nails of the Doane expedition to the
park he Is mentioned without any title.
But in the minds of the people Of
Bozeman he was always, and probably
always will be, known as Lord Black
more. A few years after his departure
the city fathers of BoZeman, in appre-
citation of Blackmore's gift to the city,
placed the bronze plaque on the
tombstone.
Several years ago Claire Sheridan,
the internationally famous English
sculptreSS, came to Montana for the
purpose Of doing busts of Blackfeet
Indian types and writing a book about
the Blackfeet tribe. Mrs Sheridan,
herself O member of noble British
family and a first cousin of the duke
Of Marlborough and OF winston
visited Bozeman and was
in the story of the Black
moreS. However, she said that as far
as she knew there were no Blackmores
in the British peerage. Mrs. Sheridan,
whose Indian statues, by the way, were
very good but whose book, Red In
terlude," leaves the reader with the
that she barely escaped the
Blackfeet with her scalp, knew her
British peerage. She said there were
mores. And she was correct, for
'Burke's Peerage" for the year 1872
lists no Lord" or Lady" Blackmore !
because there were no such people. |
The BlackmoreS, despite the informa-
ton given on the bronze plaque in the |
Bozeman cemetery, had no title.
This case of the misplaced title Is |
not unusual for western history records |
other cases where English visitors in
the early west were given titles by the |
pioneers. Owen WiSter used such a /
situation as the plot of one Of his /
short stories. A commoner Scotchman /
who hunted the Green river country I
Of Wyoming in the 1830s was known as /
The Duke" to Kit Carson and other
fur hunters of the period although he |
had no claim to any title. In the optn- !
ion Of the fur hunters anyone VINO /
had an English accent and enough
money TO come all the way TO the I
Rocky mountains to hunt buffalo must 1
have been OF noble birth
Lady" Mary BAackmore's 10 not the !