Glacier County chief., 1940-11-15
Magic of the Growth of Billings Since 1921
lmapresses Old Time Cowboy ON Visit to CITY

The magic of the growth Of Bill
lings was reflected in the eyes Of
NJ. T. Tommy Smith of Billings
recently when he paid that city
visit from Tacoma. II don't see
how they put up SO many build
exclaimed. when 1 first came
here there wasn't a tree or a
building on the flat and I've seen
$4,000 head Of cattle rounded up
where Billings now stands"
1t is little wonder that Smith was
astounded for he last was in the vi
cinity of Billings in 1882 when he was
one OF the youngest cowhandS on the
range.
Smith ranks as the earliest range
rider registered at the Range roundup
at Miles City, getting his start in
1879. when he was 10 years of age
Although now 70 years old, he's as
alert and active as many men of so,
and he and Mrs. Smith do a good
deal of travelling through eastern
Montana and the Dakotas, meeting
old friends and looking over the scenes
they knew so many years ago. They
have been married 50 years. and
Smith asserted their trip through Bill
lings was part of their SD honeymoon.
Knew Noted Characters
During his range-rider days, and
before, Smith knew many of the char
acterS who have since become almost
legendary. He saw Wild Bill Hickok
a few seconds after the western bad
man was shot in a Deadwood. S. /.
saloon; he was a close friend of Mar
tina Canary. better known as Calamity
Jane: he has engaged in fights with
hostile Indians. and he rode through
Yellowstone park looking for grazing
lands 60 years ago.
Smith went to the rip-roaring town
of Deadwood with his parents in 1876
when he was 10 years old. His mother
operated a millinery store there, and
Calamity Jane was one of the steady
customers.
1t was while Smith was selling
papers on the streets of Deadwood
that Wild Bill Hickok was killed. He
dashed into the saloon when attracte%
by the excitement and elbowed his
way through a crowd of cowboys. gam
blers and hangers-on in time to see
Hickok slumped on the floor shot by
Jack Mccall. Smith believes he is the
only man now living who saw Hickok's
body just after he was shot.
When 10 years old Smith was en-
ployed as range rider for DeffebacI
brothers. on their ranch on the Belle
F'ourche river in South Dakota. 1t
was on that job that he had his first
clash with hostile Indians.
He was riding beside John Deffe-
bach when a band of Sioux who had
left the reservation suddenly attacked
Deffebach was shot and killed, but
the other riders escaped. The Indians
captured all of the horses. but under
cover of darkness Smith and the cow
boys returned to the scene, found and
buried Deffebach's body. and went to
Deadwood to gather a posse. The posse
set out after the Indians, who killed
two more of the white men and then
escaped.
Smith doesn't think much of the
movie version of Calamity Jane or the
stories which are now told about her
He remembers her for her kindness
and generosity, and recalls many
times when she went to the aid of
men who were i'll or injured. Once
she rode 10 miles through a snow
storm to help a miner who had been
injured. Smith says. He added that
she was an expert rider and that she
could handle a team of horses better
than most men.
Worked With Teddy
Smith at one time worked with
Theodore Roosevelt breaking horses
on the Maltese Cross ranch near Me-
dora. N. D. He can verify at least one
of the stories about Roosevelt's amaz
ing memory for names and faces.
Thirty years after knowing Roosevelt
at Medora, Smith says, he met the
former president at Seattle, shortly
after Roosevelt had completed his