Glacier County chief., 1940-05-10

Ioil Drluge, on frame building which .
still bears the sign Jos. Sullivan,
a museum of horse and buggy days,
with bullwhips. buggy whips and any
and all kinds of the paraphernalia
which was created to direct. guide and
control horseflesh when that was the
only motive power
In the booming days of the home
stead era, just before the automobile
blighted his business, Sullivan built a
big warehouse and display room for
the sale of farm machinery, wagons,
etc. After the manner of the old-timers,
credit was freely extended to the new
corners, with the result that while the
books showed a great business and an
small. The business was closed out
about 1926. and the building is now
occupied by the county shop.
Was Native of New York
Joseph Sullivan, according to an in
tervieWer was born at Port Chester,
N. Y, about 1860. the exact date being
somewhat indefinite, and spent his
early youth there. learning the saddlery
trade which was to be his vocation for
more than 60 years. In or about 1880
he went to St Paul to visit a brother,
an officer in the United States army,
and while at st. Paul had an oppor-
tunity to go still further west with
to Bismarck, then merely Dakota ter
ritory.
Still restless, he wandered still fur
ther west, and landed at Fort Keogh,
near Miles City, as saddle inspector at
an army post. But he didn't stay there
long, and soon was on the long dusty
road to Bozeman by Concord stage.
take only a few hours, was six-day
journey, and fare of s55 was charged.
At night the horses were hobbled and
turned out to Craze, while both drivers
and passengers slept under the big
Concord coach.
found work in a harness shop. he
made the acquaintance Of V. K. GoSs,
of about his own age, and the two
young men decided to strike out for
themselves. They took a four horse
team and went. first to Helena, then to
Deer Lodge.
At the latter city it seemed to the
the promised land. for business was
good. and big cattlemen such as the
noted Conrad KohrS came in to order
saddles for their outfits.
Moved Layout to Benton
Despite this good business. however,
they listened when j. J. Healy, sheriff
of Chouteau county and famous pio-
neer of the Fort Benton area, told
them tales of the boom which Fort
Benton was then undergoing. Healy
was insistence itself, and with, his
famed responsiveness, talked the bust
ness firm of Sullivan &, GoS!S into NOV
ing their layout, bag and baggage, to
the head of navigation on the Missouri
river. where the outfits grew bigger,
the money came more freely and the
chances were better.
=
Press of 1881 lists the firm OF Sullivan
G. Goss as newcomers 10 this territory,
but polite and accommodating in their
business and efficient in its conduct.
so it seems probable that Sullivan ar
rived in Fort Benton in the late fall
of 1881, which would make him con-
tinuous resident in the city Of SO years.
all of which he spent in the saddlery
business.
v. K. Goss grew disconnected and
sold his interest to his partner, re-
turning to Deer Lodge and Sullivan
replaced the firm sign with the one
mentioned above-"Jos Sullivan, Sad
dler"-and so it has remained ever
since.
Orders such as that of 500 light
weight saddles for the Canadian
Northwest Mounted Police are reported.
while at times his employees numbered
to TO- all busy filling orders for
saddles which rolled in from cattlemen
all over Montana's northern rangeland,
and sometimes, indeed. from even fur
ther points.
When Sullivan first came to Mon
tana. he once said. two-cinch saddles
were all the rage, but when the mode
changed to the "three-quarter rig
Sullivan models switched too. The
"three-quarter rig" was a one-cinch
affair. Prices for saddles ranged from
s35 to SIS the difference being in
the degree Of ornamentation required
by the purchaser. But all were made to
stand the gaff. to wear long under
hard usage. for Sullivan took pride in
the quality Of work his shop turned
out.
The Hard Winter Of 1SS6-1SS7
He suffered an injury from freezing
which affected him the remainder of
his life when. on stage trip, his
legs were frozen That was in the ter
rible Montana winter Of 1836-1S87. the
blacklist Montana stockmen were ever