Montana oil and mining journal. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1931-1953, 1940-07-13

cause gold at Cooke meant there must
be gold downstream.
A group Of Livingston men and some
proSpectors got together, selected the
ground they wanted, and made all ar
rangementS for a 'blitzlnieg" gold rush
the moment the land became available
Came a message from the HaiSon
man in Washington that the bill to
change the park boundaries had
passed. A swift reading of the message
galvanized the Livingston leader TO
action. His telephone call to Gardiner
followed, and the rush was on.
Within 48 hours location notices
were posted along Soda Butte creek in
the names Of George Huston, Joe
Keeney, A. L. Love, @. T. Hobart, A.
A. Deem, H. j. Hoppe and son, r. e.
Carpenter, George Haldron and Dave
Roberts, among many others.
In fact, just about every ablebodied
man In Gardiner and Mammoth Hot
Springs had secured a horse"
The late s. M. Fitzgerald, pioneer
mining man of the region and the
father Of County Treasurer Mrs.
Charles A. Burg of Livingston, filed
on the area which included the Soda
Butte spring, thereby precipitating a
violent argument with D. II. Budlong,
who averred he had lease on the
spring from the department of the
interior.
Then Bubble Bursts
In calmer moments after the rush
had been instigated, the Livingston
leader read the message from Wash
ington again. 1t read passed the
and the White House to pass before
IL hnpan1a IaW
The bubble was burst with a loud
pop"
Followed a frantic effort to stop the
stampede before 1t got out Of hand
and trouble resulted with the govern
ment that would kill the boundary bill
A Livingston newspaper of the time
reported that the most dramatic in
cident to the stampede was the ride
of Dave Roberts, one of the select few
on the inside of the plot.
The telephone call to Gardiner was
to have been made on word that the
boundary bill was law; the Gardiner
men were to get ready and wait for
Roberts to ride through viii fun in
formation and complete instructions.
Instead, the Livingston leader jumped I
the gun when he received the message
from Washington, and the Gardiner
crowd got excited and forgot to wait
for Roberts, and the aDOrCiVe stampede |
went out Of control.
But Roberts made his ride anyway, /
10 head off trouble. The newspaper re-
port said: 1.-The dramatic incident Of
The stampede was Dave Roberts ride
from Livingston to Gardiner. :.
Roberts mounted his horse and between
D. m. Friday and a. m. Saturday
rode through storm, snow and cold to
Gardiner: go miles This famous
tide should live in history with such
events as Paul Revere's ride, Sheridans
iamotls ride to Winchester, Barnaby's
'ide to Khiva, the ride from Client TO
AK, Forbes ride from TOshandula, or
my other ride. Dawes unappreciative
riends have christened him Fly by
Wight and The Lightning Courier.
Names Of the principals In the abor-
i've plot are not Of record. But, need
ess To say, the principals and every
,ody who made the rush TO grab
lairns on Soda Butte creek were for
many a moon the object Of laughter
q Livingston and Gardiner.
And. despite the irresistible ambitions (
( promoters in 1885. Soda Butte creek
J gtf1l IN Yellowstone park any gold I
hat may have been deposited along
IS course "a stin there. the property OF
Incle Sam and forbidden 10 ttae p~os- {
eOeoxs.