Montana oil and mining journal. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1931-1953, 1940-03-16
By ELMO

DR.. Click lay down TO rest-as
much as q man might rest in his
precari0us situation. Booted and
spurTed, and with the knowledge
that a horse was tethered for him
in the bushes behind his cabin, he
contemplated the three avenues Of
escape open TO him
Bannack was in the throeS Of the
winter Of 1862-1863. One route would
lead through the little known wilder
ness areas TO Fort Benton and the
safety of the fur post. A second was
over the -blanketed mountains to
St Mary's mission in the Bitter Root
valley, where Major Owen held forth
as a trader The third was the route
to Salt Lake City, 400 miles away,
fraught with Indian dangers in addi-
ton to cold and exposure.
One other chance for his safety,
right in Bannack, depended upon
miracle he felt sure would not happen.
At midnight he was awakened from
the deep sleep of utter WEAKNESS. His
nerves were steeled for the worst. He
donned his stout outer clothing and
looked to the few personal effects he
expected to take with him.
Then he walked across to the cabin
where lay his patient. He left the
door open behind him so he could dash
for his hidden horse the moment a
glance might tell him the worst.
But the miracle had happened! The
crisis was past. Henry Plummer was
going to live.
Plummer's destiny held for him a
year OF violent living, of robbery and
murder, and an ignominions death at
the end of a Vigilante hangman's rope.
But the good doctor?
Well, it meant he could remain in
Bannack without fear of immediate
personal danger. But above his head
was to hang Sword of DamocleS."
He must live on both sides of that
still underlined line which divided the
road agents from the mass Of the |
populace which prayed that law and
order might come out of the chaos
which was Bannack.
DR.. Click was highly accomplished |
physician and surgeon. 1t Is regrettable |
that his full name Is lost to history. |
1t Is too bad, too, that his subsequent |
life is not a part of the records of I
Montana history.
He had lost a competence back in |
the states at the beginning OF the Civil
war. Whether he was a northerner or
q Confederate Sympathizer Is not
Known. He had Immediately joined the
gold rush to Pixies peak to replenish
his fortune. He was at Cherry Creek
OenVer-when word reached there of
The mines on Salmon river In Idaho.
Turned back in the fall of 1862 by
he mountain Businesses between them
and Salmon river, DR.. Clicks party
headed for Deer Lodge. On the way
hey learned of the new find at Ban
hack and headed there.
DR.. Click began the practice of his
among the miners. He was
hat winter the only practicing physi-
ian in the camp He held the conf
lence of the people; kind, sympathetic
md always ready to answer the call
If illness or aff1iction, he held a big
place in the hearts Of his people.
Henry Plummer was, of course, al
eady on the ground when DR.. Click
.rriVed. He had come in from Califor-
Tia by way of the Idaho gold camps,
nd had all but established his SUI
Dremacy over the rough gang.
Two men in Bannack stood in the ,
raw of Plummer's complete dominance !
4 the road agents and, through them,
ne dictatorship of the entire territory
Jack Cleveland and Hank Crawford i
9th were intimately acquainted with {
Runners unSavory past. A word from
ither of them would blast his repu- I
alton as q leading citizen, which he /,
Sed as a cloak for his nefartous en- !
srprtSeS.
Cleveland he killed In saloon brawl :
! a semblance of self-defense. =
Crawford operated a meat market, +
nd was trying to be a good citizen. ;
nut as long as he remained alive in =
annack he was a potential threat to 7
hummer, who set about his destruc-
on. I
Crawford was well informed of
lummer's intentions, and as long as =
oSsible he delayed the conflict. Plum =
Ter set himself one day to shoot Craw- Z
,rd as the latter entered his cabin.
citing his foot on a wagon wheel, he y
anged q rifle across his knee, with
he right forearm laying along the =
,ock, while he watched Crawford's .
Dor Crawford, in a nearby saloon, .
as told of Plummer's actions. He =
lme into the street some distance to :
Iummers right and fired, his rifle
lIlet entering Plummer's right arm !,
Glow the elbow. Both bones In the !,
m were broken In two places, and . .
le bullet burrowed into the wrist. z
Crawford knew that Plummer's