Montana oil and mining journal. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1931-1953, 1941-01-25

I u
half q century ago was recognized
4 by almost every man In Montana
| by the title Of the Duke Of Last
Chance" and whose life story Is
closely interviewer with the history
Of Helena. where he lived, an
honored and distinguished citizen.
Richard Jockey first saw Last
Chance gulch when It was the crudest
sort Of a mining camp. very shortly
after Uncle John Cowan and his
companions tapped the deposits of
placer gold in that district that yield
ed IN four years time. between 1864
and 1868. s2O,OO0,0OO in yellow dust
He saw quartz mining begin there and
he watched the development OF the
mining camp into the richest city of
its size In the world Later he saw
the decline in mining and the glory
Of Helena begin to wane During his
life in Helena he had seen prospectors
become -millionaires: cowboys
become cattle barons with stock on
many ranges: sheepherders become
great flock owners. In the develop
ment of the great west he had wit
messed marvellous panoramic changes
sometimes slow and gradual again
swift and sudden.
In his long and useful life he had
been an onlooker at strange and revo-
lutionary mutations IN methods OF all
arts Of civilization. He had seen travel
In Montana develop from the stage
coach to the steam train, the automo-
bile and the airplane. He had wit
messed the development OF the tele-
graph systems Of the state, the tele-
phone and the wireless radio system
And, what pleased him most. he
had lived to see Helena returning to
a mi
there had never been a more consist
ent believer in the ultimate destiny
Of Last Chance as a great quartz camp
than Jockey. His confidence mad never |
wavered, and he believed that his
faith In the old hills surrounding the I
'apital had been Justified Today there /
ire more mines producing ore around /
Helena than at any time for q half /
century and 1t is certain that a con-
mutation of the high price Of silver
gil result In an enormous exploita-
ion Of the mineral districts surround
ng the city.
Jockeys friends knew him as a
lumorist with a quaint and whimsical
Of life. He had a dry man
Ter Of bringing out an odd angle of
bought not unlike that Of the la
nented Mark Twain.
Back In the early territorial days
t Virginia City some Of the men who
made up pioneer legislature organ
sed a burlesque legislative assembly
hitch went by the name Of the House
Lords" When the capital went to
Ielena, the House Of Lords" went
18th 1t. and for three decades there :
fter Jockey was the presiding Off |
er at the sessions held every two
ears during the closing days Of the q
gislative assemblies The members I
I many sessions OF the legislature
ad a lot Of fun out of the House I
Lords" and not a little Of 1t was {
ne to Jockeys dry wit when. with i
rave countenance, he would make /
me ruling that would occasion bursts a
hilarity. Possessed Of keen insight q
to human nature and general af- n
ting companion. Friends of a life d
me will tell you that there were Il
me better than Dick Jockey. h
Jockey once told a group OF friends il
the capital that he rode by the b
,e Of the present city OF Spokane
zen no habitation Of man stood "
thin many miles With a companion n
stood beside the roaring Spokane "
lis and denberated on whether IL Al
Juld pay to locate" the falls and l.
uuire possession OF them. They de- B,
ied that 1t would not, for while pi
ey did not doubt that some day fc
ere would be big city there, they -
3 that such a time might be
ltury away. The chances. they
ought. were against either OF them
ing to see the vast wilderness sur
lnding the falls transformed into
populous and prosperous empire.
But the transformation came soon
than any man alive then thought
ssible. Had Jockey been able 10
r into the future, ne might have
de millions upon millions by camp
on the site Of Spokane. Many
Iers among the wisest of the pio-
RS Of the west passed over the
ne opportunity.
,ockey was born in Yorkshire. Eng
d. in June. 1845. and came to
erica the following year, settling
Dubuque, Ia. When the Civil war
rted, Jockey was Is years old and
= al fem~