Browning chief. [volume] (Browning, Mont.) 1941-1953, 1941-06-06

Peter Perry didn't like trains.
When he heard the sharp pant Of
locomotive his blood pressure
shot I'D 50 high he needed q safety
valve. He didn't like the sound or
the smell Of an engine. Locomotives
and passenger cars and freight
trains kept him from sleeping. de-
stroyed his disposition, ruined his
digestion and cost him his Ape
tite. The Northern Pacific built
across Peter Perry's ranch.
He was an old-timer. Red blood
surged through his veins. A man OF
today probably would have moved
deeper into the hills. Not Peter Perry.
What the 0censoredD If it'll cost
N P. five million to find and build
a new road over the Rockies let
EN- do it." Perry declared.
This is the yarn OF his war on the
Northern Pacific.
It's very likely Perry's ghost shud-
ders when today's modern trains, in
which passengers ride in air condl-
toned comfort. sleep on soft mattresses
at night and sip champagne cocktails
during the day, pound over the noun
tains and across Perrys ranch.
In a canyon II miles from Missoula,
near the crest of the divide, near the
Perry. But although Perry long. Pc
titioned the Northern Pacific railway.
whose tracks he hated. in court and
in person, he had not been idle in
irving to settle the matter In more
practical fashion.
Perry was a sailor, rs years old, and
a woodcutter. The little homestead In
the gap OF the mountain pass is the
grant OF the government for his valor
In, ~,,r,l hatf1pS Tho natpnt read
lone hundred and sixty acres and In
cluded no mention of the "pesky" rail-
road. In 1880 the Northern Pacific
railroad constructed one Of the steepest
and most valuable pieces of track then
in existence over the Evaro pass. WORK
ing on the right Of eminent domain
the engineers traversed the one ana
only pass over the north branch Of
the Bitter Roots, in the long trail to
the Pacific. Near the crest of the grade
they marked the path across hall
mile of the land which Peter Perry
claimed.
Perry knew nought of the railroad.
The railroad knew nought OF Perry
Perry came to Montana before the
railroad, in fact before he had a
calendar
Perry Declares War
Long after the trains had worn out
over Evaro pass and incidentally over
Perry's homestead, Perry learned what
seemed the truth. Some friend read
the papers and fired the spirit OF 1861
To all intents and purposes the rail-
road land and his were one. Old sea
man Perry" dedicated his last years 10
moving the railroad. He cared not II
it cost something like five million doi-
lars for the railroad to turn the TRICK
NO done And one OF tnG
strangeSt stories ever heard Oh, I'M
folded in the court of Missoula county
The old man spent two years Il:
harassing the company into moving
onto more welcome territory. He skid
ded logs onto the track; he whipped
the section boss. He moved the en-
bankment-that is, such land as ne
considered his, into his own yafo. Pc
sides this he sat up each night as the
long snakelike passenger trains craWled
by the little log cabin and dreamed
of a night when he could sleep un-
disturbed. Last of all he attempted 10
build a fence along both sides OF the
tracks. The post holes were between
the ties at each end. The company
Injunction prevented his putting IN
gate across to charge toll. The renee
passed INTO memory. FeiA1
again.
Officials Caj0le, Curse
In turn, the railroad had failed TO
fence the land. Sparks from the Trans
set fire to the timber adjacent to the
tracks. The section men laughed al
him. The officials ca1oled ana cursed.
The railroad injunction. soon became
a scrap of paper. Their offers were
discarded as Perry had oeen !gnorS91
mans story. One Christmas, the law
of the country the old sailor fought
for. reached out and took him to jail.
He went to jail because he would not
promise to abide by the decision OF
the court. Three days later Peter Perry
succumbed. His dog, his OLD Wnlte
horse, his cats, his animal 1rlenos'
went hungry. He told the Judge OF tne
district court that he would promise.
The railroad runs unmolested.
Saved Passengers -,
But" declared the whlte-nalred old
man, the land is mine and If they
do not give it to me Ill Will CUT
INV logs on that hill yonder and Sllde
them down. Like I did before. They
must give me a place to cross, ana
they must pay; Or ana YEN. VemI
ridged arm, tatooed with tne clos gu
anchors of the navy, pointed 70 tne
crest of the mountain, half mile
away. ,, o,d
English of the time he slid logs across
the tracks and broke a rail. Terror
gripped the man. He had. no nance
for the passengers. The rallroad.that
was the trouble So ne hobbled down
the tracks, to flag the oncoming train
and tell of the broken rail. But" he
concluded, they did not run Tor a
little while"
Edifore VIII See