Montana oil and mining journal. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1931-1953, 1941-12-20
CHARLES CARVER
LIVED EVENTFUL
PIONEER CAREER
HELPED ELECT FIRST SHERIFF IN
MONTANA AND THEN HELPED
HANG HIM

II helped to elect the first sheriff
in Montana and afterwards ! helped
to hang the beast" was remark made
more than 20 years ago by the late
Charles Carver Montana pioneer who
operated the first grocery store In
Butte
In a newspaper article published
before the pioneers death. Carver
stated that "profiteering was prac-
ticed in the sixties as well as in later
wears. People howl about prices now.
our people paid 500 a sack in gold
dust for flour. "a. pound for coffee,
IS for a gold pan, S18 for a pick or
shovel.
we applied some OF this. what they
call direct action to the profiteers.
Had to. There was no state then. Not
even a territory. The geographers
covered the space by calling 1t Idaho,
but 1t was like the northland in the
davs Of which the poet wrote when
he said that never law OF GOD or
man ran north of So
The boys couldn't get flour even
at 500 a sack. They started search
and smoked out the hoarders. The
flour was seized and sold by the
miners committee at $50 sack which,
they figured, was a fair profit for the
dealer"
Though nearly 90 years Of age when
the rush to the Klondyke began Car
yer Joined It and "mushed" over the
Alaska passes. carrying his pack With
him.
Went to the KIondyke
II took Bin Owsley with me" he
said. and laughed reminiscently. "Btl
couldn't stand the gaff. Easy living
had made him beefy. In his day BIZ
was one Of the best we had.
I'm the old days we had diversion
here In Silver Bow we called 'squar
butt or something not quite so fas-
tidi6us. It consisted Of two men taking
hold of a stick, squatting down fac
ing each other and pulling on the
stick. This. with horse and foot rae
ING. constituted our amusement. I won
many a 500 bet on old Bill Owsley.
John Noyes was a pretty husky man
and some puller, but Bill always took
his measure.
II spent nearly two years 1875 miles
north OF the Arctic circle In the latter
nineties. The country has a fascina-
tion about It. Cold? I didn't suffer as
much from the cold in Alaska as we
did during the early days IN Montana.
"You see. we took Alaska cold for
granted and prepared for 1t. In this
territory-I helped 10 make this
terrttory-we had no knowledge Of the
climate and hundreds because OF that
ignorance laid down their lives.
when winter Came Down
IT remember particularly the STAN
pede to Dearborn creek, located be-
| tween Helena and Fort Benton. Hell
ena was crowded with prospectors who
came from California and elsewhere.
the weather had been mild. A squaw
man came to town with furs. he had
a sack Of gold dust. Asked where he
got It he smiled mysteriously and In
timated that he knew where much
more was TO be found The word be-
gan to circulate that the squaw man
had a find. They began trailing him.
The result Of the telling and retelling
of the story Of his find was that 1t
grew and grew and when the squaW
man left town he was followed by
several hundred men on horses and on
foot.
They located their claims along the
! Dearborn creek and prepared their
rude camp. Short Of fuel. provisions
and clothing, imagine their plight
when the cold came down ON them
without warning. Men lost feet, legs
arms and their lives as well. A fool
| fel1 stamDede"