Browning chief. [volume] (Browning, Mont.) 1941-1953, 1941-08-01
BY WILCHEY

Crossing the plains behind bull
teams twice before the down on his
face had begun to take on the SEM
blance Of . beard: riding as . pony
express rider and qualifying As .
hunter for the greatest freighting out
m which operated between the Mis-
si8ippi river and the Pacific coast
before he attained manh0od's estate;
fighting Indians during the construc-
ton Of the Union Pacific railroad and
during the early days in Wyoming;
among the first Of the freixhters into
the placer diEginEs Of Idaho; carry
ing his operations into Butte in the
days when VAUDEVILLE was the me
tropolis and its Moulton mine the big
producer, and ending his active ca
reer as an arGonaut and an adventur-
er after Cable had passed from the
spotlight as a great mining center,
were the experiences Of Tom Mcguire,
who lived his last days quietly in
valley west Of Anaconda.
Daredevil riders of the plains, stall
wart sons of toll. rugged pioneers,
bloodthirsty redmen. gamblers, miners
and all OF the polyglot population
which once roamed the west, the
passed in quick changing panorama
when Mcguire told his experiences OF
mankillers there were plenty. chief
among whom was Buffalo Bill, with
whom Mcguire hunted buffalo, which
in that day roamed the plains in herds
that extended as far as the eye could
see and which while crossing the road
in front of them halted for hours
at a time freight outfits.
Railroad Great Epoch
That great epoch in the develop
ment of the United States, the link
ing of the east and the west by the
Union Pacific and the stirring events
which were part of a days work for
the men who pushed the narrow rib
bons Of steel through hostile Indian
country were. to Mcguire what the
even tenor of life is to the man OF
today. He was always at the outpost
OF civilization, either in sections in
tested with redskins or in new mining
camps until the thousands who fol-
lowed in the trail he and his kind
had made reclaimed a wilderness, de-
veloped its resources, built great cities,
or populated its farms and then he
was swallowed up by the civilization
for which he had helped pave the way.
Lived Quietly on Farm
AT the last he had lived on his little
farm, in strange contrast to his form
err life. at a point where Foster creek
crosses under the Anaconda-P Philips
burg road. Here in a one-room log
cabin he lived in contentment for 25
years. Time whitened his hair, but
the spare outstanding figure, the bright
fearless eyes and the low-pitched but
we'll modulated voice were eloquent EVIL
dence that he had lived simply but
fully. Surrounding his eyes and deeply
imbedded in his flesh were the in
delible lines of man who spent many
long days in the binding sun, while
until he died the hands that once
held rifle, shotgun, revolver, or the
reins OF ~ span of horses, and han
died all with the facility of an ex-
pert, showed little sign of the years
Of hardship and body crushing toll
that had been his.
Long after most men reach that
point in their lives where the future
means to them well earned rest,
this hardy adventurer was looking for
new worlds to conquer. 1t was this
quest that brought him with his
freighting outfit into the west valley
and the spot which became his home
was chosen because it offered pas
turage and water for his mules. He
fenced his place and went to work
hauling ore and timber for Joe Car
roll. When mining on a scale suffi-
GENTLY large to support his business
had passed he turned to his farm and
in later years gained his subsistence
from this little tract of land. His
strength was failing and he did not
attempt to do much of the hard work
on the place, but until he was ready
for the final sleep he continued to
put his shoulder to the wheel.
Born to Adventure
From the day he was old enough
to wander he was in the center Of
frontier activities Born at Barry, Ont.
Canada, in 1912. he found himself at
the age of on the trail to Adell, Ia,
then on the frontier, where his father
had established a new home The little
town held him until he had passed his
10th birthday, when he heard the siren
call of the west Setting out, he drove
a bull team to Denver, arriving there
in 1859. The little cluster OF tents,
among which were intersperSed few
rude log shackS, soon palled on the
STRIPPING and the longing to go home
overcame him. Retracing his steps
after three months in Denver he ar
rived home, but again the urge for
adventure overmastered him and in
1861 he started out the second time.