Browning chief. [volume] (Browning, Mont.) 1941-1953, 1942-06-26
Museum at Ekuluku Is Described
AS Finest Local One i'm Countru

Red Cloud. two famous Sioux warriors.
They Knew Celebrities
Also numbered among their &C
quaintances we're Chief Joseph, Teddy
Roosevelt, Mark Twain, Ulysses S.
Grant and Kit Carson "Old Russ"
built for himself a reputation as one
of the vests best buffalo hunters and
Indian fighters.
But long before the father of Eka-
/ laka' came to the region, other white
men had passed through. Late In l742,
a small group of French explorers
under Chevaler de la Verendrye
searching for the Pacific ocean crossed
in moccasined feet over what is now
Carter county. Sixty-three years later,
Francois Larocque, agent for the
Northwest Fur Co. of Canada, followed
Verendrye's route and in October. 1905,
returned southeasterly through al
most the entire length of the county.
During the wide-open range days
the region, then part of Custer coun-
/ ty, was noted as a stock district. 1t
often was visited by Teddy Roosevelt.
ranching across the border in Da-
kota.
Hashknife was one of the first large
cattle outfits to operate in the area,
moving over the long Texas trail in
1882 Two years later it consolidated
with the HIS Hughes g. Simpson,
brand, then added another large Texas
spread. For a time the company had
$4,000 head on the range but hard
winter cut the herds to less than half
and the company retrenched consid-
erably.
On Nov. 81, 1885, the postmaster
general recognized Ekalaka's growth
and established a postoffice with
Charles c. Cartwright as postmaster.
His store became the center of activity
thirsty hunters and cowboys in from
the trail lined up at his bar, the hell
roaringest part of the wide-open COW
town.
Shooting up the town was a popu-
lar pastime until an incident in the
summer of 1898 dampened enthusiasm.
! A bunch of the boys was shooting it
up A woman customer in the Ekalaka
Mercantile Co. received bullet in the
buttocks. A Miles City court decided
five years in prison was just payment.
Valuable Supplies Stolen
The Ekalaka Mercantile figured
a wagonload of provisions and supplies
was taken from President Reno Swift's
Co. Supplies we're valuable after being
hauled in by wagon train. and the loot
still ranks as the county's most famous
burglary.
An aftermath of an Alzada poker
outstanding murder when Fred
{Cl,prtvl T.i11iay-l clNnt Nd l-il1oI q
young ranch hand Jan. 10, 1918. Gill
year to hang but committed suicide
that night with poison. Ed Booth, the
| prosecutor, matter-of -factly preached
I had convicted.
For % years the livestock industry
kept the town booming. particularly
saloons, but mail deliveries failed to
keep pace Early settlers recall that
/ for several years the carrier neglected
] to function. In 1887 DR.. J. P. Hedges
, contracted with townspeople to haul
| the mail over from Powderville lat
| least once month" on horseback
| BY 1908 dry land farmers found the
| area to their liking and by 1910 viz
| tually all choice quarter sections were
AAOAAASolSoSaSo, ~ Va SOoAS o'Ol 20
| to equal Importance with other estab-
| lishments. Fallon county was created
in 1918. with Ekalaka the county seat
but Baker was awarded the honor at
the next election.
Then in 1917 Carter county was Gre
ated by the legislature, and Governor
Sam Stewart permitted the act to be-
come law without signature on Feb. %.
1t was named for Sen. Thomas H.
Carter, and not for the Carter of
saloon fame
From the sheep ranches in 1941,
100000 in wool and s36O,0O0 in lambs
were marketed; cattle ranges added
100000 for total of s1,060000.
Ekalaka, AZ miles from the rails.
long had considered construction of
railroad line, the only obstacle stand
ing between Carter county and fore
most position among Montana agri-
cultural counties. But agriculture has
expanded steadily in recent years de-
spite lack of a railroad and trucks
partially have answered transportation
problems. Success of the experiment
is revealed in farm statistics and Car
ter now concentrates on highway i'm
provements, particularly a north-south
road to market wheat, oats, barley and
alfalfa
To balance an economy vulnerable