Laurel outlook., 1949-11-23

first white children born in Laurel
described "Ghost Cities of Mon
tana" at a meeting of the Laure
Woman's club Monday afternoon
at the home of Mrs. w. X. SIM
mons. Some of the cities ano
towns were at one time famous.
while others of less importance
often had highly interesting his
tories.
Virginia City was naturally No.
l on the list. 1t and the con-
tiguous communities were popu-
lated by many thousands in the
'6Os-people for whom gold was
a magnet. 1t is now being re-
built, thanks to Charles Bovey's
Unusual hobby, and it is now pos
sible for visitors to e a town as
it was when road agents were ram
pant and the law had not yet
come. G. w. Fenton of Laurel,
brother of Mrs. Bliss, is one OF
the last surviving real stage coach
drivers. He drove in his youth
ir the Big Hole are and has often
driven the Virginia City" coach,
a feat not the lot of many.
In speaking of Huntley, a town
i'm eastern Yellowstone county that
was named for an early family,
said that a number of years ago
when the federal government was
planning it's since well known irri-
cation project it drew plans for
a city of 10000. The site was
divided into lots, replete with
boulevards and other city appur-
tenances which still exist on maps
and may be used should occasion
ever demand. The present popula-
ton is said to be about 300. The
mayor, Earl Mead, is nationally
known and is a very busy man,
though confined to an invalid's
bed. He helps to support his fam
lily in part by taking subscriptions
and renewals to any magazine. A
post card addressed to him will
bring a prompt reply.
White Sulphur Springs at one
time had a population of 1900.
1t now has 1900. The large ma
tatorium or plunge to which the
elite from long distances were
wont to repair has been removed.
The town. still has deliberately
built three-story houses. Live
stock continues a. a source of
wealth, but silver in great abund-
ance at nearby Castle, in the
mountains of the same name, was
the cause of the towns a%ffluence
until the governments withdrawal
from the silver market in 1898.
Only a few ruins remain to mark
Castle, a town that went to bed
rich one night and awoke pauper-
lied the next morning. DR.. j. P.l
Rhodes, father of Mrs. C. L. Nor
ris, once lived there.
The activities of Junction, across
the Yellowstone river from present
Custer, were described by Mrs.
Bliss. 1t was near the junction of
the Yellowstone and the Big Horn,
the latter a tributary from the
region farther south where Gener-
al Custer and his command per-
ished. The father and mother of
Frank Jacobs, a resident of Lau-
rel, operated a hotel there. Room
and board in 1884 cost $40 a
month. The population was 700 in
1886, the winter of which was
known as the hardest Montana
had ever had. The town was the
head of river navigation and to
it came the freight boats bearing
supplies for much of the country
beyond. The cargoes were taken
overland from Junction to Fort
McGinnis, Lewistown and other
places.
The Jacobs family came by stage
coach from the Black Hills, with
horses, mules and other stock and
camped at Pompeys Pillar where
they stocked up with groceries. Mr..
Jacobs was ordered by the gov
eminent to report at Fort Lara
ME to break horses, and it was
there that he lost his life by
being dragged by a horse. Ira
Whitney, former Laurel resident
who is now deceased, brought the
news to Mrs. Jacobs. She later
married a MI. Powell and subse-
quently lived in Laurel where she
known as Mother Powell.
Mrs. Bliss gave a short resume
"The Yellowstone" by Elliot
Paul, an account of his trip from
Glendive to Sidney. Finding some
quaking aspen trees, they decided
to build an irrigation project there,
DISCOVERS MINIATURE