APRIL 2021 Ghost Towns and History of Montana Newsletter M o n t a n a ’ s F e m a l e H o m e s t e a d e r s The River Press April 27, 1898 www.montananewspapers.org The Homestead Act of 1862 offered 160 acre plots of public land to those who were at least twenty-one years old and served as head of household, with the conditions that they live on the land, cultivate it and improve it. This made land ownership possible to citizens from all walks of life including former slaves, immigrants and women; often including those who were single, divorced or widowed. The Enlarged Homestead Act of 1909 expanded the acreage to 320 and brought the largest influx of homesteaders to the state. By 1918 over 10,000 claims had been filed on over 3 million acres of land. Historians estimate that around 18% of Montana’s homesteaders were unmarried women. Let’s take a look at just a few of the stand-outs from that sturdy group… Gwenllian Evans is known as Montana's first female homesteader. Gwenllian was born April 15, 1802 in Wales. She came to Montana in 1869 with her son and daughter-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Morgan Evans. Shortly after her arrival, Gwenllian filed an entry on 160 acres of land that would later be known as Opportunity and, an opportunity it was. She lived on her land the required length of time and received a government patent. This place would also become one of the state's earliest post offices known by the name of Gwendale (later changed to Morristown as not to be confused with Glendale). Gwenllian acted as one of the territory's first post mistresses. Her son, Morgan Evans served as Marcus Daly's land agent. Gwenllian passed away in 1892 and is buried in a local Anaconda cemetery. Current Day Opportunity by Jolene Ewert-Hintz
P a g e 2 G h o s t T o w n s a n d H i s t o r y o f M o n t a n a N e w s l e t t e r Bertie Brown’s Homestead, Courtesy of Great Falls Tribune Agnes “Annie” Morgan was born in Maryland in about 1844 and came west in the 1870s. By 1880, Annie was counted in the U.S. census at Fort Meade, Dakota Territory working as a domestic servant in the home of Myles Moylan, an officer in the Seventh Cavalry and a relative of Custer. This probably explains why Annie’s obituary stated that she had cooked for Custer at one time. It’s not clear whether Annie was divorced or widowed but by 1890, she was without a husband and had made her way to Philipsburg, Montana. Annie was employed by Philipsburg attorney David Durfee to care for his elderly, alcoholic uncle. Durfee set them up in a tworoom cabin in the rock-creek area close to where Annie would make her own homestead claim years later. Annie’s patient would move on but she would gain a new one. In 1894, Annie stumbled upon Joseph “Fisher Jack” Case, a Civil-War veteran who was deathly ill from Typhoid Fever and lying on the bank of the river where he had been fishing. She nursed him back to health and in return, he fenced her property. But even after that job was done, Case stayed around. Together, him and Annie built a new cabin and bunkhouse together, gardened and raised chickens, cows and goats. Were Jack and Annie lovers but fearful of how an interracial marriage would have been received? Were they merely business partners? Good Friends? Annie’s obituary called Case “her old partner in the little ranch at the first hogback.” Annie did file a claim on the homestead but would pass away before it was approved. Jack received a patent to the land in 1919. Bertie “Birdie” Brown arrived in Montana in 1898 from Missouri. She was in her twenties when she settled in the Lewistown area and would later homestead along Brickyard Creek and file her claim in 1907. Homesteaders had to find inventive ways to supplement their income and Birdie was no different. Oh sure, she’d raise a chicken or two, tend to a garden and plant some barley, oats and wheat. But Birdie would find her real niche in the moonshine business. Described by locals as “the best moonshine in the country”, it wasn’t a hard sell. Combine that with Birdie’s sweet hospitality and a shortage on “legal” liquor due to prohibition, and you have a thriving business. That winning combination kept Birdie and her friendly cat content for Morgan-Case Homestead by Jolene Ewert-Hintz
P a g e 3 G h o s t T o w n s a n d H i s t o r y o f M o n t a n a N e w s l e t t e r many years. In 1933, just short of the end of Prohibition, Birdie was told by the revenue officer that her business must come to an end. Bertie, ever the multi-tasker, busied herself dry cleaning some garments with gasoline while tending to her last batch of the hooch, the gasoline would explode and be the death of dear Birdie. Many Canadian women found their way across the border to circumvent Canada’s law against women owning land. One such woman was Laura Etta Smalley, a schoolteacher who was among the first to acquire land under the Enlarged Homestead Act. On a long Easter weekend in 1910, Laura packed her bags and arrived on the train in Inverness, Montana. The next morning, the land locator took Laura out to find an available claim she could make her own. She found the place she wanted and took the night train to Havre to file. Fortunately, the locator was kind enough to travel with Laura to keep her safe. Laura was the first in line on the first day a person could file under the new Enlarged Homestead Act. She finished out her school term in Canada and then returned to Montana to work on her claim. She purchased a small shack and some provisions in Joplin. She then hired a man and a team of horses to deliver her and the shack to her new home. Laura also secured herself a teaching position in Inverness for the next year. Laura went on to marry Will Bangs in 1914 whom she met while on a walk to church, but she would hold on to her own homestead. Bangs lost his farm in 1926 but the entire family including their four children would make a home on Laura’s land. Today the Bangs farm is a four-generation family operation. Laura Etta Smalley Bangs Courtesy of www.findagrave.com The Elkhorn Mine, first discovered by Peter Wys in 1870, was the namesake for the town of Elkhorn. A.M. Holter turned it into the dominant producing mine of the area after its purchase in 1872. It was owned by such people as A.M. Holter, The London-Swansea Developing Company, John Henry and Frank Longmaid, and several others. The big mill is gone now, along with many other of its old buildings. Its tailings and a few remaining buildings are the only remnants. -Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks Photo by Jolene Ewert-Hintz The Madisonian, May 6, 1910, www.montananewspapers.org
P a g e 4 G h o s t T o w n s a n d H i s t o r y o f M o n t a n a N e w s l e t t e r LOVER’S ROOST Lover’s Roost or Lover’s Knoll is the quaint name given in the old days to the little hill between West Gold and Platinum Streets, with a high point east of South Crystal Street in Butte, Montana. There’s only one house on this entire block. The home at 600 West Gold was built in 1909 for Mrs. Harriet Armstrong, a widow. The property was first staked as a mining claim by William Farlin in 1875. Farlin had established the nearby Asteroid claim, Butte’s first underground silver mine, in 1874. He developed the Asteroid, later known as the Travona, using a $30,000 loan from W.A. Clark’s bank. When Farlin defaulted, Clark took over the Travona, one of his first profitable mines. Mrs. Armstrong, widow of James, bought the undeveloped block about 1908 from the Clark-Montana Realty Company and had the house built from local rock in 1909. Anaconda Standard, Nov. 30, 1919 There is a great deal of rumor surrounding the home's occupants. It’s been suggested that Mrs. Armstrong built the isolated house away from others because she felt spiteful that Butte’s high society had rejected her because of an alleged 25-year illicit love affair with Alexander Johnston, a cashier with the W.A. Clark & Bro. Bank. He lived in the upscale 900 block of West Broadway in 1900, and at the Silver Bow Club in 1910. Alternative tales included the idea that the woman resident in the house was jilted by a suitor and had gone mad. There is no good evidence for any of these rumors, and while the truth is likewise unknown, it’s probably pretty mundane. Lover's Knoll in 1884 Although the home has strong Craftsman-style elements, there is also no evidence that it was designed by Gustav Stickley himself. Other rumors suggested it was modeled after the wing of a Swiss chalet. Mrs. Armstrong died of cancer about 1931, and the house was occupied by Alex Johnston from 1934-37. Yes, that Alex Johnston. Real evidence for the rumor? Or circumstantial? Maybe Johnston took advantage of his position with the bank to acquire the house. In any case, it stood vacant for a couple years, until about 1939 when the second long-time owners purchased the home. Dr. Robert G. Kroeze and his wife Cynthia lived here for at least 32 years. Dr. Kroeze’s office after about 1942 was in the Mayer Building (Park Street Liquors, Park and Montana) until his retirement in 1972.
P a g e 5 G h o s t T o w n s a n d H i s t o r y o f M o n t a n a N e w s l e t t e r The house, its chimneys, and the prominent retaining walls on Platinum and Crystal Streets are all constructed of “porphyry rock,” local granite. The house on Lovers Roost was the first of several to be made from this rock. “Never before has the waste from a mine been so artistically arranged.”—Anaconda Standard, November 30, 1919 Popular Mechanics, 1917 The Standard reported in 1919 that the stones used in the home’s construction were “really the outcroppings of a silver and manganese ledge of unusual length and richness,” assaying from 4 to 60 ounces of silver per ton and 12 to 18% manganese. Some of the rock richest in silver was reportedly from the ledge on the 200foot level of the Travona. William Farlin was among the few prospectors who stayed in Butte in the late 1860s and early 1870s, when the population dwindled to a few dozen as the easy-to-find gold played out. He eventually took samples to Salt Lake City where they assayed high in silver, and on his return to Butte he staked 13 claims on January 1, 1875, including the Travona (initially named the Asteroid). Farlin's discovery proved to be the rejuvenation of Butte – this time, for silver. Image to the right from Stacy Leipheimer, who adds, "Ed and Myrna Leipheimer bought the house in 1979 and that is when they had to move the cars out. Dr. Kroese was spending time at his home in Mexico when he came home and found they had lowered Platinum Street." - Richard Gibson Resources: Architectural Inventory; Anaconda Standard, Nov. 30, 1919; May 16, 1909; Popular Mechanics, April 1917; Sanborn Maps; City Directories; 1884 Bird’s-Eye View. Richard Gibson is a geologist. His career has ranged from analyzing kidney stones to 35 years in oil exploration. Butte's history, architecture, and people captured his interest like he thought nothing could, and have expanded his life significantly. He’s still passionate about geology, but now he’s passionate about Butte, too. His book "What Things Are Made Of" came out in March 2011; his writing blog focuses on it. The Butte History blog contains interesting stories discovered in Butte, Montana, which are documented in "Lost Butte, Montana," from The History Press. Check out more great stories from Richard by visiting his sites: http://buttehistory.blogspot.com/ http://butte-anacondanhld.blogspot.com/ https://www.verdigrisproject.org/butte-americas-story
P a g e 6 G h o s t T o w n s a n d H i s t o r y o f M o n t a n a N e w s l e t t e r Photo by Jolene Ewert-Hintz MEMORIES OF OLD TIMES- July 3, 1893. A Former Montanian Visits the World's Fair and Recalls Other Days. Joseph Treanor, and old-timer of Montana, but now a merchant of La Grace, S.D., wrote to the Inter Mountain under date of June 20. 1893: I was down to the World's fair last week and visited the Montana building and mineral exhibit. It was grand and I was interested. I registered my name as having been a former resident of Montana in 1862, which I was. I and my brother Jim, (since killed by the Indians on Milk river), built the first house in the first town in the now great state of Montana at Bannack City, Oct. 20, 1862. Mr. Reim and Mr. Bean commenced to build their house after we had our logs raised. but uncovered, and completed theirs before we had completed ours, by one or two days. But we had our logs raised first. It is now twenty-eight years since I was in Montana. I was then only a stripling of a boy, in fact the youngest man in the camp the first winter of Bannack. I never saw Helena or Butte. They were built after my time. There are few persons in Montana now who would know me or possibly remember my name. I played the tamborine in the first exhibition of any kind that was ever given in the territory of Montana, in Ault's old building. Bannack, the winter of 1862-'63. Buzz Caven played the fiddle and Mart Bonner the bones and Odell played the banjo. These fellows, if they are living, will remember me. Montana's beautiful building and display at the World's fair have recalled all these memories to me. The exhibits are grand and the buildings fine, in fact the whole display is a credit to Montana and honor to the great exposition. I greatly admired the gold and silver exhibit. In fact I never saw so Photo by Jolene Ewert-Hintz much gold and silver at one sight in my life. It made me think that everybody in Montana must be rich, probably because I am so poor. Well, I wish the young state good luck, which it deserves, and God bless all its people. If there are any of the old-time boys still in the land of the living and would like to make me feel good, tell them to write to yours etc., Jos. TREANOR, -The Helena Independent, Accessed via: https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/, March 30, 2021. Photo by Jolene Ewert-Hintz Photo by Jolene Ewert-Hintz
P a g e 7 G h o s t T o w n s a n d H i s t o r y o f M o n t a n a N e w s l e t t e r Titanic Memory... Twenty-year-old Mary Lawrence left Austrian Hungary, employed as a maid to a physician’s family en route to America. Mary seldom spoke about her terrible ordeal aboard the ill-fated Titanic, but in 1939, she did describe her experience to a news reporter. She recalled the utter horror of that night, April 15, 1912. First she heard a terrible crunching sound, then people running, screaming, crying, and shoving and pushing. She saw many fall overboard, and she saw her employer— the doctor—and his wife and their three children—all go over the side of the huge ship and into the water. She jumped from the sinking ship into a boat, suffering a severe and permanent injury to her leg as she landed. All around her people were drowning in the ice-cold water. She recalled crowding into the lifeboat, and several people froze to death during the five hours before help came. Survivors of the Titanic on board the rescue ship Carpathia. Courtesy of the Library of Congress She could not remember the rescue, but once she arrived at New York City, Mary recalled wandering the streets aimlessly, dazed, homeless, injured, and unable to speak English. After several weeks, she finally met someone from her native homeland who helped her find work on a farm. Several months later she learned of an uncle in Montana. Mary traveled to Dillon and stayed with her uncle there for several years. In 1915 she married Jacob Skender, a miner and smelter worker. The Skenders settled in the Butte neighborhood of Meaderville where they raised six children, but Mary could never put aside that terrible experience. There were more than 2,200 people on the Titanic’s maiden voyage. Of those, Mary Lawrence Skender was one of 705 survivors. Although Mary Lawrence does not appear on any passenger, survivor or casualty lists, and some doubt her story, it’s not unreasonable to speculate that these lists were incomplete. While her vivid memories suggest that she was indeed a survivor, the truth of Mary’s story cannot be proven. –Ellen Baumler Ellen Baumler is an award-winning author and Montana historian. A master at linking history with modern-day supernatural events, Ellen's true stories have delighted audiences across the state. She lives in Helena in a century-old house with her husband, Mark, and its resident spirits. To view and purchase Ellen’s books, visit: http://ellenbaumler.blogspot.com/p/my-books.html
P a g e 8 G h o s t T o w n s a n d H i s t o r y o f M o n t a n a N e w s l e t t e r Saltese, Montana An old mining town named Saltese still welcomes those coming over the mountain. The area was originally known as Parkers Meadow by trappers, packers and prospectors who found the spot a convenient campsite. Sometime before 1891 Colonel Meyers built the St. Regis House on Packer’s Meadow to serve the local travelers using the Mullen Road. The village that grew around that inn became known as Silver City named after the local silver mines. Silver City was renamed to Saltese to honor a local Nez Perce Chief and the post office opened for business in 1892. In addition to supplying mining operations, Saltese was an important 1910 Photo by Jolene Ewert-Hintz lumber town and boasted eleven saloons around the turn of the century. During one particularly bad winter, more than 17 feet of snow fell on the city. A visitor remarked, “The snow level was even with the sills of the second-story windows in the (railway) station and the people on the street behind the station had to tunnel through the great bank.” The big burn of 1910 wiped out many towns but, Saltese was successfully defended and is still occupied today. My/Donor Information: SUBSCRIBE TO THE GHOST TOWNS AND HISTORY OF MONTANA NEWSLETTER! Renewal? Y/N Send a Gift to: NAME____________________________________ NAME___________________________________ ADDRESS__________________________________ ADDRESS_________________________________ CITY______________________________________ CITY_____________________________________ STATE__________________ZIP________________STATE_________________ ZIP________________ Yearly subscriptions are $19.95 (published monthly). Please make checks payable to Ghost Towns & History of MT, LLC and send with this clipping to 715 Oak ST, Anaconda, MT 59711 Photo by Jolene Ewert-Hintz
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