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 them who I was and where I was going. They treated me fine and wanted me to be sure and come back and camp with them. On my way home, I thought to myself, “If I ever get away from you guys, you will never see Joe anymore.” They had just come in from a raid with this bunch of horses. This gang of men was the worst bunch of outlaws that I ever met since the year 1885. I suppose they planned to hold my outfit up if we came back to their camp. I had no party in Canada– I was loading them so that I could get away from them with my scalp. The worst of all, I got into a big storm after leaving them and became lost and landed within a half mile of the outlaws camp. But soon as it cleared up, I struck south for the Missouri River. Jones was killed some years later by a posse north of Scobey. The rest of the gang went to parts unknown. This brand of horse thieves terrorized eastern Montana in the early days. I have been very lucky in escaping this class of men. —Courtesy of the Eastern Montana Outlaw News in Cooperation with Missouri River Country. To learn more about all the adventures awaiting you in northeast Montana, visit: https://missouririvermt.com HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY-continued From The Livingston Enterprise, January 1, 1900: Thompson Brothers, General Merchants This department store has occupied a prominent place in the mercantile life of Livingston since the spring of 1883, growing rapidly from the date of its establishment until its name has become a household word throughout southern Montana. The members of the firm are James S., William E. and Floyd A. Thompson, who were born in Otsego county, New York. James S., the senior member of the firm, came west to the Black Hills, South Dakota, in the spring of 1880. Two years after he went to Billings, Montana, but only remained there one year, when more favorable business prospects attracted him to Livingston. Here he was joined by his brother, William E., and the twain at once embarked in the mercantile business. In 1886 the youngest brother, Floyd A., was admitted to the firm, and it has since remained as one unbroken brotherhood. They have always kept first-class goods and done a perfectly straightforward business, carrying a complete line of James S. Thompson William E. Thompson Floyd A. Thompson Store Building dry goods, clothing, carpets and draperies, cloaks and millinery, hats and caps, boots and shoes, and a complete line of fancy and staple groceries.
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