FEBRUARY 2023 Ghost Towns and History of Montana Newsletter MOOSE CREEK RANGER STATION From the River Press, Feb. 3, 1897 This is the oldest district headquarters on the Helena National Forest that still exists. The Forest Service had several facilities built with this standard design and is an example of the organized “infrastructure” the agency developed in the early years. Records indicate that this site was put into use on April 6, 1908. A 1911 map shows facilities on both sides of the creek and up Moose Creek as well. Correspondence dated 1912 mentions a log house 27 x 29 feet, a log barn 21 x 29 feet, and a log chicken house 11 x 2 feet. This ranger station was in use until 1928 when the district was combined with the McClellan District in the North Elkhorns. Headquarters moved to Helena. This location then became part of a Civilian Conservation Corps camp which was established just up the road (where snowmobile parking lot is located). After that, it became part of a war dog training facility during World War II. Correspondence in 1939 from a Forest Supervisor to a Regional Forester noted: It is planned at this time that the Camp Rimini Superintendent will occupy the station residence and that the entire station including residence, barn and pasture will be reconditioned for use after the CCC camp is moved. In 1946 the cabin was authorized under the terms of a special use permit and private entities used the cabin recreationally for many years. In 1998 the station was deeded back to the Forest Service and has undergone considerable restoration efforts. This cabin is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places and is maintained and managed for its historic and recreational value. It is now on the cabin rental program for your enjoyAccessed via: https://montananewspapers.org
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 ment. Please help us maintain the past for the future. If you would like more information, please contact the Helena Ranger District at 406-449-5201. Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest Historical information excerpted from Home on the Range, Montana’s Eastside Ranger Stations, author Vicky MacLean KADING GUARD STATION The original cow-camp cabin built by C.J. Kading A letter dated April 13, 1912 from the Forest Supervisor to Assistant Ranger Mizner instructs him to select a site for a ranger station in the vicinity of Kading Cabin and to get help from Ranger Sheehey if needed. A report from 1913 from Ranger Sheehey: “that this is a good location being between the Blackfoot Station and the Burnt Hollow Station. The Blackfoot telephone line passes through here and trails radiate out in all directions.” The report stated that the cabin was built by C.J. Kading of Deer Lodge as a cow camp, but was not presently in use. It was used by the Ranger as a stopping point and he went on to recommend the site be used for administrative purposes. The present Kading Cabin was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1941. A letter dated October 1940 from Forest Service personnel stated that the plan for this location was for a two-room cabin. Evidently plans changed because the Kading Cabin ended up as the small, one-room structure you see today. In recent years, recreation and historic preservation have become important aspects of the agency’s mission. The cabin was restored in the 1990s. It is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places and is maintained and managed for its historic and recreational value. It has been placed on the Forest Service cabin rental program for your enjoyment. Please help us maintain the past for the future. If you would like more information, please contact the Helena Ranger District at 406-449-5201. Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest Historical information excerpted from The Helena National Forest, The Early Days, author Vicky MacLean. Information on Montana’s Historical Cabins and photos provided by: https://www.fs.usda.gov/ Claims in the Cataract Mining District were made in the early 1860s as prospectors made their way from Fort Benton to the Grasshopper Creek diggings near Bannack. The Cataract Creek claims were acquired by James and Granville Stuart, and Reece Anderson who built cabins at the mouth of the creek. These boys were also credited with the gold strike made at Gold Creek a few years earlier. Photo 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 2009 MONTANA COWBOY HALL OF FAME INDUCTEE LEGACY AWARD DISTRICT 6 W.E. “LIMESTONE” WILSON (1860 – 1938) William E. Wilson, known later in life as “Limestone” or Limerock” was born November 5, 1860 at Berrian Springs, Michigan. At eight years old he moved with his parents to Holt County, Missouri. While living there and in Oregon, he completed a common school education. Imbued with romantic notions from reading frontier stories while quite young, Mr. Wilson yearned to go west and discover a gold mine. When the Black Hills excitement broke out in 1878, his parents moved to Deadwood, South Dakota where his father established a lucrative business as a gardener, selling fresh vegetables to the miners and their families. In 1879, Wilson went prospecting in the Black Hills. He didn’t have much use for his father who by then had married five times, so in the spring of 1881 at 20 years old, with companion George Neligh, he set out on foot for Montana Territory. Being unfamiliar with conditions and deceived by false reports, they nearly starved to death on the way. While encounters with the Sioux impeded their travel, they were able to reach the mouth of O’Fallon Creek near present day Fallon, Montana where they passed some buffalo hunters loaded with meat for the Northern Pacific railroad camps. This happenstance led to Wilson going to work for Brown and Dewey on the Northern Pacific grade near Cabin Creek, about 35 miles north of Glendive. Soon tiring of his railroad job, Wilson sought to go mining and headed down the Yellowstone and Missouri Rivers in a ‘borrowed’ boat headed for Kansas City and onto New Mexico. He wrecked the boat on ice at or near Bismarck, North Dakota. Nearly broke and out of a job he headed back for Montana in the winter of 1881-82. After rambling around all winter, Wilson landed in Maiden on April 15, 1882 without a dollar in his pocket. He made a grubstake working at placer mining and then started prospecting. In the fall of 1883, he found an ore lead in limestone around the edge of a ridge and named it the Gilt Edge. Further work disclosed a good-sized ore body. The public would not believe there was ore to be found, and Wilson was unable to raise the money to develop it. Wilson later entered into a period of ten years of hard work as he was finally able to acquire money from different partners for his mining development. Several who skipped the country and left Wilson with debts to settle. He was snowed in one winter in the Judith Mountains for two months with nothing but his dog and guitar for company. Wilson’s work continued to be ridiculed while some people even went so far as to call him crazy. During those discouraging but hopeful years he laid the
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 foundation for the profitable mining development of Fergus County. He disagreed with the common theory that there was no use looking for gold in the limestone. From this he received his name “Limestone” or “Limerock,” a title he was proud of. In his conversations he called himself Limestone Bill. He eventually succeeded in interesting some Helena investors in the Gilt Edge mine and sold it to the Great Northern Mining and Development Company for $32,000. A mill was built in 1893, and the town of Gilt Edge was named for the mine. The mill was the second in the United States to use the “cyanide process” on a commercial scale. About $1,250,000 in gold ore was processed at this mill. Limestone continued to prospect all over the Judith Mountains, looking for ore bodies in the limestone. He strongly believed the great mines of the United States would use the cyanide process and that those ores would be found in the limestone. He often stated that ore was where you find it and not where it was supposed to be. In 1900, Wilson married Margaret E. Wampler of Chicago and settled in a handsomely furnished home in Maiden. Limestone eagerly pursued self-education himself and acquired an extensive library. He enjoyed quoting many of the classics word-for-word. Wilson stood 6’4” and slender in build. He was well known for his beautiful bass voice. Tragically the Wilson’s home in Maiden burned to the ground taking all their possessions including Limestone’s valuable library and photo collection of early mines and miners. In 1912, Margaret died and was buried in the Lewistown City Cemetery. Sometime after his wife’s death, Limestone moved to a cabin near the mouth of Maiden Canyon not far from Gilt Edge. He continued to prospect and advance his claims. Limestone soon developed a reputation as a gardener, a talent he no doubt acquired from his father. His potatoes were widely known and at one time he sold them to the Northern Pacific for use on their liners. One distinguishing feature of Limestone was being very particular and detailed in all his endeavors. The tunnels in his mine were a work of art and looked as though they had been laid out with a transit. He insisted that all loose debris be cleaned out at the end of every shift. In his nearly 56 years of prospecting, Wilson is known to have driven over 2,000 feet of tunnel with his own hands. His last work of any consequence was done in Alpine Gulch in the Judith Mountains in 1927. The tunnel he drove can still be plainly seen. In intermittently ailing health, he waged a losing fight against the infirmities of age and died in the Deaconess Hospital in Great Falls on July 17, 1938. He was buried beside his wife, Margaret in the Lewistown City Cemetery. –Courtesy of the Montana Cowboy Hall of Fame, montanacowboyfame.org Sources: Lewiston Democrat News (Christmas Edition), December 1937. “Gold in the Judiths” by W. E. Wilson, also “a Buffalo Hunt in ‘81” by W. E. Wilson., Fergus County Argus-1901 Pictorial Edition. Page 9-10, “Fergus, A Miniature of the West”. By C. B. Worthen, Lewistown Democrat News, July 18 & 19, 1938., A History of MontanaBurlingame & Toole Vol. II. Page 156.
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 Brussels Carpet Floor coverings on the Montana frontier were a luxury only the wealthy could afford. Turkish carpets were the most expensive, but British-made Brussels floor coverings were a near second. Harriet Sanders packed two expensive Brussels carpets in the covered wagon that brought her family West from Ohio. One of the carpets covered the floor in her home in Virginia City, but the other she had no use for and stored it away. Worried that the mice or moths might find it tasty, she was one day inspecting the carpet for damage when a merchant acquaintance happened by. He asked what she was doing and Harriet told him that she had no use for the carpet but hated to see it destroyed by varmints. The merchant offered to sell it for her. Harriett had little hope that the merchant could find a buyer, as Virginia City was so primitive and staples so expensive, she imagined that no one would have use for such a luxury. So she consented and it wasn’t long before the merchant returned and handed her $500 in gold dust. Harriett could hardly believe it, and wondered who had paid such a price for her carpet. She soon discovered the carpet’s fate. The merchant cut it in strips and sold it at $20 a yard. There were no smooth boards at this early date in Virginia City, and so merchants used the carpet to cover their rough counters. Miners often spilled their bags on the carpet in weighing the dust. When word of the next gold strike prompted the merchant to move on to the next boomtown, he burned the carpet and realized handsome sums from the gold dust captured in the pile. -Ellen Baumler Ellen Baumler is an award-winning author and Montana historian. A master at linking history with modern-day supernatural events, Ellen's The Brussels carpet in this photo is on display at the Grant-Kohrs Ranch. Photo courtesy Grant-Kohrs Ranch Foundation. 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 Here's an ad that appeared in The Kendall Miner Newspaper on February 9, 1906. It reads: No Better Time than now to buy lots in The Great Gold Camp. Kendall's Advantages: The eyes of the mining world are centered upon Kendall. It is situated in the center of a great gold producing area and fabulous wealth lies within its very limits. The operating mines employ 300 men, and numerous prospective mines upon which large ore bodies have been discovered, are completing arrangements for the building of plants and mills. Population, 1,200. Adequate water supply and electric light service. Location: picturesque and most desirable for the building of a city. School facilities unsurpassed. Lots range in value from $50 to $1,500 (will never be cheaper than they are today). We are brokers and headquarters for stock in the following well known mining companies. It will pay you to investigate. Cyanide Gold Mining Company, Abbey Gold Mining Company, Paymaster Gold Mining Company. For further information, call on or address, Kendall Investment Co. Photo by Jolene Ewert-Hintz
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 One Two Three Fire! – The Duel That Didn’t – 1896 Missoula’s Only Duel Several documented fatal duels have occurred throughout the United States, the most famous one between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr in 1804. A long list of known duels begins in the late 18th century and usually involved encounters between men who lived east of the Mississippi. But by the mid-1800’s the participants were moving west. One of these took place in California in 1859 and is sometimes called the last notable American duel. Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Alfred Bendiner Memorial Collection, [reproduction number, e.g., LC-USZ62-90145] It occurred between David C. Broderick, a U. S. Senator, and David S. Terry who was a former Chief Justice of the California State Supreme Court. Terry had previously stabbed a man in 1856 and was known as hot -tempered. Terry was a strong advocate of slavery, while Senator Broderick was antislavery. Dueling being illegal in San Francisco, they moved their fray to Lake Merced just south of the city. At the signal to open fire Senator Broderick’s gun misfired, while Terry shot the Senator in the chest. He died three days later. The political fallout from that duel was felt across the country when the antislavery element made the Senator a martyr for their cause. Although California had been admitted to the Union as a free state in 1850, the cause of slavery remained a powerful influence there for decades. Later, several duels featured the quick-draw, the most famous one involving ‘Wild Bill’ Hickok who killed his man in Missouri in 1865, after losing his watch in a card game. Another celebrated quick-draw duel occurred in Arizona in 1882 and involved Wyatt Earp. If Montana ever hosted a duel, it isn’t well documented. Still, there appeared to be some concern in what later became the state of Montana when laws outlawing dueling were passed by a Territorial legislature in Virginia City in the 1860’s. Legislators may have recognized the potential for dueling when dozens of men were robbed and their assailants hanged in the lawless days of Bannack and Virginia City. Gunfighting and killing were rife during the Vigilante days but the formal term ‘duel’ wasn’t used as a description. Almost 2/3 of a century had passed when a killing at Superior, Montana in 1923 was described as a “duel” in The Daily Missoulian. A Matt Miers was given an obituary in the newspaper that stated the following: “Funeral services in memory of Matt Miers were conducted at the Forkenbrock chapel yesterday by Father Meade of St. Anthony’s church. Mr. Miers was killed at Superior last Saturday, being fatally shot in a duel with Harry Echardt.” A coroner’s jury was empaneled for that killing and found there had indeed been a gunfight at a local hotel, with Miers allegedly under the influence of alcohol when it happened. Earlier, he had threatened Harry Echardt with a pistol and had been disarmed by the proprietor of the hotel. But Miers returned later with a rifle while Echardt sat at a dining table. As Miers opened fire on Echardt, he was met by return fire which caused his death. A murder charge was brought against Harry Echardt but dropped by the county attorney the following day. It was not a duel in the classical sense. Something that had the earmarks of a real duel occurred in Missoula in 1896. Shocking their fellow citizens, the participants took pains to announce their intentions and the Daily Missoulian seized the moment, publishing an entertaining scoop about it.
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 The story went thus: ONE . TWO. T HR E E . F I R E . A Duel to Take Place on the South Side at 9 o’clock This Sunday Morning. PRELIMINARIES HAVE BEEN ARRANGED John Dorr and James Olson Will Shed Blood If the Authorities Do Not Interfere. “One. Two. Three. Fire.” These words have never been heard in Missoula but they will be this morning unless the police interfere. A duel is to take place on the flat near the Bitter Root bridge at 9 o’clock. Principals and seconds are ready, and a few invited friends will be on hand, also a physician if one can be found who is willing to run the risk of arrest, in order to have the opportunity to show his surgical skill. This was the news which came to the ears of a Missoulian reporter yesterday but he placed little credence in the story until it received startling verification from the lips of one of the principals, who came to the Missoulian office and gave a voluntary information about the affair on the tapis. He said it was sure to get in the papers and he was anxious to have it in right. The cause of the duel he wanted known, in order that his friends would know how it came about if he fell, but he did not propose to fall. His name, he said was John Dorr. He is a resident of Missoula. He had had trouble with a man named James Olson, a resident of the Big Blackfoot country. Several years ago they had a fight in which he succeeded in worsting his opponent. Not long after this they got into another altercation in which Olson whipped him. They were then even to all appearances until yesterday morning, when they met by chance at the Montana. After having a few drinks the old quarrel was renewed, when Olson struck him in the face. This was more than he could stand and he challenged Olson to a duel. His reasons for doing this, he says, was to settle their differences for all time. Olson accepted the challenge willingly, and being the challenged person had the choice of weapons. He named revolvers, 45-calibre, and the weapon was agreeable to him, as he is somewhat skilled in its use. They settled this matter among themselves before they called in friends to arrange all preliminaries, and, after having chosen two men they could rely upon, agreed to follow instructions. Their friends, after consultation, agreed as follows: The weapons to be used are Colt’s revolvers, 45-calibre. Seconds will load revolvers in the presence of the principals, the principals being allowed to examine the cartridges which shall be centre fire. Herom Hutter (Herman Huetter) shall be the referee and shall give the order to fire. The principals shall take their places back to back and walk forward when the order “march” is given until ten paces shall have been taken, when they shall stop at the command “halt,” remaining back to back. At the count of “One. Two. Three” the men shall turn face to face, but must not fire until the command “Fire!” is given. If neither fall at the first fire the men shall advance firing at will until one or both fall or until the pistol of each is empty. If neither succeed in killing or wounding the other in six shots the duel shall continue if either desires. Mr. Dorr said that Joe Smith was to be his second. As a favor he asked that the reporter would not tell the police. He had not engaged an undertaker and did not anticipate needing one, for he was going into the duel with the determination of winning. He was accompanied by another man who was a silent listener to all that had been said. When the man who accompanied him was asked what he knew about the affair he said it was cor
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 rect as Mr. Dorr had told it. During the afternoon James Olson was found at the Montana hotel. He was asked about what had been told by Dorr, and claimed it was true with the exception of the statement made by Dorr that he (Dorr) was going to come out the winner. He had not selected a second but had engaged a man to arrange preliminaries. He had lots of friends and was not bothered on that score. All he wanted was to get at his man and he was going to do it the next morning at 9 o’clock. Each man was asked if he were not drunk or crazy to think of such a thing, but both were serious and claimed that one or both must die. The city marshal was found at the city hall in company with Policeman Keim and Constable Houtchens about 4:30 in the afternoon. They had not heard a word about it until informed by the reporter. At first they thought it was a hoax, but were soon convinced that it was really true that Dorr and Olson intended to fight a duel. Whether they will be of the same opinion this morning is another question. If the men are in the same frame of mind today as they were yesterday they are liable to go to the dueling ground; in such an event they will be nabbed by the police and the undertakers cheated out of a job for a time at least. The above article appeared in the Daily Missoulian on November 15, 1896. CITIZENS INVITED Another short article from the same day’s paper cheerfully invited citizens to watch: Look out for the duel this morning. By taking a position on the Bitter Root bridge, you will be out of the range of shots, probably, and can have a good view of the combatants. DUEL DIDN’T COME OFF Finally, on the following day, November 16, the Daily Missoulian found that they were sawn off the dueling limb they had been perched on. A sheepish article acknowledged that it never occurred: That duel didn’t come off yesterday according to plans and specifications. The principals, it is claimed, overslept themselves. –Don Gilder Don is a Missoula, Montana native with an inherent interest in local history. Three of his four grandparents were born in Montana and several family members homesteaded and prospected Missoula’s Target Range. He shares his love of history at his blog: www.oldmissoula.com because the past really matters! 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 P.O. Box 932 Anaconda, MT 59711
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