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 goin' to kill that Swede; he's gettin' on my nerves with his everlastin' funerals at daylight.' 'No,' I said, 'we don't want to get the Swede—the doctor's our man.'” DOCTOR QUITS HIS JOB "This doctor had come from Great Falls, where we understood, he had built up a fine reputation as a veterinarian. He had a contract with the construction company to look after the sick and injured men for a dollar per man per month. But these men who had just come in weren't on the payroll yet, so we figured it out the doctor wasn't doing much to bring them back to the full vigor of youth. Hardy agreed with me that the doctor probably was to blame for all these sudden demises, so we organized a committee of prominent citizens to go to the hospital that night. The hospital was right in town and at that time was one of the poorest buildings there. It was a low, log cabin, no floor, and the only window was a hole covered with a canvas flap.” DROPS “SWEDE” WITH A PISTOL "We went over in a body and I knocked at the door. The Swede opened it part way and then when he saw who it was he tried to shut it but Hardy reached over my shoulder and tapped him with the butt of a gun. He dropped like a beef. Then we cast a glance about for the doc, just in time to see his heels following him through the window. The canvas dropped and that was "curtains" for him. McCarthyville never saw him again. Then we had another doctor and the death rate was much decreased.” -Excerpt from The Bozeman Courier, April 23, 1926, Accessed via: https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/ Dedicating the Going-to-the-Sun Road Glenn Montgomery cooked for several of the crews that built Going-to-theSun Road and was head cook for West Glacier Park. But never in his career did he feed more people than on July 15, 1933, the day Going-to-the-Sun Road was dedicated. Park officials expected to serve lunch to twenty-five hundred people before the opening ceremony. The day before, Montgomery gathered his groceries, including 500 pounds of red beans, 125 pounds of hamburger, 36 gallons of tomatoes, 100 pounds of onions, and 15 pounds of chili powder. The brew bubbled on four woodstoves in nine copperbottomed washtubs until midnight. Crews transported the first batch of hot chili up to Logan Pass and transferred it to waiting cook fires to keep it hot. Meanwhile back at headquarters, Montgomery prepared a second batch that cooked the rest of the night. Nineteen-year-old Ernest Johnson, who worked on the road’s construction at forty cents an hour, stayed up all night helping to stir the chili. At the dedication of Going-to-the Sun Road Montana Historical Society Photograph Archives, 956-617 The morning dawned sunny and clear, drawing four thousand people to the festivities on Logan Pass. The chili stretched thin, but with additional hot dogs and coffee, everyone got something to eat. Johnson later said that he slept through the event, but helped clean up the mess. He never saw so many paper plates in all his life. –Ellen Baumler From Montana Moments: History on the Go 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
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