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 Early Montana Pioneers: The Story of William & Clara Dalton, and their daughter Matilda Dalton –Continued According to documents gathered by Mable Ovitt, historian and author of Golden Treasure, which is a highly regarded history book on the early days of Bannack and Virginia City, it was learned that Matilda Dalton was “drop-dead gorgeous” and was known throughout the town of Virginia City as “Desdemona”. She was not only one of the few available girls in town, she was by all accounts the prettiest. In fact, many years later Matilda spoke briefly of what it was like being a young attractive single girl in the Wild West town of Virginia City. She recalled that one of the men interested in courting her ended up shooting himself in the head because she refused to date him. With this being said, shortly after the death of her parents, in 1864, she had her pick of gentlemen and decided to marry Count Zebulon Bonaparte Thibadeau. They were wed on April 14, 1864 in Virginia City. Together they cared for Matilda’s 3 young siblings. (According to Montana Historical Society documents, it seems that other youngsters were not as lucky during these early days in Virginia City. For example, there were three very young girls who lost their mother due to typhoid, and their father essentially lived in saloons, so they were forced to beg for food on the street. Martha Jane Canary, better known as "Calamity Jane", was one of those girls.) Brief History of Count Zebulon Bonaparte Thibadeau Count Zebulon Bonaparte Thibadeau was born in Maine in 1836. His father was Count Antone Clare Thibadeau, one of Napolean Bonaparte’s advisors in France. During the French Revolution, Napolean Bonaparte’s brother and Count Antone Clare Thibadeau fled France together to avoid the guillotine, and landed in New Orleans in the 1790s. This is where and how the Thibadeau lineage started in America. After Virginia City Matilda and Count Zebulon Bonaparte Thibadeau left Virginia City and moved to Oshkosh Wisconsin, where they owned a store and had three children of their own by the names of William Wallace (02/26/1865 to 08/08/1933), Matilda Estelle (04/17/1867 to 11/23/1955) and Helena Francis (11/10/1869 to 05/03/1957). William Wallace is my Great Grandfather. His son Clarence Thibadeau is my grandfather. Clarence married Thelma Kelly (my grandmother) and had two children, Doris Jeanne and Noreen, who are my mother and aunt. My mother married Oscar Biegel of Harlowton Montana, and had five children, including myself (David). Matilda died in 1931 and was laid to rest in Dillon, Montana. Matilda’s husband Count Zebulon Thibadeau passed away in Idaho in 1894 at Wallace, Idaho after owning a business for many years running pack trains between Idaho and Montana. 1928 Thibadeau Family Reunion A few years before Matilda died there was a Thibadeau Family Reunion in Sheridan Montana in 1928, just
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