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 down the road from Virginia City. Among those who attended included Matilda Dalton (age 85), her son William Wallace, her grandson Clarence Thibadeau and his wife Thelma (my grandparents). The youngest in attendance was my grandparents Clarence and Thelma's daughter, Doris Jeanne at the age of one. A photograph was taken of Matilda, her grandson Clarence (my grandfather) with his one year old baby girl in his arms, who is my mother Doris Jeanne Thibadeau. Below is this photograph... Clarence Byron Thibadeau, my grandfather and the son of William Wallace Thibadeau and grandson of Matilda Dalton Thibadeau, was raised on a farm near Dillon Montana, He married my grandmother, Thelma Marie Kelly and had two daughters, Doris Jeanne and Noreen. Clarence became a railroad detective between Anaconda and Butte Montana during the wild mining years. He then was part of the first graduating class of the Montana Highway Patrol. Interestingly, the numbers 3-7-77 that is found on each Montana Highway Patrolman’s badge even today, was the cryptic numbers used by the Vigilantes during the “clean up” of Virginia City and Bannack in 1864. As a Highway Patrolman in Deer Lodge Montana, he and his family were transferred to the railroad town of Harlowton, Montana, where my father Oscar H. Biegel met my mother during their 8th grade year in 1941. Clarence died of lung cancer at the age of 60 with his family by his side, and my grandmother, known to all of us as "Grandma Thib", died in June of 1983 due to respiratory complications following a devastating house fire. Clarence and Thelma are buried beside one another in the Harlowton Cemetery. Matilda Dalton’s Own Words.. Shortly before her death in 1931, Matilda Dalton described the life of her parents William and Clara Dalton, as well as her own. Matilda dictated this story to Bertha Thibadeau in Dillon Montana. Bertha Thibadeau was Matilda’s son William Wallace’s wife. These words were first published in the Philipsburg Mail newspaper in 1935, and then also appeared in the highly regarded history book "Golden Treasure" by Mable Ovitt. The following are Matilda Dalton's own words... “I, Matilda Dalton, was born at Houlton, Maine, August 28, 1843. My father, William Dalton, lived on a farm three or four miles from Houlton. About 1844 or 1845, William Dalton moved his family to Wisconsin, where he took up land by Homestead and Government Land Warrant, which was received from the government in return for services in the War of 1812 and 1814 with England, which land was situated on the Wisconsin River five miles from Portage City. Here the family lived until I was 14 years old.
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