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 Within a few miles of the Dalton’s lived Ed and Rial Plummer brothers, with their families, also from Maine. Among the children of Rial Plummer was Henry Amos, his oldest son, and Rosie and Parnelia, two younger girls. In 1851, William Dalton went to California, returning in 1853. In 1850, Henry Plummer went to California, where he went into the restaurant business. His partner in the restaurant business was a married man, and over this man’s wife Plummer and his partner quarreled, Plummer shooting and killing his partner. After the shooting Plummer left, and went somewhere in what is now the state of Washington, probably in the vicinity of Walla Walla. When my father saw him in Virginia City he knew Plummer and spoke to him, but Plummer told father he must be mistaken. Father told him about Wisconsin, but he said he had never been in Wisconsin. It was impossible that my father could have been mistaken, since he had known him from boyhood days. We left Wisconsin in 1861 and moved to St. Cloud, Minnesota. From this point we joined Captain Fisk’s train in 1862. There were from 150 to 200 people in this train. Captain Fisk was a big man, 35 or 40 years old. During our trip the Indians rode up and tried to stampede the horses and cattle. Captain Fisk turned out all of the escort, and they got out the cannon and showed the Indians what a cannon could do. Among those in Captain Fisk’s train was a man named Fergus (James Fergus), Samuel Bond, secretary of the escort; Mr. Knox, wagon master; Henry Tyler, James Marston, Col. Bartlett, J.M. Castner and family; and Mr. And Mrs. James Stark, to whom was born on this trip a baby boy, who was called Julian. The last we knew of the Stark’s they lived at Twin Bridges. Mrs. Stark’s sister, Carrie Abbott, was married on the plains to Henry Taylor, by our Episcopal minister, a Mr. Langford. Near Fort Benton we met William Babcock, who had been lying in wait to steal back from the Indians his horses which they had taken. Between Fort Benton and Prickly Pear he had stolen back his horses and caught up with the train. He was in an expedition hunting some children whose father and mother were killed by Indians. Mr. Babcock came from Walla Walla hunting these children, and finally found one, a little girl. We arrived that fall at Prickly Pear, then went to Bannack City. We arrived during December, 1862. We lived there a year or so, then went to Virginia City where father and mother took the fever and died within two weeks of each other. This was January 1864, and they were attended by Drs. Smith and Glick. Father was a Mason and his funeral was the second Masonic funeral to be held in what is now the state of Montana. In 1864 I married Z.B. Thibadeau. We returned to Oshkosh, Wis., and lived there 10 years, my three children being born there: a son, William Wallace, two daughters, Estelle M. And Helena F. Later we came to Idaho where Mr. Thibadeau died in Wallace, Idaho on June 8, 1894.
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