NOVEMBER 2021 Ghost Towns and History of Montana Newsletter From the Fergus County Democrat Dec. 5, 1911 L o w t h e r a n d C l i f t o n - R o u n d u p ’ s H i s t o r i c E n g l i s h m e n By Phyllis J. Adolph -This article was originally published in the Roundup-Record Tribune on Aug. 8, 1984 (PROLOGUE: It all began in the 1800s when a gentleman named Northfield purchased extensive holdings east of Roundup. In 1886 the NF brand was recorded and for years afterward those holdings were known simply as the “NF Ranch”. Northfield sold to Leslie C. Hill and Harold Lowther and they were partners until Cecil Clifton bought Hill’s share. Jack Herford bought the ranch from the Englishmen, sold it to Bob Leavens, who in turn sold it to Alex Brown. Brown and members of his family owned and operated it until it was sold to Arnold and Paul Johnson in the 1970s. The ranch is currently owned by a Canadian corporation with Leo Wheatley resident foreman.) Accessed via: https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/ Harold Lowther and Cecil Clifton came to the Musselshell Valley and built their long log house four miles east of Roundup just north of the Musselshell River and just south of what is now Highway 12. The house, built of native logs in 1884 (according to a carved stone found in one of the original fireplaces), contained four rooms at each end with a hallway running through the center. A stone fireplace was erected at each end of the building. Photo Courtesy of www.mtmemory.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 They were both younger sons of upper-class English families. Lowther’s family included a speaker of the House of Commons, an ambassador and an army officer. He was a large outdoors type of man, who loved horses and fox hunting and was an excellent tennis player and businessman. His speech was impeded by stuttering, however, and it is a general consensus that he may have been shipped off to Montana to save his family embarrassment. Courtesy of Musselshell Valley Historical Museum Clifton was almost an exact opposite. He was of slight build, although taller than Lowther, very shy; almost feminine in appearance. He smoked a pipe and his main interests were playing the piano and raising exotic chickens and rabbits. It was said that he owned the only piano between Billings and Lewistown at that time. Lula Metzell, who was living in Musselshell in those years, says she very vaguely remembers them. She said a Mrs. Strait (whose husband, William Strait, owned a store in Lavina) used to boast she was the only woman who had ever been inside the NF Ranch House. The reason for her admittance was that she was an accomplished musician and had been invited to play the piano. Neither man was ever known to gamble, drink to excess, court a girl or lose his temper. It would seem they adhered strictly to the code of English gentlemen. J.W. Bradshaw was foreman of the ranch while Lowther and Clifton were the owners. They also employed a Chinese cook whose name was Tulip, but they call him “Lipp” for short. He was cook, houseboy, gardener, laundryman, and maid of all work. Courtesy of Musselshell Valley Historical Museum Betty Eiselein Wetzel, a Roundup-born author, who now resides in Bigfork, Montana, has done extensive research on the Englishmen. Her article, “Mystery Men of the Musselshell” published in the June 26, 1958 issue of the Roundup-Record Tribune, states that Lowther was a member of England’s Turf Club and was a kindly man although he was rather uncomfortable around children. She wondered if Lowther and Clifton were even friendly since in the diaries of Lowther found on the property (and now in the Musselshell Valley Historical Museum) Clifton is scarcely even mentioned.
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 Photo by Jolene Ewert-Hintz Lowther was a poor excuse as a journal keeper. His diaries contain very little of historical interest. The weather, his horses (“Climax”, “Christmas”, “Rowdy”, “Greeley”, “Patch” and “Substitute”) appear on the pages quite frequently and he often mentions playing tennis in Roundup (49 different days between July 29 and November 5, 1911.) When Lowther was in England, he often mentions fox hunting, going to the opera, plays, church, etc. Favored horses in England were “Comet” and “Gamecock”. In his 1911 diary he was in England until May 20 when his diary entry reads, “Henry took baggage to Easton and Mrs. Farewell’s motor took Mary, Paul and myself to Liverpool. Left there at 2:30 on the Baltic. The Lusitania* followed us out of the harbour. Cool and wet but bright.” (*The Lusitania, you remember, was the famous passenger ship of the Cunard Line which was sunk by the German submarine in May of 1915.) The page for May 21 is blank making one wonder if perhaps he was seasick. On May 28 he “arrived in New York at 5pm in fine weather.” It took him until June 8th to arrive in Roundup, however, as he traveled leisurely from New York through Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, St. Paul and finally, “Train to Roundup all day. Johnson House*. Rainy morning. Bradshaw met us at rail with team and brought us home.” (*The Johnson House was what later became the Palace Hotel across the street from the train depot- site of the present Montana Bank of Roundup). Nov. 22 he again returned to England with this entry “G.N. (Great Northern??) Leave Billings 8am. Lunch Judith Gap and night at Park Hotel, Great Falls.” The partnership of Lowther and Clifton continued many years until the death of Lowther in 1930. It seems appropriate that he died in England from injuries suffered in a fall from a horse while following the hounds in a fox hunt, his favorite sport. J.W. Bradshaw, his loyal French foreman, was remembered in his will. Cecil Clifton (Lord Grey de Ruthyn) died at Fronhope, Hafordshire, England on May 21, 1934. He also listed J.W. Bradshaw as one of the beneficiaries of his estate. Clifton’s last visit to Roundup was in 1918. Years later, my sister and brother-in-law, Marian and Sandy Brown, lived in the house and on visits to them I marveled at the building with its high, many-paned windows. The furniture, also, was most interesting- fashioned of warm honey-toned oak – the dressers, chest of drawers and sideboard were adorned with carved decorations. The sideboard had a lovely marble top. Several of these pieces are now at the Musselshell Valley Historical Museum on loan from the Clem Brown family.
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 Photo by Jolene Ewert-Hintz When the Browns occupied the house, they lived in the east rooms- a large living-dining room, bedroom of the same size, a smaller kitchen and another bedroom of the same dimensions as the kitchen. By studying the photo on the wall of the cabin at the museum you can see where the partitions are. The west end of the house was used for storage. The house was warm in the winter and cool in the summer and I enjoyed my visits there. A log privy was built a short distance south (toward the river) with hollyhocks blooming around it in the summer. The Milwaukee railroad ran parallel to the highway in those days so that the house was between the river and the rails. This caused my sister, with myriad ranch-wife duties to perform and two small children to keep track of, to quip, “We’re between the devil and the deep blue sea.” The stone fireplace had been torn out of the kitchen and it was furnished with a coal and wood range, cupboard, work table, etc. Of special fascination for me was the wooden water barrel in the corner of the room which was filled from a pipe directly connected to the outside well. Albeit the water had to be hand pumped, but to have so much water at hand seemed great to me since the well on our Hay Basin farm was unfit for human consumption and we hauled drinking water in five-gallon cans! Photo by Jolene Ewert-Hintz The ranch house was occupied until 1944 when a different house was moved on to the property. In 1976 Musselshell Valley Historical Museum moved Clifton’s half (the west section) to the museum lot in Roundup as a centennial project. It has been redone as a farmer’s cabin and is toured by hundreds of people each summer. The remaining logs (from Lowther’s side) were purchased by Rose Heine and Chris Spogin and will be utilized to build a solar home. Photo by Jolene Ewert-Hintz The site where the old house stood has reverted back to its original pastoral setting. The cottonwood trees form a pretty backdrop as the river laps lazily at the shore. Is this how it looked when Lowther and Clifton first saw it? Do you suppose they arrived together in Bradshaw’s horse-drawn wagon and Lowther turned to Clifton and said, “Lovely spot for a dwelling, don’t you think, old chap?” I guess we’ll never know! – Courtesy of The Musselshell Valley Historical Museum, http://www.mvhm.us/
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 THANKSGIVING PROCLAMATION Executive Office, State of Montana. Helena. Nov. 14, 1891. The second year of statehood has filled the full measure of prophecy. From every source comes the glad news of prosperity and contentment. Every business interest has increased with the year. The mines and mills are in full blast. Stock and range are prepared to challenge the winter, and agriculture, made certain of maturity and prolific of yield by irrigation, is opening a new field for capital and labor. Our people are generally employed and the government is felt, if at all, most in its benefits and least in its restraints. These are ample to demand our recognition of divine favor, and to call for a day of thanksgiving and prayer. Now, therefore I, Joseph K. Toole, governor of Montana, do accordingly appoint as such, Thursday. Nov. 26. A. D. 1891. On that day let business be suspended and give the great heart of humanity a chance to do good. In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the Joseph K. Toole Courtesy of wikiwand.com state to be affixed. Done at the capitol this 14th day of November, 1891. By the governor. Joseph K. Toole. L. Rotwitt, Secretary of State. -The Columbian Newspaper (Columbia Falls, MT), Nov. 19, 1891, Accessed via: www.montananewspapers.org William Bell was Bannack, Montana’s first citizen to die of illness on November 12, 1862. The Dillon Examiner reported “ In a rude cabin of Alder Gulch, at this early time, a good man and true, our brother, William H. Bell, lay dying of mountain fever. When he felt that death was nigh he expressed to his brother Masons who attended him a desire to be buried with some, at least, of the funeral rites of our fraternity. There was no lodge of Masons; there was no monitor or book of Masonry in the camp, nor was it known how many of the order could be mustered, for they never as yet had met together. A request for all Masons in the gulch to meet at Miller’s cabin, on Yankee flat, was responded to by a hundred or more. All were delighted that the number of Masons was so great, and it was then and there resolved to form a lodge in which good men and true might assemble and meet on the square without the odious presence of the ruffian element…". Bell is buried in the old cemetery on the hill overlooking Bannack. 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 Dusseau The Photographer Angelo (or Alrick) Dusseau was born in Burlington, Vermont, in 1842 or 1843, of French-Canadian parents. He traveled west, to Wisconsin, by the time he was 23 years old, working as a carpenter on a railroad and as an engineer for a steam line in Missouri. By 1869 he was in Montana, a practicing musician in Helena. A.J. Dusseau’s true calling – as a photographer – began in Deer Lodge about 1874, and he was in booming Butte by 1876 or 1877. One of his first studios in Butte was on “Upper Main Street” at a time when there was no north or south Main, reportedly above the Post Office, when it was on the west side of Main between Granite and Quartz. His studio may also have been just south of the corner of Copper and Main, on the east side. By 1882 his residence and studio were both in “The House that Jack Built,” a two-story building on the corner of Broadway and Main where the Hirbour Tower stands today (see Lost Butte, Montana, p. 47). His sign, “Dusseau the Photographer,” was emblazoned across the Main Street side of that building until it was replaced by the Hirbour in 1901. In 1902, in partnership with George R. Thompson, Dusseau’s studio was at 219 East Park and the family was living at 720 Utah Avenue. Thompson continued the photography business after Dusseau died in 1908, and there was still a photo studio at 219 East Park in 1916. I believe the home at 720 Utah is still standing. Among Dusseau’s photographic work is a portrait of Louisa Earp, wife of Morgan Earp. The portrait dates to about 1877, probably soon after he moved to Butte. Louisa and Morgan were probably together in Montana at various points in time from the late 1870s until early 1880. It’s not clear when they married – some reports say 1875 – nor is it clear exactly when and for how long they were in Butte, but there is little doubt that Morgan was on the Butte police force from December 1879 until March 1880. He joined his brothers in Tombstone, Arizona, soon after he left Butte, and was wounded at the gunfight at the O.K. Corral in October 1881. He was shot and killed in Tombstone in March 1882 at age 30.
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 Dusseau’s wife Amanda, from Missouri, was 17 years younger than A.J. Their daughter Elmira was probably born in Butte in 1888. A.J. Dusseau died August 28, 1908, leaving a rich photographic legacy. –Richard Gibson Sources: Cabinet Card Gallery; Photo of Butte man in Pythian regalia from The Autry’s Collections; portrait of couple courtesy Francine Le Blanc. Ad from Butte Miner, July 20, 1876. Broadway and Main photo from Anaconda Standard, May 12, 1901. See also Mrs. Earp: The Wives and Lovers of the Earp Brothers, By Sherry Monahan Richard Gibson is a geologist. His career has ranged from analyzing kidney stones to 35 years in oil exploration. Butte's history, architecture, and people captured his interest like he thought nothing could, and have expanded his life significantly. He’s still passionate about geology, but now he’s passionate about Butte, too. His book "What Things Are Made Of" came out in March 2011; his writing blog focuses on it. The Butte History blog contains interesting stories discovered in Butte, Montana, which are documented in "Lost Butte, Montana," from The History Press. Check out more great stories from Richard by visiting his sites: http://buttehistory.blogspot.com/ http://butte-anacondanhld.blogspot.com/ https://www.verdigrisproject.org/butte-americas-story Ruth Garfield Ruth Lane was visiting relatives in Montana when she met Jesse Garfield, a Yellowstone County homesteader. The couple married in 1912 and later moved to a ranch near Ryegate. Jesse became the first sheriff of newly created Golden Valley County in June of 1920. He had been reelected to his first full term of office in November but had not yet been sworn in. On December 6, Jesse went out to the Snowy Mountains to investigate a complaint. When he knocked on the rancher’s door, the man fired his rifle, seriously wounding the sheriff. He made it to his car and tried to drive back to town, but the gas tank had been hit and he ran out gas. He walked back to the town of Franklin where a stopped freight train took him to Billings. Jesse died two weeks later. County commissioners appointed Ruth to fill out her husband’s term as sheriff. She never carried a gun, but she earned the same salary as her husband: $166 a month. The couple’s son, Ford, was about seven at the time. Every day after school, he would wait at the jail in the Golden Valley county courthouse for his mom to finish work. Ruth served out her husband’s two year term. Upon his election in 1922, Sheriff Dick Carr appointed Ruth Garfield undersheriff and probation officer. She served in that capacity for two years before retiring from law enforcement. Ruth Lane Garfield was the first female sheriff in Montana. P.S. Remember this gun-toting woman? –Ellen Baumler 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 Photo courtesy Ford and Barbara Garfield, via Ancestry.com
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 Besides the many miners, three doctors arrived in German Gulch in the summer of 1865, including Dr. George Beal who became an important figure in German Gulch and Butte. A number of commercial businesses were developed in the various German Gulch camps including several grocery and general merchandise stores as well as a brewery, saloons, blacksmith shops, bakeries and several sawmills. Photo by Jolene Ewert-Hintz Wages were high in the early days of German Gulch camp. From 1865 to 1870 nearly 400 men were at work in the gulch earning an average day's wage of between $6 - $7. The camp provided an important market for the farms and ranches of the Deer Lodge valley. Photo by Jolene Ewert-Hintz Big Timber off of Highway 191. 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 Melville, Montana- Lutheran Church. Melville was originally known as "the settlement" and was established in 1881. It was later renamed Melville after arctic explorer George Wallace Melville. Located a country mile from the little town of Melville, you will find one of the earliest churches in Montana. In November 1914, the little white church, complete with steeple and bell, was dedicated. Melville is located about 20 miles north of
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