Billings Senior High School - Kyote Yearbook (Billings, MT)

Page 17 text:

Robbe1 s Roost, where Plum- mer and road agents had their rendezvous: now a private residence And these -men were quite essential in develop: ing onr history. When a claim was staked by someone all the -restless., everchanging Sea of inzigrationl rushed the scene of the dis- covery, seemed to Know by divination when a mine was worth the ' rushing. , Thus the era was developed, picturesque, faery romantic. The first gold found in llilontana was by Finlay, or Benetsee On his farm in Deer Lodge county but his find was soon forgotten: In the half-score years that followed, off anal on was gold discovered, Richest of these finds being one on Plfillard Creek where thuszoise Sprang up Bannoclc City, largest of the colonies estaiblishedf Cold Toni! was a prospector of solitary habits, Hurlbut, Stuart and Saunders too were present there among the others, Alder Gulch was soon disco'verea'g where now stands Virginia City A nd was then. known- as state capital, was discovered by Fairweather, N ext important was Last Chance Gulch, where grew Helena as her canipf Was discoifered by John C owan, worn ont, . . . worried and discouraged, 0 Out of food and all provisions, panned that soil as his last prospect. ' Thus was na-med the gnlch that saved llllllg, body, soul and e en a fortnne Deer Lodge county boasts the nugget larg- est of all those discov,fered. ' In eighteen-hnndred-sixty the-re prez'ailed within Montana Only wilderness with no more than two ' settlements ontstan.ding, 'f Then the gold stampede cotnnreucing it was -peopled as by magic. California and Pikes Peak State '5 had just passed the stage that's lawless To niai-ntain stern law and order hence their outlaws rushed Montana. ' ' H850-Sanders, p. 166. 1'East Bannock population - 400, date 1862 then in Dakota territory and Deer Lodge was in Washington. 51863-Thought to have had richest placer minings discovered in world. 111864- d C it li 1874 VV th 3000 'TFL Helena ma e ap a n . or S , . Benton and Ft. Owen to east and west. 5Colorado. Boothill Cemetery, near Billings: So called becalise of the large number buried there who met death violently

Page 16 text:

Now there came the mission- r at t aries: first the Selish' heard some rumors Of the white man s priest, his black robe, liked his Cath- olic ceremonies, Sent four men to the great father' to request one for th-eir people, Traveled they on foot the whole icfayf thru tribes hostile to the Selish, Tho they sacrificed their lives thus, stirred they interest for the rednwng Tho the priests sent by this interest went to other tribes for teaching Still they showed the whites, the redm-an too desired his salvation, .Spurned they then protestant teachings for their preachers wore no black ,robes , And they sent them three more pleadings before priest de Smet responded? Built he there S t. M aryls mission, won- the love of, all the S elish W' hen gained they the reservationw left they to the whites this building, Still a church but not a mission, tho there sprang from it nine others. 'Mong them thenwas St. Ignatius in the valley of Sin-Yal-Min,' For the Blaclefeet built St. Peter's, Holy Family, also St. Paul's. Other fathers were Ravalli, loved by all and harmed by no one, And .Father Point who was a helper, dearly loved at all the missions. N ow the -west is slowly changing, slowly going to the white man, i Gold is found and rapidly waning rednianis race is sent to reserves, Crows to one in C usterecounty, one tribe here, another yonder. Thus began annihilation of these children of the N orthwestf' A Group of Crow Indians The wild thrill felt by all humans at a gold call from the mountains, The distrust, success, and failures, petty brawls, grub stake investments Formed the background for the history of this era of Montana - is As the adventurous spir- its fought for gold among -our gulches Rough they were and c r u d e, ambitious, meeting sturdily, dis- - aster t X A 'In Bitter Root Valley. 'l'The Pompey Pillar, where Lewis and Clark camped and president. 52,000 mi. 121840. carved their initials Jncko. 'T Sanders, p. 143.

Page 18 text:

It was then the prairie schooner had its era in this history. Those who poured into the country can be classed in but two sections, Sturdy, strong and law respecters wishing only rightful earnings And outlaws, as from nether regions, coming there for looting only. . These becatne the dread road agents, more because the cold ofwinters And the distance from the railroad, the deep snow, the Statue of Bduffalo lack of horse-9 c?ia3f,l9i:iti2m12Q Caused prwatzon, desperation, neediness gnd actual ' wanting. And these highway nlen grew bolder, pillaging and killing madly ' Till a 1-nan risked life and fortune on a road with no companions. There were fifty, led by Plununer whowas sheriff of the county, All his deputies were agents and each -man who carried nzfoney A Was held up during his journey by a secretive procedure. Their ways were not helter-skelter but well planned and executed. First they killed for money only, later for but love of killing. Finally their depredations grew so great that some revoltedg Hence they formed the l7igi!antes to oppose that regin of terror. They began with only nine who swore their punishment was hanging, But when Pluin1ner,glong suspected, was accused and pronounced guilty All uncertain up to that tinie swelled the band of vigilantes. Vigilante just-ice sta-rted with the hanging of the agent T I Called George Ives, a heartless bandit, rnad when drunken, laughing, reckless, Gay and sociable when sober but his gunplay was respected. Two months later all these agents either Q fled or reached the gallows, Plunnner and his ba-nd were finished 3 self- created justice conquered. Vigilante work was over so a civil judge and jury Were appointed and respected as the state's first bar of justice. Now when Slade, well liked when sober but a denzon when with whiskey, Colonel W. F. Cody or Buffalo Bm, a famous Indian fighter and a. not- , 'SB-YIGSPS, D, 183- ed rider of the pony express