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

Page 17 text:

Klk In Pa«tur«—Th« Rim l crs, fur-traders, hunt- ers, ami prospectors from all parts of the country, as well as a stop for the overland stage. The advertisement tor the Benton Stage Line gave the departure as Tuesday. Thursday, and Saturday at 3 a. m.; and the arrival. Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday at 12 o'clock, noon. Every time that the stage came in. the driver told of being held up. Sheriff and deputies would rush to the scene of the holdup and then back again with- out a trace of desperadoes. Holdup Cut was near the head of Five Mile creek where the road swung away from Alkali creek. If the stage were ever once cornered, there was no possible way to turn around because the road was skirted by a point of rock on one side and the creek on the other. Along this road, the stage coaches, with their pas- sengers and their treasure, ran according to schedule, changing horses every fifteen or twenty miles ac- cording to the nature of the country through which they passed. Passengers were way-billed like so much freight. Treasure was sent under special guards, for these coaches were watched with a keen interest by the road-agents who infested the country. People stopped riding on the stage and sending mail, so the roblier had little for his pains. Thus, the whole performance got to l e quite a joke in the town. Murders were every day occurrences. When pay day came, hilarious cowboys took |H ssession of the town and left only when the last cent was spent. Great bands of cattle and sheep roamed the hills and val- leys. Deer. elk. and ante- lope were plentiful. Then, one day in March, 1882, a group of men de- cided to move west two miles and build another town. The geographical An K riy ration shop Th Shannon Drug Company

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 r I or tcci LO i before there was a city of Billings. Chief Plenty Coos Xester of the C row Indians, knew of the site as the “Place of the Skulls ' for it was here that a terrible plague of smallpox decimate.I the ranks of a great Crow band encamped on the east bluffs. As soon as anyone contracted the dis- ease. he immediately jumj ed into the river, thinking to cure himself. But, naturally, it only made him worse. Then to appease the angry spirits, whom the Indians held responsible for all their misfortunes, several warriors blindfolded their horses and rode them over the cliffs to their deaths. However, the fact that they moved camp the next day, thus putting an end to the epidemic, did not alter their belief in the effi- cacy of the sacrifice. Since then, this place has been known as Sac- rifice Cliff. Dakota Hunk Robber! . 18 7 -Two Robert Bro . and Tutner However, like all frontier towns. Billings originated from a small trading post. The gently sloping plain on the north side of the Yellowstone, known a Clark’s Fork bottom, was the site. In 1876 and 1877. P. Y. McAdow. J. J. Alderson. Joseph Cochran, Henry Col well. Clinton Dills. Milton Summer, and others founded Coulson. In it there were two general stores, two ho tels, thirty-five saloons, four restaur ants, a brewery, and. in 1878. a saw mill was built. The log cabins seldom had more than one rough-hewn wooden stool for each member of the family, a table, a stove, and a bed. The town was the headquarters for Italians, trap Main N I Yards, Rllllttff

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 C L i Xyolt location was: latitude. 45 de- grees and 45 minutes; longi- tude. 31 degrees west of Washington; 108 degrees and 30 minutes west of (ireemvich: section 33. town- ship 1 north; section 3. town- ship 1 south: range 26 east: 000 miles west of Duluth: 915 miles west of St. Paul; X) miles north of St. Paul; 3112 feet above sea level. Its site was laid out by the Minneapolis and Mon- tana I.and and Improvement company. This company had a stage coach put on exhibition in Boston, and. in this way. sold thousands of dollars worth of lots liefore even a shack was erected. Before May. as soon as the weather was good and the rain over, the engineers' building was started. A street car line was built l etween Billings and Coulson. using horses to pull the cars. Both towns were trying to exist, refusing to come to a satisfactory agreement. I lu new town was several months old before the |M st office was moved. Therefore, Billings people were forced to go to Coulson for their mail, and. with every round trip ticket, each person received a free glass of lieer at Coulson. Whiskey was easier to get than water, this being considered a luxury. Until 1886, all water was hauled from the river in barrels. About this time, the Northern Pacific Railroad company built its railroad and thus furnished the necessary boom, as well as the name, for the town was later named after the president of the company. Frederick Billings. The two main streets were parallel with the railroad and so were named for the com- pany, Minnesota and Montana avenues. Saloons lined one side of the street and hurdy-gurdy places lined the other. By June, there were 500 people, and Billings was enthusiastically called the “Magic City ’ But, two years after this “Magic City” had enjoyed its Iwjoin. it was afflicted with the hardest times from which any town ever recovered. In 1883. when a depot was erect- ed for the Northern Pa- cific, the railroad refused to use it. Billings was practically “made to order,” found-