{ title: 'The Choteau Montanan (Choteau, Mont.) 1913-1925, July 10, 1914, Page 1, Image 1', download_links: [ { link: 'http://www.loc.gov/rss/ndnp/ndnp.xml', label: 'application/rss+xml', meta: 'News about Chronicling America - RSS Feed', }, { link: '/lccn/sn85053031/1914-07-10/ed-1/seq-1.png', label: 'image/png', meta: '', }, { link: '/lccn/sn85053031/1914-07-10/ed-1/seq-1.pdf', label: 'application/pdf', meta: '', }, { link: '/lccn/sn85053031/1914-07-10/ed-1/seq-1/ocr.xml', label: 'application/xml', meta: '', }, { link: '/lccn/sn85053031/1914-07-10/ed-1/seq-1/ocr.txt', label: 'text/plain', meta: '', }, ] }
About The Choteau Montanan (Choteau, Mont.) 1913-1925 | View This Issue
The Choteau Montanan (Choteau, Mont.), 10 July 1914, located at <http://montananewspapers.org/lccn/sn85053031/1914-07-10/ed-1/seq-1/>, image provided by MONTANA NEWSPAPERS, Montana Historical Society, Helena, Montana.
•n r .-w ¿teaÄ& ¿ ? î j i * - * • & r ,£>*V .\ vV « v f t YOLTOË II '? *’*-»V-* '■- CHOTEAU, TETON, COUNTY, MONTANA, JULY 10, 1914 - « a v * ' T. *’ V v \ .-*,1 Ä » » » NUMBER 2 Through the untiring efforts of Sheriff McKenzie and deputies, the mosterious murder committed on the first of October, 1913, at - Priest Butte lake, south of Oho* teau, is being rapidly cleared up, and i f is probable the murderer will Jbe in the custody of the Teton county officers in a. short .time. Already one person, J. E. Wilbur, an ex-convict, and who was pres ent at the time of the killing, is in custody, having been brought to Choteau last evening by Sheriff McKenzie, be having arrested Wilbur at Helena a couple of days ago. The man who admits that he committed the murder is at pres ent in the state reformatory at Monroe, Wash., where he is con fined on a charge of burglary, serving a sentence of from 1 to 15years. The murdered man’s identity has never been established but his murderer has been located and a written confession has been secured. While the murderer tries to make it appear that the deed was done in self-defense, this part of the confession is not be lieved by the officers. The mur derer is named George P. Shet- ley, he is 23 years of age. and his • confession is in part as follows: “ That on the night of about October first, 1913, Jack Wilbur, an unknown man and myself were playing cards beside the railroad track near Choteau, in the sta e of Montana; “ That in the course o f said card game, a quarrel arose and the said unknown man drew a gun on Jack .Wilbur and myself; threatened us - both with .bodily in ju r ^ ^ ^ | ieji^ in great fear o f actual danger to my own life, 1 sprang up, siezeda. pick handle and struck the said unknown man about the head, from which striking and wound ing the said unknown man died. “ That I was frightened because of. the circumstances and all that had just happened and Jack Wil ber and myself then and there took the b)dy of said unknown man and threw it in the lake, I then left the country as soon as possible.” Readers of the Montanan will remember that this murder was particularly cold blooded and bru tal. A pick had been used, the point had been sunk into the man’s head, entering the mouth, plowing its way through the head into his brain. Tne deed had probably been committed while the victim was asleep on the ground. No revolver was found on the dead man, nor was one found in that vicinity. Neither was the pick ever located. Sheriff McKenzie leaves to morrow for Washington to see Shetley and get a further state ment from him, if p ssible. Shetley i9 under the impression that an innocent man is now in the penitentiary for this crime, ' and it is worrying him consider able. He has told only a part of the story in his confession, but what he has already told is enough to fasten the crime where it prop erly belongs. Civil Cases The following civil cases have been filed in the office of the clerk of the district court since our last report: L. E. Nelson vs. J. Henry Rus sell and Gonrad Townsite Co., a corporation, suit on contract. Filed July 3rd. Anton Tedson vs. E. M. John son, Mandius Johnson and Mel vin Johnson, damages. Filed July 7th. James Sulgrove vs. John E. Cash man and Sadie E. Cashman, suit on note. Filed July 8th. FOURTH JNCHOTEAU The celebration held in this city on July 3, 4 and 5, this year was attended by one of the largest crowds ever seen in this section of the state, and was a success in every particular. The baseball game on the morn ing of the 3rd, between the fats and the leans, resulted in a tie score, ebventeen hundred to eleventeen hundred, or some thing like that, and both sides were so out of breath at the end of the 7th inning that they were willing to call the game a draw. In the afternoon the regnl ir Choteau nine defeated the G i^ t Falls Americans by a score of 13 to 7. The game was well-played and proved that Choteau now has a team that are ready to meet all comers. The batteries were De- Mars and CarwJord for Choteau; Laughlin, Forrest, Maples and McRae for Great Falls. Owing to the inability to secure a suitable orator the committee decided to do away with the exercises at the court house, ad vertised for the morning of the Fourth. The parade, however, led by the celebrated Choteau band of 17 members, was formed promptly at the hour scheduled. The committee awarded the first prize to the Chas. Cowell auto, second prize to the R. R. Mellon auto and the third prize to the fire department. In the afternoon there was a ball game between the Choteau This was unquestionably the best game seen on the local diamond in a number of years, and it re quired ten innings to determine the winner. The score was 5 to 4. The opposing batteries were Pickens; Capp and Crawford for Choteau, Phippen and Duckett for Great Falls. The quarter mile horse race was won by “ Cookie,” owned by Chas. S. Parker, of this city, easily defeating the horse sent out from Great Falls by Nick Baatz to clean up the Choteau “ sports.” The boys’ pony race was won by Tony Stillman, and the girls’ pony race was won by Frank Petch. The 100-yard foot race went to “ Bing” Hodgskiss, the 50-yard boys’ race to H. Forrest, with Karl Thomas second; Mary For rest won the 5U-.vard girls’ race, with Dorothy Pridham second; the three-legged race was won by Weaver and Cardell. Throughout the day excellent music was furnished by the band, and free dances were held at the halls in town, as well as at the pavillion at the Glenloyd hotel. There seemed to be plenty of at tractions to keep the large crowd amused at all times, and every one enjoyed themselves to the limit. On Sunday the second annual ¿¡hoot under the auspices of the Choteau rod and gun club was held at the local grounds. In addition to the local members, there were present a number of shooters from Great Falls and elsewhere, and some good scores were made. Starkey closed the day with 71 straight in regular events, 15 straight in shoot-off, 10 pair straight in first double sweep- stakes, and 7 in second sweep- stakes, making a run of \ 113 straight hits. Bevan of Great Falls and Burbank of this city had the time of their lives and kept shooters and spectators on edge watching for their-lflextstunt. -In cventNo. 7. squad one consisting of Crane, Hayden, McDonald, of 125, a most remarkable squad Cowell and Harris, made a score of 23 out of 25. a total of 115 out; score. Following is the score for the Shooters 1 2 '. 1 « 3 day 4 5 6 7 8 Total P.C. Crane, C L ...... .......... 19 24 22 24 23 22 23 21 178 89 Hayden, A S .. 16 17 23 20 23 21 23 21 164 82 Cowell, Chas .... . 24 23 24 19 25 23 23 25 186 93 McDonald, C S .......... 21 21 22 .22 20 23 23 21 173 864 Harris, E... ....... 16 23 21 521 23 20 23 21 168 84 * Starkey, R J... ... 19 22 23 24 24 23 25 25 185 92-i Burbank, A C .. ...... 13 15 13 ■20 19 16 17 17 130 65 Webb, Frank.. ..... .- .. 14 16 12 ’ 16 17 16 20 15 126 63 Jones, H R ...... ... .17 20 17 /21 20 21 18 18 152 76 Wilcox, C J . .. 16 out 24. 20 17 21 out out Frazier, J M ... ....... 19 22 23 23 24 23 22 23 179 894 Costello, A J .. ......... 16 24 18 20 23 23 22 22 168 84 Frazier, Gus . 21 19 22 20 21 20 22 22 167 834 Prior............... . 17 17 17 17 20 20 15 20 143 714 Bevan 18 16 20 19 14 23 20 20 150 75 Corson, G 22 22 16 .18 23 19 20 17 157 784 Larson,' T O 15 19 13 17 18 20 15 16 133 66 1 -5 Weils, Archie— .......... 17 22 20 19 21 19 16 18 152 76 Sewer Contract Let The town council met last Mon day evening and let the contract for the construction of the sewer system which is to be installed in this city. Four bids were sub mitted on the work, the contract being awarded to F. E. Evans Construction Co., of Great Falls, the lowest bidders. The town engineer’s estimate on the pro posed work amounted to $51,369.- 97, the contract being let at $7,185.09 less than the estimated cost. Following are^he bids sub mitted: C. H. Kelly, Kalispell.$67,093.50 G. H. Nash, Missoula.. 49,226.98 Geo. W. Kemper, Mi not, North Dakota... 52,077.00 F. E. Evans Construc tion Co. Great Falls.. 44.184.88 The Montanan has been in formed that the Evans company expect to commence work on this contract eariy.next week. P. J. Duffy Dead Crawford Won Lots Coupon No. 18372, held by Mr. and Mrs. E. E. Crawford, of this city, won the lots in the contest conducted by Jos. IJirshberg & Co., last Friday evening. The lots are located on Main avenue, south of the court house, and we believe are reasonably worth $500. With every $1 cash purchase, or paid on account, the Hirshbergs’ gave a ticket, and during this contest considerably over 20,000 tickets were issued. Montana State Fair Word was received in this city last Wednesday that P. J. Duffy had been found dead in his bed at Cut Bank, No particulars were stated. Mr. Duffy, who was well- known to the old-timers of this 'section, left Choteau last week for Cut Bank, expecting to secure employment near there on some sheep ranch, and seemed to be in his usual health. Several years ago, near Bynum, he was struck on the head by a bolt of lightning, which caused partial paralysis, but aside from this he appeared to be hale and hearty, and good to liye for many years to come. “ Paddy” was a likeable character, and!loyal to his friends. While he was known in this country by the name of Duffy, it is known by a few that his right name was Pendergast. A number of years ago he was a member of the Northwest Mounted Police, sta- »¿«hed at Ft. McLeod, Albeata, but on quitting that service and coming to this country, changed his name. Curtis Beats Creditors Helena, July 7.—The dry-land farmers of Montana were given recognition by the Montana State Fair at the recent meet of the fair board when a sun of $1,000 was authorized as premiums to be awarded in the non-irrigated division for dry-land farmers. After many requests from farm ers, exhibitors and judges, the fair directors decided Iasi winter to eliminate the non-irrigated divis ion and put both types of irrigated and dry land products on the same basis, but so many requests have been made recently in behalf of the non-irrigated division that it was deemed advisable to re estab lish it. The prizes will be awarded in seventy-six lots for grains and seeds, vegetables, root crops, forage crops, and sheaf exhibits. Inasmuch' as these awards are not listed in the premium catalog which has been sent out over the state, a circular specifying the( separate prizes is being mailed to every farmer in the state who re ceived a catalog. While the awards as outlined in that 1914 catalog amounted to the same as last year, the addition of $1,001» will increase the awards this year above those of any previous fair. Although the entries last year in creased 364 per cent over 1912, it is estimated that, with the revival of the dry-land division, this year’s entries will far exceed those of 1913. Fred Curtis, who ’has been con ducting the restaurant in the rear of the Pioneer Bar, for several weeks, quietly slipped outof town the first of the week, leav.ng numerous creditors to mourn his departure in the sum of nearly $300. He had been doing a fairly good business and it is said by persons who should be in a position to know what they are talking about that he had several hundred dollars in his possession when he left for parts unknown. It has been learned that Curtis has a ranch near Spokane and it is possible, after all, that the Choteau business men may not lose their accounts. Mrs. A. L. Hoy Dead A telegram was received in By num last Monday announcing the death of Mrs. A. L. Iloy at the home of her daughter, at Prince Rupert, B. C., the day before Mr. Hoy, who is living at Black- leaf, left the following morning or that city to make arrangements for the funeral. Mrs. Hoy was well-known in Teton county, having been a resi dent of the Blackleaf country for a quarter of a century, and has many friends among the old-tim ers. She has been in poor health for the past couple of years, and in recent months has traveled con siderably for the benefit of her health. The Montanan has been unable' to learn any of the particulars of the immediate cause of her death, nor when or where the funeral services are to be held. It is not thought probable, however, that her remains will be brought to Montana for burial. Julius Hirshberg has gone to Seattle where he expects to, spend the next few weeks. , WILSON PARDONS SPO-PEE NEWS OfJONTANA Butte, July 6.—The bullion product o f Barnes-King Develop ment company for the month of June, from the North Moccasin mine at Kendall, was shipped last week, the estimated value being $35,000, it was announced today by the local office. -»The amount of ore treated was 4,608 tons, showing a yield of about $7.60 per ton. This shows quite in improve ment over the production of May, which was $25,314.50 for 3,709 tons of ore, or $4.82 per ton. Helena, June 6.—The body o f a mnrdered man was found in the Missouri river seven miles below Cra.g last evening and was buried here today. A brakeman on a passing freight train saw the body and notified the station agent who in turn notified Coroner McCabe. When pulled to shore it was found the man’s legs had been tied together and weighed with rail road iron, ^ and his packets and trousers’ legs were filled with rocks. The bodv was badly de composed. It is thought the kil ling occurred about three weeks ago. The man had a red mus tache and might have been stock- ily built, but the body was so bloated description is impossible. It is presumed the fellow was murdered by tramps and the body thrown into the river. Helena, July, 6.—F. H. Rav, state land register from 1909 to 1913, died last evening at Battle Creek, Mich,, according to a tel egram received from Mrs. Ray. Mr. Ray suffered a nervous break down several years ago and has been in poor health since. He came to Montana in 1889 and lo cated at Helena. Fort Benton, July 6.—The in corporators of the Travelers club of Big Sandy, have appealed to the district court from the verdict of the jury in justice court, find ing them guilty of selling liquor without a county license. The fine imposed on two of the incor porators was $100 each. The ar ticles of incorporation of the Travelers club state that the pur pose of the club is to provide en tertainment for its members, and it is maintained that under its charter it is entitled to furnish liquor to its members and the friends of its members. Butte, July 6.—The head in ternal revenue office for the states of Montana, Utah and Idaho will be changed from Salt Lake to Helena by August 1. The orders for the change have been made by the government, and all that re mains is to name the day an nouncement of which will be very soon, according to Martin Dur kin, former member of the legis lature from Cascade county, and now one of the deputies in the revenue department for this dis- taict. Mr. Durkin was in Butte today on his way from Salt Lake to his home in Great Falls. Helena, July 8. — Four repres entatives of international unions, left Helena this afternoon for Butte to make a personal investi gation into the labor strike there. They will return Friday or Saturday to formulate some plan for a settlement. Ranch For Sale A fine ranch of 160 acres, on the cast end of the Burl on bench, near the Teton river. Good water right; private ditch. Thirty acres broke: 60 acres in blue joint hay meadow. Place fenced. Terms if.desired. .For particulars.,apply. at the Montanan office, Spo-Pee, the Indian who has spent the past 34 years in con finement in eastern penitentiaries and hospitals for the criminal in? sane, has been unconditionally pardoned by President Wilson.; Press dispatches inform us that he will be released immediately and will start at once for Brown ing, where he has a daughter living, whom he has not seen since she was a child. That he is able to live and see her at all, is probably due to the efforts of the late Col. W. F Sanders, who was his attorney at the time he was on trial for the murder he committed in the nor thern part of the state. Gol. Sanders by untiring efforts se cured commutation of sentence to life imprisonment after a jury had sentenced him to death. Spo-Pee is a Blood Indian, and not a Piegan or Blackfoot, as some would have us believe at this time. He was one of the survivors of the “ Baker mas- acre,” and the murder for which he was sentenced to death was committed nine years after that affair. It was committed on Cut Bank, in the northern portion of this county, and seems to have been cold-blooded and premedita ted, according to an account re lated to the Montanan by a reli able white man, who was living in the “ Indian country” at the time, and who romembers the occasion well. Shortly after the massacre Spo Pee boasted that ho intended to ger even with the whites by kjlling some of that „ hated race. He was a young man at this time, but it is said that an Indian never forgets. Ho nursed his grudge and continued to hate the white men as only an Indian could hate. Years later he made a pil grimage to visit with the nor thern Indians, and in company with an Indian boy, was returning from Ft. McLeod Canada, to the United States, traveling with a whiteman, named Charles Walms- ley. After traveling with him a few days Spo-Pee shot and killed Walmsley, and then took apart Walmsley’s wagon and sunk it in deep holes along Cut Bank Creek, The news of the murder leaked out because of talks made b.v the Indian boy. The doctor at the agency, who was also acting as chief of police, and a couple of other agenc.\ employees went out and made an investigation, found the murdered man’s body, and after considerable search found all the parts of the wagon, which they assembled and took back with them to the agency, after having buried Walmsley. It is perhaps just as well to pardon Soo-Pee at this time. He is an old man, and conditions in Montana are not at all like they were at the time ho committed this murder. He is too old to do any one harm and it will do him no good to longer keep him in custody. But this sentimental stuff the eastern newspaper cor respondents are sending out con cerning him and his brave deeds, that the Blackfeet mothers have bean singing their babies to sleep with a song about him ever since he was taken to the penitentiary, that the murder had probably been committed in Canada, and the U. S. courts had no jurisd.c- tion to try the case against him; that the murder is now believed to have been committed in self- defense, etc., does not “ listen good” to the old time whites wbd were in this country when an Indian^ was a good. Indian onjy after he was dead.
