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About The Hardin Tribune-Herald (Hardin, Mont.) 1925-1973 | View This Issue
The Hardin Tribune-Herald (Hardin, Mont.), 09 Oct. 1925, located at <http://montananewspapers.org/lccn/sn86075229/1925-10-09/ed-1/seq-5/>, image provided by MONTANA NEWSPAPERS, Montana Historical Society, Helena, Montana.
#7.1 THE HARDIN TRIBUNE -HERALD Page Five rC(e it STORY OF Mt OUT PICTURESQUE, ROMA IESSEE361M1111 1 1 111111 i • it I ; NCORD STAGE -COACH ENTWINED WITH TIC PERIOD OF MONTANA'S HISTORY It 1 (By DAN R. CONWAY). While enjoying a few weeks of much needed rest at the western entrance to GLa.cier National Park the past summer, I became much Interested in the building of the new inter -park highway, which al- ready has made its way up the (-eat shore of Lake McDonald, past Lake McDonald Camp, Lewis Gla- cier hotel, and for several miles along McDonald creek, to the AN/s- tanch trail and Avalanch creek. To one who has become, in a small sense at. least, familiar with the history of the great northwest, the construction of this, as well as the other wonderful highways of our intermountain region, and the almost hourly trips of the big yel- low busses of the Park Transporta- tion company, cannot help but re- call the immense and rapid strides which have been made in means and speed and comfort of transpor- tation in Montana. It in not so many years ago that the mountainous regions of the state of Montana were inaccessible save for a few crude wagon trails and the better roads of the few stage coach lines which operated from the small railroad towns to the postoffices of the interior. And, this thought recalls the fact that it was these same stage coaches which played the major role in the opening up of transportation in our mountains and across our foothill In Montana today there are living many hundreds of men and women who came to the Treasure state in the old-time Concord stage coach —that particular vehicle which played so important a part in the early -day transportation of mail and passengers on the Plains of the Great West, and in the Rocky moun- tains, and figured so conspicuously In Montana's early history. It is many years ago that the stage coach ended its career in this state. Here and there what remains of this class of vehicle stands beneath the rickety old shed of some one-time road ranch, a relic of by -gone days— weather worn, storm -battered, rusty and abandoned. Its leather springs are cracked and broken; its doors gone, its sides and back smashed in; its boot, the refuge of rats and bats, its wheels bent, its axletrees twisted; a poor forlorn remnant of its former proud and glorious self. Ghosts of a long buried past now hide in it. Shades of the occupants it once carried still seem to linger around It at twilight. Spectral forms of the road agents that once surrounded it now, perhaps, troop around it in the moonbeams. The old brake that so often and so bea irtg heart; none will again weep as it rumbles away with a precious freight, Of affection and friendship. And yet in these battered relics there still stands some of the most roman- tic \has beans\ of a romantic era of western history. The Concord coach first made its appearance as a mail carrier in Mon- tana July 4, 1864, when the first mail coach to reach Virginia City, the ca- pital of Montana territory, arrived from Salt hake. A contract had been awarded to Ben Halladay, head of the great overland line from Leaven- worth to California, for carrying the mail from Salt Lake to Virginia City, the route being 450 miles long. The contract was given early in May ot 1864, with the provision that for every day after July 1 that he failed to have the new line in operation, he must pay a fine of $500. Halladay knew that there was only one man In the world who could stock the line and equip it for operation in less than 60 days, and that was his general superintendent in the west, Robert J. Spottswood, who was known all over the west as \Bob\ Spottswood. He therefore gave the latter orders to go ahead and get the Virginia City line going at the very earliest poss- ible moment. Bob Spottswood was a noted char- acter on the Overland. In the '50s he was a bullwhacker on the plains and later became a pony express rid- er and messenger on the Overland. He was absolutely fearless and made a big reputation as an Indian fighter. He also was one of the few men whom the desperadoes and road agents along the line were afraid to take a chance with. He was consid- ered as good a pistol shot as George Slade, and he killed a number of bad men in his time. Spottswood Makes Good. Montana pioneers who were in Virginia in 1864 (those few who still survive), will remember the ex- citement caused by Spottswood's racel against time to get the mail line into l operation on schedule time. When he received orders from Halladay to equip the new line, it looked like a I hopeless task, but he did not take ' time to even think over the difficul- ties. Taking the first stage from La- tham, Colorado, to the Missouri riv- er, he gathered his supplies at Lea- venworth and in less than a week had an outfit of 290 mules, 30 stage coaches and 10 lumber wagons as- sembled and started back west. He went by the old California route, via Fort Kearney, Nebraska, and Lara- mie, Wyoming. On June 2 he crossed the South Platte river at Julesburg. He had the worst sort of luck with the weather, and the roads became almost impassable, but pushing on 1' 1'1 • It was the stage -coach driver's business to get from one given point to another within a given length of time, and the comfort of the passengers seined to be of little concern to him... The horses were driven at A gallop most of th course of the journey regardless of road conditions. faithfully checked its down -hill speed. grating out reassuring harsh sounds to the travelers' ears when the road was steep and dangerous, is bent and broken and useless now. The well -matched horses that pulled it over long, weary dusty miles are long since gone. The haughty and self-confident driver—where is he? From his ' nerveless hands, the lines have long tong — iiirTillen, and the shrill notes of his whistle haval died away on the air of vanished years. These relics of the past stand where they have stood through slow seasons, and they have fallen into decay and rust. Wind and rain and the heat of many summer days have frayed its trappings and shredded its curtains. Their chains, once so bright and strong, are tarnished with the rust of decades and serve now only to loosely bind the old Concord stage coach to a soon -to -be -forgotten past. No one will ever hall the com- ing of the Concord again with eager, *Rom idr - Simndlie MADItilt arsitent Formed*, dotai wess.r. In troatrowst of 'volumes, the \Wkft• rlayn• of th• Month,\ ''Troark Month\ and other Oral. InfostIona. Illystarknic maims. Ions ASDITINI, the woad., koalas, Wad irilad by &donee and Ilorlirda• to kill dia•as• /arms, sten d•tartirraticsa of body Vague In cancer arid •that Aallgasat ailments and stimulate creation a taw mills. A now .aoallable In aeldv• pan/arts), yet sale, It IS 10 tk• bottle. TT - RADIUM kills gyms. koala and kardono gams ktl E hteas sad 'sat** the togtb. 5•11 ander 'Ilirniry-bark' enarants•I Ash yiriv Artaggist today. on. mood money erilor or nay 0. 0. D., to- tr A r ni draniat'a name, to talersterea, ItrATATMI ,00111P AMY , Ihnneirrtia. Wen. Writ* for free booklirt, PTOIRMICA. RADIUM and PS/LADZITIL Mention tkls }spar trUes writing. - 0 _11 ii ii 11 11 5 ) I N THIS present age of modern comfort and convenience of every nature and description, we people of Montana are prone to be- come so accustomed to the good things that, are ours today , that we involuntarily forget the hardsittps and privations and discomforts of the pioneers whose efforts made Montana a reality in industry, commerce, home life and recreation.. Few Montanans visiting our parks and mountain regions now stop to consider the contrast be- tween their method and comfort of transportation, and the Concord coach or the covered wagon of a comparatively few years ago. At Washington, in the museum of the postoffice department there is an old stage-coach that many years ago found its way there. This pioneer vehicle has more. historic association in connection with Montana than any other vehicle in existence. Among the first vehicles to carry the mails within the state was this old coach which was built in the '00s. It was used once a week between Helena and Bowman, while now, by railroad, mails are carried over the same route four times a day. The old vehicle had Its up and downs. While in service carrying mails it was captured by the Nez Perce Indians in 1877, and recaptured by General How- ard. This coach, in its day, has carried a number of remarkable passengers. Among the distinguished persons who have ridden in It in Montana are General Garfield, before he became president; General -Sherman, while on a tone of inspection 4n 1877, and Presi- dent Arthur, while visiting Montana and the Yellowstone park on a tour of recreation in 1883. While \Old Tecumseh\ was its pas- senger, the coach, drawn by six horses, with the usual relays, made the distance front Fort Ellis, near Bowman, to Helena, 108 miles, in eight hours, an average of 13 4 miles an hour. It was a feat in staging that has seldom been equalled. . In 1893, this old coach was taken from Montana and exhibited at the World's Fair in Chicago, after which it passed into the hands of the government and was taken to Washington. sod and rock trail—and the travel- ers were jolted from one position to: another. Sometimes they bumped against the top of the vehicle, and at other times they landed in the laps of the passengers in the opposite seat. Mark Twain, in his \Roughing It,\ has given an accurate account of a journey by stage coach, where he mentions a remarkable trip made by one of Ben Halladay's coaches, from St. Joseph, Mo., to Fort Kearney, a distance of 350 miles in 56 hours. This was a record run in those days; but compared with the modern railroad or automobile time for the same distance, it can be seen that phenomenal advance has been made in our transcontinental transporta- tion speed. Speed and personal comfort alone, are not the only added advantages of modern means of travel. In the journey across the plains or through the mountains, the passenger was af- forded little opportunity to view the scenic wonders of the country through which he was passing. The windows of the stages were so placed ttThe - geared traveler could not view the passing country at ease; and due to the roughness of the roads, it was risky to endeavor to do other than maintain your seated position within the coach. Today, the modern traveler or tourist enjoys the pleasures of observation cars on modern trains, and the open busses and automobiles of the preesnt-day One of the most noted of the early day stage robberies was that at Port !Neuf canyon, which is described by J. X. Beidler in his manuscript as fol- lows: Thrilling Heldup Story. \At Virginia City,1bout Christmas of 1863, two men, Kinney and Mc- Causland, had a store and were do - \When they got to Snake river they became alarmed, as things did not look right. They thought they would hire a wagon and team to go through Port Neuf canyon—kind of slip through—and leave the coach. Frank Williams, the driver of the coach assured them that there was no danger. They -took his word for It and continued on the stage. \Parker was sitting on the out- side with the driver. The rest were Inside. The big six -horse Concord coach had got into the canyon six or eight miles to a place known as Hell's Half Acre when the road forked. There was a high water road above and a summer road beneath it.. The driver took the lower road. Parker saw the road agents and shouted: 'Boys, here they are.' The team dashed up to the road agents and stopped. Parker fired one shot at them and fell dead. The road agents poured a volley into the coach, shoot- ing both feet off of Charlie, the mess- enger on the coach, and killed three of the passengers inside. \The team by this time had become unmanageable because of the shoot- ing and started on the run, tearing the tongue out of the wagon. Car- penter, who was in the bottom of the coach with the three dead men on top of him, was unable to move, being badly wounded. Brown at the first shot leaped from the coach and es- caped in the owillows. \The robbZrs took the gold dust and the watches and purses of the passengers. After they had all the valuables and were walking away, one of the road agents turned back and pointed to Carpenter. 'I don't believe that is, dead,' he said. He might squeal, so I'll fix him.' He was about to shoot when Carpenter said: 'Gentlemen, I'm dy- ing. Don't mutilate my face—so my wife won't recognize me when I'm taken to Salt Lake.' The road agent fingered the arigger of his -pistol for a moment and then left without fir- ing. \The robbers then lit out on their horses with the swag. The dead were carried back to the last sta- tion.\ Stage Driver is Hanged. Frank Williams, the driver of the coach, soon after left the employ of the stage company, and was for some time a hanger-on at the saloons of Salt Lake. The lavish use he made of money directed suspicion toward him and came to the attention of the Montana Vigilantes, who had never ceased to try to trail the robbers and who had some of their members at Salt Lake. Williams became alarmed and left Salt Lake hurriedly, but the Vigilantes were on his trail, At God- freys' station between Julesburg and Denver, they arrested him. Wiliams When he was awarded the mail con- tract into Montana his annual con- tract price was raised to 1840,000, which was sufficient to save him. In 1866 he sold out to the Wells -Fargo Express company. He died in Port- land, Ore,. in 1877 at the age of 63, but left little property and no money. When Holladay sold out to the Wells -Fargo company he received 11,000,000 in cash and $260,000 in paid -up stock of the company. Later he received another $500,000 in cash for hay, grain, provisions, etc., on hand at the various stations, which weee not included in the sale of the line. Holladay entered a claim against \Bishop\ West was one of the not- ed stage drivers who worked in later years in Montana where he died in the cattily '90s, the government for $500,000 for damage done to his property by In- dians in 1864 and 1865. In 1877, 10 years after he had presented his claim, and at a time when he was badly in debt and in failing health, congress offered to settle with him for $100,000. Holladay rejected the offer, stating .that if the United States was not able to pay its debts he would give it his claim. He left transportation companies. Mark T*ain is credited with the The last stage -conch to make the trip - between Great Falls and Lewistown in 1906. When the coach pulled assertion that the drivers of stages Into Lewistown that day, 19 years ago, long distance staging in Montana became a memory. The coach shown in the early days felt a contempt for in this picture is not the old Concord each, but a lighter type of vehicle. The Concord coaches went out of style the passengers who were his patrons.!\ years ago, and there are but very few relics of this romantic old vehicle left today. In the earliest gold prospecting days' (when the first coaches came and lag a fine business when some trou-I fell on his knees and made a full con- Washington at once and never re - went from Virginia City), it was a ble arose between them and they Cession of his part in the robbery to turned. i fact that the comfort of the passen- had a quarrel. McCausland shot and the Vigilantes who were represent - killed Kinney. I arrested McCaus- ed by Dutch Charlie, May Reed and Decline of Stage -Coaching gers was a matter of small concern to More than sixty years have passed the driver of the coaches, corepared land and put him in jail, but after a others. The men from Montana at since the last Concord stage -coach with the safe transportation of the hearing he was acquitted. He then once took Williams to a ranch corral treasure carried by th e ear li es t o f settled up his business and left Vir- the coaches. The largest shipments ginia City for Salt Lake in company 'cent was paid in fines. As an illus-lof gold dust were the coveted spoils. with M. Parker, Dave Dewman, Wil- tration of the desperate chances of the road agents, and the holding ha= Carpenter, William Brown and Spottswood took, when he found the up of the stage became a matter of some others. The party had some . Sweetwater river in flood, he swam i ordinary occurrence. 1;60,000 in gold dust with them. the stock and floated the stages and : Wagons across the swollen stream, I BEN_ • loltin two - hays' tlYtte, --- blit' 111.*C - el trt- - -- Tibm - Kyky -'------- - -** . with dogged determination, he reach- ed Salt Lake June 29. The next day he had coaches running on their ini- tial trip to Virginia City, and not a acing R single animal. When Travel Was Hard. Stage coach travel during the '60s in Montana differed little from Over- land traffic. It was precarious, un- certain and dangerous. The drivers were orten drunken and reckless, the roads over mountain grades were un- safe; Indians lurked in the canyons, and worse than Indians were the road agents. Stage stations were conspicuous for their lack of accommodations. \Dirty Woman's Ranch\ was the vul- garly descriptive name of one sta- tion. An anecdote that used to be told of Colonel Wilbur, F. Sanders gives a better idea of what these eating places were like than could be gained from pages of description. On one of his political campaigns Colonel Sanders stopped, hungry and tired, at a typical mountain station. Noticing that he did not seem to rel- ish the meal set before him, the pro- prietor Raid: \Colonel ain't your egg hard enough?\ \The whole damned breakfast is hard enough,\ was the prompt re- tort. These stage coaches generally were driven at a gallop withoot re- gard to the tomfort of the passen- gers. The road was almost always very rough --little more than the two uneven ruts of a freshly cutl Whose contract to haul tile mails to Virginia City from Salt Lake resulted in the bringing of the first Concord cinches to the Treasure State. • and one-half per cent. • , Montana. Line Saved Holladay. It was the contract for carrying mail from Salt Lake to Virginia City that saved Ben Halladay from finan- cial ruin in 1864. Halle/lay was one of the most spectacular figures in the whole history of transportation. At the age of 15 he. was a farm labor- er in Xentucky. At the age of 40 he owend 16 steamships, .trading to ev- ery poi,nt of the Pacific; owned the great Overland stage -coach line, the biggest and best line of coaches ever operated in the world, with an in- vestaient of several milli2ne. lie spera a million dollars in a home on the Hudson river near New York City. When the Overland line was ex- tended across the continent Halladay received $1,000,000 a year from the government for carrying the mails, bbt this was eubeequently reduced— nearly cut in* half in the couree of a few years. In May, 1864, he was facing _bankruptcy as a result of the 'enormous expense of operating his stages through hostile Indian country 1 where his losses were enormous. on the great Overland route made the long trip between the Missouri river and the Pacific coast. It is 45 years nearby and strung him up. As the result of Williams' confession, the Vigilantes afterward captured sev- since the railroad coming in from the oral others of the gang and hanEecl south ended the stage travel between them, but a number were not caught. Salt Lake and Montana. Since those The stage companies used to make days all manner of small stage lines much money transporting gold. From have been operated from point to the time of the gold strike at Ban- point_in Montana where the railroads 1863.-441-443-68,--whest- the - dal - 1Tht, run, bur todaY, these have Union Pa,c1411e-and Central , Pacific been superseded by the auto stage railroads were completed across the lines, and today the traveler who continent, the express companies journeys off the railroad in a public charged five per cent of the value conveyance does so in an automobile of the gold for carrying it back to the or one of the large modern motor - states. After 1869 the rate was two driven busses, and is no longer of necessity pulled by horses. One of the last stage lines to be Operated for any groat distance tn Montana was that between Great Falls and Lewistown, which contin- ued to run until the completion of the Billings & Northern railroad in 11906. The stages used on that line and all of the other later stage lines in Montana, however, were not tho old Concord coachea, but vehicles of ' a much lighter construction. When the Great Falls -Lewistown coach I made its last run, long-distance stage coaching in Montana became a thing of the past. One session of congress requires from 200 to 400 gavels. Have Good Hair And Clean Scalp Cuticura Soap and Oia4uent en.— Work Wonders Try liar/ Shevitur 1
