THE FLATHEAD COURIER Gold Digging Didn t Appeali to Many Pioneers Who Were in State efore Yellow Metal Found

URING the gold rush days of he wouldn't "run," they tied him to a tains in which the snow was still deep. reached Salt Lake City without inci- there days later he located the wagon train Bannack and Alder gulch between Fort Hall and Soda Springs. snubbing post, cut off his ears and then Two riders were sent ahead, followed dent. The stage which left Virginia were men in those camps who He turned back with it. They forded shot and killed him. by 40 head of loose stock to tramp City the same day they did, however, SKI RACE TO BE Dnever stuck a pick in the the Snake river where Pocatello, Ida., In April, 1864, Boone & Vivian sent down a trail for the wagons. In this was held up and seven miners, who ground or washed a pan at now stands, and made a night camp on Drennan to find and bring in the wagon manner they made good time and were were returning to the states with their gravel, but who got rich anyhow. 1. here the north side of the river. That night train which had wintered on the Snake the first wagon trains through over "stakes," were killed and robbed. Only HELD IN JANUARY were a few others who were part and a foot of snow fell and all 'hope of river. He went on foot and alone, the trail that spring. Although Boone the driver,, a man named Brown, es- parcel of the camps for short times getting the wagon train through before traveling on snowshoes with 10-days & Vivian had lost considerable money caped. He was afterwards under sus- who did likewise about the picks and spring was A winter camp provisions and meager camp equipment by having their supplies stalled on the picion of having been one of the rob- MONTANA STATE SKI ASSOCIA- didn't get rich, and abandoned. pans, except they was established on the Snake river in a pack on his back. When he reached Snake river all winter, when it did r gang himself. TION AWARDS DOWNHILL had no desire to do so. They were for was arrive flour was selling at $1 bottom land. Drannan made a couple the camp of the freighters, he a pound At Salt Lake City Drennan and a RACES TO the most part the westerners who had pair of told that one-third of the oxen and and bacon at 50 cents, so they recouped HELENA and mountains for of snowshoes from the side of man named Richard Hyde formed a traversed the plains a wagonbox and he and one of the the three saddle horses, one of which their losses to some extent. years before the gold seekers came. The wagon partnership to buy cattle in Utah and teamsters returned to Virginia City belonged to him, had become lost. It train remained in Vir- to State Jumping Meet Awarded to Boze- They must have looked upon the ar- was impossible to move without them, ginia City only a few days before start- I drive them the Montana market. argo- where he wintered with Boone & They purchased 192 head, hired two man and Will Probably Be Held After rival and frantic efforts of the Vivian, occupying quarters in a room at so he went on to Fort Hall, bought a ing back to Salt Lake. Boone & Vivian nauts to find the yellow dust with had other men to help them trail them Annual Anaconda Tournament; Fans the rear of their store. saddle horse, which he says was "crow $22,000 in gold dust which they through and at Virginia City sold them considerable amazement. It is hardly Although in Virginia City during the bait," and started hunting the strayed were afraid to send out on the stage Have Chance to See "Big Shots." probable that they looked upon them days' because of the within a week at a substantial profit, time the Vigilantes were cleaning the stock. He found them in three frequent holdups. So They lost only five head during the with regret, for even the most pessi- camp of desperadoes, Drennan took no ride, caught his own horse, turned the It'was decided that Boone and Dmnnan mistic of them could hardly foretell drive from Utah to Virginia City, The Montana State Ski associa- part in their activities. George Slade, "crow bait" loose and started to drive would take it out, following the wagon tion, meeting recently at Anaconda, that within a few years the entire one of the men whom the Vigilantes both cattle and horses back to the train. When the train had been gone They returned to Salt Lake City and country over which they had rosined voted to award this year's state hanged while he was there, he hail wagon train, which he accomplished in five days, the dust was loaded on three Hyde continued the business. But Dren- championship downhill and slalom free and footloose would be settled and known in Colorado in 1852 and Slade five days. horses, the packs of which Drennan nan heard that there was an Indian fenced and plowed and men of their races to the Mount Helena Ski was an agent for the Overland stage They remained in camp three weeks disguised to resemble a prospector's war on in Arizona and went there to club, Brooke Ricker, secretary of own ilk only legendary memories. line. Slade had a bad record in Col- more by which time the grass was up outfit by adding picks and shovels. become a United States army scout, a One of the men who was content to the state organization, announced. orado. He and some of his comrades and the stock in good condition, then With that outfit Drannan left Vir- capacity in which he'had served in The state jumping meet was awarded be merely an onlooker in the mad tried to run an old man off of a ranch started for Virginia City. They joined ginia City one night. Boone followed campaigns against the Indians from scramble for gold in Alder gulch was to the Bozeman club and will probably on which the present town of Jules- up with a northern bound Mormon him the next night and soon overtook Oregon to New Mexico. So far as is be held after the annual Anaconda Capt. W. F. Drennan. It was purely burg, Colo., is now located, and when train for the trip through the moun- him. They passed the wagon train and known he never again visited Montana. an accident that he happened to be there at all and its attractions were The dates for the races at Helena sufficient to hold him only for about have not been determined but they eight or nine months all told, and dur- ip) will probably be held sometime in ing a part of that time he was absent Northwest's IP)aggest Auction Sale of Cattle Held ira 11)ag Hole asin January. guiding wagon trains or hunting them Selection of Helena as the site for up for worried owners or going to their the two spectacular races is a Nether rescue. By HOMER FAUST in the cap of the Mount Helena club, The only time that Drennan had a Something new and unique in organized last winter, for it means that pick and shovel in his hands during the cattle marketing was tried out, the best skiers in the state will be in months he was in Alder gulch was with very satisfactory results, at competition and local fans will get when he strapped several tools to three Frank A. Hazelbaker's C bar D a first-hand opportunity to see how the pack horses in order to delude the ranch in the Big Hole basin. On "big shots" handle themselves. populace into the belief that he was Oct. 12, 3,000 people assembled to And, more important. Mr. Ricker going on a prospecting expedition, see 2,000 head of fine commercial said, local fans won't have to go far when, as a matter of fact, he was as- Herefords auctioned off to the to see the events for present plans call sisting a Virginia City merchant in highest bidders in carload lots. for holding them on the north side of $22,000 in gold dust out of the Mount Helena, easily accessible for getting It was the largest auction sale of everyone. camp and to Salt Lake City without cattle ever held in the northwest. It knowledge of the transfer coming to Is believed that it will set a precedent The slalom race is One of the most the ears of the road agents that in- in northwestern states—certain it is spectacular in skiing and consists of fested the territory at that time, the that a similar auction will be held at a race through a course marked with spring of 1864. obstacles, necessitating quick turning the C bar D ranch next year. and shifting—and spills. The down- Drennan relates his experiences in Undoubtedly setting a precedent, for partici- Montana at that time in a volume, the first time an auction sale of cattle hill race is strictly for speed, "Thirty-One Years on the Plains and went on the air over a nation-wide pants often achieving a speed of about in the Mountains," which he wrote a radio network. The National Broadcast- 50 miles per hour. good many years afterwards. ing company sent out a broadcast of It was also voted at the Anaconda Drennan, in his boyhood a protege, a half hour of the sale, with stations meeting to accept a bid from the Sun and in his manhood a companion of from California to Maine rebroadcast- Valley Ski club in Idaho to take part the famous Kit Carson. hunter, trap- ing the interesting event. in a triangular state meet between per, Indian fighter and general all It is probable that the steers and Montana, Idaho and Utah. Slalom races frontiersman, was at Fort cows and heifers of the C bar D ranch and jumping are scheduled for A, B Kearney, _in Nebraska, in 1863, when he were the first cattle to have their bawl- and C classes of skiers. Montana will was asked to guide a wagon train of ing heard 3.000 miles away and by send a six-man team, Mr. Ricker said, emigrants to Bannack, Mont. He had hundreds of thousands of people. and every Helena person who thinks never heard of Bannack and asked Microphones were set up in the sales he can ski is invited to get into the where it was located. When the emi- ring and before the auctioneer. The competition. Selection of the team will grants said that it was in Montana, bawling of the cattle, the stacatto tones be made at some centrally designated he told them he could take them any of the auctioneer, the cries of the bid- place with all competitors taking part place in Montana that they wanted to ders, all were blended in a perfect there. go. His feeling of certainty was due reproduction of an auction sale. To further skiing interest in Mon- radio voted to the fact that during the summer of Preceding the sale, Owner Hazelbaker tana, the state association also 1856 he, in company with Kit Carson, the to have its member clubs lend support made a brief radio talk, extolling to the formation of clubs in other cities. Jim Bridger and Jim Becks:mirth, had Big Hole basin, "The Feed Lot of Mon- visited Montana, entering it in the The state has been divided into dis- tana," and the "The Place God Created tricts with the organized club in each (southeastern portion. trasersing the for Good Cattle." Yellowstone river region. visiting Fort re- district aiding in the promotion of The famous and wealthy valley cities adjacent to it. Benton and going on into the Gallatin ceived a world of favorable publicity clubs in country where they had hoped to spend from the sale, which WRS advertised iii COSTS CLARIFIED the winter trapping beaver. They were every livestock magazine of conse- COURT run out by -Indians, however, and o rcnoceyo Otenn. cH.ase.J. ctl:crceice iboncurnylcic cclitsirinfyln4 quence in the country. Too, purchasers The nerve center of the big Hazelbaker ekilic sale, when 2,000 Herefords. fattened on the remarkably nutritive grasses couAg headed southwestward in getting out of represented every section of the nation, t he highwar patrol act. has ruled that' Jug- OE Big Hole basin, to hiPiest bidders. In the picture Sen. Frank Hazelbaker, in shirt sleeves, stands the country. with the C bar 13 Herefords going to the were sold the tire fees are considered court costs In all On their way to Fort Hall, Ida., they Ohio Iowa, Indiana, California and at extreme right In sales ring. cis,u toivcsairo. in counties where Justices passed right through the regions where other distant points, to spread the nre paid salaries, fees are paid to the county r tressurer: In other towns hi PI h fees are Virginia City and Bannack were later fame of Big Hole cattle. have plunged as low as 50 and 60 de- of the nearby barn, which boasts a partiality as they shoved their lens retained by the justices. court costs In high- located. So Drennan felt that he had, Not that Montanans failed to see grees below zero. huge "C—D" that can be seen 10 miles up to strange faces, into isolated cor- was does are justices fees. fees of Jurors and a pretty good knowledge of Montana, I merit in the cattle—carload after car- But it was use remarkable fertility or more away. Hundreds of women ners and, most of all, through the bars witnesses and fees for service of process. although he hadn't been back since ' load was purchased by stockmen of the of the valley that caught their atten- scaled corral fences and climbed to of the corrals as startled steers blinked that time. He took the job of guiding state, mans of the Herefords remained tion most: Haying over, but feeding not high vantage points to view the color- and bawled. Hundreds of feet of motion TREATS FOR STATE WARDS the wagon train through to Bannack, native valley. event. picture film was taken. 1. 8 Mcquitty, state purchasing agent, has right in their yet started, the basin was almost a ful tons of candies, nuts at $70 a month and "found." meaning Eastern buyers found it difficult to mass of hay stacks. It was when they Grounds surrounding the ranch Residents of the Big Hole, of course, purchased nearly three all expenses paid. ' and other holiday treats for the inmates or believe that the fat, healthy cattle looked at this immense tonnage of hay buildings resembled the outside of a were there en masse. While not watch- the training school at Boulder. the orphan's The best that Dmnnan could do was had been fed almost entirely on hay. that they began to realize how the Big football stadium, with hundreds of ing the sales ring itself, they wandered home at Twin Bridges, the vocational school to start in the general direction of Many of them were not aware that the Hole could turn out such cattle as cars parked in orderly formation. A about, meeting neighbors and outsiders, at Helena, the hospital for the Insane at Montana hoping that they would meet famed Big Hole wild hay has a higher were offered to them at the Hazel- state highway patrolman was present discussing with enthusiasm the "big- Warm Springs and the industrial school at some one on the trail who could give nutritious content than many even baker auction. to aid in solving the Big Hole's first gest thing that ever happened to the Miles City. them explicit information as to the noted cattle feeds. Wild grasses traffic problem. more Their own eyesight told them that real valley." WARNING TO MOTORISTS location of Bannack. The emigrants from the C bar D ranch have won a these were the highest grade cattle that No one went hungry. From arji ot the auction had with no Preparations for Montana's first snap of winter weather were mostly from Indiana, world's championship in their class at were being sent through the sales ring canvas-covered booth near the been in progress for weeks. Dozens of brought from Supervisor Lou Hoedecker of knowledge whatever of plains travel. the International Hay and Grain show for them to buy. And they bought. house, members of the Wisdom Legion special corrals, each holding exactly the state highway patrol, the warning that The first thing the wagon train met, in Chicago. Analyzed numerous times Prices ranged as high as prevailing auxiliary" served delicious sandwiches a carload of cattle, were built, with "only slow drivers travel winter road, with however, was a party of Indians. When during the past 30 years, Big Hole market quotations—in many cases of barbecued beef, together with dough- safety." He pointed out that the first two driveways so constructed that each lot of winter usually bring as many fatal the report was made to the captain hay has evolved an agricultural pars- r higher. Carload after carload went nuts and coffee. The beef came from could be rushed to the months fact that rotation of biggest arid of Herefords accidents as the two months of heaviest sum- of the train, Drannan rode out alone dox. Despite the through the ring at amazing speed— one of the C bar D's sales ring in a minimum of time. Form- mer tourist travel to look the redmen over. He Mind that crops is virtually unknown in the basin, steers, cows, heifers, calves—all Here- choicest steers. There was none left ing a picturesque background to the they were members of the Arapahoe the hay has increased in quality and fords whose sires were outstanding that night. Second and third helping' corrals were the not-too-far-distant tribe and that among them were some nutritious content throughout the istered bulls. were the rule, not the exception. of the continental divide. amateur and com- mountains of his old friends. He invited them to years. resBy far the largest crowd ever as- Picture shooters, action was fast were astounded mercial, were everywhere. The high In the sales ring, the wagon train. When he and the The easterners, too, sembled in the Big Hole basin saw and furious. L. V. Bradley, of Red Oak, Indians got within sight of the wagon by the fact that the wealthy Big Hole them sold. Buyers filled the specially v indmill, from which birdseye views GRAZING TRACT taken, Ia., nationally known cattle auctioneer, train, the emigrants thought that their IS many miles distant from the closest constructed bleachers around the sales of the entire grounds could be handling the 25,000 Acres at $3 Per Acre during the creaked and groaned as two-way traffic was a master of his art, guide had been captures' by the In- railroad point and that ring to capacity—spectators crowded auction with rapid-fire efficiency, dians and that they themselves were winter it is almost completely isolated into every vantage point and even ob- swarmed up and down its ladder. Can- spectators AGRICULTURAL LANDS traffic is con- fiends showed utter im- which sometimes left the about to be attacked, so corralled the as far as automobile tained a precarious perch on the roof did camera gasping. Assisting him was a corps of wagons. They were afraid to shoot at cerned, though recent improvement of and cattle- In the Clark's Fork valley, terms of that this experienced sales officials the Indians for fear they would either the highways gives promise men. He never had to wait. Out in 10 percent down, balance 10 yearly kill Drennan or that he would be killed condition may be relieved. They mar- cattle to payments. bearing 6 percent inter- rigorous condi- the corrals, cowboys shoved by the Indians in reprisal. veled that under such Countess him as fast as he could sell them. est. For further information, write Drennan and his Indian friends rode tions cattle emerge in the spring fat Montana Girl Now a winter feeding. All in all, Frank Hazelbaker's auction around the entire train before Drennan and sleek from their was a red letter day for southwestern Anaconda Copper Mining Co. went in and told the emigrants that They marveled more, and even began FOR LOVE, ONLY TO romance was confronted with objec- from they were told' MARRIED Montana. And many attending Lands Department the Indians were peaceable and friends to look dubious, when tions from the families of both young distant points, veterans of the cattle that the temperatures in the basin DISCOVER HER HUSBAND people it was learned at Virginia City. of his. HAD A TITLE sales ring, declared it was one of the Drawer 1243 Missoula, Mont, He then organized a sort of reception Countess Severn's parents filed ob- most colorful auctions they had ever all come out jections to the marriage because of' and made the emigrants the I witnessed. and shake hands with the reds. Dren- Former Nancy Hall Was Born in her youth while objections from relatives were based on his im- nan ordered the train into camp while Virginia City, a Member of a Pioneer count's he and the Indians went to kill some Cadet Colonel pending military service. A meeting of buffalo for a feast. He told the emi- Family; Now Known As Countess the families to discuss the situation grants to bake up a supply of bread Savelli of Rome. disclosed that Luigi Severn was a count, , so that there would be plenty for their relatives report. 3 1-3 Hours to Los Angeles visitors. That night there was a big An American girl who followed Families of the young people de- feed and the Indians. at their camp the dictates of her heart and over- cided that the marriage should be on the prairie outside the circle of came all opposition to her romance postponed for at least a year, but the wagons, put on their "peace dance" to marry for love only to discover parties vitally interested had other for the edification of the white men. that her husband was a member of I ideas and they married secretly. It Drannen took part in the dance to the the titled nobility in Italy, was was not until time for the count's de- "Look, we're com- astonishment of his charges. born in Virginia City, historical parture to his homeland that they an- ing to Boulder The Arapahoes, it developed, were Montana town, a member of nounced the union. dam and the lake! hanging about that region to keep the pioneer Montana family. Democratic by nature, Count Severn Sioux from coming onto their huntinlo She is now the Countess Severn of disliked the use of his title while in What a sight from grounds and as there were no signs the United States. He also feared that Sioux about, they went along with the Rome. Before her marriage she was the air!" Miss Nancy Hall (Church) of Wash- the title may have obstructed his ro- wagon train for several days, acting mance and until the meeting of the as a guard and also hunting buffalo ington, D. C. Publication of her picture in the Montana press caused old-time families the fact remained his secret. and keeping the emigrants supplied Count and Countess Savelli are now with fresh meat, in return for bread. residents of Virginia City to recall When the Indians left the train, Dren- that her father was Harry Hall, who from the died when she was an infant. re s"kodlltnogwiingn Rnthmelei departure nan made the emigrants all line up and United States the newlyweds were en- shake hands with them again. She was a niece of the late Amos and Rome. They at one time Bow- tertained in London At Fort Bridger, in southwestern Hall, II, mayor of were honor guests at two foreign em- "I've been down there Wyoming, 13mnnan met several men man. whose family still resides in the them the British. of bassies, one of who had just come from Bannack and state. She was a granddaughter Among their many wedding gifts is a often, but I've never learned from them where it was lo- Amos Hall, I, who settled here when complete silver set presented them by cated. They also reported the discovery Virginia City was a booming gold min- the king before seen it so per- Yea see the Country with Princess Torionia, daughter of different eyes of gold in Alder gulch. Dmnnan then ing camp. Many relatives of Countess and queen of Spain. from the van beaded his train out over the Lander Severn still reside in this district. fectly." lase point of your W Hall. Just Air Express plane. The seen cutoff and pulled for Fort Countess Savelli's father died when TEACHERS' RETIREMENT try unrolls In a vast pano- past the latter place they met a party she was just more than one year old. Approximately 50 percent of all the school rama as yOls speed along of miners who had been at Bannack Her mother, Mrs. Dorothy Hall, and teachers in Montana have elected to subscribe the smooth highway If the and Alder gulch and who were enroute her grandmother, Mrs. Anna P. Hall, to the new teachers' retirement fund, accord- air. You will enjoy the grand to Colorado to return with their fam- moved to Bozeman. Countess Severn's ing to State Treasurer Ray N. Shannon. who isir views of Zion C ilies. Their description of the Alder Is chairman of the teachers' retirement beard. Cedar Breaks--Bealder Data mother served in the registrar's office Meeting In Helena the board approved PAY- —and Mead'sLake. which gulch diggings made the members of three and dis- 161111111111111111161 at the Montana State college for meats totaling $8,500 to 235 retired are features of certain day- the wagon train decide to go to Vir- Great Falls, years until a second marriage. abled teachers. light flights. Next time when Bannack. They Bernard Sjaholm, ginia City Instead of Student in the advanced army course Mrs. Hall became Mrs. Raymond G. WESTERA, going to Lou Angeles "Travel reached their anal in September, paid the Modern woe." Fargo at Montana State University, has Church when her daughter was but FUND IS GROWING are Drannfin what he had coming and dis- ha, more than reasonable and there are been given the outstanding recog- four years of age. A short time later The state of Montana now no extras. banded. family Gallatin 11 300.000 deposited with the federal govern- Drennan was hired nition in University army the moved from the unemployment compensation fund. EXPRESS (At At Virginia City awarded valley and lived in various eastern cen- ment in Its the firm of Boone As Vivian to turn work this quarter by being selected The money represents the Myron tax Paid by by ters. A few years ago the family moved 1,3 percent. back on the Salt Lake trail and hunt of the Montana employers at the rate of Cadet Lieutenant-Colonel to Washington, D. C., where Mr. Church There is held at the office of the state treas- THE NATIONAL PARKS 50511 a train of 22 wagons hauling supplies Grizzly battalion_ Sjaholm la a unemployment compensation in. The wagons was given an important position with urer the state for them, and guide it Senior, a member of psy- the clearing fund, which now totals 1345.995. were loaded with flour which was Psi Chi. government. chological fraternity, and Sigma NU., It was in Washington that Nancy bringing $25 a hundred in Virginia league out- cents a pound. etc. He social fraternity. filjaholm will be Hall met Luigi Severn, who came to Ping Bodies, former big City. bacon, 40 fielder, is an electrician in Hollywood, left, Virginia City, Sept. 20 and three cadet-colonel until his graduation the United States to study. After a Tickets: Municipal Airport, Tel. 4271; Rainbow Hotel, Tel, 4311 the main range of next June. lengthy courtship the young couple be- and Dutch Leonard, former itching days later crossed winery in California, Or Your Travel Agent the Rockies hi a snowstorm. A few Caine engaged and immediately the staff, operates a •