News from the Red Caboose WINTER 2014

The 1918 Flood By Norm Miller As spring arrives in Livingston, That spring high temperatures Townsend, and in Lolo and other we can’t help but wonder if the quickly melted snow, filling rivers areas to the west, adding smoke Yellowstone River is going to flood. to beyond capacity. The soaring to the area. There were limited One of our area’s worst floods was temperatures also caused early crews available to fight the fires. in June 1918. forest fires. The fast-melting snows When a small fire broke out were shaded temporarily at the base of Livingston Peak, on June 8, 1918 when ranchers organized a fire crew and a total solar eclipse extinguished it while town folks darkened the region, were busy securing bridges from dropping temperatures washouts. a few degrees. E. M. A message from an upstream Grigsby, the “shoe man” Carbella resident alerted County on Callender Street, Commissioner Frank Beley that had been recording the river was up six inches and daily temperatures in the “new bridge being built was The downriver view of the flood Livingston for several expected to go.” from Carters Bridge south of Livingston years. On the day of the eclipse his Melting snow continued to swell on June 20, 1918 thermometer read 80°F; on June the creeks and rivers. Yellowstone 10 and 11, temperatures reached National Park’s Lamar Bridge and The flood was given little 94°F. (On the same dates of the Pebble Creek Bridge washed out. attention in the Livingston previous year Grigsby recorded The Park Branch of the Northern Enterprise. In May and June, stories a high of only 36°F.) No wonder (continued on page 10) of the flood were sandwiched the high between stories about World War I mountain on the Western Front in Europe snows that with headlines such as: “Italians year melted so Open Counter Attack—Throwing fast! June 10 Foe Back with Loss,” “Great also marked Offensive of Austrians held, 4500 fire outbreaks prisoners taken,” and “Local W.C. in School Williamson—first Park Co. man Gulch in killed on the front.” Coverage of the Bridger the flood was often found on the Mountains, second and third pages, while war Canyon Ferry Visitors at the washed-out Lamar River Bridge coverage dominated the front page. Gulch near in northeastern Yellowstone National Park Letter from the Director

The Museum’s Many Faces By Paul Shea

What a winter it has been. We is expanding the continue to receive donations of program to include objects and archival materials. new field trips and Twenty-two years ago when I got speakers. We will be into the museum business I was partnering with the told by a museum director not to Western Sustainability worry about collections. Why not, Exchange, the Greater I wondered, that is what museums Yellowstone Coalition, are about—their collections. Instead, the Crow Tribe, the he advised me to spend my time Shoshone-Bannock accumulating storage space, noting Tribe, and the that collections would come. Was National Park Service. he correct! We are constantly The program will not shuffling things around to make only address historic space for new collection items Paul Shea and Bob Ebinger times but will also at the 2011 Museum Grand Opening —and we are happy to do so. speak to today’s Large objects, such as vehicles One of the grants we are working challenges of land and and farm equipment, take up a lot on funds archival cataloging and wildlife management. of room. Storage is one thing—you storage. With the help of volun- We are excited about can set things side by side. But teers we know the approximate collaborating with the Shoshone- displaying them is another story number of photos and archival Bannock Tribe, giving them altogether. One needs to be able to materials that we need to process. opportunities to share their story walk around a large item to see it We have had several small grants in Park County. The Shoshone properly and to gain perspective on in the last couple of years that have Indians were here on the Big Bend its use. A case in point is the “new” helped Ellen Zazzarino organize of the Yellowstone for hundreds roller feed mill that we received the Doris Whithorn papers and a of years before the Crow. We also and restored this winter. (See more photo collection from John Fryer. plan to help host a Shoshone on page 8.) We are applying for additional speaker in Livingston for East This spring we are going to do a grants to help us catalog our Side School students. Karen made major clean-up and reorganize the archival collections, making them lasting contacts with the tribe while back area bays and other onsite more available to researchers. she was working in Jackson Hole. storage. The county has some On the education side, we are As always, we thank all of our short-term storage we can use this seeking additional funding for the supporters who help make the summer. We need to accumulate successful Indian Education for All Yellowstone Gateway Museum a space, more space, and even more program that we designed with the great part of Park County. We’ve space. But don’t get the wrong East Side Elementary School and been going strong for 37 years now. idea—we still want those large items Park High School. We are planning Donations of historic artifacts for the museum. to make the program available that relate to Park County are Grants and exhibits are to other schools in the county, always welcome, as are monetary consuming our time right now. starting with Gardiner. donations for specific exhibits or New exhibits for the summer Karen has met with the projects. If you have any questions include a makeover of the Gardiner Public Schools principal about donating to the museum transportation room, an exhibit and teachers. They are excited please give me a call at 406-222- on fire, and a Yellowstone Fossil about the Indian Education 4184 or send me an email at Forests traveling exhibit. for All program. The museum [email protected]. PAGE 2 Volunteers and Staff

We are Grateful to our Current Volunteers:

Mary Jane Ammerman Bev George Carlene Newhall Nicholas Amsk Gary George Dona Poeschl Judy Bonnell Betty Greathouse Ellen Zazzarino Shannon Burke Georgia Hall Carol Carver Sherry Hatfield and our board Camden Easterling Betty Lahren members! Nikki Fox Alta LeDoux Boards and Staff Friends BJ Earle putting up holiday cheer Bruce Graham – President Rick VanAken – Secretary Paul Shea – Treasurer Dick Dysart – Publishing Ruth K. Dargis – Member Suzanne Goodman – Member Robin Lovec – Member Rosamond Stanton – Member County Bob Ebinger – President Bob Ebinger cleaning the roller feed mill Pat Davidson – Secretary Jem Blueher – Member George Bornemann – Member Greg Durham – Member BJ Earle – Member Dona Poeschl showing off an historic Norm Miller – Member photograph that she has cataloged Bob Moore – Member Jon Swenumson – Member Staff Volunteer for Paul Shea – Director Your Museum Karen Reinhart – Registrar, •Computers: inventorying and Newsletter Editor cataloging artifacts Paul Deyerle – Experience Works •Front Desk: greeting visitors and Museum other projects as time allows 118 W. Chinook Street •Historic Photographs: scanning Livingston, MT 59047 and cataloging 406-222-4184 •Web site: updating our site [email protected] •Videos: shoot short history clips yellowstonegatewaymuseum.org Rick VanAken untangling holiday lights •Muscle: spring clean-up and help during our decorating efforts with outdoor exhibits PAGE 3 National Trout Derby By Bruce Graham

Livingston, Montana’s National The original idea of a trout derby Fresh Water Trout Derby, a three- came from Jack Stevens, a jeweler day event, was first held on August with a business on south Main 2, 3, and 4, 1941. Participants Street. The Derby was created paid a $1 entry fee for a chance to by the Livingston Chamber of win a hefty first prize, 1,000 silver Commerce and was eventually dollars. (In today’s dollars the managed by the National Trout prize is equivalent to $15,847.41.) Derby Association, a nonprofit The winner of that first contest organization run by members of was Lonnie Bryan, a postal worker the Chamber. from Big Timber. Finus Lewis, owner of the State and Strand movie theaters, was the first chairman of the Derby. The Derby was planned as an annual event to be held every second Sunday in August. No Derby was held during the war years of 1943, 1944, and 1945, nor was one held in 1950. Beginning in 1947 it became more until 8 am on the morning of the simply the National Trout Derby. Derby on KPRK, the local radio The Derby was held on various station. It lasted four hours, from 9 sections of the Yellowstone River am until 1 pm. in Park County; access to the river Participants could fish only was provided by local landowners in the area selected by the derby Jack Stevens and through public access areas. committee and the rules of the The location was not announced Montana Fish and Game Commis- The demise of the Derby was sion had to be followed. No fishing probably due to several factors— from boats was allowed. Anglers lack of access to the riverbanks had to hand over their catch to a because of changes in land designated derby official on the ownership was likely the main river bank. After Rudolph Egeland reason. Other factors included won the derby two years in a row, the catch and release fishing 1947 and 1948, officials changed philosophy, the increased numbers the rules so that a person could of fly fishing anglers on the river, only win once in a lifetime. and the large number of guides By 1977 the entry fee had risen floating the river. to $2. The last Derby was held The only public records known in 1979, and the winner of the to exist of this event, other than Rupert “Dooley” D’Ewart caught this 1,000 Eisenhower silver dollars was in newspaper archives, are at the 5-lb., 5-oz. Lock Leven trout that won him Charles Moore from Manhattan, Yellowstone Gateway Museum first prize in the 1966 Fish Derby. He used Montana, who used a bullhead Research Library in the form of a bullhead for bait and caught his fish 25 to catch a Loch Leven trout that six booklets, a poster, and one minutes after the 9:00 am opening near Point of Rocks. weighed 3 pounds, 15 ounces. pamphlet. PAGE 4 Collections Corner

By Karen Reinhart, Museum Registrar Part of the joy of managing sidewalks of Livingston. collections for the Yellowstone Occasionally, the museum is Gateway Museum is spending time given artifacts that the Heritage with photographs, objects, and Research Center in Gardiner archival documents. received from donors across Unexpected donations are the country. Such items, like another delightful aspect of my Yellowstone stickers and postcards work—and they are almost always shown above, are duplicates of unexpected. We never know what Guide Hester Counts and what the Center already holds in Dorothy Winans, Mt. Baldy. will “walk” in the door next. From the back: “You can see just its collection. We also received Donors are not always local people; how I’ve been hobnobbing with a bus fare box. Our receipt of sometimes we receive things in the the cowboys this summer.” these artifacts further enriches mail or from visitors who stop by the museum’s ability to interpret the museum when they are in the Reservation, some of the others a our connection to Yellowstone area, looking for a suitable home 1932 hike up Mount Baldy. National Park. for their piece of Park County, This doll carriage was recently This German finger-button Montana history. delivered to the museum from accordion was donated by Shirley A donation came by mail from Bozeman in memory of Jolene Skillman, who got it through a Michigan a couple of years ago. Wallace Weamer by her husband, Adele Martinez, daughter of Jolene Wallace Dorothy Winans Waterman, gave Weamer (below) & the museum a collection of black her doll carriage and white photographic prints; some captured a 1918 trip that the Winans family made to the Crow

Joe. He said that she made “many trips up Shirley Skillman with and down the his accordion 100 block of South E Street” trade with Paul Fisher in about in the early to 1925. Fisher brought it from mid-1940s. Joe Germany when he came to live at gave us a black and white photo- the head of Mission Creek. In the graph of Jolene as well. I can early days, Shirley and others from Curley (center), Custer’s Scout, 65 visualize this little girl proudly the neighborhood played music for years old. Crow Reservation, 1918 parading up and down on the early (continued on page 6) PAGE 5 Park County, Montana History

The History The Index A spiral-bound soft-cover The new 274-page, reprint of the 8.5" x 11", spiral-bound, History of Park County, softcover index includes: Montana, 1984 ♦ 33,000 line entries ♦ Includes all photos and ♦ 1,200+ family names text from the original book ♦ 550+ business names ♦ Special summaries ♦ 512 pages ♦ ISBN 978-0-9823753-5-8 ♦ ISBN 978-0-9823753-4-1

$36 $24

Both books are available at the Yellowstone Gateway Museum or if ordering, include $5 shipping per book. Call 406-222-6937 for more information. Please submit payment to: Friends of YGM, P.O. Box 815, Livingston, MT 59047

(continued from page 5) dismantle the book, preserving the pages in archival folders.) dances at the Beaver Creek School We’re grateful for these and future donations. Our Collections and at McLeod. Bob Skillman, Shirley’s Committee meets monthly and determines if donations are within son, told me his dad played fiddle and the museum’s mission of preserving and interpreting the natural the accordion at those early-day dances. and cultural history of the Park County area. One of the most intriguing donations we recently re-discovered isn’t pretty enough to photograph. Amazingly, a Join the Friends of the ledger book was found under an old Yellowstone Gateway Museum TODAY! woodpile in Wilsall in 1983 by the The mission of the Friends of the Yellowstone Gateway Museum of Park Robert Cardona family. Though the County, Montana is to support the museum, its successors and affiliates leather cover is dilapidated, its interior by raising funds for the perpetual care, growth, improvement and pages are in good shape. This Justice expansion of the museum and by serving as a source of volunteers. Court’s ledger entries begin in Gallatin County, Montana Territory, in 1883 and Annual Memberships: continue through 1887 when it becomes $25/Family; $15/Individual; Park County, finally ceasing in 1918. $50/Business (Montana earned statehood in 1889.) Name The ledger documents court cases in Nye, Wilsall, and Livingston. A sampling Address of judgments includes: 45 days in jail for uttering indecent language and cursing at a lady; $25 or 30 days in jail for pointing Phone a gun at and threatening Gardiner Email resident R.E. Cutler; $250 in court fees Please return to: PO Box 815, Livingston, MT 59047 paid over a hay dispute, after the hay was found and delivered to its rightful owner. Membership Perks: Free Admission to the Museum, (This artifact is currently in our freezer, newsletter subscription, gift shop discount, insider updates and more! which stops the growth of mold. We may

PAGE 6 Keeping History Alive Friends of the Yellowstone Gateway Museum 2014 MEMBERS As of 3/01/2014 PLATINUM SPONSOR Dale & Gloria Guidi Lynn Weaver Carolyn & Joseph Swindlehurst Bliss & Marcia McCrum Kevin & Tina Haines Diana Whithorn Peter Ward GOLD SPONSOR Bettilee Hallin Doris Whithorn William Ward Elise Donohue Kathryn Held & B. Leigh J.L. Wilkins Donelda & Glenn Wildung Business Sponsors JoAnn & John Hillard Jim & Marilyn Woodhull Bobbie Williams All Service Tire & Alignment Bert & Linda Holland Ben Zitomer Dianne & John Wilson Eyecare Professionals Jim Hunt Family MEMBERS Ellen Zazzarino Franzen–Davis Funeral Home Tom Jerde Bobbie & Stan Adams Individual Members Huppert, Swindlehurst & Edwin & Ronalee Johnson Gerald Bateson Mark Adams Woodruff PC Robert L. Jovick George & Katherine Bornemann Randine Adams Gary Jagodzinski DDS Richard Kern Sharon Buckner Michael B. Anderson Lane Ranch Company Susan Kraft & Lindsay Robb Lenore Close Posi Beaudin Legends Hair Studio Betty Lahren Gloria & Murray Cooper Anita & Quentin Brawner Livingston Ace Hardware Carol Glenn & Sal Lalani Mary Cummings Merrilee Bryan Livingston Chamber of Alta & Vern LeDoux Milla Cummins Ruth Dargis Commerce Clare & Tom Lemke Nancy & Tom Danaher Ed Davison BJ Earle McDonalds of Livingston Kit Libbey John Feckanin & Lucy Heger Sandy Erickson Murray Hotel Ernie & Stella Liebenow Bob & Jane Gersack Bernadine L. Gerfen Kirk Michels Architect Karen Lilley James & Susie Girdler Charles W. Gill Julia Page Patricia Mackinder Carol & Louis Goosey Suzanne Goodman Dirk Schenck, LCPC Fred Martin Jr. Patricia & Rob Grabow Gene Henderson Sky Federal Credit Union Linda (Lee) Martin Cathy & Joe Hanser Jeff Henry Tom’s Jewelers Warren McGee Beverly & Lee Harris Carol Cain Herron Frieda & Robert McLaughlin Jacquelyn & Joseph Harris Tom Murphy Photography Randy Ingersoll Larry & Lisa Mehloff Cheri & Michael Henderson LifeTime MEMBERS Nicky Keough Connie & Kirk Michels Jack & Roberta Henry Mike & Patty Adams Jay Kiefer Mary & Tim Miller Joyce & Robert Hornbeck Helen & Mel Anzick Jill Kraus Barbara Nell Larry & Melinda Jones Donna & Louis Armentaro Anita Livermore Ken Nelson Marjorie & Robert Kamps Lowell Asker Robin Lovec If Robin Ogata Bill & Patty Kamrath Kathryn Baker Al & Ruth MacDonald your name is Harlan & Joal Olson Chris Bastian Mark & Sandra Klawitter Lesa M. Maher Carol Whithorn Orr not on this list, Little BlueHand Bruce & Carol Kron Donna Mayer Edna Peebles it is because it’s Patricia Blume & John Mabie Betsy & Jack Luther Cara McNeely Shirley Petersen time to renew Sandra Christensen Byron & Kay McAllister Craig McNeely your membership Carlo & Elsie Cieri Tina Pidwell Tom & Rosalie Melin Norm Miller Jo & Susan Colmore Dalen Purkett Alvin & Dean Nelson Pat Miller or you are not yet Andrew Dana Parks Reece Andrea & William Nelson Ralph Nacci a member. Martha Riddle Dennis Noteboom & C. Patricia Davidson Ron Plaggemeyer Please Jacqueline den Boer Doug Schemske Mary Plese Dona Poeschl join the museum David & Shirley DePuy Ann & Grace Scher John & Patty Orndorff Diane Powers ~ Dick & Priscilla Dysart Roger Selner Edna Cutler Peebles Jean E. Sandberg we need fuel! Bob & Robin Ebinger Jane Skeoch Karen Reinhart Susan Sewell Bonnie & Ervin Ekstedt Karol & Robert Skillman David & Rose Rigler Fred Shellenberg Adrein & Hank Fabich Frank Smith Marilyn & Tom Roth Roy Shigemura Cynthia Fargo Missy & Randy Stands Cliff & Jille Rowe Mary U. Smith Mike Fleming John & Meredith Sullivan Paul Shea Rosamond Stanton Bob Frisbey Kate & Stan Todd Harold & Micky Shorthill Florence Taylor Jay Lin Gao Gary Travis Earl & Evelyn Stermitz Chris Walker Sam Gordon Nanette Van Horn Harold and Patricia Stewart Margaret Weimer Bruce & Margery Graham Rick VanAken Bill & Mary Strong Lorraine Wentz Ronnie Green Bill & Pat Warfield Donnalee & Jon Swenumson Mary Wiens PAGE 7 Roll Your Own...Oats By Paul Shea, Museum Director

sizes—from an industrial-sized mill available and affordable, they that handles hundreds of tons of became the standard in such mills. grain per day to bench-top mills On this machine you can see the that process up to two or three tons large drive wheel on the right- per day. Our machine is called a #1 hand side. A belt would feed from High Table. This model came here back to your tractor or small engine. Table-top oat rollers or flakers and grain mills are readily available today; some stand alone, others attach to mixers or food processers. And there’s even a Montana source for beautiful hand-made ones (www.grainmaker.com).

Before

Roller feed mill cobbled together, restoration ready

Coral Holladay recently donated a roller feed mill to the museum, a During fine example of early agricultural equipment used in Park County. Jem Blueher repairing the mill’s rotted legs in his Anvil Wagon Works shop It was found on her upper Shields River ranch. in four sizes and we are not sure What is a roller feed mill? It is what the capacity of our roller is. an important piece of agricultural We found it full of oats when we equipment that processes various cleaned it. grains for both human and animal At one time, farm workers consumption. More commonly used small roller mills that were After known as an oat roller, it makes powered by a steam engine via a rolled oats that are used in baked rubber belt—a rather cumbersome Now restored, it has a beautiful red patina. To properly display the feed mill, goods and porridges. These arrangement. Once small single- we will re-attach the grain hopper that sits machines come in a variety of piston engines became more on the top and side of the roller. Watch for these soon-to-be published local history books: Dreams of Cinnabar: Livingston Italians Montana’s Raucous Gateway to Yellowstone by Shirley Siriano DePuy by Lee H. Whittlesey

Stories about local families. A story of the town (and its founders) that welcomed About 165 pages and 140 visitors to Yellowstone National Park from 1883 to photos. To order, call Shirley, 1903. Includes stories of Gardiner, Jardine, Livingston 406-222-1365. & more. Visit www.yellowstoneassociation.org to order. PAGE 8 Connect with your museum CALENDAR Spring Speaker Series March 27—Thursday April 2—Thursday When Ike Came to Livingston Story Matters: How to Catch and Friends of YGM Annual Meeting Celebrate Life’s Moments 6:30 pm (meeting); 7:00 pm (program) 6:30 pm Livingston-Park County Public Library, Livingston-Park County Public Library, 228 W. Callender 228 W. Callender Following the meeting, Susan Kraft gives PowerPoint Katie Clemons, storycatcher, journal crafter, and TedX program on Dwight Eisenhower’s 1952 Whistle-Stop speaker seeks to revitalize the storytelling movement. Tour of America on his presidential campaign. All She helps people celebrate their stories with writing- welcome! Refreshments. Free. prompt journals. Refreshments. Free. April 17—Thursday (rescheduled) May 15—Thursday Mysteries of Yellowstone Lake Stories of the Medical Profession in Prehistory Park County 6:30 pm 6:30 pm Livingston-Park County Public Library, Livingston-Park County Public Library, 228 W. Callender 228 W. Callender Archaeologists Douglas MacDonald and Elaine Hale Dr. Lindsay Baskett and Registered Nurse Betty share discoveries about native peoples and Yellowstone Lahren share their colorful stories. Baskett had a 54- Lake. Which tribes used the Lake? Did they fish? Use year career as a physician and Lahren began her career boats? What about bears? Refreshments. Free. in 1949, retiring in 1984. Refreshments. Free. May 18—Sunday June 7 & 8—Saturday & Sunday Museum Fundraising Dinner Knap-In Weekend 4:30 pm Sat., 9 am - 6 pm & Sun., 9 am - 1 pm Murray Hotel & 2nd Street Bistro, Yellowstone Gateway Museum, 123 N. 2nd Street 118 W. Chinook Support your museum while having a great time! Primitive craft demonstrations & workshops, Cocktails and dinner. Call the museum for including flintknapping. Free weekend at the museum. reservations and more info, 222-4184. $50/per person Call 222-4184 for more information. Keep in touch —Visit your museum! —Like us on Facebook Museum winter hours: 10 AM - 5 PM, —Follow us on Twitter Thurs. - Sat. thru May 24 —Visit our website: Summer Hours Begin www. yellowstonegatewaymuseum.org Memorial Day, May 26: 10 am - 5 pm, 7 days a week —Visit your research center! 8 AM - 5 PM, Mon. - Fri., year-round. Please call 406-222-4184 for more info. PAGE 9 Memorials Collections Donors Can you help sponsor an upcoming exhibit? For: Albert & Dorothy Blanc Ray Alt By Steve & Michele Libsack For: Carlo Cieri George Bryce On Fire: Structural By Narissa Keough Robert Cardona For: Eva & Harry Grabow Elsie Cieri and By Patricia & Rob Grabow BJ Earle For: Frances Maxine Holmes Priscilla Dysart Wildland Firefighting By Pamela Tracy For: Darren Kipp Donna Eldridge By Sandra Christensen Elk River Books For: Cliff Miller Bob Fry Transportation: From By Glenn Woodson Beverly & Gary George Trails to Trains For: Alice Bigelow Murphy & Carl Haemig Robert Murphy and By Lorraine Wentz Coral Holladay For: Doris Whithorn Judy Langdon Roads to Rivers By Anonymous Elizabeth Lahren By Linda Holland Trudy Maney By Caroline Klarr Adele Martinez For: Past Members A Children’s Old-Time By Rick VanAken Charlene & Monty Mathis National Park Service Kitchen and Mercantile* Park Co.Commissioners Office Other Donations Hank Poeschl *We need an icebox, a small wood- Sax & Fryer Co. burning cookstove, wooden table and Margot Aserlind Fay Stowe two chairs, and an old-fashioned cash Sandra Christensen Rick VanAken register for the exhibit. Fred Martin, Jr. Joe Weamer Lorraine Wentz Jerry Weimer Please call Paul for more info Park Photography about sponsorships, 406-222-4184

(continued from page 1) piled high against the main section longtime citizen Napoleon Ebert, Pacific Railway was temporarily of the bridge, causing stress on drowned while freeing logs next to closed due to the erosion of 40 feet the structure. As the waters rose Harvats Bridge. of track that was rendered unsafe. higher, crews began to anchor As the streets of Livingston began F. Holmes of the Yellowstone large cables to the bridge as well to fill with water, four families on Park Transit Company had as to two smaller bridges west of P Street were driven from their difficulty getting over the roads and the Lamartine Bridge which once homes. Hog rancher Grant Sailor was forced to go up Trail Creek spanned the river at 9th Street. was marooned on Krohne Island and through the small community People died as a result of the (on the east edge of town) for two of Chestnut (across from today’s flood. Former Chicago resident days without a means to get to the Montana’s Grizzly Encounter east George Close was working in mainland. Lamartine Island was of Bozeman) to reach Livingston Livingston for a contracting firm. severely flooded and families were because the first canyon of the He was painting a picture of the forced to leave, including the Yellowstone River near Carters railroad bridge just east of town Wells and the McGillans, who Bridge was completely under water. when the ladder he was standing lost nearly everything. The For several weeks Trail Creek was on pitched forward, throwing him McGillans had arranged for the only way to access the canyon. into the swollen river. He drowned. someone to gather their belongings Residents of Pray said the approach Bridge workers downstream were but that person refused to cross to the Pine Creek Bridge had been notified to keep an eye out for his the bridge once he saw how high washed out and driftwood had body. Nels Ebert, the nephew of (continued on page 11) PAGE 10 9th Street Bridge, June 20, 1918

(continued from page 10) June 17, cutting off the Mission Roosevelt’s environmental the water had risen. The family Creek area from Livingston. conservation movement. (Dubois, managed to bring one cow across Farther downstream, bridges were Wyoming is named after him.) the weakened bridge. washed out at Springdale (the The railway arranged for the The large steel span of Carters water was six to eight feet deep on many stranded passengers to be Bridge finally gave way as crews the road between Springdale and taken by car, at no charge, further were cabling it in an attempt to the bridge), Greycliff, and Billings. east where they boarded another save it. The bridge floated down- Bridges also washed out along the train. Many trains were rerouted stream one quarter of a mile before Boulder River. north on the Chicago, Milwaukee, coming to rest. Other bridges in Several miles of NPR’s track east St. Paul and Pacific Railroad Livingston were also being secured of town were washed out. Trains #1 (Milwaukee Road) until repair of with cables, including the Main and #4 stalled due to the washouts the tracks and bridges was made. Street Bridge near the current and many passengers were delayed, During the flooding, swarms of Livingston Enterprise, the H Street including Fred Dubois, former mosquitoes invaded Livingston, Bridge, and Harvats Bridge, where Idaho senator, who was on his way and according to an article in the Mayors Landing is today. One span to Hunters Hot Springs. Dubois Enterprise, “transformed Sabbath day into a hideous nightmare. A spectacle of citizens walking around frantically waving handkerchiefs about their faces or slapping themselves cruelly created considerable amusement.” The river eventually dropped, as it always does. Jacob Sohl, a bridge engineer and county surveyor, investigated the damages, which he estimated at around $75,000. This was the largest flood-caused devastation up to that time. Though the source of funding wasn’t identified, the Enterprise stated that funds were immediately made available and workers were soon repairing Harvats, Lamartine, and Carters Bridges.

Left, top: Harvats Bridge, summer, date unknown of Harvats Bridge washed out on was a strong supporter of Teddy Left, bottom: Site of Harvats Bridge, Photo courtesy Norm Miller February 2014, today’s Mayors Landing PAGE 11 www.yellowstonegatewaymuseum.org

F riends of the ellowstone NON-PROFIT Y US POSTAGE G ateway M useum PAID P.O. Box 815 LIVINGSTON, MT 118 W. Chinook St. PERMIT NO. 96 Livingston, MT 59047

Current Resident Or:

Parting Shots

Talk about Equality! Talk about Minimum Wage! Until 1942, a woman could not be a school In 1902, workers’ starting pay in the machine teacher in Park County—unless she was single. shops of the Northern Pacific Railway was 21 cents an hour.

You can find these tidbits and more in the big blue book, History of Park County, Montana – 1984

Compiled by Dick Dysart