Treasure State Lines Volume 37, Number 2 Treasure State Lines 1975 - 2012 Great Falls Genealogy Society November 2012 Volume 37—Number 2 Treasure State Lines Volume 37, Number 2 Treasure State Lines Contributions to the GFGS publications are encouraged Great Falls Genealogy Society and can be in the form of articles, letters, or notices. Sub- missions can be made by e-mail: [email protected], or 301 2nd Ave N typewritten items (please, nothing handwritten) can be Great Falls, MT 59401 dropped off at the library or mailed to the Society. MEETINGS. Monthly general meetings and programs Phone 406-727-3922 are scheduled the second Thursday of each month, Septem- E-mail: [email protected] ber through May, at 6:00 p.m. Guests and visitors are al- www.gfgenealogy.org ways welcome. The Great Falls Genealogy Society was founded in GENEALOGY LIBRARY. The Genealogy Library 1975 as a non-profit educational and research organiza- is located on the third floor of the Great Falls tion. Membership is January through December. Dues Public Library. The genealogy library is staffed are $25 for individuals and $30 for couples. We encour- entirely by volunteers. Hours are Monday through age all members to participate in the activities and duties Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. of the Society. Members receive a monthly newsletter and the semi-annual publication in May and November, plus free use of our computers for research and access to RESEARCH POLICY. Our volunteer research staff is over 10,000 items - books, journals, CDs, and micro- available to do research on Cascade County and Great film. Falls records. Research will commence upon receipt of the fees; check or money order may be sent to our Great Falls BOARD MEMBERS: address. There are three research options: President Dennis Sugden -Option 1: a comprehensive search of the records Vice President Marie Berti at the Great Falls Genealogy Society library. A member of Recording Secretary Carol Ann Clark the Research Department staff will search appropriate obit/ Corresponding Sec. Margaret Lietz death card file index, local history books, Great Falls city Treasurer Pat Wardinsky directories, Cascade County directories, naturalization Trustees Janet Thomson index, people files and some early birth indices for which John Birkholz the fee is $25 per immediate family. Jim Lowry -Option 2: includes a thorough search of the re- cords at the Cascade County Courthouse including COMMITTEE ASSIGNMENTS: school census indices, probate indices, marriage indices, Library Diane Green civil judgment indices (includes divorce filings), for which Acquisitions Janet Thomson the fee is $25 per immediate family. Computer Jim Eayrs -Option 3: includes five research activities chosen Membership Pat Wardinsky from option one and two for a fee of $25 per immediate Obituary File Jim Eayrs family. Projects Diane Green Photocopies of obituaries, marriage license/certificates Research Julie Pepos and birth and death certificates are $5 each if ordered sepa- rately, $3 each if ordered with option 1, 2 or 3 (Note: Pho- PUBLICATIONS: tocopies of birth and death certificates less than 30 years Treasure State Lines old can be obtained only by the mother, father, spouse or The Falls Newsletter child of the individual of whom the record is requested). For additional information, contact the Research Depart- Notice and Disclaimer: Articles contained in these pub- ment by mail or at [email protected] lications may not be copied, published, or distributed for commercial purposes without the written consent of the GFGS. The editors reserve the right to edit contributions for length, substance, and grammar. The GFGS is not responsible for accuracy, errors, or omissions in articles submitted by others, but proven errors will be corrected. Contents © 2012 All rights reserved. i Treasure State Lines Volume 37, Number 2 Items For Sale Now available on CD CONTENTS $19.95 each The Miner’s Peril…………………..19, 20 Mining Death Inquests…………..….21-24 Sun River Valley History Book…….….25 Montana Newspapers Online…… . 26-28 Cascade County, MT Cemeteries, Disc I - covers Old W.H. George Obituary…………….…...29 and New Highland Cemeteries in Great Falls. George Co. Funeral Home Records…30,31 23,297 burials, indexed to 1983 Great Falls Funeral Homes…………….32 Esther Combes Vance………………33,34 Hillcrest Lawn Memorial, 3,368 interments News from Yesteryear…………………35 Indexed to 1997 Early Settlers of Great Falls………… 36 Cascade County, MT Cemeteries, Disc II - covers Mount Olivet—7,183 burials, indexed to 1990 Calvary—4,027 burials, indexed to 2003 Cascade County, MT Cemeteries, Disc III - covers 33 small cemeteries in Cascade County. From the Editor Choteau County, MT Cemeteries - covers 14 cemeter- ies in Choteau County 2012 has been a very busy one for the Society. Teton County, MT Cemeteries - Familysearch.org digitally imaged over 550,000 covers 15 cemeteries in Teton County records held in our library and has made them available on their website. Blackfeet Burials 1935 - 1999 Funeral home records on more than 12,000 indi- viduals was transferred to our library for re- 4,677 entries search. Extensive database includes names, birth, death, Our 2-volume book, “Early Settlers of Great burial dates and places, family members, sources Falls was published in October and sales are excellent A series of classes was held in January and a Buy any two CD’s for $29.95!! Family Heritage Fair organized in October Membership for 2012 was an all-time high of 185 Janet Thomson was named Volunteer of the Year All orders: Add $ 3.50 shipping and handling charge Thank you to all our members for their hard work and continued support. Printed copies available on request – price quote at time of order – due to fluctuating printing costs. If we begin with certainties, we shall end in doubts; but if we begin with doubts, and are patient in them, we shall end in certainties. Library of Congress ISSN 1060-0337 Indexed in PERSI (Periodical Source Index Francis Bacon (1561-1626) ii Treasure State Lines Volume 37, Number 2 The Coal Miners Prayer By W. Calvert Each dawn as we rise, lord we know all too well, We face only one thing – a pit filled with hell. To scratch out a living the best that we can, But deep in the heart, lies the soul of a man. With black covered faces, and hard calloused hands, We work the dark tunnels, unable to stand. To labor and toil as we harvest the coals, We silently pray “Lord, please harvest our souls.” 19 Treasure State Lines Volume 37, Number 2 THE MINER’S PERIL In the late 1800s and early 1900s, mining operations flourished in many areas of Cascade County. Miners and their families flocked to these places in search of steady work. There were deposits of gold, silver, lead and zinc to be mined and smelted-places like Hughesville, Barker, Neihart………. But, by far, the biggest operations were those of the coal companies, primarily in Belt and the Sand Coulee/Stockett area, known as “the Gulch”. Coal is a heavy rock, so when a half-ton chunk Before 1914 mine owners were protected from falls from the roof of a mine, it generally crushes a miner to accountability for deaths on their property by common law. death or mangles his body so badly that death comes shortly The first concept of the common law was “assumption of afterward. risk” and this premise held that, by accepting a job, the Most Montana coal mining nowadays is open-pit miner accepted all the risk inherent in the work. So regard- strip mining, but in the underground coal mines of yore, less of any unsafe work conditions, the miner or his family roof collapses were the most common causes of death, de- had no recourse to seek compensation. Secondly, the spite stout bracing along the tunnels with timbers. “fellow servant” concept was that the worker accepted any Miners commonly poked long steel rods carefully risk caused by the faulty work of co-workers. The third at parts of the roof that looked suspicious, to bring loose common law concept, “contributory negligence” was proba- parts down safely before anyone was walking or working bly the most damaging to the miners and their families. beneath. They also sometimes poked at the working face This provision basically guaranteed that mine operators exposed b the most recent dynamite blast. In Montana, the could not be held legally responsible for any accidents. veins weren’t nearly as thick as the dangerous “high coal” Holding to these common law concepts required found in Utah mines, but nonetheless were high enough to not only proof of negligence on the part of an operator, but easily crush a miner as he was shoveling coal into a mine also that there had to proof of no negligence on the part of car adjacent to a just-blasted working face. the worker. With the miner being dead and evidence having Explosive methane gas wasn’t much of a problem been destroyed in the accident, it was all but impossible to in coal mines in Cascade County, most of which were sim- satisfy the requirement. In the case of death in the mines, ply dug into hillsides where coal seams were plainly visible. a family’s means of survival often disappeared. Dependents Even thought some mines extended for miles underground, of the deceased miner most likely had to move, or the wife the relatively flat floor made for easier ventilation than in make a hasty re-marriage. Sometimes the widow would be shaft-and-tunnel deep mines. forced to do other desperate things to survive and try to pro- More dramatic deaths from accidental explosions vide for her family.