THE VOTE
In 1914, non-native women in Montana got to vote for the very first time. This year, we are celebrating the 100th anniversary of their right to vote. It would be six more years, 1920, before women in the rest of the nation could vote.
Women of Roundup, however, were able to vote even earlier, in 1912. The ballot box they used could be similar to the one now on display in the Musselshell Valley Historical Museum. It was used in 1911 in Fergus County. That was the year Musselshell county was created from the counties of both Fergus and Yellowstone. The ballot box is actually a heavy, leather pouch set inside a wood frame. After the ballots were counted locally, they were shipped by train or postal service to the county seat.
Roundup women and men were voting in 1912 on an issue that seems particularly relevant today. For April 6, 1912, a headline in the Roundup Record reads, "School Election will be held at School House [Central School] Tomorrow". The article continues, "...The present board has decided to submit the following question to the voters of the district in the election tomorrow: 'Shall surplus school money be expended for buildings and other improvements?' There are a number of improvements that the board wishes to make and which it is authorized to do without submitting it to a vote, but it was deemed advisable to place it before the people anyway. There are approximately 500 voters registered for the school election, quite a large number being women."
The original Central School, the west side only, was constructed in 1911. With the additional east side of the school completed in 1913, at least doubling the size of the building, it's probable the 1912 vote was successfully passed.
Monday, August 25, 2014
Thursday, August 14, 2014
THE OLD WILD WEST -- AS IN ROUNDUP, MONTANA: Part One*
Crisp, clear air and a brightening sun greet me as I step out the back door. Perfect for an early morning walk. I shuffle through some leaves on the sidewalk past the Catholic Church. I cross the nearly empty Main Street and continue on for a block to meet a friend.
I continue on -- it is so beautiful this morning. I am enjoying the plethora of trees and their vibrant, changing leaves. I head north paralleling Main Street. These north-south streets create an avenue of color on both sides -- almost as if the trees had been planted that way. As, of course, they were.
In 1908 photos of early Roundup showing a scattering of fast-growing structures, there is no sign of a tree, let alone an avenue of them. The smooth, brown seemingly grassless land extends out beyond the edge of town. Over a hundred years later, however, photos taken from a similar location show tree canopies that obliterate blocks and blocks of structures.
This is the new Roundup. When I mention this to visitors at the Musselshell Valley Historical Museum, particularly older-timers of the area, they perk up. "The new Roundup?" they ask. "Where is the old one then?"
Old Roundup can be found south of the Musselshell River. This south side is surrounded by rim rocks of the Bull Mountains from which Halfbreed Creek originates, flows through coulees and table lands, traverses this valley of grass, and empties into the Musselshell. It is fertile pasture land which early ranchers in the 1870's-80's immediately recognized as a perfect location for roundups of their cattle which had been trailed up here originally from Texas.
It makes sense then that it was from these roundups that James Hightower shared in first naming the fledgling town in 1882. This period was the heyday of the cattle industry with vast stretches of open range. Cowmen gathered in old Roundup from up and down the Musselshell Valley. A little log store and saloon were built in Old Roundup and, later, a dance hall. A general store appeared in 1904 and in 1907, a shed to accommodate teams and horses of travelers.
In the spring, roundups were conducted for branding calves; in the fall, steers that needed to be sold were cut from the herds and readied for market. Market was at Bismarck, North Dakota, where the cattle were trailed to the closest railroad -- until the Milwaukee Railroad came through central Montana, that is. It was the Milwaukee that proved the downfall for the 26-year Old Roundup and created the new one just across the River.
"Why," you may ask, "would the Milwaukee Railroad be interested in this part of Montana?" More on that later.
Meanwhile, I meet and greet two other walkers and trailing along are their dogs on leashes, almost twins. And, just as I do, they follow down the middle of the street, shunning sidewalks; very little traffic. I recognize them as regulars who walk every morning about this time, sometimes in a larger group of women, from one end of town to the other -- one to two miles total.
I turn left at the last street that continues directly across Main Street and stretches west maybe another five blocks or so. But I follow only to the first block, 1st Street West, turn south and still admire another avenue of trees, again paralleling Main Street. I pass homes on both sides, some built as early as 1900. (The story of Roundup's homes is another interesting aspect to the history of the town.) Almost home, on my right I pass Central School, our only K-6 elementary, half of the limestone structure built around 1910 and the other half a year or two later. The playground is quiet today; no school because of professional days.
Just to my left is the present-day Musselshell Valley Historical Museum, a beautiful yellow-brick structure, built in 1920 as the St. Benedict Catholic School and closed in 1950. It too is quiet since it is open only from May through September. Its basement, however, is busy year-round since Meals on Wheels emanates from there, Senior Citizens eat lunch there three days a week, and other community groups also meet there. I arrive back home which in the 1940's was the Nunnery/Convent for the School.
No time to dawdle. My wide-awake, jumping, tail-wagging dogs meet me at the door, more than ready for their turn to walk.
*Written and previously published October 18, 2013
Crisp, clear air and a brightening sun greet me as I step out the back door. Perfect for an early morning walk. I shuffle through some leaves on the sidewalk past the Catholic Church. I cross the nearly empty Main Street and continue on for a block to meet a friend.
I continue on -- it is so beautiful this morning. I am enjoying the plethora of trees and their vibrant, changing leaves. I head north paralleling Main Street. These north-south streets create an avenue of color on both sides -- almost as if the trees had been planted that way. As, of course, they were.
In 1908 photos of early Roundup showing a scattering of fast-growing structures, there is no sign of a tree, let alone an avenue of them. The smooth, brown seemingly grassless land extends out beyond the edge of town. Over a hundred years later, however, photos taken from a similar location show tree canopies that obliterate blocks and blocks of structures.
This is the new Roundup. When I mention this to visitors at the Musselshell Valley Historical Museum, particularly older-timers of the area, they perk up. "The new Roundup?" they ask. "Where is the old one then?"
Old Roundup can be found south of the Musselshell River. This south side is surrounded by rim rocks of the Bull Mountains from which Halfbreed Creek originates, flows through coulees and table lands, traverses this valley of grass, and empties into the Musselshell. It is fertile pasture land which early ranchers in the 1870's-80's immediately recognized as a perfect location for roundups of their cattle which had been trailed up here originally from Texas.
It makes sense then that it was from these roundups that James Hightower shared in first naming the fledgling town in 1882. This period was the heyday of the cattle industry with vast stretches of open range. Cowmen gathered in old Roundup from up and down the Musselshell Valley. A little log store and saloon were built in Old Roundup and, later, a dance hall. A general store appeared in 1904 and in 1907, a shed to accommodate teams and horses of travelers.
In the spring, roundups were conducted for branding calves; in the fall, steers that needed to be sold were cut from the herds and readied for market. Market was at Bismarck, North Dakota, where the cattle were trailed to the closest railroad -- until the Milwaukee Railroad came through central Montana, that is. It was the Milwaukee that proved the downfall for the 26-year Old Roundup and created the new one just across the River.
"Why," you may ask, "would the Milwaukee Railroad be interested in this part of Montana?" More on that later.
Meanwhile, I meet and greet two other walkers and trailing along are their dogs on leashes, almost twins. And, just as I do, they follow down the middle of the street, shunning sidewalks; very little traffic. I recognize them as regulars who walk every morning about this time, sometimes in a larger group of women, from one end of town to the other -- one to two miles total.
I turn left at the last street that continues directly across Main Street and stretches west maybe another five blocks or so. But I follow only to the first block, 1st Street West, turn south and still admire another avenue of trees, again paralleling Main Street. I pass homes on both sides, some built as early as 1900. (The story of Roundup's homes is another interesting aspect to the history of the town.) Almost home, on my right I pass Central School, our only K-6 elementary, half of the limestone structure built around 1910 and the other half a year or two later. The playground is quiet today; no school because of professional days.
Just to my left is the present-day Musselshell Valley Historical Museum, a beautiful yellow-brick structure, built in 1920 as the St. Benedict Catholic School and closed in 1950. It too is quiet since it is open only from May through September. Its basement, however, is busy year-round since Meals on Wheels emanates from there, Senior Citizens eat lunch there three days a week, and other community groups also meet there. I arrive back home which in the 1940's was the Nunnery/Convent for the School.
No time to dawdle. My wide-awake, jumping, tail-wagging dogs meet me at the door, more than ready for their turn to walk.
*Written and previously published October 18, 2013
Saturday, August 9, 2014
The Backroads of Montana is a half-hour TV show on PBS created at the The University of Montana. It appears in Montana at 5pm every Saturday. Its purpose is to travel around the state, providing a segment of interest on various locations and programs in the state.
The following is a letter I wrote August 4, 2014, hoping to lure the show's producers to Roundup. Their response received today (Aug.9, 2014) follows the letter.
Backroads of Montana
University of Montana
Missoula, MT 59812
Please consider this letter as an invitation to visit Roundup in the south central part of Montana. We are a town about 1800 population and very typical of other small towns in the state. At the same time, there are factors that make us unique. What are they? And why should you accept our invitation?
First, you can see some fascinating stories of our past displayed at, and communicated through, our Musselshell Valley Historical Museum. From the beginning in the early 1880's, Roundup has been at the crossroads of travel. First with Old Roundup, it was at the confluence of Halfbreed Creek and Musselshell River. Later, the coming of the Milwaukee Railroad created New Roundup. Later still, it has become the center of travel at the crossroads of north-south Highway 87 and east-west Highway 12.
Intriguing stories from the past include (1) naming of the town, (2) two English lords in 1884 who bought a ranch just four miles east of town and lived there 30 years, (3) the Kilby family whose two daughters began construction of the old hospital but whose son ran awry of the law and was killed just east of town near Kilby Butte, and (4) Frances Vicars whose life story included overcoming adversity which, in the end, led her to Roundup to continue the service of that hospital. This is to name just a few stories.
One of the more spectacular displays at the Museum has to do with David Comstock. He was a native-born, 17-year-old who built and flew his own Pietenpol airplane in 1932. This was after he'd constructed a homemade glider at the age of 14 and found it too unstable. (The only way to get it into the air was to be pulled by a friend's roadster down Main Street, narrowly avoiding light poles and shop windows, at 3:30 am after the Sheriff had gone to bed.) With the Pietenpol plans, which also included a Ford Model A engine which he got from a friend across the street, David built and modified this stable aircraft, earning money for it by sweeping up popcorn at the local theater. He became a proficient pilot (the idea for "Lone Eagle" on the side of the plane came from Charles Lindbergh's flight across the Atlantic in 1927) so much so that he not only flew himself back and forth to college in Bozeman but also made several cross-country flights.
Just as compelling is the story of that Pietenpol plane's rebirth. After David's death in 2005, plans he'd made (and with funds he'd provided) for the plane's restoration were carried out. As part of their education at several middle schools in Billings, five at-risk girls with the help of their instructor, Pat Kenney, took on the complete restoration of David's plane. Each girl developed her own particular skill, such as welding, working on the motor, painting, etc. Several took up flying lessons and one gave her parents their first-ever plane ride. Over a year later, the work completed, the restored plane was freighted to Roundup, the wing reattached to the fuselage so it could be shown off in the July 4th parade, then placed in its permanent display in a hangar at the Musselshell Valley Historical Museum.
Roundup, unlike other communities over the years, has not found it necessary to create mythic wild west stories. Instead, we have our own honest-to-goodness real-life accounts that began over a century ago and have continued through the years to enliven our history. The Museum as not only been a valuable resource in that process but has also been the place to see, for example, not only David's plane but also the actual cabin in which Lord Grey de Ruthyn lived (one of the two English lords).
The second reason to accept our invitation is to note that Roundup over the years has not become a ghost town. Although the economy took a downturn after the closing of coal mines and the demise of the Milwaukee Railroad, efforts by the community have created a current Roundup that is up-and-coming, lively, and energetic.
There have been several years of floods and fires but community efforts have gone into bringing the town back up-to-speed, retaining its uniqueness, and developing more appreciation for what we have. In 2013, the Rounup Restoration Committee began annual April clean-up days, scheduling special pick-ups and collections of old appliances, cars, brush, and boarding up downtown windows that had been atrracting pigeons. The Musselshell Community Foundation in cooperation with RRC invited an AmeriCorps team this summer to live and work within our community for six weeks. They were everywhere making improvements, such as, painting downtown buildings, a church and even fire hydrants, helping both individuals and groups in cleaning up and beautifying properties, and providing "muscle" as needed. The BUD volunteers ("Beautification Undertaken for Decades") has taken responsibility for planting trees and colorful flowers found along Main Street. Roundup High School art department has painted silhouettes that are displayed in upstairs windows of the historical downtown Pappas and Lucas Building.
The third reason to visit is the fact that, in the little over two years I've lived here, there has been only one segment on your show I've seen that has included Roundup. That story centered on a mail carrier who, despite the vastness of the Montana landscape and the length of the mail route, was able to maintain a personal and helpful relationship with his constituents. Montana may be Big Sky country, but that doesn't prevent residents from interacting with each other and helping out when there is a need -- this is what I took from that program.
Maybe it's time for another visit to Roundup? We'd love to show you around!
Sincerely,
Edith A. Sloan
The following is the response appearing by postcard today:
Dear Edith,
Thank you for your letter and an invitation to return to the Roundup area. We'll consider it.
Thanks for watching our show!
William Marcus [narrator]
Backroads
[I'll keep you posted...Edith]
The following is a letter I wrote August 4, 2014, hoping to lure the show's producers to Roundup. Their response received today (Aug.9, 2014) follows the letter.
Backroads of Montana
University of Montana
Missoula, MT 59812
Please consider this letter as an invitation to visit Roundup in the south central part of Montana. We are a town about 1800 population and very typical of other small towns in the state. At the same time, there are factors that make us unique. What are they? And why should you accept our invitation?
First, you can see some fascinating stories of our past displayed at, and communicated through, our Musselshell Valley Historical Museum. From the beginning in the early 1880's, Roundup has been at the crossroads of travel. First with Old Roundup, it was at the confluence of Halfbreed Creek and Musselshell River. Later, the coming of the Milwaukee Railroad created New Roundup. Later still, it has become the center of travel at the crossroads of north-south Highway 87 and east-west Highway 12.
Intriguing stories from the past include (1) naming of the town, (2) two English lords in 1884 who bought a ranch just four miles east of town and lived there 30 years, (3) the Kilby family whose two daughters began construction of the old hospital but whose son ran awry of the law and was killed just east of town near Kilby Butte, and (4) Frances Vicars whose life story included overcoming adversity which, in the end, led her to Roundup to continue the service of that hospital. This is to name just a few stories.
One of the more spectacular displays at the Museum has to do with David Comstock. He was a native-born, 17-year-old who built and flew his own Pietenpol airplane in 1932. This was after he'd constructed a homemade glider at the age of 14 and found it too unstable. (The only way to get it into the air was to be pulled by a friend's roadster down Main Street, narrowly avoiding light poles and shop windows, at 3:30 am after the Sheriff had gone to bed.) With the Pietenpol plans, which also included a Ford Model A engine which he got from a friend across the street, David built and modified this stable aircraft, earning money for it by sweeping up popcorn at the local theater. He became a proficient pilot (the idea for "Lone Eagle" on the side of the plane came from Charles Lindbergh's flight across the Atlantic in 1927) so much so that he not only flew himself back and forth to college in Bozeman but also made several cross-country flights.
Just as compelling is the story of that Pietenpol plane's rebirth. After David's death in 2005, plans he'd made (and with funds he'd provided) for the plane's restoration were carried out. As part of their education at several middle schools in Billings, five at-risk girls with the help of their instructor, Pat Kenney, took on the complete restoration of David's plane. Each girl developed her own particular skill, such as welding, working on the motor, painting, etc. Several took up flying lessons and one gave her parents their first-ever plane ride. Over a year later, the work completed, the restored plane was freighted to Roundup, the wing reattached to the fuselage so it could be shown off in the July 4th parade, then placed in its permanent display in a hangar at the Musselshell Valley Historical Museum.
Roundup, unlike other communities over the years, has not found it necessary to create mythic wild west stories. Instead, we have our own honest-to-goodness real-life accounts that began over a century ago and have continued through the years to enliven our history. The Museum as not only been a valuable resource in that process but has also been the place to see, for example, not only David's plane but also the actual cabin in which Lord Grey de Ruthyn lived (one of the two English lords).
The second reason to accept our invitation is to note that Roundup over the years has not become a ghost town. Although the economy took a downturn after the closing of coal mines and the demise of the Milwaukee Railroad, efforts by the community have created a current Roundup that is up-and-coming, lively, and energetic.
There have been several years of floods and fires but community efforts have gone into bringing the town back up-to-speed, retaining its uniqueness, and developing more appreciation for what we have. In 2013, the Rounup Restoration Committee began annual April clean-up days, scheduling special pick-ups and collections of old appliances, cars, brush, and boarding up downtown windows that had been atrracting pigeons. The Musselshell Community Foundation in cooperation with RRC invited an AmeriCorps team this summer to live and work within our community for six weeks. They were everywhere making improvements, such as, painting downtown buildings, a church and even fire hydrants, helping both individuals and groups in cleaning up and beautifying properties, and providing "muscle" as needed. The BUD volunteers ("Beautification Undertaken for Decades") has taken responsibility for planting trees and colorful flowers found along Main Street. Roundup High School art department has painted silhouettes that are displayed in upstairs windows of the historical downtown Pappas and Lucas Building.
The third reason to visit is the fact that, in the little over two years I've lived here, there has been only one segment on your show I've seen that has included Roundup. That story centered on a mail carrier who, despite the vastness of the Montana landscape and the length of the mail route, was able to maintain a personal and helpful relationship with his constituents. Montana may be Big Sky country, but that doesn't prevent residents from interacting with each other and helping out when there is a need -- this is what I took from that program.
Maybe it's time for another visit to Roundup? We'd love to show you around!
Sincerely,
Edith A. Sloan
The following is the response appearing by postcard today:
Dear Edith,
Thank you for your letter and an invitation to return to the Roundup area. We'll consider it.
Thanks for watching our show!
William Marcus [narrator]
Backroads
[I'll keep you posted...Edith]
Sunday, May 11, 2014
Did you know the official name for the #3 mine?
During the early 1900's, three coal mines open near Roundup, along the Musselshell River. The first two mines are owned and operated by the Milwaukee Railroad. The first one is found along the the River and south of it, just across from the old railroad depot. This is referred to as the #1 mine. It does not operate very long, however. The second mine, #2 mine, is dug further south of the River in what is later known as Klein. The #2 mine is called the Klein Mine.
The third mine is opened much closer to Roundup, on the north side of the River. This mine is opened in 1908. It is referred to as the #3 mine but is owned not by the Milwaukee Railroad but by the Roundup Coal Mining Company. Unlike the first two mines that use coal to run steam engines along the Milwaukee Railroad, the third mine becomes a commercial mine. It exists to sell coal to residences and businesses. In fact, it is stated in 1930 that coal from this mine is distributed "...throughout the territory lying between the Twin Cities in Minnesota and the Inland Empire of the State of Washington".
This #3 mine is named the "Bucking Bronco mine" and its coal is called "Bucking Bronco coal".
In the present day of 2014, none of these coal mines exist. Just beyond the city limits to the south of Roundup can be found a small community known as Camp Three. Most of the homes there are built for miners during the heyday of the Bucking Bronco mine.
Sunday, May 4, 2014
The Story of a Sister and Brother
This is the story of a sister and brother in one of the earliest families in Roundup. Although the Kilby family eventually grows to six in number, it is this particular sister and brother who are of interest. One's reputation in building early Roundup is impeccable; the other's is highly questionable.
We start with the parents whose story begins along the Oregon Trail. Because this Trail is so important to the settling of the west, some background is appropriate.
In 1804-1806, the Lewis and Clark Expedition succeeds in finding an overland route to the Pacific Ocean. It becomes clear that passing over the Rocky Mountains will not be easy for anyone who follows (later viable mountain passes are discovered). However, because they travel first the Missouri River then the Columbia River, Lewis and Clark map out two river valleys that are tributaries of these larger rivers: the Platte River in Nebraska and the Snake River in Wyoming, Idaho, and Oregon. These rivers form the beginning and ending of the Oregon Trail.
The first Europeans to travel this way are French explorers and trappers in the early 1700's. By the 1810's, there are more explorers, fur trappers, traders, mountain men, many of whom create trails and record their travels for those who follow. Trading expeditions, like the Astorians, look for "overland supply routes and trapping territory for fur trading posts". However, it is a severe depression in the Midwest that encourages multiple families to begin making their way west. Government officials now lend their voices to a chorus urging strapped farmers to go west, to consider the fertile and well-watered area of Oregon for their farms.
In 1834, a group of Methodist missionaries, accompanied by American fur traders, travel by wagon then pack horses arriving in Fort Walla Walla, Washington to start their missions. Other missionaries follow. But it is in 1843 when The Great Migration begins, with 700 to 1000 emigrants in their prairie schooners traveling 2,000 miles cross-country to Williamette Valley in Oregon. With each trip west, numbers of emigrants grow. Along this route and others later, forts and trading posts must be created to meet the supply needs of the ever-growing number of pioneers. Mines, because of gold and silver discoveries (and later, coal), also grow in the west. There must be a way to transport supplies and materials back and forth.
This is where the Kilby parents come in. They follow the Oregon Trail probably after the Civil War, in the latter 1860's-1870's. Use of the Trail continues through the Civil War but less so with the advent of steamships, sailing ships, stagecoach lines, and beginnings of the transcontinental railroad. Kilby, however, uses the Oregon Trail to freight for any mining camps that can use him. Mrs. Kilby weaves baskets. Kilby is hauling freight from Little Rock, Arkansas, to Boise, Idaho, when, in their covered wagon, Mrs. Kilby gives birth to Bellezonia, presumably the Kilby's first child. Bellezonia is named after the woman who cares for her mother when Bellezonia is born.
Another trip finds the family going west to Eugene, Oregon, and then back to Bozeman, Montana. In Coulson, a small town near the now-city of Billings, Montana, the family is living in one of the first log houses built there in 1874. At the time, Kilby is using his mule teams to work on the river grade east of Coulson. With "Custer's last stand" taking place around this time (1876), Kilby blames the "Indian trouble" on the white man's railroad going through Indian hunting territory.
Bellezonia shares the honor as first white child in Coulson with Avery Shannon, son of the druggist and, in 1874, the only white boy. Later, before her death in 1952, "Bellezonia usually wins the award at local pioneer meetings as the woman who had lived longest in Montana".
In 1880, the Kilby family homesteads near Gage on the Musselshell River, just two miles east of Roundup. Kilby builds his cabin out of cottonwood logs, with split logs and dirt used for a roof. There is not a nail in the building, which is used 70 years later to shelter stock. (The cabin, no longer there, earlier sits at the base of what is referred to now as "Kilby Butte.".) Kilby is asked, then agrees, to take his mule teams to Coulson and work on the Northern Pacific grade. Coulson at that time is only a grading camp with a druggist, saloon, post office, grocery, meat market and many tents. (Coulson exists only 1877-1882 and is replaced by Billings two miles away when the Northern Pacific Railway comes through.) "The only place for his family of six to stay is a 20-foot square log cabin at the present Midland Empire Fairgrounds" (currently Metra Park).
As she grows to adulthood, Bellezonia becomes known as the "first cowgirl on Musselshell River". She has a reputation as "top cook at several ranches where she had worked, including the '79 Ranch on Painted Robe Creek. Her brother is foreman there." (It is surmised that, during this time, Bellezonia marries a man named Gile, then loses him. Newspaper articles of 1902 and 1908 refer to Bellezonia as Mrs. Gile and Bellezonia Kilby Gile, consecutively.)
In 1908, Bellezonia Kilby Gile, with her sister, Mrs. Lizzie Bequette, start building the Roundup hospital, later known as Musselshell Valley Hospital (located at the corner of First Street West and Fifth Avenue West). The town of Roundup has been surveyed and platted previously by a surveyor named Edward Glassner. Bellezonia is the first person to purchase an entire block -- the one on which the Hospital is built.
(Photo of hospital above. More later on Bellezonia, but what about her brother? Next time...)
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