Rural Montana Celebrates

Chinese New Year

F e b r u a r y 2 0 1 3 V o l u m e I I I s s u e I I

THE

An 1887 Valentines Inspires a Furor

Trudy Berge - Jeannette Carr - Janell Clarke

trudy.berge@century21bigsky.com

jeannette.carr@century21bigsky.com

janell.clarke@century21bigsky.com

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David Thompson - Fur Trader - 6

P a g e 3 V o l u m e I I I s s u e I I

The Wah Chong Tai Company located

on Mercury Street in Butte, Montana.

Read about the efforts of individuals

and a museum to document the life of

the Chinese immigrants in the west .

Portrait of David Thompson late in his life.

Celestial Ire - 9

Chinese Immigrants in the West - 12

"Guess him

heap lie.

Guess

Balenti one

big loaf,

bumming

man, ne no

eatee lat!"

David Thompson surveyed and mapped

the northwest territory between the late

1700s and early 1800s. In 1809 he estab-

lished a fur trading post in Thompson

Falls, Montana called Saleesh House.

Thompson died in near obscurity, but a

small town in Montana remembers.

In 1887 the editor of the Philipsburg Mail

Newspaper runs into John, a Chinese laundry-

man on the street and finds him irate over a

Valentine received in the mail from the mining

camp on Granite Mountain.

P a g e 4

The West Old & New

Published by Susan Faye Roberts

P.O. Box 10

Hot Springs, Montana

(406) 741-5210

thewestoldandnew@gmail.com

Online at: http://issuu.com/

westerngalspeak.docs

Blog: http://

thewestoldandnew.wordpress.com

A small rural town

celebrates Chinese

New Year - 10

More …..

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Roadhouse

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as dancers enjoy the

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16

Montana has several nicknames,

none official, including:

"Big Sky Country" and "The

Treasure State", and slogans that

include "Land of the Shining

Mountains" and more recently,

"The Last Best Place"

Montana is the 4th-most extensive,

but the 7th-least populous and the

3rd-least densely populated of the

50 United States.

Photo of

an old

Chinese

Laundry

in the

West

Baroque in

Paradise

A yearly musical

festival in a pristine

mountain venue is go-

ing into its ninth year

showcasing the works

of famous baroque

composers.

18

Ninepipe National

Wildlife Refuge

Thousands of acres of

wetlands provide a refuge

for many different animals

22

Montana Fare

How to Cook Bison

20

Metaphysical Tea

House 15

Don’t Mess With Mamma Moose - 14

A true story told by Rick Sherman about an encounter with a Moose

and her calf on a trail in the mountains of Montana.

Montana Soufflé from the West’s Blog - 21

The fancy French egg dish takes an interesting turn in the homestead-

ing reality of the west.

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P a g e 6

David Thompson died in near obscurity after having mapped over 3.9 million square

kilometers of North America. Thompson was born in Westminster to Welsh migrants.

His father died when he was two. The family living in hardship was forced to place

him and his brother in the Grey Coat Hospital, a school for the disadvantaged. Gradu-

ating to the Grey Coat mathematical school he was introduced to basic navigation

skills which would form the basis of his career. At the age of fourteen, in 1784 he en-

tered a seven year apprenticeship with the Hudson Bay Company, and set sail for

North America.

In Churchill (now Manitoba) he went to work copying the personal papers of the then

governor. The next year he was transferred to York Factory and then spent the next

few years as a clerk at Cumberland House and South Branch before arriving at Man-

chester House in 1787. In December of 1788 Thompson fractured his leg, forcing him

to spend two winters convalescing at Cumberland House. During this time he refined and expanded his knowledge of

mathematics, astronomy and surveying under the tutelage of Hudson Bay's Company surveyor Philip Turnor. During this

time he lost sight in his right eye.

In 1790 as his apprenticeship neared its end Thompson made an unusual request, asking for a set of surveying tools

instead of the typical parting gift of fine clothes. He received both and entered the employ of the Hudson Bay Company

as a fur trader. In 1792 he completed his first surveying job, mapping a route to Lake Athabasca which straddles the Al-

berta/Saskatchewan border. In recognition of his map-making skills the company promoted him to surveyor. Thompson

continued to work for the Company until May of 1794, when frustrated with the company's policies he left walking

eighty miles in the snow to become employed by their competition, the North West Company.

North West Company allowed Thompson to pursue his surveying work mapping the interior of what would become

Canada. In 1797 Thompson was sent south to survey what would become the Canadian-US boundary waters. By 1798

Thompson had completed a survey from Grand Portage through Lake Winnipeg to the headwaters of the Assiniboine

and Mississippi Rivers, as well as both sides of Lake Superior. The company then sent him to Red Deer Lake (in Al-

berta) to establish a trading post. Spending several season in Fort George he also led several expeditions into the Rocky

Mountains.

At the annual meeting of the North West Company in 1804 Thompson was made a full partner in the company and

spent the next few seasons managing the fur trading operations and expanding his surveys of the waterways around Lake

Superior. Then in 1806 the company concerned over the expedition of Lewis and Clark gave charge to Thompson of

finding a route to the Pacific to open the lucrative trading territories of the Pacific Northwest.

Early in 1810 Thompson was returning eastward towards Montreal when he received orders to return to the Rocky

Mountains and establish a route to the mouth of the Columbia. This was in response to the plans of John Jacob Astor to

send a ship around the Americas and establish a fur trading post. During his return Thompson was delayed by an angry

group of Peigan natives and was forced to seek a new route across the Rocky Mountains which took him through the

Athabasca Pass. Thompson was the first European to navigate the length of the Columbia River. During a voyage down

the Columbia in 1811 he camped at the Junction of the Snake River and erected a pole and notice claiming the country

for Great Britain and stating the intention of North West Company to build a trading post. The Company's Fort Nez Per-

ces was established near this junction. Thompson wintered at Saleesh House before beginning his final journey back to

Montreal in 1812.

Saleesh House—The Story of David Thompson Historic rendition of Thompson

P a g e 7 V o l u m e I I I s s u e I I

In 1820 English geologist John Jeremiah Bigsby at-

tended a dinner party in Chateau St. Antoine, an early

estate in Montreal's Golden Square Mile. He describes

the party and some of the guests in his book, The Shoe

and Canoe, giving an excellent description of David

Thompson.

I was well placed at table between one of the Miss

McGillivray's and a singular-looking person of about

fifty. He was plainly dressed, quiet, and observant. His

figure was short and compact, and his black hair was

worn long all round, and cut square, as if by one stroke

of the shears, just above the eyebrows. His complexion

was of the gardener's ruddy brown, while the expres-

sion of his deeply-furrowed features was friendly and

intelligent, but his cut-short nose gave him an odd

look. His speech betrayed the Welshman, although he

left his native hills when very young. I might have been

spared this description of Mr David Thompson by say-

ing he greatly resembled Curran the Irish Orator...

I afterwards travelled much with him, and have now

only to speak of him with great respect, or, I ought to

say, with admiration... No living person possesses a

tithe of his information respecting the Hudson's Bay

countries... Never mind his Bunyan-like face and

cropped hair; he has a very powerful mind, and a sin-

gular faculty of picture-making. He can create a wil-

derness and people it with warring savages, or climb

the Rocky Mountains with you in a snow-storm, so

clearly and palpably, that only shut your eyes and you

hear the crack of the rifle, or feel the snow-flakes melt

on your cheeks as he talks.

Arriving in Montreal Thompson retired with a gener-

ous pension from the North West Company. He settled

nearby and worked on completing his great map, a

summary of his lifetime of exploring and surveying the

interior of North America. Thompson's 1814 map was

so accurate that 100 years later it was still the basis of

many of the maps issued by the Canadian government.

It now resides in the Archives of Ontario.

Thompson married Charlotte Small in June 1799, a

Ile-a-la-Crosse, a mixed blood child of a Scottish fur

trader and a Cree mother. The marriage was formalized

at the Scotch-Presbyterian Church in Montreal in Octo-

ber 1812. The couple had thirteen children. Their mar-

riage lasted fifty-eight years, the longest Canadian pre

Confederation marriage known.

By 1831 he was deeply in debt and forced to take a po-

sition as a surveyor for the British American Land Com-

pany to provide for his family. When his luck worsened

further he was forced to move in with his daughter and

son-in-law in 1854. He began work on a manuscript

chronicling his life as an explorer, but the project was left

unfinished when his

sight failed him com-

pletely in 1851.

Thompson's land

mass map amounted to

one-fifth of the conti-

nent. His contempo-

rary, the explorer Alex-

ander Mackenzie, remarked that Thompson did more in

ten months he would have thought possible in two years.

Thompson died in Montreal in near obscurity in February

1857, his accomplishments almost unrecognized. The

book chronicaling his twenty-eight years in the fur trade

was resurrected by J.B. Tyrrell, a 2890s geologist who

used Thompsons 77 field notebooks and published in

1916, "David Thompson's Narrative."

Thompson's body was interred in Montreal's Mount

Royal Cemetery in an unmarked grave. In 1926 J. B. Ty-

rell and the Canadian Historical Society placed a tomb-

stone to mark his grave. In 1957 one hundred years after

his death, the Canadian government honored him by put-

ting his image on a Canadian postage stamp. The David

Thompson Highway in Alberta was named in his honor.

A monument dedicated to David Thompson stands near

the ghost town Verendrye, North Dakota. Thompson

Falls, Montana and British Columbia's Thompson River

are named after the explorer. Thompson was the subject

of a 1964 National Film Board of Canada short film as

well as a BBC2 program broadcast in 2009. The Saleesh

House, also known as Flathead Post, was the North West

Company fur trading post built near present day Thomp-

son Falls, Montana in 1809. It became a Hudson's Bay

Company post after that company absorbed the North

West Company. Thompson's name for the Flatheads was

P a g e 8

Saleesh. He also called Clark Fork which runs through

northwestern Montana the Saleesh River. The location of

Saleesh House proved ideal, as it was on a route connecting

the higher mountain country with bison hunting grounds

near Flathead Lake. It is now called the Buffalo road, and

was used by several tribes who traditionally camped for

winter near the Saleesh House site. The post quickly at-

tracted a diverse community around itself. The forests near

the post were rich in beaver. The indigenous peoples had

access to pemmican supplies and were willing to trap and

trade beaver skins. The Saleesh House rapidly became the

focal point of an impressively rich fur trading region. It was

at Saleesh House in late 1809 and early 1810 that David

Thompson acquired the nickname Koo-koo-Sint, or "Star-

Looker". In 1810 Thompson and other members of the

North West Company linked Saleesh House with Spokane

House via a trail known as the "Skeetshoo Indian Road".

Thompson soon left and did not return to Saleesh House

until 1812, where he found the post in poor condition and

spent time repairing and rebuilding it.

Joint British - U.S. occupation of areas west of the Rocky

Mountains continental divide pursuant to the Treaty of

1818 ended with the Oregon Treaty which established the

49th parallel as the international boundary.

Every summer Thompson Falls hold David Thompson

Days, a three day encampment that honors the spirit of the

explorer, fur trader and mountain man.

David Thompson navigated the entire length of the

Columbia River in 1811. Above is a map of the Co-

lumbia and its tributaries showing modern political

boundaries.

High Wide & Handsome!

In 1895 "Treasure State" became the first nickname to gain

wide appeal. It appeared on the cover of a promotional

booklet published by the Montana Bureau of Agriculture,

Labor, and Industry. "Treasure State" was chosen because

of Montana's status as the country's foremost producer of

metallic treasures - gold, silver, and copper.

"Land of Shining Mountains" also appeared in 1895 in the

same promotional booklet published by the Montana Bu-

reau of Agriculture, Labor, and Industry that introduced

"Treasure State." This motto had its origins with brothers

Pierre and Chevalier Verendrye, French Canadian fur

traders and explorers, who gazed upon the northern Rock-

ies and upped them the "Shining Mountains." According to

Joaquin Miller's 1894 history Montana, Native tribes also

referred to the Rockies as "the Shining" because of their

snow caps.

Editor’s Note: This was published in the Philipsburg Mail

Newspaper in Philipsburg, Montana on March 17th, 1887 -

Granite was Philipsburg’s sister city four miles up a steep

mountain road and home to 3,000 miners.

It is well known that a viciously selected Valentine has

power to excite the ire of a white man. Though the Valen-

tine is a thing unknown to the Chinaman in his native land,

yet it appears that it is capable of disturbing his equanimity

when he makes its acquaintance. Meeting the proprietor of

one of those establishments for the speedy annihilation of

linen, popularly known as a wash house, a day or two since

on Montgomery Street, a few steps from the Mail office.,

he accosted our reporter with: "What you tink, Baleti?"

"Baleti? What is baleti, John? What are you driving at?"

"O, you plenty sabe. Me hear at Post oficce all people talk

baleti. Little boy, little girl - all talk baleti."

"O, you mean Valentine! Is that it?"

"Yes, Baleti. Balentine one foolee. You sabe him?"

"Oh, yes, I know him, you mean St. Valentine."

"Where him stop --Glanite?"

"In heaven, now, John."

"No; no he up Glanite."

"Who says he is in Granite?"

"Nobody say. Me catchee letter from Glanite. Balentine send me one letter what got him picture of Chinaman

eatee lat."

"Chinaman eating a rat?"

"Yes, picture Chinaman eat lat, littee dog, too. Me no eat lat - no eatee dog! Me show picture to two tree

Melican woman where me go catchee wash. Women all time laugh - laugh laugh. Me takee cloe go way

quick. "

"It's all fun, John. Plenty of Americans got valentines."

"Bout eatee lat?"

"No; about other things - about love and murder."

"Guess him heap lie. Guess Balenti one big loaf, bumming man, ne no eatee lat!"

Picking up his bundle of clothes and muttering some high sounding Oriental oaths on Montgomery Street

mud and the condition of things in general, meandered quietly homeward.

Celestial Ire Celestial Ire Celestial Ire Celestial Ire

A Valentine Creates Quite a Furor

P a g e 9

The photograph above was taken by photographer Burgess Blevins in February of 2011. The small rural streets

of Hot Springs in western Montana and locate on the Flathead Indian Reservation was in the middle of cele-

brating the Lunar Chinese New Year.

A month or more before this gathering and celebration a loose knit group of community members got together

around the idea of making their own dragon for the celebration. Local resident Kurt Cruse created the basic

design, and spent hours, days and weeks creating the head of the dragon. A basic template was drawn onto

large sheets of material and for days people sat around tables systematically painting the scales of the huge

beast. Other groups gathered to create paper hats and the a group of drummers began practicing for the event.

When it came time for the first run, it took many hands to haul the waving mass of dragon down the street.

It was exciting and somewhat out of place in this western scenario as folks of all ages gathered along the two

block parade route. The local police cruiser took a position at the front of the small entourage quietly leading

the way as groups of folks walked with flags in front and behind the main attraction. The Dragon has become a

feature in all the small town’s parades ever since, with volunteers stepping up (it takes at least ten to fifteen

people) to walk it in a waving manner down the street. After the parade a community pot luck is held gener-

ally at the local tribal nutritional center. At different time there have even been fire dancers after dark and al-

ways a bonfire and fireworks.

To the right a photograph of the parade participants carrying flags behind and in front of the

dragon. Photograph by S.F. Roberts.

A Small Rural Montana Community Celebrates

Chinese

New Year

P a g e 1 0

Feathers - Canvas - Stones

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P a g e 1 2

Chinese Immigrants in Western Montana Montana was still a territory when in 1870 the Chinese population comprised ten percent of the state's residents. Many of

them came to work on the railroads, and ended up becoming miners or kitchen and laundry workers in mining camps.

Some of them lived in rural areas.

In 2000 I came across the story, "Celestial Ire," while working as editor of the

weekly county newspaper. It was an immediate experience of what life had been

like for Asian Americans in the west. Later I would find classified ads in the Phil-

ipsburg Mail Newspaper that informed patrons of local restaurants that they did not

employ Chinese in their kitchens. The Chinese who came to America found life to

be one in which discrimination and hard work played a major role in everyday life.

Several Montana communities had prominent Chinese families who influenced and

changed their status, but for many it was hard going all the way.

In 2006 Dr. Chris Merritt and Dr. Kelly J. Dixon from the University of Montana's

Department of Anthropology created a partnership to do an intensive investigation

the summer of 2007 for proof of Chinese inhabitants on a series of terraces found in Poachers Gulch located between

Plains and Thompson Falls, Montana. The work did not garner many artifacts as had sites like Cedar Creek in Mineral

County from which Forest Service archaeologists had excavated Chinese hearths, celadon and bamboo style semi-

porcelain bowls, fragments of stoneware and opium cans. Cedar Creek was a remote mining camp that had an approxi-

mate population of 300 Chinese in the winter of 1870.

Merritt's intensive work around the state resulted in his dissertation and created a statewide database of Chinese archaeo-

logical and historical sites in Montana. He made trips to the Helena, Butte and Philipsburg Cemeteries where Chinese

were buried. In Philipsburg the Chinese graveyard is adjacent to the pauper ground. At one time it had a funerary burner

used to prepare meals for the dead. When standing in front of it there are no grave markers. The early burial records lo-

cated in the town hall contain entries such as: 3 Chinamen frozen to death.

Many of the older towns and cities had Chinese neighborhoods, often next to the red light districts, outside the general

population. In Philipsburg the Chinese neighborhood was long ago burned to the ground becoming a site for a skating

rink and in recent years an out door musical pavilion. Anaconda's China town is gone as well, and little of Butte's exists

except for the efforts of the Mai Wah Society. The not-for-profit society is slowly restoring a building on Mercury Street

in uptown Butte that housed Mai Wah Noodles & Chop Suey and Wah Chong Tai Company. The summer of 2007 a va-

cant lot was excavated yielding numerous objects from the once Chinatown community. The building is now a museum

and has hundreds of artifacts on display. The Mai Wah Museum is open during the summer months. Plan to spend a cou-

ple of hours visiting the numerous levels. The Mai Wah Society also celebrates Chinese New Year with a parade featur-

ing thousands of firecrackers and a Chinese Dragon, a gift from the people of Taiwan.

In a cooperative arrangement with the Montana Historical Society and the Mai Wah Society

created an educational footlocker containing genuine artifacts from the 2007 dig in the vacant

lot. Additional footlocker content was made available through a grant funded by the Montana

Archaeological Society. These Digging the Past footlockers became available for loan to edu-

cator is the later half of 2010. The footlockers are appropriate for grades four through eighth.

Also available at the Mai Wah is The Butte Chinese: A brief history of Chinese immigrants in

southwest Montana, by George Everett. The 24-page illustrated booklet takes you from the first Chinese immigration in

the American West to the recent history of the Mai Wah buildings. The publication was made possible by grants from

the ARCO Foundation, A Territory Resource and donations by Mai Wah members. The Mai Wah is open from June 3rd

through September 30th - Tuesdays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The picture above and to the left is of glass

bottles from the Butte excavation.

Pottery chard from the Butte excavation

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P a g e 1 4

Don’t Mess With Mamma Moose

Last summer, my daughter, Ashlea, worked for

the Montana Conservation Corps. She worked trails

all over Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming and even did

a month in Louisiana doing relief work after Hurri-

cane Katrina. They were based out of Bozeman and

lived in town between backcountry hitches. This gave

her time to explore the Bridger Mountains a bit.

Ash and her friend, Carley, went hiking with

Carley’s young dogs up the Spanish Creek trail, not

far from town. Carley was telling Ash about a dream

she had had the night before about being on this trail

and having her dogs attacked by a giant grizzly bear.

Ash was noticing fresh moose tracks in the mud when

the dogs took off after a deer as they entered a

meadow. They dogs weren’t as well trained as they

should have been, so didn’t respond to calls to come

back. They chased the deer into woods then saw a

cow and calf moose in the meadow on the edge of a

marshy area along the creek.

The dogs went after the moose. The cow turned

the calf back into the willows. Ash insisted on turning

back immediately. Just as they started back, Momma

came out of the willows in full charge. Her eyes were

white and rolled back, ears were flat against her neck

and the hair on her hump was standing on end, back

lit by the sun. Ash yelled, “Run!!” and headed for the

trees. She doesn’t remember taking a single step but

was on the edge of the trees and dove over a big down

tree busting branches as she went. She looked back at

her friend.

It was a classic deer in the headlights situation.

Carley froze as the moose ran her down. Her body

was airborne for about fifteen feet. She rolled into a

ball as the moose straddled her, kicking with both

front and hind hooves.

The moose saw Ash peering over the log and

charged her. She had barely enough time to get to her

feet before the moose was on her. Ash got behind

three spindly lodge poles as the moose caught up with

her. She faced momma moose down from the other

A True Story told by Rick Sherman

side of those little trees. She was close enough to touch the

moose’s forehead through the trees. She could feel the hot

breath from flaring nostrils and the rolling red eyes stared

her down. The moose charged the trees, then backed away

then charged around the trees. Ash kept moving around the

trees always keeping them between her and the moose.

Around and around they went. The moose would back off

and charge around the other way and around and around

they would go some more.

In the mean time, Carley managed to get on her feet,

gather her dogs and hunker down under a big spruce with

low branches, holding the dogs’ muzzles to keep them

quiet. Ash kept playing the merry-go-round game for about

five minutes until the moose remembered her baby waiting

below in the willows and finally backed off.

Once the moose turned her back, Ash was out of there.

She gathered up Carley and the dogs and ran the three miles

back to the trailhead. The girls ran so fast they out- ran the

dogs. As they ran, Ash was looking over her shoulder and

calling out good climbing trees along the way just in case.

Once back at the car, they were able to examine their

injuries. Ash was unscathed but Carley was beat and

bloody with torn clothes and bleeding scrapes. She had a

clearly marked hoof mark in the abraded skin on her back.

She claims she is going to have the scar tattooed. Later she

found that she had three broken ribs.

Telling the story was worth a number of free shots at

the nearest bar.

Ash told me this story as we were leading the Father’s

Day Ride this year. As a parent, I should feel concern for

my kid being is such a dangerous situation, but what I feel

is pride in one who has developed such a level head and is

able to think on her feet in the midst of a tough situation.

This one is going to do well.

Rick Sherman is a graphics artist and writer living in

Potomac, Montana.

The Rainbow Zen Tea House is located in a

converted garage on the north end of Wall

Street in Hot Springs, Montana. Three small

rooms that are filled with all sorts of interest-

ing items, most of them for sale.

The tea house is the culmination of proprietor

Lo Hua Odekirk’s years of research and ex-

perience with metaphysics. You will find crys-

tals, jewelry, scarves, books, natural perfumes,

and nutritional supplements on the shelves.

Lo Hua is not of Asian descent, she was

named as such when her father came back

from China for her birth. The name is appro-

priate for this diminutive energetic woman in

more ways than one.

A learned astrologer and tarot card reader, she

often gives her customers more than they

would have imagined from their visit to her

shop.

She will make them a fresh batch of carrot

juice, a smoothie and offer wholesome cookies

and pies. She makes a pot of fresh soup every-

day as well. But while they sit in the comfort

of the bright room sipping tea or eating a

cookie, she will get to know them and reveal

the things she knows.

The town of Hot Springs has a long held reputation for being a metaphysical place. Home of healing geother-

mal waters that flow from artesian wells around the town, many who lives here know the magic that permeates

the low grassy hills that enclose it. Like Sedona, Arizona, Hot Springs is a vortex of energy. It is not a particu-

larly beautiful place, and is actually situated on an Indian Reservation which imbues it with a different ambi-

ance. The towns heyday began in the twenties when it was touted as a healing place for body and soul, attract-

ing 2,000 visitors in the winter months.

A Metaphysical Tea House

Interested in Montana? Read about the old days and contemporary history by going to

The West Old & New blog at: http://thewestoldandnew.wordpress.com

Recent blogs about ghost towns, pauper graves, and Montana miners who went to

South Africa in 1893

P a g e 1 5

P a g e 1 6

Road House Mayhem - By S.F. Roberts Sunday, August 14th, 1927 a roadhouse turned honky-tonk became a murder scene. Porter's Corner was long estab-

lished as a stage stop and roadhouse situated south of Philipsburg, Montana along Highway 1. In its long history there

were only two incidents of violence, this incident cited by witnesses as a "free-for-all brawl," which culminated in a

shooting. When the smoke cleared Joe Porter, proprietor of the establishment, stood accused of the murder of Herman

Cardinal, from Anaconda.

Buss Hess, a Philipsburg old timer told Jack Gilluly his version of the incident. "When members of the Overall

Gang started raising hell in Porter's, Joe killed one gang member with a Luger. And if the gun hadn't of jammed, he

would have gotten one or two more." According to others present at the incident Cardinal, age twenty-seven and a truck

driver was shot with a pistol in his hand. Virginia Loranger, of Anaconda was told of the incident by her mother Alice

Meloy, who witnessed the shooting. Jack Meloy, Jacks' wife Leona and Alice were sitting in the establishment which

wall to wall people when the pandemonium broke out. "People feared for their lives after shots rang out. Jack, Alice and

Leona were sitting near a window, and to escape the building Jack broke a window and threw coats over the women,

pushing them through frame. Jack then dove out and they all fled for their car, just like everyone else.

Gilluly stated that Cardinal was never named as a member of the "Overall Gang," who were known for wearing bib

overalls. Bullies they were said to come from Butte and made it a habit of picking on people who were weak and de-

fenseless.

Porter's shot didn't kill Herman Cardinal outright. He ended up in St. Ann's Hospital from a gunshot wound in the

abdomen, which proved fatal. The Anaconda Standard printed an article on Monday, August 15th, the day after, stating

Joe Porter was in the Granite County jail. James A (Pinkey) Walsh, Arthur Morden, Henry Giroux and Ed Podobnick,

who had accompanied Cardinal were picked up by Sheriff Mike Mahoney pending an investigation into the shooting.

The news article gave the details of the incident. "Early in the evening Pinkey Walsh and a man from Butte, who was in

cowboy attire, engaged in a fight with Podobnick separating the two. The cowboy and his companions left and no other

disturbance happened until the "Home, Sweet Home," dance. Then several men entered the hall and bottles started fly-

ing. During the melee someone fired a shot, apparently from outside the building, the bullet going in Walsh's direction.

The Anaconda men started out of the building for their car but by then Cardinal had gone to the floor. Podobnick ran to

his assistance, at which time he was struck by a member of the Butte party in the face with a poker. He exhibited a deep

slash on his face where it had landed. The wounded man was carried to another room and laid upon a bed by his com-

panions. they asked Porter to get his car and take the man to the doctor. Porter dropped the injured man and his friends at

Dr. A.C. Knights office. The doctor attended the wound and telephoned Butte asking them to have the company ambu-

lance meet them on the way in. Cardinal was placed in a vehicle to take him to the hospital. They were met by the am-

bulance in Georgetown Lake. Cardinal lived for two days. The bullet had severed several arteries, and even after surgery

was listed in critical condition.

An inquest was held in the death of Herman Cardinal. It was conducted in Anaconda by coroner Barney MGreevey,

a jury determining by consensus that Porter had fired the fatal shot.

At his arraignment hearing in September, Joe Porter plead not guilty to first degree murder, a charge filed by

County Attorney D.M. Durfee.

A few months later a jury trial was held in Philipsburg. The testimony was completed at a night session on Tuesday

and on Wednesday morning Judge George B. Winston gave instructions to the jury. The attorneys began their final state-

ments and the morning session finished around two-forty five in the afternoon. The case was given to the jury about

three p.m. and a verdict of acquittal was pronounced at three thirty.

At trial Porter's testimony was corroborated by his wife. He stated he’d gone to the kitchen after a gun with the in-

tention of shooting into the air, scaring the men away. But when he returned, his wife grabbed his arm, discharging the

gun. He testified he did not know he had shot anyone until Cardinal was brought forward wounded. Porter became a folk

hero. According to one old timer, who claimed the killing stopped gangs in southwestern Montana from terrorizing bars.

Porter's Corner was torn down in 2002. In history it stands in legend as an infamous roadhouse.

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P a g e 1 8

Johann Sebastian Bach, a German composer (1685-1750), would love the fact that his work has been

showcased during the summer in a woodsy pristine setting in Paradise, Montana.

One of the major influences in the creation of Baroque music, Bach, composer, organist, harpsichordist, vio-

list and violinist is said to have drawn together the strands of the Baroque period and brought the musical

genre to its maturity. Baroque music is a style of Western music, and describes a broad range of styles from a

wide geographic area of Europe, most of it composed during a period of 150 years.

The Montana Baroque Festival will celebrate its ninth year featuring baroque music played by talented and

well-know baroque musicians who travel along with their audience to a rural venue. The festival is hosted by

the Sanders County Arts Council assisted by sponsors, one of which is the Quinn’s Hot Springs Resort where

it is held.

It all began in 2003 when Monica Huggett and Jean Morrison met in Plains, Montana. Huggett was on a bike

trip from Glacier Park to Spokane and was scheduled to spend a night at Morrison’s house. The two women

connected immediately on an idea, and their collaboration created a concert series that has drawn a bigger

and bigger audience every year.

Huggett began studying violin at the Royal Academy of Music in London at the age of 16 and has become

one of the foremost baroque violinists of our time. An active international soloist, director and chamber musi-

cian, she has worked with many of the great directors of the baroque world. She currently travels between

Europe and Portland, Oregon where she is director of a Baroque Orchestra. This year’s concert will be held

on July 23-25, 2013. For tickets to each performance or to get a Festival package which includes concert tick-

ets, lodging call (406) 826-3600.

Last summer's Baroque Music Festival is on YouTube to view follow this link: http://youtu.be/

ub1N8KWOVSY. In the photograph above Monica Huggett practices prior to an evening concert at Quinn’s

Hot Springs in Paradise, Montana.

Baroque in Paradise

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Montana Fare

Buffalo or bison is much like beef and it needs to be pre-

pared in a similar manner. You can interchange bison with beef in

any dish or recipe. Here are a few basic instructions for cooking

bison. First of all to be properly cooked go Low & Slow. You can

cook bison to the same doneness as you prefer beef but it is rec-

ommended by several sources to cook it to rare or medium. Bison

is high in protein and iron, and low in fat, cholesterol and calories

Bison is lower in fat grams, calories and cholesterol than

chicken, beef or pork. Do not put bison meat directly in the

flame, grill it at least 4 to 6 inches above medium hot coals. Bi-

son is lean meat and will get dry when overcooked. Here are some times regarding cooking bison of specific thickness. If

you must cook it well done use a slow low heat and cook for a longer period of time, especially with less tender cuts of

meat such as chuck.

Bison steaks are relatively lean cuts of game meat that respond to pan-frying in the same manner as beef. Bison also

has a musculature similar to beef, and the same cuts of meat, such as rib-eye, sirloin and tenderloin filet, are shared by

both. Bison has a gamy flavor that varies in strength depending on how it was dispatched and butchered. Purging the

bison in a solution of saltwater before cooking effectively removes most of the gamy flavor in addition to causing the

protein cells to swell with moisture. It's a process similar to brining.

Cooking Bison

Rocky Mountain Buffalo Oysters

by Connie Sayers from SayersBrook Bison Ranch,

via The Fort

Ingredients:

1 Set of Buffalo Testicles, referred to as “oysters”

throughout the rest of this recipe

Cayenne Pepper

Flour

Olive Oil

Seasoned Salt and Pepper

Preparation: Partially defrost oysters–this is very im-

portant. Using a sharp paring knife and wearing

gloves, cut and peel the outer layer away from the

oysters. They will peel and slice more easily if the

oysters are partially frozen.

Slice into ¼” – ½” slices. Combine the flour, salt,

pepper and cayenne pepper and roll pieces into the

mixture. (If you slice them ahead of time, pat them

dry with paper towels before rolling them in flour.)

Pan-fry for approximately 3 minutes or until a light

crust forms. You can also use beer batter as a varia-

tion. Serve hot with your favorite dipping sauce.

Montana Soufflé From The West Old & New Blog

http://thewestoldandnew.wordpress.com

At the age of fifteen, I already had three to four years of ranch cooking under my belt. My mother had

started me out years prior during the haying and combining seasons. August on the hi-line was highlighted by

glorious spreads of food for the crews working long hours in the hot sun. So by the summer of 1967, when I

took my first five day a week job in the Sweetgrass hills cooking was second nature.

Mrs. O’Laughlin was in her eighties and lived on a pioneer ranch tucked in the foothills below the bald

heads of the Sweetgrass Hills. She lived here with her fifty something bachelor son and a hired hand. She’d

come west on the wagon trains and her idea of cooking was use what you have. There was no running to the

store for supplies. The first thing she taught me to make was what I call a Montana Soufflé. There was nothing

French about it except that if you stretched things it was the closest I’d ever come to soufflé because it was an

egg dish. This dish would become the Tuesday lunch special all summer long.

The recipe was easy to memorize: six to eight farm eggs, one cup of sifted flour, a bit of milk, and a can of

drained peas with salt and pepper.

This conglomeration was then poured into a loaf pan and baked to a delicate brown in the oven. Simple

enough, but it was during the making of my first one that I found my stomach turning, and not from hunger.

Mrs. O’Laughlin had asked me to secure flour from a metal lined drawer, the kind you find in old kitchen

hutches. Scooping out flour in a small metal sifter I noticed prolific black things in it. I didn’t have to look

closely; I knew they were weevils, the bane to homesteader and mountain trader alike when it comes to storing

supplies. I mentioned the little fellows to Mrs. O’Laughlin and she said, “Just sift them out,” which I did. But

as I was on my way to the garbage to dispose of them she told me to just put them back in the flour bin.

Shocked, I did as she asked wondering how old the darn things were.

At lunch, the egg pie steaming on my plate I picked at the mass with hesitance, Mrs. O’Laughlin teasing

me about my paltry appetite. Later that summer I began to relax and consume more of the delicate egg dish. It

is possible I got over my queasiness because I was hungry from all my hard work doing the washing in an

electric wringer washing machine set outside beside the line I hung everything on.

I left the ranch in mid-August to prepare for the start of school and never made the Montana Soufflé again.

I wouldn’t be surprised to hear those weevils are still procreating in that old flour bin under the shadow of the

Sweetgrass Hills.

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P a g e 2 1

Ninepipe National Wildlife Refuge

was established in 1921 and is lo-

cated within the Flathead Indian

Reservation (known as the Tribal

Trust Lands of the Confederated

Salish and Kootenai Tribes) 5

miles south of Ronan, Montana.

Most of the 2,062 acres is part of a

reservoir which was created in

1912 for irrigation of the surround-

ing reservation lands. The exposed

land area is only 390 acres in a

narrow band around the reservoir.

Ninepipes is managed by the U.S.

Fish and Wildlife Service under

the U.S. Department of the Inte-

rior.

Ninepipes is prime nesting habitat

for numerous bird species such as

the Grebe, Canada Geese, Bittern,

Great Blue Heron and various spe-

cies of ducks. Nesting platforms

for Ospreys at one end of the lake

provide added habitat for this

predatory species. Muskrat, Badg-

ers, and Porcupines also reside

here. Grizzly bears have been

known to venture out of the Mis-

sion Range, across Highway 93

onto the refuge. The refuge is not

permanently staffed and has no

improvements. It is managed as an easement and the federal jurisdiction pertains solely to species and habitat

protection. It is considered part of the National Bison Range Complex located near Moise, Montana and is

managed from their headquarters.

Although the Ninepipes Reservoir was created in 1912 most of the land was purchased between 1953 and

1962. The area consists of 3,800 acres which surround the Ninepipe National Wildlife Refuge. It is located ap-

proximately 3,000 feet above sea level and consists of rolling open grasslands with numerous prairie potholes

and kettle ponds. There are remnants of native rough fescue grasslands but most of the areas vegetation is in-

troduced grasses and croplands. If you are an avid bird watcher this is an area to mark for a visit. Ninepipes look-

ing east toward the Mission Mountains of western Montana Photograph by S.F. Roberts

Ninepipe National Wildlife Refuge

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Plains, Montana was called Wild Horse Plains in the early 20th Century. Located on Highway 200 West it has a

population of around 1,000 people. The town runs along the Clarke Fork River which eventually runs into the

Columbian Basin. Built along a rail line the hills were filled with wild horses, with one person noting in the old

days as if the hills were constantly moving. Above is the old jail built in 1904. It is one room and doesn’t look very

comfortable. Photograph by S.F. Roberts

To the left is the Old Perma Store.

It is located along Highway 200

West near the site of the old town

of Perma, Montana, which no

longer exists. Perma was where

the homesteaders on the Flathead

Reservation would take their

grain to sell. It had a railroad sta-

tion and a hotel. Perma was one of

the gateways into the reservation.

It sat along the banks of the Flat-

head River. Stop by for an inter-

esting visit, this little store is like

nothing you have ever seen!

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Contact: auroarogers@gmail.com P a g e 2 3

A Contemporary Valentine from The West Old & NewA Contemporary Valentine from The West Old & NewA Contemporary Valentine from The West Old & New Visit the blog at: http://thewestoldandnew.wordpress.comVisit the blog at: http://thewestoldandnew.wordpress.comVisit the blog at: http://thewestoldandnew.wordpress.com

Photograph by Jake WallisPhotograph by Jake WallisPhotograph by Jake Wallis