Our Town 125 and 100 Years Ago...

125 YEARS AGO: NOVEMBER, PART I: In early November 1897, there was plenty of Montana and national news. It was reported that Butte counted 52 deaths during October, a number of them miners who experienced horrible deaths and some ladies of questionable morals in the shady parts of town. A young man dropped dead in Marysville while dancing a waltz; Louis Desberges of Great Falls had been of unsound mind for some time, attempted suicide by jumping in the Missouri River; four men escaped from prison at Deer Lodge with two captured in Pocatello, Idaho; and a young school teacher in Sweet Grass county was exonerated by a committee appointed by State Superintendent Carleton of the divisive gossip spread about her. Nationally there was election news, a report of the steamship Idaho sinking between Buffalo and Chicago with 19 sailors aboard, and in Cuba, tens of thousands of people were dying from starvation but physicians in Havana were forbidden to give starvation as a cause of death. Local news, for the most part, was a little more mundane. The following articles are taken as written from the November 5 and 12, 1897 editions of the Jefferson Valley Zephyr. The photo is an ad for the Windsor Hotel that was located on the northwest corner of Main and First Streets. The brick duplex that stands there now was the main floor of the hotel. The upper story was damaged by fire in the early 20th century and removed.

The Zephyr last week noted the death of Mrs. Sarah Bumby, a lady who had lived in this part of the state since 1873. The death seems to be particularly sad. At the time of Mrs. Bumby's death, there were ten other members of the family lying ill with typhoid fever at Dillon. The remains were accompanied to Silver Star by her two grandsons, Walter and Crossland Brooks, and they are buried beside relatives who had gone before.

Mr. and Mrs. W. M. Fergus went to Boulder on Sunday. On Monday Mr. Fergus became Commissioner Fergus and assumed the responsibilities of one of the county dads. It is the first time that this part of the county has been represented on the county board, and people at this end of Jefferson are hopeful that they will receive the recognition that they believe has, on numerous occasions, been denied them.

Prof. T.T. Black, of South Boulder, was in town Saturday on his way to Virginia City, where he is attending the teacher's institute this week. (at Parrot) The school children are enjoying a week's vacation, while their teachers, Miss Blackmere and Miss Comfort attend the teachers' institute at Virginia City. Several teachers have within the past two months been heard to express the opinion that the regulation county institute is of little or no benefit to anyone concerned and a source of expense and annoyance to teachers. This has always been the opinion of this paper.

Ira C. Covert, of Pipestone Springs, will leave within the next few days for a visit to relatives and friends in Pennsylvania. He has not been home since 1859, and he proposes to take ample time or the renewal of early-day friendships, and will probably be gone four or five months.

Tim Todd, of Sacry's, who has been out with a thresher this fall, was in town yesterday. He says that work was suddenly stopped in South Boulder by four to five inches of snow and that there are four or five inches of beautiful stuff in that country. There are five jobs of threshing yet to be done there.

An earthquake shock at 2:30 Thursday morning woke the people of Whitehall from their slumbers and alarmed some of them. There were a series of short shocks, but so far as heard no damage was done. The shock was felt in Butte, Helena, Anaconda, and other state towns.

100 YEARS AGO: NOVEMBER, PART I: In early November 1923, Germany was in turmoil. Hyperinflation made it necessary to issue a 100 trillion-mark banknote and Hitler was making key moves to step up in power even when imprisoned for high treason. Riots were taking place in Germany, Austria, and Poland and the Soviet Union unveiled its new flag with the hammer and sickle. Canada ended its prohibition on the sale of liquor. In the U.S., Navy Lieutenant Harold J. Brow set a new flight airspeed record of just over 259 mph and U. S. Army Captain Harold Kullberg made the first arrest for a violation of air traffic rules when stunt flyers landed at Stowe airfield in Ohio. Jack Kilby was born in Jefferson City, Missouri, and would later have a key role in inventing the handheld calculator. In our Jefferson Valley, things were not quite as dramatic. The following articles are created from notes made by Roy Millegan, Sr. from the 1, 8, and 15, 1923 editions of the Jefferson Valley News.

OBITUARIES: Former Whitehall resident, Barbara Theresa Cloos Burns passed away on October 25th in Butte. She was born on September 2, 1878, in Otougamy County, Wisconsin. She and Herman Burns were married on September 2, 1897. They came to Whitehall in 1905. She is survived by her three children, Mrs. Clinton Sloan and Clinton Burns of Whitehall and Mrs. Ester Stewart of Freemont, Ohio. Her mother, four brothers, and seven sisters also survive.

Mrs. William Skakles has died at the age of 43. She lived two miles east of town. She was born in Scotland and came to America in 1906. In 1907, she married William at a ceremony in Great Falls, Montana. They lived in the Deer Lodge Valley for ten years before buying the Alex Alexander ranch here. She is survived by her mother, four sisters, and her two daughters Helen Louise and Mary Marguerite.

LIBRARY NEWS: Work continues to establish a library for our community. We have many things that make this a great place to live and adding a library will make it even better. Mrs. Fessenden has offered to take on the duties of librarian and dispense books at least one afternoon each week. While the newspaper office has offered the use of its back room, it is not suitable for having a reading room and library together. Residents are asked to look at their own collection of books and find several volumes that would be suitable for helping build the library stock. A special "Shower the Whitehall Library" week will be held November 19 to 24. Donated books can be dropped off at the news office during this time.

BUSINESS BITS: Houses in the Sugarbeet Factory row are now available for rent. A six-room house can be obtained for $18.00 per month. Other houses rent at $10 and $12 per month.

With the untimely death of Dick Common, the town council is looking into the possibility of using the Common building as our fire station. J. E. Fitch will be using his new Dodge truck as a stage with a route between Cardwell and Butte. The Whitehall Trading Company is closing out its inventory of $35,000 in merchandise. All items must be sold in the next 20 days. Louis Lepp has completed a new concrete bridge near the Beall ranch south of town. Smith and Tuttle, formerly the Smith Garage, do auto repairs and battery work in their shop in the C. J. Pruett building one door north of Ike Pace's law office on Main.

Early valley pioneer George E. Bruffey, now 83, paid our town a visit after a 30-year absence. Mr. Bruffey came to Virginia City in 1864 and moved to the Jefferson Valley in 1865. For nearly a decade he operated a general store, post office, and stage station west of Fish Creek on what is now the Gordon Ranch. He resides in Big Timber and has ten living children.