Our Town 100+ Years Ago...June, Part II

OUR TOWN 100+ YEARS AGO - June, Part II: While life in the Jefferson Valley was fairly ordinary, life beyond contained a lot of turmoil. Butte and Anaconda were dealing with different kinds of tragedies. On the front page of the June 17, 1898 Jefferson Valley Zephyr headlines featured "Little Ethel Gill of Butte Outraged, Murdered and Her Body Hidden in an Old Vault;" Bastian Colus died at the concentrator building at the Anaconda upper works when he was caught in machinery; and in Helena, Miss Josephine Harris makes a serious charge against the State Superintendent of Public Instruction of taking $75 of her $125 monthly salary for himself. There was good news, too. Red Cross societies were being organized across the state of Montana, and the Mayflower mine reported proceeds of over $284,000 for the past 12 months. The following local news is taken as written from the June 17 and 24, 1898 editions of the Jefferson Valley Zephyr. The ad appeared in the June 17, 1898, edition of the Zephyr.

SUMMIT VALLEY and SOUTH BOULDER. Congratulations and good wishes go out freely to our young and nervy friend Smiley Morris, who won and recently married an esteemable young lady, Miss Ida Patrick. Both are Montana-raised kids with plenty of push and energy, and they will make their way into the world.

High Shaw came in from Pony last Saturday with a new mowing machine. Boys, grind your pitchforks; alfalfa will soon be in bloom.

The berry crop promises to be the heaviest for several years; picking will probably begin about the 1st of July if the weather continues hot-99 in the shade here today. Farmers have their work well in hand; nevertheless, most people are busy getting ditches ready for irrigating and summer-fallowing next year's crop. The Fourth of July picnic, given under the auspices of the Good Templars of Whitehall and South Boulder, promises to be a grand success of the old-fashioned kind.

SILVER STAR. Silver Star is at last favored with a telephone. The telephone station is located at J.R. Cochran's general store. It is reported quite authentically that J.R. Cochran is contemplating erecting a nice little business block in Twin Bridges, where he will also do a general merchandise business in connection with his increasing business here.

Harry Hamilton found a gold specimen last week in his new claims. The discovery affected his movements to such a degree that he ran against a piece of timber and broke two ribs. Such is the effect of "the shiny" upon tenderfeet.

AT REST. Death of Joseph I. Winslow, One of the Pioneers of Montana. Joseph I. Winslow died at his home on Fish Creek on Monday at 7:30 PM, after a lingering illness, at the age of 63 years. The funeral was held on Wednesday afternoon at the family residence under the auspices of the A.O.U.W. lodge of Whitehall. Mr. and Mrs. Winslow arrived in Montana on May 17, 1863, and came to Jefferson County from Virginia City in the first stampede when they took up the claim on which their present beautiful home was located in 1866.

Wilson Butt Dead - He joins the Old Timers Who have Passed Over the Great Divide. Another pioneer of Montana has gone to the last rest and thinned the ranks of those who are a part of this state's history. On Sunday evening Wilson Butt, an old resident of this valley, passed peacefully away at the hospital in Butte, where he was taken a few weeks ago for treatment. In 1863, he came to Montana and spent a year in Alder Gulch. The following year, he and his brother Jonas moved to Helena and engaged in placer mining in that part of the state. In the autumn of 1895, he sold considerable of his ranch property to the Parrot company and settled upon the old Paul place, just below town, on the old stage road. He was never married.

OUR TOWN 100 YEARS AGO - June, Part II: By June 1924, the front-page news had shifted to mostly local headlines. The local news was filled with information on who visited and who traveled by car or train. All the local men who were at the Montana National Guard camp in Helena were listed, which included the well-known area names of T.T. Black, Audemar Borden, Craddock Leyson, Hugh D. Mosier, A.H. Needham, Lloyd H. Lovelace, W. Riley Pyfer, W. Alvin White, Sylvester and William Wolverton, Anthony (Tony) Block and John McFadden. The following articles are taken as written from the June 19 and 26, 1924 editions of the Jefferson Valley News.

MAN FOUND DEAD. Yesterday morning, while Wm. Stith and Mm. Shrauger were irrigating in a field across the road from the former's ranch, one mile east of Whitehall, they discovered partly hidden in a straw stack in the field the body of a man, who from appearances had died several days previous. Undertaker S. H. Wolverton and Justice W. Tebay were notified at once, and the body, which was so badly decomposed that identification from the features was utterly impossible, was removed to this city.

PRETTY HOME WEDDING. On Monday, June 16, at 8 PM, at the home of the groom's mother, Mrs. Amelia Reilly, the wedding of Mr. John L. Reilly and Miss Teresa Zimmerman occurred. Rev. O. J. Gist was the officiating clergyman.

WHERE YOU CAN SPEND THE GLORIOUS FOURTH: At Cardwell – All the big guns are primed and ready for the word "fire" at Jefferson Island's big Fourth of July Celebration, which will be in charge of the J.I.C. Rod and Gun Club. A special first prize of $2.50 cash will be given for the best picture taken at the celebration during the day.

At Renova – In addition to the picnic features of the event, there will be horse racing, mounted wrestling, bronco busting, foot races, women's nail driving contest, a boxing match, and music and dancing all afternoon night.

CARDWELL NEWS. Rain is still wanted, for the crops require moisture. We are reminded of the summer of 1919 when even the rivers were dry.