Our Town 100 Years Ago: October, Part II

The second half of October 1898 was a mixed bag of events and weather. Springfield, Missouri, experienced the earliest snowfall on record (for the relatively short time European

immigrants had lived there). The cold front plunged into the deep south and, on its way, left Kansas City with over three inches of snow. On October 18th, the first American flag was raised in Puerto Rico. Future Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, William O. Douglas, was born on October 16th. Otherwise, late October 1898 seems fairly devoid of significant news. Here in the Jefferson Valley, there was a lot more going on. The toddler town of Whitehall was growing up and getting recognized by politicians from other parts of Montana. A general election was coming on November 8th with listed candidates from the Democratic, Silver Republican, Republican, and People's Party on the ballot. The following articles are taken as written from the October 21 and 28, 1898 editions of the Jefferson Valley Zephyr.

HOME NEWS: The railroads in Montana have reduced the passenger rate by one cent a mile. The legislature can afford to be as liberal as the railroad and knock off another cent. The ladies of Degree of Honor Lodge No. 24 will give a dance at the Waterloo Hall on Friday evening, October 28, and they extend a general invitation to the people of the valley to be present. There will no doubt be a large crowd in attendance, and that all will have an enjoyable evening goes without saying. Dance at the Hotel Whitehall on Saturday evening, Oct. 22. Good music and the best of times assured.

Lumber was being hauled this week for the offices and buildings of the Sunrise company, operating in Mayflower Gulch. A new road is being built upon which thirteen men found

employment, and things are going along in a manner indicating a good deal of work in prospect. This week, the Zephyr publication office will be moved to the brick building known as the Tebay block, and the east half of that building will be occupied.

Tom C. Marshall, the Republican candidate for Congress, was in Whitehall for a few hours on Monday on his way to Twin Bridges, where he held a meeting that evening and passed on to the Madison County towns. As the republicans of Whitehall were not notified of Mr. Marshall's coming, no one met him at the depot, and the pleasant duty of introducing Tom to the boys fell to the editor of this paper. Our acquaintance with Mr. Marshall is of more than ten years' standing-and he is one of the most companionable men, but unfortunately, he is on the wrong ticket now.

Registration is moving along nicely in this district. Whitehall registered 123 on the first day; on Tuesday, Homestake registered 32; on Wednesday, Pipestone Springs registered 24. It is sage to say 300 or more votes will be cast in the three precincts. Whitehall will poll something like 235-perhaps more.

Marcus Daly passed through Whitehall Tuesday noon on a special train of three coaches, which contained J. B. Haggin and other members of the Anaconda company, as well as a number of ladies. The party's destination was the new coal fields in Carbon County, where the company is doing much development work and getting the mines in shape to ship 2,000 tons a day to the big reduction works. It is said that the Northern Pacific road has made the arrangements for the transportation of the coal over this line, and that yard room and other improvements will be made here.

Sunday's snowstorm, a small affair in Whitehall, proved to be anything but a joke up in the Mayflower country. Knight & Huber's stage did not reach its destination until 8 o'clock that evening, and the gentlemanly Munchausen who conveys the passengers between here and the Mayflower is authority for the statement that snowballs formed upon the horses' feet a foot and a half in length.

1924 was also an election year, and plenty of political articles were in the October papers. President Calvin Coolidge hosted the first media event for a presidential campaign by holding a breakfast at the White House for Broadway actors and actresses. Henry Ford endorsed Calvin Coolidge a few days later, stating he was "short on promises and long on action." On October 19th, a Category 5 hurricane, the earliest known of this magnitude, struck Cuba, killing 90 people. Gunpowder exploded aboard the USS Trenton while conducting drills off the Virginia Capes and resulted in the death of 14 servicemen. The Toastmasters International club was founded on October 22nd. The following articles are taken as written from the October 23 and 30, 1924 editions of the Jefferson Valley News. The photo is an ad from the October 23, 1924 edition.

Valley News –The little son of Mr. and Mrs. Achille Patacini has been ill for the past week. E. E. Powell, the honey man from Waterloo, was in the valley Friday delivering honey to his many customers. This week, the Pyfer brothers are threshing the farmers' grain in the valley. Bud Harbor is again with his bailing crew on the bench. Egbert Woodard is busy threshing at the

Capp Ranch this week. The North Boulder club met at Mrs. Myrtle Dawson's home on Saturday. It was one of the best meetings held for some time. They gave $80 to help the manual training department of the Cardwell Consolidated school. James S. Flaherty, Democratic candidate for Clerk of the District Court, and John H. Williams, Democratic candidate for county treasurer, were calling on the people of the valley Saturday. Several hunters have procured their limit of deer in the hills near the Highlands. Something visited Mr. and Mrs. William Gillespie's turkey roosts one-night last week, killing 22 turkeys, eating four of them, and leaving the remainder. Mr. Gillespie took five of the dead turkeys the next night and put poison in them, and they were all taken, but he was unable to find out whether it was coyotes or bobcats.

TIMELY TELEGRAM FROM ANDY GUMP-Board the Gump Special, October 23, 1924. Dear Voters of Whitehall: It grieves me to a nervous collapse to be deprived of the exquisite ecstasy of stopping in your gem city of the Continental Divide. It would make me thrill with justified pride to clasp the hand of your super men and bow low before the majestic graces of your women, famous for their beauty. Your deep students of history will remember that I have a justifiable home pride in Whitehall, for it was my great-grandmother, Sacajawea, who led the fearless explorers Lewis and Clark to the spot where Whitehall now nestles and halting at the confluence of the health imparting Pipestone and the trout infested Whitetail declared: "Here stretches the fertile soil of the future metropolis of the mountains and the maker of presidents, which I christen Whitehall." Grandma Sacajawea was a medicine woman who read the stars true and unerring. It would make me feel young again to fill my lungs with the ozone of your pure air, but I must content myself with the knowledge that the city which my grandma founded is with me 100 percent or more, for as Whitehall goes, so goes Boulder. Your Brother, Andrew Gump.