Serving Southern Jefferson County in the Great State of Montana
Serving Southern Jefferson County in the Great State of Montana
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JANUARY, Part I, 125 YEARS AGO: As 1897 dawned, it was a new year with new tragedies and many of the same old problems. Sabotage to a railroad bridge in Tennessee caused the deaths of dozens of people. Aqueduct, New York experienced a serious riot over low wages and high food prices for those working on the Erie canal. Minnesota, South Dakota, and Nebraska were stalled under heavy snow and blizzard conditions while flooding was rampant in Illinois, Arkansas, and northern Michigan. The Spanish...
December, Part 2 Those living in December 1896 would be amazed at how things seem to be repeating in 2022. Wheat crops were failing in the "old world" causing famine; four banks in the eastern U. S. failed; there is public unrest in China against the ruling class, and crimes in other parts of the country make the front page of the Zephyr. The following news items are taken as written from the December 18 and 25, 1896 editions of the Jefferson Valley Zephyr. Mining News: Messrs. Cutler and...
In December 1896, the entire United States was in the grip of a strong winter. The Great Northern and Northern Pacific railroads were struggling to keep their lines open due to heavy snowfall and a deadly rail accident occurred at the Mullen tunnel east of Missoula. William Steinway of piano manufacturing fame died of typhoid fever. Congress was making "Laws Without End" with 1456 measures on their calendar. The Treasury Department reported that the government spent more than it took in. Here...
NOVEMBER, PART II In November 1896, the elections were over, and people were able to focus on other concerns. In the West, flooding in the Coeur d'Alene area was of great concern with 100 cords of wood floating in the lake and train travel interrupted. In Cheyenne, Wyoming, Poison, Murder, and Arson Case was a headline. A well-known saloon keeper, John Mollberg, was charged with murder after putting arsenic in Moses Reeder's beer. Reeder knew who had burned down a competitor's saloon the day...
The Whitehall Fishpond is celebrating its 100-year anniversary in 2022. This artifact symbolizes the patriotic community it was built for, Whitehall, which has always been a patriotic township. During World War I an enormous flagpole, similar to the flag pole at Whitehall Truck & Towing on Highway 55, was erected in honor of local troops deploying. A farewell dinner was held at the theatre with 282 in attendance. Town women knitted socks and sweaters for local boys enlisted. Patriotism was in fu...
The Whitehall Rotary Club and the local VFW and American Legion will hold a joint celebration of the 100th anniversary of the historic fishpond on November 11th starting at 12:30 PM at the fishpond. The program of approximately 30 minutes will include a history of the pond and several songs performed by the Whitehall High School band. A reception will be held at the Community Center following the program. The pond was constructed in 1922 in honor of World War I veterans. In the early years it was maintained by the veteran groups, then the...
NOVEMBER PART I November 1896 was significant with the presidential election being fought between McKinley and Bryan. McKinley was declared the winner. The battleship Texas sunk in the Brooklyn Navy yard, sitting about five feet below the water line. The court case in the news was the United States versus American Bell Telephone Company. A decision in favor of the government would open the telephone to public use. Here in the Jefferson Valley, the Zephyr's November issue was the last by popular...
The Whitehall Rotary Club and the local VFW and American Legion will hold a joint celebration of the 100th anniversary of the historic fishpond on November 11th starting at 12:30 PM at the fishpond. The program of approximately 30 minutes will include a history of the pond and several songs performed by the Whitehall High School band. A reception will be held at the Community Center following the program. The pond was constructed in 1922 in honor of World War I veterans. In the early years it was maintained by the veteran groups, then the...
In late October 1896, the focus was on the upcoming November election. But there was plenty of other news on the front page. A hurricane caused severe damage to resorts at Coney Island, a Brit beat American Johnny Murphy for the bantamweight boxing world title, and notorious highwayman Albert Hence Downen is arrested in Denver and confesses to at least 50 hold-ups around Denver. The focus in Whitehall was also leaning toward the election but regular life continued on as well. The following are...
The Whitehall Rotary Club completed their annual distribution in October of dictionary/reference books to local third graders. Third grade students in Harrison, Cardwell and Whitehall receive the books each school year. The books are purchased from The Dictionary Project, a national non-profit that promotes literacy. The books contain a basic dictionary along with sections on the U.S. Constitution, the U.S. states, world countries, the planets, world maps, weights and measures, sign language...
Editor's Note: The Whitehall Ledger received notice that former Whitehall resident Roy Millegan had passed last week. His obituary is forthcoming; Jefferson Valley Museum curator Arlene Weber was asked to comment on Roy's passing. Roy was a man known by many and his efforts affect all in Whitehall even if he was not known to them. Everyone who has lived in our community has left their mark, some much more than others. Roy Millegan is one who left a very positive mark that will hopefully remain...
24 was winding down but not without turmoil in October of that year. A miners' strike was continuing in Colorado, a child is killed by rats in a Baltimore home, the upcoming presidential election was causing a division in the democratic party, and troops were sent to Tuskahoma in the Choctawcountry to guard against possible trouble from the selection of a new tribal chief. People of Montana were insulted by John Sherman, Senator from Ohio, when he called us an "undesirable state" and we were...
The first Oral History program was held at the Jefferson Valley Museum on Wednesday, September 21st. At least 15 attendees listened to the recorded interview between Roy Milligan, Sr. and Bernard May and were able to see photos of many of the places and people talked about. With a favorable response from this group, a second program will be planned for sometime this winter....
During the second half of September in 1896, there was a dynamite plot against Queen Victoria, and a war was raging in Europe with reports of an organized massacre of civilians. Here in Montana rainfall in the state was the greatest known in the summer months, Tom McFadden, a Powder River ranchman and old Indian scout, was killed by being thrown from a vicious horse, and The Old Faithful mine near Bannock may have the richest body of ore discovered in the world-17 ounces of rock yield a quarter...
Was it a change in the weather or something else? By September 1896, law and order in the valley seemed to have withered in the summer heat. The rest of the state was not much better. Constable Thomas Coombs of Butte was attacked by five "roughs" and nearly beaten to death when he tried to serve an arrest warrant on one of the men; Mrs. Rose Heimbach of South Butte was thrown in jail for attacking Mrs. Susie Snelling with vitriol after Rose said, "You can have my husband, but first take this,...
Mining was the newsmaker in the Jefferson Valley in late August 1896. Outside of our valley, there was a national debate on backing the dollar with silver; a yacht race on Lake Erie was canceled due to a lack of wind while in the Ohio Valley, the Green oil field sustained over $100,000 in damage from severe wind that knocked over oil derricks and lightning killed livestock and destroyed several barns. The following is taken as written from the August 21 and 28 editions of the Jefferson Valley...
In August 1896, a heatwave was making the nation swelter; Texas was scorching hot with temperatures of 107 to 112 reported. Hundreds of deaths were reported in New York City; Chicago reported 577 deaths in one week and deaths of animals in the city were much higher than humans. Deaths were also reported in St. Louis, Cincinnati, Kansas City, and Peoria. In Canada, American money was not welcome. Canadian banks were warning merchants, farmers, and the general public to not accept American money....
Rotary Club President Wayne Peterson presented Pastor Bill Lanes with the latest Wheelchair Award for the Assembly of God Church. This is in appreciation for the use of their fellowship area during the Vitalent blood drives. The Rotary Club began the award program about 18 years ago to recognize individuals, groups, or businesses who voluntarily provide service to our community and valley. The money to fund the $150.00 donation to the Wheelchair Foundation in honor of the recipient is made...
July Part 2 July 1896 offered a lot of storms, locally and across the nation. There was dissent in the Democratic party on who to nominate for President, storms in South Dakota and Nebraska killed livestock and ruined crops, a war in Cuba with Spain was showing heavy losses for the Spanish, and gold reserves here in the U.S. were growing as banks made good on their treasury promises. The following news items are taken from the July 17, 24 and 31, 1896 editions of the Jefferson Valley Zephyr....
In early July 1896, a general election was just months away and backing our dollar with silver was in debate. In Wilkesbarre, Pennsylvania more than 40 miners were killed in a cave in. United Confederate Veterans were holding their 6th annual reunion in Richmond, Virginia; the Equal Suffrage Convention was being held in Boise, Idaho; and horseracing was a big draw in Anaconda, Montana. Here in the Jefferson Valley, there were changes in businesses, people getting married, and construction on...
In 1896, just like today, people were looking forward to the official start of summer. Nationally, headlines included the fire that destroyed Hope, Idaho; the first session of the 53rd Congress concluded with only 50 members present and fighting between members from Texas and California; a building collapse in San Francisco kills five. Locally, flooding is a concern. The following are taken as written from the June 19 and 26, 1896 editions of the Jefferson Valley Zephyr. The accompanying photo...
The Whitehall Rotary Club is offering one last chance to order engraved tiles at the historic fishpond in the center of town. There are up to 26 full tiles available for engraving; 4 at the bottom of the wall and the others on the two benches. Orders will be accepted between now and August 1, 2022, or until all tiles are purchased, whichever occurs first. A full tile engraving can be purchased for $125.00 or one-half of a tile for $75.00. Artwork requests will incur an additional fee. Order...
June 1896 in the Jefferson Valley: Whitehall is a growing community, and everyone is eagerly awaiting the official start of summer. But rain is making the rivers rise and threatening cropland. Nationally, there are questions about election results in Oregon, a severe storm in St. Louis has left 120 people missing, our government was calling for stricter surveillance of meat being imported into the U.S., and a cannery is burned to the ground by militants in Astoria, Oregon. The local news items a...
The Jefferson Valley Museum will open for the 2022 season on Saturday, May 28 and will be open for Memorial Day on Monday, May 30. Visitors are welcome between the hours of noon and 4 PM, Tuesday through Sunday through September 15. Special arrangements can be made, with sufficient advance notice, for groups if they need to make their visit in the morning. Museum volunteers provide free tours of the many, varied exhibits including new displays about Clays in Calico pottery and 4-H history in...
What were some of the national headlines in late May 1896? Some are similar to today: Twisters in the mid-west, election irregularities in Alabama, the U.S. House delaying any decisions on immigration measures, people campaigning for seats in Washington, D.C. But here in the Jefferson Valley, people were busy building businesses and agriculture for the next generation. The following are taken as written from the May 22 and 29, 1896 editions of the Jefferson Valley Zephyr. The photo is an ad that appeared in the paper during that time....
