Serving Southern Jefferson County in the Great State of Montana

Our Town 100 Years Ago: May 1922 Part II

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.

Zephyrettes and Personal Chat: Dan Morrison’s elegant brick house is approaching completion. It will be one of the finest in the county and a great credit to Whitehall. Lumber for the W. B. Gaffney Co. Lumber Yard is beginning to arrive. It will soon be so that if there is anything you want that cannot be found in this place it will be useless to look for it in Butte.

At Waterloo, a suburb of Gaylord, A. Davis, cashier of the First National bank of Butte, is building what will be the most handsome residence in Madison County; it is on the gothic plan, containing 10 rooms, and will be completely surrounded by a veranda eight feet deep. This handsome country home will be completed sometime in June at a cost of about $6,000.

Mr. and Mrs. H.O. Hickman, accompanied by Perry Woolverton, sailed in a prairie schooner, early in the week, for the Salmon and Snake River valleys, on a tour of exploration. Judge Deeney, Whitehall’s distinguished jurist and exponent of “sluff” was under the weather yesterday so seriously as to be obliged to close court for the week and dismiss the grand jury.

Masonic Banquet: This evening there will be a special meeting of the Masons, to which the wives of members of the order will be admitted, followed by a banquet at the hotel. The outcome will probably be the organization of an Eastern Star lodge. Warm days are starting the grass on the hills and mountains nicely, and the ranges look in better condition than at any time last season. Mr. Shull, a blacksmith of this place, showed the agricultural editor of the Zephyr recently, the model of the mowing machine of his invention which for simplicity, and cheapness of construction will get away with anything that is manufactured. He has had several good offers from manufacturers to place it on the market.

The Jefferson County committee has issued a call for primaries to be held in the different voting precincts on June 1, to select delegates to the county convention at Boulder on June 10. This convention will select 13 delegates to attend the state convention at Butte, on June 20, which will select six delegates to attend the national convention in Chicago on July 22. Whitehall is entitled to six delegates. So far as heard, the local committeemen have issued no call for the selection of delegates.

Sheriff Haines, of Madison County, passed through here early in the week with a girl destined for the reform school. Brush Beckwith rode over from Boulder, Sunday, on his bike. He came part of the way ahead of the wheel, and as a consequence has been going around all week with a game leg.

Charles Backes, of Bozeman, brother-in-law to Col. Dan Morrison, and an occasional visitor to Whitehall, has a magnificent pair of bull elk which he keeps in an enclosure at the back of his residence here, and he has decided to break them to drive, both singly and as a team. “Rattlesnake Jack,” formerly of Beveridge’s wild west show, will break the animals, taking them one at a time with an old mule until they become used to being driven. Mr. Backes will probably place these animals on the track at the races this summer should they become sufficiently docile, says the Bozeman correspondent of the Anaconda Standard.

In late May 1922, graduation from high school was complete and agriculture was now the focus for the summer along with the upcoming elections. The following news items are based on notes made by Roy Milligan, Sr. from the May 18 and 25, 1922 editions of the Jefferson Valley News.

Local sheepmen are receiving 37 cents for wool. 47,000 pounds have been produced by just four local flocks. A 50/50 dairy business partnership has been established between Mr. Charley Myers and Mr. Frank Wyne.

The railroad crossing on Division Street will soon be much safer for those who fail to look both ways. An electric bell will be placed at the crossing to alert all crossing there that a train’s approach is imminent.

Our former local and ambitious young man, Jack Pace is now the warden at the State Penitentiary in Walla Walla, Washington. While still in town, he ran the Whitehall paper from several locations south and north of the railroad tracks.

Election judges have been appointed for the primary, 4th precinct, to be held in August at the Yellowstone Theater. They are S. D. Houghton, E.W. Wolverton, C.W. Hatch, T.T. Black, and John W. Reed. For the Cardwell area, they are Dave Ogan, C.A. Dillet, W.G. Tebay, Wiley Mountjoy, and George L. Lyons. In Piedmont, things will be handled by I.B. Miles, U.W. Elmer, N.E. Levengood, Cleve Gregson, and J.O. Jordan. At Homestake, Frank Cline, William P. Wade, and James E. Kendall. For those living in the Pipestone area, their judges will be George McPherson, Louis Piazzola, and Albert Francis.

Our local committee for the Yellowstone Trail is under the great leadership of Mr. Harry Huber, a long-time local businessman. The Trail is sure to be a great boon to all Whitehall businesses with an increase in visitors motoring through our community. To improve our appearance for this new wave of visitors, changes will be made to Legion Avenue and not to the liking of all. The installation of pavement and gutters will require the removal of the large trees that have provided great shade on our main street for the past 22 years. The trees, four Carolina Poplars, were planted in 1900 by Mr. Charles Pruett and laboriously watered by Mr. Henry Schmidt. The hotel owners even erected a bench under the trees where “loafers” could meet to discuss important matters of the day. While we know that several of the trees are sick with some disease and must be put out of their misery, the corner of Legion and Division will never be the same without them.

 

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