Our Town 125 and 100 Years Ago...March, Part I

MARCH, Part I

Like March 2023, in March 1897 the U. S. Congress was in session and discussing controversial issues. Two hot issues were the boundaries of the Alaska territory with Canada and a bill to prohibit the transmission of detailed accounts of prize fights by mail or telegraph. Federal officials were being accused of practicing deceit when it comes to a bill for opening the south half of the Colville Indian reservation to mineral resource development. In Montana, the Gallatin valley desperado McArther was captured in Fort Benton by Sheriff Clary of Choteau county and returned to Bozeman. The Montana legislature was reviewing a bill to appropriate $15,000 to have Montana represented at the Omaha exposition even though Marcus Daly offered to put up that amount out of his own pocket. In the Whitehall area, mining was going strong, the work at Gaylord was gearing up for another season and local life was pretty typical. The following items are taken from the March 5 and 12, 1897 editions of the Jefferson Valley Zephyr as written.

THE HOME NEWS. • Lost-One suit of long-tailed clothes. Finder will return to Boulder Sentinel and be rewarded.

• The Odd Fellows have moved their effects to the Tebay building, where they will fit a lodge room. The revival meetings are being attended by large numbers and the results are satisfactory to those in charge.

• A boy was born to Mr. and Mrs. J.F. Paul, near Pipestone, and the happy dad is doing well under the physician's care.

• Tuesday's westbound passenger train was delayed on account of the eastern connections, the trouble being with snow on the line in the Dakotas. The fag end of Dakota's blizzard whipped around this section of the footstool on Friday and sent the thermometer register to the zero mark in short order. Trains were badly delayed, and on Saturday the westbound passed through without eastern mail or the sleeper from St. Paul. Yesterday several flags floated to the breezes that frisked around Whitehall.

• The Hermitage was profusely decorated with the nation's colors, and the town flag staff held the stars and stripes. Whether the demonstration was over the fact of Grover's going out or of McKinley coming in was not learned, but the sentiment seems to be that any change from the regime of the stuffed prophet is worth celebrating.

• Murdoch McIntyre, manager of the Gaylord thirst parlors, is on a visit to Butte. A..J. McKay went along to act as bodyguard for the Gaylord man. There are several ladies in Butte who have on various occasions attempted to kidnap Mr. McIntyre.

By 1923, things were changing in many ways and others were the same old thing with a reworded headline. The U.S. Senate began investigating possible criminal activities of the director of the U.S. Veterans Bureau; The first issue of TIME magazine appeared on newsstands; the 68th United States Congress started its new session with 435 representatives and 95 of the 96 Senate seats filled. A challenge to the election of one of the Senators would delay the 96th senator being sworn in for nine months.

The Anti-Flirt Club launched Anti-Flirt Week on March 4th – their purpose was to protect young females from unwelcome attention from men.

Lawrence Sperry, the inventor of autopilot and artificial horizon for airplanes, demonstrated that someday, it would be possible to refuel a plane while it was in the air. And, the process of putting recorded sound on film was demonstrated by Lee De Forest. Mr. De Forest premiered his "talking movie" at New York's Rivioli Theater. In Whitehall, concerns were staying closer to home as travel becomes easier to Butte and Three Forks, businesses change hands and high school sports were in the news. The following articles are based on notes made by Roy Millegan, Sr. from March 1, 8, and 15, 1923 editions of the Jefferson Valley News. The photo is from the Whitetail Dam construction project.

Getting to Three Forks and Harrison is much easier since the Yellowstone Trail now goes through the Cottonwood Canyon. No longer do we have to drive clear up to Cold Springs to head East. The old route to Harrison was a bad one in the winter. Now, it is only 59 and a half miles from Butte to Three Forks instead of the hours-long drive of 79 miles many endured for so long. Most of that mileage saving is from Cottonwood Canyon Road.

The Waterloo Cheese Factory has been rolling out hundreds of pounds of great cheese; but, the recent closing has left people hungry for their aged bricks. There is hope that someone from Wisconsin will be here soon to take over the operation.

The popular Liberty Café is for sale. Mrs. Minnie Flaherty has made many friends here in town but feels it is time to move on to other endeavors. Other business changes include the Yellowstone Garage and Ray's Transfer. Mr. R.E. Tait is now the sole owner of the garage and Ray Stretch bought out Mr. Tebo's interest in his business.

In school news, our local boys finished third in the district basketball tournament at Twin Bridges. Whitehall lost to Bozeman but did very well against Manhattan, Belgrade, and Sheridan. Eleanor Wolverton will be representing Whitehall at the State Extemporaneous contest. She has proven her mastery of words in many subjects. The high school boys have organized a new agricultural club.

Officers are James Barkell, president; Glen Stevens, vice-president; and Roy Newkirk, secretary/treasurer. There are currently 36 students and teachers living at the Dormitory by the old sugar beet factory location. Trees will be planted this spring to try and give the baren grounds a little more homey feel. The Pipestone Bench school closed on March 2nd and the remaining students from there are being taken to the Pleasant Valley school.

There was a fine 75th birthday party given for local pioneer twins Mary Underwood and Elizabeth Shoemaker. Mary ventured to Alder Gulch with her family in 1865 while Elizabeth waited until 1870 to make the journey. Mrs. Sundquist also celebrated a significant birthday of 77 years with a party organized by her son John.

Fishermen need to remember the change in Montana game laws. Fishing can now be closed when conditions warrant, and your daily limit of fish has been dropped from 25 pounds per day to 20 pounds.

Remember to invest your extra cash at the Whitehall State Bank. With their four percent interest on savings, you will be wealthier in short order.