The Hardin tribune-herald. [volume], June 22, 1934, Page PAGE FIVE, Image 5

About The Hardin tribune-herald. [volume] (Hardin, Mont.) 1925-1973

Image provided by: Montana Historical Society; Helena, MT

                
Friday, June 22, 1934.
Cyclone Prevented Bill Nye, Nationally Known Humorist,
From Becoming Resident of Miles City; Plans Were Made
for Him to Join Editorial Staff of the Yellowstone Journal
By “MON TANA LOU” GRILL
Bat for the intervention of a
northern cyclone, Edgar Wilson (Bill)
Nye might have become a permanent
resident of Miles City back in the
middle eighties when he was still on
the sunny side of forty. A positive
engagement had been made between
W. D. KnigQilt and Sam Gordon, pub
lishers of the Weekly Yellowstone
Journal, and Bill Nye for the latter
to come to old Milestown and write
for the publication.
Mr. Nye describes the cyclone In his
article entitled "On Cyclones.” He wrote
that it was his de
। sire to state that his
position as United
States cyclonist “for
this judicial dis
trict became vacant
on the 9th day of
September, A. D.
11884. I have not the
necessary personal
magnetism to look
a cyclone in the eye
and make it quail,
I am stem and even
haughty in my in
tercourse with men,
but when a Mani-
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"Mon Tana Lou" Grill j
toba simoon takes me by the brow of
my pantaloons and throws me across
township 28, range 18, west of the sth
principal merldan, I lose my mental re
serve and become anxious and even
taciturn. For years I had yearned to
see a grown-up cyclone, of the ring
tail-puller variety, mop up the green
earth with huge forest trees and make
the landscape look tired. On the 9th
day of September, A. D., 1884, my mor
bid curiosity was gratified.
"As the people came out into the for
est with lanterns and pulled me out
of the crotch of a basswood tree with
a ‘tackle and fall,’ I remember I told
them I didn’t yearn for any more at
mospheric phenomena.
"The old desire for a hurricane that
could blow a cow through a penitentiary
was satiated. I remember when the
doctor pried the bones of my leg to
gether, he asked me how I liked the
fall style of zephyr in that locality. I
said it was all right, what there was of
it. I said this in a tone of bitter irony.”
Nye then describes two kinds of cy
clones, one a dark maroon cyclone, and
the Iron-gray cyclane with pale green
mane and tall. It was the latter with
which he had frolicked on that day in
early September.
His brother was with him as he was
riding along in the grand old forest.
Bill had been singing a few bars from
the opera of "Whoop ’em up, Lizzie
Jane,” when he noticed that the wind
was beginning to sough through the
trees. “Soon after that I noticed that
I was soughing through the trees also.
Central Montana Pioneers Dedicate Monument
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—Courtesy, Great Falls Tribune.
The Übet and Centra! Montana Pioneer society recently dedicated a monument at Gameill in memory of pioneers of the old town of Übet and
central Montana in general.
A monument dedicated to pioneers of
the old town of Übet and central Mon
tana in general was dedicated at Gar
neill recently by the Übet and Central
Montana Pioneer society. Erection of
the monument is the result of con
tinued effort over a long period by B. F.
Gordon, chairman, and members of his
committee.
The monument is placed on a cement
foundation six feet wide by 16 feet long.
It consists of a large granite boulder
weighing more than two and a half
tons, which was brought from Boulder
by the Great Northern railway.
On each side of the boulder is a “sen
tinel" of sandstone, these specimens
coming from Blood creek in Petroleum
county. Each of the “sentinels” weighs
nearly 300 pounds and they are relics
of a prehistoric age.
Surrounding the base of the menu-
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SAM GORDON
Veteran Publisher of the Yellowstone Journal at Miles City, When Bill Nye
Was Supposed to Come to the Cow Town and Join the Editorial Staff.
and I am really no slouch of a sougher
either when I get started.” Ihe horse
he was riding was hanging by the
breeching from the bough of a large
butternut tree, waiting for some one
to come and pick him. His brother
disengaged himself from a rail fence.
He approached Bill where he was
hanging wrong end up and his personal
effects were spilling from his pockets.
Bill instructed his brother that when
the wind softened down he wished he
would go and pick the horse. At mid
night a party of friends carried Bill in
to town on a stretcher.
“It was quite an ovation. To think of
a torchlight procession coming ‘way out
there into the woods at midnight, and
carrying me into town on their should
ers in triumph! And yet I was once a
poor boy.
ment are ornamental stones, with spec
imens of all kids of ore and different
kinds of petrified wood and animals.
There also are Indian relics. The stones,
ore and other contributions have been
placed in honor of dead and living
pioneers. Several have given marble,
granite and other stones inscribed with
names of early settlers in the vicinity
of old Übet.
Among the Inscribed stones is one
honoring A. R. Barrows, founder of
Übet in 1881. Another recalls to mem
ory William Gordon, who came to Mon
tana in 1863 and was the first settler
in Musselshell valley at Martinsdale in
1870. Frank Gaugler, early pioneer, who
founded Gauglersville and was in the
mercantile business at Übet and Straw,
also are honored.
Other stones are placed in honor of
O. A. Evans, pioneer of 1867 who was
THE HARDIN TRIBUNE-HERALD
“A cyclone is a natural phenomenon,”
Bill writes further, “enjoying the most
robust health. It may be a pleasure
for a man with great will-power and
an iron constitution to study more care
fully into the habits of the cyclone, but
as far as I am concerned, individually,
I could worry along some way if we
didn't have a phenomenon in the
house from one year’s end to the other.”
At the time the engagement was
made between the Miles City publishers
of the Weekly Yellowstone Journal and
Nye, the latter’s health was poor. A
close friend of Nye’s was living in Miles
City at the time. He was afflicted with
the same complaint of physical Illness,
a pulmonary disease, the same with
which Nye was afflicted. Nye’s friend
had found great relief at Mlles City
and wrote urging him to come.
especially known for his musical talent
and who contributed to music with the
dedication orchestra of Sandy Baker,
another pioneer; Charles West worth of
Lewistown, B. E. Stack, who settled in
Montana in 1869 and now is a financier
of Long Beach, Calif., and Thomas
Gregory, who settled on Buffalo creek
near Übet in 1880.
Stones also honor W. T. Neill, a mem
ber of the board of Fergus county com
missioners who built the courthouse
at Lewistown and after whom Gameill
was named; Bridget Logan, first white
woman on the Custer battlefield; B. C.
White, who gave the dedication speech,
and David Lake, deputy supervisor with
the forest service, who took appreciable
interest in the monument. There has
been cemented in the base a plate for
the Shiells, who took more interest in
the monument than many others, says
Sam Gordon came to Miles City in
January, 1881, on a business mission
for Amherst H. Wilder of St. Paul, with
whom he had been associated for 14
years as a private secretary. Mr. Wild
er had large interests in Miles City and
was closing out his business, a task
which he delegated to Gordon. At the
conclusion of his mission, which re
quired a period of about six months,
Gordon decided to remain and link his
future with the fortunes of the then
struggling frontier village. He became
associated with the firm of Broadwater,
Hubbell and company, remaining with
the firm until the fall of 1883, when the
business of that organization was clos
ed out. In September, Gordon farmed
a partnership with W. D. Knight, who
was the sole owner of the Yellowstone
Journal, and assumed the editorship
and business management of the news
paper. Five years later, Gordon took
over the sole ownership of the plant,
continuing in charge until after the
opening of the 20th century.
Bill Nye was coming to write for the
Journal! The arrangements had been
made. Nye, at that time, was not as
famous as he became later, yet the
news that he was about to become a
citizen of Miles City created much local
interest.
When Nye was advised by his friend,
then living in Miles City in the interest
of his health, to come and gain physical
benefits from the climatic conditions,
he replied that he could not afford to
remain idle. He was enjoying a fair
remuneration for his humorous writ
ings. yet felt that if he was going to
establish his residence in the practical
ly unknown frontier town, he would
have to have something to do. In his
reply also he stated that as he planned
on continuing his syndicate work, he
would like to secure a position with a
local newspaper that would compensate
him sufficiently to cover his expenses.
The publishers of the Yellowstone
Journal were advised of the circum
stances. Here was an opportunity, they
were told, to secure the services of a
man already famous as a writer. There
was no way of ascertaining in advance
the influence Nye would bring to the
Journal, but one thing was certain, the
Journal would gain in prestige if Nye
was engaged. There was no occasion
for the employment of additional help
on the Journal staff at the time, the
publishers said. There was no need
for a new literary writer to be added to
the editorial staff, yet the proposition
made was alluring. Nye would come
to Miles City if he could earn his ex
penses on a local paper, and at the
same time gain physical benefits from
the climatic conditions. It was an op
portunity fraught with great possibil
ities, the publishers concluded.
Mr. Gordon. Robert Sheill was presi
dent of the society several times. Mrs.
Annie Sheill has ben secretary about 12
years and has arranged programs for
meetings of the association.
The Brooks community placed a large
boulder of Maiden granite with a plate
in memory of the founding of Maiden
and settlement of the vicinity in 1881.
The Denton community has contrib
uted a marble boulder with an inscrip
tion in memory of pioneers of that sec
tion.
The Moore Woman’s club also sup
plied a boulder for that community.
Names of all who contributed to erec
tion of the monument were placed in a
steel box and cemented In the monu
ment and the names also were sent to
the state historical library, at Helena.
$
Madrid is boosting taxes on rents.
Receives Honor
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WALLACE LAMOREAUX
Who graduated at Intermoun
tain Union college at Helena re
cently, was one of the three high
est members of the graduating
class recently elected to the col
lege society for honors in scholar
ship. Lamoreaux represented In
termountain in this year's Rhodes
scholarship competition, is from
Corvallis and was quarterback on
the Panther eleven.
It has been said of Gordon by those
who knew him intimately in life that
he was able to make- an accurate ap
praisal of a man’s ability and character.
He was exacting in his writings and
demanded careful diction from his em
ployes on the Journal staff. Gordon
had never met Nye, but knew of him
through his writings. He felt that if he
was able to “keep Nye on the staff,”
the Yellowstone Journal would rise to
unprecedented heights in the journal
istic field because of Nye’s membership
on the editorial staff. The fact that
Miles City then was comparatively un
known did not deter Gordon and his
associate from looking with favor upon
the proposition that he come. The only
obstacle was that of wages.
Gordon was public-spirited. He ex
ercised an intense interest in public af
fairs. Possessed of a strong and exact
ing personality, his influence soon be
gan to be felt in the little frontier vil
lage. In the first municipal election
held in Miles City, on Oct. 21, 1887, be
fore statehood, Gordon was elected to
the office of city clerk. He continued
that office for many years, and by
some of the early-day residents was
considered as the "strength and bul
wark” of the municipality as a political
unit.
Looking ahead, as Gordon must have
done at the time the Nye incident arose,
he probably visualized the future trend
of affairs and the part he was to play
in them. A competent man, a good!
winter and a capable editor as a mem
ber of the Journal staff would make it
possible for him to devote more time
to civic affairs. It was a good deal
any way a person would look at it.
There was another angle. If Bill
Nye came to Miles City he would bring
along the fame he already had acquir
ed. Being in ill health, the climatic
conditions would restore his physical
being, as it had his friend who was loud
in his praise of the benefits gained.
The community would become recog
nized as a remarkable health resort.
Hundreds of men and women would be
attracted and influenced to establish
then - domiciles. Real estate values
would rise. The city would expand. It
would become the mccca for-the liter
ary lights of the country. There was
everything to gain if Bill Nye came to
Must Hang
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WILLIAM CATES
Who lost his appeal to the
supreme court on a conviction
and death by lunging sentence
in district court at Missoula
Cates was. .convicted of killing a
prohibition officer at Missoula.
PAGE FIVE
Miles Ctiy. Nothing could be lost. And
then came the doubts that Bill would
come after all, just as the thing hap
pened.
The proposition made by Bill Nye,
through his friend, on the matter of
arranging a stipend to cover, his living
expenses, was favorably considered by
the publishers of the Journat. The de
tails were submitted to Nyp ; by cor
respondence. He accepted them. Plans
were made accordingly to welcome the
popular humorist.
Nye was in Wisconsin at the time the
negotiations for his engagement on the
Yellowstone Journal were negotiated.
He was in search of a spot where he
could remain out of doors ip the in
terest of his health, which wap not ro
bust. It was his habit to spend a por
tion of the day walking, or ridipg horse
back, in the country. Searching for
health was as much of an imposed task
as the necessity of writing in-order to
make a living for Nye. Life, was more
important, but working for a living
by writing was necessary. He was pleas
ed over the prospects of going to Miles
City, and gratified to know that he was
to become a member of the writing staff
of a small village newspaper, even if it
afforded him only compensation enough
to coyer his personal expenses. As he
was preparing to make the trip, he took
one more ride into the woods—and en
countered a cyclone.
His leg was broken. The period of
convalescence was long. Sitting, as was
his habit with his leg encased in a "sili
cate of soda corset,” Nye’s popularity as
a humorous writer increased. The re
jection slips decreased while the ebb
tide brought in a flood of pay checks.
Although his leg was fractured he rose
on his literary feet when he became the
arbiter of his own writing future. He
forgot his engagement with the Miles
City Yellowstone Journal, and never,
following his complete recovery, made
any arrangements to renew his contact
with the publishers.
It was one of the pleasing memories
of the Journal’s editorial force that at
one period of its early career it had
made a positive engagement with Bill
Nye to come to Miles City and become a
member of its staff.
There was some regret, naturally.
“Shortly afterwards,” says an account
of the circumstances, referring to the
engagement, “Mr. Nye was picked up
by a Wisconsin cyclone and had his leg
broken, and his lengthy convalescence
and rapidly growing popularity com
pelled him to ignore his engagement
with the Journal. Had he come here
and stayed, he might have been alive
yet. Conditions here are very favorable
to longevity.”
Velvet beans grown with com for soil
improvement also makes good cattle
feed.
I TOASTIES \
I BOXES A
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on others. Children love them!
Serve Post Toasties often!
The whole family will love
these golden, toasted corn
heart flakes that stay crisp and
crunchy in milk or cream. A
product of General Foods.
By special arrangement with Walt Disney
Enterprises. © G. r. Cor»_ ism
CUT THEM OFF THE BOX