The Hardin tribune-herald. [volume], September 28, 1934, Page PAGE THREE, Image 3

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

Image provided by: Montana Historical Society; Helena, MT

                
Friday, September 28, 1934.
Abraham S. Wiley, a Pioneer of Miles City, and His Son,
Howard, Experienced Many Hardships When They Visited
Yellowstone National Park in 1883; Diary Reveals Details
(IN FOUR PARTS—PART TWO)
(By “MON TANA LOU” GRILL)
Mounted on cayuses, late in the
month of June, 1883, Abraham S.
Wiley and his son, Howard, rode a
distance of three miles from Boze
man to Fort Ellis to see Major Gor
don who had a pair of ponies, etc.,
to sell. “They were preparing to out
fit themselves for a trip through Yel
lowstone National park.
“We missed him,” writes the elde
Mr. Wiley in his diary, referring t
Major Gordon, “but looked over th
outfit, and finding him, on our retun
to Bozeman, we concluded a trade. W
got two cayuses of fair quality, a buck
board buggy in good order, lightl
built, and a doublq harness almost en
tirely new and of good quality, payin
for the whole outfit $175. Lt. Mill
bought it to go t
the park thr e <
EglLf weeks “80 for S2OO.
Riding to Fort El
K,’ .\ lis in the ambu
■ ■ aS lance, which hap-
~ pened to be ir
J Bozeman, Mr. Wilej
K- ? 9 drove his new rig
? back. We have beer
' P in our time
[ since, buying stores
/•'■■■» etc., for t* l * trl > ;
; This evening (June
28) Mr. Alderson
"Mon Tana ton- Grin editor of the Avant
Courier of Bozeman
called and tock me to ride. Howard
the son, went to the circus. While ai
Greenhorn gufch, Howard wrote to Del;
Church, living at Billings for a lot o.
blankets he had left with him, direct
ing they be sent to Helena.
“They were there,” the father writes
In his diary, “and if they come back
here in season we propose to start
through Rocky canyon for the park
just after dinner tomorrow. The N.
P. Express have a Hall safe which is
locked up, and they offer me $lO to
open it. I hope to do that before I
go.”
It was on Sunday morning at nine
o’clock, July 1, 1883, that Mr. Wiley and
his son were at their first camp on
Rocky creek. “Here we are after one
day’s experience. Buckboard off-hand
wheel smashed to smithereens, both
horses stolen.”
The bundle of blankets had arrived
in Bozeman Just before noon on Satur
day. After taking dinner at the N. P.
hotel, clothes were changed and the
start made through Rocky canyon.
“Just before passing the fort we came
to a pond and seeing some gray ducks.
I took my gun and went down when
they rose. I shot one which dropped
into the water; then laid low for the
return of the flock. They soon came
back and I dropped another, also in
the water. They crawled ashore and
though Howard and I looked faithfully
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GRAND CANYON IN YELLOWSTON E NATIONAL PARK.
we could not find them. So we gave
up having roast duck for supper that
night and went on."
In passing teams on the road and
getting over to the side, Mr. Wiley
noticed that the “wheels were weak,
and when the vehicle was higher on
one side than on the other that the
lateral strain was springing the wheels
badly. Finally when opposite here
(first camp site) the wheel gave way,
breaking three-fourth of the spokes.”
A piece of wood was brought up from
the creek bottom and placed under the
back axle tree, lashed on and the buck
board drawn to the camp. After the
horses were picketed out, preparations
were made for supper which consisted
of a can of baked beans, a can of milk
and a “pot of excellent tea. The stove
worked finely.” After resting for a
while the beds were made of weeds over
which were spread a rubber cloth and
comforter. The position of the horses
was changed to give them better feed
ing ground.
“I heard the horses snort just before
I went to sleep,” Mr. Wiley records in
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THE HARDIN TRIBUNE-HERALD
his diary, “but thought nothing of it.
Having slept a hour or two, I waked up
finding my position uncomfortable, and
soon heard another snort and the sound:
of galloping. I waked Howard and we,
put on a few clothes, and he with pistol'
and I with gun rushed out to find the
horses both clean gone. We waited
half an hour outside listening, but ’
heard nothing and then went to bed.
I got up at six and made a fire ana
heated the beans and made a pot of
execrable coffee. We made a poor
breakfast, and here we are 13 to 15 miles
from Bozeman with a broken buggy
and no horses. Our tent is pitched and
we have plenty of provisions, so we
might be worse off. Howard has gone
east to a mill 14 miles off to tell them
about it, and find out whether they
heard any horses pass. I am watching
camp.
“Ten o’clock. Thank God!
“Howard has returned with the two
horses. They were not stolen. A bear
must have terrified them and they
broke away, pulling up the picket
stakes. He found them quietly feed-
ing up toward the mill with the picket
ropes dragging. I never felt more
thankful in my life. Our disasters are
now reduced to a broken wheel and we
MAY SEE THE PARK YET.”
Mr. Wiley remained in camp while
Howard went to Bozeman. Catching a
big horse fly he was rewarded by
catching a small trout. He cut a piece
of salt pork and slicing a potato fried
the fish. “It was splendid," he writes.
Securing more bait, he contined fish
ing, pulled a trout out “but he flapped
back again,” while he “twitched some
more out of the water but they did not
hold on.” The sun was too hot “that
I can’t stay out in it long.” Then he
took note of the butterflies and other
evidences of nature about him and
hoped “Howard will be back with a
stronger vehicle by tomorrow night.”
With his supper finished, Mr. Wiley
spent a little time reading “in How’s
"Heart of Mid-Lothian.’ Caught a
-.VC* BmH-
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R 1
Rail 4 * E
I i
RHR
I
A HIGH PEAK IN THE BEARTOOTH MOUNTAINS, ENTERING THE PARK
trout for my breakfast. Fixed up camp
and am shut up tight in the tent. It is
getting dark in the tent. It is a little
lonely and strange. Howard is no doubt
in Bozeman at the hotel. Mosquitoes
were thick this p. m., but I believe there
are more in the tent. It is quite cold."
Mr. Wiley rose at nine o’clock cm the
morning of July 2. He took a cold
bath, cooked some fried potatoes, the
trout, and made some coSee. He clean
ed up around the camp and observed
that the night had passed quietly “ex
cept that something now and then
flapped against the outside of the tent,
probably bats. I was lying hah awake
with my old brown felt hat on when a
mouse commenced to run around the
brim of it."
Having seen John Sherman at Hel
ena, Mr. Wiley writes in his diary that
“Gen. W. T. Sherman arrives today at
Fort Ellis and is going to the park with
a big retinue. I had hoped to be a little,
ahead of them but this untoward event
has balked us. The advance wagon of
the train is now passing I think, four
horses and two lead behind.”
Howard Wiley returned to the camp
at 2:30 o'clock that afternoon “bringing
another buckboard —cost $100.” Later:
“Have just had supper, fried potatoes
and trout, fresh bread, tea and grape
jelly. Just before supper Howard went
out fishing. I went out to see him,
leaving the tent alone; was gone an
hour, perhaps, during which time some
cows came along, knocked our salt bag
about and licked it until it was all wet,
eat up most of our potatoes, trod on our
knives and forks, breaking several,
tramping on our lemons and half upset
our tent. All this we would have for
given them, but one of them took oc
casion to foul our flour bag, one end
of It was soaked. Howard emptied it
out on a rubber blanket and I gave the
bag a thorough washing with soap in
the creek.’*
Camp was broken at six o’clock on
the morning of July 3. The start up
the canyon was made after breakfast.
“At the first house we took the right
road. My heart sank within me and
I told Howard we should never see the
park, that we should break down again
before we had gone five miles; some
times both walked, sometimes one and
it was all we could do to get along.
However, we made a mile and then
found we were on the wrong road, so
we had to take the back track over
that same horrible road and then took
another start. This road was not very
good, only one road at a time, but soon
the road improved and became very
fair.”
A stop was made at a creek for din
ner and let the horses feed. The oats
were left at the first house "so they
must get along the best they can on
grass.” Reaching the valley of the
Yellowstone shortly after dinner (Hay
dens) the party started along up the
valley parallel with the railroad grade,
“no ties on it yet. We kept on until
about six o’clock endeavoring to find
good feed for the horses and a good
camping place.” The difficulties con
tinued.
“We camped where we now sit among
the little elevations of an undulating j
plain. Staked out one horse and let the
other wander at his own sweet will;
pitched the tent and went for trout
down to where the creek Joined the
Yellowstone, but the Yellowstone is so
muddy that we could not raise a bite
though the stream is crowded with fish.
Came back and eat supper, tomatoes
and, com, tea and bread. I split a part
of a can of condensed milk in my lap on
my new duck pants which I bought at
Edwards, a few miles back, my woolen
pants having ripped all to pieces.”
While his son was lying on his back
with his head on the buckboard cush
ion, Mr. Wiley was in “my drawers
waiting for my pants to dry on top of
the tent, having just washed them out
in the creek.” An hour had been spent
unsuccessfully during the morning to.
catch a trout for breakfast. “We had!
fried bacon and all the remaining po
tatoes also fried and coffee and fresh
bread. Howard makes first rate bread,
and the oven of the stove works well.
Snow covered peaks are around us and
not far off. The sound of the rushing
stream, the wind through the cotton
woods and the occasional rumble of a
passing team is soothing accompani
ments as we sit under the shade of the
tent.”
Mr. Wiley watches a large, beautiful
butterfly and muses that it would be
hard to eatch. What an interesting
collection he could make, he writes,
“but we are overloaded with truck
now.” People, he writes, laugh at him
for taking a stove and tent.” Most
people here travel on horseback and
when night comes roll themselves up
jn a blanket on the ground and thus
sleep. Let them do it. I would not
take this expedition without a tent.
We spread a rubber blanket on the
ground, cover it with a blanket or two
and sleep on them, with blankets over
us.”
Sherman’s outfit passed the Wiley
camp at 6:30 o’clock on the evening of
July 4, Mr. Wiley records, “some 50
cavalry and a pack train of 50 mules
are just passing as I write.”
Quiet and restfulness reigned in the
Wiley camp during the forenoon, as
Howard was suffering with “quite a
cold.” At noon, however, the son took
a pole, the father a gun when they
went to a side channel of the Yellow
stone to shoot ducks. They fell into
, the water and it was impossible to get
them. Howard caught two trout while
his father caught a small whitefish,
which “were very nice for dinner; roast
duck would have been better." The
mosquitoes were bad, but the tent was
cleared before retiring and "that’s a
blessing.”
Three days later, on July 7, Mr.
Wiley set up camp about Eve miles
south of Hot Springs. “Evening. Here
we are In the park.”
Passing through Yankee Jim's can
yon on July 5, Mr. Wiley paid the toll
of *1.50. "Terrible steep!” he com
ments. He noted that Sherman’s cav
alry and pack train were also on the
road, but that the general had not come
along. The Wiley camp was set up
just south of Poole’s on the bank of
the Yellowstone. Five whitefish were
caught in the Yellowstone In the morn
ing. On their way to Poole’s while
passing a large reedy pond they stopped
to shoot some ducks. Gardiner was
reached on July e, which Mr. Wiley
describes as a town of canvas. Some
PAGE THREE
purchases were made of Vilas! At the
"Blue Front,” when the jourtiiy was
continued up the Gardiner river, a.few
miles and camp set up on a high bluff
a considerable distance froiif that
stream. j)’
"What a tough camp we had that
night! We had to tug up and down the
most wretched, stony, steep pill foe
water, for wood and to give the!horses
water. The camp was on a rocky field,
too bad to sleep on with blankets only.
So we went just before dark down that
blasted hill again and cut a big:bunch
of swamp grass for bed. We eat duck
slept well, and this morning (July 7)
started for the Hot Springs, entering
the park about 11 a. m., and arraying at
the Mammoth Hot Springs about 2 p. m.
How shall I describe this wonder?”
Mr. Wiley writes of the wonders he
found in the park in the next instal
ment. ■;
ASKS TO SELL
BANK’S ASSETS
APPLIES FOR PERMISSION TO SELL
ASSETS OF DEFUNCT HELENA
BANKING FIRM
Petition to sell assets of the de
funct Banking Corporation • of Mon
tana has been filed in district court
at Helena by Frank H. Johnson, state
superintendent of banks,, as receiver
for the closed institution.
Johnson asks permission to sell ISO
acres of land near Gilman, which the
bank obtained by foreclosure. He states
that an offer of $360 has been received
from R. S. Shortridge, who has been
tennant on the land, and that this
amount represents the fair value of the
property.
A petition was also filed seeking per
mission to effect a compromise settle-
I ment on a Judgment obtained against
E C. Baxter of Harlowton. The peti
tioner stated that SIOO had been offered
in settlement of the judgment and that
it appeared advantageous to accept it
Hearings were set for Sept. 22.
Another petition to compromise on a
note which forms a part of the assets
of the defunct East Helena State bank
was filed by L. S. Kleve as liquidating
agent. The note, executed by E. J.
Deschamps, is in the amount of $575.
The petitioner said Deschamps had of
fered to turn over 41 tons of hay in fun
payment, the only property he pos
sessed. The liquidating agent has an
offer of $lO a ton for the hay.
BIG pOLE BASIN RANGE GOOD
Range conditions in the Big Hole
basin should not cause much winter
feeding of cattle, in the opinion of W.
Huntley, veteran operator of Big Hole
ranches. Mr. Huntley expects to mar
ket 2,000 fat cattle from the basin
country in May, he said, and does not
plan to feed them much winter hay.
MAKES LONG JOURNEY
An Oklahoma tourist, who in ad
vance of his journey north purchased
an all-expense trip through Yellow
stone park, arrived to enter the play
ground and found that hotels and
lodges to which he was assigned were
closed for the season.
THIEF MAKES HAUL
A thief who secreted himself in the
basement of the McCracken store at
Livingston when it was locked for the
night escaped through a rear door with
a quantity of wearing apparel and
money.
More than 100,000 Chicagoans have
hay fever, according to an expert.
$1.50 SUGAR, CREAMER
simply
sending sales
slip showing
JH purchase at
tw o packages
kF Wheatles
and 25c for
special pack
ing and mall-
H M 7.’ 7 / 1
WHEATIES
Mall to Betty Crocker, Mlnneapoßa,
Offer expires midnight, Sept. M, IPM