Alfred Cave – Missoula Pioneer
Alfred Cave
TRINITY COUNTY
Was a Pioneer – Alfred Cave, a Trinity pioneer, died at his home at Missoula, Montana, on the 1th inst., at the advanced age of 81 years. The deceased was born in Missouri in October, 1828, and was a playmate of the illustrious Mark Twain. He moved to Southern Iowa in 1836, and settled with his family on the Des Moines river. From there he emigrated to California in 1850, and was one of the few hardy pioneers who passed through the memorable winter of 1853-4, and when all were snowed in and forced to live for months on dried peaches and venison. Mr. Cave passed the season in Oregon gulch, Trinity county. After leaving Trinity county deceased went to Arcata, then Uniontown, and entered into the transportation of supplies by pack animals to Sawyers Bar, and then establishing a trading post with his brothers Joseph and Richard, both dead years ago. It was during this time that the Indian war broke out, and Mr. Cave, like many other pioneers, was badly crippled financially. In the early 60’s Mr. Cave went north to Missoula, where he resided until his death.
The Article above is from the Sacramento Union newspaper on April 5, 1909.
The Article below is an excerpt from ‘Montana Its Story and Biography V 2’ (1921), by Tom Stout:
ALFRED CAVE was a Montana pioneer of the ’60s,
and.his activities especially identify him with Mis-
soula, where he lived for over thirty years. He
was frequently honored by offices of responsibility
and trust, and his name is closely associated with
the pioneers who laid the foundation of Montana’s
greatness.
He was born near Columbia, Missouri, October 5,
I829, son of Richard and Colma B. (\Villiams)
Cave. His parents were natives of Kentucky and of
Virginia ancestry. Richard Cave had a farm and
flour mill in Kentucky and in 1820 moved to Boone
County, Missouri. In 1850 Alfred Cave, part of
whose early life had been spent at Florida. Missouri,
where he was a playmate of Mark Twain, set out
for California in company with his father and others.
They made the trip overland and spent their first
winter near Nevada City, California. Richard Cave
lost his life at the hands of highwaymen in Northern
California in 1859.
In California Alfred Cave followed placer mining,
but was especially interested in pioneer forms of
transportation, packing supplies over the rough
mountain trails to the isolated mining camps. In
I865 he came to Montana, bringing provisions by
pack train to Helena. and supplying several of the
well known mining camps of that day. In 1869 the
Cedar Creek stampede started, and he packed in
general supplies and opened a store at Forest City.
Later he also had a similar business on Nine Mile
Creek, having moved his family to Missoula in I873.
For many years he kept in operation a pack train.
This train was captured by Nez Perce Indians at
Henry’s Lake during General Howard’s campaign of
I877. \Vhile a resident of Missoula he acquired some
landed interests and engaged in ranching. He also
handled contracts to supply wood and telegraph
poles to the government. At one time he was man-
ager of the waterworks of Missoula. In 1876 he
was elected from Missoula County to the Territorial
Legislature. In I894 he was elected county treas-
urer, and re-elected in I896. He was also a valued
member of the Building Committee of the Montana
State University. Alfred Cave was one of the first
men in Montana to engage in the raising of fruit,
and his efforts did much to prove Montana’s special
facilities in horticulture.
The death of this honored old timer occurred at
Missoula in February, 1900. He had married in
1871 Mrs. Carrie (Nicol) Hackleman. She was the
mother of one son by her former marriage, who now
bears the family name of his stepfather, and has
long been a permanent resident of Missoula.
Will Cave is at present filling the office of state
deputy humane officer. He was first to hold the
office of county auditor of Missoula County, in
1891; served as deputy county treasurer and during
the late ‘gos made two trips to Alaska. In 1898 he
volunteered in the Spanish-American war. organ
izing a local company which was tendered to Gov
ernor Smith as a Montana organization, but which
was accepted by the United States Government and
which became a troop in the Third United States
Volunteer Cavalry. He was in service, chiefly in
camp at Chickamauga, Georgia. four months. After
his return he was deputy county clerk four years,
was county assessor two years and then deputy coun-
ty clerk again some four years.
The Article below is from Find A Grave website:
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Birth:
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Oct. 5, 1829
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Death:
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Mar. 17, 1909
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OBITUARY PIONEER OF STATE DIES AT MISSOULA Missoula, March 17, – After lingering between life and death for several days with no hope of recovery, Alfred Cave, one of Missoula’s oldest citizens, died at his home, 327 East Front street, this afternoon. Mr. Cave had been in feeble health for several years and the last few months he was barely able to be out of his room. He suffered a hemorrhage of the brain six weeks ago and since that time his relatives and friends daily expected the end, which came this afternoon. Mr. Cave is survived by a wife and five step-children and a brother and sister, the latter two residing at Arcadia Cal. The funeral services will be held tomorrow afternoon at 3 o’clock at the residence, Mr. Noftslinger, a Baptist minister of Butte, to officiate. Alfred Cave was born in Southern Iowa in 1829. He spent his early life in that state and Missouri where he and Mark Twain were boyhood friends. Early in the ’50s the family went to California and lived on the frontier near Sacramento a number of years, where the father was killed by a renegade white man. Shorty after this the family moved to Oregon and then to Washington. In 1865 Mr. Cave went from Walla Walla, Wash., to Fort Benton, this state, and established a pack train route between the two points. In 1870 he went into partnership with Charles Buck, near Iron Mountain, and established a general store at a thriving mining camp named Cedar Creek. The following year he was married to Mrs. Caroline Hackleman and later he purchased the interests of his partner and moved his store to Nine Mile, continuing in the meantime his pack train business in various sections of Western Montana. During the Nez Perce insurrection in 1877, Mr. Cave volunteered the services of his entire outfit to freight supplies, with the soldiers in the Bitter Root valley, and during one engagement, when the Indians surprised the supply train, he lost almost his entire outfit, which was considerable of a financial loss. In 1878 Mr. Cave moved to Missoula and took up a homestead on the south side, where are now the thriving orchards of Orchard Homes Addition No. 3. For some time he worked under contract to supply wood to Fort Missoula, and later handled several large contracts for telegraph poles. Poles which he cut were used for building the first telegraph line in Montana, from Flint Creek, near Bearmouth, to Fort Missoula.
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Later he became interested in municipal affairs, becoming manager of the water works system of Missoula, which position he held until 1894, when he was elected county treasurer, serving four years. Alfred Cave was a man of integrity, whose word was as good as his bond; a whole-souled man of the early pioneer class, who won many warm friends wherever he was known, and his death will sadden many such, not only in Missoula, but in other sections of Montana. Family links: Spouses: Siblings: *Calculated relationship
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Burial:
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