Old Missoula

Charles Schafft was the official clerk and recorder at the sanctioning of Missoula County in 1865. One of his duties was recording the affairs of tempestuous proceedings that took place at the first county meetings. It turns out that the county’s first officials were frequently not in agreement. The first article quoted below from The Anaconda Standard on 11/27/1893 recounts some of these first proceedings:

FIRST COUNTY BOARD
It was in 1865 and It Held Its Meetings in Hell Gate
BARON O’KEEFFE’S TROUBLE
His Citizenship Was Questioned By His Fellow Commissioners But He Fought Back in Good Style
Missoula, Nov. 26

Anybody who believes that trouble in county affairs is a modern institution and that county commissioners always agreed in the good old days, should read a few pages of the first record book kept by the commissioners of Missoula county and learn there of the trials and tribulations of Baron O’Keeffe, one of the well-known pioneers of this county. The book is a small one, about eight inches square, ruled for a ledger, and, though worn with much handling, is well preserved and is the only record extant of the struggles of the young county for existence.

The town of Hell Gate was the original county seat, and the record shows that there was held Oct. 16, 1865, the first meeting of the commissioners of Missoula county. The commissioners were H. W. Miller, F. L. Loveland and C. C. O’Keeffe, “the baron.” Charles Shaft (sic) was the clerk, and in his precise handwriting are recorded the earliest transactions of the county officers of Missoula county. One of the first acts was appointment of Frank H. Woody as county attorney, and then came the allowing of election bills, which were very reasonable, considering the prices which at that time prevailed throughout the west. An office was rented for $10 per month and the county clerk was instructed to furnish the assessor with the books and blanks necessary for his work.

On the next day the board met in adjourned session and Baron O’Keeffe’s troubles began. He was one of Clerk Shaft’s (sic) bondsman and wanted to be released. Then Mr. Shaft (sic) wanted to resign. Both requests were laid on the table. But the war had only just begun. As soon as the first excitement had abated, Mr. Woody raised a question as to Mr. O’Keeffe’s citizenship. The latter stoutly affirmed that he had declared his intention to become a citizen and was entitled to a seat on the board. The matter was finally dropped without a settlement and the board adjourned.
On Oct. 19, the clerk received a letter from Frenchtown, worded as follows:
Mr. Shaft (sic)- Please postpone this assessment book business and please send for the blank rolls from the auditor of the territory,
Henry W. Miller
F. W. Loveland.

The clerk posted a notice postponing “this assessment book business” and nothing of further importance occurred in the county until the next regular meeting of the board in November of the same year.
While Hell Gate was thriving after a fashion down the valley, a settlement at the union of the Rattlesnake and Missoula rivers had been growing apace and had finally been dignified by the name of Missoula Mills. The people of the new town wanted people to know that they were doing business, and consequently, when the commissioners met Nov. 11, 1865, they found a petition signed by 64 persons, asking them to locate the county seat, until the election, “at a place called Missoula Mills, near the mouth of Rattlesnake creek.” This made the baron wrathy and he made a Helena-for-the-capital argument in favor of Hell Gate, but it didn’t work, and the others voted to change the county seat to Missoula Mills. So Missoula became the county seat. No further business of importance was transacted before the board adjourned.

On Feb. 6, 1866, the commissioners accepted the resignation of Mr. Shaft (sic) as clerk and appointed F. H. Woody as his successor, he resigning the office of county attorney to accept the new position. Shaft’s (sic) salary for a year and his supplies together amounted to $62.
The first ferry licensed by the county was one on the Bitter Root river, operated by Messrs. Miller & Pomery. The commissioners fixed the toll rates as follows: wagon with one span of animals, $3; man and horse, $1.50; hogs and sheep, 10 cents; “footmen, 50 cents.”

As the county became more thickly settled, a jail was considered necessary and at the February meeting the commissioners passed a resolution that “the sheriff shall cause to be built or build a building for a county jail of the following dimensions and description: To be built of hewn timber 10 inches square and the same covering and flooring to be of the same, well fastened down; to have one window made of iron bars, also a good and substantial door well secured with a good lock. The said building to be 12 by 14 feet square in the clear. The whole building to be well pinned or spiked together and covered with dirt, said building to be paid for when the treasurer shall have the funds for that purpose.”
H. P. Larabie had been acting as sheriff all this time and he built the jail as specified and it was accepted in May, 1866, as satisfactory.*

In June the board of commissioners held a brief meeting, at which they divided the county into four townships, Stevens, Hell Gate, Frenchtown and Jocko.
In July Mr. Miller’s term expired and at the August meeting of the board C. A. Parker was sworn as his successor. The new commissioner was elected chairman and once more Baron O’Keeffe got into trouble. It appears that there was some suspicion of jobbery on the part of some of the county officers and the baron moved that an investigation of the treasurer’s books be made. No one seconded this and he moved that the clerk be instructed to correspond with the governor, to find out if the board had a right to question the “legitimacy” of the county officers. This motion was lost and in the record the clerk underscored the word “lost” and enclosed it in quotation marks. This defeat incensed the baron and he left the meeting, saying that he would do no further business with the board until he was assured whether or not county officers could go upon each other’s bonds. He was not present at the next meeting and the other commissioners added $2,500 to his assessment. He appeared at the following meeting, however, and they took off $1,000 of this.

He was determined to be a commissioner and was in his seat at the June session of the board, ready for business. Commissioner Parker, however, was after him and called upon him for his certificate of citizenship. He said that he had lost it. Failing to produce it, the other commissioners declared his seat vacant and he withdrew. At two subsequent meetings Mr. O’Keeffe appeared as claimant for the vacant seat, but each time his claim was rejected and he finally surrendered. The records are dull history after that, and one of the most interesting characters in Missoula county history disappeared from public office.

*Note: According to The Missoulian (9/26/1965) the first Missoula jail was built by Thomas Tweedy. He was paid $400 for building it. The same article noted that O’Keeffe served 2 terms in the Montana Territorial Legislature, despite not being a citizen.

A different article also quoted here, from The Anaconda Standard, on May 12, 1906, also called attention to the first book of records for Missoula County. It is of special interest since it highlights what is surely a myth regarding some drawings that accompany parts of this county document. Charles Schafft, the first county recorder, was likely responsible for any artwork that appears in the first book of Missoula County records. That he received art training as a youngster has been noted before. Examples of his drawings can be found in several places, including in the archives of the Montana Historical Society:

Pioneer Officials.
The first book of records of Missoula county was a 225 page affair, ruled for a day book, such as was in vogue 40 years ago. Frank H. Woody was the county recorder and the records are in the venerable judge’s handwriting, the front fly leaf being ornamented by a picture of an eagle presumably drawn by the judge. A pen drawing of the national bird appears on several of the older records and the transcribers have had a difficult task in following the various tracings in order to make an accurate copy. On another page of the record the names of the officers of the county are written. All of the officers, with the exception of Judge Woody, were appointed by Governor Sydney Edgerton, Feb. 10, 1865.[Woody was appointed by Charles Schafft.]
The officers of the county at that time were Andrew J. Campbell, sheriff; George P. White, probate judge, and Charles Shaft (sic) county clerk and justice of the peace. Shaft (sic) was an old-timer in the territory. During the winter of 1861-2, while journeying to winter headquarters of Lieutenant Mullan, which were then at the confluence of the Blackfoot and Hell Gate rivers, Shaft (sic) had his feet so badly frozen that amputation became necessary. He was cared for by the army physician, and when the Mullan camp was broken up in the spring of 1862 Shaft (sic) was packed by a detail of soldiers from the Blackfoot to the mission, where he spent the summer recuperating.