A Strange Missoula River Drowning – 1911 – 1912
Colored Man Take Queer Leave
Lincoln Minor Disappears Mysteriously After Drawing Wages.
E. T. Dorsey, the well-known carpet cleaner, last evening reported the mysterious disappearance of one of his employees, Lincoln Minor, colored, who was last seen Saturday evening. Mr. Dorsey fears for the man’s safety and the conditions under which he took his leave certainly give cause for worry.
“Between 6 and 7 o’clock Saturday evening,” said Mr. Dorsey, “I paid Minor his wages and he left the house, going in his coat sleeves. We have not seen him nor have we been able to find any clue to where he went after that. About 10 o’clock Saturday night he called up the house. I was not at home and my wife answered the phone. Minor inquired for me, but upon learning that I was out, he left no message.
“Minor had a cabin here in our yard. He left all of his belongings there and it is certain that when he left he fully intended to come back that night. It seems that he did not even expect to be gone more than a few minutes, otherwise he would have worn his coat. He had had spells of drinking but we have been unable to find that he visited any of the saloons. It is a queer case and I would be pleased to get any information about him if he has been seen since he left our house.
“Minor cannot be mistaken by those who know him for his features are distinctive. Many take him for a quarter-breed Indian, as he has a characteristic Indian face.”
The above article appeared in The Missoulian on October 25, 1911.
https://www.newspapers.com/image/349327082/
Find Miner’s Body In The River
Corpse of Negro Who Disappeared Mysteriously in October Recovered
The mysterious disappearance of Abraham Lincoln Miner [spelling?], a colored man who was last seen here on the evening of October 22, 1911, was in a measure cleared up yesterday when his body was found on a point of an island in the Missoula river about two miles west of the city, where it had been lodged in some debris. The discovery was made by George White, a rancher of Orchard Homes, who happened to be working in that vicinity and was reported to Coroner C. H. Marsh shortly after noon. Mr. Marsh went to the scene and brought the remains, which were in a fair state of preservation. The man was identified both by his features and his clothes by E. T. Dorsey, who formerly employed Miner in his carpet-cleaning business here.
The Disappearance.
Readers of The Missoulian will remember the story of Miner’s disappearance. Miner had been in Dorsey’s employ for about two years. For some time previous to his sudden dropping out of sight he had been drinking heavily. The last night he was seen alive Dorsey gave him a time check for $14, which Miner cashed at a local saloon. He was last seen about 9 o’clock that evening, having left the cabin where he lived, which was situated in Dorsey’s yard at the end of West Main street, without wearing a coat. It is believed now that after spending most of his money he started home but lost his way in his intoxicated condition and fell into the river. When a search was made of his pockets yesterday $2.25 in cash, a plug of tobacco and a knife were found. The fact that there was money in his pockets is evidence that he did not meet with foul play with robbery as the motive.
No letters or papers could be found in Miner’s effects to give any information concerning his relatives. Mr. Dorsey states that he understood his family lived in Virginia. No arrangements were made for the funeral.
The article above appeared in The Missoulian on February 1, 1912.
https://www.newspapers.com/image/349045862
Ephram Dorsey was a retired Army “Buffalo Soldier” who had been stationed at Ft. Missoula with the 25th Infantry Regiment, as early as 1887. He participated in military actions which took place in Idaho’s Coeur d’Alene mining district in 1892. His son, James Dorsey, was a graduate of the University of Montana’s Law School (1929) and may have been the first black graduate at U of M.