Old Missoula

He Had A Roll To Pay A Fine

J. E. White Flashes Thousand Dollar Bills.

For All That He Is A Cheap Guy

Busiest Day Police Court Has Had for Many Months – Many Offenders

There was a little incident transpired in the police court yesterday that has created an impression in the mind of Magistrate Hayes that you can never tell a man by the coat he wears – or the occupation he is presumed to follow.

It came up with the sentencing of J. E. White – that is the name furnished, but is presumed to be an alias – for conviction of the charge of resorting to improper places. “The sentence of the court is that you pay a fine of $15 and – “

“That’s all right,” said the defendant, “I don’t mind a little thing like that.”

From an inside pocket he drew a roll of bills that looked like a ham to the court, and from the bunch that showed a number of others, flipped a $1,000 bill over the judicial table.

You could have bought up some good men cheap for a minute so great was the astonishment that for a time prevailed. As it was after banking hours and the court is not in the habit of being provided for the accommodation of men who deal in the denominations that made Montana famous – or infamous – Mr. Monte Cristo came nearly being remanded to the custody of the chief of police until today when his money could be handled in consequence, when he managed to find a fifty among the lot of thousands, five-hundreds and one-hundreds that bore the guarantee of Uncle Sam, and he was let go, probably with the satisfaction of knowing he had created a greater furor in the court than any other man had done.

 

The above excerpt appeared in the Daily Missoulian on October 21, 1902.

A little background for the Monte Cristo and his $1,000 bills. He may have been in the area grooming some of the citizens for the festivities about to occur over the following days. A lot of money no doubt quickly flowed in Missoula then, at least until the November election. It should be noted that the ‘War of the Copper Kings’ was still a prime factor in Montana’s political scene.

First, Missoula played host to a large gathering of Republicans at a rally at the Union Theater the night of October 20, 1902. Hundreds of people attended the event; the Garden City band played, R. W. Kemp presided, and young Harry Parsons gave a rousing speech. Former Senator Carter also spoke at the Union Theater the following evening – in support of Missoula’s Joseph M. Dixon. Republican Dixon won his seat in congress in this November election. He would later become a Governor and a Senator from Montana, as well as a close friend of President Teddy Roosevelt.

The following day another important speaker came to Missoula, Copper King F. Augustus Heinze. The Butte magnate spoke to 3,000 people from the balcony of the Florence Hotel. He railed against W. A. Clark, Standard Oil, the Amalgamated Copper Company, and the Missoulian newspaper. In a few short years Heinze sold out his Montana mining properties for millions of dollars. He would shortly lose it all. The spectacular rise and fall of Heinze is legendary and caused economic ripples throughout the whole country.

His fascinating story is recounted in an online article from Smithsonian Magazine – The Copper King’s Precipitous Fall by Gilbert King – linked below:

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-copper-kings-precipitous-fall-44306513/

 

For a discussion of Montana’s political situation in 1902 see the following:

Battle for Direct Legislation: Montana Politics Beyond the Copper Kings by Thomas A. Jacobsen

https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/5162/