Catlin, John B: Part 4, Section G – Lewiston A Violation – Inverted Conquest – Nation Dissolved – Dreamers – Old Joseph Dies – Murder Unpunished – General Howard – Lapwai Commission – Leave Mr Washington Alone – Toohoolhoolzote – Deadline – War Begins

Posted by: Don Gilder On: October 12, 2011

LEWISTON IDAHO – A VIOLATION As noted earlier, the activity near the new towns of Orofino and Lewiston (as well as in most other prominent gold strike communities) would have been remarkable. By late 1861 some of the Nez Perce people were taking advantage of the circumstances for their own Read More

Catlin, John B: Part 3, Section D – Blackfoot City – Carpenter Bar – Montana’s Largest Nugget – Calamity Jane – Frontier Woman – Mary Ronan’s Amazing Tale – Riding Story’s Little Donkeys

Posted by: Don Gilder On: August 2, 2011

Blackfoot City – Carpenter Bar – Largest Gold Nugget – Calamity Jane Below is a description of the Blackfoot City mining area available at the Montana Abandoned Mine Lands web site: Located about 25 miles west-northwest of Helena near the town of Avon is the Ophir District. The district lies Read More

Catlin, John B: Part 3, Section C – Cousins – Rough Trip to Skalkaho – Fogarty Hanging – Missoula “Nothing there” – Johnny Grant’s “Bug Juice” – Looking for Work – Fearfully Hard Winter – Dan Baker’s “Yellow Journalism”

Posted by: Don Gilder On: August 2, 2011

Cousins In his interview with A. L. Stone above, Catlin mentioned that his cousins, named Elliott, lived in the Bitter Root and that he wanted to visit them after returning from the coast.  Eventually, Catlin would settle near these cousins in the Bitterroot, close to what is present day Hamilton, Montana. Read More

Catlin, John B: Part 3, Section B – Gold Creek – U. S. Treasury Report

Posted by: Don Gilder On: August 2, 2011

John Catlin’s biography from Progressive Men Of Montana continued: They arrived in Virginia City, Mont., in December, 1866, where Mr. Catlin remained for a time, then with five other men he took a stock of supplies to near the mouth of Divide creek in Deer Lodge county, where they erected Read More

Catlin, John B: Part 3, Section A – Catlin Finds a Home

Posted by: Don Gilder On: August 2, 2011

Finding A Home A. L. Stone wrote a second article about John Catlin appearing in The Missoulian on January 20, 1912: The general eastern idea of Montana, even now, is pretty vague. And this condition exists in spite of the publicity which has been given our state and its resources, Read More

Catlin, John B: Part 4, Section F – Idaho Gold – The Last Nail – Tales by William Goulder – On the Banks of the Clearwater – Army of Sluicers – Orofino to Florence – Snowblind and Packing Liquor – A Little Empire – Lords Paramount – Very Sadly Out of Luck

Posted by: Don Gilder On: July 24, 2011

IDAHO GOLD – THE LAST NAIL In early October 1860 the discovery of gold at Canal Gulch – in soon to be Idaho Territory – served to provoke greater calamity for the Nez Perce nation than any other event before that. Just as in Oregon and California, the mining population Read More

Catlin, John B: Part 4, Section E – General Harney’s Changes – Walla Walla Opened – New Steamboat – Tribes Pacified – Kamiakin Surrenders – De Smet Letter – John Owen Difficulty – De Smet Terminated – Occupation Twenty Years Away – Upper Montana Reservation

Posted by: Don Gilder On: July 24, 2011

GENERAL HARNEY SPELLED CHANGE In September of 1858 General William S. Harney was appointed commander of the newly created Department of Oregon. It signaled the start of a new chapter in the Plateau Indian story. It also served to appease the voices that spoke increasingly for the dispossession of all Northwest Read More