The Bismarck Tribune Newspaper, July 25, 1931, Page 9

THE BISMARCK TRIBUNE, SATURDAY, JULY 25, 1931 History of Bismarck Closely Associated with Building of Railroad (Continued from Bismarck ceased for the winter, and| three feet square; he put a window in| of 500 miles. The team was stilt |etected & member of the council from | that popular stimulant “Tom and in order to get mail from the east, General Custer directed the com- manding officer at Camp Hancock to furnish equipment to carry the mail during the winter to Jamestown and return, trips to be made once @ week. This service was appreciated by the citizens of Bismarck as it gave them @ regular mail service once a week during the long winter months. At the close of navigation in the fall of 1874 the Coulson line of steam- boats were tied up for the winter at the river landing and were left in charge of a young negro, called Ge- orge Washington, and he lived in the ,|cabin of one of the boats. On pleas- ant days the negro would take his til | Shotgun and walk up the river hunt- ing Jackrabbits and prairie chickens. A young Swede by the name of John Peterson with his wife lived in a dug- out along the river bank about @ mile above the river landing, and the negro would stop at Peterson’s place on his hunting trips. {_Neeron ed Cy SE be At Saas In the-early part of December, the citizens were startled by a report that @ man had been found dead in the timber about three miles northwest of Bismarck. Upon investigation, it was found that while Peterson was engaged in cutting cord wood on Burnt Creek bottom he was shot in , | the back of the head, the body falling Thinker, Cincinnati Commercial, An- gela Republican, Colorado City Post, Huntington Democrat, Elkhart Union, Bourbon Minor, Fort Wayne Gazette, LaGrange Standard, Rochester Spy. “ cr secttnct De tecmeeadetetresheree mt I Interested In Lawlessness | ee While in the city they asked about the reported lawlessness in Bismarck and desired to visit some of the gat bling places. They visited the spa- cious gambling rooms of Ed Morton and Jim Crummey and, unmolested, the entire party were shown the se- crets of faro, the king of games, and all other devices of gambling which were known and played in the west. Throughout their entire visit to these Places the utmost deference and re- spect were shown the guests and when the party left for their homes, both ladies and gentlemen had a bet- ter feeling towards Bismarck than when they came. the summer of 1873 Asa Fisher opened a billiard hall and saloon; M. P. Slattery, store; John A. McLean, a general supply store: J. P. Forster, proprietor St. James Hotel; Thomas Welch, blacksmith; H. M. Davis opened & law office; Watson and Goodhue, general James _ Browning, meat market; O. S. Goff, photogra- Pher; and John Yegen, city bakery. During the late summer of 1873 the Northern Pacific Railroad com- pany had their engineers at work west of the river making a perma- nent survey to the Yellowstone with the expectation that the road would be built west of the Missouri the fol- lowing year but on September 18, 1873, the large banking house of Ja: Cooke and company, of New York. failed, creating a panic, and dealing a hard blow to the backers of the Northern Pacific Railroad, and which delayed the building of the road west of the river for a period of six years. | Late in the fall of 1873, Spotty) ‘Whalen, a notorious character, in @; gambling game at the point opposite , . Fort Abraham Lincoln, shot andj; killed Thomas King, a soldier from Fort Lincoln, and as a result of the! shooting, the soldiers came across the river in a yawl boat, and made a raid on the gambling den and sporting house of Dave Mullen, corner Fourth and Meigs Street (now Broadway) Mullen opened the door of his place | and fired into the crowd, killing Dalton, the soldier blacksmith at Fort Lincoln. The soldiers then fired @ volley from their carbines, blowing ; Mullen’s brains in every direction. | Edmond Heckett took Spotty Whalen | te Fargo, where he placed Whalen in; the Fargo jail. Along the last of No- ember train service on*the Northern | Pacific ceased, and there were no’ trains until the following| spring, and this condition existed, each winter thereafter until tlie | spring of 1876. At a town meeting held April 7, 1874, the following persons were elected as village officers for the en- suing : chairman, board of su- pervisors, C. W. Freede; supervisors, ‘Ward Bill, Patrick Malloy; clerk, R. D. Gutgesell; treasurer, Jobn A. Mc- Lean; assessor, George A. Joy: justices of the peace, I. C. Adams, D. ‘W. Foster; constables, John W. Millet, Thomas ge overseer of highways, M. R. Fortune; poun Robert Scott. There were SESGSEE forward burying his face in the snow, and had probably been dead two or three days when the body was found. A coroner’s jury was empaneled con- sisting of Thomas Van Etten, David Stewart, C. H. Kauffman, W. A. Peterson, W. W. Bill and Chris Gil- son. Subpoenas were issued for about ©|20 persons to appear before the co- roner’s jury. Charles H. McCarthy, the newly elected sheriff of Burleigh county, and his deputy, Clinton H, Miller, drove up the river bottom to serve the subpoenas and, on their re- turn, they drove on the ice on the Missouri river and when about a mile north of the river landing, the team and cutter that they were riding in plunged into an air hole in the river. The team, sleigh, men and everything disappeared; only the cap of one of the men was discovered lying on the ice near the air hole. The water where they went down was about||f eight fect deep, with a very swift||| current. Search was made and an effort made to find the bodies, grap- pling hooks being used but without success. Finally, a Frenchman by the name of Joe Yaundre, a tinner by trade, who was working in the hard- ware store of H. F. Douglas, decided that he would do something to re- cover the bodies. Laundre made a large oblong box of heavy tin, the box was about éight.feet long and the front end and a door in the rear end. There were four heavy iron rings | fastened to each corner of the box and an air tube connected so as to give air into the box. When all was|¢ Teady Joe loaded the box into a sleigh, and a large crowd of men went along to the scene of the drowning. Arriving at the air hole the box was unloaded and placed on the ice and then Laundre called for volunteers, someone who would crawi into the box and be let down into the water. Laundre's diving bell did not appeal to the spectators and they all were reluctant to take a chance with their lives. Finally L. N. Griffin, as brave &@ man as ever emigrated to the West, said “I will go in.” Griff, as he was commonly called, crawled into the tin box and the box pushed into the water and down under the tce: strong inch ropes were fastened to each up- per corner of the box, and two men held each rope, and the eight men that were holding the ropes let the box drift down over 50 feet under the fee. Laundre would cail out, “Griff, can you see anythin: but the trouble was that Laundre’s contrap- tion would not sink to the bottom of the river, it kept close to the under side of the ice all of the time, and while in the box, Mr. Griffin could) not see a thing. The box was hauled out and Mr. Griffin appeared none the worse for his experience. But poor Joe Laundre! The boys made lots of fun about him and his diving bell. The bodies of these unfortunate men were never discovered, but the team was found about seven months later, lodged against an island, a few miles below old Fort Thompson, tmv- ing drifted down the river a distance fastened together. The negro, George Washington, later confessed to Capt. D. W. Marratta and others that he killed John Peterson. Sek he Se | Alexander McKenzie Comes | ———— © Alexander McKenzie came to Bis- marck in June, 1873, and engaged in the manufacture and sale of pop, cronk beer, and other soft drinks. These beverages he would bottle and deliver in a wheelbarrow to the saloons, Many dollars worth of sugar the writer tied up and sold over the counter in the old McLean and Mac- nider store to Mr. McKenzie, which he used in the making of soft drinks. At the time of the drowning of Mr. McCarthy and Mr. Miller, the writer, together with a young man by the name of John McLellan, Lawrence county, New York, were the clerks in the McLean and Macnider store. Mr. McLellan and Mr. Mc- Kenzie were about the same age, and were warm personal friends, and \Mr, McLellan urged Mr. McKenzie to apply for the appointment of sheriff to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Mr. McCarthy. At a spe- cial meeting of the county commis- sioners, consisting of John P. Dunn and T. P. Davis, held on the 24th day of December, 1874, Mr. McKenzie received the appointment of sheriff of Burleigh county. Other applicants for the office were Thomas Madden and R. D. Gutgesell. The appoint- ment of sheriff changed the career of Alexander McKenzie, and was the starting point of his political fame and financial prosperity. During the legislative session of 1874 and 1875, Hon. E. A. Williams, who had been The Iron and Steel Construction weighing more than 32,000 Ibs., and all Steel Equipment For the New Burleigh County Jail Were built and assembled by LOUIS TIBESAR and SON 309 Front Street Bismarck, N. Dak. Liljenberg & Fisher Plasterers For The _ New Burleigh County Courthouse and Jail E, Liljenberg Bismarck, N. D. W. H. Fisher Dickinson, N. D. The New Burleigh County Courthouse Is Equipped with Lee-Hoff Elevators y Consult us on your elevator problems, - Lee-Hoff Manufacturing Co. 78-82 So. Robert St, Elevator Manufacturers Riverview 0844 St, Paul, Minn. from' St. | Burleigh county, introduced a bill for the incorporation of the City of Bis- marck, The act was approved Jan. 14, 1875, and described the corporate limits of the City of Bismarck, and the following persons were named in the act to hold office until their suc- cessors were elected and qualified: For mayor, Edmund Hackett. For members of the council—first ward, John J. Jackman, B. F. Slaughter; second ward, R. D. Gutgesell, John H, Richards; third ward, Thomas Welch, Alexander McKenzie. For city marshal, Michael McLear. For For city clerk, Samuel O'Connell. For city marshal, Michael McLean. For city justice, H. M. Davis. The mayor received five dollars per year, and the aldermen three dollars per year for | their services, New Year's day, 1875, in spite of| frontier life and border civilization, | Bismarck society did not permit the ushering in of a new year to pass | without a due observance of the, customs long honored ee to! the season, Among those who re-| ceived their friends were Mrs. Rich, assisted by Mrs. E. M. Brown, at the residence of her brother, Col. Robert Wilson; Mrs. W. B. Shaw, assisted by Mrs. George H. Fairchild and Mrs. W. 8. Brown; Mrs. George W. Plum- ley, Mrs. P. M. Eckford, Mrs, W. A.| Peterson, and Mrs. Thomas Van| Etten, whose many friends found her! well prepared at her residence nearly a mile out of town. Many others re- | ceived unceremonious calls and gave their friends a hearty New Year's welcome. The proprietors of the Cap- ital Hotel, and Bailey House, and| John Mason and Jack White also re- | ceived and were well fortified with’ Jerry.” The day was severely cold, but the society men were resolved to do oe duty, and none fell by the way- e. On the first Monday in April, 1875, an election was held, being the first election held in Bismarck, for the election of mayor and other city of- ficers, At this election, John A. Mc- Lean was elected mayor, P, R. Smith city clerk, Thomas Madden city mar- shal, J. A. McArthur city treasurer; ? aldermen, first ward, H. F, Doug! George Peoples; second ward, L, N. Griffin, E. T. Winston; third ward, Alexander McKenzie, John Mason. There were 329 votes cast at the election. During the summer of 1875, the county commissioners advertised for bids for the construction of a county building, 14x24 feet, and for a county jail, to be constructed of logs. Prior to this time, the county had no build- ings to house the county officers.: When court convened, suitable building would be rented, and @ building suitable for county offices was rented from John White and a building for a county jail was rented from Joseph Pennell, The contract for building a county building and jail was awarded to Edmund Hackett and M. D. Hogan, and the building was erected on Lote 15 and 16, on the southwest corner of Block 102. original plat, the present courthouse (Continued on page eight) Congratulations to Bismarck and Burleigh County On the completion of the magnificent new Court House Building. rd The beautiful gold and black door sign plates made in Bismarck by ROY G. ARNTSON Manutacturers Structural Steel Grey Iron Castings Semi-Steel Castings Light Forgings Special Machinery Railroad Castings . 823 Fourth St. Phone 52 Bismarck’s Progressive Sign Shop All of the fa Sewer Castings We furnished all of the Structural Steel for this building. Prison Installations Steel and Iron Stairs Repairing Equipment ornamental cias cast and furnished by us. Ornamental Iron Railings Welding ST. PAUL FOUNDRY CO. Telephone Humboldt 1321 Over 40 Products of Interest to Home and Garage Builders St. Paul, Minnesota ‘ Architect For the And also all the architectural work for the following buildings: Adams County Court House at Hettinger High School at Mott High School at Crosby City Hall at Dickinson City Hall at Rugby City Hall at Williston Grade School Building, Minot Grade and High School Building, Lakota Offices at: ' IRA L. RUS New Burleigh County Courthouse and Jail Girls’ Dormitory (State Teachers’ College, Minot) Girls’ Dormitory (State Teachers’ College, Dickinson)