O c t o b e r 2 0 1 3 THE

V o l u m e I I I s s u e X

The West Old & New online magazine

Find it now on Issuu.com & Joomag.com

V o l u m e I I I s s u e X

The West Old & New

Published by

Susan Faye Roberts

P.O. Box 10

Hot Springs, Montana 59845

(406) 741-5210

Email thewestoldandnew@gmail.com

A trail leads upstream around a half mile from the

parking area to the place where large clouds of

steam drift out of the Gardiner River as hot and the

cold water mix in pools creating a Boiling River

along the Gardiner’s edge. 4

Cover photo

Harvest Moon

by

Linda Emery

David Ronniger’s farm in the town site of Camas located on the Flathead Indian

Reservation supplied his Natural Food Store

with close to fifty percent of the organic vege-

tables this season.

A farmer for close to forty years he has made an impact on organic farming by both his abil-

ity to raise quality vegetables and a foundation

that saves wild seeds.

9

The West Old & New Page 3

Montana Fare

Sambucus - Elderberry

In Monty Python and the Holy Grail,

the keeper of the French castle taunts

King Arthur and the Knights of the

Round Table by telling them,

"your father smelt of elderberries." 19

MADE IN MONTANA 22

The New West

Haunting at the Dumas Brothel

Butte, Montana

Lance Foster, a paranormal investigator believes this

is one of the most credible photographs he has ever

seen of a ghost in Montana. 6

Riot in Montana’s Territorial Prison

Deer Lodge, Montana-1959

At about 3:30 p.m. on 16 April 1959, guard Gus Byars was alone on the catwalk of Cellblock 1 across

from where Myles and Smart were loitering. Byars turned to open a window to the brisk spring wind

when he heard someone call his name. He turned into a splash of gasoline which hit him in the face

and chest, soaking his shirt. The men were brandishing a mop that was on fire. Byars feared for his

life, and turned over his gun and his keys. 11

The Old West

Where the highway into Yellowstone Park’s north entrance crosses the Gardiner River there is a roadside marker for the 45th

parallel of latitude. The 45th parallel circles the globe halfway between the equator and the North Pole, passing hypothetically through Minneapolis-St. Paul, Ottawa, Bordeaux, Venice, Belgrade, and the northern tip of the Japanese islands. A little distance south of the sign, a parking area on the east side of the road is used by bathers in the "Boiling River." The trail leads upstream

around a half mile from the parking area to the place where large clouds of steam drift out of the Gardiner. Hot and the cold water mix in pools along the river's edge. Bathers are allowed in the river during daylight hours only. Bathing suits are required, and no alcoholic beverages are allowed. Boiling River is closed in the springtime due to hazardous high water and often does not reopen until mid-summer.

The Gardiner River is a tributary of the Yellowstone River and approximately 25 miles long, traveling through northwestern Wyoming and south central Montana. The entire river is located within Yellowstone National Park.

The river and the town of Gardiner were named for Johnson Gardner who was a free trapper in the early 18th century. In the

1830s, he worked northwestern Yellowstone and sold his furs to the American Fur Company. On September 13, 1869 the Cook–Folsom–Peterson Expedition entered the park region and crossed the river at its mouth on their way up the Yellowstone. On Au-gust 26, 1870 the Washburn-Langford-Doane Expedition entered what was to become the northern boundary of Yellowstone Na-

tional Park at Gardiner and camped near the confluence before they crossed the river and proceeded south up the Yellowstone river. Both these expeditions did not explore the Gardner and thus did not encounter the geothermal features of Mammoth Hot Springs. The 1871 Geological Survey of the park region by F. V. Hayden did explore the Gardner and describe Mammoth Hot Springs, but the Mammoth area itself was named by an illegal concessionaire Harry R. Hohr who tried to claim land in early 1871

in the newly explored park region. www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTQh_eIt9XY

Photographs of the Gardiner and Boiling River by S.F. Roberts

The West Old & New Page 5

This photo was forwarded to me by a member of a ghost hunting team from F.O.G. Paranormal that did a recent investiga-

tion of the old Dumas Brothel in Butte, Montana. The woman in the photo was not a member of the team, and no one remembers seeing her there, nor was there a picture on the wall behind the

man. The photo appears just as it was forwarded; the oval was added by the team. This is a detailed view; I blew it up in Photoshop and increased

the contrast to look for any obvious artifacts along the edge of the man's head that might have shown obvious manipulation of the photo. Other than the overall graininess of the image due to low

light conditions and the original size of the photo, I see no obvi-ous tinkering. And the close-up of the woman's face looks even more disturbing.

Her nose is not merely red; it looks like her nose has been cut off, with the black nostril holes set back in her face. And her dead and horrible expression is frightening, and looks much like one would imagine someone might look after someone cut off their nose.

Was this an image of the spirit of a Dumas Brothel prostitute who had her nose cut off? Perhaps in a jealous rage from a customer? If this is authentic, and I was assured there was no doctoring of

the photo, this is perhaps the most incredible photo of a Montana spirit I have ever seen. A video of a paranormal investigation into the Montana Territorial Prison was done by Paranormal Montana to watch it go to:

http://paranormalmontana.blogspot.com/search/label/Old%20Montana%20Prison

The West Old & New Page 6

I am familiar with the Dumas Brothel in Butte, Montana because in 2007 I wrote, produced and directed a play to help raise money to save the roof on this historic building. The play, “Scarlet Ribbons,” was a

series of monologues by working women circa 1893. The Dumas was built as a Victorian Brothel on Mercury Street in uptown Butte in the early 1890s by two French brothers. It is said to be the last standing Victorian built brothel in the United States.

At the time I became familiar with the building it was allegedly being made into a museum about the sex trade. It is known as the longest running brothel in the United States and closed in 1982. One of the first stories ghost stories told to me was by former owner Rudy Giecek. Allegedly some thieves were in the process of removing numerous antique hardware from the building one night when

they were interrupted by something, leaving a pile of stolen goods in the middle of a second story room. I recently came across an interesting set of photographs which were taken during a paranormal investi-gation at the Dumas. I was doing research for the next edition of The West Old & New for the October

issue and found myself chasing after paranormal stories in Montana. One site in particular had a mas-sive amount of stories and investigations that had been done in

numerous places. Of course, Butte, Montana was listed and when I opened the link I was amazed. The site is called Paranormal Montana and is associated with a blog by Lance Foster. He posted this in reference to the photographs to the left and right.

Haunting at the Dumas

Brothel in Butte, Montana

The West Old & New Page 7

If you haven’t read the blog, here is your chance to read all the crazy stories of life in

contemporary Montana published this

year.

S.F. Roberts has written essays about

wakes, happy hour, animals, bull riders, life in general and the people of a small

town on a western Indian reservation.

A lot of entertainment for an

$4.99.

Download it today!

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/362785

The West Old & New Page 8

Buffalo Jumps

Ancient rock outcroppings

where the Native People Drove

the Buffalo to their deaths

There are two prominently known buffalo jumps or places where the Indige-nous people of the state drove buffalo to their deaths. One is the Madison

River Buffalo Jump. Situated on the edge of a broad valley carved along the Madison River this limestone cliff is said to have been used for 2,000 years and as recently as 200 years ago. A semicircular cliff runners, young native

men who had speed and endurance, wore buffalo, antelope and wolf skins then lured the buffalo to the cliff. The buffalo was nec-essary to the live of these plains people, providing them with food, utensils, clothing and the hides for their lodges.

This park includes the geographical jump site and other evidence of the people who came here. Buffalo bones lie buried at the cliff’s base and archaeologists have located the tipi rings of an extensive village.

At least two thousand years prior to the journey of Lewis and Clark into Montana the Indigenious people used Ulm Pishkun, a kill site that is a mile long sandstone cliff which was called the Ulm Pishkun State Park and is now called the First Peoples Buffalo Jump State Park.

Archaeologists describe five features of a pishkun. The first part is the grazing area where the Indians would find the buffalo, usually upwind from the camp and buffalo jump. The second feature was the "drive lane." It consisted of two rock lines, five to ten yards apart and from 100 yards to a mile in length. Only a foot or so in height, these lines established the boundaries of the path

the buffalo would follow to the precipice. Hunters hid behind the rock piles and shouted or waved robes to frighten the buffalo on toward the jump. The third feature, the cliff itself, could be one to two hundred feet above the fourth feature, a rocky slope where the Indians killed the bison that survived the fall. Long bows, lances, and stone clubs were used to make the final kill. This is also where the Indians would dress the bison and dry their meat and hides. The process often took several days. The last feature was the

camp where the people lived while they harvested the buffalo. Recently, archaeologists from Montana State University researched and excavated the Ulm Pishkun site. They discovered that the park is perhaps the larg-

est buffalo jump in the world, that it was the site of human activity at least as far back as 500 AD, and that the site was used

through out the year. The park has an interpretive trail, picnic tables and in an effort to pay homage to the buffalo and the people who honor this

mighty animal, Ulm Pishkun State Park has a new on-site education center. Of more than 300 bison kill sites in Montana, Ulm

Pishkun is the first of its kind. The 6,000 square foot center offers visitors buffalo culture exhibits, a storytelling circle, class-room, gallery and bookstore.

Ulm Pishkun is located southeast of Brown-ing. On Interstate 15 just 10 miles south of Great Falls take the Ulm exit then proceed 4

miles northwest on the county road. Ulm Pishkun, PO Box 109, Ulm, Montana 59485, 406-866-2217.

For more information about Ulm Pishkun State Park, read Where the Buffalo Fell, 2003 Montana Outdoors and visit Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks at First Peoples Buffalo Jump.

The West Old & New Page 9

David Ronniger says he sees himself as a happy go lucky kind-of-guy. He came to Hot

Springs for much the same reason as many who live here, the water. A carpenter and builder by trade he also has a farming side.

In March 1993 he was written up in The New Yorker by Jamaica Kincaid who wrote, “On the day, a few weeks ago, that the tem-perature was ten below zero, the Ronniger

Seed Potatoes catalogue arrived, and that was the cherriest thing, for I spent the afternoon sitting in a bathtub of hot water, trying to sat-

isfy a craving for over chilled ginger ale and oranges and reading this little treasure.” Ron-niger’s farming in northern Idaho also gar-

nered him articles in the Sandpoint, Idaho magazine, and National Gardening Magazine.

Ronniger moved at age 26 to Moyie Springs, Idaho where for thirty-four years he worked to build a farm that mail ordered seed potatoes to American gardeners, hob-

byists and small farmers. Offering over 200 varieties of potato, he shipped these specialty potatoes as far away as New York City, Palm Beach, Florida, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.

He raises and breeds Haflinger horses assisting with their introduction to the western U.S. along with two other breeders. He

also finds time to maintain a Native Seed Foundation which collects and processes over 30 species of seeds from wild scrubs, some grasses. In May of 2011 Ronniger opened the Camas Natural Foods store on the Main

Street of Hot Springs, Montana. The store offers many different options for purchasing organic and natural foods from rice, flour, sugars, vitamins, spices, herbs, and a produce department with organic vegetables. In the last year fifty percent of the organic vegetables available came from his small farm in Camas,

an old town site situated a few miles from Hot Springs. This year the lettuce, kales, beets, celery, peppers of all kinds, egg plants, potatoes (including blues), onions, shallots, garlic and carrots have been delicious. Small communities

such as this one, located on the Flathead Indian Reservation are lucky to have this wonderful asset, thanks to the hard work of a man who likes feeding peo-ple. Visit his Native Seed Foundation at:

www.nativeseedfoundation.com

Growing Organic

Food in Montana

To the right is a picture of David

Ronniger’s farm in the town site

of Camas located on the Flathead

Indian Reservation. The farm sup-

plied the Camas Natural Food

Store with close to fifty percent of

the organic vegetables this season.

Photograph by S.F. Roberts

The West Old & New Page 10

On June 15th, 1911 the first Catholic services were held at the DeMers schoolhouse in what at the time was the platted town site

of Camas with Father Griva of Ronan officiating. In September of that year Father Griva informed the Sanders

County Signal newspaper that a permit had been secured for two lots in Pineville to build a Catholic Church. The church was

planned as a 30 foot by 70 foot building and construction was to commence as soon as enough money had been secured. It was the first church to be built in this part of the Flathead Indian reservation.

August 31, 1913 the newspaper reported that the first church service was held in the new church located on Arlee Street with three hundred people arriving prior to mass for a blessing of the 600 pound bell.

On September 8, 2013 that bell rang loud and clears into a stormy afternoon sky and soon after dedicated parishioner's filed out to be given blessings by Reverend Jefffrey P. Benusa of the Sanders County Catholic Community and Bishop George Leo Thomas of Helena. Everyone then gathered in front of the church for a photograph of the event.

Bishop Thomas travels approximately thirty thousand miles a year in the Diocese and has attending a couple of these 100 year church anniversaries every year. He stated that quite a few of the missions, a total of fifty five, were begun in the early 20th cen-tury. Bishop Thomas stated he found the Hot Springs Mission to be one of the most beautiful and well cared for in the state and he

was impressed with the obvious dedication of the parishioner's. This celebration was a culmination of a long history of the desire by the Indigenous population of this reservation and the 1910

homesteaders for religious teaching beginning in the 1820's. Old Ignace La Mouse, a Christianized Iroquois came to the Flathead as a fur trader for the Hudson Bay Company, preaching the Catholic faith to the Salish of the Bitterroot Valley. In 1831 two Salish

and two Nez Perce plus two other Nez Perce from neighboring tribes traveled to St. Louis to speak with the Bishop. Their tribes wanted a Blackrobe priest. The volunteers, lacking the necessary language skills, failed and when none of them returned another party set out in 1835. This party consisting of a Nez Perce Chief and three Flatheads were killed on the North Platte River. In 1937

after Old Ignace's death his son traveled to Council Bluff, Iowa and met with Father DeSmet who went with him to the Bishop in St. Louis. DeSmet was chosen to come to Montana, and had a major impact on the growth of the church in the state.

Bishop Thomas has a great deal of respect for missions such as the one in Hot Springs based on his masters thesis on that era

of the church in the west in his book, "Catholics & the Missions of the Pacific Northwest." St. Mary's Mission is the oldest church congregation in the state and was established by Father Pierre-Jean DeSmet in 1841. At

the time Stevensville, Montana was the home of the Salish people. Within two months Father DeSmet baptized 600 men, women and children several of them Chiefs of the Flathead and Nez Perce tribes. It was the first permanent church built in the state in the

year 1866. Later the Salish moved to the Flathead Indian Reservation and between 1891 and 1893 Father DeSmet and Father Adian Haecken had the church built in St. Ignatius, Montana.

Above the Sacred Heart Mission in Hot Springs, Montana. Photograph by S.F. Roberts

Rural Mission

Celebrates

100 Year

Anniversary

Sacred Heart Mission in Hot Springs, Montana tolls a one-hundred year

old bell in celebration

Montana Territorial

Prison Riot of 1959 Forty years of degeneration, mismanagement and the incarceration of

a career criminal all lead to an explosive riot.

Created in 1871 as a Territorial Prison when Montana achieved statehood in 1889 it became the primary penal institution in the state until 1979. Throughout the prison's history, the institution was plagued with constant overcrowding, insufficient funds,

and antiquated facilities. The administration of Warden Frank Conley from 1890 to 1921 proved the exception to this rule, as War-den Conley instituted extensive inmate labor projects that kept many inmates at work constructing the prison buildings and walls as well as providing various state and community services like road building, logging, and ranching.

After Conley left office, the prison experienced almost forty years of degeneration, mismanagement, and monetary restraints until an explosive riot in 1959 captured the attention of the nation. Led by Jerry Myles and Lee Smart, the riot maintained the prison under inmate control for thirty-six hours before the Montana National Guard stormed the institution to restore order. The facility was retired in September 1979, and the inmates were moved to the current prison. The Old Prison was added to the Na-

tional Register of Historic Places in 1976 and is now a museum. 1959 was a turbulent year in Montana State Prison history. Following Warden Burrell's resignation in February 1958, the

Montana Council on Corrections decided that, in order to modernize the facility, the next warden of the prison would be selected

from a nationwide search, putting an end to the tradition of gubernatorial appointees. Floyd Powell, of Wisconsin, was chosen from the candidates who applied, and he took control of the prison in August 1958.

Floyd Powell came to Montana in response to the nationwide search for a warden who would update the Montana State Prison

into a modern facility. With more than eighteen years of penal experience at the Wisconsin State Prison Powell arrived in Deer Lodge knowing the only way to truly modernize the prison rested in building a whole new facility. The territorial prison was far too antiquated to be worth revitalizing. Within weeks of taking charge of the prison, Powell summoned his friend and subordinate, Ted Rothe, from Wisconsin to be his deputy warden.

Between the two of them, Powell and Rothe began a series of reforms which were targeted at updating the facility. They began to abolish the "con-boss" system, improved inmate food quality by instilling a "Take all you want, but eat all you take" policy and by supplying condiments on the tables. They also sought to crack down on the rampant drug use and black market inside the walls

and began performing exhaustive background checks on the prisoners, a practice that was not standard operating procedure until Powell's tenure. A training regimen for the guards was also instilled to bettered communication between shifts and cut back on guard contributions to the black market. Something they were unable to initiate until too late was the removal of firearms from the

cellblocks; Powell and Rothe wanted to completely sweep both cellblocks of the rifles the guards carried on the catwalks. They saw the Winchester rifles presence as an instigator for inmate uprising, but the guards refused to surrender the guns.

Though the pair from Wisconsin were doing their best to better the conditions in the prison, they felt heavy resistance from both inmates and guards who had flourished under the previously lax security, as well as from the population of Montana who

viewed any improvement in the quality of life of an inmate nothing more than coddling convicts. The primary leader of the riot, Jerry Myles born under the name Donald Groat. His mother was an unmarried transient who

quickly put her son up for adoption. By the time he was sixteen, he was in reform school, and for the rest of his life he would

spend more time inside correctional facilities then outside them. Described as having an "emotionally unstable, psychopathic per-sonality" by psychiatrist Romney Ritchey at Alcatraz, Jerry Myles nonetheless had a genius intellect, scoring 125 and 147 on intel-ligence tests. Using suicide attempts, petty disturbances, and sexual deviancy, he strove to become the center of attention. He was an institutionalized career prisoner, often committing small acts of burglary to get sentenced to more prison time whenever he

found himself free, and, once incarcerated, struggled to be noticed. On 4 December 1944, he had organized a mutiny at the federal penitentiary in Atlanta, Georgia on the grounds of poor medi-

cal care, no church services, and having to wait in line in the mess hall. After the mutiny, the administration at USP Atlanta de-

clared Jerry Myles to be incorrigible and a danger to the security of their prison. They determined that their facilities were insuffi-cient to fully monitor Myles' activities, so on 8 May 1945 they transferred him to the federal penitentiary at Alcatraz.

Jerry Myles would spend approximately seven years at Alcatraz between 1945 and 1952, after which he was transferred to

Leavenworth. While Jerry was at The Rock, the legendary "Battle of Alcatraz" occurred on 2 May 1946, and Myles, while he did not take part in the escape attempt, learned much from the methods of Bernard Coy, who initiated the The West Old & New Page 11

riot. The disturbance Myles would later start in Montana shared many elements with the Battle of Alcatraz. Myles was released from Leavenworth on 3 March 1952, after which he finished his sentence at the Georgia State Penitentiary and was released in

May 1958. During his long prison tenure, Myles had learned of a prison in Montana where the convicts ran the industries, and Myles was interested in what he viewed was a place where he could have power.

After his release, Myles bought a bus ticket to Butte, about 40 miles from Deer Lodge, where he was arrested for burglary. He

was sentenced to five years at the Montana State Prison and arrived in Deer Lodge in June 1958. Since the prison at that time was not in the habit of running background checks on incoming prisoners, his previous penal experience went unnoticed, and he was assigned to a cell in the general population. Myles quickly rose to the position of con-boss of the garment shop, due to his experi-ence in similar places in other penitentiaries around the country. He used the position to his advantage, decorating his apartment-

like cell in the garment shop with niceties and manipulating young inmates into providing him with sexual favors for work in the factory. When Warden Powell abolished the con-boss system in October 1958, Myles was stripped of his favor in the prison com-munity and started acting out, which earned him time in segregation. He had a short, heated interview with Deputy Warden Rothe

in which Myles took an intense dislike to Rothe and threatened his life. Rothe sentenced Myles to isolation in the hole, for an in-definite amount of time followed by a longer stint in segregation.

Walter Jones, the prison's newly graduated sociologist, recognized the danger Myles represented and suggested further segre-

gation in Siberia in the base of the northern towers of Cellblock 1. The area known as Siberia was separated from the rest of the prison yard by a razor-wire topped chain-link fence and was used to keep known troublemakers apart from the rest of the popula-tion. The cells were cramped, cold, and isolated. Rothe rejected this treatment of Myles, claiming that he wanted to gain inmate trust by showing equal rights to all prisoners regardless of their past activities. On 27 February 1959, Rothe released Myles back

into the general population and assigned him to the water crew—the group of inmates who emptied toilet buckets from Cellblock 2 and the guard towers.

Lee Smart was born in 1940 in Washington State and lived 17 years before being sentenced to thirty years confinement to the

Montana State Prison for the second-degree murder of traveling salesman Charles Ward outside of Browning, Montana on 28 April 1956. Smart had bludgeoned Ward to death with a pair of lineman's pliers and robbed him of $100 cash. Smart was almost 6 ft tall and weighed 147 pounds, wore a ducktail haircut, a black leather jacket, and had tattooed arms and chest. He and a friend

had escaped from a reformatory camp in Cedar Creek, Washington, on 14 April 1956. The two then went on a two-week criminal binge which ended in Great Falls, Montana. Lee Smart left his friend in Great Falls and went north, where he ended up killing Ward.

Once inside the walls of the Montana State Prison, Smart eventually found his place playing drums for the prison band.

Though one of the youngest convicts in Montana, he had fallen in with a relatively powerful group of convicts—the "band gang" was the largest trafficker of narcotics in the prison. Lee became a regular member of the cadre, and his crime of murder gave him standing among the inmates, most of whom were incarcerated for larceny. One of the inmates who was highly impressed by

Smart's haughty, impulsive nature was Jerry Myles, who befriended the boy. Smart got in trouble a few times, once for being in possession of a weapon, once over his haircut (which led him to receive a buzz cut by an inmate barber), and again over having an illicit weapon (which earned him time in isolation).

Since the prison had no system of segregating inmates based on age, crime, or sexual proclivities, Smart was housed in general

population where his youthful frame became an instant target for older, predatory cons. His crime of murder and connection with the band gang lent him a modicum of notoriety, but he still felt obliged to hire George Alton, a known troublemaker, for protection at the cost of ten dollars a month. Alton, who had been in and out of prison since 1952, regularly sold protection services to newer

inmates who could not fight for themselves. A diminutive, wiry Montanan, Alton was well respected by guards and inmates alike, known for his vicious left hook and his prowess in the prizefighting rink, held weekly in the WA Clark Theatre. Alton and Smart became friends and eventual cellmates, until Alton was moved outside the walls into minimum security housing.

Taking full advantage of his "trusty" status, Alton escaped with a fellow inmate in a prison vehicle marked "Registrar of Motor Vehicles" on 26 August 1958, the day after Floyd Powell started his job as warden. The two prisoners waved to the new warden on their way past the prison, and Powell waved back. By the time the warden realized what had happened, Alton and his confederate were too far away to do anything. Alton managed to stay hidden until November 1958, when he was apprehended in his hometown

of Culbertson. He was remanded to the prison and spent time in the hole, then more time in segregation. It was during this time that he met, and had extensive conversations with, Jerry Myles, who had been placed in the cell right next to Alton's in segrega-tion.

Jerry Myles knew that timing would play a major factor in the successful initiation of the riot. Between the time he was re-leased back into general population in February 1958 until he decided to start the riot, he paid close attention to the movements of the guards and found a loophole in their routine; each day during the dinnertime turnover, the ratio of guards to inmates was de-

creased in Cellblock 1. His plan was to seize a rifle from one of the guards who walked the catwalk outside his cell when the guard was alone. The catwalk was close to the tier of cells. Guards routinely moved between the catwalk and the tiers by little more than hopping from one to the other; since neither walkway was caged, the maneuver was simple.

Myles also needed to recruit other inmates to his cause but limit the number of prisoners who knew specifics to ensure the ad-

ministration would be caught unawares. He chose to let Lee Smart in on the plans, coaxing the boy along with promises of free-dom and adventure. George Alton, a shrewd, intelligent man, was less easily convinced, though a workable escape plan attracted him. Myles needed Alton because of his rapport with the inmate population. Alton also worked in the

The West Old & New Page 12

prison garage and had access to gasoline, a crucial part of Myles' plans. Myles assured Alton that they would use Deputy Warden Rothe as a shield and hostage to gain exit from Tower 7, and from there to freedom. Myles also strong-armed Harold Laureys, a

known lockpicker, or "gopher man" in prison lingo, into being ready for an escape attempt, but gave him few specifics other than that.

Myles, Smart, and Alton constructed a reservoir in one of the shelves in Smart's cell, and Alton regularly filled that space with

gasoline he smuggled out of the garage. The trio waited until they had filled the container before enacting their plans. At about 3:30 p.m. on 16 April 1959, guard Gus Byars was alone on the catwalk of Cellblock 1 across from where Myles and

Smart were loitering. Byars turned to open a window to the brisk spring wind when he heard someone call his name. He turned into a splash of gasoline which hit him in the face and chest, soaking his shirt.

Lee Smart had tossed the gasoline as Jerry Myles lit a match to a torch he had constructed from a mop. He thrust the mop at the guard, who froze in fear. Smart and Alton lit a broom and tossed it onto the catwalk behind Byars, who, with his vision blurred by the gasoline, saw he was surrounded by fire. He quickly surrendered his keys and rifle and allowed himself to be led to the

hole. While Myles, Smart, and Alton were securing the rifle and keys, other inmates ambushed the only other two guards in Cell-

block 1, threatening them with knives. The guards surrendered their keys and were also led to the hole.

At this point, the inmates were in full possession of three guards, a rifle, and keys to the facility, though they still had no am-munition for the weapon. They quickly moved over to Cellblock 2, where they knew the ammunition was stored, and were in pos-session of that building within minutes, even after a tense standoff between a guard holding a loaded rifle and an inmate with a knife. The guard hesitated and received a slashed hand in return. Had he fired on the inmate, the riot may not have progressed. As

it was, the inmates were now in control of two rifles, seventeen rounds of ammunition, and both cellblocks. Over the course of the next ten to fifteen minutes, several more guards would walk into Cellblock 1, be immediately and quietly overwhelmed, and led into the hole.

By 4:00, Myles, Smart, and Alton had control over the whole facility except for the minimum security housing outside the southern wall and the upper floor of the administration building, called "Inside Administration." This portion of the facility housed offices for the warden, the deputy warden, the sociologist, and other prison infrastructure. The only woman working within the

prison walls, Babe Lightfoot, held an office in Inside Administration, but by the time the rioters reached this area of the prison, she had already evacuated upon orders from an inmate.

Ted Rothe had been across the street attending a meeting with Warden Powell and some architects who were designing the new facility Powell wanted to build. Rothe returned to his desk inside the prison at a few minutes before 4:00, oblivious to the in-

mate takeover. Up to this point, there had been almost no noise, few scuffles, and no casualties. He chatted with a guard for a few minutes before sitting behind his desk, which was in view of the door where inmates came to receive their medication. Myles, Smart, and a third inmate named Toms came up to the door, where Myles asked to receive some pills for his migraines. The guard

on duty, Officer Cox, turned to retrieve them as another guard opened the door to let a third guard out. As soon as the door opened, Myles rushed through, brandishing a meat cleaver he had acquired from the kitchens. Toms threatened the other guards with a knife, and they allowed themselves to be herded into a nearby lavatory. Myles burst into Deputy Warden Rothe's office and at-tacked Rothe with the cleaver. Rothe deflected the blow with a plywood letterbox.

The struggle continued for a few seconds. Cox grabbed a chair and raised it to hit Myles, but Lee Smart unveiled the rifle he had had wrapped in a cone of leather and fired once, hitting Rothe in the chest, killing him instantly. Myles turned on Cox and slashed with his cleaver, slicing Cox along his arm. The inmates quickly herded the guards into the lavatory, along with a civilian

mail-sorter, and locked them in. Another guard, Officer Simonsen, was coming up the steps to Inside Administration, and Myles and Smart took him hostage and had him call the warden.

At a little after 4:00, Officer Simonsen phoned Warden Powell, who was across the street at his residence. Simonsen told the

warden there was a disturbance inside the prison and that someone had been knifed. Under duress from Myles and Smart, the offi-cer told the warden little else, and Powell rushed through Tower 7 along with two guards to see what the "disturbance" was. As soon as he entered Inside Administration, he was yanked through the doorway. His escort realized something was wrong and re-treated, escaping back through Tower 7. The guards on top of this tower knew something was wrong and had tried to warn the

warden, but the blustery spring wind had obliterated their words. Inside, Warden Powell came face-to-face with Myles and Smart, who immediately forced Powell to call Governor Aronson in

Helena. Aronson, however, was out of town and would not return until about 6:30 that evening. Powell left a message with the

governor's secretary to have Aronson call Powell at Number 8 as soon as he returned. "Number 8" was a pre-arranged warning that told the governor that Warden Powell had been compromised and that Aronson should not return the call.

After the call, Powell managed to convince Myles that Cox and Rothe needed medical attention and should be allowed to

leave the facility. Myles agreed, and an ambulance collected the bleeding guard and the deceased deputy warden. Powell also at-tempted to talk the ringleaders into discontinuing the riot to no avail.

While Myles and Smart coerced guards and wardens to make telephone calls, Alton, armed with the second rifle, set about securing the remaining guards and administrators of the facility. By 4:30, he had locked 20 men into the hole, including sociologist

Walter Jones. At a few minutes before 5:00, Myles and Smart led Warden Powell and the other four hostages down to the mess hall, and from there led the hostages into cells in Cellblock 1. Warden Powell sat under guard on one of the mess halls, where he was offered coffee and cake by an inmate. He accepted, and he ate while the rest of the hostages were

The West Old & New Page 13

The West Old & New Page 14

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led from the hole and placed in cells in "Cook's Row" where the kitchen workers were housed. At about 6:20, the inmates led Powell back to Inside Administration to wait for Governor Aronson's call, which never came.

Myles and Smart became anxious and left, leaving Powell in the care of Walter Trotchie, who had orders to kill the warden with a kitchen knife at 8:00 if the governor didn't call. 8:00 came and went, and, instead of killing Powell, Trotchie surrendered his weapon and freed the warden, who offered amnesty to any prisoner who wanted to retreat to minimum security. Six inmates

agreed to go, including Trotchie, and Warden Powell escaped the prison, secured the inmates who had come with him, and began managing the handling of the riot from outside .

Myles was angry when he discovered that Powell had escaped, but his rage was abated when he realized they had Walter Jones as a hostage. Myles viewed Jones as one of the reasons he had been ousted as a con-boss. Jones managed to talk Myles out

of murdering him by offering himself as a negotiator for the demands of the inmates. Meanwhile, Alton approached Myles with the argument that since Deputy Warden Rothe had been shot and killed, their es-

cape plan was now null. Myles acknowledged that the original plan had failed, so he forwarded the idea of tunneling under the

walls. He chose a place in the northwestern tower of Cellblock 1 and put a team of inmates, eventually including the kitchen staff, to work with picks and shovels. The progress on this tunnel would continue for the remainder of the riot, but was doomed to fail. Warden Conley had built the cellblocks and the walls specifically to keep inmates from tunneling, and his designs proved effec-

tive. Outside the walls, Warden Powell was busy trying to deal with budding public reaction to the riot. The word had leaked

quickly, and wives of guards who were hostages started showing up at his house. Powell decided to again enter the prison through the tunnel system which gave access to the gun ports in the mess hall and the catwalks in the cellblocks. Luckily, the riot leaders

had been unable to secure a key to the access points to this tunnel system, or else Powell may have been taken hostage again. Just after sundown, Powell made his way through the tunnels to the mess hall and shouted for Myles and Smart. Myles showed up, leading Jones with a knife at his throat. Powell asked what Myles wanted, and received a verbal tirade from Myles, who stalked

away, leaving Jones with Alton. Powell was told that Myles wanted at least thirty members of the press to come inside the prison, take pictures of the conditions and speak with the inmates. Powell offered to get three reporters inside the walls under the under-standing that they would not print a word of what they learned until the hostages were released. Alton agreed to the plan. Powell

returned to his residence to await the coming day. Meanwhile, National Guard forces were consolidating at Trask Hall, the gymnasium of Montana's first college campus, just

four blocks from the prison. Members of the press were converging upon the warden's residence, and the city and county switchboards were becoming overrun with calls regarding the riot, some as far away as London, England. By the next day, report-

ers from magazines like Life and TIME descended upon the town, and Deer Lodge's prison riot made international news. After midnight, Myles summoned Jones to talk to the media. Through Jones, Myles warned that any offensive action against

the prison would end in the killing of the hostages by fire, hanging, or stabbing. Myles then spoke up, telling the amassed media

that he was fighting for better conditions and just wanted to be heard. He again threatened the hostages with death if any action was taken against the prison and paraded Jones in front of the windows with a knife at his throat to make his point. Afterward, Myles led Jones back to a cell.

At midmorning on Friday, Myles and Smart allowed Jones to exit the prison walls to escort the three reporters, one from the

Associated Press, another from United Press International, and the third from radio station KREM of Spokane, Washington. Myles allowed Jones eight minutes to return with the media before he threatened to begin killing hostages. Jones met with the warden and the reporters outside Tower 7 and managed to get the reporters into the mess hall inside his eight minute window.

Only seven inmates met with the reporters, one of which was George Alton, but neither Jerry Myles or Lee Smart took part in the interview. Jones remained to assist the prisoners with their statements. The reporters recorded a plethora of complaints ranging from the sanitation in Cellblock 2 to the use of the hole as a disciplinary tool, but the most common grievance was the parole sys-

tem. The inmates demanded the resignation of Benjamin Wright, the same man the convicts had asked to have fired during the pea riot of 1957.

The reporters were allowed to leave the prison without incident, and Warden Powell announced that he expected to have the hostages released as per the agreement he had made with Alton. Myles, however, demanded more reporters come inside the facil-

ity to take pictures, and he stated that nobody would be allowed to leave until he saw the story in print. Powell, on the other hand, would not re-negotiate a deal. Since Myles refused to release guards, Powell refused to allow the story to run.

This started a twenty-four-plus hour standoff in which Myles railed openly to the media outside the walls; Alton retired to his

cell after an argument with Myles, convinced that no escape was forthcoming; Jones was again allowed to leave the prison to ne-gotiate with Powell and, under orders from the warden, did not return; and the hostages survived repeated threats of death by fire, rope, or knife. The hostages were eventually crowded into three cells, and the frightened men planned to press the thin prison mat-

tresses against the bars to ward off any attack, but they knew the shield would not hold long against fire or at all against the rifles. Governor Aronson, still in Helena, continued to refuse to negotiate with the prisoners.

Thirty-six hours after Myles, Smart, and Alton pitched gasoline at a guard to start the riot, the Montana National Guard ended the riot. At about 4:45 a.m. on 18 April 1959, Bill Rose of the National Guard fired a World War II bazooka at the southwest

tower of Cellblock 1 while Highway Patrolman Bob Zaharko fired a Thompson submachine gun through a window which had been identified as where Myles and Smart were hiding on the northeast tower of Cellblock 1. The media had been placed under watch to ensure they did not leak news of the attack to the inmates, who were listening to the radio in-

The West Old & New Page 14

The West Old & New Page 18

Chief Mountain has been a sacred mountain to Native American tribes for hundreds of years. The Blackfoot name for the mountain is Nínaiistáko. The mountain was seen by white explorers in the late 18th century and was known as "Kings Peak" on

maps produced in the United Kingdom in 1795. Meriwether Lewis, co-leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, saw the moun-tain in 1805 and called it "Tower Mountain". The name was changed in the late 19th century in reflection of Blackfeet naming of the mountain which was "Great Chief". When Glacier National Park was created in 1910, the summit and most prominent eastern

slopes of the mountain were located within the park, leaving only the lower slopes within Blackfeet jurisdiction. Chief Mountain remains sacred to many First Nation peoples from both the US and Canada. Natives from all over North

America travel to the base of the mountain for sweet grass ceremonies, placing of prayer flags and other religious rites. In the early 1900s as white settlers came to the area, they observed native burial sites scattered along the base of the mountain. Elders from

Southern Alberta's Siksika Band (where the Great Chief Crowfoot hailed from) and other First Nation groups have an oral tradi-tion that near the end of days, a Great White God would appear from the top of Chief Mountain and upon his departure, the moun-tain would crumble and be destroyed

The eastern face of the mountain rises over 1,500 vertical feet (457 m) and the easiest route on this section is rated class 4 by mountaineers. The rock is also primarily sedimentary and provides poor anchor points, which in turn is a contributing factor to the difficulty rating. Henry Stimson and two other explorers, including a Blackfeet Indian, climbed the difficult eastern face on Sep-

tember 8, 1892, and this is the first known ascent of the peak by white explorers. Upon the summit, Stimson's party observed cere-monial remains including bison skulls that had been left behind by Native Americans. The eastern face of the peak wasn't success-fully climbed again until 1951. Though the summit can be gained by approaching from the west, the easiest access is from the east, and the Blackfeet tribe may issue access permits to cross reservation lands. This entire area is sacred to the Blackfeet and utmost

respect should be shown.

side the prison. While Rose and Zaharko rained ordnance on Cellblock 1, a contingent of seven teams of National Guard waited outside the

door to the women's prison on the western wall of the prison. As soon as the first bazooka round hit Cellblock 1, they burst through the door and split up, some rushing the main entrance to Cellblock 1, others going to Cellblock 2, and more circling around to storm Inside Administration.

The team that invaded Cellblock 1 had to burst through two barricaded doors before gaining access to the tiers of cells. Most of the inmates were already in their cells and did not give the Guardsmen any problems. The soldiers filed up to where the hos-tages were kept and freed them, escorting them through the door into the minimum security facility in the northeast corner of the wall. All the hostages emerged unharmed.

Back in Cellblock 1, a team of Guardsmen entered the tower where Myles and Smart were hiding. The soldiers had to push past a pile of rubble which had been removed from the unsuccessful tunneling attempt as they made their way up the stairs. During their ascent, Jerry Myles managed to shoot Lieutenant Francis "Russ" Pulliam in the arm, who was removed and remanded to the

hospital at Fort Harrison in Helena. Just after Pulliam was shot, a third bazooka round exploded against the tower, followed by tear gas canisters fired from the walls. Moments after the gas began to take effect, Myles and Smart fully ended the riot with a murder-suicide.

Chief

Mountain

Sacred Place to the

Blackfeet People of

Northern Montana

Montana Fare

The West Old & New Page 19

Western Gal Speak Weekly essays on

Contemporary & Historic

Montana

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The flowers of Sambucus nigra are used to produce elderflower cordial. The French, Austrians and Central Europeans produce elderflower syrup, commonly made from an extract of elderflower blossoms, which is added to Palatschinken fill-

ing instead of blueberries. People throughout much of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe use a similar method to make a syrup which is diluted with water and used as a drink. Based on this syrup, Fanta markets a soft drink variety called "Shokata"which is sold in 15 countries worldwide. In the United States, this French elderflower syrup is used to make a

French liqueur. The Italian liqueur Sambuca is flavored with oil obtained from the elderflower. In Germany, yoghurt desserts are made with both the berries and the flowers. Wines, cordials and marmalade have been produced from the berries or flowers. Fruit pies and relishes are produced

with berries. In Italy and Germany, the umbels of the elderberry are batter coated, fried and then served as a dessert or a

sweet lunch with a sugar and cinnamon topping. In Germany, the dish is known as "Hollerküchel". In Romania, a slightly fermented soft beverage (called "socata" or "suc de soc") is traditionally produced by letting the

flowers macerate, with water, yeast and lemon for 2-3 days. A similar drink is produced in the UK, but in this case the last

stage of fermentation is allowed to proceed in a closed pressure proof bottle to give a fizzy drink called elderflower cham-pagne.

Black elderberry has been used medicinally for hundreds of years. Some preliminary studies demonstrate that elder-

berry may have a measurable effect in treating the flu, alleviating allergies, and boosting overall respiratory health. Elder is used in Traditional Chinese Medicine, dissolved in wine, for rheumatism and traumatic injury Folklore is extensive and can be wildly conflicting depending on region. In some areas, the "elder tree" was supposed

to ward off evil influence and give protection from witches, while other beliefs say that witches often congregate under the

plant, especially when it is full of fruit. In some regions, superstition, religious belief, or tradition prohibits the cutting of certain trees for bonfires, most notably in witchcraft customs the elderberry tree; "Elder be ye Lady's tree, burn it not or cursed ye'll be" – A rhyme from the Wiccan rede, “If an elder tree was cut down, a spirit known as the Elder Mother would

be released and take her revenge. The tree could only safely be cut while chanting a rhyme to the Elder Mother.” The most powerful wand in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter is made of sambucus and known as the "Elder

Wand."

Elton John released a song in 1973 called Elderberry Wine. (Lyrics: Bernie Taupin, music Elton John) The Rolling Stones released a song in 1974 called "Till the Next Goodbye" on the "It's Only rock 'n Roll" which fea-

tures the line, "You give me a cure-all from New Orleans/Now that's a recipe I sure do need./Some cider vinegar and some elderberry wine/could cure all your ills but it can't kill mine."

The plot of the stage play and film Arsenic and Old Lace revolves around a pair of spinsters who murder men by serv-ing them elderberry wine adulterated with cyanide, arsenic, and strychnine.

Elderberries

Excerpt from ebook, “Simple Contentment,” 1910 Homesteaders in Montana

In an era of no electricity, no T.V., and in this case no radio, life did seem to move at a slightly slower pace, and we who lived in that time, though we would not necessarily want to go back, have a legacy to remember -- one we can be proud of re-membering. - Shirley McCoy Kontos

R.G. Holmberg arrived in Pineville for a short visit in 1911, and ended up staying, stating the early years of homesteading were trying ones. “A lot of experimenting had to be done in order to determine a way of living. At first farming was pretty diversi-fied. Everyone had a few chickens, some milk cows, hogs, sheep, and turkeys, all of which brought some income. Some wheat and rye were also grown. Water for domestic use was a problem. Wells were dug about four feet square at an average depth of ap-

proximately seventy feet, cased with wood, mostly fir which made the water taste better than pine or tamarack. The Jellison family grew dry land wheat for money. Howard Buck stated that everyday that the ground was not too dry or fro-

zen was spent plowing and when the ground was frozen he hauled wheat to the Perma elevator, a two day trip. One year when the

wheat crop failed, he bought chickens and fed them what grain he had. When the chickens were big enough, they were butchered and shipped to Butte where they brought top price.

On the Spies homestead daughter Gladys said the coyotes howled all night. The family lived in a tent from April to Thanks-

giving Day when they moved into a two story house built by her father and brother made from rough lumber hauled from Libby. They had a cow, a horse, and chickens and tried to raise a garden. “The clay was baked so hard that my mother had to dig out the white carrots with a crowbar.” The Spies were also carrying their water from a spring a quarter of a mile away until Mr. Spies drilled his own well. The coyotes and hawks enjoyed a few of their chickens and Mrs. Spies killed a big rattlesnake on the east

side of the house with nine rattles and two buttons by running a clothes line pole down its mouth. Ruth McHenry-Greggs arrived with her family Charles L. Andrews and Elta May. She says her mother was happy to see a

nice house with geraniums in the window at the William Patton place.

Lando Bras remembers his first home as having a floor and four foot walls of rough cut boards covered by a tent. “It was moved to a new location, and I remember it bouncing merrily over the sage brush pulled by two horses.” He also remembers homemade butter, poultry, eggs, cheese, fruit and vegetables canned, dried and fresh, beef, pork, lard, fresh honey and homemade

soap. For Lando wash day was a special occasion for all of those living on the east side of the Little Bitterroot. “Everyone would get together on the northeast corner of Grandpa Murray’s homestead by the creek. Fires would be started in the stoves to heat wa-ter and cook on -- the washing machines would be set up, powered by women and kids while everyone played horseshoes and vis-ited.”

Lando remembered how he and brother Teenor took turns building fires in the homestead in the morning. “In the cold weather we were very careful to lay out kindling, paper, wood and matches by the heater stove which was only about two jumps from the bed, which if the wind was blowing would be lightly powdered with snow. I suppose some people had slippers and robes, but I had

never heard of them. We got real good at getting the fire going and popping back into bed until the stove had at least one red spot. Then we jumped out of bed into our clothes and started a fire in the kitchen stove. We were very careful to have the tea kettle filled and on the stove the night before because by morning it was frozen.”

May Page told how neither of her parents, aunt or uncle had ever done any kind of farming. “The men didn’t know how to

hitch up a team. They knew nothing about what to look for in buying livestock. Their first purchase of horses didn’t last long -- Jock died of old age in a few months and his team mate was a big placid mare.” May says their next team had “Cayuse” blood and ran away at every opportunity. To do gardening the sage brush had to be removed using a grub hoe.

The Coup family hauled their wheat to the Perma and Plains elevators. Jack Coup and his brother would haul in 140 to 150 bushels a load with six horses. “We would be on the road at five a.m. and get to the elevator early in the afternoon before too many others got in unloading the wheat and stay until nine or ten o’clock at night.” The trip took the men two days and they made the

sum of $1 a bushel. Martha Cook Taylor and her mother got a homestead in May 1910. “We liked this country from the very first, not withstand-

ing a few hardships -- like carrying our drinking water from a spring about one and a half miles away.” The women came into Pineville to the post office walking a distance of four miles and made it a day by staying for a bath. “There were two tents with

wooden bath tubs, one for men and one for women. We always brought a small brush to clean the tub (and soap) although the Na-tives said, “No germs ever lived in that water.” After taking our bath and eating lunch we would walk home and call it a good day.”

The Campbell’s planted their first gardens in a “draw” west of the house -- actually a shallow depression that had a little more moisture than the surrounding flat ground, and certainly not enough to keep plants growing very long. The Campbell’s, from Scot-land, planted the seeds most familiar to them: potatoes, turnips, rutabagas, carrots, and cabbage. Mrs. Campbell and her sister

planted black currants, red currents and gooseberries but it wasn’t until the irrigation project was completed in 1921 that the trees didn’t have to struggle to survive. In 1915 they planted an orchard, of apples. They kept the trees alive for several years by carry-ing buckets of water from the well. It took ten years for the trees to bear fruit.

Duncan Campbell made coffins for people who had died. Mary C. Page says her parents would work far into the night to get it

done. “Dad would cut and plane the boards, bend them by placing them in the copper boiler filled with steaming water, put them together, then stain the outside. Mother would line the inside with soft white material. This was all carried out in the kitchen, and it was mysterious and awesome experience for us kids.” Her father assisted at the funeral, as well, playing the bagpipes.

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The West Old & New Page 22

Sandra Sitzmann

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starlinesandra@gmail.com

The West Old & New Page 23

Ida Hawkins, P.I. EIGHT DAYS by S.F. Roberts

Ida Hawkins has a great life as a private investigator in New

York City.

On a Monday in May everything is suddenly changed by circum-

stances and events.

A few days later Ida finds herself on the way to Montana and ul-

timately to the discovery of a secret that changes her life forever.

The consummate detective she finds herself knee deep in one

mystery after another and all of it around a handsome Tribal

cop and a father she has never met.

A brilliant job of bringing our Native American characters to life. Masterfully done...when Montana and New York meet.

A story you can’t put down. Diane Griffith

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Photograph of fall peaches by S.F. Roberts