Memories of Old Montana

by Con Price

We called on people for several days and there was not a man or woman turned us down, until we met one of the wealthiest men in Great Falls. He read the petition and handed it back and said, “He can rot in the pen as far as I am concerned.” Then he began to criticize Charlie for circulating the petition. There was where he made a mistake and the things he told him must have cut pretty deep into his feelings.

Charlie said, “If you don’t want to sign the petition, that’s your business, but don’t you roast me. I knew this man. He was once my friend. I don’t approve of what he done, but he has a wife and two children praying for his release and he has been punished enough already.” Then he looked him in the eye and said, “You know, Jim, if we all got our just dues, there would be a big bunch of us in the pen with Bill.” I thought I could see the old boy’s whiskers tremble because he knew what Charlie meant.

I have never forgotten what Charlie said when we left this fellow. He said justice was the hardest, cruel word that ever was written. He said if all the people that were crying for real justice got it, they would think they were terribly abused and would not want it and would find out they wanted a little mercy instead.

While Charlie and I were partners, he got an attack of appendicitis and someone told him to stand on his head and walk on his hands and knees and it would cure him. He said he tried that cure until his head and knees were so sore he couldn’t perform anymore.

So he finally made an appointment with the doctor for an operation.

The morning he went to the hospital his wife, Nancy, was with him. When they dressed him for the operating table (he called it putting a set of harness on him) Nancy was very much frightened and looked like she might break down under the strain. So to quiet her, he began to tell her how simple the operation was and that he didn’t mind it at all and started to roll a cigarette, but his hands got to shaking so bad the tobacco all fell out of the paper and, of course, Nancy noticed that and it really made matters worse than if he had said nothing.

After he had gotten over the operation, he had some very severe pains. One day when the doctor came to see him Charlie asked him if he had lost any of his tools. When the doctor asked why he thought so, he said he was sure he had some of them sewed up inside of him.

There was an old doctor in Great Falls told Charlie and me a rather amusing experience he had about that time.

There was a fellow came through the country and camped in several places around Great Falls and one day he murdered a whole family and throwed them in the river. The officers finally arrested him and had him in jail awaiting trial. During that time he killed himself and he was buried in the paupers’ graveyard.

This doctor told us he had a great curiosity to know what a human brain and head was like that would kill those people without any known motive. For some reason, Doc could not get the body and as he didn’t like the idea of prowling around the graveyard at night, he chose one cold, rainy morning to go out and dig this fellow up. It took him quite awhile to get him out of the ground, and as he had just a small buggy to carry him in, he had to break the coffin open and put him in a gunny sack.