As my desire is, by the grace of God, to live many years yet, I now present these letters to the reader, supplemented by others from old time friends who braved the perils and dangers of pioneer life; and as they are intended to be a part of the history of this great state, care has been taken to keep strictly to the truth.
It is hoped that a line here and there will be appreciated by those who ride in palace cars as well as the old pioneers who came west in prairie schooners.
Robert Vaughn.
CONTENTS.
| Page | |
| From Home to the State of Illinois, | [17] |
| Crossing the Plains, | [22] |
| On a Stampede to the Yellowstone, | [35] |
| The Discovery of Alder Creek, the Richest Gold Gulch on the Globe, | [39] |
| The James Stuart Prospecting Party, | [46] |
| From Alder Gulch to Last Chance, | [57] |
| From the Mines to the Farm, | [64] |
| A Letter to My Little Babe, | [72] |
| From the Farm to the City of Great Falls, | [77] |
| Montana Pioneers, | [84] |
| The Dark Side of the Life of the Pioneer, | [89] |
| The Indian Praying, | [103] |
| Indians Stealing my Horses, | [106] |
| The Great Sun River Stampede, | [109] |
| A Trip from Virginia City to the Head of Navigation on the Missouri River in 1866, | [113] |
| My First Buffalo Hunt, | [124] |
| Tom Campbell Running the Gauntlet, | [127] |
| Edward A. Lewis’ Early Days in Montana, | [130] |
| A Brave Piegan War Chief, | [141] |
| Bloody Battles and Tragedies in the Sun River Valley, | [147] |
| Charles Choquette Coming to Montana in 1843, | [163] |
| A Trip to the Twenty-eight Mile Spring Station, | [171] |
| John Largent’s Early Days in Montana, | [176] |
| A Visit to Fort Benton, | [188] |
| John D. Brown, a Narrative of his Early Experiences in the West, | [201] |
| A Pioneer Minister, | [216] |
| An old Letter, | [223] |
| Warren C. Gillette’s Early Experiences in Montana, | [229] |
| A Meal in an Indian Camp, | [245] |
| The First Settlement of What is now Montana, | [247] |
| Montana Then and Now, | [266] |
| A Sample of the Pioneers of Montana, | [275] |
| The Indian, | [288] |
| The Sioux War, | [297] |
| General Sherman’s Letters, | [329] |
| The Nez Perces War, | [345] |
| An English Tribute to the American Scout, | [367] |
| Returning of Sitting Bull from Canada, | [370] |
| The Indian Messiah and the Ghost Dance, | [377] |
| An Indian Legend, | [395] |
| The Roundup, | [403] |
| Traveling “Then” and Traveling “Now,” | [410] |
| Yellowstone National Park, | [422] |
| From the Prospector’s Hole to the Greatest Mining Camp on Earth, | [447] |