Sunday, June 19, 2005

The Browning Blackfeet Comprehensive Plan (3)

“As the financial and agricultural fields were experiencing difficulties, so was the government. Montana originally had only the nine counties of Beaverhead, Big Horn, Choteau, Deer Lodge, Edgerton, Gallatin, Jefferson, Madison and Missoula. The 1893 Legislative Assembly split Choteau County and made a portion of it into Teton County. Even with the creation of Teton County, with the county seat at Choteau, things were still not convenient. When people from Browning wished to transact business at the county seat, or when they were called to jury duty or had their day in court, they had to travel to Choteau. Whether they journeyed by stage coach, buggy, train, or even automobile, the trip was an unpleasant one. Summer travel was hot and dry and winter travel was in snow and bitter winds. No matter what method of travel was chosen or what the financial status of the individual was, the trip was expensive.

“One of the main expenses of Teton County during the homesteader days was to purchase seed grain for those who could not afford it due to drought, cut worms and other misfortunes. In 1918 Teton County spent $75,000.00 for this purpose. In 1919, when this expenditure was needed even more, the budget was cut to $45,000.00

“In this atmosphere it wasn’t long before the move in the Browning/Cut Bank area was to ‘bust.’ For that matter, this move wasn’t just located in Teton County -- disgruntled citizens could be found throughout Montana. All they needed was some leadership to show them the way; this appeared in the form of Dan McKay of Glasgow.

“McKay was dissatisfied that the political power of the state centered in Butte and Anaconda. He figured the best way to break the political hold of “Copper Kings” Marcus Daley and William A. Clarke was to split the counties and thus elect more senators and representatives who would hopefully be opposed to Anaconda Copper and Standard Oil. By becoming involved in the political maneuvers in each of the counties and by playing one hand against the other, he was eventually responsible for the creation of twenty new Montana counties. This was a far cry from his original goal of splitting the state into 300 pieces, but it was a great accomplishment.

“In order for a new county to become a reality it was necessary for fifty-one percent of the residents of the proposed county to petition the county commissioners to call a special election. The new county had to gain a minimum of sixty-five per cent affirmative votes cast in the proposed area. A positive vote would send the issue to the legislature for approval.

“The hour of decision for the proposed Glacier County came in 1919. By this time many of the homesteaders had gone broke and abandoned their farms and were scattered from ‘hell to breakfast.’ A slush fund to pay travel for thse who had taken off for better parts was established and many citizens came from as far as the East Coast to cast their vote.

“In February, 1919, the Montana State Senate passed the Glacier County bill by a vote of 25 to 15, a margin of ten votes. The Glacier County bill was placed on the Governor’s desk for approval along with the bills for the counties of Garfield, McCone, Pondera, Powder River, Roosevelt and Treasure. It was rumored that Governor Stevens was opposed to the new counties and had refused to sign his approval. By midnight of the fifth day the Governor had neither approved nor vetoed the bills and they became law.

“With the creation of Glacier County it was time to do battle over the site of the county seat and both Cut Bank and Browning wanted the distinction.

“By this time Browning had come a long way and was growing in population and business every day. In 1912 the Orpheum Theater was built. It burned down and was replaced by another theater with the same name. This was abandoned a few years later for a modern modern facility, the Park Theater. A second theater was opened in 1919 where vaudeville shows were held twice a week until it burned down.

“Silent films were the order of the day and they occasionally had a fiddler, piano player or small orchestra to accompany the dialogue on the screen. Two bits was the entrance fee for adults and a dime for children to see big name stars like Bill Hart, Theda Bara, Cowboy Bill, and later Abbott and Costello. Tom Mix, Hoot Gibson, and Z.Z. Pitts. Cowboy and Indian pictures always drew a crowd in Browning if for not other reason than that the real cowboys and Indians who watched them found a great source of entertainment in finding out ‘how it really was’ Hollywood style.

“Moving pictures weren’t the only education the children of Browning received. A school for the Blackfeet had been established at the Willow Creek or Cut Bank Boarding School in 1892. From here the Indian children could go on to ‘colleges’ at Carlisle in Pennsylvania, Haskelll in Kansas, Riverside in California, Chimauwa in Oregon or at Fort Shaw. Most of these ‘colleges’ were, in fact, trade schools and in many ways were harmful to the Indian children. The attending students were removed from their parents and placed in a strict, unnatural white surrounding where nothing of their own culture was taught. However, many of those who attended thought they were good schools.

"The first school for white children was conducted in an upstairs room of banker J.H. Sherburne’s home with subjects being taught by his nephew. The classes were composed of the Sherburne children, children of some of the government employees and some Indian children. The upstairs classroom was utilized until the formal school facilities were completed."

(to be continued)

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