CHAPTER V
VIRGINIA CITY: DETOUR TO A DREAM
The
United States of early 1862 remained in a state of flux. Though in the primary
stages of a horrendous civil war, the North seemed to lack commitment to
preserving the union and Lincoln had to order his military to assume the
offensive. The economy continued unstable, not yet fully recovered from the
earlier depression. Thus on December 31, 1861, New York City banks suspended
specie payment. Other banks quickly followed suit, as did the national
government.
While
partial economic recovery could be seen in the more populated areas, frontier
settlements like Little Falls remained depressed. Fergus hoped to return to a
resurgent town and company, but he was sorely disappointed, for neither had
revived. Instead, he faced a floundering company, a depressed town and serious
financial troubles of his own, such as $106 in delinquent taxes owed to
Morrison County for his city lots. [Auditor's Office, Morrison County,
Minnesota, February 25, 1862, Box 17 F. 36, FP, UM.] In many respects his
financial problems loomed greater than when he left some eighteen months
earlier; he owed more, had worked hard for nothing (save experience) and had
suffered greater expenses with his family in three different locations much of
the time.
Immediate
survival presented no great problem, for he owned land in the Little Falls area
and could always raise enough livestock and produce to maintain his family.
Then again, James still had quality tools and similar skills as a millwright
and carpenter, so could assume salaried employment. But he had worked for
others only in his youth, and then only to gain experience and equipment. He
preferred self employment as it offered greater potential for advancement, and
thus James cast about for a new opportunity, well aware that his previous two
ventures ended in failure.
Friend
George Stephens urged Fergus to remain in Little Falls and either try to rescue
the company or to engage in something new, such as producing fanning mills with
O. J. Rockwell. If James insisted on returning to the mountains, Stephens
considered the freight business to be more promising than the foundry. [George
Stephens to James Fergus, January 26, 1862, Box 10 F. 24 FP, UM.]
James
Dillin, Pamelia's brother and James' former partner, remained in the Denver
area and offered another suggestion. "I do not know but it appears to me
that if powder can be made in this country it would be money making business as
long as this war lasts at any rate." Fergus may have considered this, for
he helped build and operate such mills in Illinois prior to 1844 and his move
to Moline. Dillin harbored no illusions about Colorado mining, however, for
"prospecting in this country is poor business." [James Dillin to
James Fergus, February 9 and March 1, 1862, Box 2 F. 56, FP, UM.]
It
took little to convince the discouraged Fergus that Colorado prospecting
produced nothing but back-breaking work and an empty gold pan; he concluded the
business potential to be equally unpromising. Therefore, James accepted
Stephen's advice and declined to return. But neither did the once attractive
Little Falls tempt Fergus, and he determined to leave. Exactly when he decided
to leave his family and again cross the plains remains uncertain, but news of
the rich Salmon River, Idaho, gold discoveries and a Congressional
appropriation of $50,000 ". . . to provide for the protection of overland
emigrants to California, Oregon, and Washington Territory," stirred his
interest. [U. S., Congressional Record, 37th Cong., 2nd Sess., 1862,
Vol. 5, Part I, 505. Merrill G. Burlingame, The Montana Frontier (Helena, Montana: State Publishing
Co., 1942), pp. 133-134.] After the Midwest successfully pressured Congress
into opening a northern route to the gold fields with adequate military
protection, James L. Fisk received the rank of captain and the appointment to
lead the expedition. [Hiram Martin Chittenden, History of Early Steamboat
Navigation on the Missouri River (New York: Francis P. Harper, 1903), p. 270.]
These
events, combined with depressed conditions in Little Falls and Colorado,
rekindled Fergus' drive for wealth through gold. Therefore, two years after
instructing Pamelia with a March 1860 memo, James wrote another to sustain his
family during his absence in Idaho. Again, he indicated the hope of a speedy
return after a summer's work "but in case I should stay longer than I
intend I leave the following memorandum for your assistance."
Pamelia
received instructions concerning the collection of debts, care of the animals,
house, fields, and most of all, the children. James told her who would clean
the chimney, provide the flour and bring the wood. She was to keep Andrew away
from the water and Tuttle out of his papers. If low on money she should sell
some town lots or watches, sleds, a compass or whatever she liked as he planned
to have them come out the following year and it would be easier to move light.
The methodical Fergus even instructed her when and where to write the first
summer: "I want you to write me in five days after I leave to Fort
Abercrombie in twelve days to Pembina in one month to Fort Benton on the Upper
Missouri and after that to Salmon River Gold Mines." [Memo: James Fergus
to Pamelia Fergus, June 22, 1862, Box 17 F. 19, FP, UM.]
For
the second time in two years the usually sensible Fergus contracted gold fever,
which clouded his thinking. He rationalized that another thousand-mile
adventure in pursuit of quick wealth was undertaken for his family's benefit.
Actually, he held self-centered motives, for Pamelia obviously preferred that
he remain in Little Falls with the family; her first choice would have been to
return to her home state of Illinois and the advantages of a settled area.
Instead, Fergus somewhat foolishly left his wife and four children on the
Minnesota frontier (soon to be inflamed by a Sioux uprising), self righteously
providing his overburdened wife with another set of survival instructions. He
did not see them again for over two years.
One
author insists Fergus made a sudden decision to join the Fisk party and left
with only two days notice, for "he gathered some bedding and food, hitched
four oxen to a wagon, bade his wife goodby and overtook Fisk at Fort
Abercrombie." [Helen McCann White (ed.), Ho! For the Gold Fields (St. Paul: Minnesota Historical
Society, 1966), p. 35.] There may be a grain of truth in this, but Fergus had
been considering a return to the mountains for some time and had decided to
leave for Salmon River at least no later than June 12, as indicated by W. R.
Marshall of St. Paul. [W. R. Marshall to James Fergus, June 18, 1862, Box 2 F.
42, FP, UM. On the other hand, Fergus wrote Donnelly June 8, 1862, that he
planned to leave for Pike's Peak that fall with his family. (Fergus to
Donnelly, Roll 10, DP, Minn. HS.) Donnelly regretted that Fergus planned to
leave but offered help: "I shall trust however that if successful you will
return to us. If in any event or at any time I can serve yourself or your
family do not hesitate to call on me. Some time the wheel of fortune may enable
me to be of use to you." Donnelly to Fergus, June 12, 1862, Box 2 F. 61,
FP, UM.] Then, of course, he had time to organize and write a detailed
memorandum to his wife.
At
any rate, Captain Fisk organized the expedition in St. Paul and arrived at the
official starting point, Fort Abercrombie, south of present Fargo, North
Dakota, on July 3, 1862. [U. S. Congress, House of Representatives, Captain
James L. Fisk's Report of the Expedition to Escort Emigrants from Fort
Abercrombie to Fort Benton, and to Fort Walla Walla, Executive Document No. 80, 37th
Cong., 3rd Sess., March 2, 1863, p. 6. Hereafter cited as Fish
Report.] The
emigrants assembled at Fort Abercrombie presented Captain Fisk with blanket
pessimism concerning the unknown country ahead and especially the hostile
Sioux. Consequently, they wanted to follow the eighty Minnesotans that left a
month earlier and take the northern route skirting Sioux territory, though it
meant a 250-mile detour through Pembina and St. Josephs. To reduce their apprehension
Fisk obtained a 12-pound howitzer; thus satisfied the emigrants and train left
Monday, July 7, 1862. The party consisted of 117 men and 13 women. [Ibid., pp. 6-7.]
Fisk
also worried about the expedition's success. They started late in the season,
leaving in July, and traveled a new route, excluding that surveyed by General
Stevens in 1833. [Ibid., p. 1. William H. Goetzman, Army Exploration in the American West,
1803-1863 (New
Haven: Yale University Press, 1959), pp. 276-280. Stevens surveyed from the
Pacific to Fort Snelling, Minnesota Territory, in 1853. Fisk followed the
Stevens route from the big bend of the Missouri River to Fort Benton.]
Fortunately, the expedition experienced no serious Indian troubles, though they
encountered numerous bands and tribes. The group escaped injury or death
between Forts Abercrombie and Benton, losing only two oxen and one mule. [Fish
Report, pp. 2-3.
Fisk did not learn of the 1862 Sioux uprising in Minnesota until later, nor did
Fergus.]
The
party arrived at Fort Benton September 5, having traveled 61 days, averaging
13.6 miles per day for 830 miles. [Ibid., pp. 26 and 36. They averaged 17½ miles a day for
the 367 miles between Forts Union and Benton.] Captain Fisk later explained the
expedition's success:
Nearly if not quite all of the men
of the escort and emigrants had seen more or less of the frontier life, were
not afraid to encounter hardships, and knew how to surmount impediments in
whatever shape occurring. The season was most wonderfully favorable, plenty of
grazing and water for our purpose, and yet not sufficient rain at any time to
swell the streams or soften the basins of the prarie country. [Ibid., p. 2.]
Fergus
also thought it a good trip with little unusual happening but a wedding July 15
and a birth August 8. Since he had crossed the plains twice before with much
less organization and much more uncertainty, the security of an army escort
must have made the trip almost pleasant. But commenting on his fellow emigrants
he noted, "I have often thought that Minnesota got rid of more hard cases
the trip I came through in than I ever saw together, broken down businessmen
that would pay nothing, broken down merchants, and scalawags of all
sorts." [James Fergus to William Butler, March 20, 1875, Box 11 F. 58, FP,
UM. General Sully seemed to agree with Fergus, for on September 9, 1864, he
complained: "Why will the government continue to act so foolishly, sending
out emigrants at great expense? Do they know that most of the men that go are
running from the draft?" Chittenden, Early Steamboat Navigation, p. 270.] The St. Paul Press, however, viewed the expedition
more positively, looking on the gold seekers as a "victorious army . . .
sent forth by Minnesota to clear the path of emigration and commerce to the
Pacific." [White, Ho! For the Gold Fields, p. 35.]
Though
Fergus and others in the Fisk party originally planned on going to the Salmon
River mines, many detoured south after reaching Fort Union. News had it that
Salmon River, while a rich strike, was overrun with men, causing unemployment
and forcing thousands to leave for Oregon, California, and new diggings in the
Rocky Mountains. Therefore, Fergus and N. P. Langford, among others,
investigated the Prickly Pear Valley, stopped briefly in the Deer Lodge Valley,
and continued south to the Beaverhead gold mines, later to be called Bannack,
in the Grasshopper Creek area. James arrived October 13, formed a partnership
with O. J. Rockwell and David A. Bently, and began building a winter cabin.
[James Fergus to Pamelia Fergus, October 16 and November 2, 1862, Box 11 F. 58
and Box 17 F. 19, FP, UM. N. P. Langford, Diary, September 29, 1865, locked
case, M. Room, Library, University of Montana. Langford did not mention Fergus
but spoke of the "Minnesota boys" October 8, 1862.]
The
whole mining area, Fergus noted, belonged to the hostile Snake Indians. About
450 men had arrived that fall but only a few women, with most coming either by
the Platte River route or directly from Pike's Peak, moving from one mining
rush to another on the basis of rumor. Though James did not consider the mines
as good as Salmon River, he certainly thought them better than Pike's Peak.
Miners averaged about five dollars a day, with some making $10 to $15; wages
amounted to about four a day. [James Fergus to Pamelia Fergus, November 2,
1862, and October 16, 1862, Box 17 F. 19, FP, UM. James Fergus to person
unknown, October 16, 1862, Box 11 F. 58, FP, UM.]
By
early November they had built a 17 by 19-foot winter cabin which occasionally
housed as many as eight men. [James Fergus to Pamelia Fergus, November 2, 1862,
Box 17 F. 19, and January 4, 1863, Box 17 F. 20, FP, UM.] By late October news
also filtered into the mining camps concerning the Minnesota Sioux uprising.
James heard several unnerving tales, including the story that 500 to 700
Indians planned to destroy Crow Wing and Little Falls, forcing Governor Ramsey
to order all able-bodied men to protect the country. Fergus became alarmed
about his family and noted, "I thought yesterday when I heard that there
was Indian troubles in Minnesota that I had better go home at once, but on
reflection I thought that I would be too late to lend any help, but now I don't
know what to do. I will go and hunt up a paper and then decide." James concluded
not to return, for he would be too late to help and it was dangerously late in
the season to travel. [Ibid., November 2, 1862, Box 17 F. 19, FP, UM.]
Earlier,
James had urged Pamelia to write, because "I want to hear from you to know
that my family is at home alone without money causes me a good deal of
anxiety." James promised to send her some "United States bills"
that winter. Pamelia's financial support in James' absence is unclear. Fergus
memos of 1860 and 1862 indicate she should try to collect accounts receivable;
yet she, like others, also had taxes and debts to pay, not to mention daily
living expenses. Whatever savings James once had must have been eaten up by the
Colorado failure and family support. Pamelia could sell city lots and other
property but probably received little from this source in a depressed economy.
She either managed on very little or had an unknown source of income. Of
course, as James discovered Virginia City gold he sent money, but he apparently
sent little until the spring of 1863, a year after he left home. What little
money James managed to forward Pamelia apparently came from his joiner's work
that first winter in Bannack. He had already given up the idea of returning for
"the prospect for me ahead is very good and I can't do much this
fall." Advice home included:
Keep plenty of flour in the house,
be careful of fires, secure you cellar, have the girls help Andrew in with
wood, get a few loads of dry popular over from our claim, and get workmen to
see that nobody steals wood from it—get plenty of hay for your cows, keep
the children at school and take care of all your healths. [Ibid., September 25, 1862, Box 17 F. 19,
FP, UM. James Fergus, "Early Mining life at Bannack and Alder Gulch,"
Rocky Mountain Magazine, Vol. 1, No. 4, pp. 265-69, 1900-1901. In the same article Fergus noted
some typical Bannack mining camp deaths. These were noted on January 21, 1863:
"Morning bright and pleasant; another coffin to make—three in a few
days. The first man died of apoplexy, induced by drinking too long and too
freely of his own bad whiskey; the second was shot in cold blood in mid-day,
and the murderer (Plummer) is still at large, untried, unpunished, and no one
molests him; the third, a young man in the prime of life, lately married, died
of fever." Hereafter cited as: Fergus, "Early Mining Life at
Bannack."]
During
the winter months James often wrote Pamelia in a conversational tone,
describing Bannack City conditions and projecting into the future. James
conceded that few women or children then lived in Bannack, but expected more in
the summer, leading to a school. Greater numbers would also mean increased
safety from unfriendly Indians; besides, he tried to reassure her, Salt Lake
City quartered 1200 soldiers only 350 miles away. Pamelia could make $20 to $25
a week cooking and washing for others, and James' prospects looked good:
"When we get tired of staying here we could always go on to Oregon."
Relocating did not bother James at all, though it probably did not thrill his
wife.
While
James had promised to return that winter he soon confessed to changed plans.
The next question came to be twofold: would Pamelia and children come to the
mines next summer? And if so, how would they come? James examined the options
and none seemed palatable. Steamboat offered the most comfortable travel for
the family: up the Missouri to Fort Benton, requiring $650, and at least $350
for the balance of the trip. But that route held the disadvantage of passing
through hostile Sioux country, besides being the most expensive. Coming
overland by the Platte required much time, not to mention the need to hire a
driver and buy an outfit, including oxen, wagon and provisions. The
cost—at least $600, Fergus thought.
The
best and cheapest means of getting them to the mines, in James' opinion, would
be for him to return in March and arrange the trip, sell his property, secure
an outfit and bring them back. However, this meant the loss of about six months
of work—approximately $700—and required at least $300 in expenses.
Besides, storms dominated March in the Salt Lake to Missouri area. James
requested an early reply from Pamelia, but as it worked out the family did not
come to Bannack until the summer of 1864. [Ibid., December 13, 1862, Box 17 F. 19,
FP, UM.]
Though
Fergus could do little mining or work that winter because of the heavy snows,
he continued to write Pamelia and, when possible, send her money. The activity
slowed to such a point that in March he joined others and walked to the Prickly
Pear Valley, some 120 miles north but found nothing worth digging and returned.
His goal consisted of finding a better claim to work and own by himself. [Ibid., January 4 and March 24, 1863, Box
17 F. 20, FP, UM.]
As
in Colorado, James and Pamelia encountered considerably problems in exchanging
mail. By January 1863 James had heard nothing from his family since leaving
Fort Abercrombie the previous June; he suspected the express had been cut off
by Indians. Finally, late that month, he received a letter from Pamelia dated
July 28, which had come by way of Oregon, Walla Walla and Dear Lodge requiring
two dollars postage. Pamelia experienced similar problems, with letters either
not arriving or taking six weeks by way of Oregon. [Ibid., January 4 and January 27, 1863,
Box 17 F. 20; October, 1863, Box 3 F. 27, FP, UM.]
Raising
money to send to his family in Minnesota constituted a major problem; getting
it through safely came to be another. Indians and robbers attacked the express.
The American Fur Company carried mail from Fort Benton down the Missouri, but
Benton lay 300 miles distant. Letters which arrived in Little Falls via express
were sometimes opened, and the money stolen, as when Pamelia failed to receive
$90 pilfered in Salt Lake. [Ibid., March 24, 1863, Box 17 F. 20; Pamelia Fergus
to James Fergus, October 8, 1863, Box 3 F. 28, FP, UM.]
One
alternative was to send mail or money with a friend, paying him. Fergus
resorted to this, sending small amounts by several people to reduce the risk of
robbery for "this country is overrun by rowdies, gamblers, robbers and
assassins. But I will send you a little more at a time as I can get hold of
paper money." By late May, 1863, he had sent Pamelia $435, though most may
have been sent in the spring. [James Fergus to Pamelia Fergus, May 3 and 27,
1863, Box 17 F. 20, FP, UM. During this time James sent $30 in treasury notes,
$100 in gold dust by Ft. Benton, $130 and $175 by different friends. The person
who carried the money usually received five dollars.] Later, Fergus wrote
friend Ignatius Donnelly, a Minnesota Congressman in Washington, D. C.,
"to have the Post Office Department ferret out the mail robbers on that
[Salt Lake] route." [Ibid., December 10, 1863, Box 17 F. 20, FP, UM.]
Fergus
did not hesitate to encourage Donnelly to work to improve Idaho Territory,
especially the southwestern section around Bannack. Donnelly pledged his help,
requested information about the area for use in Congress, and promised his
support to "have a wagon road and post route established from Minnesota to
Idaho Territory." [James Fergus to Ignatius Donnelly, August 28, October
9, 1863, and May 14, 1864, Box 2 F. 61, FP, UM.] James also took the time to
inform his Minnesota friend that if any states were formed in the West they would
surely be loyal. In addition, Fergus hoped the Civil War would soon end with
the Union intact, because he considered the present form of government
"though not perfect is the best for the ‘millions' of any in existence and
I hope it may be perpetuated." [Ibid., May 10, 1863, Roll 12, DP, Minn. HS.]
Though
James spoke of establishing a school as Bannack became more populated, the fact
remained that the Little Falls educational picture of the early 1860's remained
sporadic, almost hit and miss. By late November 1862 Pamelia reported the
children had attended little school since James left; besides, winter term just
started, only to terminate in February. Consequently, Luella tutored Andrew and
Lillie, plus seven or eight others. [Pamelia Fergus to James Fergus, November
28, 1862, and March 11, 1863, Box 3 F. 27-28, FP, UM.] This situation prompted
James to issue these comments on self education:
If there is no school and you have
not enough to do for the girls let them read good useful books, and store there
minds with good useful knowledge. Far better than to read novels that draw the
mind from the ordinary realities of life and have a tendency to make young
people dissatisfied with there lot. Cards are just a useless waste of time. I
hope however that you find enough for them to do without spending much of there
time in those frivolous occupations. [James Fergus to Pamelia Fergus and
children, March 24, 1863, Box 17 F. 20, FP, UM.]
Two
months later district school began, leading Agnes to write her father that she
liked the woman teacher's personality; she did not, however enjoy the
twenty-year-old lady as a teacher "but I suppose that she does the best
that she can with sixty-three little children." [Pamelia Fergus to James
Fergus, March 11, 1863, Box 3 F. 26; Agnes Fergus to James Fergus, June 8,
1863, Box 5 F. 24, FP, UM.]
Later
that fall Luella, about fourteen, developed a strong interest in securing a
school of her own, mainly because "teaching school is all the talk among
young ladies now. If they can do ‘sums' to fractions, they can get a
certificate to teach." Her father objected, eliciting this response from
Luella: "You spoke of not wanting Agnes or I to teach anywhere around
Little Falls. Mr. and Mrs. Elwell spoke to me about taking a Belle Prairie school.
I told them I was to young and did not want to teach. They thought I was
sixteen instead of fourteen." [Luella Fergus to James Fergus, August 19
and October 5, 1863, Box 3 F. 28, FP, UM.]
By
September 1863 school claimed all the Fergus children. Luella reported to her
father that "Agnes studies Robinson's Practical Arithmetic, Warrens
Geography, Greens Grammar. I study the same except the addition of Robinson's
Mental Arithmetic which Agnes does not study. Andrew studies Arithmetic,
Geography, Reading, Spelling, Writing." Luella little realized that a
century would produce only slight change in this educational pattern. [Ibid., September 22, 1863, Box 3 F. 28,
FP, UM.]
Fergus,
like most other married miners away from their families, suffered doubts about
his absence from home, leaving women and children alone for long periods of
time. In such a moment, James penned the following advice:
I ought as a duty send much good
advice to the children but hard labor every day leaves but little time for thought
or reflection. They must therefore pay the more attention to what mother gives
them, and for the remainder depend upon their own judgement and good books.
Borrow what you can and take good care of them and buy a few. Money is never
wasted on books that give good advice or instructions to the young. Even good
history helps enlarge the mind. Rollins' Ancient History is a good standard
work. Buy a good large sized late map of the United States if you can get one.
[James Fergus to Pamelia Fergus and children, June 1, 1863, Box 17 F. 20, FP,
UM.]
James
undoubtedly missed such reading, for at the mines he neither had access to
books nor had the time to study or think, except during the slow winter months.
Thirty years later, after semi-retiring on his central Montana ranch, he
occupied considerable time doing both. This spurt of thoughts dealing with his
philosophy of life provided his family with one outlook and a hint of numerous
future references to the same topic:
If we take good care of our bodies,
live wisely justly and honorable in this life I think we will be prepared for
another life, or an existence beyond the grave if such is the order of natures
laws. I am willing to risk my self on those terms. I have examined the subject
for many years, and have found nothing better, and I think and hope after
examining the subject thoroughly for themselves my family will come to the same
conclusion. [Ibid.,
March 11, 1863, Box 21 F. 3, FP, UM. This provides another indication of his
agnostic-like beliefs.]
When
James left for the mines the spring of 1862, neither he nor Pamelia worried
excessively about one danger both would confront—Indians. Soon after he
left, Pamelia experienced the un-nerving Minnesota Sioux uprising—a
reaction against the neglect and inadequate provisions from a government more
engrossed in civil war. James also found himself concerned with Indians, both
for his family's safety in Minnesota, and for his well-being at the mines near
Bannack.
Traveling
down the Deer Lodge Valley to Bannack they met two men who insisted Indians
were determined to drive the miners out, if not kill them. The Fergus party
waited two days, then met two others who reported the miners had bargained with
the 1500 Indians, giving them "three oxen, some beans, flour, sugar,
tobacco, pipes, etc," for the privilege of mining. The party pushed on,
arriving in Bannack. Soon surrounded by "unfriendly Indians who have been
committing murders and other depradations all summer," Fergus believed
their numbers alone, about 450 men and a few women, "saves us from being
robbed if not murdered, for we are all well prepared and sleep with our guns
and revolvers by our sides." [Ibid., November 2, 1862, Box 17 F. 19, FP, UM.]
As
in Colorado, James expressed respect for the plains Indians, in marked contrast
to his feelings for the "drunken Chippawas seen about Little Falls. They
are well mounted, and better armed, and far better marksmen than the whites and
in square numbers are far more than a match for them." Fergus noted the
Indians left for the Missouri and the fall buffalo hunt. However, he expected
them to return shortly to their wintering grounds about twenty-five miles away.
Hopefully, "by prudence and care we expect to keep on good terms with them
this winter, next summer we will be numerous enough to protect ourselves."
[Ibid.]
Unfortunately,
all miners did not exercise the hoped for "prudence and care" James
spoke of, and that winter incidents such as the following occurred, greatly
disturbing the open-minded James and arousing both the Indian and white
communities:
Five days ago, two drunken rowdies
had a difficulty with some Indians about a squaw, in a lodge within a few rods
of our cabin, and during the fuss (the two white men who were armed with double
barreled shot guns and revolvers) shot two Indians and two Indian children
dead. The sqaws and children set up the most dredful howling I ever heard.
Several Indians and children who were wounded were also moaning and the howling
and while this unearthly noise was going on, some white men and an interpreter
were in the lodge trying to find out from the Indians who had done the
shooting, and to convince them that the whites were not going to massacre them.
The same two fiends returned in the dark (accompanied by Wm. Mitchel, a young
man who worked on the Little Falls dam the winter before I went to Pikes Peak
and who was also somewhat intoxicated) and poured another volley of 18 shots
into the lodge amongst white men and Indians killing one white man who was
interpreting, and wounding three more. The Indians and sqaws killed by the last
shooting has not been ascertained, as they were carried off in the night. Next
morning of course there was considerable excitement. A meeting was held and men
dispatched after the prisoners, who had left early in the morning accompanied
by a man who had killed another man a few days before. Rockwell was among the
party who went in pursuit, was one of the four who overhauled them about 16
miles from here, and brought them back about ten oclock that night. The miners
decided to give them a jury trial. There were but two lawyers here who would
have any thing to do with it. They were both engaged for the prisoners. Of
course they had it pretty much their own way, and strange to say not a man of
them was hung, only banished, on the ground that it was not murder to kill
Indians, and the whites were killed accidently. The miners are very much
dissatisfyed, believing that a great wrong has been done to the Indians and to
ourselves, an atrocious massacre has been committed and nobody punished,
hundreds of naked mounted savages are ready to revenge the murder of their
kindred, and pick off every straggler that comes in their way. Some are
expecting them here in large force every day. Others think they will not come
before spring but will content themselves for the present with stealing all our
cattle horses and that when the snow goes and the grass comes they will pounce
on us. . . . Many of the miners would shoot an Indian whenever they see them if
it were not for there own safety. [Ibid., January 27, 1863, Box 17 F. 20, FP, UM.]
James assured Pamelia they would be relatively safe until
spring, though if the Indians attacked there would be a general war which the
Indians would certainly lose. He listed the Minnesota Massacre, killings and
robberies by Indians in Montana and general distrust to account for the miners'
strong anti-Indian feeling.
By
spring Fergus observed an increase in this friction, noting, ". . . there
is a worse feeling existing among the whites toward the Indian tribes than I
ever saw before." Still, he continued to show much respect for the
Indians, especially the men, whom he described as "always mounted . . .
tall fine looking men." He thought much less of the hard working squaws
who "even when quite young are bend down with hard labor most all dirty
homely and badly dressed." [Ibid., May 3 and 17, 1863, Box 17 F. 20, FP, UM.]
Fergus
had been in Montana less than a year and was destined to remain, after several
moves within the territory, the rest of his life. His conscience bothered him
early, however, in relation to the treatment of these proud horsemen of the
plains, which civilization pushed aside. Unlike others who may have felt the
same inner pangs, James' sense of fair play prompted more objective
observations after several more incidents like the above.
There is no doubt but the Indians
have murdered and plundered a great many whites. But so far as my experience
goes during the past winter the whites have been the aggressors and the Indians
have behaved their selves by far the most like civilized people. Many of the
rowdies here think it fine fun to shoot an Indian. [Ibid., May 3, 1863, Box 17 F. 20, FP,
UM.]
James
also considered the press to be less than fair in reporting white outrages on
the Indians while magnifying the Indian's actions: "the Indians no doubt
have committed many outrages on the whites, most of which are made public but
from long experience I am satisfied that the whites have committed outrage upon
outrage on the Indians few if any ever reach the public ear." [James
Fergus to Ignatius Donnelly, May 20, 1863, Roll 12, DP, Minn. HS.]
After
spending a winter worrying of the future and making what preparation that could
be made for the summer work, the partners eagerly anticipated warm weather and
wealth. Their claims had produced little to date. Therefore, to expand their
chances for success, they bought three claims on the Wisconsin Bar for
$121—numbers two and three above discovery and number one below. [Receipt,
April 12, 1863. Rickard and Kaly sold to Fergus, James McGuire, O. J. Rockwell
and W. Wright for $212. Box 13 F. 16 and Box 20 F. 28, FP, UM.]
To
a miner summer meant backbreaking toil. Leisure became a luxury James missed
during those busy days. He described a typical week to Pamelia, indicating
their claim to be three miles below their Bannack City cabin. They usually
walked to the claim, worked it all week, and returned on Saturday of Sunday to
clean up, secure provisions, repair their tools, and collect and send mail. He
conceded prices to be high, but expected them to be lower the following year as
goods became more plentiful. Butter sold for $1.25 a pound, eggs $1.50 a dozen
and tea $5 a pound. James reported his meals consisted mostly of bread and
beef, with some rice, dried apples, and corn meal mush. At times they used up
all their tea and sugar and rather than pay these high prices they did without.
[James Fergus to Pamelia Fergus, May 10 and 17, 1863, Box 17 F. 20, FP, UM.]
This
relatively peaceful routine was hardly established before the Bannack miners
stampeded over the hill to new diggings. James had been confined to his cabin
sick with stomach troubles requiring medicine costing eight dollars (probably
making him sicker) when:
Our butcher came along with his meat
on horseback, and told us that there was a big excitement up town about some
new diggings found by a party that went out last Feby. I knew that Henry Edgar
who used to be with Joseph Whitford was one of that party, and I thought I
would try to go up to town and see him. So I went up, sent Rockwell in search
of him. He came to our cabin in the evening and Rockwell went off with him this
morning. I think they have found good diggings about 5 days travel from here
but there are so many going that it is doubtful whether they all get claims.
Several hundred went. [Ibid., June 1, 1863, Box 17 F. 20, FP, UM.]
Such
news, in addition to producing a mad scramble for claims near the discovery,
provided good medicine, and Fergus soon improved enough to "take my
blanket and grub on my back and [leave] too," walking the seventy-five
miles to Alder Gulch. Thus the rich Virginia City diggings came to light. [Ibid., June 15, 1863, Box 17 F. 20, FP,
UM.]
A
town quickly developed in the gulch to service the diggings; somebody called it
Verona, the name of Jefferson Davis' wife. Northerners protested, and it was
renamed Virginia City. Fergus described it as:
. . . about two weeks old [and]
contains some 20 stores and grog shops (in tents and bowers) and the diggings
some 1500 people, most of whom however are mostly looking for new diggings. As
more gold country is found miners become more excited and all are feeling well
thinking that they are now in a gold country and that they may possibly make
their pile. [Ibid.,
also, July 5, 1863, Box 11 F. 58, FP, UM.]
Those
who discovered the Alder Gulch diggings and those first to follow soon limited
the number of claims which could be staked. Though Fergus did not arrive in the
initial rush, partner O. J. Rockwell had, so James held part of a claim. He
planned to buy additional claims after identifying those with promise. [Ibid., June 15, 1863, Box 17 F. 20, FP,
UM.]
Fergus
had been in Alder Gulch only a few days when several of his friends started for
a new strike on the Madison River. They encouraged James to leave with them but
by then he not only held partial interest in a promising claim but had been
made deputy recorder by Henry Edgar, the recorder. James thought he could
"make a few dollars every day in that way, so that my time is not all
lost," concluding it would "bring a few hundred dollars." [Ibid., June 15 and July 5, 1863, Box 17
F. 20 and Box 11 F. 58, FP, UM.]
After
being at the diggings less than a month James assumed a very optimistic view of
the situation. He considered the Virginia City strike richer, more extensive
and easier to work than the one in Bannack. Hence, "although we only have
one claim we expect to take out $2000 apiece during the summer." While no
fortune it would at least pay previous expenses and leave enough to move the
family and start them in some enterprise. The partners had purchased other
claims in Alder Gulch, still had their Bannack claims and hoped to buy horses.
Rockwell returned to care for the Bannack claims while McGuire and Fergus
worked the Alder Gulch mines which produced enough to require the help of two
hired men at $4 a day plus board.
That
first summer in Alder Gulch the men apparently placed serious mining before
serious celebrating, and the Fourth of July passed quietly, leading James to
comment:
We had no celebration here. We have
too many cecessionists and southerners, but we all live together peaceably and
have nothing to say about politics or the war. We worked all day on the fourth,
three of us taking out $153 in gold. Yesterday four of us took out $196 but we
work hard and late and early. [Ibid., July 12, 1863, Box 17 F. 20, FP, UM.]
That
summer's good luck and hard work enabled Fergus to prosper for the first time
from a mining venture. In mid-October he wrote Pamelia that the worst week had
netted him only $80, while the best week of production brought in $500 in gold
dust, the equivalent of $600 in treasury notes, which would require "a
long time in Minnesota to clear that much." Winter's cold and snow reduced
earnings to about $50 to $100 a week but still provided a steady income all
season. "I could leave here now with nearly $4000 besides what I have sent
you. But I want you to keep these things to yourselves." By then Fergus
had supplied Pamelia with at least $715. It is uncertain if this figure
included the $435 he sent the previous spring. [Ibid., October 18, 1863, Box 17 F. 20,
FP, UM.]
Keeping
such news quiet, however, proved difficult, and rumors of good income filtered
back to the Little Falls area. One wife, trying to prod her husband into going
to the mines, asked Fergus if it were true that "you and O. J. Rockwell
were clearing one hundred dollars per day and that all who went from here were
averaging thirty." She was, however, realistic enough to inquire as to
"how many is there who do not make anything?" [Mrs. Helen M. Smith to
James Fergus, December 18, 1863, Box 10 F. 8, FP, UM.]
Fergus
entertained plans to branch out into some type of business in the Virginia City
area. Earlier that summer George Stephens indicated an interest in coming or at
least in supplying capital to finance a quartz mill. Stephens neither came nor
supplied money for such an operation. Consequently, in combination with
Rockwell and McGuire, Fergus hoped to initiate a milling operation the
following spring. He closed the mining season in a burst of optimism, and wrote
Pamelia he had:
. . . found now what I have been
looking for for some years, a place where I could have a permanent paying
business, and I can have it here with a quartz mill. . . . We are in a good
mining country, have some good claims and some money by us, and the prospects
are good ahead. [George Stephens to James Fergus, July 12, 1863, Box 10 F. 25.
James Fergus to Pamelia Fergus, October, 1863, Box 11 F. 57, FP, UM.]
Pamelia
and the children seemed to be getting along fairly well back in Little Falls,
They had enough to eat, a warm house, adequate money, and appeared to be doing
better emotionally—possibly because the two older girls stayed with their
mother while James went to Montana, unlike the Colorado absence. In addition,
Pamelia did not have to struggle with the company's problems, for it apparently
settled into dormancy.
She
did, however, have some nagging problems to resolve—especially that of
caring for and paying the taxes on their Little Falls property. Depression
still plagued the area by the spring of 1863 and land sold for taxes. Pamelia
became gloomy about the situation by late summer, especially when she discovered
the taxes had not been paid for the previous two years on their house, eight
lots and the red barn. James had not yet sent much money, and some that he
mailed never reached his family. Besides, the garden dried up and she had no
money to buy winter clothes. [Pamelia Fergus to James Fergus, April 5, August
1, August 30, September 22, 1863, Box 3 F. 28-29, FP, UM.]
Conditions
improved considerably that summer and fall because James prospered, sending
money home. Pamelia received enough to pay the taxes and purchase winter
supplies. [Ibid.,
November 11 and December 17, 1863, Box 3 F. 28, FP, UM.] Earlier that spring,
when Pamelia had little money and faced delinquent taxes, both grew depressed.
James instructed her to pay the taxes only on the house and most valuable lots,
leaving the rest, so she would have enough for personal expenses. "I think
very little of my Little Falls property anyway. If my family and what little
property I have left there was out of it and what little my friends own I would
not care if the rest of it was in hell, if there is such a place." [James
Fergus to Pamelia Fergus, May 27, 1863, Box 17 F. 20, FP, UM.]
The
following summer James sent for his family. After Pamelia left Little Falls,
their good friend William Butler cared for the property. James realized little
from his ownings there, mainly because the area remained in a depressed state,
economically, well into the last third of the century. Butler reported crop
failures and hard times in both 1867 and 1868, with property unsaleable at any
price, though James tried to dispose of his holdings. [William Butler to James
Fergus, October 20, 1867 and February 21, 1868, Box 1 F. 66, FP, UM.]
In
1874 A. E. Randall of Whitehall, Montana, returned to Aitken, Minnesota, to
visit relatives. He reported Little Falls to be declining rapidly and to be:
. . . the most desolate looking
place I ever saw for a place that is as old as that is and as lively as it was
in '56. There ain't more than half as many houses now and not the least mark left
to show that there ever was a bridge and a mill there. But the people that live
there think it will be a hell of a place in a year or two. It may be a place
some time but I think we will all be under the sod first. [A. L. Randall to
James Fergus, April 24, 1874, Box 9 F. 4, FP, UM.]
Though
Butler sold the Fergus house in 1866 for $600, James continued to sell his
Little Falls property by bits and pieces, disposing of the last small lot in
1895. [William Butler to James Fergus, August 31, 1866, Box 11 F. 66, FP, UM.
Nathan Richardson to James Fergus, February 13, 1895, Box 9 F. 13, FP, UM. No
one realized Fergus owned one-third interest in this last lot until 1895. He
realized about $200 from it after taxes, indicating values had risen
considerably.] Fergus confessed to Butler that, while he still had a few good
friends and a few pleasant memories about the city, he nonetheless held
"few pleasant recollections of Little Falls where I may say I lost the
earnings of the best of my life. It was possibly my own fault however in
believeing every body was as honest as I tried to be." [James Fergus to
William Butler, March 20, 1875, Box 11 F. 58, FP, UM.]
Fergus
left his wife and family in Minnesota in June 1862, promising to return that
fall. He did not, of course, for he wanted to stay and prepare for the spring's
work; in addition, the season became late before he located and settled.
Pamelia, usually agreeable to James' plans, voiced concern, especially about
the Indian danger:
Now Fergus do not stay there among
them Indians. What does it profit a man if he gain the hole world and lose his
soul. I had rather trust my luck of get along with the children than to have
your weight in gold and be deprived of you or think you never can come back.
Of course, Pamelia had just experienced the unnerving
Minnesota Sioux uprising and she did not want James injured, urging him to
". . . keep a good look out for those hateful things." [Pamelia
Fergus to James Fergus, December 18, 1862, and January 25, 1863, Box 3 F. 27-28,
FP, UM.]
James
considered bringing his family out the spring of 1863 and again that fall. But
by spring he had moved to Alder Gulch and potential prosperity, so felt he
could not afford to leave; the same conditions existed in the fall, with the
Indian problem also a major concern. Therefore, his family did not leave
Minnesota in 1863. [Ibid., January 25, 1863, and August 30, 1863, Box 3 F. 28, FP, UM.]
Late
that fall James definitely decided not to return for his family but found a
solution: partner O. J. Rockwell had family in New York and planned to visit
them that winter. He agreed to stop at Little Falls in the spring and drive
Pamelia's wagon back to Virginia City. [James Fergus to Pamelia Fergus,
November 15, 1863, Box 17 F. 20, FP, UM.] From a purely dollars and cents
standpoint this proved to be the best arrangement, for James avoided the loss
of six months income. In addition, Rockwell knew horses and the problems of
cross-country travel. However, this decision graphically illustrates how the self-centered
Fergus placed his monetary well-being before the comfort and physical safety,
not to mention emotional welfare, of his distant family. Rockwell left Virginia
City in mid-November, carrying $400 in gold dust to Pamelia. James paid him
$100, encouraged him to collect an old debt in Denver and keep half, and gave
him the use of his buffalo coat going home. [James Fergus Notebook, 1862-1869,
entry of November 16, 1863, Box 25 F. 2, FP, UM.]
The
next few days James pompously wrote Pamelia detailed instructions concerning
the Little Falls property and travel preparations, including what and how to
pack. Essentially, he wanted her to pay taxes on the most valuable lots,
including the house, and let the rest slide. He urged Pamelia to leave the Little
Falls Manufacturing Company records with Gravel and Butler, get receipts for
same, ascertain what, if any, he owed the company and it owed him, and bring
the figures. [James Fergus to Pamelia Fergus, November 22, 1863, Box 17 F. 20,
FP, UM.] James either cared so little about his company business and Little
Falls property that he did not consider it worthy of his personal attention, or
had so much confidence in Pamelia's ability to successfully terminate these
affairs that he did not return to Minnesota. It may have been a combination of
each, or simply that Fergus, from his distant position, failed to realize the
emotional stress he had forced on Pamelia. At any rate, he chose not to return
to Little Falls, leaving her to shoulder the entire burden. Presumably, she
received at least some help from the eighteen year old Mary Agnes and sixteen
year old Luella; Andrew, fourteen, and Lillie, seven, probably contributed when
possible. At the same time, the egotistical Fergus treated his wife as though
she had little common sense, forwarding minute packing instructions:
I enclose you a memorandum of what
things I think you ought to bring out, exclusive of what things you will bring
from home that I don't think of, leaving you and Rockwell at liberty to vary it
according to circumstances, such as scarcity of money, high prices etc. If
goods are high I would buy the fewer of them and if some articles are high I
would bring fewer of them. Rockwell will come by way of Salt Lake, and bring an
additional supply of flour, beans, salt, butter, cheese, syrup, chairs, etc. I
have kept a copy of these memorandums and will write to you if I think of any
alterations. As soon as you receive it, copy it into a memorandum book as I
wrote you before; leaving a space between the different headings so you can put
down anything you think of and in the same book, you may put down what articles
you want to bring from home, and as you pack them up at home, or buy them at
Omaha or elsewhere, mark it with a pencil, so you may know it is packed or
purchased, and when the articles are all marked of course your bills are full.
Use the green chest upstairs my tool chest (what if it is not needed for a map
chest) and some of the old trunks up stairs for packing, and buy three or four
good trunks with locks for yourselves to keep your clothing, etc. in. Have
the sides of your waggons boarded up high with thin boards (siding) to keep things from
falling out. Have a step put on to the tongue of the waggon you ride in and
never let one of the children go out or in the waggon under any circumstances
without stopping it
as many get killed or injured by the wagon running over them. . . . Sell all
you can at private sale and bring no poor articles.
|
Teams,
etc. |
Clothing |
|
3 good covered waggons 1 from L. F. Balance from Iowa |
One suit of good clothes for myself including hat and
boots |
|
9 yoke of good cattle 3 from L. F.
Balance from Iowa |
1 every day coat |
|
1 cow |
2 pr every day pants |
|
1 tent |
2 good prs shoes from L. F. same as I brought with me |
|
|
1 pr good boots |
|
Provisions |
1 doz pr good socks |
|
600 lbs flour |
1 pr good undershirts |
|
300 meat |
1 pr good woolen overshirts |
|
50
beans |
2 pr good drawers |
|
100 rice |
2 pr woolen mittens |
|
2 bbls
crackers |
12 pr good every day shoes for yourself and girls |
|
300 bacon |
1 pr good boots for each |
|
200 hams |
4 prs good shoes for Andrew |
|
50
dry beef |
Shoes for Lillie |
|
50 cheese
(lbs) |
Stockings for yourself and girls |
|
50 butter |
" for Andrew |
|
400 lbs sugar |
" for Lillie |
|
20 gallons
syrup |
Woolen shirts for family |
|
50 lbs black
tea |
"
drawers for family |
|
100 lbs coffee |
dresses or dress stuffs |
|
400 lbs dried apples |
clothing or cloth stuff for
Andrew |
|
100 lbs dried peaches |
|
|
20 salt |
Sewing
Apperatus |
|
40
dessicated veg. |
1 good strong sewing machine |
|
raisens |
with
assortment of needles |
|
saleratus |
needles assorted |
|
pepper spices |
thread " |
|
vinegar to use on the road |
yarn " |
|
cod fish |
Buck skin needles |
|
|
Pins assorted |
|
Bedding |
|
|
Your feather beds (packed) |
Stationary |
|
2 Indian Rubber Spreads to lay on the ground nights and to
pack your bedding in day |
2 reams good white letter paper |
|
Good blankets, quilts, bed ticks, pillows, etc. etc. |
1
"
fools cap "
" |
|
|
½ doz memorandum books |
|
Cooking
Apperatus |
$5 worth stamped envelopes |
|
Camp stove |
2 large bottles ink |
|
camp kettles |
2 gold pens for girls |
|
tin reflector |
box steel pens &
holders |
|
frying pans |
school books and slates |
|
large cook stove for use here |
form book (Plus forms) |
|
gold pans |
reading books |
|
bread pan |
one or two good maps |
|
milk pans |
2 doz lead pencils |
|
table dishes |
extra for use on road |
|
matches |
|
|
½ doz good brooms |
ox shoes and nails |
|
|
tongue bolts |
|
Washing
Apperatus |
yolk and chains |
|
1 wash tub |
waggon grease |
|
1 wash board |
tar |
|
2 flat irons |
spirits of turpentine |
|
soap |
whiskey for poisened cattle and to make vinegar here |
|
concentrated lye to make soap |
oxbows |
|
starch |
|
|
|
Tools |