Copper kings, populists and log-rollers : the third session of the Montana State Legislature, 1893
by Jean Marie Schmidt
A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS in
History
Montana State University
© Copyright by Jean Marie Schmidt (1981)
Abstract:
The 1893 session of the Montana legislature deserves close study because of its long-term effects upon
the state, All of the issues that made Montana politics especially- turbulent in the years immediately
following statehood were present in this session: the rivalry between mining kings William A, Clark
and Marcus Daly, the contest over the permanent location of the state capital, Clark's campaign to be
elected to the United States Senate, labor's demands for protective legislation, the rise of Populism, and
the national debate over the free coinage of silver. In spite of these distractions, the legislature had a
great deal of work to do. The unproductive first and second sessions had passed on a number of
unfinished tasks-, some as simple as designing an offical seal for the new state, others as complex as
creating its higher education system. The Popultsts held the balance of power in the House of
Representatives and helped pass some laws favorable to labor, but were blamed afterwards for not
accomplishing more. The joint assembly was deadlocked throughout the session and failed to elect a
United States Senator, leaving one of Montana's Senate positions vacant for two years while the repeal
of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act was debated in Congress. The action of this legislature that had the
most lasting consequences for the state was the distribution of the state's educational and custodial
institutions in separate towns. STATEMENT OF PERMISSION TO COPY
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agree th a t permission fo r extensive copying o f th is thesis fo r
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Signature
Date
/
/o
/
COPPER KINGS, POPULISTS AND LOG-ROLLERS:.
THE THIRD SESSION OF THE MONTANA
STATE LEGISLATURE, T893
by
JEAN MARIE SCHMIDT
A thesis submitted in p a r tia l fu lfillm e n t
o f the requirements fo r the degree .
of
MASTER OF ARTS
■„
History
Approved:
Chairperson, Graduate Committe e /
Head, Major Department
—
Graduate Dean
MONTANA STATE UNIVERSITY
Bozeman, Montana
March 1981
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I
would lik e to express my appreciation to my advisor, Dri Michael
Malone, who f i r s t suggested th is to p ic , then directed me to the best
sources.
His suggestions and c ritic is m s during the research and
w ritin g o f th is paper have been in valuable.
I owe a great d e a l, too,
to my friends and colleagues a t the Montana H is to ric a l Society and the
MSU L ib ra ry , fo r tracking down elusive m aterial fo r me.
Dave W alter,
Bob Clark and David Girshick a t the H is to ric a l Society and Minnie
Paugh and Kay Carey a t MSU have a ll helped.
Special thanks go to my
parents fo r t h e ir constant encouragement and enthusiasm.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter
Page
V ita .................................
Acknowledgements.
lit
Table o f Contents.
,
Abstract ...............................................................................
ii
THE POLITICAL BACKGROUND, 1888-1892,
Previous L e g is la tiv e Sessions.................................
P o litic a l P a r t i e s , ......................................... .... . .
The C lark-D aly Feud........................
The C apital Election o f 1892 . . . . . . . . .
Contests fo r O f f i c e s ............................. * . . . .
I
I
5
.9
2
THE 1893 SESSION - BEGINNING PHASE..........................
Major Is s u e s ............................
.
O rg a n iz a tio n ....................
<
Senate Election - F ir s t Phase,
23
23
28
36
3
THE 1893 SESSION - FINAL PHASE .................................
I n s t i t u t i o n s ............................. .... . .........................
C o u n tie s .................................. ........................................
Labor L e g is la tio n ............................
Senate E lection - Climax ..................... . . . . .
45
45
60
64
65
4
RESULTS.................................................................. .... . . •
79
Senate E le c tio n ......................................................... ....
80
I n s t i t u t i o n s ..................................................................
83
The P o p u lists..................................................................
85
Other Issues ................................................................................. 87
Conclusions.......................................................................
88
1
REFERENCES.............................
BIBLIOGRAPHY....................
Newspapers and P eriodicals . . ... ............................
Government Documents ..................................................
Manucript C ollectio ns. . ' ..........................................
Books and T h e s e s .........................................................
iv
v
13x
20
90
100
101
101
. 102
102
V
ABSTRACT
The 1893 session o f the Montana le g is la tu re deserves close study
because o f it s long-term e ffe c ts upon the s ta te , AU o f the issues
th a t made Montana p o litic s e s p e c ia lly tu rb u len t in the years immediate
Iy follow ing statehood were present in th is session: the r iv a lr y
between mining kings W illiam A, Clark and Marcus Daly, the contest
over the permanent lo catio n o f the s ta te c a p ita l, C lark's campaign to
be elected to the United States Senate, la b o r's demands fo r p rotective
le g is la tio n , the r is e o f Populism, and the national debate over the
fre e coinage o f s ilv e r . In s p ite o f these d is tra c tio n s , the le g is ­
la tu re had a great deal o f work to do. The unproductive f i r s t and
second sessions had passed on a number of unfinished tasks, some as
simple as designing an o ffic a l seal fo r the new s ta te , others as
complex as creating it s higher education system. The Popultsts held
the balance of power in the House o f Representatives and helped pass
some laws favorable to la b o r, but were blamed afterwards fo r not
accomplishing more. "The jo in t assembly was deadlocked throughout the
session and fa ile d to e le c t a United States Senator, leaving one of
Montana's Senate positions vacant fo r two years while the repeal of
the Sherman S ilv e r Purchase Act was debated in Congress. The action
o f th is le g is la tu re th a t had the most la s tin g consequences fo r the
s ta te was the d is trib u tio n of the s ta te 's educational and custodial
in s titu tio n s in separate towns.
Y
Chapter I
THE POLITICAL BACKGROUND, 1888-1892
The 1893 session o f the Montana s ta te le g is la tu re had many f a r reaching e ffe c ts on the s ta te , y e t i t has usually been overlooked by
h is to ria n s .
The .1889-90 session, deadlocked oyer party r iv a lr ie s and
a fraudulent e le c tio n , accomplished nothing besides sending four men
to Washington to occupy two Senate seats.
The second le g is la tu r e ,
meeting in 1891, wasted nearly h a lf it s a llo tte d time over the same
issues before reaching a compromise.
f i r s t to meet fo r a f u l l session.
The 1893 le g is la tu re was the
Later sessions receive more
a tte n tio n fo r W illiam A. C la rk's attempts to bribe his way in to the
U.S. Senate, but th a t ta c tic was introduced in 1893.
The populists
elected th e ir f i r s t representatives to the le g is la tu re in 1893, and
i t can be argued th a t the party never had more influence in Montana
than i t had when it s three members held the balance o f power in the
House.
The action o f this, le g is la tu re th a t had the most la s tin g
consequences was the d is trib u tio n of the s ta te 's educational and
custodial in s titu tio n s to separate towns throughout the s ta te .
Previous L e g is la tiv e Sessions
The 1893 le g is la tiv e session was the th ird since Montana was
granted statehood, but the f i r s t to meet fo r a f u l l session.
The
f i r s t le g is la tu r e , which met fo r ninety days between November 23, 1889,
2
and February 20, 1890, had accomplished nothing.
The Senate had been
evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans, each holding eight
seats.
Lieutenant Governor John E. Rickards, a Republican, held the
tie -b re a k in g vote as President o f the Senate.
Rather than allow the
Republicans to control the Senate, the Democrats refused to take th e ir
seats.
When Rickards threatened to have them subpoenaed, they agreed
to attend but refused to vote on organization.
Rickards ruled th a t a
quorum was present even i f the Democrats did not vote, and l e t the
Republicans proceed with the organizing.
The Democrats then walked
o u t, and fle d the s ta te to avoid a r re s t.
Although the Republicans
had managed to organize the Senate in the meantime, they were unable to
I
transact any business afterwards fo r lack o f quorum.
The s itu a tio n in the House had been even more ludicrous.
the two p a rtie s each held tw e n ty -fiv e seats.
There,
The remaining fiv e seats,
from S ilv e r Bow County, were disputed because o f some b la ta n t voting
fra u d .
Precinct 34 had been created on the continental divid e near
Butte where crews o f the Northern P a c ific ra ilro a d were working on the
Homestake tunnel.
Almost no one who was not employed by the ra ilro a d
voted in th is is o lated p re c in c t, making i t an ideal place to control
the e le c tio n .
The votes were recorded as i f they had been cast in
alphabetical order, and they were counted in secret.
The Democrats
received 171 votes to the Republicans' th re e , although seven men swore
they had voted fo r the Republicans.
The Republicans also charged th a t
3
the workmen were to ld to vote the Democratic tic k e t or lose th e ir jobs.
The e le c tio n in the re s t o f the s ta te was so close th a t the returns
from Precinct 34 meant the d iffe re n c e fo r f iv e House seats.
The
Republican-dominated County Canvassing Board refused to count the
votes from Precinct
34, but the Clerk o f Court, a Democrat, issued
c e r tific a te s o f e le c tio n to the Democratic candidates anyhow.
2
The Enabling Act and the s ta te c o n s titu tio n were disastrously
vague on how e le c tio n disputes were to be s e ttle d .
In the end, each
house was the fin a l a r b ite r o f the q u a lific a tio n s o f it s members, so
the House was supposed to decide the m atter.
However, th is could not
be done u n til the House was organized and had adopted rules o f proce­
dure, which could not be done as long as both p a rtie s had equal
stren gth.
Not only the f iv e seats from S ilv e r Bow were 9t stake, but
also control o f the House and control o f the jo in t assembly, which was
to e le c t two U.S. Senators.
allow compromise.
I t seemed to be top important an issue to
When the le g is la tu re convened. Democratic Governor
Joseph K. Toole refused to allow the fiv e Republican claimants to enter
the building where the House was to meet.
The Republican representa­
tiv e s responded by adjourning to another building where they met with
th e ir cohorts, w hile the Democrats remained in possession o f the
House chamber.
The two Houses met separately fo r the e n tir e session.
Since each p art seated it s own candidates fo r the f iv e disputed seats,
each House could muster a quorum.
Both passed b i lls and sent them to
4
the Senate, which was unable to act because Tt lacked a quorum.
Because both the House and the Senate disin teg rated over party
p o lit ic s , no laws were passed th a t session.
the e le c tio n o f four U.S. Senators.
The only action taken was
A fte r they organized the Senate,
the Republicans in the Senate met with the Republican House and elected
Wilbur F. Sanders and T. C. Power.
The Democrats, before they l e f t
town, met separately w ith the Democratic House, and chose W illiam A.
Clark and M artin Maginnis.
A ll four men went to Washington, where the
Republican-controlled Senate accepted Sanders and Power and sent
3
Clark and Maginnis home.
The second le g is la tu re almost suffered the same fa te in 1891.
problem in the Senate was resolved th is tim e.
The
H a lf the terms expired
in 1890, so th a t the fo u r-y e a r terms would be staggered, and the
Democrats won a c le a r m a jo rity .
They were able to e le c t a president
pro tempore and appoint committees.
However, the C onstitution pro­
vided th a t the members o f the House would a ll hold t h e ir seats u n til
the e le c tio n o f 1892.
They also continued to hold t h e ir same d i f f e r ­
ences o f opinion over the fiv e seats from S ilv e r Bow and resumed
meeting separately.
F in a lly , on the tw e n ty -fifth day, almost halfway
through the session, a compromise was reached.
Perhaps the fa c t th a t
no Senate seat was a t stake made the agreement possible.
The Democrats
were given two o f the contested House seats and the Republicans th re e ,
and the Democrats were allowed to name the presiding o ffic e r s .
The
5
le g is la tu re managed to pass some le g is la tio n during the remainder of
/
the session; mostly revenue and appropriations b i lls so the government
could function.
Nearly everything else had to be postponed u n til the
next session, which would convene in 1893.
N either party could claim v ic to ry .
4
The Democrats had succeeded
in preventing the Republicans from c o n tro llin g the Senate during the
f i r s t session, and from t h e ir gains in the 1890 e le c tio n they concluded
th a t the voters approved o f t h e ir actions.
The Republicans, however,
captured the two U.S. Senate seats, and were given a one-vote m ajority
in the House in the second session.
the people o f Montana.
The real lo sers, o f course, were
The dispute prevented the le g is la tu re from
doing it s work, and delayed key decisions fo r more than three years.
The th ird le g is la tu re would have to work esp ecially hard to fin is h it s
work and to dispel the u n fla tte rin g a tte n tio n th a t had been focused
on the new s ta te .
P o litic a l P arties
Because Montana T e rrito ry was established during the C iv il War,
party p o litic s were acrimonious from the beginning.
Most o f the
e a rly c itiz e n s were Democrats and many were Confederate sympathizers
from the border s ta te s .
They were usually a t odds with the fe d e ra lly -
appointed Republicans sent out by Washington to govern them,
In it s
f i r s t s ix years, Montana T e rrito ry went through three governors and
6
two acting governors, w ith occasional periods when no one was in
apparent charge.
The most successful governor o f the t e r r i t o r i a l
period was Benjamin F. P otts.
Although a Republican and a brig ad ier
general who had served with Grant a t Vicksburg and marched through
Georgia w ith Sherman, Potts was a moderate and found i t easier to work
with the Democratic m a jo rity than had his radical predecessors.
His
long term, 1870-1883, brought s t a b ili t y to the t e r r i t o r i a l government.
5
The dominant fig u re in the Republican party durtng the t e r r i t o r i a l
period was Wilbur Fisk Sanders.
He had come to Montana in 1863 with
his uncle Sidney Edgerton, the f i r s t governor.
During the e arly
t e r r i t o r i a l period he helped organize the v ig ila n te s in V irg in ia C ity ,
and led the Radical Republicans.
He was one o f Montana's f i r s t U.S.
Senators, drawing the short term th a t expired in 1893,
Other Repub­
lic a n leaders included T. C. Power, the other Senator, and Thomas
C a rte r, who was the national chairman o f the Republican party during
the 1892 e le c tio n campaign.
Lee Mantle helped the Republican party
get established in Butte a t the end o f the t e r r i t o r i a l period, and
6
served as s ta te chairman in 1892,
During the 1880's the Democratic p a rty was dominated by the Big
Four:
W illiam Clark and Marcus Daly, who contro lled the copper
in d u stry, and Samuel Hauser and Charles A. Broadwater, Helena
c a p ita lis t s ,
The Democratic nomination fo r an o ffic e was usually
tantamount to e le c tio n as long as these four worked together.
The
7
growth o f the s ilv e r and copper mining industries during the 1870*s
and 1880's had brought in thousands o f miners who usually voted
Democratic,
The transcontinental ra ilro a d s b u ilt in the 1880's and
e a rly 1890's connected Montana d ir e c tly to the states o f the Upper
Midwest, however, and brought in more immigrants, most o f whom voted
Republican.
By 1889, the Republicans had gained enough support to be
able to challenge the Democrats' c o n tro l.
Democratic candidate Joseph
K. Toole won the f i r s t s ta te governorship over Republican T, C, Power
by less than 600 votes th a t y e a r, and the Republicans captured the
re s t o f the s ta te o ffic e s and h a lf the le g is la tu r e .
In 1892, the
introduction o f a th ird p o lit ic a l party was enough to t ip the balance
7
toward the Republicans.
The 1892 e le c tio n was the f i r s t fo r the People's, or P o p u list,
P a rty .
In the south and midwest, where i t had its . g reatest strength,
the newly-formed party drew most o f it s support from small farmers. .
However, in Montana as in most o f the mountain s ta te s , the party was
dominated by mining la b o r.
tim e.
There were few farmers in Montana a t the
Some o f the reform-minded had organized local Farmers' A lliances
around Bozeman, Miles C ity and Missoula, but there was no strong
statewide farm ers' organization to serve as the basis fo r a new party.
In c o n tra s t, there was a large labor force in the mining areas of the
western p a rt o f the s ta te , and i t was discontented w ith it s lack o f
influence in the major p a rtie s .
The 1889 C onstitutional Convention
I
8
had been dominated by mine owners.
They had w ritte n in to the sta te
c o n s titu tio n a provision making only the net proceeds o f mines taxab le,
but had fa ile d to do anything fo r la b o r.
The second le g is la tu re had
fa ile d to pass a b i l l on the eight-hour day, so labor decided to look
toward a new party to fu rth e r it s in te re s ts .
8
The People's P arty was a ttr a c tiv e to miners and mine owners a lik e
because i t was unequivocally committed to the fre e coinage o f s ilv e r .
Besides increasing the money supply to the advantage o f farm ers, th is
would insure employment and prosperity in mining regions.
In addition
to it s famous c a lls fo r an income ta x , d ire c t democracy and other
rad ical reforms, the party also advocated the eight-hour day, the
a b o litio n of c h ild labor and the exclusion o f Chinese workers, a ll o f
which appealed to lab o r.
The Montana Populist party was born in Anaconda in January 1892.
Labor representatives dominated the Meeting, but Farmers': Alliances
and reform groups lik e the Single Tax Association were also represented.
The statement o f p rin c ip le s adopted by the party included labor objec­
tiv e s lik e the eight-hour day, a b o litio n o f child la b o r, Chinese
exclusion, le g is la tio n against Pinkerton agents and a b o litio n o f the
company s to re .
je c ts .
For the farmers i t advocated federal ir r ig a tio n pro-
Above a l l , i t ca lle d fo r the fre e coinage o f s ilv e r and fo r
the fo r fe itu r e o f the Northern P a c ific R ailroad's land g ra n t, two
issues th a t were immensely popular in Montana.^
■
9
The party then held it s f i r s t nominating convention in June.
The
s la te was n ic e ly balanced among the various in tere s ts i t represented.
W ill Kennedy, a Single Tax advocate and publisher o f the Boulder Age,
received the nomination fo r governor.
Caldwell Edwards o f the G a lla tin
V alley Farmers' A llia n c e was nominated fo r Congressman and E lla Knowles
fo r Attorney General.
Samuel M u lv ille o f the Butte Blacksmith's Union
was the pafty^s candidate fo r the U.S. Senate position to be f i l l e d by
the next le g is la tu r e ,
Kennedy and Knowles were the most e ffe c tiv e
campaigners fo r the p a rty .
Knowles e s p e cia lly was an e x ce lle n t
speaker and drew la rg e , ap preciative crowds wherever she campaigned.^
The C lark-P aly Feud
. I t would be impossible to discuss Montana p o litic s during the
la te nineteenth century without mentioning the a c t iv it ie s o f W illiam
A. Clark and Marcus Daly.
These two men controlled the copper mining
industry and the Democratic p a rty , and t r ie d to use t h e ir power to
destroy each o th e r's p o lit ic a l plans.
W illiam A. Clark had come to Montana in 1863, with the f i r s t
rush o f gold prospectors.
Instead of try in g fo r a quick fortune in
mining, he went in to merchandising, where the p ro fits were more
c e rta in .
He hauled produce from Utah, got a contract to haul mail from
Walla W alla, and la t e r went into banking in Deer Lodge,
By 1872, he
began buying mining property in B utte, where s ilv e r was displacing
10
gold.
To learn b e tte r how to handle his new Investments he took an
in ten sive course in mining and mineralogy a t Columbia U n iv e rs ity ,
Clark b u ilt a smelter to process his ore in Butte and wqs already a
major fig u re in the Butte mining industry when Daly f i r s t appeared.
11
Marcus Daly was a genial Ir is h immigrant who worked his way up
through the mines, learning his business in the great Comstock Lode.
He f i r s t came to Butte in 1876, as a mining engineer to in vestig ate
a s ilv e r mine fo r the Walker Brothers o f Utah.
At th a t time Clark
already owned several s ilv e r mines but was not y e t in terested in
copper.
I t was Daly who f i r s t developed Butte copper on a large scale.
In partnership with George H earst, James Ben ATI Haggin and Lloyd
Tevis o f C a lifo rn ia , he bought the Anaconda s ilv e r mine.
When it s ore
proved much ric h e r in copper than s ilv e r , he developed i t fo r copper
instead.
The other three investors owned mining property throughout
the United S ta te s, but Daly directed operations in Montana,
He
bought up other mines and b u ilt the sm elter a t Anaconda to process the
copper ore,
12
Clark soon recognized the value o f B utte's cooper o re, too, and
b u ilt his own copper empire.
Given the s ize of th e ir fortunes and
th e ir am bitions, i t was in e v ita b le th a t Clark and Daly should clash.
P o lit ic a lly both were Democrats and contro lled large blocs o f votes in
S ilv e r Bow County and throughout the western part o f the s ta te .
w hile i t suited them to cooperate, as in the 1889 C onstitutional
For a
Tl
Convention which wrote in to the s ta te c o n s titu tio n a clause making
only the net proceeds o f mines taxab le.
However, th is did not la s t
lo n g .13
T h eir a llia n c e broke down in the 1888 e le c tio n , the la s t before
statehood.
delegate.
Clark was the Democratic candidate fo r t e r r i t o r i a l
He hoped i t would be a stepping stone to the United States
Senate, where his real ambition la y .
Later he claimed he had not
sought the nomination, but had been persuaded to run by party leaders,
and had accepted only a f t e r Daly had promised not to oppose his
e le c tio n ,
Clark expected to win e a s ily , and he was shocked when he
lo s t to Republican Thomas C arter by 5000 votes.
He lo s t S ilv e r Bow,
Deer Lodge and Missoula Counties, which had always voted Democratic,
but where Daly contro lled large blocs o f votes.
14
Daly did not throw his support to C arter only to hum iliate C lark.
He was p a rt owner o f the Montana Improvement Company, which had an
exclusive contract to log timber on the Northern P a c ific 's land
between Miles C ity and Walla W alla.
Besides supplying the ra ilro a d
with lumber, the company also supplied D aly's mines and sm elter.
U nfortunately, the company was being sued by the In te r io r Department
fo r c u ttin g timber on federal land and was in danger o f being put out
o f business,
Daly needed a frie n d in Washington w ith good connections
to save his lumber supply.
C lark, besides being a business r i v a l ,
would be a Democrat dealing with a Republican adm inistratio n.
Even i f .
12
he had been w illin g , he might not have been able to help.
So Daly
agreed with his lumber partners to support C arter, who promised to
work to have the indictments withdrawn.
15
Clark o f course recognized Daly's ro le in his d e fe a t.
The
counties where he lo s t most heavily were those where Anaconda and the
Montana Improvement Company had large numbers o f employees.
Before
the secret b a llo t , i t was easy fo r s h if t bosses to check th e ir men's
b a llo ts as they entered the p o llin g places.
Other party leaders,
meanwhile, chose to ignore Daly's breach o f party lo y a lty because
they could not a ffo rd to offend someone who controlled so many votes.
Clark used his newspaper, the Butte M iner, to attack Daly v ic io u s ly .
Daly responded by founding his own paper, the Anaconda Standard.
He intended i t to be the best newspaper in the s ta te , regardless of
cost, and hired a reputable eastern newsman, John Durston, tti e d it
it-1 6 .
In 1890, as noted e a r lie r , the Democrats in the le g is la tu re
elected Clark as one o f t h e ir two U.S. Senators.
However, the
Republicans, who were meeting separately, also sent two Senators to
Washington.
Faced w ith a s u r fe it o f Senators from Montana, the
Republican-dominated Senate chose to seat the two Republicans, and
sent the Democrats home.
C lark's ami b itio n to become a Senator was
increased by th is second setback, and he prepared to t r y again in
1893.17
13
Daly, meanwhile, had his own am bitions.
He did not seek high
p o litic a l o ffic e s , lik e C lark, but he was tremendously proud o f his
Anaconda Mining Company, and of the town o f Anaconda which he b u ilt a t
the lo cation o f his sm elter.
To avoid controversy th a t might defeat
the c o n s titu tio n and wreck the chance fo r statehood, the 1889
C onstitutional Convention had l e f t the location o f the permanent
c a p ita l to be decided by popular e le c tio n in 1892.
honor fo r his company town. Anaconda.
Daly wanted th a t
Helena, the t e r r i t o r i a l capital
since 1875, was the most lik e ly choice, but h a lf a dozen other towns
had f il e d p e titio n s to .b e on the b a llo t .
Daly hoped th a t the
presence o f so many choices on the b a llo t would keep Helena from
receiving a m a jo rity in the 1892 e le c tio n , forcing a ru n o ff election
in 1894.
By then Daly hoped to s t i r up enough anti-H elena fe e lin g
fo r Anaconda to win J 8
The Capital Election o f 1892
The c a p ita l question aroused the most in te re s t o f any issue in
the 1892 e le c tio n .
Seven towns were on the b a llo t:
B utte, Bozeman, Great F a lls , Deer Lodge and Boulder.
obvious leader.
Helena, Anaconda,
Helena was the
I t had been the t e r r i t o r i a l c a p ita l since 1875, and
had the f a c i l i t i e s to house the various o ffic e s of the s ta te govern­
ment.
I t was near the center o f population a t th a t tim e.
I t had the
best r a il connections to the re s t o f the s ta te , being on the Tines o f
14
two transcontinental ra ilro a d s , the Northern P a c ific and the Great
Northern.
I t was also the major commercial center of the s ta te .
Helena had the support p f the Northern P a c ific r a ilr o a d , which donated
money to the campaign.
For a w h ile , issues o f the Anaconda Standard
shipped by the ra ilro a d a rrived stamped, "Helena fo r C a p it a l." ^
Backprs of other towns looked on the c a p ita l race as a way to
boost th e ir towns and a t t r a c t more business and s e t tle r s , even i f
they did not expect the win the c a p ita l.
Boulder was on the b a llo t
but did not campaign s e rio u s ly , and Deer Lodge, too, was never r e a lly
in contention.
Bozeman hoped to get the support of the s e ttle rs
along the Yellowstone R iver, who would have had less distance to
tra v e l than to.any o f the other towns.
Since i t was located in an
a g ric u ltu ra l d i s t r i c t , it s economy would be r e la t iv e ly unaffected by
the low prices o f s ilv e r or copper, compared to Butte or Anaconda.
To improve Bozeman's chances in the e le c tio n , the Bozeman Capital
Committee found the most o rig in a l campaign device.
They d is trib u te d
tokens from the Bozeman Land and Loan Company to in flu e n tia l men in
other towns th a t would allow them to purchase town Tots fo r f i f t y
d o lla rs i f Bozeman won the e le c tio n .
Obviously the lo ts would be
worth a great deal more than th a t i f Bozeman became the s ta te c a p ita l,
and it s backers hoped the prospect o f a large p r o f it would encourage
the re c ip ie n ts o f the tokens to campaign fo r Bozeman.
It s opponents
c a lle d the campaign an ille g a l lo tte r y and demanded th a t i t be
15
stopped.
20
Great F a lls had stronger grounds fo r it s bid fo r the c a p ita l,
but because the town had only been founded a few years e a r lie r , i t was
forced to campaign mostly on it s p o te n tia l.
I t had the advantage of
being well la id o u t, in contrast to Helena which had sprung up around
a placer mining d i s t r i c t .
The natural resources around Great F alls
included water power and coal beds fo r energy, and bu ild ing stone,
lime and f i r e clay fo r building fin e government b u ild in g s.
The town's
economy was supported by a g ric u ltu re to the e a st, mining in the L i t t l e
B elts , and wheat, wool and iron m ills powered by the F a lls .
Wages
were high, unions were strong and the Chinese had been expelled, so
Great F a lls hoped to get labor support.
I t also hoped to be endorsed
by James J. H ill o f the Great Northern R ailroad, who had large in v e s t­
ments in the town.
His ra ilro a d was nearing completion and H ill was
very popular in Montana fo r having b u ilt his ra ilro a d without a
federal land g ra n t, in contrast to the Northern P a c ific .
H ill,
however, refused to be drawn in to what he considered was a local
issue.
He kept his ra ilro a d out of the c a p ita l contest in 1892,
although he did get involved in the 1894 e le c tio n .
21
Fast-rising Butte was the second la rg e s t c ity in the s ta te , behind
Helena.
th e re .
Almost one-fourth o f the s ta te 's voters were registered
Butte had to contend against it s reputation as a tough town.
The constant p a ll o f smelter smoke th a t hung over the c it y made i t
16
even less a ttr a c tiv e to others.
In i t s campaign, Butte argued th at
i t had e x c e lle n t f a c i l i t i e s fo r s ta te government, was e a s ily assessib le from a l l parts o f the s ta te and deserved to be the c a p ita l.
It s
mineral wealth was responsible fo r a ttra c tin g the transcontinental
ra ilro a d s , and i t was the market fo r much o f th e .a g ric u ltu ra l pro­
duction o f the farming areas.
The smoke problem was being elim inated ,
and no one else could grow grass and roses in January, which was when
the Legislature met, f o r .t h a t m atter.
Butte expected l i t t l e support
from other areas o f the s ta te in s p ite o f such arguments, but solid
support from it s own voters could win i t a place in the ru n o ff
e le c tio n without outside support*
22
Helena's most serious r iv a l fo r the c a p ita l was Anaconda.
Its
boosters, financed by Marcus Daly, were a c tiv e throughout the s ta te .
Their basic strategy was to p it the east side against the west side.
The other east side towns. Great F a lls and Bozeman, were encouraged
to stay in the race to divide the east side vote, w hile the west side
was urged to .u n ite behind Anaconda.
This was done in several ways.
Deer Lodge, only tw e n ty -fiv e miles from Anaconda, might have drawn,
o f f too many local votes.
Anaconda threatened to take away the county
seat unless Deer Lodge withdrew from the c a p ita l race.
d iffe r e n t.
Butte was
Anaconda needed to carry S ilv e r Bow County in order to.
place in the ru n o ff e le c tio n .
Butte, however, was too big to be
b u llie d , so s u b tler means were used.
An Anaconda fo r Capital Committee
17
was organized in Butte in e a rly October, soon a f t e r the main o ffic e
was opened in Anaconda.
The Anaconda Standard, which had it s greatest
c irc u la tio n in B utte, constantly re ite ra te d th a t although Butte was
the undisputed in d u s tria l center of the s ta te i t was not meant the
p o litic a l c a p ita l.
The Standard urged Butte voters to un ite behind
th e ir closest fr ie n d . Anaconda,
In response, the Butte Miner,
W illiam A. C lark's paper and no supporter o f Daly's town, acknowledged
th a t Butte had much closer tie s to Anaconda than to Helena.
The .
e d ito r commented d ry ly th a t on th a t basis, he believed Anaconda would
support Butte when the time came.
23
Anaconda also needed to carry Missoula county, which covered the
northwestern p art o f the s ta te .
candidate fo r the c a p ita l.
The c it y o f Missoula was not a
It s c itiz e n s wanted to get the u n iv ers ity
when the s ta te in s titu tio n s were d is trib u te d , and they were w illin g
to support whichever town promised the best support in achieving i t .
Anaconda's backers were the f i r s t .
They ran a fu ll-p a g e advertisement
on the la s t page o f the Missoulian fo r a month before the e le c tio n .
The paper endorsed Anaconda fo r the c a p ita l because i t had agreed,to
help Missoula get the u n iv e rs ity .
A Missoula-Anaconda Capital Club
was organized on October 19, with a $2500 contribution from Marcus
Daly.
He gave more money to s im ila r clubs throughout the county.
Helena's supporters countered by promising also to support locating
the u n iv e rs ity in Missoula.
They took out .a s im ila r advertisement on
18
an inside page soon a f t e r Anaconda's appeared in the Missoulia n . ^
Helena had an obvious advantage over Anaconda when r a il connec­
tions were compared.
The B utte, Anaconda and P a c ific , which shuttled
ore from Daly's copper mines to the sm elter, was the only ra ilro a d
to serve Anaconda.
It s tonnage was much greater than the tonnage
in to Helena, but i t was almost e n tir e ly copper ore.
In the months
before the e le c tio n , crews began prelim inary work to extend it s track
through the B itte r Root v a lle y , Missoula and the Flathead region to
the coal fie ld s near the B ritis h Columbia border, because Daly
claimed
his smelter needed a r e lia b le source of coal.
The Anaconda
c a p ita l committee c ite d the ra ilro a d as a lin k tying the west side
together, one more reason why the west side towns should support
Anaconda fo r the c a p ita l.
Helena charged Daly was bu ild ing the r a i l ­
road a t th a t time c h ie fly to bring in thousands of construction
workers to vote fo r Anaconda in the coming e le c tio n .
25
Helena's r a il connections were f a r superior to Anaconda's.
Ad­
vertisements fo r Helena featured a map o f the western p a rt o f Montana
with Helena a t the center and ra ilro a d s ra d ia tin g out from i t to each
o f the other contestants.
Anaconda, on a branch lin e th a t went
nowhere, looked p a r tic u la r ly is o la te d .
To counteract the favorable
impression of Anaconda generated by the p u b lic ity given the Butte,
Anaconda and P a c ific , Helena backers also revised a plan to build a
branch o f the Union P a c ific from D illo n to Helena via the Jefferson
19
v a lle y .26
In the beginning, Helena's campaign leaders had hoped to s e ttle
the c a p ita l question on the f i r s t b a llo t.
campaign surprised and worried them.
The scope o f Daly's
As Daly poured more and more
money in to the campaign fo r Anaconda, the lik e lih o o d increased th at
he would fprce a ru n o ff.
Helena men feared they would not have the
resources to stand up to D aly's almost lim itle s s wealth and d e te r­
mination in the ru n o ff.
In desperation, they began urging voters
from other towns not to waste t h e ir votes in th is e le c tio n by casting
a complimentary vote fo r th e ir local fa v o rite th a t had no chance of
winning.
Instead o f w aiting fo r the ru n o ff to vote fo r Helena, the
voters were urged to vote fo r th e ir serious fa v o rite immediately.
Helena backers also, warned th a t the s ta te in s titu tio n s could not be
located u n til the c a p ita l issue was s e ttle d .
They hoped the towns
th a t wanted in s itu tio n s would support Helena in order to locate the
c a p ita l in the f i r s t e le c tio n , ra th e r than delay the in s titu tio n s
two more years.
27
Daly's strategy succeeded.
Helena received 11,000 votes,
more than any other town but less than the m ajority needed to
s e ttle the e le c tio n on the f i r s t b a llo t.
9,700 votes.
fo r 1894.28
Anaconda was second with
Thus, a ru n o ff e le c tio n between the two was scheduled
20
Contests fo r O ffices
The e le c tio n o f 1892 was disastrous fo r the Democrats.
Popular
Governor Joseph K. Toole declined to run fo r re e le c tio n , so the
party nominated Great F a lls real estate developer Timothy E. C ollins
instead.
The Populists, with t h e ir fre e s ilv e r issue and reform
platform , drew o f f much of the labor vote from the Democrats,
re s u ltin g in a Republican sweep o f a ll but one of the s ta te o ffic e s .
Former Lieutenant Governor John E. Rickards was elected governor by a
small margin.
Had Populist W ill Kennedy not carried S ilv e r Bow County,
normally a Democratic stronghold, C o llin s would have won.
Alexander
Botkin was elected lie u te n a n t governor and would preside over the
State Senate.
Charles S. Hartman, a Bozeman lawyer, was elected to
Congress, defeating the incumbant W. W. Dixon, Daly's lawyer.
The
only non-Republican elected to s ta te o ffic e was W illiam Y. Pemberton,
the Chief Justice o f the Supreme Court, who had been nominated by both
the Populists and the Democrats.
29
In the le g is la tu r e , the Democrats continued to hold a n in e -to seven edge over the Republicans in the Senate.
e le c tio n to the Senate.
No P opulist won
The voters expressed th e ir disgust with the
deadlocked f i r s t and second le g is la tu re by returning only one man to
the th ird House.
The Democrats claimed twenty-seven seats, but lo s t
one when the e le c tio n was challenged.
The Republicans held tw en ty-five
.
21
seats, not including the disputed one, possession o f which had not
been s e ttle d by the time the le g is la tu re was to meet.
The Populist
elected three members to the House, Absalom F. Bray.and Thomas Matthews
from S ilv e r Bow County, and D. W. Beecher from Cascade.
The caucus
leader was Bray, a lib e r a l Butte wholesale merchant who had come from
Cornwall to see the Centennial E xhibition and never returned home. He
had some previous experience in the le g is la tu r e , having been one of
the fiv e S ilv e r Bow Republicans who met with the Republican House in
the f i r s t le g is la tu r e .
He was not seated, though, in the compromise
th a t got the second session organized.
Matthews, a miner who was
also from Cornwall, tended to fo llo w Bray's lead.
Beecher, id e n tifie d
during the campaign as "a representative working man," was a Populist
who had also been endorsed by the Cascade Democrats a f t e r th e ir own
candidate withdrew two weeks before the e le c tio n .
He f e l t he owed his
e le c tio n as much to the Democrats as to the Populists.
His allegiance
was d ivid e d , but in the beginning a t le a s t he worked with the Popu­
l i s t s . 30
Thus a number of facto rs combined to make the 1893 le g is la tiv e
session e s p e cia lly c ru c ia l.
The example o f the f i r s t two sessions
was nothing to emulate, and the th ird session was expected to make up
fo r the lo s t tim e.
ced.
The members o f the House were la rg e ly inexperien­
The Democrats and Republicans were nearly evenly matched, and the
Populists were a small but s ig n ific a n t unknown quantity in the
22
p o litic a l equation.
Marcus Daly, in his attempt to secure the state
c a p ita l fo r Anaconda had contracted numerous p o litic a l debts which
would have to be s e ttle d .
W illiam A. Clark was expected to make some
deals o f his own to win the U.S. Senate seat th a t was to be awarded
by th is le g is la tu r e .
In te re s t was high as the le g is la to rs gathered
in Helena a t the new year.
Chapter 2
THE 1893 SESSION - BEGINNING PHASE
The 1893 le g is la tu re had a great deal of work to do in s ix ty
days.
Of paramount importance was the e le c tio n of a Senator to succeed
W. F. Sanders, who had drawn the short term in 1890.
A fte r th a t was
settled^ there were the in s titu tio n s to be lo cated, and the basic
issue of whether to create one or several u n iv e rs itie s to be decided.
A number Of county d iv is io n proposals could be expected.
And because
the f i r s t two sessions were so unproductive. Some questions th a t were
part o f the tra n s itio n to statehood needed to be s e ttle d .
It
promised to be a hectic session w ith l i t t l e time to d e lib e ra te .
Major Issues
The f i r s t Order o f business was the e le c tio n of a Senator.
Before
the sixteenth amendment was r a t i f ie d in 1913, state le g is la to rs con­
sidered th is th e ir most important task, as well as th e ir greatest
opportunity fo r trading p o lit ic a l favors.
In th is p a rtic u la r instance
i t was e s p e cia lly important fo r Montana to choose a Senator q u ickly,
because the Sherman S ilv e r Purchase Act was under a tta c k .
This 1890
law required the Treasury to buy an amount of s ilv e r roughly equiva­
le n t to the e n tire United States production, and to issue notes fo r i t
redeemable in s ilv e r or gold.
The act insured the economic prosperity
24
o f the western mining s ta te s , including Montana, but undermined the
federal gold reserve.
P re sid e n t-e le c t Grover Cleveland had promised
during the campaign to work fo r it s re p e a l.
Thus i t was most important
fo r Montana to have it s new Senator in Washington as soon as possible
to fig h t against re p e al.
Regardless, of p a rty , a ll o f the lik e ly
candidates fo r Senator were p r o -s ilv e r .
I
'
I t was generally assumed th a t whatever deal the three Populists
1
‘
made with e ith e r major party fo r control of the House would include
•
an agreement, on a Senator, so th a t the e le c tio n would be decided
q u ickly.
week.
Some optim ists thought i t could be s e ttle d in less than a
Lobbyists in terested in other issues were w illin g to w ait u n til
the le g is la to rs were not longer preoccupied with the Senate e lectio n
before they started pressing th e ir cases.
'
Second to the Senate race, lo catin g the sta te in s titu tio n s was
.
the most cru cial issue.
As a s ta te , Montana was e n title d to federal
land grants to support several in s titu tio n s which i t had not had as a
t e r r it o r y .
They, included a school of mines, a normal school, an
a g ric u ltu ra l c o lle g e , a deaf and dumb asylum and a reform school.
In
a d d itio n , Montana had already received a land grant fo r a u n iv ers ity
in 1881.
lands.
The s ta te Board of Land Commissioners was selecting the
2
■t
During the c a p ita l e le c tio n , Helena in te re s ts had argued th a t the
in s titu tio n s could not be located u n til the c a p ita l issue was s e ttle d .
25
They argued th a t the loser in the ru n o ff e le c tio n would end up with
nothing.
However, s h o rtly a f t e r th a t inconclusive e le c tio n , others
began arguing th a t the in s titu tio n s had waited too long a lre ad y , and
the s ta te was losing money from the delay.
They accused Helena of
planning to grab a ll the in s titu tio n s i f i t lo s t the c a p ita l.
Missoula
wanted the u n iv ers ity and had stayed out o f the c a p ita l contest in
order to work fo r i t .
During the campaign, both Anaconda and Helena
had promised to help Missoula to get i t .
Shortly a f t e r the e le c tio n ,
the Butte Interm ountain, Republican potentate Lee M antle's paper, had
proposed lo catin g the u n iv e rs ity a t Missoula, the a g ric u ltu ra l college
a t Bozeman, the normal school a t D illo n and the school o f mines a t
Butte.
This proposal was eagerly supported in those four towns.
Other towns were also in terested in receiving parts o f the educational
system.
Miles C ity wanted the a g ric u ltu ra l c o lle g e , arguing th a t the
Yellowstone V alley had a much greater p o te n tia l fo r a g ric u ltu ra l
development than the G a lla tin d id .
Twin Bridges had established a
teachers' college in 1887, and wanted the sta te to take i t over as
the state normal school.
normal school.
Livingston was also in terested in the
W a lk e rv ille c itiz e n s hoped to convince the le g is la tu re
th a t a ll the smelter smoke in Butte made i t an unhealthy place fo r
X3
the school o f mines, and i t should be put in th e ir town instead.
When i t became apparent th a t the educational in s titu tio n s would
be located by the 1893 le g is la tu r e , Helena leaders changed th e ir
26
ta c tic s .
Joining w ith Great F a lls spokesmen, they began presenting
the case fo r a consolidated u n iv e rs ity .
They argued p ro p h e tic ally
th a t, separated, the in s titu tio n s would never be more than a scattering
o f l i t t l e colleges competing With each other fo r inadequate state
funds.
Consolidated, however, they could become the Harvard or Yale
o f the West in a few short years.
They c ite d the examples o f Minnesota
and Wisconsin, where consolidated u n iv e rs itie s prospered, and s o lic ite d
statements from u n iv e rs ity presidents in other- states favoring the
idea.
State leaders lik e A. J. Craven, a member o f the Helena school
board, Cornelius Hedges, the f i r s t superintendent of public in s tru c tio n ,
and long-tim e T e r r it o r ia l Delegate M artin Maginnis spoke in favor of
consolidation.
The s ta te teachers' asso ciation, gathering in Missoula
ju s t before the le g is la tu re met, passed a resolution endorsing consol­
id a tio n .^
5 "
The leader of the movement fo r consolidation was Paris Gibson,
the founder o f Great F a lls , close associate o f James J. H i l l , and
Cascade County's representative in the State Senate.
born in Maine and was educated a t Bowdoin College.
Gibson had been
He spent a good
p art o f his l i f e in Minneapolis, developing flo u r and woolen m ills
a t the f a lls of S t. Anthony, before he came to Montana.
While in
Minnesota he served on the Board o f Regents o f the U n iv e rsity of
Minnesota and was well acquainted w ith the advantages o f a single
consolidated u n iv e rs ity .
Both Helena and Great F a lls were mentioned
27
as possible locations fo r the u n iv e rs ity , but they did not press fo r
it.
They also proposed laying out a new town as Thomas Jefferson haj
;
5
done in V ir g in ia , i f local r iv a lr ie s proved too great.
By the time the le g is la tu re met, whether or not to locate the
in s titu tio n s th a t year was no longer the issue.
The question had
become whether to spread them around the s ta te or to group them in
one place.
A ll sides were well prepared fo r the debate.
Plans fo r creating new counties also generated intense in te r e s t,
a t le a s t in the areas involved.
A county courthouse was as good as
a small in s titu tio n fo r stim ulating local commerce; the county payroll
could provide a number o f jobs fo r local p o litic ia n s .
In addition to
these considerations, many people found th e ir county seats too fa r
away.
This was p a r tic u la r ly true in the wide open eastern p art o f the
s ta te .
For every county proposed, there was a local group which
opposed the idea.
>*
E ith er there w eren't enough people in the proposed
county to support the government, or the tax base was too sm all, or
the old county would be l e f t with an unmanageable debt.
In most
cases, both supporters and opponents sent representatives to Helena
to lobby fo r them.
The f i r s t and second le g is la tu re s had not been able to consider
new counties fo r lack o f tim e.
increasing.
Meanwhile the sta te population was
The th ird le g is la tu re expected more than the usual
number of proposals.
These b i l l s would create even more opportunities
28
fo r trad ing votes and lo g ro llin g .
The second le g is la tu re had established a commission to w rite a
new code o f laws fo r the s ta te .
I t was necessary to c le a r up contra­
dictio n s between the old t e r r i t o r i a l laws, the s ta te c o n s titu tio n , and
the laws th a t had been passed since statehood.
The commission had
been working between sessions and had four codes ready fo r consider­
a tio n .
Certain o f the recommendations now caused objections when they
were published.
Governor Rickards recommended passing the codes as
they were proposed to maintain th e ir harmony.
as necessary afterw ards.
They could be amended
Yet i t seemed c e rta in th a t the le g is la to rs
would want to make some changes before acting on them.
The le g is ­
la tu re could also expect to consider some b i lls to protect labor in
th is session.
A ll three p a rtie s had endorsed the idea of a law
r e s tr ic tin g the use o f Pinkerton agents.
In a d d itio n , the Populists
wanted some le g is la tio n on the eigh t hour day.
6
Organization
The le g is la tu re convened bn January 2 , 1893, and began the
business o f organization.
In the Senate th is wbs a simple m atter.
The Democrats held nine seats and the Republicans seven.
The presence
o f Lieutenant Governor Alexander Botkin, a Republican, as presiding
o f f ic e r had no real e ffe c t.
The Democrats quickly elected E. D. Matts
29
o f Missoula, a Daly man, President pro tempore, chose the other
o ffic e r s , and sent the customary committee to inform the governor
they were ready fo r business.''
The s itu a tio n in the House was much more complex.
held tw e n ty -fiv e seats and the Democrats tw e n ty -s ix .
The Republicans
However, A. 0.
Davidson o f Helena was bedridden with rheumatism and unable to a tten d ;
so the Democrats could only command tw e n ty -fiv e votes.
There were
three Populists in the House, two from Butte and one from Great F a lls ;
and furtherm ore, one seat from Chouteau County was contested.
For a
short time there was speculation th a t each ps't*ty would recognize th is
own candidate and, as in 1889, would meet separately arid send two
Senators to Washington.
However, th a t one seat was not enough to give
e ith e r party a m a jo rity in the f i f t y - f i v e member House, so they conO
centrated on securing the cooperation o f the three Populists instead.
C e rta in ly , the Populists were in an e x ce lle n t p o sitio n .
Their
three votes represented not only control o f the House but control of
the jo in t assembly as well which would be able to choose the U.S.
Senator;
Provided th a t the Republican candidate won the Chouteau
county e le c tio n , which seemed li k e l y , or th a t the contest remained
unsettled and Davidson could not a tte n d , the Populists could combine .
with e ith e r major party to organize the House and to e le c t a Senator.
Since the Senate e le c tio n was so im portant, th is gave them enormous
power, which they f u l l y appreciated.
30
The three Populist representatives met with party leaders in
Helena on December 31 to discuss stra te g y .
They had received a
telegram from national party leaders, ordering them to make any
combination necessary to e le c t a P opulist Senator.
This would give
the party six U.S. Senators and the balance o f power in the Senate
when repeal o f the Sherman S ilv e r Purchase Act was debated.
the national importance o f these Montana events was la rg e .
Thus
In
c o n trast. W ill Kennedy, s ta te party chairman and candidate fo r governor
in 1892, to ld them to combine w ith the Republicans, who needed them
more and might o ffe r greater concessions.
F a lls re p res e n ta tiv e , objected to th a t.
D. W. Beecher, the Great
He to ld Kennedy he had been
elected by 1000 Democrats and 300 P op ulists, and he thought he owed
something to the Democrats as a r e s u lt.
At th e ir caucus, the
Populists decided they could ask fo r the Speakership o f the House as
p art o f th e ir settlem ent, but adjourned without deciding w ith which
party they would cooperate.
9
The single e le c tio n not y e t decided when the le g is la tu re convened
was fo r a representative, from Chouteau County.
The County Canvassing
Board threw out the returns from Box E ld e rprecinct near the Blackfeet
Reservation a fte r some half-breeds t e s t if ie d they had been paid to
vote Republican.
This gave the v ic to ry to A. B. Hamilton, a Democrat,
and the board gave him his c e r t if ic a t e o f e le c tio n along with the
other winners.
His Republican opponent, E. E. Leech, appealed to the
31
sta te Supreme Court,
A fte r a special hearing, the Court ordered the
board to review the e le c tio n re tu rn s , th is time including the Box
Elder b a llo ts , and to issue new c e r t if ic a t e s . The re su lts were close,
and the inclusion of the Box Elder votes would give the e le c tio n to
Leech.
However, two members o f the Chouteau county canvassing board
were out o f the s ta te when the Court issued it s r u lin g , and they did
not return u n til December 30.
They did not have time to complete the
recount and issue Leech his c e r t if ic a t e soon enough fo r him to get
to Helena fo r the beginning o f the session.
Hamilton, on the other
hand, was present w ith his o rig in a l c e r t if ic a t e , and demanded to be
sworn in w ith the others on the f i r s t day.^
Confusion reigned, as the ugly partisanship
since 1889 again rose to the surface.
which had festered
According to the s ta te co n sti­
tu tio n , on the f i r s t day o f the session the auditor was supposed to
c a ll the l i s t o f elected members o f the House o f Representatives and
have them sworn in .
Auditor A. B. Cook, a Republican, refused to c a ll
Hamilton's name or to l e t him take the oath of o ffic e .
T. C. Bach,
the Democratic le a d e r, argued th a t i f Hamilton's c e r t if ic a t e was
in v a lid , then so was Republican T. C. Burns,
the other Chouteau
County re p res e n ta tiv e , since i t was issued a t the same tim e.
The
Republicans ignored the argument, and tr ie d to move on to the
e le c tio n of o ffic e r s .
Bach charged th a t there was a conspiracy under­
way, organized by Colonel Sanders, the Mephistopheles o f Montana
32
p o lit ic s , to seat Leech and organize the House under Republican con­
tr o l before Davidson could recover and take his oath o f o f f ic e .
He
led the Democrats out o f the House, and Beecher, the Cascade
Populist-Democrat, went with them.
The Republicans and the two
remaining P op u lists, c o n s titu tin g a bare quorum of the f if t y - t h r e e men
who had ju s t been sworn in , proceeded to organize the House without
them.
A fte r e le c tin g Populist Matthews temporary Speaker and
Republican D. J . T a lla n t o f Cascade temporary se cre ta ry , the
Republican-Populist m a jo rity prudently adjourned fo r the day.
11
The f i r s t day seemed to have resulted in a complete v ic to ry fo r
the Republicans.
They had. prevented Hamilton from being seated, and
Leech was expected to a rriv e in a day or two with c red en tials a t
le a s t as good as the Democrat's.
Furthermore, two o f the Populists
seemed w illin g to fo llo w t h e ir s ta te party leaders', in structio ns and
work with the Republicans in the.House.
I f those two could persuade
Beecher to get in lin e , they could control the jo in t assembly as w e ll.
The e le c tio n o f Matthews as temporary Speaker was an in d ic a tio n th a t
the Republicans were w illin g to give the Populists what they demanded,
in return fo r th e ir cooperation in c o n tro llin g the House.
However, appearances were deceiving.
Once Beecher walked out
with the Democrats, a Populist-Republican agreement seemed less
a ttr a c tiv e to both sides.
Without his vote they could not control
the jo in t assembly, and he c a te g o ric a lly refused to support a
33
Republican fo r Senator.
Furthermore, i f Hamilton were seated and
Davidson recovered, the Republican-Populist c o a litio n could not even
keep control o f the House.
Fusion with the Democrats now began to
look more a ttra c tiv e to the Populists.
The chances o f e le c tin g a
Populist Senator were slim a t best, whatever th e ir in stru ctio n s from
th e ir national leaders.
More important in Montana was passing
la b o r-o rien ted le g is la tio n .
.
I f the Populists with Republican help
passed a b i l l in the House, i t would probably be defeated in the
Senate, where the Republicans were in the m inority and the Populists
had no vote.
The P o p u lists, in other words, needed Democratic
cooperation on labor issues dear to t h e ir constituents.
12
Public reaction to the Democratic walkout was s w ift and h o s tile .
Newspapers speculated on the fearsome p o s s ib ility o f having two Houses
o f Representatives again.
Fo rtun ately, th a t extrem ity was avoided.
Overnight, the Populists and the Democrats worked out a compromise
th a t allowed the House to get on with i t s business.
The next day.
Populist Matthews was elected permanent Speaker with the combined
support o f the Populists and the Democrats.
Populist A. F. Bray was
elected Speaker pro tempore and chairman o f the important committee
on sta te in s titu tio n s .
To avoid fu rth e r antagonizing the Republicans,
the compromise included no agreement on the Chouteau county contest.
Beecher was named the chairman on the committee on e le c tio n s .
other members were two Democrats and two Republicans.
13
The
34
The compromise put Populists Bray and Matthews in powerful
p o sitio n s, but they had reason to fe e l insecure.
From the beginning
th e ir partisan colleague Beecher showed an alarming tendency fto work
'
I
with the Democrats in any event. Davidson's h e a lth , meanwhile, was
improving.
On January 9 , he was c arried in to the House on a s tretch er
to take his oath o f o f f ic e .
He s t i l l was not well enough to attend
re g u la rly , but he was a v a ila b le on an hour's notice fo r an important
vote.
Already the Democrats, w ith Beecher's and Davidson's votes,
had a m a jo rity in the jo in t assembly and could e le c t a U.S. Senator
as soon as they decided on a candidate.
More threatening to the two
S ilv e r Bow P opulists' power and th e ir hope o f passing labor le g is - .
Ia tio n was the lik e lih o o d th a t Beecher and the Democrats on the
Committee on Elections would soon decide to seat Hamilton.
His vote
would give the Democrats a m a jo rity in the House without the S ilv e r Bow
Populists' support, and they could reorganize the House to exclude
Bray and Matthews from, power.
extremely shaky.
The Democratic-Populist a llia n c e was
14
The Committee on E lectio n s, two Democrats, two Republicans and
Populist Beecher, was proceeding slowly to examine the Chouteau County
e le c tio n contest.
The Committee met with the two claim ants. Democrat
A. B. Hamilton and Republican E. E. Leech, and th e ir attorneys on
January 6 , but was unable to decide on a course of a c tio n .
On the
n in th , the Committee requested the power to send fo r documents and
35
witnesses, but the request was la id over u n t il the follow ing day.
The ninth was also the day th a t Davidson was sworn in as a member of
the House, ra is in g the specter o f a Democratic m a jo rity .
The next
day, before the Committee on E lectio ns' request fo r subpoena powers
could be taken up in the House, Populist stalw arts Bray and Matthews
tem porarily switched sides and jo ined w ith the Republicans to seat
I
Leech. The Democratic-Populist Beecher voted against th is motion
along with the Democrats, but Davidson was absent and the motion
c a rrie d by a sing le vote.
The House then voted overwhelmingly to
grant the Committee the a u th o rity i t had requested.
Hamilton f ile d a
formal motion o f contest three days la t e r , but by then i t was a dead
issue.
15
Seating Leech gave the Republicans tw enty-six votes in the
House and held the Democrats to twenty-seven including Davidson and
Beecher.
m a jo rity .
The Democrats s t i l l needed the Populists to make up a
Bray la t e r claimed th a t he and Matthews had voted to seat
Leech on procedural grounds, because no contest could be f il e d u n til
one or the other contestant was seated.
A c tu a lly , the Populists had
helped seat the Republican Leech in preference to the Democrat
Hamilton to protect th e ir own positions as Speaker and Speaker pro
36
Senate E lection - F ir s t Phase
As soon as the organization o f the House was f i n a l l y s e ttle d ,
the contest fo r Senator began in earnest.
The Populists were com­
m itted to vote fo r Samuel M u lv ille o f the Butte Blacksmiths' Union.
He had, a f t e r a l l , been chosen a t the party convention the previous
June.
In s p ite o f the in stru ctio n s o f t h e ir national lead ers, the
Populists had not included an agreement on the Senate e le c tio n when
they joined the Democrats to organize the House.
The contest fo r the Republican nomination was o rd e rly , too.
Wilbur F. Sanders, a leader of the Republican party fo r t h i r t y years,
had drawn the short term in 1890.
Now he wanted to be reelected
by a le g itim a te ly organized le g is la tu re to c le a r his name o f any
t a in t associated with the ir r e g u la r it ie s of th a t f i r s t le g is la tu re .
Also in terested in the nomination was Lee Mantle, a pro-Marcus Daly
Butte businessman, publisher o f the Interm ountain, and recently
elected mayor of Butte.
Mantle was popular among the vo ters, and he
thought he might be able to get the support of the Populists and be
e le c ted .
Bray and Matthews were from B utte, and were rumored to
support him.
Sanders was too conservative to be acceptable to any
o f the Populists although he had voted fo r free coinage as a Senator.
When the Republican party caucused on January 9 , the group gave the
nomination to Sanders by a narrow one vote.
From then on, as long as
37
he was t h e ir nominee, the Republicans voted fo r him unanimouslyJ 7
In contrast to the d is c ip lin e o f the Republicans, personal
r iv a lr y s p lit the Democrats several ways.
W illiam A. Clark was
making another determined e f f o r t to be elected Senator.
A fte r having
been hum iliated by D aly's treachery in the 1888 e le c tio n and by the
Senate's refusal to seat him in 1890, he was tr u ly determined to win
th is tim e.
As soon as the re su lts o f the November 1892 e le c tio n
indicated a Democratic m a jo rity in the L e g is la tu re , he had begun
s o lic itin g support fo r the p a rty 's nomination.
Since he re a liz e d
Daly would probably t r y to stop him, he apparently offered money as
well as the tra d itio n a l inducements, lik e support on c e rta in le g is ­
la tiv e issues, to garner support.
A. B. Hammond, leader o f the
Republican party in Missoula County, wrote Samuel t . Hauser on
November 30, informing him th a t Butte men were already v is itin g
le g is la to r s -e le c t to buy t h e ir support fo r C lark.
"Kenyon has a
's a c k '," he reported, "and as some o f the members who have been
18
elected are poor men th a t kind o f t a lk w ill probably convince them."
At th is point Clark assumed t h a t , fo r a modest investment, he could
get the support o f a m ajo rity o f the Democrats.
This would give him
the caucus nomination, and party d is c ip lin e would force the other
Democratic le g is la to rs to vote fo r him.
Hammond's report alarmed Hauser, a tough Helena banker and
one-time T e r r it o r ia l Governor, fo r he also wanted the nomination but
38
did not have the fin a n c ia l resources to compete with Clark d ir e c tly .
However, he re a liz e d Daly would t r y to stop C la rk, and t r ie d to work
out a deal fo r his support.
Hauser asked I .
F. Oakes, president o f
the Northern P a c ific r a ilr o a d , to contact Daly's partner J . B. Haggin
in New York.
Oakes f i r s t suggested they a ll support a th ird candidate
lik e outgoing Governor J. K. Toole, but got no response.
Hauser wanted
desperately to run, but Daly preferred to back W. W. Dixon, the
Anaconda company attorney who had ju s t been defeated fo r re elec tio n to
Congress.
Daly, through Haggin, refused to commit him self to a deal
beyond promising to support Hauser i f Dixon fa lte r e d .
This was
unacceptable to Hauser, who would only support Dixon i f his own candi­
dacy f a ile d .
Oakes f in a l ly to ld Hauser he ought to deal with Daly
d ir e c t ly .19
Other men were mentioned as possible compromise candidates,
including former t e r r i t o r i a l delegate M artin Maginnis, T. E. C o llin s ,
Helena attorney Roberts Burns Smith and Great F a lls founder Paris
Gibson.
However, the Democrats seemed to have a m a jo rity o f votes in
the jo in t assembly, so none o f the front-runners was w illin g to give
up his chance fo r the nomination.
but did not vote.
go to someone e ls e .
The party caucused on January 9,
Each candidate was too a fra id the nomination would
20
To fu rth e r complicate the e le c tio n , the le g is la to rs were
uncertain as to when they were supposed to begin b a llo tin g .
According
39
to federal law they were to begin on the second Tuesday a f t e r organ­
iz a tio n , and vote every day u n til a Senator was chosen.
Because the
House met on Tuesday, January 3, but was not organized u n til Wednesday,
th is apparently meant they could not begin u n til January 17.
no one wanted to lose a week th a t way.
b a llo tin g on the te n th .
However;
F in a lly , they agreed to s ta rt
I f someone was elected during the f i r s t week,
one more b a llo t would be taken on the seventeenth to r a t i f y the
e le c tio n .
They thought th is plan covered every contingency.
21
The jo in t assembly did not meet on January 10, but the two
Houses took separate b a llo ts in th e ir own chambers to te s t the
candidates' strength.
The Republicans a ll voted fo r Sanders, and the
three Populists fo r M u lv ille as expected.
Among the Democrats, Clark
led with sixteen votes, Dixon received e ig h t, Hauser s ix , Maginnis
-
\
'
'
two and R. B. Smith one.
The jo in t assembly met fo r the f i r s t time
a t noon on the eleventh.
Hauser received eleven votes, the most he
would ever get.
Beecher, the maverick P o p u list, voted fo r Hauser, and
he drew supporters from C la rk, Smith and Maginnis.
22
By the th ird b a llo t, January 12, Hauser's control over his forces
began to fade.
Lockhart, who had supported Clark on the f i r s t b a llo t,
returned to him, and Beecher returned to the Populist fo ld .
supported Hauser but was too i l l
to attend.
Davidson
Accepting the in e v ita b le ,
Hauser agreed to a caucus the night o f the tw elvth.
Tw enty-five
Democrats attended, representing the Clark and Hauser fa c tio n s .
.
40
Davison sent a proxy, and Gibson agreed to abide by the outcome
although he was not th e re .
and endorsed C lark.
Hauser fo rm ally withdrew his candidacy,
In re tu rn , Clark promised to support Helena in
the c a p ita l election s in 1894.
Clark also promised th a t his men
would vote fo r Hauser i f a t some la t e r time he him self withdrew.
These promises allowed Hauser to save fa c e , w hile costing Clark
nothing.
He c e rta in ly would not be expected to support Anaconda fo r
the c a p ita l a f t e r Daly had worked so hard to keep him out o f the
Senate.
Nor did he intend to withdraw from the race in favor of
Hauser or anyone else as long as his party had the votes to e le c t the
'
23
next Senator.
On th e other hand, Hauser's support did not gain as much fo r
Clark as he had expected.
The e ig h t Daly-Dixon men did not attend
the meeting, and they afterwards refused to be bound by it s decision.
They continued to vote fo r th e ir candidate as i f there had been no
caucus.
Furthermore, they argued th a t the Democratic nominee would
need a t le a s t one vote from a Populist to be e le c ted , and none of
them would ever vote fo r C lark.
Beecher had voted fo r Hauser once,
but when he dropped M u lv ille fo r good on the fo urteenth, he went, to
T. E. C o llin s .
Paris Gibson also voted fo r C ollins instead o f
■94
supporting the caucus nominee, another blow fo r C lark.
A fte r Beecher l e f t M u lv ille fo r C o llin s , the other Populists
announced th a t they Had done th e ir best but could, not get a
41
Populist e lected .
They then switched to Dixon.
On the same day
E. C. Smalley, a rep resentative from S teven sville who had o r ig in a lly
supported Hauser, switched from Clark to Dixon.
I t looked as though
the Daly men were e ffe c tiv e ly lin in g up votes to block C lark.
was the la s t voting change fo r two weeks.
This
The jo in t assembly met fo r
ten minutes every noon and took one b a llo t before adjourning.
Sanders
polled a ll the Republican votes, Clark received tw enty-three a t most,
Dixon received eleven constantly, and C ollins received the votes of
the two Great F a lls Democrats.
25
At f i r s t the Republicans hoped some o f the Democrats, perhaps
those offended by the qu arreling w ithin t h e ir own p a rty , would miss a
jo in t session without arranging a p a ir f i r s t .
I f enough Democrats
did so on the same day, the Republicans might be able to e le c t th e ir
candidate.
However, w ith a ll three Populists voting fo r Democratic
candidates, i t was u n lik e ly th a t enough Democratic votes could be lo s t
th is way.26
As the b a llo tin g continued and the Democratic positions hardened,
both sides began to speculate about whether or not the governor had
the power to appoint a Senator i f the le g is la tu re adjourned without
e le c tin g one.
Most Democrats concluded th a t he d id , and repeatedly
warned the other fa c tio n to give in Test a Republican u ltim a te ly
be appointed by the Republican governor.
The Dixon group repeatedly
o ffered to compromise on a th ird candidate, but the Clark men swore
42
i t would be Clark or a Republican.
The Republicans, to o , agreed th a t
the governor did have the power to appoint, i f the vacancy occurred
when the le g is la tu re was not in session.
Since the le g is la tu re would
adjourn on March 2 , and Sanders' term would expire on March 4 , when
the new Congress was to be sworn in , th is would be the case.
I f , on
the other hand, the governor did not have the power to appoint, the
prospect was no more appealing.
A deadlocked le g is la tu re would mean
Montana would lose it s r ig h tfu l representation in Congress a t a
cru cial tim e.
27
A new Republican strateg y evolved as time passed. The members
were given s t r i c t orders never to p a ir w ith a Dixon man, fo r th a t
would have the e ffe c t o f removing two a n ti-C la rk votes.
They also
agreed to adjourn the jo in t assembly each day a fte r one b a llo t , so
th a t those who considered Clark t h e ir second choice would not have
the opportunity to switch.
28
At one p o in t, someone in C la rk's group e v id en tly thought divine
in terven tio n might help where a ll else had f a ile d .
On January 28,
when the vote had not changed in almost two weeks. Reverend S. E.
Snyder, the chaplain o f the House, prayed fo r C lark's e le c tio n .
We have a common in te re s t in the w elfare o f th is
nation and it s in s titu tio n s and in th is state th a t towers
above sectional or p o lit ic a l in te r e s t. Oh, Lord, we have
been earn estly requested to pray th a t the m ino rity o f
th is house may see the e rro r o f t h e ir ways and f a l l into
lin e w ith the m a jo rity . 0 , God, Thou knowest we would
not approach Thee w ith any s e lfis h or partisan prayers.
43
But we stand before Thee as in t e llig e n t c itiz e n s endowed
w ith conscience and w ill power and responsible to Thee
fo r our a c ts. Help us, 0, God, to honor Thee with those
God-given powers, and Thine shall be the p ra is e , world
without end. Amen.™
In a ll p ro b a b ility th is prayer was offered in C la rk's in te r e s t.
Clark always in sisted th a t he was the choice of a m ajo rity o f the
Democratic p a rty , and his campaigners continuously berated Dixon
and his supporters as a m inority fa c tio n acting on the whim of the
o b s tru c tio n is t Daly.
However, i f Reverend Synder expected to sway
any votes in the Senate contest, he was unsuccessful.
The vote
to ta ls were lower th a t day because i t was Saturday, but the r e la tiv e
strengths o f the candidates did not change.
The impasse between the two groups of Democrats hung over the
e n tire le g is la tu r e .
The men considered the e lectio n o f a U.S.
Senator to be the most important task before them, but there could
be no e le c tio n unless Daly and Clark reached a compromise, and th at
was impossible as long as Daly refused to support Clark and Clark
refused to withdraw.
The Republicans were united behind Sanders,
but they did not control enough votes to e le c t him. . They could only
keep th e ir distance and hope th a t the acrimony among the Democrats
would not engulf them.
For the moment party d is c ip lin e was holding
the Republicans together, but a number of the other possible candidates
were w aiting with growing impatience fo r Sanders to f a l t e r .
The
three Populists had already been drawn in to the opposing Democratic
44
camps,destroying the un ity o f th e ir caucus, d is tra c tin g them from .
th e ir le g is la tiv e goals, and tarnishing the p a rty 's reputation fo r
in te g r ity .
Meanwhile the le g is la to rs o f a ll p a rtie s had l i t t l e time
to spare fo r le g is la tiv e m atters, and the session was nearly h a lf
over.
Chapter 3
THE 1893 SESSION - FINAL PHASE
By th is time i t had become obvious th a t the jo in t assembly could
remain d e a d lo c k e d ,in d e fin ite ly .
While the Senate selection b a llo tin g
dragged on, other issues were w aiting to be s e ttle d .
B ills fo r new
in s titu tio n s , new counties, appropriations and revenue were accumu­
la tin g .
Lobbyists were w aiting to present t h e ir fa v o r ite pro jects.
Gradually the leaders o f both Houses re a liz e d they could not w ait to
s e ttle the Senate question before taking Up other m atters.
They
needed to take care o f these other issues w hile the Senate election
was s t i l l in process.
In s titu tio n s
The issue th a t the le g is la to rs and lobbyists were most anxious
to s e ttle was the lo catio n o f the s ta te in s titu tio n s .
By the time
the le g is la tu re convened, the question o f whether or not the in s t it u ­
tio ns could be located before the c a p ita l was decided was no longer
a debatable issue.
By general consent, the le g is la to rs agreed to
lo cate them during th is session.
any longer.
The s ta te could not a ffo rd to delay
The only questions remaining were how many and where.
Lobbyists from n early every in tere s ted town had gathered in
Helena and were im patient to present t h e ir cases.
The consolid a tio n is ts ,
46
mostly from Great F a lls and Helena, had endorsements from the state
teachers' association and from nationally-renowned educators lik e
President ETiot o f Harvard to support t h e ir arguments.
Missoula sent
a large delegation headed by County Superintendent of Schools James M.
Hamilton, who la t e r served as president o f the a g ric u ltu ra l college.
The group was well-armed with endorsements from heads o f a g ric u ltu ra l
colleges and schools o f mines,
colleges th a t would be overshadowed
by the u n iv e rs ity in a consolidated in s t it u t io n .
The consolid a tio n is ts ,
fearin g th a t the tid e was against them, r a ile d a t the deals th a t were
being made to fu rth e r local s e lf-in te r e s ts a t the expense o f the s ta te 's
needs and asked th a t the issue be judged on it s m erits.
Even some of
the men who favored dispersing the units admitted th a t consolidation
was b e tte r, but i t d id n 't have a chance.
I
B ills to create the various in s titu tio n s were introduced in both
Houses, but the Senate took up the issue f i r s t .
E. D. Matts of
Missoula County began by introducing a b i l l fo r a s ta te u n iv e rs ity in
Missoula on January 10.
W illiam McDermott of S ilv e r Bow submitted his.
b i l l fo r a school of mines to be located in Butte, on the eleventh.
Charles W. Hoffman of G a lla tin followed the next day with a b i l l
creating an a g ric u ltu ra l college a t Bozeman.
Simeon R. Buford of
Madison County proposed estab lishing a normal school a t Twin Bridges
on the sixteen th .
Against the t id e , Gibson introduced his b i l l fo r a
consolidated u n iv e rs ity on January 14.
AU of the b i l l s were referred
47
to the Committee on Education, which Gibson chaired.
However, he got
no support fo r consolidation from the other members o f the committee.
Matts was the a u th o r.o f the Missoula u n iv e rs ity b i l l , and 0 . F. Goddard
of Yellowstone County needed support to move the s ta te prison to
B illin g s .
The b i lls were reported back without recommendation, so.
th a t the debate over consolidation could take place in the Committee
o f the Whole.
2
When M atts' b i l l to locate the s ta te u n iv e rs ity in Missoula came
up before the Senate Committee o f the Whole on January 26, it s
author urged th a t the Senate act on i t immediately.
Gibson, however,
argued th a t the Senators had only received the printed copies o f the
b i l l s the day before, and needed more time to study them.
On his
motion, the Senate agreed to delay the debate t i l l January 31.
The
b i l l s were to be taken up in the order they had.been introduced, which
meant th a t the Senate would have decided on most o f the individual
school b i l l s before Gibson had a chance to present his consolidation
plan.
Instead, he introduced amendments during the debates on each
o f the other b i l l s , forcing the le g is la to rs to debate consolidation
3
several tim es.
The s ta te u n iv e rs ity b i l l was taken up f i r s t .
In a surprise
move, Gibson began the debate by proposing th a t Missoula be required
to donate 160 acres and $40,000 as a p re re q u is ite fo r g e ttin g the
u n iv e rs ity .
He argued th a t an educational in s titu tio n was an economic
48
asset to it s community, and Missoula ought to be w illin g to pay
something fo r i t .
The endowment could be used fo r buildings and
equipment w hile income from the land grant covered operating expenses;
so there would be no demands on the s ta te treasury.
Other states had
required such subsidies, and th e ir colleges were in b e tte r fin a n c ia l
condition as a r e s u lt.
Furthermore, Great F a lls was prepared to o ffe r
320 acres and $100,000 fo r the consolidated u n iv e rs ity , and the
le g is la to rs ought to consider such fin a n c ia l aspects when locating
the in s titu tio n s .
Matts re p lie d th a t Gibson's proposal was mercenary
and went against the best in te re s ts o f education in Montana.
The
locations ought to be decided s o le ly on the merits o f the towns.
Gibson declared th a t there were other towns ju s t as good as Missoula,
and i f another town offered $200,000 he would vote to locate the
consolidated u n iv e rs ity th ere.
In s p ite o f his arguments, Gibson's
A
amendment to require an endowment was tabled in d e fin ite ly .
The debate then turned to the re a l issue, consolidation or
dispersion.
Again Gibson led the argument fo r consolidation.
On the
basis o f the present population, he argued, attendance a t a ll four
in s titu tio n s would hardly be enough to keep one in operation.
For
a ll the others' ta lk about the best in te re s ts of education, the
in s titu tio n s were being d is trib u te d fo r the b e n e fit o f the towns.
The re s u lt was going to be several starving in s titu tio n s competing
with each,other fo r s ta te funds.
The separationists took turns
49
re p ly in g .
Senator Hoffman, who wanted the a g ric u ltu ra l college fo r
Bozeman, maintained th a t the federal funds fo r education were intended
to b e n e fit the working classes, not to bu ild up a great u n iv e rs ity .
W illiam McDermott c ite d the example o f the school o f mines to argue
fo r spreading out the in s titu tio n s .
I f the school of mines was
located in Butte i t would become s e lf-s u s ta in in g , but i f i t was
located a hundred miles away, miners' sons would choose to go out o f
s ta te fo r t h e ir education.
Matts concluded the debate, explaining
.
th a t the resolution from the s ta te teachers' convention was m isleading,
and th a t the educators did not r e a lly favor consolidation.
Gibson lo s t , and the b i l l was ordered favorably reported.
Again
Final
5
passage the next day was almost a fo rm a lity .
Despite the lack o f support he was g e ttin g , Gibson was not yet
ready to q u it.
The next afternoon the Committee o f the Whole took up
Hoffman's b i l l fo r an a g ric u ltu ra l college a t Bozeman.
A fte r Senator
Reno S w ift o f Custer County tr ie d unsuccessfully to s u b s titu te Miles
C ity fo r Bozeman, Gibson moved to have the b i l l tabled fo r a week to
give the Senators time to reconsider consolidation.
A sing le univer­
s it y , he argued, would prevent du plicatio n and save money.
While the
d iffe r e n t towns might be working together now to divide up the
in s titu tio n s , he warned th a t in two years they would be competing with
each other fo r s ta te funds.
Hoffman rose to oppose the delay.
was already losing $15,000 annually in federal funds fo r the
Montana
50
a g ric u ltu ra l college and experiment s ta tio n .
stone County argued against consolidation..
0. F- Goddard o f Yellow*
He feared th a t the a g ri­
c u ltu ra l college would be dwarfed by the u n iv e rs ity , and thought th a t
i t was the duty o f the le g is la tu re to lo cate the school fn one o f the
major a g ric u ltu ra l areas o f the s ta te .
Goddard dented th a t there was
any combination working to divide up the in s titu tio n s , as Gibson had
suggested.
Gibson in sisted the combination did e x is t, but he declined
to pursue i t fu rth e r.
A fte r more debate, Gibson's motion to ta b le was
defeated, and the b i l l was ordered reported with the recommendation
th a t i t pass. 6
When the Senate reconvened in reg u lar session, i t immediately
took up th e .re p o rt o f the Committee o f the Whole on the a g ric u ltu ra l
college b i l l .
David Folsom o f Meagher County, the only Senator to
support Gibson on consolidation the previous day, tr ie d to su b stitu te
Missoula fo r Bozeman.
Gibson, in an e f f o r t to salvage something fo r
his constitu en ts, moved to su b s titu te Great F a lls , and offered 320
acres and $50,000 fo r the school.
He argued th a t the a g ric u ltu ra l
school was also supposed to o ffe r in stru c tio n in mechanical a r ts ,
and Great F a lls , in addition to being the center o f an a g ric u ltu ra l
region as good as Bozeman Is , had f a r more industry.
S w ift tr ie d again
to s u b s titu te Miles C ity , but a ll three substitutions fa ile d by large
margins.
Picking up on the idea o f an endowment, W illiam S teele of
Lewis and Clark moved to require Bozeman to donate 160 acres with
51
water rig h ts to the c o lleg e.
His proposal also f a ile d , and the report
7
o f the Committee o f the Whole was accepted unchanged.
Gibson's motions to require Missoula and Bozeman. to give an
endowment to th e ir in s titu tio n s came as a surprise to his opponents,
and they tr ie d to brand his proposal as s e llin g the in s titu tio n s to
the highest bidder.
The Bozeman Avant C o u rier, which supported d is­
persal so th a t the a g ric u ltu ra l college would be located in Bozeman,
argued th a t only Great F a lls , Helena, Anaconda and Butte could affo rd
to bid.
Since Butte was the ric h e s t town, i t would outbid the re st
and the a g ric u ltu ra l college would be located in the mining and
smelting center o f the s ta te , which would be absurd,
8
On the other hand, the consolid a tio n is ts thought the proposal was
reasonable.
The lack o f support i t received was an in d ic a tio n th at
deals had already been made.
" I t is p re tty apparent from the discussions and the votes
yesterday th a t there is a combination to secure the s ta te
u n iv e rs ity fo r Missoula, the school o f mines fo r B utte, the
a g ric u ltu ra l college fo r Bozeman and the normal school fo r
D illo n , and indications are not wanting th a t the programme
also embraces the lo catio n o f the asylum fo r the insane and
the p e n ite n tia ry . I t is not in i t s e l f objectionable th a t the
c itie s th a t desire these in s titu tio n s should help each o th e r;
but i t is to be feared th a t in t h e ir anxiety to secure them
the in te re s ts o f higher education in Montana have not only
«
been subordinated but are lik e ly to s u ffe r serious detrim ent."
On February 2, the b i l l fo r the school o f mines a t Butte came up
in the Committee o f the Whole.
By this, time the consolid a tio n is ts
seemed to have exhausted t h e ir arguments.
The b i l l was ordered
52
reported favorably and the report was accepted by the Senate with
l i t t l e debate.
Immediately a f t e r th a t, the Committee o f the Whole
f in a l ly took up the consolidation b i l l .
Acknowledging what ought to
have been apparent from the beginning, Gibson said there was no use
wasting time on i t ;
the schools were already scattered.
in
was tabled in d e f in it e ly .
The b i l l
The next order o f business fo r the Committee o f the Whole was
the b i l l s fo r normal schools a t Twin Bridges arid Livingston.
A
b i l l to lo cate the normal school a t D illo n had been introduced in
the House, but not in the Senate.
The Livingston b i l l was tabled
fo r two days, w hile the Twin Bridges b i l l was given a favorable
re p o rt.
however.
There must have been second thoughts during the n ig h t,
When the Twin Bridges b i l l came up fo r fin a l passage the
next day, Folsom tr ie d to su b s titu te D illo n .
At th is stage, sub­
s titu tio n s could only be made by unanimous consent, and Buford,
author o f the Jwin Bridges b i l l , objected.
tabled in d e fin ite ly by a one vote margin.
Instead, the b i l l was
Folsom then announced his
in te n tio n to introduce a b i l l lo ca tin g the normal school a t
D illo n .11
When the in s titu tio n b i l l s were introduced in the Senate,
companion b i l l s were also introduced in the House.
The House had not
received committee reports on them when the Senate b i l l s were
53
transm itted; so they decided to take up the Senate b i l l s instead.
They were f i r s t re fe rre d to the Committee on Public In s titu tio n s ,
chaired by A. F. Bray.
On February 6 , he submitted a report favoring
a package o f b i l l s including the Senate b i l l s fo r the s ta te u n iv e rs ity
a t Missoula, the a g ric u ltu ra l college a t Bozeman, the school o f mines
a t Butte and a s o ld ie rs ' home a t Glendive, and House b i l l s fo r a
normal school a t D illo n , a p e n ite n tia ry a t B illin g s and a reform
12
school a t an unspecified s it e .
When the House journal was read the next day, Beecher, who was
also a member o f the Committee on Public In s titu tio n s , objected to
the re p o rt.
The committee had not met, and some members had never
been consulted on the b i l l s .
Bray had to admit th is was tru e .
To
save time he had consulted in fo rm a lly w ith some o f the members and
submitted the report on th a t basis.
The b i l l s were sent back to the
committee to answer Beecher's o b je ctio n .
The committee met during a
recess and the m a jo rity submitted the same re p o rt.
The m inority of
th re e , including Beecher, submitted a report in favor of consolidating
the u n iv e rs ity , college o f a g ric u ltu re and school o f mines; f a ilin g
th a t, they wanted the school of mines located in Walkdrvil i e .
Even
the proponents of consolidation were not above promoting lo cal.
in te re s ts , i t seems.
13
The b i l l fo r the Butte school o f mines was debated in the
Committee o f the Whole on February 8 .
Bray led the speakers favoring
54
the b i l l , while representatives from Helena and Great F a lls argued fo r
consolidation.
The arguments followed the same pattern as the
Senate debate, with the segregationists c itin g local needs and the
consolid a tio n is ts arguing fo r economy.
W. H. Swett o f Butte and
Joseph Annear o f W a lk e rv ille tr ie d to s u b s titu te W a lk e rv ille because
o f the smoke problem in Butte, but lo s t.
14
The next day the Committee o f the Whole discussed the b i lls fo r
the u n iv e rs ity a t Missoula and the a g ric u ltu ra l college a t Bozeman.
The u n iv e rs ity b i l l was given a favorable re p o rt, with no discussion
and no dissent.
When the b i l l fo r the a g ric u ltu ra l college was taken
up, D. J. T a lla n t of Great F a lls tr ie d to su b stitu te Missoula.
This
was the fin a l e f f o r t of the c o n s o lid a tio n is ts , and lik e a l l the
e a r lie r ones i t f a i l e d . ^
I
When the House debated the D illo n normal school b i l l on February
10, the Senate's action o f a week e a r lie r was c la r if ie d .
Alexander
Metzel of Madison county, who had introduced a b i l l to locate the
normal school a t Twin Bridges, presented the case fo r his town.
In
1887, before any other town was in te re s te d , they saw. the need fo r a
normal school and established one.
I t now had an enrollment of 65,
and buildings worth $10,000, which they were generously o ffe rin g to
the s ta te .
In tu rn , J. E. Fleming o f Beaverhead argued fo r D illo n ,
which was o ffe rin g ninety to one hundred acres fo r the normal school.
The school a t Twin Bridges wasn't much o f a school; in the fiv e years
,
55
i t had been in operation i t had y e t to graduate a single student.
A, F. Bray explained th a t the Committee on Public In s titu tio n s had
been impressed i n i t i a l l y by the size o f the enrollment a t Twin Bridges,
u n til they learned th a t a ll but one o f the students came from the
immediate v ic in it y .
A d d itio n a lly , Twin Bridges was not on a ra ilro a d
and i t was almost impossible to reach in the w in te r.
The House voted
to locate the normal school in D illo n , and the Senate concurred.
16
The educational in s titu tio n s , although most im portant, were not
the only in s titu tio n s to be d is trib u te d in 1893.
the sta te p e n ite n tia ry was most desired.
Among the others,
The old federal prison from
the t e r r i t o r i a l period had been located in Deer Lodge.
Since the
federal government abandoned i t in 1890, i t had been run on a
contract basis.
The bu ild ing was overcrowded and unsafe, and the
contract system was expensive.
Deer Lodge wanted to keep the state
prison, but B illin g s also wanted i t .
To resolve the c o n f lic t , the
House appointed a special committee, Edward Scharnikow o f Deer Lodge
and A. L. Babcock o f B illin g s , to in ve s tig ate the r e la tiv e m erits of
the two towns.
They proposed a dubious compromise:
the prison a t
Deer Lodge would be repaired and renamed the Western State Prison,
and a new f a c i l i t y would be b u ilt a t B illin g s to be known as the
Eastern State Prison.
The b i l l passed the House with l i t t l e opposition
When i t reached the Senate, i t was too much fo r Gibson.
Once again
urging fis c a l re s p o n s ib ility , he argued th a t two prisons were tod
56
expensive, and unnecessary in a s ta te with so l i t t l e population.
When the vote was taken, his was the only nay.
When
17
Miles C ity fa ile d to get the a g ric u ltu ra l c o lle g e . Senator
S w ift introduced a b i l l to lo cate the s ta te reform school th e re .
White Sulphur Springs also expressed some in te re s t in th is in s titu tio n ,
but began campaigning too la t e .
The H ouse.orig inally considered
leaving the lo catio n to be decided by the commissioners, but eventually
IP
agreed to the Miles C ity proposal. .
Several towns wanted the s ta te orphanage, including Butte, WaTkerv ilT e and Twin Bridges. A fter.T w in Bridges lo s t the normal school, i t
was awarded the orphanage.
The b i l l was passed by the House on the
f if t y - n in e th day o f the session.
19
One more in s titu tio n was created by the IegisTciture th is session.
I t began as a proposal fo r a deaf and dumb school a t Boulder, part
o f the package reported by the House Committee oh In s titu tio n s on
February 7.
The Senate added care fo r the blind and feeble-minded to
the asylum's o rig in a l purpose, and the House concurred.
Boulder had
o r ig in a lly asked fo r the s ta te insane asylum, but th a t was not on the
agenda fo r th is session.
The insane were being cared fo r on a contract
basis by Drs. A; H. M itc h e ll and E ric Mussigbrbd
a t Warm S p rin g s .. As
in other years, the doctors offered to s e ll th e ir establishment to
the s ta te , but were turned down.
20
Instead o f competing with other towns fo r one o f the in s titu tio n s
57
supported by the land gran t, Glendive created one o f it s own.
Senator
Thomas Cullen introduced a b i l l to bu ild a s o ld ie rs ’ home in Glendive.
Most o f the opposition to the b i l l came from Senator W illiam S teele,
who maintained i t was the re s p o n s ib ility o f the federal government.
Montana had not sent a regiment to the C iv il War, and had no respon­
s i b i l i t y fo r the veterans liv in g in the s ta te now.
South C arolina, but had not fought in the war.
opposition in the House.
Steele came from
The b i l l met more
Someone reported th a t the Grand Army o f the
Republic objected to the clim ate in Glendive.
Lewis in sis te d th a t a
s o ld ie rs ' home would never have been heard o f i f Glendive had not
o rig in a te d the idea.
The b i l l was re fe rre d to a special committee,
which decided to leave the location up to the board o f managers.
Lewis
then argued against the e n tire proposal, on the grounds th a t the
s ta te could not a ffo rd i t .
In a few years the army might abandon one
o f the m ilita r y posts, and th a t could be used fo r a s o ld ie rs ' home
instead.
The b i l l was even tually tabled in d e fin ite ly .
21
By the time i t adjourned, the th ird le g is la tu re had created a
fo u r-u n it higher education system, two prisons, a reform school, an
orphanage and an all-purpose asylum fo r the ph ysically and mentally
handicapped.
The lawmakers considered but rejected a s o ld ie rs ' home.
They refused to consider taking over the care o f the insane, p referrin g
instead to continue contracting put fo r t h e ir care.
The plan fo r a consolidated u n iv e rs ity had the support o f the
58
s ta te educational community and national educational leaders.
L o g ic a lly , i t would have been more economical to build one set of.
b u ild in g s, equip one laboratory and one lib r a r y , and h ire one teacher
in each d is c ip lin e .
Although many le g is la to rs agreed ph ilo so phically
th a t consolidation was b e tte r , they voted overwhelmingly against i t .
I t has often been said th a t Marcus Daly orchestrated the campaign.
to disperse the in s titu tio n s in 1893, in order to strengthen suppprf
fo r Anaconda in the c a p ita l race.
Missoula wanted the sta te u n iv e rs ity ,
and received promises of support from Anaconda and Helena before the
1892 e le c tio n .
Bozeman was given the a g ric u ltu ra l college over Miles
C ity and Great F a lls in retu rn fo r supporting Anaconda.
Although Twin
Bridges had a much stronger case fo r the normal school, i t went to
D illo n because Anaconda needed more support in Beaverhead County.
The
lack o f support fo r a lte r n a tiv e proposals and fo r Gibson's f o r c e fu l' %
.:
arguments
-
.
vH;; > ■ .
fo r consolidation indicates th a t an agreement had been
reached before the debate began to parcel out the s ta te in s titu tio n s
regardless o f the in te re s ts o f the s ta te .
22
The plan to disperse the in s titu tio n s probably did not o rig in a te
with Daly.
The 1891 le g is la tu re had received proposals fo r a state
u n iv e rs ity in Missoula, an a g ric u ltu ra l college in Bozeman, and normal
schools in Twin Bridges and Livingston.
That body did not have time
to act on the b i l l s , and in the intervening e le c tio n Daly was able to
use the proposals to his own advantage.
In the 1893 le g is la tu re the
59
combination was so strong th a t only a handful o f representatives voted
against i t .
Helena re p resen tatives, who had been among the e a r lie r
advocates o f consolidation, were warned not to in te rfe re with the
u n iv e rs ity b i l l , or r is k losing Missoula's support in the runo ff
e le c tio n fo r the c a p it a l.
The few who clung to the cause o f consoli­
dation were mostly from Cascade and Fergus Counties, which were l e f t
out o f the combination.
23
Newspaper e d ito rs , e s p e cia lly those who favored consolidation,
alluded to the deals th a t were being made to disperse the in s titu tio n s .
The Great F a lls Tribune suggested th a t some le g is la to rs knew as much
about the s ta te 's needs as "a suckling pig knows about astronomy,"
and only considered "local s e lf- in t e r e s t and the s e lfis h demands of
the c o te rie to whom they owe th e ir e le c tio n ."
24
Others fr e tte d th a t
when i t came time to e rec t and equip buildings fo r so many in s titu tio n s ,
the people would re g ret turning down endowments from other towns.
25
Even the Anaconda Standard re fe rre d to the deals th a t were being made
to give every town an in s titu tio n th a t wanted one.
"There w ill be plenty o f s ta te in s titu tio n s before the
le g is la tu re fin is h e s the business o f th is session. Under
the o rig in a l programme, i t was discovered th a t there w eren't
quite enough buildings to 1go. round, 1 but somebody suggested
s o ld ie rs ' home, somebody else proposed an asylum fo r the
b lin d , and we th in k i t qu ite safe to predict th a t a re tre a t
fo r the victim s o f rheumatism w ill y e t be voted; so th a t no
c it y in the s ta te w ill have any reason to complain when
once the d is tr ib u tio n is completed. There w ill be enough
fo r a l I ."26
60
I f Daly, the owner o f the Standard, was the main force behind th is
program, his e d ito r's attempted humor f a l l s f l a t .
Although there are some in d ire c t signs, from th is distance i t is
impossible to fin d much d ire c t evidence o f lo g ro llin g behind the
d is trib u tio n of the in s titu tio n s .
I t c e rta in ly occurred, with l i t t l e
attempt a t disguise, and i t l e f t the s ta te w ith many unnecessary
in s titu tio n s to support.
Counties
County d iv is io n schemes were popular c iv ic projects when Montana
was young and growing.
to consider.
The 1893 le g is la tu re had it s share o f proposals
B ills were introduced fo r eigh t new counties.
The House
generously passed a ll o f them, but the Senate k ille d three la t e r .
Since
most o f the new county schemes, lik e many o f the in s titu tio n s , aroused
only local in te r e s t, they provided a fin e opportunity to trade votes.
Teton County, cut from the western p a rt of Chouteau, was the f i r s t
new county to pass both Houses.
When the Senate b i l l , which included
the names o f the county o ffic e r s , reached the House, A. B. Hamilton's
name was substituted fo r s h e r if f .
seat in the House.
He had ju s t lo s t the disputed
Otherwise there was l i t t l e debate and no real
o p p o s itio n .27
Flathead and V a lley Counties soon follow ed.
The only opposition
to Flathead County, proposed fo r the northern part of Missoula County,
61
came from Columbia F a lls re sid e n ts , a f t e r the House changed the county
seat from th e ir town to Kali s p e ll.
V alley County, the p art o f Dawson
County north o f the Missouri r iv e r , met some opposition because there
were only 400 registered voters in the e n tire area.
I . C. Bach of
Lewis and Clark thought taxes would be too high, and livestock, owners
would re g is te r t h e ir animals in other counties with lower ta x ra te s .
But I .
H. Lewis, who liv e d in the proposed county and had sponsored ^ e
b i l l , argued th a t Dawson County was too large and the people in the
northern h a lf were p o lit i c a ll y o stracized .
28
The next county to be created encompassed the B itte r Root V a lley ,
form erly p art o f Missoula County.
I t was o r ig in a lly to be called
B itte r Root County, but a t the la s t moment the House renamed i t R a v a lli,
in honor of the Jesu it missionary leader who had worked there among
the Flathead Indians.
R av a lli County met more resistance than the
e a r lie r county b i l l s , some o f i t from Missoula County residents
who grumbled th a t th e ir county would be what was l e f t a f t e r everything
2Q
else had been taken away.
A fte r R av a lli County passed, three more county proposals were
defeated.
T. C. Burns o f Choteau. County proposed making the eastern
part o f Choteau a new county c a lle d Bear Paw.
The House Committee on
Towns and Counties changed the name to Blaine in honor o f the
Republican leader who had ju s t died in January.
The debate over
Blaine County revealed some of the behind-the-scenes dealing th a t
62
went on in the House.
Burns thought he had made an agreement with
Representative A. 0. Rose o f Beaverhead, who was lobbying fo r the
D illo n normal school b i l l , to support each o th e r's p ro je c ts .
He had
refused to back out o f the d e a l, even when a frie n d representing
Madison County asked him to support Twin Bridges.
Rose voted against
Blaine county; so Burns r e ta lia te d by voting against the D illo n b i l l
when i t came up fo r fin a l passage.
Both b i l l s passed the House by
comfortable margins in s p ite o f th is squabble.
the Blaine county b i l l a few days ,.la te r .
The Senate defeated
Burns must have been very
angry to reveal th is agreement, because the House rules forbade vote
tra d in g .
Everyone, o f course, did i t , but not in p u b lic.
30
Senator George Hatch o f Park County f i r s t introduced the b i l l
to create Sweet Grass County out of parts o f Park and Yellowstone,
w ith h is hometown Big Timber as the county seat.
L a te r, he and his
Park County colleagues in the House abandoned th e ir attempt to get the
normal school fo r Livingston, so th a t they could concentrate on
defeating the Sweet Grass proposal.
The b i l l was voted down by the
Senate on February 16, but it s supporters got A. F. Bray to introduce
the same b i l l in the House the next day.
th e re , too.
I t was even tually defeated
31
At one point there were so many county b i lls pending th a t
Senator Wi1 1 iam Steele threatened to introduce one fo r Ox Bow Bend..
No one had ever heard o f i t before, but he was c e rta in he could get
63
enough votes to pass the b i l l .
"These county d ivis io n schemes are
being pushed in connection w ith the senatorial contest, and owing to
the fa c t i t is hard to t e l l what the combinations e ith e r way w ill
re s u lt i n . "
32
The warning came too la t e .
Broadwater County, planned fo r an area between Jefferson, Lewis
and Clark and Meagher Counties, with Townsend as the county s e at, was
the cause o f turm oil, in the Senate e le c tio n .
W. E. Tierney, it s
author, had agreed to vote fo r Clark in retu rn fo r support on his b i l l
When i t received an unfavorable report from the House Committee on
Towns and Counties, the only county not to be recommended, he blamed
Clark and voted fo r Sanders.
This angered his Democratic colleagues,
who declared th a t he had ruined any chances his Broadwater County b i l l
ever had o f being passed by the House.
Republican N. E. Benson of
Meagher County, who,was opposed to th e Broadwater proposal, began
voting fo r Clark to cancel the damage done by Tierney's switch. . Later
Tierney and Benson compromised by delaying the date of implementation
one year.
Benson then returned to the Republican fo ld , but Tierney
continued to vote fo r various Republicans to express his anger at
C lark.
A fte r Benson was appeased, the b i l l ran in to opposition from
the Jefferson County representatives, who said th e ir county would he
l e f t w ith an unmanageable debt and could not affo rd to lose so much
assessed property.
The House eventually passed the b i l l , but i t , too,
33 '
was k ille d by the more conservative Senate.
64
The la s t county to be proposed was G ranite, to be taken from
Deer Lodge and Lewis and Clark Counties.
The b i l l progressed slowly
through the House, then was rushed through the Senate in the la s t two
days o f the session.
34
Labor Leg islatio n
The populists and the labor wings of both major p a rtie s made the
passage o f a law r e s tr ic tin g the use o f Pinkerton agents th e ir f i r s t
p r io r it y .
The sta te co n s titu tio n contained a clause against bringing
an armed body o f men in to the s ta te , but i t was not s e lf-e n a c tin g .
In
his message to the le g is la tu r e . Governor Rickards endorsed le g is la tio n
to enforce i t .
Representative Thomas K ilg a llo n o f B utte, a foreman in
one o f C la rk 's mines, introduced the f i r s t anti-P in kerto n b i l l on
January 10.
I t stated:
No s h e r if f , mayor or other person in a u th o rity shall
appoint as special deputy marshalls or policemen any
person who has not been in the s ta te fo r two years, and in
the county or c it y from which appointed fo r one year. The
bringing o f special deputy marshalls or policemen in to the
sta te from outside is p ro h ib ited , fo r the protection of
e ith e r public or p riv a te p ro p e rty .35
The b i l l required penalties o f one to three years' imprisonment and
a fin e o f up to $300.
W. H. Swett introduced a second anti-P inkerton
b i l l the next day, requirin g only th a t a special deputy be a resident
in good f a it h .
The labor representatives preferred K ilg a llo n 's b i l l
because i t was very s p e c ific .
The others preferred Swett's because i t
65
was more ambiguous.
Ki I gal I on’ s b i l l was f i r s t re fe rre d to the Committee on Public
In s titu tio n s to delay i t , but the chairman of th a t committee was A. F.
Bray.
He requested th a t i t be re fe rre d to the Committee on Labor
instead.
That committee reported in favor of the b i l l , a f t e r cutting
the residency requirements in h a lf and changing the fin e to $100 to
$500 plus court costs.
January 30.
The House passed the b i l l as amended on
Several of the members thought i t would be wise not to be
present when the vote was taken, but Speaker Matthews wanted everyone's
vote on the record.
Although a quorum was present alread y, he sent
the Sergeant-at-Arms to request the missing men to come and vote.
vote was f i f t y in favor and one against.
The
Leech, who cast the only
negative v o te , changed i t to aye to make i t unanimous.
37
The b i l l then went to the more conservative Senate.
Matts added
■ '■ j
an amendment excepting from the residency requirement a posse summoned
to quell a disturbance or prevent public violence.
This provision
was so vague i t weakened the b i l l considerably, but the Senate would
not have passed the b i l l as i t read o r ig in a lly .
The House agreed to
the amendment, and the Governor signed the b i l l in to law.
38
Senate Election - Climax
While the House and Senate d e a lt w ith other m atters, they con­
tinued to vote each day fo r a Senator.
The re su lts varied only
66
according to who was absent.
were irrevo cab ly s e t.
The Sanders, Clark and Dixon factions
C ollins never received more than two votes, and
on January 31, he withdrew.
Beecher, who by th is time seemed to have
forgotten his Populist a f f i l i a t i o n e n t ir e ly , switched to Clark; and
Gibson voted fo r Dixon.
39
Before the le g is la tu re convened, Clark had assumed th a t a ll he
needed was a m a jo rity o f the Democrats.
Once he controlled the caucus
party d is c ip lin e would force the re s t to support him and he would be
elected..
However, party d is c ip lin e meant l i t t l e to Marcus Daly when
Clark was concerned.
Daly kept his men out o f the caucus th at
nominated C la rk, and denied th a t they were bound by it s decision.
Because Daly co n tro lle d enough votes to deny him the e le c tio n , Clark
was forced to go outside the party to make up the d iffe re n c e .
His
campaign managers began working on Beecher to counter D aly's claim
th a t Clark could never, get the Populist vote any candidate needed to
be elected .
little
Beecher was eventually won over to C lark, but i t made
impact on the Dixon men.
He was w ritte n o f f as a renegade
and a b r ib e - t a k e r .^
Beecher's vote s t i l l l e f t Clark ten short of e le c tio n .
Aside
from the propaganda value of having a Populist support him, i t did
not help much.
More important to C la rk 's strategy was winning
Republican votes.
Those e ffo rts began soon a fte r the Dixon men
refused to jo in the Democratic caucus.
E. D. Weed, who was watching
67
developments fo r U.S. Senator T. C. Power, reported th a t some of
the Republicans appeared to be weakening and seemed to have Democratic
money in th e ir pockets.
He s p e c ific a lly named Coder as one who needed
encouragement to stand by the colo rs.
Republicans
This was two weeks before the
dropped Sanders fo r M antle, Coder's ostensible reason
fo r turning to C lark.
For the f i r s t h a lf o f the session Daly made sure a ll o f his men
were present every day fo r the Senate b a llo t.
Furthermore, the
Republicans were under s t r i c t orders not to p a ir with any o f Daly's
men.
Thus, Clark was always ten or more votes short o f e le c tio n , a
d i f f i c u l t number to pick up by any means.
The f i r s t in d ic a tio n th a t
Clark might have a chance came February 4 , a Saturday, when two Dixon
men were absent.
This was the f i r s t time any Dixon men were paired,
and i t suggested th a t Daly might not be able to hold his fa c tio n
together fo r the e n tire session.
Senator Sanders was present th a t day
to watch the voting and encourage his supporters.
Because the Dixon .
men were paired with Republicans, t h e ir absence did not a ffe c t
Sanders' r e la tiv e strength.
He was three votes short o f a m a jo rity , .
,4 2
as usual.
Then on February 8 , W. E. Tierney, a Clark Democrat, surprised
the g a lle r ie s , disconcerted the Clark fa c tio n and delighted the
Republicans by voting fo r Sanders.
This put Sanders ju s t two votes
short o f e le c tio n , too close fo r the Democrats' comfort.
.
In announcing
68
his vote, Tierney denounced Clark fo r reneging on his promise to
support the Broadwater County b i l l .
Tierney had voted fo r M artin
Maginnis on the f i r s t day, then fo r Hauser u n til he withdrew, before
supporting C lark.
I f the Dixon pairs had encouraged C la rk, Tierney's
40 ■
defection was a decided setback.
The next day Tierney voted fo r Lee M antle, who was not the
Republican nominee and had no chance of being elected that, day:
Apparently he had received some kind of assurances from C la rk, but
was cautiously w aiting fo r re su lts before returning to his support.
Tierney's was the f i r s t vote, cast fo r M antle, and i t trig g ered a
f lu r r y o f vote changing.
F ir s t N. E. Benson o f Meagher County
switched from Sanders to Clark to in d ic a te he opposed the Broadwater
County proposal and to negate the e ffe c ts o f Tierney's vote.
Then
J. E. Fleming of Beaverhead changed his vote from Sanders to Mantle,
hoping to s ta r t a boom fo r his frie n d .
In response to th a t, Joseph
Annear of W a lk e rv ille switched from Sanders to Thomas Couch, superin­
tendent of the Boston and Montana Company and M antle's fie r c e s t riv a l
fo r control o f the Republican party in Butte.
This e ffe c tiv e ly k ille d
the Mantle boom, and the jo in t assembly adjourned fo r the day.
That night M antle's supporters c a lle d a caucus o f the Republican
le g is la to rs to say th a t they had supported Sanders long enough, he was
losing control over his men; and i t was time to change candidates.
Sanders' men argued th a t he should not be blamed fo r the break in the
69
ranks,
which in any event was only temporary.
Benson would be back
as soon as the Broadwater County issue was s e ttle d .
Someone suggested
Rickards as a compromise candidate who could get Populist support, but
he got no response. . Some thought Daly might throw his support to
Mantle and a c tu a lly e le c t him to keep Clark from winning.
The caucus
even tually voted to drop Sanders fo r M antle, but not everyone was
s a tis fie d .
Senator Charles Baylies and Representatives Alex B u rre ll,
T. C. Burns and C. L. Coder refused to make the nomination unanimous
as was customary, an
in d ic a tio n of trouble ahead.
Furthermore,
Representatives Joseph Annear, N. E. Benson, L. A. Huffman and T. H.
Lewis were not present, and th e ir support fo r Mantle was u n re lia b le .
45
When the b a llo t was taken on the te n th , the dissension among
the Republicans became obvious.
Most o f them voted fo r Mantle, but
Burns and Coder stayed with Sanders and Annear voted fo r Couch again.
This time Tierney voted fo r Sanders, and Benson fo r C lark.
On the whole the
minor problem; he was
46
signs were good fo r C lark. Tierney was only a
s t i l l voting against C lark,
who was very close to being elected .
but
notfo r anyone
A fte r Mantle became the
Republican nominee Tierney no longer voted fo r him, but fo r Sanders
or some other Republican who would only receive two or three votes.
Thus, Clark s t i l l had time to pick up the ten more votes he needed.
The break in the Republican
able to pick up a few
s o lid a r ity indicated th a t Clark might be
votes from men unhappy with
the
newnominee.
70
or tir e d o f the endless b a llo tin g ,
C la rk's biggest worry was th at
Daly might throw his support.to Mantle and decide the e le c tio n before
he could fin d another ten votes.
Daly had helped Mantle win the Butte
mayoral e le c tio n over a Clark Democrat in 1892, but i t would be going
too fa r even fo r him to make Democratic le g is la to rs vote fo r a
Republican Senatorial candidate.
the Senate by su b tler means.
Daly could, however, send Mantle to
Unless Clark seriously threatened tq be
e le c te d , Daly needed only to continue the deadlock.
A fte r the
le g is la tu re adjourned. Governor Rickards might be persuaded to appoint
Mantle to the vacancy.
47
The next day was Saturday, and Clark decided to make his move
before Daly changed his mind.
Six pairs were announced, involving
s ix Republicans, three Dixon men and three Clark men.
prom C lark's
perspective, nine opposition votes were removed a t the cost o f only
three supporters.
Davidson, apparently forewarned, made one of his
rare appearances in order to vote fo r C lark.
The dissension among
the Republicans over the change in nominees helped. Clark pick up fiv e
Republican votes:
Burns and Coder from Sanders, Annear from Couch,
Lewis from M antle, and Benson, who was s t i l l counterbalancing Tierney's
vote fo r Sanders.
I t was not qu ite enough.
E ith er Clark had mis­
counted his votes o r, as was more li k e l y , some men who had promised to
vote fo r him backed out.
th is tim e.
He f e l l ju s t three votes short o f e le c tio n ,
His men pressed fo r a second b a llo t, c e rta in th a t they
71
would be able to persuade three more men to change t h e ir votes, but
the loyal Republicans and the Dixon supporters carried the motion to
adjourn by one vote.
Many people saw in C lark's success in buying Republican votes
Mantle's in a b ilit y to hold the party together.
Several would-be
candidates seized the opportunity to suggest th a t they could.do b e tte r
where Mantle had f a ile d .
A fte r the jo in t assembly adjourned. Governor
Rickards c irc u la te d among the members try in g to persuade the Republicans
to switch to him self.
He claimed th a t he would be able to hold the
party together, and th a t the S ilv e r Bow Populists and some Dixon men
might vote fo r him to prevent Clark from being elected .
Lieutenant
Governor Botkin also campaigned on Rickards' b e h a lf, since he would be
elevated to the governorship i f Rickards went to the U.S. Senate.
Others campaigned fo r Thomas C arter.
He had been mentioned as a
possible candidate ever since the Democrats' f a ilu r e to u n ite behind
a single candidate inspired hope among the Republicans.
Recalling
his v ic to ry over Clark in the .1888 e le c tio n , his supporters suggested
th a t he could draw the necessary support from the Democrats through
his connection with Daly.
The Republicans held an informal caucus
th a t night to discuss returning to Sanders, but took no a c tio n .
Rumors c irc u la te d fr e e ly on Sunday.
49
Some believed th a t Daly had
been badly frightened and would throw his strength to Mantle on Monday,
Others said th a t the Republicans and the Clark Democrats had agreed to.
72
e le c t C lark.
There was a strona an ti-M a n tle fa c tio n among the
Republicans and they did not want to see him elected by Democratic
votes.
Since Clark was the Democratic nominee and the Democrats
were the m a jo rity p a rty , they saw no apparent contradiction in using
Republican votes to e le c t the Democratic nominee in order to prevent
the Republican nominee from being elected by Democrats..
On Monday i t a l l proved to be wishful th in kin g .
50
Daly's twelve
s t i l l voted fo r Dixon, and most o f the Republicans who had voted fo r
Clark returned to t h e ir p a rty .
Only Lewis voted fo r M antle, though.
Annear and Burns voted fo r Couch again, and Coder gave his vote to
Thomas C arte r.
Benson voted fo r C lark, but only a fte r Tierney had
cast his vote fo r Sanders.
51
C lark's supporters in sisted th a t they could get the Republicans
back whenever they needed them, but th a t was u n lik e ly .
C lark's
f a ilu r e to have enough votes lined up the f i r s t time he made his
move was a serious e rro r.
The Republicans who had voted fo r him, and
some lik e Leech who were only rumored to be leaning toward him, came
under vicious attack from the press and party leaders.
They would be
extremely re lu c ta n t to expose themselves lik e th a t a second time.
52
The man who came under the worst attacks was C. L. Coder, a
representative from Fergus County.
The Anaconda Standard, Daly's
paper, revealed th a t he was lis te d as a deserter in the War Department's
records.
He had asked Senator Sanders to sponsor a b i l l to remove the
73
charge, and Sanders had e n lis te d Dixon's help to steer i t through the
House o f Representatives.
Standard's inform ation.
Dixon was obviously the source o f the
Coder's side o f the story was th a t he h%d
been taken i l l w hile home on leave and had overstayed his pass.
When
he recovered, he had returned to his u n it and served out the re s t of
his e n lis tm e n t.. He maintained th a t the desertion charge was merely a
te c h n ic a lity .53
The day the story appeared in the Standard, Coder sought out
Dixon in the lobby o f the Helena Hotel and accused him o f tampering
w ith the facts of his case.
While the two o f them were trading charges
o f d is lo y a lty to county and p a rty , Sanders him self joined them.
A
master of in v e c tiv e , Sanders f i r s t c a lle d Coder a coward, a deserter
and a t r a i t o r , then turned to the crowd th a t had gathered and denounced
the tempters who were the real v illa in s .
He urged th a t they be
"hounded down by everyone who loves his s t a t e ."5^
Ir o n ic a lly , th a t same day, Sanders issued a lengthy statement
supporting Coder's explanation o f the. desertion charge.
By im p lic a tio n ,
the statement also defended Sanders from any suggestion th a t he had
introduced the b i l l on Coder's behalf fo r p o litic a l motives.
He had
never met Coder, and had taken up his cause purely in the in tere s ts of
ju s tic e , he in s is te d .
55
This was not the la s t heard about Coder, however.
For about a week
a fte r the in cident a t the Helena, he cast his vote fo r various
74
Republicans , not including Mantle or Sanders.
Then on February 22,
he l e f t fo r home, claiming th a t his fam ily was i l l and his daughter
dying.
Since he liv e d on a ranch east o f Lewistown about a hundred
miles from a r a ilr o a d , he was not expected back before the end of
the session.
This caused consternation among the a n ti-C la rk forces,
fo r he had arranged a p a ir w ith G. W. Ward, one o f Dixon's Democrats,
Ward thought i t would only be fo r two or three days, but Coder had
i t announced as la s tin g u n til both appeared on the flo o r o f the House.
This e ffe c tiv e ly prevented Ward from voting on p o litic a l questions fo r
the re s t o f the session.
sympathy fo r Coder.
The House debated the m atter with l i t t l e
I t f in a l ly decided th is was an e th ic a l matter
between the two men, and l e f t to Ward to decide whether to break i t
and when.
56
Toward the end o f the session, rumors o f bribery were so wide­
spread th a t one man f e l t compelled to make a public statement denying
th a t he had even been approached.
The Anaconda Standard reported th a t
C lark's campaign managers had approached a Great F alls man who was
v is itin g Helena, and asked him to work on one of his friends in the
le g is la tu r e .
D. J. T a lla n t, a Republican o f unimpeachable in te g r ity ,
id e n tifie d him self as the representative in question.
On February 20,
he to ld the jo in t assembly th a t he had not been offered a b rib e , his
frie n d was in town on business, and "in lig h t o f a ll the rumors . . .
i t would ru in the reputation of an angel to appear in Helena a t th is
75
tim e."
He confirmed, though, th a t bribes had been o ffered to other
Republicans.5^
The la s t three weeks o f the session saw frequent attempts to
fin d a compromise candidate who could draw enough support from other
factions to be e lected .
The
Republicans switched to Mantle in part
because they hoped Daly would support him to stop C lark.
old Daly a l l y , was considered fo r the same reason.
C arte r, an
Mantle and Rickards
thought they might be able to get some Populist votes, too.
Annear
and Burns voted re g u la rly fo r Couch, but could not persuade anyone
else to jo in them;
Tierney voted fo r one Republican a f t e r another,
but his object was not to fin d someone e le c tab le but to annoy Clark.
He would not vote fo r the Republican nominee, but he would not return
to Clark even a fte r the House reconsidered and passed his Broadwater
county b i l l .
Bray and Matthews, a t the urging of party leaders, made a second
attempt to e le c t a P o p u list.
For three days they voted fo r .D r . A. H.
M itc h e ll, one of the prop rieto rs of Warm Springs.
jo in them, so they went back to Dixon.
Beecher refused to
59
Great F a lls Democrats held a mass meeting on February 22,
ostensibly to discuss the deadlock.
Th eir real purpose was to promote
T. E, C o llin s as a compromise candidate.
C lark's supporters took
over the meeting, however, and passed a resolution asking Senator
Gibson to vote fo r C lark.
fin
76
The Dixon Democrats o ffered repeatedly to compromise w ith the
others on anyone but C la rk, but Clark remained adamant.
Since the
e le c tio n o f anyone else but Clark would be a complete v ic to ry fo r
-
'
Daly, there r e a lly was no room fo r compromise.
Two days a f t e r Clark
fa ile d in his f i r s t attempt to be elected with Republican votes, the
Dixon Democrats caucused w ithout the two Populists.
Dixon offered
to withdraw i f Clark would, so th a t the party could agree on someone
else who could be elected ,
Clark did not even bother to re p ly .
60
As time ran o u t, some o f C la rk's supporters became increasingly
re lu c ta n t to l e t Rickards have the opportunity to appoint a Republican
Senator a f t e r the le g is la tu re adjourned, when they could have elected
a Democrat.
They met the evening before th e .la s t day o f the session,
and four o f them urged Clark to withdraw.
C la rk , however, refused,
assuring them th a t he had enough votes lin e d up to be elected the
next day on the f i r s t b a llo t. . He im plied th a t i f he f a ile d , he would
then withdraw so th a t someone else could be elected on the second
b a llo t.
Thus encouraged, they agreed to stay with him,
:
62
March 2 was the la s t day of the session, and C la rk 's la s t chance
to be elected .
The House and Senate decided to hold the b a llo tin g a t
the Helena Auditorium to accomodate the expected crowd o f observers.
A ll members were present except fo r two Senators.
C. W. Baylies had
been c a lle d home because his young daughter was dying, and S. R. Buford
had offered to p a ir w ith him.
S u rp ris in g ly , in view o f the Coder
77
in c id e n t, everyone accepted his departure and seemed glad fo r him
when the g ir l was reported out o f danger.
63
Ward had broken his p a ir with Coder two days e a li.e r, and Coder had
returned to Helena.
fiv e votes to win.
Davidson, too, was present.
Clark needed t h i r t y -
He sat confidently in the fro n t row w ith an
acceptance speech ready, but never got to d e liv e r I t .
The Senate voted
f i r s t , and George Hatch o f Park County voted fo r Clark without an
explanation.
When the House r o ll was c a lle d , Annear, Coder and Lewis,
a ll o f whom had voted fo r Clark on February 11, voted fo r him again.
Bonner, a Dixon man from the f i r s t day, delivered a speech praising
Clark as a fin e Democrat, but he spoke without enthusiasm and swayed
no one.
S. W. Graves o f S ilv e r Bow, a w ell-respected Republican,
explained his vote fo r Clark on the grounds th a t Montana's Senator
should belong to the same party as the president. T a lla n t interrupted
him with shouts o f " T r a it o r ! " and was n early clubbed by Beecher.
When order was resto red, the voting continued.
Tferney, who had
voted fo r so many Republicans in the past month, a t la s t voted fo r
Clark again.
Paul Van Cleve
to vote fo r C lark.
what he needed.
o f Park County, was the fin a l Republican
Clark received th irty -tw o votes, three less than
64
Many people expected Clark to withdraw a fte r the f i r s t b a llo t
to allow another Democrat to be e lected .
When he dtd no t, the Dixon
men joined with the Republicans to pass a motion to adjourn, as had
I
78
been th e ir strategy throughout the session.
The r o ll c a ll on adjourn
ment offered a fin a l opportunity fo r speeches.
M atts, leader of the
Dixon fa c tio n , defended the "o b s tru c tio n is t Democrats."
He in sisted
th a t he only wanted.to e le c t a Senator by honest means.
" I want to
see no man representing th is s ta te in the Senate who receives votes
by force or fraud.
I want to see a man elected to the United States
Senate who is not ta in te d by fraud or c o rru p tio n ." ^
The blame fo r
le ttin g a Republican be appointed rested on Clark and his cohorts.
T. C. Bach, leader o f the Clark fo rc e s , blamed the Dixon men fo r
in s is tin g th a t the two Populists be included in the caucus.
Matthews
and Bray both attacked Beecher fo r jo in in g the Democrats and not
helping them e le c t a P op ulist.
Bray also in sisted his goal had been,
to prevent the e le c tio n o f a Republican, which he had done.^
A fte r the le g is la tu re adjourned sine d ie . Mantle gave a banquet
fo r the Republicans who had remained loyal to him.
Other party
leaders, including Sanders and Rickards, also attended.
Each le g is ­
la to r was asked to r e c ite the d e ta ils o f the bribes he had been
offered to vote fo r C lark.
$15,000.
One man claimed to have turned down
On the other hand, three f e l t slighted th a t they had not
received any o ffe rs .
They were a ll ju b ila n t a t having prevented the
Democratic m a jo rity from choosing a Senator. 67
Chapter 4
RESULTS
The members o f the 1893 le g is la tu re knew when they met th a t they
had a great deal o f work to do in a lim ite d amount o f tim e.
The House
wasted a day in p o lit ic a l dispute before working out a c o a litio n of
Democrats and Populists fo r c o n tro l.
Nevertheless, th is was a very
real accomplishment compared to the fiasco o f the f i r s t two sessions.
The Senate generally conducted its business in an orderly manner.
It
was sm aller than the House, it s members were generally more conserva­
t iv e , and more than h a lf o f them had served in the Senate before th is
session.
In c o n trast, the House was more disorganized.
„
I t was la rg e r,
w ith f i f t y - f i v e members, and only a handful had previous experience.
Some had served in the t e r r i t o r i a l le g is la tu r e , but only J . H.
Monteith o f Butte was reelected from the f i r s t House and he was not one
o f the leaders.
The Speaker o f the House, Thomas Matthews, was com­
p le te ly inexperienced, but he r e lie d on the guidance o f the Speaker pro
tern, A. F. Bray.
The le g is la to rs were generally preoccupied by the
Senate e le c tio n , which continued through the e n tire session when i t
was only expected to take a few days.
They accomplished less than
they had intended, in an atmosphere o f b rib ery and lo g -r o llin g th a t
i
made i t d i f f i c u l t to keep sigh t o f the public good.
80
Senate E lection
The f a ilu r e to e le c t a U. S. Senator was the. greatest disaster
o f the 1893 le g is la tiv e session.
As a d ire c t re s u lt o f W illiam A,
C la rk's and Marcus D aly's personal feud, the le g is la tu re was unable to
e le c t a successor to W. F. Sanders.
Both men were w illin g to l e t the
Governor appoint a Republican ra th e r than l e t the other triumph.
Sanders thought he had served Montana well during his f i r s t term
and deserved to be reappointed,
Governor Rickards, however, to ld him
th a t the party had discharged it s debt to him when i t had elected him
Montana's f i r s t Senator.
Instead, he appointed Lee Mantle, who had been
the Republican nominee a t the close o f the session.
Mantle had been p o lit ic a l r iv a ls before 1892.
Rickards and
They apparently had
come to an understanding before the Republican s ta te convention th a t
y e a r, when Mantle as s ta te chairman helped Rickards win the nomination
fo r governor.
2
Clark in sisted th a t Daly had conspired a ll along to send Mantle
to the Senate.
F ir s t Daly had helped Mantle get elected mayor Of
B utte, then he had thrown the s ta te election s to tfte Republicans in
November.
Sanders' nomination delayed his plans fo r a w h ile , but
he waited and kept a Democrat from being elected u n til the nomination
went to Mantle.
Daly met with Rickards and explained th a t he could
not openly support M antle, a Republican, but he could prevent the
81
e le c tio n o f a Democrat, thus leaving the way open fo r Rickards to
appoint Mantle.
None o f th is could ever be proven, But Clark
believed i t to be tru e .
3
When Mantle went to Washington, the United States Senate refused
to seat him.
The le g is la tu re s o f Washington State and Wyoming had
also adjourned without e le c tin g Senators, and the Senate refused to
seat those governors' appointees, too.
The Senate wanted to put an
end to th is growing trend toward gubernatorial appointments o f senators
which resulted simply from the f a ilu r e o f the le g is la tu re s to e le c t
them.
Even though some o f it s own members had achieved t h e ir seats
through b rib e ry , the Senate evidently f e l t i t was going too fa r to
allow a small group of men to deadlock a s ta te le g is la tu re so th a t
the governor could appoint his own man.
The vote against seating
4
Mantle and the others cut across party lin e s .
. Montana had only one representative in the U.S. Senate fo r the
next two years.
National s ilv e r leaders lik e Senator Henry T e lle r o f
Colorado urged Governor Rickards to c a ll a special session o f the
le g is la tu re to f i l l
the vacancy, but he was not anxious to open the
door to more brib ery and corruption, or to l e t the Democratic m ajority
e le c t a Democrat.
M antle, too, was opposed to a special session.
wrote to Senator T. C. Power to explain why.
" I f these gentlemen knew the scandalous character
o f the la s t Montana L e g islatu re; o f the open b rib e ry ,
debauchery and corruption.; they would, h e s ita te I am sure
He
before lending t h e ir voices in aid o f in f lic t in g such
a condition upon us again. The men who are clamoring fo r
the extra session are mainly the h ire lin g s o f C lark, Hauser
has fa lle n in w ith the cry because he has been led to believe
th a t he can be e lected . I f th a t were tru e i t would not be .
so bad, as there is but l i t t l e danger o f Sam buying anyone.
But i t is not tru e . C lark's emissaries are a ll over the
s ta te a t th is moment carrying p e titio n s . They are paid and
sent d ir e c tly from B u tte . Not only t h is , but every member
o f the Leg islatu re who can be, has been 's e e n '." 5
.
Rickards did not c a ll a special session, and the Senate seat remained
vacant u n t i l .1895.
The Republicans, who had a large m a jo rity in the
le g is la tu re th a t y e a r, elected Mantle to serve the remaining four years
o f the term.
Daly successfully prevented Clark from achieving his goal o f being
elected to the Senate in 1893.
In r e t a lia t io n , Clark took h is revenge
in the c a p ita l e le c tio n the follow ing y e a r.
Playing on the company
town issue and plan ting the fe a r th a t Daly and the Anaconda Company
would devour the s ta te government, Clark was instrumental in keeping
the c a p ita l in Helena.
I t was an expensive campaign fo r both men.
Daly, whose task was la r g e r , reportedly spent $2,500,000 in Anaconda's
C .
b e h a lfj and Clark $400,000 fo r Helena.
When Clark fa ile d to buy enough votes on March 2 and the le g is la r
tu re adjourned, the Anaconda Standard hailed i t as a v ic to ry fo r
honesty in a death struggle oyer corruption.
"With a ll the forces
o f corruption doing th e ir utmost fo r weeks, the le g is la tu re in jo in t
assembly torday declared by a vote o f 37 to 32 th a t the m a jo rity of
[Montana's] le g is la tu re is honest and th a t a seat in the United States
83
Senate cannot be bought."
7
The Standard's conclusion was not only
inaccurate — the forces o f corruption were active. In both Democratic
camps — i t was also premature.
The year 1893 was only a rehearsal fo r
the 1899 session, when Clark would spend a t le a s t $400,000 to buy
e le c tio n to the Senate.
Daly carried his f ig h t to the Senate, and
the evidence o f bribery in the e le c tio n was so pervasive th a t Clark
had to resign before he was thrown out.
Clark eventually achieved his
goal in 1901, when Daly was dead and unable to stop him.
In s titu tio n s
The action o f the 1893 le g is la tu re th a t had the most far-reach ing
e ffe c ts fo r Montana was the creation o f the s ta te in s titu tio n s .
Dis­
regarding Paris Gibson's sensible arguments in favor o f a consolidated
u n iv e rs ity and his o ffe r of an endowment i f i t were located in Great
F a lls , the le g is la to rs agreed to estab lish four separate in s titu tio n s
fo r higher education.
Duplication in equipment and courses and
competition fo r students and s ta te funds were in e v ita b le .
The communi­
tie s th a t received the in s titu tio n s were not even required to donate
any land or money fo r them, l e t alone match Gibson's o f f e r .
e le c tio n played a ro le in th is .
fo r support fo r Anaconda.
The c a p ita l
Daly o ffered in s titu tio n s in return
Helena leaders f e l t they could not afford
to antagonize so many towns, so they abandoned th e ir e a r lie r e ffo rts
in behalf o f consolidation and matched D aly's o f f e r .
The only
84
le g is la to rs who voted fo r consolidation wore a handful from Great
F alls and Fergus County.
The other in s titu tio n s , the reform school, the orphanage and
the asylum fo r the deaf and dumb, seemed to have been awarded as
consolation prizes to towns th a t had lo s t in th e ir bids fo r educational
in s titu tio n s .
The reform school was located in Miles C ity , in the
easternmost p a rt o f the s ta te f a r from most o f the population, a fte r
th a t town lo s t the a g ric u ltu ra l college to Bozeman,
the orphanage
was given to Twin Bridges to compensate fo r the loss o f the normal
school.
Boulder had asked fo r the insane asylum, which was not
established th a t y e ar.
Instead, the town received the deaf and dumb
school.
B illin g s had wanted to take the s ta te prison away from Deer Lodge,
where the f a c i l i t i e s were badly d e te rio ra te d .
Rather than choose
between the two towns, the le g is la to rs decided to create two prisons.
B illin g s was to get a new p e n ite n tia ry , and the f a c i l i t i e s a t Deer
Lodge were to be re p aired .
The Panic o f 1893 l e f t s ta te finances too
weak to a ffo rd the second p e n ite n tia ry , or Montana would have had
two prisons.
The only town to make a serious bid fo r an in s titu tio n and not get
one was Great F a lls .
As the center fo r the movement fo r consolidation,
i t was l e f t out of the c o a litio n th a t divided, up the in s titu tio n s .
did not get a s ta te in s titu tio n u n til the School fo r the Blind was
It
.85
located there in 1935, or a college u n til a Catholic college was
founded in 1932.
For fu tu re le g is la to rs there was a dubious lesson,
th a t v irtu e had to be it s own reward because i t c e rta in ly d id n 't seem
to produce any tan g ib le b e n e fits .
The Populists
The Populists did not do as well as they had expected in th e ir
f i r s t le g is la tu r e .
They had only three members in the House, one of
whom, D. W. Beecher, tended to act more w ith the Democrats than with
his fe llo w P op ulists,
Nevertheless, they, controlled the. balance of
power in the House, and used i t to get Thomas Matthews elected
Speaker and A. F'. Bray Speaker pro tern;
Among th e ir accomplishments,
the Populists held the positions o f Speaker and Speaker pro tern, and
were able to d ire c t the flow of le g is la tio n and control the debate.
The le g is la tu re passed a law r e s tr ic tin g the use of Ptnkerton agents,
a very important issue fo r the miners who were the backbone o f the
Populists p a rty .
I t also gave the eight-hour day to s ta tio n a ry
engineers, the f i r s t step toward achieving i t fo r a ll mine workers.
Congress was sent memorials in favor o f d ire c t e le c tio n o f Senators,
fre e coinage o f s ilv e r and re s tric tio n s , on immigration, and against
repeal o f the Sherman S ilv e r Purchase A ct, a ll o f which were part
o f the Populist program.
On the negative s id e , the House accepted a Senate amendment to
86
the anti-P inkerton , b i l l th a t considerably weakened the o rig in a l
in te n t.
No one introduced a b i l l to give miners the eight-hour day*
More damaging was the f a ilu r e o f the Populists to work together on
the Senate e le c tio n ,
With Beecher voting only fo r Democrats, a
Republican-Populist c o a litio n would not have enough votes,
Yet
cooperation w ith the Democrats was valueless as long as the Democrats
were fig h tin g among themselves.
A ll three Populists got too deeply
involved in the Democrats' feud, without gettin g any ta n g ib le benefits
fo r th e ir own p a rty .
U nfortunately, th is set a pattern fo r future
Populist le g is la to r s , whose c a lls fo r reform sounded hollow as they
cast th e ir votes fo r W illiam A. C lark.
8
Because they held such v is ib le p o sitio n s, Matthews and Bray
tended to be blamed fo r the paucity o f le g is la tio n passed by th is
session.
They in turn blamed Beecher fo r not working w ith them, fo r
the extra vote would have given them more leverage in the jo in t
assembly and possibly on le g is la tiv e matters as w e ll.
In r e a lit y , the
Populists could have done l i t t l e to change the re su lts o f the session.
The le g is la to rs were too preoccupied w ith the Senate e le c tio n and the
in s titu tio n question to accomplish much more.
From th is beginning, the Populists wept on to win three seats in
the Senate and th irte e n in the House in 1895, when the Republicans
controlled the le g is la tu r e .
They reached th e ir peak w ith eighteen
House s e a ts .in 1897, when the Democrats returned to power.
The fusion
87
with the Democrats in the e le c tio n o f 1896 led to the eventual
demise o f the Populist party a few years la t e r .
Other Issues
C le a rly , the most important business fo r the le g is la to rs was
the e le c tio n of a U.S. Senator.
A fte r th a t, the d is trib u tio n o f the
s ta te in s titu tio n s took precedence over other questions.
Most important
to labor representatives was the passage o f b i lls r e s tr ic tin g the use
o f Pinkertons and giving sta tio n a ry engineers the eight-hour day.
County d iv is io n schemes also occupied a great deal of the le g is la to rs '
tim e.
They passed fiv e new county b i l l s and debated three more.
The
re s u lt o f th is most noted a t the time was not the benefits to the
residents or the e ffe c t on taxes, but the fa c t th a t there would be an
odd number o f Senators in the next le g is la tu re .
A re p e titio n o f the
deadlock in the f i r s t Senate would not be possible.
D istracted by the Senate e le c tio n and the debate over the state
in s titu tio n s , the le g is la to rs did not have time to consider everything
they had planned.
Among the f i r s t b i l l s to be tabled were the pro­
posed legal codes, which had seemed o f paramount importance before the
session began,.
The codes were needed to complete Montana's tra n s itio n
from a t e r r it o r y to a s ta te , as there were many contradictions among
the t e r r i t o r i a l laws s t i l l in e ffe c t and the federal Enabling Act and
s ta te c o n s titu tio n , but the le g is la to rs did not have time to give the
88
codes the a tte n tio n they deserved.
T, C. Bach, leader o f the House
Democrats, proposed c a llin g a special session to degl w ith the codes.
A fte r the U-. S. Senate refused to seat Lee M antle, pressure fo r a
special session increased.
However, Rickards re s is te d .
Not only was
the expense u n ju s tifia b le in the midst of the business panic, but he
did not want to give the Democratic m a jo rity another chance to e le c t
9
a Senator,
Conclusions
From e a r lie s t t e r r i t o r i a l days Montana p o litic s were riddled with
fa c tio n s , and le g is la tu re s freq u en tly lo s t sigh t o f the public good in
th e ir pu rsuit o f p o lit ic a l goals.
improvement.
Statehood did not bring any radical
The th ird le g is la tiv e session marked a new phase in
Montana p o litic s ', when factions had enough money to do serious damage.
Without Marcus D aly's money behind i t . Anaconda's bid fo r the
s ta te c a p ita l would have seemed rid ic u lo u s .
Even in a time when
every fr o n t ie r hamlet expected to be the next m etropolis, a sm all,
is o la te d , company-owned town was a very poor prospect.
C lark's money opposing i t . Anaconda might have won.
Y e t, without
The two men used
th e ir enormous fortunes to save Montana from each o th e r's whims, and
succeeded m ainly in thoroughly corrupting s ta te p o lit ic s .
To improve
Anaconda's chances in the c a p ita l race, Daly had to spread cash and
p o litic a l favors li b e r a l ly .
As a re s u lt o f his lo g -r o llin g , Montana
89
was permanently burdened w ith more educational and custodial in s t it u ­
tions than i t needed, in s titu tio n s th a t were a constant drain on the
s ta te treasury..
Clark had his own am bitions, and the money to pursue i t to
extremes.
He wanted to be elected to the U,S. Senate,
he was thwarted, the more determined he became.
The more often
In 1893, when Daly
seemed lik e ly to stop him again, Clark turned to brib ery to get votes
he needed from Republicans.
He did not q u ite succeed th is tim e, but
the technique only needed to be expanded to work the next tim e.
L o g -ro llin g was nothing hew in f r o n t ie r p o lit ic s , nor was a
c e rta in amount o f p e tty b rib e ry .
What was new in these instances was
the use o f money on a vast scale to accomplish personal ends th a t would
have been impossible by le g itim a te means.
fu tu re .
I t looked ominous fo r the
'. ' .
REFERENCES
91
REFERENCES
Chapter I
TJames McClellan Hamilton, From Wilderness to Statehood: a
H istory o f Montana (P ortland , Orel Bihfords & Mort, 1957J, p. 571-4;
Neil J . Lynch, Montana's Legislature through the Years (B u tte , Mont.:
By the Author, 1977), pp. 38-9.
2
Hamilton, pp. 564-5; Lynch, p. 38.
^Hamilton, pp. 571, 575; Michael P. Malone and Richard B. Roeder,
Montana: a H istory o f Two Centuries (S e a ttle : U niversity o f Washington Press, 1976), p. 1 5 l.
^Hamilton, p. 579.
C
Malone and Roeder, pp. 70-86.
6Helen F itzg e ra ld Sanders, A H istory o f Montana (Chicago: Lewis
Publishing C o., 1913), I I , 850-41 Progressive Men Of the State of
Montana (Chicago: A. W. Bowen, n . d . ) , p. 208-11; Janet C. Thomson,
"The Role o f Lee Mantle in Montana P o lit ic s , 1889-1900, an In te rp re ta ­
tio n " (unpublished M.A. th e s is , Montana State U n iv e rs ity , 1956), pp.
1 -3 0, passim.
7Malone and Roeder, pp. 148, 159; E llis Waldron and Paul W. Wilson,
A tlas o f Montana E lectio n s, 1889-1976 (Missoula: U niversity o f Montana
Publications in H is to ry , 1978), p. 12.
6Thomas A. C linch, Urban Populism and Free S ilv e r in Montana
(Missoula: U n iversity o f Montana Press, 1970), p. 16; Hamilton,
pp. 553, 557.
9C linch, p. 48.
10Ib id , pp. 51-2.
11C. B. Glasscock, The War o f the Copper Kings (In d ia n a p o lis :
Bobbs-Merrill Company, 1935), pp. 46:-55; M erriVl- Gi Burlingame and
K. Ross Toole, A History o f Montana (New York: Lewis H is to ric a l
Publishing Company, 1957), I , 191-2.
92
^ B u rl in game and Toole, I , 191-2.
Malone and Roeder, p. 149.
In
U. S. Congress, Senate, Senator W illiam A. Clark speaking on
his resignation from the Senate, 56th Cong., 1st Sess., '15 May 1900,
Congressional Record, X X X III, 5532; Malone and Roeder, p. 160.
16
Burlingame and Toole, I , 194-8.
/ * 6 Ib id , I , 198; Christopher P. Connolly, The Devil Learns to Vote
(New York: C o v ic i, Friede, Publishers, 1938), pp. 97-8.
17
Malone and Roeder, p. 151; Hamilton, pp. 574-7.
18
Malone and Roeder, p. 161.
^ E d i t o r i a l , Helena Weekly H erald, 22 Sept. 1892; e d ito r ia ls ,
Anaconda Standard, 10 O c t., 6 Nov. 1892.
^0J. A. MacKnight, "The Montana Capital F ig h t," . Harper's Weekly,
XXXVIII (3 Nov. 1894), 1049; James E. M a rtin , e t . a l Open L e tte r
to the Voters o f Eastern Montana, 30 Sept. 1892 (Bozeman: no
publisher, 1892), p. I ;
H istory of Bozeman ( n . p .: no pu blish er, n . d .) ,
p. I ; Helena Independent, 28 Oct. 1892.
^ Great F a lls Tribune, 6 Oct. 1892; Albro M artin , James J. H ill
and the Opening o f the Northwest (New.York: Oxford U n iversity Press,
1976), p. 334; Helena Independent, 28 Oct. 1892.
22U. S ., Census O ffic e , Compendium o f the Eleventh Census: 1890,
Part I , Population, pp. 258-60; e d it o r i a l . Anaconda Standard, 10 QcfT
1892; For the C a p ita l: Butte C ity (B utte: Butte Capita l Commit t e e ,
1892), p. 2.
23Anaconda Standard, 24 S e p t., 10, 22 Oct. 1892; Helena Independent,
12, 15 Oct. 1892.
24
Anaconda Standard, 9, 20 Oct. 1892; Morning M issoulian,
Oct. 1892; Helena Independent, 21 Oct. 1892.
6 , 18
23Anaconda Standard, 17 S e p t., 15 Oct. 1892; He!eha Independent,
26 S e p t., 16 Oct. 1892; Morning M issoulian, 5 Oct. 1892.
Morning Missoulian, 18 Oct. 1892; Anaconda Standard, 8 Oct. 1892;
Helena Independent, 14 Oct. 1892.
93
^ Helena Independent, 29 Sept. 1892.
^Wadrori and Wilson, p. 17.
^ C l inch, p. 61; Waldron and Wilson, p. 16.
on
Waldron and Wilson, p. 17; Progressive Men, p. 60;
p. 64; e d it o r i a l, Great F a lls Tribune, 19 Oct. 1892.
C linch,
Chapter 2
*1
C linch, Thomas A. Urban Populism and Free S ilv e r in Montana
(Missoula.: U niversity o f Montana Press, 1970), p .’ 44.
O
"Message o f the Governor," House Journal o f the Third Session
o f the L e g is la tiv e Assembly o f the State o f Montana (B utte: In te r
Mountain Publishing Company, 1893), p. 18.
^Helena Independent, 23 S e p t., 16 Nov. T892; Madison County
M onitor, 8 Nov. 1912, Montana S tate U n iv e rsity L ib ra ry , Special.
C o llec tio n s , Manuscript f i l e 347.
4J. A. MacKnight, "The Montana Capital F ig h t," Harper's Weekly,
XXXVIII (3 Nov. 1894), 1049; Great F a lls Tribune, 20 Nov. 1892;
Helena Independent, 11 Nov., 29 Dec. 1892.
C
James G. Handford, "Paris Gibson, a Montana Yankee" (unpublished
M. A. th e s is , Montana State U n iv e rs ity , 1952), pp. 1-12; He!ena
Independent, 14 Nov. 1892.
6
"Message o f the Governor,"
House Journal, p. 31.
7
Anaconda Standard, 3 Jan. 1893.
O
Helena Independent, 3 Jan. 1893;
1892; Anaconda Standard, 3 Jan. 1893.
Morning M issoulian, 31 Dec.
Q
C lin ch , p. 64; Great F a lls T r i bune, 3 Jan. 1893; Helena Inde­
pendent, 29 Dec. 1892; Morning M issoulian, I Jan. 1893.
^H elena Independent, 11 Jan. 1893; Morning M issoulian, 31 Dec.
1892.
11
Helena Independent, 2 Jan. 1893; House Journal, pp
5 -6 .
94
12Helena Independent, I Jan. 1893.
12Anaconda Standard, 3, 4
Jan. 1893.
1^Helena Independent, 10 Jan. 1893; Morning M issoulian, 4 Jan.
1893.
1893;
12Anaconda Standard, 7, 14 Jan. 1893;
House Journal, pp. 50-1.
Helena Independent, 11 Jan.
12Helena Weekly H erald, 12 Jan. 1893.
^P ro g ressive Men o f the State o f Montana (Chicago, A. W. Bowen,
n . d .) , pp. 208-11; C linch, p. 43; Helena Independent, 10 Jan. 1893.
12L e tte r, A. B. Hammond to S. I .
H is to ric a l Society, Hauser papers.
Hauser, 30 Nov. 1892, Montana
1^Telegram, T. F. Oakes to S. I . Hauser, 23 Nov., 23 Dec. 1892,
11 Jan. 1893, Montana H is to ric a l Society, Hauser papers.
on
Helena Independent, 10 Jan. 1893.
21Anacdnda Standard, 10 Jan. 1893.
pp
Senate Journal o f the Third Session o f the L e g is la tiv e Assembly
o f the S tate o f Montana (B utte: In te r Mountain Publishing Company,
1893), p. 20; House Journal, pp. 50, 54.
23House Journal, pp. 59-60; Helena Independent, 14 Jan. 1893;
Anaconda Standard, 14 Jan. 1893; memorandum, W. A. Clark to S. T. Hauser,
12 Jan 1893, Montana H is to ric a l Society, Hauser papers.
24
Helena Independent, 13 Jan. 1893; Anaconda Standard, 15, 18 Jan.
1893.
26
Anaconda Standard, 18 Jan. 1893.
22Helena Independent, 22 Jan. 1893.
2^Anaconda Standard, 4 Feb. 1893;
1893; Butte Weekly MineT, 2 Feb. 1893.
28Helena Independent, 24 Feb. 1893.
Helena Weekly H erald, 9 Feb.
95
^ Anaconda Standard, 29 Jan. 1893.
Chapter 3
^Helena Independent, 30 Dec. 1892; Great F alls Tribune, 18 Dec.
1892, 3 Jan. 1893; Mormng M issoulian, 12, 20 Jan. 1893.
^Senate Journal o f Third Session o f the L e g is la tiv e Assembly of
the State o f Montana. (B utte: In te r Mountain Publishing Company,
1893), pp. 16, 19 , 23, 25, 30, 31 ; Anaconda Standard, 20 Jan. 1893.
Helena Independent, 27 Jan. 1893.
^Morning M issoulian, I Feb. 1893; He!ena Independent, I Feb. 1893
^Great F a lls Tribune, I Feb. 1893; Helena Independent, I Feb.
1893.
^Helena Independent, 2 Feb. 1893.
^Great F a lls Tribune, 2 Feb. 1893; Helena Independent, 2 Feb.
1893.
^ E d ito ria l, Weekly Avant Courier (Bozeman), 11 Febi 1893.
^ E d ito r ia l, Helena D aily H erald, I Feb. 1893.
^ Helena Independent, 3 Feb. 1893.
11 I b i d . , 3, 4 Feb. 1893.
^ Anacohda Standard, 9 Feb. 1893.
^ Helena Independent, 8 Feb. 1893.
^ Anaconda Standard, 9 Feb. 1893.
^ Helena Independent, 10 Febi 1893.
16Ib id . , 11 Feb. 1893.
96
^ Anaconda Standard, 9 , 18 Feb. 1893; B illin g s G azette, 10, 23
Feb. 1893; Helena Independent, 18, 24, 25 Feb. 18931
~
^ Anaconda Standard, 7 Feb. 1893.
19Ib id . , 2 March 1893.
^9Helena Independent, 19, 26 Feb. 1893.
21 Ib id . , 4 , 21 Feb. 1893; Anaconda Standard, 28 Feb. 1893;
House Journal o f the Third Session o f th e _L 0g islative Assembly o f the
State o f Montana (B utte: In te r Mountain Publishing Company, 1893),
p. 333.
22J. A. MacKnight, "The Montana Capital F ig h t," Harper's Weekly,
XXXVIII (3 Nov. 1894), 1049; Madison County M onitor, 8 Nov. 1892,
Montana S tate U n iv e rsity L ib ra ry , Special C o llectio n s, Manuscript
f i l e 347.
23L e tte r, A. B. Hanmond to S. I . Hauser, 9 Feb. 1893, Montana
H is to ric a l Society, Hauser papers.
2^ E d ito r ia l, Great F a lls Tribune, 18 Dec. 1892.
23E d it o r ia l, Helena D aily H erald, 2 Feb. 1893.
23E d it o r ia l, Anaconda Standard, 11 Feb. 1893.
2^Helena Independent, 27 Jan. 1893; Anaconda Standard, 21 Jan.
1893.
3Morning Missoulia n , 27 Jan. 1893; Helena Independent, 25, 27
Jan. 1893.
OQ
Helena Independent, 2 , 10 Feb. 1893; Morning Missoulia n , 15
J a n ., 10 Feb. 1893.
33Great F a lls Tribune, 2 Feb. 1893; Helena Independent, 12 Feb.
1893.
31Helena Independent, 29 J a n ., 18 Feb. 1893; AnacOnda Standard,
5 Feb. 1893.
32Heleha Independent, 12 Feb. 1893*
97
33Anaconda Standard, 9, 10 Feb. 1893; Morning Missdulia n , 11 Feb.
1893; Helena independent, 17 Feb. 1893.
34
Senate Journal, pp. 161, 168.
33Anaconda Standard, 11 Jan. 1893.
33"Message o f the Governor,"
Missoulia n , 18 Jan 1893.
House Journal, p. 27; Morning
37
Helena Independent, ,17, 19 Jan. 1893;
Jan. 1893.
Anaconda Standard, 21
38Helena Independent, .5 Feb. 1893.
39
House Journal, p. 145.
^8Anaconda Standard, 25 Jan. 1893.
^ Ib id . , 18 Jan. 1893; l e t t e r , E. D. Weed to I .
Jan. 1893, Montana H istory S ociety, Power papers.
C. Power, 24
Helena Independent, 5 Feb. 1893.
^3Anaconda Standard, 9 Feb. 1893.
^ House Journal, p,. 205; Anaconda Standard, 10 Feb. 1893; Janet
C. Thomson, "The Role o f Lee Mantle in Montana P o litic s , 1889-1900; an
In te rp re ta tio n " (unpublished M.A. th e s is , Montana State U n iv e rsity,
1956), p. 32.
^3Morning Missoulia n , 11 Feb; 1893; Helena D aily Herald, 10 Feb.
1893.
46
House Journal, pp. 211-2.
^"Montana P o litic a l Springs," New York Times, 10 Sept. 1893,
p. 20; Butte Weekly M iner, 9 Mar. 1893, p. T.
^8House Journal, p. 222.
4Q
^ Helena Independent, 12, 16 Feb. 1893.
38MOrhing Missoulia n , 12 Feb. 1893.
98.
Cl
House Journal, pp. 224-5
52Butte Weekly M iner, 10 Feb. 1893; Anaconda Standard, 12, 14 Feb.
1393; Christopher P. Connolly, The Devil Leariis to Vote {New York:
C o vicis Friede, Publishers, 1938), p. TOO.
CO
.Anaconda Standard, 14 Feb. 1893; Helena Independent, 15 Feb.
1893.
54
Helena Independent, 15 Feb. 1893; Anaconda Standard, 15 Feb.
1893; Connolly, p. 100.
55 .
Butte Weekly M iner, 16 Feb. 1893.
56
Anaconda Standard,
57
23, 24 Feb. 1893.
Helena Independent, 21 Feb. 1893.
. 5^Anaconda Standard, 20 Feb. 1893.
59Ib id . , 23 Feb. 1893.
fin
Helena Independent, 23 Feb. 1893; Great F a lls Tribune, 23 Feb.
1393.
5^Helena Independent, 14 Feb. 1893.
62Ib id . , 26 Feb ., 2 March 1393; Anaconda Standard, 4 March 1893.
63Helena Independent, I March 1893.
6^Anaconda Standard, 3, 4 March 1893.
fiR
Anaconda Standard, 3 March 1893.
66Ib id .
67Ib jd . , 3, 4 March 1893.
Chapter 4
^House Journal o f the Third Session of the L e g is la tiv e Assembly
99
o f the S tate o f Montana (B utte:
1893), p. 4.
In te r Mountain Publishing Company,
2L e tte r, 11. F. Sanders to J. A. Leggat, 10 March I 893^ Montana
H is to ric a l S ociety, Sanders papers.
^Butte Weekly M iner, 9 March 1893.
4U, S. Congress, Senate, Resolution th a t Lee Mantle is not
e n title d to a seat in th is body as a Senator from the State of
Montana, 53rd Cong., special s e s s ., 28 Aug. 1893, Congressional
Record, XXV, 994-6; "The Case of Lee M antle," New York Times,
25 Aug. 1893, p. 8.
^ L e tte r, Lee Mantle to T. C. Power, 24 Sept. 1893, Montana
H is to ric a l Society, Power papers.
6Christopher P. Connolly, The Devil Learns to V ote, (New York:
C o vici, Friede, Publishers, 1938), p. 104.
^Anaconda Standard, 3 March 1893.
P
Thomas A. C linch, Urban Populism and Free S ilv e r in Montana
(Missoula: U niversity of Montana Press, 19'70), p. 173.
^Helena Independent, I Feb. 1893.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
101
NEWSPAPERS AND PERIODICALS
Anaconda Standard. 10 Sept. 1892 - 11 March 1893.
B illin g s G azette. 10-23 Feb. 1893.
Weekly Avant Courier (Bozeman). I Oct. 1892 - 11 March 1893.
Butte Weekly M iner.
5 Jan - 9 March 1893.
Evening M issoulian.
20 Feb. - 6 March 1893.
Great F a lls Tribune.
I Oct. 1892 - 6 March 1893.
Helena D aily H erald.
I Jan - 6 March 1893.
Helena Independent.
23 Sept. 1892 - 6 March 1893.
Helena Weekly Herald. 22 Sept. 1892 - 27 Jan. 1893.
MacKnight, J. A. "The Montana Capital F ig h t."
XXXVIII (3 Nov. 1894), 1049.
Morning M issoulian.
New York Times.
Harper's Weekly,
I Oct 1892 - 19 Feb. 1893.
25 Aug., 10 Sept. 1893.
GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTS
House Journal o f the Third Session of the L e g is la tiv e Assembly of
the State o f Montana. Butte: In te r Mountain Publishing
Company, 18931
Senate Journal o f the Third Session of the L e g is la tiv e Assembly of
the State o f Montana. B utte, In te r Mountain Publishing
Company, 1893.
~
U. S. Congress. Senate. Resolution th a t Lee Mantle is not e n title d
to a seat in th is body as a Senator from the State o f Montana.
53rd Conq., special s e s s ., 28 Aug. 1893. Congressional Record,
XXV, 994-6.
/
102
U. S. Congress. Senate. Senator W illiam A. Clark speaking on his
resignation from the Seante. 56th Cong., 1st Sess., 15 May 1900.
Congressional Record, X X X III, 5531-6.
U. S. Census O ffic e .
Population.
Compendium o f the Eleventh Census:
1890. Part I :
MANUSCRIPT COLLECTIONS
For the C ap ita l: Butte C ity . Butte: Butte Capital Committee, 1892.
Montana H is to ric a l Society, v e rtic a l f i l e .
History o f Bozeman, n .p .: no pu blish er, n.d .
Society, v e rtic a l f i l e .
Montana H is to ric a l
M a rtin , James E .; Yerkes, A. K.; B e a ll, W. J .; Chisholm, 0. P .;
Koch, Peter; W illso n , Lester S .; Benepe, F. L .; Mendenhall,
John S .; B lakeley, C. P .; S tory, Nelson; Hoffman, C. W.; and
Panton, S. P. Open L e tte r to the Voters of Eastern Montana,
30 Sept. 1892. Bozeman, no pu blish er, 1892. Montana H is to ric a l
Society, v e rtic a l f i l e .
Montana H is to ric a l Society.
Hauser Papers.
Montana H is to ric a l Society.
Power Papers.
Montana H is to ric a l Society.
Sanders Papers.
Montana State U n iv e rs ity .
f i l e 347.
L ib rary .
Special C ollectio ns.
Manuscript
BOOKS AND THESES
Burlingame, M e r r ill G ., and Toole, K. Ross. A History o f Montana,.
New York: Lewis H is to ric a l Publishing Company, 1957.
Clinch, Thomas A. Urban Populism and Free S ilv e r in Montana.
U n iv e rsity o f Montana Press, 1970.
"
Missoula
103
Connolly, Christopher P. The Devil Learns to Vote.
F rie d e , Publishers, 1938.
Glassock, C. B, The War o f the Copper Kings.
M e rr ill Company,' 1935'.
New York:
In dianapolis:
Hamilton, James McClellan. From Wilderness to Statehood:
Montana. Portland, Orel Binfords & M ort, 19571
Handford, James G. "Paris Gibson: A Montana Yankee."
M.S. th e s is , Montana State U n iv e rs ity , 1952.
Lynch, Neil J. Montana's Legislature through the Years.
By the Author, 1977.
C o vici,
Bobbs-
a H istory o f
Unpublished
Butte, M ont.:
Malone, Michael P ., and Roeder, Richard B. Montana: A H istory of Two
C enturies. S e a ttle : U n iversity o f Washington Press, 1976.
M a rtin , Albro. James J . H ill and the Opening o f the Northwest. New
York: Oxford U niversity Press, 1976.
Progressive Men o f the State o f Montana.
Chicago, A. VI. Bowen, n.d.
Sanders, Helen F itz g e ra ld . A H istory o f Montana.
Publishing Company, 1913.
Chicago:
Lewis
Thomson, Janet C. The Role o f Lee Mantle in Montana P o litic s , 1889-1900
an In te rp re ta tio n . Unpublished M. A. th e s is , Montana State
U n iv e rs ity , 1956.
Waldron, E l l i s , and Wilson, Paul B. Atlas of Montana E lectio ns, 18891976. Missoula, U n iversity o f Montana Publications in H istory,
1978.
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3 1762 00112236 3
N378
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Schmidt, Jean M
Copper kings. Populists
and log-rollers