Page 6

By 1867, Jesuits had brought the first sheep to Montana Territory and the grazing conditions proved to be ideal for the wooly mammals. Flour mills were established about this time, in the Gallatin valley and in Helena. Montana was becoming more and more civilized.

In the spring of 1869, the Hunters relocated to Canyon Ferry to run the "Canyon House," a hotel for people using the ferry to cross the Missouri. This was very similar to the family's experience operating the Astor House at the Trout Creek Ferry. Emma Sidney Johnston Hunter was born here, at Canyon Ferry, on October 24, 1869, but the family was on the move again. Dr. Hunter was awarded the contract for the position of Gallatin County physician (at $8 a week) and, due to holding this job, the Hunters moved back to Bozeman in the spring of 1870. The 1870 census shows the population of Bozeman was 168 then.

Nationally, the Civil War caused the deaths of nearly a third of men between the ages of 18 and 35, but in Montana in 1870, men outnumbered women eight to one. In 1870, Dr. Hunter was appointed probate judge for Gallatin County. About that time, Helena saw its first Territorial Fair, schools started to gain attendance, and the Washburn-Doane expedition surveyed Yellowstone Park. The "Doane" on the Yellowstone expedition was Captain Doane. Doane eventually married Mary Hunter, Dr. Hunter's eldest daughter.

In 1937, Dr. Hunter's middle daughter, Lizzie Kate Longstreet Hunter Rich, described her family's relocation to the site which eventually became known as Hunters Hot Springs: "in January 1869, my father with his family returned to Bozeman. Early that spring he again visited hot springs. In 1870 my father took the place as 'squatters right,' there having been no survey of that section. Later it was located as 'pre-emption' only to be changed again after survey. A long legal battle ensused, The Northern Pacific contesting his right. It was not decided until April 1881, that a decision was rendered by Hon. S. J. Kirkwood, Secretary of the Interior, granting to Dr. Hunter title to his homestead, Hunter's Hot Springs."

PREVIOUS PAGE 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 NEXT PAGE
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
Back to MAIN PAGE