AND WHAT I KNOW ABOUT THE EARLY DAYS IN MEADOW CREEK, MONTANA (now McAlister, MT)
By: R.R (Bob) Hughes - Generation 9 (since 1698))
February, 2002
Preface
When I grew up in Montana family roots was not an item of much attention. We knew, of course, that we had ancestors, but I don’t remember much discussion as to whether we got here by boat or dropped down from trees.
Our direct ancestors, the family of John Wesley and Sarah Vincent Hughes, had been split by the move westward from Iowa in 1900; and as related in nephew David T. Hughes’s “300 Years in America,” part of the family had stayed in Montana, the rest had gone on to Washington State.
We must credit Dave’s years of research and labor for family history that might have been lost forever. Dave, you have our sincere thanks for what you have done. I, for one, am glad to learn that I am legitimately in America because of an ancestry that had the energy and ambition to come here more than 300 years ago and has done its share in providing the moral leadership that helped shape this country since 1698.
(1915 - 2012)
Dave’s work informs us about the first 300 years that our particular Hughes line has been in America, and about the move from the middle west to Montana and Washington State. One hundred years after John W. and Sarah uprooted themselves from Iowa and moved west, the electronic age is providing means for not only Dave’s work about the past to be available to all, but those interested in keeping track of current family doings and whereabouts can do so merely by powering up a computer and clicking a mouse. Perhaps I can augment the information stored in Dave's work with what I have learned about generation 9, the children of John W. and Sarah Hughes.
I was privileged to become acquainted with relatives in both areas and am claiming this as my authority to tell the story of generation 9. My sister Marjorie and brother Lewis also had this exposure, but they are both gone at the date of this writing, 2002. A considerable portion of what I have recounted here came from their writings and memoirs.
Most of my Dad's generation was still alive in 1933 when I first started coming to Washington. Whereas I never knew my Grandfather and Grandmother and two of my uncles, I did know quite well all of the rest of my Dad’s siblings and their families. My Grandfather, and my Grandmother had passed away before I came to Washington State. Uncle Ira had died in 1927, also before I came to Washington, and Uncle Ed had died in 1908 before I was born.
The reader will note that extra information is included for my Uncle Bill Hughes and for my Dad, Thomas S. Hughes. This is because not only was Uncle Bill my favorite Uncle, his life inspired digression from a strict accounting of what he did and when. With the possible exception of World War I, the Alaskan gold rush was probably the most exciting and most talked about event to have occurred during the lifetime of generation 9. Bill’s involvement in this was a bit of lore that interested me greatly - likewise for others, I hope. After all, how many people do you know that have actually been in a gold rush?
The last section in this document, entitled "Tom and Emily Hughes". (Page 44) is presented especially for the descendants of that bloodline; whom I felt would be the most interested my memories from growing up in that family. However, I hope that it is interesting enough to be read by all, whether or not a descendant of Tom and Emily.
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Hughes - GENERATION 9 - MONTANA, WASHINGTON, OREGON
And Some History of Meadow Creek, Montana
CONTENTS
Preface Page 1
Vincent /Hughes Relationship Page 4
McAllister, (Meadow Creek) Page 5
1911 Birthday Celebration and Reunion Page 11
1887 Picture of Ninth Generation Page 13
Edwin Vincent Hughes (Uncle Ed) Page 15
William Milton Hughes (Uncle Bill) Page 17
Ira Hughes (Uncle Ira) Page 19
Roy M. Hughes (Uncle Roy) Page 23
Martha Hughes Rich (Aunt Mattie) Page 24
Thomas S. Hughes (Dad) Page 27
Lora Hughes Lade (Aunt Lora) Page 29
Ina Hughes Kirkman (Aunt Ina) Page 30
300 Year Reunion, 1998 Page 32
More about Wm. M. (Alaskan Gold Rush) Page 38
The Tom and Emily Story Page 43
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ABOUT THE VINCENT AND HUGHES RELATIONSHIP,
AND SOME MEADOW CREEK HISTORY
(now McAlister, MT)
"Thomas Vincent, Allen Vincent, and Jasper Vincent, settled in Madison Valley as ranchers about 1885 to 1890. Eventually two daughters, Jennie Vincent McDowell and Flora Vincent Miller also came to Meadow Creek to live".
The above, written by Ina (Hughes) Kirkman, sets the scene for 9th generation Hugheses that settled in Montana. Thomas Vincent (Uncle Tom), with his wife Lora, owned and operated the TV Ranch when the migrating John W. and Sarah Hughes and family passed through there on their way to the west coast. Sarah was Uncle Tom's sister. Uncle Tom's and Aunt Lora's influence as leaders in the Valley lasted until their deaths. They provided a home base for the Hughes and Vincent nephews who stayed in the valley; especially for youthful Thomas S. Hughes, who lived, worked, and was partners with Uncle Tom Vincent for forty years.
Tom Vincent, 1911 Jack McDowell, 1911
Tom Vincent and Jack McDowell came to Montana together in 1887. (See Page 45, pph 2.)
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McALLISTER, By: Ruth Beals, in "Pioneer Trials and Trails."
Nearly midway between Norris and Ennis is situated McAllister, Montana, altitude 5050 feet, near the west shore of Meadow Lake. This area was formerly known as Meadow Creek and was settled in the late 1860s. The old Meadow Creek post office was established perhaps in the 1870s. A. M. Berry was the first postmaster. In 1880, George Bess was postmaster, he also had a hotel.
The first school building was a log structure built in the early 1870s and the first teacher was a Mr. Done. This building burned later and school was held in the community hall. The hall was enlarged in the early 1900s. In 1901 a brick school building was completed.
A Methodist church was completed in 1887.
The settlement now known as McAllister was settled in December 1896, on ground bought by Alex McAllister from the Northern Pacific Railroad Company. Mr. McAllister had settled near this spot with his parents in 1871. The post office was established in 1902.
Dave Lindsay was the first postmaster
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My recollection: Mother said that when she first came to the valley, Upper Meadow Creek and Lower Meadow Creek were developing as two separate communities, and for a while had two post offices. The Gibsons had a post office in their house, known as Meadow Creek, which was located about where the Bausch house was in later years. The other Meadow Creek post office gradually became known as McAllister, and became the official U. S. Post Office for the area after the 1910 census. She said that there was really no confusion about mail; everybody knew everybody else and one seldom went to the post office; neighbors would bring the mail. Ruth Beal writes in her article that George Bess had a post office in the hotel. The post office was probably there until Alex McAllister took it over when he built his store about 1900.
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My Memory Map of:
The Methodist Church, built in 1887 is still standing
just to the west of where this map ends. The Community Hall, now gone, was
about 200 yards east of the church. A house for the minister stood in between
the community hall and the church. The church house was moved, in the early
1920s, and coupled to the community hall to make a kitchen area. Later the
original Community Hall was torn down and the church house served as the
community center.
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My Map of the MEADOW CREEK AREA
(as I think it was in 1908 when my folks were married)
A brief description, preceded with a number, of each location appears in the following two pages. Matching numbers appear in the map.
(1) Tom Vincent's T.V. Ranch: Destination point for the Hughes and Vincent families who migrated, from Iowa and Kansas, to Montana in the late l890s and early l900s. "Uncle Tom" had taken over management of this ranch (owned by the Richters, of Virginia City) after his marriage to Lora Richter in l887.
(2) Before the Montana Power Co. built a dam in Madison Canyon, the lowland area upstream grew abundant wild hay that was harvested every year by the neighboring ranches. Tom Vincent's T. V. Ranch had a large block of this ground. The hayfield area was flooded by the dam and was known as Meadow Lake and/or Madison Lake, then later (when the tourist and fisherman trade became important to the townspeople) the permanent map designation became Ennis Lake.
(3) Emily's brothers, Joe and Tony Mackel, had purchased this ranch at about the same time that Tom Vincent took over the Richter Ranch. Her visits from Butte, to visit her brothers, resulted in her meeting young Tom Hughes, who worked and lived, most of the time, across the road at his Uncle's ranch.
(4) Post office location before moving to McAllister. Guy Gibson and his mother ran the post office, which was in their house. Tom and Emily were married in that house.
(5) Remington Ranch. Tom worked part time here when first arriving in Montana. Ronaldo Remington was one of the young men who "chummed" around with Tom in the early days.
(6) Revenue Hill Road provided access to the rich gold mines on the hill, and for the freighters to take their loads of ore to the rail end at Sappington, later to Norris when the railroad was extended.
(7) The Norris Hill road provided a direct route to Norris from Ennis and thus was more heavily used, and better maintained. The Revenue road was nearly abandoned in later years when the mines became worked out.
(8) Alex McAllister had a general store, service station, and rental cabins here. Eventually, sometime after 1910, the upper post office was closed and McAllister became the post office for the entire Meadow Creek area..
9) Tom and Emily started their married life at the homestead. Tom had help building a cabin from his brother Will, and, possibly from brother Roy, who was a carpenter, and visited Montana nearly every summer.
(10) Alex McKinnon owned property below the homestead. Records are not clear but Ed and Will Hughes had homesteaded at least some of the acreage that became the McKinnon place. Edwin and Lewis remembered living on the McKinnon place but the timing is unclear.
(11) District 13 school. One room, all grades. Emily's sister, Florence (Fodie) Gibson, was teacher when Tom and Emily were married.
(12) The McDowell place was close enough to District 13 that Edwin and Lewis could walk to school. Tom moved his family there, from Fletcher Creek, when the weather got too bad for the kids to ride horseback.
(13) Guy and Fodie Gibson owned a small place on the South Meadow Creek Road which was vacant in 1914 when the Tom Hughes family returned to Montana from their west coast trip. Bob was born there, Jan. 4th, 1915.
(14) The Gibson's were living on the Green Acre Ranch in 1915 (Guy was foreman).
(15) Maggie and Jess Frisbee had a ranch about a mile from the Gibson place. Maggie was summoned for mid-wife duties when Bob was born.
(16) The Fletcher Creek place was close to the T.V. Ranch, and the Tom Hughes family lived there a couple of times. The family moved to the old hotel building at McAllister when Tom's work at the T.V. Ranch ended.
(17) Lewis wrote that Schoenberger started building the original house on this place in l882, so it was well established when the Hughes kids went by there on their way to school from the Fletcher Creek (about 1916). The Stoker family, who had one of the first radios in the valley, lived there in the 1920's. I remember going there with my folks, before Tommy was born, to listen to static ridden old time music (hoedown) from Calgary.
(18) The "corduroy bridge" covered an extremely soft and swampy bottom caused by poor drainage of South Meadow Creek into the lake. In the early days, when nothing but horses and wagons used this road, it was made passable by cutting short logs and laying them side by side to make approaches on both sides of the wooden bridge that spanned the channel. It was an ordeal to cross even with a team and wagon. The horses stumbled and fell, or their legs went through the cracks, wagon wheels bounced violently, it was almost impossible to ride in the bed of a springless wagon. In the spring it became completely impassable for a few days during run-off. Those living below were stranded. When people started to try to cross over this monstrosity with automobiles, it became a community peril. Finally work crews were organized to clear out the creek for better drainage, and with the county's help, the approaches to the bridge were filled with dirt and graded. I quite clearly remember using this bridge quite a lot, in the wagon with Dad, when the logs were still there, Tommy vaguely remembers it also, so I think it must have been improved around 1927.
(19) The road from Norris to Ennis went through several modifications before becoming hard surfaced with asphalt. In 1920, when we moved to the home ranch, the road was a couple of ruts traveled mainly by team and wagon. I suppose the early autos (mostly Model T's) started using it about that time, creating pressure to upgrade it; which was done the first time about 1928 or 1930. In l934 and 1935, a rock crusher was set up on the McAtee Hill and upgrading on the road started again. Maurice McDowell tried to keep the corrugations out with a small, horse drawn grader for a few years until the asphalt process came along.
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