William J. Mulligan History of Montana, Sanders, 1913 One of the best known and most popular railroad conductors connected with the passenger service of the Northern Pacific is William J. Mulligan of 903 Kendrick Avenue, Glendive, Montana. He was born at Camp Douglass, Utah, January 4, 1870 and is a son of William J. and Mary (O'Hara) Mulligan. His maternal grandmother, Margaret O'Hara, a native of Florida, came to Montana in 1866 and is now living at Fort Ellis, being in her eighty-second year; she was a nurse during the Mexican and Civil Wars and at one time was superintendent of Leavenworth Hospital. Her home is now in Billings Montana. The grandfather of Mr. Mulligan served in the Civil War and after the close of the hostilities re-enlisted in the army and participated in a number of battles and skirmishes with the Indians. He assisted in building Fort Ellis and while there took part in the trouble with the Cheyenne. Mr. Mulligan's father was born in Ireland in 1846 and came to this country in his youth ion a sailing vessel, landing at New York City where he enlisted in the New York State Cavalry, later becoming bugler for General Phil Sheridan and when the Civil War closed became a member of the regular army, his service taking him to Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah, Dakota and Montana. During the twenty five years he was in the service he acted in various capacities and was at one time a member of the band of the Second U.S. Cavalry, but retired from service at Fort Ellensworth, Vermont and since 1907 has been living in Sacramento California. His wife, who was a native of Fort Smith Arkansas, died at the age of fifty-six having been the mother of eleven children, of whom four sons and four daughters still survive, William J. being the eldest. A large portion of the boyhood of William J. Mulligan was spent at various forts throughout the west. When he was a small lad he was at Fort Cheyenne, Fort Saunders, Fort Steele and Medicine Bow and on coming to Montana resided at Fort Custer and at Fort Keough, near the present, Miles City, where he attended the first school erected there. His parents then accompanied the army to Fort Walla Walla, fort Wingate and finally to Fort Ellensworth where he father retired. Mr. Mulligan earned his first money working for Paul McCormick his duties being driving a mail wagon and running a ferry across the Yellowstone River. Later he became a cowboy for Mr. McCormick and subsequently for the H.X. ranch, but eventually returned to Junction. The Northern Pacific having completed its building, Mr. Mulligan then secured employment in the freight house, working at Livingston until 1886, then becoming a fireman for the railroad. In 1898 he was made freight brakeman and on April 17, 1900 began his duties as conductor of a freight train. Since 1909 he has had a passenger run. Mr. Mulligan became acquainted at Forsyth Montana with Miss Zelda A. Campbell and on January 14, 1904 they were married. She was born at Nevada, Missouri and is the daughter of William H. and Ruth Campbell, natives of Missouri and residents of Little Rock Arkansas, where Mr. Campbell is engaged in fruit growing. Mrs. Mulligan is the eldest but one of the five children of her parents, four of whom are living and she was educated at Warrensburg Missouri. Later she taught school at Ekoloka and Forsyth Montana and while teaching at the latter named city met her husband. They have one daughter Ethel Elizabeth Mulligan. USGenWeb Project NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages may not be reproduced in any format forprofit, nor for commercial presentation by any other organization. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for purposes other than as stated above, must obtain express writtenpermission from the author, or the submitter and from the listed USGenWeb Project archivist.