BOULDER VALLEY HOSPITALITY, Our Yesterdays, Jefferson Co., MT

USGENWEB NOTICE:  These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in
any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or
persons.  Persons or organizations desiring to use this material,
must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal
representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb
archivist with proof of this consent. Files may be printed or copied
for personal use only.

"List transcribed and organized by Ellen Rae Thiel, thieljl@aol.com All rights 
        reserved."

  Copyright, 1998 by Ellen Rae Thiel. This file may be freely copied for non-profit 
        purposes. All other rights reserved.

                        BOULDER VALLEY HOSPITALITY

We have all heard the expression "western hospitality". It may
not have originated in our valley but it could have. Anyone
stopping by was always asked in for lunch, or dinner, or at least
a cup of coffee. If you were lucky and it was Sunday, you may
have been asked to help turn the ice cream and have a dish. This
was a Sunday treat. Even if you were a little short of cream, you
could always get some from your neighbors.

I remember Grandpa telling of those long rides to look for cattle
(there weren't many fences in those days). Wherever you were that
evening, you were taken in, fed, and given a place to sleep, and
your horse was taken care of as well.

The valley people always worked together whenever needed. The
fall was a busy time of the year because of threshing. Each
family sent a team of horses and a wagon and two men or as much
help as they could. Hank Dulaney would start his threshing
machine down the valley. Hank's first machine was horse powered;
six or more teams of horses walked in a circle to power the
machine. Tom McCauley sat in the center to keep the horses
pulling steady. Then Hank got a steam engine. Pat Dawson tells of
the first time Hank came by their place. All the kids ran to the
head of the lane to see it. Hank blew the whistle and it scared
them. They had never heard anything like that!

Oh, and there was the fall round up! The first round up bosses we
could remember hearing about were Dick Dunn and John Quinn. The
fall round up usually took place after the first bad storm. The
women would get busy fixing all kinds of food for the cook camp. 
The men would ride out and meet and set up camp. They then would
gather cattle and start them for home. If there was too much
snow, they had to bring them home by way of Whitehall instead of
over Bull Mountain. The cook always in the camp so the riders
could always have something hot to eat and could hear how the
other riders were doing. When they got the cattle back here they
sorted them, and each took his own home. This was hard work, but
they all enjoyed it some; at least I think they did from the
stories you hear!

In an emergency, whether it was fire, or illness, or whatever,
the neighbors were always there to help. They would bring food,
take care of the children, fight fire, or if it was the man who
was sick or hurt, they would do his work until he was able to do
it himself.  

I remember Grandpa telling another story. His mother was ill and
he had to ride to Boulder to get a doctor. He rode his horse as
fast as he could to Smiths where he was given a fresh horse, then
on to Quinn's where he was given another, and then to Nelson's
where he was given a third.

Our valley is still much the same. You can still count on your
neighbor in an emergency--help is as close as the phone. Even
with the end of the open range and the use of modern equipment we
still have many occasions to ride and work together.

I wouldn't want to leave you with the idea that it is only in
troubled times that we call on our neighbors. We get together for
any celebration; weddings, showers, births, and just any excuse
to have a card party.

So please sit down, and have a cup of coffee while we tell you of
our story.

SUBMITTED BY MR. AND MRS. MARTIN CAREY