April 9, 1866Montana's first and most ill-fated constitutional convention opened in Helena.
Its purpose was to draft a state constitution, though the 2-year-old territory was too sparsely populated and too full of Democrats to stand a chance of being accepted by the Republican Congress.
After six days, a constitution was drafted - and then promptly disappeared. Some say a delegate misplaced it on the way to a printer in St. Louis. Others believe it was never sent out, and was destroyed years later in a fire in the office of the convention's secretary.
It was 23 more years - and two more constitutional conventions - before Montana attained statehood in 1889.
April 7, 1899
One of the worst natural disasters in Montana history occurred on a Friday night at Glendive.
Flooding caused by an ice gorge on the Yellowstone River resulted in the deaths of 12 people and uncounted livestock. The bodies of one entire family, consisting of James Sullivan, his wife and six children, were found two days later in their home. All were in bed except two children, who were on the floor of the bedroom. One had suffered a crushed skull, presumably from a piece of ice.
Most of Glendive gathered on the river bank when the ice started to run at 7:50 p.m. Water levels rose from 19 to 30 feet in minutes.
Five residents and visitors at the R.W. Snyder Ranch attempted to reach higher ground as the water rose. Only one survived; Joseph Myers was pulled from a tree at 5 o'clock the next morning.
The six were in water up to their waists when they attempted to climb trees. Unable to help two girls up in time, Myers and Eugene O'Conner strapped them to a tree with suspenders so they wouldn't be washed downstream. They were later found drowned, still tied to the tree. O'Conner and Mrs. Snyder were swept to their deaths.
A newspaper correspondent called it the “greatest misfortune that ever befell Dawson County.”
“Grief-stricken relatives of the drowned persons have attempted suicide, but were prevented,” the reporter wrote.
April 10, 1900
“C.W. Clark: Report of committee will be adverse. Don't let this worry you. I will be vindicated either here or in Montana. W.A. Clark”
With that telegram from William Clark in Washington to his son in Butte, the copper king millionaire acknowledged the inevitable. A committee would vote that day to unseat Clark from his Senate seat.
The panel had received testimony since late January on charges that Clark had bribed his way to election by the Montana legislature, which chose the state's Senators in those days.
“It has been apparent to all observers that in about every phase it was regarded as the most unsavory revelation of corruption and wholesale debauchery in politics ever brought to the attention of (the Senate) body,” wrote the New York Times.
Clark resigned his seat before the committee's resolution could be acted upon. Through a fantastic scheme, he got himself reappointed, but it was quickly withdrawn. Clark was re-elected the next year and served one six-year term.
Kim Briggeman can be reached at 523-5266 or at kbriggeman@missoulian.com.
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