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Mabel C. Olsen
Superior, Montana
TOPICt Social Life in and about Superior
Interview with Mrs. Irene Bundrick, Route 1, Box 157 D,
Stockton, California. (Mrs. Bundriok requested that
her name be withheld in case her contribution is used.)
My family came to superior from Missoula in 1898,
when I was about 14. My father had been editor of
several of the larger Montana mere, among them the
Butte Miner, Our former environment had been so diff-
erent from the one we found here that the mining atmos-
phere made quite an inression on my brothers and asters
and me, at first mainly of shook. We didn't miss much about
the many colorful characters.
One I remember clearly, Murray, "the Roller;" I don't
know that I ever heard his exact name. Be had long hair which
he usually twisted into a knolt, covered by his hat. lie was
well-educated, and when sober was much in demand among the
miners as a letterTmriter. Be lived in a long log cabin, just
south and west of the bridge crossing the Missoula River, a few
feet north of there the Strand Theatre now stands. A professional
bum, sleeping with the pigs in his drunkenness, he could juggle
the Kings' English.
And we couldn't shut our eyes to Minnie, the prostitutet
the flaming red mother hubbard the affected was .soo ea0,11 re-
cognised at a distance. Like the others o f her profession here
at that time, she was not very young; orossdieyes marred her
appearance. She had a child Whom she kept in a school,
ignorant of the mother's means of livelihood.
Then there was "Moe Bowers. And Stella, who ran
a saloon. Stoll was quite a business woman.
In those days, daces were the main source of
entertainment, and we would ride many miles to attend one.
I usually went with Mrs. Otto Riefflin; she MB Laura Me
Dowell the a girl about my age* I rode to Carter
(Keystone) with Mligh4e Gillis, of whom I remember nothing
except that he was a Scotchmen with a moustache. At Carter,
"Aunt Kate WoDowell, Laura's mother got in front, and Laura
and and bwo other girls pi/ed in back. We rode over the
Deep Creek hill, not having judgement enough to spare the,
horses by 'walking occasionally. Gillis dropped us at the
Thomas Hotel (now the Ordain), where we had an elaborate
meal; I remember the destert was a corn strach pudding,
topped with some sort of jelly. From Superior* we took
the stage to Pardee.
We danced square dances* the minuet* and the two-step,
which was new at that time. Old Dan Moore took Laura and
ma to supper, while another old prospector escorted the other
two,
The supper was like a Thanksgiving banquet: turkey
with all the trimmings, topped by colored oaken placed at
intervals along the tables. Tall goblets and gay pink
napkins folded in peaks added to the color.
Adolphe Loseau was the fiddler; he played all night for the
dancing. During the supper hour, a quartette entertained up.
They sang "In the Good Old Summer -time;" a song beginning: "The
rain and the hall pattinttred down on the window Ammee and another
beginning: 'There was on !e a maiden of winsome grass, With
laughing blue eyes and a winsome face,'
On pay days, Pardee boomed. The g4rocery store was in the
same roolagWAR'seloons at the back of the uilding. I was
sometimes sent for groceries, and often saw stacks of gold a
foot high cm raft counter. Money clinked in poker games, the
miners too busy with t:neir :cpaMbling to notice me. Buckskin
pokes were used to carry nuggets of different sizes, and ounce
or two -ounce bottles for gold dust brought out from Cedar Creek.
I remem er seeing 61 1 Bonnett, Al Nasal -and To Mulroney turning
these over to the grocer to weigh.
Tom Mulroney was a bearded miner with a twisted face. His
fellows dubbed him "Creel:4,44.race" Mulroney. Those early settlers
were not subtle about their chotoe of nicknames, nor were the
bearers of wash names sensitile about them.
The mlners were very liberal in donations to any cause,
and generous to children. The quarter was the lowest change
they noticed. Often they pocketfuls of money into the
air for the boys to scramble for
Most of them showed little respect for expressions or
religion. At one time a eompany or Salvation Army worker* same
to Superior from MissoAla, with cornet and seem,dion, to held
services in thil Badmen Ball. They bumped their heads to prey
hard for the sinners. The natives laughed and laughed at the
spectacle. Following the services, and after the Salvation
Army members had departed, the miners had a dance. (Every
occasion in those days so ended.)
At another time a traveling minister came to pray in the
street of Superior. The miners endured it for a few minutes,
then routed him by a stream of water from a hose.
Sunday School was held in the waiting room of the Northern
Pacific Depot in Iron Mountain. Vern Wilkinson played the
cornet to accompany the singing.