1881: In the beginning — Fred Sr. and John go to Montana

From Heritage Book of the Original Fergus County Area (pp. 451-3):

Nothin' goin' on in Amazonia, it seems.

¶  The Samuel Jenni family emigrated to American [sic] in 1869 from the small town of Waldeck, Switzerland, where they had operated an inn near the capitol city of Berne. The family consisted of Samuel and his wife, Anna Segesseman Jenni, and their children, Eliza, Red [Fred?], Anna, Gottlieb, and John. Eliza later became Mrs. Fred Hornkohl, and Anna married Frank Kalin. Young John was seven years old when the[y] settled on a farm in Amazonia, Missouri. His education had begun a year earlier under a tutor since there were no public schools in Switzerland at that time.

Leadville, CO pack train, 1880s

¶  In 1881, [23 year old] Fred and the nineteen year old John left Amazonia and stayed in Leedville, Colorado for a time before coming to the territory of Montana where John worked for awhile at a livery stable in Helena and then for a Prickly Pear Valley rancher until the winter of 1882 when he joined his brother on Fred’s homestead on Beaver Creek; eventually filing for one of his own just below Fred’s. A year later Gottlieb began homesteading on the land adjoining John’s and the winter of 1983-4 were busy ones as the three brothers built cabins and settled in.

Deer Lodge, MT, Masonic Lodge

¶  The Journey from Missouri to Montana had been made aboard an immigrant train departing from Omaha, Nebraska. The travelers furnished their own food, which they cooked on huge ranges, which took up much of the space in the cars. The seats made into beds at night and the train was a comfortable place from [which] to view the spectacular scenery which became increasingly more awe-inspiring as they approached the Rocky Mountains. It took four days to make the trip from Omaha to Ogden, Utah, and many lasting friendships were formed as the pioneers traveled west in congenial kinship. At Ogden, passengers bound further west were transferred to the narrow guage [sic] Utah Railroad, which was later converted to the Oregon Short Line. This train labored up through the mountains, which in winter were bitterly cold. The passengers finally arrived at Deer Lodge, Montana and the end of the line. From there, those going north took a stage to Helena, about forty miles.

Maiden, MT

¶  In 1884, Samuel Jenni died of yellow fever at New Orleans, Louisiana and his widow journeyed to Beaver Creek in September of that year with daughter, Anna; their railroad tickets, from Amazonia, Missouri to Billings, Montana, cost $46.35 apiece. Until her death of pneumonia in 1885, Mother Jenni made her home with Fred.

Gilt Edge, MT

¶  Lewiston at this time was a fur trading post only; mail and supplies were picked up at Cottonwood Town, the stage stop. John worked for Phillip Laux, making brick and then helped build the store in Cottonwood Town. He and brother Fred, who was an expert teamster, worked together on the bridge across the creek at Cottonwood; Fred handling the horses and John working with broadax, hewing trees into logs and lumber. He also helped build the church on upper Beaver Creek at the foot of the Snowy Mountains, gaining valuable experience in carpentry.

Maiden, MT 1886

¶  A man with a plow, horses and a few hand tools could till his land and raise grain crops which were hauled many miles to Billings, Fort Benton or to the roaring gold mining towns of Maiden and Gilt Edge or to the Spotted Horse Mine. Supplies were brought back so the wagons were loaded both ways. During the winter months, poles were hauled out of the mountains for building cabins, barns and fences. John could recall weather so cold that the trees would snap and literally explode when touched with an axe. Montana winters were truly a test of a man’s endurance and strength. Temperatures of 65 to 70 degrees below zero were not unknown. On one sled trip to the mountains for poles, John became hopelessly lost in a raging blizzard. Realizing that it would be foolhardy to continue in the loaded sled, he unhitched the team, hung grimly onto a tail and let the horses have their heads. After what seemed an eternity of struggling, half frozen, through hip high drifts, they stopped in a settler’s yard where the weary horses were fed and rested and John fell asleep over a bowl of hot stew as he tried to be polite and stay awake to listen as his host ramble on, eager to visit with the first company he’d had in weeks.

Leadville CO

¶  Freighting was a rugged life; John had many experiences which tried him sorely. Getting hung up on a stump was a common occurrence; frequently a load would be dumped over. One time a team and full load bogged down at a crossing and one horse got into quicksand; John hastily tied the poor beast’s head to a nearby tree, succeeded in loosening the rest of the horses and with them pulled the … foundering animal out. On another occasion he was saved from being robbed of team and provisions when a rider came along just as he was accosted by a couple of unsavory characters. The area had its share of outlaws and misfits such as “Rattlesnake Pete,” who enjoyed terrorizing the citizens, but for the most part the pioneers were hard working and honest men…. 

     [Author unidentified]