Distinctly Montana Magazine

D I S T I N C T L Y M O N T A N A M A G A Z I N E • S P R I N G 2 0 2 1 70 Society found me and sent me West, which saved me from a more than useless life and started me on a useful life... I have worked as a cowboy on the Range during the last three years and now have quite a few cattle of my own, also a fine ranch that I took upon a homestead claim..." He married shortly thereafter and entered into a promising future. The New York Foundling Hospital, founded by the Sisters of Charity, was a similar project. It sent thousands of young chil- dren west to Catholic families beginning in 1873. For years, the nuns left a bassinette at the hospital's entrance each night for parents, typically unwed mothers, to leave their newborns and infants. The Foundling Hospital had a steady stream of orphans. Rather than placing the children on display at each train station, the sisters matched orphans to requests for children from Catholic families in the West and Midwest, where fellow sisters had settled. Catholic priests encouraged their parishio- ners to apply for a child of the age, sex, and hair and eye color they preferred. A 1901 New York Times article said, "Fifty-two black, brown, yellow, and flaxen haired children from a New York Roman Catholic Foundling and Orphan Asylum filled a special car at the Union Station this morning, waiting to be adopted. No red-headed children or children with freckles were among them. Red-headed children, especially those with freckles, are not easily placed in homes, even if their hair is of Titian and the freckles beauty spots." Letters to future parents explicitly mentioned ordering the child. "We take pleasure in notifying you that the little boy/girl you so kindly ordered will arrive at" the appoint- ed time and place. When the train entered the station, the parents signed the indenture paperwork, and the nun passed the child and her cardboard suitcase with one change of clothes through the upper half of a Dutch door. A minute later, the train carrying other passen- gers and mail left on schedule. The child was just another delivered 'package.' Along with fellow volunteers, John Shontz, an author, retired attorney and Montana State Representative based in Helena, provides the railroad, train numbers, stations, and depar- ture and arrival times for about 650 riders since 2010. Some families make the same journey as their orphan train rider ancestor did. It's rewarding to be able to give families this information, to validate the journey. "The second itinerary we did," Shontz says, "was for a 92-year-old man who rode the train. His son told me his father finally felt whole." Resources for descendants for orphan train riders include the research department at the National Orphan Train Complex in Concordia, Kansas. (785) 243-4471, www.orphandtrain- depot.com, and info@orphantraindepot.org. The volunteers at the Orphan Train Project: Making a Difference help descendants find records at both the Children's Aid Society and the New York Foundling Hospital (both agen- cies still exist) and research train itineraries. Contact them at orphantrainrail@outlook.com The rail lines as of 1890 WHEN THE TRAIN ENTERED THE STATION, THE PARENTS SIGNED THE INDENTURE PAPERWORK, AND THE NUN PASSED THE CHILD AND HER CARDBOARD SUITCASE WITH ONE CHANGE OF CLOTHES THROUGH THE UPPER HALF OF A DUTCH DOOR.

• Cover