Distinctly Montana Magazine

32 D I S T I N C T LY M O N TA N A M A G A Z I N E • W I N T E R 2 0 2 5 - 2 0 2 6 The remote location of the thriving town made it difficult for explorers to readily find. Signs posted along the trail into Bannack that read "Kepe to the trale next to the bluffe" and "Tu Grass Hopper Diggings 30 Myles" helped guide people to the destination. Lucia's time in Montana was supposed to be brief, but her uncle decided they should stay on and help make Bannack the first territorial capital. Her time in the region turned out to be indefinite after the chief justice was named governor. Bannack was tumultuous and rough. It was the headquarters of a band of highwaymen. Lawlessness and misrule seemed to be the prevailing spirit of the place. She was referring to a group of desperados led by Sheriff Henry Plummer. Plummer and his deputies pretended to arrest robbers and thieves terrorizing the area, but were ac- tually leading the bandits who perpetrated the crimes. He was eventually found out, captured, and hanged from his own gallows. In the midst of the civil unrest were law-abiding homestead- ers and parents who were anxious to have their children in school. Lucia was asked to take charge of locating a school- house and acting as the town's first teacher. Equipping the classroom with the tools needed to start class was difficult. Makeshift chairs and desks had to be acquired as well as books on a variety of subjects. When the first term began in mid-1864, children met at the Edgerton home for morning sessions. By the fall semester, students were meeting at a cabin that had been built specif- ically for use as a school. I cannot remember the name of all the scholars in that school. I very much re- gret to say that, and I know where only a few of them are living, at the opening of the twentieth century. . . . A few pupils of mine are scattered in other lands. I trust that all of them are living, and remem- ber affectionately our Bannack University of humble pre- tensions, but which sought to fulfill its mission and which, so far as I know, was the first school taught within what is now the state of Montana." In 1868 Lucia left Montana to teach school in the south- ern states to children who had been denied the chance to learn. She was part of the Freeman's Bureau, an organiza- tion founded in 1865 to help black communities establish schools and churches. In addition to teaching, Lucia wrote stories about her experience as an educator and had several of those articles published in magazines. No matter where the work took her, she recalled the time spent teaching in Montana as one of the most rewarding adventures she ever embarked on. Since that remote time in Montana, I have been identified for a period with one of the historic schools of the country of some repute, usefulness, and promise; but I look back to the days I spent striving to help the little children in Bannack with a profound gratification. The school was not preten- tious, but it was in response to the yearning for education, and it was the first. No ma•er where e work ok her, SHE RECALLED THE TIME SPENT TEACHING IN MONTANA AS ONE OF THE MOST REWARDING ADVENTURES SHE EVER EMBARKED ON.

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