Distinctly Montana Magazine

71 w w w . d i s t i n c t l y m o n t a n a . c o m BOZEMAN HEALTH1/2H Like most Gold Rush prospectors, Bruffey eventually went broke. Often, placer miners shoveled and sifted earth and debris by the ton. They ransacked ligaments, walked stiffly, and looked gaunt. They faced the outdoors' unique miseries and could perhaps purchase some butter. According to the Montana His- torical Society, placer miners yielded over $90 million between 1862-1866. That's over $1 billion today. But it was scarcely a tidy division of wealth. Before his last $2.50 ran out, Bruffey left his Alder Gulch claim to herd cattle near the Jefferson River. "We killed beeves and sold meat to prospectors, freighters and immigrants." Agriculture afforded better job security, but Bruffey loved the sport of mining. He couldn't wait to strike up his pick, pan, and shovel again. But he first needed to earn money to do so again. During his hiatus as a cowboy, tolled throughways came to the Jefferson River. One farmer, Crawford, ran a competing toll bridge against another, Parson. For passage, they charged five dollars per wagon plus an extra fifty cents per unhitched ox. In the springtime, the mud-brown Jefferson roared with moun- tain runoff. Its surging maw swallowed and swept away Craw- ford's toll bridge like a low-hanging branch. Parson lost his the following week. Crawford had given Bruffey and a fellow ranch hand urgent instruction. Find a certain tree. Eight miles into the moun- tains. Somehow, they found it. Crawford's son confirmed it at dusk. He'd brought help, tools, and food. Then came a profes- sional boat builder to supervise. A bonfire glowed, giant and spark-belching. By its pale light they forced the crosscut to and fro. The teeth honked against the timber. By morning, the great tree they felled stood in two pieces. They cut twelve-foot sticks to line the bottom. They retrieved bags of pine sap for sealant. After four days, the parts lay by the river BEFORE HIS LAST $2.50 RAN OUT, BRUFFEY LEFT HIS ALDER GULCH CLAIM TO HERD CATTLE NEAR THE JEFFERSON RIVER.

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