Bud Cheff entertains gathering of Montana History Buffs

Bud Cheff was the guest speaker at the latest meeting of the Montana History Buffs held at the Miracle of America Museum on March 19.

He told a story about his grandparents that would make a breathtaking opening scene of a movie. Hector McLeod, a local cowboy – one of the wild and woolly types and a good hand – was driving a touring sleigh with 12 people aboard, two of whom were Bud’s grandparents, Ovila and Marie Cheff, and they were headed for a New Year's  dance at Sloan’s Roadhouse.

Sporting a big felt hat, a silk neckerchief, a fancy western shirt, and angora chaps in the winter time, he looked the part. He drove two teams of sharp-shod horses across the ice at the crossing above where Sloan’s bridge is now, since the river was frozen, and the ferry was not running.

Cheff’s grandad was the fiddler for the dance, and he had his 1850 French fiddle with him, and McLeod was caller for the round dances. Once these two arrived, the party commenced “and they danced all night,” Cheff said.

In the early morning hours, a chinook blew in so McLeod’s passengers were worrying about the river ice thawing. McLeod loaded the sleigh and away they went. At the crossing, the passengers could hear great booming sounds as the ice broke up.

McLeod didn’t weaken; he had the team running flat out across the ice, cracking his whip above the horses’ backs as he piloted them across the breaking ice.

After they made it back across, McLeod stopped the horses to let them blow and said, "That was the best damn fun I've had in a long time," took a sip of whiskey and passed the jug around.

Listening to Cheff’s quiet voice, the audience could almost hear the thundering cracks of ice smashing, the swishing of the jouncing sleigh and the horses’ pounding hooves as they streaked across the ice with McLeod hollering, “I got you there, and I’ll get you home.” Maybe there were stars to catch the glint of frightened eyes as McLeod steered the horses off the treacherous ice.

Cheff said his grandmother told him she was the most scared she had ever been and remembered that adventure always. To help illustrate the tale, Cheff brought his granddad’s fiddle.

Ed Gannon, who’s heading up the recently formed Montana History Buffs, said he likes people to bring artifacts to the group, which held their first meeting last October. They meet once a month, usually with a group of 15 or so history enthusiasts.

As a board member of the Ninepipes Museum of Early Montana, Gannon said he’s more drawn to the history than the business end of the museum. He comes by that honestly.

Growing up on a ranch near Great Falls, Gannon got hooked on history by his dad, who was a great storyteller. He heard and absorbed many tales around the kitchen table.

The Gannon ranch had buffalo jumps, and he found many artifacts, such as spearheads, arrow heads and scrapers. Daydreaming of hunting buffalo, Gannon rode many miles bareback, imagining a horse, a rider, and a buffalo racing across the plains at warp speed, hearts pumping, nostrils flaring, three mammals locked in a life-or-death chase.

“The greatest sport ever,” is how Gannon described it.

Buffalo, Gannon explained, only have one lung cavity as opposed to most other mammals, so a spearpoint can be stabbed between a buffalo’s ribs on either side to kill the giant beast.

Buffalo robes and other buffalo pieces and parts are on display at the Ninepipes Museum, which will open April 3 this year.

Those interested in Montana History Buffs are welcome to attend the next meeting, held at the Ninepipes Museum of Early Montana on April 5 during the Spring Community Open House. The open house features free admission from 10 a.m.-5 p.m., a book chat with authors Bud Cheff and Bob Bigart from 10:30 a.m.-1 p.m. and live music from 1-3 p.m. by Saint of Soldiers.

Gannon invites Polson members of the History Buffs and interested newbies to meet at the Miracle of America Museum at 11:15 a.m. to carpool, which will give them an hour or so to meet before the music begins.

Homework for the meeting is to decide which enigma from Montana history members would most like to know the answer to. Maybe it's what really happened to Thomas Meagher or who shot John Bozeman or did Claude Dallas hide out in Montana escaping the law?