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Noah Stocks the Red Round Barn

Owing to steel-blue grass rooted in top of soil nourished by limestone and plenty of good water, the Bluegrass Country in Kentucky was exceptionally well suited for horse breeding. Nineteenth century Kentucky horsemen were passionate about breeding Thoroughbreds and would breed only the finest stallions to the finest mares. 

But American Thoroughbred breeding has its roots in Virginia. In 1730, a Virginian imported America’s first Thoroughbred stallion, Bulle Rock, from England. In July 1759, Andrew Burnaby remarked about Virginia racing, writing, “The horses are fleet and beautiful; and the gentlemen of Virginia, who are exceedingly fond of horse-racing, have spared no expense or trouble to improve the breed of them by importing great numbers from England.” Founding fathers George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were horse racing enthusiasts. The Civil War broke out in 1861, and as it raged, Virginians and Kentuckians, and other Southerners, watched both armies decimate their prized Thoroughbred stock. After the war, the Commonwealth of Kentucky would surpass Virginia as the yardstick by which to measure exceptional Thoroughbred horse breeding.

Noah Armstrong was so rich in silver that he could afford to import well-bred Thoroughbred and Standardbred horses, or “blooded” horses as the frontiersmen called them, from Kentucky. In May 1884, he imported the famous Thoroughbred racehorse, Tom Bowling. Winning multiple stakes races as a two- and three-year-old, at the apex of his career he posted fourteen wins in seventeen starts. The Helena Independent liked Noah’s choice of Tom Bowling to head the Doncaster Ranch Stud, stating that he was “much admired by [Kentucky] horsemen” and “This thoroughbred stallion is noted for the number of premiums he has taken in Kentucky, and during his racing career of three years, no horse that ever ran against him got away with the race.” Noah talked up the stallion too, calling him “the greatest racehorse in the world.” Tom Bowling stood in the Doncaster Stud seven years and according to Noah in 1890, “Tom Bowling has bred all my good colts.” Noah returned the stallion to Kentucky in 1891. Tom Bowling died there, in 1897, but not before passing through several stud farms. Among horseracing historians, Tom Bowling is generally recognized as undistinguished in the stud.

Meanwhile, the Meadows Farm was a bit of an anomaly in the nineteenth century Thoroughbred breeding because it operated not in Kentucky, but in south central Illinois, near Carlinville. The exquisitely bred bay stallion Hyder Ali nicked with Interpose, an exquisitely bred, strikingly gray colored broodmare. She foaled their colt in 1882, and in late 1883 or early 1884, Noah imported Grey Cloud as a yearling.

In September 1884, all of Helena was eager for the Seventh Territorial Fair and its showcase of horse races. The region’s turfmen with their fleetest racers descended upon the town. On Main Street, Dan Lawrence from Doncaster Ranch herded six fine horses for the races,” the Helena Weekly Herald reported. People on the sidewalks paused to watch the “noble animals as they passed in review.” On the avenue was two-year-old Grey Cloud whose smoky-colored coat always drew attention.

Grey Cloud made his first start as a racehorse on September 10 in the Pioneer Stakes, finishing third in the five-horse race. On September 17 in a three-horse contest, Grey Cloud finished first. Those two races were the extent of his two-year-old season. Next, on the eve of the 1885 season, Noah and Samuel Larabie worked together to arrange transportation for their racehorses. Grey Cloud’s campaign was spread across Latonia (KY), Chicago, St. Louis, and Louisville. All told, the gelding won four of thirteen starts and finished in the money six times, a pretty good record. Aside from his racing, little was reported about the gelding, things of interest to horse people, like his temperament, or what racing style did he like? Twentieth century turf historian John H. Davis wrote that Grey Cloud rarely lost when “the going was to his liking,” adding, “Much might be said regarding this celebrated horse, but Gray [sic] Cloud was a good one and was able to impress the beholder wherever he was raced.” 

That would explain why Noah returned to the Meadows Farm in 1885 for the express purpose of purchasing Interpose, in foal to Hyder Ali a fourth time. He paid $1,000 for her and her unborn foal, and the suckling filly at her side. At an Illinois depot, railroad workers carefully entrained the pregnant mare and her pretty filly. When satisfied that the little family was comfortable and secure, the workers heaved the stockcar door shut and the train chugged west. 

Doncaster Round Barn

The Doncaster Round Barn near Twin Bridges is one of the most beloved and famous barns in Montana. Built in 1882, it is considered an extraordinary example of the state’s rural architecture. The barn is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, has a berth in the Montana Cowboy Hall of Fame, and is featured in the book, Hand Raised: The Barns of Montana, published by the Montana Historical Society.

It so happens that the historic barn’s architect and builder was Noah Armstrong. 

Following retirement from the mining industry, Noah purchased a ranch near Twin Bridges, Madison County, as part of the groundwork for his next pursuit. Additional land purchased enlarged the spread to around four thousand acres. He settled on a name, Doncaster Ranch, in honor of the prized Standardbred stallion in his possession and hired a workforce of local cowboys, all of them experienced in ranch building and handling any chore. 

Townsfolk in Twin Bridges watched the progression of the Doncaster Round Barn rising on the plain of bunchgrass. At completion, the three-story structure was tiered like a wedding cake. It stood seventy feet from top to bottom. Coats of mineral oil fireproofed three-board-thick walls. Fear of fire was not unwarranted—wooden barns filled with hay burned hot and fast. Stable conflagrations were common. Horses usually died. The entrance to the barn accommodated ten-horse teams pulling hay wagons. The first floor of 100 feet in diameter housed the well, 18 twelve-foot-square stalls as well as a quarter-mile circular exercise track. There was an office, employee sleeping quarters, rooms for feed and tack, grooming, and veterinary care. The second floor at 76 feet in diameter stored hay and grain. The third floor, 36 feet in diameter, housed the eleven-thousand-gallon water reservoir. Noah himself engineered the ingenious water system of a windmill atop the barn roof that pumped water from the first floor well to the third-floor water reservoir. Upon release, the gravity-fed water sped downward and replenished the first-floor water troughs. A half-mile outdoor exercise track for the horses was cut out of the bunchgrass.

One of the cowboy’s hired to work the ranch was Joseph Redfern. During an interview in 1950s, he called the outfit “a show place” and said that people traveled “great distances to see the one-of-a-kind barn,” people like Samuel E. Larabie of the Deer Lodge Valley, who is featured in my book. His “critical examination” of the barn and praise for it delighted Noah’s son, Charles, who wrote, “Mr. E. S. [sic] Larabie, of our lodge, himself a distinguished patron of the turf and owner of some the finest racing stock in the country, said: ‘I am quite sure that, for elegance of design, convenience in all its appointments and general adaptability, there is nothing equal to it on any of the great horse farms in Kentucky.’”

Noah’s next step toward realizing his dream of a spectacular, yet functional, horse-breeding farm would be stocking Doncaster Round Barn, and the five more barns that he would build of more modest architecture and dimension, with Thoroughbred and Standardbred horses.

Noah Armstrong: Silver Baron

Noah Armstrong, one of the characters in my book, laid his foundation for breeding expensive horses by first becoming a mining success. He and his wife were raising three children on their Minnesota farm when hearing news reports of gold seekers by the thousands rushing to California, to the Pacific Northwest, and the Rocky Mountains to make a quick fortune. At age 40, Noah felt a sense of urgency to join the West’s roaring mining frontier. I wonder how understanding his wife was when he told her he wanted to exchange his established life as a farmer for adventure in prospecting.

I found little information about his first ten years as a prospector, except that he made occasional trips back home. Then, the summer of 1872, prospectors in the Pioneer Mountains, Idaho Territory, discovered a valuable lode of silver. When Noah learned of the discovery, he moved the crew prospecting for him to Lion Mountain where the crews struck multiple high-grade silver lodes. Noah must have been thrilled with these valuable discoveries even though silver was less lucrative than gold and far more difficult to extract. Now he faced the perplexing proposition of mining silver, which required a sophisticated and labor-intensive mining endeavor. 

For that he’d need piles of money. Multitudes of men would have to be hired to tunnel into the earth to mine the silver. Mills and smelters would have to be constructed to separate the silver from its protective rock before it could be refined. 

In search of a partner with money, Noah traveled to Virginia City where he convinced Charles L. Dahler, a banker, to finance construction of a forty-ton capacity smelter at Trapper Creek, completed in 1877. The camp of Glendale that grew around the smelting works thrived under Noah’s thumb. He owned the bank, co-owned the town’s two stores and was postmaster. At his assay office, the order was to assay his minerals before anyone else’s. 

Noah had also formed The Hecla Consolidated Mining Company with several investors. Appointed as superintendent and with large amounts of money at his disposal, he purchased all Lion Mountain properties not already under company ownership. He updated and expanded existing infrastructure at multiple properties. Ambitious improvements included snow sheds and a narrow-gauge rail tramway to access the mines existing almost as high as the clouds. The tramway alone cost $96,000. Hecla Company stockholders were jittery. When they received smaller dividends than expected, they fired Noah as superintendent in late 1878. Under his management, the Hecla Company mines had released more than $1 million ounces of silver annually as well as thousands of tons of lead and copper.

Noah’s massive silver mining enterprise had made him a fortune. Having piles of his own money to spend, he began laying the groundwork for a new pursuit. 

A Wicked Horse Named Ornament

‘Ornament’ is defined as an added decoration to make something more beautiful. ‘Ornament’ brings to mind beautifully decorated Christmas trees during a season that calls on us to spread goodwill and cheer to everyone.

One year ago, on the evening of December 19, I submitted the manuscript of When Montana Outraced the East: The Reign of Western Thoroughbreds, 1886-1900, to my editor. Finishing the manuscript didn’t necessarily mean that my publisher would publish the book, but still, I had reached a milestone that night. Then, “Let’s have a party for the old girl!” And what a party I threw! Sipping Crown Royal and toasting myself, listening to the traditional Christmas music that I love, lighting my Christmas tree and hanging ornaments.

One of the horses featured in my book is a Kentucky-bred named Ornament. Lightly built and sleek, he beautifully represented his elegant Arabian ancestry. (The Thoroughbred breed is descended from Arabian forefathers and English mares). A blazed face and a lone white hind leg glistening on his bright chestnut coat made him lovelier still, but, in equal measure, Ornament was repellent and never one for good will and cheer. 

At every opportunity, Ornament deliberately tried to upset his race. Turf scribes wrote about his boorish behavior, things like, “Ornament did not want to go to the post,” or “Ornament refused to join the other horses,” or “Ornament was obstinate, standing with his head the wrong way of the track.” (Stalls with magnetically held spring gates wouldn’t debut until 1939). One scribe wrote, “exceedingly erratic disposition,” “unruly beast,” “faults of disposition,” and “failings,” in just three sentences. At the post, Ornament was almost always on the attack, lashing cruel kicks at his neighbors. 

He repeatedly antagonized Ogden, one of the Montana Thoroughbreds I write about in my book, in their several races together. Montana turfman Hugh Wilson of Butte, who also appears in the book, contended that Ornament “had it in” for Ogden. 

Wilson gave this account of the 1898 Suburban Handicap that placed Ogden near the inside rail and Ornament on the outside, “with the width of the track and many horses between them. Yet time and again Ornament would deliberately edge over toward Ogden and try to cow kick him, finally landing on Ogden twice before the latter’s jockey could get him out of reach.” 

The starter snapped his flag, but Ornament had spun around backwards. And he stood there, some twenty feet behind the line, facing the wrong direction. The other ten horses had left the post but had to come back because a fair start had to have all the horses leaving together. Ornament threw kicks at them, and at the handlers trying to point him in the right direction. 

Then, weirdly, all the horses stroked ill-will for each other. Beaten up with kicks, Ben Holladay, a Montana horse, assaulted Ogden by kicking him squarely in the ribs. Ogden went crazy and assailed his neighbors. The racetrack men tried to quell the riot, but they were overwhelmed. One hour passed. Late afternoon turned to dusk. Finally, one perfect moment had the horses aligned. They leapt from the post and were off!

Ogden’s legs churned in a furious pace. Ogden led the field all the way to the final turn. One hundred yards before reaching the wire, his legs tired and his speed slackened. Tillo came swooping in and took charge. Tillo won the Suburban by a half-length from Semper Ego, second, and Ogden hung on for third.

Ornament, eighth, straggled in. 

Despite himself, Ornament could run a pretty good race when he wanted to.  

 

A horse standing in the dirt with its head down.
Hamburg, owned by copper baron Marcus Daly. Photo courtesy of Marcus Daly Mansion, Hamilton, MT

Grandpa Melin Takes Me to the Racetrack

 

The path to writing When Montana Outraced the East: The Rise of Western Thoroughbreds, 1886-1900, started early. I have loved horses ever since I can remember. My grandfather Axel Melin loved the sport of horse racing, especially the harness races with its Standardbreds. I wish I could see the full scene beyond the snippets of memory, my big Swede of a grandfather at the track rail holding the hand of his little granddaughter. The races stretched into evening. I remember bright lights overhead illuminating him, the people around us, the white rail, and brown track. Every time the trotters thundered past, the air swished and I heard thudding hooves over the dirt.

 

As an adult, I’m a freelance writer whose favorite thing is horses and history. I’d skim through musty nineteenth century newspapers and, periodically, spot two or three sentences that told of a Thoroughbred horse from Montana winning a big prize in eastern racing. Sometimes I wanted to know more. I’d searched out an article summarizing the race, and usually it had answers to my questions. Was the Montana horse a longshot or a favorite? Did he win by an eyelash, or did he rout his eastern rivals? Did his jockey give him a good ride?

The day I realized that a lot of Montana horses won a lot of big races, the epiphany struck: I’ll write a story about these archival racehorses. Would magazines be interested in stories about the Montana Thoroughbreds? They were. Would a publisher? The University of Oklahoma Press was.

 

I began the business of research and writing a historical nonfiction book. In the mornings we had coffee together, the horses, owners, jockeys, trainers, and me, and a glass of wine at night. One story I pieced together was that of the pioneer banker, Samuel Larabie.

Eighteen years old in 1863, the gold rushes in the West sounded a lot more adventurous to Larabie than his job as store clerk in a little grocery in Ormo, Wisconsin. Larabie prospected for gold in the Blackfoot City mining camp in the Montana Territory but was quick to figure out he could make more money selling dry goods to his fellow fortune hunters. Success came quickly, and he learned how to assay gold dust. With two partners, he built banks in the towns of Deer Lodge and Butte. Becoming a rich man, Larabie began to import highly bred Standardbred and Thoroughbred horses to the Deer Lodge Valley.

The circumstances that brought John Augustine “Gus” Eastin of Lexington, Kentucky, to Deer Lodge in 1882 are unclear, but it brought a fortuitous meeting with Larabie. Eastin, too, admired blooded horses. Larabie had a favorite Thoroughbred broodmare, Christine, who he had bred to a local Thoroughbred stallion named Regent. Larabie said to Eastin, “That mare is too good for the country out here. I want you to take her to Kentucky and keep her for me.” If Christine were in Kentucky, Larabie reasoned, she’d have access to America’s best Thoroughbred sires. On the train trip back to Lexington, Eastin found himself rocking in a stockcar with pregnant Christine.

When she foaled her colt in 1883, Larabie, wanting to thank his friend of all that he had done, offered Eastin half interest in the chestnut-colored colt. “If you do not think well of him,” Larabie wrote, “I will send you a jack-knife instead.” Eastin wisely chose half interest in Montana Regent.

That hot-wired colt would go on to become Montana’s first turf star.

The book is available for preorder through Oklahoma University Press: https://www.oupress.com/9780806195315/when-montana-outraced-the-east/