My grandpa turned 98 last week, so I took a trip to Great Falls to help him celebrate. No trip is complete these days without at least a little family history research, so I incorporated visits to the Cascade County District Court Clerk, the Great Falls Genealogy Society, the Great Falls History Museum, and the Chouteau County District Court Clerk. 

Whew!

In Fort Benton, the Chouteau County District Clerk led me into a room chock full of boxes and drawers and cabinets of every description, all of them triggering my old document nerd senses. I barely restrained myself from pawing through all of them.

The Clerk pulled this unassuming cardboard box down from a high shelf and dug through until he found what I was looking for – documents from an 1892 attempted murder trial and from several forgery cases the same year.

My third great granduncle, Reuben Archer, was on the jury for the attempted murder trial, and Charles M. Russell was one of the witnesses. Reuben and Charlie knew each other from their schooldays in St. Louis (see Russell’s “Dear Charley {Charles M. Street, 1902},” illustrated letter).

My third great grandfather, John F. Murphy, was charged with numerous counts of forgery related to wolf and coyote bounty certificates. He was found guilty and sentenced to four years in the Montana State Penitentiary, though I believe those charges were later dismissed. More research required!

I am waiting to hear back from the Cascade County District Court Clerk about my request to review the records of a 1925 involuntary commitment hearing. Fingers crossed that the judge approves my request to unseal the file.