Jason W. Strevell
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In 1969, when John was about 19 years old, he went on a [[Nelson Buck massacre|surveying adventure]] that almost cost him his life. A local town founder, who was a surveyor, obtained a contract to survey Indian land west of [[Fort Kearney]], Nebraska. He recruited 8 local boys to accompany him, none older than 17 years old. The traveled by rail to the Fort, but there were no soldiers available to escort them. Buck made the mistake of being impatient and set out anyway. After journeying two days westward and encountering many of the Sioux tribe, Mr. Buck became alarmed and sent young McGregor and Nettleton back to Fort Kearney with a request to the Colonel that he send an escort at once. The boys returned to the fort and delivered the message, but no troops being available they waited and finally decided to go back home. Many weeks later it was determined that the party had all been killed by Indians and the bodies were never found. | In 1969, when John was about 19 years old, he went on a [[Nelson Buck massacre|surveying adventure]] that almost cost him his life. A local town founder, who was a surveyor, obtained a contract to survey Indian land west of [[Fort Kearney]], Nebraska. He recruited 8 local boys to accompany him, none older than 17 years old. The traveled by rail to the Fort, but there were no soldiers available to escort them. Buck made the mistake of being impatient and set out anyway. After journeying two days westward and encountering many of the Sioux tribe, Mr. Buck became alarmed and sent young McGregor and Nettleton back to Fort Kearney with a request to the Colonel that he send an escort at once. The boys returned to the fort and delivered the message, but no troops being available they waited and finally decided to go back home. Many weeks later it was determined that the party had all been killed by Indians and the bodies were never found. | ||
| − | John Nettleton, married Olive Potter in Pontiac in 1870. In 1871 he and Olive had a son name Wilson. However, in 1872 he filed suit in Livingston County as the oldest son and rightful owner of the farmland. He was granted ownership of the land, plus was given a monetary settlement for a share of the crops raised and sold over those years. John then packed up his family and moved to the Joliet-Plainfield area. | + | John Nettleton, married Olive Potter in Pontiac in 1870. In 1871 he and Olive had a son name Wilson. However, in 1872 he filed suit in Livingston County as the oldest son and rightful owner of the farmland. He was granted ownership of the land, plus was given a monetary settlement for a share of the crops raised and sold over those years. John then packed up his family and moved (60 miles NNE) to the Joliet-Plainfield area (SW of Chicago outskirts). |
In 1874, Strevell built a store room on the north side of the town square, as part of a building boom. | In 1874, Strevell built a store room on the north side of the town square, as part of a building boom. | ||
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[[Image:JasonStrevell.jpg|thumb]] | [[Image:JasonStrevell.jpg|thumb]] | ||
[[Image:ElizabethKellyStrevell.jpg|thumb]] | [[Image:ElizabethKellyStrevell.jpg|thumb]] | ||
| − | Strevell moved from Pontiac to | + | Strevell considered moving west. Part of the reason was to live in a drier climate for his son Charles, whose health was still affected by a year of recovering from [[typhoid fever]]. It is also probable, like so many others, Jason was attracted to the [[opportunities]] to become much more wealthy in a frontier town. Pontiac was fairly well established and any increases in wealth would be hard fought and subject to luck. After an exploratory visit, the family moved from Pontiac to Miles City in autumn of 1879, where he and Charles reestablished themselves as a involved citizens of Miles City. When they left Chicago, Jason told the family that with the new start, they would drop the final "e" from "Strevelle". |
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| + | On the way to St. Paul, they stopped they stopped in Minnesota for a day to visit Elizabeth's father, Dr. [[John Kelly]]. Kelly had made his fortune the [[California gold rush]]. | ||
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| + | At St. Paul, they met with [[Jules Hannaford]], then general freight agent of the [[Northern Pacific Railroad]] and later its president. Most of the inventory for their future hardware sales would be shipped by this railroad, only part way, at first. A visit to Jules would become an annual event. They then continued by train to Bismarck and waited for their belongings to catch up to them via teams that had left Illinois traveling overland before and during the family's train travel. When they arrived, the journey continued, crossing the [[Missouri River]], passing through [[Mandan]] country (where Lewis and Clark had enlisted the previously kidnapped [[Shoshone]] [[Sacajawea]]. They came to the [[Yellowstone River]] about where the [[Powder River]] flows into it. At some point, they experienced a buffalo hunt, securing a head as a trophy, as well as an Indian scare. | ||
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| + | Arriving exhausted at Miles City, they checked in to the [[Yellowstone Hotel]] and soon found a small almost finished house to move into. It had no domestic water, so [[Looney Roach]] was hired to dig a well on the lot. | ||
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| + | Judge Strevell practiced law in Miles City for many years until his death. He homesteaded a tract of land on the east side of town, where the Veterans' Hospital now stands -- in fact his residence was right in the middle of what is now Wibaux Park. | ||
In 1893, he was one of three attorneys who assisted in the defense of [[Alvah Tilton]], the young cowboy who killed [[James Pym]], a decorated veteran of Custer's campaign (he was in Reno's fight, went for water). | In 1893, he was one of three attorneys who assisted in the defense of [[Alvah Tilton]], the young cowboy who killed [[James Pym]], a decorated veteran of Custer's campaign (he was in Reno's fight, went for water). | ||
