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Covering the Bitterroot Valley – “Where Montana Begins!”
*NO INITIATION FEE. WITH YEAR AGREEMENT. SPECIAL STARTS 10/1/2019 99 Marcus St. Hamilton, MT 406-363-0300 ww.ihacmt.com
Volume XXXV, Number 11
Legacy
Established 1985 - Locally owned & independent
County sued over wrongful imprisonment
By Michael Howell
The late Alex Nixon ‘Alec’ Ogilvie of Florence is this year’s District 11 Legacy Award inductee into the Montana Cowboy Hall of Fame.
Ogilvie, Congdon to be inducted into MT Cowboy Hall of Fame
The Montana Cowboy Hall of Fame & Western Heritage Center (MCHF & WHC) has announced the 12th class of inductions into the Montana Cowboy Hall of Fame. Inductees from District 11 (Ravalli, Missoula and Mineral Counties are: Living Award – Walter E. ‘Wally’ Congdon, Missoula; Legacy Award – Alex Nixon ‘Alec’ Ogilvie, Florence. The inductees were chosen from a field of candidates nominated by the general public. Inductees are honored for their notable contributions to the history and culture of Montana. Legacy Award – Alex Nixon ‘Alec’ Ogilvie (19242008) Alex Nixon “Alec” Ogilvie was born October 1, 1924 in a tarpaper shack in Cohagen, Montana. He was the second youngest of seven children born to Alexander and Cuma Ogilvie. It was a hardscabble existence, and Alec was raised under tough circumstances. In 1936, when Alec was 12, Cuma and Alexander went their separate ways and she moved with the children to Greeley, Colorado,
where Alec finished school, graduating in 1942, just as World War II was looming. He joined the United States Marine Corps, where he trained as a paratrooper and sharpshooter, seeing extreme action in the South Pacific. He was heavily involved in the fighting at Bougainville and Iwo Jima, which created such horrific memories that he never recounted. The only good military story he told was of building an oven on the beach, and creating a pie out of military rations, which he and his buddies baked and enjoyed. After the war, he served as Military Police (MP) in Japan and was honorably discharged in 1945. Alec moved back to Eastern Montana, where he was hired to teach school in Spring Creek, in a one-room schoolhouse with less than ten pupils. Alec always said he quit teaching when the kids got smarter than he was! He went to work for Bud and Bobby Kramer, rounding up wild horses, and trailing them to the railhead in Ingomar for shipment to Chicago, Illinois. When his saddle horse grew tired from running through that rough badland country, Alec would proceed
Wednesday, October 2, 2019
to rope, tie down, saddle and step on one from the wild bunch. He always said it was better when they ran off, because they can’t buck when they are running away with you. Alec lived in an unheated sheep wagon for six years while in the Cohagen area—talk about tough. In 1951, Alec and Ethel Lambert were married. They had four daughters, Marcia, Della, Alexa and Rinda. They moved to Florence, Montana in 1957, shipping 150 head of horses and 1500 sheep by train. The family close-herded the animals six miles to their new place on Carlton Creek, where they trained barrel horses, and bought, sold, and traded horses and other livestock. Alec was a good hand with horses, and commanded respect because of his abilities. He had no need to brag on his talents as they were self-evident. He was not an arena cowboy but he was the “real deal.” One time at a Niarada, Montana, rodeo, a young cowboy got hung up in his bareback rigging with his hand completely turned over.
Ravalli County and Ravalli County Deputy Sterling Maus are among three counties and several law enforcement personnel named in a federal lawsuit filed by Paul Jenkins and his children Kenneth Jenkins and Crystal Combs. Jenkins, who served over 23 years in prison under two concurrent life sentences and a concurrent 40-year sentence for burglary with no possibility for parole, was released from prison in June 2018 after DNA evidence proved he was innocent of murder. He and his children have now filed a civil rights complaint in federal court in Missoula seeking damages for the injuries suffered by the family as a result of the wrongful conviction. The case goes back to the robbery of the JCS, just off I-15, south of Helena in the early morn-
ing hours of January 12, 1994. Donna Meagher, a 34-year-old mother of two and sister of the owner of the business, was forced to turn over the keys to the gaming machines and the cash register. She was then bound at the wrists and ankles with rope and a rope was tied around her neck. She was driven 13 miles away to Colorado Gulch Road and savagely beaten to death with a claw hammer. Although there were no fingerprints at the scene of the robbery and a weapon was not found, a piece of rope was found at the scene and retained as evidence. Several months later, Fred Lawrence and Paul Jenkins were arrested and charged with the crime and in February of 1995, both were convicted and sentenced to serve two concurrent life terms and a concurrent sentence of 40 years for robbery with no possibil-
ity of parole. It was not until lawyers for the Montana Innocence Project got involved in 2012 that things began to change. In July of 2015, attorneys for MIP filed for a DNA analysis of the rope that was used in the kidnapping and murder. In 2018, the DNA evidence absolved the two men and implicated another man, D. Nelson, who the plaintiffs believe should have been a suspect from the very beginning. The plaintiffs allege that Jefferson County Sheriff and deputies who were investigating the site of the robbery and Lewis and Clark County Sheriff and deputies working on the murder scene used fabricated evidence, coerced confessions and withheld evidence that led to the conviction of the men in 1994.
west side of the valley south of Hamilton off of Camas Creek Road in the Charlos Heights area. Scott German, a local landowner, told the commissioners that he believed the road was a private driveway. He said there is an easement for a county road along the border of the property but that the road in question was not located within that easement. County Planning manager Terry Nelson presented a plat map showing the deeded right of way and showing the actual roadway
which deviates from the easement as it crosses property belonging to a Mrs. Brown, who was not present at the meeting. Deputy County Attorney Dan Browder told the commissioners that the road was “clearly a county road.” He said it may deviate from the recorded easement but that “at the very least” it is a road by prescriptive right. He said roads created in this fashion usually lack any documentation.
See COUNTY, page 3
Hayes Creek Road gate will be opened for now By Michael Howell
The Ravalli County Commissioners held a meeting recently to discuss opening a gate on Hayes Creek Road that landowners in the area had begun locking to exclude the general public from using the road. The commissioners are bound by law to remove obstructions from the public right of way on a road immediately upon being informed about the obstacle. The road is located on the
Kudos
See ROAD, page 3
See COWBOY, page 3
New Zealand mud snails found in private fish hatchery near Hamilton Last month Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks discovered an established population of New Zealand mud snails at a private commercial fish hatchery south of Hamilton. This discovery marks the first time New Zealand mud snails have been found west of the Continental Divide in Montana, but populations are known to exist in Idaho, Washington, Oregon and California. These snails are an aquatic invasive species (AIS), which once established in a natural system can have localized impact to aquatic ecosystems. New Zealand mud snails do well in cold water environments and are present in several water systems east of the Continental Divide including the Madison, Missouri and Yellowstone rivers. The Bitterroot hatchery is now under quarantine by FWP,
which will last until the New Zealand mud snails are eradicated from the facility. The snails likely arrived at the Bitterroot hatchery from a fish hatchery in South Dakota, which was thought to be free of AIS until notice this summer that New Zealand mud snails had been discovered there. The Bitterroot hatchery imports trout from the South Dakota hatchery annually. In Montana, private fish hatcheries are used to stock private ponds with fish. The hatcheries are permitted by FWP and inspected for fish disease and AIS annually. FWP hatcheries only stock private ponds that provide access for public fishing. The Bitterroot hatchery receives annual inspections from FWP for fish disease and AIS, and New Zealand mud snails were discovered this year.
The Bitterroot hatchery drains into an irrigation canal, not the Bitterroot River. FWP staff have surveyed areas of the Bitterroot River and Skalkaho Creek, both of which are near the hatchery, but have not found any invasive snails. The Bitterroot hatchery has stocked around 100 ponds in western Montana in the past two years and FWP is in the process of reaching out to those pond owners. FWP has a New Zealand mud snail fact sheet available on CleanDrainDryMT.com. For more information, contact Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, AIS Bureau, P.O. Box 200701, Helena, MT 59601 or call 406-444-2440. To learn more about Montana’s aquatic invasive species program, visit CleanDrainDryMT.com.
Recognizing excellence - Stevensville Special Education teacher Kelby Thomas is the recipient of Stevensville’s first ever Stevi Rocks - Award of Excellence. Michael Howell photo.
Stevi Rocks – Award of Excellence Last week Stevensville High School Principal Brian Gum handed out the first Stevi Rocks – Award of Excellence to special education teacher Kelby Thomas. Kelby has been the special education teacher at Stevensville for the past six years. “Throughout her time at Stevensville High School, she has single handedly revamped our Special Olympics program and has generated so much awareness and success of students with disabilities,” said
Gum at the award presentation. He said Kelby is also actively involved in the school-wide Intervention Team, which meets monthly and looks at using data to improve not only student instruction, but behavior as well. Kelby has also volunteered in summers to work with the Jacket Academy program, which focuses on mentoring relationships with students, so that everyone of them has one teacher they can go to if they have any questions whatsoever.
Gum said he was very pleased to be able to present the award. “It’s an honor to be chosen, especially to be the first,” said Thomas. “I do put in a lot of work and energy, but I do really love the kids. I do. Sometimes it’s hard when you are wrapped up in these things, it’s hard to realize that you are doing a good job. So, it’s really nice to get that little pat on the back and know that it’s worth it and they are worth it.”