Page 45 - Cornelius Hedges Story

For This And Succeeding Generations Gardiner 32

Wilbur F. Sanders chaired the meeting, and Cornelius Hedges
drafted the resolutions, which included a statement pointing out that
200 white men had been killed and 2000 horses had been stolen since
1865, and a statement “criticizing the government for reprimanding
the Army for quelling the redskins.”94

Horse racing was a popular sport among the miners, and races
in the streets of the camps were common pastimes. By the 1860’s
Horse racing in the Montana Territory had become big business, the
roots of horse racing were in Virginia City, Deer Lodge and Helena.
The Territorial Fairs in Helena helped develop Montana’s racing
history. Helena’s fair association reorganized in August of 1870,
purchasing property north of Helena. Association trustees included
Cornelius Hedges, C. W. Mather, John Kinna, Hugh Kirkendall, A.
M. Holter, D. C. Corbin, D. A. G. Flowerree, Conrad Kohrs and J.
F. Forbis. By 1884, Helena had become a main part of the Montana
race horse circuit that included Butte and Bozeman. After statehood
in 1889, it became the State Fair. In 1890, the State Fair attracted
horses from as far away as Spokane and Denver. “Helena,” said the
Independent, “has the only regulation racecourse in the state; it is
as smooth as a billiard table ...” The state began to subsidize the
fair in 1903. By 1914 the Montana Legislature passed a statute that
prohibited betting on horse races and brought an end to horse racing.

In August, 1870, Hedges began a trip that became important
beyond all expectations. The excursion he took was the famous
Washburn-Langford-Doane Expedition into the Yellowstone region.
The party was to leave the Yellowstone region the next day, and that
night they sat around the campfire discussing the wonders of nature
they had seen and the possibilities of its development as a resort area
for pecuniary gain. Hedges listened awhile and then spoke. What
he said was completely in harmony with his total nature marked by
unselfishness. N. P. Langford’s Diary states it well:
“Mr. Hedges then said that he did not approve of any of these plans
– that there ought to be no private ownership of any portion of
that region, but that the whole of it ought to be set apart as a great
National Park, and that each one of us ought to make an effort to
have this accomplished.”95

Thus the “National Park idea” was born. To complete the story
of the journey, they reached Virginia City on September 23, and
Hedges returned to Helena on September 27.96