1896-1902. Thomas Clary was born in St Louis in 1843. He married Mary Ford, and four children were born to them. He came to Fort Benton in 1862 to work for the American Fur Company, and later, Thomas ran freight wagons between Fort Benton and Deer Lodge. The 1870 Federal census shows Thomas in Sun River with the occupation of a Wagon Master. The Clary Family remained at Sun River ranching until 1887, when his 2-year-old son, Joe, accidentally drowned in an irrigation ditch close to the family home. They moved to Fort Benton following that traumatic death, though for 9 years, Thomas continued to frequently travel between Sun River with his Ranching operation and his family in Fort Benton. Thomas won his first election when he ran for School Trustee in 1890 in Fort Benton. Clary received 71 of the total 103 votes cast. His term as Sheriff of Chouteau County started in 1896, and the first main event found in old newspapers is that of a forger wanted in Fort Benton, who had been located and captured in Billings. Clary travels to that city to return the man to Fort Benton for trial. March 1900, the Sheriff is asked to come to Kanas City to identify the body of Lonnie Curry. Curry and his brother, Bob Curry, were some of the men who robbed the Great Northern Train in Northern Montana and got away. In July 1901, the Sheriff’s office offered a tremendous amount of money for the time, $2,000 for two men wanted dead or alive for the murder of a county resident. At the same time, Thomas throws in rewards of $3000 each for 2 men still wanted for the Great Northern Train Robbery in Northern Montana. After the end of his term of office, he moved with his family to Great Falls, where Thomas was living when he died in a train wreck outside of Rugby, North Dakota, in 1909.
1902-1904 John Buckley was born in 1863 in Pennsylvania or Ireland, depending on which article you choose to believe. He arrived in Montana with his parents and siblings around 1890. His parents settled in Blaine County, while John settled on his own ranch north of Chinook in Chouteau County. He never married. During his 2 years as Sheriff, John was in Montana State papers for a few prominent events in Montana state history. In April 1903, Sheriff Buckley stopped the 20-round boxing Match scheduled to be held in Havre at the end of April between Frederick and Herrera. Buckley held firm on his knowledge and the need to cancel the match because it was against Montana State Laws to Gamble. John also stated, “Contests for points, including side bets, are against the Laws of the State” in 1903. There were multiple sightings of Kid Curry in Northern Montana, and it was the Sheriff’s duty to investigate.
Buckley had his standard run-of-the-mill crimes for cattle theft, assault, manslaughter, and murder. He was required on multiple dates to deliver the convicted men to the penitentiary in Deer Lodge. November 1904, his competition for reelection for Sheriff came from Frank McDonald. In Havre, he lost by 8 votes; in other locations around the county, the final votes were 413 McDonald and Buckley 209. But Buckley contested the race and did not step down. In January 1905, several articles from around the state explained why he was contesting the election. Buckley believed McDonald was not a citizen because he had not been born in the USA. As the final information was reported, McDonald was indeed born in Boston, Massachusetts, and no evidence was produced to prove otherwise. McDonald’s father lived in Boston and was employed as a Captain of the United States Merchant Marine Service. Since Buckley failed to prove it, McDonald assumed the duties as Sheriff following the court case. Buckley returned to his ranch and worked his cattle until his death in 1921 at 58.
1904-1908 Frank McDonald was born in Boston in 1873. He traveled west, and by 1899, he married Annie
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Bright in Highwood. Two sons were born to this marriage. While researching Mr. McDonald, several news articles commented on the looks and charm of the candidate for Sheriff. As we now know from reading about the previous Sheriff, Frank could not assume his new Job until the court cleared the way. 1906 was a memorable year for MacDonald. Frank performed in the local Fort Benton Amateurs Minstrel Show. Sheriff McDonald was forced to shoot and kill a miner who was originally from Nevada. This man had gotten into a fight with his wife over a divorce she was seeking, so the man pulled out a gun and shot her in the head. Sheriff McDonald was attempting to talk the man into laying down his gun, but quick, deadly action was required. Another news article from the Havre Plaindealer August 1906 headline: “It’s Just the Same Old Story Sheriff McDonald arrested a man in Great Falls off a warrant from Havre. The charge was seduction. McDonald placed the man in the Havre jail, and the woman came to the jail and told her story. “Same old story of love and trust and trust misplaced.” The arrested man would have no talk of the matter. But “another night in the jail and a subsequent meeting of the erstwhile lovers had a tendency to change his mind.” They left town for Great Falls and matrimony.
Sheriff McDonald won reelection for two more years in 1906. An article from Anaconda wrote, “Frank McDonald, Chouteau County’s Big Sheriff and one of the Best Known men in Northern Montana.” was in town on the way to Warm Springs to drop off a man who had been “sent up .”After 1908, research ran cold, with the exception of finding the youngest of his two sons had died. The 7-year-old son died in January 1914 from accidental head trauma. Again, Frank showed up in a newspaper article in August 1939, saying that Frank had returned to visit his oldest son. Frank had been living in New Zealand for several years before “selling out” during the Fall of 1938. Frank fell ill in Los Angeles, where he spent months recovering. At the time of the article, McDonald’s hoped to sail on August 20th for New Zealand.
