Individual Details
Thomas Sievers HUGHES
(15 May 1885 - 28 Apr 1964)
This child is listed in a letter from Lewis Hughes 14 Aug 1981, inpossession of Becky Smith. Did not know of him previously. Letter saidhe was a rancher in McAllister, MT.
"Pioneer Trails and Trials" Madison County 1863-102-, compiled byMadison County History Association, has this bio on page 82:
"Thomas Sievers Hughes was born in Searsboro, Iowa, May 15, 1885, theson of J. W. Hughes, a bridge builder. Tom came West at 16; the familycame later, settling in Sumas, Washington, where a daughter, LoraHughes Lade, still lives. Another daughter, Ina Hughes Kirkman, livesin nearby Bellingham. Brothers Ed, Ira and Roy preceded Tom in death.Another brother, William, died in 1972 in Harrison at 96.
As a young man, Tom (or T.S.) went briefly to MSU...his expense bookin September 1903 listed $6.75 for board, books and supplies for thebusiness course he enrolled in, 75 cents for cleaning and having hishair singed, and 20 cents for theater!
Tom got the wanderlust: for a trip to St. Paul in 1904, the expensebook records most meals and rooms at 20 cents. But when he and hisbuddy, Army Adams, journeyed to California in 1905 they found it "amost inhospitable place". The two took turns eating whenever they hada dime for a meal. Crackers on the table were a bonanza.
This trip started out in style with three mounts and three packhorses, all green broke. Packing an out-of-season elk killed in Idahoon these broncs gave them trouble. They sold the illegal meat for 50cents a pound.
When that money ran out, they sold the horses, getting beaten on thedeal. On the return trip in March 1906, they worked as bronc twistersfor Jake Caufman at Williams, Arizona. It was probably at this timethat Tom and seven other cowboys rode into Santa Fe country to bringback 1500 head of cattle for the boss. Tom broke out about 200 head ofbroncs.
Tom's journal records a trip through Yellowstone Park with his brotherEd. They followed the Snake River into Gros Ventre country, fordingthe river several times with the wagon bed full of water and thehorses barely able to stand. The journal calls Teton Pass "a corker",full of stumps, ponds and bog holes, strewn with the wreckage ofwagons, sleds and a covered wagon top or two hanging in the bushes.
June of 1908 brought Tom to the calmer life of matrimony with hismarriage to Emily Mackel at Meadow Creek Post Office, the home of hersister, Florence Gibson. Florence's husband, Guy, and his mother,Ellen, had opened the first post office for the valley.
The young couple lived in a cabin on Leonard Creek, homesteading. Tomtook any kind of work to support his rapidly growing family. He hauledfreight, taking supplies to mines like the Sunnyside and Revenue,returning down the chute-like roads with ore. He ran the Savage gradewith six to eight horses and a two-ton load, the sled and wagonrough-locked.
One day on the steep Norris hill road the brake pole snapped. Tomtried to keep his head and hoped the horses kept their feet. Ahead ofhim on a slow old nag, he saw the rather lady-like figure of hislifelong friend Deb Stanley. Deb looked back and took in the situationat a glance. Kicking his ancient white horse into a gallop, Debmanaged to beat Tom to the bottom of the hill. When the wild,out-of-control ride came to a halt, the wheel team was under thewagon. Tom jumped to the ground to rescue them; luckily they were onlyscratched and bruised. When Tom told this story, he loved to mimicDeb, pretending to wipe his streaming brow and saying in a squeakyvoice, "Well, we made it, Tom!"
On Sundays baseball was the entertainment after a hard week's work.Tom was a noted pitcher. According to his cousin Walt Vincent a gamewas extended until the following Sunday to allow Tom time to recoversomewhat from a broken jaw he received from a bad ball.
Tom was also in demand as a fiddler for the Saturday night dances.Often as he came home through the timber he would notice a mountainlion accompanying him. He would get out his fiddle and plan "ArkansasTraveler" or "Pretty Red Wing" and the cat would fall back. Tom usedto say that was one audience he never tried to capture.
Tom's daughter, Margie Cowan, finishes his story by saying "The strongtree that was our father toppled April 28, 1964. He was not a gentleman and I often judged him tyrannical. He would have scorned women'slib. Yet when he died, it was if a sturdy windbreak went down and westood flinching as the sleet hit our faces."
Tom lies in the rocky little cemetery on a hill overlooking the lakehe loved, its waters covering the meadows of the first ranches inMadison Valley."
"Pioneer Trails and Trials" Madison County 1863-102-, compiled byMadison County History Association, has this bio on page 82:
"Thomas Sievers Hughes was born in Searsboro, Iowa, May 15, 1885, theson of J. W. Hughes, a bridge builder. Tom came West at 16; the familycame later, settling in Sumas, Washington, where a daughter, LoraHughes Lade, still lives. Another daughter, Ina Hughes Kirkman, livesin nearby Bellingham. Brothers Ed, Ira and Roy preceded Tom in death.Another brother, William, died in 1972 in Harrison at 96.
As a young man, Tom (or T.S.) went briefly to MSU...his expense bookin September 1903 listed $6.75 for board, books and supplies for thebusiness course he enrolled in, 75 cents for cleaning and having hishair singed, and 20 cents for theater!
Tom got the wanderlust: for a trip to St. Paul in 1904, the expensebook records most meals and rooms at 20 cents. But when he and hisbuddy, Army Adams, journeyed to California in 1905 they found it "amost inhospitable place". The two took turns eating whenever they hada dime for a meal. Crackers on the table were a bonanza.
This trip started out in style with three mounts and three packhorses, all green broke. Packing an out-of-season elk killed in Idahoon these broncs gave them trouble. They sold the illegal meat for 50cents a pound.
When that money ran out, they sold the horses, getting beaten on thedeal. On the return trip in March 1906, they worked as bronc twistersfor Jake Caufman at Williams, Arizona. It was probably at this timethat Tom and seven other cowboys rode into Santa Fe country to bringback 1500 head of cattle for the boss. Tom broke out about 200 head ofbroncs.
Tom's journal records a trip through Yellowstone Park with his brotherEd. They followed the Snake River into Gros Ventre country, fordingthe river several times with the wagon bed full of water and thehorses barely able to stand. The journal calls Teton Pass "a corker",full of stumps, ponds and bog holes, strewn with the wreckage ofwagons, sleds and a covered wagon top or two hanging in the bushes.
June of 1908 brought Tom to the calmer life of matrimony with hismarriage to Emily Mackel at Meadow Creek Post Office, the home of hersister, Florence Gibson. Florence's husband, Guy, and his mother,Ellen, had opened the first post office for the valley.
The young couple lived in a cabin on Leonard Creek, homesteading. Tomtook any kind of work to support his rapidly growing family. He hauledfreight, taking supplies to mines like the Sunnyside and Revenue,returning down the chute-like roads with ore. He ran the Savage gradewith six to eight horses and a two-ton load, the sled and wagonrough-locked.
One day on the steep Norris hill road the brake pole snapped. Tomtried to keep his head and hoped the horses kept their feet. Ahead ofhim on a slow old nag, he saw the rather lady-like figure of hislifelong friend Deb Stanley. Deb looked back and took in the situationat a glance. Kicking his ancient white horse into a gallop, Debmanaged to beat Tom to the bottom of the hill. When the wild,out-of-control ride came to a halt, the wheel team was under thewagon. Tom jumped to the ground to rescue them; luckily they were onlyscratched and bruised. When Tom told this story, he loved to mimicDeb, pretending to wipe his streaming brow and saying in a squeakyvoice, "Well, we made it, Tom!"
On Sundays baseball was the entertainment after a hard week's work.Tom was a noted pitcher. According to his cousin Walt Vincent a gamewas extended until the following Sunday to allow Tom time to recoversomewhat from a broken jaw he received from a bad ball.
Tom was also in demand as a fiddler for the Saturday night dances.Often as he came home through the timber he would notice a mountainlion accompanying him. He would get out his fiddle and plan "ArkansasTraveler" or "Pretty Red Wing" and the cat would fall back. Tom usedto say that was one audience he never tried to capture.
Tom's daughter, Margie Cowan, finishes his story by saying "The strongtree that was our father toppled April 28, 1964. He was not a gentleman and I often judged him tyrannical. He would have scorned women'slib. Yet when he died, it was if a sturdy windbreak went down and westood flinching as the sleet hit our faces."
Tom lies in the rocky little cemetery on a hill overlooking the lakehe loved, its waters covering the meadows of the first ranches inMadison Valley."
Events
| Birth | 15 May 1885 | Searsboro, Poweshiek Co., Iowa |  | ||
| Census | 1 Jun 1900 | Madison Co., MT, Twp not stated, ED 54, stamped pg 279; Thomas S. Hughes, son, 16 born May 1884, born IA father born IA mother born PA, at school. | |||
| Marriage | 13 Jun 1908 | Meadow Creek, Madison Co., Montana - Emily Amelia MACKEL | |||
| Census | 1 Jan 1920 | Hot Springs Twp., Madison Co., MT; ED 136 Pg 7B, #217; Thomas S., 34 (1885) married, born IA, both parents born IA. Farmer, owns with mortgage, can read and write. | |||
| Census | 1 Apr 1930 | Madison Twp., Madison Co., MT, ED 14 Sh 10A; Thomas S. Hughes, head, 44 (1885-86), 23 at first marriage, born IA father born IA mother born PA, farmer. | |||
| Death | 28 Apr 1964 | | |||
| Burial | Meadow Creek Cemetery, McAllister, Madison Co., MT | ||||
| Reference No | 3111 |
Families
| Spouse | Emily Amelia MACKEL (1887 - 1979) |
| Child | Edwin A. HUGHES (1909 - 1998) |
| Child | Lewis Alexander HUGHES (1911 - 1995) |
| Child | Marjorie E. HUGHES (1913 - 1994) |
| Child | Living |
| Child | Living |
| Father | John Wesley HUGHES (1852 - 1912) |
| Mother | Sarah Ellen VINCENT (1855 - 1922) |
| Sibling | Edwin V. HUGHES (1873 - 1904) |
| Sibling | William M. HUGHES (1875 - 1972) |
| Sibling | Ira HUGHES (1876 - 1927) |
| Sibling | Pomeroy "Roy" M. HUGHES (1878 - 1956) |
| Sibling | Martha Mattie Almira HUGHES (1881 - 1949) |
| Sibling | Laura M. HUGHES (1891 - 1910) |
| Sibling | Ina HUGHES (1893 - 1910) |
Endnotes
1. Madison County History Association, Pioneer Trails and Trials Madison County 1863-1920, Pg. 82.
2. Social Security Death Index.