Austin North & Land Developments

North Park – Pioneer Park - Fairgrounds

[Compiled from Land Titles]

26 September 2003

Austin North had a significant part in the building of Billings, and through the research files of the YGF the direction of his interests that intertwined with Paul McCormick, Fred Foster, NPR and the City of Billings is outlined below. This research changes some of the events that have been rumored as fact for many years. Only a few examples are listed. The files contain approximately 2,000 legal transactions, and each lead to another claim or settlement. Approximately 100 of the land record transactions are reported on in this summary. The financial advantages offered to Austin North started in 1879 when Henry Rowley, Chief Engineer of the Northern Pacific Railroad had the responsibility to complete the track through Montana, and join up with the other section heading east from Oregon. In 1876 the general land surveys for the local region had reached Clark’s Fork valley, and a plat map for future homesteaders was created. This was made available by April 1877. When the Indian wars were essentially concluded in 1878, the railroad started again to lay track. The railroad was placed under closely guarded financial controls, and the construction was limited to $25,000 per mile. At that time, the planned route was established and shown to be from Bismarck essentially due west to the Yellowstone River, crossing the river near Miles City, and following the river on the north side into the west. Rowley started to examine the route again, or else it was pointed out to him, that it might be better if they stayed on the east side of the river, and crossed at the Clark’s Fork valley area, just north of the rim bluffs. The roadbed appeared to be equally flat, but in doing so it would give him an opportunity to establish a town and freighting center of significant size since at the river were two adjoining odd-numbered sections of land that centered about the Montana Prime Survey Meridian recently completed. What happened next is partially conjectured, and partly fact. Henry examined the land in 1879 finding that he could indeed place a town there. This would be a major undertaking, and it would be necessary to keep the concept and location secret until he was ready to make the announcement. He presented his plan to the financial eastern bankers, and it was probably the best news they had received ever since the construction began. It looked like a sure winner. To make this work three things would be required: 1) The land plat or its counterpart would be created in secrecy at Miles City, and presented to the banks soon as possible, probably about 1880. 2) A director would be needed to manage the creation of the town, sell lots, advertise and otherwise manage the whole activity. For this, Rowley would step down as Chief Engineer and take over the operation at the appropriate time. This was the Minnesota and Montana Land and Development Company, established in Minnesota.  3) Financial backing for the town creation would be needed, and additional land had to be acquired in secrecy so that its ultimate purpose of providing potential financial growth to his companions would go undetected. To accomplish this Rowley apparently solicited Frederick Billings as the major financial backer, Austin North and Fred H. Foster to acquire additional land to be made available for town expansion. Fred Foster, being young and without resources, solicited his parents, Robert & Lucinda, to bankroll the activity. Their trade of real estate and transfer of property rights were uniquely accomplished. Special files are available for interested persons. See YGF Webmaster. There are no written documents describing the insider’s activity effort, but the following facts disclosed in property title transfers bear it out. The land acquisitions simply could not have been a random chance of good luck. When the land officially went on sale, many persons who were first in line expecting to receive the choice lots felt cheated when they discovered that these were already sold to eastern investors and others. Before 1881 was ending, with many of the town’s lots already sold, the residents of Coulson who were hoping to make an investment harvest were never really in the financial loop, and the town vanished. The first land plat was created in Miles City and filed in Minnesota. Frederick Billings graciously offered to accept the naming of the town after him.  Austin and Robert helped secure the open land to the west before the general public was made aware of the town’s identity and the revised route of the rail track. [Of course this might be in error, and the events were only a very lucky coincidence!]

Austin North & Arrival in Billings

Austin was born in Iowa, 20 May 1869, and grew up on his father’s farm. He completed some college courses in 1889, and found his way into Billings at that time. He started out working for the post office, then with Northern Pacific Railroad. He quit those occupations and started his real estate business on January 1, 1892, and incorporated on July 1, 1896. He married Hattie Swartz on November 19, 1884, and constructed a residence [presently known as “The Castle”] at 622 North 29^th Street. Portions of the sandstone building materials came from the Heffner quarry. The structure was added to the Registry of Historic Buildings in 1977, #77000822. In 1922 he departed for San Antonio, Texas, and seven years later fell from a tree, and was killed. His wife acquired the properties and the debts. He had a very remarkable life, and was an energetic driving force for Billings.

Gathering of Real Estate

It started with Napoleon Carron (mixed-blood Sioux) receiving Indian Territorial land authorized by President Grover Cleveland, along with script # 83C obtained at the Bozeman land office from the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, for land procurement. He exchanged the script for 80 acres of land located in the South Half of the Northwest Corner in Section 32, Township 1 North, and Range 26 East, filed. [Later this would be part of the Normal School, MSU-Billings.] His land transactions virtually dominate the Land Record Books.

Louis Carron, Napoleon’s father, actually exchanged the script on December 2, 1881 at the Bozeman Land Office. An attorney for Louis, E.E. Dickerson, located the land on 2 December 1888. The government had in the interim issued a Patent to Napoleon for the land on 7 September 1887. This established a lengthy series of rights of ownerships before the title was cleared up.

His Patent was filed January 5, 1894 in the GLO at Washington. He had acquired the land substantially prior to the filing date. Napoleon, age six, died intestate in 1864, and the property passed to his father, Louis, as sole heir to the land[1]. Being a minor, Louis had no outstanding debts. Louis Carron and his wife assigned Artemas H. Holmes, New York City, on October 4, 1880, to be their attorney and take possession of the Montana Territory land acquired by their son. On 18 November 1880, Bryon M. Smith was granted Letters of Administration for the estate, which was estimated, to have a value less than $2,000. For this he posted a $600 bond to the court.

At the time of Napoleon’s death (age six years) he had title to 480 acres of real estate, 80 of which were in Montana. After about ten years the legal mess was cleaned up and his father Louis assigned William Starbuck, New York City attorney, to get rid of the land. It is believed that Austin North was tracking this parcel of land, as he was already in process of acquiring the other parcels in Section 32 through other means.

Louis Carron Quit Claimed Title to William H. Starbuck on May 9, 1892. There appears to have been no financial exchange, only the elimination of the land. Starbuck then sold the land to Austin North on September 1, 1892 for $800[2].  Austin sold the land to Charles A. Wustrum for $3,000 on April 3, 1893. Charles in turn resold the same land back to Austin on April 17, 1894 for $3,500. Austin resold the land to Myron D. Jeffers on May 4, 1894 for $2,500. Myron resold the same land to Austin on August 1, 1894 for $2,500.

Austin North suffered a serious financial setback in 1897, and in lieu of money, he agreed to exchange property to settle the various debts. Only the family’s personal properties were excluded, all other ownerships went into the settlement[3]. Both Austin North and the Austin North Company were held liable. H. V. Bailey was originally assigned as Assignee, but on February 8, 1897 Austin assigned Preston B. Moss to act in that capacity. Jeffers, who acquired title in 1894, sold the land to Switzer on January 14, 1897.  On November 5, 1899, Tavner Switzer Quit claimed his land to First National Bank (Preston Moss-President). The land title was very confusing, and became “clouded.”

 On October 31, 1901, Preston Moss was discharged from his duties as Assignee. On November 7, 1901 the bank transferred the land to Austin.  On November 17, 1904 Preston Moss filed a petition to reconvey the property to the claimants that were owed money from Austin. This was so as to remove all previous clouds to the titles. On December 2, 1904, the order was filed. This included ownerships of the land within the Foster’s Addition. Preston Moss, however, transferred the land back to Austin North on December 2, 1904 for a filing fee of $1.00. This included the Foster’s Addition he had acquired earlier. Austin was now in business.

One of the various enterprises he invested in before 1905 was the Slater Brick Company. Christopher P. Slater was President and Austin was Vice President. The firm had their business ½ mile NW of the city. The bricks carry the name “SLATER” on the mortar surface. Some are used in Billings’ residential homes.

North Addition & Foster’s Addition

Henry C. McKinsey filed for a 160-acre homestead on SW1/4 Sec 32-1N-26E before the Billings’ town site was known. He received his Homestead Patent on October June 2, 1893. He and his wife Sarah J McKinsey resided there until October 7, 1886 when they sold the land under a Warrant Deed to Alphonse Fteley for $2,150. There is very little information about them, but is does appear that they had a small homestead log cabin in the parcel of land, a portion of which later became Pioneer Park. Fteley held the property for eight years, selling to Paul McCormick under a Warranty Deed on May 2, 1894. Paul paid $2,900[4].

Paul immediately sold the land to Austin on May 10, 1894 for $4,000. Austin in turn created an easement on that same day for the City of Billings to install a drainage ditch for their use across the property. On June 11, 1894 he filed for his Water Right to take 300 inches from the creek in SE1/4 S31-1N-26E to irrigate his land. On June 30, 1897 He filed another Water Right to take 300 inches from the spring on NE Corner S4&5-1S-26E, and the Suburban Ditch.

 On March 5, 1900 Austin Created the North Town Land Company with a capital stock of $34,000. Partners were: Austin North, Hattie North and Roy K. Babcock.[5] Term of the venture was set at 40 years. The certificate of business was filed on March 30^th. Later, on March 29, 1927, Preston Moss filed another clerical correction to the titles of Austin regarding the E1/2SW1/4 S32-1N-26E lands. On February 8, 1900 the Receiver for Thomas Kurtz and Henry Bruns (who had a Mortgage with the Merchants Bank of Moorehead, MN and were insolvent) transferred the Foster’s Addition and other lands to Austin for $1,000. The City of Billings had a tax lien on the same property for $427.90, and on March 7, 1900 filed the transfer of the property to Yellowstone County for that amount. Bids were taken for the land, and Austin submitted the winning offer of $400 on March 8, 1900. These in turn were transferred to the North Town Land Company the same day. For details on the Foster’s Addition and lawsuits refer to Foster’s History.

Anton Manderfeld (Minnesota resident) had originally filed for the land located in the SE1/4 SW1/4 Sec 32-1N-26E and Lot #1 in Sec 4-1S-26E on December 6. 1881. He immediately created a Power of Attorney granting George B. Hulme, New York City, the right to locate, and file for his “Additional Homestead” in Montana, and transfers of the land title as necessary. This was conducted under the Section 2306 Revised Statutes. On March 2, 1882, before the City of Billings location was advertised, this property was again transferred under a Warranty Deed, to Frederick Billings for a filing fee of $1.00[6].

Frederick Billings died on September 30, 1890, creating another legal entanglement. The examination of properties and settlement of the land disputes was completed in 1913. On March 27, 1913, the Trustee of Frederick’s estate transferred title of the Manderfeld property to Austin North for $1.00. Austin North had previously established another tract development company on December 17, 1912, called “The Elevation Company”, located in Billings, Montana. $100,000 of corporate stock was established, although only $300 was actually subscribed at that time. Partners were: Austin North, Hattie North and Oto North. Simultaneously Austin and Hattie transferred two Lots, # 19 & 20, in Block 14 of the North Elevation Subdivision for $100,000 to the Elevation Company.

On June 6, 1916 The Elevation Company sold their interests in this land to The Brockway Real Estate Company for the express purpose of residential building construction only, and each unit shall cost more than $2,500 to build. The Elevation Company was formed on August 27, 1914 with $40,000 of capital. Partners were: Bela G. Brockway, Viaretta Brockway, and W. A. & O. J. Brockway. Subsequently these lots were sold to individuals for residences.

In 1904 the land and facility located north of 9^th Avenue North on which the Eastern Montana State Prison was built, was transferred to Austin. He attempted to convert it in 1921 it into a home and then a Country Club, but without success. After three months in the facility, he and his family moved to San Antonio, Texas. It seems incredible, that after all the money dumped into the place by the government, and virtually nothing to show for the effort, that he would attempt to complete the job with his own funds.

There was a small log cabin on the McKinsey property (Pioneer Park) acquired from Paul McCormick, and when Austin acquired the prison in 1904 he moved the cabin onto that land. His caretakers (Mr. And Mrs. John Pulse) resided there.

Pioneer Park and North Park

The identity of these two parks is very sparse, and land transaction records are not readily evident in the available files. The following is presented in the hopes that future researchers will discover the actual land transaction files, and complete the lineages.

The Town of Billings was plated in 1881 [filed in June, 1882] to be almost symmetrical about the rail tracks. It was complete with both a North Park and a South Park, each comprising six-city blocks. These parks were owned by the Minnesota and Montana Land and Development Company as real estate, and un-developed for many years, as well as the adjoining properties, excepting for the prison. In 1892 the local citizens raised $20,000 and prepared to hold a fair in Yellowstone County. To accommodate the event, they built an eight-sided octagonal exhibit hall, racetrack, barns and a 1,000-seat stadium on the lands covering North Park and some additional area to the north and east. To this they added an 8-foot high wooden fence surrounding the property for crowd control[7]. I. D. O’Donnell was the founding president of the fair association. A $100,000 bond issue was established in 1915-1916 that permitted construction of a larger facility on the 40-acres of land donated by Mrs. Forster in 1915 that formed the Midland Empire Fairgrounds [Metra Park][8]. The facilities that were installed on the North Park area, excepting for the exhibit hall were torn down and moved[9]. At the time, the Minnesota and Montana Land and Development Company owned North Park and the adjacent land, and it was apparently in the best interests of the town, Austin North and the Company to celebrate the tenth year of the birth of Billings, without regard as to ownership. The first fair was held on September 28-30^th, 1892.

·         After the land was acquired for a park and the land leveled, only the exhibit hall building remained. This structure became a hindrance to the city.  The Minnesota and Montana Land and Development Company donated the land to the City for both the North & South Parks on December 21, 1903[10][11]. The Park Board was formed March 29, 1911[12]. Their first concern was to establish irrigation. The board on February 1, 1912, hired Charles H. Ramsdell (Minneapolis) to draw up landscape plans for both the North & South Parks[13]. [The South Park was developed sooner than the North.]

o       Although some sources indicate that the fairgrounds on the North Park land were in use from 1892 through 1915, this is in direct conflict with the City Park management records. These records and pictures taken by the Baumgartner Studios show that after the land was acquired in 1911, the site was leveled soon after, and trees planted according to the architect’s plans. [This appears to be late fall of 1911, according to the pictures.] This also was during WWI when the site was used for War Gardens. Records indicate that fairs were held annually at the site from 1892 to 1916. The park itself was created in 1912, and that would mean that the fair had to be located elsewhere. It probably was on the adjacent land owned by Austin North for a short while Additional research is required to verify if and where fairs might have been held.

·         March 1912 – Purchased 20 inches of water from the Billings Land & Irrigation Company for $450.00 to irrigate North Park.

·         Date unknown, but the exhibit hall became an unwelcome site, and was to be destroyed. Just before that happened, Austin North hooked up some mules and dragged it across the street, and onto the land at 6^th & 22^nd Street. This is the unique eight-sided [and historic] building is still in use today as an apartment house. It is depicted in the 1904 Panoramic View of Billings, as a roundish-looking structure on the North Park Property. It was created in that fashion so as to better show off the exhibits.

·         C 1912-Trees were planted, but not grass. Spraying of the trees for pest control was recorded in the May 13, 1913 minutes.

·         During WWI, small tracts of soil in the park were rented to citizens for “War Gardens.” Fairs were not reported.

·         April 1919 - North Park was seeded.

·         July 1921 – Mrs. Gray, landscape architect, was hired to draw up plans for the park.

·         July 1921 – Wading pool was constructed.

On August 1, 1923 the City established a fee based Tourist Camp, with the entrance initially located at 1800 6^th Avenue North. Streets did not exist between the city blocks and the park. It was one large open area. The full camp consisted of eight city blocks, two acquired immediately to the east of the park[14], and the six comprising “North Park” itself. Soon, the Tourist Camp and the park itself became one and the same. They expanded the facility to 12 blocks, and starting in 1924 moved the specific camp location annually from place to place within the 12-block park area so as to keep the grass in good condition. In 1935 local citizens, who had purchased residential land in the adjacent area protested the facility, and the camp was abandoned in April of that year, before tourist season started. During the first year (a two-month season August through September) there were an estimated 12,760 persons using the facility.  The Gazette, in an October 7, 1923 article stated that as of August 1^st, the park activities, which were previously operated by the Billings Commercial Club, were turned over to the City Parks for their management. This meant the management of the Tourist Camp. The additional six blocks were detached from the park, streets added, and were later sold to residents. Comments from most of the camp users stated that they preferred the fee versus a free camp, since the facilities were so excellent. The Gazette published a picture of the camp (Tourist Park) in their October 7, 1923 issue.

Pioneer Park is located on the SW ¼ Section 32-T1N-26E. Austin held the property until 1918, when he started to negotiate with the City for sale of a portion of the land to be used as a park. The land went from 5^th St West and Grand Avenue to 3^rd St West and north to Parkhill Drive [12 city blocks]. There were no provisions for a high school at the time. The City acquired the land on September 14, 1920, for $33,950[15]. Three tennis courts were built in June 1921, followed by a wading pool building that was installed July 1921. In June 1923, before the Tourist Camp was created, the City added three more tennis courts. The Park Board minutes reported on several interesting comments during this time frame:

·         Oct 11, 1923 – The District Supervisor reported to the Commissioner of Fisheries in Washington, DC, that a cultural fishpond could be installed in the park, and the production of trout as an example could be raised in it. The only detriment was the funding.

·         Oct 14, 1926 – The Park Board toured the park and thought that perhaps a pool could be added, and the stream (McKinsey Creek) could be “rip-rapped” to slow the water flow. All effort was put on hold.

·         1929 – The Park was annexed by the City to place it within the City limits. They also decided to create a footbridge across the creek for school children. They also tore down the toboggan slides located in the northwest side of the City, and used that lumber to make the bridge.

·         November 5, 1931 – The Park Board appropriated $2,000 to beautify the park. They employed about 50 men, working in three-day shifts at $4 per day. The men graded the banks, built paths, rip-rapping the stream and installing drains where needed.

·         1934 – Some of the stones from the destroyed prison (Austin’s planned home and country club) were used to construct a small embankment around the upper three tennis courts.

·         April 17, 1936 – Part of the WPA Project consisted of having unemployed men plant 123 trees and shrubs about the park. These trees were: buffalo berry, dogwood, cedar and black birch. Ponds were located near the center of the park. The DAR created the Elm Walk.