The Emerald Virus by Patrick Shea Page B

before that.  
        
During their brief layover at Fort Laramie Will visited a local blacksmith to
buy additional supplies for his work. While there he listened to a discussion
between three rough looking men and the shop owner about the trip back to a
cattle ranch north of Fort Laramie in the eastern part of the Washington
Territory. Will joined the conversation as they talked about skills needed in
what was to become first in 1864 the Montana Territory, and then in 1889 the
state of Montana. It seemed that the ranch the cowboys worked was in need of a
good blacksmith since the last one had died of cholera.
        
Will and Johanna decided that this land of mountains, rivers, valleys and
rangeland would be ideal. By the end of the week they left the wagon train and
headed north with the cowboys to the Judith River. The river was named by
William Clark, of Lewis and Clark, for Julia ‘Judith’ Hancock, whom Clark would
later marry.
        
While the trip north was difficult, the only problem they encountered on this
part of the journey was passing up so much beautiful land along the way.
Johanna cried when they crossed the Yellowstone River and decided to continue
north. When they arrived at the ranch they asked detailed questions about the
area, and more importantly, about the best place to claim. While Will was
willing to work as a blacksmith to help get started, he had every intention of
starting his own farm and ranch. The ranch was glad to get a blacksmith at
least temporarily, and had already sent for a new blacksmith from back east.
They were hoping he would arrive late the next year.
        
Will laid claim to a plot of land on the Judith River northwest of Lake Ackley.
He liked the land because from the river the land rose quickly to a meadow
suitable for building a home and then widened quickly to the forests on either
side. On the south end of the land the valley narrowed into a box canyon. From
the north wall of the canyon you could look over most of the land and see the
river in the distance.
        
Will measured what he guessed to be 160 acres and described the boundaries
using the old metes and bounds system, which required describing geographical
or topographical features to mark the edges. While the township system was much
more accurate, the central part of the Montana Territory would not be surveyed
until 1867 & 1868 by Civil War General Solomon Meredith.  
      
  Starting the next year, members of both of their families joined them, although
neither set of parents ever made the trip to Montana.  Five brothers of Will
and Johanna would claim land adjacent to his, and the families would establish
themselves on almost 800 acres of prime farmland and rangeland. The beauty of
Montana and the richness of the land more than made up for the difficult
winters.
     Sunday:
On the Judith River       
        
It was near sundown and Will Klein sat on his horse and looked out over the
valley from the south wall. On the south end it was more of a canyon than a
valley but it opened up quickly as you moved north. Will had used this location
many times in the past to look at the ranch that had belonged to his family for
generations. He had always planned to pass the land to Sam when the time was
right. He thought briefly of his great- great- grandparents Will and Johanna
Klein and the hardships they had endured so long ago, and the legacy they had
left for their descendants. Will had read the family diary of the trip west,
and of establishing the Blue Wolf Ranch.
        
As he had for most of his sixty-two years, he came here whenever he wanted to
think things through. This was also the spot where his great- great- grandfather,
his namesake, had first seen the blue wolf.
        
While there had always been talk in the area about whether or not the blue wolf
actually existed, Will knew it had.  He had seen the wolf himself. The first
time was in 1972 after his second tour in Vietnam. When he