Because there was very little snow on the mountains, which was not typical for mid-October, deer and other wildlife had not been driven to lower feeding grounds. Bare branches on trees and shrubs rattled with the slightest touch or breeze, making animals and hunters alike jumpy. Shots rang out, the barrage of gunfire too close for comfort. It was October 15, 1940, the first day of hunting season.
Four men who hunted in the Crazy Mountains that day returned to their little cabin just above the Ward & Parker place forty miles from town. There were two cabins side by side. One cabin built in 1937 or ’38 was “Gommie’s cabin” and was sometimes used by hunters. The other cabin was built by a hunting crew from Big Timber. It was sometimes referred to as the Bryan-Alden cabin. Ward & Parker furnished the logs and lumber, but the hunters provided the labor and built the cabin to use during hunting season. Other times of the year, the cabins were used for vacationers and one of them was the honeymoon home of a young couple for a time.
Gommie’s Cabin
After the long day of hunting, two of the men sat in the cabin cleaning their weapons. The scene changed in an instant. While one of the men unloaded his rifle, it accidentally discharged, hitting the other man in the right side shattering his upper arm and shoulder. Hearing the shot, the other two men ran into the cabin. The gunshot victim lay unconscious but alive on the floor.
They quickly took the wounded man to the Ward house where first aid was administered. One of the hired men at Ward & Parker drove them to Big Timber Hospital, arriving at 9 PM. Amputation was performed on the arm, but the loss of blood and shock was too much. The man died at 1:15 the following morning.
Though the old hunter’s cabin now has a leaking roof, and a door that no longer closes, it still contains memories of a life that was snuffed out in the blink of an eye. Like shattered glass scattered on the cabin floor, the lives of more than one family were shattered that mid-October day in 1940.
