Davey added on to the east side of his store to have a place to store emergency rations such as flour and sugar. Hoarding such items, rather than selling them, angered many of the town's people but Davey may have had good reason.
During an especially bad winter snow came down in quantity and outlasted the town's food supply. In desperation one brave soul donned his miner's light, a hat with a light on the front that left both hand free, then went down into the maze of tunnels and shafts. He made progress through this labyrinth, until he had traveled the some eleven miles to Beartown. There, he arranged for supplies to be taken to Garnet. It is uncertain exactly when this heroic incident occurred but, perhaps, Davey was attempting to forestall its reoccurrence.
It seems that Frank Davey was also unpopular with the children of Garnet, possibly a result of their parent's disgruntle with the storekeeper. The children were so objective to Davey that one day they hung him in effigy from the flagpole at the hotel.
Frank Davey, prior to relocating to Garnet, had worked in the grocery department of the Missoula Mercantile. He may have first caused the ill feeling against him by the people of Garnet when he received the patent for the Garnet Claim. Chances are that a lot of folks might have though that this opportunity should have gone to Doctor Mitchell. Worse yet, this meant that most of the town was built on Davey's land. Besides the store, which he ran until 1947, Davey also ran the Garnet Stage Line and Garnet Freight Line. Somehow, however, all of these enterprises failed to make him a wealthy man.
Garnet, Montana: part 5 http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/1379...
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BIG SKY LEGENDS: Bannack, Montana - Gold to Ghosts
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