View source for Dusting Off the Old Ones (134)

'''134. More Commissioner Trouble'''

These stories are usually dated when Miles City could boast of at least one Chinese laundry. Last week we told you that at the beginning of the year 1883, Russell Briggs, J. B. Hubbel and D. A. Robertson were the regularly elected Board of County Commissioners of Custer county. These commissioners must have been running things in a rather high handed manner, for their actions were brought to the attention of the Legislature, which was then in session, and a bill was passed removing these three gentlemen, together with L. S. Taylor, the county clerk, from office. In the same measure passed by the Legislature, Thomas J. Bryan, William Van Gasken and George M. Miles were appointed as commissioners in the place of the deposed triumvirate. The original three commissioners did not give up their office readily, for on March 16, 1883, Hubbel and Robertson met at the courthouse and passed a resolution appropriating $3,000 in warrants drawn on the general fund to be used for the purpose of paying reliable and distinguished counsel to protect the official rights of the commissioners and other officers whose rights had been or might thereafter be interfered with by the so-called new Board of County Commissioners. These warrants were to be drawn to the joint order of Hubbel and Robertson, they to dispose of them for the highest available amount and use the proceeds for the purpose of paying counsel fees. They even went further than that. It seems that they had already hired guards to guard the county offices, and at this same meeting of the commissioners, they passed a resolution authorizing the continuance of these guards in order to protect the county records from certain parties who had threatened to take possession of them by force and violence and without authority of law. Commissioner Robertson was authorized to settle with these guards at the expiration of their term of service on the best possible terms and the clerk was instructed to draw and issue warrants on the general fund in favor of Robertson for the amounts at time of settlement. This is not all the story--so look for more in the future.