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- 1860 Federal Census of Hastings, Dakota County, Minnesota (2 Jun 1860)
Phillip C. Bassett - 37 - M - New Hampshire - Laborer 1000 100
Hannah M. - 30 - F - New Hampshire
Charles A. - 13 - M - New Hampshire
George F. - 11 - M - Minnesota
William D. - 9 - M - Minnesota
Logan L. - 3 - M - Minnesota
Sally - 5/12 - F - Minnesota
1900 Federal Census of Horr, Park County, Montana (18 Jun 1900)
William D. Bassett - 48 - M - Oct 1851 - MN-ME-NH - Head - Farmer
Elizabeth - 37 - F - Jan 1863 - MO-MO-AL - Wife
Lester M. - 18 - M - Jan 1882 - MT-MN-MO - Son - At School
Harry C. - 15 - M - Jul 1884 - MT-MN-MO - Son - At School
Shelby - 13 - M - Jun 1886 - MT-MN-MO - Son - At School
Nellie - 12 - F - Apr 1888 - MT-MN-MO - Daughter - At School
Nora - 9 - F - Jul 1890 - MT-MN-MO - Daughter - At School
Bill Bassett
History of Park County, Montana 1984
Hattie and Mrs. Bassett moved up to the Papesh Place with Fred. One winter day they took a team and buggy and went to visit Bill. A big spring at the lower end of the Papesh Place had laid down a sheet of ice across the road. One of the horses slipped and fell, causing the wagon to lurch, throwing Mrs. Bassett on her head on the frozen ground. They righted things, and Mrs. Bassett appeared OK. They continued on to Bassett Creek. Betty prepared tea for them, and Mrs. Bassett proceeded to put spoonful after spoonful of sugar in her tea. That was the first indication that her head had been injured, but from that time on she was never in good mental health. When Hattie married Harry Bray, she moved to the deer Lodge area and took her mother with her. Mrs. Bassett died not long after the move at Warm Springs.
Fred worked at the Goffner Sawmill, above the Taylor Place in Mol Heron Creek, and became acquainted with Cinnabar Basin. He moved to the Basin around 1895, and settled where Al and Judy Jensen now live (on the Sargent Ranch). On Nov. 26, 1897, he married Leah Smith, whose family lived on the place which was later proved up on by the Hesit family. (He was 34 and she was 21.) Their first daughter, Florence, was born Sept. 22, 1898.
So for around ten years, the two Bassett families lived on opposite sides of the Yellowstone River. To visit each other or to trade work, they had to cross the river at a ford just above the present Corwin Bridge. Florence can even remember them hauling a threshing machine across the ford. She also recalls one time when her family went to visit Bill and Betty. They took a team and buggy. One of the horses was a mare which had a foal, which they allowed to tag along, as they were to be gone overnight. The river was high, and when the team plunged into the water at the ford, the colt swam ahead of the team and became lodged between the horses, under the tongue. Fred had to crawl out onto the tongue to push the colt forward and around in front of the team to prevent it from drowning.
Bill and Betty ranched on Bassett Creek for a number of years. Their children were Harvey (Ethel Rigler's father), Lester, Shelby, Nellie (who died when she was 8-12 years old, and is buried in the Gardiner Cemetery), Nora (who married Bill Jones), and Wildie (born about 1905). At a time when buffalo were near extinction, buffalo were a problem on this ranch, especially in the spring. On any given day, a person could round a corner of the barn while doing chores, and run into a cantankerous old bull. The bulls were known to breed their cows, and they had some hybrid calves. So they tried to run the animals off, with varying success.
In 1908, Bill sold the Bassett Creek place to the group which built the Corwin Springs Hotel and Plunge in 1909. The existing Corwin Bridge was built at that time. Subsequently, Betty operated a boarding house on Main Street in Livingston, and Bill set up a blacksmith shop in Fishtail. They are both buried at Fishtail. (After Bill died, in her later years, Betty married S.M. Fitzgerald, the man who originally led the Bassett family to Montana.)
Phillip Bassett
History of Park County, Montana 1984
Phillip Bassett and Mary Berry were married in Connecticut. They moved to California by covered wagon in the early 1860's. They farmed in the Red Bluff area, where he also worked as an architect. They raised seven children: Bill, Wayne, Charlie, George (Gene?), Hattie, Fred, and Abbie (in order). By the time the family was grown, Phillip and Mary had a fine home in Oakland.
In 1880, S.M. Fitzgerald was promoting a horse concession in Yellowstone Park. He made a trip to California to purchase horses. Bill Bassett signed on with him to drive 50 to 75 head back to Yellowstone. When the horses were delivered, Bill found work with the Mulherin family. They lived at the mouth of Mol Heron (Mulherin) Creek (near the current Trestle Ranch buildings, but down on the creek).
Fred came to Montana around 1881 (when he was 18). He built the little stone house at the head of Yankee Jim Canyon that was removed during recent highway construction. Shortly thereafter he settled at the mouth of Bassett Creek and established squatter's rights. In the meantime, Bill had married a Mulherine girl (Betty) and had started a family. So Fred traded his rights on Bassett Creek to his older brother for two saddle horses. When the Valley was surveyed, Bill filed on the homestead. At about this time, Phillip and Mary sold their home and moved to the Bassett Creek place with their daughter Hattie, where they lived with Bill and Betty. The ranch house was the current "Ranch Kitchen" restaurant.
Fred worked at various jobs, including hunting, trapping, breaking horses, and freighting from Horr (Electric) to Aldredige. He took squatter's rights on the Papesh Place.
The Upper Yellowstone country didn't meet Phillip's high expectations. He grew despondent, and committed suicide by taking poison in early May, 1884. He was buried in the cemetery at Mammoth.
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Bassett Family Association Database
1851 - 1922 (70 years)