Fergus, James, 1813-1902

Miner, rancher, and politician, of Montana.

James Fergus was born October 8, 1813, in Lanarkshire, Scotland. At the age of nineteen he emigrated to Quebec and, three years later, to the United States. He lived in Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, and Minnesota where he built and managed saw mills, powder mills, a foundry, and a paper mill, and invested in property. James Fergus married Pamelia Dillin in Moline, Illinois in 1845. The couple had four children: Andrew (b. 1850), Mary Agnes, Luella (married Stephen Collins Gilpatrick), and Lillie (married Frank H. Maury). While in Minnesota in the late 1850s, Fergus became involved in politics and ran for office. In March 1860 he journeyed to Pike's Peak where he unsuccessfully prospected for gold until he returned to Minnesota in September 1861. In the spring of 1862 Fergus traveled with the Fisk Expedition to the Beaverhead gold mines near what was to become Bannack, Montana Territory. Moving to Virginia City in 1863, Fergus had modest success in finding gold. He was elected to serve as judge of the first miners' court and as the city's first recorder, and was appointed the first county commissioner for Madison County. Fergus' family, including his recently married daughter Mary Agnes and his new son-in-law Robert Stavely Hamilton, joined him in Virginia City in 1864. Fergus moved to Helena in 1865, where he engaged in ranching and was elected to two terms as county commissioner and one term in the territorial House of Representatives. Fergus' son Andrew was much involved in the ranching business; he officially bought (for one dollar) one-third of the stock in 1878, and, in 1879, acquired one quarter of James Fergus' property, livestock, and farm machinery. In 1880 James and Andrew Fergus bought land in the Judith Basin on Armells and Box Elder Creeks, and Andrew started ranching there. James Fergus and his wife Pamelia joined Andrew the next year. Eventually they raised cattle, horses, and sheep, and also did some farming. The ranch operation became one of the biggest in the territory, operating first under the name of James Fergus and Son (established in 1879) and later as the Fergus Live Stock and Land Company (established in 1895). James Fergus was elected as a delegate from Meagher County to the 1884 Constitutional Convention and to the territorial Council where he was instrumental in the creation of Fergus County. Pamelia Dillin Fergus died in 1887. James Fergus died in 1902. Andrew Fergus married Hazel Akley in 1910 and continued to ranch at Armells until his death in 1928.