Private James W. “Diamond R” Brown,
An Exceptional Warrior
James W. Brown II was a survivor. Wounded at Fort Donelson in February 1862, wounded two months later at the bloody battle of Shiloh, and wounded a third time at the decisive battle at Vicksburg, James W. Brown survived the war and came west to Montana territory to become a legendary freighting wagon boss on the rugged Montana frontier.
Born at Hillsboro, Ohio, September 5, 1841 Brown’s parents James W. and Elizabeth Cooper Brown, both of Pennsylvania Dutch ancestry, had earlier moved from Virginia to Ohio. His father died in 1850 and after attending the public schools of Hillsboro, young James left home in 1858 to work as a farm hand in Illinois. At the first call for troops in the Civil war, James Brown enlisted June 13, 1861 at Joliet, Illinois for a term of three years as Private in Company C of the Twentieth Illinois Infantry... ...Brown served from June 1861 until July 1864 through extended periods of hard fighting, suffering wounds at Fort Donelson, Shiloh, and Vicksburg, three major battles in the Western Theater of the Civil War...
...Just months after the end of James W. Brown II’s service in the Civil War in February, 1866 this exceptional man of adventure headed west in summer of that same year. Engaged as a “bull whacker” driving an ox team between Nebraska City and Salt Lake City, he arrived there in August and immediately loaded freight for Helena, Montana Territory...
In 1890 Brown and his family moved to Choteau where he served for three years as assistant farmer at the Blackfeet Old Agency. In 1893, he secured a ranch of 1,000 acres on South Fork of the Milk River on the Blackfeet reservation where he raised cattle and racehorses. After his wife passed away in 1912, Brown moved to Browning and made his home with daughter Geneva.
... "One who has known James W. Brown for many years, says of him that he was a man of upright character who earned the respect of all who knew him. He neither gambled nor drank, and never chose his associates from the rough element found here in the early days. While not of a quarrelsome disposition, he was perfectly capable of upholding his rights. He attended strictly to his own affairs, not attempting to interfere with other persons’ business.”...
...James W. “Diamond R” Brown II passed away December 23, 1927 in Browning. He lived a life of adventure and hardship, surviving wounds in three major battles of the Civil War and the many dangers of the harsh life of an overland freighter on the Montana frontier. His memory lives on through many descendants and the striking image of old “Diamond R” Brown guiding his wagon train up the bluffs from Fort Benton in Charles M. Russell’s powerful tribute to the overland freighters, the painting
Wagon Boss.
From the Fort Benton Blogspot