John Merin Bozeman

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John Merin Bozeman

Birthdate:
Birthplace: Pickens, GA, United States
Death: April 20, 1867 (30)
East of present day Livingston, MT, United States
Place of Burial: Bozeman, MT, United States
Immediate Family:

Son of William Merin Bozeman and Delila F. Bozeman
Husband of Lucinda Catherine Bozeman
Father of Nancy Delilah Honea; Martha Catherine Bozeman and Malinda Jane Bozeman
Brother of Pheobe Ann Davis and Mary Melissa C(Atherine) "Lissa" Wigington

Managed by: J. Daniel Peardon
Last Updated:

About John Merin Bozeman

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Bozeman

Born in Pickens County, Georgia, in 1835, John Bozeman left his wife and three children in 1858 to seek gold in the West. Unable to make a go of it in Colorado, Bozeman left Colorado in 1862 and came to Montana. Realizing that he could do better by mining the miners, Bozeman and John Jacobs in 1863 blazed the Bozeman Trail, a cutoff route from the popular Oregon Trail, and went into business guiding miners to Virginia City through the Gallatin Valley.

Bozeman decided to settle in the fertile Gallatin Valley, and in 1864, Bozeman, along with partners Daniel Rouse and William Beall, platted the town which would bear his name. Passing directly through the Gallatin Valley, the Bozeman Trail was used by travelers until 1868, at which point it was closed because of the Indian Wars. But the Trail had served its purpose as it attracted emigrants to the Gallatin Valley.

John Bozeman's story did not end well, however. In April 1867, he was murdered under mysterious circumstances east of present-day Livingston, along the Yellowstone River. His partner at the time, Tom Cover, reported they had been attacked by a band of Blackfeet Indians. However, discrepancies in Cover's story led later historians to suspect Bozeman was murdered, either by Cover, or possibly by a jealous husband.

The report of Bozeman's death at the hands of Blackfeet, so close to town, led to hysteria among area residents, and in response to the perceived Indian threat Fort Ellis was established three miles east of Bozeman.

John Bozeman is buried in Sunset Hills Cemetery.

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John Merin Bozeman's Timeline

1836
December 1, 1836
Pickens, GA, United States
1858
November 29, 1858
1860
December 16, 1860
1867
April 20, 1867
Age 30
East of present day Livingston, MT, United States
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Sunset Hills Cemetery, Bozeman, MT, United States