In the pantheon of figures who shaped the American West, the sons of presidents are not often the first to come to mind. Yet, for over a decade, the rugged landscape of Montana was the backdrop for the ambitious, and often tumultuous, career of Russell Benjamin Harrison, the eldest son of the 23rd U.S. President, Benjamin Harrison. Far from the polished political circles of Washington D.C. and Indianapolis, Russell carved out a distinct identity as a federal official, cattleman, newspaper publisher, and political operator during Montana’s formative transition from a raw territory to a fledgling state. His time in the Treasure State was a compelling chapter of Western enterprise, marked by promising ventures, financial missteps, and high-profile scandal, revealing a man determined to make his own mark under the long shadow of his family name.
Harrison’s arrival in Montana was precipitated by a federal appointment, a common path for well-connected young men of his era. A graduate of Lafayette College with a degree in mining and engineering, he was well-suited for the position he secured in 1878: assayer in charge of the United States Assay Office in Helena.^1 The appointment, secured through the influence of his father, then a U.S. Senator from Indiana, placed the 24-year-old Harrison at the very heart of Montana’s primary industry. The Helena Assay Office, established in 1877, was a critical piece of federal infrastructure, responsible for melting and evaluating the immense mineral wealth pouring out of the territory's mines.^2 As assayer, Harrison was not merely a bureaucrat; he was the trusted custodian of gold dust and nuggets, transforming them into the solid bars of bullion that fueled the nation’s economy. His work was significant enough that he was credited with providing valuable assistance to U.S. Treasury Secretary John Sherman during the resumption of specie payments in 1879.^3 This position immediately established him as a man of importance in Helena, a bustling frontier capital built on the riches of Last Chance Gulch.
Beyond his official duties, Harrison, like many ambitious newcomers, was drawn to the vast economic potential of the Montana frontier. He plunged into the booming cattle industry, a venture that defined the territory in the 1880s. The open ranges, covered in nutritious grasses, seemed to promise limitless profits. Harrison became deeply involved, not just as an investor but as an organizer, serving as the secretary of the powerful Montana Stock Growers Association.^4 This organization was the central nervous system of the cattle kingdom, grappling with issues from rustling and disease to the logistics of getting beef to eastern markets. His role placed him among the territory’s most influential "cattle kings" and demonstrated a commitment to the industry’s success.
However, Harrison's entrepreneurial spirit often outpaced his business acumen. A biographical sketch from the Indiana Historical Society, which houses his papers, notes that he engaged in "some ill-conceived ventures in cattle and mining enterprises" which "resulted in catastrophe" by 1886.^5 The mid-1880s were a perilous time for the cattle industry, culminating in the disastrous winter of 1886-87, which decimated herds across the northern plains and bankrupted many ranchers. Harrison’s financial troubles were severe enough that a "major scandal was averted by the intervention of his father," who found his son’s speculative habits a source of great worry.^6 This episode was a harsh lesson in the volatility of the Western economy, a boom-and-bust cycle that could build fortunes as quickly as it could shatter them.
It was during this initial period in Montana that Harrison also started his family. In 1884, he married Mary Angeline Saunders, the daughter of Alvin Saunders, the last Territorial Governor of Nebraska.^7 Their marriage solidified his social standing and connected him to another prominent Western political family. Though he and his family would briefly move to New York in the mid-1880s, the pull of Montana and its opportunities proved strong.
Harrison returned to the Treasure State with renewed ambition, this time turning his attention to the power of the press. In 1890, a year after Montana achieved statehood and his father occupied the White House, he purchased the Helena Daily Journal.^8 As a newspaper publisher in the newly minted state capital, Harrison was no longer just a participant in Montana’s affairs but a shaper of public opinion. Helena in the early 1890s was a hotbed of political intrigue, most notably the fierce and famously corrupt "Capital Fight," a battle between Helena and the copper-king Marcus Daly’s city of Anaconda for the permanent seat of state government. Owning a newspaper provided Harrison with a powerful platform to champion the Republican Party and his own business and political interests in this turbulent environment.
His ownership of the newspaper, however, also entangled him in one of the most public and dramatic episodes of his life in the West. His penchant for aggressive journalism led to a high-stakes legal battle with John Schuyler Crosby, a former Territorial Governor of Montana. The conflict arose after Harrison’s paper, then called the Montana Stockmen’s Journal, reprinted an article from a Buffalo, New York, newspaper that implicated Crosby in a jewel theft at a society dinner.^9 Crosby, a Democrat, sued for libel in 1889, shortly after Benjamin Harrison’s presidential inauguration. The affair escalated dramatically when Russell Harrison was arrested and briefly held in custody.
The case became a sensation, pitting the president's son against a former governor. Harrison did not back down. He defended himself vigorously, launching counter-attacks on Crosby’s character and that of his chief witness. The extensive correspondence related to this lawsuit, preserved in his personal papers, shows a man who was both fiercely protective of his reputation and adept at the bare-knuckle tactics of frontier politics.^10 While the legal outcome was complex, the episode cemented Harrison’s reputation as a combative and influential figure in Montana, unafraid to leverage his connections and his newspaper to fight his battles in the public square.
Russell Harrison’s years in Montana were a microcosm of the Gilded Age West—a story of ambition, speculation, political maneuvering, and the quest for a personal legacy. He was a complex figure, a man who enjoyed the privileges of his name but who also threw himself into the grit and uncertainty of the frontier. He wasn't merely a sojourner; he was an active participant in the building of a state. He managed a federal office crucial to the mining economy, helped organize the powerful cattle industry, and wielded the influence of the press during a period of intense political rivalry. His financial failures were as notable as his successes, and his public brawls were the stuff of local legend.
By the mid-1890s, Harrison's focus began to shift back eastward. He became president of an electric railway company in Terre Haute, Indiana, and was eventually admitted to the bar.^11 His time as a full-time resident of the Treasure State came to an end, though he continued to hold investments and land interests in Montana. The son who had gone west to seek his fortune returned a seasoned and perhaps hardened businessman and political player. His Montana experience, with all its triumphs and tribulations, had been a crucible, forging an identity separate from that of his famous father, on a stage as vast and unforgiving as the Big Sky country itself.
"Cornelius Hedges Story." Grand Lodge of Montana. Accessed June 21, 2025. https://www.grandlodgemontana.org/mmn/Cornelius%20Hedges%20Story/files/basic-html/page238.html.
Geni.com. "Russell Benjamin Harrison (1854 - 1936)." Accessed June 21, 2025. https://www.geni.com/people/Russell-Harrison/6000000004133101861.
Indiana Historical Society. "RUSSELL B. HARRISON COLLECTION, 1880-1908." Accessed June 21, 2025. https://indianahistory.org/wp-content/uploads/russell-b-harrison-collection.pdf.
Montana Historical Society. "Helena's West Side: A Walking Tour." Accessed June 21, 2025. https://mhs.mt.gov/Shpo/docs/WestSide.pdf.
Presidential History Geeks. "Presidents' Children: Russell Benjamin Harrison." LiveJournal. May 20, 2015. Accessed June 21, 2025. https://potus-geeks.livejournal.com/597508.html.
The Raab Collection. "Rutherford B. Hayes Appoints Russell Benjamin Harrison, Son of the Future President, to the Position of Assayer at the Original Gold Mines of Montana." Accessed June 21, 2025. https://www.raabcollection.com/rutherford-b-hayes-autograph/rutherford-b-hayes-signed-rutherford-b-hayes-appoints-russell-benjamin.
^1^ "Cornelius Hedges Story," Grand Lodge of Montana, accessed June 21, 2025, https://www.grandlodgemontana.org/mmn/Cornelius%20Hedges%20Story/files/basic-html/page238.html.
^2^ The Raab Collection, "Rutherford B. Hayes Appoints Russell Benjamin Harrison, Son of the Future President, to the Position of Assayer at the Original Gold Mines of Montana," accessed June 21, 2025, https://www.raabcollection.com/rutherford-b-hayes-autograph/rutherford-b-hayes-signed-rutherford-b-hayes-appoints-russell-benjamin.
^3^ Indiana Historical Society, "RUSSELL B. HARRISON COLLECTION, 1880-1908," accessed June 21, 2025, https://indianahistory.org/wp-content/uploads/russell-b-harrison-collection.pdf.
^4^ "Cornelius Hedges Story," Grand Lodge of Montana.
^5^ Indiana Historical Society, "RUSSELL B. HARRISON COLLECTION."
^6^ Ibid.
^7^ Geni.com, "Russell Benjamin Harrison (1854 - 1936)," accessed June 21, 2025, https://www.geni.com/people/Russell-Harrison/6000000004133101861.
^8^ Presidential History Geeks, "Presidents' Children: Russell Benjamin Harrison," LiveJournal, May 20, 2015, accessed June 21, 2025, https://potus-geeks.livejournal.com/597508.html.
^9^ Indiana Historical Society, "RUSSELL B. HARRISON COLLECTION."
^10^ Ibid.
^11^ Presidential History Geeks, "Presidents' Children."