JUNE 2023 Ghost Towns and History of Montana Newsletter From The Stanford World, June 12, 1913 A FARM OF HER OWN Accessed via: montananewspapers.org Historians estimate that up to 18 percent of homesteaders in Montana were unmarried women. Passage of the Homestead Act of 1862 allowed any twenty-one-yearold head of household the right to homestead federal land. Single, widowed, and divorced women fit this description, and they crossed the country to file homestead claims of 160 acres. After the turn of the century, when the Enlarged Homestead Act doubled the acreage to 320, even more women took up free land in Montana. While not all succeeded, those who did proved that women were up to the task. Gwenllian Evans was Montana’s first female homesteader. A widow from Wales, she emigrated to the United States in 1868. Her son, Morgan Evans, was Marcus Daly’s land agent and a well-known Deer Lodge valley rancher. In 1870, Gwenllian Evans filed on land that later became the town of Opportunity; she received her patent in 1872. She was one of the territory’s first post mistresses and lived on her homestead until her death in 1892. The Enlarged Homestead Act of 1909 marked the beginning of Montana’s homesteading boom in earnest, and brought many more single women to Montana. Women, like men, homesteaded for a variety of reasons and did not always intend to stay. Grace Binks, Ina Dana, and Margaret Majors In 1911, thirty-nine-year-old Grace Binks (left) and twenty-nine-year-old Margaret Major (right) came to Sumatra, Montana (northwestern Rosebud County) as part of a group of Iowa homesteaders. The women stayed only a year, paying cash to “commute” their homesteads into purchased land. MHS Photo Archives PAc 92-62 p.19 #C
P a g e 2 G h o s t T o w n s a n d H i s t o r y o f M o n t a n a N e w s l e t t e r Rosie Roesler, sitting here on a sulky plow, received her homestead patent for 320 acres in Prairie County in 1915. Photo by Evelyn Cameron, 1912. PAc 90 -87.G065-006 homesteaded together in the Sumatra area in Rosebud County in 1911. The three women from Ottumwa, Iowa, along with Dana’s mother, came for the adventure. They claimed land, used each other as witnesses for final proof of occupancy, and then commuted their patents by buying their properties. Dana and Binks each paid $200 for their land titles. All three women left their claims after a year. A photo album documents the pride they felt in their accomplishments on the land, details the homes they made, and the neighbors they enjoyed. Some women homesteaded in partnership with other family members to accumulate large holdings. The Scherlie family claimed land in a desolate area in Blaine County called the Big Flat. Thirty-two-year-old Anna Scherlie filed in 1913 on land adjacent to two of her brothers’ claims and three of her sisters’. At that time, women made up about one-fourth of the total homestead applicants in the four surrounding townships. By 1916, Anna Scherlie had forty acres planted in wheat, oats, and flax. Isolation on the Big Flat led many settlers to winter elsewhere, and Scherlie was no exception. Legend has it that during the winters she went to St. Paul to work for the family of railroad magnate James J. Hill. Over the decades, Scherlie made few changes to her small, wood-frame shack, adding only a vestibule she used as a summer kitchen, storage shed, and laundry. She remained in that shack on her land until 1968. Many homesteading women came to Montana from Canada, where single women could not claim land until the 1930s. They often filed on claims in Montana, but continued to work in Canada while they proved up. One of these independent women was teacher Laura Etta Smalley, who arrived from Edmonton, Alberta, in 1910. Smalley had a meticulous plan, and luck was with her all the way. Over the long Easter weekend, Smalley packed her bag and boarded the train for Inverness, Montana. She arrived in the middle of the night. The hotel was under construction, but the clerk rented her an unfinished room. The next morning, the land locator took her out to view available claims. Smalley found the land she wanted and took the night train to Havre to file. Because it was not safe for single women to travel alone, the locator’s secretary kindly accompanied her. Smalley arrived at the Havre land office on April 1, 1910, the first day a person could file under the new Enlarged Homestead Act. She was the first in line. Within two minutes, many other land seekers were in line behind her. Smalley returned to Canada, finished out the school year, and then returned to Montana. In Havre, she bought a readymade shack and filled it with furniture and supplies. Men then transported the shack on two wagons twenty-six miles out to her claim and dropped her off. That fall, Smalley returned to teach in Edmonton, but by the opening of the 1911-1912 school year, she had secured a teaching position in Inverness.
P a g e 3 G h o s t T o w n s a n d H i s t o r y o f M o n t a n a N e w s l e t t e r In 1914, Laura Smalley married Will Bangs. Smalley moved to her husband’s homestead, but kept her own. And that was good thing, since Bangs lost his farm in 1926. The family, which then included four children, moved to Smalley’s tiny claim shack and their home grew around it. Laura Smalley Bangs died at eighty-seven in 1973, before she could see her grandson work the land she claimed. These and other women take their place alongside their male counterparts who came to Montana for the opportunities the land offered. Like their counterparts, not all of them succeeded. But those who stayed, and prospered with their land, like Gwenllian Evans, Anna Scherlie, and Laura Smalley Bangs, made significant contributions to Montana’s agricultural history. -Ellen Baumler, From the Women’s History Matters blog at: https:// montanawomenshistory.org/ For more on rural Montana women, see these articles on ranchwoman Nannie Alderson and post-World War II home demonstration clubs. The Scherlie Homestead is featured on the WHM Places page! Sources Bangs Farm, Centennial Farm and Ranch Program. Montana History Wiki at http:// montanahistorywiki.pbworks.com/w/page/40438395/Bangs%20Farm. Baumler. Ellen. “Celestia Alice Earp.” In Ellen Baumler, Beyond Spirit Tailings: Montana’s Mysteries, Ghosts and Haunted Places, 65-68. Helena: Montana Historical Society, 2005. Carter, Sarah. Montana Women Homesteaders: A Field of One’s Own. Helena: Farcountry Press, 2009. Cederburg, Leon, and Nellie Cederburg. Anna Scherlie Homestead Shack, National Register of Historic Places Nomination, Montana State Historic Preservation Office, Helena. Because only “heads of households” were allowed to take up homesteads, most women homesteaders were single, divorced, or widowed. A married woman could not homestead unless she proved that her husband played no part in her support. Mildred Hunt, who homesteaded near Fort Benton, received her patent in 1914, but not until a physician from her home town testified that her husband was a “confirmed drunkard” who in no way contributed to her support. Her homestead shack sits right on the property line. Her friend Sophie Maud Jefferson homesteaded the adjacent property. Photo 1995-RP-535-A, Olverholser Historical Research Center, Fort Benton Ellen Baumler is an award-winning author and Montana historian. A master at linking history with modern-day supernatural events, Ellen's true stories have delighted audiences across the state. She lives in Helena in a century-old house with her husband, Mark, and its resident spirits. To view and purchase Ellen’s books, visit: http://ellenbaumler.blogspot.com/p/my-books.html Please be sure to share this newsletter with a friend!
P a g e 4 G h o s t T o w n s a n d H i s t o r y o f M o n t a n a N e w s l e t t e r MCMASTER RANCH ADDED TO THE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES Jan 18, 2022 Story by: Carrie Kiely, Archaeologist, Butte Field Office The Butte Field Office announces the listing of the McMaster Ranch, north of Winston, Mont., on the National Register of Historic Places. The ranch was started in 1893 by William McMaster, who came to Montana from Pittsburg, Penn. A blacksmith, William opened his first shop in Helena to raise money for buying land and eventually getting married. By 1898, he was living on the ranch, raising cattle as well as keeping up his blacksmithing. His wife, Elizabeth, and their son James had moved out to Montana from Pittsburgh by then and actively participated in ranch life. With few exceptions, the ranch has retained most of its buildings, giving it much the same appearance as when William was alive. Many of the older buildings on the ranch feature a type of exterior post construction that joins clapboards, which appears to be William’s own style of carpentry. Among the unique features of the ranch are the many iron latches, hooks and bands fashioned by William in his smithy. His use of cast iron went beyond the usual products of barrel bands, wagon wheels and horseshoes. He made straight iron to reinforce fences and gates; hooks of various sizes with latches for the doors to the buildings; and several of his own styles of horseshoes. For three generations, the McMaster family provided the local economy with a variety of meats from their livestock of cattle, pigs, and chickens. James McMaster acquired a butcher’s license to create specialty Outbuildings on the ranch, facing east toward the Little Belt Mountains. Photo by Bob Wick Forged iron wagon wheel assembly, complete with metal bands on the wheel and spoke. Photo by Carrie Kiely smoked meats for the Helena area. In 2004 the Butte Field Office acquired the ranch with assistance from the Land and Water Conservation Fund to expand the public’s access to outdoor recreation opportunities on the Missouri River. Along with the ranchland, the public also acquired a gem of architecture. –Courtesy of U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, accessed via: https://www.blm.gov/blog McMaster Ranch headquarters, facing east from Montana State Highway 287. Photo by Carrie Kiely
P a g e 5 G h o s t T o w n s a n d H i s t o r y o f M o n t a n a N e w s l e t t e r The Dunn Mines at Moose Lake Legend has it that one of the most profitable gold ventures near Moose Lake was the Dunn Mines. More than twenty five men at a time worked these mines and continued for four decades. John P. Dunn born in Little Falls, New York in September 1845 traveled from Bellevue, Iowa to Montana in 1864 with numerous other family members. First arriving in Butte it was not long before they moved on to Virginia City. John’s brother staked a claim and soon sold it for $2,000 then left “never to be seen again.” John returned to Iowa and married Catherine (Kate) Sophia Dyas and they started a family. But in the late 1870’s he felt the “lure of the mountains” and returned to Butte. In 1880, Kate and three small children Robert, Lulu and Harry joined him. They bought a six room house and lived there four years. John worked various jobs including running a ranch at Warm Springs and hauling bullion from the Elkhorn mine to Butte. When Marcus Daly began construction of his smelter in Anaconda in 1883, Dunn realized that was where the money was going to be and opened up a grocery store on Commercial Avenue. He then bought a lot from Marcus and Maggie Daly and built a home on West Park Street. Three years after moving to Anaconda, their youngest child Bessie (later known as Betty) was born. John P. Dunn Photo by Jolene Ewert-Hintz Although the grocery store was successful, John loved mining and grub staked many prospector’s and because of this his name appears on many claims in both Deer Lodge and Granite County Courthouses. In 1895, John and companions made a strike at Moose Lake and began staking many claims east of the lake. Often he used the name “Gold” such as Gold Hill, Gold Eagle, Gold Comet, Gold Enuf. But the richer claims were Daisy, Dandy, Abe Lincoln, Chief, Old Dominion, Toro and many others. By 1896 Dunn sold the grocery store and gave all of his energy to developing claims and building a mill. He eventually owned more than thirty claims running up both sides of the narrow canyon and extending almost to the lakes southern end. These claims produced for forty years and in 1902 the Mail stated that Dunn was shipping ore worth $80 a ton from the Lincoln group of claims. In 1903, John created “The Moose Lake Mining Company, Inc.” and continued building on his mill. The ore was hauled from the mines up a steep hillside where it was crushed and crudely processed then fell through chutes to wagons parked below. Mill workers said “it was wood fired and a bit of a disaster but it worked.” When living at the lake the Dunn family resided in a small prospectors cabin built by George Watsoon the east shore looking out at the Pintlers. In due time a cook cabin and sleeping cabin
P a g e 6 G h o s t T o w n s a n d H i s t o r y o f M o n t a n a N e w s l e t t e r were added to the scene. In the beginning the family came by horse drawn wagons and stopped overnight at Strom’s Wayside Station on Georgetown Lake. In later years they used a Model T truck to haul everyone the 50 miles from Anaconda around the south side of Georgetown Lake and then followed section lines to the Middle Fork Canyon. The whole family pitched in to help and one year when the smelter was on strike, even the in-laws including newlyweds Harry and Jane, spent months working at the Abe Lincoln. In 1919 the John P. Dunn Mining Company was incorporated with John as President, Bessie as Secretary, Robert as treasurer and Harry and Tom Masten (Bessie’s then husband ) on the Board. Lulu’s Husband William Hayes, usually was employed elsewhere. In 1922 just two years before the Forest service platted cottage sites around the lake, John obtained a homestead title for 160 acres that included 177 feet of lakeside frontage; the meadow where the cabins were located and then a narrow corridor that extended beyond the north end of the lake then west to the Middle Fork and north for one mile along the Middle Fork. Just two years later Kate died from Chronic Nephritis. The Hayes family who had provided care for her moved into the West Park Avenue home to care for John. John deeded all of the homestead to Bessie and on December 12, 1925 died of acute Bronchopneumonia at the West Park Avenue home in Anaconda. Daughter Bessie, now known as Betty (twice divorced and three times a bride) somehow influenced her father to give her sole ownership of the seven patented claims, many unpatented claims, all of the mines, the mill and all of the outbuildings. -Courtesy of The Granite County History Blog The purpose of the Granite County History Blog (https://granitecountyhistory.blogspot.com/) is to share and seek information on the history of Granite County, Montana. In a few cases our topics will lap over into adjacent counties as mining districts especially do not respect the later boundaries imposed by politicians! It is a project of members of the Granite County Historical Society, an organization founded in 1978 by the late Barry Engrav of Philipsburg and now comprised of 8 members dedicated to preserving and interpreting historical documents, artifacts, and sites in the greater Philipsburg area. Our goal is to interest current residents, folks with family roots, and those with an academic interest in the area to add their knowledge to this blog as an ongoing project to deepen and in some cases correct the narrative of the people and events that shaped history in this part of Montana. The recent explosion of scanned historical documents onto the internet is making it possible to greatly speed up historical research, refine historical chronology, and deepen historical interpretation. Perhaps we are entering into a "golden age" of research into our past! Anyone with an interest in the Philipsburg area or Montana history is invited to discuss the topics of our posts, as well as their own data and sources, which we hope will create an ongoing dialogue about the area now known as Granite County. STONEWALL HALL- From 1865 to 1875 when Virginia City was Montana’s territorial capital, the Territorial Legislature met on the second floor of this stone building. Constructed in 1864, it is Montana’s oldest standing capitol building. The second floor also housed the Virginia City Lyceum, a small library for “civilized” young men. The retail clothing store of Greenhood, Bohm & Company, a national chain whose company salesmen traveled by stage across Montana, occupied the first floor. After 1882, R. O. Hickman and then Jacob Albright operated the clothing store. In 1914, part of the 1890s storefront was removed and the building was converted into the Dudley Garage.-National Register of Historic Places in Cooperation with https://mhs.mt.gov/ Photo by Jolene Ewert-Hintz
P a g e 7 G h o s t T o w n s a n d H i s t o r y o f M o n t a n a N e w s l e t t e r From the diary of Kate Dunlap who told of her experiences of the journey from Iowa to Montana. August 16, 1864: Arrived at Bannack, and now my friends, I suppose you want to hear what I’ve to say about this place. Well, I would now stop, if it was not for your gratification for that alone, will I continue my narrative, which is already too long. My greatest difficulty has been to condense and shorten my journal. The half is not told, only the particular event of each day. We are thankful to our Heavenly Father that he has brought us safe to our journey’s end. Many were attacked by Indians just before and after us. From the time we left Ft Larimie till we reached Black Foot we never even saw one. A few persons were killed, and other wounded and much stock run off – – But enough of this -. We are now camped on ” Yankee Flats “, the part of Bannack lying on the South and west bank of Grass Hopper;- on the other side is Bannack proper, where the stores, hotels and shops are kept. One half mile down in the canyon is another village, called Marysville , but also belonging to Bannack. At this latter place are the quartz mills, and on the mountains are the leads of gold. Three miles further down in the narrow canyon is another collection of loe huts called “New Jerusalem “, the cabins of the miners. There are 50 or 60 houses in Yankee Flats, about 300 in Bannack proper, and about 150 or 200 in Marysville . They are built of straight pine logs, one story, covered with poles over which is spread a coat of mud and then covered with two or three inches of gravel. There is no loft to the houses but the space is continuous from the floor to the roof. Many have raw hides, with the hair side up, spread over the ground which answers a good purpose. Some have plank floors, while some have no windows, and most of them hit one. But I must say that many of the cabins are built in a neat style with projecting eves and ends of the roofs. On all sides are immense mountains partially covered with pine and cedar, and at this point the valley is only about 30 or 40 rods wide. Further up the distance between the bases of the mountains widens till there is quite a valley, while below it becomes narrower, till there is only a channel for the creek. At this point the mining commences, and I understand extends down stream 6 or 8 miles. There is but one street in town, which runs nearly N.W. and the same on Gunhe Flats There are no school houses, churchBannack, Montana- Main Street 1864 Photo by Jolene Ewert-Hintz Bannack, Montana- Main Street 2015 es nor public building of any kind, unless it be the Governor’s house which is a one story log cabin like the rest. There are several stores, hotels, groceries, and numerous saloons. There is one saw-mill here, and three others 6 to 8 miles up the creek and out in the kanyans of the mountains; and out in the valley the stock is herded by ranchmen at 2 dollars per head per moth for horses, and one dollar for oxen.
P a g e 8 G h o s t T o w n s a n d H i s t o r y o f M o n t a n a N e w s l e t t e r Butte-Silver Bow Public Archives Every person, through their life, shapes local and American History. Archives are here to protect that history. 1917 Copper is at $29.19 in 1917 and the year opens with the Anaconda Company announcing that mining profits are the greatest ever known. With over $3,000,000,000 in mine output, copper is the sensation of the year. By February of 1917, the United States faces the great danger of war. President Wilson is under pressure from Allies to enter the Great War. In March, the nation is facing a drought, a food shortage, and import/export activities are at a standstill. The copper producers have pledged their major ore to the United States of America military efforts. John D. Ryan and William A. Clark serve on the Sub-Committee on raw materials, with John D. Ryan appointed as Chairman. This year is the centennial anniversary of World War I. On April 6, 2017, The United States of America Declares War on Germany and enters the Great War. In the halls of Congress, Miss Jeannette Rankin rose to answer the roll call vote. She stated, “I want to stand by my country, but I cannot vote for war.” She was placed on the list of those who opposed the resolution declaring the existence of a State of War. Montana in 1917, surpassed all states in enlistment rates and the draft quotas, with 12,500 volunteers and 40,000 men drafted. These figures comprise 10% of Montana’s population. 1917 was also the year that cost the Butte’s young men their lives. Between January to June of 1917, 36 men lost their lives in industrial accidents. This is before the North Butte Mining Company fire at the Granite Mountain and Speculator Mines, where 168 men lost their lives. In addition, thirty men would succumb to tuberculosis in 1917. –Courtesy of BSB Public Archives The Butte-Silver Bow Public Archives collections provide dynamic insights into the history of copper mining and the electrification of America, as well as essential information on a number of subjects in the American West, including the history of women and immigrant groups, mining technology, environmental history, and labor history. Learn more at: https://buttearchives.org/ My/Donor Information: SUBSCRIBE TO THE GHOST TOWNS AND HISTORY OF MONTANA NEWSLETTER! Renewal? Y/N Send a Gift to: NAME____________________________________ NAME___________________________________ ADDRESS__________________________________ ADDRESS_________________________________ CITY______________________________________ CITY_____________________________________ STATE__________________ZIP________________STATE_________________ ZIP________________ Yearly subscriptions are $19.95 (published monthly). Please make checks payable to Ghost Towns & History of MT, LLC and send with this clipping to P.O. Box 932 Anaconda, MT 59711
1 Publizr