Old Missoula

A Look At Missoula’s Poverty – 1918

A letter to the editor in The Daily Missoulian in 1918 caught my eye when reading about another big problem Missoula was facing at that time – the Spanish Influenza epidemic. The letter was written by Captain Richard G. Guest who headed the Salvation Army in Missoula. This heroic young man passed through Missoula’s history with barley a glance.

You’re Welcome, Captain.

Editor Missoulian: May I take the opportunity of thanking you for the very realistic description you gave of the conditions found among the poor in Missoula. As I have gone about this week, asking help for this cause, I have been astonished at the large number of people who have referred to the article written in Sunday morning’s paper.

I have been in this work for a number of years, our cause has caused some comment, the newspapers have been at our service, but I have never had an article written that has brought such bountiful returns, or caused so much talk.

In the name of humanity among whom I labor, I want to thank you, and all those who have helped to make our Christmas effort, as far as it has gone, a success; we still have some days left before Christmas, our lists continue to grow; we shall appreciate all the help given to “keep the pot boiling.” Yours serving humanity,

Captain Richard G. Guest.

 

The above letter to the editor appeared in The Daily Missoulian on December 12, 1918

https://www.newspapers.com/image/348684053/

 

The article which Captain Richard G. Guest referred to appeared in The Daily Missoulian on 12/8/1918. Keep in mind this article was written in the midst of the deadly Spanish Influenza epidemic of 1918, as well at the end of horrific WWI.

The article is quoted below:

 

OTHER SIDE IS USUAL SIGHT TO CAPTAIN GUEST

Missoulian Reporter Learns Something of Missoula Unknown Before.

Service Stars Seen In Our “Poverty Row”

Brave Women Strive While the Men Are Away With the Colors of America.

You people of the upper crust, sitting snugly before your fireplaces, little do you know of the other side – the squalor, the suffering, the poverty within your midst.

“The Garden city” is your name for Missoula. It is a garden city. The vast majority of its people are living well. The majority has never felt the gnaw of hunger.

But somewhere on the north side, in the shadow of a mountain, is Poverty Row. Cowering under the perpendicular base of a hill, stand rickety mansions that people call “home.”

“There is no poverty in Missoula,” you say.

That is what a Missoulian reporter said before he accompanied Captain Guest of the Salvation Army on his daily tour of mercy.

But he doesn’t say that now. He has seen the other side.

Entering “The Other Side.”

It was yesterday in the late afternoon when Captain Guest left the haunt of automobiles and well-clothed people and strode through by-streets and alleys. The December sun was shining when he emerged from a tangle of roundhouses and engines, and walked up the street beneath the hill.

Before shabby fences confronting shabbier houses, dogs lay sprawled. They dragged themselves to their feet and barked uncertain welcome to Captain Guest. They dovetailed with the surroundings.

But the windows of the houses stood out like fire from the flapping boards and blistered paint.

In them were service flags! And faded at that. They had been there for a long time. And on all that Poverty Row there was but one flag with a single star. One held five. Another four. And two held three!

There is where the sacrifice is. On that street cringing beneath the hill. The “men folks” were fighting the hun. And the women are fighting the poverty.

The Youngster Is Glad.

Captain Guest lifted an unhinged gate from its place and entered a yard. From behind a corner, a shocky head appeared. Then a mouth spread over a dirty face in joyous greeting. The little figure scudded through the door. “Ma,” he shouted, “here’s Cappin’ Guest.”

“Ma” came from the room where invalided “pa” was lying, and held the door open for entrance. She smoothed a soiled apron and tucked in a lock of lifeless hair.

“Come in, Captain. Come in.” And she wrinkled her face further with a smile.

The inside of that room was bare, save for two stools, a table, a box of a stove, and a wheel chair from whose depths peered the face of “little brother” – all eyes and smiles for Captain Guest.

No Complaints There.

There was no complaint, even though the Salvation officer inquired as to the woodpile, the children’s clothing, grandfather’s medicine and the daughter’s husband who had “run away.” There was not a whimper.

But Captain Guest wrote something in a book before he left.

The door groaned open and “grandson” toddled in, saluted from under a soldier hat, and pointed a little finger to the service flag in the window.

Four doors up the street Captain Guest opened another gate. From a woodshed came sounds of an axe chopping on wood. Captain Guest quickened his pace.

Captain Scolds “Mother.”

“Here, Mother,” he called. “I told you I’d chop that wood.”

“Mother” came from the woodshed, hobbling on a stick. She hung her head like a child caught stealing jam.

“Thought I’d better keep ahead a little, Captain,” she explained. “No tellin’ when snow’ll come.”

Together they entered the house, the hand of Captain Guest co-operating with the stick.

“That medicine helped you, didn’t it, Mother?” he was saying.

“Yes. It burns like fire,” she answered.

Within the room was the cooking stove, the table and the bed. On the table was a coffee pot.

“Must have my coffee these afternoons,” said “Mother,” as she placed the urn out of sight.

Again there was no complaint. But Captain Guest wrote something in his book again, and left a new formula for the remedy of rheumatism.

“Let us pray,” said “Mother.”

Captain Guest knelt, and “Mother” labored to her knees.

“Oh, Father in Heaven, help ‘Mother’s rheumatism and help – “

It was over, and they rose again. At the door the mercy worker paused.

“Did you get the money to pay that $2.50 tax?” he asked.

“Yes,” said ‘Mother.’ “I borrowed it. My, but it hurts me when I climb those stairs at city hall.”

Captain Guest wrote again in his book.

The next place was the home of three boys in khaki. Their mother met Captain Guest at the door. Within that door were homely attempts which hinted of something better in days gone by.

The Shrine of the Household.

On the wall, surrounded by a massive gilt frame, was a group picture of a company of marines.

The mother caught a glance toward the picture, and pointed with pride, “There is my boy,” she said, “up there in the top row.”

Then from a clutter of bric-a-brac on an ancient buffet, she took a snapshot, framed in metal, of three “Yanks” in uniform, her boy was one.

“They went through it all,” she said, “and came out without a scratch. I’ll have a wonderful Christmas this year, Captain.”

The little lady seated herself on the sofa beneath the picture of the marines. Again that ghost of better days entered the cramped room. She sat with fingers entwined, elbows out and figure rigid. Given long gloves and a flare-sleeved gown, the tin-type would have been complete.

She Needed Nothing.

“Anything needed?”

That was the final question of Captain Guest.

The little lady smiled happily. “No,” she said, “my allotment came today.”

It was nearly dark when Captain Guest left poverty Row, under the hill. He wrote in his book as he walked.

“The Salvation Army hopes to bring Christmas to those people,” he confided to the reporter.

 

The above article appeared in The Daily Missoulian on December 8, 1918.

https://www.newspapers.com/image/348683830/

Peter Whaley

Pioneer Goes Over The Divide

Peter Whaley Veteran of Alder Gulch And Bitter Root, Answers Last Call.

Peter Whaley, pioneer of Montana, passes away yesterday morning at his home on the south side, after a lingering illness. For weeks his death had been hourly expected, but his wonderfully strong constitution resisted the attack of the dread cancer long after an ordinary man would have succumbed. For a fortnight the members of his family have been with him, waiting for the end which was inevitable. Though there is deep sorrow, yet there is the comforting thought that death brought relief from terrible suffering.

Peter Whaley was born in Tella, County Carlo [Carlow], Ireland, June 29, 1828. He came to America when 13 years old. In 1850 he went to California and was always, after that, a man of the west. In 1858 Mr. Whaley was married in Hastings, Minn., to Miss Hannah Whitehead.

In 1863 he came to Montana, attracted to Alder gulch by the gold discoveries. After May of that year Montana was his home. In 1874 he was appointed Indian agent at the Flathead agency. Two years later he located in the Bitter Root valley, near Stevensville and lived there until six years ago, when he came to Missoula. Here his sunset days were spent. He had a host of friends and there are many mourners over his passing. Mr. Whaley was one of the first county commissioners in Montana after the territory was organized.

Of his family, eight children survive the old pioneer; all of them were with him when the end came. The surviving members are D. J. Whaley, whose home is with his family on the south side; Mrs. N. J. Tillman of Florence; E. C. Whaley of Hamilton; C. P. Whaley and M. L. Whaley of Stevensville; Misses Mamie and Annie Whaley of Missoula; Arthur R. Whaley of Wallace, Idaho.

Funeral services will be held at 9:30 o’clock Wednesday morning. Burial will be in the Catholic cemetery.

 

The above obituary appeared in The Missoulian on June 18, 1912

https://www.newspapers.com/image/349085914/?terms=peter%2Bwhaley

 

Hannah Whitehead Whaley

Pioneer Woman Dies At Home In Missoula

Mrs. Hannah Whaley Came to Montana in 1863.

Mrs. Hannah E. Whaley, a pioneer resident of Montana, died at her home at 514 Cleveland street, early yesterday morning. General debility due to old age was the cause of her death. Mrs. Whaley has been a resident of Missoula for the past 13 years and has been in Montana since 1863. Her age was 83 years, three months and four days at the time of her death.

Mrs. Whaley was born at Summersette (sic), Ohio, on January 18, 1836, and married Peter Whaley at Hastings, Minn., May 25, 1858. She is survived by five sons and three daughters, David, Clement and Mathew
Whaley are residents of Missoula, E. C. Whaley resides at Hamilton and Arthur Whaley is of Wallace, Idaho. Misses Mary and Anna Whaley live in Missoula and the other daughter, Mrs. N. J. Tillman, is of Florence.

Peter Whaley died several years ago in Missoula. He came to Montana in 1863 with Mrs. Whaley. They were attracted to Alder gulch by the gold discoveries. In 1874 Mr. Whaley was appointed Indian agent at the Flathead agency. Two years later they moved to the Bitter Root valley, near Stevensville and lived there until 13 years ago, when they moved to Missoula.

Funeral services will be held tomorrow morning at 9 o’clock from the Church of St. Francis Xavier. Interment will be made in St. Mary’s cemetery.

 

The above obituary appeared in The Daily Missoulian on May 5, 1919.

https://www.newspapers.com/image/349040905/?terms=whaley

 

Man of the West

Below is a Peter Whaley biography from “An Illustrated History of the State of Montana” by Joaquin Miller:

Peter Whaley, a Montana pioneer of 1863, was born in Tullow, county Carlow, Ireland, June 29, 1828, a son of Peter and Mary Ann (Clary) Whaley, who had six children in their native land. In 1838 the father emigrated to America, to enjoy the liberty denied him in his beloved native land, and to make a home for his family under better advantages. He succeeded in saving sufficient money to send for his family in 1841, and they immediately joined him in this country, having spent thirty-five days in crossing the ocean. They located in Jo Daviess county, Illinois, where Mr. Whaley followed lead mining many years, and his death occurred there at the age of sixty-seven years; his wife survived him on four years. They were devout Catholics, and were honest and worthy people.

Peter Whaley, the youngest of their four children, was thirteen years of age when he came to the United States, and remained with his parents until reaching years of maturity. In the winter of 1849-50, via the Isthmus, he went to California, and followed mining at Shasta, French creek, Sonora, and Weaverville, where he often made as high as $200 a day. Two years afterward he returned to Wisconsin, but after spending six months there went again to California. Not meeting with as good success in mining as at first, he again returned East, and for the following three years was engaged with his brother in the mercantile business at Hatching, Minnesota. During that time they sold much on credit, and they failed to collect from $12,000 to $15,000. After his marriage, in 1859, our subject emigrated to Central City, Colorado; three years afterward went to the gold fields of Idaho, spent one winter at Camp Floyd; in the following spring went to the gold mines at Bannack, and two weeks later located at Alder Gulch. While there he was very successful in his mining operations, often making as high as $250 in a day, and was a witness to all the exciting times of that camp. From Alder Gulch he went to Diamond City, Meagher county, where, in company with his father-in-law, D. J. Whitehead, they opened numerous supply stores, and continued in that occupation until the camp was deserted. After following agricultural pursuits two years, Mr. Whaley received the appointment of United States Indian Agent from the Government, for the Flathead Indians; but one year afterward, on account of his strong Democratic belief, was removed from that position.

He then purchased 160 acres of his present farm, in the Bitter Root valley, three miles north of Stevensville, and erected a small log cabin. He has added to his original purchase until now he owns 400 acres, has a good frame residence, and all other necessary farm improvements.

May 20, 1859, Mr. Whaley was united in marriage with Miss Hannah Whitehead, a native of Somerset, Perry county county, Ohio. They brought their two eldest children, David J. and Julia, to this State. Six children have been added to the family in Montana, – Edmond C., Clement P., Matthew, Mary, Anna and Arthur. The family are strict adherents to the Catholic faith. In political matters, Mr. Whaley is a stanch Democrat.

 

More information about the Whaley family is available from The National Register of Historic Places / Whaley Homestead – see link below:

 

https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/e468df0a-4926-4e90-a639-8c08a0e6b0c6

Jacob Leiser – Missoula’s 1^st Jewish Citizen

 

Jacob Leiser Passes Peacefully Away

Jacob S. Leiser died at 2 o’clock this morning. With varying conditions he has been ill for ten days. An attack of acute bronchitis that then caused him to take to a bed of illness developed the more serious disorder, pneumonia. Within the week that this has prevailed his condition has been serious, but at times slight improvement has given hope to the anxious family and watching friends that life was to be spared. But their hopes proved disappointing.

By death has an active and well spent life been closed. Mr. Leiser was born in West Prussia, 61 years ago. In 1857 he emigrated to America. Spending a year in California, he went to Colorado. There he remained until 1866, when he moved to Helena. In Helena he conducted a merchant tailoring business, thriving in this line until 1870. A fire that year destroyed his store and stock, requiring that a new location be obtained. For this he came to Missoula. With his finances low by reason of his recent loss, his business career in Missoula was on a basis most modest.

With a small stock of notions he opened a store on West Front street. By strict and intelligent application to business he prospered. His stock, by increased patronage, was of necessity made larger. Within a brief time larger quarters were demanded. He filled the requirements by erecting a brick building which for the early time was an investment extraordinary, but demonstrated the confidence the builder had in the city’s future. Later he erected a two-story brick building. If there was nothing more to stand as a memorial for a good citizen, these would be adequate.

In 1875 Mr. Leiser was married to Miss Fannie Lebensberger of Deer Lodge.
The faithful wife now survives, and with Isaac and Miss Esther, son and daughter, is called to mourn the demise of a kind husband and father.

Mr. Leiser was a member of the Odd Fellows. With the order in Missoula his counsels were ever valuable, he being a charter member of Covenant lodge that was established nearly thirty years ago.

 

The above obituary appeared in The Missoulian on April 10, 1902

https://www.newspapers.com/image/349054220/?terms=leiser

 

Mrs. Francis Leiser

Few were aware of the serious illness of Mrs. Francis Leiser, whose death occurred early yesterday morning. She was a frail woman, but seemed to have a long lease on life. Deep regret will be felt by all who knew Mrs. Leiser, and she had an extensive acquaintance, especially among the old timers, being a pioneer woman. She and her husband, the late Jacob Leiser, came to Missoula when it was a straggling village and here they lived until summoned. Mrs. Leiser was a helpmeet for her husband. She was a good wife and a fond mother. She lived a life of usefulness, making bright and cheerful the home she loved. She was a modest, retiring little woman, simple in manner and tastes, a pleasant companion and a good friend. She leaves two children, Miss Esther and Mr. Isaac Leiser, who have the sincerest sympathy of a large circle of warm friends in their loss, which is also a loss to the community.

 

The above obituary appeared in The Missoulian on October 18, 1903.

https://www.newspapers.com/image/348677581/?terms=leiser

 

I. L. Leiser Dead At Seattle

Prominent and Well-liked Young Man Is Taken After Short Illness.

News of the death of Isaac L. Leiser in Seattle Monday night came as a sad shock to his many friends in Missoula. Miss Esther Leiser went Saturday night to be with her brother in response to a telegram telling of his illness, which began as ptomaine poisoning and developed into pneumonia. She is the only surviving member of the family. The body will be brought to Missoula Thursday and the funeral will be held Friday morning at the Elk’s temple. Interment will be in Missoula cemetery by the side of his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Leiser, both of whom died in this city 10 years ago. Isaac Leiser was born in Missoula 36 years ago. He was reared and educated in this city and was established in business here until he went about six years ago to be with the Burdett Brothers’ Jewelry company at Seattle. His last visit in Missoula was at the time of the state convention of Elks last summer.

 

The above obituary appeared in The Missoulian on March 25, 1914.

https://www.newspapers.com/image/349082401/?terms=isaac%2Bleiser

 

Retired Librarian Esther Leiser Killed Instantly While Crossing Broadway

Miss Esther Leiser, 80, retired librarian, was killed apparently instantly Monday shortly after 5 p.m. when struck by a truck while crossing the intersection of East Broadway and Pattee street.

The truck, a freight delivery type, was driven by Morris Ulrigg, 600 W. Kent Ave. Coroner Ralph W. Simmons quoted the driver as saying he had started up with a green light, but stopped the westbound truck in the middle of the west pedestrian lane because of a stopped car in front. When the car moved, he eased the truck ahead, not knowing the woman had stepped in front. Simmons said the woman was dragged about three feet by the vehicle.

The truck is a cab-over design, said Simmons, making it nearly impossible for the driver to see anyone approaching the vehicle from the right side, which is the driver’s blind side.

Coroner Simmons will meet Tuesday with personnel from the county attorney’s office to decide about an inquest, he said.

Miss Leiser, who lived at 312 E. Broadway, was born in Missoula Oct. 14, 1876 to Mr. and Mrs. Ike Leiser. Her father was a pioneer clothing merchant in Missoula. She attended Central Grade School, Missoula County High School and Montana State University. She worked many years at the Missoula Public Library before her retirement.

Miss Leiser was a charter member of the Montana State Library Assn. and attended the organizational meeting in Missoula in 1913. She had been in library work all her life. In 1894, when the Missoula Public Library was established in the Higgins Building, she helped the librarian, Mrs. She Rhinehart. When the present library building was built in 1903, Miss Leiser helped to catalogue the books. The second story was added to the present library in 1913, and reference material was put in the new addition. In 1916, Miss Leiser became the assistant and in 1920 she became the reference librarian. She held that post until her retirement on July 31, 1945. Miss Leiser was presented with an honorary lifetime membership in the Montana State Library Assn. in 1956.

The body is at Squire-Simmons-Carr Mortuary.

The death raised Montana’s 1957 traffic toll to 142, compared with 180 on the same date a year ago.

The woman’s death was the second within the city limits in 1957. The first victim was 8-year-old Delores Boushele who died June 27, after being hit by a car June 26 at the Urlin avenue underpass. Prior to the 1957 accidents, Missoula had not had a fatal accident since 1953.

The accident was the third fatal accident in Missoula county this year. Mrs. Mabel Wold, 66, died June 29 from injuries received when she was struck by a car while crossing U.S. Highway 10 at Milltown.

 

The above article appeared in The Daily Missoulian on September 10, 1957

https://www.newspapers.com/image/349957895/

 

Leiser Home – 314 E. Broadway

A photograph of the large Leiser home appeared in The Missoulian on November 26, 1958. The article misstated the address of the home as 314 W. Broadway, rather than E. Broadway. A caption stated the house was built in 1886 and was being torn down to make way for a 35-unit two story motel with swimming pool and restaurant.

https://www.newspapers.com/image/349966412/?terms=leiser%2Bhouse

 

Another article appearing in The Missoulian on January 16, 1901 (see below), stated that the Leisers lived on E. Cedar (Broadway) – now East Broadway.

 

For Twenty-Five Years.

Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Leiser Have Gone Life’s Road Together.

The home of Mr. and Mrs. Jacob S. Leiser, on East Cedar street, was the scene, Monday evening, of one of those happy events that warm the heart and cheer us on that rugged journey of life. For a quarter of a century the loving couple had breasted life’s storms and enjoyed its sunshine together, and in commemoration of the fact, a number of their friends conceived a pleasant surprise. Invading their home, they bore with them not only congratulations over the past and good wishes for the future, verbally expressed, but presented as well in a handsome silver service. The presentation speech was made by Judge F. H. Woody, whose happy faculty in such efforts is widely known. Not content with this, a lunch was also inserted in the program that was not the least enjoyable event of the evening. Mr. and Mrs. Leiser are among the earliest pioneers, having been bride and groom in Missoula, and the hours sped rapidly in recalling the incidents of former days. Among those who joined in attesting their regard for their friends were Mr. and Mrs. Frank H. Woody, Mr. and Mrs. John Rankin [Jeanette’s parents], Mr. and Mrs. Geo. F. Brooks, Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Cave, Mr. and Mrs. Herman Kohn, Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Reinhard, Mr. and Mrs. P. J. Kline, Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Kennedy, Mr. and Mrs. Ferd Kennett, Mrs. C. A. Pearson, Dr. W. P. Mills, G. A. Wolf, J. H. T. Ryman.

 

https://www.newspapers.com/image/348654762/?terms=jacob%2Bleiser

 

An article in The Missoulian on October 20, 2019, dealt with the history of Jewish people in Missoula. The article stated that Jacob Leiser was the first Jewish citizen in Missoula when he arrived in 1870.

 

https://www.newspapers.com/image/610012239

Mrs. S. A. Yoder

Having volunteered her services through the Montana State Nurses’ association in response to a call for help at the university and at Fort Missoula, Mrs. Solomon Yoder of Red Lodge became herself a victim of the influenza epidemic. Her death occurred at the Northern Pacific railway hospital yesterday afternoon at 3 o’clock.

Mrs. Yoder was before her marriage Miss Hazel Leonard, a trained nurse residing at Great Falls. Her mother, Mrs. Anna Leonard, and her sister, Miss Gertrude Leonard, had left Great Falls only a month ago to make a home in Seattle. They were summoned to Missoula to be with Mrs. Yoder during her illness. Mr. Yoder is an accountant located a Red Lodge and he was with his wife in Missoula until she became convalescent and he was called to look after business matters. An attack of heart trouble caused the relapse which proved fatal to Mrs. Yoder. The husband arrived in Missoula last night, but too late to hear his wife’s voice once more.

It was not decided last evening whether the remains would be taken to Great Falls or to Red Lodge for interment.

The above obituary appeared in The Daily Missoulian on November 9, 1918.

https://www.newspapers.com/image/348682066

This brief obituary, along with a short mention of Mrs. Yoder at a Memorial service held at the University of Montana the following year, was almost the only information available about Mrs. Yoder, until she was researched at length by Michael Webster and documented in his Master’s Thesis in 2010. More information about this courageous lady can be found at the following link:

https://www.umt.edu/memorialrow/honored/influenza/nurses/Yoder.php

Old Fort Missoula

By Clarence Bernard Propes

Fort Missoula, three miles west of Missoula, Mont., is a lonely, beautiful military reservation with much the same status as an old soldier: Half expecting to be called into service at any time and utterly convinced he does not belong in modern warfare. But whatever the fate of the fort it has entered into the fabric of the history and folklore of the United State army.

It is very hard to separate these two elements. Here are two versions of the same story about Fort Missoula. One version says the commanding officer once issued, as an order of the day, a command that no buffalo were to be shot on the parade. The order was given, not through any sympathy for the animals, but because the CO found his life in jeopardy. The officers are said to have sat on their front porches and shot the animals as they crossed the parade grounds on their way to the Bitterroot for water. It seems that the commanding officer’s home was in the direct line of fire!

A newspaper account of the same incident says the order was found under the floor of a fort house in the mid 20’s. This version attributed the order to the fact that when the critters were shot their bodies were left on the parade to rot.

There are logical holes in both these stories, but it would be shameful to spoil good stories by holding them up to the light for exacting examination.

We do know that in the middle 1870s the people of western Montana were worried about the Indians. There were Chief Charlot and his Flatheads down in the Bitterroot valley. Chief Arlee had taken the majority of the tribe north with him to the reservation, but Charlot stubbornly refused to follow. He understood that the treaties with the United States had granted his tribe the valley. He remained with a few families to watch the settlers take over the lands. The Flatheads were logically considered good material for an uprising for they were hungry, ragged and miserable. The settlers watched them with suspicion and then the Nez Perce became restless. The worry about the Indians became very real then. They demanded protection.

Congressman Maginnis of Montana urged the establishment of a fort. In February of 1877 the army acted by sending Colonel Wesley Merritt to look for possible sites. The people of Missoula welcomed the colonel with enthusiasm and gave him a stupendous party. They showed him three sites. One was at the junction of the Blackfoot and Clark Fork rivers, another on Grant creek, while the third was to the south of town at a place called Higgins Meadows. The colonel, full of food, beverages and good fellowship was enthusiastic about all the locations. He recommended that a fort be established on all three of the sites!

In June of that same year Colonel Gilbert came from Fort Ellis, Mont., with a detachment of men to make the final selection and establish a fort. He camped at where Bonner stands today and marched straight through Missoula. No reason is given for him not stopping at Missoula but one can guess that he had heard of the hospitality of the people of Missoula and he wanted to remain sober. Whatever the reason he did not stop until he came to the Bitterroot river where the flag was raised for an overnight camp.

The following day the colonel climbed a nearby butte and looked over the surrounding country with binoculars. He then said, according to tradition, “The fort will be established where we raised the flag last night!” One of his aides, Major McCauley, a veteran of many Indian skirmishes called the colonel’s attention to the fact the site he had selected was not one of the recommended ones. He called further attention to the fact that the people of Missoula might know what they were talking about. The colonel ended the discussion at this point, by saying, or perhaps roaring, “Major! That is an order!”

The colonel returned to Fort Ellis, leaving a detachment at the fort. A survey was made and construction was immediately started on temporary quarters, stables as well as a sawmill in a timber tract in Pattee canyon, six miles from the fort.

Probably the first structure to be erected is the log building that still stands beside the site of the original flagpole. According to one account the building burned several times. Today it is a rambling structure with many afterthoughts in construction and additions.

Another building at the fort, the residence of the county caretaker, is probably very cold. It is a log structure with clapboard over the logs.

On the banks of the river is a powder magazine – a small stone building with a steel door. It is an ageless type structure that could be ten or a hundred years old.

We do know that the sawmill immediately went into production. It produced lumber for the four gray houses that still stand as solidly as ever. They are rambling structures with large front porches and high ceilings. Members of the faculty of Montana State university live in these houses today. They can tell you of the brass hardware in the doors, fireplaces framed in hand-hewn timbers, and of the square nails that hold the houses together. They can also tell you how cool these thick-walled houses are in the summer and how hard they are to heat in winter. The houses are 80 feet from front to back door, testimony to the sizes of families in those days.

The soldiers had more than construction on their mind, though, for the Nez Perce were moving their way. At that point came the epic of Fort Fizzle. Captain Rawn learned that Chief Joseph and his tribe were coming up Lolo creek. The captain went to battle with 79 officers and men, and 200 civilian volunteers. They built a barricade across the valley to stop the Indians. The Indians ignored the barricade. They marched around it and went on their way. The settlers went home and Captain Rawn and his men were left with their fortification that has become known as Fort Fizzle.

In August of 1877 Fort Missoula soldiers participated in the Battle of Big Hole where Chief Joseph was defeated. All in all, this battle was a not too glorious chapter in America’s history.

Soon after this battle the troops were alerted to a possible uprising among the Flatheads on their reservation. Five Indians were involved in the murder of one of their fellow tribesmen. The tribal council refused to hand them over for a civil trial in Missoula. The authorities became worried and called the troops. But before they marched the government agent persuaded the council to hand over the accused.

The fort then settled back to fairly peaceful living. There were patrols and minor skirmishes, but on the whole it was very quiet. There was some unusual excitement at the post at times. We get a hint of it in a manuscript at the Missoula public library. It tells of a corral built on a “landing” below the fort. It says, “Soldiers had some strange experiences while on guard duty there. Some were amusing and some not very pleasant. The officers would tell strange stories of adventure while making their after-dark inspection.” These officers did not tell of their “strange experiences” so we are left wondering.

In 1878 an expedition consisting of settlers and soldiers intercepted a tribe of Indians who were trying to return to the Clearwater country from Canada. As soon as the Indians were sighted the settlers decided to go home. The soldiers went into battle with the aid of one civilian, a scout by the name of Shirtcollar Bill. The soldiers and Shirtcollar defeated the Indians.

Captain Moss made history in 1897 by leading 20 men on a bicycle trip from Fort Missoula to St. Louis, Mo. In 1896 the captain experimented by taking a group of soldiers on a bike trip through the Yellowstone. He was so pleased with the results that he persuaded the war department to let him lead his men on a longer expedition.

He made a careful study and selection of equipment and men. On June 14, 1897, he led his smartly uniformed men through the gates of the fort. They were smartly uniformed for only a few hours. They immediately encountered rain which lasted three days – the time it took them to cross the Continental Divide. From then on it was straight sailing if you discount rutted roads, boulders, cacti, dust and floods. In spite of their hardships the cyclists arrived in St. Louis 40 days after leaving Fort Missoula!

Anyone who has ridden a bike over rough terrain can appreciate the difficulties they must have encountered. It seems to have been a dreary procession of flat tires, broken wheels and twisted frames. At times the men enjoyed the expedition and it was found they averaged a gain of five pounds when they arrived in St. Louis!

Moss wanted to lead them back, but General Mills, commander of the fort at that time, ordered them to return by train. The United States army did not use the results of Moss’ findings but the French high command became interested and bicycle troops became regular components of French divisions.

Soon after the Spanish American war the fort was abandoned and left in charge of Sergeant Pillow with a detachment of cavalry. Sergeant Pillow is remembered not because of his Pickwickian name, but because he was an unusually tall Negro with positive ways.

In 1910 the fort was reactivated and made a regimental command post. Congress was generous with money to rebuild the fort – so extremely generous that it became known throughout the service as “The Million Dollar Post.”

Little remains to support that name. Many of the buildings of that period still remain. Among them are the concrete barracks and the stucco houses now occupied by army personnel. All these buildings are unimpressive to modern eyes. The finest structure on the post is a warehouse. It is built of red brick, the roof is pierced with dormer windows and the wood trim is white. These buildings are what remains of the “The Million Dollar Post.”

This glory was brief for in 1912 the fort was again abandoned. During World war I it became a mechanics school under the direction of the university and then it drearily sank into the doldrums again.

It was suggested that the army turn the fort over to the university or give it to the forest service for the training of fliers. The army refused to relinquish its hold for it said the post was classified as the site for a first class air base.

In 1921 it was once more reactivated. During World War II it became an internment camp for Italians and Japanese. Fences were thrown up around new barracks, watch towers were built and the fort settled down for the war.

According to all accounts the Italians and Japanese did not like each other. They refused to eat in the same messes or sleep in the same barracks. An Italian is said to have neatly cut the head off a Japanese. The army decided to keep them in separate stockades rather than wait for riots.

In 1947 the fort, with the exception of some areas was declared surplus property. Today it is headquarters for the Montana military district, and some of the buildings are used by the national guard. The remainder of the reservation is under lease to Missoula county. They, in turn, have subleased it to a variety of businesses including a bottling plant, a construction outfit, a moving company, and the state fish and game commission. Members of the faculty of Montana State university live in many of the houses at the post. The county proposes to purchase the fort with a bond issue and turn it into an airfield, fair grounds and recreation center.

The bond issue must be voted on by the people of the county, and such a vote is always uncertain. Although the army has shown no particular interest in the reservation, one can’t be too sure of its attitude for the army moves unexpectedly in time of war. There is a delicate balance between the army and county and it is impossible to predict the fate of Fort Missoula. One thing we do know is that the name Fort Missoula, “The Million Dollar Post,” will not soon die in the memory of man.

 

The above article appeared in The Spokesman-Review on April 1, 1951.

https://www.newspapers.com/image/568625279/?terms=clarence%2Bbernard%2Bpropes

 

An article in The Daily Missoulian in 1909 (May 30) mentioned the new Million Dollar Fort:

“To the southwest of Missoula lies Fort Missoula, where is stationed a battalion of the Sixth United States Infantry. At the fort everything is now ready for a complete remodeling of buildings and ground, a change that means the erecting of new structures and a rearrangement of their grounds – the establishment of a million dollar regimental post. The buildings of the new Fort Missoula will be of reinforced concrete, with red tile roofs and constructed according to the Spanish style of architecture. The new post will really be in the form of a regimental park, with an elliptical parade ground 1,000 feet wide and 2,000 feet long, facing the Bitter Root river. An island in the river, itself one of the prettiest streams in the state, is to be made into a park and will be connected with the post by a bridge. Besides the present quota of troops, the new fort will have assigned to it a squadron of cavalry and a battery of field artillery.”

 

Mr. Propes was involved in the Montana Institute of the Arts for a short time while he lived in Missoula. He was the author of a book about Missoula – “The Fascinating Missoula Montana” – written apparently with the idea of exposing some of the taboo subjects in Missoula’s history. The Missoulian gave it a short review in 1951, saying, “The reader will find a great deal of laughter in the book.”

With his son, Stephen C. Propes, he was also the author of an auto-biographical book, ‘The Hobo Diaries’, about his early life during the great depression. Mr. Propes moved back to California in the 1950’s, where he wrote for a Long Beach newspaper, the Independent Press-Telegram. He died in Los Angeles in 1974.

Farewell Party Given For Father O’Kennedy

Ill Health Forces St. Anthony Pastor to Leave

Rev. J. J. O’Kennedy, formerly paster of St. Anthony’s church, yesterday left for Helena. From the Capital city he will go to San Francisco to remain for a time before leaving for Ireland, where he will visit his aged mother whom he has not seen for about 18 years.

Father O’Kennedy is forced to relinquish his parish on account of ill health.

He will be succeeded in his work here by Rev. D. P. Mead sic [Meade], who comes from St. Phillips church at Philipsburg.

Friday night a farewell party was given in honor of Father O’Kennedy at which time more than 125 parishioners gathered to bid him farewell. Father O’Kennedy has been in Missoula for a little more than two years.

A number of speakers addressed those assembled, among them being Mayor W. H. Beacom, Professor E. F. Carey of the State University, Rev. J. F. Harrington, Father O’Kennedy and Father Mead.

The meeting also took the form of a welcome to the incoming pastor. Father Mead comes to Missoula after nine years of service in Philipsburg.

 

The above article appeared in The Sunday Missoulian on September 30, 1923.

https://www.newspapers.com/image/352314878/#

 

“And the men of Helena . . . broad in mind and big in heart, as big and broad as the mountains on which we have our homes.”

O’Kennedy’s Farewell in Helena

Rev. John. J. O’Kennedy had been in Helena for 10 years prior to coming to Missoula. He was given a “loving farewell” at St. Helena hall by his parishioners in Helena and friends. He was a handball expert and a sportsman generally. In his farewell address he made an interesting comment about his time in Helena and especially regarding his friendship with the Jewish attorney, Lester Loble.

“One word more: I am at a loss to find words to express my gratitude to my good friend Lester Loble, and my other friends among the handball players of Helena for the compliment they paid me this evening. On most of the other people in this hall I have a claim. They are of my own religious belief. But on the handball players I have no such claim; for they are nearly all Jews and non-Catholics, and hence the compliment paid me is all the more appreciated as it is plain evidence of their good will.

“Whatever I did for handball in Helena I did out of love for the game. I did it because convinced of what a power for good it is toward clean living and clear thinking. The men who play handball are men of clean lives. They must be or they could get nowhere in the game. The men who play handball are imbued with a truly American spirit.

“We hear a lot nowadays about Americanizing the foreigner; but the real menace to American institutions and American ideals is not the uneducated, hard-working foreigner who comes to our shores seeking opportunities denied him at home, but the fellow within our gates, who lives here, fostering hate, creating strife, dividing our people, setting class against class and creed against creed. He is the one who needs to be Americanized more than any other, and not the least important agent in the process of Americanization is clean sport, whether it is handball or baseball or any of the clean sport that brings men together, gets them acquainted, broadens them and teaches them to give the other fellow a square deal. And the men of Helena whom I have met in handball, be their creed what it may, or no creed at all, are all broad in mind and big in heart, as big and broad as the mountains on which we have our homes. And in going to Missoula, busy though I expect to be for a long time, I shall not forget handball and I certainly shall not forget the good friends of Helena of every religious belief whom I have made through my association with handball.”

 

The above excerpt is from a Missoulian article that appeared on September 21, 1921.

https://www.newspapers.com/image/349033445/?terms=st%2Banthony

 

The Rev. John J. O’Kennedy died at Polson in 1972.

His obituary appeared in The Missoulian on January 30, 1972:

Dies in Polson

Polson – The Rev. John J. O’Kennedy, founder of St. Anthony Parish in Missoula died Friday in Polson at the age of 89.

He had served the diocese of Helena for nearly 60 years and had lived in retirement at St. Joseph Hospital in Polson since 1967.

Father O’Kennedy was born in 1882 in Ireland and was ordained there June 10, 1906.

He served briefly in New York and joined the Helena diocese in 1906.

He served as pastor of St. Joseph and St. Patrick parishes in Butte and St. Mary in Helena. He also served as pastor of the Cathedral parish in Helena and later was put in charge of financing the first expansion program of Mount Charles College, now Carroll College.

In 1921 he established the parish of St. Anthony in Missoula and later moved back to Butte where he served at St. Anne. Later he went to Bozeman where he spent 15 years at Holy Rosary Parish before coming to Polson.

The body will lie in state in immaculate Conception Church in Polson beginning 1 p.m. Monday. Rosary will be recited at 8 p.m. Monday at the church and Mass of the Resurrection will be celebrated Tuesday at 10 a.m. by the Rev. Thomas J. Meagher. A second mass will be said in Helena Tuesday at 3 p.m. at the Cathedral of St. Helena with the Most Rev. Raymond Hunthausen, bishop of Helena, as celebrant.

Burial will be in Resurrection Cemetery in Helena. Mosley Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

 

https://www.newspapers.com/image/349724293/?terms=rev%2Bjohn%2Bj%2Bo%27kennedy

 

The Rt. Rev. Msgr. Denis P. Meade, P. A., V. G., died in Missoula on August 1, 1967. A large article about him appeared in The Missoulian on August 2, 1967[1]. He was born in Limerick, Ireland in 1888, was educated there, and came to the United States in 1914. He first served as assistant pastor of St. Lawrence Parish in Walkerville, Mt. in October 1914, and went to Philipsburg a month later, named acting pastor at St. Philip Parish there. He was appointed pastor of Missoula’s St. Anthony Parish on September 23, 1923. He remained at St. Anthony Parish until his death in 1967. St. Anthony parish was only two years old when Meade arrived. A new St. Anthony church at the same location was built in 1963. It was the largest parish in the Diocese of Helena at the time of his death.

The 4 Albert Brothers – Placide, Dennis, William & Alex – “Serious Trappers”

 

Has Them On The List (1897)

William Albert, a Mighty Trapper and Hunter.

Few who are not familiar with the kind and amount of game in Montana can form any conception of the game killed in a single year within the confines of the state. In fact, there are not many local hunters who have a fair knowledge of the same. The best information about game comes from the hunters and trappers who spend all their time in the mountains. Such men are not in town often, and when they do come they do not talk much for more than one reason. The list of game killed by Wm. Albert, a hunter in the clearwater mountains between Montana and Idaho, has been brought to the city by Rev. R. N. Sawyer, pastor of the Christian church, who spent several weeks in the mountains during the summer months.

Mr. Albert told the reverend gentleman that between October 1, 1895, and June 15, 1897, he killed the following game: Forty-two bears, 500 martins, 3 mountain lions, 16 elk, 4 moose, 14 deer, 13 lynx, 45 mink, 2 skunks, 11 fisher, 6 otter, 1 beaver, 1,000 salmon fish, and close on to 2,500 chicken (sic) as well as capturing two bald eagles. After killing all this, there was plenty of game left and will be for years to come. Mr. Albert remains in the mountains winter and summer, rarely coming out except for supplies and to bring out his furs for market to either Montana or Idaho points.

 

The above article appeared in the Daily Missoulian on September 1, 1897.

https://www.newspapers.com/image/349069554/?terms=moose%2Bhunting

 

Trappers (Article From – “Frenchtown Valley Footprints”)

An April, 1878 Missoulian article mentioned that Colonel E. A. Poe, who came with General Sherman last summer, said that the fur trade was still lingering in Frenchtown. The Colonel had apparently been shown a good quantity of furs in the Demers store.

Although Frenchtown’s earliest settlers had been French fur trappers and traders, mention of continued fur activity in the area is extremely rare. Only the Albert Brothers – Alex, Dennis, William and Placid – are remembered as serious trappers. According to Elmer Poitras, they were from Green River Quebec, and came as far as Logan, Montana by railroad and then by wagon to Frenchtown sometime in the late 1870’s. William, and his wife, Mary, at first lived in the gulch near what is now the Port of Entry, and soon all the brothers lived in the two gulches in that area, and worked for the railroad on the Marant trestle and the O’Keefe trestle. Because of their trapping interests, all four brothers settled along the rivers with their large families. Placid was east of Frenchtown near the Dussaults’ while William was two miles west of Frenchtown. Each had his trapping territories, and several place names indicate that the Alberts left their mark. Placid trapped in the Placid Lake country, Alex near Alberton, Dennis in the area from Missoula almost to Alberton, and William at Lolo Creek and Packer’s meadow. Albert Point is located about five miles south of Huson, while Albert Creek flows into the Clark Fork about three miles southeast of Frenchtown.

Dan Longpre remembers the Alberts well, and recalls that Alex stayed in the mountains and trapped marten, fisher, and weasel, while Bill trapped the rivers for beaver and mink, then went to the Lochsa in September for bear hides, which paid $25 – 40. “When they didn’t have enough traps, they made ‘dead-falls.’ It was cruel, but it broke the bear’s back right away.” Dan continues, “. . . old Bill Albert . . . had a house with a large attic – and all their pelts was hung in there on a wire, from up above – one on top of the other . . . flat. . . they would have made a fortune today . . . and I remember those things were always moving, and I was kind of scared, I was little you know, . . . those hides were rolling on that wet wire; big long string – marten . . . I don’t know how many!”

Elmer Poitras, grandson of William Albert, remembered a bunkhouse in which furs lined all sides, and where, “. . . years later, when you lit a fire, you’d still smell those furs.” The Albert Brothers accumulated furs until one of the fur companies, such as the Hudson Bay Company, would come through the area to buy.

Both Elmer and Dan were also impressed by the Alberts’ skill at spear fishing, which was done at night. Elmer relates, “They’d take a stick about six feet long and about 4 inches in diameter and they would tie wire around it and make it so they could put pitch sticks in the center of that wire, set it afire and tie that to the front end of their boat. One man would stay there with a spear and another man in the back paddled around very slowly. The fish would gather underneath that light and they would spear them. . . They learned it from their father. As I understand it, they used to fish that way in the St. Laurence River . . . In those days there was no limit on whitefish that were in that slough and they would come home with 100 – 125 fish. They would smoke them and sell them. We had so much smoked fish at the ranch that we didn’t want to eat it anymore.

[At this point in the article a sketch of a spear appears with the following description: “The Albert Brothers made spears like this, using parts of the old bear traps.” (Sketch by Dan Longpre).]

The second generation of Alberts were also trappers. Philip Cyr said, “I learned to trap beaver from the Alberts, Louis and Victor. I won’t tell you how ‘cause it’s an old trapper’s secret. I wanted to trap beaver because they caused lots of problems. They would burrow into the fields about ten feet out from the slough, and one year while I was combining, the field caved in! It took me almost a whole day to get that combine out! Beaver dams would flood the fields and sometimes calves would fall into the beaver dens. In those days the Fish and Game Department gave you a permit to trap only so many beavers, and you had to trap on your own land. A good ‘blanket’ was worth $50 so it was a good source of extra money. I trapped a few muskrats too, but their pelts were only worth a little more than a dollar. Trapping was hard work! It took hours to clean and scrape a pelt!”

Pete Bisson trapped muskrats and weasels just to pass the time. Other local trappers included Edgar and Tom Scheffer, Joe Boyer III and his son Joe IV, and Bud and Archie Grover, who according to Dan Longpre, made enough money trapping to put themselves through college.

 

A postscript below this article, by Karen (Michaud) Hoy, notes the above information is from “Frenchtown Valley Footprints” by the Frenchtown Historical Society.

 

Albert Brothers

Wikitree gives the following summary of the Frenchtown Albert family:

Parents: Louison and Selice (Marie-Celeste Martin) Albert – Birthplace New Brunswick, Can.

Children:

Placide Albert – born 1842, died in Missoula in 1924. Wife Febrenie Gagnon – Obituary – survived by 6 children.

Dennis Albert – born 1844 in Maine, died in Missoula in 1928. Wife Anna Gagnon – 8 children.

William Benoni (Benoni) Albert – born 1846 in New Brunswick, Can. – died in Frenchtown in 1909 – Wife Marie-Mathilde Vaillencourt – Obituary – 10 children.

Alexis J. (Alex) Albert – born 1851 in New Brunswick, Can. – died in Alberton, Mt. in 1916 – Wife Marie Melvina Gandreau – 9 known children – see Wikitree

Three sisters of the above Albert brothers do not appear to have ever lived in Montana.

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Albert-1505

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Albert-1506

 

The origin of Alberton’s name is a controversial subject. Some sources attribute the name to the Railroad executive, Albert J. Earling. There appears to be no newspaper record of the townsite ‘Alberton’, prior to the arrival of the Chicago, Milwaukee and Puget Sound Railroad crew in 1908. An article on this subject appeared in The Missoulian on June 30, 2008. See the link this article below:

https://www.newspapers.com/image/349191421/

 

Another serious trapper, Absalom Albert, was a son of William Albert. He was tragically killed while trapping in Idaho in 1929.

 

Absalom Albert, Frenchtown, Dies From His Wounds (1929)

Victim of Accident in Clearwater Forest, Where He Was Hunting.

Absalom Albert, aged 40 years, a resident of the Frenchtown district, was accidently shot and killed in the Clearwater district of Idaho, according to word received in Missoula last night. The only word received here was that with another man he had been hunting and trapping in the Clearwater river country and had been the victim of an accident.

J. B. Poitras of Frenchtown, a brother-in-law, left there last night for Superior to join a party that will go into the mountains to bring the body out. It will be brought to Missoula. It is said that the body will be brought out over a mountain trail through which the snow is deep.

Albert, it was said here last night, was born at Frenchtown and was a son of William Albert, early day resident of that district. It is said that he usually followed ranch work in summer and hunting and trapping throughout the winter.

 

The above article appeared in The Daily Missoulian on February 6, 1929.

https://www.newspapers.com/image/348711515/?terms=William%2BAlbert

 

Absalom body recovered – 1929

Body of Absalom Albert Recovered

Found After Group of Ten Men Had Dug for Five Days in Slide.

Wallace, Idaho, Feb 22. – (AP) –

The body or Absalom Albert, Frenchtown Mont., trapper, who was caught under a snowslide in the upper Clearwater country, east of here, January 31, was found by searchers today, word received here said.

The rescue party of 10 men left Superior, Mont., 10 days ago and dug for five days before the body was found under 15 feet of snow in Niagara creek bottom. Because of heavy snows it was believed here that no effort to bring the body out would be made, until spring.

Three Weeks Elapse.

Three weeks after he lost his life in a snowslide in the rough mountain country of the North fork of the Clearwater river in Idaho, the body of Absalom Albert has been found. Albert lost his life in the snowslide a half mile from his camp January 31.

Arrangements are being made to bring the body out of the wilderness. The body is to be brought to the Forkenbrock undertaking place here. The body was recovered after five days of shoveling by the three members of a searching party, who went into the country after the news was brought out.

Caught In Slide.

Albert, a native of the Frenchtown valley, went into the hills with Ralph Henderson of Superior for a winter of hunting and trapping. On the morning of January 31, Albert started out to visit their trap lines, but never returned. The following morning Henderson started out in search of his partner and a quarter of a mile from their camp found where the tracks of Albert disappeared under a snow bank, where a slide had occurred. As the tracks did not come out the opposite side of the slide, Henderson gave his partner up for lost and walked out to Superior, where he brought the word of the disaster.

Henderson was a member of the searching party composed of Clayton McBride of Superior and Vincent Albert, brother of the dead man, who went to recover the body. They found it buried under a mountain of snow 18 feet wide and 20 feet deep. The body was placed in a box and left at the cabin, so that a larger party of men could bring it out of the mountains. News of the tragedy of the hills did not reach the outside world until Henderson arrived at Superior February 6. However, the party that started in to recover the body did not leave Superior until last week.

 

The above article appeared in The Daily Missoulian on February 23, 1929.

https://www.newspapers.com/image/348712591/?terms=albert%2Bfrenchtown

 

Alex Albert’s Snake Story – 1908

Five Feet of Snake in His Tank

Alex Albert Tells a Story and Submits the Serpent in Full Proof.

“Where is your crack reporter?” asked a man who entered the business office of The Missoulian yesterday afternoon, carrying a red pasteboard box.

The man at the counter said that the crack reporter had been sent up to interview President Elliott of the Northern Pacific and asked if there was not somebody else who would do.

“Well, I want a good job,” said the man with a box, “but, maybe you’ll do.”

And, with that, he proceeded to relate a story that, before he had finished, had the cold chills running up and down the back of the man at the counter; the office boy’s eyes stuck out till they could with difficulty be restrained in their sockets; the janitor ran for the alley and has not been seen since.

“My name,” said the man with the box, “is Alex Albert. I have lived more than 20 years in this country; many people know me. For three years I have been staying most of the time in the city, getting medicine and surgeons for my sickness. I have been very sick. In my stomach there has been a bad feeling all the time and the doctors, they have given me much medicine; they made me feel better, but they have not made me well.

“A few weeks ago, I felt better and I went out to Brown’s[1] spur to work. I had some medicine that the doctor give me and I took that. But I don’t get much better out at the spur and today in the morning I start to drive in to town to see the doctors and get some more medicine or else get some more surgeons.

“I wish your good reporter was here. I want a good piece in the paper how I got well. That’s a great story; how I got well. I am coming to town this morning and when I get to the bridge at Cyr spur, I have another bad feeling in my stomach. Then I am cough and cough again. That time I cough up something from my stomach that make me well.”

“What did you cough up?” asked the man at the desk. A second afterward he wished he hadn’t, for the man opened the red box and shoved it under the nose of the man at the desk. Coiled in the box were five feet of snake – long, slimy, sinuous, ugly snake – bull snake it was, but it didn’t look good.

“Yes, sir,” continued Mr. Albert, “I coughed up that snake and I want you to put a good piece in the paper. Where is that crack reporter? He’s the man that ought to have this story. But you tell him and tell him to do it good.

“You know I have been an infidel all these years. Now I expect I get to be a pretty good Christian with that out of me. Don’t you think that ought to make a Christian out of a man?”

Then he took the snake out of the box and stretched it out on the counter. He wanted it measured so that he could know just how much snake he had coughed up. The bookkeeper got a yard stick and started to apply it to the serpent. But he stopped.

“The darned thing’s alive,” he exclaimed.

And, sure enough, the tail wriggled and the ugly, flat head raised. Mr. Albert made a few passes at the creature and it lifted its head higher and opened its mouth. The he made some more passes, and the snake calmed down and stretched out on the counter, which was so smooth that he couldn’t crawl.

Measured the snake was 56 inches long. It is no wonder that Mr. Albert feels like a Christian and that he has a better appetite than he had two days ago. It must be a great relief to get something like that off one’s stomach.

Albert stood pat on his story that he coughed up the snake. There was one man in the office who didn’t quite believe it, but Albert would have nothing to do with him. He turned his attention to the more sympathetic man whom he had addressed first. And to him he repeated the story, showing the snake again and twining it affectionately about his neck. He almost lost the sympathy of his hearer by that performance. The snake was put away just in time.

Albert says that Dr. Smith has been treating him and says that the doctor will vouch for the correctness of the story. This, however, Dr. Smith would not do last night, when he was asked about the case. Dr. Smith would not express an opinion in the matter. He said he had been treating Albert for some time and that Albert came to town yesterday morning with the snake and the story of having coughed it up.

“I never heard of just such a thing with just such a snake,” said Dr. Smith, “but Mr. Albert is very positive. He is certain of the details of his story and that is all I know about it. He told it to me as you say he told it to you.”

Albert is certainly positive in his recounting of details.

“Why,” said he, “I just coughed and I felt the head sticking out of my mouth. I took hold of it with my hand and pulled out the rest. You can see the snake. There it is. That is proof. Now you put piece in the paper. I was an infidel and now I will be a good Christian.”

 

The above story appeared in The Daily Missoulian on May 7, 1908.

 

Evidently, there has been documented instances of tapeworms the size of Alex’s Bull snake.

https://www.newspapers.com/image/349236635/?terms=%22brown%2Bspur%22

Former Missoula Girl Now Draws Ten Dollars a Minute (1917)

Member of Chicago Grand Opera Company and Church Vocalist.

From $10 a week as a telephone operator to a member of the Chicago Grand Opera company, in many cases receiving as high as $10 a minute for singing her arias in Italian, Spanish, French, or English is the long jump quickly made by a former Missoula girl, Miss Margery Maxwell now a resident of Chicago, hardly past 21 years.

Miss Maxwell is a graduate of the Jefferson high school at Portland, Oregon, later attending one year at the University of Montana at Missoula. She met some of her sorority sisters in Portland and Miss Maxwell’s voice that year was heard at the national convention of the sorority at Gearhart, Oregon.

Scores Big Success.

Miss Maxwell made a distinct hit. The Portland alumni later were persuaded to gather a fund for Miss Maxwell’s musical education and before the end of 1915 Miss Maxwell was studying music under Chicago’s best instructors. She studied Spanish, French and Italian, and before the year had passed she had mastered them and was singing in concert before the most critical of audiences in the east.

Miss Maxwell has signed already for a six weeks Chautauqua tour in the east. Miss Maxwell also is soprano in an Evanston, Illinois, Congregational church.

A Student in Missoula.

Margery Maxwell is the daughter of Mrs. A. C. Hollenbeck, residing now in Butte. Her step-sister, Miss Bessie Hollenbeck, lives in Missoula. Miss Maxwell could sing before she could talk and loved to sing, as her friends and relatives loved to hear her. She also plays the piano. She graduated from a high school course in Portland, Oregon, and took some work in the University of Montana. She is a member of Kappa Alpha Theta sorority in this city. She has been studying with Daddi of the Chicago Grand Opera company and has been singing solo parts in a church at Evanston Ill.

 

The above article appeared in The Missoulian on May 26, 1917.

https://www.newspapers.com/image/349072179/?terms=margery%2Bmaxwell

 

Margery Maxwell sang at many different venues in Missoula while still a young girl. As early as 1910, at age 13, her name can be found in The Missoulian, singing solos for a woman’s club and the Elks’ Club minstrels. By 1912 her picture appeared in the Sunday Missoulian[1], with a caption that stated she had spent the previous year in Portland studying vocal music with a professional teacher. It also stated she was the daughter of Arthur B. Maxwell. He was a printer by trade, an amateur musician, and was active in the socialist movement in early Missoula. Originally from South Dakota, Mr. Maxwell had worked in Chicago and then came to Montana in 1910, according to his obituary[2]. Margery’s mother was Mrs. A. C. (Mabel) Hollenbeck by 1914. She was the stepmother of Miss Bess Hollenbeck, a prominent Missoula figure. It’s unclear when the Maxwell parents separated.

Mr. Maxwell married Martha Edith Rolfe[3] in Missoula in 1914 and then moved to Butte, Mt, where he worked on a socialist newspaper. He later lived in Great Falls, Mt. and died there in 1953.

Margery was billed in Missoulian announcements at the Empress Theater in 1914 and was credited in The Missoulian with “making the Sunday shows at the Empress so popular. . .”, singing solos like ‘Don’t Blame It All On Broadway’.

In 1915 she was offered a scholarship in Chicago by the Kappa Alpha Theta organization. Expenses, room, board and vocal instruction were included.

By 1917 she was on a path to a long career in professional Opera. Her name can be found in hundreds of newspapers from that era, usually with glowing reviews of her performances.

 

So, what was Margery Maxwell like? Not what you might think.

 

An interview (see below) with this remarkable lady appeared in a Davenport, Iowa newspaper in 1930:[4]

 

Miss Margery Maxwell, famous lyric soprano star with the Chicago Civic Opera company, a favorite with the Ravinia opera-goers and the concert world as well as radio public, was bubbling over with enthusiasm and good spirits this morning when your reporter found her at Hotel Blackhawk and, although she confessed that Davenport is not the most restful or the quietest place in the world to sleep, – after a late arrival last night from Chicago – she felt it was a fine, large world and what she would like best was to get out in the sunshine as early as possible.

But there was breakfast to be considered – no, she hadn’t had breakfast yet – and rehearsal, and other things to attend to, before the concert of the afternoon when Miss Maxwell is singing before the Davenport Woman’s club at Friendly House.

“Now what do you want to know?” was the smiling comeback to the usual reportorial inquisitiveness.

Miss Maxwell confessed she was very fond of the radio and liked to sing “on the air,” and has done so many times. “It is a marvelous thing. I am always thrilled when I think of that vast, invisible, country-wide, listening audience of people – some of them in far-off places where they would never hear the music we can give them if it were not for the radio; some of them ill, and all of them eager and so appreciative of the music from the air. The radio is, I feel, one of the most wonderful gifts to mankind of any time. And as time goes on it will improve.”

“No, I do not think the radio will seriously detract from the concerts. For one always loves – when possible – to have the personal touch, the charm of contact, the inspiration of personal appeal, and the atmosphere one associates with a concert where the singer sings directly to the audience.

“Things will grow better and better, I feel, in the radio as well as concert world. For one helps the other.

“As to the grand opera, I think it will always endure. It is a classic. There is nothing can take the place of it.

“I am terribly interested right now,” said this favorite opera star, “in light opera, which is opening this spring in Chicago,” and she went on to say she is to have the leading role in “The Bohemian Girl,” with which the Chicago Civic Opera company is inaugurating a spring season of light opera in the Chicago Civic theatre Easter Monday, April 21. This will be a nine weeks’ season, continuing to the middle of June when Ravinia opens, and Miss Maxwell will also have leading parts in operas to be given there during the summer months.

Miss Maxwell sang in the Tri-cities about five years ago with the Chicago Operatic trio at Augustana. She was scheduled to sing for the Woman’s club at its opening meeting of Oct. 8, 1928, but was called to France to appear in opera there, and her American concert tour had to be canceled. . .

 

In 1943 at the height of WW 2, Margery Maxwell suspended her singing career and volunteered as a Red Cross nurses’ aid at a Chicago hospital. She was appointed a senior director of volunteer aids at Chicago’s Presbyterian Hospital and was eventually placed in charge of all volunteer nurses’ aides at that facility. She had married the surgeon Dr. Frederick B. Moorehead in Chicago in 1931.

She died in Oregon in 1966. Her Obituary below appeared the Chicago Tribune on December 23, 1966[5]:

 

Miss Maxwell, Former Singer Here, Is Dead

Made Her Debut with Chicago Grand Opera

Services for Miss Margery Maxwell, a former Chicago opera and concert singer, will be held today in Sherwood Ore., where she died on Wednesday.

Miss Maxwell, who was Mrs. Charles S. Marsh of near West Lynn, Ore., was 68. She had lived in the west for more than 20 years.

Evanston Church Soloist

Born in Dell Rapids, S. D., Miss Maxwell studied with Francesco Daddi and was soprano soloist at the First Congregational church in Evanston when she made her debut in 1917 with the Chicago Grand opera. She sang with its successor, the Chicago Civic opera, until 1928.

Miss Maxwell was a popular soloist and for a time was soloist with the famed Bohumin Kryl symphony orchestra. She was a soloist for The Tribune’s Chicagoland Music Festival in Soldiers’ field in 1935.

Attended Montana School

She was educated at the University of Montana, where she received a scholarship in music.

Twice widowed, Miss Maxwell had been the wife of the late Dr. Frederick Brown Moorehead, a widely known Chicago oral surgeon who had been a professor of oral surgery and pathology at the University of Illinois’ college of dentistry, and the late James G. Hodgkinson, a Chicago insurance executive. She and Mr. Marsh were married several years ago.

At one time, Miss Maxwell was head of the volunteer nurses’ aid corps at Presbyterian hospital. A brother also survives.