Old Missoula

Richard Grant – A Well-Traveled Hudson’s Bay Pioneer

Captain Grant Lies In Neglected Grave

Strangers Inquire About Pioneer Prominent in Early Montana History.

Judge Frank H. Woody received yesterday a letter from M. A. Power, city clerk of Walla Walla, Wash., in which he says:

“We have been advised by Mr. Lewis McMorris of this city that you could inform us as to the whereabouts of the heirs or near relatives of Captain Grant, at one time army officer here, who, with his daughter, is buried in our city cemetery. We are very anxious to find some of the heirs, as the two graves are sadly neglected and we hope to make some arrangements for their care.”

Judge Woody said yesterday: “Captain Grant was a prominent figure in early Missoula history. He was not an army officer, having the title ‘Captain’ by courtesy. He was for years connected with the Hudson Bay company and came in 1860 to make his home here. He lived on a ranch up the creek which was named Grant creek in his honor. He went with his wife and three daughters to spend a winter in the Walla Walla valley and there he and his daughter, Helen, died and were buried. The other members of the family returned to their home in Missoula. It would seem a matter of local loyalty that these two bodies should be removed to a place of honor in the Missoula cemetery.”

The above article appeared in The Daily Missoulian on April 25, 1915

Richard Grant was born in Montreal, Canada in 1794. When 18 or 19 years old, he served in a Militia for the Canadian forces in the War of 1812. By 1816 he was employed with the North West Company at Rocky Mountain House (See map @ link below). By 1823, the North West Company and Hudson’s Bay Company were merged into one company and Richard was working at Edmonton House. After moving around to different places, by 1828, he was working at Fort Assinboine and Edmonton House again. In 1835 he was posted to Lesser Slave Lake. In 1837 he was posted at York Factory District on Hudson Bay. After marrying at least twice, he had fathered several children by 1838, including sons John (by a native American woman) and James. His son John (‘Johnnie) would become famous in Montana in his own right, after ranching and trading in cattle and other stock in the area around Deer Lodge/Garrison, Montana.

Richard was promoted to “Chief Trader of Fort Hall” in 1841-42, “moving to what is now Idaho.” He left that position in 1851 and, by 1853, had retired due to ill health. He is mentioned in a wide array of stories and incidents involving Montana and the Northwest, from trading with Mormon leader Brigham Young, to employing Major John Owen before he came to the Bitter Root, to marrying the daughter of a Pend d’Oreille chief. His connection with Missoula was highlighted by his daughter, Julia Priscilla, when she married Christopher P. Higgins, one of Missoula’s founders. Nine of his Higgins grandchildren were born and raised in the Missoula area and helped shape the early city in many ways.

https://www.redriverancestry.ca/GRANT-RICHARD-1794.php

https://www.newspapers.com/image/349005153