Old Missoula

Radio Set Installed On Willett’s Ranch

Missoula People Give Machine to Montana’s Only Leper and Wife

Former Senator O. G. Willett, Montana’s only leper, who is confined with his wife on their ranch west of Alberton, has been placed in communication with the outside world by means of a radio-receiving set.

The machine was installed Wednesday by Lieutenant Alexander, a radio expert from Fort Missoula, assisted by Mayor W. H. Beacom who accompanied them to Willett’s ranch. It was necessary to obtain permission from the state board of health to enter the enclosure. The set was thoroughly tested before being installed, and Lieutenant Alexander, “picked up” Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Nome, Alaska with the apparatus.

The antennae were strung from the top of a lofty pine about 150 feet distant from the bungalow occupied by the Willetts.

“I cannot find words to express how grateful the Willetts were for the radio set made possible through the contributions of many friends in Missoula,” said Mayor Beacom. “They wished me to covey their thanks to the people of Missoula for their generosity.

“Mrs. Willett is in excellent health. I have never seen the senator look so well as he does at the present time. He is drinking an abundance of milk and using home prepared cereals.”

The radio fund was raised through the efforts of Mayor W. H. Beacom, who has been particularly interested in the case.

The above article appeared in The Daily Missoulian on January 12, 1923.

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Oscar G. Willett was a leading advocate for the creation of the new Mineral county in 1914. A popular railroad conductor for the Milwaukee line who had been in the area since 1910, he gave a key speech at a meeting in Superior which was organized to propose names for the new county. His idea of naming it Mineral County reflected the fact that area was full of mines and prospects for new ones. He then became the county’s first elected Senator. During his second term in office, he was stricken with Leprosy. It was believed he first contracted the disease while serving with the American army in the Philippines. Willett and his wife, Elsie, lived for a number of years in a custom-built cottage provided by the state of Montana near the town of Alberton. Senator George Cooper, also from Mineral County, sponsored the legislation for his friend, Willett. Willett and his wife finally moved to a leprosarium in Louisiana where Oscar died in 1928. His wife, Elsie, survived him and moved to Idaho.