Old Missoula

Western Montana Medical Society – Founded 1903 – Past & Current Members

In the centuries before 1800, the medicine man cared for the ills of his tribe, and the Indians collected herbs, bark and the Bitterroot for their medicinal value. In the fall of 1805, the arrival of Lewis and Clark in Western Montana marked the beginning of modern medicine in Montana. They were not physicians but were versed in the treatment of common illness and injury. These men carried a “recipe book” for reference should more serious maladies arise.

The first physicians in Western Montana were the post surgeons at Fort Missoula in the 1870s.* The first hospital at the Fort was built in 1878.

The Sisters of Providence established St. Patrick Hospital in Missoula in 1873 after traveling by horseback from the Mission at St. Ignatius. The present hospital is a contrast to the original small shed which housed four patients, including Father Ravalli, of the first year.

Today, medical facilities and equipment are far advanced in Missoula. As pictured below, Missoula has many pieces of important and unique equipment. Respirators are commonplace while only a few years ago the first “Iron Lung” was obtained through public subscription. Large X-ray units for diagnosis and treatment and facilities for radioactive isotope studies are available. An “artificial kidney,” a machine unique in a community of Missoula’s size, is currently available for use. This is the only such machine in the northern Rocky Mountain region.

The operation of the Montana State University Health Service, a cooperative project with the Western Montana Medical Society, is a community service venture which is unparalleled in the Northwest, and offers wider coverage than available at other Northwest Universities.

The Society played a key role in the Rocky Mountain “Spotted Fever” program through the Rocky Mountain Laboratory at Hamilton. Currently the Laboratory is working on “Q Fever.”

The Western Montana Medical Society continues to pursue its original purpose – to add “unity, harmony and effectiveness to the work of each of its members.

[*Father Ravalli is sometimes noted as the first Montana physician.]

Past Members of the Western Montana Medical Society

Fort Missoula

Geo. M. Adair

H. S. Coe

Crisley

S. I. Robinson

D. S. Snively

Percy M. Ashburn

Emil Bories

J. T. Brice

J. T. Brown

F. E. Buchan

F. A H. Coe

I. E. Cohn

Consular

Edw. J. Conyngham

Geo. E. Dix

E. F. Dodds

Elmer Fessler

T. A. Fitzgerald

C. Flournwa

J. J. Flynn

Gillmeyer

Russell Gwinn

Goughenour

A. T. Haas

T. H. Harbridge

John B. Harris

John H. Hiedelman

Henry C. Higgins

Joseph Hilmantel

J. W. Hitchcock

James W. Howard

J. F. Hubert

K. H. Kellogg

Geo. Kennett

W. G. Knertle

F. C. Lawyer

C. B. Lebcher

P. A. LeTourneau

Littlefield

Geo. T. McCullough

D. A. McDowell

Geo. McGrath

S. W. Minshall

G. W. Monroe

T. B. Owings

W. B. Parsons

E. D. Peek

W. A. Peek

P. S. Rennick

Moses Rockman

J. W. Roy

C. R. Thornton

W. T. Thornton

G. F. Turman

J. A. Tromblay

Louise Von Veet

Chas. F. Watkins

R. B. Williams

E. C. Anderson

Jas. P. Ayler

G. D. Bryant

Buck

John J. Buckley

J. M. Casserly

E. C. Coates

J. J. Concammon

L. S. Deitrich

E. F. Dodds

Fales

H. B. Farnsworth

S. H. Freeze

John E. Fuhrer

A. G. Fuller

P. L. Green

H. H. Hattery

Henderson

Emil Henke

N. N. Horton

Geo Jennings

G. A. Jordan

E. M. Lundquist

S. H. McCall

T. J. McKenzie

J. G. Marshall

Mathews

J. N. Merridk

Lillian Miller

W. P. Mills

Robt. L. Owens

H. Parsons

F. D. Pease

Pendergrist

Chas. Pixley

W. Powers

G. H. Putney

J. G. Randall

J. W. Reed

A. K. Resner

Em M. Rundquist

Rudgers

W. E. Shea

B. W. Sippy

C. L. Smith

H. L. Smith

Harry P. Smith

E. W. Spottswood

E. A. Sweet

Spencer Whiting

Yelty

[Current 1960] Members of the Western Montana Medical Society

L. R. Alderson

J. R. Armstrong

D. W. Babcock

G. H. Barmeyer

H. M. Blegen

B. B. Bobowiec

C. L. Bourdeau

H. A. Braun

L. W. Brewer

I. J. Bridenstine

C. P. Brooke

H. B. Campbell

G. A. Carmichael

D. W. Chase

E. E. Clark Jr.

B. D. Colwell

W. B. Cox

H. R. Crisman

R. B. Curry

G. A. Diettert

G. O. Doherty

W. J. Doyle

E. J. P. Drouillard

J. A. Evert

J. M. Fritts

G. S. Frogner

J. F. Fulton

J. F. Gentry

E. K. George

D. D. Gnose

H. J. Hall

R. W. Hanson

W. E. Harris

G. V. Holmesw

R. C. Honodel

A. S. Hoon

G. Hulla

J. M Isbister

M. J. Johnson

W. L. Jones

R. W. Key

J. O. Kildow

F. E. King

A. R. Kintner

J. E. Kress

L. E. Kuffel

H. R. Lewis

F. H. Lowe

W. J. McDonald

W. J. McKinstry

J. E. McIntosh

D. W. Maclean

A. M. Meis

J. E. Minckler

W. F. Morrison

E. S. Murphy

J. M. Nelson

Richard Peterson

S. N. Preston

J. W. Quinn

J. P. Ritchey

C. E. Rosdahl

G. G. Sale

J. M. Saycich

F. F. Schroeder

H. C. Schwartz

W. R. Spencer

R. A. Spierling

C. R. Svore

W. E. Tefft

S. M. Trenouth

H. J. Tripplehorn

A. P. Turner

F. L. Van Veen

F. W. Vennemann

R. D. Weber

R. E. Wirth

A. N. Wiseley

G. E. Zimmerman