Old Missoula

City Wide Open In Gay Nineties

One came into the town of Missoula in the 1890s by horse-drawn bus over cobblestones.

The newcomer might have stopped at John Shaughnessy’s Grand Central Hotel, a three-story frame structure across from the bus depot and located about where the Northern Pacific underpass is now. And the stranger in Missoula might have stopped in Tom McCaffery’s saloon to meet folks, or he might have gone to the Buckeye Saloon.

If the stranger carried pennies, he might have received an unusual look – as pennies were not used in Missoula. The stranger might have noticed that the soldiers from Ft. Missoula paid their bills in gold. The 25^th Infantry under Col. Burt, received its salary in gold. When the 20^th of the month arrived, the money which suddenly came into circulation was of the ordinary variety. The 20^th was railroad pay day. Businessmen looked forward to it as much as church dinners, dances and bazaars.

Gambling Wide Open

It didn’t take long to discover that gambling was wide open. The most popular men in town were the saloon keepers and bartenders, and anyone running for office did well to gain their support.

West Front street offered the best variety shows in the Gem and Mascot theaters. Night life continued until 3 or 4 a.m. at the Headquarters, Exchange, Foster & Fox, Lou Hunt’s and other bars and gambling houses. Faro was popular with its dealer, case keeper and lookout, but the game lost out when roulette came with one operator.

There were few homes and no stores in South Missoula and one crossed the river on the narrow crooked bridge, just wide enough for a single vehicle, leaving little space for foot travel. A sign greeted the stranger which read: “$25 fine for driving faster than a walk.”

The population in the “gay nineties” was a little over 4,000, comparable to the population of Sidney now. But Missoula natives weren’t too happy about the census figure – the Board of Trade had been claiming 10,000. Missoula had its dreams and expansion was one of them.

Grade school and high school students had difficulty reading on a dark day as there were no lights. Students bought their own books from John Lister or Roberts & Jones-Parry, but the school furnished ink, most of which dripped alongside each desk.

One Steam Laundry

The Florence Laundry was the only steam laundry in town. The proprietor did most of the washing at the price of $1 per family with no reference to number of pieces. Often he was seen making deliveries on his back – a load that few would care to handle now.

Had the stranger been lucky, he might have seen Chief Charlo and his tribe moving from the Bitter Root to the Flathead – Charlo saddened, carrying an American flag at the head of his people. Or he might have seen the school building which opened in January, 1892, and later was used for the University.

Chinese New Years was a special event in Missoula. The youngsters looked forward to the candy, nuts and firecrackers hanging in long strips from telephone poles.