Old Missoula

Daily Firm Veteran Processor

The meat consumed by many thousands of western Montana residents is processed and manufactured in Missoula by one of its major industries, John R. Daily Inc.

For its own use in 1959 the company slaughtered 1,724 cattle, 78 calves, 748 sheep and more than 10,700 hogs. For farmers and other meat markets the company slaughtered 715 cattle, 116 calves and 2,178 hogs.

The John R. Daily Co. began humbly in Missoula in 1890 when John R. Daily purchased a meat market on Higgins avenue.

Daily arrived in Missoula that year when he was 33. For a time he conducted the market in partnership with Julius Grill. The interest of Grill was purchased on June 1, 1892, and Daily formed a partnership with James A. Walsh.

The concern became one of the best known business houses in Missoula, and the partnership continued until the end of 1899 when Daily took over the entire business.

In March 1910 the John R. Daily Co. was organized and the scope of its operations expanded. Twenty years later the corporation was reorganized under the name John R. Daily Inc. Daily became chairman of the board of directors.

In the late 1920s there were six Daily markets, but Daily gradually expanded his wholesale department until it became dominant. The firm operates only the one retail store now at its headquarters in the 100 block on West Front street.

In the 1920s, as now, much attention was given to packing pork. In 1928 about 9,000 hogs were handled.

In 1938 the face of the building at 115 W. Front St. was remodeled. The portion of the cornerstone removed in the process bore the date of construction of the building – 1888.

From year to year the company has added and maintained up-to-date equipment. In this way all waste is eliminated. By-products include hides, meat meal, inedible tallow which is made into soaps and other products. The slaughter house and packing plant, located a short distance west of Missoula on the Mullan Road, operates under state inspection. This inspection is conducted under the auspices of the Montana Livestock Sanitary Board.

John R. Daily Inc. manufactures and processes all its own products. This includes curing meats and making sausages. The company employs about 45. A regional salesman solicits the territory as far as Whitefish, Darby and Anaconda, and a local salesman solicits the Missoula area. The wholesale plant is located next door to the retail market on Front street.

Members of the board of directors are Ernest S. Holmes, president; Kathryn J. Holmes, vice president; Katherine Simmons, secretary-treasurer, and Edna Hanson and Alma K. Kingsbury, both of Wallace, Idaho.

Holmes was manager and secretary-treasurer of the board of directors for many years before becoming president of the firm. Daily, one of the best-known businessmen in western Montana, died in 1931.