Old Missoula

Adolph Lozeau Is Dead; Was Pioneer of Region

Ranchman of Frenchtown Is Called at 96 Years.

With the passing of Adolph Lozeau, who died January 3 at his home on the Flathead reservation, another Montana pioneer has gone to join the ranks of those who went over the last trail before him. Born April 3, 1830, he had been a resident of Montana since 1851, spending most of the years on his ranch six miles east of Superior, now known as the Milwaukee ranch. He was known to many of the old-timers of the state who had enjoyed his hospitality when the west was young.

Mr. Lozeau, a native of Canada, came to Montana from St. Louis in 1851, and after a year at Fort Benton, returned to the Missouri city. He came west again in 1853, when he went to California, and in the fall of 1865 he returned over the Mullan trail and settled at Frenchtown. The following spring he moved to the ranch which was to be his home until 1906, when he moved to Iron Mountain. Later he removed to the reservation.

He was married in 1866 to a French and Indian woman, who died at Dixon in 1920 at the age of 90 years. Four boys and four girls were born to this union. The children survive. They are Mrs. Joseph Grenier, Sr., of St. Ignatius; Mrs. Alma Homes of Moiese; Mrs. William Murray of Perma, and Adolph, Jr., John and Eddie Lozeau, all of Dixon.

The obituary above appeared in The Daily Missoulian on January 19, 1926.

https://www.newspapers.com/image/349044880/

Adolph Lozeau played a prominent role in the discovery and development of the Cedar Creek gold stampede in Western Montana. He profited from the strike in more than one way when he opened a lodge for travelers and also operated a ferry to cross the Missoula river near Superior – transporting gold seekers to the new diggings. He loved to play the fiddle and stories of his entertainments survive in many places. He is profiled at the nextexit history website – see link below.

http://www.nextexithistory.com/explore/historical-sites/lozeau-lodge_1_1/

Another interesting sidelight to his name occurred when his son, Eddie, provided an ancient skeleton that he had found to a University of Montana anthropology professor, Dr. Harry Turney-High. The skeleton became a topic of investigation that cast new light on the origins of Montana’s native people. The partially “fossilized” skeleton had features that were not common to Montana’s present day native people. “The eyes of the Lozeau specimen are distinctly square. . . The other bones indicate a racial type shorter than the modern tribes, but much more muscular and powerful. The femora are markedly arched, indicating an habitual squatting position.” Copper beads found with this skeleton were “beads of free virgin copper, he must have had far away connections.” [1]

Lozeau skeleton article – see Daily Missoulian 12/9/1934

https://www.newspapers.com/image/352092240