Missoula’s 1st Aviation School – 1927 – A. W. Stephenson Instructor – Pre Bob Johnson – Flies Will Rogers From Missoula Over Montana

Missoula’s First Aviation School – 1927 – A. W. ‘Steve’ Stephenson Instructor Will Rogers Visits Missoula – Piloted Around Montana by Stephenson   FIRST AVIATION SCHOOL IN MISSOULA IS TRAINING FLYERS That aviation will soon play an important part in Montana as it has begun to do in other states Read More

Reverend John N. Maclean versus Clarence Darrow – Prohibition 1916

Reverend John N. Maclean versus Clarence Darrow The Anti-Saloon League Battles the Montana Commercial and Labor League (Dry versus Wet) – The Prohibition Controversy – 1916 The famous attorney Clarence Darrow visited Missoula in October of 1916, prior to the election in November. He was there for one purpose – Read More

‘Day Time Smoke’ William Clark’s Nez Perce son & 1000 Fine Indian Ponies Visit Helena

“Day Time Smoke” – William Clark’s Nez Perce son & 1000 fine Indian Ponies Visit Helena The “Lo” Family. A large delegation of the “Lo” family (Nez Perces) visited the city to-day. They are encamped on Ten Mile, near Nick Kessler’s brewery, and number twenty-five lodges. We understand they have Read More

‘Herder’ Humor Again – Propensity for Preposterous Alliterations

Herder Humor Again For some reason local Missoulian reporters exhibited a propensity for the preposterous (alliterations in this case) when they reported on the affairs of the City Herder. Here’s another example:   Bold Boy Bandits Grab Groceries Gleefully Wandering Westward, Weary Willies Wantonly Waylay Waiting Wagon Three young adventurers, Read More

Missoula’s “Poverty Row” – 1918

A Look At Missoula’s Poverty – 1918 A letter to the editor in The Daily Missoulian in 1918 caught my eye when reading about another big problem Missoula was facing at that time – the Spanish Influenza epidemic. The letter was written by Captain Richard G. Guest who headed the Read More

Rev. John J. O’Kennedy – Founder of St. Anthony Parish – 1921 – broad in mind and big in heart

Farewell Party Given For Father O’Kennedy Ill Health Forces St. Anthony Pastor to Leave Rev. J. J. O’Kennedy, formerly paster of St. Anthony’s church, yesterday left for Helena. From the Capital city he will go to San Francisco to remain for a time before leaving for Ireland, where he will Read More

“4 Albert Brothers” – Serious Trappers

The 4 Albert Brothers – Placide, Dennis, William & Alex – “Serious Trappers”   Has Them On The List (1897) William Albert, a Mighty Trapper and Hunter. Few who are not familiar with the kind and amount of game in Montana can form any conception of the game killed in Read More

“Unassuming” Herbert Hoover Stops For Steak In Missoula – Will Fish at St. Regis – 1937

Hoover Happy Over Prospects of Good Fishing in Western Montana (1937) “Oh, I’m very happy!” A good dinner under his belt, and prospects of good fishing for this morning, ex-President Hoover leaned back in his chair at a table in the New Grill café Saturday evening and talked affably with Read More

Oscar Clayborne’s The Royal Knights – 9 Piece Colored Band – Soup kitchen Clayborne – Dizzy Gillespie, Count Basie, Duke Ellington

Oscar Clayborne’s The Royal Knights – 9 Piece Colored Band The announcement below appeared in The Daily Missoulian on November 18, 1931: A Message From Oscar Clayborne – Director of Royal Knights Colored Band I am extremely sorry that due to our band bus being wrecked while speeding to Missoula Read More

Missoula’s Gypsies – 1905

Missoula’s Gypsies – Not Regrettable Around the turn of the last century Missoula was a very different town from what it would become. A small, but vital little hub of several busy industries, the town attracted a wide variety of western folks. Railroaders, loggers, miners, mill workers, farmers, ranchers, Indians, Read More