Old Missoula

Missoula’s Five Valleys? – or is it 3, or 8

We’ve all heard the phrase, “Missoula – the Hub of five valleys.” Sounds cool, but hold on. Where are these five valleys and whose idea was that anyway?

The topic of Missoula’s five valleys is sometimes perplexing, especially when we only see a couple of valleys co-joining the Missoula valley. Missoula with five valleys doesn’t really make sense if you interpret it in terms of a geometric star pattern, does it? ‘Hub’ seems to imply that Missoula is the center of something, but it’s certainly not anything like an axel with five spokes.

What were the city fathers thinking? Where are the valleys? Can you count Grass Valley as a separate entity? If so, it begs the question, “Where does Missoula Valley stop and Grass Valley begin?” Why not include Rattlesnake ‘valley’, then why not Pattee Canyon ‘valley’, or maybe Grant Creek ‘valley’, or maybe.  Nah!

The valley east of Missoula, starting at Bonner, could probably be considered separately from Missoula, and then you could possibly see five valleys, if you include the Bitter Root and Blackfoot Valley, seven miles to the east. They would then be – Missoula, Bitter Root, Blackfoot, Grass Valley, and Clark Fork Valley east of us. (I’m using the old spelling for Bitter Root until someone can tell me what authority changed it. The same logic could apply to the Missoula / Hell Gate River.)

Still, doesn’t seem right, does it. Flathead valley doesn’t join the Missoula valley at all, does it? Flint creek valley is almost 50 mile away. So where do these five valleys come from? The answer might lie in a document held at the University of Montana’s Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, with the following appropriate title: “Missoula – The City of The Five Valleys”.

Of course I had the bright idea to investigate the subject long before becoming acquainted with this pamphlet. Seriously, the question does come up now and then. The University of Montana Mansfield Library is a treasure trove of Missoula historical documents, and, bless their hearts, they don’t seem to mind sharing them.

The front page of this five valley pamphlet consists of a drawing of a fruitful bough of an apple tree loaded with ripened red apples, hanging over a nifty scene of Missoula’s valley before it grew beyond a few thousand folks. It is dated 1917 – 1918. The view is looking North/Northwest, probably from a few hundred steps up the side of Mt. Sentinel. It shows the University campus consisting of only four or five buildings with an oval at the center and everything is nice and green on the valley floor. What is likely the new sugar beet factory appears off to the left of a tidy looking group of buildings located just across the river – the hub, of all these valleys.

The rendering to this point would no doubt be an acceptable representation, with maybe only one complaint. Everything is very, very green. Too green. Given that this little pamphlet was the creation of the Missoula Chamber of Commerce, what else would you expect? Certainly not the lifeless brown duff that subsists for most of the year on the never-very-wet Missoula valley hillsides. Stay awhile and you’ll see how well this brown stuff burns. But how else would you color the ‘Garden City’?

The color is not really very important anyhow. There’s another minor inconspicuously added feature that draws your eye if you study the drawing a little closer. It’s the orchards and gardens in the surrounding hills. Big ones if they were drawn to scale and there’s several of them, well dispersed in the rises above the tiny berg of Missoula in this idyllic sketch. They completely encircle the town to the north at the base of some extremely blue Mountains. Now, where and how these orchards and gardens came about is anybody’s guess.

Did Judge Woody plant all these trees and gardens? That’s doubtful. As a matter of fact he would probably be holding his nose at the mention of this ‘hub of five valleys’. There may be some remnants of these orchards even today, but more than likely not to the extent the artist depicted. Somebody paid him, or her, to paint a dream. You don’t have to buy it though.

The message is unmistakable. Missoula is an oasis. The picture surely convinced its readers that Missoulians ought to be thinking more about fecund orchards and vineyards and less about cattle and timber and railroads. But this was 1917. Busy real estate developers tended to emphasize agricultural prosperity and its attendant values.

By then Missoula furnished rail access to anywhere in the whole country. The chamber and friends were trying to sell land and the small farm idea was a strong drawing card. Unlike today, they didn’t capitalize on the recreational themes so necessary and prevalent in the real estate game. That was the real paradise, yet they didn’t know it. They recognized it quickly in certain places such as at Flathead Lake, but not with Missoula. That would come much later, after teepee burners and lumber mills were removed and the world became smaller. Nevertheless, the game was on.

Now, back to the original topic. If not two, three, or four, but five valleys grace the hub of western Montana, what’s the benefit? The answer is right in front of you as you look at the drawing. A lighter shade of green, it coils nicely through the center of the town in the drawing. Norman Maclean had it right, even if he wasn’t a real estate guru. It’s the water. The crowning feature of all Montana’s western valleys is, of course, the streams that course through them. And Missoula does have water. Lots of it.

But, it actually comes from three valleys, not five.  When you think about it, the chamber fathers showed some restraint. As we mentioned above it could have easily been seven or eight valleys, and the artist’s vineyards, orchards and gardens could have covered the entire University oval, and all of the mountainsides as well. The pamphlet is convincing – if you read it – the town really was (and still is) prosperous. Paradise, if you will. Any good salesman, or saleswoman, will tell you that.

Below is the first page of the pamphlet:

Missoula – The City of The Five Valleys:

Missoula is the hub of western Montana and its field extends thoughout a country of a radius of 100 miles. The five valleys which join in or very near this city are productive. The Bitter Root valley is famous for its apples the world over; the Blackfoot is noted for its livestock and wheat; the Flathead valley is one of the most famous diversified farming districts in all this state; the Missoula valley raises thousands of tons of hay and grains annually; the Flint creek valley is a producer of agricultural crops of all kinds.

The trade for all of these valleys, wherein live hundreds of prosperous farmers of the kind that know how to get the most from the soil, all passes or originates in Missoula.

This is the center to which the people in these various God-blessed valleys look for their supplies and through here they get their outlet to markets.

Missoula furnishes an excellent market close at hand and the surplus is cared for by two transcontinental railways which operate through here.

Missoula is a thriving, active, rapidly growing city of 20,000 population. Here are located four banks, two national and two state. The total deposits are $5,262,861.25 and show a substantial increase over a year ago. In the past three years postal receipts, bank deposits and population of Missoula have all increased greatly. These three things show the substantial growth of a city better than any other things can.

Missoula has a magnificent courthouse built at a cost of $250,000. It is one of the finest in Montana. A federal building here cost $175,000; Elk’s temple, $140,000; Masonic temple, $105,000; Knights of Pythias home, $29,000, and the Montana block, $120,000. These are but a few of the fine buildings to be found in the business section of Missoula.

There are now approximately 1,000 farmers who come to Missoula to do their trading from the five valleys which join here. Here all who desire to purchase find the best of stores, containing all of those things which may be purchased in any city in the country. Missoula’s retail merchants are up to the minute in every regard.

This city has the commission form of government of three men, a mayor and two commissioners. Western Montana is famous for its recreation spots and good hunting and fishing is to be found a few miles from Missoula. Scores of wonderful recreation spots are easily reached by electric railway. Fort Missoula, large enough to accommodate a regiment, is located here.

The Missoula Chamber of Commerce owns its own building, the only organization of its kind in the state having a really pretentious “home.” Missoula is the prettiest city in Montana, the Garden City it is called, and it is a home town in all respects.

The Missoula Chamber of Commerce will gladly furnish information regarding it.

You can find an online link to this pamphlet at the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library at the University of Montana in Missoula at the Digital Collections – Rare Books and Materials section. Many others are available under Browse All.

http://cdm16013.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/p16013coll56/id/17/rec/22