Old Missoula

Bonner’s Lumber Industry Gets Under Way in 1885

The original mill at Bonner was started under the name of the Blackfoot Milling & Manufacturing Co. in 1885 and completed in 1886. The plant was leased to W. H. Hammond, who conducted it for several years, after which it reverted to the Big Blackfoot Milling Co. under the management of Mr. Hammond.

Million and Half

In 1898 that concern sold it to the Anaconda Copper Mining Co., at that time headed by Marcus Daly. The transaction, which took place in August, involved $1,500,000.

The copper firm obtained the mill mainly for supplying lumber for its immense mining operations in the state, but in following years the mill began to ship lumber to Midwest and East Coast markets.

Bonner and its mill have been as important to Missoula’s economy as if it were located within the city limits. Although many of the mill’s hundreds of employees have lived with their families in Bonner, Milltown and near-by communities, many others have lived in Missoula, commuting daily to work.

Through Warmer Months

In the early years of the mill’s existence it was operated generally from March until the first hard freeze of the following winter. Logs were brought down the Blackfoot River to the mill from immense stands of timber in the area. It was a common sight to see logs stacked up for two or three miles in the river awaiting processing into lumber.

In 1891 W. H. Hammond, who also was postmaster at Bonner, was supervising the mill. D. E. Manville was engineer, Alex Kennedy foreman and A. Markey and Charles Ashley head sawyers in the sawmill department.

Other departments and men in charge that year were the lath mill, C. H. Soliday; the yards, C. F. Maloch; the drying kilns, William Sproul and James Gill; the factory and planning mill, George H. Clynick.

Purchase Announced

Marcus Daly in September of 1898 announced that the Anaconda Co. had purchased the Big Blackfoot Milling Co. at Bonner.

He told Missoula residents “This will not result in withdrawal of any business from your city. The present town of Bonner is ample for the needs of the business there and no change is to be made in that respect. Missoula will continue to be the supply point. The transfer does not in any way affect the mercantile interest of Missoula.

“I have much confidence in the future of Missoula. It is to become one of the best cities in the northwest and will occupy the position that its natural resources entitle it to.”