Ellen Baumler's Blog, page 16

Friday Photo: Dry Cleaners

Montana Historical Society Photograph Archives, Mulvaney Collection, 1723This Helena tailoring shop probably belonged to Miles York. The date on the calendar is, unfortunately, not legible. It might be July 1910.

Teddy Roosevelt and the Marquis de Morѐs

Teddy Roosevelt and the dashing Frenchman, the Marquis de Morѐs, were contemporaries who shared an interest in the cattle industry. The Marquis tried to revolutionize the beef industry, establishing a slaughterhouse and stockyards at Medora, North Dakota. His venture failed, but during the mid-1880s, the Marquis became well known for his crazy schemes. Both he and Roosevelt especially shared a love of danger and adventure, and both carefully cultivated western personas.

Tragedy drew Roosevelt...

Dearborn Cemetery Part 2

The deaths of Hattie and William Moore caused much speculation. The couple married in 1872 and ranched along the Benton-to-Helena Road where they also kept a stage station. In the fall of 1885, Hattie moved to Dearborn City, some ten miles from the ranch, so their three children could attend school. Teachers usually boarded with their students’ parents. Thus teacher J. C. McConnell came to board with Hattie. She and McConnell soon became the subject of scandalous gossip.

Hattie’s rented home s...

Friday Photo: Threshing Crew

Montana Historical Society Photograph Archives, PAc 90-87 4-3Mabel Williams brings water to the threshing crew on her family's farm near Terry in September 1909. Her friend and neighbor Evelyn Cameron took the photo.

Dearborn Crossing Cemetery Part 1

The Dearborn River country in Lewis and Clark County is an area rich in cultural history where physical remains abound if you know where to look. Buffalo jumps, pictographs, and stone arrow points illustrate Native Americans’ use of the abundant natural resources. One overlook, according to locals, was an eagle-catching site. Below, a stone cage—still intact—housed captive eagles until they molted. Then the birds were freed and the feathers collected. The area saw crews building the Mullan Ro...

William T. Hornaday

In 1886, the Smithsonian sent an expedition to Montana to collect buffalo specimens. Expedition leader William T. Hornaday was an internationally known naturalist, author, and conservationist. He was also the Smithsonian’s chief taxidermist and considered the best in the U.S. The expedition collected specimens from the last free-roaming herd of wild bison as they were on the brink of total extinction. Hornaday’s experiences in Montana led him to write scathingly of the buffalo’s extermination...

Friday Photo: Ashland

Montana Historical Society Photograph Archives, 981-997The men of the town of Ashland in Rosebud County turned out to have their photograph taken by L.A. Huffman circa 1910. There appear to be children peeking out the window of the building in the background.

Captain James Williams

Pennsylvania native James Williams was the son of Irish and Welsh immigrants. The West lured him as a young man. In 1856, Williams was involved in the violent Border Wars in Kansas where he was a “Free State” man. He followed the rush to Pikes Peak in 1858 and came to Bannack with a wagon train from Denver in 1862. In the absence of a leader, the travelers elected Williams to lead the train and thereafter he was known as Captain, or Cap, for short. Cap Williams followed the rush to Alder Gulc...

Neihart’s Silver Lining

Neihart is a wonderfully quirky little community in the heart of the rugged Little Belt Mountains. In the 1890s, Neihart’s population of four thousand rivaled that of Great Falls. Today, the twenty-five full time residents take pride in the town’s colorful past. Its roots date to 1881 when James Neihart and company discovered rich silver veins. There was gold in the district, too. Richard Oatey and his partners sold their silver mine at nearby Barker and headed to Neihart to celebrate. As the...

Friday Photo: At the Park

Montana Historical Society Photograph Archives, H-372This family is relaxing in Miller's Park at Coal Banks Landing, a low-water unloading and refueling site for steamboats headed up the Missouri River to Fort Benton. The landing is now a BLM recreation site. Well-known photographer F. Jay Haynes took the photo.