Ellen Baumler's Blog, page 28

Daddy Reeves

A. I. “Daddy” Reeves came to Helena in 1892 and became a Christmas institution. The Reeves Music House brought many fine musicians and musical events to Helena. Reeves liked to tell the story about how he got his name. His parents weren’t much on naming their large brood of children, and when he went to school, the only name he had was Baby. The teacher suggested he needed a name, so he came up with initials he chose from the alphabet the teacher had hung on the wall. The A and I don’t stand...

Lew Switzer’s Christmas Message

“If the Hoosier was for men,” read Lew Swtizer’s 1918 Christmas ad, “every modern business…would have [one].” In Kalispell, Montana, and elsewhere across the nation, the Hoosier was a much-desired Christmas gift. Switzer, a Kalispell furniture dealer, bluntly claimed that if this poplar kitchen cabinet could make man’s work easier, no man would be without one. But “men carelessly leave thoughts of efficiency behind when business hours are over.” The ad theorized that most of the nation’s work...

Friday the 13th Photo: Coal

Montana Historical Society Photograph Archives, Al Lucke CollectionNeil Phillipps drives a wagonload of coal through Havre in 1912. I hope you don't find any in your stocking this Christmas.

Long George Francis

One of the most colorful characters of the High Line was an old time cowboy who came to a hideous end. Long George Francis was well known on the rodeo circuit. He lived along the Milk River west of Havre on a small ranch.

This photo of Long George Francis was taken at the Great Northern Montana Stampede in Havre
Montana Historical Society Photograph Archives, 952-167But Francis lived by the old range rules, believing unbranded stock was fair game. Times were changing, range laws evolv...

The Gold Nugget

In the early summer of 1857, Granville Stuart and his brother James were en route from California to visit their parents in Iowa. Granville became very ill near the future site of Corrine, Utah, delaying their journey for seven weeks. During this delay, an armed confrontation between the Mormon settlers in Utah and the United States government made travel along the emigrant routes impossible. When Granville could travel, Hudson’s Bay employee Jacob Meek advised them to head for the Beaverhead...

Friday Photo: Butte's Christmas Tree

Montana Historical Society Photograph ArchivesWorkers used mechanical assistance to decorate this tree outside the Butte courthouse circa 1917. Have you put your tree up yet?

Plenty Coups

Aleek-chea-ahoosh, or Many Achievements, was a fitting name for the influential Crow chief who was esteemed among his people and honored by both statesmen and presidents. White men called him Plenty Coups for the eighty feathers he wore with earned authority on his coup stick. A veteran warrior and shrewd negotiator, Plenty Coups was also a true, if sometimes critical, patriot and friend to the white man.

Montana Historical Society Photograph Archives, PAc 82-26 A2 p. 48At the age of ten, Plen...

Last Chance Stream

Some Helenans dispute the fact that Last Chance Stream, or Creek, once flowed through what is now the downtown. But water was the one essential ingredient needed for placer mining, and we know that the discovery site was where the parking lot for the Colwell Building is today. Water had to be present in that immediate area. Further, the first historic Sanborn Maps of Helena, drawn in 1884, clearly show the water source, although by this time it has been diverted underground into a wooden flum...

Friday Photo: Columbia Gardens

Montana Historical Society Photograph Archives, ST 001.113A balloon floats above Butte's Columbia Gardens, circa 1900-1910. N.A. Forsyth took this stereoview along with lots of other photos of Butte. Do you remember the gardens?

P.S. Copper King William A. Clark built the gardens for his miners.

Thanksgiving in December

The first official observance of Thanksgiving after the creation of Montana Territory came in 1865. Although President Lincoln had established the last Thursday of November as Thanksgiving Day, following Lincoln’s assassination, President Johnson chose December 7 as the day of official observance.

President Andrew Johnson, courtesy Library of CongressResidents of the mining camps paused in their relentless search for golden treasure and gave thanks for their good luck and for the end of the Ci...