Ellen Baumler's Blog, page 38

Mystery Ovens

There are some curious features along the historic railroad grades in Montana, particularly in Lincoln and Prairie counties. These are domed rock structures that resemble small huts. They are typically called Chinese ovens and serve as a good example of misunderstanding and faulty logic.


When Henry Villard, president of the Northern Pacific Railroad, brought the line across Montana and the Northwest, he hired 15,000 Chinese as well as many Slavic and Italian workers to lay the tracks. Many bel...

Friday Photo: Arbor Day

Montana Historical Society Photograph Archives, 953-669Happy Arbor Day! These children from Kessler School in Helena planted a tree in Hill Park in 1915 in honor of railroad magnate James J. Hill.

P.S. The children of Betts School probably would've enjoyed having a tree around.
P.P.S Lots more photos of historic Helena.

And last but not least, check out my reflection on the ghosts of Butte.

Marcus Daly’s Horses

Copper king Marcus Daly believed that the Bitterroot valley was the ideal place to breed and train trotters and thoroughbreds. The lush grass that grew there reminded him of his native Ireland. Daly figured that horses raised and trained at higher altitudes had more stamina. His Bitterroot Stock Farm had the best facilities. Daly imported veterinarians, trainers, and young African American jockeys to exercise the horses. Tammany was Daly’s most famous and most loved racehorse. He won both the...

Rex Bar

A twist of fate landed sixteen-year-old German immigrant Alfred Heimer a job with Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West Show in 1894. Although the irascible Colonel Cody fired young Heimer three times during that first day, the youth remained as steward of Cody’s private railway car until 1903, developing a close friendship with the famous frontiersman. The genial Heimer then settled in Billings. He built the Rex Bar around 1909. It served such colorful patrons as his friends Buffalo Bill and Will Ja...

Friday Photo: European Hotel

Montana Historical Society Photograph Archives, PAc 2006-26.25Happy Friday! Today's photo shows the European Hotel and Cafe in Roy, Montana, in 1915. A note on the back reads, "I waited table here in winter of 1915 & 16—in Roy, while I was homesteading—me to the left, Josephine."

Gary Cooper’s Last Movie

On June 28, 1961, Helena’s Marlow Theater hosted the world premiere of hometown actor Gary Cooper’s last movie, The Naked Edge.

Marlow Theater manager Gene Brown on the day of the premiere of The Naked Edge. Note the Gary Cooper movie posters at left. Photo via Helena As She Was.Local press touted the murder mystery as one of the best money makers in the industry and noted that earnings had been earmarked for cancer research. It was a bittersweet celebration since Cooper had died of lung cance...

Merrill Burlingame

Last week, Merrill G. Burlingame was inducted into the Gallery of Outstanding Montanans.

Merrill Burlingame's lifelong work and interest in Montana history earned him the nickname “Mr. Montana History.” In 1929 he joined the faculty of Montana State College (now Montana State University) and became chair of the history department in 1935, a position he held for 33 years. He wrote numerous works on Montana history, including The Montana Frontier, (1942); A History of Montana (with K. Ross Toole...

Friday Photo: Going to the Sun Road

Montana Historical Society Photograph Archives, 956-638I hear that snowplows have started on the Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier National Park. This circa 1930s photo of the view along the Garden Wall gives an idea of the work that's cut out for them. E. T. Scoyen snapped the photo.

P.S. You can track the plows here.
P.P.S. More spectacular photos of Glacier here and here.

Yucca Theater

An optimistic, cheerful nature and a keen sense of humor helped make Treasure County legislator David Manning instrumental in getting Montana “out of the mud.” An engineer and contractor, Manning did much for Montana’s rural communities, initiating improvements such as electricity, paved roads, dams, and irrigation systems in sparsely populated areas. Known for his clever solutions to difficult problems, Manning was fair and patient and often crossed political party lines when others could no...

A Miner’s Lunch

Among the many ethnic groups that came to Butte were miners from Cornwall, England. These miners brought beliefs and traditions with them. They feared the Tommyknockers, who were the spirits of departed miners. Their ghostly knocking warned of cave-ins. Like all miners, the Cornish carried their lunches on their shifts underground. Terry Beaver of Helena has a collection of lunch boxes and has made a study of them. Often they were oval shaped and usually contained two inner trays, dividing th...