One Nation, Under God
One Nation, Under God
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In 1862, Abraham Lincoln signed the original Homestead Act into law. He reportedly said, “This will do something for the little fellow”. This Homestead Act allowed a person to claim up to 160 acres of public land to make a home for himself. He had to reside on the land for five years and make improvements. Before Montana could be homesteaded, the land had to be surveyed, which started in 1867. The first land settled in Montana and in Phillips County was along creeks and rivers, springs, and waterholes. In 1909, the Enlarged Homestead Act was...
In 1918, a wildcat oil rigger testing in the area for oil struck a gushing well of hot water at approximately 3,100 feet. Gas also flowed from the well so drilling was abandoned. Over time water bubbled out from around the old casing and formed a pool. Elbert Davison, a Saco rancher on the Great Falls Ranch had a son stricken with polio. He built a box out of planks around the hot mineral well and would bring his son there to soak in the hot flowing water. Other people soon began bathing in the water so a larger box was built out of railroad...
In the early to mid-1900’s many towns and communities could be found on Phillips County maps. One of those towns was Lovejoy, which was located approximately 30 miles northwest of Malta. In 1910, W.C. Lovejoy from Indiana was looking for a place to homestead. After several long days of looking for land, Mr. Lovejoy said, “This is it. I’m tired and I’m not going any farther.” The place he stopped at became the town of Lovejoy. In 1911, W.C.’s oldest son, Harry moved to the area and built a store that sold groceries, clothing, and hardware. S...
Did you know that the Whitewater townsite wasn’t always where it is today? Whitewater was originally located at what is now called Forks. One building from Old Whitewater remains standing. That is the Forks Hall which was built in 1916. The Hall was built by the community when they saw a need for a gathering place to hold events. The original hall had a stage for plays and orchestras. The stage was removed so a small apartment could be made to provide housing for U.S. Immigration and Customs employees who were stationed at Whitewater. A m...
The ninth annual Phillips County Fair was held September 10 – 14, 1024. The first two days were entry days. According to newspaper accounts, there were more individual vegetable entries than ever before, and quality was 100% better. The livestock entries were up from previous years. So much poultry was exhibited that extra pens had to be made to accommodate it. The Malta Band and the Boy Scout Band from Chinook provided music throughout the fair. Looss Carnival Company was on the grounds for three days. Lucille and Willie, a comedy sketch act p...
In July 1924, The Enterprise newspaper announced a contest for selecting a princess to represent Phillips County in the Queen of Montana contest to be held at the state fair in Helena. The requirements to enter the contest were that you were a female resident of Phillips County for at least the past six months and were between the ages of 18 and 25. The winner of the county contest would have all expenses paid from the time they left Malta until they returned. In Helena, the Phillips County representative would compete against the other county...
July is the month for celebrations. On July 10, 1926, Whitewater held its 10th annual July celebration. It was estimated that between 1500 and 2000 people attended the various activities held that afternoon and evening. The afternoon began with T. F. Rucker, editor of the Phillips County News, giving a speech about American patriotism. The next event was a baseball game between Whitewater and Saco, which was exciting for the entire nine innings. Whitewater had the lead 8 to 7 going into the ninth inning when Saco scored 5 times. The final score...
The second annual Farm Bureau Picnic was held July 12, 1924, at Malta’s Trafton Park. It was organized by the Phillips County Farm Bureau with help from the Malta Commercial Club. An estimated 1,500 people attended. A wide variety of sporting events were held in the morning with men, women, and children participating. Some events were for teams representing their communities while others were for individuals. Team events included men’s horseshoes and tug-of-war, relay races, and 3-legged races. Most winners in team events received $2.00 for...
One hundred years ago, The Enterprise newspaper of Malta wrote that the people of Malta had a choice of Fourth of July celebrations to attend. Landusky, Freewater, Rocky Point, and Saco were all holding events. Saco’s two-day celebration was organized by the Saco American Legion and the Saco firemen. The crowd was estimated to be 3,000 on the 4th, and slightly less on the 5th. It started off with a patriotic speech by Judge Borton of Glasgow. W. J. Wallace was in charge of the Stampede program. There were bareback and saddle bronc riders, r...
The earliest large creamery in Malta was completed in October 1912 but did not start operating until March 1913. The one-story building contained the most modern and up-to-date machinery. It was stated that special attention was being given to sanitation. The first board of directors consisted of R. V. Tucker, Phil Caselberg, J. F. Kilduff, H. G. Robinson and Dr. George W. Clay. Mrs. Atwood of Strater sent in the first cream. Only butter was produced at the beginning. The butter was marketed under the name “Malta’s Pride” which was the winni...
In last week’s article, I wrote about the dairy cows in Phillips County. At the same time as the push to improve the dairy cows’ bloodlines, a new creamery association was being formed. Phillips County farmers met in late June 1924 and organized the Phillips County Creamery and Produce Company. Enough stock had been sold that it was felt the cooperative would be a success. Nine directors were elected to head up the cooperative. They were J.N. Mangis, R.A. Thompson, S.H. Brumbley, Adolph LaFond, Martin Mitchell, J.P. Larson, Frank O. Peterson, F...
In 1924, a survey taken estimated there were between 4,000 and 5,000 cows being milked in Phillips County. Farmers were beginning to recognize the value of the cream check coming in each week that helped to pay for groceries. The Great Northern Railway set up meetings along the Hi-Line to show Holstein bull calves that they had purchased from the Carnation Farm. The railroad felt that if farmers used better dairy bulls, the butterfat production in the cream could be more than doubled in 3 to 4 years which would result in much higher profits....
In the late 1890s and early 1900s, northeastern Montana was home to many colorful characters, some on the good side of the law and some not. One of these men was Henry “Long Henry” Thompson. It is thought that Long Henry found his way to Montana as a member of a Slaughter-Kyle Long S cattle drive. It was said that Long Henry could be cheerful one minute and turn like a flash into a demon the next. After being accused of killing a round-up cook in the Miles City area, Long Henry found his way to the Valley County area. Phillips County was not...
On May 22, 1925, the Malta Commercial Club met and discussed building a road from the Henry W. Martin place on the Big Bend of the Milk River northeast of Malta to Whitewater. The County Commissioners had no funds, so a committee was appointed to secure funds. A committee of businessmen met with a group of Whitewater farmers. The farmers signed up to work from one to six days using a four-horse team to build a road starting at Whitewater and heading toward the Martin place. The County Commissioners agreed to let the Commercial Club use county...
On June 18, 1923, a Farm Bureau picnic was held on the Jansy Tieden farm at Valleytown, which was a community on Frenchman Creek. The Extension Department of Montana State College conducted demonstrations on methods of hitching and handling large horse teams, different kinds of harnesses, and methods of driving larger teams using different farm equipment. The object of the demonstration was to show farmers how to cultivate and seed their fields at a minimum expense and in a timely fashion so that they could successfully raise a crop on the...
Do you remember the Sunny Hillside School? It was located 14 miles south of Dodson and began in 1910. Students walked or rode horses across the prairie to attend. Though the policy of “No Child Left Behind” was unheard of in 1910 the rural teachers saw to it that each student was taught the three “R’s”. As dry years came to Montana, many families starved out and moved away. There was no longer a need for smaller schools, and many were purchased and became home additions or granaries. Congratulations to all the PC graduates. Our wish is that e...
Last year I wrote about how much poultry was shipped out of Phillips County. There was an active movement in the early 1920s to develop the poultry industry in the county. In mid-May, 1923, three community poultry housing demonstrations were held. They were put on by the county agent and Miss Harriette Cushman, poultry specialist from Montana State College. The old poultry houses were torn down and remodeled on the H. J. Rocek farm at Black Coulee and the Mac Schoop farm at South Wagner. A new house was built on the J. N. Mangis farm. The...
As I was searching for some information, I found a Saco High School Athletic Fund Report for 1924-25. There were 12 home games with the opponents being Bowdoin, Hinsdale, Malta (2 games), Dodson, Harlem, Wolf Point, Poplar, Bainville, Glasgow, Saco Town Team, and Malta Town Team. Total gate admissions per game ranged from $4.75 for the Saco Town team game to $98.45 for the second game with Malta. There were also guarantees received for games played away from home. Those ranged from $15.00 for a game in Hinsdale to $60.00 for the Poplar game....
The Phillips County Museum has reopened for the season. During the three months we were closed the upstairs underwent a facelift. The entire upper level was recarpeted thanks to Mulfinger funds and donations. Changes were made to the Saco, Dodson, Loring, Whitewater, Landusky and Zortman displays. The wedding dress display was moved and new items were added. A travel display was organized with an old railroad map being the central focal point. Thanks to designated memorials from the Gil Bullock family, the Military Display underwent changes....
Cole, Montana was a whistle-stop community about 10 miles northwest of Saco on the Great Northern Railroad branch line to Turner. In 1934, the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers was looking for gravel to use in the building of Ft. Peck Dam. Charles McChesney and Stan Hetrick of Saco notified them that gravel could be found in the Cole area. Tests were run and they indicated that there were millions of cubic yards of gravel. The J. L. Shiely Company of St. Paul set up a gravel screening and washing plant. Other contracts for toe and blanket gravel...
The town of Bowdoin came into being in April 1917, when the Great Northern Railway created a new division point on their railroad line. Contracts for the construction of 15 miles of tracks, a 23-stall roundhouse, a storehouse, coal chute, water treating plant, office building, depot, railroad hotel and restaurant, ice house and ice tram and water reservoir were let the week of April 19, 1917. By November 1917, work was completed on all the contracts at the cost of approximately $200,000. On November 18, train crews and workers were moved from...
Did you know there was a commercial fishing industry in Phillips County at one time? In 1922, the McNeil brothers, Hinsdale area sheep ranchers, seined and shipped 120,000 lbs. of live carp caught in Nelson Reservoir to Jewish markets in New York City. The fish were transported to Bowdoin in 25 to 100 lb. boxes and put on the train to arrive alive at their destination. In November 1922, the State Fish and Game Commission in Helena authorized the McNeils to sein and remove carp and other non-game fish from Nelson and also, the Milk River...
All of us are aware of the Sleeping Buffalo Rock on Highway 2 between Malta and Saco. It was originally one of several on a ridge near Cree Crossing on the Milk River. H. G. Robinson first saw the rocks in 1892, when he observed a lone Native American dismount from his horse, raise his hands in prayer and walk toward it. The man left beadwork, tobacco and red calico cloth on the rock. The rock is part of the cultural past of the Assiniboine, Gros Ventre, Cree, Chippewa and Blackfeet tribes. All these tribes have stories about the role the rock...
The Civilian Conservation Corps, or CCC, was part of the Emergency Conservation Work Act of 1933. Young, unemployed men were recruited to perform conservation work throughout the U.S. Camp Milk River BR69 was located at Trafton Park in Malta. The first workers arrived on July 17, 1938. The first job the young men had was to construct the camp. They graded the grounds, laid sewer and water lines and erected buildings. Once the camp was established, they planted grass, trees and shrubs. In September 1938, the men started working on the Milk...
In the late 1920s and early 1930s, a lot of poultry was raised for sale in Phillips County. In 1931, 39,543 pounds of turkeys, ducks, geese and chicken were shipped through the Phillips County Turkey Pool. Fifty-six growers sold through the Pool that year. In December 1932, nearly 20,000 pounds of dressed turkeys were shipped from Malta to eastern markets for the Christmas season. It was stated that 95% of the birds delivered were graded prime and the balance were choice. A few commercial-grade birds were sold locally at ten cents per pound. Th...