Author Archives: carrollvanwest

Restoration at Fort Shaw: the Regimental Commanding Officers Quarters

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For almost 50 years the Sun River Valley Historical Society has undertaken the preservation and restoration of Fort Shaw (1867-1891), one of the most important federal sites in the west. When I first met and talked with the group in 1984 during the state historic preservation planning process, efforts were just underway, focused on the officers duplex, the wash house, and bakery.

Officers duplex

Now I would like to focus on achievements of the last 10 years since the last visit in 2013. I have posted earlier about how the society has restored the cemetery. This post is about the regimental officers quarters, where restoration began with repairing the historic adobe walls in 2014 and continued with a comprehensive interior restoration over the next several years.

Commanding Officers quarters

While the first restored building serves as a general history exhibit about the fort and immediate region, the society restored the Commanding Officers quarters as a period historic building.

Dining room
Parlor

Within the period objects found in each room, the society also empathizes a “First Lady” theme, adding a strong historic textiles collection to the museum.

Restored interior doors and floors
Restored staircase and flooring

The society took care with the kitchen and also addressed the presence of Chinese cooks at the property. The federal census of 1880 records 5 Chinese men at Fort Shaw. A letter from 1887 documents that Ah Wai was employed as a cook for the private company that operated the post’s mess hall and store. The Fort Shaw Indian School superintendent, who may have resided in this building, hired Joe Ling as a cook in 1898.

A bedstead for an unidentified Chinese cook at Fort Shaw is located within the pantry of the building
Bedrooms arranged in the second floor—note the massive chimney flue of adobe brick.

Desk within officer’s bedroom
Central hall restoration, first floor

My initial impression is that the many period objects are both a blessing and a curse. A blessing is that the furnishings make the place “come alive” and creates ample opportunities for storytelling about the inhabitants. It reinforces the Victorian era that the fort was part of—and the storyline of military families in the west. The curse is that the rooms may have too many objects—and few that are directly tied to the property. Do overfurnished interiors overwhelm the visitors visually—it is too much to take in?

Such is the challenge of the period room historic house museum. If the past here is any indication, the preservation of Fort Shaw is far from over—I look forward to future visits.

Chico Hot Springs, uncertain future?

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This week Chico Hot Springs and 500-plus acres were sold—shocking news for many but really not surprising, considering what happened earlier in the year at Izaak Walton Inn in Essex. A big development company that operates high end hotels and resorts from California to New York purchased the property and surrounding acreage for $33 million.

First I am glad the long-term owners got “paid.” They deserved it. They have been successful and effective stewards of this special place, a property I first documented during the historic preservation plan survey in 1984.

Chico Hot Springs in 1984

Let’s hope the new owners “get it” and respect the history and traditions of the place. After all it is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. (You can read my earlier 2016 blog “Chico Hot Springs” on the place for more on the history).

Detail of one-story wing in 1984

The place has changed in my 40 years of visiting. By the 21st century, the one-story side wing had grown to two stories and a small conference center had been built.

2011 view from second story window
Convention center in 2006

However these changes left the historic barn and stables intact. My children loved to pet the horses at the barn.

Barn in 2006

Over the last 40 years other buildings were added: cabins, wagons, separate spa and more—but the historic lodge remained at the center and the heart of the experience. From 1984 to today, Chico had evolved into a destination not just a hot springs pool with an absolute killer bar and restaurant. (In fact the restaurant has been legendary for almost 50 years and was highlighted in the classic western movie “Rancho Deluxe” from 1975.)

Sazerac 75
Prime rib—a house special for over 40 years.

Throughout the changes the rustic feel, the early 20th century aura of the place remained. The lobby had the same lumpy chairs, the same heavy tables, well worn. If you had to have more modem facilities, they had it. But if you wanted a taste of the west from decades ago, you had the lobby—the perfect place to have a great cup of coffee and watch people in way too big of a hurry.

And you have the plain, no air conditioner third floor rooms—a bed, sink, and common bathroom down the hall. I have heard now for years that visitors complain about the third floor. I really hope the renovation leave these plain but comfortable rooms as they are.

Chico has many character defining nooks and crannies that could disappear in an over-wrought renovation. There’s no need to make every room a $300 “suite”. Do that in the modern additions of the last 30 years; respect the old historic inn and the pool. Keep Chico accessible to all, not just the few.

Chico in 2021

Fort Shaw Military Cemetery: once forgotten, now it can’t be ignored

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For years I have emphasized the national significance of Fort Shaw, Montana, often to deaf ears it seems. But just stop and think: at this one place in the valley you have centuries of Native American history, then immediately after the Civil War comes the federal presence with the establishment of Fort Shaw in 1867. The last regiment serving at Fort Shaw were four companies from the 25th U.S. Infantry, an all African American unit, with the troops often called Buffalo soldiers. Once the military left the post in 1891 another federal program through the Interior department created the Indian Industrial Boarding School that operated 1892-1910. By that time the U.S. Reclamation Service already had launched the massive Sun River Irrigation Project, which created the infrastructure that shapes the valley today, designating the Fort Shaw district as its initial project. So much change in less than 50 years. Whew!

Sun River between Simms and Fort Shaw

Telling this huge story has largely been left to the Sun River Historical Society. I first met the group when I did a public meeting at Fort Shaw during the 1984 state historic preservation planning process. The society’s vision then was huge—but over two generations the members have met, even exceeded, that vision. In this post I want to highlight the efforts of the society and Blackfeet Nation in restoring the Fort Shaw Military Cemetery.

The cemetery is on a graveled county road on land managed by the federal Bureau of Land Management.

At the time of the historic preservation survey the cemetery was known but not well maintained. There were some extant grave markers but many more grave depressions that marked lost tombstones or removed graves.

The U.S. Army, after closing the fort, had decided to remove the soldiers from the military cemetery. In 1894 that process began and 74 soldiers, fort employees, and family members were moved from Fort Shaw to either family cemeteries or to Custer Military Cemetery at the Little Big Horn Battlefield.

Seven soldiers remained buried at Fort Shaw; eventually the standardized military tombstone marked their graves.

In 2016 Dick Thoroughman (who has since sadly passed away) convinced his fellow society members that they could restore the cemetery and restore a sense of dignity to those buried there by “saying their names.” The society built replica tombstones and then placed a small insert that gave the name and identification of the deceased

Among the marked graves are thirty-three students from the Indian Industrial Boarding School. Each tombstone is a testament to the horrors of the boarding school program. The names are not just of Blackfeet children but from many nations in the West and Alaska.

The federal boarding school program ripped children from their families, isolating them at the schools where their teachers too often literally tried to beat native culture and identity out of the students. Almost 2000 Native American children attended the Fort Shaw school from 1892-1910. Tribal members today believe that there might well be more than 33 Native American children buried at Fort Shaw.

Blackfeet Nation members have held vigils at the cemetery for years to honor and remember the victims of the boarding school. As Christine Diindiisi McCleave of the Native American Boarding school Healing Coalition told the University of Montana’s Byline Magazine, “We are in a moment of history where the wound of unresolved grief from Indian boarding schools is being ripped wide open. The truth is being unearthed and yet so much more is still unknown .”

The Sun River Historical Society recently restored the commanding officers house in 2019, where they are trying to find out more on the life of “Chinaman Joe” who worked as a domestic and is also buried at the cemetery (see below).

Many, many stories are yet to be identified, researched, and interpreted at this 7.5 acre property. But the 2016-17 restoration started the process. The Sun River Historical Society has earned thanks for their commitment and dedication to the task.

Riverside Cemetery, Fort Benton

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Riverside Cemetery dates to 1883, a time of considerable change and expansion in Fort Benton’s history. Just 2 years earlier, summer 1881, the U.S. Army left the fort, and it began a rapid decline. In the following winter of 1881-1882 the town began a building boom that led to the construction of the Grand Union Hotel by the end of 1882.

Grand Union Hotel

Freight traffic on the Missouri River also boomed and the River Press, the city’s leading newspaper for the next 100 plus years, published its first edition. 1882 also witnessed the city’s first electric lights and the construction of many new residences. And by the year resident had formed the Riverside Cemetery Association.

Gate to Riverside Cemetery

The loss of the Chouteau County Courthouse to fire in early 1883 didn’t seem to slow momentum at all. That spring voters incorporated Fort Benton—what had been a trading and military town was now a formally established town. Soon thereafter Riverside Cemetery was established on the Missouri River bluffs northeast of town.

The new town cemetery had approximately 40 fenced acres and was ready for use by Decoration Day (now known as Memorial Day) in 1883. The cemetery also had reinterred graves from earlier in-town cemeteries at approximately the location of First Christian Church and behind Haas and Associates and Farmers Union Oil Company.

Today the gap between the initial cemetery and burials in the 20th century is noticeable. The early burials are on the east side while the modern section is on the east side clustered near a row of trees m. Clearly early tombstones have been lost—the number of grave depressions indicate that there are many additional burials that lack a grave marker.

East side of cemetery
Central section with the west section in the background among the trees. In general the west section dates to mid 20th century and later

The remaining grave markers from the late 19th century tell powerful stories. The Charles Fish (d. 1890) obelisk with urn marker below honored a Canadian native who served as a drummer boy with the 38th Wisconsin Infantry in the Civil War; he was only 15 years old when he joined.

The Patterson family section is one of the cemetery’s oldest, with the earliest tombstone dating to 1886.

Tombstones with cross themes mark the graves of Jane Jackson (d. 1885) and Edward Kelly (d. 1890).

This image of the Jackson tombstone is another visual example of the number of empty spaces in the east side of the cemetery. Existing depressions indicate that many burials without grave markers are in the section.

In 1891 the cemetery received its first U.S. military veterans markers. The one below was for Patrik (the spelling used on the tombstone) Fallon, a Civil War veteran. By now Fort Benton had grown to the point that its Decoration Day ceremony involved hundreds, led by the cemetery association, camps of the Grand Army of the Republic and soldiers from Fort Assiniboine.

While the graves of many pioneers are unmarked, the Sullivan family located its graves near the edge of the bluff, truly an awe-inspiring setting overlooking the town, river, and railroad tracks.

Impressive tombstone art is scattered throughout the cemetery. The unique yet beautiful pressed metal crosses for brothers Julius (d. 1923) and Henry (d. 1924) Bogner belong, stylistically to the Victorian era, but were commissioned and installed in the Jazz Age.

Julius and Henry Bogner
The Winfred and Margaret Stocking marker (c. 1910-12) is unusual in that a sizable base supports a triangular rock Boulder. Margaret Stocking upon her death in 1812 was identified as the first white woman to settle in Fort Benton in 1865.
The marker for Bessie Bright (d. 1917) has an open Bible motif, typically found in tombstones of the 19th century

Riverside Cemetery has an impressive veterans section, known as the Military Plot. Veterans from the Spanish American War of the 1890s to the conflicts of the 21st century are buried here.

The majestic flag pole was added in 2916.

Lewistown City Cemetery, Fergus County

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The City Cemetery is one of the oldest public institutions in Lewistown, the seat of Fergus County. Residents incorporated the city in 1899. Almost immediately citizens banded together to establish the Lewistown Cemetery Association. The association filed its articles of incorporation with the state c. 1901.

The population of Lewistown and Fergus County boomed for 20 years. Just over 1,000 people lived there in 1900; by 1920 the city had well over 6,000 residents. Such supercharged growth, fueled by homesteaders, railroads, and mining, meant that demands on the Cemetery Association were too much for a private organization. In 1918 the association transferred the property to the city.

The Ethel Gilkerson marker, c. 1900, is one of the cemetery’s early burials.
The John Merryfield marker is another early burial, 1900. He was a miner at Maiden.
Early 20th century section

The heart of the cemetery is reserved for veterans, where the setting is low-key, dignified and effective. A gravel drive divides two sections reserved for veterans.

North side veteran’s section
South side veteran’s section. Note the bell.
South side section

One veteran marker that catches your eye is for “Col. Joe” Montgomery. He proudly bragged: “Soldier, Gambler, Landman, and Weather Predictor. I never voted wrong. Powder River Let ‘em buck.” What a summation. And he had every right to brag. A veteran of the Spanish American War, he was 107 years old when he died in 1984. He first came to the area to work in the Kendall mines in 1894. A true Montana original.

Most of the city’s prominent Protestant leaders are buried here, as are thousands of other citizens who have made Lewistown work and progress for the last 100 years.

The Sherwood marker (d. 1904) simply notes “here lies a Woodman of the World.” There are many fraternal lodge markers in the cemetery.

Mount Calvary Cemetery, Lewistown

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High on a hill northeast of downtown Lewistown is the historic Catholic cemetery, Mount Calvary, established in 1895. The cemetery is a bit challenging to find but well worth the efforts.

It is a significant property marking early settlement patterns in Lewistown, which was incorporated in 1899. But its greatest value is its wealth of funerary art.

Griffith cross tombstone c. 1915
Brooks mausoleum 1912
Columbus Regli, 1914 with a lovey insert carving of mourning
Burke gravehouse, c. 1921
The Hruska marker is near the Burke gravehouse
Biglen marker, statue has been damaged
Nearby the Biglen marker are burials of sisters who served the community at St Leo the Great Catholic Church and/or St. Joseph Hospital. South of those graves are an array of artistically expressive memorials.
Older section, looking southwest
Older section, looking southwest

Mount Calvary’s first generation of burials is concentrated on the hill top. But this cemetery is large and still active. The lower section has numerous interesting tombstones from the second half of the 20th century.

A second visit to Butte’s Mountain View Cemetery

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Due to considerable interest from readers of this blog, I planned a second visit to Mountain View Cemetery in May 2023. Perhaps best known nationally as the final resting place for stuntman and daredevil Evel Knievel, I discovered in my first visit the rich and informative ethic handprint on the place. The cemetery is an excellent property to explore Butte’s ethnic history, and I want to explore more of that in a later posting.

This post, however, aims to explore concerns about the southern half of Mountain View cemetery, and how a lack of irrigation and upkeep have left hundreds of graves in poor repair and in danger of headstones or burial names and locations being lost forever.

Southern section closest to irrigated northern half of the cemetery
Southern boundary of cemetery looking east
Note the piles of trimmed branches and dirt dividing the northern and southern sections of the cemetery
The southeastern corner of the cemetery has many graves marked only by small metal signs holding burial information. These signs are rusting away, taking invaluable information with them.

Historians of the labor movement in Butte should be concerned because the southern section is also the final resting place for Frank Little, one of the most important individuals associated with the IWW during World War I.

Admirers of Little and later labor activists have insured that his gravesite is not lost. judging from Little’s words and deeds, however, you wonder if he would not be concerned that while his grave is preserved those of his fellow miners and citizens buried around him are neglected.

Maintaining historic cemeteries is a challenge as we have seen in many places, not just across Montana but the entire nation. In tough times with many demands for services and support, what is the priority for cemetery maintenance compared to other pressing community needs, like schools and public safety? I wish I had instant answers—but I think I know where you start: by recognizing the problem and then having discussions and more discussions to find community solutions.

New Views of Anaconda’s remarkable Upper Hill Cemetery

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In an early post to this blog I discussed and explored the historic cemeteries of Anaconda. That work happened in 2013. When I briefly visited Upper Hill Cemetery ten years later, in 2023, I was delighted to find new markers throughout the property, identifying a Medal of Honor recipient (Thomas J. Ward who received the medal for his actions at the Vicksburg campaign during the Civil War) and locating burial plots of different fraternal lodges. I want to share some new photographs of these positive changes, which help even casual visitors to better grasp the value of the city’s historic cemeteries.

Among the most compelling and visually complicated Woodmen of the World memorials in Montana.

Champions Park in Shelby: 100th anniversary of the Dempsey-Gibbons heavyweight championship fight

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This month, July 1923, is the 109th anniversary of perhaps the biggest hyped sporting event in Montana history. The homesteading boom of the first two decades of the 20th century shaped the map of eastern Montana permanently. Shelby, on the hi-line of the Great Northern Railway, had been one of those railroad stops that the boom elevated into a county seat, as Toole County was formed in 1914.

Then the boom busted. Even though oil had been located in Kevin, to the west of Shelby, town boosters aimed for something larger. Why not use the rail connections and host a heavyweight championship fight on July 4, 1923? Jack Dempsey would fight—for a huge guarantee—as would his opponent Tommy Gibbons. Suddenly plans that were perhaps not that serious at first—more of a publicity stunt—became deadly serious. The event would either make, or break, Shelby.

The town and promoters worked together to build a 40,000 seat outdoor venue for the fight. And got that done west of the town center! But then, just days before the fight, the constantly escalating money guarantee fell through and word was broadcast everywhere that Dempsey wouldn’t fight. The buzz surrounding Shelby died overnight.

Then Dempsey changed his mind and the fight took place, but too many people, except for several national sportswriters and many locals, changed their plans. Rather than tens of thousands in attendance, there were an estimated 8,000 to watch the fight. It was a great 15-round fight, one of the toughest of Dempsey’s career, but as a money making event for Shelby it was a disaster, one that few wanted to talk about then or for decades to come.

I started the 1984 historic preservation survey in Toole County. There was no marker then talking about the fight or locating where it took place. No one really wanted to discuss it.

But time passes and it was with great delight that when I visited Shelby in May 2023 its Champions Park stood on the site of the fight. Finally effective public interpretation of a very important event!

Arranged as if you were in the grandstand back then, a combination of statues and kiosks tell not only the story of the fight but also the history of Shelby and environs. Dedicated on July 4, 2013–the 100th anniversary—the park is one of the best outdoor history museums in the state.

The interpretive panels don’t pull punches on the shenanigans behind the event
To even think that a 40,000 person grandstand once stood where you stand today—hard to wrap your head around that fact

The added history background on the town and county adds so much to the experience of exploring Champions Park. Congratulations to everyone who made the park a reality. What had been just a story—and oh what a story it was—now has the place preserved and interpreted. The power of place—Shelby gets it.

When you add the adjacent town carousel, a 2018 project that preserves a 1936 wooden carousel that is still in working order, Shelby has created a new heritage and recreation infrastructure that should serve it well for a generation. Impressive.

Townsend’s Holy Cross Cemetery

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Located east of Townsend, the seat of Broadwater County, is the county’s Catholic cemetery, Holy Cross Cemetery. Established in the early 20th century, the earliest grave marker I located was from 1914.

Members of the Neild family were among the cemetery’s earliest burials. A ro
East side of cemetery

The cemetery is still active but most burials date to the middle decades of the 20th century. A drive divides the cemetery into two large rectangles. Trees and ornamental plantings separate the place from the surrounding prairie.

East side of cemetery
West side of cemetery
West side of cemetery. Note the depressions in the ground, an indication of unmarked graves.

The cemetery has no artistic wonders among its grave markers but it has many of interest, including the Moran hand-carved sandstone marker below from 1925.

The R.M. Williams hard scribed marker in concrete dates 1925.
The Anna McDonald (d. 1917) marker combines Victorian details with the Bible motif.
The McGuin and Bubser markers convey a rough-cut stone look, suggesting permanence.
The open Bible and gates of heaven motifs define the marker of Lt. Robin Pennington, who died in World War II. “Greater love hath no man than a man lay down his life for his friends” reads the epitaph.

The ethnic diversity of Townsend’s Catholic community is directly expressed in several tombstones.

The Holy Cross Cemetery is a well maintained and dignified place even as it is surrounded by development on two sides. It is a significant contribution to the building of community institutions in Townsend and Broadwater County during the height of the pre-World War I homesteading boom.