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 believe that these domed rock features found along the Northern Pacific and other western rail routes where made by the Chinese. But these are bread ovens, and the Chinese did not make bread. The truth behind this odd idea is much more logical. Railroad laborers worked grueling hours in all kinds of weather and had little relaxation. It is little wonder that they wanted something to remind them of their homes far away. Italians could not survive without their fresh-baked bread. Every Italian home had an oven called a formello, usually outside, especially for baking bread. Bread baked in a charcoal fire has a special flavor. Thus tasty charcoal-baked bread was a staple. And so it was the Italian workers in particular, and to a lesser extent other European groups, that built these ovens to satisfy their hunger for fresh bread in the camps. It is not surprising that the ovens show little use. These camps were transient, moving frequently as the tracks spread across the Northwest. Bread ovens remain to document this dietary craving.

P.S. Here's the truth about Montana's Chinese pioneers.

Friday Photo: Arbor Day

Montana Historical Society Photograph Archives, 953-669

Happy 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 Lawrence Realization and Withers Stake races at New York's Belmont Park in 1892.

Montana Historical Society Photograph Archives, H-3890

In 1893, a crowd of 15,000 witnessed Tammany defeat Lamplighter by four lengths in a legendary match race at New Jersey's Guttenberg track. Jockey Snapper Garrison led Tammany to such a breathtaking finish that it became known as a Garrison finish, a term defined in Webster’s dictionary. The win established Tammany as the East’s best thoroughbred racer from 1892 to 1894.

Tammany Castle. Photo by Tom Ferris in Hand Raised: The Barns of Montana

Daly built Tammany Castle for his champion and favorite pet; it presides at the top of a long, graceful drive. Cork floors half a foot thick imported from Spain protected the stallions from slipping, and the heated stalls were lined with velvet.  At his Montana Hotel in Anaconda, a mosaic of Tammany graced the lobby, but no one dared step on the revered horse’s head. After Daly’s death in 1900, his string of nearly two hundred thoroughbreds, including the beloved Tammany, were auctioned at a dispersal sale at Madison Square Garden in New York City and in San Francisco. Although none of Daly’s Montana-born horses were Kentucky Derby winners, his Bitter Root stock bloodlines went on to produce Kentucky Derby winners Regret, Paul Jones, Zev, and Flying Ebony.

P.S. Tammany's Castle has since been converted into a magnificent home, and it seems to be for sale. Would you buy it?
P.P.S. I'm featured on Reflections West this week. Listen.

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 James. Early advertisements extolled Heimer’s German lunches and promised the “Best Beer in Town.” In 1917, addition of the third floor converted Heimer’s “nice furnished rooms” into a classy hotel which hosted many dignitaries including the great Crow chief, Plenty Coups, who stayed there in 1921 en route to Washington, D.C. Under new proprietors the Rex flourished during Prohibition; the bar simply went under cover.

Photo courtesy Montana State Historic Preservation Office

The hotel closed in 1974 and narrowly escaped demolition. Award-winning rehabilitation has restored the Rex to its former glory where the hospitality first offered by Alfred Heimer is again a Billings tradition.

P.S. Put the Little Cowboy Bar in Fromberg on your bucket list, while you're at it.

Friday Photo: European Hotel

Montana Historical Society Photograph Archives, PAc 2006-26.25

Happy 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 cancer the month before. The affair was dignified and a departure from the usual movie premieres. The final 13 minutes of the film had the audience gripping the edges of their seats and the ending, according to the Helena newspapers, “left them limp in the air conditioned theater.”

Via Wikipedia.com

Acquaintances of Cooper noted that the actor appeared wan and old. Little wonder, they said, since he had to muster tremendous strength to complete filming the final scenes. Before the screening of the film, Alfred “Pee Wee” Weber and his Last Chance Gulch Serenaders presented a new song entitled My Montana Memories. The song, dedicated to Cooper, expressed sentiments about Montana that were in keeping with Cooper’s nostalgic feelings about his native state. Acting Governor Tim Babcock read the Cooper Day proclamation. The festivities were recorded for Cooper’s mother who was in Los Angeles and too ill to attend. Secretary of State Frank Murray called the day historic, noting that the dark spot was that Montana’s own native son was not there to celebrate. As the credits flashed on the screen at the end of the film, the crowd burst into applause in a sincere tribute to a Helena man who made good. Gary Cooper is still remembered by his hometown.

In the Marlow lobby at the premiere of The Naked Edge. Photo via Helena As She Was.

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, 1956); and John M. Bozeman, Montana Trailmaker (1971). He also wrote texts pertaining to the history of Montana State University and researched local history related to Gallatin County. He was a founding member of the Gallatin County Historical Society and Pioneer Museum. In fact, Burlingame was keenly interested in museums and was the director of the Caroline McGill Museum which would later become the Museum of the Rockies. He also assisted in the reorganization of the Montana Historical Society where he was a member of the Board of Trustees from 1949 to 1978.

Montana Historical Society Photograph Archives, 940-871

Throughout his life Burlingame was active in the Montana Institute of the Arts, the American Historical Society, the Christian Church, the masonic fraternity, and the Rotary Club. Merrill Burlingame died in Bozeman, Montana, on November 14, 1994, at the age of 93. His publications and the Merrill G. Burlingame Papers housed at the Montana State University Library special collections, as well as materials housed at the Montana Historical Society Research Center, continue to be an invaluable legacy as sources for scholars, students, and, researchers interested in Montana history.

Friday Photo: Going to the Sun Road

Montana Historical Society Photograph Archives, 956-638

I 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 not. Upon his retirement, Manning had served in the Montana House and Senate from 1932 to 1985, longer than any other legislator in the nation. Just before he entered politics, Manning and his brother, Jim, designed and built the Yucca Theater in Hysham.

Photo courtesy Montana State Historic Preservation Office

The landmark theater well represents the huge popularity of talking pictures. Typical of Manning’s visionary intuition, its construction in 1931 raised community morale, assuring the community of Hysham’s survival during the Great Depression. Attached living quarters served as Manning’s family home during his long political service. In 1992, the Manning heirs donated the facility to the Treasure County ’89ers. It is now a fantastic museum.

P.S. Remember this renowned theater?

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 the lunch pail into three separate compartments.

The men poured their coffee in the bottom of the pail. The first tray fit over the coffee. This level contained a pasty, or meat pie. Made with bits of leftover meat and potatoes enclosed in a pastry envelope, this culinary staple had a tender nickname. Miners called it a “Letter from Home.” A second tray on top of the pasty made the third and final level for pie or cake. The lid fit on top of it all, and a coffee cup fit on top of the lid. Miners would light a candle, stick it in the tunnel wall, and hang their lunch pails over the flame to heat their coffee and warm their pasty. Miners would never eat the crimped edges of the pasty. This they crumbled and dropped on the ground to pacify the Tommyknockers and feed the rats that lived in the mines. The rats, they believed, deserved their respect and the miners took good care of them. Always present underground, rats sensed when a cave-in was imminent or if poison gas began to fill the tunnels. They would run out of the mine in droves, warning the miners of danger.

P.S. A traditional (and delicious) Cornish pasty recipe
P.P.S. Remember these cute little miners?

Friday Photo: Hog Ranch

Montana Historical Society Photograph Archives, PAc 2011-65.02

Bob Pewitt and Helen Meisel of Chicago pose in front of a hog ranch located halfway between Zortman and Malta, Montana. The photo was snapped c. 1920s.

P.S. More thought-provoking vintage tobacco ads
P.P.S. Speaking of Zortman, remember the poignant exhumation of Pete Zortman?

Yellowstone Trail

The Yellowstone Trail was a transcontinental road that ran from Plymouth Rock to Puget Sound in the era before numbered roads and maps. As travelers exchanged horses for automobiles, they began to demand roads instead of disconnected muddy wagon roads full of potholes. The Yellowstone Trail Association was a grassroots effort that grew from this need. It was the first transcontinental route through the northern part of the United States. Begun in 1912, the trail was completed by 1919. The association did not build roads, but rather encouraged local groups to organize, choose the best roads to improve—usually near railroad routes—and fund their improvements. Montana caught the spirit of the effort and understood its potential for tourism. The Yellowstone Trail Association had chapters in many Montana cities along the trail. They organized Trail Days when businesses closed so employees could volunteer their time. There would be picnics, and volunteers would drag the dirt roads to smooth them out. Brochures and promotional literature were part of the effort to entice tourists to travel the trail. Yellow circles marked the route so that travelers could find their way.

These markers still exist in some Montana cities. The yellow circles painted on prominent buildings can be found in Billings, Livingston, Deer Lodge, and Bozeman. The Bozeman sign on the Story Block downtown at the corner of Black and Main is typical. During the 1920s, highways began to be numbered, named highways and trails became obsolete, and road maps eliminated the need for trail signs. As the Yellowstone Trail celebrates its centennial in 2012, the bright yellow markers are rare reminders of the days when a system of connected roads was a new idea.

The Rush to Reeder’s Alley

Happy April Fool's Day. Don't get taken in!

Reeder’s Alley in Helena is a charming collection of tiny tenements that originally provided miners with better accommodations than the primitive log cabins typical of the of the gold rush. Built against the slope of the hill between 1873 and 1884, the one-room apartments were built by brick mason Lewis Reeder, who brought the row house style from his native Pennsylvania. He added a couple of western false fronts to achieve a unique architectural combination. When placer mining dwindled, working-class tenants replaced miners. By the 1890s, the alley was home to mostly single men, but they were cooks, hotel porters, laborers, sheepherders, and an occasional musician. This was long before the alley was neatly paved with brick as it is today. The narrow dirt street saw little traffic; it mostly served as a bridle path for horseback riders.

But for one day in 1897, according to the Helena Weekly Herald, the alley was famous. It was a spring day, and there had been a thunderstorm—the kind that comes up suddenly, sends torrents, and then ends abruptly. After the rain, the alley ran rivers of muddy rainwater. Streetcar operator Bob Murray was on his way home for mid-day dinner. He cut through the alley as was his habit, and as he made his way up the hill, sloshing through the aftermath of the storm, he noticed something glinting in the sunshine. There it lay in the gutter, washed out of the alley. Murray picked it up. It was a shiny gold nugget, later valued at $3.10.  Where there was one, there had to be more. Word spread through the neighborhood, and in a flash, there was a gold rush right there in the alley. Tenants, Chinese from nearby shanties, and passersby were soon mucking in the mud, proving that the frenzy of the gold rush was still alive. However, we can wonder today at the veracity of this report. It hit the paper on April 1, and so we will never know for sure.