Relative-ly speaking: A half century of historical gems mined from the Flathead Courier
As the area around Polson celebrates the centennial commemorating this historical milestone, it seemed only fitting that residents around the Mission Valley sample some of its past as painted by articles within its local newspaper over the first half century of its publication. The window through which this portrayal will be viewed concentrates upon one extended family of the area mentioned among weekly news reportings. A portion of credit for some of the following material belongs to my maternal grandmother, who had set aside a few of these newspaper clippings which were stumbled upon while rummaging through a drawer of one of her antique dressers. In the course of attempting to ascertain dates for when these events took place, questions arose as to what else might be lurking among the annals of the Flathead Courier that might be of familial interest. What follows is the result of some of those investigations, which are not only informative about some of Polson’s past, but in some cases tend to be somewhat amusing. My appreciation and gratitude is conveyed to the staff of the Lake County Leader and the Polson Public Library, who have been gracious enough to extend me the courtesy of perusing their collections.
A fitting place to begin a centennial contribution would be to identify significant historical events that helped shaped the region. One of the more colorful of those for this area would be the final roundups of the renowned Michel Pablo-Charles Allard buffalo herds in the years prior to and just after 1910. Those roundups chronicle the transition of the region from one of the last vestiges of a relatively untamed frontier to that of a soon-to-be burgeoning settlement. Like many descendants living around the Mission Valley, some of my relatives trace back to the buffalo roundup riders. My great-great-grandmother Emily Irvine and her husband Billy Irvine, for whom Irvine Flats is named, were considered to be some of the most knowledgeable about how to handle the beasts. Emily is even reputed to have averted a stampede by herself at the age of 60 years and of such skill as to be worth any two cowboys. Great-grandfather Joe Marion was employed as foreman on some of these roundups and his teenage daughters Josephine and Emma accompanied several of those excursions. The first year of the Flathead Courier is sprinkled here and there with a few articles devoted to these final roundup efforts. One article extrapolated from the Helena Record mentions, “The pick of the herd remains, between seventy-five and one hundred animals. They are fleeter than the swiftest horse, courageous, powerful beasts and meet the cunning of their pursuers with cunning. Joe Marion and a crew of picked riders, mounted on the best horses obtainable will resume the chase as soon as the smoke [from area forest fires] lifts” (18 Aug 10).
Another event which would leave its indelible imprint upon the area would be the opening up of the reservation to homesteading. This topic is liable to raise issues that are sensitive to some area residents as to whether this event should or shouldn’t have taken place. Such a discussion would digress from what did take place from a historical point of view. Without delving further into sensitive issues, like many I must weigh in as being grateful that events wove themselves together in the particular way they did. Like many who were lured by the hope of acquiring land, my then yet-to-be grandfather Hans Jorgenson came to the area at that time as evidenced by notices of publication (Feb 12) for the filing of a homestead claim in May of 1910. The earliest mentions of my then yet-to-be grandmother among news articles are of Emma Marion returning from the schools she attended (16 June 10, 1 Sep 11, 28 Jun, 27 Dec 12) and an occasional mention with her grandparents, the Irvines. The proximity to one another of the homestead property acquired by Hans and the Irvine Ranch of Emma’s grandparents may have facilitated their introduction to one another at a social gathering. Perhaps they met at a dancing party given in Emma’s honor at Lattimer Hall, since the paper mentions that there were “some seventy invited guests” at the event for which “the entire evening was a social success“ (23 Aug 12). It is evident that they were well acquainted with one another by the time of her sister’s wedding as both are mentioned among the listing of those present (18 Sep 13).
One learns that one of Hans’ earliest jobs in Polson was working at the local drug store and that he made periodic trips out to the west coast (9 May 13), which I have since learned was where his brothers had relocated from Minnesota. A year later he has taken up employment out there, as our local paper mentions his brief two weeks visit before returning (24 Sep, 8 Oct 14). There may have been other visits to Polson, but the following September visit carries special significance in that by the end of October Hans and Emma marry expectedly, although little advance notice of their intentions was given (28 Oct 15). Hans leases his Valley View ranch for a term of years and the bride with groom leave for Mukilteo, Washington, where the paper mentions they will reside.
A visit to the area by Emma (10 Aug 16) and a return trip from Seattle by the Irvines (2 Jan 17) might have been the only other references about these relations had other circumstances not developed that would prove influential in drawing the couple back to the area. She returned to Polson to help care for her 2½ year old nephew Tommy Browne ailing from Appendicitis (20 Mar 17), and although surgery was performed, he would die from complications by the following week. Within less than a month the Flathead Courier mentions that Hans along with Emma have returned permanently, “Mr Jorgenson having accepted a position in the Steele drug store” (17 Apr 17).
Hans becomes a full-fledged Polson business man when he acquires the Liberty Theatre (30 Aug 17), the location of the building situated between Polson City Hall and Cornerstone Financial on First Street East. This period was the era of the silent picture and associated articles indicate that the sound track for a movie was often provided either by a live orchestra or an electric piano that would play music to accompany the action viewed on the film. One amusing reference revolves around a new billboard Hans erected for advertising films. One of the first he featured was a World War I production entitled “The Beast of Berlin” starring Lon Chaney about Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany. The article mentions that young boys from the area were bombarding the Kaiser’s image on the new billboard “and are doing such a good job that they will have the board knocked down before he is able to put up paper for another show” (13 Jun 18). Various promotional gimmicks for enticing new patron attendance would be employed, like winning a free goose that could be taken home to be prepared for dinner. On one occasion the Local News column reports, “Hans Jorgenson, our picture show man, has a lot of things for which he should be thankful. Among them he should be thankful that the crate of geese he went to the mat with weighed no more. He was assisting with the unloading of a crate of geese … when he slipped from the running board of the car with the crate on top. He received a badly cut knee in the mixup but came up before the count” (1 Dec 27). My grandfather got out of the picture show business just as talking pictures were starting to come out, the Liberty Theatre would change hands (27 Feb 30) and eventually change its name to the Lake Theater years later.
Other articles proved to be informative about the interim period between his next business venture as well as make for some entertaining reading. Hans would dabble briefly as a would-be oil speculator, being involved with others in trying to acquire an oil rig (13 Mar 30) that at one time had been conducting some exploratory drilling at the Beaver(s) farm southwest of town (28 Jun, 5 Jul, 13 Sep 28). Because what they found was “struck in small quantity but hardly enough to make commercial” (15 Nov 28), the derrick was eventually dismantled (4 Jul 29). Later that summer my grandfather would assist with some surveying work across the river from town. The Local News article reports that “they met up with a weasel. They gave chase, Hans says, but according to another source of information, … It was the weasel that did the chasing, and Hans ran up the bluff at the river. If the weasel had attacked Hans, the latter would have known nothing about it as he passed out as soon as he had safely reached the top of the bank” (10 Jul 30).
Perhaps the weasel incident helped facilitate Hans embarking upon his next Polson business venture when he would acquire a half interest in the SmokeHouse (6 Nov 30), a confectionery and billiard hall that used to reside across from Brown’s Jewelry a few buildings down from the present Home Floor Covering on Main Street. A couple of reportings of interest for readers would be a pair of robberies. The first occurred when Hans was waylaid at gunpoint from the porch of his home at 3 o’clock in the morning by a pair of thieves (22 Jul 37). He was forced back to his place of business, bound with fishing line as well as gagged and blindfolded with tape. The thieves reportedly made off with close to $1500. Myrna (Farrell) Holley, a friend of the family who was a little girl at this time and overheard discussions about this incident afterwards between her parents and the Jorgensons, recalls that Hans apparently recognized his assailants, but refused to divulge their identity despite repeated inquiry because they had threatened his family. The other robbery would take place the following year after closing without any abduction, an acetylene torch being used to open the safe and make off with close to $300 (29 Dec 38). Hans would eventually sell the business portion of the SmokeHouse sometime during the 1950‘s.
Delving into old Courier articles may sometimes shed light on any civic or political involvements of family relatives. Little did I know that my grandfather was the first president of the Polson Rod & Gun Club (18 Aug 21), and early organization of area sportsmen instrumental in reintroducing elk (28 Mar 29, 18 Sep 30) and releasing game birds (11 Aug 21, 27 Apr 22, 5 Apr 23) within the region. Nor that Hans once ran unsuccessfully for city councilman 2nd Ward (29 Mar, 5 Apr 23) as well as state representative on the republican ticket (4,11 Nov 26). His father-in-law had been one of the early County Commissioners (Nov 1934 thru 1940) influential in the formation of Lake County as a separate entity from Missoula County, but what was not known was that Joe Marion had unsuccessfully sought the democratic nomination for Sheriff (29 Jul, 5 Aug 26) in an attempt to follow in the footsteps of his father J. E. Marion, 9th sheriff of Missoula County (1872-1874) renowned for taking a bullet in the shoulder during a shootout with an inmate attempting to break out of jail.
News articles have traditionally documented significant vital events. The older ones are often embellished with colorful anecdotes surrounding births, such as was the case with my mother (26 Feb 20). Sometimes a little research will turn up the unexpected, such as the birth of a deceased sibling of your parent: “If the pictures at the Liberty are slightly mixed up … patrons should not find too much fault, as Mr Jorge[n]son is really not quite responsible as his thoughts are just now centered on a new daughter … “ (8 Aug 18). A little more digging unearthed the identity of our would-have-been aunt Marion had she lived past infancy (27 Feb 19). Obituaries have always been a good source for tracing familial information. When it comes to the old-timers from this area, sometimes one can find additional contributions from those that knew them. Such was the case when a neighbor submitted a memorial article to the Flathead Courier upon the death of Emily Irvine, thereby preserving vital aspects of her heritage that might have otherwise been lost, such as a reminiscence about her father Louis Brown: “When the Indians went to St. Louis to bring back the 'Black Robes' he was one of those who met them and helped them on their homeward journey” (29 April 37). At other times a shocking discovery may turn up, like when one happens to glance over the text below an article entitled “Car Rolls Over Bank Occupants Unhurt” and one reads that it involves your grandparents and toddler mother who “had a miraculous escape from death or serious injury … when their car rolled over the bank two miles north of Rollins” (23 Nov 22). If one had been observing at that instance, you would have seen my jaw drop as my life flashed before my eyes, realizing that this was long before seat belts or air bags on an old stretch of highway several renditions before the “I Drive Highway 93 - Pray for Me“ campaigns that drew attention to the dangers of highway driving prior to the current expansion of the roadway.
Occasionally a clue for retracing the footsteps of past events may turn up. In one case, anecdotal “Local News” entries mentioned the departure and return of my grandfather to a rare family reunion with siblings on the west coast (27 Dec 28, 24 Jan 29), which just happened to coincide with some pictures of the event sent by his sister-in-law that were in an old box in our basement. Another time, mention was made of my grandfather leaving for Seattle “where he was called by the death of his brother” (7 May 42). Both references were instrumental in being able to reconstruct lost family connections. One wouldn’t dare report such departures today lest one advertise to thieves that you weren’t going to be home for a block of time. One can find numerous inconsequential reportings of this person going to that person’s home for dinner or who was in the habit of playing whist with whom. Delving through such minutia becomes tedious at times, but just as the reading seemed to approached that point of diminishing returns where one felt there might be nothing else to uncover, another nugget of value would emerge. One such example involved a twenty line article about the exceptional productivity one year of “the wheat field of Hans Jorgenson … returned a yield of twenty and a half bushels per acre…. weighed 62 pounds per measured bushel“ (22 Aug 29). Such a yield might be cause for concern when compared with modern ag standards, but back then it was enough to raise eyebrows and make print.
Some of the reportings provide additional insights into area farming or ranching practices. How valuable was hay to the early rancher? One indication emerges when area cattle mogul Billy Irvine was reported to have lost $4,000 worth of stacked hay to a fire of suspicious origin and offered a $500 reward for information leading to apprehension of the culprits (18 Nov 10). The listing of prize winners at the local fair shed light on the type of chickens raised by my grandmother (25 Oct 25) and another anecdotal reference indicated where my grandfather took his ranch stock to market (10 Dec 37). Curious about the types of brands used by area cattle ranchers? One might consult the local Brand Directory that would be published from time to time (6 Oct 38).
Some of the most entertaining material I have come across has had to do with people’s hobbies or other interests. In the case of my grandfather, he was an avid hunter who would go out every season with a group of fellow enthusiasts, their success or lack thereof reported in the paper shortly after their return. One of his prize trophies was the taking of a wolverine (21 Nov 46). One of the more memorable yarns is when he embarked upon a Canadian polar bear excursion which only resulted in a distant sighting, each member of the party settling for a moose instead (2 Oct 47). The most amusing is a bear hunt story that their hunting party was involved with on the South Fork. After noticing a Grizzly bear making its way down the mountainside, they attempted to lure it within gunshot range by spreading honey on rocks and logs. Two of the party set up their stakeout behind a fallen log, but then rethought their exit strategy because after all it was a Grizzly they were hoping to accost (24 Oct 29). The most embarrassing would have been when Hans got lost in the Indian Creek area of the Little Thompson and once found, the paper reports that he was relegated to being lead around by the hand the remainder of the trip (23 Nov 50).
Very little if any of such material would have been featured in a local paper serving a larger metropolitan area. But news coverage of a small town community like Polson in the early decades of its existence at times tends to read like a version of “Small Town News” from The Late Show with David Letterman. Because my grandfather died when I was age five, the only vivid memory that I retained of him was that he liked ginger snaps and milk. Other relatives took up residence on the other side of the grass long before I was born. What has been rewarding about the discovery of articles such as those mentioned above has been the insight they have provided into the personality, interests and involvements of some of my relations that might not have been known about otherwise. Lest the institutions which preserve collections of past newspapers be inundated with requests to consult their archives in the hope of locating a similar array of articles about their relatives, the above presentation needs to be qualified in that it is quite rare to find the sheer variety and volume of material that was unearthed about one extended family, let alone a family that one happens to be related to. Having said that, it is anticipated that readers would nevertheless benefit from this type of selective approach which serves as a microcosm of fifty years of news reporting without having to read too much news from “back in the day” themselves.