We've Got The County Covered
We've Got The County Covered
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This is a new appeal to alert readers for information about another local folk art mystery. Several weeks ago Mark Burkhartsmeyer asked me by phone, "Are you the paper's expert on local history?" I said I was interested in local history, was no expert but enjoyed unraveling local historical mysteries. He shared information about some rock writing on the Burkhartsmeyer's ranch south of Chinook. He described rock writing as letters and words spelled out using random rocks found in the area. Of...
Over the last few years alert "Journal" readers have provided missing information to me for stories in the newspaper. Most recently, a Shelby subscriber identified the artist of the mural in the old Kuhr Clothing Store in downtown Chinook. Other readers have kindly pointed out errors I made in my research or conclusions, giving me a chance to make corrections. Now comes a new mystery and I need some help in solving it-it involves the Chinook Opera House A short history of the Opera House In...
When the eighth edition of the Chinook Gun and Antique Show opens in early October Gary Asproth, from Park Rapids, Minnesota, will be making his second appearance as an exhibitor at the annual show. In a recent phone interview Asproth said he'll be displaying two "historic Winchester rifles, one belonging to Teddy Roosevelt (26th President of the U.S. and an avid big game hunter) and the other to Buffalo Bill Cody (a buffalo hunter and showman who spread the idea of the Old West through several...
When an alumni magazine arrived a few weeks ago an advertisement titled "Winter is Coming" caught my attention (see photo). The ad was promoting sales for a combination "beanie and scarf set" with the Southern Illinois University logo and colors. I said to my wife, "Whoever wrote this ad is not from southern Illinois. Everyone I knew growing up in southern Illinois would have called those two items in the advertisement "a toboggan and a muffler." And that got me thinking: though we all speak a...
After moving to Whitlash I asked the postmaster, "Who's the Game Warden up here?" thinking that might be an interesting story since big game hunting was underway. She said, "A guy named Willie Miller" and handed me his business card. Then I remembered Willie, he's the youngest of the eight children of Perry and Pauly Miller in Chinook. On opening day of the 2020 upland bird season I rode with Willie as he toured part of the East Butte complex checking and visiting with hunters in the field. We e...
Alert "Journal" reader Shirley Gardipee, who lives in Shelby, read the recent "Journal" (August 5, 2020) story about the unknown artist of the 40-foot long western mural in the old Kuhr Clothing Store in Chinook. She called Daniel Dahl, the new owner of the building and told him, "I know who painted that mural. It was my father-in-law Martin Gardipee, Sr." Daniel shared the message with me. I talked a bit by phone with Shirley, then made a road trip to learn about her father-in-law. Shirley's...
Evelyn Cole did art in Chinook most of her adult life and is likely best known for her sculpture of famed western artist Charlie Russell (rejected as Montana's entry for the Hall of Statuary in the U.S. Capitol because Russell was sculpted wearing a hat). Cole did paintings, sculptures and unique pieces including two tents she decorated for local girls who attended the first ever national Girl Scout Senior Roundup in 1956. Evelyn Cole died in 1984. While working on a story about the mural...
Austin Haney is the Interpretive Ranger for this summer and fall at the Bear Paw Battlefield south of Chinook. A native of Great Falls and a recent graduate of the University of Montana with a major in history, he's also active in several regional reenactor's groups. Reenactors learn history by mastering skills and performing life styles from by-gone eras then share what they've learned to help others understand history. He's a member of several regional groups that focus on historical periods...
When I started with the "Journal" seven years ago, the newspaper was located in the building where Treasure State Title now operates in Chinook. Next door, south, in a one story building also facing Indiana Street, was a golf simulator in the front portion and a private wood shop and a few storage units in the rear. That back door still has a painted sign that reads "Kuhr's Entrance." I knew the locale only as the Kuhr's building. During my research on the Chinook Opera House ("Journal" story,...
North Border Analytics opened late June at its new facility on the north side of Chinook. The business performs testing and assessment for soil, water, forage and grain samples. Dr. Brian Grebliunas, the owner, says the local lab will perform testing on site and "allow users quicker test results to make timely business decisions." North Border Analytics is located at 1301 Montana Street. New owner earned doctorate in Biological Sciences Dr. Brian Grebliunas grew up outside Joliet, Illinois. The...
I saw the bright red barn on the Louie Petrie Ranch during the Montana Angus tour a couple of years ago. Sonny and Nellie Obrecht told me some of the history of the barn at that time but only recently was I able to visit the Big Flat and learn about the barn. In 1901 George Petrie came from Minnesota and homesteaded the main part of the ranch a few miles north of Turner and still referred to as Mutton Hollow. Three generations of the Petrie family currently operate the ranch. George Petrie's gre...
In November, 1903, the new Chinook Opera House hosted a grand opening ball that attracted 500 guests. A couple of weeks before the grand opening, the "Chinook Opinion" described the new facility as "...worthy of our pride and would be a creditable in a city of the population of Great Falls." The writer noted, "...the residents of Chinook and vicinity have deplored the fact that we had not a theatre or other place of amusement worthy of a large and wealthy population." A writer described the new...
Many readers know Toni Collins who works at Finley's Food Farm in Chinook. Some may know she's an avid outdoor photographer, especially for wildlife. Likely few readers know Toni's a "volunteer, citizen-scientist" who's been collecting data for a regional study of Short-eared Owls (SEOWs) over the past couple of years. With a minor in biology from Pacific University, working with the study was an opportunity to apply some of what she had learned in college. Six hundred volunteers across eight...
Several weeks ago my wife and I were returning from a trip to the Fort Peck area. Drivers who've made that trip know there are not many places to take a break between Glasgow and Malta. We remembered a state rest area located about halfway between Hinsdale and Glasgow and decided to make a quick pit stop there on our way back home to Chinook. While waiting for my wife I began reading the informational sign at the rest stop that gave some information about the area. I was surprised to read that...
Columnist's note: During our recent annual post-Christmas visit to see our daughter and her family in the Seattle area, she treated us with a visit to one of the Seattle area's major attractions. My daughter, myself and a ten-year old grandson visited Boeing's airplane factory in Everett, Washington. The factory is near Paine Field, a facility used by the military during World War II and near the city of Mukilteo about 25 miles north of Seattle proper. The Everett factory holds the title of "wor...
The combination of the stay at home directives related to COVID-19 plus some long winter days raised my awareness of certain types of advertising on television. Particularly late at night and some early mornings the number of ads promoting unfamiliar products and infomercials hyping products is crushing. The commercials for things like the Lint Lizard (to remove flammable lint from your laundry dryer) to the Full Crystal Cleaner hose apparatus for washing the outside of your house and windows...
Columnist's note: We've lived in Whitlash since December, 2018. It's not uncommon when we tell someone we live in Whitlash for them to respond, " Whitefish, that's beautiful country. Do you like the mountains?" Then we explain Whitlash is in the Sweet Grass Hills, not the Rockies. Though never an official town or city, Whitlash has adapted and survived for more than a century. "Names on the Face of Montana," a comprehensive compilation of place names in Montana gives scant information about...
Columnist's note: My rancher friend Bob Thompson asked if I knew about the pioneer-era "sod houses" northwest of Chester. He explained a couple of sod houses were built by Estonians who had a sizeable settlement northwest of Chester in the early 1900's and that several descendants of the original homesteaders still farm in the area. Thinking that might be a topic for a column, I discovered the influence of these builders from the Baltics reached beyond their original settlement just north of...
On a visit to Chinook a few weeks ago I ran in to Dr. Robert Chaffin who owns and operates the Chinook Dental Clinic. I'd heard Dr. Chaffin had bought the former Wells Fargo building and there were several unofficial versions floating around about his plans for the building. He shared his plans to move his dental practice to the corner of Indiana and Fourth Streets in downtown Chinook. Interestingly a dental clinic first occupied the same corner nearly a century ago. Here's some details of the...
More than 90% of the country's residents are under "stay at home" directives and all of us are being cautioned to stay "socially distant" to help minimize COVID-19 spread. We hear the directives will likely be extended further in to the future. Millions are separated from their jobs, either temporarily or permanently. We see images on the news of major metropolitan areas in the U.S. with streets vacant of people or vehicles. Many businesses are shuttered and schools are closed. In the past few...
Reporter's note: Sitting up here in Whitlash under Montana's 'stay at home directive.' My thoughts have turned to 'signs of spring.' My wife and I lived in eight states and 23 different places within those states during our 50+ years of marriage. I got to thinking about the different signs of spring we experienced at those 23 places. A writer for an eastern North Dakota newspaper wrote, "We're each afforded our own perspective on the beginning of spring." Another way to say it might be, "Signs...
During early March my wife and I spent 11 days on the island of Oahu in Hawaii. Oahu is the most populated of the state's islands and is the home to 1.2 million people, most of whom live in Honolulu. It was our first trip to Hawaii. I wanted to write about our visit without doing a standard travelogue. Oh, we visited many of the popular sites like Pearl Harbor, the Polynesian Cultural Center and with a friend, hiked to the rim of Diamond Head Crater. We did other tourist activities: a whale...
Experts in electronic data storage, systems engineers, architects and site developers have been scouring the Sweet Grass Hills looking for a site for a place to build a mega data/colocation facility. It's part of a trend for businesses to construct data centers to house network computers and data storage off-site in rural areas. The new facility will employee highly trained specialists and support staff to operate its computing and storage capabilities. At this stage of the project the name of...
Pol Haldeman has lived on a ranch south of Cleveland in the Bear Paws since his family moved west from the Chicago area in 1954. He shared a story he thought readers might find interesting about his mother buying a Geiger counter. The federal government started using the Nevada Test Site (about 60 miles northwest of Las Vegas) in 1951 for research about atomic energy and weapons. Pol's mother figured with the up-tick in research there would be an increased demand for uranium. She ordered a...
Columnist's note: A couple of years ago I read about the annual March 16 celebration of St. Urho's Day in Butte. St. Urho Day celebrations occur in regions of the U.S. where Finnish immigrants live. The fact that it is celebrated the day before St. Patrick's Day is not coincidental. The idea of a St. Urho's Day celebration began when a Finnish American was chided by a friend of Irish descent who said, "Too bad the Finns don't have a saint they can celebrate." That remark resulted in Richard...
