KALISPELL, MONTANA PHOTOGRAPH ALBUM CONTAINING KOOTENAI NATIVE AMERICANS 1895-1904

UNKNOWN PHOTOGRAPHER

Published by Unknown photographer, 1895 - 1904, 1895, 1904, Kalispell, 1895

About this Item

Twenty four images (3" x 4.1/8") mounted on thick cardboard pages each of which is identified. Research identifies the album photographs as being taken between 1895-1904. The images include a Flathead Chief; Kootinai Family; Kootenai Beauties; "Breeds;" Store of M.M. Co. Kalispell; Dam on Stillwater; View on the Whitefish; Warehouse and Elevators of M.M. Co.; Street View of Kalispell, Mont.; Nina and Dick; Looking East from Flathead River; Looking North from Flathead River Bridge; Kalispell Street View; Conrad nat'l Bank - Kalispell; Clyde and His Cayuse; Public Schools, Kalispell; Flathead River; Tame Elk, Flathead Valley, Mont.; On Lake McDonald; A Great Northern Wreck; G.N. Passenger Depot, Kalispell; G.N. Wrecking Train; Kootinai Houses and Half-breeds. Thirteen of the images have a strong contrast with the remaining a very acceptable contrast. The main line of the Great Northern Railway ran through Kalispell from 1892 until 1904. The Flathead Valley was one of the last areas in the trans-Mississippi west to be settled by whites, primarily because of its geographic isolation. Surrounded by rugged mountains and a large lake and characterized by long, hard winters, the valley remained difficult and hazardous to access for decades after the first whites came through the area in the early 1800s. The establishment of the Blackfeet and Flathead Indian Reservations in 1855 insulated the region further. In the 18th and 19th centuries, bands of Kootenai lived at the head of Flathead Lake and hunted and fished in the valley, but they did not have large, permanent settlements in the area. A few trappers and traders passed through the valley in the early 1800s, and around 1812 the Hudson's Bay Company established an outpost, Howse House, near the head of Flathead Lake. Following the Treaty of 1846, which designated land south of the 49th parallel United States soil, various prospectors, trappers, settlers and adventurers passed through the Flathead Valley. But, none are known to have settled permanently, and the area remained virtually unknown to the outside world. While railroad construction crews rushed to lay tracks over Marias Pass and into the Flathead Valley, the towns of Demersville, Ashley and Columbia Falls competed with each other for designation as the railroad division point, their residents knowing that whichever town was chosen would be guaranteed prosperity. Demersville boasted of being the head of navigation, Ashley of its location at the valley's natural outlet to the west, and Columbia Falls of its location where the tracks would emerge from the mountains. None of these towns were chosen, however. According to the generally accepted story, Charles E. Conrad, representing James J. Hill, first tried to purchase land in Columbia Falls but the landowners asked too high a price. Hill instructed Conrad to "go and buy a townsite and I'll build the railroad to it." Conrad subsequently bought part of the homesteads of Reverend George McVey Fisher and several others. Fisher's irrigated timothy hay meadow became the central part of the townsite of Kalispell. According to an 1896 Great Northern publication, the railroad "naturally selected a site that promised to be the commercial centre of this part of the country." The Great Northern Railway rejected Demersville as the division point, reportedly because of its less satisfactory railroad grades and because Kalispell had a better water supply. The Kalispell division point became the headquarters for the railroad between Cut Bank, Montana on the east and Troy, Montana on the west. Land for the new town of Kalispell was purchased by several Great Northern town-site representatives from seven homesteaders. The new town of Kalispell was surveyed and platted in April of 1891, most of the purchases being in the name of A. A. White of Minnesota, a Great Northern Railway town-site man. The layout of Kalispell conforms to that of many other Great Northern Railway towns. The town plat has. Seller Inventory # 47839

Bibliographic Details

Title: KALISPELL, MONTANA PHOTOGRAPH ALBUM ...

Publisher: Unknown photographer, 1895 - 1904, 1895, 1904, Kalispell

Publication Date: 1895

Edition: First edition.