Our Town 100+ Years Ago

March 1, 1895

Journalism in 1895 had a much different tone than today. This first section is as written from the March 1, 1895 Jefferson Valley Zephyr. The advertisement is also from that edition.

In less than one month more than ONE THOUSAND MEN will be employed in digging the great ditch for the Parrot smelting company, besides hundreds more in railroad and smelter construction. This is enough, without additional details, to account for anticipated lively times in and about Whitehall soon.

THE NEW HOTEL. This building was projected before the fire and is not in any way calculated to replace the Whitehall house. It will be built by A. Sund of Melrose and construction has already begun.

Tom Hind and John Tebay, as previously announced, will each build a two-story building, west of the post office; the dimensions of each will be 25x40, and they will adjoin each other, making a solid front of 50 feet. The lower story of the Hind building will be used for dry goods purposes, and the second for a clothing sales room. The first story of the Tebay building will be for mercantile purposes and the second story for office purposes. Among minor improvements are Frank Pieper's neat little cottage "just big enough for two"; a two-story addition to W. Noble's residence, which will soon be commenced; Andy Lindbergh and Bob Cochrane will build modest little homes on the south side as well as a number of others who will do the same.

LOST HIS "LEATHER" H. S. Wright, of Choteau, who has been making a winter resort of Whitehall and the banana belt, was a guest of the Whitehall until that building was burned. On the night of the fire he was busily engaged in assisting in the removal of furniture from the house and lost a wallet containing $300 in bank notes and valuable papers, receipts, etc. Willie Schmidt and his brother found it and state that they gave it to Perry Woolverton, who claimed it. Upon being approached about the subject Perry disclaimed all knowledge of the property. Mr. Wright swore out a warrant for his arrest and Perry was taken before Justice Hutton...

The following is rewritten from notes made by Roy Millegan, Sr. from March 1921 editions of the Jefferson Valley News:

The three-day Farmers Short Courses was a great success. About 300 attended the daytime courses and 800 were seated for the evening sessions. The following were among the more popular sessions: Auto and Tractor course by the Yellowstone Trail Garage; Farm Accounting by Mr. Copeland of the Extension Service; The Duty of Water by Mr. T. T. Black; Contagious Abortion and the Preventative Measures by Dr. Gunn from the Department of State Veterinarian; Wheat Marketing and the wheat contract used by the Montana Wheat Growers Association by Professor Ware of Montana State College; and, Potato Growing by F. N. Berry, Northern Pacific potato specialist.

Other topics included crop rotation, feed what you raise, culling and feeding of poultry, uses of the square and care of tools and cement on the farm. Edith McCall and Amarette Bryant demonstrated the canning of meats and vegetables. There were 48 children entered in the Baby Show. The winners in the under 12 months category are Keith Clawson (first place), Gail Kenneth Horton (second place), John L. Mountjoy (third place), and 4th place to Edwin A. Hunt. For children under 5 and over 1 year of age, Ellen Wyne was first for girls and John McCullough for boys.

Our high school students will be able to proudly display their new purple and gold colors during the district basketball tournament being held once again here in town. There will be seating for up to 600 and it is anticipated that room will be needed for at least 200 standing spectators. Our local hotels will be welcoming the various teams. Sheridan, Manhattan and Townsend will stay at Borden's Modern Hotel; White Sulphur Springs, Livingston and Belgrade will be at the Palm Hotel and Twin Bridges, Pony and Willow Creek will stay in the high school dormitory. Bozeman players will be hosted at Mr. Pruett's home and Three Forks will be staying at the L. C. and Ike Pace homes. Our local businesses have adopted these teams and will cheer them on during tournament play. Whitehall Drug is supporting Pony and Greene and Sons has adopted Twin Bridges. This is a great show of sportsmanship and the welcoming hospitality of our little community. Our newspaper will be printed daily during the tournament and the Yellowstone Hall will be hosting nightly dances. If you prefer to dance by yourself, Whitehall Drug is selling Columbia records for only 59 cents each.