A Brief History of Whitehall, Montana: Part I

Like many southwest Montana valleys, the Jefferson River served as a passage for native American tribes "going to buffalo" on the Montana prairie. Where the town of Whitehall now stands, was a crossroads for trails that would then follow the Jefferson to the Three Forks where many of the native peoples joined forces and traveled together. And over time no one tribe controlled the area, rather it was used for hunting and rest by the Bannock, Shoshone, Crow, Nez Perce, and Blackfeet amongst others. Indigenous tribes most likely entered southwest Montana in the 1600s and 1700s, this determined by archeologic records.

In late July 1805, as they moved up the Jefferson, the Corps of Discovery passed nearby. Once the Corps returned to St. Louis in late September 1806, word quickly spread about the great possibilities for the fur trade in what would become Montana. Even before reaching their journeys end Meriwether Lewis noted in his journal that they encountered 11 separate fur trade expeditions on the Missouri.

Eventually more and more fur traders and free trappers came to the Upper Missouri with some eventually making their way into southwest Montana following headwater streams and rivers, looking for beaver. They were in the Whitehall area around 1810 as the short-lived Fort Henry trading post was established at Three Forks about 50 miles downriver.

As the fur trade died out in the 1840s all of Montana remained quiet until on July 28, 1862. On that day the sound of eureka!! echoed across the nation heralding Montana's first major gold strike on Grasshopper Creek in southwest Montana. Everything changed as thousands crossed the nation with many making their way to the many new gold camps of this part of the future state. Undoubtedly many passed through the lower reaches of the Jefferson River near where Whitehall would soon be.

Like many Montana communities, the railroad, in this case, the Northern Pacific & Montana gave birth to Whitehall when on September 25, 1889, a depot was established. There are a few stories of how the place got its name. The most credible is that Edward Brooke named the site for a town in Illinois.

However, Montana Place Names, a Montana Historical Society book, says that "Brooke named the town after the old Gilmer and Salisbury Stage Company station on Whitehall Creek, a mile or so from the current town. In 1867 the station consisted of a two-story white, wood-framed house- the only structure painted white between Alder Gulch and Last Chance Gulch" - that is Virginia City and Helena.

Railroads continued to play an important role for the town, as the construction of the Milwaukee Railroad in about 1909 brought even more people to the valley.

Platted as a townsite in 1889, the Jefferson County Commissioners didn't accept the name Whitehall until 1890.

An interesting tall stack, still standing, is a prominent feature of the settlement's earlier years. What is it a remanent of? This, from the book Roadside History of Montana by Don Spritzer:

"Dominating the "skyline" of Whitehall is a tall stark smokestack. The stack is all that remains of a speculative venture that failed. Around the turn of the 20th century, Billings had a thriving sugar beet industry. Some residents of Whitehall hoped to imitate this successful venture. After planting test plots, which proved that beets grew well here, the Amalgamated Sugar Company agreed to build a sugar factory. "

"Whitehall businessmen pushed everyone to buy stock in the enterprise and persuaded farmers to grow beets. In November 1917, Amalgamated began work on its factory. The following spring, the company built a 50-room hotel and numerous houses for future factory workers. A company agent brought in 100 families of Russian immigrants to work the beet fields. After dry summers in 1918 and 1919, beet harvests did not meet expectations. Wartime needs slowed work in the factory. Still, supporters did not give up. They formed a booster club and signed up more farmers and businessmen." The local press extolled, "finish the yonder beet factory, and soon Whitehall will be a city of 5000 people".

"Amalgamated promised to stay in Whitehall only if 3000 acres were planted in beets in 1920. This quota went unmet and Amalgamated began selling off bricks from the sugar plant. The local school district leased the hotel and used it for a dorm and the railroad removed its tracks leading to the factory site. Today only the 227-foot stack remains."

Railroads do not have the same importance to Whitehall as they once did, but the train whistle can still be heard as diesel engines pass through town preparing to climb westward and upwards to the Continental Divide about 15 miles away.