Bygone Montanans: 11/04/18

Welcome

The goal of this blog is to help readers locate their lineage and discover the forces that motivated them, and learn how they lived their lives--told in their own words in the BEHIND THESE MOUNTAINS trilogy, from the 1860s to the early 1930s. The indexed names will be published here frequently, along with an excerpt and a historical photograph if available. ** Scroll Archives at right.

Order Behind These Mountains, Vols. I, II & III [.pdf editions on DVD] via email to mtscribbler [at] air-pipe [dot] com OR email: ooslegman [at] hotmail [dot] com

Thank you ~~ Mona Leeson Vanek ~aka~Montana Scribbler

Sunday, November 4, 2018

Northern Pacific Railroad Depots

Vignette Vol. 2 No.9
Resource: BEHIND THESE MOUNTAINS

Excerpt - Noxon 1922. Northern Pacific Railroad depots were a mixed affair, many of them closing within few years after the railroad was completed. The men and women who manned the outposts, originally established ten miles apart, were a mixed lot. Most were diligent and honest. A few were not, and were replaced as soon as word reached the main offices in Minneapolis.

Lyle, Art Yonker, and Minnie Yonker play with Janet
Newton and an unidentified lad on the snow pile beside
the Northern Pacific Railroad depot at Noxon, one of the
remaining twenty-three depot buildings east of the Idaho border in the 1920s.The ghost town of Smeads had only
a Boxcar depot, and many other smaller stops were flag
stops with no shelter for waiting passengers. The Clark's
Fork River and Noxon ferry crossing are beyond the
cottonwood trees on the north side of the depot.
Courtesy George Jamison collection.

Visit: Five Star Review

[Resource is also available free online @ Behind These Mountains, Volume II ]In addition to eKindle editions PDF editions of "Behind These Mountains, Vols. I, II & III" are available on a DVD - $50 S&H included. Plus author's permission to print or have printed buyers personal copy of each of the approximately 1200 page books which contain about 1,000 photographs from homesteaders personal albums.

Order here:

Mona Leeson Vanek

13505 E Broadway Ave., Apt. 243

Spokane Valley, WA 99216

Email: mtscribbler@air-pipe.com

TO HAVE AN EXCERPT PUBLISHED IN BYGONE MONTANANS ABOUT A PERSON WHO MAY BE MENTIONED IN THIS REGIONAL MONTANA TRILOGY Email mtscribbler@air-pipe.com

Please visit often, and share with friends and acquaintances. If you find anyone with family ties, please leave a comment and contact information and share a memory to grow your family tree!

Noxon's Celebrated High School

Vignette Vol.3 No.7
Resource: BEHIND THESE MOUNTAINS

Excerpt: Noxon - September 1, 1925, Noxon's school opened with grades 1-12, and an enrollment of 19 in high school. Three weeks later, there were 24 high school students.

During the early years of the high school, the principal was also part of the teaching staff. He taught several high school classes, in addition to answering to the Board of Trustees concerning the school's operation.

The Board took the dominant lead in ordering supplies, personally interviewing and hiring each teacher, janitor and school bus driver. Board members also scrutinized each expense before giving authorization for spending school district funds. They were directly accountable to Sanders County School Superintendent and Sanders County Commissioners.

Noxon High School was three years old when, on September 26, 1925, the Sophomore and Junior English classes published the first issue of Noxon Buzzer, the school newspaper. Under the supervision of Principal W.A. Rollwitz, the students dedicated it to "The Bravery Of the Freshmen Class During Their Initiation."

Jack Olver, first editor of the Noxon Buzzer wrote, "Noxon can be justly proud of its high school. We have as good a building as any in the county and will compare well with any in the state in comparison to the size of the town. Excellent teachers, loyal students and loyal support of the district residents."

The paper included this quip, one of many similar witticisms in subsequent issues: "We have found out that Ina could not kill a poor helpless grasshopper. She sure is not chicken hearted."

On September 18th, "Freshies" [freshman] initiation was a community event, held Friday evening at eight o'clock in the school gymnasium. Each Freshie got an all-day sucker, and were feted for a couple of hours, before everyone had lunch. Dancing and games completed the evening. Among the sixteen students in this early 1920s Freshman Class initiation are Bill Finnegan, Fern McNeil, Anna Mercer, Cora Tempro, Betty Berray, and students whose identities are lost to history, courtesy Jaspar Redfern collection.