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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.

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



Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Northern Pacific Railroad: Settlers of Sanders County Montana: Vignette Vol.1 No.5

Vignette Vol.1 No.5
[Resource: BEHIND THESE MOUNTAINS ]

A.A. Fairbairn
1883. Noxon. Excerpt--A.A. Fairbairn became the first depot agent at Noxon, occupying the depot's living quarters. Noxon - " ... that curious name which is spelled probably like no other city or town in the world" ... was named after a Mr. Noxon, who was chief Construction Engineer on the Northern Pacific Railroad in 1883. The tiny settlement was forming near the western border of a county nearly as large as the whole state of New York.



Susan B. Anthony
1883. Heron. Excerpt--"Among the three thousand people who have thus early found their way to the Coeur d'Alene mines, a large proportion are business men," the paper reported. "The 'girls' are here, too, and more of them come every day or two. Some of them dress stylishly and wear silks and diamonds. Some dress coarsely and slovenly. Quite a number wear men's clothes, and walk the streets in garments which would excite the envy of Susan B. Anthony."

Arrard, Henry
1908. Noxon. Excert--Henry Arrard was granted a saloon license at Noxon March 4, 1908. Women, determined to rear their children in a civilized environment, started the Union Sunday School. Mostly at the urging of the women, school trustee Shelton S. Brown convinced the other trustees to approve using the two-year old schoolhouse for Sunday school classes. The sports in the saloons nicknamed him "Sunday School" Brown. On the second Thursday of November the county newspaper reported Arrard opening the Blue Front Saloon, but the location is lost to history. Old timers say saloons were on the flats near the river so Arrard's may have been there.

Six weeks later, on December 30, 1908, the Northern Pacific Railroad's land commissioner reported to Howard Elliott, at NPRR headquarters in Minnesota. Elliott wrote: "I explained to you some time ago that the company owns all of the land at Noxon and that there has never been any town site platted there. A number of people have put up their buildings on our right of way. To relieve the embarrassment of the situation you authorized me to have a small town site platted there. Such has been done, and the plat is enclosed herewith, for execution. I have made the town site about as small as it is possible to do so, as there is no likelihood that there will ever be a town of any size at Noxon." As town sites go, it was very small, about a half-mile square.
Visit: Five Star Review

[Resource is also available free online @ Behind These Mountains, Volume III ]


PDF copies 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.
 
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Mona Leeson Vanek
13505 E Broadway Ave., Apt. 243
Spokane Valley, WA 99216
 
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