The natural environment and history of Kalispell’s West Valley area
by Pat Jaquith
pat@westvalleynaturalists.org
The historic Ray Kuhns homestead off Farm-to-Market Road between Kalispell and Whitefish is under MFWP management as the Kuhns WMA (wildlife management area). 100 acres of the 1556.5A parcel are leased for farming to improve the soil, control noxious weeds, and provide food and cover to benefit deer and upland game birds. In this article, you can read more about this public resource in our community.
Continue Reading →by Skip Via
skip@westvalleynaturalists.org
This is part three of a photo essay series of barns in the West Valley area of Flathead Valley. Additional parts may be viewed here:
Barns Are Noble (Part One)
Barns, Part Two
Barns, Part Three
Barns, Part Five
Note: These images were taken on the same day along McMannamy Draw.
Continue Reading →by Jeanine Buettner
nammy@montanasky.com
W.P. McMannamy Sr. moved from Missouri to Helena in the late 1880’s where he ran a sawmill for several years. Then in 1890 he moved the machinery to Kalispell and started a planer mill, located on 7th Ave. West and 11th street.
Continue Reading →by Pat Jaquith
pat@westvalleynaturalists.org
Over the years, the State has adopted plants, animals, stones, songs, and other artifacts as symbolic of Montana. Here are several that I have collected just because I found them interesting, beautiful, awesome, and wonderful. Only recently have I discovered that these have gained such stature. Scroll down to see if the images inspire a reaction in you!
Continue Reading →by Jeanine Buettner
nammy@montanasky.com
The Spring Creek Cemetery first opened in 1895 on the site of the Spring Creek Methodist Church. The church and cemetery were established by Mr. John Milton Eastland. Mr. Eastland was not an educated man, but old-timers here in the valley remember him as a good gospel singer and a talented speaker.
Continue Reading →by Pat Jaquith
pat@westvalleynaturalists.org
The Spring Creek Cemetery was set aside from the unplowed prairie in the West Valley and remains largely unchanged. The following gallery of pictures are some of the plants that still grow among the mounds of Bluebunch wheatgrass in that reserved lot.
Continue Reading →by Skip Via
skip@westvalleynaturalists.org
This is part three of a photo essay series of barns in the West Valley area of Flathead Valley. Additional parts may be viewed here:
Barns Are Noble (Part One)
Barns, Part Two
Barns, Part Four
Barns, Part Five
By Skip Via
skip@westvalleynaturalists.org
This is part two of a photo essay series of West Valley barns. You may view the other parts here:
Barns Are Noble (Part One)
Barns, Part Three
Barns, Part Four
Barns, Part Five
By Skip Via
skip@westvalleynaturalists.org
If you came here looking for the latest Harry Potter book, you probably should go to Barnes & Noble.
But if you came here because you, like me, can’t pass a barn without thinking about the stories behind it and the practical structural aesthetics of the building, then welcome. I have a thing for barns—old, new, and falling down.
This is just an uncommented photo essay—some images taken around the valley (and slightly beyond, in a couple of cases)—and not a history. But I hope that any readers that know anything about any of these barns will leave a comment and tell us a story.
This is part one of a photo essay series of West Valley barns. You may view the other parts here:
Barns, Part Two
Barns, Part Three
Barns, Part Four
Barns, Part Five
by Jeanine Beuttner, with photos from Pat Jaquith
nammy@montanasky.com, pat@westvalleynaturalists.org
Editor’s note: Pat Jaquith came across a barn wood reclamation team dismantling an old pump house on Spring Creek Road. Pat contacted Jeanine Beuttner for more information and learned that this property was established by Jeanine’s great grandparents, Charles and Rosalia Keller. Jeanine graciously offered us this fascinating historical vignette.
Continue Reading →by Skip Via
skip@westvalleynaturalists.org
To take a virtual tour of the West Valley area, click here
Mike Koopal, Executive Director of the Whitefish Lake Institute, pointed us to some exceptional resources for learning more about the Flathead Valley watershed and the numerous lakes and streams that make up some of the most beautiful areas of the west valley area and the rest of Montana.
Continue Reading →by Skip Via
skip@westvalleynaturalists.org
From Linda de Kort (linda@westvalleynaturalists.org): Reta Sweeney shared some photos from her mother in law’s (Merle) collection. Merle put them together for her 90th birthday celebration. Merle taught at Kuhns for one year. Her photo is included. Apparently Bowser Lake was the place to go for “outings.” The school was moved to its present location on Lost Creek in 1962. There are also some photos I took this week of the old Kuhns school as well as the original outhouse.
Continue Reading →by Skip Via, with Jeanine Buettner
skip@westvalleynaturalists.org
The Kuhns homestead consists of farmland and several original buildings erected along a small creek across Farm To Market Road from the Pig Farm state land area. It is managed by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks for the purpose of wildlife protection. The homestead is an important winter wildlife area because old growth Douglas fir provides food as well as tree wells for browsing on Oregon grape for deer and other wildlife. It is also at the perfect elevation–not too high and not in the creek bed, which is where the cold gathers in winter.
Continue Reading →