The natural environment and history of Kalispell’s West Valley area
by Skip Via
skip@westvalleynaturalists.org
Click on images to enlarge them.
In northwest Montana, wild huckleberries rule the berry world. (Never mind that what we call huckleberries are not actually huckleberries at all, but rather a species of blueberry. I realize I could be shot for saying this.) But lately, another berry–this one cultivated–has been making its appearance in the West Valley area–honeyberries.
by Jeanine Buetttner
nammy@montanasky.com
The following is the text of an interview with Mabel Grosswiler (Mrs. Carl Grosswiler) published in the Daily Inter Lake in November, 1949.
In 1875 an immigrant boy from Switzerland landed in New York to join his brother. Their father had accidentally drowned when they were very young, and the widowed mother never saw her boys again after they came to America. Frank Xavier Grosswiler was just 18 years old when he came to America.
by Jeanine Buettner
nammy@montanasky.com
James O’Boyle was born to Charles and Margaret O’Boyle on March 15, 1848. His father was employed by the Earl of Antrim, Hugh Seymour McDonnell (1812-1844) at the Earl’s estate in Deerpark Glenarm, County Antrim, Ireland. In 1868, at the age of 21, James set sail for New York and finding his way to Missouri for a few years. A forty-two day trip up the Missouri River brought him to Fort Benton, Montana Territory.
Continue Reading →by Jeanine and Kevin Buettner
nammy@montanasky.com
and Skip Via
skip@westvalleynaturalists.org
Editor’s Note (November 2024): For some images of a few remaining vestiges of the Ashley Creek Ditch, head over to Ashley Creek Ditch Revisited on this web site.
Editor’s Note (March 2024): In her research, Jeanine came across some interesting information related to the Ashely Creek Ditch. In the 1910 census for the area around the Grosswiler farm on Farm to Market, there was a boarding house with 20 men living in it. And all but two–the cooks in the house–were working on a canal ditch. Almost all of them were immigrants from England, Russia and Germany and in their 50’s, except for one who was in his 20’s. I would say these were the guys that built the Ashley ditch.
The Ashley Creek Ditch was an irrigation system developed in the early 1900s to supply water from Ashley Creek to farms in the west valley area of the Flathead. The Ditch was not a county or state project; rather, it was paid for and maintained by the families that used the water. It’s no longer there, having been dismantled in the late 1970s due to changing agricultural practices and the increasing availability of tapping directly into the aquifers for irrigation. But its story is a prime example of the ingenuity and work ethic that early settlers in the area shared.
Continue Reading →by Jeanine Buettner
nammy@montanasky.com
Edmond Kelley was born in Wyoming County, Pennsylvania, on April 18, 1860 and was educated and lived in Pennsylvania until coming to Montana in 1885, first locating in Butte and then moving to the Flathead Valley in 1887. He spent his first night in Somers. He was told that the valley farther up had some value as a range for cattle but of no value for farming. The next day he walked to the site that would later become Demersville.
by Jeanine Buettner
nammy@montanasky.com
My great grandparents Frank and Ida Stiles moved to Kalispell in 1901, from Corona, South Dakota where Frank was a farmer, school teacher and a member of the House of Representatives. They packed everything they owned including farm machinery into a boxcar and made their way to the Flathead Valley, bringing with them their four children, my grandfather T. Milton being the youngest.
by Skip Via
skip@westvalleynaturalists.org
Wheat is grown throughout the West Valley area and is one of the most important crops in the valley. And while most wheat is processed for human consumption, it’s also an important source of food for a variety of local wildlife.
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 →