The Name Game

Started a column about my latest adventures in home plumbing repair but got too distraught to finish it before going through additional "mild brandy rehabilitation" treatments. No use whimpering to good readers about my pain and mental suffering. So! Using the hand that still works pretty good, I've typed out (stolen) some interesting history on the naming of Flathead settlements.

Starting in 1971 and involving years of intensive research, Roberta Carkeek Cheney compiled a unique book on the "Place Names of Montana." It is basically a listing from Federal records of all the known post offices in the state whether they have faded into obscurity or were still operating. Added in later editions were other place names that may or may not have had a post office:

"BAD ROCK CANYON - In his memories Daniel Mumbrue (1867-1947) describes a treacherous "bad rock" in a channel at the junction of two great branches of the Flathead River; any boat floating with the current either channel is naturally swept against this sharp, knife-like rock. And for anyone unfamiliar with the river, the rock cannot be seen in time to avoid it. The Sheldon expedition in 1885 was wrecked on this rock, as was another expedition that same year. The canyon is named for this rock. The Montana Historical Marker at Bad Rock Canyon on U.S. Highway 2, two miles east of Columbia Falls, relates the story of an Indian attack, no date given, and suggests it was from this skirmish that the canyon was named."

"ASHLEY (Flathead) was adjacent to the present day Kalispell. It had a post office 1884-91. Andrew Swaney was the first postmaster. The town was named for Joe Ashley, the first settler in the upper Flathead (about 1857), a trader who worked for Angus McDonald. A creek and a lake also bear his name. Though Ashley staked out a claim, he saw no future in the Flathead Valley and sold his claim for ten dollars."

"POLEBRIDGE (Flathead) is a summer post office at the northwestern edge of Glacier National Park. Benjamin Hansen was postmaster when the office opened in 1920. At the heart of the community is the Polebridge Mercantile, a combination rural store, post office, gas station and a few rental cabins. The Northern Lights Saloon serves beer and meals beneath propane lights. The biggest question among citizens is how to improve roads and bring in electricity without attracting a rush of housing developments. In 1914 a wagon road was built on the west side of the river and about a year later a bridge was built connecting both (the inside) roads. The bridge was built of logs and the little community growing up nearby adopted the name Polebridge."

"COLUMBIA FALLS (Flathead) - One story is that when the Great Northern Highline was built, the town of COLUMBIA was proposed as a division point, but when property owners demanded exorbitant prices for land, Jim Hill rechristened the town COLUMBIA FALLS and the new town of Whitefish was made division headquarters. Columbia had been platted on a scale that proved too generous when it failed to get the railroad division point. Excellent sidewalks extended some distance beyond the built up area. J.P. Rowe says the township was originally planned for a place near a falls in the Flathead River which is part of the headwaters of the Columbia River — hence the name Columbia Falls. Postal records say an office was established under an existing settlement's name MONACO in January 1891 with James Kennedy as postmaster. That post office name was changed to Columbia Falls in July 1891.

"BIGFORK (Flathead) got its name from its location on the fork of Swan River. It has had a post office since 1901; Everit Sliter was the first postmaster. The town was described as 'A huddle of little grey houses in a hollow just below the dam and powerhouse' that supplies electricity to Kalispell and most of Flathead Valley."

"HUNGRY HORSE (Flathead) is at the mouth of the lake formed by a government dam completed in 1952. The post office opened in 1948 with Ellis Strong as postmaster. Joseph Kinsey Howard wrote '…Up in Northwestern Montana just south of the western entrance to Glacier National Park is HUNGRY HORSE, site of a long-projected dam development on the Flathead River. On and around the dam site a group of 'boom towns' living solely on beer and hope have sprung up. There has been no actual work on the dam due to recent Congressional economy campaigns. God knows when there will be … Nevertheless, the towns of HUNGRY HORSE and Martin City are booming…" (Columnist's Note: Kinsey Howard is quoted slightly out of context. There actually had been a lot of work done "preparing" for the dam. I believe Howard was talking about the dam structure itself.)

That does it for this week. Feeling is returning to my other hand so recovery from home plumbing is going well. Life is good.

G. George Ostrom is a Kalispell resident and a national award- winning Hungry Horse News columnist.