Science from the Bay, Bigfork Bay That Is

Imagine you’re a young student from the University of Montana, spending an idyllic summer on a huge freshwater lake north of Missoula. You get to study the flore and fauna of the area — travel extensively by boat, share long lunches and hiking with fellow students, and soak up the rugged Mission and Swan ranges —all for course credit.

And by the way, it’s 1899. The state of Montana is only 10 years old, and the University of Montana only 6.

Even in those nascent days, as head of UM's first biology department, Dr. Morton Elrod arrived in the Flathead Valley with an amazing vision and purpose. He was determined to create a research station to study, catalog, and preserve the amazing ecosystems associated with northwest Montana.

Thus, in 1899, the Flathead Lake Biological Station (FLBS) was born, making it the second oldest such research facility in the United States. And while this amazing center, now located in Yellow Bay, is known throughout the world, it is less known that for the first nine years, the FLBS was located on Bigfork Bay.

When Dr. Elrod arrived in Bigfork in 1897 after steaming up the length of Flathead Lake from Polson, he knew that while Bigfork would work for the time being, given its sheltered properties, he needed to explore the entire perimeter of Flathead Lake to find the best location for his station.

At that time, Bigfork wasn’t even officially a town, it was just a loose collection of buildings and some prominent local citizens, one of which was Mr. Everit Sliter.

Elrod met with Mr. Sliter and agreed to rent some property and buildings for an initial six years, then another three, from him near where the steel bridge is now located.

These original buildings and cabins were very small, likely no more than 18 by 20 feet. He also purchased a small fold-up boat from Mr. Sliter that he named "The Daphnia" to cruise around the lake taking depth soundings.

Back then, without modern sonar or electronics, Dr. Elrod literally used a weight on a rope to count how many feet or meters the depth of the lake was. This is quite the feat when one considers that Flathead Lake's east shore is almost 400 feet deep. That's a lot of rope.

Dr. Elrod wanted a sheltered harbor near the deep part of the lake, so ultimately while he was doing these soundings, he was also doing reconnaissance to find the long-term location for the biological station, which he found in Yellow Bay.

Until his dreams could be realized at Yellow Bay, Dr. Elrod and his students continued to pioneer the scientific research of the Flathead from the humble buildings in Bigfork bay. The small dark cabin that was the original laboratory was lit by candles and there were only a handful of microscopes, so most of the activities and learning, took place outdoors in the amazing natural settings of the area.

The students and instructors would take excursions to Swan Lake, down the Swan Valley, into the Mission and Swan ranges, as well as numerous lakes and streams, all helping form the early basis showing the linkages of those ecosystems back to Flathead Lake itself. And, starting from the station in Bigfork, Elrod not only conducted his classes but also hosted world renowned naturalists and conservationists, showing them the many wonders of the area, and bringing attention to this special place he had found.

But it wasn’t all work and field trips.

During their down time, most of the students, men and women alike, were housed in canvas wall tents in Bigfork. The students could cook for themselves in their own tents if they opted or they could choose to eat at local restaurants for an extra five dollars a day.

Not to mention that the students weren’t clad in waterproof and moisture wicking performance apparel but rather the attire of the era was more formal, with women wearing dresses and petticoats and men wearing their suits to go out into the field. With more notoriety, and one can only assume the student word of mouth about these amazing summer classes north of Missoula, the Bigfork facilities were eventually no longer adequate and by 1909 the station and students moved south to Yellow Bay.

Still arriving and departing by steamship though mind you as there wouldn’t be a road there till the 1930s. While only a brief blip in the amazing history of the FLBS, Bigfork serving as the first host to the station, is proud to share that history, as well as the connection to Dr. Morton Elrod and his legacy to science and Montana.

We would also like to graciously thank Mr. Tom Bansak, the Associate Director of the FLBS, for providing much of the background material on Elrod and the early history of the station for the Bigfork documentary, and which is largely used here as well. The connection between the FLBS and Bigfork will also be on display in the upcoming BACC show, Scene + Unseen, running from August 13th to September 25th, highlighting multiple artists work from the artist in residence program at the station.