‘If they want it, they'll buy it’ Eva Gates and one bumper crop of strawberries

Many of us, okay maybe just me, have driven by that beautiful open meadow and rustic, original looking log cabin along Bigfork Stage Road and wondered, how long has that been here? I wonder what the story is?

Well, settle in for a truly quintessential Bigfork story, that not only has roots in the past, but one that has an exciting future as well.

One other important note, as with many of the vignettes developed as part of the Bigfork documentary, Gretchen Gates, Eva’s granddaughter, was instrumental in sharing her family’s story and forms the basis for many of the anecdotes below.

Eva and George Gates first arrived in Bigfork in the late 1930s, having moved from Nebraska, settling on the 80 acres they had purchased just off the “Dump Road” as it was called at the time, north of the village.

While Eva Gates had started her career as a teacher, most of those early years were likely spent working on the homestead. But, when World War II started and George was serving in the Army, Eva went back to teaching. When George got back from the war, however, the Gates really began opening up the property, clearing out the meadow for pasture and space to construct the iconic cabin that we see today. As with many things in life though, a random event led to what we know Eva Gates for today.

During the summer of 1949, Eva’s home garden had a bumper crop of strawberries. Gretchen explains that in order to use up all those berries, and using her grandmother’s recipe, she made “a whole bunch of preserves and gave them away, and people wanted more, and George said, if they want it, they’ll buy it.” The rest they say, is history. Things went so well that, by the next year, Eva not only added more flavors, but she hired an employee too.

As the business continued to grow, the Gates’ eventually had to build a new home for themselves and dedicate the original cabin solely to the business. For the next 30 years, there was a simple sign at the top of the hill, going up to upper Bigfork that said, "Eva Gates this way," pointing people to the cabin. Not only that, Eva Gates and her workers used the same wood fired stove that created that very first batch until 1966, when a new stove was developed, which is still in use today.

Like the stoves needing updating, finally it came to pass in 1979, as Bigfork was emerging as a burgeoning tourist attraction, that the shop was moved downtown.

In addition to running the business, Gretchen Gates fondly remembers visiting her grandparents’ homestead.

“We used to stay there a lot when I was a kid when we'd come to visit. It was just fun. We went and played in the woods and had fun.”

Although the Gates sold the homestead in the early 2000s, Gretchen’s words serve as a wonderful reminder of that connection to the land as the property transitions to its new chapter as a key part of the Harrell-Bigfork Community Forest, making those same woods open to all of us to have fun in. And while there might not be many strawberries growing at the new trailhead, when locals and visitors alike get done with their hike or mountain bike ride, there is a little yellow house in downtown Bigfork ready to remind you of the evolution of our connection to the land and the community.