The History of Winifred Montana

Due to geography, this area was the crossroads of many important events for Montana

history

, after Lewis and Clark or the fur traders, steamboats, miners, ranchers, merchants, the Great Northern Railway and the colonists. People had many different reasons for coming West and, as a result, Montana has a

history

of boom and bust. The Winifred area shares this history before the corporate discovery of settlers Lewis and Clark up the Missouri River in 1805 and Passing through much of the Winnifred area, they reached the mouth of the Judith River on May 19, 1805, and named it after Clark's girlfriend, Julia Hancock, at the time when the area was used by many Native American tribes.

Blackfeet crow Cheyenne Plains Cree Plains Chippewa Dakota and Nakota to name a few. The subsequent Lewis and Clark trappers and fur traders created Montana's first fur boom. Fighting in the commercial industry between the US military and the Native American Indians defending their lands became frequent. Dozens of forts were built throughout Montana to serve the fur industry and the military, some located north of Winnifred along the Missouri River and near the confluence of the Judith River in 1843. Fort Cotton was built across the mouth of the Judith River on the north bank of the Missouri. It was abandoned in 1874 when Fort Lewis was established on the present site of the town of Lewis.

This new location proved to be more suitable for trade with the Indians. In 1866 Camp Cook was established on the west bank of the Judith River and was the first military post to be built in Montana. Its main objective was to provide protection to river traffic and settlers. 39 steamboats passed the mouth of the Judith River in 1867, skirmishes with Indians often made life miserable for the troops in 1869. Fort Claggett was established by T.C. Power just three-quarters of a mile upstream from Camp Club. It was built as a trading post to serve soldiers at Camp Cook and for steamship trade.

However, the fort at this location proved to be short-lived as Camp Cook closed in 1870 in 1872 Power Mood Fort Claggett 1/4 mile below the Judeth River in 1878 a large stone warehouse and trading post was built and It was called Judith Landing in 1852 it was built gold. discovered in Montana and although none were discovered in the Winnifred area in 1880 gold was discovered at Kendall in the Moccasin Mountains and maiden in the Judith Mountains many miners and cowboys seeking their fortune traveled by steamboat: Judith disembarked and took the Claggett trail going up. The Missouri passes through the Winifred area on its way to the Judith and Moccasin Mountains in 1866.

Nelson's story brought approximately 1,000 head of Texas Longhorns to Montana along the Bozeman Trail. The first major cattle drive from Texas to Montana. The first cattle drives were carried out as a way. to supply meat to the goldfields, but soon came to take advantage of the last readily available source of vast expanses of grass. These early ranches operated on open pastures and consisted of thousands of cattle. Several of these large ranches were established in the Winifred area. James Fergus after whom Fergus County is named, first came to land near Bannack Montana and started his first ranch near Helena Montana in 1865 in 1880 at age 66 he was looking for a new frontier James and his son Andrew They were organizing a vast area that included Dog Creek and our Mel's Drains established a sheep camp in or near what is now the town of Winifred in 1889.

Teams of cows and sheep were scattered throughout the area, among which were included jr. Norris at Fort Claggett Journey of Jacob L at Winifred William T Swope East of Suffolk and John Brooks west of Suffolk Norris later joined TC Power to form the pn ranch over grazing and harsh winters were factors that put an end to the era of open grasslands. Due to Montana's arid climate, the leaf was an important part of the livestock industry. Fergus's Head Sheep, as well as many of the other ranchers' horses, were raised in large numbers in Montana as they were needed for work both in livestock management and as draft animals and purchased by the government for the military.

World War I was the last major use of horses for military purposes, as Montana was opened to agriculture and open countryside was fenced with barbed wire. It saw the end of the cattle boom. President Abraham Lincoln. signed the first Homestead Act on May 20, 1862 in order to accelerate the colonization of the western territories. Anyone over the age of 21 was eligible for Homestead as long as they had never taken up arms against the United States government, this also included women and freed slaves. Through this law, an adult citizen could claim 160 acres per quarter section of federal land, there were three steps in the process, the claimant had to file an application, improved the land, including farming and building a home, and, Finally, he requested the title deed, which he had to spend. five years on the land to become owners and had to pay a small fee.

Winifred's community was made up of a diverse group of Russian, English, Icelandic, Croatian, German, Native American, Scottish and more immigrants, the vocation of the people who came from the west were various lawyers, doctors, farmers, vagabonds and some outlaws. , Montana was the last of the large public land states, so when the real estate boom hit in the early 1900s, more people claimed more land in Montana than in any other state between 1909 and 1923, settlers filed one hundred and fourteen thousand 620 property claims in Montana the real estate boom ended almost as quickly as it began there was plenty of rain and good crops from 1909 to 1916 despite these good times many settlers were already leaving by 1917 the drought was beginning to devastate the world of the Great Plains The first war ended and wheat prices fell in 1919 the fields were devastated by great dust storms the community of Fred in winter was caught in this scourge while some settlers were lucky to locate in a good source of water many were not families had to carry their water considerable distances for all their needs hunting provided some of the only meat available if you followed the trail of a deer, sometimes you stayed there two or three days until the animal was shot down at the At the end of the Depression there was not much wildlife left in the area.

Neighbors help neighbors, but for many it was simply too much to let go of their animals to fend for themselves. Some left so quickly they left their plates on the table. Life was full of difficulties, isolation was a huge factor at times. The women of the family did not come to the city for more than a year because of the rain. Travel was impossible with anything other than a saddle horse. The demands on everyone were great as the men worked in the fields from day to night. The women canned garden products and sewed. clothing for the family washing ironing scrubbing and having babies children grew up quickly taking on responsibilities at an early age working alongside mom or dad as soon as they could housing was often primitive the Homestead Act required you to build a house on your land while others built better log houses many were 12 by 16 foot tar paper shacks some of the houses were hillside shelters with sod roofs the arrival of the transcontinental railroads to the Montana Territory in the 1880s is the most transformative economic development in Montana history until the railroads reached Montana Territory, it would remain remote and inaccessible to all but the toughest people.

The railroads are what opened the state to family settlements. Railroads offered cheap railcar rates to encourage immigrants to move west. The family wagons were divided into sections, one for the livestock. one for equipment and one for personal belongings and family, while early settlers and many settlers came to the area before the railroad, the town of Winifred came into being with the arrival of the railroad, people were first able to reach Lewistown by railroad and then to Hilger from At these two stops they often hired or rented horses and wagons to make the final leg of their journey, often under dangerous travel conditions in the spring.

The area offered gumbo mud and swollen streams to cross. The Monkey Railroad completed its branch line to Winifred Montana in December 1913. The railroad was a boon to the area as businesses arose. The Milwaukee Railroad made Winifred when the town of Winter Fred was organized. An application was submitted for a post office James and Peter Stafford began building a store made of native stone on August 1, 1914 the brothers opened their store in winter fred moving their stock from Hilger, there is the only stone building erected in winter fred and is still standing maintained today as Fred's Winter Grocer according to our records Winifred was named after the daughter of E.C.

Sawal, an official on the Milwaukee Railroad when it was built through Montana, many other references and old timers believe Winifred was named after her of Miss Winifred Rockefeller, daughter of Percy, a Rockefeller, a large stockholder in the Milwaukee railroad. Miss Winifred Rockefeller is credited with designing the first Winifred Depot, which burned in 1914, the first store. In Winifred there was a log cabin structure operated by Mr. Crow, about half a mile north of the town, the present site of the town of Winifred being in 1911 a large tract of land owned by Mr. Ike Palmer, the Milwaukee company, purchased 57.4 acres from Mr.

Palmer for the original town site, more plots were added later, the company told Ike that people would come to Winifred and in the meantime, to build a hotel, he set up a large tent about a quarter mile south of the town, where people were fed and kept overnight after the first train arrived in December 1913 more businesses were established in its heyday Winifred had a population of approximately 500 people and a list of these businesses ranged from hotels to banks and blacksmith shops a harness shop three sawmills two garages three hardware stores a doctor one optometrists two libraries barns a jeweler a confectionery a Polian saloon two saloons a restaurants two barber shops once you repair a meat market a dentist three grain elevators a merchant real estate two lawyers a justice of the peace a clothing store a bakery a cart line a laundromat a cigarette factory and speakeasies On July 4, 5, and 6, 1929, a large 4th of July celebration was held that included fireworks dances, baseball, a picnic with a program on a prominent speaker's dress, the main feature being a band of Fort Indians.

Camp belts dressed with their own drums, bells and other instruments. They had a huge show tent that was set up in the park. A crowd estimated at 1,500 people who came from long distances attended. The baseball game was lost to Lewistown by a score of 10-10. On January 9, there was a large crowd at Willis Hall for the all-night dance in 1938 during the Depression. A CCC camp was built on the north side of town. The first camp was made up of about 200 children from the state of Illinois, which generated a small boom. to the city they built dams and Corral they also developed springs in the area the second camp was made up mainly of children from Montana on March 18, 1940 the camp burned down the water tower remained standing for many long years after electricity arrived for the first time to Winifred through the efforts of Oscar oz Winston and his sons, boots and assistants, established and operated an electrical generating plant.

Winifred light heat and Power Company to supply power to the city. This operation was taken over by the Fergus Electric Cooperative in 1947 beginning in 1953. Osburn's sons were also instrumental. to get water and sewage systems in the town of Winifred after two fires destroyed most of the downtown wood-frame buildings, education was a strong belief among the settlers and they wanted their children to attend school. Many home schools were built and attended by children within walking distance. distance or horseback Hiring a teacher in remote areas could be a challenge finding someone with more education than the children could be difficult and then getting them to live far away in the country was questionable sometimes the school teacher was no older than her student As the roads improved, the population decreased, country schools began to close, often those who lived in the most remote areas bought the house in the city and movedmoved during the worst of the winter or perhaps the entire school year, children staying with family or friends in the city, school bus routes were finally established. signaling the death of rural schools as rural schools closed for the winter, the Fred school system grew.

It had also started as a small one-room school. As the city grew, it became obvious that more was needed. A second new brick high school was built in 1937. The building is still part of the current school. The school was remodeled and more brick classrooms were added in 1964. The old wooden schoolhouse was eventually torn down after the new brick addition was built. The current commercial building was built in 1974. The first kindergarten classes went to the first. school day in 1975 2001 a new sloped roof was placed over the school and new windows were installed the most recent gymnasium roof was added in 2010 during the 2013 calendar year K-12 enrollment was 94 students, enrollment has fluctuated Being larger than that but also less located in northern Fergus County, Winifred is located along Dog Creek at an elevation of 3,235 feet according to the 2010 census.

Winifred had a population of 208 people within the boundaries of the town with 92 homes at the end of the road, so to speak. fell dramatically after the farm days, while gumbo terrain can be productive with adequate amounts of rain, the area has always suffered from long periods of drought, the 1980s were another particularly difficult time for agriculture and the lowlands prices of wheat and livestock, gradually, more farms and ranches have been built. has consolidated into larger cities Winifred is no different than many of the small towns in eastern Montana and now finds itself struggling to survive with the desire to live away from the fast lane Winifred is growing slightly helping this trend is Norman Osborn s Grandson of Oscar Oz Bernsen, a senior, Norman feels strongly about contributing to the community that made him successful and believes in being able to contribute to the next generation he has.

He promoted a number of projects in Winifred the new community hall housing the post office the library the museum fire trucks a large sign meeting room in the middle of the state a new motel complex while Norman Osborn is doing his part to promote growth in Winifred there are a surprising number of Las Locally owned businesses in and around Winifred many are owned and operated by descendants of the original settlers. These people and the surrounding farmers and ranchers make the Winifred community what it is today.