Spring 2025
Winter 2024
Summer 2024
July 2024
Spring 2024
Winter 2023
Summer 2023
July 2023
Spring 2023
Winter 2022-23
July 2022
Summer 2022
Spring 2022
Winter 2021-22
August 2021
July 2021
Spring 2021
Winter 2020-21
July 2020
Summer 2020
Spring 2020
Fall-Winter 2019
Summer 2019
Spring 2019
Winter 2018-19
Summer 2018
Spring 2018
Winter 2017-18
Summer 2017
Spring 2017
Winter 2016-17
Summer 2016
Spring 2016
Winter 2015-16
Summer 2015
Spring 2015
Fall 2014
Summer 2014
Spring 2014
Fall 2013
Summer 2013
Spring 2013
Fall 2012
Summer 2012
Spring 2012
Fall 2011
Summer 2011
Spring 2011
Fall 2010
Summer 2010
Spring 2010
Fall 2009
Summer 2009
Spring 2009
Fall 2008
Summer 2008
Winter 2008
Summer 2007
2025
How our community came to be
Although the homes of the upper Swan Valley's residents are scattered up and down the Highway 83 corridor from the Summit to Goat Creek and beyond, most of the businesses and public buildings are clustered in a four-mile stretch from Liquid Louies to...
2024
Holland Lake Lodge: A brief history
Steve Lamar finds a path to the Swan Valley
Steve Lamar finds a path to the Swan Valley
In response to an increase in the recreational use of national forests in the early 20th century, Congress passed the 1915 Term Occupancy Act, which allowed permits for private use and development of forest lands. The growing interest in outdoor recreation and conservation also triggered the popularity of dude ranching and guided pack trips...
Steve Lamar finds a path to the Swan Valley
Steve Lamar finds a path to the Swan Valley
Steve Lamar finds a path to the Swan Valley
Steve Lamar has only lived in these parts for 48 years. I asked him if he was a rich out-of-stater who doesn't understand our Montana values. He assured me he isn't running for political office. Perhaps you have heard of the Lamar Valley in Yellowstone National Park, the Lamar River or Lamar Mountain...
History of the USFS Condon Work Center
Steve Lamar finds a path to the Swan Valley
History of the USFS Condon Work Center
Throughout the years, the Forest Service has had a lasting impact on the landscape and culture of the upper Swan Valley. Many residents were employed by the Forest Service from the local teenagers on the YACC (Young Adult Conservation Corps) crews, to the seasonal trail crews, fire crews, planting crews, spraying...
Historic Swan Valley Dude Ranches
Historical museum preserves and promotes
History of the USFS Condon Work Center
During the early to mid-twentieth century several upper Swan Valley dude ranches were at the height of operation, providing packing and guiding services to guests from around the world. In 1924, Roria "Babe" Wilhelm, along with his sister, Ada, and her husband, Art White leased land from the Forest Service...
Historical museum preserves and promotes
Historical museum preserves and promotes
Historical museum preserves and promotes
Through volunteer efforts, the Upper Swan Valley Historical Society (USVHS) has been delving into local history through word and deed for 36 years. Twenty-five years ago on March 10, 1988, the first meeting of the USVHS was held at Evelyn Jette's residence. Meetings moved to the Swan Valley Library and Librarian Fern Kauffman began...
Bud Moore's passion for wild country
Historical museum preserves and promotes
Historical museum preserves and promotes
Well-known author and forester Bud Moore began trapping at the age of fourteen and spent several winters in the 1930s running trap lines in the Lochsa backcountry. After working over 40 years with the US Forest Service, he retired in 1974. Anxious to get back to his roots and the land, he and his wife Janet moved to Swan Valley where they managed their 80-acre Coyote Forest...
(Photo credit: John Fraley)
2023
The Swan Valley Community Hall: The heart of our community
The Swan Valley Community Hall: The heart of our community
The Swan Valley Community Hall: The heart of our community
The old log building that stands at the corner of Highway 83 and Glacier Creek Road has been Swan Valley’s Community Hall for the past 84 years. Built from 1938-39, this treasured building is widely used as a central gathering place and is the cornerstone of our community. The Swan Valley Community Hall is located on land that once had...
Fire Lookouts in the Swan Valley
The Swan Valley Community Hall: The heart of our community
The Swan Valley Community Hall: The heart of our community
Whether by natural lightning or by human hands, the landscape in Swan Valley has been shaped by fire. Only in the past hundred years or so have there been organized, concentrated efforts to suppress forest fires. During the historic forest fire of 1910, over three million acres burned in the course of a few days...
Shoemaker's treks in the Mission Mountains
The Swan Valley Community Hall: The heart of our community
Shoemaker's treks in the Mission Mountains
If you were to look at a map of the Mission Mountains 100 years ago, you would see a lot of blank space. Except for verbal descriptions and sketches shared by the early-day Native people, priests, trappers, hunters, and prospectors, the Mission Mountains were, for the most part, uncharted at that time. McDonald Peak was was one of the few mountains named on the early maps...
2022
Swan Valley residents receive 2022 Land Stewardship Award
Swan Valley residents receive 2022 Land Stewardship Award
Swan Valley residents receive 2022 Land Stewardship Award
On Aug. 19, the Missoula County Commissioners and Missoula County Parks, Trails and Open Lands honored Swan Valley residents Barb and Joe Raible as the recipients of the 2022 Land Stewardship Award and toured their property...
Ten years of preserving history
Swan Valley residents receive 2022 Land Stewardship Award
Swan Valley residents receive 2022 Land Stewardship Award
A dream became reality when the Upper Swan Valley Historical Society (USVHS) celebrated the grand opening of the Swan Valley Museum on July 4, 2013. Longtime residents Neil and Dixie Meyer cut the ribbon that officially opened the museum...
Northern Pacific Railroad's influence on the Upper Swan Valley - Part II
Northern Pacific Railroad's influence on the Upper Swan Valley - Part II
Northern Pacific Railroad's influence on the Upper Swan Valley - Part II
Although the upper Swan Valley was primarily settled by homesteaders staking claims on United States Forest Service (USFS) lands, some settlers purchased Northern Pacific (NP) lands for as low as $1.25 an acre...
Northern Pacific Railroad's influence on the Upper Swan Valley - Part I
Northern Pacific Railroad's influence on the Upper Swan Valley - Part II
Northern Pacific Railroad's influence on the Upper Swan Valley - Part II
Many people are not aware that the Northern Pacific Railway Company (NP) had a significant influence on the settlement, economy and timber industry of the upper Swan Valley. Looking at a current map of the upper Swan Valley, you might ask...
2021
A Historical Journey through Bob Marshall Country
It had been a long day on the trail in 1996 as I slowly worked my way toward the top of the ridge clearing downfall from the trail. When I reached the top of the ridge, the land opened up and the views were especially beautiful as the late evening...
The Hollands: The first upper Swan Valley homesteaders
The story of the first homesteaders and the first working ranch in the upper Swan Valley begins in the 1880s with the arrival of Benjamin B. Holland and his son, Charles. According to family accounts, Ben Holland, his wife, and children...
2020
Letters from a Swan Valley Homesteader - Part II
Letters from a Swan Valley Homesteader - Part II
Letters from a Swan Valley Homesteader - Part II
This is the second USVHS article about Henry Thomason, an early-day Upper Swan Valley settler who wrote a series of letters to his family...
Letters from a Swan Valley Homesteader - Part I
Letters from a Swan Valley Homesteader - Part II
Letters from a Swan Valley Homesteader - Part II
Beginning with a trip out west to Polson in 1913 to later homesteading in the Upper Swan Valley, early-day settler Henry Thomason wrote a series of...
Pinchot's trip to Montana
Reminiscence of hiring a camp cook
If the early history of Seeley Lake is intertwined with the lumber industry, the rise of the United States Forest Service is incontrovertibly intertwined...
Reminiscence of hiring a camp cook
Reminiscence of hiring a camp cook
I had brought the pack string out of the Little Salmon just before the start of hunting season in about 1971 or so and had stopped at what was called...
Hope for better days ahead
Many unforeseen changes have unfolded in our local communities since the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services announced...
Wood magic: Swan Valley artisan's home, furnishings made history
The Stark House, built by hand along with its furniture by John Stark, will be nominated to the National Register of Historic Places...
History Foundation awards USVHS grant
History Foundation awards USVHS grant
The Montana History Foundation (MHF) announced its 2020 grant cycle will put $164,800 into 29 historic preservation projects in 27 communities...
2019
Christmas present rooted in Christmas past
Many of us will gather with extended family or friends over the Christmas holiday to share gifts and good will. It seems the way we celebrate Christmas is rooted in Christmas past. A review of the yuletide traditions and events...
Bob Marshall's epic trip of 1928: The final two days
The story of the first homesteaders and the first working ranch in the upper Swan Valley begins in the 1880s with the arrival of Benjamin B. Holland and his son, Charles. According to family accounts, Ben Holland, his wife, and children...
2018
Snowshoe trip at 40 below zero
Celebrating 100 Years of Swan Valley Schools: 1918-2018
Celebrating 100 Years of Swan Valley Schools: 1918-2018
Beginning in 1933, the Forest Service began an intensive winter game study in the South Fork of the Flathead to determine the number of big game, forage use, snow depth, temperature, migrations, etc...
Celebrating 100 Years of Swan Valley Schools: 1918-2018
Celebrating 100 Years of Swan Valley Schools: 1918-2018
Celebrating 100 Years of Swan Valley Schools: 1918-2018
In upper Swan Valley the first schools were built in 1918 when a group of residents petitioned the Missoula County Superintendent of Schools requesting that the district be split...
New Beginnings - Part II
New Beginnings - Part II
New Beginnings - Part II
In 1979, Len Kobylenski purchased the Buckhorn Camp and changed the name to the Mission Mountains Mercantile. To prove that fact is stranger than fiction – the only document to survive the devastating fire...
New Beginnings - Part I
New Beginnings - Part II
New Beginnings - Part II
The Mission Mountains Mercantile, one of the upper Swan Valley's landmarks, was destroyed by a devastating fire nearly two years ago. Owner Len Kobylenski decided to rebuild...
2017
Swan Valley Students Contribute to Next Exit History App
Fifth through eighth-grade students from Swan Valley School, Salmon Prairie School, and area home schools came together at the Upper Swan Valley Historical Society (USVHS) Museum...
Winters Were Long and Often Bitterly Cold
Alvin Eugene “Gene” Miller “made his appearance into the world” in 1936 during an, “… early November blizzard that blew into the Flathead Valley.” His parents were Joe Miller and Mabel Kauffman Miller. “In the spring of 1939 grandfather Kauffman...
2016
A 1905 Horseback Ride to the Top of the Kootenai Mountains
Pinchot Journal: To Ovando and Kalispell by Stage and Steamship
Pinchot Journal: To Ovando and Kalispell by Stage and Steamship
Margaret MacDonald visited her Aunt Isabelle and Uncle Dr. Robert Gordon in August 1905 at the Gordon Ranch. In a letter to her mother, Margaret eloquently...
Pinchot Journal: To Ovando and Kalispell by Stage and Steamship
Pinchot Journal: To Ovando and Kalispell by Stage and Steamship
Pinchot Journal: To Ovando and Kalispell by Stage and Steamship
Gifford Pinchot, who later became chief of the U.S. Forest Service, was working for the National Forest Commission in 1896... In the previous installment of the series, they had arrived at Skunk Prairie...
Pinchot Journal: Disappointment at Skunk Prairie
Pinchot Journal: To Ovando and Kalispell by Stage and Steamship
Pinchot Journal: Disappointment at Skunk Prairie
In the previous installment of the series, they had prepared to cross the Swan River after realizing they may have been presumed drowned. "I kept the forward end of the raft upstream...
Pinchot Journal: Presumed Drowned?
Pinchot Journal: Wearing a flour sack to shoot a bear
Pinchot Journal: Disappointment at Skunk Prairie
In the previous installment of the series, they had used deer carcasses for bait and shot a bear. "I was using the .30 caliber...
Pinchot Journal: Wearing a flour sack to shoot a bear
Pinchot Journal: Wearing a flour sack to shoot a bear
Pinchot Journal: Wearing a flour sack to shoot a bear
In the previous installment of the series, they had finally located the deserted cabin, baked biscuits from the flour they found, and killed two deer.,,
Pinchot Journal: A Meal of Biscuits and Venison
Pinchot Journal: Wearing a flour sack to shoot a bear
Pinchot Journal: Wearing a flour sack to shoot a bear
In the previous installment of the series, they had failed to reach a deserted cabin where they could find flour, and they had been unlucky hunting bear...
Pinchot Journal: Sleeping under a Spruce with One Blanket to Share
In this installment of the series, they had arrived at a cabin inhabited by a trapper named Wood, who sent them on their way with venison and a sketch map to a deserted cabin where they could find flour...
From Cross Cut Saws to Mechanized
Neil Meyer, longtime Salmon Prairie resident, said that making a living as a logger in the early days was hard work in the Swan Valley. He shared stories about...
Pinchot Journal: Great Larches and Yellow Pines
Gifford Pinchot Journal "Trip GP and Jack Monroe Up Swan River, June 1896"
"In the course of work on the National Forest Commission, I camped last summer, on the shore of Swan Lake, through which passes on the tributaries of the Flat Head River...
Gifford Pinchot Journal "Trip GP and Jack Monroe Up Swan River, June 1896"
Gifford Pinchot Journal "Trip GP and Jack Monroe Up Swan River, June 1896"
In 1896, Gifford Pinchot, who later became the first Chief of the U.S. Forest Service, traveled through the Swan Valley inspecting this region of Montana...
Meyers Receive Montana Neighbor Award
Meyers Receive Montana Neighbor Award
Neil and Dixie Meyer of the Swan Valley received the Montana Good Neighbor Award presented by the Governor's Office. The Meyers posing with Montana Governor Steve Bullock and their award.
2015
On the Road to Montana's Great Museums and Galleries
Tucked away on Highway 83 on the road to Glacier National Park and worth a visit is the Upper Swan Valley Historical Society Museum in Condon. The museum opened July 4, 2013, with a celebration of pride in the nation and a love of local history...
