ScholarWorks at University of Montana

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  Alfred E. Deschamps Interview

  Alfred E. Deschamps

  Alfred E. Deschamps recalls how his father emigrated from Montreal, Canada, to the Frenchtown valley in Montana in 1878, and how his mother emigrated from New Brunswick, Canada, in 1886. He talks about the flu epidemic of 1918, the fire of 1911 in Frenchtown, and his brother serving as little St. John for the annual St. John’s Day celebration. Deschamps, with assistance from his son Alfred G. Deschamps, describes his family’s ranch and their ranching activities such as branding. He reminisces about life in the Frenchtown valley during the early 20th century such as attending baseball games, going ice skating, riding horses, and attending church dinners. Deschamps also briefly discusses food preservation methods, various neighbors and businesses in the area, the first car in Frenchtown, and the local priest Father Lionel Legris.

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  Arthur Donlan Interview

  Arthur Donlan

  Arthur Donlan tells how his parent immigrated to the Frenchtown valley in Montana in 1892. He talks about his father working in the lumber camps in western Montana before setting up a sawmill in the valley. Donlan recalls early logging methods including the use of cross-cut saws, and the volume that his father’s mill moved on a daily basis. He describes his father’s efforts, along with other members of the community, to obtain Works Progress Administration [WPA] funds to build an irrigation district in the valley.

  Only a partial transcript of this interview exists. The audio is missing.

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  Arthur Dussault Interview

  Arthur Dussault

  Arthur Dussault describes how his grandfather emigrated from Canada to homestead in Montana in 1885. He notes how his grandfather’s choice of land caused tension between him and Native Americans populations in that area. He discusses his father’s relationship with Ignace, a member of one of the Native American tribes in the Frenchtown area. Dussault recalls the horse racetrack in Frenchtown and the horse races that occurred during the annual St. John’s Day celebration. He discusses some of his father’s old neighbors, including the Deschamps family, John Cyr, and Rube Lattimer, speaking briefly about their property and homesteads. Dussault also describes what he remembers about the fire of 1910.

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  Blanche Hamel, Flore Hamel, and Edmond Hamel Interview, April 2, 1975

  Blanche Hamel, Flore Hamel, and Edmond Hamel

  Sisters Blanche and Flora Hamel and their brother, Edmond Hamel, Jr., describe growing up Frenchtown, Montana, during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They talk about their mother and father emigrating from Quebec, Canada, during the 1880s, and their father’s partnership with Theodore Bedard, with whom he owned the Hamel Hotel and various other businesses in Frenchtown. They discuss their father’s death, and how their mother took over his half of the business and became a successful businesswoman. The Hamel siblings describe attending school in Frenchtown and Missoula, and also going back to Quebec to attend school there as teenagers so they could spend time with their maternal grandmother. They recall various aspects of Frenchtown history, including the construction of specific schools and purchasing a church pew each year instead of giving money every week.

  Arthur Donlan is present during the interview and occasionally asks questions and confirms information.

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  Blanche Hamel, Flore Hamel, and Edmond Hamel Interview, March 31, 1976

  Blanche Hamel, Flore Hamel, and Edmond Hamel

  Blanche and Flora Hamel talk about the Western Hotel in Frenchtown, Montana, which their parents owned during the late 1800s and early 1900s. They describe the social events that occurred at the hotel as well as its size and the number of community businesses that were housed in the building. All three interviewees reminisce about the historic streets, buildings, and businesses that were established in Frenchtown during the turn of the 20th century and how those landmarks had changed by the 1970s. They recall some of the first homesteaders in the Frenchtown area including the LaJeunesses. They also describe the annual St. John’s Day celebration which attracted about 3,000 people from all over western Montana including Butte, Deerlodge, and Anaconda. All three describe some of their childhood memories which include witnessing the fire of 1899, irrigating their land by diverting water from Mill Creek, and getting ice for their ice house at the mill pond.

  Only a partial transcript of the interview exists because the audio quality is very poor.

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  Bouchard Family Interview

  Joseph Bouchard, Luke F. Bouchard, Louise Pankratz, and Alma Smith

  Members of the Bouchard family (possibly Joseph A. Bouchard, Louise Bouchard Pankratz, Alma Bouchard Smith, Luke F. Bouchard) discuss their ancestral home in Frenchtown, Montana. They tour the house, discussing changes that have been made, including original colors of the walls, what certain rooms were used for, and things that had been added or removed from the house. The Bouchards also describe the grounds, adding brief biographical details to explain certain areas of the house.

  This interview was conducted as the Bouchard family toured the house, making it difficult to hear. Only a partial transcript of the interview exists because audio quality is very poor.

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  Daniel Longpre and Fred Cormier Interview

  Daniel Longpre and Fred Cormier

  Daniel Longpre and Fred Cormier discuss growing up in the Frenchtown, Montana area—including Six Mile, Nine Mile, Huson—just west of Missoula, Montana, in the early 1900s. They reminisce about their French-Canadian ancestors emigrating from Montreal to the valley. Longpre and Cormier detail which families in the valley intermarried, and how land changed hands as those families grew. They describe attending St. John’s Catholic Church, and the events that were organized for St. John’s Day and other holidays to bring the community together. Longpre talks about some colorful characters from the area: Charley Eaton, Nine-mile Brown, Andrew Garcia, and Damien Ledoux (also known as Tin Cup Joe). Cormier recalls the death of his family members and notes that his sister died during the 1918 flu epidemic. Both men share memories of the 1908 flood and the replacement of the Northern Pacific Railway bridge. They mention the construction of the First National Bank in Missoula, and reminisce about the local sawmill.

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  Daniel Longpre Interview

  Daniel Longpre

  Daniel Longpre talks of his family and the other early settlers of the Frenchtown valley including the Poitras, Touchettes, Ledouxs, and Ploufs, many of whom were French Canadian immigrants. He describes trapping with Albert brothers, after whom Alberton, Montana, was named. He mentions the Longpre genealogy and reminisces about his father and grandfather emigrating from Canada to Frenchtown in search of work. Longpre shares stories of his mother’s relatives, including “Tin Cup Joe” who was involved in a legal dispute with Barnum O’Keefe. He also discusses his family’s interactions with local Native American tribes in Montana’s Frenchtown valley. He recalls witnessing a land-clearing fire started by that one of the tribes as well as tribal processions and encampments in the valley. Longpre talks about the Dufresne family, one of Frenchtown’s earliest homesteaders, and shares stories about his uncle, Pete Longpre, and his relationship with Baptiste Ducharme.

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  Dufresne Family Interview

  Anna Mildred Dufresne, Julia Van Holt, Margaret Dufresne, Goldie Dufresne, and Julian Dufresne

  Members of the Dufresne family (including Anna Mildred Mueller Dufresne, Julia Dufresne Van Holt, Margaret Allen Dufresne, Goldie Cole Dufresne, and Julian Dufresne) describe their family and their relationship with other early residents of the Frenchtown area. They briefly discuss animal husbandry, specifically raising sheep in Milltown during the turn of the century. Julia DuFresnes VanHolt describes teaching at the Six Mile School and Julian DuFresnes talks about growing up on Nine Mile, and industrial opportunities in the Frenchtown Valley. The interviewees recall their neighbors in the Frenchtown area and their encounters with the Native American communities in that area. They share their experiences of various natural disasters and disease outbreaks including the fire of 1910, the flu epidemic of 1918, and the flood of 1908.

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  Frenchtown Residents Interview

  Goldie Dufresne, Julian Dufresne, Margaret Dufresne, William Dufresne, Anna Mildred Dufresne, Mamie Reeves, Louise Williams, and Julia Van Holt

  Goldie Cole Dufresne, Julian Dufresne, Margaret Allen Dufresne, William Dufresne, Anna Mildred Mueller Dufresne, Mamie Reeves, Louise Williams, and Julia Dufresne Van Holt share their childhood memories of growing up in the Frenchtown Valley in Montana during the early 20th century. They talk about attending various one-room schools, their neighbors and various business owners they recall, the wildlife they saw, and the various Catholic priests who were assigned to the Frenchtown parish, including Father Lionel Legris. They mention business and landmarks including the Glaude Hotel, and attending mass on Sundays where each family had its own pew. They talk at length about the logging activities in the valley as well as gold mining.

  Only a transcript of this interview exists. The audio is missing.

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  Henry Lavoie Interview

  Henry Lavoie

  Henry Lavoie, who was interviewed on March 21, 1975, and February 1976, tells how his French-Canadian father emigrated to Frenchtown in 1888. He talks about his mother’s family, the Cyrs, who arrived in Frenchtown around 1876. Lavoie describes growing up in Frenchtown during the early 20th century, attending the Huson school, and observing the logging activities in that area. He recalls the various families who homesteaded in that area. Lavoie shares his memories of serving in the U.S. military during World War One and being stationed in Europe. He mentions contracting polio after he returned to the States. Lavoie reminisces about the St. John’s Day celebrations, including the first one which was held in 1908. He shares his farming experiences such as purchasing his first tractor and threshing machine in 1936 and the effect the Great Depression had on grain prices.

  Only a summary of this interview exists. The audio is missing.

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  Irma Mulcihy Interview

  Irma Mulcihy

  Irma Mulcihy reminisces about life in the Frenchtown valley in Montana during the early 20th century including walking to school in the mud and singing in mass on Sundays. She describes her photos of various early homesteaders, buildings, and landmarks, including the Cormier Sawmill and the Dufresne place. She also recalls the various home remedies that her family used to treat illness, and the wildlife she encountered as a child, including being followed by a coyote.

  Only notes of the interview exist. The audio is missing.

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  Jack Ray and Philip Cyr Interview

  Jack Ray and Philip Cyr

  Jack Ray describes owning a general store from 1916 to 1921 in Frenchtown, Montana, and how he used to travel through the valley taking orders for groceries and delivering them. He shares stories about the early families who homesteaded in the valley and visited his store, including Pete Scheffer who located his father at Six Mile, Montana, and was conscripted to fight at the Battle of the Big Hole. Ray and Philip Cyr recalls the early St. John’s Day celebrations. Ray also reminisces about the different payment methods he accepted including live animals bartered for goods. They discuss pig farming and butchering methods employed by early Frenchtown homesteaders, many of whom were French-Canadian immigrants. They also recall the early refrigeration methods of harvesting ice and storing it in an icehouse all year long. Ray and Cyr share a stories about old Frenchtown homesteaders including Solomon Trayant and Big Rocheleau, and they talks about the bootlegging that occurred in the valley. They also talk about the dances and the threshing parties that kept the community together.

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  Juliette Marcure Interview

  Juliette Marcure

  Juliette Marcure describes the typhoid epidemic in the Frenchtown area circa 1906, when she was six years old, and how it affected her and a number of her family members. She shares memories of attending a one-room schoolhouse in Frenchtown, Montana, and going to the St. John’s Day celebrations each year where he father would participate in feats of strength. Marcure reminisces about her family’s first car and taking Sunday drives to Nine Mile in the afternoon.

  Only notes of this interview exist. The audio is missing.

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  Lena Boyer Lucier Interview

  Lena Lucier

  Lena Lucier describes homesteading in the Frenchtown valley in Montana during the late 19th and early 20th century. She recalls her father working at Cormier’s sawmill, the special train that brought people from Butte to Frenchtown for the annual St. John’s Day celebrations, food preservation methods, and raising a bear cub with her brothers. She also reminisces about the dances held in Vincent’s Hotel and the Western Hotel.

  Only notes of this interview exist. The audio is missing.

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  Marie Louise Plourd and Dona Plourd Corr Interview

  Marie Louise Plourd and Dona Corr

  Dona Corr assists her French-speaking mother, Marie Plourd, in describing how she immigrated to the Frenchtown valley in Montana in 1900 and married to Donat Plourd, who emigrated from Quebec, Canada. Corr describes the businesses and saloons that were part of the Frenchtown valley communities including the Hamel Hotel which had a saloon and butcher shop on the main floor. She shares memories of attending the Miron, later Loiselle, School before going to school in the Frenchtown convent, and later the public high school in Missoula, Montana. She notes that, at the Miron School, 80 percent of the students spoke only French. Corr and Plourd also recall the St. John’s Day celebrations, and talk about Father Lionel Legris, who owned the first car in Frenchtown. Corr concludes by talking about attending college in Dillon to obtain her teaching certificate. She mentions that she was the second Frenchtown girl to get a teaching certificate.

  Only a transcript of this interview exists. The audio is missing.

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  Marie Louise Plourd, Dona Plourd Corr, and Ida Longpre Interview

  Marie Louise Plourd, Dona Plourd Corr, and Ida Longpre

  Marie Plourd, Dona Corr, and Ida Longpre discuss Pete Scheffer, describing how he came to live in Frenchtown, his wife, and his residency. They then go on to discuss his family, focusing primarily on his children. Dona Corr and Ida Longpre describe attending the Miron School, O’Keefe School and the Catholic school in Frenchtown, Montana. Marie Plourd gives a brief synopsis of her life, including where she attended school in Frenchtown, going to business college in Missoula, and marrying her hundred in 1929. She also discusses games she played with her sister and chores that she did as a child. She ends the interview by translating from French for her mother, who speaks about celebrating St. John’s Day.