Interviewer
Ethel MacDonald and Barbara Frey
Files
Description
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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Document Type
Oral History
Subjects
Frenchtown, Montana; Western Hotel, Montana; St. John’s Day; St. John’s Society; LaJeunesse family; Mill Creek
Original Date
3-31-1976
Time Period
Twentieth century
Geographic Coverage
Montana
Language
eng
Original Collection
Frenchtown Historical Society Oral History Project, OH 047, Archives and Special Collections, Mansfield Library, University of Montana-Missoula
Digital Publisher
University of Montana--Missoula. Mansfield Library
Rights
Copyright to this collection is held by the interview participants and by the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, University of Montana-Missoula. Permission may be required for use. For further information please contact Archives and Special Collections: (406) 243-2053 / library.archives@umontana.edu
Oral History Number
OH 047-005
Media Type
Sound; Text
Original Format
1 sound cassette (01:00:00 min.) analog + 1 transcript (15 p.: 28 cm.)
Digital Format
audio/mp3; application/pdf
Run Time
01:00:24 minutes
Local Filename
OH_047_005.pdf
Citation
Hamel, Blanche; Hamel, Flore; and Hamel, Edmond, "Blanche Hamel, Flore Hamel, and Edmond Hamel Interview, March 31, 1976" (1976). Frenchtown Historical Society Oral History Project. 4.
https://scholarworks.umt.edu/frenchtown_oralhistory/4