ScholarWorks at University of Montana

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  Helen Anderson Brist Interview, June 11, 2007

  Helen Brist

  Helen Anderson Brist recalls memories from her childhood in Montana. She tells how her mother, an immigrant from Norway, and her father, a first generation immigrant from Sweden, met and married in Somers, Montana, before moving onto a homestead in Swan Valley, Montana. Brist discusses ... Read More

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  Henry Meyer and Joan Meyer Interview, June 18, 2003

  Henry Meyer and Joan Meyer

  Henry Meyer and Joan Meyer describe meeting while they were both in high school in Lyndhurst, New Jersey. They tell how they married soon after in 1951, and headed west, where they settled in Swan Valley, Montana. They discuss their life in the area, specifically ... Read More

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  Herb Styler and Leona Styler Interview, July 15, 1999

  Herb Styler and Leona Styler

  Herb Styler discusses his childhood in Minnesota, where he was born in 1923 and lived until serving in World War Two. He recalls how after returning from the service, he met and married his wife, Leona, in Minnesota in 1947. Both Herb and Leona describe ... Read More

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  Joe Waldbillig Interview, November 5, 1999

  Joe Waldbillig

  Joe Waldbillig talks about his German ancestry and how that affected his experiences during World War Two. Waldbillig tells stories while looking at old pictures of life in the Swan Valley of Montana. He describes the various Native American tribes, who lived in the Swan ... Read More

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  John Hulett Interview, February 15, 1999

  John Hulett

  John Hulett recalls living and working in northwestern Montana’s Swan Valley, during the 1930s, ‘40s, and ‘50s. He talks about his family moving to the valley in 1931, and his subsequent outdoor jobs, acting as a lookout for the Forest Service, a packer and member ... Read More

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  Junise Nelson Howard Interview, August 15, 2006

  Junise Howard

  Junise Howard shares anecdotes from her time spent in and around Swan Valley, Montana. She notes that despite moving around the United States often, she returned frequently to Swan Valley and spent many of her summers there. Howard recalls many of her friends from Swan ... Read More

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  Karen Conley and E. Dale Conley Interview, December 6, 2001

  Karen Conley and E. Dale Conley

  Karen Conley recalls childhood memories of living in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, before her family moved to the Swan Valley, area of Montana. She describes boarding in Missoula, Montana, with her sister so they could attend high school there. Conley and her husband Dale talk about ... Read More

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  Kathy "Little Bird" Kinzfogl Interview, October 20, 2005

  Kathy Kinzfogl

  Kathy “Little Bird” Kinzfogl describes gardening in Condon, Montana, specifically mentioning her struggles with the cold climate and various pests such as deer. She also discusses the practice of “wildcrafting”, using herbs and other naturally occurring plants for medicinal purposes.

  This is a continuation of ... Read More

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  Ken Huston Interview, September 9, 1999

  Ken Huston

  Ken Huston, who was raised in Swan Valley, Montana, discusses wildlife (particularly grizzly bears), fires, hunting, trapping, and the old lumber mill. He recalls marrying Blanche Fenby, whose family owned the mill. He talks extensively about fisheries in Elk Creek and kids of fish in ... Read More

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  Ken Wolff Interview, February 14, 2006

  Ken Wolff

  Ken Wolff discusses the work of Grounded Eagle Foundation, a non-profit in Swan Valley, Montana, devoted to the rescue and recovery of injured wild birds. He describes growing up in and around Western Montana, his ties to the landscape, and returning to Swan Valley after ... Read More

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  Leita Anderson Interview, May 2, 2003

  Leita Anderson

  Leita Anderson talks about learning to cook from her mother and grandmother, and how she later became a U.S. Forest Service cook, where she was still employed at the time of the interview. She describes starting as an assistant in 1959 until 1975 when she ... Read More

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  Leita Anderson Interview, October 13, 2000

  Leita Anderson

  Leita Anderson talks about growing up in Salmon Prairie, Montana, and recalls the families who lived there when she was a child, particularly the Anderson family. She describes how her father grew up trapping in the area, and then worked for the Works Progress Administration ... Read More

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  Lendal Kotschevar Interview, September 8, 1999

  Lendal Kotschevar

  Lendal Kotschevar describes his home on Lindbergh Lake in the Swan Valley of Montana, which he purchased in 1955 while he was a professor at the University of Montana. He discusses the history of the building, as well as environmental changes to the area wildlife ... Read More

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  Leonard Moore and Ethel Moore Interview, August 19, 1999

  Leonard Moore and Ethel Moore

  Leonard Moore talks about when his family moved to Swan Valley, Montana in 1936 to establish a headquarters for their outfitting business. He discusses the backcountry trails his father used and the wildlife they frequently encountered, particularly grizzly bears. Moore describes hunting and fishing in ... Read More

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  Lucille Wilhelm and Shirley Webb Interview, July 29, 2003

  Lucille Wilhelm and Shirley Webb

  Lucille Wilhelm details her childhood in Swan Valley, Montana, describing both the joys and hardships of living in such a secluded place. She discusses attending high school in Missoula, Montana, during the 1940s. Together with her daughter, Shirley Webb, Wilhelm talks about her husband Joe ... Read More

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  Mabel Stilwell Interview, February 3, 1999

  Mabel Stilwell

  Mabel Stilwell recalls growing up in the Kraft Creek area in northwestern Montana’s Swan Valley in the early 20th century. She discusses daily homesteading life with her family, including school, chores, the numerous animals they kept, wild animals in the area, and activities like picnics ... Read More

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  Mike Holmes and Sue Holmes Interview, August 27, 2009

  Mike Holmes and Sue Holmes

  Mike Holmes discusses growing up in Montana, and later, working for Shorty Koessler who owned the Intermountain Lumber Company. Mike and Sue discuss getting married in 1964 after finishing high school in Polson, Montana, then moving up to the Gordon Ranch near Ovando, Montana, where ... Read More

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  Nan Nelson Interview, November 16, 2001

  Nan Nelson

  Nan Nelson describes her life with her husband Mel Nelson, until his death from cancer in 1992. She recalls how they met in Tacoma, Washington and eloped in 1942 to Swan Valley, Montana, when they were both 17. She talks about spending that summer learning ... Read More

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  Neil Meyer and Dixie Meyer Interview, March 2006

  Neil Meyer and Dixie Meyer

  Neil Meyer and his wife, Dixie Meyer, describe the homesteading lifestyle in the Upper Swan Valley, Montana. Neil discusses working as a logger and recalls sustainable logging practices and the economics behind the demand for different kinds of wood. He mentions “tree sitter” protests against ... Read More

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  Neil Meyer Interview, May 24, 1999

  Neil Meyer

  Neil Meyer talks about his work as a logger, discussing sustainable logging practices and the demand for different kinds of wood. He talks at length about the many people with whom he worked while logging. Neil also recalls hunting and fishing in the Swan Valley ... Read More

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  Oliver "Ollie" Hill Interview, June 19, 1999

  Oliver Hill

  Oliver "Ollie" Hill describes growing up on a homestead near Condon, Montana. He talks about his father, a Finnish immigrant who came to America to escape what Hill describes as serfdom in Finland at that time. Hill notes that, in addition to homesteading, his father ... Read More

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  Ona Lake Interview, November 5, 2001

  Ona Lake

  Ona Lake tells how she was born in Broadus, Montana, and then moved with her family around the northwest during throughout her childhood as her father tracked down work as a rural mail carrier and dairy truck driver. She recalls eventually settling in Deer Lodge, ... Read More

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  Queveene Talley and ValGene Clothier Interview, May 9, 2006

  Queveene Talley and ValGene Clothier

  Queveene Talley and her son, ValGene Clothier, discuss the experience of homesteading in and around Condon, Montana, where they first settled in 1938. Talley describes the hardships of homesteading as a young woman with a young and growing family. Both of them talk about the ... Read More

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  Reuben Kauffman and Sadie Kauffman Interview, January 15, 1999

  Reuben Kauffman and Sadie Kauffman

  Reuben Kauffman recalls moving from southern Idaho to the Swan Valley area where he worked in a sawmill during the 1940s. He talks about the other homestead families of the area and the lack of jobs at the time. Kauffman describes the layout of his ... Read More

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  Rich Nelson Interview, November 9, 2001

  Rich Nelson

  Rich Nelson describes the summers he spent in Swan Valley, Montana, throughout his childhood in the 1930s. He details how his parents, Carl and Min Nelson, acquired land and built a cabin in the area. Nelson recalls the stories and lives of several other Swan ... Read More