Time Line
Flathead Indian Reservation
1900 - 1909
 

The government issued grazing permits, making it legal for nontribal members to run cattle on the reservation. The Cattle Industry on the reservation.

The Great Northern Railroad completed a branch line from Kalispell to Somers on Flathead Lake. Traffic through the reservation between the Northern Pacific at Ravalli, Dixon or Perma to the Great Northern at Somers, included steamboats from Polson to Somers.

Inspector Frank C. Armstrong issued a report on the Flathead Reservation that found a population of 1,734, about half of whom were mixed blood, largely of French extraction. The largest cattle herds were owned by descendents of French trappers and white men married to Indian women. About one fourth of the full bloods farmed or owned cattle.

A small pox epidemic hit the reservation. Agent Smead quarantined the Bonners Ferry Kutenais and burned the lodges of infected Flatheads.

Beckwith Mercantile, unknown date.  Photo courtesy Stacy Harris.

George Beckwith established the Beckwith Mercantile and two grain elevators in St. Ignatius. He was affiliated with the Missoula Mercantile.

Special Agent Charles S. McNichols was sent to the Reservation to begin the process of enrollment. Wealthy Indians opposed it because they saw it as a step toward allotment. About one fourth of the tribal members could not be enrolled because they were gone hunting. Full bloods avoided the agent. When the initial enrollment roster was completed after, it was challenged for several more years both by Flatheads and by whites.

A public school opened in Dixon.

William D'Arcy McNickle was born in St. Ignatius. His father was Scotch-Irish and his mother was French Canadian and Cree (Metis). The family was adopted into the Flathead tribe. McNickle became a noted author. His novels include The Surrounded and Wind From an Enemy Sky.

The Dawes Act of 1887 was applied to the Flathead Reservation, leading to enrollment, then allotment, then opening of the Reservation to homesteaders. Rep. Joseph Dixon (Missoula attorney and owner of the Missoulian) argued in Congress that Article 6 of the 1855 Hellgate Treaty allowed dividing the Flathead Reservation.

 The language of the treaty: "The President may from time to time, at his discretion, cause the whole or such portion of such reservation as he may thing proper to be surveyed into lots, and assign the same to such individuals or families of the said confederated tribes as are willing to avail themselves of the privilege and will locate on the same permanent home."

Dixon had relatives and business associates on the Reservation. Hundreds of letters of support from Montana businessmen were received. Tribal leaders fought the allotment policy every way they could.

St. Ignatius in 1905.

A new roll of the confederated Flatheads was completed. It listed 2,133 persons entitled to allotments, including 640 Pend Oreilles (242 full bloods, 387 mixed, 7 adopted Indians, and 4 adopted whites); 557 Flatheads (233 fullbloods, 305 mixed, 16 adopted Indians, and 3 adopted whites); 556 Kutenais (210 fullbloods, 342 mixed, 2 adopted Indians, and 2 adopted whites); 197 Lower Pend Oreilles (161 fullbloods, 35 mixed, and 1 adopted white); 135 Spokanes (55 fullbloods, 80 mixed); and 48 other tribes (14 fullbloods and 34 mixed). Based on the enrollment, Indians were allowed allotments of 80 acres of farmland or 160 acres of grazing land. Except for further reserves for such things as townsites, a bison range, and power installations, the remaining lands were to be sold with the money to be used for the benefit of the tribes.

A. M. Sterling and Horace Worden of Missoula bought the Ronan Springs trading post from Jesse Sears. They were required to furnish a $10,000 bond to conduct business on the Reservation. The trading post at Ronan Springs, as well as the trading post built by Harry Lambert at Lambert's Landing (Polson) and a small store at Elmo were started shortly after the Northern Pacific built its line through Ravalli in 1883. The trading posts primarily served travelers moving through the reservation from Ravalli to the valleys north of Flathead Lake.

The agency opened government schools in Ronan and Polson, followed by one at Camas in 1909. All closed in 1914 as Indian students transferred to public schools.

W. G. Dewey opened a saw mill in Polson. Timbermen struck the mill in 1908.

Secretary of the Interior James Garfield's train was met by nearly five hundred mounted Flatheads when he arrived on the Reservation. Indian leaders told him they opposed opening the reservation to homesteading.

The Pablo-Allard buffalo herd was rounded up for shipment to Canada, in preparation for the opening the reservation and the loss of open range land. Charlie Russell, as well as journalists and reporters from around the country, attended the 1908 and 1909 roundups.

The U. S. Reclamation Service began a feasibility study for an irrigation system on the Reservation. In the 1870s, the federal government had constructed a series of canals from the Jocko River and Finley Creek to provide water to Indian farmers who were being moved to the area from the Bitterroot Valley. The Jesuits had dug irrigation ditches in 1855 to carry water from Mission Creek to their nearby fields. Indian farmers had dug private ditches to flood small fields. By December 31, 1938, more than $7,500,000 had been spent on irrigation facilities on the Flathead reservation.

The Sterling Hotel opened in Ronan. Built by Addison M. Sterling, the three-story hotel had running water and acetylene lights.

The first automobile on the Reservation, a Reo, arrived in Polson, driven by J. W. Walker from Kalispell. There was no established trail and he had to take down many fences along the way. The Polson ferry wasn't running because of ice, but he managed to find a place he could ford the river.

St. Ignatius, 1909

The survey and allotment of lands to tribal members was completed. The Department of the Interior approved 2,460 eighty and 160 acre allotments. Forty acre townsites were reserved at Arlee, Dayton, Ravalli, Dixon and Ronan. Eighty acre townsites were reserved at St. Ignatius and Polson. Other townsites were platted at Camas, Pablo, Big Arm, Allard, Yellow Bay, Flathead, Revais, D'Aste, and Moiese.

Appraisal of surplus lands was completed in November, with appraisals ranging from 30¢ an acre to $7 an acre.

The National Bison Range was established, partly with pennies donated by school children from around the nation. The driving force behind the refuge was the American Bison Society, which had reported in 1908 that only 1,722 bison survived in private herds and no more than 325 survived in the wild. Thirty-four bison were bought from the Conrad herd and six others were donated from other herds. By 1927, this herd had grown to 640 animals.

A Polson volunteer fire department was formed with Dave Nelson as the first chief. The volunteers asked the chamber of commerce for help purchasing a hose cart. They built a hook and ladder truck themselves to pull to fires.

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