Archives West Finding Aid

Henry Dixon Hauser was born in 1838 in Falmouth, Pendleton County, Kentucky, to Samuel Thomas Hauser and Mary A. Kenneth Hauser. He received his education in business, and moved to Montana in 1865. He worked at the Internal Revenue Department in Virginia City, Montana from 1865 until 1868. He then moved to Helena, Montana and speculated in stocks and mining interests for three years. He moved to Cedar Creek and began to purchase gold dust. He stayed in that business for a year, before he went to Oregon, purchased 3,000 sheep, and drove them back to Montana. He stayed in the sheep business until 1881. In 1878 Hauser moved to Butte, Montana and there took charge of a bank owned by S.T. Hauser & Company. This bank was a private bank that had converted to a national bank, formally known as the First National Bank of Helena. This was the first national bank in Helena. Hauser managed the bank for several months and then became the assistant cashier. He also owned several shares of stock in the bank. In 1882 Hauser was elected to the Butte City Council. He was the brother of financier and Montana governor Samuel Thomas Hauser.