Archives West Finding Aid

Barclay Craighead was born in Clemson, South Carolina, on April 10, 1895, the son of Edwin Boone and Kate A. Johnson Craighead. The Craigheads had two other children, Edwin Boone, Jr., and Catherine. E.B. Craighead served as president of Clemson College, Central College in Missouri, and Tulane University in New Orleans. In 1912 he resigned from the presidency of Tulane and assumed the presidency of Montana State University in Missoula, a post he held until 1915, when his controversial efforts to consolidate the state's university system led to his dismissal. With his sons, E.B. Craighead re-established and operated The New Northwest, a Democratic newspaper in Missoula. E.B. Craighead died in October 1920. Barclay, a graduate of Montana State University and Gonzaga University in Spokane, served as business manager of the New Northwest from 1915 until 1918, and as editor of the Daily Northwest from 1918 until 1920. Both papers were owned by the Northwest Publishing Company. From 1921 until 1925, he managed the Iron Mountain Mining Company in Superior, Montana, but returned to the newspaper business in 1925, when he worked for the editorial staff of the Spokesman-Review in Spokane, Washington. Craighead returned to Montana in 1926, and worked as chief of the State Division of Labor and Statistics and served as Montana's Real Estate and Publicity Commissioner. In 1932 he was a field auditor for the Montana State Board of Equalization. Barclay Craighead actively participated in Democratic Party affairs. In the 1926, 1928, 1930, and 1932 elections he served as office manager of the Democratic State Central Committee. Under Party Chairman Grover C. Cisel, he served as both office manager and secretary of the Committee in the 1934 and 1936 elections. In 1952 he was the Party's candidate for lieutenant governor. Craighead was a staunch and life-long supporter of Burton K. Wheeler. Craighead editorialized in his newspaper for Wheeler when he ran unsuccessfully for governor against Joseph M. Dixon in 1920. He supported him in his first and successful race for U.S. senator in 1922, and when Wheeler was Progressive Robert LaFollette's vice-presidential running mate in 1924. In 1928 Wheeler defeated Dixon and retained his Senate seat. Craighead campaigned for Wheeler against Republican Judge George M. Bourquin in the Senate campaign of 1934. In 1933 Craighead was hired by Wheeler as his secretary, and worked in the Senator's Washington, D.C., office for two years. Although Craighead returned to Montana in 1935 as head of the Montana Federal Housing Administration, he continued in his capacity as an advisor and supporter of Wheeler. In 1940 Barclay Craighead was instrumental in the formation and operation of the Wheeler for President Club of Montana. In addition to his political activities, Craighead also was involved in political patronage, working to obtain jobs for those who had served the Democratic Party. Barclay Craighead gradually became affiliated with the more conservative elements of the Democratic Party and, in 1938, worked to defeat liberal Democratic Congressman Jerry O'Connell by supporting Butte Republican Jacob Thorkelson. Craighead also supported Republican Governor Sam C. Ford, and retained his position as chairman and executive director of the Montana Unemployment Compensation Commission to which he had been appointed when the Commission was established in 1937. Craighead supported Ford in the 1948 election, but he was fired following Ford's defeat by Democrat John W. Bonner. Craighead, arguing that he held his position through merit and that his removal from office was an attack upon the Merit System, took his case to the Montana Supreme Court. On May 14, 1949, the Supreme Court decided against him and Craighead retired from public service. In addition to his political activities and his public service career, Craighead also was interested financially in radio stations around western Montana. In 1941 he established a radio station in Butte. Craighead was the manager of Helena radio station KXLJ during the 1950s. From 1957 until 1963 he was vice-president of the Z Bar Radio Network, which owned radio stations in Helena, Bozeman, Great Falls, Missoula, and Butte, and TV stations in Butte, Helena, and Spokane. In many of these ventures he collaborated with Butte radio pioneer Ed Craney. Barclay Craighead married Lucille Henry, daughter of Louis C. and Genevieve B. Henry of Helena. The couple had one daughter, Lorraine. Barclay Craighead died at the age of 82 on January 19, 1978.