Archives West Finding Aid

Charles Herbert McLeod was born in 1859 and came to Missoula, Montana, from New Brunswick, Canada, in 1880 to work for local businessman Andrew Hammond. McLeod had been sent by Hammond’s sister, Mrs. George Fenwick of New Brunswick, after Hammond asked relatives and friends in New Brunswick for enterprising young men who would like to come west. Hammond was principal owner of a firm that had begun in Missoula in 1867 as Bonner and Welch, with E. L. Bonner as one of the principals. The name was changed to E. L. Bonner and Co. in 1871 with a change of owners.

Andrew Hammond arrived in Montana in 1867, settled in Hell Gate in 1870, then moved to Missoula in late 1871. He soon became a clerk in a store owned by Richard Eddy. Hammond became a partner in the store in 1876 and the business was renamed Eddy, Hammond, and Co. In 1877, the store constructed its building at the intersection of Front Street and Higgins Avenue, on the Mullan military road, in Missoula. In 1881, the firm was awarded the contract to clear the right-of-way and provide the lumber for the construction of the Northern Pacific Railway. When the Northern Pacific was completed at Gold Creek, Montana, in 1883, business expanded considerably. The Montana Improvement Company, formed in 1882, took over this portion of the Eddy, Hammond, and Company business.

After the reorganization of Eddy, Hammond and Company as the Missoula Mercantile in 1885, Charles H. McLeod became the vice president and general manager; John M. Keith and Thomas G. Hathaway, immigrants from New Brunswick, also became involved. The Missoula Real Estate Association, another offshoot of the Mercantile, built the first Florence Hotel across the street from the Mercantile in 1888. After 1890, McLeod was responsible for the management and success of the various companies as well as the parent company. The South Missoula Land Company, yet another branch of the Mercantile, owned much of Missoula south of the Clark Fork River and was responsible for the extensive residential development there. In 1908, McLeod became president of the company and served in that capacity until his retirement in 1940.

The Missoula Mercantile operated branch stores in Kalispell, Montana; Victor, Montana; Arlee, Montana; and at other locations throughout western Montana. One key to the Mercantile’s success was its strategy of operating temporary stores to serve logging and railroad construction camps; these operations followed the population they served. The Missoula Mercantile and its branches and affiliates were one of the largest business concerns of the Pacific Northwest. Allied Stores Corporation purchased the Missoula Mercantile Company in 1959 for $1,056,000.

McLeod took an active part in state and city politics and activities, with extensive support for the Republican Party from the store’s assets. In 1888, he represented Missoula County at the state Republican convention. He was also president of the Missoula Light and Power Company and a director of the First National Bank of Missoula.

Charles McLeod married Clara Louise Beckwith in 1886; they had two children, Walter Herbert born in 1887 and Helen born in 1892. Clara McLeod died in 1935 and Charles passed away in 1946.