Archives West Finding Aid

The Ravalli Land and Irrigation Company developed from several companies created to expand the irrigation system in the Bitterroot Valley in western Montana. Marcus Daly made his fortune in the copper mines of Butte, Montana in the late 1800s; in 1887, he came to the Bitterroot Valley and established his estate, the Bitterroot Stock Farm. The Bitterroot Stock Farm, located near Hamilton, Montana, absorbed and further developed much of the existing irrigation system in the Bitterroot Valley through the expansion of existing ditches and the creation of a canal from the Bitterroot River. Daly's death in 1900 slowed the expansion of the water system, but in 1901 the Ravalli Land and Irrigation Company was incorporated in Butte, Montana. Founding members A.J. Campbell, John D. Ryan, and John Morony acted as the corporation's first board of directors and set about acquiring access and rights to the irrigation system of the Daly estate, which included the Republican Ditch Company and the Ward Ditch Company. The company acquired these rights and assets by offering Marcus Daly's widow, Margaret, the largest share of stock in the company. They established a contract with the Bitterroot Stock Farm that allowed them to control the irrigation system but they agreed to provide water access to the estate. As the largest shareholder, Margaret Daly remained involved in decisions concerning expansion of the system and leasing of water. In 1943, the stockholders for the company sold all of its water rights, property, and ditches to the Montana State Water Conservation Board; the company shareholders called for dissolution in 1945.