Archives West Finding Aid

Dola Wilson was born in Gaffney, South Carolina, in 1891, the son of Charles and Elizabeth Wilson. He came to Miles City, Montana, in 1912, and worked on a ranch for three years. He then worked for the Milwaukee Road. In 1934 he bought the Blue Ribbon Bar and re-named it the Range Riders Bar and Restaurant. To decorate his establishment he collected photographs of prominent area stockmen. In 1944 he began to compile biographical materials about the stockmen and attempted to expand the number of photographs. He hired Charles M. Boucher, a retired newspaperman, to research and write the biographical material. He retired in 1957 and his son Dola Jr. took over the bar. Dola Wilson Sr. died in November, 1972. Charles M. Boucher was born in Germantown, Pennsylvania, on July 16, 1864, the son of William F. Boucher. When Charles was two and a half, his father died leaving his mother with 5 young children. The family moved to her parents' farm at Terwood, Pennsylvania. In 1885 he graduated from Girard College, an institution endowed by financier Stephen Girard to educate white male orphans. The following year he apprenticed as a pattern maker. In 1892 he headed west to Nebraska. He went to work for his brother-in-law George Conn's Ogallala Record and Baxton Pilot. The following year he moved to Miles City, Montana, and worked as a reporter, first for the Yellowstone Journal and later for the Miles City Star. After his retirement he was engaged by Dola Wilson to write biographical sketches of the cowboys and ranchers whose photographs were in the Range Riders Bar and Cafe. He died in 1954.