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Montana Power Company Predecessor Company records, 1880-1947

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Montana Power Company
Title
Montana Power Company Predecessor Company records
Dates
1880-1947 (inclusive)
Quantity
200 linear feet of shelf space
Collection Number
MC 268 (collection)
Summary
Records (circa 1880-1947) of Montana Power Company predecessor companies consist of correspondence, financial records, legal documents, and minutes of many electric power, light, water, street railway, townsite, realty, and land companies around Western and Central Montana.
Repository
Montana Historical Society, Library & Archives
Montana Historical Society Research Center Archives
225 North Roberts
PO Box 201201
Helena MT
59620-1201
Telephone: 4064442681
Fax: 4064445297
mhslibrary@mt.gov
Access Restrictions

Collection is open for research.

Languages
English
Sponsor
Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
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Historical Note

The Montana Power Company was incorporated on December 12, 1912, as a result of a merger of the Butte Electric and Power Company, the Madison River Power Company, the United Missouri River Power Company, and the Billings and Eastern Montana Power Company. The merger was brought about by John D. Ryan, head of the Anaconda Copper Mining Company, and John G. Morony, president of the First National Bank of Great Falls. Each of the constituent companies had been formed as the result of mergers of earlier companies.

The Butte Electric and Power Company, was formed in 1901 to take over the assets and liabilities of the Butte Lighting and Power Company, which was, in turn, the successor to several local Butte power generating plants, including the Brush Electric Light and Power Company, the Silver Bow Electric Light Company, the Butte Electric Light and Power Company, the Silver Bow Electric Light and Power Company, the Butte General Electric Company, the Phoenix Electric Company, the Butte Gas Light and Coke Company, and others. The Butte Electric and Power Company's properties also included a hydro-electric power station on the Big Hole River from The Montana Power Transmission Company, successor to the Big Hole Improvement Company; and a majority interest in several Great Falls companies including the Great Falls Street Railway Company, the Boston and Great Falls Electric and Power Company, and the Great Falls Electric Properties.

The Missouri River Electric and Power Company, was organized in 1911, as a successor to the United Missouri River Power Company (UMRPC), which had gone into receivership. The UMRPC was itself a merger of the Missouri River Power Company, the Capital City Power Company, and the Helena Power Transmission Company. By 1912 the successor company owned most of the hydro-electric facilities on the Missouri River, including the first Canyon Ferry Dam completed in 1898 by the Helena Water and Electric Power Company; the Hauser Dam built in 1907 by the Helena Power Transmission Company; and the Holter Dam, begun around 1907 by the Capital City Power Company; and, due to financial difficulties, not completed until after the merger into Montana Power Company.

The Madison River Power Company was organized in 1905 by Butte Electric and Power Company interests to take over the Nunn power plant on the Madison River from The Power Company. The Madison River Power Company also constructed the Lower Madison Development in 1906 and transmission lines to Butte. In addition the Company acquired the Bozeman Electric Light Company, the Bozeman Street Railway Company, the Gallatin Light, Power and Railway Company, and the Livingston Water Power Company.

The Billings and Eastern Montana Power Company was organized in 1908 to take over various power developments along the Yellowstone River, including the Yegan Brothers properties, the Yellowstone River Power Company, the Billings Water Power Company, the Montana Trading Company, and the Big Timber Electric Light and Power Company.

After the organization of the Montana Power Company in 1912, the company continued to consolidate power developments around the state. In 1929 several major systems were acquired. The Missoula Public Service Company, was a merger of the Missoula Light and Water Company and the Missoula Street Railway Company both developed by William A. Clark. The various Helena properties which had been consolidated under the Helena Gas and Electric Company in 1927, also became part of Montana Power Company in 1929. A third major acquisition in 1929 was the Thompson Falls Power Company, including its predecessor the Northwestern Development Company. The Great Falls Townsite Company, the Great Falls Power Company, and the Great Falls Street Railway Company were all acquired by Montana Power Company between 1931 and 1936. The last major system acquired before World War II was the Union Electric Company of Dillon, which included the properties of its predecessors the Rife Electric Company and the Dillon Electric Light and Power Company. In addition, many local utilities were added for which there are no records in this collection.

[For more comprehensive information on the history of the predecessor companies see "Corporate Growth" [Box 1 Folder 2] and Douglas F. Leighton, The Corporate history of the Montana Power Company, 1882-1913, (M.A. Thesis. Montana State University, Missoula, 1951)]

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Content Description

Records consist of correspondence, financial records, legal documents, organizational records and other materials for the companies that made up the Montana Power Company, both before and after the organization of the Company. Records are arranged alphabetically by subgroup. The largest subgroups include:

Butte Electric and Power Company (1901-1912) records include interoffice and general correspondence, financial records, legal documents, maps, organizational materials, and reports.

Deer Lodge Electric Company (1892-1929) records include a historical information file, financial records, and organizational materials.

Great Falls Land Improvement Company (1905-1945) records include financial records and lot contracts. The Great Falls Power Company records include financial records concerning the construction of the Big Falls Development [Rainbow Dam], the Black Eagle Redevelopment, the Great Falls Development [Volta/Ryan], Holter Development, and Rainbow Extension; legal documents; and reports. Records of Great Falls Street Railway Company (1890-1936) include financial records and subject files. Records of the Great Falls Water Power and Townsite Company and its successor the Great Falls Townsite Company (1887-1936) include interoffice, incoming, outgoing, and general correspondence, employment records, financial records, lot books and other legal documents, organizational materials, and numbered subject files.

Havre Electric Company records (1904-1914) consist primarily of financial records and organizational materials.

There are records for several Helena companies which merged, separated and re-organized several times, including the Helena Electric Company, the Helena Electric Railway Company , the Helena Gas and Electric Company, the Helena Gas Light and Coke Company, the Helena Light and Railway Company, the Helena Motor Railway Company, the Helena Power and Light Company, the Helena Power Transmission Company, the Helena Steam Power and Lighting Company, the Helena Street Railway Company, the Helena Water and Electric Power Company, and others.

Records for the Lewistown Coal, Gas and Light Company and its successor the Lewistown Electric and Power Company (1907-1914) include historical information files, court papers, financial records, legal documents, and organizational materials.

The Madison River Power Company subgroup (1905-1912) includes a historical information file, incoming correspondence, financial records, legal documents, and organizational materials.

Records of the Missoula Light and Power Company and its successor the Missoula Light and Water Company (1896-1924) include incoming and outgoing correspondence, court papers, employment records, financial records, Public Service Commission hearings, legal documents, organizational materials, reports, and miscellany. The Missoula Street Railway Company records (1889-1927) include court papers, employment records, financial records, Public Service Commission hearings, legal documents, organizational materials, and miscellany, including accident reports. The Missoula Waterworks Company/Missoula Water Company subgroup (1886-1904) includes outgoing correspondence, court papers, employment records, financial records, and field books. In 1924 the various Missoula companies merged to form the Missoula Public Service Company. Records of this company (1924-1929) include court papers, employment records, financial records, and legal documents.

Records of the Missouri River Electric and Power Company (1912) include financial records, legal documents, and organizational materials. The Missouri River Power Company subgroup (1900-1910) includes general correspondence, financial records, legal documents, and organizational materials.

Records of the Montana Power Construction Company Milwaukee Road Electrification subgroup (1914-1916) include interoffice and general correspondence, employment records, and financial records of construction camps and outfit trains involved in the electrification of the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Railroad. Records of the Phoenix Utility Company (1929-1934) include interoffice correspondence, financial records, and reports concerning the building of transmission lines and the Flathead and Morony hydro-electric projects.

The Thompson Falls Power Company subgroup (1912-1929) includes financial records, legal documents, and organizational materials.

Records of the Union Electric Company of Dillon (1908-1940) include general correspondence, financial records, legal documents, organizational materials, and reports.

Records of the United Missouri River Power Company (1906-1912) include a historical information file, court papers, financial records, legal documents, organizational materials, and reports.

There is a subgroup of Multi-company materials (1905-1927) which includes comparative financial statements for several companies, maps of transmission systems involving several companies, and statewide transmission line construction reports.

In addition there are papers for three company attorneys in Missoula: Walter M. Bickford, James M. Brown , and William L. Murphy . The Bickford papers are notable for including extensive correspondence with William A. Clark, William A. Clark, Jr., and Clark offices in Missoula and New York, many of a personal nature.

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Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Use

The Montana Historical Society is the owner of the materials in the Research Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. Written permission must be obtained from the Research Library before any reproduction use. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all of the materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from the copyright owners.

Preferred Citation

Item description and date. Collection Title. Collection Number. Box and Folder numbers. Montana Historical Society Research Center, Archives, Helena, Montana.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

Arranged by subgroup and series. Some material housed in Oversize Boxes, Manuscript Volumes, and Archives Map Case. See inventory below for more information. NOTE: Volumes are not in numerical order.

Location of Collection

13:6-3

Location of Collection

7:3-5 (Oversize Boxes 170, 176)

Location of Collection

7:7-5 (Oversize Boxes 2 - )

Location of Collection

11:3-5 (Oversize Box 1)

Location of Collection

147:4-4 (Volumes)

Acquisition Information

Acquisition information available upon request

Related Materials

MF 456 Montana Power Company Predecessor Company Records 1891-1936 includes material in microfilm foramt. See MF 456 finding aid for more information.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

Detailed Description of the Collection

The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Boardinghouses--Montana.
  • Boats and boating--Montana.
  • Breweries--Montana.
  • Dams--Montana--Design and Construction.
  • Dams--Montana.
  • Electric power plants--Montana.
  • Electric power transmission--Montana.
  • Electric power--Montana.
  • Electric utilities--Montana.
  • Energy development--Montana.
  • Fish-culture--Montana.
  • Fisheries--Montana.
  • Fishing--Montana.
  • Floods--Montana.
  • Flour-mills--Montana.
  • Flumes--Montana.
  • Gas companies--Montana.
  • Hunting and fishing clubs--Montana.
  • Indian land scrip--Montana.
  • Industrial accidents--Montana.
  • Labor disputes--Montana.
  • Lieu lands--Montana.
  • Municipal Water Supply--Montana.
  • Natural gas--Montana.
  • Petroleum refineries--Montana.
  • Public utilities--Montana.
  • Railroads--Design and construction--Montana.
  • Railroads--Electrification--Montana.
  • Real estate business--Montana--Great Falls.
  • Reservoirs--Montana.
  • Street-railroads--Montana--Great Falls.
  • Street-railroads--Montana--Helena.
  • Street-railroads--Montana--Missoula.
  • Townsites--Montana--Great Falls.
  • Water-power--Montana.
  • World War, 1914-1918--Washington, D.C.

Corporate Names

  • Montana Power Company (creator)

Geographical Names

  • Big Hole River (Mont.)--Barrages
  • Bitterroot River Valley (Mont.)--Commerce
  • Black Eagle Dam (Mont.)
  • Bozeman (Mont.)--Commerce
  • Butte(Mont.)--Commerce
  • Canyon Ferry Dam (Mont.) [1st: 1896-1949]
  • Deer Lodge (Mont.)--commerce
  • Dillon (Mont.)--Commerce
  • Great Falls (Mont.)--Commerce
  • Hauser Dam (Mont.)
  • Hebgen Dam (Mont.)
  • Helena (Mont.)--Commerce
  • Holter Dam (Mont.)
  • Lewistown (Mont.)--Commerce
  • Livingston (Mont.)--Commerce
  • Madison Dam (Mont.)
  • Madison River (Mont.)--Barrages
  • Milltown Dam (Mont.)
  • Missoula (Mont.)--Commerce
  • Missouri River--Barrages
  • Missouri River--Power utilization
  • Morony Dam (Mont.)
  • Plains (Mont.)--Commerce
  • Rainbow Dam (Mont.)
  • Rattlesnake Creek (Mont.)
  • Ryan Dam (Cascade County, Mont.)
  • Spotted Bear (Mont.)
  • St. Ignatius (Mont.)

Finding aid prepared by Ellie Arguimbau, 1996.
2006

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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