Archives West Finding Aid

Mattie (Mathers) Cramer was born in Nora Springs, Iowa, the daughter of William and Eliza (Slec) Mathers. In 1893 Mattie was employed as a newspaper reporter, and editor, for the Iowa City Herald and later in 1894 was a traveling saleswoman for W.F. Main and Company, a clock and jewelry manufacturer. In 1893 she married B. Frank Cramer, and took a job as a traveling representative for VanCamps Packing Company. In 1896, while residing in New York State, the Cramers had a son, Harold L. In May of 1908 Mattie, now widowed, came to Montana, with her 12 year old son and filed a homestead claim on 160 acres near Malta. Her mother soon joined them and they lived in a one room shack on the homestead. Mattie became editor and manager of the local newspaper, the Enterprise. She maintained her work with the newspaper while residing on her homestead for the next several years. She also established a town library by collecting donated books and magazines at the newspaper office and loaning them to members of the community. She lives on her homestead for the next several years until she resigned. In 1914 Mattie resigned from her job at the newspaper in order to care for her mother. Mattie continued to write, and by request of the Great Northern Railway she published a testimonial letter concerning her homesteading experience in one of the railroad's Bulletins. Over the next two years she received, via the Malta Enterprise and the Cascade Echo, hundreds of letters from all over the United States requesting information about homesteading in Montana. The railroad provided Mattie with a circular to send to all the respondents. In 1919 Mrs. Mathers died and Mattie leased her homestead and moved to the Puget Sound area, while her son remained in Great Falls. She was engaged in newspaper work for the Oracle in Orting, Washington, and was secretary at the local chamber of commerce, until her return to her homestead in 1926. In the early 50s she moved to Great Falls where she continued her writing. During her career Mattie Cramer wrote numerous feature articles in the Sunday issues of leading Montana daily newspapers, and the Sunday Tacoma Ledger, as well as contributing articles and short stories to various publications and journals. Mattie died July 1, 1959 and she was preceded in death by her son, who died in 1946.