Millie I. Talboys was born in Shell City, Missouri in 1892, the daughter of Marion and Mollie Stine. In 1898 the Stine family decided to move west via a horse drawn wagon. Their route took them through Nebraska where they met photographer C. O. Corey and traveled with him overland to Montana. The Stine family initially settled in Bozeman, but moved on to Garneill and Ubet in Fergus County shortly thereafter. They returned to Bozeman in 1907 where Millie attended school and lived for the rest of her life. She married twice; first to John L. Buehling and second to Albert E. Talboys. Millie died on March 20, 1974.
About 1965 Millie Talboys was visited in her Bozeman home by writer Estelle C. Laughlin, who interviewed her and composed a first person narrative titled "Missouri to Montana in a Covered Wagon, 1898." The sketch describes the Stine family's decision to leave Missouri for Montana and incidents occurring along the way including interactions with photographer C. O. Corey and members of the Crow Indian tribe, and fording the Yellowstone River. Other parts of the reminiscence describe living in early Bozeman, Garneill, and Ubet, Montana. Talboys also mentions meeting Methodist minister William Wesley Van Orsdel. Two poor quality copy photographs of the Corey and Stine family's wagons accompany the reminiscence, and Talboys refers to them in the narrative.
This collection is open for research.
Photocopy of a typed essay prepared by Estelle C. Laughlin, along with two copy photographs, were donated to Montana State University by Merrill G. Burlingame in 1967.
This collection was processed 2012 March 22