Henry Elwood papers, 1860-1994

John Henry Elwood was born in Outlook, Montana, on October 26, 1917, the son of Orlyn and Ethel Elwood. The family moved to Kalispell in 1922. Henry graduated from Flathead County High School in 1935 and received a teaching certificate from the Montana State Normal School in Dillon in 1937. He then began his teaching career in Flathead County, teaching at the Mountain View School for a year and then two years at the Evergreen School. He was hired by Central Junior High School in 1940 and by Flathead County High School in 1960. He retired in 1981. He had only two breaks in his 44-year teaching career. During World War II he served as a radio instructor in the U.S. Army Air Force. In 1955-1956 he was a Fulbright International Exchange teacher in England.

As a teacher he involved his students in the study of local history, a topic which increasingly interested him. He was the author of several books on the history of the Flathead Valley, including Kalispell, Montana, and the Upper Flathead Valley (1980, 1989), The Train Didn't Stay Long (1982), Somers, Montana, the Company Town (1976), Somers, Montana : Logs, Ties, Steamboats, and Families (1990), and Centennial at Epworth (1992). He also authored numerous historical articles.

Henry Elwood died in Kalispell on March 8, 1996.