Job H. Little Collection of Photographs, Circa 1870s-1880s

Job Henry Little was born on October 21, 1847 in London, England. Little and his wife, Lucy, immigrated to the United States in 1871, settling first in Brooklyn, New York, where he was licensed as a Methodist minister in 1877. In 1885, Reverend Little moved to Fort Shaw, Montana to minister to the Sun River circuit, which included large swathes of Lewis and Clark, Meagher, and Choteau counties. At the time of his arrival in Montana, Little was one of only four Methodist ministers in the territory. In addition to overseeing construction of the first church at Sun River, Rev. Little was a circuit rider, carrying the gospel by horseback to communities in Fort Shaw, Simms, Augusta, Cascade, Chestnut Valley, and Ulm. He also served as a chaplain in the 3rd and 25th regiments of the U.S. Army and ministered to the Fort Shaw Indian Boarding School. Lucy and their three children joined Rev. Little in Montana by the late 1880s, when his circuit riding duties decreased and he began to focus more on his fellowship in Cascade County. In later years, Rev. Little enjoyed a close friendship with the famed Montana painter, Charles M. Russell. Job Little died on April 23, 1930.