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Collection of Grant Creek, Montana Area Photographs, circa 1900-1980

Overview of the Collection

Title
Collection of Grant Creek, Montana Area Photographs
Dates
circa 1900-1980 (inclusive)
Quantity
26 photographs
Collection Number
Mss 368
Summary
The Collection of Grant Creek, Montana Area Photographs consists of 26 images of the Grant Creek area near Missoula, Montana. Highlights include notable early residents and their families and the Grant Creek School. The images range in date from approximately 1900 to 1980.
Repository
University of Montana, Mansfield Library, Archives and Special Collections
Archives and Special Collections
Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library
University of Montana
32 Campus Dr. #9936
59812-9936
Missoula, MT
Telephone: 406-243-2053
library.archives@umontana.edu
Access Restrictions

Researchers must use collection in accordance with the policies of Archives and Special Collections, the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, and The University of Montana-Missoula.

Languages
visual
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Historical Note

The Grant Creek area is a neighborhood in northwest Missoula, Montana. It was named after Captain Richard Grant, an engineer who helped build Mullan Road in 1859 and 1860. After the road was completed, Grant settled on the creek that now bears his name. His daughter, Julia, eventually married Christopher Powers Higgins, one of the founders of Missoula. In 1884, another notable Missoulian settled with his family in Grant Creek: John Rankin. Rankin's sawmill at Grant Creek was one of the first mills in western Montana, and provided the lumber for many of Missoula's original buildings. His daughter, Jeanette, was the first woman to serve in the United States Congress. Another prominent resident of the area was Simon Hellman, a foreman for the Northern Pacific Railroad, who homesteaded 160 acres in Grant Creek. By the 1890s, the population of Grant Creek Valley had grown rapidly, and the Grant Creek School was established in 1897. After the turn of the century, consolidation of land ownership in Grant Creek accelerated as Charles Quast, a German immigrant, acquired large parcels of land in the valley for dairy farming. Quast Dairy became one of the largest dairies in Missoula County. A decline in student enrollment closed the Grant Creek School in 1947, but Quast's dairy operations continued until the mid-1950s.

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Content Description

The Collection of Grant Creek, Montana Area Photographs consists of 26 images of some of the most notable residents of the Grant Creek area of Missoula, Montana, including the Hellman family, the Rankin family, and the Quast family. The images range in date from approximately 1900 to 1980. The collection also includes depiction of Grant Creek School. The format of the photographs is 4" x 5" negative.

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Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Use

Researchers are responsible for using in accordance with 17 U.S.C. and any other applicable statutes. Copyright not transferred to the University of Montana.

Preferred Citation

Collection of Grant Creek, Montana Area Photographs, Archives and Special Collections, Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, The University of Montana-Missoula.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

This collection is arranged by photo number.

Custodial History

The custodial history of this collection is unknown; it is presumed that a descendent of Simon Hellman held the photographs based on references in the captions.

Acquisition Information

The immediate source of acquistion of this collection is unknown. The collection was likely placed with the Archives in 1981.

Processing Note

These images were originally placed in the Archives’ general photo collection and assigned photo numbers. In 2022, they were processed as the Collection of Grant Creek, Montana Area Photographs (Mss 368).

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Detailed Description of the Collection

  • Description: Simon Hellman and family in Grant Creek, Montana

    Top row: Henry, Mamie; middle row: Grandpa, George; front row: Minnie, Emma, Grandma (holding Bert)

    Dates: undated
    Container: Photo number 81-0344
  • Description: Henry Hellman Jr. and Grandpa Hellmen in Grant Creek, Montana
    Dates: undated
    Container: Photo number 81-0345
  • Description: Grant Creek School

    Left to right: Helen Neal, Margaret Kiernes, and Endora Henry

    Dates: circa 1930
    Container: Photo number 81-0346
  • Description: Original home of John Rankin in Grant Creek, Montana

    In 1908, Oliver Rankin sold it to Charles Quast. In 1956, it was sold to the Marbut family and has since been remodled. Margaret Wedel Quast (Mrs. Charles Quast) pictured

    Dates: undated
    Container: Photo number 81-0347
  • Description: Hellman homestead on 160 acres in Grant Creek, Montana

    Patent from U.S. government received on April 11, 1898; Harold and Mamie Neal with their son Howard (on wagon) pictured

    Dates: circa 1920
    Container: Photo number 81-0348
  • Description: Grant Creek School

    Grant Creek School, the year the district was abandoned, before it was used as machine shed

    Dates: circa 1947
    Container: Photo number 81-0349
  • Description: Grant Creek School

    Left to right: Howard Neal amd John Ryan

    Dates: circa 1920
    Container: Photo number 81-0350
  • Description: Six children of Grant Creek

    Left to right: Julie Knuchel Lunde, Helen Neal Gray, Mary Ryan, Fred Knuchel, Billy Toner, and Francis Ryan

    Dates: circa 1930
    Container: Photo number 81-0351
  • Description: Reconsturction of Grant Creek School at Fort Missoula
    Dates: circa 1976
    Container: Photo number 81-0402
  • Description: Helen and Howard Neal, residents of Grant Creek, Montana

    Two men and a woman sit on chairs in front of a wood-frame building. A woman stands behind one of the men, and a young man or boy sits of the porch behind the standing woman

    Dates: undated
    Container: Photo number 81-0403
  • Description: Children in Grant Creek, Montana

    Four children posed for a photograph; one is Dan Ryan

    Dates: undated
    Container: Photo number 81-0404
  • Description: Helen and Howard Neal, residents of Grant Creek, Montana
    Dates: undated
    Container: Photo number 81-0405
  • Dates: undated
    Container: Photo number 81-0406
  • Dates: undated
    Container: Photo number 81-0407
  • Description: Grant Creek School at Fort Missoula
    Dates: circa July 4, 1976
    Container: Photo number 81-0408
  • Description: Mr. and Mrs A. C. Dodd
    Dates: circa July 17, 1967
    Container: Photo number 81-0409
  • Description: Grant Creek School at Fort Missoula
    Dates: undated
    Container: Photo number 81-0410
  • Description: Dorothy Hunton and another resident of Grant Creek, Montana at Fort Missoula
    Dates: undated
    Container: Photo number 81-0411
  • Dates: undated
    Container: Photo number 81-0412
  • Description: Grant Creek School

    Group of kids and teacher standing on the porch; small girl in photograph is holding a sign that says: "Missoula County Free Library"

    Dates: undated
    Container: Photo number 81-0413
  • Description: Dan Ryan holds a piece of wood near a spinning saw blade in Grant Creek, Montana

    The woman and other man in the photograph are not identified. A portion of a wood building is visible, and wash hangs from a clothes line

    Dates: circa 1920
    Container: Photo number 81-0414
  • Description: Grant Creek School
    Dates: circa 1940
    Container: Photo number 81-0415
  • Description: Grant Creek School at Fort Missoula

    A crowd is assembled near the school

    Dates: July 4, 1980
    Container: Photo number 81-0416
  • Dates: undated
    Container: Photo number 81-0417
  • Description: Lydia and Orie Klapioyk, residents of Grant Creek, Montana in Holland
    Dates: circa 1900
    Container: Photo number 81-0418
  • Description: Original home of John Rankin in Grant Creek, Montana

    Group of ten people standing on or near the front porch

    Dates: circa 1920
    Container: Photo number 81-0419