On August 1, 1882, Andrew Hammond, Richard Eddy, E. L. Bonner, and others incorporated the Montana Improvement Company to exploit the timber resources in western Montana. The company acquired the sawmills of Eddy, Hammond and Company, a Missoula general store operation that had entered the lumber business under contract to provide lumber for the construction of the Northern Pacific Railroad. In March 1886, the government of the United States brought suit against the Montana Improvement Company for cutting timber on the government domain. In anticipation of this event, Eddy, Hammond and Company incorporated as the Missoula Mercantile Company. On August 4, 1887, the partners of the Montana Improvement Company incorporated the Big Blackfoot Milling Company to take over the lumber activities of the Improvement Company. On February 3, 1888 the Big Blackfoot Milling and Manufacturing Company succeeded the Big Blackfoot Milling Company. In the pursuit of the timber suits, records of these companies ended up with the Hammond Lumber Company of California where the trial was held in Federal Court.
The 47-volume collection contains minutes, organizational and financial records of the Montana Improvement Company, 1882-1892, and financial records, 1882-1899, of the various sub-groups which were predecessor and successor businesses of the that corporation: Spokane Falls Lumber Company; W. H. Hammond; Eddy, Hammond and Company; Missoula Mercantile Company; and the Big Blackfoot Milling Company. The records are incomplete, but provide a detailed record of A. B. Hammond, his associates, and their business activities in and around Missoula.
The collection is divided into seven series:
Series I: Montana Improvement Company, 9 volumes, 1882-1898
Series II: Spokane Falls Lumber Company, 2 volumes, 1884-1886
Series III: W. H. Hammond, 2 volumes, 1890-1891
Series IV: Eddy, Hammond, & Company, 5 volumes, 1883-1885
Series V: Missoula Mercantile Company, 11 volumes, 1886-1889
Series VI: Big Blackfoot Milling Company, 14 volumes, 1887-1890
Series VII: Miscellaneous, 4 volumes, undated
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.
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.
[Name of document], Big Blackfoot Milling Company Records, Archives and Special Collections, Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, The University of Montana--Missoula.
Lowell Mengel II, a historian of A. B. Hammond, rescued the ledgers from the Hammond Lumber Company warehouses in Samoa, CA, when the structures were being torn down in the late 1960s. The volumes were in his possession until donation to the Archives.
Gift of Lowell Mengel II, 1997.
The collection remains essentially unchanged from the state in which it arrived. In 1997 the collection was described.
Archives and Special Collections at the University of Montana holds a Big Blackfoot Milling Company township plat book (1894) in collection Mss 453.
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings.
This series includes minutes, a stock transfer journal, and financial records (day books, a journal, an employee ledger, general ledgers, and records of lumber shipped). Volume 4, a daybook from 1886-1898, and Volume 5, a journal from 1885 to 1898, include records of expenses incurred during the timber suits.
The series is divided into three subseries: Minutes, Organization, and Financial Records.
This series includes one day book and one general ledger for the Spokane Falls Lumber Company.
This series contains two volumes: one cashbook and one sales journal.
This 5-volume series contains daybooks, one general ledger, and two indexes to ledgers. It is divided into two subseries: Financial Records and Indices to Ledgers.
This series includes daybooks, journals, a private ledger (with index), and a general ledger (with index).
This series contains a lumber order book, daybooks, journals, a general ledger, employee ledgers, records of lumber shipped, and an inventory of various mills from 1890. One daybook dating from 1898 to 1899 includes entries settling small matters relating to the sale of this company to Marcus Daly.
This series contains four indexes to unidentified ledgers.