Charles R. Dragstedt Photographs, circa 1895-1915

Charles Robert Dragstedt was born in 1873 in Halland County, Sweden. He immigrated to the United States with his parents and two siblings in 1882. The family first settled in Des Moines, Iowa, where they lived for 10 years before moving to Anaconda, Montana in 1892. After working for a few years as a blacksmith at the Anaconda smelter, Dragstedt founded a grocery store with his business partner, S.L. Tripp in 1895. They named the store Tripp and Dragstedt Company, and the business later moved to Butte, Montana. During World War I, Dragstedt briefly relocated to Long Beach, California, before returning to Montana and establishing a clothing store, C.R. Dragstedt Company, at 531 North Higgins Avenue in Missoula. Dragstedt died on March 28, 1950, but his sons Carl and Elmer Dragstedt, continued to operate his store until 1978.