Montana Historical Society
Archives
MC 298
Bovey, Charles,
1907-1978
Charles A. Bovey papers
1882-1983
9 linear feet of shelf space
Charles A. Bovey was a Montana legislator, Great Falls
rancher, and collector of historic artifacts, records, and buildings. His interest in
historic preservation eventually lead to his ownership and restoration of most of Virginia
City, Montana, and the reconstruction of Nevada City. This collection consists of family
correspondence; financial records (1944-1966), including Boveys' personal and ranch
accounts; legal documents; subject files on Bovey's service in the Montana Legislature, and
material collected by Bovey on railroads. There are subgroups for the Charles A. Bovey
Estate, for the Alder Gulch Short Line Railway, for Bovey Restorations Inc., for the
Historic Landmark Society of Montana, for the Virginia City Players, and for the Virginia
City Trading Company.
15:3-5
14:1-5 [Oversize Boxes 8-9]
14:1-5 [Oversize Boxes 10-11A]
150:2-4 [Volumes 1-9]
150:2-7 [Volumes 10-18]
English
Charles Argalis Bovey was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 1, 1907. His parents were
Charles Cranston Bovey and Kate Koon Bovey, and his siblings were Martin Koon Bovey and Ruth
Bovey Stevens. The Bovey family was part of the Washburn Crosby Milling Corporation, which
became known as General Mills. Charles lived in Minneapolis until September 1923 when he
attended Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. Upon graduating from Phillips, Charles
decided he would rather learn the milling trade than attend college. His father sent him to
Great Falls, Montana, in October 1926.
In Great Falls, Charles began learning the milling trade through involvement with the Royal
Milling Company, a subsidiary of the Minneapolis-based Washburn Crosby. Not long after
arriving in Great Falls, Charles was introduced to (Rachael) Sue Ford who was the daughter
of Great Falls National Bank President Lee Ford. Charles and Sue would eventually be married
in 1933. Though Charles was involved with the Royal Milling Company for a number of years,
he soon turned his focus to farming and ranching. He purchased the Sunnyside Ranch in 1929
and two other ranches, the Deep Canyon Ranch and the Cascade Ranch, in later years.
In the 1940s, Charles started to become very interested in preserving Montana's living
history. He created the "Old Town" display for the Great Falls Fair in the early 1940s, a
display which remained a popular attraction for nearly twenty years. "Old Town" was a
recreation of what an Old West town might have been like in the 1800s. It was created using
a variety of historic buildings collected from different Montana communities, as well as
with items from Charles' own personal antique collection.
Around the same time as the creation of "Old Town", Charles was becoming involved in
politics. In 1942, Charles ran on the Democratic ticket for a seat in the Montana House of
Representatives representing Cascade County. He won the position and served until the next
election, at which time he decided to run for a seat in the Montana Senate. He again won and
represented Cascade County in the position through 1965. While in the legislature, Charles
was concerned with the well-being of the elderly and the mentally disabled, as well as with
efforts to preserve Montana's living history.
Though not funded by the state as he had hoped, the Historic Landmarks Society was
incorporated by Charles Bovey in July 1944 as a non-profit organization dedicated to
preserving facets of Montana's living history. Some of the Society's projects included the
preservation of a sawmill in Craig, Montana and the restoration of a settler's cabin near
Loma, Montana.
More significant, however, was that it was through this organization that Charles Bovey was
able to begin the restoration of Virginia City, Montana. The Society's first project in
Virginia City was to restore the building that had housed Montana's first newspaper press,
the Montana Post. After the Post building was completed, the Society went to work restoring
and preserving other buildings in Virginia City.
The restoration of Virginia City proved to be a very large and expensive project. The
Historic Landmarks Society depended greatly on donations and membership dues for funding,
but with the tight postwar economy, those funds were hard to come by. When the Historic
Landmarks Society could no longer fund the restoration efforts, Charles invested a great
deal of his own money to continue the restoration. In 1950, the Great Falls Fair Board
dissolved the "Old Town" display. Charles, not wanting to dispose of the display, moved it
to Nevada City and began the recreation of the little ghost town located only a couple miles
from Virginia City. As with "Old Town", Charles moved in historic buildings donated or
purchased from people around the state. By this point, Virginia City and Nevada City were
becoming very popular tourist attractions and were starting to appeal to film makers as
well.
Charles Bovey dedicated nearly thirty years of his life to the preservation and restoration
of Virginia City and the recreation and preservation of Nevada City. After his death on June
9, 1978, his efforts continued first through his wife, Sue, and then through his son Ford.
In 1997, Ford Bovey sold the properties at Virginia City and Nevada City to the State of
Montana. After the sale, the state created the Montana Heritage Preservation Commission
through the Montana Historical Society to continue preservation and restoration efforts in
Virginia City and Nevada City.
Collection consists of Bovey family correspondence, a diary, financial records legal
documents, subject files, and several subgroups.
Correspondence includes incoming correspondence (1909-1978) arranged chronologically by the
earliest letter in each folder; outgoing correspondence (1909-1927, undated) to various family
members; and miscellaneous correspondence (1882-1964) of various Bovey family members.
There is a diary (1935); miscellaneous financial records, including journals and ledgers
(1942-1975) covering both Bovey's personal finances and records of his Sunnyside Ranch; and
legal documents, including an agreement with an architect for construction of the Young
Women's Christian Association (YWCA) building in Great Falls, an oil and gas lease, and the
Charles C. Bovey Trust.
A major portion of the collection consists of subject files. There are two major
subdivisions of these files. One consists of files kept by Bovey during his service in the
state legislature (1945-1965), including caricatures by the artist James M. Haughey. The
second subdivision consists of materials Bovey collected concerning railroads. For the
Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway ("Milwaukee Road") there are a variety of reports
from the Grass Range, Salem, and Tiegan stations. for the Great Northern Railway there are
locomotive diagrams, and work equipment diagrams. For the Northern Pacific Railway there are
track profiles from Livingston to Paradise on the main line, plus profiles for the
Bitterroot Branch, the Butte Branch, the Camp Creek Branch, the Flathead Valley Branch, the
Park Branch, the Red Bluff Branch, and the Sunset Branch in Idaho. There are also reports on
recommended repairs to bridges and buildings. For the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste.
Marie Railway there are blueprints of buildings, equipment, etc. [These last were in a fire
and are in extremely fragile condition--RESTRICTED]. Among miscellaneous items are
typescript copies of minutes (1883-1895) of the Choteau Fire Company; and a proposal to
build a tourist railway along Belt Creek from Riceville to Logging Creek through what later
became Sluice Boxes State Park.
The Charles A. Bovey Estate subgroup includes correspondence, financial records, and
miscellany. The Alder Gulch Short Line Railway subgroup includes correspondence (1962-1976),
and miscellany, including a timetable, layout of a sleeping car, and work logs (1960-1963).
The Bovey Restorations Inc. subgroup includes correspondence (1969-1978), financial records,
and a visitor register. The Historic Landmark Society of Montana0 subgroup includes
correspondence (1944-1947); financial records; organizational records, including articles of
incorporation, bylaws, membership lists, etc.; a subject file on the Montana Bicentennial
Administration contract; and miscellany. The Virginia City Players\b0 subgroup contains
correspondence (1954-1966) and miscellany. The \b Virginia City Trading Company\b0 subgroup
consists of financial records, including a daybook, journals (1947-1948), ledgers
(1948-1953) and payroll records (1949-1950).
Arranged by subgroup and series. Some material housed in Archives Map Case, Manuscript Volumes,
and oversize boxes. See Location of Collection information above and inventory below for more
information.
Collection open for research. Material in box 11A fragile. Use access copies in box 11.
Researchers must use collection in accordance with the policies of the Montana Historical Society. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all materials in the collection. In some cases permission for use may require additional authorization from the copyright owners. For more information contact an archivist.
Item description and date. Collection Title. Collection Number. Box and Folder numbers. Montana Historical Society Research Center, Archives, Helena, Montana.
Acquisition information available upon request
Photographs have been transferred to the Photo Archives.
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the Montana Historical Society
Archives catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places
should search under these terms.
Bovey, Charles,
1907-1978
Grass Range (Mont.)--Commerce
Virginia City (Mont.)--buildings, Structures,
Etc.
Virginia City (Mont.)--commerce
Sluice Box State Park (Mont.)
Salem (Mont.)
Sunnyside Ranch (Mont.)
Tiegan (Mont.)
Caricatures and cartoons
Historic sites
Railroad stations
Railroads--Montana
Railroads--Design and construction
Railroads--Employees
Scenic railways
Theater
Railroad bridges
Railroads--Grades
Montana
Arts and Humanities
Transportation
Detailed Description of the Collection
The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection
Charles A. Bovey
Incoming Correspondence [folders arranged
chronologically]
1 / 1
"Fraulein"
1909
1 / 2
Grandparents
1910, 1936
1 / 3
Correspondence to C.A. Bovey
circa 1910-1919
1 / 4
Martin Bovey
1918-1976
1 / 5
Ruth Bovey
circa 1920
1 / 6
Charles C. Bovey [father]
1923
1 / 7
Dr. Joslyn
1924
1 / 8-11
Charles C. Bovey [father]
1924-1928
1 / 12
Charles D. Velie [uncle]
1928
1 / 13-19
Charles C. Bovey [father]
1929-1937
2 / 1-3
Charles C. Bovey [father]
1938-1943
2 / 4-6
Miscellaneous
1942-1976
2 / 7-8
Charles C. Bovey [father]
1944-1953
2 / 9
Estelle Chrisman Laughlin (includes family
genealogy)
1961-1962
2 / 10
Josephine Rasdahl (includes photos)
1972
2 / 11
Donation/membership information
1974-1978
2 / 12
"Sally" [niece]
undated
2 / 13
John Phillips
undated
Outgoing Correspondence
2 / 14
Miscellaneous (folder labeled "Read to Charlie")
1885, 1917-1925, 1927
2 / 14
to parents and grandparents
1917-1927
2 / 15
Kate Bovey
circa 1909
2 / 16
"Bunny"
undated
2 / 17
Charles C. Bovey [father]
to 1920
2 / 18
Ruth Bovey
undated
2 / 19
Martin Bovey
undated
2 / 20-21
Parents
circa 1915, circa 1923-1924
3 / 1-2
Parents
1935-1953
3 / 3
Montana Dept. of Highways (re Great Falls U.S. 87
East Highway Proposal)
1978
Miscellaneous Correspondence [various family members]
3 / 5
Kate Bovey
1942-1957
3 / 6
Charles C. Bovey and Kate K. Bovey (includes
several writings by Charles C. Bovey)
1882-1964
3 / 7
Bovey children to Mrs. Elliot [aunt]
1912
3 / 8
Sue Ford Bovey to Kate Bovey
undated
3 / 9
Ruth Bovey Stevens to parents
1933, 1946
3 / 10
Charles C. Bovey to Ruth Bovey Stevens
1933
3 / 11
Martin K. Bovey to Kate Bovey
1933
3 / 12
Hope Bovey [?] to Charles C. Bovey
1931
3 / 13
Martin K. Bovey to Charles C. Bovey
1931-1933
3 / 14
Charles C. Bovey to Martin K. Bovey
1932-1937
3 / 15
Phillips Academy to Charles C. Bovey (re Martin and
Charles' education)
1920, 1923
3 / 16
Charles C. Bovey and James W. Sherwood
1933
3 / 17
Charles C. Bovey to Tom Racine
1938
3 / 18
Charles C. Bovey to Sue Ford Bovey
1936-1946
3 / 19
Charles C. Bovey to Ford Bovey
1946-1961
3 / 20
Miscellaneous to Charles C. Bovey
1922-1949
3 / 21
Charles C. Bovey to miscellaneous
1936, 1938
Case Files
3 / 22
Bovey vs. Montana Hotel Corporation [correspondence
about the case]
1976
Diaries
3 / 23
Diary
1935
Financial Records
3 / 24
Invoices
1957
1-7
Journals: personal and business
1942-1975
8-9
Ledger: personal and Sunnyside Ranch
1949-1975
3 / 25
Life insurance/trust account on Kate Koon Bovey
1952-1978
3 / 26
Promissory note
1948
3 / 27
Tax receipts
1932, 1979
3 / 28
Unaudited financial statements
1932, 1979
3 / 29
Miscellaneous bank records
1962-1971
Legal Documents
3 / 30
Agreement with architect for construction of Young
Women's Christian Association (YWCA) building in Great Falls
undated
3 / 31
Agreement with Martin Koon Bovey and Ruth Bovey
Stevens
1937
3 / 32
Deed to Randi Garcia
1977
3 / 33
Oil and gas lease
1975
3 / 34
Charles C. Bovey Trust
1972
Subject Files
4 / 1
Ford Bovey (includes essay on stagecoach trip;
mountain climbing accident hospitalization)
1959, 1967-1968
4 / 2
Chicken breeding business (with Martin Bovey)
1915
4 / 3
Montana Historical Society (primarily Sue Ford
Bovey)
1941, 1967-1982
4 / 4
Montana Legislative Assembly: 29th (correspondence,
bills, brochures, etc.; includes material on conditions at Warm Springs State
Hospital)
1945
4 / 5
Montana Legislative Assembly: 29th (caricatures by
James M. Haughey)
1945
4 / 6
Montana Legislative Assembly: 30th (includes bills,
rules, airline travel card)
1947
4 / 7
Montana Legislative Assembly: 30th (caricatures by
James M. Haughey)
1947
4 / 8
Montana Legislative Assembly: 31st (caricatures by
James M. Haughey)
1949
4 / 9
Montana Legislative Assembly: 36th (includes bills,
committee minutes, seating chart, proposal for Smith River State Park)
1959
4 / 10
Montana Legislative Assembly: 37th (includes bills,
correspondence, seating chart)
1961
4 / 11
Montana Legislative Assembly: 38th (includes bills,
correspondence, report of election results)
1963
4 / 12
Montana Legislative Assembly: 39th (includes bills,
list of senators by county, 1891-1965)
1965
4 / 13
Montana Legislative Assembly: 39th (includes
minutes of Highways and Transportation Committee)
1965
4 / 14
Montana Legislative Assembly: 40th (election
material)
1966
4 / 15
Montana Legislative Assembly: (election material,
stationery, etc.)
undated
4 / 16
Montana State Highway Commission (re interchanges
at Laurel and Drummond)
1965
5 / 1
Railroads: Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul
Railway check stubs (Grass Range, Mont.)
1925-1929
5 / 2
Railroads: Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul
Railway circulars
1958-1964, undated
5 / 3
Railroads: Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul
Railway daily railroad freight service report to Office of Defense Transportation
(Grass Range, Mont.)
1942
5 / 4-7
Railroads: Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul
Railway daily track time reports (Salem, Mont.)
1957, 1960-1961
5 / 8
Railroads: Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul
Railway daily yard check and report of freight cars on hand (Grass Range, Mont.)
1942
5 / 9
Railroads: Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul
Railway foreman's reports of broken and failed rails
1953
5 / 10
Railroads: Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul
Railway inventory of new and second hand material (Salem, Mont.)
1952-1954, 1960
5 / 11
Railroads: Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul
Railway "Material used in repairs to tracks to be wholly or partially paid for by
other companies or individuals" (Great Falls, Mont.)
1953-1955
5 / 12
Railroads: Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul
Railway monthly inventory, all cars (Grass Range, Mont.)
1942
5 / 13
Railroads: Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul
Railway payroll (Salem, Mont.)
1957, 1960-1961
5 / 14
Railroads: Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul
Railway "Report of cars set out, picked up or on hand at closed station" (Tiegan,
Mont.)
1942
5 / 15
Railroads: Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul
Railway semi-monthly Track Department labor distribution (Salem, Mont.)
1957, 1960-1961
5 / 16
Railroads: Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul
Railway weekly Track Department material report (Salem, Mont.)
1957, 1960-1961
6 / 1
Railroads: Great Northern Railway casting weight
lists
1935
6 / 2
Railroads: Great Northern Railway locomotive
diagrams
1941
6 / 3-4
Railroads: Great Northern Railway work equipment
diagrams
1933, 1953
7 / 1
Railroads: Northern Pacific Railway blueprints
[scattered]
1915-1920
7 / 2
Railroads: Northern Pacific Railway condensed
profile and track chart (Livingston to Helena to Missoula) [see boxes 8-9 for
detailed versions]
1960
7 / 3
Railroads: Northern Pacific Railway detail sheets
#1-48
1913-1914
7 / 4
Railroads: Northern Pacific Railway detail sheets
#A1-A33
1913-1916
7 / 5
Railroads: Northern Pacific Railway detail sheets
#B1-F6
1914-1916
10
Railroads: Northern Pacific Railway diagrams and
charts
1913-1916
7 / 6
Railroads: Northern Pacific Railway overtime slips
(Helena, Mont.)
1962-1963
7 / 7
Railroads: Northern Pacific Railway Valuation Department
table of weights of various items of track material
undated
7 / 8-9
Railroads: Northern Pacific Railway yard operations
and yard master's log book (Helena, Mont.)
1950, 1955-1961
8 / 1-16
Railroads: Northern Pacific Railway profile and
track blueprints (main line, Livingston to Paradise: 16 rolls)
1909
9 / 1-4
Railroads: Northern Pacific Railway profile and
track blueprints (Bitterroot Branch: Missoula to Hamilton: 4 rolls)
1900
9 / 5-10
Railroads: Northern Pacific Railway profile and
track blueprints (Butte Branch: Three Forks to Garrison: 6 rolls)
1898
9 / 11
Railroads: Northern Pacific Railway profile and
track blueprints (Camp Creek Branch: Manhattan 1 roll)
1911
9 / 12-13
Railroads: Northern Pacific Railway profile and
track blueprints (Flathead Valley Branch: Wye-Polson, 2 rolls)
undated
9 / 14
Railroads: Northern Pacific Railway profile and
track blueprints (Logan construction, 1 roll)
1919
9 / 15-16
Railroads: Northern Pacific Railway profile and
track blueprints (Park Branch: Livingston to Gardiner, 2 rolls)
1902
9 / 17
Railroads: Northern Pacific Railway profile and
track blueprints (Red Bluff Branch: Sappington to Norris, 1 roll)
1924
9 / 18
Railroads: Northern Pacific Railway profile and
track blueprints (Sunset Branch: Wallace to Sunset, Idaho, 1 roll)
1902
10 / 1-10
Railroads: Northern Pacific Railway recommended and
estimated cost of repairs, renewals and improvements on bridges
1940-1949
11 / 1-6
Railroads: Northern Pacific Railway recommended and
estimated cost of repairs, renewals and improvements on bridges
1950, 1952-1956
11 / 7-10
Railroads: Northern Pacific Railway recommended and
estimated cost of repairs, renewals and improvements on buildings, fuel and water
stations, etc.
1940-1946, 1948
11a /
Railroads: Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste.
Marie Railway blueprints of buildings, equipment, etc. [RESTRICTED: burned,
extremely fragile]
circa 1900-1949
12 / 1
Railroads: time tickets [unidentified railroad]
1892
12 / 2
Railroads: miscellany (includes Santa Fe train
orders, clippings, ephemera)
1948-1967
Miscellany
12 / 3
Judge Nat Allen reminiscence concerning the Lee
Simpson case (1937)
1971
12 / 4-5
Charles A. Bovey childhood writings and school
papers including graduation from Phillips Academy, Andover
1910-1926
12 / 6
Kate K. Bovey obituary
1964
12 / 7
Choteau Fire Company minute book [typed transcript]
1883-1895
12 / 8
"Guide to Manuscript Collections, Archives
University of Montana"
1969
12 / 9
Proposal for tourist railroad and townsite along
Belt Creek from Riceville to Logging Creek through what later became Sluice Boxes
State Park
1972
12 / 10
Miscellaneous programs, brochures, etc.
undated
12 / 11
Miscellaneous
undated
Clippings
12 / 12
Miscellaneous (re Charles C. Bovey, various
relatives, World War II, etc.)
1922-1978
Charles A. Bovey Estate
General Correspondence
13 / 1
Miscellaneous (arranged chronologically)
1978-1983
13 / 2-6
Bank statements; cancelled checks
1978-1980
Financial Records
13 / 7
Bank records: record of checks, deposits and
balance
1981-1983
13 / 8
Estate summary (record of finances, prepared by
Charles A. Bovey prior to his death)
undated
13 / 9-10
Estate taxes
1979-1982
14 / 1
Expense distribution
1978-1983
14 / 2
Financial statements
1978-1982
Subject Files
14 / 3
Life insurance information on Charles A. Bovey
1978
Miscellany
14 / 4
Eulogies
1978
14 / 5
Unused checks
undated
Clippings
14 / 6
Re Charles A. Bovey's death
1978
Sue Ford Bovey
Subject Files
14 / 7
Crop insurance information
1980-1983
Alder Gulch Short Line Railway
General Correspondence
15 / 1
Miscellaneous (arranged chronologically)
1962-1976
Miscellany
15 / 2
Layout for sleeping car sent to Alder; Maps for
Alder Gulch Short Line
1963
1
Layout for sleeping car sent to Alder; Maps for
Alder Gulch Short Line [Oversize: Archives Map Case]
1963
15 / 3
Timetable
undated
15 / 4-7
Work logs
1960-1963
Bovey Restorations, Inc.
Incoming Correspondence
16 / 1
Business correspondence (also includes Brundage
family genealogy)
1969-1977
Outgoing Correspondence
16 / 2
From J. Nold Midyette
1975-1978
Financial Records
16 / 3
Account with Virginia Trading Company
1971
16 / 4
Audits
1979-1980
Miscellany
10A
Alder Gulch visitor register
1967-1976
Financial Records
16 / 5
Miscellaneous (includes statements of receipts and
disbursements, tax statements, etc.)
1975-1981
Historic Landmark Society Of Montana
General Correspondence
16 / 6
Miscellaneous (primarily re memberships and
donations; also includes reports to members)
1944-1947
Financial Records
16 / 7
Balance sheets
1944-1946
16 / 8
Check register
1944-1946
16 / 9
Financial statements
1972, 1974
16 / 10
Tax documents
1972, 1976
Organization
16 / 11
Articles of incorporation, bylaws, statement of
purpose
1944
16 / 12
Board of directors ballots
1947
16 / 13
Membership lists
1944-1947
16 / 14
Minutes
1945
Subject Files
16 / 15
Montana Bicentennial Administration contract
1976
Miscellany
16 / 16
Publicity
1957-1966
16 / 17
Property ownership; permission papers
1945-1976
Virginia City Players
General Correspondence
16 / 18
Miscellaneous (mainly arranged chronologically)
1954-1966, 1952
Miscellany
16 / 19
Miscellaneous (clipping; brochure of Creston
Chorus)
1948, 1966
Virginia Trading Company
Financial Records
11
Daybook
1948
12-13
Journals
1947-1948
14-16
Ledgers
1948-1953
17
Payroll journal
1949
18
Payroll ledger
1949-1950
16 / 20
Pay scale
1964