Marguerite Kirk was born on a Gallatin County, Montana, ranch on November 24, 1894, one of several children born to Harris Kirk and Elizabeth Baker Kirk. She attended public schools in Bozeman, Montana, before graduating from the University of California in 1917. Kirk earned a master's degree in library science at Columbia University in 1936. She taught in Oregon and New Jersey before returning to Bozeman in 1960 where she operated the family farm and ran a book store. A philanthropist who funded the Bozeman Symphony and many other civic projects, Kirk died on August 29, 1991 in Marin County, California.
In 1966, Marguerite Kirk prepared an annotated research paper on the history of the Maxey coal mines and accompanying development along Trail Creek in Gallatin County, Montana, and later Park County, Montana (after the latter was formed in 1887). The paper details the discovery of coal deposits as early as 1867 and, in 1881, Daniel Maxey, a Pennsylvania native, established a deep mine for the production of domestic fuel for nearby Bozeman, Montana Territory. A small community grew up around the Maxey mine with a post office named Chimney Rock, but the mining operation declined and eventually ceased around 1950. Kirk's paper is a carbon typescript of an original that was likely never published and cites personal letters from the Maxey family whose present location is unknown.
This collection is open for research.
An original research paper written by Marguerite Kirk of Bozeman, Montana was donated to Montana State University by her in 1967.
This collection was processed 2012 March 30
[Creator Name], [Date of Creation], [Brief Description of Object], Folder [#], Box [#], [Collection Name], [Collection #], Montana State University (MSU) Library, Bozeman, MT