While reminiscing on my past 71 years in western Montana (70 years in Flathead and 1 year in Anaconda), I feel that an autobiography would be of interest to my children and their children later in life. I was born Nellie Mooring, November 6, 1869, to Anna and Isaac Mooring in Somonauk, Illinois, the youngest of three sisters and three brothers. My mother died in 1871. My oldest sister Fannie took the place of mother to the family. One sister, Sarah, died at the age of 13 years in 1877. My brother Thomas died about 1900 brother Charles in 1930, sister Fannie in 1940, brother William in 1944. My father, Isaac Mooring, died in 1913.
I was raised to the age of nearly 17 years in Somonauk, Illinois. It was with a thrill when on August 9, 1886, I, with my sister Fannie Ryther and family, Brother Charles and Mr. and Mrs. Zootman, left the prairies of Illinois to live the life of a pioneer in Flathead Valley, Missoula County, Montana Territory. We came by the Northern Pacific Railroad to Missoula on August 16, 1886. We were disappointed in not finding Brother William there to meet us. He had come to Flathead in 1885, and had planned to meet us in Missoula and that us by "dead X" wagon to his ranch 130 miles distant. While in Missoula we saw our first Indians, three squaws, with arms bared to the shoulders, enjoying their lunch, which consisted of table refuse together with liquids form the kitchen collected in a hundred gallon barrel. This was the early day method of disposing of such.
In crossing the Flathead Indian Reservation the stage made connections at Ravalli only twice weekly, The only accommodations were in Missoula and we remained there three days. It required one full day to cross the Reservation to Polson at the foot of Flathead Lake, then by boat (a small steamer, the U. S. Grant) another twelve hours. Arriving at Egan on Flathead River, we were met by Brother William (Bill) who took us to his homestead, which was to be our home for many months. The distance of about 15 miles we traveled by "dead X" wagon. His cabin was made of logs, somewhat unique in that, with the help of my father, the floor, door and casings, table, bed and benches had been hewn from green timber. The fireplace was made of boulders cemented together with clay.
I found the language of Montana somewhat different from that of Illinois. Bags were sacks, pails were buckets, potatoes spuds, horses cayuses or "buzzard heads", a quantity of eats a grub stake (which must be hauled in from Missoula before Flathead Lake froze in the fall). The grub stake usually consisted of a low grade flour, tea and coffee (coffee, which was always adulterated, was branded "made for the western trade"), rancid lard in tin buckets, fat dry salt pork, dried fruit, oatmeal, rice, sugar and salt. Also we needed ingredients for sour dough bread, coal oil, candles, ammunition, tobacco and matches. Venison and fish were our meats. There were home grown vegetables, but there was little wild fruit.
In crossing the Flathead Reservation the stage driver informed me that women in Flathead rode horseback like squaws, with no side-saddles. In fact, white women were too lady-like to ever ride astride. In the absence of a side-saddle, a man's saddle was used and the right stirrup placed on the left side; the rider's two feet must always be on the left side of the horse, a most uncomfortable position. Ever since, I've been skeptical of stage drivers'stories.
Before leaving Illinois I wrote inquiring of Brother Bill if Flathead was a healthy place to live in . The answer came that there was only one grave in the valley- a man had committed suicide to start a cemetery. I later found this to be a fact. The natives thought it a necessity to wear heavy wool underwear and heavy wool shirts. A man wearing a cotton shirt or washed overalls was regarded as a "pilgrim"or "tenderfoot". A few range cattle had been brought in, but they did not prove desirable dairy stock. A prize fight was tame to the sight of a man breaking in a range cow in an effort to obtain a little much needed milk.
During the winter a homesteader would snowshoe to the Selish Post Office, crossing the river on ice. So, in the course of a month or six weeks the mail for the few homesteaders would be delivered. In 1887 the Sheldon Post Office, the first post office on the east side of the river, was established. This was in the present Creston area. Our means of transportation was saddle horses and "dead X" wagons. The nearest M. D. and D.D. were 125 miles distant at Missoula. Excepting the Catholic Mission on Flathead Reservation, missionaries were few and far between, even though the people were badly in need of spiritual help.
With few exceptions Indians wee friendly and trustworthy. At one time, three white men, prospectors, were sitting around their campfire int he Tobacco Plains country were shot by three Indians, each Indian picking a man. Later, in March 1888, two of the Indians who were in camp in Demarsville were taken by a mob of settlers and hanged. The following year the third Indian was taken by the sheriff and his posse and hanged. One Indian was captured who later confessed to shooting a man near Flathead lake; for this hew as hanged. In revenge a bunch of young Indians who were camped at Dayton on Flathead Lake put on their war paint and threatened to clean up on the whites. Most of the settlers on the east side of the river collected in the Fairview Schoolhouse and waited for the attack. To this day I shudder to think of what might have happened to the whites in that schoolhouse before troops could have arrived from Missoula. There were a few other instances where the Indian committed crimes and were punished.
In 1888 my father, who had been working as a carpenter on the Union Pacific Railroad, returned to Flathead and homesteaded 160 acres. Together he and I go logs, made shakes and built a cabin, where we lived until I married John Oliver Wiles a year later. While with my father we also built a chicken house and stable, and got poles and rails for fencing.
The first year of our married life was spent in Anaconda. Money being scarce in Flathead we went to this smelter town to earn enough to build a house and furnish it for housekeeping. Roy was four weeks old when we returned to Flathead in May, 1890, with little money. The cabin on the Wiles homestead in the upper valley was expanded somewhat as our family grew and was our home for about 14 years. Then with theholp of my father we built an eight room house. In a few short years we had one of the most improved ranches in the valley with every kind of livestock, fruits, grain, hay and a market garden. The children attended the Bad Rock and Columbia Falls schools. Glenn and Harold later graduated from the State College at Bozeman with degrees in chemistry. Harold continued his studies, attaining his Doctor's degree in biochemistry at the University of Minnesota. And in time they married: Lee Roy to Alice White, Tome to Barbara Loeffler, Glen Dewey to Manila Leckliter, and Harold to Helen Chapman. Ruth preferred a spinster life, getting her training as a nurse in San Francisco, California. The birth dates of the children are as follows: Lee Roy born April 8, 1890 (deceased); Thomas Mooring, February 19, 1891;, Mervel Ruth, April 24, 1894; Glenn Dewey, September 15, 1898; Harold Oliver, October 23, 1904.
In 1890 came the Great Northern Railroad, the building of which in earlier times had been thought impossible because of the rugged mountains of the main range of the Rockies. With the railroad the cities of Columbia Falls and Kalispell sprang up. Kalispell was made the county seat and railroad division point. Later, finding a shorter route west, the Great Northern moved the division point to Whitefish.
Living conditions improved. The morale of the earlier settlers was as a whole considered good. With the railroad came saloons and a tougher elements, which was always the case in a new western settlement. A market was established for our produce, churches and schools built, doctors and ministers among us. Most of the valley is long since in cultivation, but thanks to the Forest Preserves and Glacier Park, which was established in 1910, there is still some of the wilderness in Flathead. And now, as I look back over 71 years of continuous residence in this beautiful Flathead country, I am proud of the fact that I at least had a small part in "blazing the trails"in this small part of Montana, and while the going at times has been tough, I have never once regretted having lived the life of a pioneer.
Nellie Wiles
Written on the occasion of her eighty-eighth birthday, November 6, 1957
I was raised to the age of nearly 17 years in Somonauk, Illinois. It was with a thrill when on August 9, 1886, I, with my sister Fannie Ryther and family, Brother Charles and Mr. and Mrs. Zootman, left the prairies of Illinois to live the life of a pioneer in Flathead Valley, Missoula County, Montana Territory. We came by the Northern Pacific Railroad to Missoula on August 16, 1886. We were disappointed in not finding Brother William there to meet us. He had come to Flathead in 1885, and had planned to meet us in Missoula and that us by "dead X" wagon to his ranch 130 miles distant. While in Missoula we saw our first Indians, three squaws, with arms bared to the shoulders, enjoying their lunch, which consisted of table refuse together with liquids form the kitchen collected in a hundred gallon barrel. This was the early day method of disposing of such.
In crossing the Flathead Indian Reservation the stage made connections at Ravalli only twice weekly, The only accommodations were in Missoula and we remained there three days. It required one full day to cross the Reservation to Polson at the foot of Flathead Lake, then by boat (a small steamer, the U. S. Grant) another twelve hours. Arriving at Egan on Flathead River, we were met by Brother William (Bill) who took us to his homestead, which was to be our home for many months. The distance of about 15 miles we traveled by "dead X" wagon. His cabin was made of logs, somewhat unique in that, with the help of my father, the floor, door and casings, table, bed and benches had been hewn from green timber. The fireplace was made of boulders cemented together with clay.
I found the language of Montana somewhat different from that of Illinois. Bags were sacks, pails were buckets, potatoes spuds, horses cayuses or "buzzard heads", a quantity of eats a grub stake (which must be hauled in from Missoula before Flathead Lake froze in the fall). The grub stake usually consisted of a low grade flour, tea and coffee (coffee, which was always adulterated, was branded "made for the western trade"), rancid lard in tin buckets, fat dry salt pork, dried fruit, oatmeal, rice, sugar and salt. Also we needed ingredients for sour dough bread, coal oil, candles, ammunition, tobacco and matches. Venison and fish were our meats. There were home grown vegetables, but there was little wild fruit.
In crossing the Flathead Reservation the stage driver informed me that women in Flathead rode horseback like squaws, with no side-saddles. In fact, white women were too lady-like to ever ride astride. In the absence of a side-saddle, a man's saddle was used and the right stirrup placed on the left side; the rider's two feet must always be on the left side of the horse, a most uncomfortable position. Ever since, I've been skeptical of stage drivers'stories.
Before leaving Illinois I wrote inquiring of Brother Bill if Flathead was a healthy place to live in . The answer came that there was only one grave in the valley- a man had committed suicide to start a cemetery. I later found this to be a fact. The natives thought it a necessity to wear heavy wool underwear and heavy wool shirts. A man wearing a cotton shirt or washed overalls was regarded as a "pilgrim"or "tenderfoot". A few range cattle had been brought in, but they did not prove desirable dairy stock. A prize fight was tame to the sight of a man breaking in a range cow in an effort to obtain a little much needed milk.
During the winter a homesteader would snowshoe to the Selish Post Office, crossing the river on ice. So, in the course of a month or six weeks the mail for the few homesteaders would be delivered. In 1887 the Sheldon Post Office, the first post office on the east side of the river, was established. This was in the present Creston area. Our means of transportation was saddle horses and "dead X" wagons. The nearest M. D. and D.D. were 125 miles distant at Missoula. Excepting the Catholic Mission on Flathead Reservation, missionaries were few and far between, even though the people were badly in need of spiritual help.
With few exceptions Indians wee friendly and trustworthy. At one time, three white men, prospectors, were sitting around their campfire int he Tobacco Plains country were shot by three Indians, each Indian picking a man. Later, in March 1888, two of the Indians who were in camp in Demarsville were taken by a mob of settlers and hanged. The following year the third Indian was taken by the sheriff and his posse and hanged. One Indian was captured who later confessed to shooting a man near Flathead lake; for this hew as hanged. In revenge a bunch of young Indians who were camped at Dayton on Flathead Lake put on their war paint and threatened to clean up on the whites. Most of the settlers on the east side of the river collected in the Fairview Schoolhouse and waited for the attack. To this day I shudder to think of what might have happened to the whites in that schoolhouse before troops could have arrived from Missoula. There were a few other instances where the Indian committed crimes and were punished.
In 1888 my father, who had been working as a carpenter on the Union Pacific Railroad, returned to Flathead and homesteaded 160 acres. Together he and I go logs, made shakes and built a cabin, where we lived until I married John Oliver Wiles a year later. While with my father we also built a chicken house and stable, and got poles and rails for fencing.
The first year of our married life was spent in Anaconda. Money being scarce in Flathead we went to this smelter town to earn enough to build a house and furnish it for housekeeping. Roy was four weeks old when we returned to Flathead in May, 1890, with little money. The cabin on the Wiles homestead in the upper valley was expanded somewhat as our family grew and was our home for about 14 years. Then with theholp of my father we built an eight room house. In a few short years we had one of the most improved ranches in the valley with every kind of livestock, fruits, grain, hay and a market garden. The children attended the Bad Rock and Columbia Falls schools. Glenn and Harold later graduated from the State College at Bozeman with degrees in chemistry. Harold continued his studies, attaining his Doctor's degree in biochemistry at the University of Minnesota. And in time they married: Lee Roy to Alice White, Tome to Barbara Loeffler, Glen Dewey to Manila Leckliter, and Harold to Helen Chapman. Ruth preferred a spinster life, getting her training as a nurse in San Francisco, California. The birth dates of the children are as follows: Lee Roy born April 8, 1890 (deceased); Thomas Mooring, February 19, 1891;, Mervel Ruth, April 24, 1894; Glenn Dewey, September 15, 1898; Harold Oliver, October 23, 1904.
In 1890 came the Great Northern Railroad, the building of which in earlier times had been thought impossible because of the rugged mountains of the main range of the Rockies. With the railroad the cities of Columbia Falls and Kalispell sprang up. Kalispell was made the county seat and railroad division point. Later, finding a shorter route west, the Great Northern moved the division point to Whitefish.
Living conditions improved. The morale of the earlier settlers was as a whole considered good. With the railroad came saloons and a tougher elements, which was always the case in a new western settlement. A market was established for our produce, churches and schools built, doctors and ministers among us. Most of the valley is long since in cultivation, but thanks to the Forest Preserves and Glacier Park, which was established in 1910, there is still some of the wilderness in Flathead. And now, as I look back over 71 years of continuous residence in this beautiful Flathead country, I am proud of the fact that I at least had a small part in "blazing the trails"in this small part of Montana, and while the going at times has been tough, I have never once regretted having lived the life of a pioneer.
Nellie Wiles
Written on the occasion of her eighty-eighth birthday, November 6, 1957
Just a story of three old hens- by Nellie Mooring Wiles
I, at two years of age with five brothers and sisters was left without a mother. Father, a carpenter, with the help of the oldest sister kept the family together. At the age of nine years I was left with a married sister when Father and brother Charles went to Nebraska to build a house and barn for a homesteader. From thee he went to work on the depots for the Union Pacific Railroad. when I was 18 he returned tot Flathead valley and laid claim to 160 acres of land. He and I together built a cabin, getting out logs and making shakes. We built a log chicken house and small barn and rail fences. There I kept house 18 months when I married John Wiles May 30 1889, a very good man. John, unknown to me, bought a band of well bred horses. A debt of $2000. Before he realized any profit on them a big percentage died. John was not looking for a clinging vine when he married Nellie Mooring. For nine years we denied ourselves in every way to clear the debt, he sold all of his range cattle and too up market gardening. I burnt the midnight oil and patched the patches to cover the kids. But the third child was born in the panic year of '94. Our east was principaly vegetables and venison. Little milk, butter or fruit. Dad who felt it his duty or should I say privilege to carry the pocket book which for these nine years was flat, later to carry the check book. I with my bump of independence in my head did not approve of this system but did nothing about it 'til the debt was paid.
My earthly share when I married was three old hens, a gift from my Father. With good management I saw possibilities in these three old hens. Hereby hangs my story of "three old hens"or shall I say my rise to an independent old age. My main ambition in life was to live to raise my children and if and when I reached a helpless old age I would be independent as far as finances was concerned. I sat hens and in due time I was able to start my bank account with $10.00. I bought an incubator. Never having seen one I had much to learn. In time I sold baby chicks, hatching eggs and frys. I bought more incubators and three turkeys which proved profitable. I bought three geese, they paid well but in the course of years they enjoyed getting in the water trough, this ended their career. I bought a milk cow and invested in a piece of parkland which I sold at a profit. I loaned a little money. In time I bought 21 head of pure bred Shropshire sheep at $5.00 a head. My Father who lived with us built sheep houses and chicken houses. As the sheep was my it was my work to care for them which consisted of may trips to the sheep house, particularly in blizzards, both day and night with chilled lambs. The sheep paid well when the war was on. I kept them several years. I carried an insurance policy that paid $1000 at seventy years of age.
Through a mortgage I came inn possession of 160 acres of dry land later selling it for $1100. During this time I helped two sons in an effort to regain their health $1000. and later two sons who worked part time to pay their way through college. I pair nearly all of Ruth's expense to take the nurses course. Most of our church expense fell to me. Probably thru this bump of independence I decided to own a piece of land with my savings and a $200 loan from my father. I paid $1800 for 139 acres of cut over land. Later the Hungry Horse dam was built on ground adjoining this land. To read this land we must go through Bad Rock Canyon a rough wagon road on the mountain side. On this land was a mile of river front on one side and a mile of hiway on the other side. At one time I decided to sell this land for $5000 with $3000 cash and a contract for the balance. With a failure to meet more payments I again held the deed for the land. In due time a Kalispell real estate agent made me an offer of $21000 for the place, which I accepted. Not needing all of this money after the income tax was paid I divided a half of the remainder equally among our five children. Now I thin it wise I end my story of my "Three old hens" Aug 1 1960 as this is sufficient. In years to come I may add another chapter.
During the years I was interested in my three old hens we were farming, gardening, and raising fruit and much of our vegetables was traded at the stores for groceries and other family necessities. New buildings were added, the soil was productive, prices good. We raised grain beef and dairy cattle. The five children were growing up. We were proud of them. We were prosperous, then followed dry seasons when the land was less productive. Dad expressed himself saying "the land is wearing out, the machinery is worn out and I am wearing out". He passed away Dec 12 1939, age 79 years 10 months. Leaving the farm, a granary full of gran and $100 to me. I later sold the farm for $8000. I remained four years on the farm alone keeping ;up fences, fighting blizzards, raising a few chickens, milking two cows. I was always on my feet and figured it my part to play in life. I moved to Lake McDonald to help care for son Roy who was invalid. He passed away Jan 5 1954 at 63 years 8 mo. I think it fitting that I add this family history to my story of the "three old hens". Now as I have money safely invest at a fair rate of interest I am meeting my expense of being cared for at the Lutheran Home in Kalispell, Montana.
Written by Nellie Wiles- age 90 years 9 mo. 1 Aug 1960
I, at two years of age with five brothers and sisters was left without a mother. Father, a carpenter, with the help of the oldest sister kept the family together. At the age of nine years I was left with a married sister when Father and brother Charles went to Nebraska to build a house and barn for a homesteader. From thee he went to work on the depots for the Union Pacific Railroad. when I was 18 he returned tot Flathead valley and laid claim to 160 acres of land. He and I together built a cabin, getting out logs and making shakes. We built a log chicken house and small barn and rail fences. There I kept house 18 months when I married John Wiles May 30 1889, a very good man. John, unknown to me, bought a band of well bred horses. A debt of $2000. Before he realized any profit on them a big percentage died. John was not looking for a clinging vine when he married Nellie Mooring. For nine years we denied ourselves in every way to clear the debt, he sold all of his range cattle and too up market gardening. I burnt the midnight oil and patched the patches to cover the kids. But the third child was born in the panic year of '94. Our east was principaly vegetables and venison. Little milk, butter or fruit. Dad who felt it his duty or should I say privilege to carry the pocket book which for these nine years was flat, later to carry the check book. I with my bump of independence in my head did not approve of this system but did nothing about it 'til the debt was paid.
My earthly share when I married was three old hens, a gift from my Father. With good management I saw possibilities in these three old hens. Hereby hangs my story of "three old hens"or shall I say my rise to an independent old age. My main ambition in life was to live to raise my children and if and when I reached a helpless old age I would be independent as far as finances was concerned. I sat hens and in due time I was able to start my bank account with $10.00. I bought an incubator. Never having seen one I had much to learn. In time I sold baby chicks, hatching eggs and frys. I bought more incubators and three turkeys which proved profitable. I bought three geese, they paid well but in the course of years they enjoyed getting in the water trough, this ended their career. I bought a milk cow and invested in a piece of parkland which I sold at a profit. I loaned a little money. In time I bought 21 head of pure bred Shropshire sheep at $5.00 a head. My Father who lived with us built sheep houses and chicken houses. As the sheep was my it was my work to care for them which consisted of may trips to the sheep house, particularly in blizzards, both day and night with chilled lambs. The sheep paid well when the war was on. I kept them several years. I carried an insurance policy that paid $1000 at seventy years of age.
Through a mortgage I came inn possession of 160 acres of dry land later selling it for $1100. During this time I helped two sons in an effort to regain their health $1000. and later two sons who worked part time to pay their way through college. I pair nearly all of Ruth's expense to take the nurses course. Most of our church expense fell to me. Probably thru this bump of independence I decided to own a piece of land with my savings and a $200 loan from my father. I paid $1800 for 139 acres of cut over land. Later the Hungry Horse dam was built on ground adjoining this land. To read this land we must go through Bad Rock Canyon a rough wagon road on the mountain side. On this land was a mile of river front on one side and a mile of hiway on the other side. At one time I decided to sell this land for $5000 with $3000 cash and a contract for the balance. With a failure to meet more payments I again held the deed for the land. In due time a Kalispell real estate agent made me an offer of $21000 for the place, which I accepted. Not needing all of this money after the income tax was paid I divided a half of the remainder equally among our five children. Now I thin it wise I end my story of my "Three old hens" Aug 1 1960 as this is sufficient. In years to come I may add another chapter.
During the years I was interested in my three old hens we were farming, gardening, and raising fruit and much of our vegetables was traded at the stores for groceries and other family necessities. New buildings were added, the soil was productive, prices good. We raised grain beef and dairy cattle. The five children were growing up. We were proud of them. We were prosperous, then followed dry seasons when the land was less productive. Dad expressed himself saying "the land is wearing out, the machinery is worn out and I am wearing out". He passed away Dec 12 1939, age 79 years 10 months. Leaving the farm, a granary full of gran and $100 to me. I later sold the farm for $8000. I remained four years on the farm alone keeping ;up fences, fighting blizzards, raising a few chickens, milking two cows. I was always on my feet and figured it my part to play in life. I moved to Lake McDonald to help care for son Roy who was invalid. He passed away Jan 5 1954 at 63 years 8 mo. I think it fitting that I add this family history to my story of the "three old hens". Now as I have money safely invest at a fair rate of interest I am meeting my expense of being cared for at the Lutheran Home in Kalispell, Montana.
Written by Nellie Wiles- age 90 years 9 mo. 1 Aug 1960
Newspaper Article, Hungry Horse News, 4 Feb 1987
Blaze Razes House
Firefighters from Bad Rock, Columbia Falls and Creston battled in vain Tuesday to save a two-story wood frame structure at the intersection of Columbia Falls Stage and Kelley Road Southeast of Columbia Falls.
The house, called the ole Wiles place, was a total loss early Tuesday evening with the roof caved in and only bare skeleton walls still standing according to Dennis McChesney, Columbia Falls fire chief.
The fire was reported at 2:41 pm by a passing motorist who noticed the smoke. By the time firefighters from Bad Rock Fire Department arrived, flames had already engulfed the upper part of the structure, according to one observer.
Blaze Razes House
Firefighters from Bad Rock, Columbia Falls and Creston battled in vain Tuesday to save a two-story wood frame structure at the intersection of Columbia Falls Stage and Kelley Road Southeast of Columbia Falls.
The house, called the ole Wiles place, was a total loss early Tuesday evening with the roof caved in and only bare skeleton walls still standing according to Dennis McChesney, Columbia Falls fire chief.
The fire was reported at 2:41 pm by a passing motorist who noticed the smoke. By the time firefighters from Bad Rock Fire Department arrived, flames had already engulfed the upper part of the structure, according to one observer.