In October, 1887, Carl and Inger Rost, with their three small children, came by stagecoach over the narrow, winding road along the west side of Flathead lake; an especially treacherous part of the wagon road was Angel Hill, being very steep and narrow along the side hill. Apprehension of a promising future impelled them to travel on into the rugged unsettled Flathead Valley. After a hazardous journey, they arrived at their destination, near the Swan River. The first task was to erect a shelter on their homestead; a log cabin built, with a short length, two log width cut out of one wall for a window, which was removed during the daytime and replaced at dusk, when it was time to light the kerosene lamp. A blanket was hung for a door.
Water had to be carried in buckets from the river. Snow was melted in a boiler on the little wood stove. Clothes were washed on a crude washboard. The country was a dense forest, inhabited only by Indians and wild animals. Game and fish were plentiful, which supplied a major part of the food.
During the first few years, Carl worked on a small farm in the Creston vicinity, his wages were a straight dollar a day and board. Wheat was ground into flour by hand mills until the first grist mill was started by Mr Yenne, at Creston. Carl, having no means of conveyance, carried a sack of flour form there to his home at Swan Rive on his back - a distance of 12 miles. Inger tended her garden that was started form seed brought with them from Missoula.
In 1890 the first boat, "the Klondike", began bringing in supplies to the north end of Flathead Lake. And there was a freight train, drawn by six horses. The entire settlement, consisting of seven families, received the supplies and mail once a week. During the following few years, fugitives from the law began moving in, as they found this secluded area a suitable hiding place. As more families cam and settled, a law enforcement was established, capital punishment being hanging.
Con Rost, Carl's brother, was summoned with explicit accusation of horse-thieving and was held until they could locate Carl, who, they believed , was also in the crime. They wanted to hang the two together. Carl had been away two months working on a farm, so they didn't find him for three days. In the meantime, the real thieves were caught. Many innocent men were hanged and invitations were went out for the hangings.
During the summer months, the Rosts and their nearest neighbors, the Johnsons, who lived seven miles up the river, watched the mass of logs floating down the river maneuvered by a crew of men, who called themselves "the river pigs". The logs floated into the Bigfork Bay and were taken across the north end of Flathead Lake by a tug boat to Somers where the mill sawed them into railroad ties.
Written by Mrs Albert harness, Swan River Extension Homemakers and orginally included in the Trails and Trees Genealogical Newsletter
Water had to be carried in buckets from the river. Snow was melted in a boiler on the little wood stove. Clothes were washed on a crude washboard. The country was a dense forest, inhabited only by Indians and wild animals. Game and fish were plentiful, which supplied a major part of the food.
During the first few years, Carl worked on a small farm in the Creston vicinity, his wages were a straight dollar a day and board. Wheat was ground into flour by hand mills until the first grist mill was started by Mr Yenne, at Creston. Carl, having no means of conveyance, carried a sack of flour form there to his home at Swan Rive on his back - a distance of 12 miles. Inger tended her garden that was started form seed brought with them from Missoula.
In 1890 the first boat, "the Klondike", began bringing in supplies to the north end of Flathead Lake. And there was a freight train, drawn by six horses. The entire settlement, consisting of seven families, received the supplies and mail once a week. During the following few years, fugitives from the law began moving in, as they found this secluded area a suitable hiding place. As more families cam and settled, a law enforcement was established, capital punishment being hanging.
Con Rost, Carl's brother, was summoned with explicit accusation of horse-thieving and was held until they could locate Carl, who, they believed , was also in the crime. They wanted to hang the two together. Carl had been away two months working on a farm, so they didn't find him for three days. In the meantime, the real thieves were caught. Many innocent men were hanged and invitations were went out for the hangings.
During the summer months, the Rosts and their nearest neighbors, the Johnsons, who lived seven miles up the river, watched the mass of logs floating down the river maneuvered by a crew of men, who called themselves "the river pigs". The logs floated into the Bigfork Bay and were taken across the north end of Flathead Lake by a tug boat to Somers where the mill sawed them into railroad ties.
Written by Mrs Albert harness, Swan River Extension Homemakers and orginally included in the Trails and Trees Genealogical Newsletter