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The first flour mill in Gallatin County, and said to
be the first in the territory to make flour for commercial purposes,
was built by Cover and McAdow, in the fall of 1864 and the spring of
1865, on ground a short distance northeast of the present city
limits of Bozeman. It was ready for business in the fall of 1865. P.
W. and W. B. McAdow later bought the interest of Thomas Cover, and
the McAdow brothers continued the mill until 1879, when P. W. McAdow
went down on the Yellowstone and located on a ranch, establishing
the town of Coulson, now part of Billings. W. B. McAdow kept the
mill operating until 1883. When the north line of the Milwaukee
Railroad was built from Bozeman in 1912, the old mill was torn down,
as the right of way of this road passed through the mill site. The
first electric light plant used this old mill for a few years.
Millstones Preserved
The millstones from this historic mill lay on the
ground near the former residence of Mr. and Mrs. W. B. McAdow for
several years, but were moved in the spring of 1931, through the
efforts of the Board of Public Recreation of Bozeman, to another
historic spot, in the southeast corner of Beall Park, City
Recreation Center, four blocks north of Main Street. They were
placed on a foundation of logs preserved from the former home of
early pioneers. Mr. and Mrs. W. J. Beall. These millstones, one
weighing approximately 1,000 pounds, and the other 1,365 pounds,
were purchased by Cover and McAdow in St. Louis, Mo., and were
shipped by steamboat to Fort Benton, Montana, and were brought
overland from Fort Benton to Bozeman with mule teams and wagons by
Cover and McAdow with the assistance of Frank Rich.
Other Pioneer Mills
The second flourmill in the valley, erected at
Springhill, about 20 miles north of Bozeman in 1867-68, was known as
the Union Mills, started by three Penwell brothers, who conducted
the mill several years.
The mill was later owned and operated by J.
F. Roll. It had not been operated for several years, and during the
winter of 1930, it was destroyed by fire from some unknown cause.
George D. Thomas, who had settled with his family near what was then
the town of Hamilton, not far from the present city of Manhattan in
1864, moved to Gallatin City in 1871, and took charge of the Madison
mills, erected the previous year. He installed new machinery,
changed the name to Empire Mills, and manufactured famous brands of
flour for several years.
Later Flour Mills
Nelson Story, an early Montana pioneer, built a
flouring mill in 1882 at the mouth of Bridger Canyon, a few miles
north of Bozeman, and with the help of his sons, Nelson Story Jr.
and T. Byron Story, conducted the business several years, then sold
to the Bozeman Milling Company that also erected a cereal mill.
These mills were sold to the Montana Flour Mills Company, which
company is continuing the business. The Gallatin Valley Milling
Company operates at Belgrade, and the Bon Ton Flour Mill was built
in 1932 in Bozeman.
First
Wheat Growers
One of the first pioneers to raise wheat in the
Gallatin Valley was the late John Thomas, stepfather of Henry Davis,
now living in Bozeman. He had a bushel of wheat, which he brought
with him from Utah, planted it in the spring of 1864 on land about
12 miles north of Bozeman, and in the fall he reaped 50 bushels from
his crop, threshing it, Mr. Davis says, by putting it on a floor
with the heads out, leading horses over it to trod the grain out.
The wheat and chaff were then raised to a platform and thrown clown,
and the wheat became separated from the chaff. Mr. Thomas and Mr.
Davis would not sell any of this crop, but the following year they
sold seed for $10 a bushel to farmers in the valley.
Lorenzo B. Lyman, who had a homestead about three miles north of
Bozeman, on the East Gallatin River, near Lyman Creek, which still
bears his name, brought a half bushel of wheat with him from
Wisconsin in 1864, planted it in the fall and from his first crop in
1865, Mr. Lyman sold all he could spare for $25 a bushel, and the
year following, he sold seed to the farmers for $9 a bushel. He
raised 85 bushels to the acre of spring wheat and 60 bushels of
winter wheat. During the winter of 1864-65 there was little flour in
the valley, and it sold for 90 cents and $1.50 a pound.
Threshing Machines
The first threshing machine brought to Gallatin
Valley was purchased in 1865 by Cover and McAdow, who started the
first flouring mill in Bozeman. Benjamin F. Bisel, a pioneer,
farming south of Bozeman, ran the threshing machine for the owners.
It was a small machine of the endless apron type, and was run by
horsepower, eight horses being required to operate it. He was paid
25 cents a bushel for threshing, in 1866, but the minimum charge for
any farmer was $50. Several horsepower machines were brought to the
valley during the next two years, and Mr. Bisel also operated the
first steam threshing machine brought to the valley by Cover and
McAdow. George W. Kratteer began operating a steam-threshing machine
in 1875, and continued at the business for 33 years. |
