Roundtables
History Roundtables are community conversations centered around a central theme. The series, entitled "Working at the Mill," may involve work done at the mill or activities related to the community life of mill workers and their families. Begun in 2009, each winter three programs are presented. These programs are available as videos which may be viewed on this website.
Working at the Mill Series - Part 1
with Glenn Smith , Art Bailey, Rudi Miller, and Cal Bonnet. Bonner, Montana, January 25 , 2009. Recorded by MCAT. Running time: 1:50:57
Working at the Mill Series - Part 2
"Taking a Look Back" with Glenn Smith, Rick Swanson, Donna Madsen, and Sue Knudsen. Bonner, Montana, February 22, 2009. Recorded by MCAT. Running time: 1:30:43
Working at the Mill Series - Part 3
"Getting Logs from the Woods to the Mill" with Dennis Sain, Leroy Christopherson, Rick Swanson, Jim Appelt, and Kim Briggeman. Bonner, Montana, April 19, 2009. Recorded by MCAT. Running time: 1:36:20.
Working at the Mill Series - Part 4
"Old Number 7, Bonner’s Willamette Shay type Locomotive and Scenes from Timberjack" with Glenn Smith, E. Macdougall "Mac" Palmer, and Stan Cohen. Bonner, Montana, January 17, 2010. Recorded by MCAT. Running time: 1:11:43.
Working at the Mill Series - Part 5
"Plywood Plant" with Otis Seal and "Bonner Company Town" with Dan Hall , Western Cultural. Bonner, Montana, February 21, 2010. Recorded by MCAT. Running time: 2:27:50. Transcription (PDF)
Working at the Mill Series - Part 6
"Health and Safety" with Glenn Smith, Julie Beckel, and Ellen Leahy. Bonner, Montana, April 18, 2010. Recorded by MCAT. Running time: 1:12:40. Transcription (PDF)
Working at the Mill Series - Part 7
“Remembering 3038” with Jim Hill, Charlie Long, Dennis Sain, and Lee Legreid. Bonner, Montana, January 16, 2011. Recorded by MCAT. Running time: 1:33:11. Transcription (PDF)
Working at the Mill Series - Part 8
“Fire! Piltzville Fire Station 4" with Missoula Rurual Fire District Chief Bill Colwell. Bonner, Montana, February 20, 2011. Recorded by MCAT. Running time: 2:04:25.
Working at the Mill Series - Part 9
“Scouting”: Bonner’s Scouting History" with Dusty Deschamps, Mike Nelson, and Bill Unger. Bonner, Montana, March 20, 2011. Recorded by MCAT. Running time: 1:50:40.
Working at the Mill Series - Part 10
“Marshall Skiers’ Reunion” with Dennis Sain and Anna Sain. Bonner, Montana, January 15, 2012. Recorded by MCAT. Running time: 1:35:45.
Working at the Mill Series - Part 11
"Women Working in the Mill" with Glenn Smith, Maybelle Bonnet, Lola Mae LeProwse, and many others. Bonner, Montana, February 19, 2012. Recorded by MCAT. Running time: 1:37:00. Transcription (PDF)
Working at the Mill Series - Part 12
"Stories of the Bonner Houses” with Glenn Smith, Lois Fuller Johnson, and Lefty Pleasant. Bonner, Montana, March 18, 2012. Recorded by MCAT. Running time: 1:30:52.
Working at the Mill Series - Part 13
"A Salute to Our Veterans” with Chuck Erickson. Bonner, Montana, January, 2012. Recorded by MCAT. Running time: 1:55:56.
Working at the Mill Series - Part 14
"Local Railroad History" with Dennis Sain, Bill and Jan Taylor, and Bob Bateman. Bonner, Montana, February 2013. Recorded by MCAT. Running time: 1:30:06. Transcription (PDF)
Working at the Mill Series, Part 15
"Cantonment Wright and the Mullan Road East of Missoula" wth Kim Briggeman, Tom Yule, Willie Bateman, Dennis Sain, and others. March 24, 2013. Recorded by MCAT. Running time: 1:53:08.
Working at the Mill Series - Part 16
"Native American Toys and Tools" with Norman Jacobson. Bonner, Montana, January 19, 2014. Recorded by MCAT. Running time: 1:46:03.
Working at the Mill Series - Part 17
"Hughes Gardens" with Glenn Smith, Sharon Smith, and Don Felton. Bonner, Montana, February 16, 2014. Recorded by MCAT. Running time: 1:47:19.
Working at the Mill Series - Part 18
"Memories of Bonner School" with Kim Briggeman, Judy Thibodeau Karl, Kathy Brigggeman Milodragovich, and Don Felton. Bonner, Montana, March 16, 2014. Recorded by MCAT. Running time: 1:53:04. Transcription (PDF)
Working at the Mill Series - Part 19
"The History of Timberlands" with Robert Lamley, Anaconda Company years; Tony Liane, Champion International years; and Andy Lukes, Stimson Lumber Company years. Bonner, Montana, February 15, 2015. Recorded by MCAT. Running time: 1:40:22. Transcription (PDF)
Working at the Mill Series - Part 20
"A. B. Hammond" with Greg Gordon, Dale Johnson, Ty Robinson, and Kim Briggeman. April 19, 2015. Recorded by MCAT. Running time: 1:42:40.
Working at the Mill Series - Part 21
"The New Mill" with Mike Boehme, Steve Nelson, and Andy Lukes. Recorded by MCAT. Running time: 1:38:29.
Working at the Mill Series - Part 22
Part 22: Working at the Mill Series - Part 22. "Logging: From Horses, Oxen, and Men to Steam, Gas, and Diesel" with Scott Kuehn and Kim Briggeman. February 21, 2016. Recorded by MCAT. Running time: 2:06:24.
Working at the Mill Series - Part 23
"Jumping into Fire: the History and Evolution of the Smokejumpers" with Barry Hicks, Roger Savage, Lowell Hanson, Ted Nyquist, Bud Clarke, Bob Whaley, Harold Hoem, Boyd Burtch, and Ariel Starr. March 20, 2016. Recorded by MCAT. Running time: 2:04:51.
Working at the Mill Series - Part 24
"Bonner Homemakers" with Glenn Max Smith. January 15, 2017. Recorded by MCAT. Running time: 1:09:26. Transcription (PDF)
Working at the Mill Series - Part 25
"Churches of Bonner" with Kim Briggeman and Pastor Carl Rohr. February 19, 2017. Recorded by MCAT. Running time: 1:26:25. Transcription (PDF)
Working at the Mill Series - Part 26
"A.C.M. Logging Camps" with Dennis Sain. March 19, 2017. Recorded by MCAT. Running time: 1:14:44. Transcription (PDF)
Working at the Mill Series - Part 27
"Making Certain It Goes On: Prose & Poetry of Bonner & the Lower Blackfoot" with Kim Briggeman, Glenn Max Smith, Norman Jacobson, Robert Lamley, Rick Swanson, Judy Matson, and Dennis Sain. The Roundtable features excerpts from writers including Meriwether Lewis, Richard Hugo, Paul Zarzyski, John H. Toole, Norman Maclean, Michael Moon, Annick Smith, and others. March 18, 2018. Recorded by MCAT. Running time: 1:35:10
Working at the Mill Series - Part 28
"Turning Over a New Leaf: The Progression of Gardening in Bonner" with Glenn “Hooligan” Smith and Jennifer Stackpole discussing gardening in Bonner from the Victory Gardens of WWI to Wicked Good Greens of today. April 15, 2018. Recorded by MCAT. Running time: 1:09:55
Working at the Mill Series - Part 29
"The Brews of Bonner and the Blackfoot: From Bootleggers to Breweries" with Will MacKenzie, Glenn Max Smith, Dennis Sain, and Kim Briggeman. January 20, 2019. Recorded by MCAT. Running time: 1:33:34
Working at the Mill Series - Part 30
"Fire in the Mountains and the BFPA" with Andy Lukes and Kim Briggeman. March 17, 2019. Recorded by MCAT. Running time: 1:56:52 Transcription (PDF)
Working at the Mill Series - Part 31
"Glacial Lake Missoula" with Jim Shelden and Lynne Dickman. January 20, 2020. Recorded by MCAT. Running time: 1:52:19
Working at the Mill Series - Part 32
"Captain Meriwether Lewis on the Blackfoot" with Dan Hall, Norman Jacobson, Kim Briggeman. February 16, 2020. Recorded by MCAT. Running time: 1:25:35
Working at the Mill Series - Part 33
"The History of the Marshall Grade Area and Its Environs" with District Judge Robert "Dusty" Deschamps. February 20, 2022. Recorded by MCAT. Running time: 1:57:25
Working at the Mill Series - Part 34
"The Big Blackfoot Milling Company: A Family Affair" with Mary Pitch. March 20, 2022. Recorded by MCAT. Running time: 1:14:53
Working at the Mill Series - Part 35
"Celebrating Bonner: Past, Present and Future" with Steve Nelson. January 15, 2023. Recorded by MCAT. Running time: 1:58:25 Transcription (PDF)
Working at the Mill Series - Part 36
"The Mullan Monuments: History and Memory" with Leif Fredrickson. February 19, 2023. Recorded by MCAT. Running time: 1:25:05
Working at the Mill Series - Part 37
"Gandy Dancers & Ethnicity: The Immigrants Who Built Montana's Railroads" with Bill Taylor. March 19, 2023. Recorded by MCAT. Running time: 1:49:36
Working at the Mill Series - Part 38
"Bonner History Reflected in the Historical Museum Collection" with Matt Lautzenheiser and Kristjana Eyjolfsson. January 21, 2024. Recorded by MCAT. Running time: 1:28:21
Working at the Mill Series - Part 39
"Freeing the Blackfoot: Removal of the Bonner Dam and the Cleanup of the River" with Tony Liane. Bonner, Montana, February 18, 2024. Recorded by MCAT. Running time: 1:40:11
Working at the Mill Series - Part 40
"A Confluence of Cultures in the Bonner Area" with with Cheryl Hughes, Kali Zaglauer, Ilona Hangas, Rick and Pat Swanson, and Glenn "Hooligan" Smith. March 17, 2024. Recorded by MCAT. Running time: 1:46:59
Memories of Bonner School
The History Roundtable salutes Bonner School in the final program of the 2014 season on March 16, 2-4 PM at St. Ann Catholic Church in Bonner. This centerpiece of community life since 1888 or 1889, depending on the source, remains the heart of the community, surviving the loss of the timber industry, its creator. Join Kim Briggeman for a journey through school history and panelists Judy Karl, Karen Hansen, and Don Felton who both attended and taught at Bonner School. Bring your own stories to share. Free and open to the public.
Come for history and stay for a Saint Patrick’s Day pasty dinner for only $5! The dinner starts after the Roundtable about 4:30 PM and benefits the St. Ann Parish youth group.
Hughes Gardens
February 16, 2014
Views of Hellgate Canyon 1896 - 2005
Cantonment Wright and the Mullan Road East of Missoula
Do you know where the Mullan Expedition spent the winter of 1861-62?
If you are familiar with Milltown, Montana, imagine Cantonment Wright built at about the site of present day Harold's Club. While an ideal site for proximity to building the bridge across the Big Blackfoot River, it was not ideal for weathering the brutal winter of 1861-62. Perched above the rivers, the camp received the full brunt of the winter winds.
Kim Briggeman and other "Mullanites" discuss Cantonment Wright and the Mullan Road East of Missoula at the History Roundtable on March 24, 2013. View the program.
Cantonment Wright. Sohon sketch.
Bonner Shay Engineer Carries a Load of Memories
Old Shay No. 7 hauls a last load of logs out of Chamberlain Creek to Sperry Grade and "Timberjack" stars Sterling Hayden, Hogie Carmichael, and Vera Miles stroll the streets of Bonner before dropping in at George's Café for a cup of coffee on Sunday afternoon, Jan. 17 in a free public program at 2 PM at St Ann Catholic Church in Bonner.
These historic visits, courtesy of the Bonner Area History Roundtable, feature Glenn Smith, retired Champion historian and consummate storyteller. Smith highlights the history of engineer Dan Ryan and fireman "Hybolt" who piloted the historic Old Number 7 Shay engine. Ryan and the engine played a role in the 1954 movie "Timberjack" filmed in and around Bonner. In the second half of the program, Smith will show scenes from the movie, inviting the audience to identify local locations and movie extras from half a century ago.
See the Missoulian story here.
Local Railroad History
Bonner’s timber history has been linked to the railroads from the earliest days. “Local Railroad History” including the Northern Pacific, Big Blackfoot and Milwaukee lines will by the focus the History Roundtable to be held Sunday, February 17 at 2 p.m.at St. Ann Catholic Church, 9015 Hwy. 200 East in Bonner.
Northern Pacific authors Bill and Jan Taylor, Big Blackfoot author Bob Bateman, and railroad historian Dennis Sain will recall railroad history. Stories of railroad experiences from the audience are welcome.
Free and open to the public.
Sponsored by Bonner Milltown History Center located in the Bonner Post Office building. Hours: Tuesday morning coffee hour, 9:30 – 11:30 a.m.; Wednesdays and Thursdays, 2 - 4:30 p.m.
For more information, contact Dennis Sain, 549-5782.
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Shay Engine "7 Milwaukee Road