From early trading posts to simple dry goods stores, to the large mercantile, stores have evolved to meet the needs of the people of Montana. They began very simply and have evolved as populations grew and supplies became available. Many different groups of people and workers have benefited from trading posts, dry goods stores, and mercantiles.
Native Americans and Fur Traders
Pioneers were hearty, self-sufficient individuals. They came west and encountered Native Americans who had survived the harsh and treacherous conditions that Montana throws at anyone brave enough to live here. Despite the hardships, these early Montanans provided much of their food, clothing, and shelter for themselves. Still, they couldn’t pull together everything they needed or wanted. This is where the trading posts and early dry goods stores came in.
The earliest trading posts in Montana came about as Native Americans began trading furs and pelts for items like rifles, fabric, beads, tobacco, and knives the fur traders supplied. The popularity of beaver hats in Europe provided a thriving business for fur traders from Canada, England, and other parts of the United States to trade and sell. Simple buildings were constructed near rivers for easy transport. Some trading posts began to resemble forts for protection and some were set up within military forts.
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1890 (circa) Early Trading Post at Polson
This early-day trading post at what is now Polson, Montana, has been moved to the Polson-Flathead Historical Museum where it has been set up as an example of what the area's early trading posts looked like.
Fort Benton, Montana
Copy of a photograph showing a square blockhouse, fort wall and many buildings at Fort Benton, Montana.
Ft. Carroll, M.T.
View from steamboat at the banks of the Missouri River, 1880. Log buildings on shore identified as the trading post Fort Carroll in central Montana.
Cattle and Sheep Ranchers and Homesteaders
Though the fur trade would begin to decline in the 1840s, cattle and sheep ranchers moved into Montana, bringing their cowboys with them. Homesteaders came for the offer of free land. If these newcomers were not hardy when they set out, they became tough as they settled in the harsh and unforgiving land. As more people moved west, small settlements developed, including a grocery store, often called a dry-goods store or mercantile. The dry goods store might be a simple building with living quarters upstairs or in the back. Rugged frontiersmen relied on these primitive stores.
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Cowboys Near a Small Rural Store
This is a group of cowboys near a small prairie store/outpost where they could purchase supplies. The name of the store is the BandWagon X Store. Bandwagon Store selling dry goods, clothing, groceries, Moran's saddles, tobacco, and ammunition. Perhaps near Fallon, Montana. Print on pearl 10x12 mat. Labeled: "Property Ervin Hunt."
Miners and Loggers
As mining and logging increased throughout the state, local stores were necessary. This picture taken in Helena in 1865, while Montana was still a territory, shows a drug store, a grocery store, and a dry goods store. Notice all of the wagons and buggies heading through the town. In 1864 a gold strike brought people seeking their fortune to Helena. Conditions were rough, but people were determined to strike it rich.
In The First 100 Years, A History of Lewistown, Montana, Robert Donovan writes, “In 1883, T. C. Power & Company purchased Janeaux's trading post and incorporated it into the general store that the company opened in Lewistown the following spring. It was known as the Power Mercantile Company and was located at what is now 3rd Avenue North and Main Street. Power's, as it was known locally, was a leading department store for many years” (Donovan, This was the typical transformation as populations increased. Bigger towns like Great Falls would even send peddlers to more rural areas such as Lewistown (1994, 8).
Settlers were coming to Montana in increasing numbers. Shops met the needs of these newcomers. The Lewis-Wedum General Store opened in Glasgow in 1888. By 1898 when Montana became a state, this store carried many products including “a full line of women's, men's, and children's clothing and shoes, as well as fine china and porcelain. They also sold everything from farm equipment, lumber, seed, tobacco, dry goods, groceries, housewares and furniture, and even caskets.” This successful business lasted almost 50 years.
Housewives benefited from the convenience of store-bought items and the opportunity to sell eggs, cream, and other farm products. Trappers and homesteaders could trade pelts for supplies. Miners, loggers, cowboys, and other laborers enjoyed shopping when they had the opportunity. As towns grew, stores became more elaborate offering many choices. Postal services were important as one of the few ways to communicate long distance. An early settler from Dupuyer, John Rappold, stated, “The horse-drawn mail stages, he remembered, were pretty dependable. They would get the mail through pretty much on time, even in real bad weather, in contrast to some of the mail trucks today that can't get the mail through on the oiled roads” (By Gone Days and Modern Ways: Dupuyer Centennial 1977, 41).
The dry goods or grocery store became a social hub for lonely homesteaders who lived far apart. Men gathered to play checkers or keep in touch with their neighbors. Weekly visits to town to shop for goods and post a letter became highlights for families close enough to use these services frequently. Families living more remotely might enjoy supplies, letters, or catalogs when the father made the journey to town a few times a year.
Trading posts and stores were necessary and some of the first establishments in the Old West. Towns were even known to take on the names of stores as other homes and businesses grew up around them. As places expanded and trade increased, communities continued to rely on evolving marketplaces.
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Bridge Street, Helena, Montana
1865 view of Bridge Street, Helena, Montana, from the west, with covered wagons moving up the street. All buildings appear to be log structures, many with false fronts. Some of the signs visible read: Groceries & Provisions, Capenter and Maurer; Pies, Cakes, Cheese, Beer, Cider, Milk, & Butter; Tin Shop; Drug Store, Dentist; Nevada Dry Goods & Clothing Store, Poznainsky & Behm.
Worden and Company Store, Hellgate, Montana, built in 1860 by C. P. Higgins and F. L. Worden. Pictured left to right, Judge F. H. Woody, first clerk and first postmaster, Missoula, Montana, and Colonel E. S. Paxson, famous Montana artist, circa 1910.
Lewis-Wedum General Store Daily Sales 1891-1892 Pages 101-200
This ledger is a record of daily cash sales at the Lewis-Wedum General Store. It includes date, name of customer, items purchased and cash total.
Hannah and Mary McGovern's Store, Virginia City, Montana
View of a woman standing in the open door of a dry goods store. Mary McGovern in the door of McGovern's Store in Virginia City, Montana. Between 1930-1940.
Gilt Edge, Montana Mercantile Co.
Undated photo of Gilt Edge Mercantile
Lewistown Commercial Co, Lewistown, Montana
Lewistown Commercial Co, Dry Goods Store (built 1899 burned in 1916) located at 218 W. Main, Lewistown, Montana.
Lewistown Commercial Company, Lewistown, Montana
Lewistown Commercial Company located at 218 W. Main. It was a dry goods store offering clothing, boots, shoes and men’s furnishings. It was built in 1899 and burned in 1916.
Richardson Mercantile Co. Inc. - Forsyth, Montana
View of the interior of Richardson Mercantile store in Forsyth, Montana. Four men stand in middle of store. Stoves displayed in right foreground and dry goods and other merchandise on shelves and in display cabinets. Between 1895-1920.
Exhibit Author: Kimberly Beebe
Bibliography
Montana.Gov. "Brief History of Montana." Accessed 19/05/2024. https://mt.gov/discover/brief_history.aspx
Lewis-Wedum General Store Ledgers. Montana History Portal, accessed 19/05/2024, https://www.mtmemory.org/nodes/view/12934
Roberta Donovan, First 100 Years, A History of Lewistown, Montana (1994). Montana History Portal, accessed 19/05/2024, https://www.mtmemory.org/nodes/view/3726
Rocky Mountain System Support Office. "Historic American Engineering Record Milk River Bridge (2001)." Accessed 19 May 2024.https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/master/pnp/habshaer/mt/mt0300/mt0393/data/mt0393data.pdf
The Dupuyer Centennial Committee,By Gone Days and Modern Ways: Dupuyer Centennial (1977). Montana History Portal, accessed 19/05/2024, https://www.mtmemory.org/nodes/view/90419
Photo and Document Credits
Lewistown Public Library
Lewistown Public Library
Montana Historical Society Research Center
North Lake County Public Library
Range Riders Museum
University of Montana Mansfield Library
Valley County Pioneer Museum
