Hungry Horse news and Columbian., 1947-12-05
Grandma Martin
Watches Start of
Flathead Towns

"A Flathead county residen
since November 21, 1886, Grand.
ma Martin, 79 this coming Jan
uary watches the start of another
new town with great interest.
She saw Demersville, once the
metropolis of the Flathead, now
abandoned start, and then there
was Columbia Falls, Kalispen anc
Whltefish. Grandma Martin hao
seen all the locations before mar
chased the doe and faWn from the
forest and meadow to make way
for the first buildings of these
cities.
From her neat, white house near
I highway No and fast-flowing
Abbot creek, Grandma Martin in
her gray-haired wisdom gets
quiet satisfaction in the BOOM
ing start of nearby Martin City,
now two-years-old and the largest
OF the Hungry Horse new towns.
The comment of a few months
ago that Martin City had 10 bars
and just one grocery store, brought
the experienced reply of 81 saw
Demersville, Columbia Falls, Ka-
1spell and Whitefish start the
sama way"
Martin City is established on
the 1906 homesteads of Gaspard
Martin and his son, Adolph, her
husband and oldest son.
Married just a month previously
in Chatham, Ontario, young Mr.
and Mrs Gaspard Martin arrived
in Missoula on November II, 1886.
From there they drove a covered
wagon north toward the almost
uninhabited Flathead valley to es-
tablish home.
Mrs Martins uncle, Joseph Tet-
rault came to the Flathead in 1884.
They arrived in likely the up
per Flathead's first settlement,
Ashley on November 81, 1886,
three years before Montana be-
came a state
The young French Canadian
couple took up pre-emption three
miles west of the future site of
Columbia Falls, and built them
selves two-room log cabin. Near
est neighbor to the south was nine
miles away.
Grandma Martin tells of rock
ing her first born, Adolph, and
then looking up to see Indian
bucks peering through the WIN
dow "But they were always frien-
dly," she added. Il let them in,
and they laughed and laughed at
The little white papoose in the
crib"
"There was another time that
Joe Gangner came over to get
ny husband" she continued. "You
won't believe it,, but they were
going out to rope deer just for
on the bench where Co.
umbia Falls now is. They were
III young men, then" she laugh
ID. fThat was our best deer hunt
ng place."
Life in the Flathead during those
irst years with no railroad was
simple. Missoula was
he closest place to buy flour, su-
ar, salt and cloth, and it was a ;
nee year trip.
Families grew what food they I
themselves could use or trade.
here was no market for lumber
r grain until the Great Northern s
anne in 1890. Families seldom US t
d money, and S. would last
1ng time. Food was venison, /
ucks, prairie chickens and garden
roduce. e
The Martins raised eight chill @
rem and one grandchild. Adolph {
ow lives in Poison; Mrs Rose O
rock, Coram; Mrs w C Allison, p
utte; G c Martin, Klamath Falls, il
're.; Buck Martin, Coram; Mrs
.ay Felt, Whitefish, Mrs Toni p
yescott, Martin City, Captain Leo n
aul Martin was an army flight 81
killed in a plane crash
uring the war. Two of her sons {
ere in the first World War, and q
ne son and four grandsons in the -
.cond.
Grandma Martin also raised
hirley, the daughter Of G c Mar 8
n. Her mother had died when II
le was born. Shirley is now a W
lrsing student at st Patrlck's 81
)spital, Missoula. dl
Gaspard Martin passed away nc
1945. His widow is an alert, at ~,
active grandmother. who is Y
randma Martin to big slice OF
athead county. The Hungry
orse dam? "Well that was some Sc
ing we heard about 20 years III
20. but we really didn't think tel
would come true" MIR Be