Ten years of preserving history

A dream became reality when the Upper Swan Valley Historical Society (USVHS) celebrated the grand opening of the Swan Valley Museum on July 4, 2013. Longtime residents Neil and Dixie Meyer cut the ribbon that officially opened the museum to the public.

Twenty-five years earlier, on March 10, 1988, the first meeting of the USVHS was held at Evelyn Jette's residence. The next week officers were elected: Ken Wolff, chairman; Bud Moore, vice-chairman; Fern Kauffman, recording secretary; Claudia Kux, corresponding secretary and Clarence Stilwell, treasurer. The Board of Directors included: Art Anderson, Mable Stilwell, Dale Conley, Dan Frye and Rod Ash. Jette volunteered to store and safeguard the records at her home until a permanent place could be found. Later on, the USVHS documents were stored at the Swan Valley Community Library where they remained for over 20 years.

Without a home base or a way to store a growing collection of artifacts and historic records, the USVHS Board of Directors decided to get serious about establishing a museum in Swan Valley and intensified their fundraising efforts in 2008. The organization also obtained non-profit status allowing grant writing opportunities.

Fundraising efforts included yearly raffles that offered unique items including a Farmall tractor, an outhouse, a log bed, a custom-built fly rod, loads of gravel, window washing and numerous paintings and quilts.

In addition to the annual Frostbite Festival, the USVHS began offering events such as the lodges tour, the homestead tour, the tour of one-room schools and the Christmas tour of homes to bring in more revenue.

After five years of intensive fundraising, the USVHS Board of Directors authorized the purchase of the office building of the former Rustics of Lindbergh Lake Log Homes in December 2011. Constructed in 1977, the building needed major renovations to bring it up to code and meet ADA standards.

The refurbishment of the museum would not have been possible without the dozens of volunteers who stepped forward to transform the building into a first-rate museum. A ramp was constructed, an old staircase was removed, doors were realigned and windows were upgraded. New wood flooring was added to the northern portion of the building, while the Swan River and its tributaries were painted on the floor of the south room inviting visitors to navigate the history and culture of our community from the Summit to Goat Creek.

What started as a one-acre site with a museum building soon morphed into a heritage site that included the Swan River Tavern, Grandma Whalen's homestead cabin, Fred Messerer's trapper cabin, the Smith Creek School replica, a USFS tack shed, Jalmer Maki's homestead sauna cabin, a 1921 sawmill and a tipi. The cabins and the sawmill were all donated by generous community members. Many other residents volunteered hundreds of hours to move the cabins to the heritage site. Others volunteered to reconstruct the Smith Creek School and the Maki cabin.

In 2007, the USVHS began publishing a quarterly newsletter that is now mailed to over 600 supporters. Another group of dedicated volunteers headed up by Sue Cushman meets to fold, seal and address the newsletters.

What's more, the USVHS published four books including "Montana Voices of the Swan" written by Suzanne Vernon, "As Time Goes By: A Chronology of Swan Valley," "The Huck Book: Swan Valley's Berried Stories, History and Recipes" and "The Gathering Place: Swan Valley's Gordon Ranch."

Over the years, many steadfast volunteers have stepped up to support the museum. A testament to their dedication, over 51,000 hours of volunteer time have been logged from 2010-2021.

Although the list of USVHS volunteers is too lengthy to include in this space, one particular volunteer deserves a lifetime achievement award. Fern Kauffman has served as secretary of the USVHS since its inception in 1988 for a total of 34 years.

The Swan Valley community has been beyond generous in their support of the museum. In addition to monetary and in-kind donations, residents have also donated countless artifacts including photos, quilts, tools, ranch implements and entire buildings.

The USVHS hit the jackpot when a family with deep roots in the upper Swan Valley made a substantial monetary donation to retire the mortgage debt of the museum. Debt-free, the Board of Directors was able to focus less on fundraising and more on their goals of education, preservation and collection.

Now in its 10th year of operation, the museum continues to attract visitors from the local area, as well as from all over the country. Over 9,000 visitors have viewed the museum since the grand opening in 2013. One visitor commented, "This is the best museum I've ever been to. It has a personal feel, not just a lot of stuff."