Abbott Valley gracefully aging

The fence around the Abbott Valley Homestead on the edge of Martin City is nothing out of the ordinary. There's posts and enough strands of barbed wire to keep the cattle and horses in.

But many of those old posts have history in them. They were sunk in the ground decades ago — 10 decades to be exact — by a homesteader named Mickey Wagoner. Made from hardy larch, many of the old posts still survive today.

Wagoner carved a living out of this land. A Polish-Russian immigrant, Wagoner came West to fight the 1910 fire that was ravaging the West. He was given the Anglo name Mickey and instead of fighting fire, he settled in a patch of land along Abbott Creek.

He logged the flat patch of ground, and the adept craftsman built his own cabins from the logs. The forest around the place became a meadow.

The cabins he built stand today. The deed that records them is 100 years old this year.

Wagoner made a living by trapping mink and beaver and packing mules for the Forest Service. In the 1950s Tom "Red" Foley and Jay (Jaybird) Foley purchased the land. As part of the purchase agreement, Wagoner was able to live on the spread until his death in 1968.

Red Foley received the contract to clear the land for the Hungry Horse Reservoir and raised his family there.

His daughter, Marion, remembers Wagoner fondly.

"He didn't speak English very well and he talked fast. He would explain something and say 'Get it? Get it? Get it?' We always acted like we got it," she said with a smile.

Marion grew up in a home near the Wagoner spread. The Foleys also purchased tract of land just north of Wagoners.

Early on, Wagoner was known not just for his trapping and building skills. He also made some of the best "hooch" in the valley. Without good roads, it took two days just to make a trip to Kalispell.

Artist Charlie Russell used to spend time with him and a trapper friend named Baptiste also lived in one of Wagoner's cabins — Baptiste died in the cabin.

In the 1990s the Foley family decided to rent the homestead as guest cabins. Each cabin has been updated to modern standards with appliances, hot water and showers.

Visitors look out at the same landscape that Wagoner did 100 years ago. Grizzly bears, mountain lions, black bears, deer and elk are all visitors to the spread.

In 2008, the family placed the Wagoner homestead under permanent protection through a conservation easement with the Nature Conservancy.

The homestead is giving back to the community this year as well. For Heritage Days the Foley family is holding a raffle for two winter nights at the homestead, including dinner at the nearby Glacier Grill, free passes for two including ski and/or snowshoe rentals at Glacier Outdoor Center, a bottle of wine from Hungry Horse Liquors and coffee from Montana Coffee Traders.

The package is valued at $575. Raffle tickets are $1 and are available at Montana Coffee Traders, Glacier bank, Whistle Stop Cafe, Hungry Horse Liquors, Glacier Outdoor Center, Glacier Grill and Glacier Discovery Square.

Proceeds will benefit Glacier Discovery Square. The drawing is July 24.