Column nostalgia

It is not easy for me to realize that in just a few short weeks it will be the 37th anniversary of me writing this column. The first one was April 1st of 1985, I was approaching 50 years of age and felt old. Now, as I approach 85, I am old.

In 1985 and later I enjoyed writing columns about the homesteaders. There were still several living on the North Fork then and they loved telling stories about the “old” days. I enjoyed the stories and they were popular with readers.

The mistake I made was in not realizing how the North Fork was inevitably changing.

The homesteaders were basically quite poor. They came to the North Fork for the free 160-acre homestead and they worked, and worked, and worked, and worked to survive and raise their families. Their success is what makes their stories so compelling.

In the end, their biggest asset was their land. That meant when they got old they were forced to sell their land to provide for themselves when they could no longer work like young folks. That is why only a few original homesteads remain intact or are owned by homesteader descendants.

Earliest homesteaders were in Glacier Park and thus the first to die or leave. Many of the widows were cheated out of their land by the government, but west siders could sell to any willing buyer.

Who were the willing buyers? No one was looking at the North Fork for commercial reasons, but the land was cheap so it appealed to retirees. My folks bought the Kintla Ranch (600 acres and 3 1/2 miles of river front) for $10,000. Doc McFarland bought several homesteads in Glacier Park at about the same time, but other than the Mercantile, there were little other commercial transactions.

Walter and Ethyl Block were among the first retirees. They bought the 160-acre Price homestead at Trail Creek and moved into the two-story log home. The property was complete with a big barn, a garage and several outbuildings.

They quickly became part of the community and were charter members of the North Fork Improvement Association. Walter served on the first board of directors and Ethyl was the secretary-treasurer, Walt was later to serve as NFIA president.

We have continued to evolve from those times to the present and today I would guess that a majority of North Fork landowners are retired from more populated areas, I wonder if their kids will stay on the North Fork.

What do you think?