Memories of Cardwell

(re-written from original article by Roy Millegan)

The lower end of the North Boulder valley was a long way from stores back in the 1860s and 70s. Settlers had to travel long distances, sometimes to Pony or Boulder, and ford one of several rivers which included the Jefferson and the Boulder. By 1872, mail service was available at either Cold Springs or Jefferson Island. When the Northern Pacific Railroad arrived in 1890, a depot and telegraph office were opened at what was then called Jefferson Island. In 1895, a bridge was completed over the Jefferson which made travel between Jefferson and Madison counties much easier.

Mrs. A. M. Simons of Butte and her stepson David Vindex Ogan could see a lot of potential in the area and opened a hotel and store near the Jefferson Island depot about 1897. Farmers and Ranchers in the area were now able to ship their cattle, horses, and produce by train to the growing western mining towns. The valley had very favorable growing conditions and by the early 1900s, 100 crates of strawberries were being shipped out each week. One crate contained 32 boxes of berries and would sell for $4.00. Not a bad income at that time.

In 1902, Simons and Ogan sold their store to W. J. Giles. He then built another store that remained in operation until the 1980s. The store laater became the home of Afton Fell. When the store was operating, it contained the post office and as was customary at the time, the store's proprietor was also the local postmaster. In January 1906, Schyett and Noble bought the store and then sold it to George L. Johns on January 1, 1908. Mr. Johns operated the store until July of 1933. On April 5, 1909, the name of the post office and the local community was changed to Cardwell in honor of Senator Ed Cardwell who owned a large ranch north of the town.

With people moving into the valley and agriculture and mining growing each month, it was not long before other businesses sprung up in Cardwell. The Island Saloon was being run by William Sleeman in 1904 and he sold it to Pete Hart in 1911. Mr. Hart added a 20-room hotel in November 1913. A newspaper article in December 1913 indicated that Cardwell was a booming community with a saloon, garage, livery, feed business, blacksmith shop, store and hotel. Mr. Hart had an ad in the paper boasting that he operated the saloon, garage, livery, feed store and the hotel. Mr. Hart catered to hunters and fishermen with his five-passenger touring car that would take guests to their destinations after arriving by train. Board sidewalks made it a pleasant walk from the train depot to the various businesses.

The blacksmith shop had several different owners in its first years. Mr. Olind and Mr. Carroll ran the business before turning it over to Harvey Dibble. Joe Hall also ran the blacksmith shop for a short time and then leased it to Joe Tebo. The lumber yard was under the direction of Mr. Tucker and Mr. Bullis from at least 1916. Plans were discussed about adding a bank and a grain elevator; but, neither were ever built. The new Jefferson Island, a short two-miles away, was mostly controlled by Shadon Lahood and offered competition for the Cardwell businesses.

The Cardwell store and hotel were the center of most of the activity for the community. Moving picture shows, a masquerade ball, Easter ball and community plays all kept people in touch with each other. In 1912, a play entitled "The Honor of a Cowboy" was presented by the young folks of the area. New Year's dances drew crowds from near and far. The Gibson's Medicine Show played in town in 1916 and minstrel shows were usually in the hotel dining room. Other activities like the Farmer's Harvest picnics utilized other facilities.

The Cardwell store had a telephone installed in 1906 and it served as the phone for a large area for many years. A Texaco gas station opened in 1924 which became a convenient stop for people driving coast to coast on the Yellowstone Trail. This was the main east to west highway at the time. In those days, the road headed north at Cardwell and then through the area of the current Boulder Cut-off Road.