Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Retrospective Theses and Dissertations Dissertations 1993 "Enlightened selfishness": Montana's Sun River project Judith Kay Fabry Iowa State University Follow this and additional works at: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd Part of the United States History Commons Recommended Citation Fabry, Judith Kay, ""Enlightened selfishness": Montana's Sun River project " (1993). Retrospective Theses and Dissertations. 10229. https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd/10229 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Dissertations at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Retrospective Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Iowa State University Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand corner and continuing from lefr to right in equal sections with small overlaps. Each original is also photographed in one exposure and is included in reduced form at the back of the book. Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6" x 9" black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. University Microfilms international A Bell & Howell Information Company 300 North Zeeb Road. Ann Arbor. Ml 48106-1346 USA 313/761-4700 800/521-0600 Order Number 9334978 "Enlightened selfishness" : Montana's Sun River project Fabry, Judith Kay, Ph.D. Iowa State University, 1993 UMI SOON.ZeebRd. Ann Aibor, MI 48106 "Enlightened selfishness": Montana's Sun River project by Judith Kay Fabry A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department; History Major: Agricultural History and Rural Studies Approved: Signature was redacted for privacy. In Charge of Major Work Signature was redacted for privacy. For [qhe Major D Signature was redacted for privacy. For the Graduate College Iowa State University Ames, Iowa 1993 il TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS iii CHAPTER ONE. THE LAND AND PEOPLE OF THE FORT SHAW DIVISION 1 CHAPTER TWO. "ENLIGHTENED SELFISHNESS": GREAT FALLS AND THE SUN RIVER PROJECT 40 CHAPTER THREE. MANAGING THE LAND AND WATER 76 CHAPTER FOUR. THE SEARCH FOR ECONOMIC STABILITY 125 CHAPTER FIVE. CONFLICT, COMPETITION, AND COOPERATION: THE COMMUNITIES OF THE FORT SHAW DIVISION 187 CHAPTER SIX. THE COMMUNITY OF CASCADE 237 CHAPTER SEVEN. COMPARISON OF PERSISTENCE OF SETTLERS AND CONCLUSIONS 277 BIBLIOGRAPHY 295 ill ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Friends and mentors warned me against choosing a thesis topic that required doing most of my research in distant places. Though their advice was wise, and I would now repeat it to other graduate students, I remained committed to study­ ing a federal reclamation project in the West. Fortunately, two institutions found my topic worthy of summer research grants: the Charles Redd Center for Western Studies at Brigham Young University and the Montana Historical Society. Without their support this work could not have been written. Another grant, from the James Jerome Hill Reference Library, made possible a fruitful week in St. Paul, using materials at the Hill library and the Minnesota State Historical Society. Finally, a semester's support from the Robert and Elizabeth Garst Foundation allowed me to finish reading forty years of microfilmed newspapers, the most tedious but essential part of my research. Though he didn't know it, Richard Lowitt, my major pro­ fessor, was the rock to which I clung during the days and nights when I wondered whether there really was a thesis in that mountain of notes and photocopies. Throughout the entire process, he gave me complete latitude to approach the project in my own way and at my own pace. Only once, when he may have sensed that I was getting bogged down in unnecessary research. iv did he remind me that I shouldn't make a career of writing a dissertation. His patience and unflagging confidence helped me to believe in myself. Friends from Iowa State who graduated before me also provided much needed mentorship and psychological support. Special thanks to Valarie Grim, Anne Effland, Maureen Ogle, and Suzanne Schenken, who always seemed to come through with a letter or phone call just when I needed encouragement. Thanks also to Carole Kennedy, another friend from Iowa State, who helped me meet program deadlines even when I was a thousand miles from campus and smoothed the way to completing gradua­ tion requirements. Finally, the contribution and patience of my husband, Kerry, must be recognized. He was the inspiration for my entering graduate school and for my decision to go on to a doctoral program. Without complaining he endured my summers away from home, and, though the time I needed to complete the research for my thesis probably seemed endless, he never, even jokingly, asked when I was going to finish. For his scholarly sensitivity and personal support, I am grateful beyond words. 1 CHAPTER ONE THE LAND AND PEOPLE OF THE PORT SHAH DIVISION Along this wide level country the Missouri pursued its winding course, filled with water to its even and grassy banks, while, about four miles above it was joined by a large river, flowing from the northwest through a valley three miles in width, and distinguished by the timber which adorned its shores. Lewis and Clark Expedition, 1805 With this entry in the journal of the Lewis and Clark expedition, Montana's Sun River became part of the historical record. Meriwether Lewis made his observation near the present-day city of Great Falls. He noted that the river flowing from the northwest, which he believed was the one the Indians called the Medicine, was clear and appeared never to overflow its banks. This impression led him to speculate that the Rocky Mountains, from which it flowed, must give up their snow "reluctantly," and must seldom be "drenched by very heavy rains."2 The river Lewis observed, which has been known as the Pile of Rocks, the Medicine, and most recently, the Sun, rises on the Continental Divide, some eighty miles south of the U.S.-Canadian border.^ From this source, the North Fork of the Sun flows south through rough and timbered country, then turns rather sharply east as it joins the South Fork on the 2 eastern front of the Rockies. Dropping to an elevation of about 3500 feet, it flows sixty-five miles through the western edge of the Great Plains, creating a valley that rises rather steeply on either side to level benches and gently rolling plateaus that are punctuated by isolated flat-topped buttes. (See Figure 1.1) It is the lower reaches of the Sun, the last forty miles before it joins the Missouri, with which this study is con­ cerned, for it is this part of the valley that in historical time humans have most utilized. This study focuses on a federal reclamation project that was built along the Sun River in the early twentieth century to divert its water for irri­ gated agriculture. More specifically, it is about the Fort Shaw division of that project, which lies along the south side of the lower Sun River valley. The century that separated the visit of Lewis and Clark and construction of the Sun River project changed the charac­ ter of the river and the land through which it flowed. Begin­ ning in the 1860s, wood-cutting in the foothills of the Rockies had increased the amount of run-off the river carried, causing it at times to become muddy and to overflow its banks. By the 1880s, the timber at the mouth of the river was gone and the budding city of Great Falls stood in its place. Scattered ranches dotted the land along the river. By 1900, 3 fOWElI" -C-LH-0-\U C>IHn» ^ Lorn] •Choteâu •'"»•' T E TC-O N \ tew J_I Flow.r«C....C I \ Ptêhhun Bti.. Frcezeoin^ ;RaTFAUS ^ Auguiti®^*^"^ISImmt^orl Shaw --ty Sindjcoulet "V- '••..., L E W I S 1 r ,stKk.tto BeltVTlfiJ"" _2_iNn I s \ç A D IE ^ Figure 1.1. The valley of the Sun River in central Montana the work of white Americans to change the face of the land of central Montana was well under way. In the first decade of the twentieth century, the busi­ ness interests of Great Falls sought to change the land still further, to encourage economic growth. The average annual precipitation in this part of Montana is only thirteen inches, and usually less than seven inches come during the growing season of May to September. This factor had limited agricul­ tural development near Great Falls. Since the 1870s, ranchers had used the land along the Sun for livestock-raising. By the early 1900s, some people were having considerable success raising wheat and oats on dry land, but their experiments were risky and they had to be prepared for years of failure.