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Helena's own historic museum, the Pioneer Cabin is the oldest log building in the city. Located at 212 South Park Ave., it was purchased and preserved by a group of prominent Helena citizens, mostly women, whose descendants, even today, help to maintain the old building. The story of the cabin begins with Wilson Butts, a bachelor miner. Tall, broad, strong with blue eyes and a "heavy head of black hair," Butts built the cabin soon after arriving in Last Chance Gulch in 1864. He was easygoing, sociable, and beloved by children. Had he known that his tiny home on Clore Street (now So. Park Avenue) would be a premiere Helena museum attraction in the 1990s, would he have built it differently? Probably not, because the only way for a settler to construct a residence in Helena's earliest years was to notch logs together as tightly as possible, cut very small windows, leave the floor hardpacked earth, and cover all with a sod roof. Besides, as one of the earliest homes in the Gulch, the Clore Street cabin had few models to emulate. Jonus Butts, with a wife and three daughters, followed his brother Wilson to Helena from Missouri a year later. Jonus was as tall and well built as his brother, and the better looking of the two. He was a hard worker and a good manager. For his family, he added a room at the front of Wilson's cabin, and introduced the new feature of a large front window, which he had brought from Missouri. The window was twice the size of the customary half-windows in Wilson's cabin. Through the larger opening, curious Blackfeet, who traded at the post north of Helena, peered to observe how people lived in houses. These faces pressed against the window often frightened Butts' daughters. But Mrs. Butts, knowing of the visitors' love for biscuits, came to the door in her brown calico dress, handed one biscuit to each as daughters Sarah, Dorinda and Arminda peered back from behind her skirt. Puzzles about the house abound. For instance, how did men as tall as Wilson and Jonus walk through the cabin's low doors without striking their heads innumerable times? How the cabin was heated is another mystery, since no evidence of fireplace or chimney was found by the restoration committee. Furniture in the home probably was built by the original families since the chairs, tables and beds were all handmade, strong and well-made structures, comparable to furnishings of other early dwellings. Bunks of rough lumber were built one above the other, and occasionally a cowhide rug was added for luxury. By 1865, the Butts family was settled, with congenial neighbors next door. But soon a "hurdy gurdy" opened on the corner of Bridge Street (State Street) and Clore. Music and noise disturbed the religious Buttses, who quickly arranged for the sale of their cabin to James Fergus, a goldseeker from Illinois. Jonas and family left Clore Street and moved to mining claims in Dry Gulch for a short time before retreating to the quiet life of a ranch at Fish Creek near Whitehall. Wilson soon followed. Jonus died there of consumption. Wilson and Jonus' widow, Louanna, divided the property, but Wilson did not move far from the family; his death was noted in the Whitehall Jefferson County Zephyr in June 1898. |
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Steven and Luella Gilpatrick in 1917. |
Shortly after the Butts family left Helena, James Fergus's daughter, Louella, married Stephen Gilpatrick, a bookstore owner. Louella and Stephen moved into the Butts' cabin and invited her father to live with them. James Fergus and his daughter brought an important landscape feature to the Clore Street property; they carried seedling locust trees in tomato cans from Illinois to grow in the new land. The tiny saplings, the first non-native trees to be grown in Helena, were planted near the cabin door. One of the trees, 130 years old, still stands at the south side of the front entryway. After living with the newlyweds for a shorttime, James (for whom Fergus County was named) moved to a sheep ranch north of Helena. |
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Not many years later, the Gilpatricks also left Clore Street. In 1869, they moved with their son George just north of Helena to manage King and Gillette's stage station. When the popular Gilpatrick was urged to become sheriff of Lewis & Clark County in 1870, the family moved back to 604 Dearborn Ave., Helena, where they resided for the remainder of their lives. Even though the Gilpatricks never lived at the Clore Street address again, the cabin was referred to as the "Gilpatrick place" for the next seven decades. Tracking later inhabitants of the small building is difficult. One Helenan recalls hearing that the cabin was a house of prostitution in the 1870s, which is possible, since Chicago Joe's Wood Street house and Coliseum were almost directly across the gulch. A story about the Gulch during the last quarter of the 19th century, written in the 1940s by Del Leeson, a Helena Independent columnist, men-tioned some "shacky old buildings dissipated by the sun and rains" that stood on the east side of Clore Street. Leeson referred to one of these buildings as the "Bucket of Blood" because more than one murder had occurred there. ("The 'Bucket of Blood', which existed from the 1870s to the turn of the century was the gaslit era's successor to Chicago Joe's reign.") "The proprietor was Vernon Graye, a colored gentleman who when someone writes the history of the gulch should be given a chapter by himself," wrote Leeson. The truth of these stories is debatable, but Clore Street's reputation passed through an unsavory phase. In the 1880s, Helena's business district moved north, and the town's residential area expanded east and west of the gulch. Clore Street than became the home of bachelors rather than families, partly due to the development of ReederŐs Alley - winter homes for ranch workers - west of the Pioneer Cabin. Another group of bachelors in the district were Chinese workers who labored in the vegetable gardens at the intersection of Oro Fino and Grizzly gulches. |
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George Mitchel is pictured in a wagon by the Pioneer Cabin. |
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In 1901, one such bachelor, George Mitchell, purchased the 208 Clore Street house and lived there
until 1933, longer than any other tenant; still the cabin was never called
"the Mitchell place." During his tenancy, Clore Street was given
the new name of South Park; Mitchell's address was 208 South Park and
even later the number became 212 So. Park. Mitchell made his living woodcutting
for Reeder's Alley occupants, raising chickens and selling eggs. He saved
his cash, stashing it away in nooks and crannies of his house as well
as in paper sacks, cans and even in socks. Walter G. Sampson, public administrator,
found the money, about $1,365, after Mitchell's house was sold by public
auction. Mitchell left no heirs; consequently the money was turned over
to the city.
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| Those who purchased the cabin no doubt hoped that the money went with it, especially since they were citizens who had raised the $450 purchase price. The purchasers were a group of prominent Helenans who joined a restoration committee, chaired by Mrs. J.E. Erickson, wife of Montana's governor from 1925 to 1933. As a result of the committee's work, the old cabin became Helena's pioneer museum. Fifty-seven years ago, on December 18, 1938, the Helena Independent heralded the news that the house would be restored to its early day status, and would "house a valuable collection of relics which various pioneer societies have collected." |
| When the spring of 1939 arrived, committee members rolled up their sleeves and began cleaning the cabin. Men inspected the roof, walls and foundation for repair needs. Museum relics of the early days were given by local donors and others for displaying and furnishing the museum. Excitement grew as citizens anticipated the reality of a Helena history museum. One of the most desirable aspect of the grounds, the two locust trees, were beginning to bloom as committee members worked during that spring. |
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In 1941, the restoration committee was incorporated as The Last Chance Restoration Assohe success of the museum: they needed to hire a caretaker for the Cabin and to raise money to pay for the museum's care and protection. Both needs were soon met. The Restoration Association "worked out an arrangement with Mr. and Mrs. C.E. Warren whereby they sort of looked after the place," reported Del Leeson in his Prospector column of the early 1940s. Evidently the couple was given the house next door, south of the cabin, to live in rent-free, which incidentally, the Polk Directory referred to as the "Pioneer Repair Shop". Charles Warren, operator of the "Repair Shop," died in 1947 and Mrs. Emma Warren remained as caretaker until 1957. Jan Sinamon is the caretaker today. The cabin is open for visitors from Memorial Day through Labor Day. The cabin is not open during the winter, but Jan may show off the place if a visitor wishes to brace the cold. Grandchildren of original committee members as well as others continue their leadership in fundraising and overseeing the care of the cabin so that Helena's own historic museum will be a favorite site for visitors for years to come. The Pioneer Cabin caretaker can be contacted at (406) 443-7641 Harriet Meloy is a member of the Lewis and Clark County Historical Society and a longtime librarian at the state Historical Society. |
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