Montana Township in Labette County, Kansas.
Montana, Kansas, is an extinct town in Montana Township of Labette County.
Samuel J. Short was the first white settler in Montana Township. He settled before the Civil War began but was driven off by Indians. He returned in the summer of 1865 and located on the east side of the Neosho River. Several parties settled in the township that fall, including Granville Reeves and William White in October, followed by Charles E. Simons and his brother, Benjamin F. Simons, who brought a small stock of groceries, which he commenced selling in his cabin. Charles Simons briefly left and returned with his family in November. More settlers followed, and by the close of 1865, the township had quite a body of settlers, most of whom became permanent residents.
In January 1866, a town company founded the town of Montana, and S.S. Watson, the town company’s president, proved the first claim. The first building erected was a log storehouse belonging to Benjamin F. Simons, which he built in April 1866 and began selling merchandise. Soon after that, Yates & Fagan built a frame store on the tow site and put in a stock of groceries. Soon after this, they built a frame residence.
A post office was established on October 4, 1866, with Benjamin Simons as postmaster, who kept the office in his store room. A mail route from Lawrence to Oswego ran through Montana, and mail was obtained weekly.
In March 1867, V. and J.S. Anderson brought and set up a sawmill. That summer, E.H. Fagan built a room and opened the second store. Montana once received a significant vote for the seat of government but failed to obtain the coveted prize against Oswego. That year, Abner Furgeson was granted a ferry license on July 11, 1867, and he, in connection with Jonah Wilcox, began operating a ferry across the Neosho River near where an iron bridge spanned it.
With the creation of the county, Oswego was made the temporary county seat. The question of selecting a permanent county seat location came before the people in the regular election on the third Tuesday of May 1867. Three places were voted upon: Oswego, Montana, and Salem. The vote on these stood as follows: Oswego, 156; Montana, 145; and Salem, 84. Since no one place received a majority of all votes cast, no choice was made. The commissioners then ordered a special election to locate the seat of government, which would be held in two weeks. The two places receiving the highest number of votes at the last election were the places to be voted upon, Oswego and Montana. The election was duly held and resulted in favor of Oswego, where the seat of government became permanently fixed.
A town company was organized in 1868 with the following members: Levi Seabridge, J.S. Anderson, Henry Minor, S.S. Watson, J.S. Waters, and D.M. Watson. That year, Henry M. Miner erected a two-story building and opened the first hotel in town. The town grew rapidly and continued for the next two years.
Captain Terry & Son established a stage line from Fort Scott to Chetopa in 1869 and one from Osage Mission, forming a junction with the former at Montana. These were the only means of public communication.
The hope of securing a railroad had given momentum to the town’s progress so that as early as 1870, it had 13 general stores, three saloons, three hotels, two livery stables, two wagon shops, many other shops, and about 500 residents. D.D. McGrath was the first physician to settle here.
Labette County, Kansas Map by L.H. Everts & Co, 1887.
Failing to get the Missouri, Kansas, and Texas Railway built in 1870, the town’s growth was checked, especially after the town of Labette sprang up with glowing prospects, and many buildings were moved to that point.
W.E. Livesay and J.O. Charles erected a grist mill that began operations in the spring of 1871.
In 1872, an attempt was made to organize a city government for the town, but it was not perfected. This was due to the rough element that filled the town while the grading of the Memphis & Northwestern Road was going on, whose lawlessness was sought to be restrained.
Montana was incorporated as a city of the third class in 1877, with J.J. Woods as mayor and A. B. Chapman, G.T. Peak, Samuel Ballentine, J. P. Bradfield, and J. M. Mahr as council. That year, the Presbyterian Church was organized, and soon after, a small frame church building was erected.
Mary Biggs taught the first school in the town in the spring of 1878. It was held in a log house, which Benjamin Simons had used as a storeroom. At this time, about 30 students attended.
By the early 1880s, the school population was 98. At about that time, a Methodist congregation was organized with Reverend Shambaugh as pastor, but no church house had been provided. By then, it had a population of only about 200, and it had a post office, three stores, a blacksmith shop, a school, churches, a mill, and a few residences.
In April 1883, Martin Wilcox was elected mayor and was the last person on whom honor was conferred. It became generally understood that the act authorizing the incorporation was unconstitutional, and the practice of electing officers who had no legal authority to act was abandoned. A pretense of a city government was maintained until 1884.
The grist mill burned to the ground on May 9, 1893, and the plant was never rebuilt.
Of the business houses remaining in the town, the more significant part was swept away by a fire on February 28, 1895. When the Mineral branch of the Missouri, Kansas, & Texas Railway was built in 1895, it was located about three miles south of the town, so it furnished no accommodations.
In 1910, Montana had a money-order post office and a population of 153.
Montana’s post office closed on June 29, 1918.
Evergreen Cemetery in Montana, Kansas.
Montana’s Evergreen Cemetery still stands at Vine Road and 19000 Road.
Montana was located in the eastern part of Labette County, on the Neosho River, about eight miles north of Oswego, the county seat, and four miles from Laneville, the nearest shipping point.
©Kathy Alexander/Legends of Kansas, December 2024.
Also See:
Extinct Towns of Labette County
Sources:
Blackmar, Frank W.; Kansas: A Cyclopedia of State History, Vol I; Standard Publishing Company, Chicago, IL 1912.
Case, Nelson; History of Labette County, Kansas, Biographical Publishing Co., Chicago, Ill. 1901.
Cutler, William G; History of Kansas; A. T. Andreas, Chicago, IL, 1883.
Kansas Post Office History