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101107 The stone
"Morgan-Power" Store on Vaughn, Montana's original Main street. (The store was built in 1910.) |
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The
original Main street runs parallel to the old Great Northern railroad
tracks. |
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(Please scroll to the right
to see the view.) |
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In the 1880’s, coal was a necessity for heating residential homes and
fueling the furnaces of the new smelter
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at
Black Eagle Falls in Great Falls. The railroad followed the Sun
River from Great Falls to Vaughn. |
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Once in
Vaughn, the rail branched North to the coal fields in Lethbridge,
Alberta. |
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The rails also branched west from Vaughn to haul freight to the military
at Fort Shaw |
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and
equipment needed for the irrigation projects being built around Simms,
Montana. |
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The northern line was abandoned when coal mines opened in Sand Coulee,
Montana in 1895.
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The western branch continued to transport grain, cattle and fertilizer
until 1974. *** |
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Panorama of Highway 200
- You can see Square Butte on the left. |
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Square Butte is the
biggest "Table Mountain" in Montana. |
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To your right you can
see the remains of an early day "Drive In." |
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From 1930 to 1940 the
business sold ice cream, soda pop, cigarettes
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and gasoline to traffic
crossing over the Muddy Creek bridge. |
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The Vaughn Montana
Elementary School - "Home of the Wildcats." |
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October colors - The
trees behind the school. |
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It's hard to believe there were no tall
Cottonwood & Ash trees in this area until the 1920's. |
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Prior to
the 1920's, trees could only be found along the banks of the Sun
River. |
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One of our favorite drives out of Great Falls is
seeing the farms along the Sun River. |
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When you are in Vaughn, Montana there are two
landmarks you have to see. |
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The first
Vaughn landmark is the "Big House." |
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The general manager of the Silver Smelter in
Great Falls, Captain Thomas Couch, |
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purchased the Robert Vaughn homestead in 1889 and
had this elegant brick mansion built. |
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The
second Vaughn landmark is between Vaughn & Sun River, Montana. |
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The
140-foot long, two story stone barn was built
by James C. Adams in 1885. |
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Adams hired a Canadian, William Bruce and two
Swedish stonecutters to hand-cut
blocks |
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of
sandstone
from a quarry several miles away. The stone was hauled by
buckboard to the
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Adams
ranch. The archway stones were shipped by riverboat from
the Midwest.
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*** Vaughn historical information came from
"The Pictorial History of the Sun River Valley." |
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Buy the beautiful $30.00 leather bound book full of valuable information
on the historic towns of |
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Vaughn, Sun River, Fort Shaw and Simms, Montana.
Send a request and we'll forward you the
contact information. |
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Or you can write; The Sun River Valley Historical Society
13847 Hwy 200 Sun River, Montana 59483 |
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