Settled in 1857, Frenchtown is one of Montana’s earliest communities. Appearing ahead of the Montana gold rushes and in advance of the railroad, many of Frenchtown’s settlers were closely-connected to the fur trade and many were French-Canadians or Metis—mixed Native American and European descent— that came to Montana by way of Canada.

Frenchtown’s original settlers came to farm, including Louis Brown, Moise Reeves, and Baptiste Ducharme. All three arrived with their families sometime between 1857 and 1859, were former trappers, and married to Indian or Metis women. By the time the 1860 census was taken, 22 of the 54 people living in the Missoula Valley resided in Frenchtown. Captain John Mullan, whose crew constructed the Mullan Road from 1859-1863, passed directly through Frenchtown and built a warehouse there to store supplies. Like other settlements along the Mullan Road, it grew alongside road traffic and within a decade featured saloons, a restaurant, mills, a distillery, a feed stable, and—true to its French-Canadian beginnings—a Catholic Church.

In 1869, gold discovered down the Clark Fork River at Cedar Creek made Frenchtown a boomtown. Saloons and hotels sprang up to accommodate fortune seekers, including the Western Hotel, which billed itself as the “finest hotel west of Helena.” Frenchtown emerged as a rival city to Missoula. But when the gold boom fizzled, its fate as an outlying community to the larger Missoula was secured. Nevertheless, Frenchtown retained its unique character and for many years celebrated its French cultural ties. In the 1930s, for example, the Frenchtown celebrations Le Jour de l’Ans and Mardi Gras held regional acclaim. The town’s most notable celebration, however, occurred on St. John’s Day.

From 1885 through the 1930s, travelers came from far and wide to participate in the festivities that were highlighted by a series of footraces. As the decades have gone by, most of Frenchtown’s traditional celebrations have fallen out of favor. But it remains a vibrant community and, on a Sunday morning in mid-July, it plays host as the starting line of the Missoula Marathon, the biggest footrace in Montana.

 

Credits and Sources:

Bigart, Robert. Crossroad of Cultures: Sacramental Records at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, Frenchtown, Montana, 1866-1899. Pablo, Mont.: Salish Kootenai College Press, 2009.

Cohen, Stan. Missoula County Images, volume II. Missoula: Pictorial Histories Publishing Co., 1993.

The Frenchtown Historical Society.Frenchtown Valley Footprints. Missoula: Mountain Press Printing, 1976.

 

Photographs courtesy of Archives & Special Collections, Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, The University of Montana, Missoula, Montana.