In 1891, Joseph Dixon, a twenty-four year-old North Carolina native and recent college graduate, wrote a letter to his father’s cousin Frank Woody, who practiced law in the small frontier town of Missoula, Montana, asking if he could work under him as an apprentice. Woody agreed and so began Dixon’s western adventure that would blossom into one of the most distinguished Montana political careers of his generation.

Dixon entered politics shortly after his arrival in Missoula. In 1892, after being admitted into the Montana bar and working at Woody’s firm, he won election as secretary of the Republican county central committee. He held the seat for five years, during which time he put roots down in the Missoula community by marrying Caroline M. Worden, daughter of Missoula businessman and town co-founder Frank Worden. He also built a Queen Anne-style house on East Pine Street, next door to the Worden house where his wife was raised.

In 1900, Joseph Dixon was elected to the Montana legislature and, in 1902, won election to serve as Montana’s representative to the U.S. House. Dixon’s rise in politics is reflected in the expansion of his house. The same year he won election, the Dixons hired Missoula architect A. J. Gibson to design an addition to their home styled after the plantation mansions of Joseph Dixon’s native North Carolina. Gibson produced a Neoclassical design that includes a full-height front porch with a roof supported by four over-sized columns. The Dixons raised seven children in the house.

In addition to serving in the U.S. House, Dixon served in the U.S. Senate (1907-1913), managed Theodore Roosevelt’s unsuccessful third-party “Bull Moose” campaign for president, and also served as governor (1921-1925) and Assistant Secretary of the Interior (1929-1933). Joseph Dixon died in 1934.

Credits and Sources:

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

Mathews, Allan James.  “A Guide to Historic Missoula,”Montana Mainstreets, vol. 6. Helena: Montana Historical Society, 2003.

National Park Service. “National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form, Missoula Downtown Historic District,” 2003.

The University of Montana, Mike and Maureen Mansfield Library. “Guide to the Joseph M. Dixon Papers, 1772-1944.”http://nwda.orbiscascade.org/ark:/80444/xv95079, accessed May 11, 2015.

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