Located on the road half way between Absarokee and Columbus, this substantial two-story farmhouse has long been a landmark in the Stillwater River Valley. The classic American Four-Square style dwelling was common throughout rural America and reflective of the simplicity of the times. Built in 1907 by Everett McBride, it was among the first large residences in the area. A farmer, Everett experimented with different types of crops and sold apples grown in an orchard adjacent to the house. McBride and his wife, Lydia, celebrated the completion of the house by throwing a well-publicized party for their neighbors that lasted until after dawn the following day. These proud owners began a long tradition of providing a hearty meal and a place to stay for travelers. Everett and Lydia McBride left Montana in 1910, leaving this house as a legacy to the Stillwater Valley. Over the years and through several owners, the Halfway House maintained its well-deserved reputation for hospitality and as a safe haven from inclement weather. Indeed, one visitor later wrote, “Many are the freighters who have stopped for a drink at the well and if perchance it was the noon or supper hour have tied their horses in the barn and enjoyed a meal.” While the freighters are long gone, the Halfway House remains a familiar sight to travelers on the Absarokee–Columbus Road.
]]>Billings architect Curtis Oehme designed the Atlas Block, constructed in 1915-16 of locally quarried sandstone. Rusticated pilasters project above the roofline, and a checkerboard patterned frieze enlivens the cornice. The solid two-story building has always served as Columbus’s social center. Even before its interior was completed, both the Catholic Altar Society and the local fire department held balls here, and the Rebekahs, Odd Fellows, and Masons began meeting on the second floor. Annin and Banks moved their dry goods store into the east bay in early March 1916, and on March 27, 1916, Mike Jacobs and Tom Mulvihill held a grand opening for the Atlas Bar, which occupied the west half of the building. Divided into several “departments,” the Atlas offered a smoking room and cigar stand; a billiards parlor, decorated with the bar’s famous animal mounts; a saloon; a three-lane bowling alley; and a sandwich shop. A separate “ladies entrance” opened to a “ladies sitting room.” Boasting one of the best preserved bar interiors in Montana, the Atlas retains its pressed metal ceilings, oak floors, and a Brunswick-Balke-Collender mahogany front and back bar, adorned with Corinthian capitals and three half arches decorated with lion heads. A second Brunswick back bar on the opposite wall is now used only for decoration. Owners sold soft drinks, ice cream, cigars, and sporting goods during Prohibition, reopening the bar after its repeal in 1933. Members of the Mulvihill family continued to operate the Atlas until 1997, offering hospitality to locals and travelers for over eighty years while preserving a Stillwater monument.
]]>On October 15, 1892, the federal government opened the land around Absarokee for settlement. The area had been part of the Crow Indian Reservation, but a year before, Crow tribal leaders bowed to political pressure and ceded the coveted territory. Sever Simonson and his family established squatter’s rights at the confluence of the Stillwater and East Rosebud Rivers eleven days before the territory formally opened. His twenty-five-year-old nephew, Oliver Hovda, soon joined him. Together they established a trading post, which became the Absarokee Cooperative Trading Co. Soon after they built a saloon, livery stable, hotel, and blacksmith shop. Simonson filed for a post office designation, and Hovda became Absarokee’s first postmaster. He also ranched and founded a local bank. Hovda married Belle Wilson in 1901. The couple hired area rancher and trained carpenter Jacob Wagner to construct this two-story home around 1904. The well-built, beautifully proportioned residence reflects the taste of its day, combining the irregular roofline associated with the Queen Anne style and neo-classical details: Doric column porch supports, a fantail window in the gable end, and a pediment accenting the main entryway. Leaded glass windows, oak trim, maple flooring, and elegantly carved doors grace the interior. The Hovdas did not live here long. By 1910, the home belonged to Hugh Campbell, manager of the Absarokee Cooperative Trading Co., which Hovda had helped found. The house returned to the family when Hovda’s nephew, Elmen Torgrimsen, purchased it in 1928. He lived here with his wife and children until 1950.
]]>The opening of the Crow Indian Reservation to homesteaders brought settlers to this area who founded the town of Absarokee in 1893. School District #52 was created and by 1903, a log cabin with a potbelly stove served the town’s first children. In 1910, the nearby two-room Sandstone School was built for elementary students, but as the town grew, it soon had need of a high school. Although Absarokee’s high school district was the smallest in the state, the town had high hopes and great determination. Residents joined forces holding dances, bazaars, and bake sales to raise funds. A $20,000 bond issue was established and the work progressed. With cobbles gathered from nearby fields and riverbeds, the school was built on donated land with volunteer labor. W. R. Plew, an engineer at Montana State University at Bozeman who promoted appropriate designs in rural schools, is credited with the plans. Finished in 1921, the Cobblestone School was fully accredited with three full-time teachers. The first five students graduated in the spring of 1922. Pupils came from as far away as Limestone and Nye, 45 miles distant, boarding with local families during the winter months. An outstanding example of a simple school built with locally available materials, the building remained in use as a high school until 1990. Most of its original woodwork and fixtures remain intact. The Cobblestone School and its companion Sandstone School are landmark examples of the importance of public education to rural communities and of Absarokee’s commitment to its children.
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