Stevensville Historical Museum: Kitchen stuff (photo diary)

by Ojibwa for Museums

Community

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Monday, Apr. 11, 2022 Monday, Apr. 11, 2022 at 7:39:40am PDT

Stevensville, Montana, has been officially recognized as the first non-Indian permanent settlement in the state. It began as a Christian mission established by the Catholic Jesuits in 1841. The area was the homeland of the Bitterroot Salish Indians who were removed from the area by the United States Army in 1891.

In 1850, the Jesuits closed St. Mary’s Mission and sold the property a local trader, Major John Owens, who turned it into Fort Owen which served as a trading post for the Bitterroot Valley. In 1866, the Jesuits returned to restore the St. Mary’s Mission. In 1855, Washington Territorial Governor Isaac Stevens imposed a treaty on the tribes in the area in which the United States intended to establish a single reservation for many different tribes. In honor of Isaac Stevens, the community of St. Mary changed its name to Stevensville in 1864.

Today Stevensville has a population of about 2,000 and a small, volunteer-run historical museum. Like many small historical museums, it contains a collection of artifacts relating to the local history and provides little explanation of the artifacts themselves. Shown below are some of the kitchen displays in the Stevensville Historical Museum.