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“Bite-Size Bits of Local, National, and Global History”
Missoula in Missoula County, Montana — The American West (Mountains)
 

Rattlesnake Creek

 
 
Rattlesnake Creek Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, July 15, 2016
1. Rattlesnake Creek Marker
Inscription. Rattlesnake Creek enters the Clark Fork River across from this point, completing the journey from its headwaters high in the Rattlesnake National Wilderness Area. Missoula’s first building was a two-room log cabin constructed by William T. Hamilton in 1858 near the mouth of the creek. Hamilton built the cabin to serve as both his home and as a trading post. The building also housed the town’s post office for several years. Hamilton was elected county sheriff in 1861.

When the Stevens Bridge (located near St. Patrick Hospital) washed out in 1869, William Burmester operated a ferry near the mouth of Rattlesnake Creek as the primary means of crossing the Clark Fork within the present town’s limits. It continued as such until the Higgins Avenue Bridge was constructed in 1873.

In 1897, lumber baron Thomas Greenough contracted Missoula architect A.J. Gibson to design and built a mansion on the banks of the Rattlesnake approximately three blocks north of its mouth. In 1902, Greenough’s widow, Tennie Epperson Greenough, donated 20 acres of land along Rattlesnake Creek to the City for its first public park, which was named Greenough Park in honor of its benefactor.

Rattlesnake Creek provided water power to run Missoula’s first lumber and flour mill west of the creek. The clear waters of Rattlesnake Creek served as Missoula’s
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drinking water supply until 1983.
 
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Parks & Recreational AreasSettlements & SettlersWaterways & Vessels.
 
Location. 46° 51.993′ N, 113° 59.184′ W. Marker is in Missoula, Montana, in Missoula County. Marker can be reached from Maurice Avenue north of South 5th Street East when traveling north. Marker is located along the Kim Williams Trail, in Madison Park, overlooking the Clark Fork River, just north of the parking lot at this intersection. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 1534 Maurice Avenue, Missoula MT 59802, United States of America. Touch for directions.
 
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Glacial Lake Missoula (about 600 feet away, measured in a direct line); Reid Residence (approx. 0.2 miles away); Draper Residence (approx. 0.3 miles away); Student Union (approx. 0.3 miles away); Central Heating Plant (approx. 0.3 miles away); North Hall (approx. 0.3 miles away); Swift Building (approx. 0.3 miles away); University Library 1922-1973 (approx. 0.3 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Missoula.
 
More about this marker. Marker is an embossed metal tablet, mounted horizontally on a waist-high stone and masonry pedestal.
 
Also see . . .
Rattlesnake Creek Marker (<i>wide view looking north; Clark Fork River in backround</i>) image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, July 15, 2016
2. Rattlesnake Creek Marker (wide view looking north; Clark Fork River in backround)

1. William Thomas Hamilton. Brought to America from England at age two, Hamilton grew up in St. Louis, Mo., and began trapping at an early age on the North Platte and Green rivers (in present-day Nebraska and Wyoming). He became an Indian fighter in the 1850s in California, the Northwest, and the Plains. In 1858 he set up a trading post in what became Missoula, Mont., and, while trading, held various jobs as county sheriff, Indian agent, and army scout. His memoirs, My Sixty Years on the Plains, appeared in 1905. (Submitted on February 25, 2019, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.) 

2. The Greenough Mansion (1894-1992). Greenough’s beautiful home was directly in the path of I-90 which came through Missoula in 1966. The house was moved, first to a place of storage at the north end of the Van Buren street bridge, where it was nearly destroyed by fire. Finally, it was cut into pieces so it could be moved across the Madison Street bridge to its new home in the South Hills. During the 1970s and 80s, it was home to one of the Overland Express Restaurants, “The Mansion.” It burned to the ground in June of 1992 ostensibly due to a lightning-caused electrical fire. (Submitted on February 25, 2019, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.) 
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on November 24, 2019. It was originally submitted on February 24, 2019, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This page has been viewed 267 times since then and 25 times this year. Photos:   1. submitted on February 24, 2019, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.   2. submitted on February 25, 2019, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.

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Mar. 28, 2024