A cell phone rings- "Hello. Yes, I am about ready to meet you. Well, I had some time on my hands so I came to this fantastic museum here in Whitehall. See you as soon as I can. You should visit here also." Visitor when leaving- "Well, the Pioneer Museum in Bozeman used to be my favorite one, now this one is. You've really done a great job here." Some Californians leaving- "I am giving you more in your donation box than I usually give in our visits to museums for this is so much better than most we visit." This could go on and on, but you get the picture—your museum is getting good reviews. This, our eleventh year, saw them come from 41 states and 6 foreign countries. We are not up to our potential yet but working on this through better contacts.

You can help us get more visitors— bring your friends or relations here when they visit you, send them one of our brochures if they are out of state, tell others about the FREE museum where one can see many nostalgic items of the past at a closer range. You don't peer through windows here to look at the past. Also, you can help us get new members by telling them what a great museum we have and encourage them to become part of us.

Artifacts still come in, some that we have not seen in other museums. Genealogy requests keep coming in as well as those for historical data. Toy appraisals, slide shows and other programs keep young and old coming to visit. Next year we may add some old hats for the young at heart to try on and laugh a little. There will be a doll appraiser here along with another toy one. Hands on items seem to be very popular with the younger set so we will try to get more things for them to feel and touch instead of the usual "Please don't touch" attitude we now have.

We have been promised two antique tractors for next year, on loan, and we hope to have the 42 star flag out for all to see. The flag is sort of an oddity in that it was never recognized as an official US flag. Montana was the 41st state admitted into the Union and there was not a 41 star flag. Washington state followed, then Idaho, and thus it was a 44 star flag that first officially recognized Montana on the flag since states were only recognized on each Fourth of July. Newspapers from Wicks in the late 1890s are also coming, so that should make some fun reading.

Oh yes- HE IS BACK!! The Wooden Indian that sat for years in front of the Modem Pharmacy, property of Bob Taylor at the time, is back home in Whitehall. We will have to have some work done on him and then he will be able to greet all when visiting next year.

Volunteers still make your museum work and we are thankful for all the help we are getting when needed. We especially wish to thank the Wagner Nursery for their beautiful tubs of flowers given to us each year and the Whitehall Ledger for all the good newspaper coverage. Other volunteers clean, mow grass, set-up computer programs, greet visitors and do whatever we ask of them- thanks to each one of you. We, of course, are always looking for more as we have to paint "The Barn" this year, a task many are not up to taking on due to our having to hand scrape it and probably hand paint. We will conquer however, so come and see it. We have to get our photograph collection in order also and hope to find some way to do this during the winter. This will take much time as we need to try to identify those in the pictures in our collection. In doing this we can find the specific picture of someone when requested.

Genealogy requests also most times wish to see a picture of someone and we do have a photograph-only album set up and we need to get this in better order. We are still recording obituaries out of the old newspapers that we have and hope to get these caught up. All in all, you can see we keep busy, all trying to make this history of our town available to all who desire such information.

The museum has become one of the more prominent destination locations for historians. In addition, many contact the museum for information about family genealogy, and the museum has a wealth of information about area family histories. The museum can be emailed at jvmuseum@in-tch.com

The Jefferson Valley Museum is located at 303 South Division in Whitehall (south of the railroad tracks on the right side of the street) in an historic barn that was converted into the museum in 1996.

The museum can be reached by calling 287-7813 and is open noon to 4:00 PM from Memorial Day through Labor Day (closed Mondays), and tours or visits can be arranged at other times.

"The Barn"

The barn that houses the museum was dedicated to the Jefferson Valley Museum in 1992 by longtime Whitehall residents Basil and Tene Brooke. The Brooke family helped settle the town that became Whitehall. The barn was built in 1914 on land first homesteaded in 1880. The building was used as a milking barn starting in 1915 through about 1937. The Brookes bought the building in 1950, and built a butchering plant just south (still visible today) of the barn. While strolling through "The Barn" you can visualize horses being harnessed, cows being milked and a milk wagon leaving, pulled by a horse that knew all the stops. Milk sold would garner about a dime a quart.

The Barn went through a comprehensive and impressive restoration and refurbishing effort and now offers a complete historical perspective of the Jefferson Valley.

Jefferson Valley History

The Jefferson Valley was used extensively by Native Americans, and was a major hunting area and wintering area by several tribes. Museum exhibits illustrate the tribal history in the valley. Lewis & Clark traveled up the Jefferson River on their way to the Pacific Ocean, and spent Clark's birthday in 1805 not far from present day Whitehall. Expedition members spotted signs of Indians in the valley, encountered grizzly bears and made a key decision when moving up what is now the Beaverhead River (which, with the Big Hole River, forms the Jefferson River).

Fur traders, including Jim Bridger, traversed the area, and Father DeSmet met with Indian tribes in the valley, and performed Mass in the Jefferson Valley near the canyon at LaHood Park.

In the 1860s gold fever brought settlers to the area, with stagecoach stops about every 10 miles. Settlers changed the landscape, raising horses, cattle and food for the mining camps. Whitehall is a highly mineralized area, and active mining continues today. In 1890, Northern Pacific Railroad put Whitehall on the map. The Milwaukee Railroad started coming through Whitehall in 1906-07.

A mural depicting the history of Whitehall adorns the north wall of the addition built onto the Whitehall Community Library, located just a few blocks from the museum on Whitehall Street.

Three key historical elements — mining, railroad and agriculture — are prominent in the Jefferson Valley Museum through a variety of exhibits and artifacts.

The museum displays a multitude of rare and historic photos depicting all of Whitehall’s historical eras and shows a variety of everyday activities throughout the past century and past. It is worth a stop at the museum just to explore history through the abundant photos.

On Display At The Museum

The Jefferson Valley museum is earning a reputation as one of best rural museums in Montana. The museum has pledged to "Preserve the past for use in the future."

Here are just a few of the items on display at the museum: The Whitehall 1990 Centennial Quilt, wondrous old railroad photos, historic farm machinery, displays named "Grandma's Kitchen," "Grandpa's Tools" and other displays, old cars, historic photos of Whitehall, a buggy used by a well known rancher and so much more.

The Jefferson Valley Museum is a non-profit organization and donations are tax deductible. The sidewalk leading to "The Barn" is a boardwalk named the "Walk Of Names" and many area residents have memorialized their family name and area presence by purchasing a plank (with their name engraved) on the Walk Of Names. There are currently nearly 600 boards etched in the Walk of Names.

The Jefferson Valley Museum is a non-profit organization and donations are tax deductible. The sidewalk leading to "The Barn" is a boardwalk named the "Walk Of Names" and many area residents have memorialized their family name and area presence by purchasing a plank (with their name engraved) on the Walk Of Names. There are currently 571 boards etched in the Walk of Names.

To To learn more about museum memberships, Walk of Names, museum collections and displays, click here at http://gallery.in-tch.com/~jvmuseum

Tom Fellows, a WHS graduate of 1954, has published a book containing the history of Whitehall and the Jefferson Valley from 1865 to 1925, and copies of the 266-page book are available at the museum.

If you’re interested in the Jefferson Valley, the history of Montana or what a rural community like Whitehall was like for the past century, you're going to want to schedule a stop at the Jefferson Valley Museum.