Service Area
- St. Ignatius
- Ravalli
- Dixon
- Pablo
- Moise
- Hot Springs
as well as ....
Charlo was originally a trail crossing for freighters hauling grain and other
goods from the rich Ronan Valley to the railroad at Dixon. The place was first
called Big Flat, then Charlotte, and later Charlo, in honor of Chief Charlo of
the Flatheads, one of the few chiefs who refused to sign Special Commissioner
James A. Garfield's order (August 27, 1872) removing all Indians of the region
to the Jocko reservation. Joseph Dixon, a governor and US Senator, was
instrumental in establishing the name Charlo. (from Cheney's Names on the
Face of Montana, Mountain Press Publishing Company)
Incorporated April 5, 1910, Polson has a history of lumbering, ranching and
steamboats. The city was named after pioneer rancher David Polson. Steamboats
played a major part in early transportation of freight and passengers. The
tugboat "Paul Bunyan" was instrumental in early logging operations.
Originally settled by Salish residents in 1883, this town was called Spring
Creek for the local warm springs that flow into the nearby Flathead River.
Residents changed the name to Ronan Springs in 1893 as a tribute to Maj. Peter
Ronan, who served as the Flathead Indian Reservation agent from 1877 until his
death in 1893. Ronan experienced a sudden boom when the federal government
opened the
Flathead Indian Reservationn to non-Indian homesteading in 1910. (Copyright
2009, Montana Historical Society: Montana Place Names from Alzada to Zortman
Montana Historical Society Research Center Staff)
E-mail Koehn Electric
Ronan Montana 59864
406-261-5767 |