September 1927: Lindbergh visits the Swan
Posted By admin on September 9, 2009
Charles Lindbergh was the kind of guy around whom tales grew with the telling. So you have to be careful about those stories surrounding his visit to Montana in September 1927, which I touched on in Sunday’s Montana History Almanac.
He was arguably the most famous man in the world when he flew the “Spirit of St. Louis” into Butte from Boise on Sept. 5, hit a couple of towns to typically adoring receptions, then headed for Spokane a week later to continue a 48-state, 22,000-mile nationwide tour. Lindbergh had flown solo across the Atlantic in May, the first person to do so, and thereby captured the imagination of people around the globe.
So everybody was keeping close track of him on his tour to promote commercial aviation, sponsored by the Guggenheim Family Foundation and the Department of Commerce. When he disappeared from the public’s radar on Sept. 8, there was bound to be consternation. The mystery was cleared up three days later, when it was revealed that Anaconda Copper Co. officials had spirited Lindy away to mountains of western Montana for a rest. The next day, back in Butte, details of his vacation emerged.
Here’s how some of it came out in the Sept. 12 Missoulian, which started off by speculating whether Lindbergh would land in Missoula that morning (he didn’t, but circled every part of the city and dropped a message to the town folk):
“The secret of the location of the camp of Colonel Lindbergh, at his retreat in the mountains of Western Montana, became known yesterday to set at rest the endless speculation and the dissemination of rumors regarding the place where the redoubtable flyer and his friends have been enjoying an outing.
“Colonel Lindbergh’s camp was at Elbow lake, which is located in the northern part of Missoula county, in one of the most rugged and picturesque spots of the entire west, a region the virginity of which is yet unspoiled by the automobile or the pot hunter.”
The article goes on to sing the praises of the country surrounding the lake, which was later re-named Lindbergh Lake.
We’ll go further into the newspaper’s understanding of the trip in the next post.
I AM A REAL ESTATE APPRAISER IN MISSOULA, MT. MY CURRENT ASSIGNEMENT IS TO APPRAISE “LUCKY LINDBERGH’S ” ELBOW/LINFBERGH LAKE LODGE. ANY HISTORICAL INFO YOU CAN PROVIDE WOULD BE APPRECIATED.
THANKS, MATT
Matt,
About all I know off hand is what I posted on the blog. The post above is one of four on Lindbergh’s trip to the lake in 1927, which were posted last September. (click on September 2009 on the right hand side of the Montanayesterday.com blog). The last post includes a couple of links that might interest you.
I know there are folks around who know the history of the lodge up there, and it does have a fascinating history. Maybe someone will see this and respond.
Kim Briggeman
Hello Kim and Matt:
My great grandfather was John D. Ryan of the Anaconda Company. I would love to find out any information you may have come across in your research about his resdience on Elbow/Lindbergh Lake. Wondering if it may still exist. Unfortunately, there are no family members still alive that I may ask.
Thanks so much, Sally Ryan
Sally,
I’m not sure what Ryan owned on the Lake. Here’s what Steve Lamar wrote in “Swan Valley Place Names.” (note the date of 1927 that construction began. The same year Lindbergh stayed there.)
“Laird’s Lodge, located near the outlet of Elbow Lake (now Lindbergh Lake), was named for Captain Eli Laird and his wife Clementyne “Tyne.” They started construction of the main lodge in 1927. This building is now on the National Register of Historic Places. Between 1927 and 1935, the Lairds built a dining room, four cabins and the tack room, in addition to the main lodge. Cap died in 1943. Tyne sold the facility to Dick Hickey and Ross Greening in 1945. The new owners renamed the resort the Diamond L Bar Ranch, after Cap’s brand. Both Laird’s Lodge and the Diamond L Bar Ranch catered to visitors from around the world.”
I visited the lodge a few times as a child and loved being there. My Aunt Jane and Uncle Dick Hickey owned the Diamond L Bar Ranch. My grandaughter is coming to Missoula this week to begin college. I hope to visit her sometime and would love to come see the lodge again. Is it possible to arrange a visit? Do I understand it is currently for sale? I can be contacted at 707-299-0869.
Bonnie Kroplin
In the late 40s, the company my dad worked for would take any family that wanted to go to Montana deer hunting. We stayed at “Laird’s Lodge” (Diamond L Bar Ranch). I got to go three times. I knew Dick and Jane Hickey and their two daughters. For the life of me, I can’t remember the daughters’ names but they were both slightly older than me. We would be there in late October and after the snow, would ride on sleds and build snowmen. The younger daughter and I were going to cross the river one day. Rather than using the perfectly good bridge, I chose to cross on some logs across the river’s mouth. The temperature at the time was below 0 and you guess it. I slipped on a patch of ice and fell in. Needless to say, when Dad came down from hunting he made sure I was warmed up in a not so pleasant way. I have a lot of very fond memories of the Hickeys and “Laird’s Lodge.” I’m still planning on going back to see it again before they plant me.
MY FAMILY AND I STAYED AT THE DIAMOND L BAR RANCH EVERY SUMMER FROM 1953 UNTIL IT CLOSED IN 1975. THE OWNERS IN 1953 WERE DICK AND JANE HICKEY. THEY WERE WONDERFUL FOLKS! I HAVE SOME MOVIE FILM OF THEM ON THE FRONT LAWN OF THE LODGE AND OTHER FOOTAGE OF THE RANCH AND LAKE BEGINNING IN 1953 UNTIL1975. I REMEMBER THE RANCH AND CABINS VERY WELL, AND REMEMBER THE NAMES OF ALL THE CABINS. WE USUALLY STAYED IN THE LARIAT, BUT WE ALSO STAYED IN THE ROUND-UP AND STAMPED AS WELL AS IN THE LODGE APARTMENT (HICKEY’S OLD LIVING QUARTERS). THE I REMEMBER WELL THE INTERIOR OF THE LODGE BECAUSE I WOULD SPEND THE EVENINGS THERE SITTING BY THE FIRE PLACE AND READING VARIOUS LIFE MAGAZINES FROM THE VAST COLLECTION KEPT ON SHELVES AROUND THE ROOM. EVERY ROOM ON THE SECOND FLOOR HAD A NAME MY FAVORITE WAS THE MAVERICK. I SPENT MANY HAPPY HOURS AT THE HORSE CORRAL. I LOVED RIDING THE HORSES AND DID SO EVERY DAY. THE HORSEBACK RIDES TO THE LOOKOUT, CRYSTAL LAKE AND FRY CABIN WERE MY FAVORITES. AN OLD MARE NAMED JEAN COULDN’T BE KEPT WITH THE OTHER HORSES IN THE CORRAL AND HAD TO BE TIED TO A POST OUTSIDE THE TACK BUILDING. I REMEMBER THE TREE STUMP CALLED “OLD CHARLIE” OUT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE LAKE, AND THE STORIES OF HOW IT CAME TO BE NAMED. THE DAYS AT THE DIAMOND L BAR WERE VERY HAPPY AND FOND ONES FOR ME AND MY FAMILY.
In regard to John Garnett’s January 15, 2011 posting, the names of the girls were Carol and Sharon. As I remember, Carol Hickey lived at the ranch until she graduated from high school. I don’t recall what happened to Carol after that time. However, Sharon married and came back to the ranch in the mid to late ’60s. She and her husband built a house on the bluff across the river from the lodge and helped run the ranch. She would organize ranch picnics at the barbecue by the river and square dances in the lodge for the guests.
Regarding the post entitled “Happy 129th, Ma Bell” (February 21, 2011) the first telephone line in Montana connected Fort Keogh and Miles City. The first telephone exchange was established in 1881 in Miles City, Montana.
Thank you Tony Lamb for providing Carol and Sharon’s names. I still haven’t made it back, but still plan on doing so. I have some photos my dad made one year while we were there. One, I think, is of the one-room school both girls attended. I visited one day and was “blown away.” I couldn’t believe everyone went to class in a single room. Maybe it wasn’t a one-room, but it couldn’t have had many rooms. It was rather tiny.
Dick Hickey is my great-grandfather. Sharon is my Grandma and I visit their home every summer. I love all your comments. Small world, right?
Kathryn, yes it is a small world! Please give your great-grandfather my best. He was always such a gentleman and real Montanan. He will likely remember my parents Kay and LLoyd Lamb. My parents met Dick and Jane Hickey in 1952 at Lindberg Lake. My father Lloyd Lamb passed away last October 2011. He and my mother Kay, who passed in October 1992, are buried in Miles City.
Dick Hickey was my grandfather. There is a little confusion here. Some of the above posts are actually recalling Dick’s first wife Margaret (my grandmother) and their children, not Jane (his second wife). Dick (and his business partner Ross Greening) bought the Diamond L Bar from the Laird’s immediately after the war. This was with his first wife Margaret, and their children Sharon and Carole (son Joe was born there). They then divorced. Margaret and the children moved to Washington State about 1955, and Dick continued at the ranch with his second wife Jane. Carole (my Mother) emmigrated to Australia and then Europe. My Mother remembers her childhood at the ranch well, including the one-room schoolhouse, and although she doesn’t specifically recall John Garnett falling in the river, such adventures happened every day and she was always so happy playing in the woods with the guests’ children. There are recollections of the ranch in the new book ‘Montana: Voices of the Swan’, by Suzanne M Vernon.
… unless (on second thoughts) he’s Johnny of the T P Canon group of guests that would come each year, in which case he was the kid that would leave her with a Texan accent after he left…
Thanks for posting, Kathryn, Tony, Phil, et al
This is fascinating stuff on a topic, the Diamond L Bar and Lindbergh Lake, that I didn’t know much about.
http://www.Refinace-LasVegas.com