70 YEARS AGO • OCTOBER 13, 1948

PIONEER MATRON PASSES

Mrs. Nellie M. Haase

Mrs. Nellie M. Haase passed away at St. Patrick’s Hospital in Missoula on Saturday, October 9, 1948.

Mrs. Haase was born at Rush Lake, Wisconsin Nov. 7, 1870. Her early life was spent in Wisconsin and South Dakota.

She was united in marriage to Ferdinand J. Haase on May 7, 1894 and to this union four children were born. They came to Montana in 1905 and made a home for themselves and their family on a ranch near Trout Creek. Mr. Haase passed away in 1930 and Mrs. Haase continued to live upon her ranch until the past few years when her health would not permit. She was one of our pioneer women who established a place for herself in the hearts and lives of all who knew her. She was always interested in her community and served for many years on various school boards, election boards, etc.

Mrs. Haase is survived by her children, Mrs. Kathryn Willson of Thompson Falls, Lyle Haase of Whitepine and Mrs. Alice Riley of Tacoma. Her son, Irvin, preceded her in death in 1943.

Family History written by Kathryn Haase Kemmerer, Trout Creek, Montana early 1900s – In 1905 our father Ferd Haase and his father Christian Haase came out from Merrill, Wisconsin to settle on their homesteads on Swamp Creek across the river from Trout Creek which was where “old Larchwood is now.” Ferd and Nellie homesteaded on the north side of the river near Green Mountain. They rode in a boxcar along with the furniture and Dad’s horses. He ran a dray line and had a blacksmith shop in Merrill, so had several horses.

Our mother, Nellie Haase came out by train in August 1905. She and Kathryn, age 10, Irvin, age 8 and Lyle, 4 years old with her. Trout Creek at that time was the Division Point for the Northern Pacific Railroad. There was a post office and store, hotel, 13 saloons, and a red light district. It was a pretty rough town in those days. There were several families living there, and there was also a school. Mom and the kids stayed at the hotel for a while.

They had to cross the river in row boats. That is the way they got the furniture across the river. It must have been quite an undertaking. Around 1907 they put in a ferry.

There was heavy timber over the whole valley. The trees were so thick and tall, they could only see the sky by looking straight up.

They had to build their roads. They made them out of small logs laid side by side. They called it “corduroy roads.”

Our mother’s brother, George Button had a nice log house built on his homestead. It is now the Gerstenberger place. Our folks lived with them until Dad got a nice log house built on Swamp Creek, where our old place was, which is now all gone.

The first winter Mom stayed in the town of Trout Creek so Kathy and Irvin could go to school. Later on they built a school on what is now called “the old school section.”

Railroading was about the only occupation besides maybe some logging done by horses and maybe cutting ties for the railroad then.

The only people living on that side of the river were Ginthers, our folks, George Button and Rudolph Craft.

They held dances in their homes. The music was a mouth harp and violin. Oh what fun!

Jim Hyland ran the hotel, but when the Division Point was moved to Paradise, he built the old hotel at Trout Creek where it burned in 1937.

N.I. Hurt ran the post office and store which he also moved and ran that until 1945 when John and Joe Cernick bought it.

Then the big 1910 fire burned many people out. Our folks lost everything except for a piano which Ferd was able to load onto a lumber wagon and pull it to the mouth of Swamp Creek where the family was camped. That piano was brought from Merrill, Wisconsin and is still in the family. The fire burned all the buildings and went out to the edge of the green timber.