Pioneers had to have one glass window, like this one in MDHC's original homestead shack, under the requirements of the 1862 Homestead Act.

Homesteader Shack

When the MonDak Heritage Center was built in 1983, the Donald Baue homestead shack was moved from Sioux Pass and placed in the Center's lower level prior to completion of the main level above. The shack, built in 1907,  is all original with a few exceptions...wooden flooring, new tar paper and interior paper....but even those items were put on as they would have been in 1907. The homestead's dimensions are 12 feet by 14 feet the minimum allowed and the size which more than 90% built to "prove up their claim." Under the original Homestead Act passed in 1862, any person 21 or older who was head of a family and a citizen could obtain title to 160 acres of public land if he/she lived on the land for five years and made improvements to it in that time.  The big influx of homesteaders to the MonDak area was from 1906 to 1910, with over 3,000 homesteads filed in Richland County, MT.

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The altar in our church display, painted to look like marble, originally came from the Lambert Catholic Church.

Church

The MDHC church display incorporates items from many of the area churches established by early MonDak settlers of diverse nationalities and faiths. For example, the communion wine set on the altar is from Lonsdale Methodist Church, but the altar itself is from the old Lambert Catholic church. Contrary to its appearance the altar is not marble, but wood painted to look like marble, a relatively common practice then, but such altars are quite rare today. The first churches in the MonDak were established by the Methodists in 1893, followed by the Lutherans in 1908, the Congregationalists also in 1908 and the Catholics in 1915.

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School bell from Three Buttes School, a one-room country schoolhouse that survived into the 1980s.

Schoolhouse

Like the church exhibit, the furnishings for the school exhibit came from a variety of area rural schools, most no longer operating. One-room schools like the one recreated in the MDHC pioneer town were common in the MonDak area in the early years and beyond, with several rural schools in Richland and surrounding counties surviving well into the 1960s. The first rural school in the MonDak area was established in 1883 in the Newlon community. Sidney's first school was established a year later in 1884.

The Heritage Center's Lillian Anderson Jensen History Library is home to a large collection of area high school annuals.

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The museum's townhouse kitchen dates from the 1930s reflecting the arrival of natural gas to the MonDak .

Townhouse

The townhouse in our exhibit is meant to contrast with the homesteader shacks of the same period. the furnishings and cluttered decorating style are all reminiscent of the early 1900s, with the exception of the kitchen which has been updated slightly to the 1930s when natural gas was piped into the Lower Yellowstone Valley. At the same time electric refrigeration became readily available, making the housewife's work much easier. But while the kitchen is slightly updated, the rest of the house is typical of the early 1900s, with its rooms filled to the brim with furniture, looking cluttered and overcrowded in the style of the day.

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An October issue of "Successful Farming" awaits delivery at the recreated Sidney, MT Post Office.

Post Office

In the days of the homesteaders, the post office was often the only link with the outside world and loved ones back home. The first post office in the MonDak area was established in 1883 at Ridgelawn, the first town in sprawling Dawson County, which originally made up nearly one third of the state of Montana. The present county system, and thus Richland County, was set up in 1914. Typically early post offices were set up in local stores or other businesses, or even in local homes. Like the other displays, our post office includes a number of items from a variety of sources, most notably the box units from the old Dore, ND, post office first established in 1901.

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Bank

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Hospital

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The local mercantile was a favorite gathering spot for both groceries and gossip. Nearly every small town in the MonDak had at least one mercantile in the early 1900s.

Mercantile

The general store was the main gathering place in the early days of the MonDak and often housed the local post office. The store can be likened to a miniature shopping center with everything packed into one room...and we mean everything. Customers could purchase groceries, fabrics, kerosene, nails, overalls, underwear, pails, brooms, and have harnesses repaired. they in turn could trade a case of fresh eggs or a can of cream for essential commodities, plus the latest news and gossip. Nearly every small community in the MonDak had their mercantile, with merchandise typically arriving by rail or steamboat. As roads and general transportation improved, however, many of the businesses came to be concentrated in the larger towns like Sidney.

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Harness Shop

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Dress Shop

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Jail

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Dentist's Office

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Soda Fountain

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Garage

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Blacksmith

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The trains are running on time in this authentic recreation of an early train depot.

Railroad Depot

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