Born 16 April 1858 in Grant County, Wisconsin, Charles L. Cowell moved with his parents to Kansas in 1863. He was raised there on a farm and moved, along with William A. Simons, to Missoula, Montana, in 1887. Cowell and Simons were sometimes business associates, along with others such as Joseph M. Dixon. One such enterprise was the Garden City Bottling and Liquor Company, wholesale dealers of wine, liquor and cigars. Cowell was also one of the organizers of the Missoula Light Company, Missoula's first electric light company, located on the island west of the Higgins Avenue bridge in Missoula. Cowell and Dixon built and co-owned the Montana Block in downtown Missoula until Cowell turned over his part of the investment to Dixon, about a year prior to Cowell's death.
In September of 1915, Cowell married Gladys Roberts of Missoula. They had three daughters; Ann Gladys, Mary Jane and Catherine Virginia. Toward the end of his life he suffered from heart problems, which eventually took his life on 20 December 1926.
From the guide to the Charles L. Cowell Papers, 1907-1925, (Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library Archives and Special Collections)
