Monroe, Bessie Kerlee, 1888-1987

Bessie Kerlee was born on Tin Cup Creek near Darby, Montana, on September 22, 1888, the daughter of James and mary Sally Kerlee. She grew up on the family homestead. In 1907 she married forester Roy Parks Monroe. While living in Twin Bridges, Montana, she began writing for the Butte Miner. When her husband died in 1920, she was left with 5 small children and a 6th on the way. She then began working full time as a journalist for many Montana newspapers. She continued to write her column until her death at age 98, on August 19, 1987.

From the description of Bessie K. Monroe reminiscence, 1968. (Montana Historical Society Library). WorldCat record id: 302289202

Bessie Kerlee Monroe was born in the Bitterroot Valley in western Montana on Sept. 22, 1888, five months after her family settled into their homestead. Her parents, James Kerlee and Mary Sally Hibler, were married June 10, 1877 in Missouri. Jim and Sally Kerlee, as they were known, operated a farm there. Around 1885 the family moved to a peach farm near Sulphur Springs, Arkansas, before traveling to Montana in 1888. The couple had six children before they left for the Bitterroot Valley and had their ninth, Bessie Kerlee, shortly after they arrived. They eventually had eleven children. The family lived on Tin Cup Creek, southwest of Darby, Montana, until 1896 when they traded their homestead for another one just north of town. Jim Kerlee died on the Nez Perce Pass in November 1921 while traveling home from a month vacation at his placer claim on Idaho's Deep Creek trail. Sally Kerlee remained at the family's homestead until her death in 1942.

Bessie Monroe was a member of the first graduating eighth grade class in Darby in 1902 and attended high school in Corvallis, Montana. She married Roy Park Monroe, a U.S. Forest Service ranger, on Christmas Eve 1907 in Darby. They had six children. From 1910 to 1914 the couple traveled with one or more of their children through the Clearwater National Forest in the Idaho panhandle while Roy Monroe worked as a ranger. During World War I, Bessie Monroe worked as a correspondent for the Butte Miner at Twin Bridges, Montana. Following her husband's death on Aug. 27, 1920, Bessie Monroe moved to Hamilton, Montana, in 1922 to begin work with the Ravalli Republican newspaper. Bessie Monroe, who was known as "B. K.," supported her children by writing articles for various newspapers, including the Missoulian . B.K. Monroe was also a published poet and was interested in historical preservation. She was known as the Bitterroot Valley's veteran reporter. At age 95 in 1983, Bessie "B. K." Monroe still wrote stories for what is now called the Ravalli Republic . She had been writing for that newspaper for 61 years. She died in 1987.

From the guide to the Bessie K. Monroe Papers, 1982-1983, (Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library Archives and Special Collections)