Stuart, Granville, 1834-1918

Granville Stuart was born August 27, 1834, in Clarksburg, Harrison County, Virginia, to Robert Stuart and Nancy Currence Hall. He was the second of five children. Stuart left Iowa in 1852 with his brother James to seek a fortune in the gold fields of California. They traveled with their father, Robert Stuart, from the American Valley (Quincy) to Bidwell Bar, then on through Morris Ravine near Cherokee, finally arriving at Sam Neal's ranch near present-day Durham. He and his brother moved up the mountain to Dogtown trying their luck in several different mining ventures. After prospecting all over northern California, Stuart eventually ended up in Montana, becoming the state's largest cattle owner in the 1880s. A horrible freezing winter later killed his entire herd. In 1862, Stuart married Awbonnie Tookanka, and had eight children with her before her death in 1888. On June 8, 1890, he married Allis Isabelle Brown. Stuart became the state Librarian for Montana and wrote several books describing his western experiences before he died on October 2, 1918, in Butte, Montana. Permission to reprint his journal was given to the Dogtown Territorial by the Arthur H. Clark Company.

From the description of Granville Stuart, ca. 1900. (Brigham Young University). WorldCat record id: 52868093

Granville Stuart was born August 27, 1834, in Clarksburg, Harrison County, Virginia, to Robert Stuart and Nancy Currence Hall. He was the second of five children. Stuart left Iowa in 1852 with his brother James to seek a fortune in the gold fields of California. They traveled with their father, Robert Stuart, from the American Valley (Quincy) to Bidwell Bar, then on through Morris Ravine near Cherokee, finally arriving at Sam Neal's ranch near present-day Durham. He and his brother moved up the mountain to Dogtown trying their luck in several different mining ventures. After prospecting all over northern California, Stuart eventually ended up in Montana, becoming the state's largest cattle owner in the 1880s. A horrible freezing winter later killed his entire herd. In 1862, Stuart married Awbonnie Tookanka, and had eight children with her before her death in 1888. On June 8, 1890, he married Allis Isabelle Brown. Stuart became the state librarian for Montana and wrote several books describing his Western experiences before he died on October 2, 1918, in Butte, Montana. Permission to reprint his journal was given to the Dogtown Territorial by the Arthur H. Clark Company.

From the description of Granville Stuart papers, 1851-1957. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 367910605

Granville Stuart and his brother James Stuart were Montana pioneers. They discovered gold in Montana in 1858, and settled in Deer Lodge in 1867. Granville Stuart was active in Montana politics, and in 1884 was a leader of the vigilante movement in Montana. James Stuart was appointed post trader at Fort Browning in 1871. George Ives, an outlaw associated with Henry Plummer's band of road agents, was executed in 1863.

From the description of Granville and James Stuart account books, 1857-1873. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 81845173

From the description of Granville and James Stuart account books, 1857-1873. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 702150397

Granville Stuart was born August 27, 1834, near what is now Clarksburg, West Virginia. In 1837 he moved west with his family to Iowa. After their father went to California in 1849, Granville and his brother James Stuart followed west to join him in 1852. The Stuart brothers remained there prospecting until 1857 when they attempted to return to Iowa. However, the Mormon War in Utah blocked the trail and caused the brothers to go north to what later became Montana. They prospected for gold in the Deer Lodge Valley, making the first strike at Gold Creek in 1858. During the 1860s Granville and James worked mainly as prospectors and small merchants in various Montana mining camps. After James' death in 1873, Granville suffered financial reverses, and by 1876 had become a bookkeeper for Samuel T. Hauser's First National Bank of Helena. In 1879 he formed, with Hauser, Andrew J. Davis and Erwin Davis, a cattle-raising enterprise, Davis, Hauser and Company, using the brand DHS. The partners made Stuart general manager and superintendent of the company, a position he held until the spring of 1887. From 1894 to 1898, Stuart served as United States ambassador to Paraguay and Uruguay, a post he obtained through the assistance of Hauser and Russell Harrison. He returned to Montana in 1899, and in his final years, served as librarian of the Butte Public Library. Granville Stuart was the first secretary of the Montana Historical Society and served as its president from 1890 to 1895. In 1886 to 1887, he was president of the Society of Montana Pioneers, and for seven years he served as president of the Board of Stock Commissioners, resigning his post in 1891. Although he never completed the history of Montana the legislature commissioned him to write, he did publish Montana As It Is in 1865, and in 1925, a selection of his and James' journals was published under the title, Forty Years on the Frontier. Granville Stuart died in Missoula on October 2, 1918.

From the guide to the Granville Stuart Papers, 1863-1918, (Montana Historical Society Archives)

Granville Stuart, born in Virginia, settled in Montana Territory with his brother James in 1857. Granville Stuart was a member of the Territorial Council and in the Legislature, was president of the Board of Stock Commissioners, the Historical Society of Montana, and the Society of Montana Pioneers. He was commissioned by the State Legislature in 1916 to write a history of Montana.

James Stuart, Granville Stuart's brother, moved to Montana Territory in 1857. In 1864, James was elected captain of a Yellowstone expedition (his second to the area) to prospect gold on the Yellowstone River and to fight Crow Indians.

From the description of Granville Stuart papers, [1864]-1918. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122588762

Granville Stuart, born in Virginia, settled in Montana Territory with his brother James in 1857. Granville Stuart was a member of the Territorial Council and in the Legislature, was president of the Board of Stock Commissioners, the Historical Society of Montana, and the Society of Montana Pioneers. He was commissioned by the State Legislature in 1916 to write a history of Montana.

James Stuart, Granville Stuart's brother, moved to Montana Territory in 1857. In 1864, James was elected captain of a Yellowstone expedition (his second to the area) to prospect gold on the Yellowstone River and to fight Crow Indians.

From the description of Granville Stuart papers, [1864]-1918. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 702130452

Granville Stuart (1834-1918), early settler of Montana, served on the Territorial Council and in the Legislature, was president of the Board of Stock Commissioners, the Historical Society of Montana, and the Society of Montana Pioneers. He went into the cattle business in the 1870s and was president of the Stock Growers Association. In 1894 he was appointed Minister to Uruguay and Paraguay and in 1916 the State Legislature commissioned him to write a history of Montana.

James Stuart (1832-1873), early settler of Montana, was appointed post trader at Fort Browning in 1871.

Frederick H. Burr came to Montana in 1853, settled in Bitterroot in 1856, and married a sister of Granville Stuart's wife Aubony.

From the description of Stuart family papers, 1854-1887. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 702128297

Granville Stuart was born in Clarksburg, Virginia (now West Virginia) on August 27, 1834, and was the son of Robert and Nancy (Currence) Stuart. James was born in the same place on March 14, 1832. Granville and James also had two younger brothers Samuel and Thomas. The family, of Scottish origin, came to the United States in 1775 and is identified with the development of Virginia. In 1837 Robert Stuart moved the family to Illinois, and a year later, to Iowa. Granville Stuart grew up in Muscatine County, attending school and working on the family farm until 1852, when he went to California with his father and his brother James. They remained there prospecting for gold until 1857 when they came to western Montana, then part of the Washington Territory, and settled in Deer Lodge valley, about three miles north of the present town of Pioneer at the mouth of Gold Creek.

Granville and James prospected along Gold Creek from 1858 to 1862. Soon after, their operations caused a gold rush to the area. The Stuart brothers and their large prospecting party helped open up Western Montana to settlers. James Stuart remained in Deer Lodge until 1870, when he was appointed to the post of physician at the Fort Peck agency. He remained there until his death from cancer on Sept. 30, 1873.

In 1863 Granville Stuart moved to Alder Gulch just after its discovery, and entered the mercantile business. In 1865 he sold this business and entered into extensive trading in Deer Lodge. In 1873 Granville sold all of his merchant interests and went back into mining. In 1876 he moved to Helena and became a bookkeeper for the First National Bank. After three years he went onto the cattle business with S. T. Hauser of the First National Bank and A. J. Davis, a millionaire miner from Butte. From 1879-1894 Granville was the controller and manager of this extensive cattle business. The Hauser, Davis, Stuart Cattle Co. came to be known as the "D-S" ranch. In the 1880s Granville represented the "D-S" ranch at the Montana Stock Growers Assoc. meetings. In 1883 the "D-S" range held 12,000 cattle. In 1885 this Cattle co. was worth one million dollars. After 1887 Granville got out of the cattle business, but remained the president of board of stock commissioners in Montana until 1894. In 1891 Granville became a state land agent in charge of 600,000 acres given to Montana by the federal government for school purposes.

Granville married Isabel Allis Brown in 1891. In 1894 he was appointed envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to the republics of Uruguay and Paraguay. He spent four years in South America, exploring the Amazon, and looking for mining prospects. In 1904 Granville was appointed librarian of the Butte Public Library and there he began preparing his journals for publication. In 1916 he was commissioned by the state to write a history of Montana, and he was at work on this when he died on Oct. 2, 1918.

Granville Stuart was involved in politics and served on the territorial council in 1872, 1875, 1879, and was elected president of the council in 1883. In 1865 Mr. Stuart published a book, Montana As It Is, on the geography and climate of Montana. This was the first guidebook ever printed about Montana. He had extensive dealings with the Native Americans of the area, and was concerned for their welfare. In the 1870s he composed a dictionary of the Snake River Indian language. He was concerned about the effects of whiskey trading among the Indians, and the resulting degeneration of their society. Late in his life he expressed concern about the future of the Native Americans on reservations and hoped they would learn farming as a means of self-support.

Mr. Stuart began condensing his journals into a biography later in his life. After his death editors who eventually published his book posthumously continued this work. The end result of this labor was the publication of Forty Years on the Frontier in 1925, in two volumes, edited by University of Montana professor Paul C. Phillips.

From the guide to the Granville and James Stuart papers, 1868-1887; 1890-1892, (Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library Archives and Special Collections)

Granville Stuart (1834-1918) was a prominent rancher and historian in Montana.

Granville Stuart was born August 27, 1834, in Clarksburg, Harrison County, Virginia, to Robert Stuart and Nancy Currence Hall. He was the second of five children. Stuart left Iowa in 1852 with his brother James to seek a fortune in the gold fields of California. They traveled with their father, Robert Stuart, from the American Valley (Quincy) to Bidwell Bar, then on through Morris Ravine near Cherokee, finally arriving at Sam Neal's ranch near present-day Durham. He and his brother moved up the mountain to Dogtown trying their luck in several different mining ventures. After prospecting all over northern California, Stuart eventually ended up in Montana, becoming the state's largest cattle owner in the 1880s. A horrible freezing winter later killed his entire herd. In 1862, Stuart married Awbonnie Tookanka, and had eight children with her before her death in 1888. On June 8, 1890, he married Allis Isabelle Brown. Stuart became the state librarian for Montana and wrote several books describing his Western experiences before he died on October 2, 1918, in Butte, Montana.

From the guide to the Granville Stuart papers, 1851-1957, (L. Tom Perry Special Collections)