In 1888, David Cowan moved from Winnipeg, Manitoba to Cypress, Montana with his wife, Jane McKina Cowan, and his 3 children. There he started a trading post which, at the request of homesteaders, he relocated to Box Elder in June 1889. By the early twentieth-century, the Box Elder trading post had evolved into a general store, the Cowan family had started a 8,000 acre ranch, and they had built a second store on the Rocky Boy Indian Reservation. David's son, William Thomas, joined him in running the family businesses in Box Elder at the age of fifteen. David Cowan died in 1925. As an adult, William T. Cowan took an active role in Montana politics and educational institutions. He was a state senator from 1921-1933, a U.S. Land Commissioner for 45 years as well as the chairman of the Hill County State Republican Committee. W.T. Cowan was also instrumental in negotiating the Marias River Project. He served on the State Board of Education and assisted in founding Northern Montana College where he has a hall dedicated in his name. W.T. Cowan and his wife, Margery Jacoby Cowan had three children, Jean, Virginia and William E. Cowan. W.T. Cowan died in January 1951. His son, William E. Cowan, continued to further the family business by establishing a grain elevator in the mid 1940s. W.E. Cowan attended the University of Montana, was an attorney, a member of the State Board of Education, and was active in the Montana Stockgrower's Association. W.E. Cowan and his wife Annabelle had one son, William Cowan, the donor of this collection.
From the guide to the Cowan Family Papers, 1893-1966, (Montana State University-Bozeman Library, Merrill G Burlingame Special Collections)
