Burgess, Lorena M. (Lorena Markle), 1888-1988

Lorena Markle Burgess was a longtime resident of Hot Springs, Montana, who was involved in work on federal and local issues related to the Flathead Reservation. She was born on December 7, 1888, in St. Ignatius, Montana, to Jasper and Rosa Markle. She grew up in Hot Springs and received her education in Plains, Montana. She became a school teacher in Dickinson, North Dakota and at the Markle Ranch in Hot Springs, Montana, prior to her marriage.

Lorena Markle married Henry Hiram Burgess on December 17, 1910. Burgess was a native of Kimball, South Dakota, who spent most of his early life in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. He came to Montana in 1910, and drove stage and freight between Plains and Hot Springs. Following their marriage, the Burgess’ lived in Colorado for a few months before they returned to the Burgess ranch in Paradise, Montana, in April 1911.

Lorena M. Burgess was the first woman council member of the Salish and Kootenai Tribes. She served a term as Hot Springs representative from 1944 through 1947. She also served as secretary of the Hot Springs Corporate Enterprise, an enterprise of the tribe. She was Governor Bonner’s representative to the Governors’ Interstate Indian Council Conventions, c. 1950s. She worked on behalf of national legislation impacting the Flathead Reservation, such as the repeal of the Wheeler-Howard Act and the termination of federal supervision over the Flathead Reservation. She was also presumably active with numerous national and local Indian organizations, including the American Indians of Montana and the National Congress of American Indians.

Burgess and her husband had eight children: Andrew, Dan, Bertha Gingery, Lorena “Harriet” Ellis, Anna Clark, Judith Petitclerc, Lillian Whipplinger, and Vera Rudolph. Henry Hiram Burgess died in 1962. Lorena Burgess died on January 30, 1988, at St. Luke’s Nursing Home in Ronan, Montana.

From the guide to the Lorena M. Burgess Papers, 1907-1973, (University of Montana--Missoula Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library Archives and Special Collections)