Welcome to the Lindbergh Lake Lodge Blog.
I am Wendy Drasdo. My Husband Jim and I, along with Harry and Cricket Wilson, purchased the Lindbergh Lake Lodge from the Ukrainatz family at the end of July in 2002.
We visited the Lodge on July 4th, 2002 and knew we had stumbled upon a piece of paradise. As we were leaving, I took a quick snapshot from the car window because I always wanted to have this place in my memory. Although we had not planned on purchasing a place in Montana, we had fallen under the spell of Lindbergh Lake. That evening, we decided to follow our hearts and the next day we told the Wilson’s we would join them as partners in the Lindbergh Lake Lodge.
View from the window of the Suburban July 4, 2002
One of the bonus treasures when we purchased the lodge was a box of memories. It is like opening a box of someones family photos and feeling like you want to return them in someway. So hopefully this will be a way to give back to the community and to those whose memories are captured in these photographs. All I ask in return is that you help me make this blog better, by sharing your memories or identifying people in the photographs.
I will start with a concise history written by Lois Ukrainetz for the Seeley Swan Pathfinder dated Thursday, August 11, 1998
I give this to you verbatim as I will do with every article in the collection
Down Memory Lane
Current owners compile Lindbergh Lodge History
by Lois Ukrainetz
(Editor’s note: Lois Ukrainetz compiled the following history of the lodge after talking with Sharon Hickey MacQuarrie and her mother, Margaret, and from a previous visit with John Stark.)
The lodge was built in 1929 by “Cap” Eli Laird. He was called “Cap” as he had previously been Captain of the big steamer which plowed up from Couer d’Alene to St. Maries and the large mills owned by Fred Herrick. The lodge is not uniform in construction as “Cap” would be in the mountains with a hunting group leaving his wife in charge and she would catch crews smoking or slacking off and she would fire the whole crew and the next crew would do things differently. The crews camped on the other side of the river. You will notice the logs in the lodge are chipped and this is because the logs were dark and in chipping them they gave more light.
John Stark built all the furniture in the lodge and John’s wife’s brother did the leather (elk hide) work on the davenports. “Cap” and John built the large “Paul Bunyan” table in the front yard of the lodge and it was hauled into the lodge by horses. The Piano was hauled in on the old dirt road by horses and John Stark told me that there were many, many dances here with someone on the piano and always someone on the fiddle.
The cabin later called “Indian Echo” was the first built and “Cap” and his wife Tyne stayed in the loft there while the lodge was being built and then later lived in the River Cabin. The Hydroelectric system was in the middle of the river by this cabin. “Indian Echo” was used as the dining hall and had the history of the west written around the windows by Shorty Shope. Also in this cabin were many pictures of Indian Chiefs and other beautiful and valuable Indian artifacts. (This cabin burned to the ground December 31, 1978. It was then owned by Bob and Meta Binley who then rebuilt on the same spot and also named the new cabin “Indian Echo”.)
“Cap” was very protective of the area and only sold one parcel of land across the river and that was to Dr. Hawkins. There was a small walking bridge built across the river in the early days and this was later rebuilt by Dick Hickey.
“Cap’s” sense of humor was a drawing card for the lodge. He would ask visitors if they’ve been to “Triple Iron Springs” and direct them to the location where they would find three bed springs. He had a stuffed blue bird with the head backwards and he told everyone that most birds wanted to see where they were going but this one wanted to see where he’d been. He had a big bowl shaped container (still on the porch) full of large rocks and he told everyone that the rocks were Paul Bunyan’s kidney stones.
In 1945 the lodge was sold to Dick and Margaret Hickey. They built the cabin across the river, now Ruth and John Fitzgerald’s and also several other cabins.
When Hickey’s purchased the Lodge Mrs. Laird wrote to customers telling them she was selling but things would go on in the same manner with the new owners and they lost no customers in the change of hands.
In those days prices for a week’s stay at the lodge was $75. This was for everything, including three meals a day and entertainment. It was extra if a pack trip was to be included. The Hickeys had cooks for meals in the Dinning Hall but on the pack trips Margaret would go along and cook.
Visitors were often well known people including a millionaire from Texas who would bring his own staff.
Many delicious barbecues were held down by the river where they had beautiful log tables set up. Sometimes they would have as many as fifty people but had large pots and a very large frying pan to cook up meals in.
The area around the main lodge was a large porch and on the Swan River side were cots and chairs, etc., so guests could visit and sit and look outside. Across the front were chairs and a swing and in the back area and along the other side were the “Paul Bunyan” items and a little country store with a showcase showing Indian moccasins, stationary, western and home made items. Curtains in that area were buckskin and rolled paper made by rolling magazine pages around a knitting needle and dipping into shellac. Some of these are still there. A caretaker’s apartment was built along the Swan River side of the lodge in 1955.
Our family purchased the Lodge in 1978. All of the log furniture that you see was here at that time but only a few of the pictures on the walls. Each bed has a homemade quilt made by Tyne Laird and we have many beautiful napkins with the Diamond L Bar brand on them, also made by Tyne Laird.
The bottles on the shelves were either designed by my husband or purchased by him and for about 12 years before moving to Lindbergh Lake he was the “idea man” and designer of liquor decanters for two large distilleries.
Our son, Ron, has his art studio in one area of the old porch and, of course, everything in that area is his. He and my husband built the studio.
Our family consists of four children and five grandchildren and we all dearly love this Lodge and the people in the community.
The following are previous owners of the lodge and I believe I am fairly accurate on the dates: Laird: 1929-1945, Hickey: 1945-1968, Norris: 1968-1973, Schmarr: 1972-1974, Carlson: 1974-1978, Ukrainetz: 1978-present.
I hope you enjoy this journey with me and I look forward to your comments.
Lindbergh Lake Lodge 
I was fortunate enough to have visited Laird’s Lodge in the late 40s with my parents and others who worked for the same oil company my dad worked for. I remember Dick and Margaret and their two daughters whose names I can’t recall. We were usually there around Halloween and would have a big party in the lodge. I distinctly remember “bobbing” for apples in a washtub and listening to Dick play the marimba. I have a few photos my dad took that I’d be glad to e-mail to anyone interested. They are black & white and show the main lodge, the Hickey’s home (I think) and a couple of the cabins where guests stayed.
Thanks John. I love the stories! I would love to put the pictures up here on the website, you can send it to k9rovers@aol.com and I will put them up. Thanks for looking at the website. More info to come in October.
Hello my name is Christie Laird and my dad is Roger Laird. The grandson of Caps brother Levi. He was 12 the last time he was up there and is 86 now. I am trying to find I formation as I would love to take him back up the Laird Lodge for some memories and family history. Please contact me at 2085596850 or levialayna@msn.com. thank you
Hi Christie,
Hopefully you saw my other reply. I just saw the address I have on here for pictures and stories to put on the website. My new address is k9rovers@me.com if anyone has any they would like to add.
Hi John,
I am Sharon Ann Hickey(MacQuarrie), daughter of Dick and Margaret Hickey. Our address is 324 Cygnet Lane, Seeley Lake, Mt 59868. If you have any pictures that you would like to share with us we will appreciate it.
Holy cow! What a bolt out of the blue. Not in my wildest dreams did I think I’d ever hear from anyone in your family. I remember my visits like they were yesterday. I remember (quite vividly) opting to try to cross the river on the logs across its mouth. I got to the middle, stepped on some ice and went in. Dad just didn’t understand. He warmed me up, but not in a very pleasant way. To this day, I don’t know why I didn’t cross the bridge like a normal person. Coming back there is high on my “bucket list.” My wife has never been in that part of the country and I want her to see “God’s country.”
I have a few pictures that Dad took. They are nothing fantastic, but they bring back very pleasant memories. I’ll be glad to send them to you. I scanned them into my computer so that I can get an occasional “fix.” I will get them into the mail to you.
John
Hi Sharon,remeber me,Dick Callaway./? we played together and after 10th gradeyour Dad hired me and Sandy Bing to work at Diamond J.
Samdy bought and broke his sorrel “Liquid Louis” named aftder the bartender at
the bar in Seely lake where we spent Sat nights. Also my Dads speghetti dinner in the pit.
Dick, I sent Sharon some photos my dad took back in the late 40’s and early 50’s. I believe o ne of them may have been the ranger station/tower you inquired about
John Garnett
Sharon, I meant diamond L. bar (diamond J is where Sandy Bing now has a cabin on Jacks
Creek in Ennis wheer we stayed at Julia Bennetts place one year.
Hi Sharon, I just found this site…we used to vacation at the Diamond L Bar back in the ’50s…you were older so I was closer to Carol and I remember we called your brother, “Little Joey”. You had a cat named Wednesday and of course all the horses…I usually rode Flame. We came from Quincy, IL. My parents were Fritz and Faye Ostermueller and I went by my nick name of Chee Chee. My Dad was a retired major league baseball player and loved to fish. My Mom enjoyed the dining room and visiting with your Mom, Margaret. Those days are some of my most treasured memories. I remember the ranch, the horse back rides to the Frye Place, the Anderson Place, the lookout….like it happened yesterday. Hope this finds you well. Sherrill Duesterhaus
I grew up on the Grant-Kohrs Ranch at Deer Lodge. My parents, Con and Nellie Warren, were friends of the Lairds, and the family spent many happy vacations at the Lake during the 1940s.
“Family” included my brother Conrad and myself, as well as my aunt and uncle John and Charlotte Potter, and their two children Jack and Bobby, who were living in Montana at that time. My dad had spent some time at sea before he took over the ranch at Deer Lodge in 1932. He built a catboat named “Dolly Varden” and was one of those intrepid Rocky Mountain sailors who pioneered sailing on the challenging and sometimes choppy and dangerous mountain lakes of our region. He chose the catboat because it was a type of small sailboat that was popular for sailing choppy waters on the East Coast. We always hauled the “Dolly Varden” up to Lindbergh Lake. Often, when the lake was calm, we just motored quietly around in the “Dolly” trolling for steelhead. I well remember the comfort and warmth of the place, the Lairds’ hospitality and fun-loving personalities, and the wonderful Western food. Does anybody else remember the “glacier worm” that was one of Cap’s fantastic critters out in the timber? It was crafted from a curiously corkscrewed treetrunk. He loved to take kids out to see the glacier worm — it was always good for a scream from us. I’m so glad to know that the place has been preserved with its traditions and history and charm intact.
Thanks for the story Patricia. Funny strange world in that my mother’s name is Patricia Warren. Keep the stories and memories coming :).
Do you also remember Cap Lairds site called Iron Springs on the path to Crystal Lake’at the end of Lindberg wher he had half buried some old rusted bed springs for the dudes
to view????
I remember these. It was called the most beautiful serene springs in all of Montana! However, it wasn’t that far from the Lodge. It was called “Triple Iron Springs” and of course when we got there, we were disappointed to find three rusted old springs in a pan dug into the ground.
My name is Kathryn, and I’m the Grandaughter of Sharon and Dan. (Sharon is the Daughter of Dick Hickey.) They still live across from the ranch and I see it all the time. I love the way you’ve preserved the Diamond L Bar and it’s history. Just thought I should let you know, and good job!
I remember Sharon and her sister from when my family visited the Lodge. I doubt that she will remember me since that was a lot of years ago. I mean a lot. I do rember building a snowman one year that was so big someone’s dad had to put the head on it because us kids couldn’t reach high enough. Those were fun times. I remember Nanook (sp), the Malamute. The last time I saw Margaret and Dick was when they came down to my home town in East Texas to visit the Cannons who would put together our trips to the Diamond L Bar. Coming back and visiting the Lodge is on my “bucket list.”
Your mom was a treasured childhood summer friend and your Grandparents,Dick and Margaret were really great to me and our family..Thanks to you all.
I can’t begin to tell you how excited I was to have stumbled on your blog. My family owned Lindbergh Lake lodge from 1977 until you and Jim and Harry and Cricket purchased it. Mother (Lois) passed away 3 years ago and the memories she left with us of the lodge are true treasures. As you know, I lived there for nearly 11 years, and it still brings feelings of great joy, in spite of ‘moving snow’ daily during the winters. There is true magic there. We still visit, albeit strange to camp at the campground. We still keep in touch with many friends from up there including the Fitzgeralds. I don’t think I ever told you just how much we appreciate all the stunning improvements you made to the lodge. Thanks for preserving it in such fine fashion. Please feel free to contact me anytime and we can continue to add to the wonderfully rich history of ‘Laird’s Lodge in the land.chuck full of hush’.
Ron, I wrote you several years back about the Lodge. You wrote back updating me on what had transpired since I visited there in the 40’s. I told you that my wife and I want to come back and see it again, but so far we haven’t made it. When we do, and we will, we’ll be sure to stop by your studio and visit, if that’s all right. I’m looking forward to returning to God’s country, even though it will only be a brief stop.
I am working on a history of the old forest service ranger stations in Montana- I have been unable to find any info on the old Lindbergh Lake guard station (formerly the Elbow Lake guard station) does anyone have any information? especially on when it was built, how recently it was used etc.
we wre at Lairds from June-Sep 1940 thru 1953 I spent alot of time in the tower.We were
there when the people came in from discovering the old passage away from the Blackfoot
reservation over the mountain back country
Hi Dick,
Regarding the old ‘fire lookout’ above Lindbergh Lake, I remember seeing it in the 70’s I think, but don’t recall when it was actually torn down. It may have come down before we bought the lodge in 1978. The old power lines can still be found in a few of the trees if you are hiking or biking up to the site. There were a couple old out buildings that have pretty much disappeared, but foundations may still be there. I will be up there this October and November again, for my ‘lake fix’,
Hi Dick,
I might have a picture of the lookout taken in the 70’s. I rode up there with on a trail ride with the Smarr (spelling?) boy when they owned the ranch and another girl. I will look this weekend and see if I can find it.
Dara (Ivey) VanQuekelberg
ron, you were kind enough to greet our daughterJacqui Graue from Jackson,Wy, when
we visited the lodge years ago..Thanks
Wendy,
Thank you so much for starting this blog and the wonderful history. I am the great grandson of Cap Laird and I believe it was you who so kindly gave my wife Maria and two of our three kids (Sam, named after Samuel Eli ‘Cap’ Laird, and Andy) a grand tour of the Lodge in the summer of 2010. John Stark was Cap’s son-in-law and my great uncle. Cap had passed away long before I was born; however, I do have childhood memories of exchanging letters with Uncle John. I was enthralled by his stories of shoveling many feet of snow off his roof each winter.
We live in Seattle and I discovered your website just today after talking by phone to a good friend of mine (Alex Diekmann) who works for the Trust for Public Land in Bozeman and was involved in the big land deal with Plum Creek a few years back that forever preserved so much of the land in your area. I tolk Alex the story of Laird Lodge and then googled the name after I was off the phone and disovered your website.
I will connect my family to this website and I am sure my father and his sister can add many stories. My father-in-law Jim Quann is our family historian and has also visited Laird Lodge (and I believe was hosted by the Wilsons). He wrote a wonderful article for ‘The Pacific Northwesterner’ – a history journal – a few years ago, telling the story of the connection he found between Laird Lodge and a WWII hero Colonel C. Ross Greening. Jim found the connection when his research for a book about alumni of Washington State University who served in our wars led him to Greening, and it was then that he discovered the connection to Laird Lodge. I believe I left the article – contained in a small booklet with many photos – with you when we visited, but if not, I would be happy to send you a copy.
Thank you,
John Bliss
Mercer Island, WA
Ross Greening was indeed a hero. He and his wife Dot would come visit from time to time since they only lived a short distance from the Lodge as the crow flies. Captain (at the time) Greening was one of the pilots in the Doolittle Raiders. In order to lighten the planes as much as possible, they removed the machine guns from the tails and upon Ross’ suggestion, replaced them with broomsticks painted black to look like guns. The bombsight at that time was the Norden which was highly classified. Knowing that some of the planes would be shot down, Ross designed one that was almost free to build and didn’t matter if the Japanese got it. It was Ross’ bombsight that was used during the raid. For a little kid, it was a real treat to sit and listen to Ross tell stories. Both he and Dot are buried at Arlington National Cemetary.
I would like to share just one of the treasured events that occurred at the ‘Lodge”. One summer afternoon in the late ’80’s, a young man docked his canoe at the boat dock, and I went out to greet the visitor. His name was Ross Greening Jr., and like his father, was also an artist. We invited him to stay, have the run of the place, relax, and just relate what he could remember of his early days with his Dad at the lodge.
Ross stayed with us for several days, relating stories, many of them humorous, some very serious. He indicated he would send us some photos of Col Greening’s crew reunions at the Lodge when he returned home, which he did. I believe Cricket and Jim have those in one of the many historical albums we left there.
Ross also gave me an autographed copy of his Dad’s limited edition book entitled “Not as Briefed” (pub. Brown and Bigelow) AND the story behind the book written by Col. Greening. It is an amazing epic with over 75 color images that Col. Greening painted with hand made brushes, paints, and whatever scraps of paper they could find. It is also a story of perseverance, ingenuity, tragedy, and heroism. For any of you who are interested, I would gladly share any of this information (I scanned the entire book, along with the letters and stories, and have a burned cd copies for our family. We all love history!). The book is one of the personal treasures I still enjoy reading today.
Somewhere up at the lodge, there remains one of Col Greening’s paintings of Lindy Peak, done from the front yard of the Lodge.
Ross and Dot were friends of my parents. I used to play with their sons at the Diamond L Bar. We came from Quincy, Illinois and after my Dad passed away my Mom kept in touch with Dot for several years. Sherrill Duesterhaus
Wow, thanks so much for creating this blog and capturing the history in photos and stories! Thanks to my cousin John Bliss for directing our family to the site! Indeed, as John Bliss states, our great uncle John Stark was Cap’s son in law. Marie, John Stark’s wife, was Cap’s oldest daughter. Juanita was the younger daughter of Cap and grandmother to me, my brother, Bradley Rupert, and my Bliss cousins. I never met Tyne, although she was still living when I was born. My mother, Joan (Bliss), is the skinny girl with braids petting the black lab. I also spotted the top of her head in the middle of a picture of Tyne and Cap. For some reason, I know how my grandma braided her hair, so I can spot it in a second! This is going to be a blast to share with my children. Thanks again! Jan Marie DeLay,
Longmont, Colorado
Thanks Jan. I have updated the Dog’s Of Lindbergh page. I am so glad you have found this blog. More pictures to come shortly :).
I was so pleased to find this. I spent every summer vacation growing up at the Diamond L Bar ranch. Fred Norris and his wife were the owners when we started staying there in the early 70’s. We vacationed there all the way up til the cabins were sold to private indivduals. My family usually stayed in Latigo.
When I was in highschool, I would load my horses up and stay with the Binley’s. Brook, Mary McCabe and I rode our horses all over the place….even to Nelsons store!
Many pictures and many wonderful memories.
My husband, kids and I still go camping at Lindberg. This is most definately the most beautiful place on earth.
My family stayed at the Lodge in 1965. We drove from Kent Wa. to meet my Dad’s brother and his family from Wisconsin. As I recall we had a great time. Riding horses, swiming, fishing and hiking up to a lookout tower. My wife and I are going to swing by around 9/23/12 to see what’s left. I’m bringing the family photo album of the trip. Is the Lodge open to the public? Are the cabins still there? Thanks Gordon Hesse, Renton, Wa.
Hi Gordon,
It is always fun to hear stories of the lodge. It is now a private home and all of the cabins are each individual private homes as well. It is such a treat to have all of the old photos that stayed with the lodge, and I will get back to posting more soon. If there are any photos you would like to contribute to the website let me know. You can also let Sharon MacQuarrie know. She and others in the valley are doing an incredible job keeping The History of the Swan Valley alive through the Upper Swan Valley Historical Society. There is also a great book called Voices of the Swan that gives first hand accounts from many residents of the Swan Valley. I am sorry I will not be there when you are visiting, but you might come across Sharon.
Dr. Hawkins and his wife, “GrandMartha” took our family to their cabin at the lake during several summers in the late 1960’s and after my dad died in 1971. It’s next to the Lodge if I’m right? One of the very few photos of my family all together was on the porch or their cabin. We enjoyed boat rides on the lake, picking huckleberries, learning the names of plants and trees, and learning to swim. The Hawkins were the best neighbors and Martha in particular was THE BEST friend to my mom after my dad’s death. We all still treasure all our memories from that time. I agree with the poster who said it’s the most beautiful place on earth. Thanks for this blog!
hi I have a DVD of all the Hawkins family and us riding on a wagon down the boat ramp
at the Hawknis cabin back in the 1940s and will try to make it available for downloading
I stumbled across your blog and found it very interesting. I worked at the Diamond-L-Bar the summer of 1975 for Col. Dan Schmarr. He was my squadron commander in 1972 in Southeast Asia and later there was a family tie. A cousin’s husband had taken a job in the valley and the cabin they were to live in was not quite ready when they got there. His employer said he had a friend that had a dude ranch nearby and there was a cabin they could use until theirs was ready. My cousin and her husband became good friends with Dan and Kaye Schmarr and they still maintain some contact with Kaye. Dan died several years ago. Dan and Kaye sold to Al Carlson that summer. Carlson was a younger fellow with money and he had a partner that knew horses, packing and hunting. They ran a hunt camp back in the Swan Mountains to the east that summer. It was the first time I had been around horses much and the horses and mules they bought were a real mix. Some were older and capable others were young and as green as I was. It was an interesting summer.
My wife and I are taking a vacation in a couple of weeks and going west. She has never been west and we intend to stop at Lindberg Lake so I can show her where I spent that summer.
wendy,thanks for all the treasured memories fo life a lairds,we will share with our family on my 80th birthday family reunion here in Sarasota on Anna Maria Island.Will try to get all the DVD s read for download including Bob Fletcher who wrote Don’t Fence Me In first heard on your piano
and Shorty Shope painting an indian chief..
John Stark built my cabin on Pierce Lake in 1950. A beautiful job.
I really enjoyed reading the history of the Diamond L Bar Ranch. My family and I spent every summer at the ranch from 1953 to 1975. I have movies taken at the ranch showing Dick and his wife on the front lawn setting up lawn chairs and sail boating on Lindbergh Lake. Every cabin had a name and I remember them all. Our family favorites were the Stampede, the Lariat and the Round-up. I really enjoyed reading Bill Cory’s comments. As young boys, Bill and I spent many happy summers at Lindbergh Lake swimming, skiing and horse back riding. My wife and children and I plan to visit the ranch this July 2015. Tony Lamb, Miles City, Montana
My sister and I made a trip this year from our homes in Washinton state to Jasper and Banff and then down to Holland lake. We are both native Montanans and we build the fourth cabin on the lake across from Holland lake lodge. I don’t know how my dad and John Stark became friends but they formed a solid friendship over the years. We began our cabin in the late 40s and spent summers there as kids. Even when we moved to Spokane in Minneapolis we can go to Holland Lake to spend part of the summer. Perhaps my dad and John hit it off so well because they both have such a love for the wilderness of the area. My dad has been a naturalist at Glacier Park and worked for Montana Fish and Game after he graduated from the University. John has worked for the Forest Service. John helped build our cabin and made all the furniture. Later John and my dad cut down trees and John built our dock using those trees. John and his wife, Marie, would come over to our place for dinner then dad and John would play cribbage late into the night. John would often tell stories about bears or strange creatures in the woods that would haunt us as we went to sleep. We also went over to John and Marie’s log cabin home near Lindbergh lake. I always marveled at how Marie could fry up a trout with the bones in it making them brittle and chewable. When my mom and Marie would pick huckleberries I was the bear lookout. John was truly an artist in carving wood into pieces of fruit or animals. Through John and Marie we got to know the history of Lindbergh Lake Lodge. The last time I visited the Lodge we visited with a man who, I believe, owned it. He had played professional hockey – he showed us all the amazing whiskey decanters and we spent time talking about memories. Lindbergh is a truly amazing place and part of our hearts.
This is a wonderful Blog. My parents were the Carlson’s who owned the Lodge for part of the 70’s. I still have my dad’s chaps with the Diamond L Bar and his saddle from this time. I’m so glad you have created such a beautiful home.
Our family vacation at the Diamond L ranch. Every summer for two weeks in August we had our vacation. My whole family love the spending time with horseback riding to water skiing and dad and I did lots of fishing. I remember the Hickey’s and Norris. I think we spent at least 25 years at the ranch. I can’t remember the names of the cabins we stayed in. I remember we did in the lodge a few times. Mom and dad stay in the living quarters and us kids stayed upstairs. I did visit maybe 15 years ago. I hope someday I can come see the ranch. I think the cabins are privately owned but I’m not sure. We knew a lot of people that would vacation when we were there. It was my best memories of childhood. Even now I wish I could come back and see it again.
Hi I remember the Lambs at the Ranch. I’ve made contact with your brother Tony. We must have played together when we were children. Tony has my contact information.
Hello Bill! We were going to visit Lindbergh Lake this past year but unfortunately the cabin was not for rent. I remember our visit with you the previous summer. The family still talks about the great time we had boating with you to the end of the lake. If you ever get over here to Miles City, please look us up – the welcome mat is always out for you.
As a side note, I remember all the cabins at the ranch starting with the Stamped, Latigo, Lariat, Roundup, Hunters Lodge #1 and 2#, River Cabin, Indian Echo and the lodge apartment. The upstair rooms in the lodge also had names.
Tony Lamb
Who owns the lodge at lindberg lake?
I am roger laird Cap was my Grandfather’s tween brother Levi Laird my Dad was Ike .I also have a picture of hem in his cowboy outfit he wore for the duds or gests as they were called . I truly enjoy you article and pictures as Minnie of them I hadn’t seen before . thank you for the article my dater is the family historian and she love what you’ve dun .
I was born and raised in Quincy, IL, daughter of Alice Morrison Mays and Robert Alan Mays. Both have passed away, and I have lived in Eugene OR since 1990. In 1975 I lived in Bozeman MT, attending MSU. I have begun the daunting and poignant project to transcribe my mother’s many journals and have found reference to Lindbergh Lake from July 1975. She clearly was on a retreat there, but it’s unclear if it was private retreat or a group; she did not write the context in this particular journal. I don’t know where she stayed, but when I saw the name Margaret Macquarrie, I wondered if there are links between that old Scottish surname, Quincy IL and my mother’s sojourn on L.Lake? If there are dots to connect I would love to know. Thanks! Elise Eldred Kimmons, class of 1972 (nee Mays, then Schaljo.) I also recognize the Duesterhaus surname from Quincy.
Our family enjoyed many wonderful family vacations at Diamond L Bar Ranch from about 1957-1962. I think we stayed in the river cabin. We usually had my Dad,mom aunt,uncle and my older brother and I. Spent weeks riding horses with the old wrangler “Ed”. We are looking for a place to stay at/around Lindbergh Lake around July 18-20, 2022. We will be in Bozman for a niece’s wedding on July 16, 2022.
My Mom and Dad were friends of the Hickeys and we visited often when we lived in Missoula 1958-1963, and occasionally afterwards. Is there a location that may show old photos (or current) of the lodge? I caught my first trout there off the dock.
I have copied some still photographs from some family regular 8mm movie films for you. I will try to attach a couple now to this email. let me know if they turn out alright and I’ll send more later. The first is of dick and Jane Hickey on the lodge lawn about 1953, the second is of Dick and Jane sailing in their boat on the lake the same year.
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I have an addition to make to my August 3, 2019 post. There is one cabin name I overlooked called the Wrangler. It was located between the River and Indian Echo cabins. The Wrangler cabin was also the storage area for the linens used by the residents at the ranch back in the 1950s. I remember several housekeepers coming from Missoula to the ranch each Saturday morning to clean cabins. They would meet in the Wrangler cabin and carry linen and cleaning supplies from there to the cabins around the ranch. I remember the housekeepers all wore uniforms (dresses and hats).
Also, I didn’t mention the names of the five sleeping rooms in the lodge in my earlier post. Starting from the top of the stairway they were the Corral, Waddy, Duckie, Wrangler and the Maverick. I was told there was a bathroom at the very top of the stairs next to the Corral room, but it was gone by the time I stayed at the lodge.
“Old Charlie”
Back in the evenings of the late 1950s, I remember an old ranch wrangler telling us youngster stories about the ranch and the Lindbergh Lake. He would sit on the porch of his small one room cabin, located in the alley between the Latigo and Lariat cabins, and tell us the most interesting stories.
One of his stories was about an old tree stump we all knew about. It was the hacked-off top of a submerged tree, that stood out about six feet above the surface of the water at Lindbergh Lake. It was located about a quarter of a mile from the lake shore.
Everyone knew this stump was named “Old Charlie” and it could be clearly seen from the beach and the dock of the ranch.
Anyway, the old wangler said that the top of the stump was hacked off from time-to-time over the years because and old timer by the name of Charlie had a wooden leg, and needed to replace his wooden leg from time-to-time. When he needed to replace his leg, he would get a rowboat from the ranch; row out to the stump; hack off the right length of wood he needed; bring it back to his cabin, and whittle a new leg for himself.
As a young man I remember water skiing around “old Charlie” because it was about the proper distance to water ski. Sadly, in the late 1960s an open-bow boat filled with young folks hit the stump and one of the girls sitting in the bow broke her neck and drown. Later in the week, following this accident, the stump was dynamited below the surface of the water. And now, “Old Charlie” is only a memory to those of us who fondly remember him.