Link to info on the "four schools of irvine flats"

https://www.polson.k12.mt.us/community/community-resources/historical-school-districts-of-lake-county/the-four-schools-of-irvine-flats/irvine-flats

Thanksgiving on Irvine Flats near Polson Montana

My dad, George (aka Georgie) told me a little about what Thanksgiving was like on Irvine Flats.

The family would have a dinner either by themselves or with other families.

I asked if they would eat turkey. He said that they would have beef or chicken, the meat that the family would eat on a regular basis. He remembered that the food was not too much different than other meals.

Georgie said that all food they ate came from the ranch execpt flour and sugar.

Now I will have to ask how my grandmother remembers Thanksgiving on the Kasseroler Irvine Flats homestead.

Click on the link below to read information posted from the Polson country schools collection including information on Irvine Flats history.


http://www.polson.k12.mt.us/phs/countryschools/irvineflats%20folder/irvineflats/Pages/irvineflats.htm

Some quotes from the compiled information include:


"Irvine Flats was named after William "Billy" Irvine. According to the book, "MONTANA ITS STORY AND BIOGRAPHY", Billy Irvine was "one of the acknowledged ranchers on good livestock, and every condition regarding the breeding, raising, care and marketing of stock in Montana."

and -

"The family were personal friends of Father Anthony Ravalli."

and -

"By 1886 Billy returned to the Flathead. He was staked to his first small herd, about 300 head, by Charles Allard, Sr. and located himself on 5000 acres on the west side of the river, about seventeen miles west of Polson"

and -

"Mrs. Irvine’s son Arthur Larrivee, who Billy raised, would later badly manage the ranch requiring the retired Billy to return and restore it to working condition."

and -

"Francis "Tat" Browne, a relative later managed and owned the ranch until the Swopes purchased 3200 acres of the original property."

To be continued -

Playing cards and having lunch was a favorite pastime for my Irvine Flats homesteader relatives

One story that comes up quite often when talking with my grandmother, Lilly Ryan, is that quite often some of the Irvine Flats homesteaders would gather together to play card games.

Every week they would go to a different ranch and have a lunch.

After the lunch they would play cards.

The seven card playing families were:

Lilly and Harold Halverson
George and Rose Halverson
Beulah and John Wigfield
Stumans  (James and Laura - census)
Gottiebs (from census - Bernard and Clara and John- is John the adopted son?)
Burtons
Merritts

Some times the card games were centered around a holiday such as Thanksgiving or Christmas.

The card games they played were 500 and pinochle.

Lilly said that Rose and George also liked to play Bridge.  Lilly
did not know how to play bridge. I'm not sure about Harold.

Lilly thinks that Rose and George would also play Bridge in
Polson.

Lilly said that they all had a good time.

Pearl Harbor News on December 7, 1941, stirs emotions for Irvine Flats ranchers

How did Pearl Harbor affect people in the Irvin Flats area?

George (aka known as Georgie on this blog) Halverson remembers that on the day of December 7, 1941, the day the Japenese bombed Pearl Harbor. He was riding home from school on his horse and a car came zooming down the road towards him.  It was the Merritts, homesteaders that lived above the Halversons, and they were telling George about the Pearl Harbor bombing and how terrible it was.

It is my understanding that one of the Merritt boys enlisted in the Army soon after the bombing.

George would turn 8 years old on December 11th of 1941.

George said that during the war the people would hear about all of the battles of WWII on the radio.  He remembers quite clearly about what was going on as even though Irvine Flats was miles away from the WWII action it was prevalent in every one's mind. 

In fact, George remembers having fears that the Japanese would fly over Irvin Flats and bomb the area.

Harold Halverson with his sled in the early 1900's on Irvine Flats west of Polson, Montana

Harold Halverson with his sled on Irvine Flats west of Polson Montana in the early 1900's The picture was taken by either his mother, Rose, or his father, George

This picture was made into a post card and has a post card format on the back of it. This is the reason the picture is crooked - it was crooked on the post card.

It looks like there is a river to the left of Harold. Perhaps this was not on Irvine Flats - I will have to ask my dad. It must have been close by if not.

Rose had a big collection of post cards which my dad still has in his possession.

Karl and Anna Kasseroler's wedding picture in Bozen, Austria

Anna Fortunata and Karl Kasseroler's wedding picture in Bozen, Austria before immigrating to the United States and Irvine Flats near Polson, Montana

My grandma Lilly has this picture which she let me scan. Anna and Karl settled in the Irvine Flats area after spending some time in Kalispell.

Karl Kasseroler's family was in the orchard and fruit business in Austria. His family lived in a very fertile area of the eastern portion of Austria, I believe in Tirol.

Today Bozen has been renamed Balzano, as in a war the Italians took over Bozen.

It is my understanding that Karl had hoped to go into the fruit business on Irvine Flats, however, it is very dry land and the trees did not grow as well there as they did in Austria.

Anna and Karl had five children: Anthony (Tony), Charlie, Anna, whom were born in Austria, Rena (born in Kalispell), and the twins, Lilly (my grandmother who at the time of this writing is 98 years old) and Lena. Lilly has outlived her entire family.

Anna had two sisters who are pictured in another blog post and Karl had many brothers. One of Karl's brothers, Joe, came to America for a time and then returned to Austria (but missed America after returning) Karl had a couple of sisters, also. One sister was a disagreeable sort and ended up taking the inheritance of the Kasseroler children when both the parents died in Austria.

Many of Karl's brothers, if not all, died in a war - I believe the First World War.

Information on the Green Mountain School which George Halverson attended

Click on link below from the Polson School district archives to read about the Green Mountain School which George (Georgie)Halverson attended for most of his grade school years. 

The Green Mountain School closed before his 7th grade year began so he and the Irvine Flats children were bused into Polson. 

George and his grandparents moved into Polson and so he didn't ride the bus into town for his 8th grade year.

If I understand correctly, the Halversons, after moving into town, leased their ranch for grazing.

The Halverson ranch was not sold until the early 1970's.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=web&cd=4&cad=rja&ved=0CEgQFjAD&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.polson.k12.mt.us%2Fphs%2Fcountryschools%2Firvineflats%2520folder%2Firvineflats%2FPages%2Fgreenvalley50.html&ei=ecXnUKT4GYTtiwKatoFQ&usg=AFQjCNFlfodqIE7Bdc8LUsM7A356tmSjQw&sig2=lPUcW-YHt4oK1W6efMs3wg&bvm=bv.1355534169,d.cGE

Irvine Flats named after William ( Billy) M. Irvine - an early pioneer in the Flathead area

In the link below one will read about William M. Irvine.  Irvine Flats, a ranch area west of Polson, Montana is named after Irvine.  He was also known as Billy Irvine.

genforum.genealogy.com/irvine/messages/1239.html

Some quotes from the article follow:

"A biography and portrait of William M. Irvine, rancher/stockman of Flathead Valley, is included in "Montana, Its Story and Biography", Vol 3, page 859."

and -

"Irvine was born near Post Creek, June 15, 1856.  His father, Perter Irvine, came to western Montana as an employee of the Hudson's Bay Trading Company.  He settled at the Fort Conan Trading Post on Post creek and there married Angela Ashley, a Flathead Indian woman. Billy was the oldest of nine children. He amassed a great deal of livestock and property in the late nineties."

and -

"William M., b. 15 Jun 1856, was son of Mr. and Mrs. Peter Irvine. He grew up on a ranch and worked as a cowboy and traveled and worked with cattle outfits all over the West and Northwest. Later he settled in Flathead Valley country and owned 5,000 acres in that and Sanders County, where he raised cattle. He lived in the Flathead Valley for 29 years and then moved into the Town of Polson, MT."and -

"William M. married Mrs. Emily Larivee, a native of the State of Washington."
and -

"Irvine returned to his native Flathead in 1886 and went into the cattle business for himself, Charles Allar, Sr., staked him to his first small herd and the Irvine ranch in its heyday totaled 3,000 cattle and 100 horses.  He located west of Polson, which now bears his name, Irvine Flats. In 1896, he married a part Indian woman, Emily Brown, who died in April, 1937."

Family memories -

My grandmother, Lilly Ryan, who was raised on a homestead on Irvine Flats remembers the Irvine family.

She remembers that the Irvine ranch was a very nice place.  She also remembers a Mr. Larivee, who must have been the brother of Emily, who always played Santa Claus in the Christmas gatherings in the area.

Lilly remembers that the Irvine's (or was it the Larivee's)  had a daughter named Kathryn, who was a friend of Lilly's older sister, Rena.

She believes that a log school house was near the Irvine ranch or on the property of the Irvine's.
This writer will check on the accuracy of Lilly Ryan's memories when she visits her next week.

Georgie Halverson on a horse in 1935.



Georgie on a horse with grandfather George in approximately 1935

This is a picture of my dad, George Halverson, on a horse with his grandfather, also named George, standing beside him on the ranch on Irvine Flats, just west of Polson.

I am told by my father, who was called Georgie when he was young, that this picture must have been taken in about 1935. Georgie was born in December of 1933. He thinks he was only about 2 years old when the picture was taken.

My family members were homesteaders on Irvine Flats near Polson Montana

My family members from way back in the early 1900's came to Montana from as far away as Chicago in America (Norway before that) and from as far away as Bozen, Austria in Europe in order to homestead. On my mother's side they came from Missouri and Utah and before that, of course, Europe.

Many of my ancestors settled in the surrounding farm and ranch land near Polson, Montana, in an area known as Irvine Flats with some family moving into the city of Polson itself after farming for awhile.

They came to Montana because of the 'Homesteaders Act" in the early 1900's.

To be up front with everyone, I'm really not that sure of a lot of my family’s homesteader history. Perhaps, however, this blog will help me get going and learn about it a little bit more at a time.

Happy Trails, Everyone!