First Cats in Montana

Ira Myers, an early Great Falls businessman, is most often cited as “the first” of about everything he did. His pioneering spirit led him to develop a sawmill in Great Falls, build the first buildings, develop the first steam plant for electrical and gas utilities in Great Falls, and with other men, create the first water company for the city. Among these noteworthy facts lies a curious detail of which he was quite proud of: he claims he was the first to introduce domestic cats to Montana.

The following is the tale printed in the Great Falls Tribune July 10, 1921 recounting the adventure of the arrival of cats to the state of Montana:

“Who brought the first domestic cats into Montana. Ira Myers a pioneer citizen of Great Falls says he did. We understand that other citizens of Montana have contended for the honor, but we naturally prefer to back the claims of a Great Falls citizen unless convincing proof is brought forth to the contrary.

First Cats in Montana

“It was March 1863 that the news reached Denver of the rich gold diggings at East Bannock, as Bannock city was then called, to distinguish it from Bannock in Idaho, which was called West Bannock. Governor Edgerton had been appointed governor of Montana by President Abraham Lincoln, and was then at Bannock City on Grasshopper creek, and the first capital of Montana. It is now a dead city, but then it had a large population of gold seekers. The notorious Plummer was sheriff and the leading citizen of the new capital.

Flatirons, Colorado, just outside of Denver. Image by Clay Banks (Instagram @clay.banks)

“Denver heard wonderful stories of the richness of the new gold find on Grasshopper creek and Denver would have been a deserted town if its population had the means of getting away, but a large part of its inhabitants were broke. Not so with Ira Myers. He had been working hard and saving his money, so he had the means to buy a fine span of mules and a new Beach wagon and load it with provisions enough to last six months. He bought his provisions of Doc Carter, then a wholesale grocery man in Denver, but later a Montana settler in this section of the state. Doc Carter inquired of Ira Myers how much money he had left and was told that he had $120. Carter urged Mr. Myers not to take money with him to Bannock City where gold could be had for picking it up, but to invest in plug tobacco. So, Ira Myers bought 100 pounds for $100, and that left him just $20 in cash as he pulled out for Bannock City along with a score of other teams headed for the same objective.

Alder Gulch near Bannack, Montana with a man standing in the rocks. 1920-1940. Photographer K. D. Swan, Sister Genevieve McBride Collection [2016.103.0001-25]

“Two days out of Denver the party camped for the night at Little Pleasant Valley, where there were a number of ranchers settled, and Ira Myers went to one of the ranch houses to see if he could buy some milk. While there he saw a cat and seven kittens and offered the woman $2.50 for one of the kittens. She refused to sell one but offered him the old cat and all the kittens for the same amount. Owing to the long journey before them and the difficulty of transportation, Mr. Myers declined the wholesale purchase, but on his return to his camp and telling his companions about it, they were quite anxious to bring the kittens along as company and amusement on the trip. One of the boys suggested an expedient to accommodate the cat family. Mr. Myers had an old wooden trunk in his wagon in which he kept his extra clothes. It was suggested that he could pack them in a gunnysack like the rest of the company and that a trunk was too high-toned a conveyance for clothes anyway. By cutting a hole in the old trunk it could be transformed into a fine cat house. The plan was adopted. Mr. Myers went back and secured the cat and seven kittens and left behind him the $2.50, and the outfit pulled out for Fort Bridger. Here they learned that the Indians were out and behaving badly, so they waited for seven or eight days for recruits to the party and when it left Fort Bridger it mustered a strength of 63 wagons, about 165 well-armed men, three or four women and several children, a force too strong to tempt any Indian attack.

Main Street, Bannack, Montana as it appeared circa 1920-1940. Photographer K. D. Swan, Sister Genevieve McBride Collection [2016.103.0001-24]

“On the long trail to Bannock City the camp of Ira Myers was the most popular of all of them. Strong men, as well as women and children, gathered around his wagon to see the kittens romp and play in the grass nearby. Many an outfit wanted to buy a kitten, but Mr. Myers declined to break up his happy family until they reached Bannock. Reaching that booming metropolis, the whole town turned out to see his kittens. He sold one for $10 in gold dust and the other six for $15 each and could have got much higher prices for them. He made $100 on his investment in cats and had the old cat left. Besides, he sold his 100 pounds of tobacco at $5 a pound, so he made $500 in the first few days after he reached Bannock City. These eight cats he brought from Denver were the first domestic cats to reach Montana, Mr. Myers assures us. A couple of years later other cats were brought in from Walla Walla, but the Myers cats were the original pioneer house cats in Montana.”

Three cats in the front yard of a house, unidentified, circa 1910-1920 [1983.082.0117B]