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Post Offices of Montana
Photo: Columbus, Montana, Post Office
Interior of the Columbus, Montana, Post Office - Jim Savell, Postmaster.
Write. Fold. Seal. Address. Stamp.
Entrust to the postmaster. Journey across town, across the country, maybe even across the ocean.
One letter among many, crammed in a heavy canvas bag, pulled out at a final destination.
Trading hands across the miles. New horse, new coach, new carrier.
Before it can be held and opened by its intended recipient, a handwritten letter must survive a small series of its own adventures.
Do you have a collection of postcards from different places? Perhaps your mother or grandmother has a box of letters they’ve kept over the years. Maybe you are lucky enough to have your own personal letters.
Although the idea of receiving “snail mail” is strange in today’s world, most people still enjoy the feeling of opening the mailbox and finding, among the advertisements and business letters, an envelope personally addressed to them.
The history of an organized postal system traces back to the beginning of Montana’s territorial days. The reliance on written word for both personal and social news meant that as soon as people started to push west and settle, there had to be a way to communicate with the states and families back east. And so…the first postmasters and postmistresses oversaw the first post office stops in Big Sky Country.
Whether you enjoy the history of it, the geography, the artistry of the stamps and written word, or the culture change of correspondence over time, it is fascinating to look at the postal system as part of Montana’s story.
A Visual Tour: Some of the First Post Offices and the Postmasters and Postmisstresses
The buildings containing the first post offices were flexible, and those who ran them were multitaskers, often managing two kinds of businesses at once. They had freedom to set up in a general store, restaurant, saloon, or perhaps even from their own personal living room.
North of Helena and west of Great Falls is Augusta, Montana. The post office was built in 1883 and operated by Phil A. Manix, appointed postmaster in 1884. Manix also owned the W.H. Cook’s Headquarters Saloon
Photo: First store and post office, Augusta, Montana
View of the first store and post office in Augusta, Montana, showing four women, two children, and one man standing on balcony while dozens of men and one child stand or sit on the porch, with two men on horesback nearby. Note on back: Augusta's first store and post office built in 1883. Owned and operated by Phil A. Manix, appointed first postmaster, June 9, 1884.
Photo: Interior of W. H. Cook's Headquarters Saloon, Augusta, Montana
View of the interior of W. H. Cook's Headquarters Saloon, Augusta, Montana, with a man standing behind the bar with bottles of liquor on shelves in background. In foreground are a pool table, spitoon on floor, and a chair. Saloon owned by Phil A. Manix. Man behind the bar is possibly Manix.
On the eastern side of the state, between Miles City and Glendive, is Fallon, Montana. Photographer Evelyn Cameron took this photo of their post office.
Photo: General store and post office, Fallon, Montana
Thirteen people pose in front of C.Hanson General Merchandise store and post office, Fallon, Montana.
“Fruits, candies, stationary and tobacco,” found at the Giltedge (north-central Montana) post office.
Photo: Gilt Edge, Montana post office
Lewistown, Montana boasts the location of one of the state's oldest post offices. Established in 1880 by Mose LaTray, Reed’s Fort Post Office was the first in the area that would later become Lewistown. The original building can still be visited today with the dedication marker from 1931.
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Mose LaTray standing in front of a building. He built the Reedsfort Post Office in 1880-1881.
Photo: Reedsfort Post Office with Mose LaTray
Mose LaTray standing in front of Reedsfort. It was the first post office in Central Montana and was built in 1880 and named Reedsfort after its first postmaster, Alonzo S. Reed. It was built by Mose LaTray and still stands in Lewistown, Montana. It is located on Casino Creek Drive. Alonzo Reed managed the Post Office until 1884 and then the post office was under the direction of Nicholas Erickson in the Power Bros. Store at 301 W. Main in Lewistown.
Photo: Reedsfort Post Office employees
Employees from a later time post office pose in front of the old post office at Reedsfort in 1934.
Photo: Reedsfort Post Office dedication marker
Dedication of the monument (September 17, 1931) for Reeds Fort Post Office with a group of men and women in front of the building. A large boulder has the dedication plaque attached to it.
Edward Brassey, Lewistown postmaster, 1882.
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He was born in England Oct 22, 1844. Mr. Brassey came to the present site of Lewistown in the early fall of 1881 in the capacity of schoolteacher and later taught the first term of public school which was organized in the section which now comprises Fergus County, then part of Meagher County. The schoolhouse was located near the stockade of Francis Janeaux. Mr. Brassey lived in Janeaux’s stockade. In the spring of 1882 Mr. Brassey settled on Beaver creek and later that season was joined by his family. Here the Brassey post office was established and for several years follow¬ing was the point where the few settlers then in this section received their mail. In 1890 Mr. Brassey and family returned to Lewistown. He was a Justice of the Peace and Register of the United States Land Office. He married Lucinda Smith in Helena in 1876. He died July 6, 1926.
Photo: Lewistown Post Office, Lewistown, Montana
The building was originally called the Fergus County Realty Building but in later years it is called the News-Argus Building. It is located at 521 W. Main, and it was built in 1914 by Architects Wasmansdorff and Eastman. Half of the building at one time was used by the Post Office and the other half by the Arro Confectionery. The Post Office later moved into its new building at 204 3rd Avenue North in 1931.
Twenty miles east of Lewistown, in Heath, Montana, Perry Heath ran the post office, mercantile, and restaurant all in one!
Photo: Heath, Montana-Perry Heath's mercantile, post office, and restaurant
Perry Heath's mercantile store, post office, and restaurant at Heath, Montana. Located 20 miles east of Lewistown, Montana.
Lucius Whitney was the first postmaster in Billings. His daughter, Susan B. (Whitney) Herford, was the first assistant postmaster, around the late 1890s.
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Photo portrait of Billings' first postmaster, Lucius Whitney.
Photo: Herford, Mrs. John B. (Susan)
Born in 1866. Miss Susan Hamline Whitney, daughter of Lucius Whitney, married John B. Herford. Early County attorney and sheriff. Susan Whitney was an early school teacher - See Subscriptions Financed First School, Billings Gazette, July 24, 1932. Mrs. Herford served as the city's first assistant postmaster. Married November 23, 1886. Husband, John Brooke (Jack) Herford, mentioned in History of Montana by Miller. Operated a cattle ranch in the Musselshell country for 10 years before returning to Billings in 1896. Member of the First Congregational Church. She died in 1948 and is buried at Mountview Cemetery - See Pioneer Woman Resident Dies, Billings Gazette, April 24, 1948. Two children, Helen Brooke and Whitney Brooke Herford.
Transporting the Mail
The old buildings and people aren’t the only interesting aspect of old mail delivery; what about the use of steamboats, trains, and stagecoaches?!
Stagecoaches could be loaded down with passengers, luggage, or mail bags placed inside or tied down on top.
Photo: Northern Pacific mail storage car, Missoula, Montana
Northern Pacific mail storage car, other end, ex-RPO [Rail Post Office], Missoula, Montana.
Photo: Harlowton-Lewistown stagecoach in front of Bert Blethen's blacksmith shop, Harlowton, Montana
View of Harlowton-Lewistown stagecoach in front of Bert Blethen's blacksmith shop in Harlowton, Montana. The driver is Ross Brown and numerous men, women, and children are gathered around the coach, which is loaded with luggage. Northern Pacific railroad freight cars are visible in the background on the left.
The United States Post Office called the hard-to-reach places, “Star Routes” and used stagecoaches to deliver mail to some of those areas in new states. One of these Star Route carriers was Mary Fields. Mary was born into slavery in the 1830s, emancipated shortly after the Civil War and started working at Ursuline Convent of the Sacred Heart in Toledo, Ohio. She made her way out west and worked for St. Peter’s Mission near Cascade, Montana. Unfortunately, her bad temper and habit of smoking, drinking and fighting with men in saloons got her dismissed from her work at the mission.
Mary was in her early sixties when she was contracted by the United States Post Office to be a Star Route carrier (the second woman to have that responsibility). She delivered mail in a stagecoach and had to protect it from bandits and thieves; which she did by carrying both a rifle and a revolver. “Stagecoach Mary” was loved by the people of Cascade. She delivered mail for eight years before retiring and when she died in 1914, she was buried along a road that she drove frequently between Cascade and St. Peter’s Mission. She certainly made a name for herself among the Montanans in and around the area!
“Stagecoach Mary Fields carried a gun, smoked, drank and had a wicked temper. Mary was the first African American woman to carry mail on a Star Route for the United States Post Office Department.” (Amspatcher, S.)
View of 'Stagecoach' Mary Fields seated with hands crossed. African-American woman who was a stagecoach driver, Cascade, Montana.
Letters and Postcards as Art and History
The beautiful thing about handwritten letters and postcards is the personalization. Handwriting itself is an artform, something created by each individual person, their voice and personality expressed in words to their loved ones.
Postcards are easy to understand documentations of changes over time. The hand painted pictures or photographs show how cities and landscapes have changed through the years.
Look at some of these “classic Montana” postcards from the past.
View of a large gold dredge positioned in a body of water, likely a small reservoir along Alder Creek at Ruby in Alder Gulch, Montana. Front has hand-written message dated 9/27/1906 and a postmark from Alder, Mont. dated Sep. 28, 1906. Verso is addressed to Miss Linnie Gilbert of Virginia City, Mont. and has a postmark from Ruby, Mont. dated 1906 with postage stamp affixed with Ben Franklin for one cent. Published by the Detroit Photographic Co., copyright 1903.
View of a section of the Red Lodge-Cooke City Highway (present-day Beartooth Highway), identified as the Gardner Lake Curves, near the top of the Beartooth Plateau in the Beartooth Mountains, Wyoming. An empty road winds through a mountainous landscape. Portions of the area are covered with snow. Verso has handwritten message signed by Julia and addressed to Mr. and Mrs. John Mulac, 5013 So. 23rd St., South Omaha, Nebr. The message describes her trip in the area. Verso postmarked Red Lodge, Mont., July 31, 1937, with postage stamp affixed with Benjamin Franklin for one cent. Published by Sanborn Souvenir Co., Denver, Colo.
Photo: 35306 - Beartooth Lake and Beartooth Butte, Cooke-Red Lodge Highway.
View of Beartooth Butte and Beartooth Lake in the Beartooth Mountains, Wyoming. Printed text on verso: 'This view shows Beartooth Lake and Beartooth Butte as seen from the Cooke-Red Lodge Highway about 26 miles east of the Cooke entrance. From the tooth-like pinnacle on the front of this butte the Beartooth range derived its name.' Published by Haynes Studios Inc., Bozeman, Montana. Verso has handwritten message signed by Mona and addressed to Mrs. Fran Larson, 310 So. 9th West, Salt Lake City, Utah. Verso postmarked July 31, 1964, Yellowstone National Park, Wyo., Old Faithful Sta., with postage stamp affixed with George Washington for five cents.
Photo: Big Timber, Montana -- Crazy Mountains.
View looking northwesterly up McLeod Street, Big Timber, Montana. Businesses line both sides of street, Hank's Body Shop, T & L Pontiac and Chevrolet. The Crazy Mountains are in the distance. Cars are parked along both sides of street. Utility lines hang across the street in the foreground and tall street lights are on each side of the street. Slightly wider view than PC 001 BIGT.05. Published by Bob Anderson Postcards, Kalispell, Mont. Verso has handwritten message signed by Harold & Jane, addressed to Mr. & Mrs. J. H. Fries & Arthur, Box 125, McPherson, Kansas, 67460, and hand- dated, 7/7/70. Verso is postmarked July 8, 1970, Choteau, MT, with a postage stamp affixed with the American flag and White House for 5 cents.
During World War II, the Miles City Branch of American Women’s Voluntary Services (AWVS) wrote letters to every service man and women from Miles City, Custer County and the surrounding areas to keep them up to date on things that were happening back home. The pseudonym “Peggy” was chosen and several women from the AWVS shared the responsibility of writing the letters. The letters included hand drawn pictures to go along with the news.
Photo: Miles City World War II Peggy Letters collection
The Miles City WWII Peggy Letters consists of newsletters written by the Miles City branch of American Women’s Voluntary Services (AWVS) from late 1942 until early 1946. The newsletters were sent to every service man and woman from Miles City, Custer County, and neighboring areas for whom they had addresses to keep them abreast of events at home while they were serving in the military. The AWVS chose “Peggy” as a pseudonym: several AWVS women took turns writing the newsletters.
The bulk of the collection consists of the letters these same service men and women wrote back to “Peggy”. Some letters are typed, many are handwritten, and a few are V-mails. Many letters include envelopes, and a few include photos or drawings. It is unknown whether the Peggy writers anticipated responses to their newsletters.
How will letters and personal correspondence continue to change as time goes on? I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.
Author: Andrea Heiliger
Bibliography
Unidentified photographer, [First store and post office, Augusta, Montana]. (Between 1883-1890). Montana History Portal, accessed 19/04/2026, https://www.mtmemory.org/nodes/view/94385
Cameron, Evelyn, 1868-1928, General store and post office, Fallon, Montana (1908?). Montana History Portal, accessed 19/04/2026, https://www.mtmemory.org/nodes/view/72815
Gilt Edge, Montana post office. Montana History Portal, accessed 19/04/2026, https://www.mtmemory.org/nodes/view/87121
Lewistown Post Office, Lewistown, Montana. Montana History Portal, accessed 19/04/2026, https://www.mtmemory.org/nodes/view/87995
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Mose LaTray. Montana History Portal, accessed 22/05/2026, https://www.mtmemory.org/nodes/view/88365
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Reedsfort Post Office dedication marker. Montana History Portal, accessed 22/05/2026, https://www.mtmemory.org/nodes/view/88553
Reedsfort Post Office present day view. Montana History Portal, accessed 22/05/2026, https://www.mtmemory.org/nodes/view/88550
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Heath, Montana-Perry Heath's mercantile, post office, and restaurant. Montana History Portal, accessed 22/05/2026, https://www.mtmemory.org/nodes/view/87309
Unknown, Whitney, Lucius. Montana History Portal, accessed 22/05/2026, https://www.mtmemory.org/nodes/view/84856
Unknown, Herford, Mrs. John B. (Susan). Montana History Portal, accessed 22/05/2026, https://www.mtmemory.org/nodes/view/84556
Kochersperger, Stephen. “Moving the Mail: Star Routes.” Smithsonian National Postal Museum. Smithsonian. 11.26.2025. https://postalmuseum.si.edu/moving-the-mail-star-routes Accessed 22 May, 2026.
Amspacher, Shelby. “Stagecoach Mary Fields.” Smithsonian National Postal Museum. Smithsonian. 04.01.2020. https://postalmuseum.si.edu/stagecoach-mary-fields Accessed 22 May, 2026.
Unidentified photographer, [Mary Fields seated]. (Between 1870-1885). Montana History Portal, accessed 22/05/2026, https://www.mtmemory.org/nodes/view/77807
Johnson, Philip C. (Philip Cornwell), 1907-1990, Northern Pacific mail storage car, Missoula, Montana (1962-12-16). Montana History Portal, accessed 22/05/2026, https://www.mtmemory.org/nodes/view/17483
Unidentified photographer, [Harlowton-Lewistown stagecoach in front of Bert Blethen's blacksmith shop, Harlowton, Montana]. (1902). Montana History Portal, accessed 22/05/2026, https://www.mtmemory.org/nodes/view/91722
Unidentified photographer, 1203, Switchbacks near top of Beartooth Plateau on the Cooke City Red Lodge Highway to Yellowstone Park. (Between 1936-1937). Montana History Portal, accessed 31/05/2026, https://www.mtmemory.org/nodes/view/124244
Unidentified photographer, 6921, A Gold Dredge. (1903). Montana History Portal, accessed 31/05/2026, https://www.mtmemory.org/nodes/view/120260
Ronneberg, John R. (John Raymond), 1938-, Big Timber, Montana -- Crazy Mountains. (Between 1960-1969). Montana History Portal, accessed 31/05/2026, https://www.mtmemory.org/nodes/view/126218
Haynes Studios Inc., 35306 - Beartooth Lake and Beartooth Butte, Cooke-Red Lodge Highway. (Between 1935-1964). Montana History Portal, accessed 31/05/2026, https://www.mtmemory.org/nodes/view/124235
Miles City World War II Peggy Letters. Montana History Portal, accessed 31/05/2026, https://www.mtmemory.org/nodes/view/12942
Photo & Document Credit
University of Montana Mansfield Library
Montana Historical Society Library and Archives
