History of the

                         Charlie Russell

                                        Honeymoon cottage

 

 

 

Thomas L. Gorham was the founder of Cascade.  He was also the first mayor, postmaster and owner of the Gorham General Store.  In 1886, he built his home which served as a home, store and post office.  A couple hundred feet south of the home building, he built a small barn and a bunkhouse. 

The undated photo is the main house and the roof in the background at the far right is the bunkhouse which later became the Honeymoon cottage.

Thomas Gorham became ill and in 1889 his daughter, Lela, and son-in-law, Ben Roberts, occupied the building.  Ben Roberts was a saddle maker from Helena.  In 1884, he and Lela Gorham were married. In 1895 the Roberts family had grown to three children when they moved to Cascade

Charlie Russell met Ben Roberts in Helena in 1882.  Ben had heard about the cowboy artist and wanted Charlie to illustrate advertising for his saddle business.  Their meeting was the beginning of a life long friendship. 

When the Roberts’ family moved to Cascade, Charlie Russell became a frequent visitor, and often used the bunkhouse as a temporary home and studio.  The winter of 1889-1890 Charlie completed illustrations for his first book titled “Studies of Western Life” (copyrighted by Ben Roberts – August 1890). 

Charlie was always welcome at the Roberts’ house.  The Roberts family was his family too.  Mrs. Roberts kept Charlie’s parents in St. Louis posted of his doings.

The 1887-1889 photo shows the bunkhouse with the barn in the background.  The bunkhouse was often referred to as the Little Shack across from the Railroad tracks and was often visited by Charlie’s cowpoke friends.

Con Rice, a lifelong friend from the open range, heard Charlie was wintering at the shack by the tracks and rode the rails on a freight train to visit him.  The bunkhouse measured twelve by twenty four feet.  It was all wood construction with Board and Bat siding and wood shingles; equipped with a wood and coal stove.

In 1895, while in Cascade, Charlie was invited to the Roberts ‘house for dinner.  Living with the Roberts’ family was a young lady to help with the care of the children.  Her name was Nancy Cooper.  When Charlie and Nancy met on that occasion; they fell in love, courted for a year.  On September 9^th, 1886 they were married in the Roberts’ home with nine persons present.

After the wedding ceremony they walked to the Honeymoon Cottage.  Prior to the wedding Charlie spent $75.00 to add a lean-to kitchen onto the back of the bunkhouse.  This enlarged the cottage to a 12 foot by 34 foot Honeymoon Cottage.  Charlie and Nancy live in the Honeymoon cottage the remainder of 1896 and most of 1897 before moving to Great Falls.

In 1889 the town of Cascade was plotted and the lot on which the Honeymoon Cottage and small barn was located is described as Lot1, Block 17, First addition to the town of Cascade, as per the amended plat of the original town site.  As a result, the Gorham home and store is separated by an alley, and on separate described lots.

The Honeymoon Cottage remained in the Gorham and Roberts’ family until 1910.  There were numerous owners of the property.  From 1889 to 2002 there were fourteen different owners.  Of particular interest in 1942, D.W. Munroe purchased the property and donated it to the Montana Cowboys Association.  In 1950 the Cowboy Association gave it back.

The Honeymoon Cottage was purchased on April 12, 2002 for the sole purpose of restoring the cottage to its condition when lived in by Charlie and Nancy Russell and to protect it from the dozer.

Restoration included removing at least four additions to the building since Charlie and Nancy lived there. All the plumbing and modern appliances etc. were removed. All work was done with the assistance of the State Historical Society.

The top layer of siding-metal-was removed.  Beneath the metal was imitation brick asphalt siding.  The next layer was horizontal lapped wood and the bottom layer (fourth) was the original Board and Batt, with the Batts removed.  It is estimated that 80% of the original frame work and exterior has been saved.

On December 12, 2006 the CMR Honeymoon Cottage was placed on the National Registry of Historic Places.

In the summer of 2008 the restoration was completed and is open for public viewing.

By Gene Dwyer