History Of Tampico Brought To The Present

The Valley County Museum was the host of a local history program on Feb. 27 where people gathered to learn more about the depiction of Tampico, Mont., provided by Paul Etchart in collaboration with Judy Michael and many others who have contributed information to the project. There were also guest speakers from the Tampico area who reflected and talked about their memories and provided those in attendance a depiction of their days at Tampico.

The project is a way to honor all the past Tampico family members and as a way to keep honoring them into the future, Etchart donated a hanging piece to museum after the program. The piece includes a composite of land ownership for the last 100 years and behind. In 2023, the artwork was done by Judy Michael while Etchart helped with the concept and design of the painting, the compilation of land ownership and gathering the history of Tampico.

According to Etchart's research and as he presented during the program, Tampico was a water stop along the James Hill's Great Northern railroad built in the late 19th century. There was a water tank and a pumping station built to take water from the Milk River to the station for the steam locomotives. The depot section house and other houses were built for men who worked on the section crews. This often consisted of multiple generations. These railroad families were essential to the town's growth by working well with local farmers, ranchers, and local businesses.

The Great Northern Railway had a local passenger train service that was started in the early 1900's through about the 1950's which was called the "Skidoo Train". This passenger train ran from Havre (223 Eastbound) to Williston (224 Westbound). This train had an engine, two baggage cars, one freight car, and a coach at the rear of the train. This service brought mail, passengers, and goods. Most of the highway roads were graveled in this era which made it impossible to traverse in harsh weather conditions.

The Enlarged Homestead Act of 1909, which increased allocated acreage for dry land homesteading from 160 acres to 320, created a homestead rush in 1910 to the Tampico area. Some of the original homesteaders were the Lohr family, Art & Marie Motzkau, Mary Harrington Maalereud, Nellie Erickson Martin, Al White, Moroney Family, Connerton Family, and many more. The homesteaders came from all parts of the United States of America and all over the world. Newly arrived Immigrants from Europe arrived in immigrant railroad cars that helped settle the land around Tampico.

The town site of Tampico was growing. The original Post Office was at the Lohr farm and around 1910 was moved into Art and Marie Motzkau's General store - which operated until 1957. The Post Office continued to operate until 1973. Around 1911, T.G. Dahl also built a general store and M.T. Mattson started a lumberyard and hardware store around the same time.

The Tampico Steel truss bridge was built in 1911, connecting lands to the west and north of the Milk River - which also helped local commerce and transportation for over 90 years until it was replaced in the early 21st century.

Tampico School was built in 1912 by Dick Hilt and the Opsahl brothers to accommodate local school children. The Tampico School was a one room schoolhouse that went through the 8th grade. In the early 1940's the Billingsley School was added on to the Tampico School. This required two teachers to accommodate for the population growth. A lot of the teachers stayed with local farm and ranch families. The Tampico School operated until 1977.

Richard Motzkau built a small garage in 1917 which eventually was destroyed in a fire. In 1926, he built a larger garage and hardware store which he operated until 1977. Motzkau was an operator for the railroad, ran the Great Northern Treating Plant, carried the mail to and from the railroad depot, and had farming interests until 1977.

As Tampico grew, a Community Hall was built in 1917 to accommodate local gatherings. In fact, in addition to the Community Hall, Tampico at one point in time had a country store, grain elevator, post office, railroad depot, stockyards, garage, lumber and supply store, blacksmith's shop, and a sugar beet dump near the railyard. By the late 1930s there was also a grass landing strip at Etchart Field for small airplanes near Tampico.

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Milk River Irrigation Project brought many workers to build the Vandalia Diversion Dam in 1917. There was a lot of construction, canals, and leveling of land, and building ditches for irrigation purposes. The Vandalia canal diverts water to be used southeast of Vandalia for Tampico, Glasgow, and all the way to Nashua (Glasgow Water District). This irrigation project produced more fertile lands that grew higher quality crops like sugar beets, corn, alfalfa, hay, and grains.

In the fall around Tampico, crops would be harvested for transport. Sugar beets were loaded and shipped off to Chinook, Montana. Grain crops were hauled to be weighed and unloaded at the grain elevator for storage to be later hauled by rail. The Great Northern Railway shipped wool during shearing operations. In the fall, the stockyards were busy with sheep and cattle which were trailed in by ranchers, loaded, and shipped to the Midwest.

Things changed when the main road, US Highway 2, got moved further to the north, and fewer people passed through Tampico. But that didn't stop Tampico from being special. For those in Valley County, this place holds memories of a strong community spirit. Even now, when you're in Tampico, you can feel the heart and soul of its history - therefore maintaining cultural significance to the county. Most of old Tampico is gone besides a few remaining buildings owned by Rick Molvig.

Etchart credits the following community members in order to make his research and this project happen, Rick and Alison Molvig, Ken Molvig, Sever and Kim Enkerud, Lee Cornwell, Bud Cornwell, Gary Martin Family, Matt Page, Steve and Michele Page, Don Nelson, Sonny Floyd Jr. Nelson Family, Jack Billingsley, Barry Billingsley, Sid Rice, Pat Rice, Ben Boreson, Dick Cotton, Doris Ozark, Dorothy Eayrs, Paula Tischmak Schledewitz, Roubie Younkin, Norm Braaten, James Kirkland, Don Elletson, Don Jones, Scott Cassel, Scott Fossum, Bruce Riggen, Tim Potter, Steve Sukut, Billy Uphaus, Craig Gilchrist, Bob Meiers, Mike Dailey, Wes Scott, Joe Etchart, Ethan Etchart, Emily Etchart, Evan Etchart, and Barry Chalmers.

The compiled artwork can now be seen at the Valley County Pioneer Museum, located at 54109 US Highway 2, Glasgow. They are open Wednesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.