Welcome to Glendale, Montana
Glendale 1875Glendale Montana, Melrose Montana, Trapper City Montana, Hecla Consolidated Mining Company, Hecla Montana, Lion City Montana, Lion Mountain, Henry Smith Pond, Henry Pond, Henry Knippenberg, Trapper Creek, Glendale Smelter, Camp Creek, Dillon Montana, Sam Barbour, George Conway, Elias Atkins, Thomas Hendricks, Atlantis Mine, Cleve, Cleopatra, Avon, Greenwood Montana, Greenwood concentrator, Glendale reduction works, Glendale Smelting works, Hecla Mining Company Indianapolis, Noah Armstrong, Charles Armstrong, Spokane Kentucky Derby,

 


Glendale *   Melrose *   Hecla *   Lion City
*   Dewey *   Dillon *

      Maps           * Norwood * Greenwood *   Trapper City *   bannack City * Contact us *
 


Henry pond *   Noah Armstrong *   Henry KnippenbergElias C. Atkins *
George B. Conway *
Hecla Consolidated mining Company *
Society of montana Pioneers *
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  Glendale Montana, Melrose Montana, Trapper City Montana, Hecla Consolidated Mining Company, Hecla Montana, Lion City Montana, Lion Mountain, Henry Smith Pond, Henry Pond, Henry Knippenberg, Trapper Creek, Glendale Smelter, Camp Creek, Dillon Montana, Sam Barbour, George Conway, Elias Atkins, Thomas Hendricks, Atlantis Mine, Cleve, Cleopatra, Avon, Greenwood Montana, Greenwood concentrator, Glendale reduction works, Glendale Smelting works, Hecla Mining Company Indianapolis, Noah Armstrong, Charles Armstrong, Spokane Kentucky Derby,

Historic Glendale
1875-1900
In 1875, Noah Armstrong and Charles Dahler built a 40-ton smelter farther down Trapper Creek, naming the town “Glendale”. The name was chosen by writing the name Glendale and Clinton on opposite sides of a chip of wood and then tossing it over the assay wall to see which side it would land..  A post office opened in 1875 with Louis Schmalhausen as postmaster. The new town also had a brewery, “The Montana Brewery”, operated by John Mannheim who also operated the brewery at Bannack in 1862-63. Mannheim Died in November of 1879 in Madison County. Glendale is situated about five miles west of the Northern Pacific Railroad town of Melrose, Montana formerly called “Camp Creek”



Noah Armstrong




Noah Armstrong helped form the Hecla Consolidated Mining Company in 1877. By 1879, Noah was replaced by E.C. Atkins. Armstrong shifted his focus to breeding thoroughbred race horses which paid off in 1889 with "Spokane" winning the 15th Kentucky Derby. Spokane was considered a very unlikely win but beat the famous "Proctor Knott" and then went on to win the Clark Stakes and the American Derby. Armstrong retired in Seattle where he died April 21, 1907.

Henry Knippenberg




Henry Knippenberg arrived in April 1881 and took control of the Company pulling it out of debt the same year he arrived resulting in huge profits and dividends to share holders for the next two decades. Henry Knippenberg returned to Indianapolis after the turn of the century and eventually settled in Short Hills, New Jersey with his wife. He died April 16, 1924.

George Benjamin Conway
(New page)



George B. Conway originally worked as cashier but eventually bought out all holdings of the Hecla Mining Company and operated in the area for many years, long after the Hecla Mining Company ceased operations and dissolved as a Company. George died at the home of his Daughter in Dillon, Montana on November 7, 1945. He worked for many years as an accountant.



L. Heinbockel Brewery abt. 1884 Glendale



Wilson & Rote, Glendale

Tarbell Hall of  Lion City

Glendale Montana, Melrose Montana, Trapper City Montana, Hecla Consolidated Mining Company, Hecla Montana, Lion City Montana, Lion Mountain, Henry Smith Pond, Henry Pond, Henry Knippenberg, Trapper Creek, Glendale Smelter, Camp Creek, Dillon Montana, Sam Barbour, George Conway, Elias Atkins, Thomas Hendricks, Atlantis Mine, Cleve, Cleopatra, Avon, Greenwood Montana, Greenwood concentrator, Glendale reduction works, Glendale Smelting works, Hecla Mining Company Indianapolis, Noah Armstrong, Charles Armstrong, Spokane Kentucky Derby,

In the Spring of 1877, Noah Armstrong having solicited Philadelphia and Indianapolis Capitalists, organized the Hecla Consolidated Mining Company for the purpose of developing the Lion Mountain properties. The name was decided from a painting that had been hanging in the Company's payroll office which depicted Mt. Hecla, a volcano found on the Icelandic Continent. On some early company checks, a logo showing the volcano spewing forth dollar signs was used as the vignette. It is reasonable to assume that Noah Armstrong having initiated the formation of this new company probably held the honor in naming it as well.  He purchased the Cleopatra and the True Fissure claims which gave the Hecla Mining Company complete control of Lion Mountain. By 1878, Glendale grew to 950 people of which 262 were voters and 125 school children under 20.


Mt. Hecla

In 1879, Noah Armstrong was replaced as General Manager by Elias C. Atkins of Atkins Saw Works of Indianapolis. Two years later, after a fire that destroyed the smelter and almost 78,000 dollars in debt, The Hecla Mining Company reorganized placing Henry Knippenberg at the helm. Henry Elling, Banker at Virginia City had the option of acquiring the properties but refused making it the biggest (and some say the only mistake Henry Elling ever made) as the Company went on to become a very successful and profitable mining entity for many years to come.  Knippenberg formally accepted the position on March 01, 1881 with the understanding that he was to have full control both in the Territory and the States. After tying up loose ends in the east, Henry arrived in April of 1881 and quickly went to work reorganizing the company into three divisions, appointing a superintendent for each. James Parfet was in charge of Mining, headquartered at Hecla, George G. Earle in charge of reduction at Glendale and John M. Parfet, in charge of the iron mines at Norwood in Soap Gulch. By December 31 of 1881,  the company’s reorganization paid off with a profit of 237,729.76.


Superintendent's photo
Sam Barbour, John and James Parfet, and George G. Earle

Henry appointed George Conway to serve as cashier for the company. Conway arrived from Indianapolis at about the same time as Knippenberg.  The arrival of Knippenberg at Glendale marked a twenty year stretch of success for the Hecla Mining Company. The forty- ton smelter built by Armtrong and Dahler in 1875 and the ten- stamp mill and leaching works which was added in 1878, ran irregularly on Hecla ore until fire destroyed all the buildings except the roaster, in 1879.

The plant was rebuilt and enlarged at a cost of about 20,000. The new Smelter was put into operation until 1881, when the Hecla Mining Company absorbed the plant and by 1885, the facility had expanded to three blast furnaces, two crushers, a large roaster, a blacksmith shop, a sack house, warehouses, an iron house, a stable, two powder houses, three coal sheds, an office, an assay office, a flume ditch, a sawmill, a tramway with cars, and five private homes. By 1880, Glendale had a weekly newspaper, ‘The Atlantis”. From 1878 to 1884, Glendale’s Merchant’s and services included a brewery, several saloons, general merchandise stores, hotels, livery stable, opera house, two dentists, a hospital,  and eventually a two story schoolhouse, and the largest skating rink in the northwest.


 
Letterhead prior to the formation of the Hecla Mining Company dated 1877
 
Letterhead dated 1877 of the newly formed Hecla Consolidated Mining Company

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Glendale Montana, Melrose Montana, Trapper City Montana, Hecla Consolidated Mining Company, Hecla Montana, Lion City Montana, Lion Mountain, Henry Smith Pond, Henry Pond, Henry Knippenberg, Trapper Creek, Glendale Smelter, Camp Creek, Dillon Montana, Sam Barbour, George Conway, Elias Atkins, Thomas Hendricks, Atlantis Mine, Cleve, Cleopatra, Avon, Greenwood Montana, Greenwood concentrator, Glendale reduction works, Glendale Smelting works, Hecla Mining Company Indianapolis, Noah Armstrong, Charles Armstrong, Spokane Kentucky Derby,

 
 
Glendale Montana, Melrose Montana, Trapper City Montana, Hecla Consolidated Mining Company, Hecla Montana, Lion City Montana, Lion Mountain, Henry Smith Pond, Henry Pond, Henry Knippenberg, Trapper Creek, Glendale Smelter, Camp Creek, Dillon Montana, Sam Barbour, George Conway, Elias Atkins, Thomas Hendricks, Atlantis Mine, Cleve, Cleopatra, Avon, Greenwood Montana, Greenwood concentrator, Glendale reduction works, Glendale Smelting works, Hecla Mining Company Indianapolis, Noah Armstrong, Charles Armstrong, Spokane Kentucky Derby,