Armstead was named for Henry Armstead who came to the area in 1905 to promote the Silver Fisher Mine near Polaris. (The Montana Standard, Butte Montana 20 September 1965, page 19)
Located in Armstead was a railroad junction, of the Gilmore and Pittsburg Railroad running from Salmon to Armstead and the Oregon Short Line that later became the Union Pacific. Because of the railroad junction, it became a central location to ship cattle by railroad. The cattle arrived either on a train from Idaho or were trailed to the Stockyards from ranches in Beaverhead County.
Clark Canyon Dam was built on the Beaverhead River, south of Dillon, and was competed in 1964. The dam is about 20 miles from Dillon, the hometown of my family.
After the dam was completed, Hap Hawkins lake created behind the dam buried the small town of Armstead. The land on which Armstead sat was purchased by the Bureau of Reclamation and buildings were removed or razed. There was school, post office, bar and several businesses along with homes.
An article in The MIssoulian reported that Armstead had not been seen for decades but with 3 years of drought, Armstead had resurfaced. (The Missoulian (Missoula, MT) 1 December 2002, page 41)
Don Shaffner
2002
82 years old
Labor Day weekend 2002
While visiting Dad, during Labor Day weekend of 2002, we drove to Armstead. The town that had been buried in 1964! We went to Red Rock and drove on the original highway to Armstead. Since the water was low after 3 years of drought, the road was passable. The original road, still paved with yellow lines down the center, was still passable after 38 years of being under water. Give or take a year or two after the completion of the dam, the road has been under the lake. In a couple of places the sides & shoulders of the road had washed away, but not bad. We drove all the way to Armstead! Amazing! Even the railroad bed was still visible.
While I remembered Armstead as a town and the Buffalo Bar, Dad stood on the steps of the school and pointed out landmarks from the foundations. Over there, he said, lived the people with the Shetland ponies. As a veterinarian he had to treat those ponies and he hated Shetland ponies—if they don’t kick you, they will bite you! He pointed out where the Buffalo Bar stood and told stories of the history of the bar. It was a center point of the town to gather; lots of cattle were bought and sold at the bar and lots of transactions occurred over whiskey. He pointed out where the stockyards was located. As a veterinarian he had to write health inspections for cattle loading on the train. The cattle were shipped to Chicago, Kansas City, St. Paul and various other places.
Dad told the story of a rancher who had trailed his cattle to the stockyards and then gone to the Buffalo and enjoyed whiskey. The next morning he went to load his cattle on the train and they were gone. Apparently another man, who probably had too much whiskey, load the wrong pen of cattle on a train. Calls were made, the train was stopped and returned. Cattle unloaded and the correct cattle were loaded! From the stories Dad told, I would imagine that happened more than once!
The amazing thing about getting the train stopped and turned around; it was done in the days before cell phones!
