Distinctly Montana Magazine

75 w w w . d i s t i n c t l y m o n t a n a . c o m I F YOU TURN EAST JUST BEYOND THE TENTH STREET BRIDGE at the corner of Smelter Avenue and Tenth Street North in Great Falls, Montana, you will enter the com- munity of Black Eagle. Coming into view are early 20th century homes sitting close to the street. If you peer into back yards, you may find space for gardens and maybe even a chicken coop. These homes could tell you vivid stories of immigrants who came to America to have a better life for themselves and their children. Laughter, old-country traditions, hard work, and an abun- dance of ethnic food became the starch that held families together during tough times. As Black Eagle grew, the community be- came a melting pot where to this day the last names of those who came here late in the 19th century continue to be prevalent. Before Black Eagle came into existence, early ham- lets emerged adjacent to the community's major employer, the Boston and Montana Consolidated Copper and Silver Mining Company (B&M), that was later bought out and be- came the Great Falls Re- duction Department of the Anaconda Copper Mining Company. Beginning around 1890, men came west, looking for steady jobs. Many were immigrants who first lived in eastern cities, such as Milwaukee, Chicago, and Minneapolis. These immigrants were originally from European countries, including Italy, Cro- atia, Czechoslovakia, Greece, and the Scandinavian countries. Once they were settled in Mon- tana, they found ways to bring additional family members from overseas. These little hamlets de- veloped as the company grew. Likely the first small hamlet to sprout was Little Milwaukee in around 1890-92. It spread out in what was called Nelson Coulee and was on the B&M property. In the beginning, the family in each dwelling paid the company 25 cents a month for rent. A one-time assessment of the communi- ty numbered 76 Italians, 19 Croatians, and 63 people of other descents. Population was estimated at between 150-250 individuals. It has been said that the entrance into Nelson Cou- lee was so steep that those bringing in supplies by horse and wagon had to set their brake and hope they would successfully lurch, sway, and teeter their way down into by SUZANNE WARING Early inhabitants of Black Eagle made use of their back yards. Besides a garden, it wasn't surprising to find chickens, goats, or a pig. This common scene photo shows Deloris Tuss (Williams) as a young child during the early 1930s in the chicken coop at the Tuss home on Colorado Avenue in Black Eagle. Photo courtesy of the Great Falls History Museum. SUZANNE WARING

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