77
w w w . d i s t i n c t l y m o n t a n a . c o m
the coulee without an inci-
dent. All kinds of dwellings
were found in Little Milwau-
kee, from shacks to two-story
houses. A grocery store and
a confectionary were among
the commercial businesses.
A pending flood gave the
company an excuse to move
the dwellings off the prop-
erty that was needed for
expansion in 1903. Many
settled in an area that they
called North Great Falls,
which did not last long.
Another community, Little
Chicago, became an addi-
tion to the north and west
of the edge of what is now
Black Eagle, platted by Amy G. and James M. Burlingame—
which is why it is sometimes called the Burlingame Addition.
Black Eagle rose up as these small hamlets began to disappear
and sustained itself over the years. When the area grew to the
point that it needed its own
post office, the community
adopted the name Black Ea-
gle, for the lone eagle seen
by the Lewis and Clark Ex-
pedition in a tree on a near-
by island in the Missouri
River. Presently Black Eagle
is an unincorporated suburb
of Great Falls, yet it is also a
census-designated commu-
nity.
At one time as many as twen-
ty nationalities resided in
Black Eagle. The children
went to school together, be-
came friends, and some were
married. They grew up in a
polyglot culture where they
were comfortable with people who were "different." Some grew
up speaking two languages at home and English at school.
The people of Black Eagle highly respected education. When
Hawthorne, their elementary school, burned in 1909, they held
ROBERT
RATH
KATHLEEN
RATH
