by Sharon Hall | Feb 22, 2014 | Surname Saturday
The surname “Utter” is of Scandinavian (Swedish) origin, a baptismal name meaning “son of Ottur”, and derived from an animal (otter). Amandus Johnson, a Swedish historian, believed it to be a distinctly Swedish name. One source indicates that the name was carried to...
by Sharon Hall | Feb 19, 2014 | Digging History Magazine, Ghost Town Wednesday
The Elkhorn-Coolidge Historic District is located in the northern part of Beaverhead County, Montana and south of Butte. In 1872 silver was first discovered by Preston Sheldon, and his first shipment of ore yielded 300 ounces per ton. He supposedly named the mine...
by Sharon Hall | Feb 18, 2014 | Tombstone Tuesday
Leo Leroy and Pansy Mae (Willey) Hagel, husband and wife, are buried in the Briston Cemetery in Beaverhead County, Montana – near the area called Big Hole. They were born in different places and their families made their way to Montana in the late 1890’s for...
by Sharon Hall | Feb 17, 2014 | Military History Monday
In 1805, Lewis and Clark named them “Nez Perce”, which literally means “pierced nose”, except this tribe didn’t perform nose piercings – that was the Chinook tribe. The tribe’s name was actually “Nimi’puu” (Nee-Me-Poo) and meant “the people” or “we the people”. This...
by Sharon Hall | Feb 15, 2014 | Surname Saturday
Titcomb is an English surname which referred to someone who came from Tidcombe in Wiltshire. In Old English the name was “Titicome”, or someone who dwelt at a place where birds habitated. In Wiltshire, this family held a seat as “Lords of the Manor of Tidcombe”....