Pres. . Miracle of America Museum 58176 Highway 93 Poison,
Montana 59860
In the heart of God’s country in northwest Montana, lies
beautiful Flathead Lake. Poison is at its foot and Glacier Park is
just 40 miles from its head. Its claim to fame, other than its
purity, is that it is the largest natural freshwater lake west of
the Mississippi. Its other claim to fame is that it is situated
only one mile north of the Miracle of America Museum, which has the
largest and most diversified permanent public display of artifacts
in the state. At the museum, which is nicknamed ‘The
Smithsonian of the West,’ the most frequently asked question
is, ‘Where did you get all this stuff?’
Gil Mangels, founder and president of the Board of Directors of
this nonprofit museum, responds, ‘It wasn’t sitting around
watching TV, drinking suds or eating chocolates!’
Flathead Lake was a key to the acquisition of some very nice
‘stuff and old iron that would be of interest to Gas Engine
Magazine readers. Wild Horse Island at 2200 acres is the largest
island in the lake. To make a long story short (for the long story,
visit the area, the museum, and take a boat tour around the
island), a Dr. Burnett purchased the island during World War II.
His wife was Cora Timken, heiress to the Timken Roller Bearing
fortune.
He wanted to breed an improved strain of western saddle horses
on the island and live a self-sufficient life style as well. It was
common for him to go into a hardware store and buy a case of
identical tools or a whole shelf of supplies. Among the larger new
items he purchased and had ferried over to his island were an
Ottawa log saw, a 7 HP Witte engine, a 1910 Oliver two-way sulky
plow, a large Buffalo forge, a Case stationary baler, and tons of
other new tools. Poor Dr. Burnett didn’t get to realize his
dream; his wife died a short time later and he just lost interest.
Over the years, the island changed hands and some of it reverted to
the state.
I grew up in Poison, but had never been to the island, although
I had heard some rumors of old machinery there. About eight years
ago, as I met a summer visitor at church, I learned he was a forest
ranger assigned to Wild Horse Island. I remembered the rumors and
asked him if there was any truth in them. He asserted that they
were true and that he would let the MacDonald family, who now owned
part of the island, know of my interest. About the middle of the
week, a family member called and said, ‘Your interest in the
machinery was very timely, as the family has been discussing what
to do with it.’ After accepting an invitation to visit the
museum and then inviting me to visit the island, they agreed to
donate the items if I would pay the ferrying charges to get the
machinery back to the mainland and haul some items for them,
too.
I located a barge for under $ 1,000 and the excitement and work
began in earnest. Getting the machinery out of the sheds and down
to the lake shore was in itself a daunting task. The ’59 Ford
4×4 (the only vehicle known to have been on the island) hadn’t
run in about a dozen years. The brakes were non-existent and the
starter was stuck. Mice had crawled into the bell housing, and
crud, corruption and urine had not only rusted the starter bendix
solid, but also rusted the clutch to the flywheel as well. The
starter and carburetor were pulled and rebuilt, then it actually
ran. We had to start it in neutral until it warmed up and then
start it in gear to get moving. Dodging trees and rocks up a hill
to the barn, we had to shut it off every time we wanted to stop.
However, we were finally successful towing and hauling the
machinery down to the lake shore without any damage except
shattered nerves.
The forge, a LeRoi winch unit, etc., were in a garage about
fifty yards from the shore, so moving them just took lots of leg
work. Also, there was a set of flywheels, rod and piston, large
brass oiler and a gas tank from a stationary engine, but the family
knew nothing about the rest of it. However, one calm day, I noticed
a glob of iron off shore in about 30 feet of water. It had been
used to anchor a buoy. The barge’s diver investigated and, even
with my trying to describe what it would look like, he doubted it
was what I was looking for. I had them pull it up anyhow and, sure
enough, it was the 7 HP Witte engine. There had been several
lengths of very large rebar pushed into the cylinder and through
the crankshaft bearings to add more weight. I later steam-cleaned
all the grime off it, and remarkably all the linkages and
carburetor parts freed up. I haven’t had time to restore it
yet, though.
Near the house and garage were the trucks and handles of an
Ottawa log saw, without the engine. I located the cylinder head
down the beach where it had been used to hold underwater a suction
hose for a water pump. The blade, from the garage, was still
wrapped in the factory shipping paper. Even though I never could
find the rest of that engine it was exciting to find the NOS
complete tree felling attachment for the log saw.
The Buffalo forge was first fired up July 1997 at the
museum’s annual Live History Day approximately 60 years after
it had been purchased.
The next most exciting, though unwelcome, find came as I was
checking shelves of the garage and found a half-gallon milk carton
full of what looked like safety flares. I was suspicious, though,
seeing some little droplets on them. After carefully cutting away
the side of the carton I verified that the ‘flares’ were
really sticks of aged dynamite with the little droplets being
nitro-glycerin. The family disposed of it, but finding stuff like
that is sure hard on a person’s heart.
All of the other above mentioned items are on permanent public
display at the Miracle of America Museum. We hope you can stop by
for a visit. Guests are welcome to demonstrate their own antiques
or, on Live History Day, the third Saturday in July each year, run
some of our engines or equipment. We are offering our fully
equipped blacksmith shop to a clean living and talking smith to
earn his own living while exhibiting his skills year ’round or
seasonally. For more information see our web page at
www.cyberport.net/museum, e-mail us at museum@cyberport.net, call
(406) 883-6804 or 883-6264, or write Miracle of America Museum,
58176 Highway 93, Poison, MT59860.
