William Bowe, a Montana pioneer of 1864, and the founder of the town of Melrose, was born in Ireland, on March 17, 1844, fourth in the family of five children of Lawrence Bowe and Margaret Delany, both natives of the Emerald Isle. His parents emigrated to America in 1848 and settled in Connecticut. In 1859 they moved to New Britain, that State where the father died in his eightieth year. William Bowe spent several years of his early life at Cromwell, on the Connecticut River. When he was only fourteen he was employed to run an engine in a manufacturing establishment, and after the family moved to New Britain he worked on a farm for some time. In 1863 he went to Denver, Colorado, spent the winter there, and in the spring came to Montana, arriving at Virginia City, on July 8, 1864, with a capital of $100. The history of his life for the next few years was that of a miner going from camp to camp, sometimes owning an interest in a mine himself and at other times working by the day until he had visited nearly all the mining districts in this section of the Northwest, and on the whole his mining career was an unsuccessful one. He then turned his attention to freighting, which he continued until the fall of 1873 when he came to his present location at Melrose. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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In the spring of 1875, he bought out two squatters, John Stone and Jefferson McCauley, giving one of them $100 and the other $150. At the time, Stone and McCauley were the only other settlers in the valley. When the land was surveyed, Mr. Bowe pre-empted 160 acres of land, to which he subsequently added eighty acres of desert land. In the fall of 1875, he built a small log house that served as a home until he could get a better one. Finally, he purchased a house at Rocker, took it to pieces, and moved it to his place, and this house now forms a part of the hotel building. On December 25, 1876, William Bowe married Lucina Fleser, ex-wife of Adam Fleser and daughter of Elihu Phillips. She was born in Strongsville, Ohio, on February 16, 1837. By her first husband, Adam, she had children as follows: George, Charles, Calista, wife of James Mackboy of Phillipsburg; and Melrose, wife of Sherman W. Vance. For a period of time, Sherman and his family lived with Mr. Bowe on the Bowe Ranch along the Big Hole River. From 1876 until the arrival of the Utah Northern, the stage stop served many travelers coming through Melrose, heading to the mining camps of the Hecla Consolidated Mining Company. The arrival of the Utah Northern in 1881 made it possible and profitable for the Hecla Mining Company to ship silver and lead bullion (once hauled out by wagon road) to the refineries for further smelting. Hauling ore by wagon was not only costly but time-consuming. The arrival of the railroad greatly reduced the costs and overhead of the company and improved profits, helping bring in the necessary supplies, machinery, and charcoal needed to supply the furnaces at Glendale. The railroad arrived at Melrose in the spring of 1881 marking an end to an era of freighting for Melrose and the Bryant Mining District.

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As the narrow gauge of the Utah Northern inched its way closer and closer, Bowe platted the town of Melrose and at once sold off a number of lots. In 1880 he made further additions to his hotel, which enabled him to entertain comfortably all who stopped there.  As William Bowe platted the town site, he decided to change the name from “Camp Creek” to “Melrose” in honor of his Stepdaughter, Melrose Fleser. William Bowe would begin selling off lots of this newly platted town around 1880. Business establishments, saloons and homes quickly sprang up.

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My great-great grandfather George Vance and his brothers, along with their parents, Charles and Elizabeth Vance, came to the United States from Cowansville, Quebec during the summer months of 1878 and settled in Glendale. George’s brother, Sherman met and married Melrose Fleser on December 27, 1887.  Most locals living near Melrose today are familiar with Mt. Fleser which earned its namesake from the tiny stage stop that once stood at its base, operated by Adam Fleser during the early 1870’s. “ Fleecer Mountain”, as it is known today on official maps, has been erroneously misspelled over the years. Adam Fleser was known to be a heavy drinker and this drinking eventually took a toll on his marriage to Lucina Phillips. They had four children, their youngest daughter Melrose was born in 1869. After Lucina divorced Adam, she moved to the Stone Ranch at Camp Creek where she met and married William Bowe. 

 

Mrs. Lucina  Bowe crossed the plains with her first husband in 1864, and on that journey met with many thrilling experiences and narrow escapes, a detailed account of which would fill a volume of no small proportion and would be more thrilling than many a romance. The company with which they traveled was composed of twenty men, four women, and five children, all well-armed. At the South Platte River they were delayed on account of storms and high water. One man drowned and one man and a child were killed by lightning. Further on in the journey they had trouble with the Indians, and it was with difficulty that they escaped with their lives. Mrs. Bowe is the daughter of a physician and by her knowledge of curative powers made herself very useful in taking care of the sick and wounded on this journey, as she also has during her long residence in Montana. After they arrived in Virginia City, Mr. Fleser engaged in mining and later moved to German Gulch, where he kept a station. On account of his dissipated habits she left him and obtained a divorce, after which, as above stated, she became the wife of Mr. Bowe. During their long residence at Melrose, Mr. and Mrs. Bowe have made a wide acquaintance throughout the State, being noted far and near for their genial hospitality.