blackfoot-valley

ly, between visits home, she stayed at least a month at a time. Today, the nearest high school in the area is in Drummond where most students go. Peaches, born a Geary, now lives in a small but attractive and immacu- lately maintained house in the heart of Helmville. She married into the Ray- mond family, whose 1500-acre ranch lies north of the Wales Ranch, astride the Blackfoot. Her husband was another of the pioneer settlers and cattle ranchers in the area, who is reputed to have known his cows by name. He was one of the founders of Helmville’s volunteer fire department along with Jim Coughlin and Michael Geary. He also served as a county commissioner for three decades. The Helmville volunteer fire department is still maintained, with a truck and ten to twelve members on call. A basic change in the valley was wrought by the advent of the automo- bile. It all began unportentiously, and as with so many technological inven- tions, in its early days few foresaw the ultimate potential. Although the first gasoline-powered horseless carriages were built in the 1890s, the first one put-putted into the valley in 1907 by way of the rutted stage / wagon road. Upon its arrival, the sight and sound of it stampeded the horses. Although a few more came into the valley during the following years, the horse drawn stage was still used by high school students as late as 1916. During that “Covered wagon vs. Automobile, 1910” Wikimedia Commons 149