The irregular shaped dark areas are the black background showing the paper losses. Light staining / toning. Otherwise - showing expected signs of age, wear and handling - mostly light bands of toning. Fold creases from posting. Overall, in fair to good condition. Will display well in your collection. You will receive the exact sheet shown in the photos. Unfolded as seen in the photos, it measures approx. 7 7/8" x 9 3/4"
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HISTORICAL REPORT: 1871 Montana Territory Frontier Church Construction Document — Canton SECTION 1: TRANSCRIPTION & LITERAL READING • Heading Line: Canton M T / Nov 8 1871 • Recipient Line: Mr John S. Tierney / Present • Salutation: Please • Body Text: purchase for the Church 13 thousand Shingles whenever you can get the best and Cheapest the Smith will Haul them out and we will Much for you Some time Send Bill and we will pay it very Respectfully • Signature: John S. Tierney • Archival Fragment Notation: 13 / 6 / 78 • Left-Margin Archival Filing Docket: Wm V. Tierney / Sept 8/75 / Catholic Church / Deep Creek SECTION 2: THE HISTORICAL SETTING & PROVENANCE In November 1871, Montana was an expansive, remote Western Territory nearly two decades away from formal statehood. Frontier community building and institutional architecture relied completely on volunteer labor, communal financing, and independent freight haulers maneuvering horse-drawn wagons over rugged mountain passes. This document stands as an exceptional primary source capturing the collaborative logistics behind erecting a frontier house of worship. The text details a direct instruction to buy thirteen thousand wooden shingles at the best rate available, arranging a local blacksmith ("the Smith") to haul the materials overland, and ensuring reimbursement through communal ledger credits. SECTION 3: THE SENDER & THE TIERNEY FAMILY This letter bears the distinctive name and hand of the Tierney pioneer family, with John S. Tierney drafting the building instructions. The left margin contains a critical filing archival notation written a few years later by William V. Tierney in September 1875. The Tierneys were prominent early Catholic pioneers who settled the fertile valleys of central Montana, acting as principal community organizers and logistical coordinators to secure building supplies, lumber contracts, and freight shipments for the region's developing infrastructure. SECTION 4: THE ORIGIN — THE CHURCH AT CANTON (DEEP CREEK) This document is directly tied to one of the most famous architectural landmarks in Montana history: St. Joseph's Catholic Mission Church. Settlers established the frontier village of Canton along the Missouri River valley floor near Deep Creek in the late 1860s. In 1871, the scattered pioneers of various faiths formed a communal pool to aggregate materials, leading to the formal 1875–1876 construction of the historic church by ninety volunteer lay laborers. Dedicated on October 22, 1876, it remains the oldest standing secular Roman Catholic church structure in the state of Montana, featuring a rare eastern Colonial-style design choice. The historic village of Canton entirely vanished from geographic maps in 1953 when the federal government upgraded the Canyon Ferry Dam. The rising reservoir completely flooded the valley floor, permanently submerging the original townsite beneath what is now Canyon Ferry Lake. To save St. Joseph's Church from destruction, the structure was physically relocated 2.5 miles away to its current preservation site. Original primary documents tracking the initial 1870s raw materials and building orders for this drowned pioneer settlement are highly coveted. SECTION 5: CONDITION REPORT • Authentic unruled single-page frontier correspondence stationery dating precisely to November 1871, with later archival docketing from September 1875. • Highly legible ink penmanship with outstanding color contrast, crisp signature blocks, and distinct filing stamps. • Displays original vertical and horizontal transit mailing folds with minor historic handling holes along the midsection fold that do not compromise textual integrity. • Superb overall preservation, showcasing prominent historic horizontal ink/water toning accents across the upper-third margin.
**Shipped securely in a poly sleeve, sandwiched in cardboard, inside a small rigid mailer via USPS Ground Advantage service w/ tracking**
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