Don Bielenberg, Pilot & Swan Lake Developer

Don Bielenberg (center) lived on Swan Lake for 72 of his 95 years, and his oral history was collected at his home there. Clark Grant (left) and Maurice Burke conducted the interview.

Don Bielenberg as a young man, photo provided by his granddaughter Natasha Prinzing Jones.

Oral History Transcript of Don Bielenberg

Interviewers: Clark Grant, Maurice Burke, Jena Burke, and Polly Burke
Interview Date: October 11th, 2019
Location: Bielenberg Residence on Swan Lake
Transcribed: September 2022 by Clark Grant

Don Bielenberg: It was quite a jury trial. I mean, when, when you think of going back then for little, we held the trial in the court, in the shoe house. And…

Clark Grant: Don't mind me. [laughter]

Bielenberg: Where do you want me to say: rubber, baby buggy bumpers. Ok Clark! That wasn't that funny, Clark.

Grant: Thanks for having us up, Don. We could just keep talking. Um, like you were…continue your train of thought there if you'd like. Yeah. Yeah. That's fine.

Bielenberg: Well, the jury trial, you had two Fish & Game directors there and there was a highway patrolman who was a character witness and the defendant was a former assistant superintendent of Glacier National Park. He was shooting across the road. And Bob Lambeth was a former Fish & Game director, and he was serving out his term to retire, on his retirement. I mean, he wasn't a fish and game director then, he was a game warden. I mean, it's kind of interesting.

Maurice Burke: Well those are yeah…to be a justice of the peace. I bet you learned a lot about Swan Lake.

[00:01:58]

Bielenberg: Yeah. The inner workings of county government, the pros and cons, and the ups and downs, and the whys and wheres that's for sure.

Grant: You were elected?

Bielenberg: No, I was appointed by the county commissioners. Then when my election time was up, then I filed and ran.

Grant: Were you surprised that you won?

Bielenberg: It was overwhelming. I don't think I got one negative vote.

Grant: Oh wow. Okay.

Bielenberg: Remember this was Parker brush country then. Everybody knew everybody, good or bad. Wow. Go ahead.

Grant: Well, you were talking earlier about when you first came up here and before the highway and all the surveying that took place. I just wanted to hear more about that. What it was like pre-

Bielenberg: That was kinda traumatic times because they're going to build the road through here. This is the - not a forest access. There was a military road to start with. I mean, that's when it was put together. But anyway, when they started the survey, God, that was something, because remember, like I said, it took four or five hours to go to Seeley Lake. Well, it's hard to believe that you got the highway that you came on now and what we're living with today. I mean, it's hard to realize what there was.

[00:03:52]

See, when people came here, it's like you two were married and you're pretty good in the kitchen. And at that point you get a piece of property up here. Okay. What did you live on? To go to town - to go to Kalispell would be a three day’s trip, before people up here. Well, you had deer meat and that was open season on deer. You had the Swan River and the crick drainages for fishing, and then you put a garden in, and if you happened to have a rugrat - that’s a child - well, you, wound up with a cow. And you could live here. I mean, that's the way they lived way back. And that was also out in the Flathead Valley, to some extent. It was prevalent here in the Swan Valley. You know, that's the way you existed. Food, clothing, and shelter. And you…you got by. Another question.

Grant: Well, I'm trying to imagine that time and how simple life would be by comparison to what it is now.

[00:05:21]

Bielenberg: Well, when the Summers Lumber Company logged up here and there wasn't any road, everything came up by steamboat from the south end of the lake - I mean from the north end of the lake - up to here, and well, there there was kind of a trail. I mean, there wasn't a road. I mean, I think the first vehicles were here and came up on the steam boat, and that boat is down there at Columbia falls. It’s still there. Oh, oh no. I'm talking about the railroad engine. The railroad engine is there at Columbia falls. It's a train engine. Anyway, they had a railroad up here.

Jena Burke: What was it like in the winter? Was that really hard, to live in the winter? Like before the road…

Bielenberg: You usually get four feet of snow - three, four feet - and kinda hibernated, I mean, isolated. But they wound up with a school and they got by, let's put it this way.

Maurice Burke: Yeah, no, I, I think that Swan Lake itself was a place though that had great wealth because of Con Kelly's -

Bielenberg: North of the lake, Con Kelly.

Maurice Burke: What happened? How did that - how did they pick Swan Lake and why did that become so wealthy up there?

Bielenberg: Well, they'd come up and do their hunting and stuff and put the encampment down there that Kelly put - most of the people around Ferndale lived off of the Kelly set up as they had. In other words, summertime, they'd all get employment there, put that together.

Maurice Burke: At Kootenai Lodge.

Bielenberg: Yes. Well, Kootenai Lodge today.

Maurice Burke: Yeah, it was Kootenai Camp back then.

Bielenberg: Yeah, I guess. Yeah. I knew the caretaker. I was engaged with his daughter, Valentine Kleinsdale. And he was a tailor and he came from England. And he and his wife - they were the caretakers of the place. I get a kick out of some of the people I know around Ferndale, and they used to drive his motor cars. They had a garage down there as this is at - this is what you call Kootenai - and god, with all the vehicles. They're motor cars. I mean, limousines. And then the locals would be involved with keeping all that stuff going.

Grant: How many cars do you think they had?

Bielenberg: But the guy that was the caretaker was Thomas Kleinsdale, Thomas. And I get a kick - years later, I had a float plane here on Swan Lake. And I remember going, taxiing up to - I landed down there and I taxied up to right there in front of Kelly's place. Yeah. They thought that was overwhelming.

His Republic CB. And I think I showed the [inaudible]. I’ve owned seven airplanes in my lifetime.

Grant: [looking at a photograph] Oh yeah. Oh man. Is that on ice? That's a nice plane.

Bielenberg: This picture - It was 40 below before that and the lake - the ice had melted on the lake. Anyway, I flew up and landed on the ice and that next picture shows that she went through the ice and so I retracted the gear and took off on the hole. My brother and his wife had just had a baby. She's in Whitefish in the hospital and I flew them into Kalispell.

Maurice Burke: Did you fly in the winter, every winter?

Bielenberg: Well, that's one winter.

[00:10:45]

Like you say, every winter - I only had that a couple years. I'd go up to Whitefish and Seeley Lake and haul passengers. And one time I broke a hydraulic line to my prop control and I'm telling the people - I says, ‘Geez, my oil pressure went like from here clear down to nothing. And I said, now don't panic. You'll get your money refunded.’ [laughter] I made my landing and got back on the water. Anyway, that's another story. Anyway, we got the airplane back and got the - and we used that stretch tape that electricians tape. Well, that's what we taped with, but that doesn't hold. But anyway, we had a bowl drawn up like that for the broken line and Larry Stockiel, who had the Flathead Air Transport in Kalispell, Larry came up and we put it together and got it back.

Jen Burke: That's scary. Yeah, the tape, wow.

Maurice Burke: Well Don, did you gas up your airplane here? What fuel did you use for your airplane? Did you use gasoline?

Bielenberg: Well, it had an 80 gallon fuel tank. Now, can you - you know what a 50 gallons drum is, don’t you? Don't you know what a 50 gallon drum - you know? Alright, now imagine in that airplane, it had an 80 gallon fuel tank and these airplanes - they made around a little over a thousand of those airplanes. This had a B9F engine. It was a hundred - 212 horsepower. The predecessor to it had 195 horsepower. Anyway, I’d get a kick - I used to fly into Butte. Butte's pretty high isn’t it, in the elevation? Okay.

[00:13:16]

John Fox, he owned the buildings there at the airport and he sold them to Bert Mooney. Anyway, Fox gave me my certification for my commercial pilot's license. And I bought a building from him in Deer Lodge. They had the hangar for the scouting program and stuff. Anyway, I bought that building from him. But like I say, John gave me my flight test. Well, I got to know Bert; Bert bought his business there, the Fox Flying Service - and Bert Mooney. They call it the Mooney airport now in Butte. Well anyway, I'd fly in there. Well, they'd be taking some of these airplanes across to Seattle that went up to Alaska and anyway, they'd come in there.

Well, when they gas up, they'd gas up to go on through their flights. That’d be one of their gas stops. Well, it take 'em quite a while to get off, to get airborne. Well, I'd fly in there - whoomp - and I'd go off. There goes Bielenberg! Well anyway, in taking off, I had fuel tanks in Deer Lodge. I had gas pumps there in Deer Lodge. I had bought the hangar, those buildings from John Fox. Anyway, so I'd only be in there with probably 10, 15 gallons, wuuuuhh - take right off.

Maurice Burke: What did Bert Mooney think about that?

Bielenberg: Well, Bert thought I was - I took a check ride from him one time in a 182. And I get a kick - he sat in the back seat. He didn't sit up in front with me. And the check pilot, he was running the check ride. And when he got through and he went like this [gestures], went like this and poked his hand and told me where to go. And anyway, we got back to the airport and he goes into the office and he says, ‘Bielenberg’s checked out in the 182.’ It was the damnedest check ride I ever had.

[00:16:00]

The 182 was a pretty sophisticated airplane at that time. That's when Super Cubs were quite predominant and I mean, hell, up in Alaska - quite performing. And I'm going back 70 years to those airplanes. That's a long time. They had a deal the other day where a B-17 augured in. There’s something about the old airplanes that they don't think they should be flying anymore. Well, go ahead with more questions.

Grant: I'm curious how you first got into aeronautics.

Bielenberg: Say what?

Grant: How did you first get into aeronautics?

Bielenberg: Okay. When I was a junior in high school, I went to the department of aeronautics and related trades in Helena, Montana. I was working on airplanes. Scotty Woods was an instructor there. I was a pallbearer at his funeral, by the way. He got killed in a mid-air collision. But anyway, I'd go be on rise with him and et cetera. And there was - that was my - I wanted to be a pilot in the worst way. And then, like I say, after I got in the service, I had a trapline in Deer Lodge in my senior year of high school. And I saved almost $3,000. And I used that to get my private pilot's license while I was in the service. See, I was in the cadet program and they called it College Training Detachments. That's when I was packing chutes - the Navy has a similar program. You get 10 hours flight time and…[pause and breathing] flying…

Maurice Burke: So Don, when you came to Swan lake, were you already a certified pilot, when you came to Swan lake?

Bielenberg: I had a private pilot license.

Maurice Burke: 1946.

Bielenberg: Yeah.

Maurice Burke: Okay.

Bielenberg: I got that in the service.

Grant: I'd like to hear about the trap line. How do you run one of those?

[00:18:50]

Bielenberg: Well, it was in Deer Lodge and I leased it from Patner Manden. It's funny I can remember his name. And anyway, I leased - he had 200 and some acres there, north of town - south of town. And then I had that property and then I also had property on the Kohrs-Grant Ranch. And anyway, there's plenty - muskrats, you were getting $2, a little over $2 for a pelt. And I’d get a few mink once in a while. And anyway, I remember getting up. I’d start out at four, five o'clock in the morning and I'd come back and my mother would have breakfast ready for me and I'd eat in front of the fireplace. And that's another story. But anyway, that was kind of a time. And I wound up tularemia…and Dr. Marquette was my doctor. He'd been up to the house. I had a temperature of 105. Anyway, later on I wound up getting up to his office - his office was in the Klinesmith Block there in Deer Lodge. And I got up there to his - and I says - ‘God,’ he says, ‘well, you're getting better. You got up here, didn't you?’ [laughter]

I mean, that's the way he - he was the mayor of Deer Lodge and he also got the swimming pool. I think it was with a WPA or something, but he played quite a role. He and his wife, Mona, and my mother put me on the train to go to - and I still had - I was still taking off on this tularemia bit - but I wanted to be in the cadet program in the worst way. And I got on the train to go to Salt Lake to start my military career in Salt Lake City. And I missed the bus going out to the - where they pick up all the servicemen. I missed the bus. You had to take a taxi cab to go out to Fort Douglas, and that was quite a deal. And then I started in the service. I went to college in Wayne, Nebraska, and that was a Wayne State Teachers College.

And there was 500 cadets in the - they had - Missoula had the same thing. See, they called them CTDs. They were all over the United States. And in the spring, they closed them. And I told Maurice that they had - when they closed it, they had a big ball at the college. And I had a date with Patty Tressler.

Patty was going to Smith college back east, and Patty was the maid of honor. And I mean, it was quite a fanfare. I was just a peasant. But anyway, Patty - we corresponded, but her brother was a senior in high school and he wound up going to - I forget what prestigious college. Anyway, he wound up being the head of Burlington Northern, the head honcho. Now I don't know what you’d call his title. He wound up having a place out in Washington on one of the islands, later. This is Dick, Richard Tressler. Anyway, that's in the books. Anyway, that was quite an experience to have. I was just a peasant along with the group. I mean, you know, all the instructors that were there were bending over backwards for Patty and I'm just a tag along. But it was still kind of an experience.

Maurice Burke: But she went there with you, Don.

Bielenberg: That's right.

Maurice Burke: She chose you to be her date that night. That was good. Don, the Conrad Kohrs Ranch - I didn't realize you were trap lining on the Conrad Kohrs Ranch. You must know that ranch really well, if you were out there trapping.

[00:24:05]

Bielenberg: I didn’t know it well, but I know it pretty well.

Maurice Burke: Okay.

Grant: You said you were eating breakfast by the fire, by the stove at the house. You said your mother had made you breakfast and you ate it by the stove when you came back.

Bielenberg: By the fire.

Grant: And that was a whole other story. What's that story?

Bielenberg: Well, that’s when I'd be trapping and I'd come in and she'd have breakfast ready. And the fire in the fireplace. I'd laid the fire before, the night before. And that was kind of an experience. Then I'd be down in the basement, skinning out the muskrats, putting 'em on stretchers. And that was something else. But I mean, for a young kid in high school, I mean, I never ever had an allowance or anything like, geez, I used to get Christmas trees. I sold Christmas trees there, on the property there in Deer Lodge. And that house, by the way, my grandfather built - he had a mansion there. This is my other grandfather; this is grandfather Bielenberg. And he gave it to the city and county for their first high school there in Deer Lodge. And then he went out to the Figure Five Ranch, and then he was there a few years.

Then he built this home that I was born in on Milwaukee Avenue, which is on the national register of historic places. And I was born in the bedroom below the gable where he had a Buffalo and two ibex mounted. And then there were - I was born in that room underneath the gable. That's something to write home about.

[00:26:10]

And then in his material that Maurice had, he said that I met - I managed to get the property on the register. Well, wasn't that at the point when they were talking about putting things on the national register? Well, that was pretty dumb. And so they encouraged me to get the information and it's on the national register of historic places. I don't talk too well.

Grant: Oh, I think you do. Doing good. Doing fine, Don.

Maurice Burke: Don, can you show the picture of your grandfather Nick? Can you show Clark that picture over there?

Bielenberg: Yeah.

Maurice Burke: Yeah. That was probably taken in that house, that picture.

Bielenberg: I think it was.

Grant: Are you the baby?

Bielenberg: I'm the baby. [laughter]

Grant: And is Nick to the right?

Bielenberg: Yeah. Nick's the one with the gray hair, with white hair. That's my father. My mother and father got a divorce in 1933. And in the interim, she had dated Mike Manfield's father-in-law. And she knew Mike real well. And I had, I've had contacts with Mike. Mike played quite a role in Montana history. Anyway, but then years later, he came back to live at the house in Deer Lodge. And guess who married them? That guy on the right, that's my brother. He was the Justice of the Peace. And he married my mother and dad again. [exclaiming] How about that? That doesn't happen very often.

Jena Burke: Is that mansion that's the school still standing?

Bielenberg: Pardon?

Jena Burke: Is the mansion still standing that your grandfather had for the school?

Bielenberg: No, they tore it down. They built a new high school. I think in 1917 they built a new high school.

Maurice Burke: Where the mansion was.

Jena Burke: Gotcha. Yeah.

Bielenberg: Where they had this school band and stuff was the Daggert place. And I had met Daggert, and I mean, he was quite a bit older. But that's kind of unusual. And across the street was the Larabie mansion, and Larabie played a real dominant role in Deer Lodge history. And I mean, when you do the books - part of the building is still standing, of the Larabie mansion. [pause] Go ahead.

Grant: I'm just wondering if you could tell us more about Nick, where he was born and what you know about him.

[00:29:27]

Bielenberg: Schleswig-Holstein. Germany. That's where he came from. And then he came to the United States. And anyway, he came out to…I'm trying to think…

Grant: Take your time, Don. No problem.

Bielenberg: Geez. I'm trying. [pause] He came up on the Steamboat to Fort Benton in 19 - I mean in 1865. And his brother came a month later and then he had - he was a butcher from Chicago I guess, I think Chicago. But anyway, he was a butcher by [trade]. The guy on the steamboat or the guy that hauled his cutting tools for him to go to Helena. And that's where he started out, was in Helena, Montana. And of course, Kohrs was established there in Deer Lodge. He bought Johnny Grant’s place from him and Grant plays quite a role in Montana history. Well anyway, I'm sure that kohrs helped him in some of his - and then Charlie Bielenberg - he came. I think Nick came in the early part of June and Charlie came in the latter part of June. See I’m [inaudible]. Anyway, the role they played - he came to Blackfoot City, and Blackfoot City played quite a role in Montana history and that's down by Helmville in Ovando country. And anyway, go ahead.

Maurice Burke: Did they, did he start doing sheep? And he did something with stock?

[00:31:58]

Bielenberg: Well, he got into the sheep business. I forget what role he played. Kohrs was over in Virginia city. And Kohrs and Bielenberg, they both had the same mother; that's the relationship. Anyway, Nick was in Blackfoot City and I think Kohrs loaned him the money to buy the ranch there in Deer Lodge - what did I call the name of the ranch?

Maurice Burke: Figure Five?

Bielenberg: The Figure Five Ranch. Like I say, out of Anaconda, just south of Anaconda, there’s Bielenberg Canyon that was named after Nick. And I get a kick. What was the predominant role played in Anaconda copper? Anyway, my grandfather had hired a gunslinger and they were going to jump some claims there by Anaconda when they were going - he played quite a role in the smokestack keeper. He was on the panel when they had the hearing about building the smokestack and he testified for the ranchers and farmers in the Deer Lodge Valley. Well, John D. Ryan, who built the Ryan estate here on Swan Lake, he was the council for the Anaconda Company. And everybody had their right to say what they wanted to say.

And Roosevelt was the mediator. I mean, he was the one that they relied on to settle the deal. Anyway, Ryan got up and wanted to say something, you know, he wanted to say some more. And Roosevelt said, Mr. Ryan, you've had your say. Would you please sit down? And at that point, I mean, my grandfather always got a kick out of Roosevelt telling him that. And he and Roosevelt got together several times. He was - they were buddies or friends or whatever you wanna call it. Go ahead.

Maurice Burke: Did Nick ever live in Butte, your grandfather? Wasn't he in - didn't he live in Butte?

[00:34:48]

Bielenberg: Oh, he belonged to The Silver Bow Club in Butte. And he, I told you, he and Henderson built the Bielenberg-Henderson building, whether it's Henderson-Bielenberg or Bielenberg-Henderson, and I think I told Maurice they had the first telegraph there in that building. The building's still there today. It's got Henderson-Bielenberg in tile as you walk in.

Grant: It's on Broadway.

Maurice Burke: Yes.

Bielenberg: Yeah. And I might add this: the hotel there, what's the name, the Finlen Hotel - some relative of mine, anyway, that's where their home was. before they built the hotel. So it goes way back in Butte.

Maurice Burke: How about - did he sell livestock or a butcher company? What - he was a stockman.

Bielenberg: Nick Bielenberg built the Butte Butchering Company. And later on in his lifetime, he sold it to the Hansen meat packing company. That's kind of interesting. He played quite a dominant role in Butte. I mean, he played quite a role. He had over 200,000 sheep on the open range at one time, This is Nick, of course. There was a lot going on at the time in the state between cattle and between the Indians and stuff. I mean, a lot of turmoil. And what gets me, if you wanted to go anywhere, you went by horse. I mean, transportation. Then when the railroads started coming in, that played a real dominant role in Montana history. I think there was five railroads that went into Butte, Montana at one time. The Milwaukee, the great Northern - not the great Northern, but the NP, and the Southern Pacific. Anyway, it's supposed to be five railroads.

Maurice Burke: What kind of man was Nick? You've talked about Nick, that he has a motto. He had a motto. He was a Stockman.

Bielenberg: Yeah. I can’t elucidate on that. He played - he must have been quite - because he looks, he looks pretty good in that picture.

Grant: He does. Did he have any money when he first came up the Missouri?

Bielenberg: No. I told you he wound up coming up to Fort Benton and then he had to walk from there to Helena, Montana. And the guy - one of the freighters hauled his butchering tools to Helena for him. And he went from Helena - he had a butcher shop, I think in Helena. Anyway, he had a butcher shop in Blackfoot City, and Blackfoot City played quite a role in Montana history.

Grant: How's that?

Bielenberg: That's over by Helmville in Ovando country. And then I get a kick outta my other grandfather being in Helmville. And my grandmother had the hotel or lodging, and he had the mercantile store. And I mean, it had every everything.

Maurice Burke: That's the James Markham?

Bielenberg: Yeah. James E. Markham.

[00:38:55]

Maurice Burke: You told me that Nick had a motto that he lived his life by.

Bielenberg: Do right by all and fear no one. That was his motto.

Maurice Burke: He was a good man.

Bielenberg: He was well respected. I mean, of all the history and stuff, it’s kind of overwhelming what a role he played in Montana history. And Markham, he was one of the first legislators in Montana. Montana, I think, became a state in 1889 or right around there. But anyway, he was one of the first legislators.

Maurice Burke: And did he live in Cascade? Because how did your mother get to know Charlie Russell?

Bielenberg: He went from Helmville to Cascade. Okay. He built a bank there in Cascade, and that's where he knew Charlie Russell. The Russells were good friends. My mother would go to California and she'd go see the Russells. They’d get together down there in California.

Nancy Russell is the one that put Charlie - she started handling his business ends on his paintings and et cetera. But Nancy and my mother were close, but there was an age discrepancy, but my mother spoke very, you know, through the years, about Nancy Russell.

Grant: Can you tell us about your mother?

Bielenberg: Pardon?

Grant: Can you tell us more about your mother?

[00:40:45]

Bielenberg: Well, she's a sweetheart. She’s a Christian scientist and she believes in mind over matter. You think what you manifest. And she goes back to Mary Baker Eddie. And she was a devout - she'd go to California every year on her - they called it Association. I mean, she always went. And I was - when I think about how I was raised - I was raised in that home there on Milwaukee Avenue. And I mean, that's where I was born. That's where I was raised. And when I went into the service, that was my home. I mean, and then my brother - he had polio when he was five. And anyway, he wound up being the JP at Deer Lodge and he was head of the radio room for the register's office. Anyway, when he passed on, he left the home and five thousand dollars to me for my inheritance.

And he left my brother the residue of the estate, which amounted to several hundred thousand dollars. And my brother was running around at the funeral. And he had a copy of the will in his pocket. I mean, he was terribly upset. I only spoke to him once since my brother passed on. Only spoke to him once. He was so embittered. And he and I worked together, and we mined together. And I can't believe, I can't - we were mining up Dry Cottonwood - and that's west of Warm Springs. Anyway, we're sinking a shaft - and I got a kick - I was down there mucking after we pulled a round and he was fixing some piping up there and this pipe came down the shaft and -whomp - wound in a set kitty corner. And Jesus, well, if I was down in the rock, it would have just gone all over.

Anyway. He says, I come up to the top of the shaft and he says, I'm going to have to think of a better way to get rid of you. [laughter]

Well, that's kind of interesting. We were real close and I, when my brother died, and he came down, he bought a place there at Echo Lake. And he had the gold exhibit in the world's fair in New York. And he was, he was real close. He knew the governors and et cetera. And he was, he was in that circle. I mean - but like I say, after my brother died, he only talked to me once in that time. It was kinda sad.

Maurice Burke: Your mother knew Jeanette Rankin?

Bielenberg: Yeah. Jeanette and mother, they were real close. She’d come up to see me here at Swan Lake - I mean, she would come up to see my mother. And anyway, and I was going to say, I'm in the living room up there. And I said, Jeannette, I'd like to ask you, ‘you tell me why you voted against the war.’

She was the only one out of all the, out of all the legislators. And she said - my nickname was DeeDee - and she said, ‘DeeDee, I proved to the world that a woman can stand up in a democracy and say no, and be held accounted for, where in those days, a woman says something wrong, off with the head. And so, anyway, that was kind of a statement that I remember.

[00:45:31]

And I think I told you, she gave me an appointment to Annapolis when I was in the cadets at Wayne, Nebraska, and she gave me the appointment. And the Commandant of the cadets was beside himself. He was a major and he says well, I'm not going and well, I had a little tip of color blindness, and I thought, Jesus, if I got in and I flunked out, I'd have a musket. And the last thing I wanted to do was go into the service and carry a musket. That wasn't my ideal of being a military personnel. But anyway, I got a kick - that's kind of unusual. I mean, to get an appointment. And I didn't go.

Grant: Your nickname was Dee Dee?

Bielenberg: How'd you get that?

Bielenberg: Donald Dean. Did you get that? Donald, do you know Donald? Dean? That was my name. You got it?

Grant: I do. [laughter]

Bielenberg: He's got it. And so they called me DeeDee. I mean, you know as a kid growing up - and when I went to school my senior year and had worked out at Boeing that summer - and I was going to say about working at Boeing. Congress had passed a law that if you were 17, and you were qualified, and you had your parental permission, you could work in a defense industry. And anyway, I'd gone to trade school in Helena in my junior year. I was going to three hours high school in the morning and six hours as a trade school. That was kind of an unusual hour arrangement. Anyway.

And I think I might have told Maurice about it - I'm working there at Boeing and the head of personnel for Boeing called me over and said, ‘will you please sit down? I'd like to talk to you.’ And he said, ‘I'd like to tell you, you're one of the youngest employees Boeing aircraft has on the payroll.’ Oh, that was quite a deal. Anyway, and like I said, I went back to school in Deer Lodge. I wound up being president of the student body. I wound up being president of the student council and oh, I wound up being - it was quite an elaborate ceremony - and the head honcho of the Butte boy scout program. He was there. And my mother presented me with the Eagle scout, it was my Eagle scout pen. And that was something in those days because Jimmy Havlin and Dick Ross - Dick wound up being a doctor. Havlin wound up being owner of the big insurance out there.

Anyway, they were Eagle Scouts and they were my predecessors, I mean, older. But to be an Eagle scout at that time was quite a deal.

Grant: Yeah. Still is.

[00:49:38]

Maurice Burke: How did you get into scouting? In Deer lodge, did they have a big scouting -

Bielenberg: Oh, they had two troops. The Catholics had a boy scout troop, and then they had the other, the one…Anyway, scouting played quite a dominant role. I mean, at that time, when I went to school over in Helena, I wound up in the scouting. In fact, I was out with the Scouts up on McDonald Pass. See, I can remember - and they had a rope tow, and it had a bar in the bottom, and it caught me in my back and I was paralyzed. And I wound up - one of the nicest things that ever - I'm laying on my back in the, you know, where they, where they had snacks and stuff. Anyway they're waiting for the ambulance to come to get me and Betty Irwin, I think, anyway, she came over and brushed my face.

God, that made my day. [laughter] But anyway, they took me to the hospital. They taped me from right above my tailbone, clear up to under my armpits, and they sent me home. And I recovered, I'm here today. But then I get a kick outta - I was coming from school and remember I had all this tape under and I'm pulling - I had a 34 Chevy and I was pulling out and the throttle where the choke was - it would spit. And this guy, he pulled out and starts to pass me. Well, it’s caught and I'm driving again. Then anyway, he pulls out in front of me, comes over, grabs me, bang, bang, bang, bang. Then anyway, I'm in big trouble. Here comes some friends of mine and they had a Cor - a Chevy anyway. The two of them, they had the horn, and it played, ‘the camels are coming hurrah, hurrah!’ on the car. And they played that. Then they come over and this guy, he took off, big time. But that was kind of an encounter. But I was unable to protect myself. I couldn't hardly move. I was just barely able to go back to school.

Maurice Burke: Was that your first car? Was that your first automobile you were driving?

Bielenberg: Oh no, no. Geez. I was 11 years old and I had a 1926 Chevy. The price was $15. I had $11 cash. My brother had it. $11 cash and $4 on the barrel head for payments. And that was my first - and I had a Ford box on the back of it. And I got a kick out of - I took a load of peat moss to the county treasurer, Elizabeth Johnson, there in Deer Lodge. And she's out there with a ruler! And I always humped it up. You know, you got more than a yard and she's measuring it to make sure she got a yard. Four days later, or three days later, I'm in her office getting my first driver's license. I had incorrectly put it in the record, you know, put it in. She says, DeeDee, are you 15? [laughter]

And I was 13 years old. I got my first driver's license, but, and I got a kick. Yeah. They had an accident out just beyond, in front of my home there in Deer Lodge and the guy - they didn't have ambulances then, et cetera - anyway, the the local magistrate, and I forget what his name was, but anyway, he said, ‘DeeDee, would you go get your pickup and take this guy up to the hospital?’

And in other words, he knew that I drove. I never parked on the streets in Deer Lodge. I’d park in the alley. So in other words, so somebody couldn't say, well, hell, but I was never involved in any, uh, where the kids would, what do you call it? Hot rodding and stuff. Yeah. And I had the respect of the law enforcement and like I say, I used to get Christmas trees and stuff for Deer Lodge. I'd have Christmas trees for sale there. And like the kids - Deer Lodge was a railroad town. Most of railroad kids got lawns. And I can never, ever remember union lawns. I remember one time that I - I'd never went to a matinee on movies. I mean, never. Because Saturday was matinee time. The kids would be down to the theater and hell, that was the time you're out doing something. So I never got involved in matinees.

[00:56:06]

And geez, I remember I wanted to go to - my mother said, ‘well, you can stay home.’ I went to the movie anyway. This on a Wednesday. And the sheriff comes down. And my mother called the sheriff and asked him. And anyway, big trouble. So I had to go down to see him and he said, we gotta mind your mother. Well, my mother figured I could stay home one day during the week or something. I forget what it was, but it was a conflict, but it all worked out. I was kind of a goodie two shoes, I think, when I look back growing up.

Maurice Burke: Okay, well, Don you mentioned carrying Christmas trees. Were you in that truck, that Ford truck bed? You hauled Christmas trees in that vehicle?

Bielenberg: Yeah. I’d go out and get 'em and bring them into town.

Maurice Burke: Now, didn't you do that once in Hollywood?

Bielenberg: Oh no, no.Hollywood! If you lived in Hollywood, you’d be on Sunset Boulevard and Hollywood Boulevard. Hollywood Boulevard went like this and came into Sunset Boulevard. Right there where the junction was, was a big marquee. This gal and her husband were selling Christmas trees. And anyway, I had a pickup. This is in 19, I think 40, uh, 48. Everything was on strike in Hollywood. He was the producer director and she was Mrs. America. And anyway, I didn't know. And I said, could I have a spot here to sell these Cedar wreaths? See, you make a wreath. So they - we worked out something. Anyway, I started running around with them. They had an apartment at Garden of Allah. If you’ve lived in Hollywood, you know where the Garden of Allah is. [phone rings very loudly twice] Can I answer that?

Grant: Feel free.

Bielenberg: I probably won't - [answers phone] Good afternoon. Okay. Now I'll call you back Bo. All right, bye. That fella, he's 96 years old. He calls me and I call him. Anyway, here we are on Sunset Boulevard. So I started running around with - I forget the identity we built up, but they had this apartment in the Garden of Allah. She was Mrs. America, and I'm running around with him. And my sister was a standin for Alice Faye in the movie business. And she's in the picture business too. She was a secretary for Roy Rogers. Anyway, we're in the theater and she takes my hand and puts it under her blouse. Oh, oh, geez. Startled the living bigeminy out of me.

Anyway, she was Mrs. America and she wanted me to feel she was pregnant and the baby was kicking and she wanted me to feel the baby move. So anyway, that was quite a deal. I mean.

Maurice Burke: So you touched the belly of Mrs. America.

Bielenberg: I get a kick - Dupars was right there and we used to go there and I remember I never met John Carridine, but he'd be in there having coffee every day with, with a bunch of theater people. And I remember going in and having, I don't know whether I drank coffee then or not. I don't think gee, I didn't drink coffee. Didn't drink. And that's, you know, a funny thing when you're growing up in high school, during the war, all the kids were beer drinking and stuff, and I never got involved. I had part of a drink here at the bar. That was all the drinking. And then I tried, what is it everybody was trying? Oh, Jerry and I…you know, and it's like, I never smoked in my life. Except when the marijuana come out. We had a joint and, that was my, I mean…

But anyway, this couple, I remember we're down on, oh what the hell…[inaudible] down on the sunset strip. And we were in this bar and I said, well, I'll buy him a drink. And, and he tells the bartender, ‘put it on the tab.’ Oh, geez. I've never had that happen before. That's where, that guy, he was on TV, 77 sunset strip.That was the bar that we were in. In the movie business that we were in…well, that's another story.

[01:02:25]

Maurice Burke: How did you meet John Wayne?

Bielenberg: I was rewiring a camera boom that he made Stagecoach [with] in 1939 with Claire Trevor and Tom Mitchell. Tom Mitchell got the academy award for the best supporting actor. And anyway, he introduced me. He was telling me, he says, ‘this is where I got my first break, on making Stagecoach.’ Okay. So he'd stop in every time he flew in with the chopper. And the guys in the mechanical department [would say], ‘how come, you know the Duke?’ Well, he'd stop in. I was telling him about my grandfather. Well, he was really interested because I knew Montana history and when it comes to cowboys and stuff, well, that's where a lot of it started, was up in Montana.

And so anyway, yeah, I got a kick - I said, well, I said, ‘you know, Duke, I'm just a country boy.’ And he reaches over - he's six, four - and he lifts me up. And he said, ‘just a minute, that's my line!’ [laughter] Anyway, it was funny. I mean, being involved like that. And then, it was quite an experience. I mean, it’s funny I never - well I think I left the studio. I was appointed business agent for local 40 by the union. They came down, guys dressed in pin striped suits, Jesus. And they got me aside and then took me into my supervisor. And they said, well, what if I'd take over the business agent of local 40. The business agent was Vince Murphy. His brother had Murphy Plumbing and Heating in Butte, Montana. Anyway, Vince recommended to the international that I'd be a good replacement while he was in the hospital. He had a stroke.

And so anyway, I wound up - and my being business agent, that was quite a deal. That was for about four or five months. And I got a kick out of it - Paramount Pictures. They had a fella and they had a big hearing. Anyway, I don’t know if it was Al Shamie [sp?]. I can't remember the name. But the guy that's the head of Paramount Pictures for the legal department, he called me aside and he said, ‘Don, I wanna shake your hand.’ He said,’ this has been one of the finest hearings that I've been privileged to sit in on when I've been with Paramount.’

Hell. That was quite a compliment. Well see, I just - that was after my tenure of being a JP up here in Montana. Anyway, and the guy that I represented, he - if you said, well, can we build a railway to the moon or something? He was the kind of - he was beyond - he had authored some of the publications for Metro Golden Mayer. I mean, he had quite a track record. His wife was with the CIA during World War II. I mean, to be involved, it was kind of - but anyway, that was quite a deal, that hearing. And then being business agent, Jesus.

Maurice Burke: That was a hearing that he - he was a member of the union and he was being put on trial for something…or?

Bielenberg: Yeah, they had discharged him. And I forget what the - he was - I don't know whether you call it arrogant. He was super smart. And like he had publications behind him, and the guy that was his boss, he was a former alkie. And I had lunch with three of the guys, three of the engineers. And I forget the conversation. They had said some things. And at the hearing, the guy that was their boss, God, he's asking them questions and they're coming up with the wrong answers. God, he got upset. He basically, I mean, this - this all happens right in front of you while you're in [court]. Anyway, he got exonerated. He got back, he got his back pay and full reinstatement.

And then I got him a job at Disney Brothers. Disney had open arms, just thought he was great. And I gotta kick - that uh, what did I do for Walt? Oh, local 444 in Anaheim had banners printed for the Disney World, for the park. They were gonna go on strike. Walt never liked strikes. I mean, he didn't like labor problems.

[01:09:04]

Anyway, it’s 11 o'clock at night, 12. I'm on the phone talking back East to the head of the local 444, of the union. And anyway, they averted the strike. He called back about 11 or 12, and they averted the strike. And Walt was in the hospital and he said, ‘I wanna meet that young man.’ Anyway, we never met. But that was kind of - the fact that I had averted the strike, that was something. And I was telling him, the unions have a deal where you stick on, for what your union represented. I mean, representation. And I'm telling the - I said, ‘well, Jesus, they've got the label, the union label, what the hell?’ I'm telling the guy in local 444. Anyway, they stopped the strike and that was kind of an unusual deal.

And then I forget when I left being head of the union, I went back to work at Disney and I was there for about four months. Then I came back to Montana.

Maurice Burke: Were you a member of that union? I mean, you were a card carrying member of the electrician's union.

Bielenberg: Yeah. I, two days ago they had a program in Kalispell and it's like, I didn't go to dinner last night…well I didn't go to 65 years with the union. And I'm a rightwinger, but I always respect union principles. Unionism was started in Butte, Montana in I think 19 [read 18], maybe 76…but anyway, that's where the cradle unionism started in Butte, Montana. And, and I respect unions, but then also I've always been a rightwinger in my lifetime.

[01:11:46]

Maurice Burke: Don, in Butte, Con Kelly was a Butte - he grew up in Butte. He ended up as a lawyer on the side of the company, and had to deal with unions his whole life. And they were tough to deal with. But he did a lot of his work from Kootenai Camp up here.

Bielenberg: Well, I don't know whether he did a lot of his work, but he'd come up. He had an office. I’ve been in his office and I shook his hand, and Val Clydesdale - I was engaged to Valentine. She was the daughter of Thomas and her mother, Clydesdale, they were the caretakers of the Kootenai Lodge. And anyway, I got a kick, I’ll tell ya - Bill Finbey and I - I used to do a lot of flying and we flew up…I forget. Anyway, I’d flown up from Deer Lodge to Kalispell. She was trying to get a hold of me, and we didn't have the phone system like we do now. Anyway, I come in here. She was a caretaker for the McLaughlin place here on Swan Lake. And she said, ‘where have you been!?’ [inaudible] ‘Where have you been?’ I said, ‘well, Bill and I’ - she called the sheriff in Deer Lodge, called the sheriffs in Kalispell, and wanted to know where in the hell I was. I said, ‘was this a prelude to coming attractions?’ [laughter] So we had a falling out and she married Bill Sears. Bill Sears had the Texaco station there in Bigfork. And anyway, but Valentine, she's a neat gal. She's very capable. Her sister - I don't know whether you should say it or not, but she was, would you say lesbian? And she was the teacher, instructor at Bozeman. But I mean, you look in the archives, Clydesdale. Remember that.

Anyway, Val was a neat gal. She was quite, very capable of doing stuff, and that was a prelude of coming attractions. So I figured that you’d get a kick out of that.

[01:14:58]

Maurice Burke: Do you think she had you meet Con Kelly because she wanted him to size you up as a -

Bielenberg: She wanted me to meet Con because, remember, Con used to come up here on hunting trips on boats, you know. Everybody waited on him, you know, they had limousines. And anyway, to get up to Swan lake, that was quite a trip to come from the lower end of Swan Lake. Like I said, everything used to come on the steam boat. There wasn't hardly - there was a trail up here. And anyway, Kelly. Yeah. That's the only contact I ever had with him.

Maurice Burke: Was he a friendly man?

Bielenberg: Oh yeah. God, he asked me to sit down. We talked about Swan Lake. And then I told him about my grandpa and he knew about my grandpa and the Butte Butchering Company and all that stuff. That goes without saying, yeah. More questions.

Grant: I would like to hear more about the mining you did. Did you ever make any money mining?

Bielenberg: Did what?

Grant: Did you ever make any money while mining?

Bielenberg: No, we're up Dry Cottonwood, my brother and I. They were sinking a shaft. I'm trying to think of what the ore was. Anyway, he was involved in the mining game and they had a placer. He was involved in the placer deal. He played quite a role there for a while. And like I say, he had the gold exhibit at the world's fair and he played kind of a role in that group. And I was up here pickin’ daisies at the Swan Lake. I've been here 72 years. That's quite a while to be in one spot. There was a couple spots I went to, or I went to California and I worked for the Atomic Energy Commission.

Grant: Can we talk about that?

Bielenberg: Well, they had what you call a scintillator, not a Geiger counter. A scintillator would locate the uranium ore, and a Geiger counter would tell you whether it was worth or not, or whether it was commercial or not. Anyway, I worked to Boulder Batholith. That's west of Deer Lodge, and it goes over to Philipsburg, Drummond, and back to Deer Lodge. And [we were] prospecting. They were driving the trails and going - I'd go up, start down here, and go up to the top of the ridge and walk down the other ridge. And if it made an anomaly, that was a hot spot, yo’d record it. And so I did that for - Leonard Gerard was the head honcho there in Butte for the AEC.

Maurice Burke: You also did some work as an electrician at the concentrator, didn't you?

Bielenberg: Yeah, I worked - There's a double tower, double tank water tower there. My partner and I ran the conduit from the base to the top of the - and pulled the wire for the deal. That's kinda significant.

[01:19:15]

And I get a kick - we were working Saturday and Sunday. We're getting overtime. That was double, double time. Boy, that was a big deal. And the superintendent of the deal - this was on a Saturday or a Sunday - and we were down. We were having a cup of coffee. He says, ‘aren't you guys supposed to be up on the tower?’And we're having a cup of coffee. Guess what? No more Saturdays and Sundays. But that was, that was quite a deal. And I remember on that tower - oh, I'm up there and some pipefitters were up and the guy walks over the - the towers are rounded, you know, and he walks over. He's kind of high. It was 132 feet. He walks over to the edge. God almighty and I'm over there….just holding on to the standard! [laughter]

Maurice Burke: Don, did you do some phosphate mining? Was it out by Garrison? Were there phosphate mines?

Bielenberg: No. I done no mining. Go ahead.

Maurice Burke: I was wondering how did you ever get electricity down here? You got - you helped bring electricity to this part of the lake where, you know, all of us benefited from the work you did.

Bielenberg: Okay. Well, this is kind of a compliment. Anyway, I started to work on the power line to get the right of way. The first place that got power was the clubhouse. That was December of [pause] 1960. I'm trying to think. But anyway, I had John in dealing with a power company and - it wasn't Flathead Electric - Pacific Power and Light Company. Anyway, gee, the work to get the power up here to get the right of ways through the property - well, I got Mrs. Evans - I went to Butte, Montana and got her to sign off for the right of way through the Ryan estate down here.

Maurice Burke: Six mile? In the Ryan Estate.

Bielenberg: Yeah, six mile. And anyway, the effort that went into it. And then, when he started to build the power line, that's where I got started on the electrical and I worked as a - first I did the powder work for blowing the holes for the, to put the poles in. And I'd go up and start the fire. They'd leave Bigfork at eight o'clock and they'd be able to ride in the car, the guys working on the power line and I'd have the tools warmed up for them and I'd build a fire.

[01:23:14]

Well, the head honcho of the power company, he brought his wife up to meet me in the store and he said, ‘Don, I want you to meet my wife.’ And I thought - he said, ‘If and when you ever want a job with Pacific Power & Light, there will always be one for you.’That was a nice compliment because I'd go up, and I was digging. See, I can't remember the name you call the whole digging - holes for the power, for the poles. And I'd go up there - I'd have three or four dug. They thought it was commendable. And I dug all the laterals and I was doing it running the store. My mother would get up and open the store and stuff and I'd be up there on the job.

He thought it was commendable, what I did here. I was working solo. I mean, that was kind of unusual. It was weird. Well, he, God, I forget. I can't remember his name, but that was a nice compliment, the fact that he brought his wife in to meet me.

Maurice Burke: Did you have to go to Butte to get the right of way for the line? Did you have to go to Butte to get the right of way?

Bielenberg: I went to Butte to meet Mrs. Ryan and she signed off for the right - for the easement, for when you go through their property. And Jack Danon, he had the property down there - that was kind of - they all wanted power, you know, and of course they signed off. And, but that one easement, that was just one easement.

Maurice Burke: Was that when you were able to finally get electricity to your gas station, to your gas pumps?

Bielenberg: Yeah, we got that in, in January. [pause] Go ahead. More questions.

Grant: I’m just wondering, when was the last time you went to Butte?

Bielenberg: To Butte?

Grant: Mm-hmm

Bielenberg: Before your time. [laughter] It's been a long while. Yeah, it's been a long while.

Grant: Can you describe Butte, back in the day?

[01:25:53]

Bielenberg: What was the place out on Butte that used to be a hang out? My brother and Jim went to school together. Uh, oh, I forget. There's an eating place. That was well known. Question.

Grant: Well, just, um, I'm curious about Butte when it was -

Bielenberg: Curious about what?

Grant: Butte, when it was really going, you know, because there isn't a lot going on in Butte today, so I'd like to know more about when it was a real city.

Bielenberg: Oh God. I'm trying to think of a place out there. Everybody went there.

Grant: Rocky mountain?

Bielenberg: No. Before Rocky Mountain…anyway.

Grant: Lydias?

Bielenberg: The guy that wound up with it was a Sigma-Chi brother of my brother's there. But he was the one that was running it.

Grant: Was it Italian? Was it Italian food?

Bielenberg: I don't remember.

Grant: That's okay.

Maurice Burke: Was it a wild town? Do you remember Butte to be a wild town?

Bielenberg: No, I'm thinking.

Grant: He was a goody two shoes.[laughter]

Bielenberg: The Chequamegon was run by the name of Holtman. His son bought a place up here, Rooney Holtman. And Rooney wound up being a legislator. He moved to Drummond. He married Eunice Wilhelm. Eunice was the daughter of Babe & Edith Wilhelm. Babe and Edith built the bar here in Swan Lake, the first bar. There was three bars here at one time and there's four places to eat at one time. And anyway, Babe & Edith - they bought that property as part of the - oh boy [pause] - the rat farm. They bought part of the rat farm, Babe & Edith did. Then they built the bar. They started to build the bar in 1941 and they had a place - they had a place up the valley. And anyway, then the war came. They had the logs for the foundation for the base of the building. They were in place. But then when I came up here, they put the bar together. That's when they built the clubhouse, and the employees at the sawmills, they all got together. Kind of - you saw the guys all worked. They put that damn thing up in one day. I mean it was overwhelming.

[01:29:30]

Maurice Burke: That's the community center down there?

Bielenberg: Yeah, it had an outhouse. It was just a hundred foot - I think a hundred by 20 feet wide and outhouses were the plumbing. There was no plumbing in Swan Lake.

Maurice Burke: Don, what would've happened if gambling were approved in Montana and they built the Hilton above you. What would you have done?

Grant: There you go. Scoot in if you don't mind. Thanks, Don.

Bielenberg: Well, I met on Rodeo Drive. You know, where Rodeo Drive is?

Grant: Is that down in Hollywood too?

Bielenberg: Yeah, in Hollywood. Okay. And there's about three attorneys from the Hilton people, the Hilton hotel chain. And Morrison-Maierle had done the preliminary architectural work on a 500 foot high rise building across the road here, and a turntable restaurant on the top of the building. Yeah, it was kind of exciting. There was an initiative on the ballot for gambling in Montana. Well, the initiative didn't pass, but the Hilton people, they're committed. In fact, I'm in the barber shop in Kalispell getting my haircut and the guys are talking about the Hilton people. Geez, hell how it got out, I don't know. It was kind of an exciting time whether they know it or not. You kids weren't even born then, but to think that this is going to happen. Well anyway, the initiative got defeated and when I was there on Rodeo Drive with those lawyers, I felt like I was a chicken getting plucked. In other words, I didn't know where in the hell I - except I had the property. And there had also been some surveys made on whether she were going to have a ski run to the top of, excuse me, to the top of six mile.

A ski expert had come and went over the property and he thought it'd be an excellent place to have a ski run. And I mean, he thought it would be ideal. And it was kind of exciting. And this underground parking, I mean, in the bowels of the building and well, but it didn't come to fruitation. But Morrison-Maierle had done architectural work on it and designed and then had contact with the county about sanitation. And I think we had an application into the forest service for the drain field for the hotel. I mean, that was all in the - when things are going like that, it's kind of an exciting time. I mean, and the people you're dealing with - and everybody has their finger in the pie for progress for going.

Jena Burke: Did people in the valley want the hotel to come?

Bielenberg: Well, you had - when stuff like that - you have people that are for and - ‘not in my backyard.’ You had people that had that - the Morleys down here, that have the Morleys Canoe, well they came from the Lowell district. And I'm over at the chamber meeting in Great Falls. And the guy from down there, he says, ‘we're sure glad you got them and we don't have them anymore.’ He said, ‘they fought everything we tried to do.’ And they did up here. I mean, they've never belonged to the chamber. And I get a kick - I'm in Helena, Montana. I'm in the chamber office and the gal (something) and this great big guy - he died later - but anyway, he comes over, oh God, he's going to take me to task.

He says, what the hell are you talking about? And we started to get into it. I said, ‘you gave him a big write up in the goddamn state Chamber publication. And they're not even members of our Chamber up there at Swan Lake.’ I says, ‘what the hell did you do that for?’ And anyway, that put water on the fire. Oh, he was a [inaudible]. He was - anyway the Morleys have never been my cup of tea. They do their thing. They’ve got nursing backgrounds. As far as education, their son, he's educated. He works for his dad there, whether he partners or not on what they - there was a bar at one time where their building is, where their shop is, where their canoes - they've done their thing, but when it comes to community efforts, they've never been community supporters. It's like I say, not in my backyard. And you have people that - they don't want any progress coming into an area, and justifiably, they're entitled to their opinion. I mean, isn't that right? Clark will agree with that! [laughter]

Grant: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.

Maurice Burke: Just imagine if you had a gambling casino above you though, Don. Just imagine how different life would've been for you.

Bielenberg: yeah, I'd probably [be] south of the border.

Grant: And you've been south of the border, right? Maurice was telling me you had trouble getting back in [to the USA] on one flight?

[01:36:51]

Bielenberg: Okay. Now, did I run this by - my brother and I on the GI bill. I’m taken flight training - one of the longest cross country flights that I pursued. We went from Kalispell clear into Mexico to Puerto Penasco and then south to Hermosillo. And anyway, when we went into Idaho, [someone said] don't cross the border. They fine you $500 - this guy was doing it. The word was out. So anyway, I flew into Los Angeles and I went up to see the head of customs. He wrote me out a deal. He says, ‘you give this to them when you come back across the border.’ And so I - when I did try to use it, he says, ‘that don't mean a damn thing to me.’ That's the guy at El Paso. Okay. We went south. And the first place we stayed was - the tip of the Gulf of Mexico was a shrimp, where the shrimp boats come in. Anyway, we're sitting in this place to eat, and I think they had to haul all the water in for their water supply. You know, I mean it was that primitive. Anyway, here comes four people in from Bigfork, Montana. Dan and Bud Robinson and their mother and dad - whether his mother or dad or one of them had been divorced or not, [I don’t know]. But anyway, the four of them, ‘What are you doing here?’

It was like, ‘no, what are you doing here?’ [laughter] And anyway, we went to Hermosillo and when we landed, the guy directing planes - he'd park us every time - well, somehow we got involved with his fellow. His dad had a store up in Nebraska. Anyway, he spoke English and he had all these gals from the college there. Some of them could speak English, some of them just Spanish. So anyway, I started taking them flying and I took 'em all riding the airplane. And I get a kick - I was landing and the gal grabbed the stick or the wheel. [makes flying noise] God, I made it. [laughter] But I could have stalled out. Anyway, we had a ball and we were invited to the ball.We were the only Gringo Americans in the group. And anyway, we danced with all the gals.

[01:40:21]

So the next day, I'm in the hotel. The Correttes from Butte, Montana were out on the patio, and I didn't introduce myself to 'em, but they were out there. But anyway, we're sitting there having a bite to eat. This real distinguished gentleman comes over dressed to the nines. He said, I'd like to introduce myself. ‘I'm the, the attorney general for the state of Sonora.’ And he said, ‘I'd like to talk to you, gentlemen.’ So anyway, at that time, Mexico was a good place to go, if you use the expression, to get your ashes hauled. Is that a crude expression?

Grant: I don't know.

Bielenberg: You don't know if that - you don't know what that means?

Grant: No. No.

Bielenberg: Well, how about hanky pank?

Maurice Burke: Oh, okay. We got it. Now we know, we know now!

Bielenberg: You do now. Well anyway, so he introduced - he said - we invited him to sit down and he said, ‘I'd like to - I heard about you gentlemen taking the girls to ride out at the university and et cetera.’ And he said, ‘you've made quite a name for yourself while your visiting here.’ He said, ‘I'd like to have you be my guest while I make a small tour of Sonora.’ And that was kind of a nice compliment. I mean he was impressed with the demeanor that we cast evidently and the reports that he'd got. And so, anyway, I thought that was kind of a compliment, but we didn’t go. And then when we got back to El Paso, we landed the airplane - I think the cross country was around a two hour flight.

That's a long while sitting in one spot. So anyway, we went to get out of the airplane to go tinkle. ‘Get back in the airplane!!’ That was the head of customs. He started talking about a $500 fine, and I'm going back and forth. And I had this document from the customs in Los Angeles. And he goes like [gestures]. Anyway, they mitigated the fine to $25. Okay. Mansfield got involved in this later on, Mike Mansfield, and the guy, I think they either fired him or he got transferred or something out of it. This was quite a deal. And then we came back to Swan Lake, Montana to Flathead Air Transport. But that was a long cross country - that was in a 140 Cessna. They’re antiques now.

[01:43:48]

Grant: Don, when was the last time you flew?

Bielenberg: Oh, been a long time. Yeah…[pause] I don't remember. And that's the truth.

Grant: So you've been a pilot electrician, a minor, a union administrator…

Maurice Burke: Justice of the peace.

Jena Burke: You've done a lot!

Maurice Burke: Eagle scout.

Grant: How do you do it all?

Bielenberg: Well…

Maurice Burke: You built Bielenberg Landing. This is a huge operation - Bielenberg Landing is one of the most significant developments on Swan Lake.

Bielenberg: Well, when we did this,I think as a - going back and forth to Polson and dealing with the people you have to deal with- where in the hell did I get the resilience in running the business up here? And of course in the meantime I have sold and - I think there's four or five different people - Kermit next door that I sold the 200 feet to, he was a lawyer in Deer Lodge - he was county attorney for years. He was a, I think, a three time or two time legislator, one time Senator. Kermit and I are pretty close. And when I think - he put the contract for deed, I forget. Anyway, when the people - you bought the property, and then you wanna sell. So she wants to buy it. Well, she buys the contract for deed. Then she’s ticked off and she sells it to her and she takes that contract for deed. And Kermit says, ‘well, are the taxes paid?’I said, well, yeah. ‘Are the payments up to date?’ Yeah. ‘Well, what are you bitching about?’

[01:46:29]

That was the damndest thing. And I remember being at meetings, they said, ‘would you still have an interest in that property?’ Well, for years after I originally sold it and then, like I say, they gave it back and then I think I've been through three marriages and geez, nobody can go through - my first marriage, there's a - I was going to say there was a picture. But anyway, we had a youngster together, Karen. She's in the bedroom. She has problems. Anyway, very loving. She had an alcohol - her husband was a fireman on the - oh, I forget the name of the town north of San Francisco. Anyway, he was an alki and I never realized, but she had a drinking problem. But I get a kick - Bill Walden Hirschen was an attorney in Kalispell - he was in Cadets with me. I sent him some business and he sent me a fifth of Jack Daniels. And Jack Daniels is a whiskey isn’t it?

Grant: Yes.

Bielenberg: Okay. So anyway, Jack Kline came to the station. It was raining and snowing, miserable. He was a logger. And he liked to drink. I said, ‘Jack, what you need is a drink.’ I went and got the bottle of the Jack Daniels and handed it to him. [gestures showing the man drank the whole bottle] Goddamn. He hands it back to me. It’s filled with tea.

Well dinner is five o'clock and then 5:15, 5:30 - I didn't realize that she was a closet drinker. And until you’ve lived with one, you don't know what the hell - you can't really elucidate on it. It’s beyond my - she's very loving and very - and the things we went through. Oh, hell anyway, that's another story. But then we finally got a divorce and the gal I married, she came up from California and we built onto the station, and she worked. I mean, we had guys working for us. Anyway, her sister was dying of cancer, wound up with cancer. Her sister's husband was a 20, I think, GS 20 or something with the government on the Palm Desert Water District. He was a big wig. I mean, real big wig. Anyway, she was dying of - so she went down to take care of her. This is in the spring. And she's taken care -well, anyway, she wound up - the, the hospital there offered her a job, a hell of, I forget what the hell - anyway, she's a nurse. And so anyway, she called and said, ‘I think I'll stay. They've offered me this job. You know, I think I'll stay down here this summer.’ And I said, ‘well, I said, if you do, I said, I need you now. I just opened the station and I said, geez, I need your help now.’ And anyway, I said, ‘well, when you come back, I want a divorce.’ I said, if you, I said, ‘if you want your job, you can take your’ - so anyway, we got a divorce. Fine. We’re still living. I mean, there's no hard feelings out of it. It was kind of complementary to each other. And so, in other words, I knew which way to go. And then it was years later that I met Jerry and we were married 25 years. That's another story. And that was fine.

Maurice Burke: Don, has life on Swan Lake been a good life? Swan Lake, Montana, if you think about all the places you could have lived.

[01:52:00]

Bielenberg: My sister had a home up on Mulholland Drive. That's top rate for - if you know where Mulholland Drive - if you wanted to make out, that's where you went. Anyway, swimming pool, the whole bit. Universal Studios was right across the way. I could take the telescope and glass in on the hotel, the Universal Hotel. And Warner Brothers was right there. And anyway, and the opportunities I had when I was down there is kind of unbelievable. But anyway, Swan Lake back in - I came back, and I got married. And I had four kids. I had a stepson, my two adopted children, and Karen. That was quite a deal. I mean, when I think I've gone through - you go through shots, broken arms, and different things in life. God I've been there and done that. And then I think of, like you, taking care of your mother and father, gee, it’s just overwhelming. I mean, what we go through today, you girls will be involved in different things. And sometimes you wonder where you got the energy or the ability to handle it.

Maurice Burke: Well Don, you've done remarkably well here.

Bielenberg: Well, thank you.

Maurice Burke: The whole valley knows you and respects you.

Bielenberg: Do you think so?

Maurice Burke: I've never - I've only been here 25 years and I've never heard a negative.

Bielenberg: Is that right?

Maurice Burke: Never heard a negative.

Bielenberg: Well, my grandfather says ‘do right by all and fear no one.’

Maurice Burke: Well, you've done that.

Bielenberg: I'll drink you that. [laughter]

Maurice Burke: And you've done that, Don.

Bielenberg: Well, when I think of some of the people - alcohol plays quite a dominant role in the Flathead, and stuff. I've never been involved - I’d go out and have a few drinks, but I can never remember falling down drunk or, in other words - and it's like smoking - [coughing] other than trying the marijuana, my wife and I tried the marijuana. But anyway, other than that, I smoked probably three quarters of a cigarette down here in the bar one night. And my dad used to have breakfast and he'd light up [imitates coughing] [laughter]. I'd go, gee pa, that sure must be good. I could never see smoking.

Maurice Burke: Do you have any relatives left in Deer Lodge?

Bielenberg: No. I don't have any relatives - I've got a cousin in Las Vegas and I got another cousin - I think one’s a lawyer and one's a doctor and I think they're both dead. I don't have any identify with anyone out of the family, none. They're all gone. And that guy that keeps riding that horse up and down the driveway? I don't know whether you girls know him or not. His name is Gene. Gene Autrey! And he keeps singing that song. ‘I'm heading for the last roundup.’ He’s going to saddle that ‘ol paint and ride? You don't remember that?

Maurice Burke: Oh, I know those songs. I remember that song. He was the - what was he called? The king of the Cowboys? Gene Autrey.

Bielenberg: But I used to talk to Roy Rogers on the telephone. And I was taking care of his dog. My sister was his secretary in…[pause] god…

Grant: How did she get that job?

Bielenberg: Pardon?

Grant: How did she get that job with Roy Rogers?

Bielenberg: Oh, with Roy? I don't know. She'd been involved in the film business. I mean, she was a stand-in for Alice Shea and I don't know if that was with Warner brothers. But how, I don’t know. But when I think of living up on Mulholland Drive, and she and my four kids and gee boy, [pause]...the best in the world.

My brother-in-law, he had a - I can't remember - Central Pacific. I forget. Anyway, he was quite a role. He was a Lieutenant in the Navy in WW2 and he was in the Battle of Iwo Jima. And ships were sunk all around and he didn't get one hit. And I think a couple of the guys on his ship got shot, but, but they didn't blow up his ship.

Grant: Well Don, thanks for your time today.

Bielenberg: Pardon?

Grant: Thanks for having us up to the house.

Maurice Burke: Thank you Don, for having us in your house and for sharing with us.

Bielenberg: Oh you’re more than welcome. It was a pleasure having you and I'm sorry I'm so disorientated. I don't know what the hell's going on.

Maurice Burke: Well, you were brilliant today and your story is -

Bielenberg: He's very complimentary. [laughter]

Polly Burke: Don, you did a great job. I loved hearing your stories.

Maurice Burke: Well, I've enjoyed his stories. I've come over now - he told me the Duke story about 10 years ago. I remembered that story from 10 years before, and then I came over and reintroduced myself when I found out that Denny Lawrence wasn't gonna come over anymore, because Denny was moving. So I came over and reintroduced myself and I heard the Duke story again. And then I heard another story. Then I heard another story. That's when I thought Don needs to tell this story

Bielenberg: It’s embarrassing. I'm not playing with a full deck.

Jena Burke: You did great. A sharp memory.

Bielenberg: Clark doesn't say one word! [laughter]

Polly Burke: He's kind of quiet. Isn't he?

Grant: I just use these. [gestures to ears]

Bielenberg: Now where will you play this?

Grant: It'll just be on file at the archives in Butte, the Butte-Silver Bow Archives.

Bielenberg: Okay.

Grant: Yeah. And if there's - is there any portion of what you said that you want us to restrict? [shakes head] Yeah, let it all go.

Bielenberg: I can’t even remember what I said. [laughter]

Grant: Perfect!

Bielenberg: Sad.

Maurice Burke: Well, Don do you need lunch? Can we take you to lunch?

Bielenberg: No. You guys going down to, where do you go, to the Swan bar?

[02:01:00]

Maurice Burke: We haven't talked about it, but I just, you know, we've taken a lot of your time and it's past the noon hour and we have to let you get back.

Bielenberg: You have to go and do something, even if it's wrong! [laughter]

Maurice Burke: Well, this has, this has been a long -

Bielenberg: Well my speech isn't normal, and my hearing is bad. My hearing still works a little bit.

Maurice Burke: This was a great palaver.

Bielenberg: Palaver.

Maurice Burke: This was a great -

Bielenberg: You got that from John Wayne! [laughter]

Maurice Burke: And I looked it up in the dictionary, and it's a word, and it means a conversation

Bielenberg: Conversation.

Maurice Burke: And it's in the dictionary.

Bielenberg: You know, meeting, I mean, when you go through life and I mean - it’s one thing to shake a person's hand, you know, you say, well - it's like meeting Con Kelly and spending a little time with him. Well, that's when he played quite a role in Montana history. Well, that's something to think about but, well, you look back. I’m at a loss for words. Rubber baby buggy bumpers. [laughter]

Jena Burke: Well, it was so nice meeting you.

Maurice Burke: Yeah, we're gonna….

[END OF RECORDING]