Fourth of July Creek School - District #17

Location: Yellowstone County, Montana

Year Built: 1929

Year Closed: 1939

After families in the area decided that a school was needed in order for their children to receive an education, this site along Fourth of July Creek was selected. Local men hitched their teams to wagons and went up into the Pryor Mountains where they selected, cut, and trimmed trees before loading the newly hewn logs into the wagons and taking them back down to the newly selected school site. After the school was completed in 1929, wood was cut for the stove and coal was brought down on the Big Horn to heat the new building. Fourth of July Creek provided water for the students to drink, using a shared dipper and a bucket.

Faye Johnson was the first teacher. After becoming disenchanted with the requirements, she stayed only one year. Miss Georgia Kinney was the second teacher and stayed on for several years. There was no teacher age for the teacher to live in so she would stay one week with each student’s family, sharing rooms with little privacy. Often a blanket would be hung across a room to provide a little privacy for bathing. Room and board were provided as partial payment for teaching with used books, provided by the district as well as the desks. The home in which the teacher was staying would provide a lunch for the teacher.

During the winter months, men would break a trail for the students to get to school, some would ride horseback and some would be brought to the school by team and wagon.