Warner Lundberg and Margaret Lundberg Interview, June 25, 1998

Warner Lundberg describes growing up in the west Condon area of the Swan Valley, Montana during the 1920s and 1930s. He discusses a large fire that burned some of his family’s homestead in 1929 and how Forest Service fire fighters were deployed the area to extinguish the fire. He recalls his experiences with the local Native Americans, including an incident in which six Native people were shot and killed by a game warden. Warner talks about working as a timber cruiser for the Northern Pacific Railway. He and his wife, Margaret, describe their experiences with wildlife in the area, including deer and bear populations, and they detail specific accounts of bears visiting their home. Margaret Lundberg discusses her tenure as a teacher at the Sentinel High School in Missoula. She recalls the lack of educational opportunities for children living in the Swan Valley and how they were bussed into Missoula for school. She also talks about her first impressions of the Swan Valley when she visited Warner’s family homestead before they married.