After 9 years in the town of Big Sandy, my family and I took a major step toward becoming permanent Big Sandy residents by purchasing a house of our own. We feel particularly blessed to have bought the Brumwell's house as they retired and moved closer to their kids. Not only have we bought a neat home, but we are now living in a piece of Big Sandy history. The newly dubbed "Sietsema House" bears all sorts of signs that it is over a century old, from the ornate "old west hinges and moldings, to skeleton key locks on all the bedroom doors, to the "coal room" complete with remnants of coal which was once used to heat the place. The history of our new home has fascinated me since we moved in. Before it was the Brumwell house, many folks called it the Faber house in reference to the Faber family who owned the place in the 70s. Folks who are really familiar with the town's history know our place as the Shamrock Hotel (and restaurant). Apparently, it has also been known as the Mack Currie house and a few other labels. In the 110 plus year history of our new home it seems as though it has been owned and operated in various capacities. I have begun learning about it and wanted to share some of my discoveries. I would also like to enlist the town's help in learning more about it.
As a starting point, I've spent the last few weeks researching and interviewing anyone I could find with information about the house. I've been able to establish pretty firmly from an interview with Mrs. Faber that the house was a speakeasy for a time. Mr Brumwell told me about an account from John O'Malley, who was the principal at the school years ago, that confirms some of the details of the speakeasy story. As a child, John went with his grandfather to the Shamrock to purchase alcohol (illegally). The Murtaugh sisters used a code phrase for when they needed to get a bottle for a guest while other customers were present. One would say to the other: "I need to go to the basement to skin a ..." as a sign that there was a deal being done. Other colorful events that took place at the Shamrock in the early years included the arrest of a horse thief in 1912 while he ate a meal in the restaurant (my living room!). The fellow had fled from Fort Benton and was caught in our town. There are also rumors (tons of them) that the house was a brothel for a period of time, though I have not been able to find any solid evidence to support this rumor.
The Shamrock was built early in the 20th century, probably around 1911. I was able to find references to the motel beginning in 1911 by researching "The Bear Paw Mountaineer" archives online, which covers between 1911 and 1921 when the paper's named was changed to "The Mountaineer." Beginning in 191,1 ads for the Shamrock Hotel and Restaurant ran nearly weekly. Interestingly, the ads mention a log cabin in relation to the house, but the original building was not a log cabin and early photos don't show any log cabins in the vicinity. Many of the early papers included records of who stayed in the hotel from out of town as well as community gatherings in the restaurant, birthday parties, and fundraisers. I have not been able to find any way to establish if the house was built before the newspaper records.
One unique note about the Shamrock Hotel came to me via a history booklet detailing the life of Saint Margret Mary's Catholic Church here in town. The church itself was planted by missionaries from Fort Benton, who had services in various buildings around town, including the restaurant, which is now my living room. According to the paper, it was a preferred meeting location during the winter as it was heated better than the opera house in town, where the church also sometimes met. The local Lions Club and other groups also met at the house.
In the early days, the house was just the front portion, with the later half having been built several decades later. Chris Brumwell thought that the additional space was probably built in the 40s. As the sisters aged, they eventually retired from the restaurant, opting instead to just run the rooming house. It seems as though they leased out that part of the business for a time, though I have struggled to piece together the exact series of events from the mentions in the paper. The Shamrock changed hands as a business several times before becoming a residence. I also found reference to one early school superintendent who owned it and rented rooms to teachers who came to work in the local schools.
I am hoping to learn more about the house as I go. If you have any information, please come and talk with me. I would greatly appreciate it.
