Billy Kruse Cabin
The North Fork of the Flathead River’s rugged landscape attracted an intrepid breed of settler, lured here by the Forest Homestead Act of 1906, which allowed homesteading within national forests. Dick Woodmansee claimed this property in 1915, living here seasonally. He operated boats on the Middle Fork of the Flathead during Glacier National Park’s busy season. In 1925, he allowed Danish immigrant Billy Kruse to build this cabin on the property’s north end. Kruse employed methods distinctive to the North Fork in its construction, using local materials to build well-chinked walls and steep gables. Like many of his North Fork contemporaries, Billy was single and took intermittent work away from home. In 1931, he met New York City resident Mary Powell through a “Hearts and Hands” newspaper piece. Mary and one of her daughters moved in with Billy shortly after. Because Billy worked sporadically for the Forest Service and herding sheep in the Sweetgrass Hills, he asked neighbor Ed Peterson to “keep an eye” on Mary. She eventually moved into a cabin Ed built for her on his Mud Lake homestead. Billy returned to the North Fork in March 1932, finding his cabin empty. In a fit of anger, a drunken Billy held Ed hostage in his home. He released Ed but vowed to burn down Mary’s cabin. The following morning Ed found Billy at Mary’s cabin. Billy shot at Ed, who returned fire, killing Billy. A coroner’s jury found Ed acted in self-defense. In a twist of fate, Ed’s brother Emil bought the Kruse cabin at auction.
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