Article at the Historical Museum, Glasgow, MT....Author Ronald Watson
THORA AND MARK WATSON
..Thora Hopstad was born in Norway on September 23, 1904, being the youngest in a family of seven. She had three brothers, Peter, John and Haakan, a sister Magda and a half brother Hans. Her father, Hans, and his sons immigrated to the States in hopes of acquiring a homestead and the money for the women's passage. The men landed in New York and traveled to Glasgow with short stops in Wisconsin and North Dakota. They each filed a 160 acres homestead on the North Bench. Thora left Norway when she was three with her mother, Olenna and a sister to travel to Glasgow. Thora, her brothers and her mother remained in Glasgow for their entire life while her sister married and moved to Los Angeles, Calif. Her father returned to Norway, before World War I, never returning to the states or seeing his family again.
..Mark was born in Bronson, Kansas (this isn't correct) on August 19, 1901, being the oldest child of a family of seven. He had one brother, Ralph and three sisters - Bessie, Mabel and Ruth. Ralph and Ruth Watson Donoho moved to Montana with Ruth living in Saco and Ralph living in Glasgow and Saco for many years before he moved to Calif. His other sisters, mother Eva and his father David remained in the Kansas/Colorado area. Mark graduated from Bronson High School at sixteen and joined the Marine corps claiming to be eighteen. He served in the States and France where he was a member of the Marine's European Baseball Team. He was discharged in 1918 returning to Bronson and traveling on to Glasgow to work for his uncle, Tom Markle, who owned and operated a transfer business.
..Thora had a lifetime interest in her church, house, and yard. Her home was always spotless and her yard was manicured. The yard often won Glasgow's "Yard of the Week" award. during the Fort Peck Dam construction Thora boarded several workers in their home, at 910 2nd Ave. South, with the boarders sleeping in the children's rooms and the children sleeping on the porch or the floor. Money was short and minimum heat was used at night, during the sub-zero winter, resulting in water freezing in the teakettle on the stove. Looking back, it is hard to belive so many people could live in such a small house with only one bathroom. During the Depression, it was not uncommon to find men camped in the backyard, which bordered the Great Northern Railroad track. Word spread that the Watson yard was friendly.
..Mark became a full partner with his Uncle Tom in 1926 and worked to expand the business into farm implement, hardware, fuel distribution, and an automobile dealership. The business became one of Glasgow's largest employers with Mark being the managing partner from the early 1940s until his death in 1952.
..During the Depression and the years that followed, Mark helped many homesteaders and ranchers to retain their property. The business allowed customers to pay their bills once a year, after harvest, with no interest charges. Mark also helped customers obtain loans from the Farmer Stockgrower's Bank, where he was a director. The practice of providing free credit had to end when the government, through the Internal Revenue Service, required the Company to pay taxes on their accounts receivable. Mark was depressed by this change believing that many of his customers would not be able to continue farming without this credit.
..Mark saw customers as his friends often socialized with them at his home or theirs or fished with them on Fort Peck Reservoir, where he had a cabin. Thora spent her weekends working in the cabin's kitchen making food for the many guests. Between Christmas and New Years, he would load a truck with gifts and visit his customers delivering presents. He would often prepare their income tax forms or play a hand of cards. He had many friend within the International Harvester Company, a farm equipment manufacture, with a regional manager and a vice president often vacationing at the Fort Peck Cabin.
..There was a farm equipment shortage, following World War II, since no equipment had been manufactured during the war. After the war, factories were converted back to peacetime production and equipment was allotted to dealers based on quantities sold before the war. the farming business evolved during the war with different crops being raised in various areas of the county. This resulted in the Company delivering equipment to locations where it was no longer used. Mark, using his International Harvester Company friends, was able to locate dealers who had excess equipment. He sent trucks as far as North Carolina to bring equipment to Glasgow, resulting in Markle's selling more combines, one-year, then any other International Harvester Company Dealer.
..As Thora loved her flowers, Mark loved baseball and fishing. Baseball was at its peak in Northeast Montana, during the 1920s. There was considerable gambling associated with the local play with players being paid to play. Mark played catcher and received $25 a game, which was a lot of money during the Depression. Glasgow played teams throughout the area and Canada with "ringers' from around the country being imported for games. Scobey, one season, hired members of a Chicago Major League Team who had been kicked out of the majors for illegal gambling. Glasgow imported "Satchel Page" for a game, a leading pitcher in the Black Professional League. He later played in the Major League, after blacks were permitted and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
..Mark spent many hours in community service including being president of the School Board and the Sportsmen Club, Post Commander of the American Legion, and Chairman of the Library Board among other activities. Following the 1929 bank "Crash", he helped to form the Farmers Stockgrower's Bank and was a director until his death in 1952.
..The family moved to a home at 910 4th Ave. No., in 1952. Thora traveled and remained active in the community until her stroke in the late 80's when she moved into the Valley View Home until her death in 1987.
*************************
Glasgow, MT Newspaper
Last Rites Held For M. Watson
HUNDREDS OF FRIENDS ATTEND TO PAY TRIBUTE TO PROMINENT GLASGOW BUSINESS MAN
Funeral services for Mark E. Watson, 50, prominent Glasgow business man, were held in the First Lutheran church here Tuesday afternoon at 2.
..The church auditorium and basement were filled and many more stood outside the structure. Many friends from throughout Valley county and northeastern Montana were present.
..The Rev. Glenn G. Husby officiated. Pallbearers, all business associates, were Ray Healy of Minot, N.D., and Clifford Uebers, A.A. Schellinger, Clifton Bruce, Harris Smith, James V. Kruzich, Jack P. Krusick and Alfred Akre.
..Mrs. D. H. Brocksmith was organist. Mrs. O. M. Grina and Mrs. G. M. Lindberg sang a duet and Mrs. Lindberg sang a solo.
..A color guard was present from the American Legion, and volleys were fired over the grave in Glasgow cemetery by a squad from Company D.
..Mark Emery Watson was born in Weber, Kans., Aug. 19, 1901. He attended Bronson, Kans., schools. He served in the marine corps during World War I.
..He first came to Glasgow in 1918 and it had ben his home since. He was married to Thora Hopstad of Glasgow, Aug. 19, 1922, and the widow survives.
..Until his recent illness, Mr. Watson had been general manager of Markles here, and was a partner in the firm. He was also a director of the Farmers-Stockgrowers bank and a stockholder in the Pioneer Lumber company. He had both dryland and irrigated farming interests.
..In his earlier years here, he had been active as a baseball player. He had also been a member of the American Legion and was a past commander of Valley post. He had served as president and in other posts of the Valley Sportsmen's association. He was a member of the Lutheran Church. He served on the Glasgow school board for a number of years.
..Besides the widow, he is survived by two sons and a daughter. Lieut. Warren E. Watson of the army, who was in San Francisco about to leave for the Far East, and who returned home; Ronald Mark Watson and Mrs. Pat Maag, all of Glasgow, as well as two grandchildren.
..Also surviving are Mr. Watson's mother, Mrs. Eva Watson of Bronson and three sisters and a brother, Mrs. Park Colwell of Colorado, Mrs. Roy Nichols of Bronson, Mrs. Merrill Donoho of Saco and Ralph Watson of Saco. Mr. Watson was a nephew of T.H. Markle.
..Among relatives who came from a distance for the funeral was Mrs. Nels Christiansen of Los Angeles, a sister of Mrs. Watson.
THORA AND MARK WATSON
..Thora Hopstad was born in Norway on September 23, 1904, being the youngest in a family of seven. She had three brothers, Peter, John and Haakan, a sister Magda and a half brother Hans. Her father, Hans, and his sons immigrated to the States in hopes of acquiring a homestead and the money for the women's passage. The men landed in New York and traveled to Glasgow with short stops in Wisconsin and North Dakota. They each filed a 160 acres homestead on the North Bench. Thora left Norway when she was three with her mother, Olenna and a sister to travel to Glasgow. Thora, her brothers and her mother remained in Glasgow for their entire life while her sister married and moved to Los Angeles, Calif. Her father returned to Norway, before World War I, never returning to the states or seeing his family again.
..Mark was born in Bronson, Kansas (this isn't correct) on August 19, 1901, being the oldest child of a family of seven. He had one brother, Ralph and three sisters - Bessie, Mabel and Ruth. Ralph and Ruth Watson Donoho moved to Montana with Ruth living in Saco and Ralph living in Glasgow and Saco for many years before he moved to Calif. His other sisters, mother Eva and his father David remained in the Kansas/Colorado area. Mark graduated from Bronson High School at sixteen and joined the Marine corps claiming to be eighteen. He served in the States and France where he was a member of the Marine's European Baseball Team. He was discharged in 1918 returning to Bronson and traveling on to Glasgow to work for his uncle, Tom Markle, who owned and operated a transfer business.
..Thora had a lifetime interest in her church, house, and yard. Her home was always spotless and her yard was manicured. The yard often won Glasgow's "Yard of the Week" award. during the Fort Peck Dam construction Thora boarded several workers in their home, at 910 2nd Ave. South, with the boarders sleeping in the children's rooms and the children sleeping on the porch or the floor. Money was short and minimum heat was used at night, during the sub-zero winter, resulting in water freezing in the teakettle on the stove. Looking back, it is hard to belive so many people could live in such a small house with only one bathroom. During the Depression, it was not uncommon to find men camped in the backyard, which bordered the Great Northern Railroad track. Word spread that the Watson yard was friendly.
..Mark became a full partner with his Uncle Tom in 1926 and worked to expand the business into farm implement, hardware, fuel distribution, and an automobile dealership. The business became one of Glasgow's largest employers with Mark being the managing partner from the early 1940s until his death in 1952.
..During the Depression and the years that followed, Mark helped many homesteaders and ranchers to retain their property. The business allowed customers to pay their bills once a year, after harvest, with no interest charges. Mark also helped customers obtain loans from the Farmer Stockgrower's Bank, where he was a director. The practice of providing free credit had to end when the government, through the Internal Revenue Service, required the Company to pay taxes on their accounts receivable. Mark was depressed by this change believing that many of his customers would not be able to continue farming without this credit.
..Mark saw customers as his friends often socialized with them at his home or theirs or fished with them on Fort Peck Reservoir, where he had a cabin. Thora spent her weekends working in the cabin's kitchen making food for the many guests. Between Christmas and New Years, he would load a truck with gifts and visit his customers delivering presents. He would often prepare their income tax forms or play a hand of cards. He had many friend within the International Harvester Company, a farm equipment manufacture, with a regional manager and a vice president often vacationing at the Fort Peck Cabin.
..There was a farm equipment shortage, following World War II, since no equipment had been manufactured during the war. After the war, factories were converted back to peacetime production and equipment was allotted to dealers based on quantities sold before the war. the farming business evolved during the war with different crops being raised in various areas of the county. This resulted in the Company delivering equipment to locations where it was no longer used. Mark, using his International Harvester Company friends, was able to locate dealers who had excess equipment. He sent trucks as far as North Carolina to bring equipment to Glasgow, resulting in Markle's selling more combines, one-year, then any other International Harvester Company Dealer.
..As Thora loved her flowers, Mark loved baseball and fishing. Baseball was at its peak in Northeast Montana, during the 1920s. There was considerable gambling associated with the local play with players being paid to play. Mark played catcher and received $25 a game, which was a lot of money during the Depression. Glasgow played teams throughout the area and Canada with "ringers' from around the country being imported for games. Scobey, one season, hired members of a Chicago Major League Team who had been kicked out of the majors for illegal gambling. Glasgow imported "Satchel Page" for a game, a leading pitcher in the Black Professional League. He later played in the Major League, after blacks were permitted and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
..Mark spent many hours in community service including being president of the School Board and the Sportsmen Club, Post Commander of the American Legion, and Chairman of the Library Board among other activities. Following the 1929 bank "Crash", he helped to form the Farmers Stockgrower's Bank and was a director until his death in 1952.
..The family moved to a home at 910 4th Ave. No., in 1952. Thora traveled and remained active in the community until her stroke in the late 80's when she moved into the Valley View Home until her death in 1987.
*************************
Glasgow, MT Newspaper
Last Rites Held For M. Watson
HUNDREDS OF FRIENDS ATTEND TO PAY TRIBUTE TO PROMINENT GLASGOW BUSINESS MAN
Funeral services for Mark E. Watson, 50, prominent Glasgow business man, were held in the First Lutheran church here Tuesday afternoon at 2.
..The church auditorium and basement were filled and many more stood outside the structure. Many friends from throughout Valley county and northeastern Montana were present.
..The Rev. Glenn G. Husby officiated. Pallbearers, all business associates, were Ray Healy of Minot, N.D., and Clifford Uebers, A.A. Schellinger, Clifton Bruce, Harris Smith, James V. Kruzich, Jack P. Krusick and Alfred Akre.
..Mrs. D. H. Brocksmith was organist. Mrs. O. M. Grina and Mrs. G. M. Lindberg sang a duet and Mrs. Lindberg sang a solo.
..A color guard was present from the American Legion, and volleys were fired over the grave in Glasgow cemetery by a squad from Company D.
..Mark Emery Watson was born in Weber, Kans., Aug. 19, 1901. He attended Bronson, Kans., schools. He served in the marine corps during World War I.
..He first came to Glasgow in 1918 and it had ben his home since. He was married to Thora Hopstad of Glasgow, Aug. 19, 1922, and the widow survives.
..Until his recent illness, Mr. Watson had been general manager of Markles here, and was a partner in the firm. He was also a director of the Farmers-Stockgrowers bank and a stockholder in the Pioneer Lumber company. He had both dryland and irrigated farming interests.
..In his earlier years here, he had been active as a baseball player. He had also been a member of the American Legion and was a past commander of Valley post. He had served as president and in other posts of the Valley Sportsmen's association. He was a member of the Lutheran Church. He served on the Glasgow school board for a number of years.
..Besides the widow, he is survived by two sons and a daughter. Lieut. Warren E. Watson of the army, who was in San Francisco about to leave for the Far East, and who returned home; Ronald Mark Watson and Mrs. Pat Maag, all of Glasgow, as well as two grandchildren.
..Also surviving are Mr. Watson's mother, Mrs. Eva Watson of Bronson and three sisters and a brother, Mrs. Park Colwell of Colorado, Mrs. Roy Nichols of Bronson, Mrs. Merrill Donoho of Saco and Ralph Watson of Saco. Mr. Watson was a nephew of T.H. Markle.
..Among relatives who came from a distance for the funeral was Mrs. Nels Christiansen of Los Angeles, a sister of Mrs. Watson.
Article at the Historical Museum, Glasgow, MT....Author Ronald Watson
THORA AND MARK WATSON
..Thora Hopstad was born in Norway on September 23, 1904, being the youngest in a family of seven. She had three brothers, Peter, John and Haakan, a sister Magda and a half brother Hans. Her father, Hans, and his sons immigrated to the States in hopes of acquiring a homestead and the money for the women's passage. The men landed in New York and traveled to Glasgow with short stops in Wisconsin and North Dakota. They each filed a 160 acres homestead on the North Bench. Thora left Norway when she was three with her mother, Olenna and a sister to travel to Glasgow. Thora, her brothers and her mother remained in Glasgow for their entire life while her sister married and moved to Los Angeles, Calif. Her father returned to Norway, before World War I, never returning to the states or seeing his family again.
..Mark was born in Bronson, Kansas (this isn't correct) on August 19, 1901, being the oldest child of a family of seven. He had one brother, Ralph and three sisters - Bessie, Mabel and Ruth. Ralph and Ruth Watson Donoho moved to Montana with Ruth living in Saco and Ralph living in Glasgow and Saco for many years before he moved to Calif. His other sisters, mother Eva and his father David remained in the Kansas/Colorado area. Mark graduated from Bronson High School at sixteen and joined the Marine corps claiming to be eighteen. He served in the States and France where he was a member of the Marine's European Baseball Team. He was discharged in 1918 returning to Bronson and traveling on to Glasgow to work for his uncle, Tom Markle, who owned and operated a transfer business.
..Thora had a lifetime interest in her church, house, and yard. Her home was always spotless and her yard was manicured. The yard often won Glasgow's "Yard of the Week" award. during the Fort Peck Dam construction Thora boarded several workers in their home, at 910 2nd Ave. South, with the boarders sleeping in the children's rooms and the children sleeping on the porch or the floor. Money was short and minimum heat was used at night, during the sub-zero winter, resulting in water freezing in the teakettle on the stove. Looking back, it is hard to belive so many people could live in such a small house with only one bathroom. During the Depression, it was not uncommon to find men camped in the backyard, which bordered the Great Northern Railroad track. Word spread that the Watson yard was friendly.
..Mark became a full partner with his Uncle Tom in 1926 and worked to expand the business into farm implement, hardware, fuel distribution, and an automobile dealership. The business became one of Glasgow's largest employers with Mark being the managing partner from the early 1940s until his death in 1952.
..During the Depression and the years that followed, Mark helped many homesteaders and ranchers to retain their property. The business allowed customers to pay their bills once a year, after harvest, with no interest charges. Mark also helped customers obtain loans from the Farmer Stockgrower's Bank, where he was a director. The practice of providing free credit had to end when the government, through the Internal Revenue Service, required the Company to pay taxes on their accounts receivable. Mark was depressed by this change believing that many of his customers would not be able to continue farming without this credit.
..Mark saw customers as his friends often socialized with them at his home or theirs or fished with them on Fort Peck Reservoir, where he had a cabin. Thora spent her weekends working in the cabin's kitchen making food for the many guests. Between Christmas and New Years, he would load a truck with gifts and visit his customers delivering presents. He would often prepare their income tax forms or play a hand of cards. He had many friend within the International Harvester Company, a farm equipment manufacture, with a regional manager and a vice president often vacationing at the Fort Peck Cabin.
..There was a farm equipment shortage, following World War II, since no equipment had been manufactured during the war. After the war, factories were converted back to peacetime production and equipment was allotted to dealers based on quantities sold before the war. the farming business evolved during the war with different crops being raised in various areas of the county. This resulted in the Company delivering equipment to locations where it was no longer used. Mark, using his International Harvester Company friends, was able to locate dealers who had excess equipment. He sent trucks as far as North Carolina to bring equipment to Glasgow, resulting in Markle's selling more combines, one-year, then any other International Harvester Company Dealer.
..As Thora loved her flowers, Mark loved baseball and fishing. Baseball was at its peak in Northeast Montana, during the 1920s. There was considerable gambling associated with the local play with players being paid to play. Mark played catcher and received $25 a game, which was a lot of money during the Depression. Glasgow played teams throughout the area and Canada with "ringers' from around the country being imported for games. Scobey, one season, hired members of a Chicago Major League Team who had been kicked out of the majors for illegal gambling. Glasgow imported "Satchel Page" for a game, a leading pitcher in the Black Professional League. He later played in the Major League, after blacks were permitted and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
..Mark spent many hours in community service including being president of the School Board and the Sportsmen Club, Post Commander of the American Legion, and Chairman of the Library Board among other activities. Following the 1929 bank "Crash", he helped to form the Farmers Stockgrower's Bank and was a director until his death in 1952.
..The family moved to a home at 910 4th Ave. No., in 1952. Thora traveled and remained active in the community until her stroke in the late 80's when she moved into the Valley View Home until her death in 1987.
*************************
Glasgow, MT Newspaper
Last Rites Held For M. Watson
HUNDREDS OF FRIENDS ATTEND TO PAY TRIBUTE TO PROMINENT GLASGOW BUSINESS MAN
Funeral services for Mark E. Watson, 50, prominent Glasgow business man, were held in the First Lutheran church here Tuesday afternoon at 2.
..The church auditorium and basement were filled and many more stood outside the structure. Many friends from throughout Valley county and northeastern Montana were present.
..The Rev. Glenn G. Husby officiated. Pallbearers, all business associates, were Ray Healy of Minot, N.D., and Clifford Uebers, A.A. Schellinger, Clifton Bruce, Harris Smith, James V. Kruzich, Jack P. Krusick and Alfred Akre.
..Mrs. D. H. Brocksmith was organist. Mrs. O. M. Grina and Mrs. G. M. Lindberg sang a duet and Mrs. Lindberg sang a solo.
..A color guard was present from the American Legion, and volleys were fired over the grave in Glasgow cemetery by a squad from Company D.
..Mark Emery Watson was born in Weber, Kans., Aug. 19, 1901. He attended Bronson, Kans., schools. He served in the marine corps during World War I.
..He first came to Glasgow in 1918 and it had ben his home since. He was married to Thora Hopstad of Glasgow, Aug. 19, 1922, and the widow survives.
..Until his recent illness, Mr. Watson had been general manager of Markles here, and was a partner in the firm. He was also a director of the Farmers-Stockgrowers bank and a stockholder in the Pioneer Lumber company. He had both dryland and irrigated farming interests.
..In his earlier years here, he had been active as a baseball player. He had also been a member of the American Legion and was a past commander of Valley post. He had served as president and in other posts of the Valley Sportsmen's association. He was a member of the Lutheran Church. He served on the Glasgow school board for a number of years.
..Besides the widow, he is survived by two sons and a daughter. Lieut. Warren E. Watson of the army, who was in San Francisco about to leave for the Far East, and who returned home; Ronald Mark Watson and Mrs. Pat Maag, all of Glasgow, as well as two grandchildren.
..Also surviving are Mr. Watson's mother, Mrs. Eva Watson of Bronson and three sisters and a brother, Mrs. Park Colwell of Colorado, Mrs. Roy Nichols of Bronson, Mrs. Merrill Donoho of Saco and Ralph Watson of Saco. Mr. Watson was a nephew of T.H. Markle.
..Among relatives who came from a distance for the funeral was Mrs. Nels Christiansen of Los Angeles, a sister of Mrs. Watson.
THORA AND MARK WATSON
..Thora Hopstad was born in Norway on September 23, 1904, being the youngest in a family of seven. She had three brothers, Peter, John and Haakan, a sister Magda and a half brother Hans. Her father, Hans, and his sons immigrated to the States in hopes of acquiring a homestead and the money for the women's passage. The men landed in New York and traveled to Glasgow with short stops in Wisconsin and North Dakota. They each filed a 160 acres homestead on the North Bench. Thora left Norway when she was three with her mother, Olenna and a sister to travel to Glasgow. Thora, her brothers and her mother remained in Glasgow for their entire life while her sister married and moved to Los Angeles, Calif. Her father returned to Norway, before World War I, never returning to the states or seeing his family again.
..Mark was born in Bronson, Kansas (this isn't correct) on August 19, 1901, being the oldest child of a family of seven. He had one brother, Ralph and three sisters - Bessie, Mabel and Ruth. Ralph and Ruth Watson Donoho moved to Montana with Ruth living in Saco and Ralph living in Glasgow and Saco for many years before he moved to Calif. His other sisters, mother Eva and his father David remained in the Kansas/Colorado area. Mark graduated from Bronson High School at sixteen and joined the Marine corps claiming to be eighteen. He served in the States and France where he was a member of the Marine's European Baseball Team. He was discharged in 1918 returning to Bronson and traveling on to Glasgow to work for his uncle, Tom Markle, who owned and operated a transfer business.
..Thora had a lifetime interest in her church, house, and yard. Her home was always spotless and her yard was manicured. The yard often won Glasgow's "Yard of the Week" award. during the Fort Peck Dam construction Thora boarded several workers in their home, at 910 2nd Ave. South, with the boarders sleeping in the children's rooms and the children sleeping on the porch or the floor. Money was short and minimum heat was used at night, during the sub-zero winter, resulting in water freezing in the teakettle on the stove. Looking back, it is hard to belive so many people could live in such a small house with only one bathroom. During the Depression, it was not uncommon to find men camped in the backyard, which bordered the Great Northern Railroad track. Word spread that the Watson yard was friendly.
..Mark became a full partner with his Uncle Tom in 1926 and worked to expand the business into farm implement, hardware, fuel distribution, and an automobile dealership. The business became one of Glasgow's largest employers with Mark being the managing partner from the early 1940s until his death in 1952.
..During the Depression and the years that followed, Mark helped many homesteaders and ranchers to retain their property. The business allowed customers to pay their bills once a year, after harvest, with no interest charges. Mark also helped customers obtain loans from the Farmer Stockgrower's Bank, where he was a director. The practice of providing free credit had to end when the government, through the Internal Revenue Service, required the Company to pay taxes on their accounts receivable. Mark was depressed by this change believing that many of his customers would not be able to continue farming without this credit.
..Mark saw customers as his friends often socialized with them at his home or theirs or fished with them on Fort Peck Reservoir, where he had a cabin. Thora spent her weekends working in the cabin's kitchen making food for the many guests. Between Christmas and New Years, he would load a truck with gifts and visit his customers delivering presents. He would often prepare their income tax forms or play a hand of cards. He had many friend within the International Harvester Company, a farm equipment manufacture, with a regional manager and a vice president often vacationing at the Fort Peck Cabin.
..There was a farm equipment shortage, following World War II, since no equipment had been manufactured during the war. After the war, factories were converted back to peacetime production and equipment was allotted to dealers based on quantities sold before the war. the farming business evolved during the war with different crops being raised in various areas of the county. This resulted in the Company delivering equipment to locations where it was no longer used. Mark, using his International Harvester Company friends, was able to locate dealers who had excess equipment. He sent trucks as far as North Carolina to bring equipment to Glasgow, resulting in Markle's selling more combines, one-year, then any other International Harvester Company Dealer.
..As Thora loved her flowers, Mark loved baseball and fishing. Baseball was at its peak in Northeast Montana, during the 1920s. There was considerable gambling associated with the local play with players being paid to play. Mark played catcher and received $25 a game, which was a lot of money during the Depression. Glasgow played teams throughout the area and Canada with "ringers' from around the country being imported for games. Scobey, one season, hired members of a Chicago Major League Team who had been kicked out of the majors for illegal gambling. Glasgow imported "Satchel Page" for a game, a leading pitcher in the Black Professional League. He later played in the Major League, after blacks were permitted and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
..Mark spent many hours in community service including being president of the School Board and the Sportsmen Club, Post Commander of the American Legion, and Chairman of the Library Board among other activities. Following the 1929 bank "Crash", he helped to form the Farmers Stockgrower's Bank and was a director until his death in 1952.
..The family moved to a home at 910 4th Ave. No., in 1952. Thora traveled and remained active in the community until her stroke in the late 80's when she moved into the Valley View Home until her death in 1987.
*************************
Glasgow, MT Newspaper
Last Rites Held For M. Watson
HUNDREDS OF FRIENDS ATTEND TO PAY TRIBUTE TO PROMINENT GLASGOW BUSINESS MAN
Funeral services for Mark E. Watson, 50, prominent Glasgow business man, were held in the First Lutheran church here Tuesday afternoon at 2.
..The church auditorium and basement were filled and many more stood outside the structure. Many friends from throughout Valley county and northeastern Montana were present.
..The Rev. Glenn G. Husby officiated. Pallbearers, all business associates, were Ray Healy of Minot, N.D., and Clifford Uebers, A.A. Schellinger, Clifton Bruce, Harris Smith, James V. Kruzich, Jack P. Krusick and Alfred Akre.
..Mrs. D. H. Brocksmith was organist. Mrs. O. M. Grina and Mrs. G. M. Lindberg sang a duet and Mrs. Lindberg sang a solo.
..A color guard was present from the American Legion, and volleys were fired over the grave in Glasgow cemetery by a squad from Company D.
..Mark Emery Watson was born in Weber, Kans., Aug. 19, 1901. He attended Bronson, Kans., schools. He served in the marine corps during World War I.
..He first came to Glasgow in 1918 and it had ben his home since. He was married to Thora Hopstad of Glasgow, Aug. 19, 1922, and the widow survives.
..Until his recent illness, Mr. Watson had been general manager of Markles here, and was a partner in the firm. He was also a director of the Farmers-Stockgrowers bank and a stockholder in the Pioneer Lumber company. He had both dryland and irrigated farming interests.
..In his earlier years here, he had been active as a baseball player. He had also been a member of the American Legion and was a past commander of Valley post. He had served as president and in other posts of the Valley Sportsmen's association. He was a member of the Lutheran Church. He served on the Glasgow school board for a number of years.
..Besides the widow, he is survived by two sons and a daughter. Lieut. Warren E. Watson of the army, who was in San Francisco about to leave for the Far East, and who returned home; Ronald Mark Watson and Mrs. Pat Maag, all of Glasgow, as well as two grandchildren.
..Also surviving are Mr. Watson's mother, Mrs. Eva Watson of Bronson and three sisters and a brother, Mrs. Park Colwell of Colorado, Mrs. Roy Nichols of Bronson, Mrs. Merrill Donoho of Saco and Ralph Watson of Saco. Mr. Watson was a nephew of T.H. Markle.
..Among relatives who came from a distance for the funeral was Mrs. Nels Christiansen of Los Angeles, a sister of Mrs. Watson.
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MONTANA
PVT 13 REGT USMC
WORLD WAR I
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