Stockmen's Bank of Martinsdale - Martinsdale, MT
Posted by: T0SHEA
N 46° 27.516 W 110° 18.888
12T E 552616 N 5145231
This is a bank with an interesting history, including bank failure, resurgence, skullduggery, conspiracy and final failure.
Waymark Code: WMWQ6Q
Location: Montana, United States
Date Posted: 10/01/2017
Views: 0
In the beginning it wasn't the Stockmen's Bank of Martinsdale, but the State Bank of Martinsdale. The State Bank of Martindale was incorporated September 30, 1909, with $20,000 in capital and deposits totaling $200,000. Opened in a small wood frame building, in 1919 construction of a new $15,000 brick bank building was begun.
The majority of its clients were local ranchers grazing mostly sheep in the surrounding countryside, which, for the bank, would not be a good thing. Drought hit Montana in 1917 and lasted for several years, forcing many farmers off their land. Eventually, the banks which held the mortgages on these farms would fail, as well. In fact, over half of Montana's banks would disappear as a result of the protracted drought, this one included. The bank closed its doors on Saturday, February 3, 1923 and was taken over by the Montana Superintendent of Banks the following Monday.
Though area ranchers were still doing relatively well, the bank failed nonetheless and it transpired that the cause may have been a combination of the economic climate, reckless lending practices, lax bookkeeping standards and a trio of brothers, one of which controlled the bank, who may or may not have embezzled bank funds. In any event, the bank's failure put a substantial damper on Martinsdale, a situation which the local ranchers found untenable. They took the situation into their own hands and, on July 8, 1923 incorporated and August 28 officially chartered the Stockmen's Bank of Martinsdale, with a capital of $20,000, in the selfsame building.
From that time, all the way through the "Dirty Thirties" and almost into the '50s, things went relatively smoothly. Then suddenly and without warning, on May 5, 1949 the Big Timber Pioneer, and others, alerted readers to the merger of Stockmen's Bank of Martinsdale with the Continental National Bank of Harlowton due to a shortage at the former of between $80,000 and $208,000.
It turned out that cashier Olaf Haugan had concocted a scheme years earlier, in 1936 actually, wherein a woman named Annie Berg would cash cheques on an empty account, the money being charged to other accounts. The ploy was finally discovered when a depositor realized his account held substantially fewer funds than it should have. The bank was closed and its affairs immediately taken over by the Continental National Bank of Harlowton. Ultimately, it was discovered that $205,000 had been embezzled by the pair.
For many years after, the building was used in various businesses and, at last report, it was owned by an individual who has hopes of restoring the building with the aim of opening a facility in the building, its exact nature unknown, possibly a clubhouse or social space. As of 2013 some restoration work had been accomplished. When we visited the building was showing the signs of recent reparations, both inside and out.
Address: 9 Main Street
Martinsdale, MT United States
59053
Year: 1905
Website: [Web Link]
Current Use of Building: Work in progress
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