Shirley Says

Of all the hats that Shirley Blunt has worn in Phillips County in most of the 93 years she has lived here, the one she misses the most is being a ranch hand.

"I have been riding horses since I was two years old," Shirley said in her living room on Friday afternoon. "That is the thing I miss the most about living on the ranch."

Shirley was born in Malta in 1923, the daughter of Pearl (Watson) and George Aikins. It was a little more than a decade since Aikins has married (1921) and migrated to Montana to homestead in Phillips County before the couple had baby Shirley, the only child.

The one time in her nearly 93 years in which Shirley didn't live in Phillips County was the time spent at Montana State University-Northern in Havre where she studied to become a secretary. Shortly after she graduated from university, Shirley went on to spend the only significant amount of time away from Montana as during World War II she lived and worked in the Seattle area for about 15 months where she worked as a secretary.

"I should have become Rosie the Riveter instead of a secretary," Shirley said. "I would have made a Hell of a lot more money. I've never minded getting my hands dirty, but I decided to be a secretary instead because a manufacturing job seemed like it would have been a waste of my training."

It didn't take much time of living in Washington State and working in an office for Shirley to decide that the west coast wasn't her cup of tea. She said that Seattle offered too much craziness, too many people and too much rain for her taste.

"I bought an umbrella for 50-cents from some Okie that was going home," Shirley recalled. "I used it more to prod people to get on the bus than for the rain though. I don't like being around that many people."

Seattle in the 1940's had a total population of nearly 370,000 while in Phillips County the amount of people numbered nearly 8,000. With that in mind, Shirley made her way back to Montana where she has lived ever since.

"Seattle is probably different now, but it was a mess then," Shirley said. "I was 23 when I moved back to Phillips County and I have never left since."

Since moving back to Phillips County, Shirley has challenged herself to be as active as possible and succeeded in spades. After graduating from Malta High School in 1940 (a year ahead of schedule) – and then her brief stay in crowded Seattle – she met the man she would share her life with over the next 63 years (and counting.)

"I think we met at a dance in Box Elder," said Clarence Blunt.

Clarence played the tenor banjo at local dances in the late 40's and early 50's and that is where Clarence happened the first glance on his would be wife.

"I couldn't get rid of him," Shirley laughed. "You could say he was persistent."

Clarence said his persistence was spawned because he admired many of Shirley's abilities, first and foremost, ranching.

"She was a good riding gal," he remembers. "She loved horses and was good at it. That was a part of my business at the time."

Besides his banjo picking at the time, Clarence worked for his father, Alfred, on the family ranch. Following their marriage in 1951, Clarence and Shirley worked their ranch in Regina for the next 51 years, but ranching wasn't the only way Shirley kept busy.

During her time as an adult in Phillips County, Shirley has tried her hand at many ventures – and succeeded at each. She has been a ranch hand and a mother (the couple has four children.) The Montana State President of the CowBelles and tailor (during the interview, Clarence proudly wore one of the shirts Shirley made for him --- one each Christmas for over 50 years.) Shirley is a grandmother and for a long time wrote the Regina News for the Phillips County News.

"I had fun doing that," Shirley said. "I sure got people's attention. The correspondents didn't have much for credentials back then and they had some dandies writing for them. It's a wonder someone didn't sue that paper for the things they wrote."

The Blunts have been married for 63-years and Shirley joked that the main reason for the successful union is "we had four kids and I could afford to raise them on my own."

Now that they are retired and living in town, Clarence spends a lot of time on the golf course and Shirley spends a lot of time listening to books on tape. Of all the things Shirley has enjoyed in her life, the thing she misses most is riding her horses.

"I miss just going out for the day and riding," she said. "I started to have a little bit of trouble getting on and off there at the end, but you can teach a horse just about anything. I like to ride."