Phillips County Museum News for Wednesday, September 18, 2024

Herman George Robinson was one of the finest men in Malta, and his story was more than incredible, so I’ll share it with you.

He was born on February 25th, 1865, in New York. He had always envisioned being a cowboy and a cattleman, and in 1884, his dream brought him to Billings at the age of 19. After only a year, he found himself on the alluring prairie we now know as Malta. The changes he brought with him were some of the most marvelous and game-changing modifications we needed.

Herman worked on various farms until he was twenty-one when he left to file a homestead on the south slope of the Snowy Mountains in 1892. He and his good friend Henry Hedges scouted the area before deciding that the pulchritudinous blue-joint meadow that nature created, which was watered by the annual floods of Beaver Creek and the wonderful grazing land north to the Milk River, was where they wanted to put their plans into action.

It was here that he would meet his future wife, Eliza Garland, born on March 6th, 1871, who traveled to Malta, bringing along her brother Richard from their hometown of Ontario in 1896. Eliza arrived on the great plains with a want of something new, and in just two years she and Herman were married on a frosty winter day. That same year Eliza and Herman sent out for a mail-order home, which we now know as the Robinson House and Gardens, and constructed it on the frontier prairie. Soon after, they would start their family, welcoming a baby girl Gladys on November 13th of 1898, and shortly after Gladys was born, their first and only son George was conceived.

In November of 1900, Herman was elected accessor of the Old Valley County in the general election. This election was the most contested in the seven-year history of Valley County and resulted in an almost 100 percent victory for the Republican party. He served one term before deciding to withdraw from political activity, although he did serve on the city council and was a member of the Malta board of trustees for many years.

In 1902, the Robinsons established a ranch on Beaver Creek, six miles west of Saco, where they brought in and placed the first producing gas well. Following this, their third child Edna was delivered, escorted a while after by their youngest daughter Dorothy.

Three years after Miss Dorothy had been born Herman was elected as the first president of the First State Bank. He continued this position until he retired in 1928 at the age of 63 years old.

It was on the dreary day of June 4th, 1942, that 77-year-old Eliza passed away due to the shock of an automobile accident on her way back from Canada. Eight years later, Herman said goodbye to this world to be with his true love once again.

September 18th is National Respect Others Day, so share kindness instead of hate, it truly does make the world better! The Phillips County Museum is open 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. Monday through Saturday.