In 1976 Gladys Peterson wrote this Preface for the 1st edition of A Grass Roots Tribute: The Story of Bonner, Montana:

“The purpose of this publication is to bring together heretofore uncollected historical information about Bonner, Montana and the surrounding communities of Milltown, Piltzville, Lower Blackfoot, West Riverside, Pine Grove, and Marshall Grade.

“Bonner’s existence is tied to its unique location. Situated some seven miles east of Missoula, just beyond Hellgate Canyon, it is almost at the mouth of the Blackfoot River where it empties into the Clark Fork of the Columbia. The combination of virgin forests and abundant water power brought rugged men and keen minds together in the 1880s to harvest the timber. The history of the Bonner area from that time on has been closely associated with the development and growth of the lumber industry of the Northwest.

“The information in this book is offered to fill a need for a local history, even though it does not include the anecdotes or names of all of the people who have played a role in the history. The sincerity and generous contribution of time, pictures, and information from dozens of sources are appreciated. We hope people will understand that we have attempted to be accurate and factual, with the full realization that there is much more that could be told.”

At this same time Jack L. Demmons, school superintendent, collected nearly 1600 photographs from the period of the late 1800’s to the 1950’s. These photographs were glued, 8 or 9 to a sheet, to nearly 200 poster boards. As the years passed first hand connections to the photographs faded, and they were no longer displayed annually at Old Timers' Receptions. Indeed the photographs themselves were beginning to fade. In time, Kim Briggeman found them leaning against the wall in the school custodian’s office and began taking them home, a few panels at a time, to catalog and index the photographs. He introduced the storage problem to the current school superintendent Doug Ardiana and safe haven was made for them in the school library.

A Confluence of community members rooted in a sense of place.

In 1982 arsenic was discovered in the drinking water in Milltown. "Superfund" was added to our vocabulary. Years of study followed. The decision to leave the Milltown Dam in place was about to be made when Mother Nature cast her vote. The ice jam of '96 threatened the Dam and resulted in the scouring of toxic sediments which damaged aquatic life downstream. The subsequent decision was to drain the reservoir, remove 2.6 million cubic yards of contaminated sediments behind the dam, and remove the Milltown Dam itself.

In 2002 Diana Hammer, EPA Community Outreach Coordinater, aided Missoula County Commissioners in establishing the Milltown Redevelopment Working Group Steering Committee and in 2003, 24 members, half local residents and half river stakeholders or county residents, began envisioning the redevelopment of the area after the cleanup and restoration were completed. Peter Nielsen was named County liaison to the Working Group. A couple of members, Judy Matson and Mike Kustudia, signed up for the History & Culture Committee.

Mike Kustudia summarized our mission for the commissioners. "We see in the confluence of two rivers, the Blackfoot and Clark Fork, the remarkable story of a place. Actually it’s a set of stories, beginning with a dam coming down—the last ice dam that unleashed Glacial Lake Missoula floods—and concluding more than 10,000 years later with the removal of another, the Milltown Dam – and the restoration of Two Rivers. We see in the confluence of two rivers, the Blackfoot and Clark Fork, the remarkable story of a landscape, then that of native peoples, Meriwether Lewis’ journey on July 4, 1806, the John Mullan winter encampment in 1861-62, the mills and their legacy, the immigrants and their communities, and culminating with the Clark Fork cleanup and restoration."

A Confluence of Stories related to a place.

Now what should we do? The History and Culture committee sent out an invitation to every historical museum, art museum, archives, the Historical Preservation Commission, and just about every historian in the area asking for help. And they all responded. Month after month they came to help instruct, guide, and set us back on our feet when the going got tough or unpleasant. Many, and in particular Philip Maechling, Cynthia Manning, and Diane Sands, helped us to identify and preserve artifacts and to make history come alive for community members.

Things began to look pretty good. With the historic mitigation money from the Superfund settlement, the Demmons photos were digitally scanned and preserved jointly by Bonner School and UM Archives.

That paved the way for reprinting the long out of print Grass Roots Tribute. Minie Smith revealed to us the miracle of scanning to text, scanned all of the pages to editable text, found almost every picture in the book whether in the Demmons Collection or not, and expanded and updated the index. Kim Briggeman pored over the text ferreting out errors and finding replacements for missing photos.

All of the major equipment and signature features of the powerhouse were secured, in large measure due to the determination and creativity of Diana Hammer, Peter Nielsen, and Philip Maechling.

When the dream of a real interpretive center any time soon faded, Mike Kustudia put on his writer’s cap again and secured a grant to build a virtual interpretive center, Two Rivers History.Net and he volunteered to oversee building the site. It’s coming soon to cyberspace near you.

A Confluence of historic preservationists.

Yes, things were looking pretty good. Just as the Bonner houses were about to collapse in disrepair, a guy named Scott Cooney appeared out of the Rattlesnake and bought them. He then brought in a fellow named Dan Hall, perhaps you know of him, to prepare the nomination papers to establish the Bonner Company Town Historic District on the national historic register. He hired Patience Woodill, a sparkplug, always ready to reignite flagging energy systems.

With the help of Scott and Patience, the Bonner houses were once again accessible to the public and history lived, nurtured by great community parties hosted by the Friends of 2 Rivers represented here tonight by founders Chuck and Mary Erickson and Gary Matson. Monthly history conversations began hosted by the newly formed Bonner Area History Roundtable.

A Confluence of energy.

The Stimson mill closed ending the tenure of the longest continuously operating mill in the country. The mill yard is silent. A century of stories in its empty buildings. With the nurturing and tutoring of the past 6 years, we were ready to respond to give those stories a voice.

Again Minie stepped forward and along with life long local resident Jim Willis, we have begun to keep those stories alive through the Bonner Area History Roundtable. Contributors are generous, knowledgeable and committed. Perhaps some day soon the mill will reopen with new, green industries and workers will again live in the community and we can tell that story too.

A Confluence of hope.

Kim Briggeman wrote in the Forward to the 3rd Printing of A Grass Roots Tribute: “These past few years have seen tremendous changes in Bonner, and who’s to know what an updated history of the community will read like a decade from now? All we know is what has already happened.”

Norman MacLean sums it up: "Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it.  The river was cut by the world's great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time.  On some of the rocks are timeless raindrops.  Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs."

Judy Matson was awarded the 2009 Dorothy Ogg Award for Historic Preservation by the Missoula Historic Preservation Commission on May 8, 2009.