Samuel T. Hauser House, 720 Madison Avenue, Helena, Lewis and Clark County, MT

Significance: Samuel T. Hauser went up the Missouri River in 1862, to the head of navigation, Ft. Benton, Montana, intending to cross from there to the gold fields in Idaho. Strikes at Gold Creek and Bannack in Montana caused him to change his plans, and he remained in the Territory to become one of its most prominent citizens. Banking, mining, railroads, smelting and livestock raising were among his interests. President Cleveland appointed Samuel T. Hauser as Terrritorial Governor of Montana in July, 1885. He was the first Montana Territorial Governor to be a resident of the Territory; his predecessors had been men from the States sent out to govern new area. He served until February, 1887. This residence of Samuel T. Hauser was completed about the time he took office, and was the scene of governmental social functions as well as private ones. Coincidentally, Mrs. S.T. Hauser, the wife of a man who was one of the developers of Montana, was the granddaughter of the sister of William Clark, one of the leaders of the Lewis and Clark expedition that first opened the territory by its exploration.
Survey number: HABS MT-23
Building/structure dates: ca. 1885 Initial Construction
Building/structure dates: 1890 Subsequent Work