The Cayuse Prairie School District’s first one-room schoolhouse was a log cabin. According to the school’s history booklet, the log cabin was sold in 1904 to a man named Clark Smith for $10.
Originally part of the Eagan School District, Cayuse Prairie was founded in 1898. He shared a smile as past and present students and staff passed each other in the school hallway Sept. 23 during the district’s 125th anniversary celebration.
For many years, this cabin was used as a store for the Snell family farm. Lois Hook and his younger brother John Snell grew up less than a quarter mile from the existing school at 897 Lake Blaine Road. Hook and Snell shared memories from their time attending Cayuse Prairie for the 125th celebration.
“I was here when it was still the old school building,” Snell said of the part of the building built in 1903.
The 1903 building with a bell tower was originally constructed with a $1,500 bond issue and still functions as part of the school and is home to its headquarters. The original bell was purchased by him in 1904 for $6.
Snell, who graduated eighth grade in 1964 with a class of 12, remembers the school having several classrooms and two outbuildings. Indoor plumbing was installed in the rural Montana school in 1955, when the school district The year was 1955, when a “radical modernization program began” by making full use of the generous levies.
“The school is on the corner of the farm where we grew up,” said Snell, who lives a few houses away.
The building was expanded again in 1965. The school continued to expand, with additions in 1970, 1981, 1992, 1995, and finally in 2010.
Families and local residents also participated in the improvement project.
“My dad helped build the merry-go-round and the swings,” Snell said. Meanwhile, her father and Hook’s mother were active in her P&F club and helped keep the school clean.
For decades, Cayuse Prairie has served as more than just a school, it has served as a gathering place for the broader community. In the 1920s, the school was converted into a dance hall. The history booklet notes that although it is not as famous as ‘Old Yeoman Hall’, it was a place for people traveling in horse-drawn carriages on Saturday nights to ‘have a little stomp and raise their cane’. .
Cayuse Prairie continues to be a close-knit school community with generations of families attending rural K-12 schools.
Snell’s daughter, Jody Harp, is the executive director of Cayuse Prairie School. Harp’s children also attended this school.
“This is home,” Harp said.
Outside the school, the Ablesia family stopped for photos in front of the iconic bell tower. Joe Ablescia said he moved to the community from Chicago in 1976. His parents later founded Ablesia Fine Art & Pottery Studio.
“I graduated in 1978. There were 11 kids,” he said, compared to three classes of 35 sixth-graders in the city. “What I really liked about being a small school was being able to play all the sports and be involved in everything.”
For his daughters, Nicole and Jessica, this included participating in teacher Joan Creek’s annual production of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet.”
“It’s been a big deal for years,” said their mother, Martha Abbrescia.
By serving on the school board, she was able to attend her daughter’s graduation from the front row.
“I gave her my 8th grade diploma and I gave her my 8th grade diploma,” she said with a proud smile.
Nearby, Nicole Abbrescia’s 13-month-old daughter Regen, a future Cayuse Prairie Mustang candidate, walks around a “Happy Birthday” note posted on her front lawn. He was toddling along and laughing, trying to escape from his grandfather.
From 41 students in 1914 to over 300 students today, the Cayuse community continues to grow. What was once all farmland is now dotted with development, but the character of its friendly community remains strong.
Twelve years ago, Cayuse Prairie Principal Amy Piazzolla knew the school would be her family’s new home, even though she had roots in Noxon.
“When I first walked here, it felt like I had never been here before. From the first time I stepped foot on this property, I felt like I was at home. I knew without a doubt that I would be the next administrator here,” she said. “In my heart, I knew this was the reason I was supposed to have my life.” [master’s in educational] degree in leadership. ”
The school has posted a slideshow of photos depicting the school’s history online at www.cayuseprairie.com.
Contact reporter Hilary Matheson at 758-4431 or hmatheson@dailyinterlake.com.
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