Valley County Pioneer Museum – Lewis/Wedum Journals and Ledgers

The Valley County Historical Society was founded in the 1960s and played a central role in forming the Valley County Pioneer Museum. The museum has since served as the central repository for artifacts, antiques, and archival materials for Valley County and Northeast Montana. As we move into the information and digital age, it becomes increasingly available to preserve deteriorating volumes on computers. The History Foundation funded the Valley County Pioneer Museum to digitize four pre-1900 Lewis/Wedum Journals and Ledgers.

The Lewis/Wedum Journals are from the Wedum Store, which was the premier establishment servicing the Valley County area prior to the turn of the century. The journals offer a rare glimpse into the daily commerce of a small agricultural community, and they contain rich information about who bought what and who owed whom in Valley Country prior to 1900. The information in these journals allows Valley County residents and history buffs to identify county citizens, their consumer habits, and their lines of work, which gives them a more comprehensive understanding of Valley County before 1900. Digitizing these journals made information available to the public.