Intense and well directed energy have brought Montie B. Gwinn to the position
of secretary of the Malheur Live Stock & Land Company, to official connection with
various banks and, more than that, to a point of leadership in connection with vital
problems of war service. He has been a resident of Boise since 1871. He was born
in Boone, Boone county, Iowa, September 16, 1857, a son of the Rev. Robert M.
Gwinn, a Methodist minister, who was born in Pennsylvania and at the time of the
Civil war rendered active service at the front in defense of the Union cause. The
mother died during the infancy of her son Montie B., and the father afterward mar-
ried again, removing to Boise with his family in 1871 to accept the pastorate of the
First Methodist Episcopal church of this city, which he thus served for two years. Later
he removed to California, where his death occurred.
Montie B. Gwinn, however, remained in Boise and practically his entire life has
been spent in Idaho and Oregon, in which states he is widely known as a representative
of banking and financial interests, of real estate dealing and the sheep industry. His
education has been largely acquired in the school of experience. Removing with
the family to Boise when he was a lad of fourteen years, he entered a store, in which
he remained as clerk until he attained his majority. He was ambitious, however, to
engage in business on his own account and the years 1879 and 1880 found him actively
connected with the lumber trade in Boise as proprietor of a yard. In the latter year
he took up merchandising at Caldwell, Idaho, having in the meantime opened a store
at Middleton, while later he also became connected with mercantile interests at De-
Lamar, Idaho, and was thus engaged until 1893. From 1894 until 1898 he was managing
director of the New York Life Insurance Company for Idaho and eastern Oregon,
with headquarters at Boise, and for the past third of a century he has been prom-
inently identified with the sheep industry and with the banking business in Idaho and
Oregon. In 1906 he became the owner of a bank at Pendleton, Oregon, which he na-
tionalized under the name of the American National Bank. He continued its conduct
until 1908, when he sold the bank and returned to Boise. While at Pendleton he
served for one year as president of the Oregon State Bankers Association, a position
which indicated his high standing in the banking fraternity there. He was likewise
chosen president of the Idaho State Bankers Association in 1918, to fill a vacancy
caused by the resignation of Governor Davis from that position. This was another
recognition of his business standing and gives him the added distinction of having been
at the head of the state banking association of two states. He is now a director of the
First National Bank of Boise but at the present time is giving the greater part of
his attention and energy to the management of the business of the Malheur Live
Stock & Land Company of Boise, of which he Is the secretary. This company operates
extensively in Malheur county, Oregon, where it has large landed interests. Mr.
Gwinn was one of the organizers of the company in 1903 and for many years has
made the conduct of the business his chief concern, with offices in the Overland build-
ing in Boise. The company owns and controls fifty thousand acres of land in Malheur,
Grant and Harney counties of Oregon and its operations are leading to the upbuilding
and development of that section of the country.
The live stock feature of the business has made Mr. Gwinn an authority upon the
subject of sheep raising and he was called before the Idaho Bankers Association
at Its convention held in Pocatello in June, 1918, to speak upon the subject of the
future of the sheep industry in the state. His figures, gleaned from statistics, in-
dicate a decline in the sheep industry, with an increased consumption of mutton in the
United States, while the annual imports of the country were over one-half of the wool
consumed. In this connection Mr. Gwinn said: "Recognizing the need for a sub-
stantial increase in the sheep industry in Idaho in the future, it occurs to me that one of
the most needed things to bring this about is to have a thorough revision of public
sentiment. The people of our communities must look upon It with friendly interest
and discard absolutely any attitude of suspicion or doubt or antagonism. It must be
recognized for what it is, an upbuilder of our state and nation, an industry to be
fostered and encouraged, and not as an intruder in our communities or a menace to our
farmers and other residents, for that it is not. And here, perhaps as much as any-
where, the banker can serve an important part, not only to the sheep industry but to
his community as well. Bankers are really the hub around which everything revolves
in the small communities. From time immemorial it has fallen to the lot of the
Danker to pass upon all matters of importance, not only financially but in most every
civic way, in his community. The sheep industry is one of the staple industries of the
state of Idaho and should receive the bankers' attention and support, not only because
of the opportunities of loaning money on the sheep and the wool, etc., but because he
should be interested in the things that will improve and develop any industry that
is a material source of revenue, one of the best, to his community. He should, therefore,
encourage it, and he can do much, perhaps more than any other, to mould public senti-
ment and direct it along the right channel and bring about an attitude of interest,
encouragement and appreciation of one of Idaho's greatest industries.
"The great ranges, being practically occupied at the present time, could and should
be made to yield their maximum, and this could be accomplished by 'range classifica-
tion.' There was a time in Idaho when the cattle industry occupied the greater
part of the range; now the sheep do, for a flock of sheep can go into the nooks and the
by-ways, eating weeds and covering a range that has no value for cattle. A thorough
classification of ranges, so that they might be utilized scientifically and to their ut-
most capacity, would increase the sheep industry and be of lasting benefit. The
banker can aid in the work of bringing about such classification.
"A plan whereby the banker may help his community in the promotion and advance-
ment of the sheep industry, which has been tried out in other western states is known
as 'The Bank Sheep Club.' Our bankers can be of tremendous assistance in encourging
the farm flock idea. A bank may purchase a band of sheep and distribute them in lots
of twenty-five, fifty or one hundred to the farmers residing nearby, and these will
consume weeds, feed around fence corners, etc., that could not otherwise be utilized.
There Is no opportunity in this paper to deal extensively with the subject, but every
Idaho banker should investigate the matter of a Bank Sheep Club and see If he cannot
put it into practical operation in his community.
"I have dealt briefly with but a few of the things that can help the sheep industry
of the future, more especially where the banker can be of assistance. The matter of
educating the public to understand the sheep grower and know him as a friend, the
matters of range classification, of a county agent or adviser, of thoroughbred sheep
and of the Sheep Bank Club — these are all things in which you, Mr. Banker, can help
the sheep growers of Idaho and increase their production and thereby better serve our
country. And in closing I urge upon you that you not only give these things your
thought, but that you likewise take home with you a determination to help carry
them out. Our meetings, our conferences such as these, may develop ideas, they may
give us new thoughts, but unless we put them into operation they are nothing, and we
have gained nothing. So I give you the Idaho Slogan— 'IDAHOANS, DON'T DEBATE
IT! DO IT!'"
Mr. Gwinn's address awakened deep interest, for his position as a business man
of keen sagacity and sound judgment is well known and, moreover, he is the vice
president of the Idaho State Bankers Association, which he was addressing.
Many problems of public moment Mr. Gwinn has studied thoroughly, delving to the
root of the matter and taking many an Initial progressive step leading to desired re-
sults. He early turned his attention to questions of irrigation and was chairman
of the executive committee of the Fourteenth National Irrigation Congress, which was
held in Boise from the 3d to the 8th of September, 1906. When matters of national
concern demanded the attention and cooperation of leading business men of the country
he gave of his time and energy as well as his means to support the interests of the
government. He was made vice chairman for Idaho during the first, second and
third Libetry Loans and chairman ot the fourth Liberty Loan, held in October, 1918,
and the fifth or Victory Loan in May, 1919. For a third of a century he has been a
most earnest and generous supporter of all measures which have had to do with the
upbuilding and progress of the state, and his broad vision and sound judgment have
enabled him to readily recognize the possibilities of every situation and the value
of every opportunity. People like men who do things. They also admire those who
are always on the firing line — who make opportunities, not wait for opportunities.
In Idaho, as in other states, there are those who have been pathfinders so to speak —
who have blazed the way for others who came later. Such pioneering has not been
confined to any one line of activity, and it has sometimes fallen to the lot of one
person to have been useful and prominent in several lines of constructive work. Such
a man is Montie B. Gwinn. Coming to the then territory of Idaho when a mere lad, he
did real pioneering from the first, and has never faltered when called upon to help
in the development of the state's material resources or to assist in the things pertain-
ing to its civic betterment.
On the 4th of May, 1881, Mr. Gwinn was married to Miss Delia Lake, of Portland,
Oregon. Matters of personal interest to him cover his connection with several fraternal
organizations. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Benevolent
Protective Order of Elks and the Knights of Pythias, and in the first named he is a
prominent figure, having served as the fourth grand master in Idaho and as one
of the organizers of the order in the state in 1883. His work has been continued, he
having served In the position of representative to the Sovereign Grand Lodge of that
order for many years and as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Odd Fellows
Home, which is soon to he built at Caldwell, the site for which was donated by Mr.
Gwinn. He is also one of the board of trustees of the College of Idaho, having given
liberally to that institution, and is active in the effort to see it well endowed.
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