Multnomah-Clatsop County OR Archives Biographies.....Montag, John 1854 - 
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Ila Wakley iwakley@msn.com November 9, 2009, 11:04 am

Source: History of the Columbia River Valley From The Dalles to the Sea, Vol. III, Published 1928, Pages 196-199
Author: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company

     The story of John Montag's life and the history of the Montag Stove Works 
are pretty much one and the same thing, for the best part of Mr. Montag's life 
has been devoted to this business. His early years were marked by hard and 
continuous work and many privations, and his struggles to get the stove 
business established and on a self-sustaining basis indicated the mettle of 
the man, for conditions were such as would have utterly discouraged one of 
less courage and determination. However, he has lived to see the abundant 
fruition of his labors, the Montag Stove Works being one of the leading 
industries of Portland. Mr. Montag was born in Germany in 1854, and was a son 
of Frederick and Annie Maria (Borgmeier) Montag. His father was a farmer, 
which calling the family had followed for many generations. In 1858 he brought 
his family to the United States, locating at Quincy, Illinois, but his plans 
for the future were interrupted by his death in 1859. The widowed mother took 
care of her children as best she could, doing such work as she could find.

     John Montag attended school during his early youth, but at the age of 
twelve years he was apprenticed to learn the printing trade. He followed that 
line of work until about the close of the Civil war, when he served an 
apprenticeship in a foundry. On January 1, 1879, he left home with the 
determination to make his way in the world, traveling overland to San 
Francisco, California, thence on the steamer "Elder" to Portland, disembarking 
where now stands the railroad depot, although then the site of a large lake. 
From the time he landed and took a look up First street, Mr. Montag felt at 
home in the new community, and has felt that way ever since. He became 
acquainted with a Mr. Cleave and together they went to work for Richards & 
Rogers, the pioneer stove manufacturers of this city, who also did repair work 
on eastern stoves. After working there a month, Mr. Montag saw an 
advertisement for a boat puller at Astoria, the notice being inserted by a 
fishermen. Mr. Montag went to Astoria and there spent his last ten dollars, 
for which he bought a half interest in the houseboat in which he and his 
employer lived. The latter was a Norwegian, unable to speak English, and they 
had some difficulty in making themselves understood. Another houseboat was 
anchored nearby, the owner of which Mr. Montag visited, remaining until 
midnight. The night was dark and threatening and he wore overcoat and rubber 
boots. On returning in his row boat, the latter tipped over and dumped him 
into the waters of the Columbia river. He was unable to get into the boat and 
being unable to swim, he was fearful of drowning, especially as the water was 
bitterly cold, and he cried for help. A couple of fishermen heard him, picked 
him up and put him back onto the houseboat. The Norwegian had his own bedding 
and Mr. Montag had none, which was particularly unfortunate in view of his wet 
and cold condition, and the Norwegian offered him none. This incident killed 
Mr. Montag's interest in his job, but he helped his employer in his fishing. 
However, they were so unfortunate as to lose their net, worth four hundred 
dollars, after which they went to Astoria, which was at that time a wide-open 
town. The Norwegian began drinking, whereupon Mr. Montag lost all interest in 
the job and quit. He tried to get back the ten dollars he had paid for a half 
interest in the boat, but the Norwegian refused to give it to him, whereupon 
Mr. Montag secured a cross-cut saw and started to saw the boat in two. The 
Norwegian paid him the ten dollars. Mr. Montag then got another fishing job, 
at which he spent the summer and saved some money. Returning then to Portland, 
he worked at various things, such as pulling stumps, for which work his daily 
wage was less than two dollars. He had earned four dollars a day in the east. 
He got a job on a sailing ship, which was to leave that night, but in the 
meantime he took another position as fireman on a wood-burning steamship, his 
statement to the captain that he was a fireman being based on the fact that he 
had fired the stoves in the printing office where he had formerly worked. 
However, he performed his duties satisfactorily and later became a deckhand on 
the old steamer "Traveler," running on the Columbia river. There he met a 
Scotchman who had been engineer of the shop in which Mr. Montag had served his 
apprenticeship in the east, and they went together on a United States 
government boat, Chelan, which was to be taken to Lake Chelan, Washington, 
where it was wanted for service in subduing the Indian uprisings. The job was 
to take the boat up the Columbia river and then over the mountains to the 
lake. The boat was forty feet long, with a beam of twelve feet, and it was 
necessary to work it over the rapids by power and a line. The boat upset in 
Priest rapids and the entire cargo was lost, though all lives were saved. 
Charles Thomas, a mate, jumped overboard on a previous day while trying to get 
through other rapids. He could not swim but drifted ashore and was saved. 
However, he quit, as did Captain Cockley, and they secured three other 
steamboat men. Eventually they got the boat over the rapids, when they were 
ordered to take the boat out of the river, cut it in two and take it overland 
to White Bluff, where a company of cavalry was located. They started back down 
the rapids, and Mr. Montag was given the wheel, as the only man in the party 
capable of navigating the treacherous waters. He ran them successfully and 
made the shore. The Scotchman told General Dandy, the quartermaster, that they 
owed their lives to Montag's skill and courage. At that time he was getting 
fifty dollars a month from the government, but immediately after that incident 
it was raised to one hundred dollars a month. They secured twelve mules, cut 
the boat in two and hauled it to the military post on Lake Chelan, which was 
later moved to Spokane. In the following year Mr. Montag returned to Portland.

     For awhile Mr. Montag was employed in telegraph line construction from 
Ainsworth to Spokane, and later worked at Lake Ponderay and at Simiakatine on 
a boat which was employed in carrying the mail with two barges around the 
lake, stopping at the various mines and camps. After the building of the 
steamer "Villard," Mr. Montag worked on it, first as a deckhand and later as a 
fireman, the boat operating on Lake Ponderay. A party was given to Mr. 
Villard, the famous railroad builder, and Mr. Montag and a friend were invited 
to the dance on the boat, on which was Mr. Villard's daughter. Mr. Montag got 
hold of a dress suit, in which he would dance for awhile, after which he would 
retire and loan it to his friend, who would appear and dance. After awhile the 
party learned of the stunt and it raised a good laugh, though it made no 
difference to anyone. Later Mr. Montag became engineer on the steamer "Wicks," 
on Lake Ponderay, owned by Mr. Hallett, a noted railroad man and mine 
operator, who paid Mr. Montag one hundred and twenty dollars a month. After 
one season there Mr. Montag quit and returned to Portland, where again he went 
to work in the Richards & Rogers foundry. A plan was being made to move the 
foundry to the state penitentiary and Mr. Montag and Mr. Couzens were 
appointed as a committee to devise a plan whereby they could operate the plant 
as a cooperative concern. A number of them offered to put in money to help the 
enterprise, but eventually all of them backed out excepting Mr. Montag, Mr. 
Cleve and Mr. Couzens. This was in 1884 and between them they managed to raise 
one thousand dollars in cash and bought the shop, on which they gave a 
mortgage for two thousand dollars, due in one year. At the end of the year the 
man who held the mortgage closed them out and the firm of Montag, Cleve and 
Couzens ceased to function. Mr. Montag then raised some money through a 
friend, John Workman, after which the business was reorganized as Montag, 
Cleve & Workman. They were building stoves, and good ones, but they ran out of 
funds and were financially embarrassed. At this juncture Mr. Montag undertook 
to sell the stock of stoves which they had on hand. He tried to borrow twenty 
dollars from friends to meet the expenses of the trip, but succeeded in 
raising only four dollars. With this he went to Albina, near Portland, and 
entered Andy Johnson's saloon to get a "bracer." Mr. Johnson, who knew him, 
saw that he looked downhearted and asked him if he needed money. The outcome 
was that he loaned him twenty dollars and arranged for a free trip to The 
Dalles, Oregon. This was Mr. Montag's first experience as a salesman and it 
was difficult for him to gather sufficient courage to enter a store. However, 
he succeeded in selling four cook stoves, which acted as a wonderful stimulus, 
and he felt like he was walking on air. In order to hold down his expenses he 
slept in parks, beat his way on trains and in other ways saved every possible 
cent. But he sold stoves and by the time he left Spokane had sold all the 
stoves in stock. While in that place he slept under the grandstand at the 
fairground, washed up and made the merchants think he was stopping at a hotel. 
On leaving Spokane he boarded the baggage car, hoping to secure a free ride to 
Portland, but the conductor threatened to put him off at a water tank. However 
the day was saved by a newsboy whom he had known for years and who induced the 
conductor to carry him to Wallula, the end of the division. There Mr. Montag 
boarded another train, on which he was able to use a mileage book which had 
been given to him by a friend, and which paid for twelve miles, — just enough 
mileage to get him back to Portland.

     Thus Mr. Montag fought his first great business battle, and won. He had 
sold all of his stoves, but now needed pig iron, with which to make more 
stoves. He had neither credit nor money and the stoves were sold on sixty and 
ninety days' time. Finally, James Loten gave him credit for the iron he 
needed, and Mr. Montag was glad to be able to pay the bills within thirty 
days. In this connection it is interesting to note that in later years Mr. 
Montag was chairman of the fire board of Portland, which had the letting of a 
contract for fire hydrants. Mr. Montag was able to throw the contract to James 
Loten, at that time president of the Willamette Iron Works. Mr. Loten had 
forgotten the favor he had once done Mr. Montag, and when he learned the 
reason back of his securing the contract, he was very grateful, for it was the 
means of keeping his own shop running. Mr. Montag continued to travel through 
the nearby towns, selling stoves, after which he would return to the foundry 
and help to build them. Those were strenuous days but brought their 
recompense, for the business grew, slowly but surely, and the high quality of 
the goods which the firm made gained for it a solid reputation. Mr. Montag's 
health broke under the strain of day-and-night work, but he eventually 
recovered. Mr. Cleve died many years ago and Mr. Montag put his nephew, Ralph 
Montag, in as manager of the shop. Later another nephew, John Montag, came in 
and is now superintendent of the foundry, and the latter's brother, Fritz 
Montag, came into the organization and is now bookkeeper, besides whom two 
other nephews, Harry and Butler Montag, are in the business. The company now 
gives employment to one hundred and twenty people, the payroll amounting to 
four thousand eight hundred dollars a week. The plant covers three acres of 
ground and has been located for a number of years at 101 Columbia boulevard. 
In 1922 a fire at the plant occasioned a loss of one hundred and twenty 
thousand dollars, offset by only twelve thousand dollars of insurance, which 
practically broke Mr. Montag, but it has been completely rebuilt. In this, 
splendid team work was displayed, each member of the organization looking 
after the reconstruction of his particular branch of the business, so that 
they were running within three months after the fire. Friends stood back of 
them and the United States National Bank offered to loan all the funds needed 
for rebuilding purposes.

     Mr. Montag has been a busy man in his individual affairs, but has never 
neglected his duties of citizenship or his obligations to his community. He is 
a democrat and served for several years as treasurer of the state campaign 
committee of his party. He was influential in the election of Henry Lane to 
the United States senate, and through Lane's influence was appointed United 
States marshal for Oregon. He also served two different terms as a member of 
the city executive board under Mayor Harry Lane and has been the democratic 
nominee for sheriff, mayor and other offices, but being on the minority ticket 
has each time been defeated, though running ahead of the party vote. He has 
rendered effective service as a member of the city council and is a good 
citizen in the broadest and best sense of the term. Mr. Montag's career has 
been marked by determination and perseverance, backed by sound judgment and an 
energy that would have insured success in any undertaking, and his record as 
business man, public official, private citizen and constant friend has gained 
for him the genuine confidence and esteem of all who know him. He has never 
been "licked," simply because he refused to see it that way, and today his 
efforts are appreciated by the community which has benefited by the 
establishment founded by him. Personally he is kindly and unaffected in manner 
and he has a host of loyal friends who esteem him for his sterling qualities.

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