Irene’s Home Town

Here’s some old photos of Baker, MT, Irene’s hometown where she grew up. It was located in a remote area on the Great Plains, and her family moved there about 1909 to open up a store. Other Lentz family members followed in the 1920s and 1930s; they were real pioneers. The town expanded because of the railroad and the Homestead Act, which allowed people land to develop and then it was theirs, after seven years. Irene said her family also had a cattle ranch and many died in a draught. She loved the outdoors here and especially “skeet-shooting,” which Karlyn’s great granddad taught her. Swimming in Baker Lake was fun for Irene too, and she spent many a summer day in that shallow artificial reservoir swimming with friends and her two broth