Background
Charles M. Bair was born in Stark County, Ohio.
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Charles Bair
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He had two daughters, Alberta (1895-1993) and Marguerite (1889-1976). He moved to Montana in 1883 to became a conductor for the Northern Pacific Railway. By 1886, Bair was working out of Helena, Montana.
Their first daughter, Marguerite, was born on July 1, 1889 during their stay in Helena.
In 1891, he left the railroad and Helena to become a sheep rancher near Lavina, Montana. Bair relocated to what is now downtown Billings, Montana in 1893.
A theater, originally named the Fox Theater, was renamed the Alberta Bair Theater in honor of Alberta in 1987. In 1898, he sold his flock and went to Alaska, where he became a millionaire selling machinery to miners participating in the Klondike Gold Rush.
Later, he returned to Montana and sheep ranching in Martinsdale.
In 1910, he owned about 300,000 head of sheep and was reputed to have the largest sheep operation in North America. Bair died in 1943. His family home in Martinsdale is now a museum. A trust fund was set up in his name by daughters, Marguerite and Alberta.
Participant of the trust is used to fund scholarships for high school graduates of Meagher and Wheatland Counties.
Bair was inducted into the Montana Cowboy Hall of Fame in 2008.
