SULA
COMMUNIT Y OF
Sula is not a city or even a town or group of buildings. Literally it is the post office in Ross Hole. All the years since the first settlers, Sula Post Office has been the heart of cow country that is Ross Hole. Sula post office is in the old neighborhood or Ross Hole with Sula Peak and the Sula Range guarding it. The Sula post office could be called the “Capital of Ross Hole.” In the early days, Jack and Will Kerlee drove the stage from Darby all the way up the East Fork to deliver mail at stage stops and finally to the Scott Sherrill ranch house where the Sula post office was located. Mail sacks were distributed to homes along the 20-mile stretch of country road. The historic name of Ross Hole continued to be the name of the area, but the first post office got its name, Sula, to honor Sula Thompson, as the first white child born in Ross Hole. Her father was known as “Longhair Thompson.” He was the second Sula postmaster. Will Wetzsteon was the first. Jim Lord and his brother came to Ross Hole in 1882, bringing Bertie Lord, Jim’s son, with them. After the hard winter of 1886-1887, the worst for Montana Territory, they were discouraged and had to sell out to Longhair Thompson. Scott Sherrill and his two children, Forrest and Mira, with his second
Photo by Perry Backus
wife and her child, Eva Helt, moved to Ross Hole in 1890. They bought the Thompson place for $1,000. After Thompson left, Scott Sherrill was the postmaster until he died in 1901. Two sons, Theo and Archie, were born to Scott Sherrill and his wife in Ross Hole. Mrs. Sherrill gave up the post office job then and once more it was Will Wetzsteon’s job as Sula postmaster. Sherrill tried to have the name changed from Sula to Sherrill, but was not successful in doing so. Scott Sherrill’s father, Jacob Sherrill, was a Corvallis pioneer. Sula is located at the south end of the valley, on the East Fork River, and is 16 miles from the Idaho border on Highway 93. It is known historically as Ross’ Hole because a Hudson Bay fur trader, Alexander Ross, spent the severe winter of 1824 in the area. Sula is best known for being the place where the Lewis and Clark expedition met the Shoshone Indians. Sula was originally settled by Jacob Wetzsteon and his large family of sons and daughters. Any trip to Ross’ Hole would not be complete without a stop at Camp Sula, an architectural log store, which can provide you with just about anything you need while traveling in our beautiful valley.
ROSS’ HOLE Ross’ Hole was named for a fur trader Alexander Ross, leader of a Hudson Bay Company trapping brigade, who camped here in March 1824. Historic records detailed that with him were 55 indian and white trappers, 89 women and children and 392 horses. The party spent almost a month here trying to break through deep snow encountered in the mountain passes leading to the Big Hole Valley. Ross called the basin “The Valley of Troubles”, due in part to their difficulties. 12
