The Ninepipes Museum of Early Montana Board of Directors created a foundation board early this year as part of its campaign to expand, and the board has already received a $100,000 donation to aid that effort.  

Wayne Schile, the chair of the foundation board, explained that their goal is to raise $5 million in three years for major capital improvements. The foundation is a nonprofit organization composed of Schile, a former newspaper publisher; Polson accountant Ryan Gage; marketing specialist Lee Koch; and financial advisor Jake Baumann. 

The Ninepipes Museum, located next to Ninepipes Lodge on Hwy. 93, began with Bud Cheff Jr. and his late father, Bud Cheff Sr., and their unique relationship with the Conko family. The two families have been friends for over 100 years and have had children of similar ages who played and adventured together.  

The museum’s display begins with paintings and photographs of the Cheff and Conko families as they grew up together. The senior Cheff was invited to medicine dances and grew up with Eneas Michel Conko.  

The museum offers a collection of historical paintings and photographs, along with many cultural items, artifacts and regalia. Bud Jr. found an interest in collecting after visiting the Conko family for many years and hearing the tribal elders' stories.  

“The other kids would be off playing, and I'd be sitting with older people listening to their stories,” Cheff said.  

Cheff and his wife, Laurel, purchased the Ninepipes Restaurant in 1995 and founded the museum together. They later sold the restaurant but retained the museum. 

The collection spans a wide range of items from the Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes and other artifacts from Native American tribes across the United States. The museum’s artifacts are a collection not only of Salish elder history but also of the blended history of White settlers and Native peoples on the Flathead Indian Reservation.  

“I grew up a little different than most kids did. I never experienced some of the problems they seem to have now or then in the past,” Cheff said. “I've had people talk about being prejudiced against the Indians, and I don't remember that growing up.”  

Now the Cheffs’ daughter, Jo Cheff, serves as the museum's executive director, and they have dreams for what it could become. They would like to add classroom space, larger storage for the collection, a conference room, and additional office space.  

“It is impossible for an organization that has an operational budget to build a reserve of any consequence,” Schile said. “If you're looking ahead and recognizing that we have donors who would like to contribute their stuff to the museum that we don't have room for, and yet, it's stuff that should be displayed for the public.”  

Schile explained that the facility is financially supported by museum admission fees, member fees, and current donors. The $100,00 donation to the foundation was made by Ray Wooldridge.  

“He's been a friend of Ninepipes for several years and has always been supportive, and when the Ninepipes board recognized that it needed a foundation for long-term support, he was contacted,” Schile said.  

Schile said the foundation is just getting started and will elect officers at its next meeting. For more information, visit www.ninepipesmuseum.org.      Ray and Ann Wooldridge, longtime supporters of Ninepipes Museum and $100,000 donors to the new foundation. (Courtesy of Ray Wooldridge)

    Bud Cheff and Laurel Cheff founded the museum after Bud had collected Indigenous artifacts for many years. (Emily Messer/Leader)