Archives West Finding Aid

Samuel E. Johns was a Flathead Valley pioneer and founder of the Johns Hardware Store in Kalispell, Montana. Johns was born in Wales in 1866. He came to the Flathead Valley when he was twenty three years old. Shortly thereafter, he established a homestead near Flathead Lake. He later entered the mercantile business in Demersville, Montana. He moved to Somers, then to Kalispell in 1910, where he continued his business under the name Flathead Commercial Company.

Johns married Mary Agnes Jamison Pauline. They had a son, Samuel Douglas Johns who was born in 1905. In 1931 Johns and his son, Samuel Douglas, opened Johns Hardware in Kalispell. The elder Johns retired thirteen years later and died the following year on March 23, 1945. He left an extensive collection of historical notes concerning the Flathead Valley. He was also known for a large firearms collection containing many pieces of historical significance. A mountain peak, Mt. Johns, on the border of Flathead Lake was named in his honor shortly after his death.