In mid-1913, several towns were established in Sheridan County, Montana, along the “Soo Line” (the Minneapolis, St. Paul, and Sault Ste. Marie Railroad).
One of these towns was named Dooley after homesteader W. D. Dooley.
In January of 1914, the town of Dooley welcomed its first baby. She was the daughter of Dooley’s first postmaster, Peter T. Hegseth, and his wife Inga.
What was she named? Dooliette, nickname “Doo.”
The town thrived for several years, and the population peaked at nearly 400 residents. After that, Dooley slowly declined. It was a ghost town by the 1960s.
(The Hegseth family — which included five more children named Jenkins, Maynard, Beatrice, Charlotte, and Marjorie — moved westward to Washington in the early 1920s.)
Sources:
- Aarstad, Rich, Ellen Arguimbau, Ellen Baumler, Charlene L. Porsild, & Brian Shovers. Montana Place Names from Alzada to Zortman. Helena, MT: Montana Historical Society Press, 2009.
- Dooley, Montana – Wikipedia
- Dooliette Irene “Doo” Hegseth – Find a Grave
Image: Adapted from Dooley on the Soo Line (Montana History Portal)