Japanese settler given Hall of Fame honor for his role in Whitefish history

One of Whitefish's most accomplished early Japanese immigrants has earned a place of honor in the Montana Cowboy Hall of Fame & Western Heritage Center.

Mokatura M. Hori, who operated a ranch and prosperous truck farms and owned a hotel and cafe in downtown Whitefish in the early 1900s until his death in 1931, is one of this year’s Legacy Award inductees.

The awards honor people and places that had an impact on Montana’s Western heritage in the years 1860 through 1940 and made a notable contribution to the culture of Montana.

Hori was nominated by Michele Reese of Whitefish, who owns Beargrass Marketing and is a trustee representing Northwest Montana for the Montana Cowboy Hall of Fame & Western Heritage Center.

The other Legacy Award inductee for District 10, which includes Flathead, Lake, Lincoln and Sanders counties, is Glacier National Park. The park is celebrating its centennial this year.

Hori joins the ranks of some of Montana’s best-known historical figures, such as Charles Russell, Sitting Bull, Evelyn Cameron and Frank Bird Linderman.

He came to America around 1898 in his early 20s and began work in the Flathead Valley as a house boy at the Conrad Mansion, home to Kalispell’s founding family. At the time, Charles Conrad was out of town much of the time dealing with his own business ventures, and management of the household and grounds fell to his wife, Alicia.

She became dependent on Hori and his ability to run the estate and manage the other servants.

His business savvy was apparent from the get-go. When he realized his salary would never give him enough money to pursue his own interests, he made a trip to Japan.

In “Half Interest in a Silver Dollar,” James E. Murphy noted the reason for Hori’s trip:

“He returned with a proposition for her [Mrs. Conrad]. If she would pay him a certain monthly sum, he would provide all of the household help. The Conrads would give them board and room and Hori would pay their salaries and provide for their other needs.”

Alicia Conrad agreed, and Hori’s plan worked beautifully. By putting a trained, efficient crew of workers in place at the mansion, it freed Hori to focus his attention on buying and clearing land near the railroad east of Whitefish.

According to Murphy, Hori guaranteed the Japanese workers passage and a job at the Conrad Mansion. They were eager to learn English before embarking on graduate work at Ivy League schools on the East Coast.

“For this opportunity, each young man paid Hori a certain amount,” Murphy wrote. “Hori had not only the money from the Conrads, but also the amounts paid him by the young Japanese workers. This money was unencumbered and sufficient to enable Hori to invest in land.”

In 1907 the Whitefish Pilot newspaper gave the first indication of Hori’s business ventures, noting he had purchased the Model Cafe.

“The new management will endeavor to give satisfactory service and assures old customers as well as new ones that nothing will be neglected in catering to them,” the newspaper article noted. “Only first-class, experienced help will be employed. The building is to be thoroughly cleaned and renovated and placed in perfect condition to give the public the best service possible.”

By 1914 Hori was operating a ranch two miles east of Whitefish and had a crew of about 20 Japanese boys clearing a 60-acre tract. He eventually owned about 400 acres in the Whitefish area. The Silver Cup Dairy, with registered Holsteins and a “remarkable” bull purchased from the Carnation Co., were part of the operation.

In addition to growing hay, Hori developed a sizable truck garden that supplied fresh produce to his restaurant as well as the Great Northern Railway. In 1927, the railroad bought 100,000 pounds of Hori potatoes.

“The Hori Gardens east of town were a matter of pride to the Japanese and the whole town,” authors Mabel Engelter and Betty Schafer noted in their Whitefish history book, “Stump Town to Ski Town.”  “Their potatoes, celery and other truck garden vegetables were widely known and won many prizes at fairs throughout the Northwest.”

An irrigation system, complete with a reservoir and ditches hand-dug by Japanese workers, supplied water from Haskill Creek to the truck farm.

Engelter and Schafer also emphasized the contributions made by the Japanese as an influential minority group during Whitefish’s first years as a town.

“The Japanese undeniably contributed to the town ... they were successful and cooperative businessmen,” they wrote. While the Horis were the most successful Japanese business people, there were many other Japanese families who operated all kinds of thriving businesses, from a laundry to a candy store.

In 1919 Hori, known around town by the nickname “Swede,” added yet another dimension to his holdings, as the Whitefish Pilot headline proclaimed: “Hotel Hori Open to Public in Blaze of Splendor Sunday.”

He was one of Whitefish’s most loyal boosters and belonged to the Blue Room Bunch, a group of prominent businessmen who had lunch together regularly at the Hori Cafe. They talked about ways to improve the community. Hori brought several dozen cherry trees from Japan to beautify Whitefish city streets, but they all were winter-killed.

Hori’s life was cut short by stomach cancer. He died in December 1931, at age 58, leaving his wife, Aya, to carry on the family businesses. She managed the Hori Cafe, Hori Hotel and Hori Ranch and Gardens until she was forced to close the operations in March 1942 during World War II.

Hori also was survived by a daughter in Japan and two adopted sons in America.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by e-mail at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com