Charles M. Bair

Charles M. Bair (1857–1943) was an early railroading businessman who also became one of the largest sheep ranchers in the United States. He had two daughters, Alberta (1895–1993) and Marguerite (1889–1976).

Charles M. Bair was born in Stark County, Ohio. He moved to Montana Territory in 1883 to become a conductor for the Northern Pacific Railway. By 1886, Bair was working out of Helena, Montana. On Christmas Eve of that year, he married Mary Jacobs in Chicago, Illinois and brought her back to Helena, where they lived until 1891. Their first daughter, Marguerite, was born on July 1, 1889, during their stay in Helena.

In 1898, he sold his flock and went to Alaska, where he became a millionaire selling machinery to miners participating in the Klondike Gold Rush. His family home in Martinsdale is now a museum. Bair was inducted into the Montana Cowboy Hall of Fame in 2008.