Legacy INDUCTEE
MARVIN F. BELL (1916-2011)
DISTRICT 11 - YEAR 2026
Marvin F. Bell was born on October 21, 1916, to Samuel and Bessie (Ford) Bell at the ranch home of his aunt and uncle, near Belgrade, Montana. The family moved to Bozeman, where Marvin received his elementary and high school education. Many members of the Bell family were involved with Montana State College, where Marvin would attend, graduate and create networks of friends and connections he would cherish throughout his life.
As a young man, Marvin helped his granddad and uncles’ herd saddle stock and work horses over the horse-heaven hills between Belgrade and Three Forks, Montana. Many days were spent daydreaming on the back of a horse as he thought about his future. One of Marvin’s favorite summers was spent on grazing land between Gallatin Gateway and Norris, where jackrabbits abounded by the truckload. With a single shot .22 and a box of shells, he was given the grown-up responsibility of thinning the numbers. What an opportunity for an eight-year-old boy! This was a task he was very proud of, and felt this experience put him top in his squadron for marksmanship later in his military career.
He graduated from Montana State College in Bozeman with a Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture and a Major in Animal Husbandry in 1939. During school he competed in many judging activities. Traveling back east for a horse judging event by train with his friend Billy Hobblitt was a particularly memorable event. Marvin and Billy conceived the idea they needed a mascot to accompany them, and not just any mascot would due: they decided on a long horn steer! Their advisor was not too keen on their plan at first, but grew to accept their panache. For years, many diners saw a life-size picture of this traveling trio on the wall at Stacy’s Bar and Steakhouse in Gallatin Gateway.
Marvin also participated in research projects throughout college, including a summer at Fort Keogh outside of Miles City learning the grazing practices of cattle. Another was tending to three bands of sheep in the Bridger Mountains by Clyde Park. Marvin also worked for the college as a graduate assistant in range management following graduation.
In 1940, he took a position with the US Department of Agriculture, Farmers Security Home Administration (FSHA) headquartered in Polson, Montana, where he met Agnes Carey. Marvin and Agnes were married on June 8, 1942, in Great Falls. Later that same year, he headed off to World War II; he served three years as a sergeant in the US Air Force 321st Transport Squadron. Two children were born to this union, a son Ron, and a daughter Pat.
Returning stateside, Marvin resumed his work with the FSHA. He was in charge of the Hamilton and Missoula offices until 1950. He then oversaw what became the Farm Home Administration (FHA) loans that financed the building of the Bass Lake Reservoir, as well as work on the Sunset and Ward Irrigation District projects in Ravalli County. He was later promoted to a position within the state FHA office in Bozeman, as head of the water and real estate loan division. In 1957 the family returned to Hamilton, where Marvin was employed by Citizens State Bank; he stayed until 1967. At that time, Marvin and Agnes established Western Montana Real Estate, which they operated together until their retirement in 1993.
While taking a forest service pack string trip up the Sleeping Child area near Hamilton during college, Marvin discovered a special piece of property and declared that if it ever came up for sale, he wanted to purchase it. It did, he did, and the place became their ranch in 1957, where they raised Herford cattle and Arabian horses. Marvin, who through his work at the bank and real estate office, helped countless people secure funding and land to help put together ranches throughout western Montana and northern Idaho.
Marvin was instrumental in planning and establishing the Darby Stockgrowers and putting together the first producer direct trainload of cattle from Hamilton to Omaha, Nebraska.
Not many local horse activities occurred without his involvement. He helped Hungarian Countess Margit Bessaney, granddaughter of Montana’s “Copper King” Marcus Daly, who inherited the Anaconda Copper Company and Daly’s Bitterroot Stock Farm in Hamilton, with the Bitterroot Competitive Trail Ride she founded and sponsored for endurance horses. He was influential, too, in bringing the local chapter of the Backcountry Horsemen to the Bitterroot. As a member of the Ravalli County Sheriff’s Posse, Montana Farm Bureau, Bitterroot Stockgrowers, Montana Cattlemen’s, Elks Lodge, Hamilton Chamber of Commerce, and a longtime beef barn superintendent for the Ravalli County Fair, Marvin was an incredibly active and supporting member of the community he loved.