The Pioneer Meat Market

 

 

            In Havre the name Simon Pepin was synonymous with beef.  Having gotten his start working for C.A. Broadwater supplying beef to Fort Assinniboine, it was only natural that Pepin would team up with another Havre founder, L.K. Devlin, to open the next stop on our journey Beneath the Streets, The Pioneer Meat Market.

            Still in its original location, the visitor enters from the meat market from the rear where they first get to view the working portion of the business.  The original equipment used to make sausage is displayed to the right while on the left visitors can see the original smoker oven used by the butchers to smoke ham and other meat products.
            Having passed through what would have been the production end of the business, you enter the retail part of the store.  The refrigerator is the same one used by its original employees, but other pieces of equipment, including the display case, which is stocked with imitation cuts of meat and cheese, have been 
added for the sake of authenticity.
            Havre’s location next to the railroad also allowed the store to import fresh seafood
from Seattle on a daily basis.  This allowed Havrerites to enjoy a variety of fresh delicacies like lobster, crab and fish.  It was a luxury that can only be dreamed of today.
            Outside the market, one story above the street, you can still see the name “PIONEER” painted in lime green paint.  It is maintained in memory of the market that once existed Beneath the Streets.
 

Sausage making equipment

The original smoke oven