Behind The Name

Norwegian immigrant Emil Torgerson is credited with starting the first successful transportation company in Anaconda, MT. The Intermountain Transportation Company opened its doors in 1917 when Torgerson purchased a second-hand, seven passenger touring car, offering a taxi service between Butte and Anaconda for a fare of $0.80. The headquarters for this company still remain at the bottom of Main Street. In 1921, Torgerson build a bus body on a lengthened out Pierce Arrow 66-inch chassis. Equipped with side door entrances, the bus carried twenty people. A similar contraption was built in 1922, and bus service began in Anaconda. Torgerson treated Anaconda to a wicker deluxe parlor couch in 1925 with two-wheel air brakes. Bus routes were later expanded to Phillipsburg, Drummons, Missoula, Polson, Kalispell, Dillon, Idaho Falls, Butte and Great Falls.