The Grubstake started as a dream. Jim Watts invested in a large piece of property with two friends in the 1960's. This property was on the west side of the Bitterroot Valley and stretched up the side of Downing Mountain. Some time later Jim's friends felt they needed to get out of the partnership, and they sold their shares to Jim, leaving him the sole owner of the property.

Over the years, Jim would hike up the mountain, sit on a knoll and overlook the valley. He often thought of how nice it would be to have a restaurant on that spot. Well, there probably was no better man for the job. Jim had the equipment and knowledge to do it. In 1975, Jim began to live his dream by carving out a road that would soon wind its way up the mountainside to his favorite spot.

When the road was in place, he began pouring the foundation. For the main structure, he needed logs - and lots of them. In making the road and clearing the construction site he got most of the trees he needed. He had a small sawmill and cut the trees into lumber, as he needed it. Unfortunatly, for the ceiling timbers, there were not tall enough trees on Downing Mountain to stretch from the chimney to the walls. He owned a place on the slopes of St. Mary's Peak just west of Stevensville where he could log sufficient trees for the roof. Jim said it was pretty tricky getting them up there to the building site. One load of rafters rolled off the truck and had to be reloaded.

After much planning and work, The Grubstake was ready to open for business in 1976. The unique mountain top restaurant was a hit. For the next ten years, the restaurant thrived. After the initial ten years, Jim decided that it was time to retire and he closed the restaurant. He continued to use the facility for private parties and engagements, but for the most part, it remained closed to the public until the Watts decided to sell it in 1987.

Richard Kingdon moved to the valley in 1987 from Michigan where he had been a successful business owner. There, he ran a fast- food chicken and fish restaurant called The Coop, a Radio Shack, and several other smaller businesses. After selling his home and business and moving his family to Montana, he needed a new way to earn an income. After looking into several opportunities, he finally decided that The Grubstake was the best choice. The sale was finalized in early 1988. The Grubstake reopened that year.

The Grubstake was a new challenge to the former fast-food restaurant owner. New problems, directly related to the location of the building quickly arose. No longer could he have food delivered to the door. Everything needed to be hauled up the "hill" on his own. He decided to keep the same "theme" - mining and western and the same name and logo that Jim had used. Being a rustic building, it just did not seem right to have anything other than a rustic theme. Soon, ragtime piano players, country guitar players, Fiddlers and western show actors became well known entertainment at the "Grub".