The following was shared by the Montana league. Montana First FCU, originally Missoula FCU, was run out of the Forest Service desk drawer of Mabel Allen. At the end of daily business, she walked the whole of her transactions down the street to deposit them at the local bank. In 1931, a total of 15 members had combined assets of $64, and the CU thrived with support from Allen and Morris Hankins.
During the Depression, loan demand outpaced savings, and Hankins took a second mortgage on his home to allow daily credit union operations to continue as usual. With the passage of the 1934 Federal Credit Union Act, no non-federally chartered credit unions could use "federal" in their names.
Therefore, Missoula Federal Credit Union became Montana Credit Union Association. By 1941, the credit union had 174 total members with savings of $8,923 and 63 loans totaling $4,952.
