On his return to Helena, Mr. Holter erected a building on Main street, where the Pittsburg block now stands, and, after the arrival of the goods in the fall of 1867, he opened a general merchandise store. The sawmill, also the sash and door factory and the distillery, were completed during 1868 and 1869. The sash and door factory and the distillery were the first of these industries erected in Montana.
In 1869 Mr. Holter sustained a loss of about $40,000 by fire; the sawmill and planing mill were burned in March, and a month later the first big fire occurred in Helena, in which he sustained a loss.
The Rumley mine was discovered in 1871, in which Holter purchased an interest, and started negotiations with Frederick Utch of Cologne, Germany, for his right in the United States for the then existing patent on the Utch concentrating jig. He had one of these shipped to Montana, but it took a long time to get it here, as it was shipped by way of the Union Pacific railroad, which was then being built; consequently it laid a year at Rawlins, Wyo., but finally arrived, and was set up on the Legal Tender mine, east of Helena. Along in the early 70’s he erected the first concentrator in the Rocky mountains on the Rumley mine. The mechanics were inexperienced, and it soon became evident that the machinery was not of sufficient strength, and the venture was a failure, with the exception that it showed what could be done in the way of concentration by properly erected machinery, and Montana is today the foremost in concentrating ore by this process.
In the spring of 1877 he purchased a part of the Parrot mines, which proved to be one of the best investments he ever made. In 1880 this property was organized into the Parrot Silver and Copper Company.
In 1879, on account of ill health, Mr. Holter took a trip to Europe, spending most of the time in Norway and Sweden, and returned to Montana in about eight months.
In 1878 Holter & Bro. built a sawmill on Stickney creek and started a lumber yard at the mouth of Sun river, with George Wood in charge, where Great Falls now stands, and erected a planing mill at that city in 1885.
In 1880 Mr. Holter and others purchased the Elkhorn mine at Ketchum, Idaho. In 1881 he became interested in the Maginnis, the Kit Carson, the Stuart, the Silver Bell, Peacock in Idaho, and in the Elkhorn mine in Montana. In 1882 he became identified with the Helena Mining and Reduction Company, which was afterwards changed to the Helena and Livingstone Mining and Reduction Company, which established the East Helena plant in 1888. In 1884 the same company erected the first street railway in Helena and also organized a gas company in the same city.
In 1886 he, with others, organized the Helena Concentrating Company. This company afterwards erected the first concentrator in Idaho, at Wardner. This, however, has been replaced by a larger and more modern plant. In 1886 this company purchased an interest in the Helena and Victor Mining Company, and erected a concentrating plant at Victor. The same year Mr. Holter and others organized the Livingston Coal and Coke Company, and opened the mines and built a washing plant at Cokedale in Park county.
In 1887 the Holter Lumber Company and the A. M. Holter Hardware Company were incorporated, of each of which companies Mr. Holter is president. In 1888 Mr. Holter and others purchased the properties at Wardner, Idaho, now known as the Helena Frisco, and constructed there a large concentrator, which was destroyed by the riot at Frisco in 1892, but has been rebuilt. In 1890 he and others organized the Cascade Land Company.
In 1892, in company with his family, he took another trip to Europe, being absent about five months. Again, in 1892 and 1893, Holter and his partners did a large amount of development work in the Trail creek district, now known as Rossland, B. C.