Montana Articles

A Fountain of Discontent

8/17/2017

Just deplorable, isn't it?

Let’s recap how we got here.

Last week Trump spoke Kim Jong Un’s language.

The media did not like this ‘fire and fury’ talk, but the North Korean leader understood it damn-well.

He backed down in the face of that talk, saying that Guam will no longer be attacked.

On top of this, the Russian-hacking story went south real fast, with revelations that there was no hack, but instead a leak by the DNC.

Suddenly, both the Democrats and the national media had nothing to lambast Trump with.

My God...whatever would they do?

Well, thankfully for them, a bunch of white, underemployed, misdirected racists down South decided to have a rally over the removal of a Confederate statue.

Equally thankful, a bunch of underemployed, misdirected young people staged a counter-rally and then the fireworks really got started.

A riot took place, and one person died. Sadly for the bloodthirsty national media, that person was not black.

Regardless, the national media got their circus and the Democrats got something to chastise Trump over.

That chastisement really began when Trump didn’t give the response to the protests that both the media and Democrats wanted.

Suddenly there was an issue to bludgeon Trump with again, one the media and Democrats could point to to say that Trump was unfit for office.

And that takes us to Helena.

Helena, you say?

Yep...over 2,000 miles away from that weekend riot, but the Queen City had to have her say.

Well...that’s not quite accurate.

The Helena area has 77,000 people.

Around 400 of them showed up last night to tell city officials that they want the confederate statue removed from Women’s Park.

That comes out to 0.5% of the population that felt bothered enough by this fountain to show up and voice their discontent.

And the city officials caved-in to that 0.5%, as well as the national media uproar over those weekend riots far to the east of us.

My goodness.

Personally, I think Helena has much bigger problems than a nearly 100-year-old fountain.

For instance, despite having a median household income of $49,800, we know that 17% of Helenans are living in poverty.

Here’s where they work:

Employment in Helena, Montana

White collar.

Here’s another fun fact: we know that women in Helena make $18,800 less in annual salary than men do.

We know that just 12% of 35-44-year-olds have health coverage.

The city also has one helluva problem with drink and drugs. Heck, 191 Helenans got DUI’s in 2016.

Another interesting stat is that Asians tend to make more money in both Helena and the Butte area than whites do, about $6,500 more a year.

Despite that, we haven’t seen a lot of whites rising up against Asians.

I’m sorry, I’m just trying to find reasons for why the city officials and Helena politicians spent so much time and energy on this fountain issue when Helena has much more pressing issues to deal with.

I mean, the fountain’s been there for a century. We had a bit of uproar over it in 2015, but nothing happened.

Now, two years later...who is this fountain hurting?

After all, 93% of Helena is white, with just 2.8% Hispanic, 2.3% Indian, 0.7% Asian, and 0.4% black.

I’m white and I don’t care about the fountain. It seems that the effort to remove it was driven by a political Native American group, one led by Missoula legislator Shane Morigeau and cheered on by Josh Manning.

Those two have a lot to gain by getting rid of that fountain - they think it’ll get their name in the papers and perhaps boost their chances in the next election.

Manning and Morigeau

Of course, by saying all this you know I'll be labeled a racist, bigoted, homophobic, sexist, chauvinistic pig.

Anyone today, anywhere in the country that doesn’t condemn the weekend riots or call for all Confederate monuments to be removed is a racist.

That’s the message we get from the national media and the Democrats.

They think this is a winning issue, one that’ll get rid of Trump and have the Dems riding into the Capitol in 2019 with overwhelming majorities in both chambers.

They actually think this is the issue that most Americans care about.

And if they find there are some that don’t care about it, fine - just call them racist or whatever other epithet you want and write them off.

What do we need them for, or their silly ideas? We surely don’t want their vote!

I got an email today from someone asking my opinion about the fountain, and they had this observation:

I just read Helena caved to this with the support of the usual left wing Democrats signing a letter of support. If this is where the Democratic party wants to go they are surely going to go on losing big, especially in Montana . Political correctness is just not a winner here and even in most states. I actually think this issue will not defeat Trump but give him a second term.

Democrats like Manning and Morigeau think this is a winning issue, and maybe in their safe-zones in the cities, it is.

But it’ll do nothing to gain Dems support in the rural areas where they desperately need it.

We listed off some stats about Helena. You can see that there are plenty of issues the Dems could focus on that would actually make a difference in people’s lives.

Instead they continue to go for the ‘symbolic victories’ while losing the real battles.

It’s the economy, stupid!

Black, white...gay, straight...Christian or Muslim...the issue that brings us all together and which we all have in common is the money in our pocket.

It’s how much we make, what our benefits are, how much we have for retirement, and whether we’ll get sick or not.

Those are the issues that are important to the majority of Montanans and the majority of Americans.

But Democrats don’t focus on the issues important to the majority of people.

They focus on issues that cater to small, minority groups.

And they lose because of it.

7 Comments

Helena Hodgepodge

5/21/2017

4 Comments

I’m in Helena today to celebrate my son’s 6th birthday.

Isn’t it great being young?

You love getting older.

I think that lasts until about the age of 21 and then it starts to fade. After that you don’t have any real birthday milestones to look forward to.

Well, I know a lot of older people – like my parents – that can’t wait to hit 65 so they can get Social Security and Medicare.

So 21 and 65…two ages Montanans really look forward to.

Anyways, let’s discuss a few things today that are a bit off-the-beaten-path.

There is a Helena Issues section on this blog, with 13 posts going back to March 2015.

Remember, I’m from Helena originally and my family has lived here since the 1880s.

Some of the Helena posts that stand out to me are:

I like that Gallery of Outstanding Montanans post.

I profiled that Capitol plaque about 2 years ago.

Just .003% of the state’s current population is on that list.

To me, that’s really something to aspire to – getting your name on that list.

It means you were a big help to the state.

An even smaller list is those that have had an Indian in full-headdress regalia attend their funeral.

Just two Montanans that I know of have had this honor: Senator Thomas Walsh and Helena’s John Quigley.

This gets back to the idea I was pushing in my post this month called If You Died Tomorrow.

What are you doing to get your name on that gallery list, or to get the state’s tribes to appreciate you?

Chances are you’re not doing anything in that department. And chances are good that when you’re gone, no one will much care and you’ll be forgotten.

So think about that.

We had 5% of Missoula turn out for the Bernie Sanders/Rob Quist rally yesterday, or 4,000 people.

People lining up to see Bernie in May 2017

The May 2017 Bernie Sanders Rally in Missoula

8% of Butte showed up to see them, or 3,000 people.

Good for them.

Back in May 2016 we had 9,000 show up in Missoula to see Bernie, yet just 44% of the county turned out to vote that June.

Sure, Bernie won that primary, but come November just 74% of Montanans turned out to vote and we saw that Trump won the state with 57% of the vote.

So I’m a little skeptical on what these rallies can accomplish.

In about 108 hours we’ll start to see the special election results come in.

It’ll be a rough night for Democrats.

And hey – maybe I’m completely wrong.

Maybe Rob Quist will win this thing!

I just don’t see that happening, however.

Getting into some smaller news stories…

I see that the nuclear reactor site 400 miles to the west of us is now leaking radioactive material, some of which was found on a worker’s clothing.

Meanwhile, Montana is expected to have a 375% increase in wind energy jobs by 2020.

And that’s it, folks. I don’t have anything else to say.

(Which really means ‘get ready for several more paragraphs’).

We’ll get up to the 700th post on this Montana blog in just a few days.

That’s a good feeling.

I wonder if I thought I’d make it that far when I started this site back in 2013 in China.

Anyways, here we are…discussing politics and how we can make this state better.

A lot has changed since I started doing that.

Back in 2013 Max Baucus was still our ranking senator, Daines was our sole U.S. House rep, and Bullock was just a few months into his first term.

Ted Dick was still the executive director of the Montana Democratic Party and Jim Elliot still hadn’t lost his chairman position to Nancy Anderson.

Back in May 2013 the Montana Democratic Party brought in $54,000 in donations. Fast forward to May 2017 and they’re brining in $223,000.

So lots of things have changed.

I think I’ve changed a lot too.

Back in 2014 when I got serious about running for office I still worried about sucking-up, saying the right things, and not offending people.

Today I could give a shit about that stuff.

I think I’ve offended most everyone, but nothing much has happened because of this.

For me, Deng Xiaoping is one to look up to.

The Chinaman was born in 1904, educated in France in the ‘20s, and took part in the Long March in 1934-35.

He rose up to the Communist Party’s Secretary General in the 1950s but was eventually purged from the Party in 1966 at the start of the Cultural Revolution as he was too capitalist for Mao Zedong.

After two high-level leaders died, however – Lin Biao and Zhou Enlai – Deng was one of the only ones left with experience and he was brought back.

That was in 1974, Mao’s power was slipping as his health declined, and the Gang of Four – which was led by Mao’s wife – began to chastise Deng, as they saw him as the ultimate threat to their power.

Deng was purged once again, but then in September 1976 Mao died, in October the Gang of Four was purged, and in 1977 Deng was brought back.

By 1980 he’d consolidated his power and became the leader of China until 1992 when he retired.

He died in 1997, and if he hadn’t lived it’s unlikely that China would be what it is today, a strong competitor and trade partner with the US.

Without outspoken and strong-willed people like Deng Xiaoping, China would still be an agricultural backwater that the rest of the world laughs at.

Seeing parallels between Montana?

Well, I hope so…but if not, oh well.

And hey – have yourself a super Sunday!

4 Comments

Visiting the Montana VA Makes Veterans Want to Kill Themselves

3/4/2017

6 Comments

I was sent this long email today around 6 AM.

I don’t know if it’s true or not.

I know the problem of veteran suicide in America and Montana is quite real, however.

Back in 2013 the VA figured that 22 veterans a day were killing themselves. That’s 8,030 a year.

In Montana last year we had 50 veterans kill themselves, which is almost 1 a week.

So I’m posting this letter here for you to read in its entirety, with just a few spelling and grammar changes as well as some links to the doctors listed.

Thanks for caring enough to read it.

Writing this letter in regards to Veteran SUICIDE awareness and protocol.

This is an experience I pray no other VETERAN goes through what we experienced on 01 MARCH 2017 at Fort Harrison VA hospital in Helena, MT.

Here is our story.

On the 28th of Feb, 2017, I received a call from my brother about him killing himself. And a pistol was held to his head. And how he could no longer take the demons.

I acted fast, reached out to our fellow brothers and family members to keep him busy via text phone calls. To show him how many people care, as well as buy us time to travel from Seattle to Helena, MT.

During this time I contacted the Lewis and Clark County sheriff to do a wellness check on my brother, which they did. They tried to talk him into coming out, which he did not want. They stayed for several hours while we drove.

We finally arrived about 0430 in the morning of the 1st (March). Not sure what we were walking into exactly. Nervous, scared was met with thoughts of ‘is he still with us?’

Prayers answered, we found him alive and we lifted him up hugged him. He handed me over his pistols. We proceeded to load him in the car. To take him to get the help he so needed at the VA hospital (Ft Harrison) Helena, MT.

If we knew what was about to happen next, we never would have taken him there.

At 0615 on 01 March 17, we arrived (myself Army Vet, our other brother retired Army vet and our brother that needs help Army vet).

We went right to the emergency department at the VA hospital in Helena, MT. I go in to check him in. The individual asks what can they help me with.

I explain what is going on. My buddy’s trying to kill him self. And I give him his name.

Then they asked if he is enrolled at this facility. I replied yes and gave them his VA card.

I was then told the card does not work here. So I proceed to give him his last four cards. Then he tells me to go have a seat. About 15 min later the nurse calls us in.

Protocol at this point was not followed with the intake. We go into the room. The nurse proceeds to say WHY ARE GOING TO KILL YOURSELF?

My brother replies I can not do it any more.

She says do what?

Live with the demons.

She then says WHY WOULD YOU HAVE DEMONS?

He becomes very frustrated and wants to leave.

At this point I do, but blame him. He starts to leave and I ask her, there is nothing you can do?

She says, what do you want me to hog tie him?

I tell him let’s go, we will go get help.

At this point he is outside and he’s taken off. I and my other buddy can not find him. We finally end up locating him. We convince him to go to another VA center. We get him in the car and we proceed to leave the facility.

At this point we get stopped by the VA police car. We start talking and the officer tells us we can not and will not be leaving.

We explain everything that happened up to this point. The officer is in shock and states to us, well it's now a liability issue and if we could go back to the ER and let them know we don't want care, we can leave.

We agreed. Well, at this point our buddy is not having any of this.

One of us went in and did what the officer asked only to be told we are not going anywhere. We were being detained.

Well, this is not making things better. They want him in the hospital due to liability issues.

After about 10 minutes of negotiating with our buddy we get him out off the car and into the hospital. Now mind you, there are 4 police officers in the hall way and 3 nurses all standing, just looking at us.

We were introduced to Dr. Buck.

He gets to start a dialogue with our buddy, which is not going well. So I explained what the issue is to the Dr.

Now the time is around or about 0700 AM, at which point the doctor states, you have two options.

I say, which are?

Option 1. You do everything I tell you to do.

Or option 2. I'm gong to call the police. They are going to throw you in jail for 30 days and the courts will figure out what treatment you will get.

Think about that for a second…

My brother agrees to blood work. Now at this time things just get worse. Myself being a disabled service connected combat Veteran, I have never in my life seen this kind of treatment.

The nurses would not talk to us. The Dr would not talk to us. We asked when we could leave. They said when the blood work results come in.

So I started to reach out to other outlets. I called the director of this facility office, which not one employee knew snip about who Kathy Berger was. I was instructed to leave a message, which I did.

I then called the Veteran’s crisis line. I tried to get my brother to talk with them. He hung up. They called right back. And we had the great pleasure to talk with Steve from the crisis center. This man truly made things happen.

About 0845 Dr. Buck comes in and says mental health will be in as soon as they can. I asked him, when did you notify them?

He replied, I think around 0815.

At thus tone I get another call from Steve from the VA crisis center. I go outside to talk and explain what the situation is. At this point he gave me numbers to call to get my brother the help he needed.

I arrive back inside and started to explain what was discussed. A new Dr comes in and tells us we need to leave. We did not agree. We went back to be with our brother.

During this time I started a conversation with the two nurses. One treated us like we were wasting his day. I ask them, what's the protocol on suicide awareness? When and what training have you had?

The one nurse gets up and leaves. The other nurse says he thinks October. And we started for the first time going through the protocol which he found online.

3 hours later protocol finally being followed, sort of.

At 0906 Mr. Pratt comes in introduced himself. I asked him when he was notified. He said as soon as he heard he came right down.

At this point we go in another room. We explain this whole story. During this time I receive another call from Steve from the VA crisis line.

He set us appointments at the VA facility in Tacoma, WA, which is where I go. He also stated that they will be filing reports of the incident and that he let the behavior health team at the Ft. Harrison VA hospital know of our plans.

I go back in and join my BROTHERS and Mr. Pratt in the evaluation process and discuss our plan. We ended up getting released at 1100 AM. We wrote statements for the VA police, who ended up being great people. They were very helpful and concerned.

So as we’re getting ready to head back to Seattle I receive a call from a Brandon, an assistant to the director of VA hospital in Helena. I explain this whole story to him.

He states, well I will reach out to people to get the answers you seek. Might not be the ones you want but you'll get them.

At this point I want to know the protocol for suicide as awareness as well as training. About 30 minutes later I receive another call from a Julianne, the coordinator of behavior health. I explain everything again. She said she would be writing a report.

Conclusion

My concern is this…

What if myself and my other brother did not drive 12 hours?

What if we did not call the sheriff?

What if our brother was there by himself?

I honestly feel with my heart I would be burying a hero, my best friend, my brother. Instead we were there and we are driving him 12 hours away to get the help he needs. Thank you to the crisis line Steve and his staff!

So what next?

Think about this for a second. I read an article in the Helena paper or Missoula, not sure, online about Veteran SUICIDE in Montana. An alarming read.

Number 1 in the nation suicide amongst Veterans.

You know who the interview was with? Julianne from Ft. Harrison VA hospital in Helena.

How many veterans have gone here for help only to be treated like criminals? How many have left after that treatment and committed suicide?

We saved our brothers life.

What are you going to do?

- Jerry T Gondola

Tester's Big Chance to Help Veterans (Dec 2, 2014)

How are Veterans Treated in Montana? (Nov 11, 2015)

Why is the VA Doing Such a Bad Job in Montana? (Feb 9, 2016)

Montana Democrats Continue to Fail Veterans (Apr 5, 2016)

Debt, Highways, Vietnam and Veterans (Jun 11, 2016...this is the story about the surgical towels being left in a Fort Harrison patient)

6 Comments

Train Kept a Rollin’

11/2/2016

2 Comments

1989 Helena Train Wreck

It was on February 2, 1989, that Helena awoke with a jot.

It was 27 degrees below zero and with the wind chill factored in it felt more like 60 below.

It wasn’t the best weather to be sitting in a train going up a mountain pass. That’s what was happening, however, Train 121 going up Mullan Pass with 49 cars and a couple engines.

That kind of cold played havoc with Montana Rail Link’s automatic switches, which allowed trains to switch from one set of tracks to another without stopping. Frozen up as they were, however, the engineers had to stop the train at every switch and have men get out and switch them by hand.

That got real cold real quick and the fact that the lead engine’s heater stopped working didn’t help matters. The men decided that on the next switch they’d get out, swap out the lead engine with one that had a working heater, and then couple the train back together and be on their way.

It was a good plan, and would have worked too had the weather not been so cold that it caused the air to actually leak out of the air brakes.

The men had just disconnected the engines and without the air brakes holding them in place – or the handbrakes that the crew should have set – the other 49 cars began to roll backwards. There was no way to stop them.

The cars shot down from near the top of the 5,566-foot Mullan Pass, gaining speed as they went. Along Greenhorn Creek and then past St. Louis Gulch to Spring Gulch the cars went, racing to Birdseye several miles away.

The cars passed the small community and continued on toward Helena. They made it all the way to the Benton Avenue crossing, right beside the Benton Avenue Cemetery that’d been opened in 1870 and which was right across the street from Carroll College, which had opened in 1909. There, parked on the tracks, was a work train.

The 49 cars moving at 35 to 45 miles per hour plowed into it at 5:30 in the morning, causing a massive pile-up and subsequent fire. A total of 15 cars derailed. That might have been the end of it except for the train car full of hydrogen peroxide that exploded eighteen minutes later.

Flames shot 20 to 30 feet into the air while metal and other debris was shot a mile outward in all directions. Most of the windows in the college’s women’s dorm were broken.

Girls were saved from injury because most had moved their beds away from the windows due to the cold, and they’d also “tucked in their curtains to keep out the cold, and these caught the exploding glass shards.

St. Charles Hall was shaken badly. The columns of the Cathedral of St. Helena were also damaged, even though they were a mile away.

Over at the Lundy Center, the diverse collection of plants in Staggering Ox’s window were frozen instantly when the windows there were shattered.

“I walked over and touched a leaf, and it shattered like glass in my hand,” one resident remembers. “Every plant died. Plumbing pipes froze and burst. The frozen yogurt machine was ruined. Water heaters were destroyed. Glass shards everywhere.”

Over on Ralph Street, 79-year-old Catherine DeBree was sleeping in her bedroom when “a train axel sailed over St. Charles Hall and tore through the roof” to land in her living room.

1989 Helena Train Wreck

Miraculously, no one died.

Power in Helena was disrupted and even 90 miles away in Great Falls they experienced some brownouts. In Helena none of the street or traffic lights worked and every business was dark.

When firefighters got to the Civic Center station they had to “wrestle open” the automatic station door manually “by pulling on a chain to raise it.”

Neighborhoods within 2 miles of the massive wreck and explosion were evacuated, largely over concerns about toxic gasses coming off of the hydrogen peroxide tank that’d caused much of the explosion. Another tank full of isopropyl alcohol was also to blame.

More than 3,500 people had to leave their homes because of the wreck.

“That’s when you really find out who your friends are,” one woman said of the event after calling people at 6 in the morning to see if she could stay with them.

I was 8-years-old when this happened, living in the Helena Valley past Lincoln Road at the time.

I remember my parents keeping the TV and most of the lights off that night, as the town was trying to conserve power so every house could get a little.

I was really upset by this, as I’d wanted to listen to my children’s record collection.

The train wreck caused more than $10 million in damages. It also gave Helenans quite the story to tell.

1989 Helena Train Wreck

Notes

“1989 Helena train wreck.” Wikipedia. Web. Retrieved 29 October 2016. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989_Helena_train_wreck

“Collision and derailment of Montana Rail Link Freight Train with Locomotive Units and Hazardous Materials Release.” National Transportation Safety Board. Web. Retrieved 2 November 2016. http://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Pages/RAR8905.aspx

Lincoln, Marga. “Runaway Train: Today marks the 25th anniversary of one of Helena’s worst disasters.” Independent Record. 2 February 2014. Web. Retrieved 2 November 2016. http://helenair.com/news/local/today-marks-the-th-anniversary-of-one-of-helena-s/article_92b4017c-8bd9-11e3-9b48-001a4bcf887a.html

“Train Wreck Rocks Helena: some personal accounts.” Calamity Janet. Web. Retrieved 29 October 2016. http://www.calamityjanet.com/more-about-the-train-wreck.html

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Broken System Stories – Montana

10/2/2016

1 Comment

Helena High

Let’s discuss two stories that point out problems in our system.

When you dig deeper you see that the problems aren’t really about what the media is reporting, however.

In our first story we see that deaths could be eliminated with a simple law change.

In our second story we see that learning isn’t determined by environment, but by attitude.

Both of these require mind-set changes.

Prohibition Deaths in Montana Are Rising

I see that our continued prohibition of marijuana is costing young people their lives.

I say ‘lives’ because the two that lived will be dealing with this for years.

I’m getting at the wonderful reporting done by David Sherman of MTN News about the death of an 18-year-old woman in Great Falls last week.

Looks like a marijuana deal gone bad…though when I was in High School our marijuana deals never went like this.

I guess things at Great Falls High School are different. The victim was a senior there, and the person that killed her was about the same age. The person driving the car was a homeless 16-year-old.

So you see many problems here, most pointing to the continued decay of our society.

Kids living on the street…kids with no hope…kids doing drugs – it’s always the same.

These are the people that fall through the cracks.

We don’t give a shit about them at all.

That might distract us from worrying about our own lives, and what new shiny thing we can buy at the mall.

Thankfully the lawyers will make a lot of money off this, as will the jails. Just moving your tax money to those that feed off it.

We could legalize marijuana and create millions of dollars in much-needed revenue for Montana each year.

But that could bother a few of the Bible-thumpers.

So we keep it illegal. That way young women can die in the street.

We like it this way.

HHS Sucks (Like Always)

I see that Steve Bullock’s step-dad is having a helluva time in Helena.

You’ll remember the nepotism that secured him his superintendent of Helena schools job in May.

Now this week we see that students are in an environment that’s not conducive to learning.

The story is called Alleged over-crowding at Helena High School could jeopardize accreditation.

They have 1,674 students.

Looking back on previous Helena High School enrollment data we see that:

In 2000 they had 1,805 students.

In 2003 they had 1,678 students

In 2005 they had 1,623 students

In 2009 they had 1,642 students

In 2012 they had 1,603 students

I'm sorry...but what the hell has changed? Gosh, when I graduated in 2000 the school was as overcrowded as ever!

So bad is the situation now, however, that we don’t even get a text write-up from MTN, just a video.

It’s easier to keep it quiet that way.

They have too many students in each class. Now they have to come up with a plan to fix that.

Despite this, the district looked at their data and couldn’t find any deficiencies.

Now they’ll wait until November to have a meeting about this.

What a bunch of dunderheads.

It’s been reported there’s a problem but the school district says they have no idea about a problem (though they still schedule a meeting).

On top of this students have to suffer in overcrowded conditions for another month…and likely the rest of the year and into the next one.

Remember, my grandpa went to Helena High School in box cars after the school was virtually destroyed in the ’35 earthquake.

We know from reports that Jim Darcy and many other Helena schools rely on trailers and mobile homes to teach students, so lacking in space are they.

We also know that Helena voters don’t really want to vote for more bonds, whether it’s schools or jails or whatever.

Oh well.

We all know that if you want to get ahead in this world, you educate yourself.

Idiots and fools rely on the public school system to do that for them.

It’s why only 61% of HHS students are proficient in math and 23% are ready for college.

Just 84% of HHS students graduate.

In 2005 the rate was 82%.

Hey, I went to Helena High School for 4 years – I know this.

Many of those Trump/Hillary supporters that you can’t stand went there too.

Max Baucus went there and graduated in 1959. Steve Bullock graduated from there in 1984.

Do you think Max just sat in class and didn’t go to the library to educate himself?

I doubt it.

That’s why I laugh when I see the public vs. private school debate – both options will leave you dumb.

It doesn’t matter what the homework is or how much of it there is…if you’re not educating yourself about things you find interesting, you’ll just be another brainwashed automaton walking around.

Many more will be coming out of Helena, though perhaps the number will slow as one of their high schools struggles with overcrowding.

We’ll see what those students will do.

The dumb ones will complain and act out and say ‘screw this, I ain’t learnin’ shit!’

The smart ones will roll their eyes, go through the motions of the testing system in a yes-man routine, and then get their ass to the library or internet in the evenings to educate themselves.

That’s what leaders do. We’ll see how many Helena continues to produce.

Remember, with nepotism it’s not what you know but who you know.

1 Comment

Fair, Helena, Governor

8/3/2016

0 Comments

I really should be working on my Book 6 bibliography but it’s messy and I’m putting it off.

So let’s talk.

There’s not a whole lot going on in the news.

I wrote that sentence a week ago, and it pretty much still holds true.

Lots of motorcycle crashes, some ATV deaths, boating mishaps…the typical summer fare in Montana.

There’s a new bout of forest fires going on in my area – to the south of me in Hamilton and to the northwest in Thompson Falls, I believe – but I think we expected that’d happen eventually.

I will say that I didn’t encounter much road construction on the way to Helena from Missoula last week, and that was nice.

Yeah, I headed over to hit up the Last Chance Stampede and Rodeo and carnival and fair and all the rest of it.

I should have taken my camera to get some images for you, but oh well.

It’s the usual rickety rides, high-priced and artery-clogging food, and interesting-looking people.

My 5-year-old son Paul and I got some wristbands so we could go on the rides as much as we want.

We hit up the Mardi Gras mirror house about two dozen times, went on Dizzy Dragons spinny-go-round-thing about a dozen, and even on Bubba’s Roadhouse a few times.

The latter is a fun house with moving floors and such, so I had to carry Paul through much of it. That’s why we went a few times.

I took him on the mini-dragon roller coaster too, but he was screaming so much they had to stop it and let us off.

I went on the Star Spinner and Kamikaze by myself and felt like I’d be sick afterward.

Instead we just went back to the grandparents’ house because Paul was tired.

I decided to go to the Historical Society.

I actually went up to the Historical society for an hour an a half around lunch time, then an hour before closing too.

I wish I could have stayed longer, but I did find time to get back the next day and get the last bit on Schwinden, the new Constitution, and the coal tax trust fund so I can finish my 6th book of the state’s history.

I got some research done at the historical society on Forrest Anderson and Tom Judge too.

Both were Montana governors in the 60s and 70s.

Governor Tom Judge

Boy, Tom Judge was like the rock star of progressive Democrats back in the day.

What I find so amazing is that the guy had two terms then ran for his third but was defeated by his own lieutenant governor in the primary.

When that lieutenant governor, Ted Schwinden, had his own two gubernatorial terms come to an end in 1988, Tom Judge came out of nowhere and won the Democratic primary.

Some might remember that Frank Morrison was a big contender that year, but he only got 27% to Judge’s 39%.

My it was a packed primary in 1988, with 6 teams running for the top state offices.

It’s not surprising that Judge came back and won like that, really. “For many Democrats – even those who’d previously voted him out of office – his tenure marked the high water mark of progressive politics,” the Missoulian said in an editorial.

Pat Williams said Judge “was the most aggressive governor in my lifetime. He came along in the heyday of progressives and was one.”

Bob Brown called him “very approachable” and a “philosophical liberal,” but one “more open to solutions than confrontations.”

Judge’s “1970s-brand liberalism was the best the Democrats had to over in 1988,” but Montana wasn’t ready to welcome back its 18th governor as its 20th. Republican Stan Stephens got in. The vote was 52% to 46% with Libertarian William Morris taking about 2%.

Judge got into real estate and securities after that and spent much of his remaining years in Chandler, Arizona.

It was due to his health, and his separation from his second wife in 2003 probably didn’t help with that

Who knows, maybe it gave him some peace for his last years. He died on September 8, 2006, of pulmonary fibrosis related to rheumatoid arthritis. He was 71 years old.

Governor Judge and Lt. Governor Schwinden, c 1976

Something that’s not talked about much is the bloodbath that took place in 1979-80 when Democrats weren’t sure if Judge was going to run for a third term or not.

Ted Schwinden’s Run

Lots of people were asking Schwinden what his plans were, and he fussed about, saying it relied on what Judge would do.

The uncertainty of the race “made it difficult for would-be endorsers to come out of the closet for fear of alienating Judge only to have Schwinden decide against a gubernatorial bid,” the IR wrote at the time.

It was also clear at the time that “pro-Schwinden forces” had been letting potential supporters “know for months that they’d like Judge to step aside and give the lieutenant governor a crack at the state’s top job.”

Many thought Judge might forgo a third term as governor to challenge Representative Ron Marlenee for the eastern district U.S. House seat.

Schwinden did indeed have his fans. They liked the “scrappiness” of his appearance, as opposed to the “three-piece-suit panache of Judge.”

He had his detractors as well, who labeled Schwinden as “sometimes arrogant, often aloof and as having a tendency to lecture audiences.” He’d also been known to rise “to the bait of hecklers, most recently at a session with angry truckers in Missoula.”

I feel Schwinden was pretty fierce in getting his way, which meant Judge would not be winning that primary.

It was a close one in 1980, with Schwinden getting 51% to Judge’s 42%.

I wish there would have been more articles in the files on that race, but sadly, there’s not much.

There’s always the state newspapers on microfilm to go through, but boy, that’s a hassle.

Perhaps you remember something about those times.

Maybe you don’t want to. Schwinden, at the behest of legislative Republicans, pushed through $100 million in tax cuts. For some reason Schwinden signed this, saying “the public elects the Legislature, so its actions reflect the public will.”

Historian Richard Roeder described this as “a pretty passive role of leadership.”

Then there were the cuts to the university system in 1985-86.

Of course, I could get into the benefits that Schwinden brought – unprecedented openness in government, a Build Montana infrastructure program that pumped hundreds of millions into the economy, the “Made in Montana” program.

That would take up a lot more text, however.

Maybe you’d like to talk about some of those policies. If so, feel free to comment.

Oh, and here are some of those images from the Nelson area too that I promised you last week.

Road to Nelson from York

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From Sweden to America: A History of the Strandberg Family

9/7/2015

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Barnes, Lichtwardt, and Strandberg Threshing machine, 1918

“Please, father, let me stay!”

Hilda Germundson would have begged and begged her father to let her stay in Sweden, but the old man would not budge.

“But father, I love him!”

Magnus Germundson was firm – the answer was no. He’d be taking his third-youngest daughter to America with him, the same as the whole family.

The family would be staying together, unlike so many other Swedish families at the turn of the 19th century. Many were ripped apart by deteriorating economic conditions in the home country, forced to split up and head to neighboring cities or even other Scandinavian countries.

Magnus Germundson was not going to let that happen to his family. His daughter Hilda would be coming to America despite her protestations.

Six months later she’d be dead.

Strandbergs Coming to America

At least 1.3 million literate Swedes came to American between 1850 and 1900. In 1890 the U.S. Census reported 800,000 Swedish living in the country. Most immigrant families headed west to Chicago and the northern plains. My family was one of them.

Distribution of Swedish Americans in the United States according to the 2000 census

There are many people with the last name “Strandberg,” though the Strandbergs I’m writing about are the Montana and Kansas Strandbergs. A quick search of Google will tell you that there are a lot more, however.

The problem quickly becomes where to look. For instance, Ancestry.com has 72,193 historical documents with “Strandberg” in the records. There are 1,479 pages of names.

One of those is Nils Strandberg. You’ll get a record of his birth and death and that’s about it, and that only if you sign up for the service.

Number of Strandberg Families in America in 1920

If you look up the name “Strandberg” on Wikipedia you’ll get a short list of famous and semi-famous and pretty much forgotten individuals. I know none of them.

Perhaps I don’t know any because most are from Sweden. That’s where my ancestors came from, and the earliest I can trace them back is to is the early 17th-century.

Source Material for Strandberg Family Genealogy

The reason I can trace my family’s history back so far is because my own grandfather went to Sweden in 1977 and spent about two weeks going through the records of his family.

Hardie Strandberg had gone to Sweden because his son, Nels Strandberg – my father – bought him a ticket as a gift for paying his first year at Carroll College.

So Hardie Strandberg went over there and compiled quite a bit of history which largely remained forgotten until Wadonna Becker Ashcraft came along 1992. She put our family’s history together with other histories she’d written or collected from people like my grandfather.

The book was called Our Swedish Ancestors: Magnus Germundsson and Teadora Andersdotter (Strandberg).

Our Swedish Ancestors Book for Strandberg

Another book that is invaluable in tracing the history of Helena Valley families is the book Valleys of the Prickly Pear: Twenty Miles Each Way From the Little Red Schoolhouse, 1888-1988.

Valleys of the Prickly Pear Book for Helena

You can get the book on Amazon, though it costs $75. It’s in most libraries, some local bookstores have it, and I know local historians know where to get a copy. It’s an invaluable resource.

The book was largely put together by Floy Synness Peterson and Francis Isham Synness and then edited by Vivian A. Paladin.

Floy Synness Peterson was the person that restored the Little Red Schoolhouse in the Helena Valley.

Little Red Schoolhouse in Helena, Montana

In honor of that Governor Ted Schwinden awarded her the Montana Historic Preservation Commendation in the mid-1980s.

I remember going to a big get-together at the Little Red Schoolhouse in 1988 or so. It’s a pretty cool place and worth taking a drive toward Lincoln Road for.

Småland, the Ancestral Lands of the Strandberg Family

The Strandberg family comes from the historical Swedish province of Småland, which translates as “small lands.”

Province of Smaland in Sweden

Småland’s coat of arms depicts a rampant red lion on a golden shield carrying a crossbow.

Småland coat of arms and Strandberg

The arms first came about in 1569, though an earlier version from 1560 had featured roses.

Oftentimes the arms may appear with a ducal coronet, or crown. The blazon reads: “Or a lion rampant Gules langued and armed Azure holding in front paws a Crossbow of the second bowed and stringed Sable with a bolt Argent.”

There are some legends around the Småland area of Sweden where the Strandberg family of Montana hails from. One involves God creating the Smalanning people who were “strong ambitious, stubborn and shrewd.” Because the pieces of tillable ground in this area were so small the land was called “Smaland.”

In the 20th century, Småland has been known for its high level of entrepreneurship and low unemployment.

Old Swedish encyclopedia Nordisk familjebok describes the inhabitants of Småland as “by nature awake and smart, diligent and hard-working, yet compliant, cunning and crafty, which gives him the advantage of being able to move through life with little means.”

In Sweden today Smålandians are viewed as very economical, “ranging from modestly frugal to utterly cheap.” The Smålandian have also been called the “Scotsmen of Sweden.”

Much of this temperament no doubt comes from the land. Smaland was full of stones so the people there had to clear the land by hand, hauling the stones to make large walls. This caused their arms to grow longer, it was believed.

If anyone was to blame for the condition of the land it was St. Peter. Here’s the story of how that went:

“The Lord was occupied with the creation of Skane, making it beautiful and rich when he directed St. Peter to bring order to the land north of Skane. St. Peter began to place a layer of soil on the many rock and stone formations. He planted pine, spruce and birch trees between the streams and lakes. He was proud of his work, but before the Lord had a chance to inspect his work a heavy rainstorm washed away the soil and made bare the long stretches of rock and boulders. When the Lord saw the stony boulders in the ground, he said to St. Peter, “I have just created a rich fruitful land to the south, you go and create men to live there. I have a much harder task here.”

Vikings from Norway raided the area of Småland around the 900s AD and their contact brought new ideas to the land. Christian thinking rose up and this clashed with the pagan beliefs. Warfare was common and the 1100s were a particularly bloody time for Småland.

Smålanders believed in the pagan gods of Thor and Odin until 1120 AD when the Norwegian king led a crusade against Småland shortly after returning from Jerusalem.

Serfdom was abolished in Sweden in the 1200s. Potatoes came to the country in the mid-1700s. It wasn’t long before herring and potatoes graced even the poorest of tables as the common fare of the country.

The Montana Strandberg Family

Long before the 19th-century Swedish migrations our ancestors were living in Småland near the town of Almhult. The Strandberg family can trace its history back to Almhult, Sweden.

In 2010 the town had less than 9,000 residents. Its major claims to fame are being the home of botanist Carl Linnaeus in 1707 and the first IKEA store in 1958.

There are two main branches of the Montana and Kansas Strandberg families. First is the Magnus Germundson branch, which we can trace back to his great-great-great-great-great grandmother, Bengta Tijlsdotter. I’m going to estimate her year of birth at between 1595 and 1600. We know that her one of her grandsons was born as early as 1658.

The second branch is that of Teodora Andersdotter and we can trace her ancestors all the way back to her great-great grandmother, Lisbeth Mattisdotter. I’ll put her year of birth between 1660 and 1700. We know her son Bolla was born in 1689 at the earliest, though possibly as late as the 1750s. Most of his children were born in the 1710s and 1720s, however.

The accepted date for the start of the Strandberg family as we know it is 1620. Over time the family was able to buy up a full mantle of land, which made them quite prosperous compared to others. Just a sixteenth of a mantal was thought sufficient to support a family.

That mantle contained a farm. That farm was called Stranghult. Strangult means “string grove” or “a grove of trees” in Swedish.

The earliest date the family can be traced to Stranghult is to the early 1700s when the Anders Mattisson family is first mentioned as owning Stranghult.

Stranghult Strandberg home in Sweden, c 1977

Anders Mattisson married Bengta Jonsdotter on December 26, 1828.

Anders had six men and three women operating the farm that he had on the land. In May 1839, however, Anders died of a fever. The farm went to Bengta and her children, though it had three mortgages on it. Still, it was valued at $4,000 and had 22 head of cattle.

On September 14, 1840, Teodora was born. It was sixteen months after her mother had been widowed. So…who was the father?

Teodora was given the name Andersdotter, so we know that her father was named Anders, even though it wasn’t likely the man that had owned Stranghut and died.

It’s likely it was Anders Nilsson, who had been working at a nearby farm. We don’t know who the father was, truth be told, but the church did know that they had an illegitimate birth on their hands. Bengta had to pay a fine on October 31, 1840. In 1845 we know that 45% of the children in Sweden were born out of wedlock.

Anders Nilsson came back to the farm in 1843 to live and died there in 1854. He’d only been 35 years old and had complained of stomach pains for years.

Life wasn’t easy in Sweden. Nils Strandberg used to tell how:

“The tailor came to Stranghult each year, staying with the family while he made clothes from the woolen and linen fabric that had been spun and woven during the year. A cobbler came and stayed while he made the shoes and boots from animal skins killed and cured during the year. Nils told how as a child he soaked and laid the flax on the bank of the lake to bleach. Another story of Nils tells about how Magnus Germundsson acquired the expertise of using the new invention of dynamite. He used his knowledge and ability to blow up some large boulders from other farms in the area. Since it was such a specialized business, he was paid well and much in demand.”

In 1860 severe weather conditions hit Sweden and drastically changed agriculture. Between 1868 and 1873 more than 100,000 people left the country as crops failed and harvests became substantially less than they were before.

This was when the mass migrations from Sweden began.

Some Strandberg Children Leave Sweden

Magnus Germundsson was born in 1831 in Sweden and despite his skills with dynamite, the family was losing ground as the Swedish economy suffered. For the older children, it was clear that better opportunities lay elsewhere.

Magnus Germundsson and Teodora Andersdotter, c 1890 in Sweden

The oldest child of Magnus and Teodora was named Ingrid Magnusdotter, born in February 1861, and she’d actually come to America in 1888. She was travelling with sixteen others from the same area and upon arriving in America they all headed west. Twelve of them went to Anaconda, three went to Denver, and the rest ended up in Hutchinson, Kansas.

Ingrid didn’t much care for Kansas, probably because she wanted to be in Montana. That’s where John Benson was, whom she’d known in Sweden. He’d gotten work in the Anaconda smelters and later the coal docks for the railroads. The latter proved intolerable, for in winter “his hands would freeze to the shovel tearing flesh from his bones.”

Nonetheless, he worked and the two were married in Anaconda in February 1889. There were so many “Bensons” that John Benson changed his name to John Magnus. They managed to save up enough money over time to get a stretch of land on Willow Creek, near Silver City, which is north of Helena.

By 1916 they had 100 head of cattle and Ingrid’s butter was renown throughout the area. Sadly, their son Henry was killed by lightning while working in the garden in 1920. John Magnus died in 1926 though Ingrid hung on until 1951.

“She was well known and loved in Helena. Her brother Nils Strandberg often made the remark the town people kept the road warm to her ranch. A former Governor and the Attorney General of Montana spent many days at the ranch while they were growing up.”

The Kansas Strandbergs can really trace their lineage back to Magnus and Teodora’s third child, Anna Magnusdotter. She was born in April 1865 and left Sweden on March 3, 1886. She travelled to New York, arriving on April 3. The trip cost her 167 kr.

Four others from the Virestad area of Sweden accompanied her. In New York “a black porter tried to help Anna with her luggage,” my grandfather wrote. “She refused, feeling he wasn’t clean. She had never seen a black person before.”

Ingrid married Carl Orth and took that name. In 1904 she bought 160 acres in Fargo, Oklahoma. By 1915 she rented the farm out and headed back to Kansas. She lived there until her death on September 3, 1933.

Gustaf Magnusson left Sweden on March 25, 1887. He sailed from Malmo and the reason was simple – he wanted to avoid the Swedish draft. He paid 164 kr to travel to New York on the wooden schooner Ceres, a ship that had been built in 1859.

He made it to Kansas and worked in the salt mines for three years, taking English classes at night. He eventually got married – to a woman he often walked 28 miles to see – and they moved to Oklahoma. There was a sod home on 160 acres and the first year Gustaf brought in kafir corn, the second broom corn, and the third year wheat.

Gustaf died in Billings. He’d been taking a bus up to Montana to visit his sister and two brothers when he became ill and went to the hospital. Something happened and Gustaf was stabbed multiple times while a patient there. It’s unknown what happened, but that led to his death in July 1945.

The Strandberg Family Leaves Sweden

Magnus Germundson and his wife Teodora left Stranghult with their five children on March 23, 1891. They headed 85 miles south to Malmo. There on April 23 they boarded the packet steamer Argo and headed up past Denmark into the North Sea and then back south to Hull, England. The voyage typically took two days.

The trip from Sweden was pretty standard. Those leaving the country usually did so from Gothenburg, taking a steerage ticket most likely, which would cost 105 kr in 1880, or $1.14. (105 crowns is $28 today)

It was very hard to save up this money, as the average yearly earnings for a Swedish farmer in the 1880s was 138 kr, or $1.50. The good news is that room and board were typically included with this.

People would first head across the North Sea to England, usually the city of Hull. From there it was an immigrant train to the docks in Liverpool, 126 miles across the country. Passengers were expected to furnish their own food for this whole leg of the journey.

After that it was aboard ship for twelve days to New York and then it’d be on another immigrant train to Chicago. The train ride took five days and there were interpreters for passengers, something that likely helped on meal stops.

My family came over before Ellis Island was the main point of entry. They were processed at Castle Garden, but before getting off the boat they and all other passengers had to tear up their mattresses and throw them overboard, as well as provide the keys to their trunks.

Why did they leave Sweden? At that time the family owned just a quarter of a mantal of land. Stranghult had been reduced in size and may have been inadequate for a family of their size.

While coming over on the boat from Liverpool the parents were adamant that they were going not because of financial reasons but to keep the family together. Considering they travelled first class and not the more common steerage, there’s validity in this, although they’d just sold the farm as well, so that could be the reason for their sound finances.

Whatever the reason, they were moving, and not all were happy. Hilda Germundson wanted to stay back in Sweden with her true love. The family insisted she come to America, however, and she obeyed. Upon arrival the family discovered that she was pregnant.

It’s not known if Hilda knew this before leaving Sweden or not, though she would have been about 6 to 8 weeks pregnant at the time, so it’s likely.

By the time the child was due the family had reached Hutchinson, Kansas. The childbirth was difficult and both Hilda and the young baby died on October 12, 1891.

Hilda was just 20 years old. Magnus later said that if he’d known she was pregnant he “would have brought the young man along with the family.”

Whether it would have made a difference is unknown. It likely would have made Hilda’s time in America better, and perhaps that would have been the psychological boost she’d needed to get through the childbirth. The cause of death was listed as “heart trouble.” Sadly, it wouldn’t be the first tragedy that befell the family while in Kansas.

Two years after Hilda died her mother followed. Perhaps it was the untimely death of her daughter, or the strange new land she called home. Whatever the case, Teodora Magnusson died in October 1893.

The family settled into farming, primarily at a place called Pretty Prairie. They rented their land and moved about a bit. They also changed their name to “Strandberg.”

Where does the name “Strandberg” come from? Here’s the common telling:

“It is uncertain where the name Strandberg comes from. Gertrude Strandberg Peterson told of its coming from the farm Stranghult. In Sweden the name is a military name, and translates or means ‘shore mountain.’ Hardie Strandberg remembered his father Nils telling him it came from a railroad siding in Kansas. There is a railroad siding at the end of Swede Road in rural Reno County, Kansas with the name of Strandberg. We could not definitely assign a positive reason for the choice of names.”

Nils Strandberg and the Modern Montana Strandbergs

Peter Johan Strandberg came with the family in 1891 and stayed in Kansas. Here’s what a granddaughter remembered of him”

“Peter was one of the most fascinating men she had known. A hyperactive in all likelihood, he slept for 3 or 4 hours a night. Read his Bible often and was very proud of his Masonic 32nd degree. He had great knowledge of the stars and Viking Mythology, a grace and balance of movement. He started his children on gymnastics early in life.”

Peter was “among the first in the community to experiment with new technologies. He liked fast cars. Pictures in 1928 show Peter giving President Harding a ride on his tractor.”

Peter would die on July 18, 1932, from injuries he received while repairing his tractor.

The real meat and potatoes of the Strandberg family, as far as I’m concerned, is my great-grandfather, Nils Strandberg.

Nils Strandberg was born on March 10, 1879, and was the 8th child of Magnus and Theodora Germundson. He left Sweden with the family in 1891. He likely would have stayed in Kansas had he not had a brief and tumultuous love affair with the 21-year old Ada Gillett in 1900. He’d been working as a laborer on her mother’s farm, and their tryst likely didn’t sit well with the family.

There wasn’t much reason for Nils to stay as his father Magnus had died on November 30, 1901. Nils hopped on a train for Montana in early-1902 and was soon working on a ranch outside Helena and then later the gold mines. He got caved-in on several times and also developed lung problems. Still, the work was so good that in October he headed back to Kansas to get his brother Henry.

Nils stayed in the mines until 1907 “when a doctor told his brother to get him out of that kind of work or he wouldn’t live another year.”

It was easy to get out as Nils and his brother had started a small ranch in Canyon Creek in 1904. They also “batched” on the “Greaser place” and the “Geir place.” They also leased excess land to the Gans and Klein Company, on what is known as today’s Settle Ranch.

In 1916 Nils married Violet Hardie of Helena. They would have five children between 1917 and 1926.

By 1919 the Strandberg brothers had 4,480 acres. That summer was dry and hay was scarce. Many ranchers lost their herds, or would have had they not sold.

Each of the brothers had $100,000 in cash and their banker advised them to buy up as many head of cattle as they could. They did, and had a lot of money in those fields north of Helena come the winter of 1919. The following summer, however, was hot and dry.

It looked like the brothers might be able to make it if they could just get the crop in. Before that could happen “hail came and took everything.” The brothers were broke and had no way to feed their cows. Nils was heard to say he wished the animals would go drown themselves in the lake, so heartrending were the starving animals’ cries for food.

The brothers lost everything, but they didn’t give up. Nils moved up to the Taylor Ranch, or what’s today’s Charlie Vulk ranch. That lasted two years before he moved on to the Opheim ranch, which eventually became Allen Shumate’s ranch.

It was there that Nils Strandberg ran the dairy business of Montana Savings Bank, milking 125 head of Holstein Freisen cows. At that point in time the Opheim ranch was managed by Thomas Marlow, C.A. Broadwater’s nephew.

Nils was never able to get back into business for himself. Perhaps he didn’t want to after the horrendous losses of 1920. He continued to help out area farms and ranches in the Prickly Pear Valley, such as the “Picotte place for a year” and then “north of Glass Drive” for ten years.

The latter was Michels and Synness land, which would come to be owned by Dick Wolstein. Also during this time Nils drove the school bus for Helena’s School District 30, a job he held from 1925 to 1930.

By the 1930s economic hard times were had by all, and the brothers decided to start a dairy business in the Helena Valley. By 1933 Nils had enough money to buy up 230 acres “of good irrigated land” there. He continued to work the land until heart trouble forced him to retire.

He settled into his home at 6145 North Montana Avenue. He died there on November 9, 1954. Nils’s brother Henry died in 1969, likely from lung problems brought on from smoking.

Nils’s wife Violet Strandberg lived on in the North Montana Avenue home until April 20, 1987. The home is now a church, the Mountain Fellowship.

Home of Nils Strandberg in Helena

Stranghult was sold in 1891 to Karl E. Bengtsson. It was sold again in 1916 and then in 1918 and then in 1921.

That last saw it come back to the family, Albert Astrom. His son Ole’ Astrom bought it in 1956 and the farm saw the wooden house replaced with a brick house in 1962. The barn still remains, or at least had been there in 1977.

Stranghult is 2.4 miles south of the town of Almhult, then 3 miles east on a side road, then another 1.8 miles down a country lane to the main house.

Looking at Google Maps, this is about where I think the general area for Stranghult is.

Location of ancestral Strandberg home

There are also property records for Stranghult, with one house currently on the market. The asking price is 795,000 kr, or $94,000.

Stranghult Home in 21st Century

Conclusion

“We can be proud of our ancestors,” Hardie Strandberg wrote in 1977.

He had no doubt they were “hard working, highly respected, and devout Christian people,” for “without exception” the clergy “wrote nice things praising our family.”

Strandbergs could read and write as early as the 1600s. Even though “during the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries people died young,” Strandbergs would “live into their seventies and eighties.” When death did come it was usually due to “chest illness” or old age.”

Strandbergs epitomized the Smålandian work ethic and brought it to Montana with them. The state has been better for it.

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The Coolest Room in Montana

8/22/2015

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This is the Chet Shore-Governor Nutter Memorial Room, or what I simply call the “coolest room in Montana.” Take a look:

The Nutter-Shore Memorial Trophy Hall in the Montana Historical Society

The Montana Historical Society Weapons Room: that’s what I usually refer to this room as, the weapons room. That’s what I thought of it as when I was a boy, going in sometimes after pestering my mom in the Revenue building by the mall.

I grew up in Helena and for many years lived on Breckenridge Street by the Capitol, so this room was a cool spot to kill some time. Sadly, I think I was one of the few that ever visited, and I don’t think it gets many visitors today. It’s a shame, because it costs nothing to head up to the third floor of the Veterans’ and Pioneers’ Building to see it.

Chet Shore was a big supporter of the Montana Historical Society and did quite a few renovations on the Veterans’ and Pioneers’ Building. Sometime in the late-1960s or early-1970s the building had to undergo some changes, mainly so they could squeeze some more exhibit space from what they had. Shore may have helped with this, but we know he helped with redesigning the outside area in 1976. Helena History tells us what this entailed:

“Various flags and symbols of the Lewis and Clark Expedition were added to the area by the veterans of Montana under the direction of Mr. Chet Shore. Shore also finished the Trophy Room on the third floor furnishing it with many donations of Montana veterans of all the Wars.”

The Governor Nutter was Donald G. Nutter, who had a short term, one that ended in tragedy.

On January 21, 1962, the Helena Independent Record had a story called “Nutter Dedicates Military Room in State Museum.” An image of him was shown looking at some of the glass cases in the room, perhaps as he thought back on his own time piloting a B-24 bomber during the war. He flew 62 missions in all, putting in more than 500 hours, including thirteen months in the China-Burma-India Theater.

Montana Governor Don Nutter, January 21, 1962, just four days before his death

Perhaps his executive secretary, Dennis Gordon, was with him. He’d served in the Korean War, and at just 28-years of age, had been appointed the interim Military Governor of Korea. He was definitely with the governor four days later, on the night of January 25. The men were flying to Cut Bank where the governor had a speech, but over the canyons around Wolf Creek they met 100 mph winds. The C-47 Skytrain they were in had its wing sheared off and the plane went down, killing the six men onboard.

The Sydney Herald had a good story on Governor Nutter in June 2014, about who he was as a person. It’s worth checking out, or you can just wait until my sixth volume of Montana history comes out next year. Until then, let’s take a look at what I like to call “the coolest room in Montana.”

I really hope this post gets viewed and shared a lot, because more people need to see these weapons. More than that, they need to think about war and whether we should build a bigger room. After all, this one’s full, and it looks like war’s coming to the world yet again.

Montana’s Iraq War Weapons

It’s clear the room is full because the only room they have for Montana’s Iraq War stuff is for the first Iraq war. Here’s a dandy:

Iraqi RPG captured by Montana troops in 1991

The plaque in front reads “Captured Iraqi KPV 14.5mm Anti-Aircraft Gun on ZPU-1 Mount. Captured & Donated by 159th Support Group, USAR Helena.”

In front of it is a small case, which looks like this:

Montana's loot from the first Iraq War

That’s the rest of our Iraqi loot, and the small note in the corner lists off what it holds. That includes:

Bank Note, 10 Dinar, Iraq;
Rocket Powered Grenade Launcher, RPG 7-B mfg, China;
AKM 7.62 x 39mm Romanian mfg;
US Army Manual;
Propaganda leaflets, US;
Field radio, Iraq, Russian mfg;
Surrender Leaflet, safe passage;
Soldiers Guide to Saudi Arabia;
Saudi Bank Notes;
Kuwaiti Flag;
Sumer Cigarettes, Iraq.

The items were loaned by Captain Mark Welker and the 159th USAR of Helena.

Montana WWII Weapons and Stories

We’re jumping a bit ahead of ourselves, as far as we can go, actually. Let’s pull back and take a look at some weapons from WWII, which make up the bulk of the collection in the Nutter-Shore Trophy Room. That’s the first thing you notice, really, the display cases full of WWII guns.

Montana WWII rifles

German pistols from WWII, in Helena, Montana

German Schmeiser Machine Pistol captured by Montanans in Corsica, c 1943

The top image are some American rifles, the middle image shows a case holding German pistols, and the bottom has a German Schmeiser machine pistol that was used against the First Special Services Force, or Black Devils, when they were in Corsica during the Italian Campaign in 1943.

There are lots of swords and knives as well, many captured from the Japanese in the Philippines.

Japanese swords and flag from WWII

You also get some really awesome swords from other places. For instance, these:

Captured WWII swords and other military swords

That huge blade at the top of the case is an old Persian sword. There are other fancy dress swords, and probably the most unique is Nazi Air Marshall Herman Goering’s Presentation Saber.

Nazi Herman Goering's Sword

It was likely captured from his quarters in Karvin Hall, Berchetsgaden, Germany, in May 1945 by Captain William Watson of the Canadian Army. He was the one that got one of the famed Nazi’s special cigars, after all.

Cigar belonging to WWII Nazi Herman Goerging

There are lots of cool Nazi things, like this currency and these medals and flags:

Captured WWII Nazi Items on display in Helena, MT

In another case you get lots of stuff, including a picture of Hitler himself, and a Nazi plate.

Display case of captured Nazi items

Nazi Officer's Mess Hall Plate

You’ll find lots of maps in the room that show where troops moved during the various campaigns. There fun to look at and have keys to make them easy to understand. You’ll also find war posters and patriotic propaganda, as well as military patches.

Map of Montana men's service in WWII

Montana's 163rd in the Pacific in WWII

Montana WWII Posters

WWII badges and patches

Some WWII Shrapnel from France

Captured Japanese Medicine Kit

That last image shows a medical kit that was taken off a Japanese POW at Guadalcanal in 1943 by Eugene J. Carroll of Great Falls. It has a syringe and various medicines, according to the note beside it.

WWII medals and soldier items

WWI mementos

There are lots of items in these images. The top image has a purple heart as well as a photo of Montana servicemen.

The bottom image has lots of items, including a white practice hand grenade, a compass & pocket knife, a large homemade knife that some concerned family members sent to a Montana boy overseas, and shrapnel from a Japanese kamikaze pilot. The photo is of course of the Japanese surrender in 1945, with some handwritten notes and signatures at the bottom. History rarely feels so alive.

Montana Civil War Weapons and Stories

The Montana Historical Society weapons room really goes back in time. There’s a large case with a few mannequins wearing uniforms near the back of the room. In it you’ll find the few Civil War items that Montana has.

Civil War Bayonet

Spoon from Sherman's March, 1864

The items that standout to me are a spoon from Sherman’s March that Dr. W.A. Jarvis of Livingston gave to his son in 1896 and which eventually wound up with the Park County American Legion post, who donated it to the trophy room. What an amazing item!

Also in the room is a Union Army buckle that Chester K. Shore donated, though I’m not sure if that’s the person who wore it. If you were to go through the records of these veterans organizations, you might be able to learn that. Sadly, there’s no space for those except at Fort Harrison, and few Montanans head out there.

Finishing out the Montana Civil War collection is a rifle bayonet that was donated by Helena’s Edward Cowan. It’s clear from the collection that much of the material represents the North.

Montana World War I Weapons and Stories

Right away upon entering the Montana Historical Society trophy room you’ll probably see some big guns.

Large-caliber guns used in WWI

Those huge suckers are from WWI, The topmost gun says WWI German 08-15 Machine Gun – Caliber 7.92mm. Donated by American Legion, Post #5, Miles City, Montana.

In the back of the room there are some cool items from WWI that Montana men were able to get back to the state.

Helmets from WWI brought back by Montana soldiers

You’ll notice one case that has two sticks at the bottom, and on closer examination you’ll see that these are canes.

Canes given to Montana men in WWI

The topmost cane was taken from a Prussian Army major that Lieutenant John J. Burg captured. Burg was from Kalispell and served in the 362nd Infantry Regiment, 91st Division in the Argonne offensive of September 1918. The 362nd was tasked with taking the French village of Gesnes.

Colonel John “Gatling Gun” Parker commanded the regiment, though he was wounded early in the fight. The cane was given to him by Burg while he was recovering, and the men of the regiment carved “Powder River, Let ‘er buck” into the cane.

The 362nd was made up mostly of Montana men and they had more men killed and wounded, took more prisoners, seized more enemy war material, and spent more time in the fight than any others, says the plaque in the trophy room.

The bottommost cane was the following paper with it:

Memorial French Cane

Presented to the American Legion Department of Montana

This cane is herewith presented to all my American comrades of 1918. It was made from a holly tree taken from the forest of Saint Aignan, Loir et Cher: where the men of the 41st Division were stationed. We will never forget you and God bless you for your service to my beloved country.

Signed

Narcisse Beauvais,
Coulfy, Loir et Cher,
France

As far as I can tell, the 41st Infantry Division of National Guard units from the western states of Idaho, Montana, Oregon, North Dakota and Washington saw no action in WWI at all, serving as a reserve unit only.

Montana Korean War Weapons and Stories

There’s a small wall display of Korean War items in the trophy room. Here’s what that looks like:

Montana's Korean War mementos

Anti-personnel weapons

Old Korean Pike Heads

We have some small projectiles that were dropped from high altitude on troop placements, some spearheads that date back centuries, and some items from a dead soldier.

The latter was Charles L. Sewell, who was killed in action. Some items of his include the pack of cigarettes there, as well as the pocket watch and the western union telegram telling his parents of his death. There are also some items from his brother, Russell L. Sewell. The Helena family donated them to the trophy room.

Montana Vietnam Weapons and Stories

Bow and Arrows used by Vietnamese tribes against Americans

This is a really cool case, with some awesome bow and arrows. Yeah, you didn’t think they had Indian War here stuff, did you?

Well…they don’t. These aren’t from the Indian Wars, they’re from Vietnam. The caption on the larger set of bow and arrows reads “On Loan From: Dennis R. Larson. From Cambodia – Captured in 1969.”

The caption on that pinkish-orange piece of paper reads “Montagnard Crossbow & Arrows. These furnish silent death by a tribe fighting for the South Vietnamese. On Loan by Frank O. Vavrin.”

Something else that’s real cool is this kit here:

Medical Kit for American Military Advisers in Vietnam

It’s quite the amazing package of supplies, and the paper next to it reads “Survival Kits issued to US Military Advisors in Viet Nam. Donated by Ernest E. Brant of Biloxi, MS who served in Viet Nam 1963-64.”

The items are listed on a separate sheet and include:

1 Waterproof Bag
1 Signal Mirror
1 Flexible Saw
1 Flare Gun, w 2 White Flares
1 pkg Kling Gauze
1 Adhesive Plaster
6 Bandages, Absorbent, Adhesive
1 pkg Bouillon Cubes
1 Water Purification Tablets, Iodine
1 Betadine Solution
20 Salt Tablets
8 Spesin-PS Tablets
12 Tetracycline Tablets
10 Fungicidal Ointment Unettes
1 Insect Repellant
1 Tube Bacitracin Opthalmic Ointment

American helmets and hats from Vietnam

Guns used by Vietnamese against Americans in Vietnam

There are some hats and helmets worn by Montana men in Vietnam. The gun is a Communist AK-47 Assault Rifle that was used by North Vietnam and Vietcong troops, though made by the Chinese.

It’s unfortunate that so few know about Montana’s contributions to the Vietnam War. I’ve thought about it a lot, because the first school I ever went to was named after Jim Darcy, a helicopter pilot that was shot down in 1967. It was made sure that we knew why the school was named what it was, at least in the mid- to late-80s.

I’m not sure it’s spoken of as much today, but one place to learn about Montana and Vietnam as in the Nutter-Shore Memorial Trophy Room in the Montana Historical Society. Hopefully more people learn it’s there.

The Future of the Trophy Room

In the Spring of 2002 four veterans organizations moved from the Veterans’ and Pioneers’ Memorial Building to Fort Harrison. These were:

The 163rd Infantry Regiment;
The American Legion;
Disabled American Veterans;
Veterans of Foreign Wars.

That year the Montana Board of Education requested $18,008 for a military package to accommodate that move, as well as $17,200 in 2003. This also assisted with the “appropriate handling, disposition, exhibit, or move of the artifacts and interpretive materials now located in the” trophy room. It was also revealed that “these veterans’ organizations hold extensive records on Montana veterans and have asked” the Montana Historical Society “to assume responsibility for them.”

I hope more people visit this room, and I hope these weapons and the stories behind them can be displayed more prominently. Children especially should see these, both for the thrill and to learn something. Having a revolving display that shuttles around the state’s schools would be one way to accomplish this, and perhaps some thought should be put into that.

Until then, the trophy room sits, empty most days, but with the lights on. It’s there, waiting for you.

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Doing Research at the Montana Historical Society

8/20/2015

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What do you do when you have a question about Montana that no one knows?

If you’re like most people, you do a Google search, find nothing, then shrug your shoulders and give up. Oh well…you tried.

If you’re not like most people, you might forgo giving up in favor of finding that answer. If you’re smart, you’ll quickly realize that the best place to find obscure Montana information is at the Montana Historical Society.

So…how do you go about that?

In this post I’d like to introduce you to the Montana Historical Society Research Center. This is where new reporters can go to learn about old and current politicians. It’s also a place for regular people to find out a bit more than is on the computer.

More than that, however, it’s a place research is done. That research leads to books and those often lead to TV shows and films. It’s the latter two especially that draw tourists to the state, and that’s why our research institutions are so important.

Let’s explore this today, and how it affects our economy.

The Montana Historical Society Research Center

When you walk into the Montana Historical Society you’ll come in on the ground floor. The museum will be ahead of you and the gift shop will be on your right.

Entrance to Montana Historical Society Museum

Tell the person standing watch that you want to go to the Research Center. They’ll usually give you a green buffalo skull sticker and point you toward the stairs.

Stairs leading to second floor research center at Montana Historical Society

When you head upstairs you’ll see the stuffed white buffalo.

White Buffalo at Montana Historical Society

This is “Big Medicine,” which was a real buffalo that lived from 1933 to 1959 on the National Bison Range on the Flathead Indian Reservation. His birth was “seen as an auspicious event,” Kennon Baird says on Helena History, and the article is worth checking out.

From the buffalo you turn right coming off the stairs you’ll see the doors to the Research Center.

The Montana Historical Society Research Center

There are lockers outside and you’re supposed to put your bag in there. If you head up to the front desk, they’ll tell you all of this. You’re supposed to sign in and then fill out a green registration form. That’s where you’ll list all the newspapers or other archival material you want them to retrieve for you. Most of the time, you won’t need to use this.

Staff Desk at the Montana Historical Society Research Center

From there you have many options of what to explore. If you turn to your left, you’ll see this area:

Legislative records of the Montana Historical Society, and Photo collections

Right away you’ll see all these large black folders. These are full of images from the 1870s up to the 1910s and sometimes farther along. Many are real images with great quality. Many are also photocopies that aren’t that good when it comes to quality, but they still give you an idea. I’ve used quite a few of these in my Montana history books.

What I really like about this section, however, are the legislative records.

MT Legislative History

Old Montana Legislature news

Researching old Montana laws

Here you can get information on every single Montana Legislative Session, going back to the first territorial legislature in 1865. They go right up to 2013 and have the daily proceedings, votes, and legislative biographies. Really, if you need to know something about the Montana Legislature, you’ll find it all right here.

Where can I find old Montana laws?

Now, if you turn to your right from that front desk, you’ll see this area over here:

Old Montana city directories and Yellow Pages

Primarily this is a work area as well as the city directory section. If you need to find anything about a Montana town or city, this is where to look. Livingston, for instance, has business and people listings going back to 1904 and all the way up to 2010.

You’ll also find the microfiche machines in this general area of the Montana Historical Society Research Center. If you need to look up an old Montana newspaper, this is the place to find it. Personally I like finding old Montana newspapers in the appropriate folder in the subjects section, however. Alas, many of those are sorely out of date.

If you continue on past the work area and the city directory section, you’ll get to the real meat and potatoes of the Montana Historical Society Research Center as far as I’m concerned.

Finding Montana Biographical and Subject History

Information about old Montana people from history

The real treat as far as I’m concerned is the biographies section. This consists of five large file cabinets with four drawers each. So you’ve got twenty drawers and about 150 files in each.

We use letters to file

This is a drawer of old Montana lives

This seems important now, but people will forget

They’re pretty up to date on certain things, as you can see with that Steve Bullock folder, but on others they’re not so caught up. Also, for many people the files are lacking. For instance, I was looking for an image of an old Representative from the 1940s, James F. O’Connor, and there was nothing there. I think the staff needs to go to the old newspaper microfilm and find that image, make a copy, and put it in the folder.

Across from the biographical files are the subjects and places files.

A wealth of Montana information at your fingertips

It might not look that impressive, just a bunch of old filing cabinets, but this is where you get the information that makes history possible. For instance, here’s the file on Lewis and Clark in Montana:

Drawers need tags

Lots of Lewis and Clark information, such as firearms, flags, place names, and more

And that, my friends, is how you do historical research at the Montana Historical Society’s Research Center.

But…why do that? What benefit does it have? And gosh darn, isn’t it just a big waste of time? I mean, you could be out there making money in a real job!

The Power of Film in Montana

All that research looks pretty boring and dry, huh, and seems like a waste of time, doesn’t it? Well, because Montana has things like this Research Center, researchers like me are able to go in, and after several months or years, we’re able to produce things like this:

Because books like that are written, we see things like this happen:

That’s Gavin Eldridge and his friend Lonnie Old Shoes, who did some casting calls for the new Lewis and Clark HBO series that got a lot of attention in February. The HBO Lewis and Clark series will be filmed in Canada for the most part, with location shots in Montana. Tom Hanks is producing it and Casey Affleck is starring as Captain Lewis.

That Montana HBO miniseries is expected shoot for 76 days. It’ll have a 200-person crew that will stay in 100 hotel rooms and rent 75 cars. Altogether, that’ll bring $50 million to the local Bozeman economy. Here’s a look at that production and a few others:

Montana films in 2015

That’s just one example of many, showing how Montana’s history creates economic opportunities for today’s residents, and oftentimes for groups that might not have many of those opportunities. You can learn all about it in the PDF report “The State of Film in Montana: An Economic Impact Report, 2014.” The report mentions the Montana Film Office that started up in 1974. Because of them, we know what the impact of filming in the state is. And let’s face it, when it comes to filming in Montana, overwhelmingly it’s historical narratives.

Or is it? This table right here shows that commercials are quite big in the Treasure State:

Money made in Montana by films

That’s a chart showing the $37 million in expenditures that film companies put out between 2006 and 2012 in Montana. What’s interesting is that films only make up 5% of what’s shot in the state, but they “account for 25% of production revenue.” This took place in 39 counties, affecting 70 communities. Glacier and Yellowstone counties get the brunt of the revenue, as they have “existing production infrastructure” that’s “capable of supporting more production.”

Economic benefit of Montana films to local communities

Filming in Montana brings in money from those film crews and it brings in money from all the tourists that have fallen under the Montana mystique.

Many states, including Montana, use incentive programs to negotiate favorable terms and secure film production. Between 2006 and 2012 Montana provided approximately $632,299 in incentive benefits to film productions. Monies spent by these productions while in Montana generated an economic impact of $13,520,000 resulting in Montana receiving $21 back in revenue for every $1 it paid out under the incentive program.

In terms of marketing, over six years $158 million was spent on producing films in Montana and that means for every $1 “invested in marketing campaigns, social media presence, film festival attendance and other promotional efforts,” according to the Film Office, “Montana saw $89 dollars return to local communities and state coffers.”

The Montana Film Office has two main assumptions about Montana films and Montana tourism:

Assumption 1: This analysis assumes that 2.5% of non-resident visitors traveling to Montana are influenced by film media. The Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research (ITRR) at the University of Montana reports that in a survey of travelers who indicated “vacation/recreation/pleasure” as their main purpose of visiting, 2.5% said a movie filmed in Montana influenced their decision ‘a lot’. Another 14.2% said that a movie filmed in Montana influenced their decision ‘some’. Further, surveys indicate that 11.1% of all visitors to Montana either were ‘some’, or ‘a lot’ influenced by a movie filmed in Montana.

Assumption 2: It is assumed that 2.5% of Montana’s tourism impacts, totaling $2.64 billion, are attributable to film and moving pictures. The ITRR 2012 Montana Nonresident Traveler Expenditures and Economic Contribution Report3 indicates that $3.2 billion in local spending directly supported $2.64 billion of economic activity in Montana. Assuming conservatively that 2.5% of the $2.64 billion in tourism travel makes up ‘a lot’ of the visitor decision, then $66 million of visitor economic benefits are also attributable to film and moving pictures’ influence on travel decisions.

Montana tourism spending in 2012

Montana tourism spending in 2014

Flyer I got from the Jon Tester Small Business Workshop on Manufacturing in Missoula

Conclusion

The books, films and TV shows that you love oftentimes come about because of places like the Montana Historical Society and the Research Center that’s located there. They also come about because of the film infrastructure that’s been built in certain areas of the state.

Many times, this means business for Montana, and more money to local communities. That’s the power of history and the imagination, and dusty old places like the Montana Historical Society make that happen.

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The Montana Historical Society: Then, Now and Tomorrow

8/19/2015

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This is the first post in a three-part series on the Montana Historical Society.

We’re going to take a look at the institution’s history today, as well as its current historical and political concerns. We’ll also look at the proposed Montana Heritage Center, the new building that’s been sought for quite some time now.

I hope this series of posts will give you a greater appreciation and understanding of the Montana Historical Society, and the direction it has taken and may take yet.

The Montana Historical Society’s Early History

The Historical Society of Montana started on December 21, 1864. The territorial legislature made it so when it passed Council Bill 15, introduced by Francis M. Thompson from Beaverhead County. Territorial governor Sydney Edgerton signed it into law on February 2, 1865.

Some big Montana names had a part in bringing the society about, including:

Christopher P. Higgins;
John Owens;
James Stuart;
Granville Stuart;
Wilbur Fiske Sanders;
Malcolm Clark.

Higgins would go on to pretty much start up Missoula with a few other men, while John Owens would stick near the fort that bore his name around Deer Lodge (unless I’m thinking of John Owen). The Stuart brothers had a long history in the state, and would continue to have influence. Malcolm Clark was killed in August 1869, something that spurred the Marias Massacre.

The society got to work, gathering records and making collections. Those records were housed in Virginia City, until the decision was made to move them to Helena. Unfortunately, that very year all of their work was destroyed in the Helena fire of 1874 that tore through the downtown area, where the Montana Historical Society was then located. It wasn’t as bad as it sounds, as “the Society contacted many of the original pioneers” shortly after the fire, according to the Montana Historical Society Board of Trustees records, 1865-2006, “and obtained replacement reminiscences, diaries, and letters.”

To ensure that fire did not strike again, the new collections were stored in the stone Lewis and Clark County Courthouse beginning in 1886. When the Montana State Capitol was finished in 1902, the collection moved there.

By that time the society was called “The Historical and Miscellaneous Library,” a name given to it by the legislature in 1895 and not changed back until 1923. It wasn’t until 1963 that the Historical Society of Montana got the name we know it as today, the Montana Historical Society.

K. Ross Toole’s Historical Society

The society’s records remained in the Capitol until 1953 when the Veterans and Pioneers Memorial Building was constructed. The legislature had known a new building was needed as early as the 1920s, but “the Depression, World War II, and other factors delayed” this.

Building the Montana Historical Society in 1951 (courtesy Helena History)

The Montana Historical Society in 1962 (click for link)

One of the reasons the Montana Historical Society’s current building was built is because of K. Ross Toole, who had become the “first professional director” in 1951.

Toole reinvigorated that state agency. He started up The Montana Magazine, which became Montana: The Magazine of Western History in 1953, something that actually got history into people’s hands. Before that there’d only been the Contributions to the Historical Society of Montana, ten volumes that appeared from 1876 to 1941, or one volume every six and a half years.

The society had become a state agency in 1891. Up to that point the society only had a five-member board, the most powerful of which was arguably the Librarian, but when it became a state agency a Board of Trustees was appointed by the governor. In 1949 that Board grew to fifteen members, and to further complicate matters, an Executive Board is created from those fifteen members, which consists of “President, Vice President, and three additional Board members.”

Still, “during most of its existence, the Board has played a secondary role, leaving the active management of the Society to the paid staff.” That staff did a wonderful job under the direction of Toole until he retired in 1958. Why’d he retire? Primarily the fact that he was tired of fighting the Montana Legislature for funding. What’s more, raising funds had become increasingly difficult. “His espousal of liberal causes in Montana Opinion had earned him the enmity of a cadre of legislators, trustees, and the public,” historian Harry Fritz also tells us.

The Montana Historical Society after Toole

After Toole left there was a string of directors, most lasting about the same amount of time Toole had. The Montana Historical Society Director's records, 1951-2003 lists these directors. These men were:

Michael Kennedy, who had big shoes to fill when he took over, though he held the job until 1966.

Sam Gilluly and his able hand guided the society until 1974.

Ken Korte came in until 1979.

Robert Archibald was director for ten years, until 1989.

Larry Sommer had the job until 1992.

Brian Cockhill directed the society until 1998.

Arnold Olsen took charge until 2006, no relation to the former U.S. House rep, I believe.

Richard Sims led the society until 2010.

Former Montana Secretary of State Mike Cooney became interim director for ten months until 2011. The position had been offered to Hugh Ambrose, the famous historian’s son.

Currently the Montana Historical Society is directed by Bruce Whittenberg, who took over in September 2011. Prior to that he was executive director of Leadership Montana, Inc., “which trains leaders across Montana, and runs his own consulting group,” the Billings Gazette reported. He was also working at MSU Billings as “director of its Center for Business Enterprise.” Until his appointment, he’d “never dreamed of being director.”

Current Montana Historical Society Director Bruce Wittenberg

I’m personally not sure a businessman should be director of a historical society, myself. But maybe the intention of the director these days isn’t to educate the public, but to lobby for money. After all, even back in 2010 the director was trying to get $30 million for their new building. Let’s turn our attention to these political concerns.

The Montana Historical Society’s Historical Concerns

The Montana Historical Society is failing in its mission to educate Montanans, and out-of-staters, about the state’s history.

This is obvious to me when I enter the Research Center, dig around in files, and find nothing new, or a mere newspaper cutting from decades ago. The Yellowstone Pipeline folder in the Research Center is a prime example of this, and I discussed it a bit in that article this week.

In that folder you’ll find a 1955 newspaper cutting talking about the Helena refineries. Nothing else on this vital subject for Montana’s current business, environmental, and political climate is to be found.

A couple of months ago I pulled out the Harry Fritz file, which details the University of Montana historian and also a bit on his political career. The folder was sorely lacking. There should have been plenty of newspaper clippings going past his short 1987 lieutenant governor run.

Perhaps this is due to poor communication. But…why should people in Missoula have to send newspaper clippings to Helena? Shouldn’t all those papers be going to the Montana Historical Society’s third-floor offices, where “professionals” look at them and make cuttings for the file drawers?

I think so, and that’s because I go through those files so I can write information down and put it in books for the general public to read. When that information is not there then it’s clear to me we’ve lost a huge piece of history.

The current staff and director, and perhaps even the Board of Trustees, needs to address this problem. Or are they too busy thinking about a new building to fulfill their mission?

The Montana Historical Society’s Political Concerns

I discussed the Montana Historical Society a bit with the research assistants that were on duty this past Saturday. I talked with the women working the desk at the Research Center as well as the woman at the main desk to the museum. Here are some things I found out:

The Montana Historical Society is required by law to house the historical documents of the state. This is currently becoming hard to do, mainly because of space limitations.

The Research Center has a lot of space for archives, four compacted floors worth, in fact. Still, we’re talking nearly 175 years of history here, and the corresponding documents.

The Capitol Hill Mall had been considered as a new location for the Montana Historical Society, but it was determined the structure and area could not support the weight of all that the Historical Society has. The building would have to be demolished, which would have cost a lot.

You can have tours of the Montana Historical Society during the week, and you might be able to go into the archives.

The Historical Society museum only shows 7% of it’s collection at any given time, and that’s because there’s so little space. Imagine the things we don’t see, or just look:

Wittenberg showing off some of the hidden art of Montana Historical society

Gavel made of anthracite coal

Montana Historical Society Archives

Staff showing Pocket Army revolver

Charlie Russell Room in Montana Historical Society, c 1950s

The place gets about 100 visitors on a busy day, and those typically come during summer. The Research Center gets about 15 people on a busy day, mainly students and academics but also quite a few people coming in to look up genealogy or property or old relatives.

One of the things that kept coming up was how the Montana Historical Society has to pay rent on the building it’s in. Most state agencies have to do the same. I’m sorry, but how does this make sense, budgeting money to an agency so they can budget it back to you? I guess if you want to create more paper-pushers, it’s a dream come true.

Right now it seems that much of the public is being robbed. We’re paying to store these collections, but we can’t even see them. I’d love to see more art, but the Republican legislature won’t fund it, and the Democratic governor won’t call for any kind of funding that isn’t debt.

So nothing gets done. That’s a shame, as they’ve got quite the idea on the ol’ drawing board.

The Montana Heritage Center

It was determined during planning for the new building, mainly through assessing the current collections, public needs, and legal obligations, that the Montana Historical Society needs a new building. Together with the old building, this will be called the Montana Heritage Center.

The current Montana Historical Society building was completed in 1953. As we saw, the building is called the Veterans and Pioneers Memorial Building. It will be renovated to house the Research Center on the ground floor, a new wing for the Charlie Russell art, and to convert existing upper-floor areas into classrooms. The State Historic Preservation Office will also be brought into the building from its current location on 8th Avenue.

Montana State Historic Preservation Office

It’s been determined that a total of 119,805 net square feet of space are needed for the Montana Heritage Center. Thankfully, the current building will supply 66,995 net square feet, meaning the new building only has to be 45,330 net square feet.

The new building will include “museum exhibits, public gathering space and event center, outdoor courtyard and amphitheater as well as appropriate museum collection storage,” according to the informational brochure on the project that can be found in the museum’s entryway.

Proposed design for new Montana Historical Society building

Inside layout for new Montana Historical Society Building

Outside view of new Montana Historical Society building that people want to build

Total costs for this project are $37.5 million, though that’s likely to increase with commodity prices changing, interest rates going up, and all the rest of it. In 2005 the Montana Legislature said that $7.5 million could be raised through bonding. That means $30 million has to be raised, and only $3.5 million has been.

Let’s be completely honest here – this building was set to be built this year. The legislature would have passed the infrastructure bill, but six Republicans in the House voted against it and that started the log rolling and the bill died.

Let’s also be completely honest here – the infrastructure bill would likely not have been challenged if it didn’t contain so much debt. Governor Steve Bullock decided to bond for most of it, and that turned off conservatives.

The Montana Heritage Center can be built, and we have the money to do it. We have more than $400 million in the bank as of this writing. Let’s get that done so we have economic stimulus, more visitors to the Helena Capitol complex, and more great books and films made about the state.

Oh yeah, did I mention most of the historical movies about Montana only come about because of the research that people do at the Montana Historical Society? We’ll discuss that in tomorrow’s post. Thanks for reading!

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Governor Tom Judge

​Ted Schwinden’s Run

Strandbergs Coming to America

Source Material for Strandberg Family Genealogy

Småland, the Ancestral Lands of the Strandberg Family

The Montana Strandberg Family

Some Strandberg Children Leave Sweden

The Strandberg Family Leaves Sweden

Nils Strandberg and the Modern Montana Strandbergs

Conclusion

Montana’s Iraq War Weapons

Montana WWII Weapons and Stories

Montana Civil War Weapons and Stories

Montana World War I Weapons and Stories

Montana Korean War Weapons and Stories

Montana Vietnam Weapons and Stories

The Future of the Trophy Room

The Montana Historical Society Research Center

The Power of Film in Montana

Conclusion

The Montana Historical Society’s Early History

K. Ross Toole’s Historical Society

The Montana Historical Society after Toole

The Montana Historical Society’s Historical Concerns

The Montana Historical Society’s Political Concerns

The Montana Heritage Center

MT Book 7

​Montana Blog

​Popular Posts

Categories

Archives

​My MT History Books

My Montana Novels

My Montana Short Fiction

Conclusion

Prohibition Deaths in Montana Are Rising

HHS Sucks (Like Always)

Ted Schwinden’s Run

Montana Blog

Popular Posts

My MT History Books