Life Saver, by Charles Marion Russell (1910) I’ll have the fourth volume of my Montana History Series out next month.
This book is called Hustlers and Homesteaders and covers 30 years, just like Books 2 and 3. Book 1, as you may know, covers tens of thousands of years.
In this book we explore the history of Montana from 1900 to 1930.
Now, what do you know about this period in American history…what can you name?
Maybe WWI, right? That’s an easy one. How about…the sinking of the Titanic, 1912, right?
What else?
Nothing?
Well, you’re an average American and probably don’t know much about this time period or what happened. Is that your fault? Yes and no.
No because our public education systems do such an inadequate job teaching history, and if your U.S. History class in high school was anything like mine you probably rushed the last month just to get up to WWII.
Yes because you could have gotten yourself down to the library or onto the internet and looked up events that happened in America during those 30 years.
But when it comes to Montana, neither of those things might be true. See, there’s barely anything out there on Montana history after 1900.
Alright, there are some of our key sources that touch upon events after 1900 in a chapter or two. You’ll find many of those books on this post about 5 Great Montana History books.
There are also a couple books that take one subject and talk about it a lot, such as mining or the Alien-Sedition Acts or even the Homesteaders that flocked here from about 1909 to 1918. But you’re just not going to find a book that talks about everything that was going on in Montana during that time, and in such detail.
So what was happening in Montana from 1900 to 1930? Here’s what my table of contents looks like so far:
This book is called Hustlers and Homesteaders and covers 30 years, just like Books 2 and 3. Book 1, as you may know, covers tens of thousands of years.
In this book we explore the history of Montana from 1900 to 1930.
Now, what do you know about this period in American history…what can you name?
Maybe WWI, right? That’s an easy one. How about…the sinking of the Titanic, 1912, right?
What else?
Nothing?
Well, you’re an average American and probably don’t know much about this time period or what happened. Is that your fault? Yes and no.
No because our public education systems do such an inadequate job teaching history, and if your U.S. History class in high school was anything like mine you probably rushed the last month just to get up to WWII.
Yes because you could have gotten yourself down to the library or onto the internet and looked up events that happened in America during those 30 years.
But when it comes to Montana, neither of those things might be true. See, there’s barely anything out there on Montana history after 1900.
Alright, there are some of our key sources that touch upon events after 1900 in a chapter or two. You’ll find many of those books on this post about 5 Great Montana History books.
There are also a couple books that take one subject and talk about it a lot, such as mining or the Alien-Sedition Acts or even the Homesteaders that flocked here from about 1909 to 1918. But you’re just not going to find a book that talks about everything that was going on in Montana during that time, and in such detail.
So what was happening in Montana from 1900 to 1930? Here’s what my table of contents looks like so far:
Part I – The 1900s
Part II – The 1910s
Part III – The 1920s
- Montana in the Spanish American War
- Roosevelt, Yancey and the Yellowstone Arch
- The Building of the Capitol
- Homesteading in the West
- Reclaiming the Land
- Montana Politics in the 1900s
- The Panic of 1907
- Montana and the National Forests
Part II – The 1910s
- Homesteaders Flock to Montana
- Ranchers and Pioneers of Montana
- Early Automobiles in Montana
- Damming the State
- Montana Politics in the 1910s
- Montana and World War I
- After the War
- The Agricultural Crisis
Part III – The 1920s
- The Banking Crisis
- Montana Politics in the 1920s
- The Montana Cattle Industry
- Anaconda Goes South
- The Bounty of the Land
- Tourism in Montana
- Newspapers in Montana
- Banking, Progressivism and the Coming Depression
I know that TOC will change before I finish this thing next month. I really got going on the book two weeks ago and now have 45,000 words and 150 pages. If I went in and added all the pictures I have it’d bump it up closer to 200 pages. And I’ve barely even gotten into the 1920s and the myriad things that were happening in Montana at that time.
There’s no rush to finish this, though. Just 6 copies of Book 3, Braves and Bussinessmen, have been sold, although that number’s a bit higher on iTunes. And just 24 copies of Book 2, Priests and Prospectors, have been sold.
Damn, people aren’t reading these books! Maybe I have too many excerpts on this blog. There are thirteen excerpts from Book 2 and eight for Book 3. So far I’ve got zero for this new book, and I honestly don’t think I’ll put up more than three.
Yep, this blog is dying, mainly because I’d rather have you buy my work than read it for free. Does that make me a bad person?
Most people seem to think so, as the articles on this blog are read by thousands each month, but the sales…well, you know.
Oh well, Book 4 will be done in September and hopefully Book 5 will come early next year. I’m at the good part of Montana history, the part no one knows about but which everyone can argue over. Yeah, the part that many people were born in.
We’re getting up into the ‘50s with our next volume, and I cannot wait until people have their history thrown in their face so they’ll have to wipe it away in disgust.
Deregulation and Marc Racicot…Book 6 is coming for you as well! Next spring both of your legacies will be…well, I guess we’ll just have to wait and see, huh?
There’s no rush to finish this, though. Just 6 copies of Book 3, Braves and Bussinessmen, have been sold, although that number’s a bit higher on iTunes. And just 24 copies of Book 2, Priests and Prospectors, have been sold.
Damn, people aren’t reading these books! Maybe I have too many excerpts on this blog. There are thirteen excerpts from Book 2 and eight for Book 3. So far I’ve got zero for this new book, and I honestly don’t think I’ll put up more than three.
Yep, this blog is dying, mainly because I’d rather have you buy my work than read it for free. Does that make me a bad person?
Most people seem to think so, as the articles on this blog are read by thousands each month, but the sales…well, you know.
Oh well, Book 4 will be done in September and hopefully Book 5 will come early next year. I’m at the good part of Montana history, the part no one knows about but which everyone can argue over. Yeah, the part that many people were born in.
We’re getting up into the ‘50s with our next volume, and I cannot wait until people have their history thrown in their face so they’ll have to wipe it away in disgust.
Deregulation and Marc Racicot…Book 6 is coming for you as well! Next spring both of your legacies will be…well, I guess we’ll just have to wait and see, huh?
