Ellen Baumler's Blog, page 17

The Gypsy Fortune Teller

Reigning over the Gypsy Arcade in Virginia City, the famous Gypsy Fortune Teller is the most unusual and rarest treasure among the hundreds of thousands of artifacts and antiques that fill the state-owned buildings there. Charles and Sue Bovey were inveterate collectors who bought whole inventories of antiquated goods. They bought the gypsy in the 1950s, and until the 1970s, tourists could drop a nickel in the machine and hear their fortunes read. The gypsy would flash her creepy eyes, click...

Jersey Lilly

Completion of the “Milwaukee Road” brought hundreds of homesteaders to Ingomar in Rosebud County during the 1910s. During its heyday, Ingomar was the sheep-shearing and wool-shipping center. It saw two million tons of wool annually.  On July 2, 1914, the Ingomar Index announced that a bank would soon open, marking an important milestone in the community’s development. Investors H. B. Wiley, C. W. Greening, and E. B. Clark hired bookkeeper W. T. Craig. All, declared the Index, were busine...

Friday Photo: Bird Wild Hog

Montana Historical Society Photograph Archives, 981-170Bird Wild Hog posed for this portrait by photographer Christian Barthelmess in 1892.

Pioneer Artifacts

Helena’s Pioneer Cabin, the oldest documented dwelling in the capital city, was built in 1864 during the height of the gold rush to Last Chance Gulch. In the late 1930s, women in the community saved it from demolition and created Montana’s first house museum. The Pioneer Cabin opened to the public in 1939. Helena’s pioneer families generously donated heirlooms of the 1860s and 1870s, used by their ancestors at Last Chance, to furnish the museum. Among the interesting items in the cabin is a p...

Labor Day

The late nineteenth century was a time of national labor unrest when workers nation-wide protested deplorable working conditions. Labor unions in New York City celebrated the first Labor Day on Tuesday, September 5, 1882. Ten thousand workers took unpaid leave to march from City Square to Union Hall. The idea caught on, and many states followed New York’s lead. In 1891, Montana joined nine other states whose legislatures had previously designated the holiday: New York, Pennsylvania, Connectic...

Friday Photo: Working on the Railroad

Montana Historical Society Photograph Archives, Railroad CollectionHappy Labor Day weekend! Here's a classic photo of laborers. Japanese railroad crews like this one built hundreds of miles of track in Montana. These men are getting ready for the last spike celebration of the Chicago, Milwaukee, & St. Paul Railroad, better known as the Milwaukee Road, four miles west of Garrison, Montana. The photo was taken on May 19, 1909.

There’s Something Out There!

Here's a link to some background about the Flathead Lake monster, the topic of today's post.

Skeptics have explained the mysterious creature sighted in Montana's Flathead Lake as an overweight skindiver, a mother-in-law in a swimsuit, a sturgeon, a superfish, a prehistoric holdover, even a wayward seal. As unlikely as it may seem, however, the USO (unidentified swimming object) may not be a hoax. For well more than a century, reports of something in the third largest body of fresh water west o...

W. A. Clark Theater

When W. A. Clark died in 1925, he was one of the fifty richest men in the United States. His wealth endowed the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library at the University of California, the School of Law at the University of Virginia, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. In Montana where he made most of his fortune, Clark built Columbia Gardens—a state-of-the-art amusement park—in 1899. Built for the people of Butte with uncharacteristic generosity, the park promoted Clark’s political am...

Friday Photo: Blackfoot Glacier

Montana Historical Society Photograph Archives, 956-593These hikers climbed Blackfoot Glacier on Mount Jackson in 1909, one year before Glacier National Park was founded.

Fort Benton’s Hoo Doo Block

Vigilantes hanged desperado William Hynson at Fort Benton in 1868. The hanging on Block 25, some believed, triggered a series of dark events on that site. Sheriff John Morgan built a livery stable, a hand-dug well, and a home on Block 25 around the time of Hynson's hanging. Morgan's wife died and his house burned down. Soon after, during a skirmish in the streets of Fort Benton, an Indian was hanged on Block 25 and the bodies of several Blackfeet were thrown into Morgan’s well. It was thereaf...