Ellen Baumler's Blog, page 23

Poacher Gulch

Tales of Chinese terraces along a remote, heavily timbered hillside in Sanders County attracted the attention of Forest Service and University of Montana archaeologists in 2006. The site was unlike any other in Montana with rock-lined terraces, moss-covered with age, spanning several hundred feet along a steep slope. Forest Service archaeologists discovered these terraces in 1979, tucked away in an obscure drainage known as Poacher Gulch. Locals firmly believed that Chinese miners built them....

Friday Photo: Night Owl

Montana Historical Society Photograph Archives, PAc 80-88 Box 1 F8Emmet Burke (r.) and Ed Craney (l.) hosted the Night Owl program, an all-night Saturday night show on KGIR in Butte in the 1930s.

Easter Bonnets and Easter Eggs

The Culbertson Searchlight reported on March 25, 1910, that Easter customs have a long and colorful history. The idea that folks should wear something new is tied to the coming of spring and renewal of the fields. The custom of wearing something new evolved into the superstition that wearing a new item on Easter would insure good fortune in love affairs. Christian women often focused on hats as the new item. In times past, the Easter hat was the outward material expression of the joyous resur...

House of the Good Shepherd

A small colony of five Sisters of the House of the Good Shepherd arrived in Helena in 1889 at the invitation of Bishop John Brondel. He was keenly aware that many of Montana’s wild and wicked mining camps and urban areas supported thriving red light districts. The bishop was concerned that young girls might be enticed into an immoral lifestyle and wanted to offer these young girls (and women of the “profession”) sanctuary. The Sisters of the Good Shepherd fit the needs perfectly. The Catholic...

Friday Photo: Pet Antelope

Montana Historical Society Photograph Archives, PAc 90-87 200Netty Archdale feeds her pet antelope on her ranch in eastern Montana. The photo was taken by Evelyn Cameron on June 9, 1908.

P.S. Remember this strange pet?

The Death of Mrs. Spratt

Helenans may be familiar with the story of the sheriff’s wife who died in the Lewis and Clark County jail when her husband’s gun discharged. This story has long floated around, and here are the facts that go with it. The tragedy took place upstairs in what is now the Myrna Loy Center for the Performing Arts.

Lewis and Clark County Jail and Courthouse. Montana Historical Society Photograph Archives, 953-357It was 8:30 on the morning of November 11, 1922. Sheriff Thomas Spratt was in his pr...

Swastikas

Some years ago the Montana Club in Helena was undergoing a little cleanup. The indoor/outdoor carpeting that covered the entryway had become loose and dangerous. Workmen pulled it up and were aghast to discover what lay beneath. The historic tiled entryway was interspersed with swastikas.

Photo by Katie Baumler-MoralesThe discovery had the community talking, wondering if they would be quickly covered again. Fortunately management chose to leave the swastikas exposed. They are a fabulous teachi...

Friday Photo: Missoula Track Meet

Montana Historical Society Photograph Archives, PAc 2006-26.30Boys wearing track uniforms from various Montana high schools line up for the start of a race at a track meet in Missoula in 1910. The officials stand at the right side of the photo. This track meet was probably held at the University.

State Capitol Rotunda Roundels

The Pedretti brothers painted much of the art in the Montana State Capitol, but it was Governor Joseph K. Toole who dictated the subject matter. Toole wanted the Capitol to reflect the people and events important to Montana’s heritage. In the magnificent Capitol’s rotunda, four roundels, painted on canvas in 1902, portray people important to Montana’s past.


The Trapper represents famous mountain man Jim Bridger (1804–1881), who guided many early trappers and explorers into the Montana wilderne...

Captain Keogh’s Love of Horses

Comanche, the favorite mount of Captain Myles Keogh, carried his master into many battles and survived him at the battle at Little Big Horn. Comanche was perhaps a special horse because of the exceptional way Captain Keogh treated his horses. One biographer points out that Captain Keogh was “a noble-hearted gentleman, the beau ideal of a cavalry commander, and the very soul of valor.” By all accounts, his good character extended to the treatment of his horses, and from his personal correspond...