Ellen Baumler's Blog, page 51
July 4, 2012
The Fight on the Fourth
Happy Independence Day!
Oil discovered near Shelby in 1922 brought the promise of prosperity. Shelby had train service, several banks had recently opened, and the town’s future looked bright. City officials thought they could make the town a center for tourism and further boost the economy. And so to promote the town, officials planned to hold the World Heavyweight Championship Fight between Jack Dempsey and Tommy Gibbons in Shelby. Tying in patriotism with their promotional scheme, the fight...
Oil discovered near Shelby in 1922 brought the promise of prosperity. Shelby had train service, several banks had recently opened, and the town’s future looked bright. City officials thought they could make the town a center for tourism and further boost the economy. And so to promote the town, officials planned to hold the World Heavyweight Championship Fight between Jack Dempsey and Tommy Gibbons in Shelby. Tying in patriotism with their promotional scheme, the fight...
July 2, 2012
Camel Trains
If you are stressed out about your Fourth of July preparations, here's a humorous perspective:
In the earliest days of the Montana mining camps, transportation was slow, and miners often waited in vain for ox-drawn freight wagons and mule trains to deliver supplies. Bad weather frequently delayed such essential items as mail, flour, and of course, whiskey. Stories abound about freighters caught in winter storms (check out the Winter issue of Montana The Magazine of Western Histo...
In the earliest days of the Montana mining camps, transportation was slow, and miners often waited in vain for ox-drawn freight wagons and mule trains to deliver supplies. Bad weather frequently delayed such essential items as mail, flour, and of course, whiskey. Stories abound about freighters caught in winter storms (check out the Winter issue of Montana The Magazine of Western Histo...
June 29, 2012
Friday Photo: Glacier National Park Tour Bus
Did you hear? The Going-to-the-Sun Road is open, and the forecast for the park is calling for sixties and seventies all weekend. Wouldn't you love to take a tour?
Montana Historical Society Photograph Archives, PAc 93-25 A3 214The Blackfeet inducted western artist E. W. Deming into the tribe and named him Eight Bears for his family of eight. In this photo, the Demings pose in a tour bus circa 1914 with their Blackfeet driver, Lazy Boy, at the wheel.
Montana Historical Society Photograph Archives, PAc 93-25 A3 214The Blackfeet inducted western artist E. W. Deming into the tribe and named him Eight Bears for his family of eight. In this photo, the Demings pose in a tour bus circa 1914 with their Blackfeet driver, Lazy Boy, at the wheel.
June 27, 2012
Arline Allen’s Embarrassing Innuendo
Yesterday I got a treat. My publisher gave me a handful of copies of my new book, More Montana Moments, fresh from the printer! You won't find it in most stores for another month or so, but the Montana Historical Society Museum Store does have copies available. Here's one of my favorite excerpts:The Allen family long operated one of Helena’s most popular livery stables, the Allen Livery at Ewing and Breckenridge. The former stable has a long and colorful history and is Helena’s best-preserved...
June 25, 2012
First Missoula Cemetery
In the summer of 1974, a Missoula homeowner was adding a porch to his house on Cherry Street when he got a big surprise. The backhoe digging the foundation unearthed something that should not have been there: human bones. The coroner confirmed the discovery of two sets of bones encased in the decayed wood of old-fashioned coffins. Authorities determined that no foul play was involved. These were simply historic burials, the individuals placed in the ground by loved ones hoping for their etern...
June 22, 2012
Friday Photo: Libby Logger Days
Libby Logger Days started yesterday and runs through the weekend. Are you going?
Montana Historical Society Photograph Archives, PAc 2002-62 E1B-10890Competitors put muscle into the cross-cut saw (also known as the misery whip) at Libby Logger Days. Photo by Bill Browning. Date unknown.
Montana Historical Society Photograph Archives, PAc 2002-62 E1B-10890Competitors put muscle into the cross-cut saw (also known as the misery whip) at Libby Logger Days. Photo by Bill Browning. Date unknown.
June 20, 2012
Pictograph Cave Cannibals
English professor H. Melville Sayre of the Montana School of Mines at Butte led the first archaeological excavations at Pictograph Cave, a National Historic Landmark, near Billings. Under foreman Oscar T. Lewis, a Glendive rancher and self-taught archaeologist, the dig was funded by the Depression-era New Deal Works Progress Administration of the 1930s. It put numerous crew members to work. According to locals who frequented the excavation site as visitors in 1937 and 1938, both Sayre and Lew...
June 18, 2012
Crow Agency Archaeology
Archeological investigations have recently exposed the foundations of the second Crow agency in the Stillwater Valley near Absarokee. A full-scale excavation, conducted by Aaberg Cultural Resources, came about as preliminary to the Montana Department of Transportation’s planned widening of a three-mile stretch of Highway 78. Testing for archaeological sites is required for projects that disturb the right-of-way. The highway bisected the suspected location of the agency that existed there betw...
June 15, 2012
Friday Photo: Bikes
What are you up to this weekend? Biking, perhaps?
Montana Historical Society Photograph Archives, 955-925Crow School boys and girls show off their bikes at Crow Agency in 1896. Left to right: Unidentified, Unidentified, Russell White Bear, Henry Shin Bone, Annie Wesley, Addie Bear in the Middle, Fanny Butterfly, Kitty Deer Nose. Photographer unknown. Click the photo for a bigger version.
P.S. Remember these intrepid cyclists?
Montana Historical Society Photograph Archives, 955-925Crow School boys and girls show off their bikes at Crow Agency in 1896. Left to right: Unidentified, Unidentified, Russell White Bear, Henry Shin Bone, Annie Wesley, Addie Bear in the Middle, Fanny Butterfly, Kitty Deer Nose. Photographer unknown. Click the photo for a bigger version.P.S. Remember these intrepid cyclists?
June 13, 2012
Homestead Horror!
A Plentywood rancher once told of a childhood experience that made a lasting impression. Before the Rural Electrification Administration brought electricity to many ranches in the late 1930s, the New Deal’s Agricultural Adjustment Administration helped Montana farmers by channeling some ten million dollars worth of contract money into the desperate economy. Some families who benefitted from this new money splurged on automobiles. This particular family was proud of their new car, and in the e...
