Ellen Baumler's Blog, page 55

Prison Escape

Warden Frank Conley at the Montana State Prison in Deer Lodge kept fearsome full-blooded hounds trained to track escapees. They were enclosed in a high fence inside the prison walls. In 1902, prisoner Thomas O'Brien foiled these hounds in a spectacular getaway. O'Brien, who claimed he was innocent of grand larceny, had served half of his five-year sentence. He was a trustworthy prisoner who had some freedom in his assigned job as stable boss of the large barn outside the prison walls. O'Brien...

Extra! Extra! The Story of Mary Ronan

I have exciting news, history buffs! As of this morning, you can download Girl from the Gulches: The Story of Mary Ronan as an eBook. Mary Ronan grew up in the early Montana gold camps. In 1865, her father moved the family from Virginia City to Helena. They settled into a cabin on Clore Street (now Park Avenue), just up the block from the Pioneer Cabin. In this excerpt from the book, Mary remembers going to school in Helena.

Professor Stone and his brother opened a private school in August 186...

Japanese Balloons

Historian Jon Axline tells a story about Oscar Hill and his son, who in 1944 were cutting firewood seventeen miles southwest of Kalispell. They found a strange parachute-like object with Japanese writing and a rising sun symbol stenciled on it. Sheriff Duncan McCarthy took the object to a Kalispell garage. Rumors flew and soon five hundred people crowded into the garage to take a look. It turned out to be a Japanese balloon rigged to carry a bomb. It was the beginning of an aerial attack on t...

Friday Photo: Elk-tooth Dresses

Happy Friday! Our celebration of Women's History Month ends today, but remember that you can look back any time at the posts labeled "women."

From Montana Views. Original in Montana Historical Society Photograph Archives, ST 001.338These young Crow women modeled their elk-tooth dresses circa 1906-1908. Elk-tooth dresses may be embellished with hundreds of teeth and are treasured by their owners. The photo was taken by N. A. Forsyth.

P.S. On the topic of fashion history, remember this fancy outf...

Greenough Sisters

As the first national professional rodeo organization formed in 1929 with men and women as members, Marge and Alice Greenough of Red Lodge bridged the final transition between the old West and the modern era. Their father, "Packsaddle Ben" Greenough, was a local character who guided seasonal packtrips into the local wilderness. The Greenoughs kept horses by the hundreds. Ben expected his children to gentle the wildest horses in a rock-littered corral. "Nobody," Marge reflected, "could get buc...

Mother Berry

One of Montana's most colorful characters was a woman known as Mother Berry. Her real name was Elizabeth Williams Berry, but Mother suited her just fine. Born in Australia in 1854, the feisty Elizabeth began a long career racing horses at age six. She became a jockey of great renown, racing all over the world under the name Jack Williams. Women jockeys were rare back then, and she disguised herself by wearing racing silks, a derby hat, and smoking cigars. At the age of fifty-four, Elizabeth m...

Friday Photo: Evelyn Cameron

In celebration of Women's History Month, here's a famous photo of a famous Montanan.

From Montana Views. Original in Montana Historical Society Photograph Archives, PAc 90-87.273Evelyn Cameron posed on her horse, Jim, for this self portrait. Cameron is known for the wonderful photos she took documenting ranch and homestead life in eastern Montana around the turn of the century. I'm hoping to follow her lead and spend some time on horseback this weekend. I intend to stay seated, though.

P.S. ...

Maggie Hathaway

Acclaimed for translating ethics into action, Maggie Hathaway blazed a long and noteworthy trail as one of the first two women elected to the Montana Legislature in 1917. Hathaway campaigned vigorously for woman suffrage before the 1914 election, traveling just as many thousands of miles as Jeannette Rankin. She did the same for Prohibition in 1916, speaking in every neighborhood in Ravalli County. During her two legislative terms, Hathaway's fellow male legislators affectionately called her ...

Emma Ingalls

The newspaper Emma Ingalls and her husband founded, the Kalispell Inter Lake, allowed her to editorialize for civic reform. A rival editor said she was a "clever and interesting writer who occasionally wielded a caustic pen." Ingalls was also a pioneer homesteader, the first to irrigate in the Flathead Valley, and managed by herself when her husband's health failed. One of the first two women elected to the Montana Legislature in 1917, Ingalls introduced the national suffrage amendment when i...

Friday Photo

Celebration of Women's History Month continues...

Montana Historical Society Photograph Archives, PAc 88-29This Missoula women's basketball game includes player Jeannette Rankin (third player from left), who later represented Montana in the U.S. Congress. Click the photo for a bigger version.

P.S. Remember these athletes?