Jan. 15 – On this day in Montana history in 1917 the Billings Gazette on its news pages called for a special session of the Legislature to find a way to provide economic support so that farmers could purchase seed for next year’s crop. Drought and tight lending practices threatened not only the economy of the state – as many farmers said they were unable to secure loans for seed – but also the World War One war effort.  Farmers must be “given financial assistance on the broad ground that the war will be won or lost in the grain fields, or in other words on the ability of the combatants to properly feed their soldiers.”