July 19 – On this day in Montana history in 1913 the AAA Glidden trophy was presented to Dr. J. D. Park of Duluth, Minn., who beat out several other competitors in a harrowing reliability road trip by automobile from Minneapolis to Glacier National Park. The trip took nine days and put the national park on the map as a drivable destination for motorists. Park’s Locomobile  beat out a Hupmobile for the prize.

July 18 – On this day in Montana history in 1934 The Blackfeet Tribe of Browning was receiving high praise for the musical performance its 23-member band gave at the Calgary Stampede. The band members were all graduates of Indian schools and colleges. They were about to embark on a tour of eastern Canada and the United States.

July 17 – On this day in Montana history in 1860 Capt. John Mullan reached the summit of the Continental Divide west of what is now Helena. He had first been at this point six years before on a survey trip for the U.S. Army. This time he had a road building crew with him that was laying out the first  overland route between Fort Benton – the terminus of Missouri River boat traffic – to Walla Walla and the gateway to the Columbia River. The pass is now known as Mullan Pass in his honor. The next day the crew experienced a solar eclipse.

July 16 – On this day in Montana history in 1806 the William Clark and part of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, which had split up on its return trip, crossed the Bozeman Pass and began its descent on what is now known as the Yellowstone River. Clark reported in his diary that the current was rapid on the ”Rochejhone.” He was busy looking for a large cottonwood tree so that he could build a canoe that could navigate the water.

July 15 – On this day in Montana history in 1933 the famous Going to the Sun Highway in Glacier National Park was dedicated. A crowd of about 5,000 people gathered at the summit of Logan Pass. Part of the event was a ceremony involving the Blackfeet, Kootenai and Flathead Tribes. Tribal leaders passed a peace pipe between them signifying an official end to traditional enmity that has separated the tribes. National Park Service Director Horace Albright the road gives all people access to see “the glory of Glacier’s peaks and crags.” In summary he said: let there be no completion of other roads with the Going to the Sun Highway. It should stand supreme and alone.” It still does. 

July 12 – On this day in Montana history in 1923 in the Cabinet Mountains forest in western Montana Ranger Howard Larsen had a harrowing experience with a grizzly bear. While blazing a trail armed with only a small marking axe, the bear charged Larsen, who managed to scramble up a tree. The bear followed and managed to get a paw on the ranger’s boot and tear it off before it fell to the ground. The incident rekindled the argument about whether bears should be considered game animals, or killed off as dangerous predators.

July 11 – On this day in Montana history in 1861 the river boat Chippewa blew up at what became known as Disaster Bend on the Missouri when it was nearing the end of its trip to Fort Benton. The disaster blew goods intended for Native Americans more than three miles away. Perhaps in some strange form of justice, the accident occurred when a deck hand with a candle was trying to get a drink from illegal whiskey being smuggled for the Indian trade. He set off 25 kegs of black powder in the hold. Captain Joseph LaBarge was one of the victims. It was LaBarge who in 1859 took the first steamship all the way to Fort Benton.

This day in Montana history is brought to you by your friends at the Montana Historical Society.

July 10 – On this day in Montana history in 1894 units of the 22^nd Infantry arrived in Livingston to open the Northern Pacific Railroad lines and stop what had become a nationwide railroad strike known as the Pullman Strike. Capt. B.C. Lockwood reportedly said upon the arrival of his troops: “I am running this town.”  It was a harbinger of the major labor strikes that were coming in the next century.