Aug. 31 – On this day in Montana history in 1953 Montanans experienced their first television commercial. KXLF owned by famous broadcaster Ed Craney in Butte moved the station’s only camera to the street where automobiles for sale by the Wilson Motor Company were paraded by it as an announcer described them. Depending on your point of view, the ad was said to be successful and millions more were to follow.

    

Aug. 31 – On this day in Montana history in 1953 Montanans experienced their first television commercial. KXLF owned by famous broadcaster Ed Craney in Butte moved the station’s only camera to the street where automobiles for sale by the Wilson Motor Company were paraded by it as an announcer described them. Depending on your point of view, the ad was said to be successful and millions more were to follow.

    

July 31 -- On this day in Montana history in 1934 Robert Yellowtail was installed as superintendent of the Crow Reservation. What made the event unique was that Yellowtail was a member of the Crow Tribe, and it is believed that he was one of the first tribal members in the nation to become a superintendent of a reservation.

July 30 – On this day in Montana history in 1931 the Hingham American carried a prayer from a local Hill County minister: “Oh, Lord, we pray thee in accordance with the request of this people that Thou send the rain to make their crops flourish, bring forth fruit abundantly; but, oh Lord, thou knowest as I know, as they ought to know, that what they need is good plowing, better cultivation and more summer fallowing, Amen.”  There was a minister using God and science to make the Montana land produce.

July 29 – On this day in Montana history in 1865 The Montana Post reported that “ships of the desert” had found their way to Montana. A train of camels drew “a large crowd of idlers and spectators attracted by the novel spectacle.” The camels were not circus animals, but were being used to carry freight and supplies to remote mining areas. A company out of San Francisco was experimenting with camels as a better alternative to oxen and mules.  

July 28 – On this day in Montana history in 1972 Fanny Cory Cooney died at age 94 after a long and fruitful career as one of the nation’s favorite illustrators and artists. Her nationally syndicated daily “Sonnysayings” and “Little Miss Muffet” cartoon adventure series were loved by readers across the country. But one of her highest honors, she said, was being named Montana Mother of the year in 1951. She also found time with her husband Fred to raise three children on their ranch near Canyon Ferry near Helena. 

July 27 – On this day in Montana history in 1906 the Carbon County Joliet Journal reported that a “game of baseball between Joliet and Carbonado proved a sensational and spectacular event.”  Proving that taunting and “dissing” opponents is nothing new, the paper said “the Carbonado team was handicapped from the start on account of having became used to pitching hay and plowing beets.” It said the score “stood 2 to 24” when “the Joliet runners became so tired they could run no more.”

Aug. 25 – On this day in Montana history in 1959 the famous white buffalo “Big Medicine” died at the Moisse National Bison Range in Montana. He was not an albino but a true white bison. After his death artist and taxidermist Bob Scriver preserved his remains and they are still on exhibit at the Montana Historical Society.  

July 24 – On this day in Montana history in 1902 W.T. Hornaday of the New York Zoological Society and now famous Miles City photographer  L.A. Huffman found the fossil remains of a “gigantic lizard” on MacScriber’s ranch on Hell Creek near the Missouri River that measured 37 feet in length. Hornaday would later shoot and use taxidermy to record the last free-ranging buffalo in Montana.   

July 23 – On this day in Montana history in 1918 the Bozeman Weekly Courier had a big headline: High-Class Entertainment Is Object of Chautauqua.” Opening the next day it claimed to be one of the first held in Montana. “Every man, woman and child who misses the sessions will miss something that should be seen.” Lectures, band music, magicians and other attractions at the Chautauqua would “Replace the old-fashioned street carnival and its vulgarities,” the paper predicted.

July 22 – On this day in Montana history in 1915 baseball got a double deck headline on the front page of the Forsyth Times-Journal. “Glendive Ball Team Meets Double Defeat At Forsyth’s Hands,” the large headline screamed. It didn’t give a specific figure, but said “attendance at both games is very encouraging.” The national pastime had taken hold in Montana.

July 21 – On this day in Montana history in 1925 what was called the Upper Missouri Historical Expedition that was recording and marking important historical sites in the river valley held what it called its crowning event when it reached the summit of Marias Pass. Several hundred people gathered to see a statue of John Stevens unveiled. His 1889 exploration of the area eventually allowed the Great Northern Railroad to complete its mainline to the Pacific Coast.

July 20 --  On this day in Montana history in 1893 the temperature hit a blistering 117 degrees in Glendive. The Glendive Independent quipped in its report of the record heat wave: “Don’t the Bible say something about burning up, brethren of the press?”

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 14 – On this day in Montana history in 1883 Northern Pacific Railroad publicist Eugene Smalley laid the groundwork for what would become Livingston’s enduring claim as what he called the “Gateway to Yellowstone National Park.” A 52-mile rail spur was being completed between Livingston and Cinnabar along the Yellowstone River. Eventually, car traffic supplanted the now abandoned rail line to the park, but Livingston still remains the gateway city.

July 13 – On this day in Montana history in 1941 12-year-old Terry Palo won the first soapbox derby in the state held at Great Falls. More than 1,500 people lined Central Avenue to watch the event. Even then controversy was a part of racing. One young driver was disqualified for having an “illegal steering apparatus.” Palo said afterwards that he hadn’t ever driven a real car, but wanted to become “a racing pilot and drive on the Indianapolis speedway.”

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.  

July 9 – On this day in Montana history in 1930 15,000 people turned out for the dedication of the first bridge over the Missouri River east of Fort Benton near Wolf Point. The Wolf Point Herald wrote “Seen at a distance of 15 miles this massive structure appears as vaporous as the ethereal substance of which dreams are made.” It brought families and friends closer together and was a boon to economic development in northeast Montana. 

July 8 – On this day in Montana history in 1958 the Bozeman Daily Chronicle reported that Montana was in the international news after two pilots flying over the Spanish Peaks area near Bozeman reported 8 or 9 flying discs at an altitude of 32,000 feet that forced them to dive to 25,000 feet to avoid them.

July 7 – On this day in Montana history in 1884 noted Montana pioneer Granville Stuart sent a group of his vigilantes to a rustler’s cabin on the Missouri River near Rocky Point. They had a fight with a group of rustlers, and confiscated a large herd of horses with the brands of many central Montana cattle operations on their hides. The Vigilantes are often associated with the early mining days in Virginia City and Helena, but their wrath and “justice” were known across Montana well into the ranching days.

July 6 – On this day in Montana history in 1964 Gallatin County authorities were investigating  a “mob rampage” in West Yellowstone that saw about 30 residents of the community using ax handles against what was called a “mob of about 1,000 teenagers and college-age young people” who had come to the town to celebrate the Fourth of July.  “Illegal possession of beer” was seen as the cause of the incident that saw several fires, many tipped over outdoor toilets and other damage. 

July 3 -- On this day in Montana history in 1901 Kid Curry, whose real name was Harvey Logan and was one of the Hole in the Wall Gang, held up the Great Northern train near Malta. As in the famous movie “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” Logan had trouble blowing up the safe, and had to increase the dynamite he used in three different tries before blowing the money car up. But he got away with more than $100,000 -- a lot of money in those days.

July 2 – On this day in Montana History in 1872 William Wesley Van Orsdel who had just arrived at Fort Benton by steamboat was preaching a street corner sermon and beginning to build a legend all across Montana for his circuit-riding, missionary, educational efforts, health care and children’s activist work. He came to be known simply as Brother Van. When asked why he wanted to come to Montana he said: “To preach, to sing and encourage people to be good.”

July 1 – On this day in Montana history in 1867 Acting Montana Territorial Gov. and Civil War Gen. Thomas Francis Meagher was reported drowned in the Missouri River at Fort Benton at age 41 Territorial Gov. Green Clay Smith in his official proclamation of mourning for Meagher wrote: “He was a man of high social qualities, great urbanity, a high order of intellect, a brave soldier, a true gentleman, and an honor to his Territory and Government.” Meagher’s body was never found and controversy still swirls about the circumstances of his death.