Nov. 13 – On this day in Montana history in 1902 the Dupuyer Acantha had an advertisement that reminds us of how much we take creature comforts for granted now days. Mrs. F.H. Dean, the “proprietress” of the Dupuyer Hotel, announced the hotel was under new management. “First Class in Every Respect. Board by the Day or Week at Reasonable Rates,” the ad said. In bold letters the ad then screamed out its main selling point: “Hot and Cold Water.” 

Nov. 12 – On this day in Montana History in 1809 David Thompson, for whom Thompson Falls is named, started work on his Salish House trading post on the north bank of the Clark Fork River in the Flathead Valley. It had three log structures -- a warehouse, an office, and living quarters. It was Montana’s first trading post and remained the center of the fur trade in the valley for 40 years.

Nov. 9 – On this day in Montana history in 1919 artist Edgar Paxson died in Missoula at age 67. He started out as a sign painter, and one of his signs is on display in Virginia City. His later artworks, including beautiful murals in the entry way to the House Chamber in the State Capitol, tell the story of Montana in its early years. Paxson also was a veteran and died from complications of wounds he has suffered during the Spanish American War where he served in the Montana Volunteers that are now the National Guard.MHS has a major Paxon exhibit up currently in the Museum just east of the State Capitol.

Nov. 8 – On this day in Montana history in 1889 the key in Helena’s Western Union telegraph office clicked out the message that President Benjamin Harrison had just signed a proclamation making Montana the 41^st state in the union. The news came as a surprise, and the Great Falls Tribune headline read “News Not Expected So Soon – A General Celebration Deferred.”

Nov. 7 – On this day in Montana history in 1869 John Bishop and Richard Reynolds brought the first sheep into Montana to their ranches on the Beaverhead River near what is now Dillon. They brought the sheep in from Oregon and said it took 80 days which was “a pretty slow trip to the tune of blatting sheep.” Cattlemen were upset, but sheep became an important part of agriculture in Montana.

Nov. 6 – On this day in Montana history in 1931 an advertisement in the Circle Banner reminds us that no matter how much things change, the more they remain the same. The Jacobs Wind Electric Co. took out a half-page ad touting the future with “Self Governing, Wind Electric, Farm Lighting Plants.” Complete with a photograph that looks surprisingly like the windmill generators popping up across the country today, the ad noted that the secret was “the three-bladed, centrifugal governor-controlled, propeller type wheel” that always face into the wind -- like those used today. The future was here, but not quite yet.

Nov. 5 – On this day in Montana history in 1887 a young visionary named Sword Bearer was killed in a skirmish with U.S. Cavalry on the Crow Reservation. Sword Bearer had a spiritual experience that caused him to see himself as a prophet and savior of his people. He had caused such a stir on the reservation that the people of Billings were talking about forming a militia to put the uprising down. The uprising was even more surprising because the tribe had a record of peaceful relations with whites for a full decade after suppression of hostilities on the northern plains. His death is still controversial, and even the Billings Gazette said this about his vision: “It was one of the most remarkable incidents in the history of the northwestern Indians that nearly 200 of them should stand before 15 companies of soldiers and a battery of Hotchkiss rifles on the strength of such a belief.”