March 2021
Rachel Phillips
Shortly after 8:00 am on March 5, 2009, a natural gas explosion rocked downtown Bozeman. The initial blast and resulting fire destroyed and damaged several historic buildings on the north side of Main Street, just east of Bozeman Avenue. Tragically…
February 2021
Rachel Phillips
On a pleasant Sunday in July 1910, sixty-nine single men gathered in Manhattan to commiserate with each other on their lonely conditions. According to the Manhattan Record, ‘Brooks’ Duff, Charles Duffin, Al Oliver, Bill Perks, and George…
January 2021
Rachel Phillips
The community of Gallatin Gateway is one of the older settlements in Gallatin County and had its beginnings in the 1860s. Zachariah Sales relocated his family from Wisconsin to the Gallatin Valley in 1865, and they began ranching. Because of the…
December 2020
Kelly Hartman
Winters are long in Montana, especially when you grow up in the mountains at Silver Gate, Montana, like I did. For those with an artistic bent (I went to college for art), a long winter can be a joyous time for cozying up with your favorite crafts…
November 2020
Was there anything good about the flu outbreak of 1918?
I have been thinking about my mom, Gudruda Berg (1902-1996), and the flu epidemic (more correctly pandemic) of 1918. That autumn, my mom was sixteen-years-old and living in Montana State College’s Hamilton Hall in Bozeman. She had just started…
October 2020
Kelly Hartman
When one steps foot into the Gallatin History Museum, one is stepping into history itself. The building, constructed as the Gallatin County Jail, officially opened December of 1911. While much of the interior has been altered since the change from…
September 2020
Rachel Phillips
When the city of Bozeman incorporated on March 26, 1883, John V. Bogert was elected the city’s enthusiastic first mayor. The new city leader and his aldermen immediately began passing ordinances regulating everything from business signs to…
August 2020
Angie Jamison
Western CafeThis one is getting a fresh burst of popularity thanks to the younger generations having found out about it. It’s also where everyone wants to bring visitors to give them the “Montana” experience. What we…
August 2020
Kelly Hartman
In 1933, the soap box made its debut on a bumpy hill in Dayton, Ohio. What started with three boys quickly escalated up to hundreds of homemade crate cars and nearly 40,000 spectators by the end of the summer. It was in the heart of the Great…
August 2020
Crystal Alegria
Isabel Wilkerson, the author of The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration, speaks about the importance of humanizing history and recognizing historical figures as our neighbors. I love this idea and think it would go…