Threads of History: The Gallatin County Tapestry Project

Kelly Hartman

Last summer, the Gallatin History Museum debuted an exhibit showcasing 35 hand embroidered panels. Each panel gave a brief glimpse of the history that shaped Gallatin County, and each was completed by a current or former Gallatin County resident…

Edith Freeman and the Art of Woodblock Printing

Kelly Hartman

Early in my work at the Gallatin History Museum, I stumbled upon a print in our basement amongst many other paper works. This one stood out to me, because I too am a printmaker. I had never seen anything quite like it; the colors were…

‘Til Death Do Us Part: Stories of Romance in the Gallatin County

Kelly Hartman

Housed in the collection of the Gallatin History Museum is a box full of ornate vintage Valentine’s Day cards, many of them collected and donated by Mrs. Myrtle Hollier Cheever to the museum in the early days of its existence in 1986. This…

Death By Poison!

Kelly Hartman

The front page of the October 12, 1901 Avant Courier bared the headline “Death by Poison!” It was apparent immediately that the death had been no accident. According to the subheading, this had been the second time that John H. Black, a…

Drunk and Disorderly: The Era of Prohibition

Kelly Hartman

As those living in the Gallatin Valley endure this exceptionally hot summer, one could hardly imagine doing so without the help of a cold beer or a refreshing cocktail. However, that is just what those living exactly one hundred years ago in the…

Who Killed Harry Walker?

Kelly Hartman

On the 4th of July 1920, a farmer fishing the Madison river about six miles above Three Forks came across the grisly scene of a body lodged in a pile of driftwood. Stripped of most of its clothing and much of its flesh, the body was difficult to…

The World Has Never Seen the Equal of This People

Kelly Hartman

From 1870 to the 1930s, the town of Cooke City, lying just outside Yellowstone National Park at the Northeast Entrance, fought a long and hard battle for adequate transportation of its mining ore. The railroad never came, but the fighting spirit of…

Winter Weavings

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…

The Screeching Ghost...And Other Little Mysteries At The Museum

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…

Banquet of Champions The 1954 National Soap Box Derby

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…

Murder Along the Yellowstone Trail

Kelly Hartman

The Execution of Seth Danner

Sunday Sinnings

Kelly Hartman

When one digs back into the history of the “Wild West,” one too often finds that culture predominated and most places were not as “wild” as we would probably hope to find. Even Cooke City, located at the Northeast Entrance of…

Not Just a Collection of Curios

Kelly Hartman

There are many wonderful stories to be told with items at the Gallatin History Museum. For years now, two items in particular have been on display in the old Jailer’s Office/Gallows Room: a wooden potato masher identified as a murder weapon by…

Escape From the Jail!

Kelly Hartman

On the morning of December 22, 1911, all were surprised to find that six prisoners had escaped from the brand new $35,000 jail, which had been believed to be “escape proof.” The individual cells holding the prisoners were not locked…

Raining in the AM Snowing in the PM Colder than Hell

Kelly Hartman

The History of Quin Blackburn

More than 27 Dresses Wedding Attire from 1881-1992

Kelly Hartman

In a clothing collection that contains over 250 dresses, 16 percent, or about 40 pieces, are wedding attire. These outfits date from the late 1800s through the 1990s and show how fashion has changed over time.  The wonderful thing about the…

Drink to the Health of the Pioneers

Kelly Hartman

The formation of the Gallatin County Pioneer Society and the Sons and Daughters of Gallatin County Pioneers

Multitudes of Enthusiasm Celebrating a Gallatin Valley Christmas

Kelly Hartman

As the daylight begins to dim, citizens of Gallatin Valley can be found flowing in and out of auditoriums with their jackets pulled up about their ears; long woolen ones, silken-soft puffy ones, those newly purchased and those that have seen many…

Sedition in Gallatin County

Kelly Hartman

Sugar, the Kaiser and Two Years Imprisonment