Exhibits

The revolution galloped

(Above: In the area that would become Montana, Indigenous people used dogs to pull travois. Horses were a game-changer, and contributed to the rapid rise of horse nations in the West.)

As leaders of the nascent United States signed the Declaration of Independence, in this region 250 years ago — then arguably a claim of Spain — another revolution was afoot, on four feet.

Although present in this area thousands of years ago according to fossil evidence, the horse had disappeared from western North America until Hernan Cortes made landfall much farther south, unloading more than a dozen horses in the Yucatan in 1519 from the holds of his ships.

Indigenous peoples didn’t have to have horse technology explained to them. They ran with it, and the horse population spread like wildfire along the mountainous spine of the American West, so quickly that the area to become Northwest Montana saw horses decades before California.

Some Indigenous people called horses “elk dogs” on first encounter. Horses were a dream come true: collapsing distances to hunting grounds and enabling easier travel across rugged landscape. They were integral to increasing trade, protection, and conquest. In little more than a lifetime, the Ksanka (Kootenai), Selis (Salish), Qlispe (Pend d’Oreille), and Niitsitapi (Blackfeet) saw horses transform life in the northern Rockies. 

Join us at the Northwest Montana History Museum for 250 Years Ago: This Revolution Came at a Gallop,  a presentation by equine researcher Brenda Wahler, who often writes and lectures on horse history. The museum also presents a companion exhibit, A Western Revolution Came First.

More about the presenter: Helena author and lawyer Brenda Wahler has consulted widely on equine matters and written several books, including Montana Horse Racing and, most recently, Marcus Daly’s Montana Empires, which prominently features Daly’s significant horse-related activities. Copies of books will be available for sale and signing.

Details for both 250-year anniversary events: 

Talk: 250 Years Ago: This Revolution Came at a Gallop, featuring equine historian Brenda Wahler at 6 p.m. Thursday, June 18; doors open 5 p.m.; free admission

Exhibit reception: A Western Revolution Came First: The Rise of Horse Nations, 5 p.m. Thursday, June 18

Northwest Montana History Museum, 124 2nd Ave. E., Kalispell, MT 59901; 406-756-8381
nwmthistory.org; regular museum hours 10 to 5 Monday-Friday (10 to 3 most Saturdays through August)

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Up with downtown

The exhibit, Going to Town: Stroll Kalispell in 1941, remembers the city’s golden jubilee, which marked Kalispell’s 50th birthday (1891-1941). The downtown area served as the commercial hub for Northwest Montana, drawing residents from the Flathead Valley and beyond to shop, socialize, and stroll Kalispell’s downtown streets. Shoppers could find everything from essential goods to high-fashion apparel. Nine automobile dealerships offered 14 different makes of cars. Multiple department stores, restaurants, gas stations, grocery stores, beauty and barber shops, and drugstores lined Main Street.

Visitors will see artifacts including a glass-globed “visible” Husky gas pump, a re-creation of the Mae West sandwich served by the Kalispell Cafe, beauty shop equipment, and period fashions. A grouping of items purchased from the Kalispell Sears Roebuck Order-Only Store alongside the original catalogue advertisements occupy a corner of the exhibit. Also on display: a rare 1938 Western Field rifle—one of 189 made by Mossberg and sold under the Montgomery Ward brand.

Photos of 1941 storefronts in Kalispell along with vintage ads (as shown by one of the volunteer curators, Nancy Hart, above) offer insight into our area’s economy and consumer trends.

An interactive kids’ area features period automobiles.

Visitors are encouraged to wear 1940s period attire, and car owners of the 1941 vintage or earlier are welcome to park in front of, or streets around, the museum for extra ambiance.

Details:
Going to Town: Stroll Kalispell in 1941
free exhibit-opening reception: 5 to 6:30 p.m. July 1

Northwest Montana History Museum, 124 Second Ave. E., Kalispell, 406-756-8381; nwmthistory.org 
Regular museum hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays (10 a.m. to 3 p.m. most Saturdays through August)

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Are you getting ready for summer?

We are!

We are busting out of winter with lots of events on the way, at least three new or updated exhibits, and more.

We’re also hoping to hold Saturday hours from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. June through August. Should you like to help us offer Flathead visitors and residents the opportunity to visit the museum outside of the workweek, we’d love to talk to you! We seek two volunteers, one for the Welcome Desk and another for the bookstore.

One year a couple of friends did it in tandem and enjoyed the chance to both spend time together and to share regional history.

Contact Margaret at the museum if you are interested. We can fill in on certain Saturdays if you can’t commit to all 13.

Thank you for considering this valuable and fun opportunity to serve the museum and the community!

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New exhibit honors Whitefish airman

Lieutenant Norbert William Herriges (pictured), from Whitefish, defended a French village and died in combat during World War II. A new exhibit commemorates his act of courage and the family’s ongoing ties to the people of Pourrières.
The Northwest Montana History Museum will host an open house and events 5 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 11 (Veterans Day), to unveil a new exhibit honoring Lieutenant Norbert William Herriges, a World War II fighter pilot from Whitefish who gave his life to protect a French village.

The exhibit, titled The Airman They Never Forgot, tells the remarkable story of Herriges, who on his 35th mission in August 1944 shot down two German bombers headed toward the village of Pourrières, France). Herriges’ own plane was hit in the battle, and he was killed in action.

Since then, the people of Pourrières have remembered and honored him for saving the town from destruction.

Among the artifacts on display are a handcrafted sculpture from the people of Pourrières, photographs of Herriges, a letter of appreciation from the village, and a model of a P-47 Thunderbolt — the aircraft Herriges flew in combat.

As part of the evening, the museum also will screen the recent 44-minute French documentary (with English subtitles) Un Été en Provence (A Summer in Provence), which recounts Herriges’ story and the village’s enduring gratitude. Watch a snapshot video of Herriges’ relatives’ visit to France from Montana, and the set of the movie dedicated to the young airman from Whitefish.

Members of the Herriges family, who still reside in the Flathead and Montana, will attend the event and share family memories of Norbert’s service and legacy. “He was a man they held in regard for saving their town even though they never met him,” says Margaret Herriges, a relative of Norbert’s. “He’s become my hero now, too.”

Taps will be played by Flathead High trumpeter Jack Provo.

The public is invited to attend the events and open house as well as view the exhibit, which highlights an act of courage that continues to inspire people on both sides of the Atlantic.

The Airman They Never Forgot
Open house (free admission) 5 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 11, including screening
(regular museum hours 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays)

Northwest Montana History Museum, 124 Second Ave. East, Kalispell; 406-756-8381; nwmthistory.org

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Makers started at home

Do you have cherished home sewn items crafted by your great-grandmother, grandmother, mother, or relative? Such objects, passed down through generations, connect you to memories of the crafter and to history. They call to mind the fashion and household trends unique to their time period. 

The Northwest Montana History Museum’s new exhibit Home Sewn: Thread, Cloth, Needles, and Yarn showcases a variety of crafts: sewing, crocheting, knitting, embroidery, quilting, and needlepoint. Many of the articles on display were handed down through families and then gifted to the museum. 

Visitors will see an extensive variety of handsewn articles representing the skill of the crafter. Featured pieces include a 1910 wedding gown (exhibited with photo of bride Minnie Larson wearing the gown on her wedding day), 1950s children’s clothing, and practical items such as 1950s embroidered kitchen towels and an 1897 log cabin silk quilt. 

Enhancing the exhibit is an 1895 Montgomery Ward cabinet model treadle sewing machine (below). This machine is unique in that the back of the cabinet bears vent holes in the shape of two hearts to provide ventilation—something a machine with open cast iron supports did not need. 

A display showing a child’s bedroom, replete with a brass headboard and embroidered quilt, features a handmade, braided rug. A doll’s bed with a quilt and a display case filled with handmade children’s clothing and doll clothes completes the room.

As always, the exhibit includes a hands-on corner with activities for children.

Details: Museum hours run 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays.
Northwest Montana History Museum, 124 Second Ave. E., Kalispell; 406-756-8381; nwmthistory.org

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Come meet the new “Lumberjacks, Tie Hacks & River Pigs”

Join us for the grand reopening of the oldest exhibit at the Northwest Montana History Museum.

Months in the making, the wholesale renovation of the Northwest Montana History Museum’s “timber room” will be unveiled 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, Oct. 18. In one of the biggest undertakings since the opening of the Kalispell: Montana’s Eden exhibit, the museum began the redo in spring of its first and oldest permanent exhibit, which had opened in 2003.

Volunteers and vendors from all over the valley, along with students from Kalispell Public Schools, worked to install a model train layout featuring the Somers tie plant and other past and present Flathead Valley landmarks. Renowned Columbia Falls muralist Clark Heyler painted the backdrop.

A new timeline of events in the history of the Northwest Montana timber industry brings our understanding up to date and includes innovative wood products made here.

Volunteers also took a deep dive into the museum’s collection to create displays of historic tools, clothing, and even what grub got served in a logging camp. Learn what it meant to have hot cakes nailed to your door if you were a camp cook.

The museum’s rich photographic archive yielded dozens of images showing the various methods of logging over 150 years, in places that many Flathead Valley residents know well. These were enlarged, printed, and mounted in the windows and along the walls.

For the Oct. 18 open house, adults in flannel will receive a free pint glass while supplies last. Kids can enter a drawing to win a wooden toy train.

We look forward to seeing you soon among Lumberjacks, Tie Hacks & River Pigs!

Details:
10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, Oct. 18, 2024
Northwest Montana History Museum, 124 2nd Ave. E., 406-756-8381; nwmthistory.org

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East Glacier Park artist Valentina LaPier shows “Paintings for MMIP”

Born in Browning, Valentina LaPier was raised in various places throughout the western United States, then returned to Montana in 1987.

She lives and works in East Glacier Park.

LaPier began painting as a young girl, selling her first free-form painting at the age of 14. She became a full-time artist in 1987.

She works primarily with acrylics, although her favorite medium is watercolor. She admires the works of Georges Braque, Robert Motherwell, Paul Klee, and Wassily Kandinsky, and her paintings reflect their influence.

The paintings in this exhibit, such as Yellow Parfleche (shown), were produced between 2023 and 2024 and are shown to raise awareness of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples, or MMIP.

Details: Regular museum hours run 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays; artist’s reception is 4 to 6 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 20.

Northwest Montana History Museum, 124 Second Ave. E., Kalispell; 406-756-8381; nwmthistory.org

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Submariner’s son checks out exhibit based on dad’s adventure

In honor of the museum’s newest exhibit, The Silent Service: A WWII Diving Denizen of the Deep, Martin Anderson (second from left) — son of submariner and Kalispell native Harry Anderson — paid a visit last week and met with museum volunteers and staff.

Read the full writeup here, thanks to Taylor Inman of the Daily Inter Lake.

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Train project keeps rolling

The Daily Inter Lake recently profiled Brec Gibson, the student who created 3-D models for the train layout to be featured in our renovated “timber room.”

Read all about it here — thanks to reporter Hilary Matheson’s thorough story. Above, Matheson interviews (from left) Gibson, Kalispell Public Schools’ Mike Kelly, and museum board member Bill Dakin, who all made the partnership happen.

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Museum presents a Kalispell native’s underwater ordeal

The Northwest Montana History Museum recently received a donation of military memorabilia that includes a harrowing story from Harry Anderson, a Kalispell native and 1940 graduate of Flathead High School (he is at far right in the front row).

Anderson served in the U.S. Navy Submarine Service during World War II. Assigned to the USS Perch SS-313, Ensign Anderson and crew survived a grueling, two-hour depth charge attack in the Java Sea while on patrol in April 1945. Anderson recorded the 31 depth charges dropped on the submarine in real time with tick marks on a piece of paper (shown).

That faint and fragile paper, along with Ensign Anderson’s personal account of the two-hour attack, went on display May 10 at the museum as part of the exhibit The Silent Service: A WWII Diving Denizen of the Deep.

The exhibit includes Anderson’s gold dolphins pin (awarded to officers) and his combat pin of a successful patrol, along with other medals. Numerous photos enhance the exhibit: the crew of the Perch; Perch officers on deck with one holding Duchess, the submarine’s dog; and Duchess standing on a deck gun.

Were dogs allowed on board during tours of duty? Find out more about the dogs that went on patrol with their crew at the exhibit.

In addition to Ensign Anderson’s memorabilia, other submariner items are on display: a Vietnam era U.S. Navy Submariner Torpedoman’s dress uniform, a child’s sailor uniform from the 1940s, vintage sailor hats and other related submarine items.

Details: Regular museum hours run 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays from June through August

Northwest Montana History Museum, 124 Second Ave. E., Kalispell; 406-756-8381; nwmthistory.org

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