News

Folk researcher queues up the sounds of history

On April 24, Jeff Warner performs “Range the Wild Woods Over: Songs and Stories from the Lumber Camps.”

An international performer and recording artist, Jeff Warner tells history through traditional music played on banjo, concertina, and “pocket instruments” such as cow bones.
 
Six months after unveiling its new Lumberjacks, Tie Hacks & River Pigs exhibit focused on the timber industry, the museum presents Warner’s program on life in the logging camps, particularly its songs and stories – and even the smells. The performance starts 7 p.m. Thursday, April 24, and doors open at 6 p.m.

Dangerous, lonely, and remote, the logging camps of the early 1900s were difficult places. Residents made their own entertainment.
 
Come listen and learn about working in the woods from a traditional music man.

This performance is sold out.

More on the performer: 
Jeff Warner comes from a royal family of song collectors (his parents, Frank and Anne Warner, learned the murder ballad “Tom Dooley” from Appalachian musician Frank Proffitt in the 1930s, along with hundreds of other tunes); worked for Pete Seeger; performed around the world; recorded for Flying Fish/Rounder and other labels; and too many accolades to list here. Visit his website for more.

Details: 
Northwest Montana History Museum, 124 Second Ave. E., 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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Flathead had first movie production house in the state

Apparently the first movie filmed in Montana was Where Rivers Rise in 1922.

We’d love to find a copy of this film and hope history buffs may have come across it, or know someone who might know more about the film and the beginnings of Montana’s movie business.

A screening in 1947 in Columbia Falls mentions Mr. and Mrs. Bill Slifer, who sponsored the event.

Contact the museum, 406-756-8381, with any leads you may have! Thank you.

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Save Jan. 29 to mark Chinese New Year by learning about it

Last time Mark T. Johnson came to the museum, in April 2023, the Notre Dame professor and author (who lives in Helena) came to speak on the Chinese experience in Montana. His research for his book, The Middle Kingdom under the Big Sky (shown), uncovered the lives and stories of many who came West and contributed significantly to the development of Montana. At one point Chinese residents accounted for more than a tenth of the state’s population.

During his time in Kalispell, Johnson toured Demersville Cemetery and looked at materials in the Northwest Montana History Museum archives. His findings on Flathead Valley resident Mar You became part of a talk he delivered at the Montana History Conference in Helena last year.

Now Johnson returns to bring in the Year of the Snake with a talk about Keeping Chinese Culture Alive on the Montana Frontier.

In his words, “From the earliest days of non-Native settlement of Montana, Chinese pioneers played a key role in the region’s development. Navigating life in this new land, Montana’s Chinese residents gained comfort through the continuation of their spiritual and cultural practices. Yet, publicly practicing cultural traditions invited unwanted attention from anti-Chinese forces who sought to expel the Chinese from the region. This talk details how Chinese Montanans persevered to maintain cultural continuity and togetherness through these practices while resisting tensions and threats from their detractors.”

Details:
6-8 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025; free admission (books available for purchase and signing)
Northwest Montana History Museum, 124 2nd Ave. E., Kalispell, MT 59901; 406-756-8381; nwmthistory.org
More info about Johnson and his book: https://www.bigskychinese.com/

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Featured artist Valentina LaPier appears Nov. 20

The artist’s reception for Valentina LaPier, whose work is currently displayed in the museum’s north changing gallery, runs 4 to 6 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 20. Come meet the artist, see her work, and gather with us!

Click here for more on her work.

Details: Free artist’s reception runs 4 to 6 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 20; regular museum hours are 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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Appraisers make a high-value Saturday

So far about 150 people have signed up to have up to four treasures each verbally appraised by experts as part of the Foundation for Montana History’s Montana Antiques Appraisal Fair. This is Kalispell’s turn to host this popular, unique event.

The museum has submitted a couple of items for public appraisal during the day, such as this arrow quiver from the Edo period in Japan that one of the museum’s board members found in the shed of her place in Somers.

This fundraiser for the foundation draws a range of items and people for a day of education and entertainment. There are a few afternoon slots left; sign up at https://thefoundationformontanahistory.thundertix.com/events/232678 (no firearms, chemicals, or jewelry). Otherwise, it’s free to spectate and soak in the atmosphere from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 26.

See you Saturday at the fair!

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Here comes a party for the pages

Just in time for reading season, the Northwest Montana History Museum welcomes book writers and lovers from noon to 5 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 17, for a program of speakers and exhibitors focused on Northwest Montana.

Featured speakers include Debra Magpie Earling, Jonathan Fetter-Vorm, Melissa Barker & Stewart Wilson, and Leslie Budewitz.

We also welcome writers and publishers to exhibit and sell their books; please submit interest to participate at nwmthistory.org/programs/northwest-montana-book-festival/. Help us present a wide range of subjects and genres by spreading the word!

Festival mission: Gather Northwest Montana readers and authors to promote, celebrate, and inspire regional writing and writers.

Thank you to Humanities Montana for the support.

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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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Nov. 17 event is one for the books

We’ve got some big events in store this fall, starting with a new exhibit of paintings by Valentina LaPier, the grand reopening of Lumberjacks, Tie Hacks & River Pigs, the Montana Antiques Appraisal Fair, and then the first-ever Northwest Montana Book Festival, set for Nov. 17!

Check back here for more details to post soon. In the meantime, enjoy a last look at Ray Weaver’s photography (above), which comes down this week in our north changing gallery.

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