Arts & Events

It was described as the “largest and most elegantly appointed boarding house in the Northwest.” Butte’s Hale House, constructed in 1895, offered nearly 200 rooms “for the busy toilers of the great copper camp.” The Anaconda Standard newspaper described it as modern in every way, constructed of brick and stone, with “everything to make it complete in drainage, light, heat … [Read more...] about Harmon’s Histories: Suspicious fires destroy Butte boarding houses; ‘firebug’ never caught

Sylvia Moss believed there was “no other time since the creation of the world that there had been so good a chance for the average mortal to be happy and comfortable as at the present time.” The “present time” was February 1880. Writing for the Rocky Mountain Husbandman newspaper in Diamond City, Montana (a rich placer gold camp along the upper Missouri River), Moss … [Read more...] about Harmon’s Histories: Soaps of yesteryear could clean the skin right off your bones

“Now, parents, is the time for us to decide whether we will risk vaccination with all its attendant dangers ... or rise up in arms, and, united, suppress this evil!” To vax or not to vax? The debate is not a new one. The above quote is from a letter to the editor submitted by a person using the nom de plume Fairness, published in a Missoula newspaper in the fall of 1908, … [Read more...] about Harmon’s Histories: To vax or not to vax? It’s an age-old debate in Montana

As you cross over the Kootenai River bridge at Libby, northbound to Eureka or Canada, you should remember a young man named Tom Murphy and “The Kootenai Prayer: “How Long, O, Lord! How Long?” The prayer was a banner headline in the Libby Herald newspaper on May 30, 1912 – an editorial fusillade at those who had been trying to delay construction of the bridge at Libby. Tom … [Read more...] about Harmon’s Histories: Remember Tom Murphy and the politics that caused his drowning

It’s gardening time, at least hopefully, now that we’re past our last gasp of wintry weather! This time of year also brings back memories of the war gardens and victory gardens of the past. During World War I, with commercial farm produce needed for the military, American households were urged to create their own backyard gardens. “We should plant to garden every back … [Read more...] about Harmon’s Histories: Bonner’s Community Gardens were a marvel during WWI