history

One of the first hospitals in Missoula found a second life recently when the owners completed a substantial rehabilitation of the property and expanded the number of apartments from 16 to 22.

John Westenberg writes, "It is disappointing to read statements from some opponents that allowing the hospital to gradually deteriorate in place, even to the point of demolition, is preferable to any proposal that requires some attendant development."

Montana native Norm Asbjornson has donated $10.4 million for the construction of the new Montana Heritage Center in Helena.

Jim Harmon writes, "Using live bear cubs was problematic. They are animals and obviously don’t like being chained. On top of that there were the occasional “kidnappings,” and animal rights protests."

The history of Missoula's early Chinese population and its contributions to the city's growth will be memorialized in a resolution and eventually a plaque noting where many of them were buried in the late 1800s in unmarked graves.

For all that Montana treasures its history – from the rowdy vigilantes to the statue of triumphant Irish hero and one-time territorial governor Thomas Francis Meagher – you might think it would have done more to preserve the epicenter of that period.

Residents have lived in homes in the Lower Rattlesnake for the past century, all in homes built upon the unmarked graves of their Chinese predecessors. Some are looking to resurrect that history and remember the forgotten.

The $4,500 quarterly lease between the county and the Community Food and Agriculture Coalition will provide CFAC office space, storage and a home to conduct public outreach and education on the history and future of agriculture.

Montana historical sites, societies and museums, like the “Queen of the Prairie” Fort Peck Theatre, will see more than $10 million in grant funding for more than 40 preservation projects around the state.

A proposal to restore the Old Post Hospital at Fort Missoula by developing several acres of private property next to it drew wide opinions Wednesday night as the Historic Preservation Committee opened its public hearing on the matter.