Jim Harmon

I have a final thought and recommendation to younger readers. Looking back now, I do wish I’d asked my parents and grandparents much more about their lives and the times in which they grew up.

Booze was a big part of Western lore and Montana's history. After all, a town wasn't really a town until it had a livery and a saloon. Montana's first newspaper encouraged readers to "go and see the boys" at the Head-Quarters saloon and "strengthen (your) inner man."

Today, I’m wrapping up a two-part series on K. Ross Toole. If you didn’t read last week’s column, it might be helpful to review it before enjoying part two, today. Ross Toole was deeply concerned about corporate greed vs. “the will of the people to protect the land they love.”

My good friend Jack Puckett turned 98 years old last month. He is such a great storyteller.

Root Electric Company at 127 East Cedar (now Broadway) was displaying the Grebe Synchophase radio receiver. The Dickinson Piano Company featured the Zenith Long Distance radio, capable of picking up broadcasts from “as far as 1,500 miles away.” Even the H. O. Bell auto dealership on South Higgins offered the Radiola, priced from “$35 to $425 with convenient terms, if desired.”

About one hundred years ago (Sunday, April 26, 1925 to be exact) Arthur L. Stone, the famed newspaper man and founding father of UM’s journalism school, penned a love letter to a pine tree. “High on the hip of Mount Jumbo stands ‘Sentinel Pine.’ Remote from its kind, this yellow pine overlooks the Hell Gate and the Missoula valley with a view unobstructed.”

It’s Spring! It’s finally arrived! I have the fever! These are the days when one should feel as lighthearted as a Shakespearean quote: “The cuckoo-buds of yellow hue do paint the meadows with delight.”

An editorial in the Missoulian newspaper on January 11, 1894, asserted that President Grover “Cleveland has managed, by willpower, cajolery, and patronage, to absolutely control the Democratic majority.” Still, a personal income tax won the day.

1947 was a significant year. It was the year of the Truman Doctrine, the Marshall Plan and the Taft-Hartley Act. The transistor was invented, more than a million veterans used the G.I. Bill to attend college, Henry Ford died, a loaf of bread cost 13 cents, and flying saucers were a hot topic. Closer to home, the St. Ignatius Post newspaper advertised a 20-foot cabin cruiser (sleeps four) with a steel hull and overhauled motor for $2,000.

I’d like to extend a personal invitation to readers of this column to sign up for a special University of Montana MOLLI presentation on April 24, 2025. MOLLI is short for Montana Osher Lifelong Learning Institute.