Frontier History is a monthly series that highlights the compelling stories of Montana’s historical trail blazers that bucked the notion that the government is the solution to all of our problems and sought out ways to improve Montana without relying on the government’s favor or their purse. Opinions expressed by guest authors do not necessarily represent the positions of the Frontier Institute.
"The Montana connection dates to 1908, when the young organization began distributing Bibles. It happened at the Superior Hotel in the Mineral County town of Superior, Montana, where the Gideons placed their first 25 Bibles."
"Many Montanans still remember the great preacher’s visit to Billings in 1987, where he spoke to a crowd of more than 13,000."
"Private enterprise saw a dilemma as a problem to be solved. Governments dragged their collective feet."
"Eastman subsequently did for cameras what Steven Jobs would do for computers almost eight decades later. He put photography within the reach of almost every American family."
"In the first half of the 19th Century, the fur trade was as big a business as there was in the Montana Territory."
Montanans know that the spirit of the holiday should transcend a single day, December 25. As expressed by the reformed Ebenezer Scrooge in Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, “I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.”
"Though it didn’t get far in Washington, some 38 states eventually passed so-called “Blaine Amendments,” including Montana."
"If not for a bullet, the man who least wanted to be president may well have become one of our better ones. Such can be the bitter ironies of history thwarted."
"In his “spare” time, he spoke out against slavery and in favor of fiscal responsibility, free trade and individual liberty. Most people never accomplish a tenth of what Gallatin did in his 88 years."
"The Court should display fairness and stability and respect the constitutional prerogatives of the other branches of state government."
"Montanans should be grateful, though ever vigilant, that the Shippy story is not likely to be relived here in the Treasure State."
"All of us should be proud of what Nicky Winton did to save so many, and proud of Montana’s Jewish heritage too."
"Fort Benton, Montana, is right to take pride in the man for whom it is named."
"It may be what Benjamin Franklin had in mind when he said the Founders gave the American people a republic, but only so long as we can muster the courage, integrity, and fiscal rectitude to keep it."