October 16, 2015

The Montana National Guard's service on the international stage



by Katey Myers, Summer Intern, MHS Library

The military is often seen as the four main branches: Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps; while the National Guard is sometimes seen as a separate entity. This is far from the truth. The Montana National Guard has not only consistently played a role in the protection of the state, but also served on the national stage. The Montana Territorial Volunteers were established in 1867, over twenty years before Montana became a state. The First Montana Militia, later known as the Montana National Guard, would serve well beyond Montana’s borders.

During the Philippine-American War in the late 1890s, the 1st Montana Volunteer Infantry Regiment was called into federal service for the first time. Beginning as the 1st Regiment of Infantry in the Montana National Guard during the 1880s, the Volunteer Infantry was in service from May 1898 to October 1899. When the Volunteer Infantry was mustered out of service after the campaign, many of the men’s terms of enlistment were up. Very few - 114 infantry and cavalry soldiers - remained on the National Guard rosters.

With this small number serving in the Montana National Guard, efforts to rebuild the Guard were a priority for Adjunct General Charles English. A lack of funding and support from the state at the time led to inadequate equipment, uniforms, and training. According to English in Orlan Svingen’s Splendid Service: The Montana National Guard, 1867-2006, Montana guardsmen were facing obstacles that jeopardized the militia’s existence due to these inadequacies. With sufficient support from the state, English believed that “there is no reason the Montana National Guard should not rank first…and lead the way to the founding of a National Military Reserve.”


2nd Montana, 163rd Infantry
leaving for France from Helena, MT
October 24, 1917, World War I
MHS Photo Archives # 953-646
At the turn of the twentieth century, legislation from the federal government gave the National Guard a more permanent role in the military on a national level. The Guard’s annual appropriation was raised and equipment was issued by the federal government. In return for the appropriation, the Guard was expected to become a federal reserve force. Due to this change in the duties of the Guard, the Montana National Guard was reorganized and designated the 2nd Montana Infantry Regiment in 1901. Companies were formed all over the state and the Guard, with its new equipment, began a training regimen as well as participated in camps with the Army.

In June 1916, the 2nd Montana Infantry saw their first national service when the regiment was mobilized for guard duty during the Mexican border conflict after the Mexican Revolution. The regimental commander, Colonel “Dynamite Dan” Donohue, was rampant with his recruitment at the time and held extremely high standards for his men. According to Col. Donohue in Splendid Service, new recruits “needed to be from 5 feet 4 inches to 6 feet three inches in height, weigh between 120 and 190 pounds, be able to speak, read, and write English, have generally good health, and be an American citizen.” After fulfilling these requirements, men were then subject to a rigorous training schedule during their time at Fort Harrison.

In early July 1916, the regiment set up camp in Douglas, Arizona. The 2nd Montana Infantry cleared their camp of vegetation and leveled the ground before tents and other structures were laid out in an orderly fashion. While tents were the earliest structures to be erected, a lack of building materials made it difficult to build anything such as mess halls, bathhouses, or any other structures. During their first month of border duty, the Montanans spent most of their time under sniper attack but only two fatalities occurred, both of which were health related.

The Montana Bugle, July 15, 1916
Printed in Douglas, Arizona
Recreational activities were a key part to the daily lives of the men as these activities were used to break up the monotony of continual patrols and afternoon thunderstorms. Chaplain McMullen obtained a large recreational tent for the troops where books and other publications, stationery, games, a piano, an organ, a phonograph, and a moving picture machine were available. During this time, The Montana Bugle was first published. A four page, weekly newspaper, The Montana Bugle (right - copy of one issue) contained news stories about the different companies and the border area, national stories, orders from Col. Donohue, camp gossip, and jokes. This paper was read by citizens in Montana as well as Guard members stationed on the Mexican border.

After only a few months in federal service, the regiment was demobilized at Fort Harrison in October 1916. The 2nd Montana Infantry would only have a few months of peace before once again the call to service was given. In March 1917, the regiment was mobilized in preparation for service in Europe. However, due to the labor unrest in Montana, the Guard began its active service protecting industrial and commercial enterprises that were experiencing strikes.  In July, the Guard was ordered to prepare for duty overseas. As the War Department integrated the National Guard into federal service, the 2nd Montana Infantry was re-designated as the 163rd Infantry Regiment, 41st Division.

Commemoration for the 163rd Infantry
MHS Library Poster P-697, 1917
The early months of the regiment’s service during World War I included training with the Army in camps across the U.S. After being sent overseas in December, the 41st Division was relegated to replacement and depot status. The 163rd was broken up as men were moved to various units. From there, the men continued their training in areas throughout France as well as serving along the front lines. In March 1919, the 163rd returned home.

During the 163rd's service in Europe, 39,276 Montanans served in the armed forces - including the National Guard, draftees, and regular enlistees - out of a state population of 496,131.

After World War I, the pre-war National Guard no longer existed. The Montana National Guard reformed in the 1920s and went on to serve the nation once again in World War II. 


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Sources:

2nd Montana Infantry. Collection #1887. Montana Military History Museum. Fort William Henry Harrison.

Shore, Chester K. Montana in the Wars. Miles City MT: Star Printing Company, 1977.

Svingen, Orlan J. Splendid Service: The Montana National Guard, 1867-2006. Pullman WA: Washington State University Press, 2010.

October 7, 2015

Chronicling America Hits 10 Million Pages!

By Natasha Hollenbach, Montana Digital Newspaper Project Assistant

From 2009-2015, the Montana Historical Society has been a participating member of the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP), which is a joint program between the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Library of Congress and state institutions.  After three grant cycles, MHS has contributed just over 268,000 pages from 56 Montana newspapers to the Chronicling America website.

Today, Chronicling America past the 10 million page milestone. Containing newspapers published between 1836-1922 from 38 states and territories, Chronicling America is a tremendous resource for historians, students, genealogists and anyone else interested in our nation's history. Usually when we talk about Chronicling America, we focus on Montana newspapers. However, in celebrating this joint effort, it seems appropriate to showcase how valuable other states' newspapers can be in researching Montana's history and people.

From the founding of Montana territory to the Speculator Fire, major Montana events have made national news. 
Jeffersonian Democrat
Chardon, Ohio
July 8, 1864





The Indianapolis Journal
Indianapolis, Indiana
October 26, 1894
        
The Evening Current
Carlsbad, New Mexico
June 9, 1917













They have followed our wages, population and weather.
Maui News
Wailuku, Hawaii
January 10, 1919
Daily Capital Journal
Salem, Oregon
August 6, 1917


The Evening Current
Carlsbad, New Mexico
October 17, 1917










National newspapers also highlighted Montana's natural beauty and helped advertise our national parks.


New York Tribune
New York, New York
January 17, 1909
New York Tribune
New York, New York
October 22, 1919
 






















St. Louis Republic
St. Louis, Missouri
June 12, 1904


Travel has always been a matter of interest to newspapers. The Butte Inter Mountain hosted a popularity contest in 1904 with the winners going to the World's Fair in St. Louis where they apparently made an impression on the local newspaper (right). In 1915, the Honolulu Star-Bulletin commented on a group of girls from Butte traveling in Hawaii (below).






Honolulu Star-Bulletin
Honolulu, Hawaii
April 3, 1915


















Meade County News
Meade, Kansas
July 19, 1917

Genealogists use newspapers to find family events: births, deaths, marriages, etc. Since researchers usually look in the newspapers where their ancestor lived, it is easy to overlook the possibility of finding them in other states. For example, to the right is a blurb from a Kansas paper, where a man currently living in Butte has arrived to visit his father. If you search the Kansas paper further, you find that this is the town where he was raised. Sometimes searching the newspapers outside of Montana leads to connections with other people and places.

Why don't you go to Chronicling America (http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/) and search for your favorite Montana event or person and see what other states' newspapers were saying about them?  You never know what you'll discover in historic newspapers.