EXTRA! Montana Newspaper Stories 1864-1922: Helen Piotopowaka (The Bird That Comes Home) Clarke

Born the daughter of a prominent Scottish-American and his Blackfeet wife, Helen (Nellie) Piotopowaka Clarke spent most of her childhood at a Catholic school in Minneapolis, returning to Montana a polished and well-educated young woman. She worked as an actress, a schoolteacher, and an Indian agent for the U.S. government. She was the first woman elected to public office in Montana, becoming the superintendent of public schools for Lewis and Clark County at age 38.

Key dates

1846—Born at the mouth of the Judith River.
1869—Father murdered by a group of Blackfeet men.
1875—Takes a teaching position in Helena.
1884—Elected Superintendent of Schools for Lewis and Clark County.
1889—Leaves Montana to work for the Indian Bureau as an allotment agent.
1909—With her brother, Horace, is granted tribal membership and allotments.
1923—Dies at East Glacier Park Village, Montana.

From the newspapers

• Particular of the Murder of Malcolm Clarke, The New North-west, August 27, 1869, p. 2.
• City and County, The Bozeman Weekly Chronicle, September 10, 1884, p. 3.
• Sunbeams, Sun River Sun, October 30, 1884, p. 2.
• Amateur Theatricals, The Semi-weekly Miner, December 5, 1885, p. 4.
• A Child of the Howling West, The Bozeman Weekly Chronicle, June 30, 1886, p. 4.
• Official Count, Butte Semi-weekly Miner, November 13, 1886, p. 2.
• City and State, The River Press, October 21, 1905, p. 5.
• City and State, The River Press, October 28, 1903, p. 6.
• Local Notes, The Whitefish Pilot, April 27, 1911, p. 5.
• Another Move Made to Open Blackfeet Reservation, Cut Bank Pioneer Press, November 19, 1915, p. 1.
• Showings of Copper Ore Found in Swift Current Creek in 1894 Resulted in Purchase of Land Which Later Became Glacier Park, Great Falls Tribune, June 5, 1921, p. 12.

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