Historical Specialist
The world watched in awe in July 1969 as scientists and astronauts
successfully launched the Apollo 11 spacecraft, explored the moon’s surface,
and safely returned to Earth. The momentous occasion was ever-present in the
media and for good reason. Nine years and billions of dollars brought
unprecedented advances in engineering and technology, spawned whole new industries,
and gave the world technological innovations we still benefit from (and can
barely live without) today.
The Eagle has landed. Apollo 11, July 22, 1969. U.S. National Archives
While the nation focused on the space race, in Montana
advances in aerospace engineering and space exploration took a back seat and local
matters dominated the state’s newspaper headlines.
Governor Forrest Anderson took office in January 1969. Back
then legislators had just sixty days to decide on a lengthy docket of proposed
legislation. The state desperately needed money for infrastructure and
programming, and the legislature passed a 15 to 18 percent increase in the
individual income tax, along with increases in property tax, corporate income
taxes and fees, gas and cigarette taxes, and a doubled beer tax.
Other historic legislation lowered the voting age to
nineteen, created a Constitutional Revision Commission, funded the state’s five
vocational-technical colleges, and condensed 100-plus agencies into 29
departments. Legislators failed to fund public kindergarten and a prison pre-release program, and voted down the minimum wage and collective bargaining
for state employees.
The year 1969 saw low unemployment in Montana, but an
increasing demand for federal welfare funds as county governments tried to help
the working poor and correct social and economic inequalities. Federal funds
transformed Montana’s physical landscape too, as Montana cities applied for urban
renewal grants to clear deteriorated buildings in their historic commercial
downtowns. At the same time, developers built new shopping centers at the
outskirts of town.
Teens, college students, and drugs were of rising concern.
Both Helena and Missoula reported multiple teen arrests and sentencing for
marijuana crimes. The University of Montana addressed the issue by inviting
noted professor and LSD user Timothy Leary to the campus for a debate on drug
use.
The war in Vietnam also preoccupied Montana campuses.
Thirty-four students and instructors at the University of Montana turned in
their draft registration cards in April, refusing to serve in the war. On October
15, thousands of Montana students participated in a national day of protest
against the war. By the end of 1969, Montana had lost 204 men to the conflict
in Vietnam.
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| Peace march in Helena |
Montana’s Jeanette Rankin, at age 89, participated in the
October 15 Moratorium Day activities from her adopted home in Georgia and
continued to campaign for women’s rights. Almost exactly fifty years after
women won the vote, 30 percent of Montana women were full-time workers. While a
few more women each year rose to prominent posts, female pay in 1969 was about 40
percent less than a male’s pay for doing the same work.
In many ways Montana in 1969 was in a parallel race alongside
the U.S. and Russia. Instead of rocketing to the moon, Montana was racing to
keep pace with neighboring states in the never-ending quest to fund, maintain,
and modernize. Just prior to July 20, U.S. President Richard Nixon declared the
impending moon landing a national holiday, a day to watch and reflect on the
U.S.’s scientific achievements. While many Montanans stayed home, watched
television, and toasted the moon landing with glasses of champagne, Montana
state offices remained open and Governor Anderson was at work. He declined NASA’s
invitation to watch the moon landing from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida,
and instead traveled to Sun River with fish and game officials to survey
problem elk range areas and help set antelope quotas.
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| The Independent Record (Helena, Montana) 22 July 1969 |