Montana Historical Society Offers Variety of Holiday Events

The Montana Historical Society is featuring a variety of festive events this holiday season, while also sharing a bit of information on historic preservation.

On Dec. 7, from noon to 4 p.m., the MTHS invites community members of all ages to attend a special holiday open house at the Original Governor’s Mansion in celebration of the winter season.

Visitors can admire the decorations and explore the historic house at their leisure while enjoying the merry piano tunes of Frank Kuntz, from noon to 2 p.m., followed by songs from Victorian carolers, from 2 to 4 p.m. The MTHS will feature historic ornament making and other activities for all ages. Cookies and hot drinks also will be available.

The Original Governor’s Mansion served Montana’s First Families from 1913 to 1959 and displays impressive Queen Anne-style architecture with furnishings and artifacts from the era. Brochures will be provided so guests can discover the history of the house through a self-guided tour. Volunteers will be stationed on each floor to answer any questions that may arise.

Please note that the mansion is not ADA compliant, with stairs to the front porch, and two flights of stairs inside the house.

The OGM offers guided one-hour tours on Saturdays, as well as on Boxing Day on Dec. 26. Bring the family to explore history, with four tours offered on the hour between noon and 3 p.m.

On Dec. 5 from 6 to 8:30 p.m. the MTHS presents a screening of the movie “Les Davis: Search for the First Montanans” at the Opportunity Bank Conference Center, 1550 Vandelay Ave., Helena.

Early archaeologists tended to focus on big game kill sites, but Les Davis was more interested in discovering the daily lives and activities of early peoples. In the early 1990s, a site known as Barton Gulch was discovered in southwestern Montana by locals digging for sapphires. When Davis excavated the site, he discovered an 11,400-year-old living surface replete with hearth complexes, stone tools, bone needles, and evidence of extensive use of plants and small animals.

This site was integral to Davis’s 50-year odyssey searching for insights into the lifeways of the earliest inhabitants of the land that would become Montana. This inspirational new film by geologist and filmmaker Daniel J. Smith follows Davis’s career from the early post-WWII days in Montana.

Don’t forget that free guided tours of the Capitol and OGM also are available to the public upon request. Call Darby Bramble at (406) 444-2412 to arrange your tour at least two days ahead of time