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Hello,
This is another of our bi-monthly newsletters,
summarizing events and activities involving the O'Connor Center. The
Center is a regional studies and public policy program of The
University of Montana, located in the heart of the Rockies. We want
to keep you regularly informed of our work and hope that you find
these newsletters valuable.
From all
of us at the O'Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West, The
University of Montana
this month in the region's history
provided by William Farr
The Last Spike Ceremony of the Pacific Coast
Extension,
4 miles west of Garrison,
Montana, May 19, 1909.
Photo courtesy of 76-158, K. Ross Toole
Archives,
The University of Montana -
Missoula
In May of 1909 at Gold Creek, Mont., dignitaries drove the symbolic final
spike to complete the last transcontinental railroad to run through
Montana. This
was the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific
Railroad—otherwise known and fondly remembered as the Milwaukee Road. While
other railroad completions had featured golden spikes, the
Milwaukee was out of money. The
last spike celebration, however modest, did bring an end to main
line rail construction in Montana, yet it also opened up
the enormous expanse of Central Montana, including the
Musselshell Valley lying between the
Northern Pacific and Great Northern railroad lines, to the certain
homesteading and economic development.
The completion of the main rail line broke new
ground in other ways in Montana as well. John D.
Ryan of the Anaconda Copper Mining Company and a member of the board
of directors of the
Milwaukee convinced the railroad to electrify its tracks
from Harlowton across the Rockies to Avery, Idaho. Ryan at the time was developing
the Montana Power Company and by 1916 the Milwaukee Road
had 438 miles of electrified rails, a move that was
mutually beneficial to both Montana Power and the
Milwaukee.
The Milwaukee Road unfortunately
collapsed in 1983, falling into its final bankruptcy with major
repercussion for numerous Montana
communities. Today, in Missoula
and elsewhere, the former tracks are now recreational
trails and its rich residue of remarkable municipal train stations
with their Italianate towers, house offices and restaurants, vague
reminders of a former enterprise.
Milwaukee Station today, Missoula,
Montana
recent activities
On April 4th in Missoula, Mont., Senior Fellow Pat
Williams spoke at the conference on Border Town Racism. He
spoke about the necessity of political empowerment of Indian
people.
On April 4th in
Dillon, Mont., Senior Fellow Daniel Kemmis presented a public
lecture on "New Politics in the New West,” sponsored by
the University of
Montana
Western Honors Program. Mr. Kemmis also met with students
exploring the establishment of a western studies program on campus
(Visions of the West: Charting a Course for
Western Studies).
On April 3rd in
Missoula, Mont., Williams was the keynote speaker at the ASPIRE
conference, which includes programs known as TRIO for college-bound
students.
On March 31st in
Helena, Mont., Williams addressed the State Assembly of the Montana
Federation of Teachers and the Montana Education Association. Williams joined with Edward
McElroy, National President of the American Federation of Teachers,
in discussing the historic merger of the two Montana
groups.
On March 28th in Pullman, Wash., Kemmis presented a public lecture on
"The Role of Landscape Architecture in the
Emerging West." The lecture was sponsored by
Washington State University’s Department of Natural Resource Sciences and
the Program in
Environmental Science and Regional Planning. Kemmis
also was a guest lecturer in a graduate seminar, where he spoke
about new developments in public land management.
On March 24th in
Helena, Mont., Center Director Larry Swanson presented projections
of state population, income, and employment to board members and
staff of the Montana State Fund (MSF). MSF,
which provides worker’s compensation insurance in Montana,
contracted with Larry and the Center to do these projections as part
of its strategic planning.
On March 22nd in
Bozeman,
Mont., Swanson made an
invited presentation on “Future Growth and Change in
Montana,” as part of the MSU Extension Service’s annual
meeting.
The Extension Service, which does a variety of programming in
agriculture and community development, is evaluating alternative
needs and priorities for the future.
On March 18th in Helena, Mont., Senior Fellow Bob
Brown was the luncheon speaker at the Montana School Boards
Association Indian Education for All conference.
On March 18th in
Prescott,
Ariz., Kemmis spoke at a conference on “civic tourism”. The
conference, attended by several hundred community and business
leaders from around the country, was designed to help communities
explore how cultural, built and natural amenities can be integrated
into a visitor experience that does not damage, but may actually
strengthen the sense of community of those who live there.
On March 17th in
Billings, Mont., Swanson made an invited presentation at
a Celebrate Billings breakfast meeting
entitled “Foundations for Future Economic Success in
Billings.” More than 300 people attended the
meeting from business, government, and the general public.
On March 6th and
7th in Ottawa, Canada, Swanson
participated in a roundtable meeting on the “Emergence of
Cross-border Regions Between Canada and the United States,” convened
by the Canadian government’s Policy Research Initiative (PRI) in
collaboration with the International and Inter-parliamentary Affairs
Directorate of the Canadian Parliament. Larry presented information
on the U.S.-Canadian Rocky Mountain West. Similar
presentations were made on six other cross-border regions by other
regional representatives brought together for this meeting by the
Canadian-American Border Trade Alliance.
On February 24th in Billings., Mont., Brown interviewed
former state Sen. Tom Towe for the Mansfield Library Historical
Archives. Towe is regarded as the father of both the Montana
Coal Tax and the Montana Coal Trust. He was listed by the Missoulian in 2000 as number 25 of the 100
most significant Montanans of the 20th century.
On February 16th
in Coeur
d’Alene,
Idaho, Swanson made an invited presentation on
population and construction growth in Idaho and western
Montana as part of the annual Real Estate Market Forum,
sponsored by over 20 area banks, title companies, realtor
organizations, and other businesses in northern
Idaho. More 500 business people and
elected officials attended the meeting, which was held at The Coeur
d’Alene Resort.
On February 14th
in Hamilton,
Mont., Swanson made a
presentation on the Bitterroot Valley Marketplace as part of the
annual Bitterroot Business Conference. The
meeting was sponsored by Farmers State Bank, Maverick Marketing, and
the Montana Community Development Corp. and was attended by about
100 business persons and others from the valley.
On February 6th
and 7th in Nebraska City,
Neb., Swanson presented at a meeting convened by the Grassland Foundation of Lincoln,
Nebraska, and the World Wildlife Fund, examining grassland
protection needs and opportunities in a five-state region of the
Northern Plains. The meeting was attended by representatives of
rural development and conservation organizations in the region.
Swanson’s presentation examined the changing population and
economy of the five-state region where grassland protection
initiatives are being evaluated.
On February 2nd
in Helena,
Mont., Swanson made a presentation on state growth trends at a
strategic planning meeting of the Montana State Fund.
links
Center Web Site
Archived Center Newsletters
Headwater's News
The University of Montana
KUFM Public Radio
The
O'Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West is a program of The
University of Montana in Missoula.
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regional trends
States With the Oldest Populations in
2025
The map
highlights states projected to have the highest proportions of their
populations at ages 65 and older by 2025. Click the map to read
more.
center in the news
Montana near the top for growth in income -
Missoulian, March 29, 2006
Missoula County growing, but slowly - Missoulian, March 29, 2006
Wyoming, Montana differ on energy - Billings Gazette, March 21, 2006
Gazette Opinion: Billings' bright future
depends on citizen action - Billings
Gazette, March 20, 2006
Get ready for Billings' future, economist
says - Billings Gazette, March 18,
2006
Gazette Opinion: Rural, urban challenges in
economic growth - Billings Gazette,
February 24, 2006
Speaker to examine city's economic future -
Billings Gazette, February 24, 2006
Indian leadership to revamp following issue of
grant - Montana Kaimin, February 14,
2006
Five western Montana civic leaders appointed to
public policy council - Missoulian
Online, February 13, 2006
UM center gets second year for Indian Leaders
Institute - Missoulian Online,
February 13, 2006
upcoming events
On April 12th in
Colorado
Springs, Colo., Senior Fellow Daniel Kemmis will speak at
Colorado College’s 2006 State of the Rockies conference, discussing
the growing momentum toward coordinating several western primaries
and caucuses during the 2008 presidential election cycle.
On April 13th in
Missoula,
Mont., Center Director Larry Swanson will make an invited
presentation at a gathering of Leadership Missoula. He will
discuss growth and change in the Missoula area economy.
Leadership Missoula is sponsored by the Missoula Chamber
of Commerce and is attended by 30 to 40 young leaders in the
Missoula community selected each year.
On April 14th in
Missoula,
Mont., Swanson will discuss area growth trends with members of the
Missoula County Government Review Commission. The
Commission is evaluating possible changes in
Missoula County government.
On April 20th in
Billings, Mont., Swanson will present and participate in
a strategic planning meeting being organized by the Billings Area
Chamber of Commerce. Along with Swanson,
representatives of area economic and workforce development
organizations will make presentations on their organizations’
current plans and initiatives aimed at area economic
improvement.
On April 28th
in Missoula, Mont., William Farr, Associate Director of
Humanities, is scheduled to speak before the Montana History Group
at 7:30 p.m. in the Gallagher Business Building, Room 119.
Farr's talk, entitled "The Blackfoot Treaty of 1855" will explore
the context, personalities, and goals of this important treaty of
"peace and amity" as well as the creation of "the common hunting
ground."
On April 28th in
Helena, Mont., Senior Fellow Williams will convene the year’s second
session of the Montana Leaders Conference at the Feather Pipe
Ranch. The conference is conducted with
the Progressive Policy Institute.
On May 3rd in
Washington,
D.C., Kemmis will assume the duties of chairing the Program
Committee of the Kettering Foundation.
On May 5th in
Missoula, Mont., Williams will present this year’s Academic Freedom
Award to Governor Brian Schweitzer on behalf of the Montana Library
Association. The Freedom Award was named the
Pat Williams Freedom Award in the early 1990s to honor then
Congressman Williams’ legislative work on behalf of the National
Endowment for the Arts.
On May 12-14th in Aspen, Colo., the Sopris
Foundation will host a conference on “Innovative Ideas for a New West”. Kemmis
will conduct an evening fireside chat on May 13th on the challenge (and importance) of
maintaining livability and community character in the West’s growing
cities and towns.
On May 18th in
Great Falls,
Mont., Kemmis will join the monthly discussion of The Montana
Environmental Issues Reading and Discussion Group at the Great Falls
Public Library to discuss his exchange with Wendell Berry in Mr.
Berry’s recently published book, The
Way of Ignorance.
On May 9th in Whitefish, Mont., Williams will
present the keynote speech to a 12-state conference of state
directors of Fish, Wildlife and Parks. His address is entitled
"The West in Transition."
On May 19th and 20th in Paradise Valley, Mont., Swanson and
Kemmis will be attending and participating in a "Leaders Learning
Network" colloquium hosted by the Billings-based Foundation for
Community Vitality. The two-day session will examine
community and organizational development strategies and
approaches.
On May 24th in Missoula, Mont., Kemmis will speak
on prospects for a western presidential primary at the annual
banquet and initiation of the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi at UM’s
Davidson Honors College and to the Missoula
Rotary Club.
recent quotes from the
region
as
provided by Headwaters News
"What it would take for him to get my support
would be for him to look me in the eye and tell me he would oppose
the selling of public lands."
Cecil Andrus,
former Interior Secretary and Idaho governor,
on
what it would take for an Interior secretary candidate
to get his support.
- Idaho Statesman
03/15/2006
"There's no more land to put the housing on.
There's no more road space to put the cars on. There has to be some
limitation."
Cindy Houben,
Pitkin County 's head of community development,
on the Colorado county's proposal to
limit home size
to 15,000 square
feet.
- USA Today
02/21/2006
"We're in a spot where the car's going 160 miles
an hour and it doesn't have a steering wheel and we're in the damn
thing."
John Watts,
chairman of the Idaho Fish and Game Commission,
on his frustration over federal oversight on
how
Idaho
must manage its wolf population.
-
Missoulian (AP)
03/03/2006
"Obviously we won’t
let them put up a drilling rig between the shooting bench and the
target."
Mel
Lloyd, spokeswoman for the BLM’s Grand Junction
field office, on an area in
Colorado proposed
for energy leasing that currently is
used as a shooting range.
- Grand Junction Sentinel
03/29/2006
"At some point we have to tell the public, 'I'm
sorry, but we are not a national park.'"
Linda
Rundell, New Mexico
director of the BLM,
on the public's wrong impression
that all federal land must be managed like a public park.
- Farmington Daily Times
03/30/2006
project
activity
Senior Fellow Bob Brown is teaching about
American politics in Tianin, P.R.C. (China) from March 20-April
20. It is a faculty exchange arrangement with Nankai
University, whose Prof. Han Zhaoying will teach at UM spring of
2007.
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