Hello,

This is the sixth issue of our bi-monthly newsletter. We've received many positive comments regarding it and hope that you find it useful and informative. The O'Connor Center is engaged in a variety of activities in the state and region and we want to keep you informed about this work. Hopefully, the summer is going well for you.

From all of us at the O'Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West, The University of Montana

 a look at the region's history
provided by William Farr  

Sometimes it was called the Hell Gate Treaty, sometimes the Council Grove Treaty, sometimes Treaty with the Flatheads. The year was 1855, July 16, more than 151 years ago.  Governor and Superintendent Isaac Ingalls Stevens of Washington Territory was then on a lengthy treaty tour throughout the whole of his territory and wished to begin negotiations with the Flathead, Pend d’Oreille and Kootenai Indians on what would eventually 
become western Montana. He convened representatives of these tribes in what was then known as the Hellgate Route, at the confluence of the Bitterroot and Clark Fork Rivers. At that time Washington Territory ran from the Pacific Ocean to the Continental Divide.

Aboriginal land title had not yet been extinguished and Governor Stevens made that task his first order of business in the newly created territory. Acting on behalf of the Office of Indian Affairs in Washington, D.C., and initiating a new reservation policy, Stevens concentrated on land cessions, placing Indian people on reservations, and paying for those lands with annual payments of goods and services.

His treaty tour began on Puget Sound and progressed up the Columbia River to Walla Walla in the early spring of 1855. In July it was time for the Flatheads, Pend d’Oreilles, and one band of Kootenai. Their chiefs or headmen were Victor, Alexander, and Michel respectively. Meeting in the heat of July, in a tall grove of pines—Council Grove—the Stevens party of 22 and the assembled Indians negotiated for eight days before signing a formal treaty of 11 articles. These were difficult negotiations; eventually the combined tribes would cede 25,000 acres, however, and agree to Victor as head chief.

A major problem was the inability of the combined tribes to agree on the location for the consolidated reservation—should it be on the Pend d’Oreille territory in the Jocko and Mission Valleys near St. Ignatius or in the Bitterroot Valley, home of the Flatheads? Trying to break the impasse, Stevens introduced the prospect of a “conditional Bitterroot” reservation. Victor too employed a strategy in Article XI that argued for a survey and for the president of the United States to decide. The upshot was to postpone the decision to a later time. In the meanwhile, Stevens wrote back to Olympia, the territorial capitol, “We are proceeding grandly…Made a treaty yesterday with the Flatheads, Kootenais, and upper Pend d’Oreilles numbering 1,400 souls.”

recent activities

On July 28^th in Dubois, Wyo., Center Fellow Daniel Kemmis attended and spoke at a meeting examining the potential for long-term stewardship contracts to overcome some of the controversy attending Forest Service activities in the West.

On July 24^th and 25^th in Missoula, Mont., Center Director Larry Swanson and the Center hosted Professor Michael Osborne from the University of Stirling in Glasgow, Scotland, and Dr. Patricia Inman, an educational consultant from Illinois and co-editor of Vitae Scholasticae. Osborne heads the Division of Academic Innovation and Continuing Education at Stirling and is co-director of its Centre for Lifelong Learning Research. He also co-directs a fledging international consortium of partner regions and institutions called PASCAL Observatory. PASCAL’s current partner regions include Scotland through the Scottish Executive; Kent County, England; and the State of Victoria (Australia). Organizations in these regions are engaged in innovative programs and practices dealing with learning regions, social capital, and place management. PASCAL is seeking to add new partners in North America, including British Columbia (Univ. of Victoria) and Montana (Univ. of Montana). PASCAL has links with the EU and OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) and its current board chair is Dr. Jarl Bengtsson, former head of OECD’s Centre for Educational Research and Innovation.

Dr. Osborne’s particular interest in Montana is work by the O’Connor Center in bringing economic analysis and knowledge to city regions in Montana in a wide array of leadership learning venues and forums, including those under Montana on the Move. While in Missoula, Osborne and Inman met with UM officials and area leaders in workforce development, community development, and adult education. PASCAL's annual conference in 2007 is entitled “Lifelong Learning in the Borderless City-Region” and will be in Pecs, Hungary.

On July 20^th in Missoula, Kemmis participated in a panel discussion sponsored by UM’s Practical Ethics Center in a summer series entitled “Exploring the Landscapes of Environmental Thought.” The panel examined a controversial essay “The Death of Environmentalism” and its relevance to western issues.

On July 14^th in Helena, Mont., Swanson participated in a technical committee meeting at the Montana Community Foundation. MCF is doing a “Transfer of Wealth” study examining possible future scenarios for wealth transfer in sub-regions of Montana.

On July 13^th in Bozeman, Mont., Swanson spoke at a board meeting of the Helena Branch of the Federal Reserve System. The Helena Fed Branch hosted representatives of the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank, including President and CEO Gary Stern and staff with the Fed Gazette publication. Swanson discussed growth and change in the Rocky Mountain region and how this growth is translating into the Bozeman area economy.

On July 9^th in Lolo, Mont., Senior Fellow Pat Williams, as a member of the Executive Board of Travelers Rest State Park, participated in the closing ceremony of the celebration of the 1805-06 expedition of Lewis and Clark.

On July 8^th in Helena, Mont., Senior Fellow Bob Brown conducted a recorded interview with Thomas L. Judge, Montana governor 1973-81. Governor Judge is one of nearly 30 prominent individuals in Montana history that Brown has interviewed over the past year for the Mansfield Library historical archives.

On June 28-30^th in Cambridge, Mass., Kemmis attended and spoke at a conference sponsored by the Environmental Public Policy Section of the Association of Conflict Resolution, The conference focused on "Deliberative Democracy: New Directions in Public Policy Dispute Resolution."

On June 27^th in Boston, Mass., Kemmis spoke about "What Universities Can Bringto Collaborative Governance" at a meeting of university-based consensus-building institutes. The meeting was sponsored by the Portland, Oregon-based Policy Consensus Institute.

On June 18^th in Sun Valley, Idaho, Swanson spoke at the 2006 Quad-State Bankers Convention to a gathering of several hundred banking executives from Colorado, Idaho, Montana, and Nevada. Swanson and Wells Fargo Senior Economist Gary Schlossberg shared in a discussion of key growth trends in the region.  

On June 15^th in Missoula, Mont., Kemmis spoke at a public meeting exploring the prospect of establishing commuter-rail service in Missoula. Kemmis spoke as a member of the board of the Missoula Redevelopment agency, highlighting the importance of good public transportation to livable cities, and drawing attention to new light rail systems in several western cities.

On June 14^th in Somers, Mont., Swanson spoke at a meeting of the Flathead Basin Commission, discussing socioeconomic growth and change in the Flathead Basin area. The 23-member Commission was established by the Montana Legislature to encourage economic development while protecting the “present high quality of the Flathead’s aquatic environment.” The June 14^th meeting was part of the Commission’s strategic planning process.

On June 10th in Missoula, Mont., Kemmis spoke to a meeting of the directors of western states humanities councils. He gave the directors a walking tour of Missoula ’s downtown riverfront, pointing out the ways Missoula citizens have been involved in improving the community, and drawing parallels to similar stories in other western communities.

On June 9^th and July 14^th Brown moderated the final two seminars in a five-part series presented by the Center entitled “Montana Constitution: Progressive Spirit of the Rocky Mountain West.” The June 9^th seminar, held at the Flathead Lake Biological Station at Yellow Bay, focused on the implementation of the clear and healthful environment provision of the 1972 Montana State Constitution.  Seminar keynoter was district judge and former Constitutional Convention delegate C. B. McNeil. Panelists included lawyers, legislators and spokespersons for resource groups and organizations.

The July 14^th concluding seminar was held at the UM Lubrecht Experimental Forest Conference Center. Corbin Newman, USFS Director of Forest Management, keynoted on the seminar theme of sustainable forests and communities following welcoming remarks by Bob Campbell, the delegate to the 1972 Constitutional Convention who successfully argued for the adoption of the clean and healthful environment language in the constitution. Panelists and presenters included spokespersons for environmental advocacy groups, resources-related businesses, and state and federal agencies. All five seminars in the series were videotaped for the Mansfield Library historical archives.

Brian Kahn moderates a panel on Sustainable Forests and 
Communities during Seminar V of the Montana Constitution Series
at Lubrecht Forest Conference Center July 14, 2006.

On June 8-9^th in Billings, Mont., Williams participated in the inauguration of the Governor’s Restoration Forum. As members of the planning committee, Williams and Jim Burchfield of UM’s College of Forestry and Conservation were instrumental in launching the forum. Williams moderated its final panel of federal participants and spoke at the forum’s closing.

On June 8^th in Missoula, Mont., Swanson taped an interview that was broadcast on radio stations in the Missoula area on June 12^th.  The interview was part of the Live Missoula program of the Missoula Organization of Realtors - a community awareness program designed to help Missoula ’s real estate sector participate in important issues facing Missoula.

On June 7^th in Missoula, Mont., Brown presented observations from his recent experience during a teaching exchange at Nankai University in Tianjin, China to the Missoula Sunrisers Rotary Club. He also shared those observations with the Missoula Centennial Club Rotary Club on July 11^th and the Missoula Pachyderm Club on July 23^rd.

On June 6^th in Billings, Mont., Williams addressed a Billings community breakfast audience on the subject of "Land and Water Restoration as an Economic Engine."

On June 5^th in Phillipsburg, Mont., Swanson discussed key growth trends affecting Granite County and its larger region at an organizational meeting for a Flint Creek Watershed Association.

The O'Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West is a program of The University of Montana in Missoula.

regional trends

The Composition of Income is Changing
as the Population Ages

It is becoming increasingly understood by most people that the U.S. population is aging and that this has very real implications – health care needs are rising, housing needs are changing, school age populations are shrinking, etc. This aging process is also directly impacting the composition and make-up of personal income. For most of this nation’s history, much of the income most people and families receive to use for everything they buy came from their employment. However, increasingly more and more areas today are receiving as much income from non-employment sources, such as from investments, Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid benefits, as they receive from employment sources, i.e., wage and salary earnings. Areas in dark black in the map receive as much or more of their personal income from non-employment sources as from workplace earnings. And there is a heavy concentration of these places in the northern Rockies.

center in the news

Maturing gracefully--Quality of life will drive the new economy of western Montana - Missoulian, July 31, 2006

Flathead businesses ask county to protect the water - Missoulian, July 31, 2006

Rail transit for area could be long haul - Missoulian, July 26, 2006

Ravalli County open space bond placed on ballot - Missoulian, July 26, 2006

Seminar to address sustainable forests, communities - Missoulian, July 6, 2006

Restoration is a New Economic Narrative for the West's Wild and Urban Landscapes - NewWest, July 6, 2006

Rural center gives western Montana high marks for ‘amenities' - Missoulian, July 5, 2006

Summus Works, Inc.: BCTV Releases ``Balancing the Bitterroots'' - Denver dBusiness News, June 19, 2006

Will a Commuter Rail System Solve Missoula's Transportation Problems? - NewWest, June 15, 2006

Long process for short rail - Missoulian, June 15, 2006

Teacher, legislator tells life story of state constitution's 1972 birth - Missoulian, June 5, 2006

upcoming events

On Aug. 2^nd in Boise, Idaho, Center Director Larry Swanson will give the keynote presentation at the annual Western Planners Conference. The conference and presentation are entitled “Shaping Change in the New West. ”The conference is attended by hundreds of planners from throughout the West. 

On Aug. 4^th in Whitefish, Mont., Swanson will speak at the Montana Land Title Association Annual Convention at Grouse Mountain Lodge. He will discuss key economic and demographic trends in the state and region. The convention is attended by title company and real estate representatives throughout the region.

On Aug. 18^th in Browning, Mont., the Piegan Institute is holding a history conference entitled Innaihtsiiyi, examining Blackfeet concepts of peace and peace agreements. The conference is co-sponsored by the O'Connor Center and UM's Native American Studies Dept. The conference will be held at the Nizipuhwahsin School in Browning from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and is free and open to the public.

On Aug. 23^rd in Helena, Mont., Bob Brown will speak about his experiences on a teaching exchange at Nankai University in Tianjin, China, to the Helena Last Chance Rotary Club.

On Aug. 25-27^th near Yellowstone Park, Williams will host the second meeting of this year’s Emerging Leaders Conference. It will be at the B-Bar Ranch north of the park.

On Sept.15^th at Big Sky, Mont., Daniel Kemmis will speak at the Philanthropy Northwest 2006 Annual Conference and Membership Meeting. Philanthropy Northwest is a network of approximately 190 foundations and philanthropists in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington with a mission to promote effective philanthropy.

On Sept. 16^th in Olympia, Wash., Kemmis will address the new MPA students at the Evergreen State College's orientation. He will also speak to the faculty of the Tribal MPA the following morning.

On Sept. 26^th in Helena, Mont., Swanson will speak at the annual Human Resources Conference sponsored by the personnel division of Montana’s State Department of Administration.  His talk is entitled “Current Trends and Patterns of Change – Montana’s Economic Outlook.”

On Sept. 28-30^th in Missoula, Mont., Williams will participate in the Montana Festival of the Book by presenting readings from the book Mother Lode. He and his wife Carol were contributors to the book which was jointly edited by Prof. Janet Finn of The University of Montana and Ellen Crain, Director of the Butte Archives.

On Sept. 29^th in Salt Lake City, Utah, Kemmis will participate on a panel entitled "Has the West been Overlooked by Presidential Candidates?"  The panel is part of a symposium, "A Western States Presidential Primary Election," sponsored by the Center for Public Policy and Administration at the University of Utah.

Milwaukee Station, home of the 
O'Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West

recent quotes from the region 
as provided by Headwaters News

"I need two hats. I was on horseback this morning. This afternoon I ran the earth mover."

Rob Hendry, a Wyoming rancher who also runs a business leveling sections of ground to allow the use of a moveable energy drilling rig.
- New York Times
07/05/2006

"It is certainly possible that there are wolves in Colorado."

Randy Hampton, a Colorado Division of Wildlife spokesman, about hikers' report of seeing two wolves near Capitol Lake.
- Aspen Times
06/07/2006

"I see long, bad battles ahead with plenty of bloody expensive legal fights over who owns the water."

Steve Harris, director of the nonprofit Rio Grande Restoration in Pilar and a rafting guide, on the increasing demands on the very limited supply of water in the Rio Grande running through New Mexico.
- Santa Fe New Mexican
06/12/2006

"I think this is the equivalent for the West of what hurricanes are for the Gulf Coast."

Stephen Running, a University of Montana ecology professor, about how global warming has increased and intensified wildfire seasons across the West.
- Los Angeles Times
07/07/2006

project activity

An article authored by Bob Brown entitled “Direct Democracy” was published in the Montana Policy Review, Spring 2006 issue. The Review is published by the Local Government Center of MSU’s Department of Political Science.

During July, Pat Williams advised Bonnie Brooks of Chicago in her writing of a book on the history of the National Endowment for the Arts during the Endowment’s turbulent political years in the late 1980s and early 1990s.  During those years, Williams chaired the congressional committee that oversaw the NEA and its reauthorization.  Williams has opened his Mansfield Library archives to Ms. Brooks, who said she found them invaluable in her efforts to complete her book.

Swanson and Center research associate Doug Lawrence recently completed a study for the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, Bozeman, entitled: “The Cody, Wyoming, Area Economy – Restructuring and Change in a Growing Region” (July, 2006). GYC is using the study as part of a larger report on the area's economy.

Swanson also completed an issue paper for Northern Great Plains, Inc. entitled “New Directions for Rural Communities of the Northern Plains – Can the Path be Altered?” (July, 2006). 

Williams continues to host meetings as follow-ups to the Governor’s Restoration Forum that was held June 8^th and 9^th in Billings.The current meetings will explore “second steps” toward establishing a restoration economy in Montana.

Swanson and the Center are working on a study of Montana ’s business and trade relationship with Canada funded by the Canadian Consulate Office in Denver. The report on cross-border trade and business activity in the Rockies region will be completed in late September. 

Swanson also is co-authoring a chapter for a forthcoming book entitled Researching Social Capital, Lifelong Learning, and the Management of Place: An International Perspective (Routledge, edited by Osborne, Sankey, and Wilson).

links

Center Web Site
Archived Center Newsletters
Headwater's News
The University of Montana
KUFM Public Radio