The Extreme History Project

Travel back in time on Willson Avenue!

The Extreme History Project’s Gracious Gables walking tour, which explores Bozeman’s Bon Ton Historic District, offers more than a lesson in architecture. Much more. Spend an hour on a Sunday afternoon and come away with a deeper appreciation of the events and people who first saw opportunity in the beautiful Gallatin valley.

The Bon Ton District was Bozeman’s most fashionable neighborhood between 1880 and 1930. Men who came west for gold or to make a new life after the Civil War made fortunes in real estate, banking, beef, retail and politics. When W.W. Alderson platted his homestead south of Main Street, he planned for Central Avenue (now Willson) to be a grand boulevard, with beautiful houses on either side. That’s why the neighborhood is known as the Bon Ton District, which in the 19^th Century meant “the finest.” Over the years doctors, bankers, politicians, college presidents and several sons of the city’s original founders lived here.

The Chisholm Family on Porch of Residence in Bozeman, Montana. Left to right, back row: Oliver Perry Chisholm (1843-1912), Sarah Alice Chisholm, Sarah Jane Bishop Chisholm (1846-1905); front row, left to right: Charles B. Chisholm (1874-1945), Oliver Perry Chisholm, II (1883-1967). House is located at 319 S. Willson. Photograph Courtesy of the Museum of the Rockies

Their homes reflected their wealth and status. Although the district is predominately Queen Anne or Colonial Revival, home owners often combined styles to make their homes unique. From the highly ornamented, pink Queen Anne home built by Bozeman’s first sheriff to the simplicity of the townhouse designed by local architect Fred Willson for the founder of the Flying D Ranch, no two houses are similar.

The stories of the residents are as impressive as the homes. These people were doers who founded businesses and touched lives in ways that are still relevant today. Kindness? Think about Julia Martin who served Thanksgiving dinner to the “loose women” at Montana College for over 37 years. Politics? Consider the political career of Nelson Story Junior, son of Bozeman’s first millionaire or Belle McDonald, daughter of former slaves, who lobbied the state legislature while working as a live-in domestic.

Julia Martin House. Photograph Courtesy of the Museum of the Rockies

These are just a few remarkable stories housed in the Bon Ton District. Theirs were lives of visible success and painful loss. Take a tour to learn more about those who had significant influence on Bozeman and Montana in its early years.

For tour dates and times and to register click here!

Historic Virginia City Tour

Join the Extreme History Project for a special, behind the scenes tour of Virginia City, Montana. Receive a personal tour of the historic gold mining town that still looks very much like it did nearly 160 years ago. Once the capital of Montana Territory, Virginia City was the end of the Bozeman Trail in the 1860s. Its nearby goldfields were the attraction of thousands of easterners seeking their fortune in the West. Virginia City’s history is complete with many successes, failures, seedy and exciting characters. Our tour will include a;

• Personal walking tour of Virginia City hosted by historian Ellen Baumler
• Visit to nearby Nevada City to enjoy living history and experience the time period of the era
• Stop at Virginia City’s famous Boot Hill cemetery to visit the final resting place of some of the town’s most famous and infamous citizens

Our trip from Bozeman to Virginia City will be enjoyed aboard a deluxe, state of the art, luxury motorcoach complete with restrooms, footrests, air-conditioning, and Wi-Fi. Walking is required for part of the tour but will be on level ground. Tour is recommended for ages 10-up.

COST: $95 per person/$85 For Extreme History Project Members. To register for the tour  click here.

If you have questions about the tour, contact us at info@extremehistoryproject.org or give us a call at 406-220-2678.

Tour will leave Bozeman at 8:30 a.m. from the parking lot directly behind the Gallatin History Museum and return at approximately 6 p.m.

Historic Crow Indian Agencies – Fort Parker and the Absaroka Agency
The Extreme History Project invites you on an exceptional and informative tour of the original Crow Agencies of Montana. Hosted by Shane Doyle, a Crow tribal member and educational consultant who hails from the current Crow Agency, Montana. You will visit the land that the Crow, or the Apsaalooke people, called home for thousands of years. More specifically, we will visit the sites of the first Crow Indian Agency, Fort Parker and the second Crow Indian Agency, Absaroka Agency. Our tour will include a;

• Visit to Fort Parker where the first Crow Agency was built in 1869, located just east of Livingston.
• Lunch at the Museum of the Beartooths in Columbus, MT, where you’ll see artifacts related to the second Crow Indian Agency and learn more about the second agency from Museum Director, Penny Redli.
• Visit the site of the second Crow Agency located near present-day Absarokee, Montana
• Stop at the Thomas party memorial/grave where in 1865 a group of travelers on the Bozeman Trail were killed by Lakota warriors.

• A rare visit to the site of John Bozeman’s death, where he was killed in 1867 along the Yellowstone River.

Our trip from Bozeman into original Crow territory will be enjoyed aboard a deluxe, state of the art, luxury motorcoach complete with restrooms, footrests, air-conditioning, and Wi-Fi.

There will be minimal walking on level ground during the tour. Lunch will be provided for you at the Museum of the Beartooths in Columbus, Montana.

Tour will leave Bozeman from the Gallatin History Museum at 8:30 a.m. and will return at approximately 6 p.m.

COST: $115 per person/$105 For Extreme History Members

To register for this tour, click here. If you have questions about the tour, please contact us at info@extremehistoryproject.org or give us a call at 406-220-2678.

Are you ready to get outside and take a historic walking tour! We’re excited to kick off the 2019 walking tour season this Memorial Day weekend. Click here for our full schedule of tour dates and times and to sign up for a tour!  We look forward to seeing you on a walking tour!

Check out the short video below to give you a preview of our historic walking tours!

Extreme History is excited to partner with the Bozeman Public Library for their One Book One Bozeman program to offer a NEW walking tour that features Bozeman’s historic red-light district! Click here to secure a free ticket, only 15 spots per tour available!

One Book One Bozeman, is a community reading program and this year the book chosen is Love and Other Consolation Prizes by Jamie Ford.  Ford takes readers back to Seattle’s red-light district to meet three young inhabitants of a high-class brothel. The three characters include Ernest the houseboy, Maisie the madam’s precocious daughter, and a bold scullery maid named Fahn. These three characters wind their way through life in the district. For additional One Book One Bozeman Events, click here.

We are excited to showcase Bozeman’s own historic red-light district and speak to the similarities and differences with Seattle’s district. Join us for this one-hour walking tour that will take you back in time to the Bozeman of 1910. We’ll see where the ladies lived and worked, recounting the lives of the many women who made this district their home. You’ll hear stories of success, failure, independence, and tragedy. These women were not only residents of the tenderloin but they contributed financially to our community. The “restricted” district thrived from the 1870s until the early 20th century when the occupants of the red-light district were forced out and the houses were closed up for good.

We will offer two tours, one on February 16 at 1pm and the second on February February 24 at 1pm. Meet your tour guide in Soroptomist Park located on the corner of Rouse and Main streets. Tour is free and open to the public but you will need to register by clicking here to secure a ticket. There are only 15 spots per tour available so secure your ticket now!