The Extreme History Project

We are offering a free walking tour of Bozeman’s historic black neighborhood in honor of Juneteenth on June 19! Due to the popularity (it is currently full) of this tour we will offer more throughout the summer so watch this space for additional dates/times or follow us on Facebook or join our mailing list for updates.

Juneteenth is also known as Freedom Day, Jubilee Day or Liberation Day. It is a holiday celebrated annually on the 19th of June throughout the U.S. to commemorate the end of slavery. On June 19, 1865 general George Granger publicly announced federal orders in Galveston, Texas proclaiming that all people enslaved in Texas were free. Although the Emancipation Proclamation had formally freed enslaved people almost two and a half years earlier on January 1, 1863, and the Civil War had ended with the defeat of the Confederate States in April of 1856 it took until June 19th, 1865 for the proclamation to reach and be read in Texas. This holiday is now widely celebrated throughout the United States. 

Bozeman’s historic African American community is nearly invisible until you begin to examine the historic census records, newspaper accounts, and city directories. Only then do Bozeman’s Black citizens come into focus. One name leads to another and soon a tight knit and thriving African American community emerges during the late 19th century. Working as machinists, laborers, laundresses, housekeepers, and porters, Bozeman’s African American people contributed to the building of our city through their labor, religious activity, child rearing, social clubs and community participation. Our walking tour, “Family Matters: Bozeman’s Historic African American Community” explores the lives of these founding families and uncovers a history that has been silent for over a hundred years.

For more information on our walking tour program, click here.

We didn’t know if walking tours were going to happen this year, but we’re taking it slow and moving forward with tours! We will limit the group size to 10 people, including the guide. Click here for the schedule of tours. Watch this space for updates on walking tour dates/times for the rest of the summer. 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!

On April 30th and May 1st, The Extreme History Project will participate in Give Big Gallatin Valley. Now, more than ever, the Gallatin County nonprofit community needs your support.

Give Big Gallatin Valley is an online county-wide effort to raise awareness and important operating funds for local nonprofits and to celebrate the generosity and vibrancy of our community.

We’ve seen our community come together in extraordinary ways over the past two months, let’s keep the momentum going and continue to support each other in this time of crisis.

We need history and a connection to our community’s past now more than ever. Understanding where we’ve been, helps us better understand how to move forward without repeating past mistakes. Please help us continue our mission to make history relevant and bring that history to you.

We’re a grassroots, non-profit history organization, and, like you, we’re struggling to navigate through today’s challenging times. In these extraordinary circumstances, your donation, big or small, can make an even greater impact. Your support allows us to continue providing in-depth programming and exciting events that bring the history of our community alive.

We ask you to Give Big to History from 6pm on April 30th to 6pm on May 1st! Follow this link for more information and to Give Big!

Thank you for your continued support of The Extreme History Project, and thank you for Giving Big to Gallatin Valley.

Welcome to Montana Archaeology Month! At Extreme History we celebrate Montana’s rich archaeological past all year, but in April we join the Montana Archaeological Society (MAS) is raising awareness about Montana archaeology. We usually look forward to attending the annual meeting of The Montana Archaeological Society to catch up with friends and colleagues. Of course, this year it’s been cancelled. We will miss our annual gathering, but know it’s better to stay home and stay safe. There are still ways to learn about Montana’s archaeological past, you can visit the Montana Archaeological Society’s website, http://mtarchaeologicalsociety.org/, or like their Facebook page by clicking here. This year we are celebrating indigenous archaeology, commemorated by the 2020 MAS poster seen below designed by Tim Ryan.

Here at the Extreme History Project we celebrate women’s history all year, but we’ve been working with local Bozeman, MT resident, Jane Klockman, to document her families history and wanted to share that with you during Women’s History Month. Our colleague, Amy Talcott wrote a wonderful article on Jane’s great aunt, Florence Ballinger Hamilton that we are excited to share with you.

Florence Ballinger Hamilton – By Amy Katherine Talcott

The author would like to extend her sincere gratitude to Jane Davidson Klockman, granddaughter of Lulu Ballinger Davidson and grandniece of Florence Ballinger Hamilton, whose reminiscences and extensive collection of correspondence and photographs made this biography possible. Click here to read the article. 

Every building has a history and a story to tell. In this workshop, you’ll learn how to uncover the history of a house or a historic building, whether it is 50 years old or 150 years old. Experts will share their knowledge on research techniques and you’ll learn how to read maps, research historic photographs, city directories, deed records, and many other tools. We will visit the Gallatin History Museum, tour the Gallatin County Clerk and Recorders Office, and take a short walking tour of a historic neighborhood to better understand the architectural styles and character of historic Bozeman.

When: November 16, 2019 8:30am to 4:30pm
Where: 234 E. Mendenhall Street, Bozeman, MT 59715
Registration: $50 for non-members, $45 for members. Registration fee includes all materials and snacks. Lunch will be on your own.
Space is limited so click here to register early!

Buy tickets here!

For one night only, The Extreme History Project is bringing such notables as John Bozeman, Joseph Lindley, Lizzie Woods, and Achilles Lamme back from the grave to tell their stories. Hear about their exploits and learn about life in this area as Bozeman struggled to become a town.

Your self-guided journey will take you down Main and Mendenhall streets to meet “soiled doves,” salacious madams, mystic mediums, and other bold inhabitants of this western town. Tales of ghosts, murder and mayhem, frontier justice, brothels, and more will be told by our resurrected dead. This year’s tour will introduce new and intriguing cast members to delight you with their sagas.

This tour is offered Friday, October 18th, at 7:00, 7:10, 7:20 and 7:30 pm. Tickets are $20.

TO PURCHASE TICKETS CLICK HERE

The event is not appropriate for children under the age of 12.

Walking Tour Spotlight – Spirits, Suds, and Saloons: Bozeman’s Drinking History

Posted: August 13, 2019 by extremehistory in Uncategorized

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Saloon Shootings and “Rotgut”?!

Every Wednesday night at 6:00, The Extreme History Project takes visitors on a tour of Bozeman’s historic breweries and saloons.  Bozeman’s first saloons opened within the initial years of Bozeman’s founding in 1864.  These were not the rough and tumble saloons of the western mining camps though, where down-and-out miners drank their sorrows away on a less-than-delectable type of whiskey known as “rotgut.”  No, here in Bozeman we had establishments like the Palace Saloon. With its “handsome bar [and] beautifully papered and pictured walls,” the Palace was known to be the finest drinking establishment west of Chicago.  Bozeman’s saloons were not immune to violence. One night in 1885, Bozeman residents heard three shots fired in rapid succession and when they arrived at the Palace, Neil Lane lay dead on the saloon floor, shot by his business partner following an argument about a prostitute named “Beavertooth.”  Hear this story and others as your guide takes you through a tour of Bozeman’s historic saloons. Along the way, you’ll learn about the buildings that once housed these infamous saloons and come to understand how drinking culture in the United States has changed over time.  Our next Spirits, Suds, and Saloons tour leaves from The Extreme History Project Headquarters at 234 E. Mendenhall on Wednesday, August 14 at 6 pm!
To sign up for a tour, click here!

By Cheryl Hendry, tour guide of the Spirits, Suds, and Saloons tour

The Spieth and Krug Brewery on Bozeman’s Main Street