See Montana during MPMA's Conference

MPMA always has great  tours. This year, we discover Montana!!!  

MPMA's Host Committee has organized many tours so delegates can  see 
interesting places in Montana. Remember: this is Big Sky Country and all tours 
will  include incredible scenery. A great  chance to see Montana and to 
experience it with knowledgeable guides.  


All Day Tours 


T1  Butte: Decadence, Wealth and Immigrants  
      
 
See the most colorful town in Montana: Butte. Known as The Richest Hill  on 
Earth, this mining town is famous for its wild ways from the 1870s through  
the 1950s. Most of the copper for World War I came from Butte turning it 
into  the most prosperous town in the US. Standard Oil Company, wealthy Copper 
Kings  and poor European immigrants all sought riches in Butte. Join us as 
we visit the  nation's largest National Historic Landmark District to see 
evidence of past  opulence and decadence. 
We'll tour the  Red Light District,visit a historic brothel, and see the 
last vestiges of what  was a bustling Chinese culture at the incredible Mai 
Wah Society buildings (Wah  Chong Tai Mercantile and the Mai Wah Noodle 
Parlor). We'll tour Butte's new  archival repository in an historic building. 
We'll end at the site of the  Speculator Granite Mountain Mine disaster and the 
historic Hoist House. Lunch  included. 
T2  Great Falls: Buffalo Jumps, Waterfalls and Famous People  
See the area  where the first white person to visit was Meriwether Lewis in 
1805 as part of  the Lewis and Clark Expedition, followed by explorer and 
trapper Jim Bridger in  1822. Great Falls acquired another well-known 
resident, Charlie Russell, who  became one of the nation's foremost western 
painters. See the studio where he  painted the blood-stirring action of the Old 
West with Native American war  parties, brawling cowboys, Native American 
buffalo hunts, and bucking  broncos. 
 
The tour  includes the First Peoples Buffalo Jump,  an archaeological site 
that is one of the nation's largest bison cliff jumps.  Native peoples used 
this site for at least two thousand years prior to Lewis and  Clark's 
expedition through Montana. We'll  follow the path of Lewis and Clark and see the 
Lewis and Clark Interpretive  Center with its films and exhibits. Located on 
a bluff overlooking the Missouri  River, the center sits by the falls that 
detained the Corps of Discovery for a  month while boats and supplies were 
portaged around the falls. We'll end our  tour with a panoramic view of the 
Great Falls, described by Lewis as "this  sublimely grand spectacle." Tour 
led by MHS Curator of History Sarah Nucci.  Lunch included. 
T3  Deer Lodge: Where Cattle Was King and Film was Hot  
See the second  oldest town in Montana and one of the prettiest. Deer Lodge 
began in 1852 after  the first gold in the state was discovered nearby. It 
is nestled in a beautiful,  broad valley between the Continental Divide and 
the Flint Creek Mountain Range.  
 
We'll visit  the Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site, its main house 
called "the first  pretentious house in Montana" when it was built in the 
late 19th century. Once  the headquarters of a ten million acre cattle empire, 
Grant-Kohrs Ranch - still  with its original furnishings - is a working 
cattle ranch that preserves the  role of cattlemen in American history - and 
tells the story of Conrad Kohrs,  "Montana's Cattle King."  
We'll also  visit the Old Montana Prison Museum. Listed on the National 
Register of Historic  Places, this turn of the century fortress with its corner 
turrets was home to at  least one member of Butch Cassidy's "Wild Bunch." 
We'll as visit the historic  Rialto Theater and hear the interesting 
preservation story behind this  Beaux Arts landmark. Lunch included.  
Half Day  Tours

T4  High Style Helena 
has always  played a defining role not only in Montana politics but in its 
cultural life as  well. See notable examples of the Queen City's diverse 
cultural past: the  Original Governor's Mansion, a Queen Anne residence built 
in 1888 that served as  home to Montana's First Families; the magnificent 
Cathedral of St. Helena on a  hill, and the famed Montana Club, which was 
founded as a private gentleman's  club in 1885, retains its clubby ambiance and 
has the best views of Helena.  
 
T5  Haunted Helena 
Join Dr. Ellen Baumler - noted ghost buster and  award-winning historian - 
in a unique tour that fuses tales of mystery with  solid research to unearth 
some of the more chilling episodes of Montana history.  On a trolley, 
you'll discover Helena's varied historic districts: Reeder's Alley  (Helena's 
oldest extant commercial buildings),the Benton Avenue Cemetery (home  to many 
of Helena's most colorful early citizens), and neighborhoods with  
spectacular Victorian mansions on the city's Upper West Side. Dr. Baumler will  share 
her unique insights into the vestiges of the past that can no longer be  
seen. Learn how Chinese miners, outlaws, prostitutes-and even a cat-are still  
making their presence known. Warning: this tour is not for the faint of  
heart! 
T6  Majestic Mount Helena 
Among the smallest of state capitals, Helena is home to  one of the 
nation's most expansive city parks-and the most spectacular scenery  anywhere. Join 
this guided trek up the Queen City's namesake mountain which  provides a 
dramatic backdrop to the Queen City's colorful  history and provides miles of 
hiking  and biking trails. En route learn about the geology of the area, 
discover the  remains of early attempts to find gold, and be on the watch for 
wildlife. From  the top, enjoy panoramic views of the Helena Valley below, 
the Continental  Divide to the west, and the Big Belt and Elkhorn Mountains to 
the east. This  strenuous hike is four to five miles. But the views are 
worth it!!  
T7  Industrial Complexes: Art Delight and Military Might 
Join us as  we delve into two of Helena's most important industries: 
ceramic production and  military sites - all nestled beneath the shadow of Mount 
Helena and the  foothills of the Rocky Mountains.  
Art Delight: Join us on a tour of  the Archie Bray Foundation, a  
world-renowned center for the ceramic arts: first of its kind and of great  interest 
to art lovers. It has a great historical story: the site goes back to  the 
1880s as the Kessler Brick and Tile Works and many of those buildings still  
stand. In 1951, brickworks heir and art patron Archie Bray transformed the  
former manufacturing site into an internationally recognized center for the  
creation of fine ceramic arts. Today the 26-acre grounds - listed on the  
National Register of Historic Places - offer a unique blending of industrial  
remains (including the original beehive kilns) and artworks created by the  
emerging and established ceramic artists who are invited to study here. 
You'll  see contemporary cultures and historic pieces, working artists' 
studios, a clay  business; an unbelievable array of pieces by artists who studied 
at the Bray;  and a gallery where you can purchase works by resident artists. 
 
 
Military Might: Guarding the Big Sky  on the outskirts of Helena's west 
side is Fort  Harrison, originally named for President Benjamin Harrison. It 
garrisoned  by troops in 1892, was an active army post until 1913, served as a 
mustering  site for Montana troops bound for France in 1917, was a training 
site for  National Guardsmen between the two world wars, and today is home 
to the Montana  National Guard, U.S. Army Reserve, U.S. Navy Reserve, 
Veteran's Cemetery, and  Veteran Administration's hospital. The fort is also home 
to the recently  established Montana Military Museum with artifacts 
documenting two hundred years  of military presence under the Big Sky. 
 

All Day Tours Tuesday, October 18 ** Half Day Tours Friday,  October 21  
All tours Depart from Conference  Hotel  
_Register online_ 
(http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=6w8tvlcab&et=1107349025740&s=0&e=001mkHQcUnJFP7-pnEp_U-zUZBZskKgKPZuTmzON2dA3JAV-FcVpRHF_EqgPUzaF3maE0W
SmEnbjNBpNKwUpvf3ZbHdr5z1vtTsZvvah7LAV32Qps_4yDHSKLgVrFmPeeBM8RflafyyPVlvv30
SEPTDy71u6-7C6QI8L8D38HgPxxW1kwJCK8eSKw==)   
_Register hard copy _ 
(http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=6w8tvlcab&et=1107349025740&s=0&e=001mkHQcUnJFP7-pnEp_U-zUZBZskKgKPZuTmzON2dA3JAV-FcVpRHF_EqgPUzaF3m
aE0WSmEnbjNBpNKwUpvf3ZRL2oDUobJ_ciMsksDb8E0Q=)  
Want to add a tour to your registration? _Email MPMA_ 
(mailto:[log in to unmask])  

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