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.
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.
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
Want to add a tour to your registration? Email MPMA