May 2016 • A special publication by the Havre Daily News
Living History Day, June 4 Pam Burke ~ Havre Daily News
Provides the opportunity to experience area history firsthand While the common thread among historical attractions is to teach people about history, Havre’s Living History Day Saturday, June 4, provides the opportunity to experience the area's history firsthand, as well. Living History brings together efforts at several of the area’s historical sites, welcoming people to take part in activities, demonstrations and re-enactments that bring those days back to life.
Fort Assinniboine During the Saturday event, historic Fort Assinniboine, once the largest military post in Montana, will have half-hour tours, starting with the first at 10 a.m. and ending with the last tour leaving at 3:30 p.m. During the tours, people will be treated to live firearm and cannon demonstrations by the Bullhook Bottoms Black Powder Club and learn about traders, Mounties, soldiers and Native Americans
who are testimonials to our state’s past and the opening of the frontier. People can stroll through displays and vendor booths with hides, guns, Native American craft work and more. Tours, on the Black Jack touring wagon, named after General John “Black Jack” Pershing who was stationed at the fort early in his career, will take in the officers quarters, the officers’ Amusement Hall, the guardhouse, the fort library which has been repurposed as the interpretive center and more. Organizers are also working to get a musical group together to play selections from the time of the fort's era. Fort Assinniboine is located about six miles south of Havre, east off U.S. Highway 87. Cost is $5 per adult and $3 for 18 and younger for the day. If the rugged outdoors whets your appetite, a lunch is served for the cost of a free-will donation.
Havre Beneath the Streets During Living History, displays of some of the city’s old businesses will come alive at Havre Beneath the Streets museum with actors re-enacting the business deals of old and providing tasty treats.
The Sporting Eagle Saloon, the Old West at its best, will have gamblers and dance hall girls, as well as good ol’ boys just needing a drink. People can shop at Gourley Brothers Bakery to purchase tasty homemade pastries made fresh for the day. Havre's Meat Market will be handing out samples to anyone wanting a heartier bite to eat. A choice of old-fashioned penny candy will be available to buy at Holland and Son Mercantile. Saturday's tours will start at 9 a.m. and run every half hour with the last tour leaving at 4 p.m. A special rate of $8 a person will be offered for tours on Living History Day. The main office for Havre Beneath the S t re e t s i s a t 1 2 0 3 rd Ave. Appointments for tours are welcomed.
Frank DeRosa Railroad Museum During Living History, members of the local model train group, Pacific Junction Railroad Club, will be running a variety of to-scale trains in the museum. This display will include not only the museum’s main-floor tracks at 120 3rd Ave., but also have special runs in the large and elaborate tracks in the building's basement. Admission is free and model train enthusiasts will be on hand
throughout the day to talk about the trains and the railroad.
Wahkpa Chu’gn Buffalo Jump Though many museums offer the chance to see relics and bones that have been unearthed and placed into displays, Wahkpa Chu’gn Buffalo Jump offers a rare opportunity to view artifacts in their natural, found state. A site where different tribes and cultures of Native Americans had run bison off a cliff overlooking the Milk River, Wahkpa Chu’gn is a living archaeological dig that reveals cultural and natural influences through different eras. Tours of the buffalo jump start at the jump’s interpretive center, located on the northeast edge of the Holiday Village Mall parking lot, or at the H. Earl Clack Memorial Museum. For Living History, tours will take place from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. A demonstration of the ancient cooking method of stone boiling will take place from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. next to the interpretive center. I n c e l e b ra t i o n o f L i v i n g History, tours will be given at a reduced rate of $9 for adults, $8 for seniors and $6 for students, and children younger than 6 will get in free. Tours are about one hour long and are fully handicap
accessible, including a six-passenger Polaris to help anyone who wants a ride get from the center to the tour starting point without hiking.
H. Earl Clack Memorial Museum The H. Earl Clack Memorial Museum, which shows the area history from the dinosaur age through to modern times, will be featuring Hometown Humanities project speaker Anne Foster. Her presentation, “Alcohol, Corsets and the Vote” on women’s suffrage, will be 1 p.m. in front of the museum. As one of the 14 members of Montana’s Dinosaur Trail, the museum has many dino displays and the Dinosaur Trail passport stamp books. The passports, $5 each, can be stamped at each of the museums along the statewide trail of museums, and everyone who gets all their stamps within five years earns a top-quality Dinosaur Trail T-shirt. Tours of the museum, located in Holiday Village Mall at the west end of Havre, off U.S. Highway 2, are free. It will be open from noon to 6 p.m. for Living History.
n See Living History Page 4