State Capitols – Helena, Montana – Part 2

June 17, 2014

The Montana state house is interesting enough for a second post, especially since it has an art story as compelling as the one from the House of Representatives Lounge in the Missouri capitol. The saga where Thomas Hart Benton prevailed over the hypocrite pols was presented here in March 2020.

I returned to the capitol the following morning and took the tour. Sometimes you hit the jackpot and get a terrific guide. Dallas Miller, a retired history professor, showed us around. He even got us into the legislative chambers on the floor level.

Old State Supreme Court Chamber, 

Montana Capitol, Helena (16 June 2014) 

The room currently serves as a committee hearing or

 public meeting space but was the Senate for ten years 

and then the State Supreme Court from 1912 to 1983. 

The picture is a composite of five images. 

Montana Senate, Helena (16 June 2014) 

Beginning in January of every odd-numbered year, the legislature meets in regular session for ninety working days. The state is divided into 100 House districts for the purpose of representation. Senate members are half that number with two House districts represented by each senator. The Senate’s 50 members are elected to four-year terms. Half the positions are up for a vote every two years.

Driving the Golden Spike by Amédée Joullin [1903] 

Montana Capitol, Helena (16 June 2014) 

Given to the capitol by the Northern Pacific Railroad, this mural is the only art work not commissioned by the state. It commemorates the completion of the northern transcontinental rail line in 1883 with former president Ulysses Grant driving in the final spike. Mr. Miller noted that this was the first time a former president was paid ($2000) to make an appearance.

Montana House of Representatives, Helena (16 June 2014) 

The House has 100 members, each elected for 2-year terms. One is immediately drawn to the painting at the front of the room. Charles M. Russell was one of the premier artists of the old west and a Montana resident. In 1911, he was commissioned to paint what many consider his masterwork. The 25 x 12-foot mural is said to be worth $40-65 million…not bad given the commission was $5000. Russel had to raise the roof of his cabin studio to accommodate the canvas.

Professor Miller’s pitch might have been short on the history of the state and the building, but it was long on Lewis and Clark, Sacajawea and the great painting that occupies the entire front of the House chamber.

Louis and Clark Meeting Indians at Ross’ Hole [1912] 

Montana House of Representatives, Helena (17 June 2014) 

For an artist that had to be talked out of his original suggestion – to depict a Native attack on a wagon train, his final product defied convention in other ways. The title characters are reduced to a minor depiction on the far-right background, while the center is dominated by Indians and the prairie…as if to convey whose land it was before the state was established.

We were directed to one particular part of the painting…near the center of the foreground is a snarling wolf. Apparently, Russell didn’t care much for the Speaker of the House. It was his eternal joke to have a vicious predator forever eyeing the person at the central rostrum.

‘I See You, Mister Speaker’ 

Montana House of Representatives, Helena (17 June 2014) 

On Professor Miller’s telling, when Russell’s wife (and business manager, Nancy) learned of the insult, she made him go to the Speaker’s house (they lived in the same county) and personally apologize. From what I’ve read, Nancy should get as much credit for Charlie’s success since she worked hard to straighten out his undisciplined ways and promote his work.

Surprisingly, the Speaker didn’t mind the insult. He and the artist visited for hours and became fast friends. He wound up eulogizing Russell at his funeral.

After Helena, we drove through Yellowstone National Park to end the trip at the Utah capitol in Salt Lake City. This will be the last post for the year. I wish you and yours a safe, healthy and happy holiday and that we never again experience another holiday and year like 2020.

State Capitols – Helena, Montana – Part 1

Montana Capitol in Helena (17 June 2014)

State Population (2010): 989,415 (44th) 

Constructed: 1899-1902

Architects: Charles Emlen Bell

State Admitted to Union: November 8, 1889 (41st)

Helena, Montana
June 16-17, 2014

Much of the first day was spent driving east from Idaho, across the Continental Divide toward Helena. This is the place in North America where two major drainage basins divide. From here, runoff heads west into the Columbia River and Pacific Ocean or it flows east down the Missouri River to the Gulf. Our crack Images and More Research Department revealed that Montana is one of three states with a Triple Divide. Surface water in the northern-most part of the state eventually flows into Hudson Bay. The other two states with triple divides are Minnesota and Pennsylvania.

Montana Capitol, Helena (16 June 2014) 

This is the second floor of the capitol. Side galleries lead to offices 

of the Secretary of State (to the right) and the Governor (to the left). 

In the center is the Grand Staircase and recently-restored barrel vault. 

This image is a composite of ten photos. 

Part of the time in the high country, we drove through a brisk snowfall. Once away from the snow, it rained the rest of the way to the capitol. I must note that for the 48 state houses I have visited on this quest, this is only the second time it rained.

I arrived after the last tour was run but I was free to wander around. Like at the Boise capitol, there were no security checks, metal screenings, etc. I was free to walk through the ‘People’s House,’ but the ground floor entrances to the legislative chambers were locked.

Unlike many capitol domes, Montana’s dome is copper...fitting for this copper mining state. The equestrian statue in front of the building is of Thomas Meagher. Born in Ireland, he was a leader in the rebellion of 1848 and sentenced to prison in Australia. He escaped and made his way to the U.S. Here he was a Union officer in the Civil War and served as acting governor of the Montana Territory before dying at age 43 under mysterious circumstances. He was on a Missouri River steam boat, then he wasn’t. His body was never recovered and theories range from accident to suicide to murder.

Montana Capitol, Helena (17 June 2014)

Much of present-day Montana (east of the Continental Divide) was acquired in the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. The current state lands were part of Oregon Country and a total of seven other territories before Montana gained its own territorial designation in 1864. It became a state twenty-five years later. Presidential Trivia Alert: In his single term in office, President Benjamin Harrison (1889-93) admitted more states to the Union (six) than any other president.

Montana is the fourth largest state by area, but ranks 42nd of the 50 states in population. Grain farming, ranching and natural resource extraction are the main economic drivers in the state, with tourism gaining in importance.

Montana Capitol, Helena (16 June 2014) 

Virginia City was the territorial capital but by 1888, Helena, at the time with more millionaires per capita than any other city in the world, became the center of government. Funny how money and power always seem to go together. Only four state capital cities (VT, SD, ME, KY) have fewer people than Helena’s 28,000 residents.

Shortly after the capitol building was completed, the need for space for the growing government was apparent and annexes were added to the east and west sides of the building.

Statue of Jeannette Rankin [1980] 

Montana Capitol, Helena (16 June 2014) 

There are three prominent statues of Montana leaders inside the capitol. Jeannette Rankin was the first woman elected to Congress (1916). A noted women’s suffrage advocate and pacifist, she is remembered as one of 50 representatives to vote against entering World War I and the ONLY member of Congress to oppose entry into World War II. This statue is a replica of one in Statuary Hall in the nation’s capitol. 

Grand Staircase, Montana Capitol, Helena (16 June 2014) 

Note the art glass barrel vault above the mural and the Grand Staircase. It was original to the building but was dismantled and sold during renovations in the 1960’s. By 2000, the glass was reacquired and reinstalled over the stairway.

Rotunda, Montana Capitol, Helena (16 June 2014) 

I returned the next day to learn more from an informative tour guide. I’ll save the legislative chambers and other interior features for a separate post since the artwork warrants special attention.

State Capitols – Boise, Idaho

Idaho Capitol in Boise (14 June 2014) 

Constructed: 1906-1920 

Architect: John E. Tourtellotte 

State Admitted to Union: July 3, 1890 (43rd) 

State Population (2010): 1,567,582 (39th) 

Boise, Idaho
June 14-15, 2014

Earlier in the year, I planned a trip to this part of the country with ‘My Pal’ Jack Fontaine. We’ve known each other for over 40 years since we met in New Orleans. He now lives in Seattle. We agreed to meet in Boise and do a little road trip to take in three state houses over the course of a week.

We landed in Boise late on a beautiful Saturday afternoon...checked into lodging near the capitol and across the street from Boise State University’s blue turf football stadium. I went to the capitol, which was closed for the day and the well-kept grounds were deserted…walked around the building and took some exterior shots. I would describe the capitol as a simple, basic state house and grounds...with no excessive commemoration and memorializing.

The following morning, we returned and I had the unique experience of essentially being ALONE in the entire building. There were two security guards making rounds but after Jack left for some breakfast, it was just me, the camera and this recently restored gem of a public space.

Idaho Capitol, Boise (15 June 2014) 

The chosen design of the building let in as much natural light as possible…hence many levels of windows in the dome. See the image from beneath the dome below. The architects considered bright light symbolic of an enlightened and moral government (one hopes).

Idaho was a late-developing state. Away from the earlier settlements on the west coast, the territory that became Idaho didn’t have a permanent (non-Native) settlement until the 1860’s.

British explorers and French-Canadian fur traders were in the territory before Lewis and Clark passed through in 1805-06. A treaty in 1846 settled dominion issues with Great Britain, the official boundary with Canada was set and the Oregon Country was now part of the U.S. 

    

Beneath the Rotunda, Idaho Capitol, Boise (15 June 2014) 

The compass rose above shows the color-accented and white marble found throughout the building. Four kinds of marble, from Alaska, Vermont, Georgia and Italy, are included in the floors.

Continuing our (annoying) desire to remind our dear readers about how the people who live in certain places pronounce their names…residents call it “BOY-see” while we rude easterners tend to say “BOY-Zee.”

Idaho Capitol, Boise (15 June 2014) 

The eight columns that support the dome are actually plaster-covered steel beams decorated to look like the marble on the floor. We learned about the complicated ‘scagliola’ process at the Mississippi capitol in 2012.

Idaho Capito, Boise (5 June 2014)

President Lincoln officially designated the Idaho Territory in 1863. Lewiston was the capitol for a short time but after gold was discovered to the South in 1864, the population shifted to the Boise area and the capitol has been there ever since. Idaho entered the Union as the 43rd state in 1890.

The current building is the second state house in Boise, the first having served from 1886 to 1912. The current building was completed in phases but began operation in 1912. Since 1982, the capitol is the only state house heated entirely by geothermal energy.

Great Seal of the State of Idaho (15 June 2014) 

The Great Seal was adopted in 1891 and is the only state seal designed by a woman. The Latin quote, Esto perpetua means ‘May it Endure Forever.’ The two figures represent mining (which is what put Idaho on the map back then) and justice…always a female. The rest of the Seal extolls the state’s abundant natural resources. I believe this is a carpet representation of the Seal. There is an inlaid mosaic version…which I apparently missed.

Idaho House of Representatives, Boise (15 June 2014) 

Decorated in blue, the chamber serves 

seventy representatives elected to two-year terms. 

The entire state’s population is about that of Phoenix, Arizona. While the state is divided into 44 counties, there are just 35 legislative districts. Each district sends one senator and two representatives to Boise for three-month sessions. Those elected are considered ‘citizen legislators’ which means they have primary occupations outside of government.

Idaho Senate, Boise (15 June 2014) 

The Senate chamber was refurbished in the 1960’s and decorated in red. Thirty-five Senators are also elected to two-year terms. I was initially dismayed that the floor level entries to the chambers were locked, but the gallery levels were open and that offers a better, commanding view of the rooms.

Rotunda, Idaho Capito, Boise (5 June 2014) 

The many levels of the dome contain 350 windows to let in natural light, fulfilling the architect’s desire to make this a ‘Capitol of Light.’ Unfortunately, that huge hanging flag has impinged on my straight-up image for this capitol.

Extensive efforts were made from 2007-2009 to restore, preserve and modernize the building. I have been fortunate to have undertaken this capitol quest at a time when many had been recently gussied up.

We drove out of town that afternoon…up the Salmon River and east toward Montana. Tomorrow, I add the Helena capitol to the list.