Colleen Meyer, executive director of Historic St. Mary’s Mission, details the unique circumstances that led to the establishment of the Treasure State’s first church and the first permanent settlement, twenty-three years before Montana became a territory. Meyer relates the history of St. Mary’s Mission and the remarkable people from two very different cultures that merged there.

Bozeman historic preservation architect Lesley Gilmore discusses the development at Canyon Village, which National Park Service Director Conrad L. Wirth touted as the first project begun under the nascent Mission 66 program. That program was intended to improve the national parks, which had fallen into disrepair during the war years. The design aspects incorporated at Canyon Village set the stage for ensuing Mission 66 projects throughout the nation.

Great Falls historian Ken Robison examines the influx of Confederate soldiers and sympathizers that led to the formation of Montana Territory in 1864. He discusses reasons for their migration to the distant west as well as their influence and contributions to the territory during and just after the Civil War.

Professor of Anthropology Dr. Douglas Midgett follows the rise and fall of the eastern Montana agricultural centers that developed as a result of the unprecedented influx of settlers in the second decade of the twentieth century, and whose fate was tied to that of the homesteaders they served.

Missoula historical architect Paul Filicetti explores the ways in which professional architects have utilized Native American patterns, forms, styles, and architecture in buildings and structures to emulate Native American design, setting, materials, and associations. His presentation showcases both historical and modern examples.

Dr. Nicholas Vrooman sheds light on the little-known Nehiyaw Pwat/Iron Alliance in Montana. A familial, social, economic, political, and military formation comprised primarily of the Cree, Assiniboine, Ojibwa, and Michif (Métis) peoples, this aboriginal society matched step for step and head to toe the development and expansion of Euro-American society west of the Mississippi drainage to the Columbia Plateau during the nineteenth century.

MHS community preservation coordinator Kate Hampton explores the lives of Montana’s first aviatrixes. Like their counterparts throughout the nation, Montana’s female pilots received accolades and the attention of the press, but their celebrated achievements were presented as curiosities, and only rarely resulted in long-term careers.

Dale Burke addresses Salish perspectives on Lewis and Clark's arrival at Ross' Hole, and the establishment of a Founder's Day celebration in present-day Stevensville.

In an excerpt from his new book, "Montana Then and Now," University of Great Falls English Professor Dr. Aaron Parrett discusses tourism in Montana. Tourism has been a key factor in the development of Montana since the first organized expeditions of predominantly white Europeans started traveling up the Missouri corridor in the 1800s. Parrett explores the parallels between tourism in the early nineteenth century and the early twenty-first century in Montana.

Dr. Chris Erickson, Associate Professor of History, Indiana University, Purdue University, Fort Wayne, discusses former Livingston mayor Lewis Terwilliger’s futile attempts to establish the Klan as a major political force in Montana during the 1920s.