Willow Creek schoolteacher and Historical Preservation Board of Gallatin County board member Christopher McAdam-Mantei delves into his hometown’s past by focusing on one longstanding institution. McAdam-Mantei analyzes the role played by the church—one of Montana’s oldest continuing congregations—in the bigger picture of the region’s history.

Jennifer Woodcock-Medicine Horse, a doctoral candidate in the Department of American Studies (Museum Studies), examines indigenous and mainstream approaches to exploring sustainability.

Daniel Zizzamia, who recently received a PhD in history, discusses energy, geohistory, and dominating nature.

Kelsey Matson, who is pursuing a PhD in history at Montana State University, explores the historical relationship between humans and energy— particularly electricity—in “Wonderland.” Her presentation looks at the ways in which early park concessionaires and administrators differed in their interpretations of the landscape, and in the tools and technologies they used to power the park and construct the national park experience.

Historic Preservation officer Courtney Kramer tells how the City of Bozeman has utilized natural topography to deliver domestic water from mountain reservoirs to private properties. She also discusses how voters chose, in 1890, to purchase the Water Works over the objections of Nelson Story and William A. Clark, and the battles—from lawsuits to physical confrontations and the use of explosive devices—that have occurred in Gallatin County over water.

MSU professor and university archivist Kim Allen Scott presents a study of one of Bozeman's most shameful episodes, the vigilante execution of two prisoners in early 1873. Scott briefly examines the scholarly record on frontier extra-legal action, using salient points from the story itself to illustrate that record, and provides a surprising motivation for the hangings that far removes the action from any of the heroic myths many ascribe to the vigilantes of Alder Gulch in 1863–1864.

From the Bataan Death March and D-Day to the liberation of Holocaust victims and the postwar occupation of Japan, the sons and daughters of Park County and Yellowstone National Park were witness to and participants in many of the crucial events of World War II. Independent historian Susan Kraft features stories and images highlighting their contributions to this global conflict.

Montana State University History of Science PhD candidate Clinton A. Colgrove traces the development of the Electronics Research Laboratory (ERL). Founded by Dr. Donald K. Weaver Jr. in 1956, ERL provided the opportunity for electrical engineering faculty, staff, and graduate students to develop cutting-edge technology that offered technical expertise for local, state, and national interests as well as a means for economic development for Montana.

Henrietta Shirk, associate professor of communications, and Elaine Hunter, assistant professor of nursing, both at Montana Tech, offer highlights of an ongoing collaborative research project examining nursing in Butte during the first half of the twentieth century, a transitional period in which nursing moved from a barely respectable vocation that required no formal training to a recognized profession that demanded extensive education.

Executive director of the Montana Council for History and Civics Education, James Bruggeman, describes the remarkable life of George Ahern: West Point graduate, U.S. Army lieutenant in the 24th and 25th Infantry Regiment (“Buffalo Soldiers”) in Montana and the Dakotas, witness to the Wounded Knee Massacre, “explorer” of Glacier National Park, and founder of the Montana State College ROTC and forestry programs.