GEOGRAPHIC PERSPECTIVES ON STATE-DIRECTED HERITAGE PRODUCTION IN TWENTIETH-CENTURY MONTANA by Robert Merrill Briwa A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Earth Sciences MONTANA STATE UNIVERSITY Bozeman, Montana November 2019 ©COPYRIGHT by Robert Merrill Briwa 2019 All Rights Reserved ii DEDICATION To my mother and brother, Anne S. Briwa and Taylor S. Briwa, who kept things in perspective. And to my father, John T. Briwa, who taught me glacial erratics a lifetime ago. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS There are many to whom I am indebted and who helped make this research happen. Friends in Earth Sciences and beyond (Kelsey, Nick, Kris, Katie B., Katie E., Buzz, Carl, Sylvia, Jen, Dan, Bill, Thomas, Avantika, Benny, and Scotty) were all great sounding boards, writing partners, and bastions of moral support. As always, Taylor and my mother kept cheering me on from home, too, during critical times. I’m lucky to have you all in my life. Staff at the Montana Historical Society, Montana SHPO, Bannack State Park, and Beaverhead County Museum all deserve special thanks for assisting in the research process. Research grants and funding from the Department of Earth Sciences at Montana State University, the Charles Redd Center for Western Studies at Brigham Young University, and the Ivan Doig Center for the Study of Western Lands and Peoples all supported my research. Thanks, too, to committee members Dr. Mary Murphy, Dr. Jamie McEvoy, and Dr. Julia Haggerty. I appreciate your input, patience, support, and flexibility in accommodating my research, much more than a few lines can easily sum up. If there’s one person who merits my fullest thanks in making this possible, it’s Dr. William Wyckoff. Bill advised me through dissertation research and doctoral graduate life. He committed hours to research meetings, reading and editing drafts, letter writing, and more. He did this daily, with grace, humor, and kindness. As mentors go, I’m very lucky—thank you, Bill. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW ...........................................................................1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................1 Making Heritage in Montana: A Geographer’s View..............................................3 Chapter Overviews: Conceptual Moorings and Research Contributions ........................5 Chapter 2: Making Heritage Through Montana’s Official State Highway Maps, 1914-2000 ......................................................................................5 Chapter 3: The Changing Terrain of Heritage at a Montana State Park ..................8 Chapter 4: Preserving Big Sky Country: State-Directed Historic Preservation in Montana and the Urban West, 1966-2017 ....................................11 Chapter 5: Common Lessons .................................................................................14 References Cited in Chapter One ...................................................................................16 2. MAKING HERITAGE THROUGH MONTANA’S OFFICIAL STATE HIGHWAY MAPS, 1914-2000 ........................................................23 Contributions of Authors and Co-Authors .....................................................................23 Manuscript Information .................................................................................................24 Abstract ..........................................................................................................................25 Methods..........................................................................................................................27 Making Montana Legible ...............................................................................................29 Tourism, Highway Maps, and the Montana Highway Department ...............................30 Territorial Identity ..........................................................................................................33 Mythic West ...................................................................................................................34 Natural Wealth ...............................................................................................................36 Outdoor Recreation ........................................................................................................39 Hospitality ......................................................................................................................41 Montana Highway Maps at the Millennium ..................................................................43 Notes ..............................................................................................................................45 References ......................................................................................................................45 3. THE CHANGING TERRAIN OF HERITAGE AT A MONTANA STATE PARK ....................................................................................48 Contributions of Authors and Co-Authors .....................................................................48 Manuscript Information .................................................................................................49 Highlights .......................................................................................................................50 Abstract ..........................................................................................................................50 Connecting Research Perspectives on Parks and Heritage ............................................52 The Making of the Montana Parks System ....................................................................57 v TABLE OF CONTENTS CONTINUED The State Parks Movement in the United States, 1900-1925 ................................57 Montana’s Early State Parks ..................................................................................58 Bannack..........................................................................................................................61 Early Heritage at Bannack and Prelude to a State Park, 1900-1953 ......................62 Creating Bannack State Park, 1953-1954 ..............................................................64 Neglect of Bannack Heritage .................................................................................66 Consolidation of State Heritage at Bannack, 1972-1989 .......................................68 State Personnel at Bannack ....................................................................................69 Special Events and the Advent of Bannack Days, 1976 ........................................73 Public-Private Partnerships at Bannack State Park, 1989-2000 ............................75 Bannack State Park and the Contemporary Heritage Landscape, 2001-Present .........................................................................79 Bannack in its North American and International Contexts ..........................................81 Figure Captions ..............................................................................................................84 4. PRESERVING BIG SKY COUNTRY: STATE-DIRECTED HISTORIC PRESERVATION IN MONTANA AND THE URBAN WEST, 1966-2017 ..................92 Contributions of Authors and Co-Authors .....................................................................92 Manuscript Information .................................................................................................93 Abstract ..........................................................................................................................94 Introduction ....................................................................................................................94 Geographic Perspectives on Historic Preservation ........................................................95 Montana’s Historic Preservation Prior to 1966 .............................................................96 Federal Historic Preservation Efforts.....................................................................96 Private and Civic Group Preservation in Montana ................................................97 State Agencies and Preservation ............................................................................99 Laying the Foundation to SHPO Preservation .......................................................99 Creating the SHPO System, 1966 ................................................................................100 The Montana SHPO and Statewide Preservation Plans ...............................................101 Federal Heritage Narratives in Fish and Game Commission Plans, 1970-1977 ............................................................................101 Decentralizing Preservation through SHPO Planning Processes, 1977-1994 ...........................................................................104 Reconciliation of Preservation Planning, 1995-2017 ..........................................107 Historic Preservation in Practice: Bozeman, Montana ................................................108 SHPO Preservation in Bozeman, 1966-1987 .......................................................109 Community Preservation, 1987-2003 ..................................................................111 Development Pressures, 2003-2017.....................................................................113