Montana
Who saw the Babe in the Magic City? • Daily Montanan
A key step in Billings’ development as a baseball hub occurred two years after Archie Cochrane came to town, and it involved the biggest name in the sport’s history, Babe Ruth.
On July 13, 1947, the Billings Gazette reported that the Bambino, one of Ruth’s nicknames, might attend the American Legion junior baseball sectional tournament in Billings,
Legion baseball officials had invited Ruth to appear at the August 20–22, 1947, event, in his capacity as a consultant of the Legion youth program,
Harry Perrigo, Montana Legion athletic officer, told the Gazette that John F. Cooney, of Fargo, N. D., had informed him that Billings was on Ruth’s itinerary.
“However, due to the Babe’s health, none of the appearances are positive until you see him at the park,” Cooney told Perrigo. Ruth was scheduled to visit Billings during the tournament, and Cooney promised to provide details about his appearance.
“You may be sure we will do all possible to get the Babe out there. Bear in mind, however, all this is dependent on a very sick man’s health,” Cooney said.
Ruth was recovering from what was described as a “serious” neck operation, as reported in the Billings Gazette on January 9, 1947, and he was seldom seen unaccompanied by his nurse.
Perrigo said he expected a number of Legion and sports dignitaries to attend the tourney. Among them Mickey Cochrane, newly inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Cochrane told Perrigo that he was returning to Detroit in the near future, but that he would attend the Billings tournament if business matters permitted his return.
On August 20, 1947, the Gazette headlined the former Yankee slugger’s arrival the day before (August 19) in the Magic City: “Billings Throng Greets Babe Ruth.” After flying into the city’s airport, where a short ceremony honored him, the Ruth party boarded a stagecoach that took them on a parade through the business section.
Ruth showed signs of the effects of the lengthy illness that had required him to be hospitalized for much of spring and summer. He appeared, however, to have regained much of his weight.
“I am most happy to be in Billings,” he said to the airport crowd, speaking in a deep, raspy voice, “since I feel that Legion baseball is one of the finest things in the world for youngsters. I hope to see you all again at the tournament tomorrow and later in the week.”
The Midland Roundtable presented Ruth with a black, ten-gallon Stetson hat and gave Mrs. Ruth a bouquet of flowers. Then a police guard escorted a caravan of cars from the Rimrocks to the Billings Commercial Club–now the Chamber of Commerce. Billings Saddle Club members formed a horseback guard for the parade.
Afterwards, the Ruths checked into the Northern Hotel, and Babe retired to his room to rest for the Legion tournament banquet in his honor that night.
A Gazette reporter who interviewed Ruth before the banquet asked him at what age a youngster should start playing baseball.
“As soon as he can walk. The younger the kid starts, the quicker his muscles get into the rhythm of the game. Then he is bound to come out on top.
“That’s why I am all for junior Legion ball, because it gets the kids out in the field with proper equipment at an early age. No longer do boys in smaller cities have to worry about being spotted if they (don’t) have the goods. Junior Legion ball takes them throughout the nation–as this sectional tournament shows–and gives them the ability to display their abilities.”
Billings was the tenth city where the so-called “King of Swat” had appeared as the Ford Motor Company’s junior Legion baseball consultant. A Ford press representative accompanying the contingent said more than 3,000 cities had requested an appearance by Ruth, but organizers had to whittle the list to 13 because of his health. Billings was the smallest city Ruth visited on the tour.
Ruth stayed in Billings through Thursday, Aug. 21, 1947, and then he, his wife and his nurse flew to Seattle. After an overnight stop there, the party flew to San Francisco and then to Los Angeles to take part in opening ceremonies for the American Legion Little World Series.
Bambino’s legacy in Billings
Babe Ruth came to Billings 77 years ago (four years before I was born 220 miles down the Yellowstone River valley in Glendive, Montana), and the Yankee slugger left behind a lasting mark on the city.
Actually, what he left behind from his visit were autographed baseballs. At least two of them survived into the 21st century and became items prized by collectors. The Billings Gazette captured a sense of the Sultan of Swat’s time in Billings through articles published in 2008 and 2010.
The stories involve a retired dentist from the Dallas suburb of Garland, and two brothers who grew up in Livingston. One of the siblings was living between Dallas and Fort Worth in 2010 when Ed Kemmick wrote about them, and his brother was living in Phoenix then. Gazette reporter Clair Johnson wrote about the dentist who ended up owning another baseball, which was later sold in an online auction for $81,075.
How I wish I could board a time machine and travel back to 1947 when the Babe stopped in Billings and signed those baseballs!
Carvel Lincoln owned the ball that got the first dose of local publicity through Johnson’s article. He got the ball in August 1947 when he came to Billings to play in the regional American Legion baseball team for his Boise, Idaho, team.
A restraining order has been issued that blocks the Montana Republican Party from enacting new bylaws intended to drive nonconformists…
A restraining order has been issued that blocks the Montana Republican Party from enacting new bylaws intended to drive nonconformists out of the party ranks.
Lewis and Clark County District Judge Michael F. McMahon issued the restraining order Wednesday morning. The order had been requested by county precinct committees and officers suing the state party organization over the new bylaws. The plaintiffs are the Yellowstone County Republican Central Committee, the Choteau County Republican Central Committee, and individual committee members Jeff Essmann, Ted Kronebusch, James Wilson and state Rep. Brad Barker, R-Red Lodge.
At issue are bylaws passed during MTGOP’s June platform convention that the litigating party members say amount to “fraudulent and corrupt practices.” The new bylaws require members to pay $20 in annual membership dues and pledge a loyalty oath, and subject members to removal from elected party positions for nonpayment of dues or for “conduct deemed inconsistent with party purposes,” as determined by executive party party officers. The new bylaws allow charges for removal to be brought by any 20 official Republican Party members.
Montana Republican Party Chairman Art Wittich, the only official spokesperson for the state party, has not responded to voicemails and texts sent to his cell phone Wednesday. Wittich, elected party chairman in June 2025, has long been emphatic about exposing “Democrats disguised as Republicans” — for Wittich a now decade-old battle that spun into a bitter multimillion-dollar war between party hardliners and relative centrists in this spring’s Republican legislative primaries.
The centrists drew the ire of the hardliners in 2025 by collaborating with Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte and legislative Democrats to pass a balanced state budget and key pieces of legislation, including increased taxes on second homes and property tax reductions for primary residences and small businesses.
What constitutes disqualifying conduct isn’t fully spelled out in the bylaws, but they do specify that “collaborating with Democrats” in the Legislature, the governor’s office, the courts, or elections can get members disciplined or removed.
The lawsuit alleges that “The 2026 bylaws empower a small group within the party to revoke Republican affiliation from candidates or office holders, undoing primary nominations by the electorate.”
The plaintiffs argue that Montana voters, not party bylaws, should determine who represents the Republican Party in general elections and who represents voting precincts on the publicly elected county-level Republican committees that coordinate local political activity.
The Montana Legislature in 2019 passed a bill protecting publicly elected party precinct committee officers from being arbitrarily removed from office and defined attempts to do so as “fraudulent and corrupt practices.” That law, sparked by Republican Party infighting 10 years ago, is the foundation of the current lawsuit.
There has been a surge of public interest in Republican precinct-level politics following a perceived lack of support by party hardliners for Republican candidates in conservative strongholds like Flathead County, where more than 60 new precinct committeemen and committeewomen were elected in June. That wave of new officers was preceded by Flathead County Republican Central Committee members considering an endorsement of Libertarian Sid Daoud for Kalispell mayor over Republican Kisa Davison in late 2025. The Kalispell mayor’s race is nonpartisan, but Republicans have gone to court to secure the party’s right to endorse candidates in nonpartisan races.
Wittich’s own campaign for precinct committeeman representing Whitefish was a casualty of that new wave of public interest. He lost to Republican Giuseppe “G-man” Caltabiano, who serves on the Whitefish City Council.
Caltabiano’s wife, Roxanne Ross, defeated Candace Wittich, wife of the Republican chair, in the same election.
State law gives precinct officers two-year terms and specifies that they can be removed only for death, written resignation or loss of residency. The new bylaws state that participation in party governance, including service as a precinct official, “is a privilege of association, not a right conferred by public office or candidacy. Members must act in good faith to support the Party’s purpose and must not engage in conduct materially inconsistent with the Party’s interests, including conduct that undermines its platform, policy positions, election operations, or internal governance.”
The recent changes to the party bylaws allow precinct officeholders to be suspended from voting in party matters and replaced by party leadership for noncompliance. Empty precinct seats can be filled by the Republican Party chair.
“Every Republican candidate sells their version of Republicanism to the people in a primary campaign, and the voter chooses which version to buy,” the lawsuit states. “The party cannot dictate what brands of Republicanism are on the market.”
Former MTGOP chair Jeff Essmann, a plaintiff who is also a long-serving precinct officer, said in his affidavit that members of the Republican State Central Committee weren’t given a required notification about attempts to amend the bylaws. He said he would have attended the platform convention and argued against amending the bylaws if he had known.
“The 2026 Bylaws empower any twenty members of the Party to recommend any other member of the Party for expulsion from the party, to be determined by the State Central Committee, even people who do not reside in Yellowstone County and who have never met me,” Essmann said in the affidavit.
Other central committee members produced pre-convention emails about potential changes to the bylaws, but no details about the amendments.
In issuing the order, McMahon indicated that Republicans challenging the bylaws are likely to succeed. He set a July 13 hearing on whether to make the order permanent.
“Plaintiffs have shown a likelihood of success on the merits of their claims that the challenged provisions are inconsistent with Montana election law and constitutional protections governing candidacy, nomination, speech, association, due process, and elected precinct committee representatives,” McMahon ruled.
___
This story was originally published by Montana Free Press and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.
Copyright
© 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
The Montana Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at July 8, 2026, results for each game:
Winning Powerball numbers from July 8 drawing
12-29-37-43-55, Powerball: 18, Power Play: 4
Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Lotto America numbers from July 8 drawing
17-26-31-32-37, Star Ball: 01, ASB: 02
Check Lotto America payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Big Sky Bonus numbers from July 8 drawing
03-13-16-17, Bonus: 10
Check Big Sky Bonus payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Powerball Double Play numbers from July 8 drawing
06-27-33-44-69, Powerball: 23
Check Powerball Double Play payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Montana Cash numbers from July 8 drawing
08-16-17-22-27
Check Montana Cash payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from July 8 drawing
16-18-43-48-50, Bonus: 01
Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
When are the Montana Lottery drawings held?
- Powerball: 8:59 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 9 p.m. MT on Tuesday and Friday.
- Lucky For Life: 8:38 p.m. MT daily.
- Lotto America: 9 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
- Big Sky Bonus: 7:30 p.m. MT daily.
- Powerball Double Play: 8:59 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
- Montana Cash: 8 p.m. MT on Wednesday and Saturday.
- Millionaire for Life: 9:15 p.m. MT daily.
Missed a draw? Peek at the past week’s winning numbers.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Great Falls Tribune editor. You can send feedback using this form.
HELENA, Mont — Gov. Greg Gianforte is backing a new effort to keep data centers from driving up Montanans’ power bills.
This week, Gianforte announced Montana is signing on to the Ratepayer Protection Pledge — an initiative endorsed by President Trump.
Several major technology companies like Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, Oracle, and XAI first signed the pledge back in March.
The pledge comes as data center development continues to grow — raising questions about how much new energy will be needed and who will pay for it.
NBC Montana spoke with Julia Haggerty, professor of geography and department head of earth sciences at Montana State University, about whether Montana’s power grid is ready for that growth.
“Not without resolution of significant transmission bottlenecks and massive amounts of new generation. So, while our grid is adequately, relatively adequately equipped to serve the needs of our current load base, it’s definitely not equipped to accommodate the new demands without a lot of expansion,” she said.
According to the pledge, data center developers will pay for new power generation, and infrastructure needed to support their operations.
“It does align with ongoing regulatory efforts to ensure that the cost of new generation associated with data centers is borne by the developers of those data centers and not customers,” Haggerty said.
The governor’s office says Gianforte’s support of the pledge is designed to encourage responsible data center investments while protecting Montana ratepayers from long-term costs.
-
Florida4 minutes agoFlorida Airport Officially Renamed After Trump. Here’s What to Know
-
Georgia11 minutes agoWest Nile infections starting to raise concerns in Georgia
-
Hawaii14 minutes agoFirst 5 Hawaii is a comprehensive online resource that helps families with young children find and connect to state and federal programs and services.
-
Idaho19 minutes agoBrush fire prompts GO NOW evacuations near Mesa in Adams County
-
Illinois26 minutes agoIllinois waives tax penalties for 11 counties hit by storms, including Stephenson and Winnebago
-
Indiana29 minutes agoAttempted murder suspect arrested in Indianapolis for Bloomington shooting
-
Iowa34 minutes agoIowa WWII veteran approaching 100th birthday honored in Cedar Rapids
-
Kentucky39 minutes agoExantus may be subject to involuntary hospitalization due to Kentucky law
