The Sons and Daughters of Montana Pioneers returned to historic Virginia City Aug. 4-5 for their 126th annual convention.
The organization met in Virginia City in 1947, 1953, 1961, 1978, 1986, 1997 and most recently in 2008. The group meets each August in various Montana towns to do business, learn the history of the area and honor a Montana history teacher.
This year’s honoree, Montana history teacher Eric Chaon of Great Falls High School, talked to members about how he encourages love of history, and especially Montana history, among his students.
Luncheon speaker and Montana historian Ellen Baumler introduced the audience to Virginia City’s “spirited women,” storied female ghosts of Virginia and Nevada cities.
Banquet keynote speaker Dwight Smith, husband of Norma Ashby-Smith from Great Falls, portrayed Ashby’s great-grandfather, George Beatty, who arrived in Bannack in 1862 and was the first homesteader in Broadwater County.
People are also reading…
This group photo was taken in 1899 on the steps of the Virginia City Courthouse.
Members wore period clothing to honor the group’s heritage for the official conference photograph, recreating the 1899 group photo taken on the steps of the Virginia City Courthouse.
They posed to match the 124-year-old black and white photo, which is in the SDMP archives.
Sons and Daughters of Montana Pioneers President Mike Collins of Helena said, “We wanted to show our continued focus on our pioneers, so arranged to take a 2023 convention photo mirroring SDMP’s 1899 convention photograph.”
The group also made a preservation donation to Virginia City’s Thompson Hickman Museum, a longstanding tradition of supporting museums at its convention sites.
To be a member of Sons and Daughters of Montana Pioneers, people must be a lineal descendant of the state’s pioneer founders, who arrived in Montana prior to Dec. 31, 1868.
The group’s mission is “To preserve the rich legacy, time-honored values, and cherished traditions of those pioneers who dedicated themselves to establishing the great State of Montana.”
Sons and Daughters of Montana Pioneers is a nonprofit corporation in Montana and was registered on Aug. 9, 1935.
To learn more, visit www.sonsanddaughtersmontanapioneers.com or go to: https://bit.ly/3YLeSVY.
Taegen Walker is a Helena resident and member of the Sons and Daughters of Montana Pioneers.