The Montana Character

Chuck Tooley | Former Mayor, Billings

I’m Chuck Tooley, from Billings, Montana. I’m going to read the preamble of the Constitution of the State of Montana:

We the people of Montana, grateful to God for the quiet beauty of our state, the grandeur of our mountains, the vastness of our rolling plains, and desiring to improve the quality of life, equality of opportunity, and to secure the blessings of liberty for this and future generations, do ordain and establish this constitution.

I believe that the majesty of our state reinforces the character of our people. I feel Montana in me as much as I feel a part of it. When I fill my lungs in the wide open spaces, or in the forest, or in the mountains, or on the banks of a rushing stream it connects me to all creation.

And I’m not the only one.

This is a widespread feeling among Montanans, the mystical, sacred connection we feel that we have. Our treasured state informs our character as a people. In National Statuary Hall in the Capitol in Washington, D.C., each state can display two statues to honor prominent citizens. Who represents Montana in Statuary Hall?

First, artist and story teller Charlie Russell. Second, Congresswoman Jeannette Rankin. These selections are illuminating. Montanans chose these two people to reflect their own ethos. At age 14 Charlie Russell ran away West to find the cowboy life of his dreams. His folks fetched him home but soon realized that he would not be dissuaded from Montana. Charlie became a cowboy and made lifelong friends from his rough and tumble days of riding and roping and working hard and playing hard. He became one of the world’s greatest Western artists, with patrons ranging from Montana ranchers to movie stars to the Prince of Wales.

Charlie was bursting with talent. And his friend Will Rogers, the cowboy philosopher and extremely popular storyteller, said that Charlie was the best storyteller he ever knew. And no matter how prominent Charlie Russell became he never forgot his old friends. He stayed in touch. And when he wrote letters he would embellish them with his art, illustrating humorous episodes of their lives together.

What does it say about a state that chooses an artist to represent them, a person who is arguably the greatest Montana artist, yet never lost a common touch? I believe it says that beyond wealth or power, we value talent and humility and faithfulness.

Alongside Charlie Russell stands Jeannette Rankin, a Montana rancher’s daughter and the first woman elected to the United States Congress. Jeannette ran on a platform of, among other things, National Suffrage for women, protective legislation for children, and preparedness that would make for peace. Her first vote after taking her seat in the House of Representatives was against America’s entrance into World War I. She did not return to the House after that term, but 22 years later she was elected again to Congress and took office in 1941. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, December 7th of that year, Congresswoman Rankin voted against a declaration of war. She said, “As a woman, I can’t go to war… and I refuse to send anyone else.”

What does it tell you about a state of ranchers and miners and farmers and loggers and businessmen when it elects the first woman to Congress? And what does it tell about a state that is steeped in patriotism, and whose soldiers who have a proud record in battle, when it chooses Jeannette Rankin for National Statuary honor?

It tells me that Montanans value integrity over any individual political issue. They value courage and conviction over expedience.

Jeannette Rankin lived to be 92 and continued her work for peace and for women’s rights. She was still active during the Vietnam War and worked hard to bring it to an end.

An unlikely colleague in that endeavor was U.S. Senator Mike Mansfield of Montana. Mike served in the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps and was proud of his military service. But he worked against the war in Vietnam because he believed strongly that it was wrong policy. Mike served 16 years as Majority Leader, longer than any person in Senate history. When he retired from the Senate, Mike was appointed Ambassador to Japan by President Carter and then President Reagan, showing the respect he enjoyed from both Republicans and Democrats.

Mike Mansfield was famously devoted to his wife Maureen, and cared for her during her years of disability. One year after Maureen died, Mike passed away, and the two were buried in the same grave in Arlington National Cemetery. Though he held high positions in our national government, knew presidents and kings and heads of state, he chose this headstone at Arlington:

Michael Joseph Mansfield
PVT
U.S. Marine Corps
Mar 16 1903
Oct 5 2001

Always insisting that people call him Mike, he didn’t hire a press secretary and avoided claiming credit. Mike Mansfield reflected the humility, the hard work, the patriotism, and the integrity that is so respected by Montanans.

Joseph Kinsey Howard was a historian referred to as Montana’s conscious who believed that it was not the freewheeling cowboys and prospectors who built Montana, but in fact Montanans who worked together cooperatively. It was the farmers and homesteaders that grew together into agricultural communities and established planning, irrigation, and conservation districts and other innovations that set the stage for orderly growth and prosperity.

Along with these historic figures, great Montanans are alive and well today, carrying on the tradition of vision, humility, and integrity.

Ben Steele was raised on a ranch in the Bull Mountains during the Depression. Life was tough. But hardship developed his character and helped him survive the greatest challenge of his life. When he was an American soldier serving in the Philippines, he was captured by the Japanese at the very beginning of World War II. He survived the Bataan Death March and multiple near death experiences during his four years of imprisonment, abuse, forced labor, and starvation at the hands of his captors. Back in Montana, Ben Steele worked through his bitterness and pain and memories and came to terms with that.

I know Ben, and I can say he enjoys life and is at peace with himself. That condition of inner peace enabled him to be not only a great art professor, but a beacon of inspiration, an exemplar, to his hundreds of students throughout the years.

Jim Caron was passing through Montana in 1970 and stopped to get his car repaired in Missoula. He met some fellow theater people, started working on a play, and the rest is history. He established Missoula Children’s Theater and developed a multi-million dollar organization that sends out dozen of theater troupes throughout the United States and around the world.

Deborah Butterfield is a world renowned sculptor who lives in Montana, and her works are owned by the Whitney and the Metropolitan in New York and many of the nation’s other preeminent museums. No other artist since Charlie Russell has been so embraced by such a wide public in and beyond Montana. Deborah enjoys mentoring other Montana artists and helps them connect to the larger art world.

Several years ago in Billings we received a Russian delegation that was led by a high government official, a deputy in the Russian Supreme Soviet. He was a large and impressive man and wore on his lapel the Order of the Red Banner of Labor. As mayor of Billings, I was his host, and after warm greetings we walked to a nearby downtown restaurant for dinner. However the place was crowded and we didn’t want to wait for a table so we went to a different restaurant. I later learned that the Russian leader was puzzled that I did not insist on being seated immediately with my party at the first restaurant.

Well, unlike our friends in Russia, we believe that government exists to serve the people, not the other way around.

Public servants are elected or appointed to serve, not to be served. It was a refreshing reminder to me that we have a different attitude here in Montana. We believe that everyone deserves respect, justice, and equal opportunity. Montana is a place where an individual is free to live his or her dreams, work to achieve them, and respect and encourage the efforts of others. We’re not bound by an entrenched upper class or the limitations of where and to whom we are born.

As I wrap this up I hope I’ve demonstrated with examples that the character of Montana is reflected in its people, in their best selves. Those that I’ve described have benefited from the spirit of our place, the freedom of self-determination, the advantages of public education, the splendor of our environment, and quite simply, our happiness in being able to live where we live. In return those people have given back in myriad ways and blessed us with their own characters.

Integrity, humility, hard work, innovation, creativity, talent, faithfulness, patriotism, persistence, strength, loyalty, vision, generosity, reverence—all of these are born of this place.

Celebrate it. Enjoy it. Appreciate it and live it.

The character of Montana.