4 ms·
Montana has an interesting history. There were stories that said that Montana statehood was delayed by 25 years due to support of the south during the civil war
by wglb 9y ago
Montana has an interesting history. There were stories that said that Montana statehood was delayed by 25 years due to support of the south during the civil war.
Jeanette Rankin, the first female member of congress, was elected twice, in time to be the sole vote against entering WWI and WWII. She was a pacifist and a Progressive Republican.
So while small in population, there might be more diversity of opinion than you might think.
(Full disclosure: 3rd generation Montana citizen, living the expatriate life in Bridgeport, IL)
- peatmoss 9y agoYes! And the history of far left labor movements like the IWW (“Wobblies”) in MT is interesting too. Butte, for example, has historically been very blue collar, socially conservative / Irish Catholic, and left wing in a “you can’t scare me, I’m sticking to the union” kind of way. Something like 13% of Missoula County voted Green Party in 2000. Way I see it, MT has a mix of hippy-left, labor left, and truly moderate right wing politics that make it far more purple than red. EDIT: Also a multi-generation Montanan with homesteading ancestors.
- twothamendment 9y agoSticking to the union is right! While working away from home on a job in Anaconda we were politely reminded that it wasn't that long ago that they hung a guy with a logging chain for crossing the picket line. We were non-union from a few hours away. That was plenty of motivation to finish up and leave town. 3rd generation Montanan, raising the 4th.
- jonnycomputer 9y agoThe US has forgotten just how rough those labor disputes were. I mean, for example, just how roughly treated striking workers were treated by company goon squads. Infamously, the Ludlow Massacre of 1913. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludlow_Massacre https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludlow_Massacre