1. Profiles of African American Montanans
Note: Ellen Baumler’s original PowerPoint presentation has been modified in this abridged version adapted for an elementary classroom.
MHS Photo Archives
Ellen Baumler, Ph.D.
Montana Historical Society

2. African-American Population in Montana & Contiguous States
In 2000, Montana’s total population was 902,195;
2,834 were African American

3. Can you spot York in one of the boats?
Lewis and Clark on the Lower Columbia, C. M. Russell, Amon Carter Museum

4. How do you think the Native Americans reacted to York if he was the first black man they had ever seen?
Does York appear smaller or larger than others?
“York,” C. M. Russell, MHS Museum

5. York’s Islands off Hwy 12 near Townsend, courtesy Troy Helmick

6. A little after the
Lewis & Clark Expedition,
Jim Beckwourth worked
as a trapper in the 1820s.
He was adopted into
the Crow tribe, who
gave him the name
Medicine Calf.
Jim Beckwourth, Nevada Historical Society

7. Isaiah Dorman traded on the Missouri River
Isaiah Dorman traded on the Missouri River. He spoke fluent Sioux, so served as a guide and escort for the Northern Pacific Railroad surveyors. He became an interpreter for the U.S. Army.
Seattle Times, April 16, 1970

8. General George Custer requested Isaiah Dorman’s services as an interpreter. Isaiah was probably the only African American to die in the Battle of the Little Big Horn in 1876.
Isaiah Dorman, Negro Digest, February 1965

9. Sarah was born into slavery
Sarah was born into slavery. Her parents were sold and she never saw them again. After freedom, she came west at 15 by covered wagon. She worked as a hotel chambermaid in Virginia City, but then married. Her second husband, Stephen, died in Then in 1909, the Montana legislature passed a law making mixed-race marriages illegal. That law was not rescinded until 1953.
Sarah Gammon Bickford, African American Registry at

10. Two other black women settled in Virginia City, too
Two other black women settled in Virginia City, too. They were sisters who were born into slavery, but came west to Montana’s Gold Rush from Missouri.
The sisters operated a restaurant, and this newspaper shows an advertisement for their restaurant and bakery on Wallace Street in Virginia City.
Montana Post, 1879

11. Mary Fields was born a slave
in Tennessee. After the Civil
War, she learned to read in
a convent in Toledo, Ohio.
The nun who taught her
moved to Cascade, Montana,
to take charge of St. Peter’s
convent. When the nun got
pneumonia, Mary rushed to
Montana to nurse her back
to health.
Mary became a crackshot
with revolver and rifle. At
six feet tall and 200 pounds,
she was said to be a match
for any man in Montana
territory.
Mary delivered the mail for
eight years, and was the
second woman in the U.S. to
manage a mail route.
Mary Fields, High Plains Women’s Museum

12. St. Peter’s Mission, MHS Photo Archives

13. Mary Fields, MHS Library vertical files

14. Mary Fields’ tombstone, MHS Library vertical files

15. Born a slave in
Virginia in 1845,
Millie traveled
to Fort Benton
as a nurse and
servant of a
U.S. Army
general. When the general let, Millie
stayed on to
run a
boardinghouse,
and later a
hotel in Yogo City.
Millie made
beautiful music
with mouth harps,
band saws,
washboards
and dishpans.
She died in
1906.
Molly (Millie) Ringold, MHS Photo Archives

16. The elite and all-Black Buffalo Soldiers of Montana
Buffalo Soldiers at Fort Shaw 1890, MHS Photo Archives

17. A Buffalo soldier
stationed at Fort
Assiniboine
improved saddle
design by adding
springs to the seat
and stirrups, which
provided a
smoother ride for
long hours in the
saddle. The soldier,
William Davis, was
granted a patent for
his design.
Saddle Patent, 1896, MHS African American website

18. Educated men of color were recruited by Horace Bivins to serve in the Tenth
Cavalry. Bivins, a Black man, had been born in Virginia of free ancestry. (Circa 1887.)
From Under Fire with the Tenth U. S. Cavalry

19. The dog, Booth, was an Irish water spaniel trained by Captain Bivins to retrieve and carry messages during the Spanish-American War.
Horace Bivins and Booth equipped for service, photo from Under Fire

20. Captain Bivins, pictured
here with Booth, fought
alongside Teddy
Roosevelt’s Rough Riders.
His record for markman-
ship stood until the 1970s,
and today remains one of
the all-time highest.
Bivins
received 32 medals for
his military service
during the early 1900s.
Horace Bivins and Booth, photo from Under Fire

21. Loyal Booth guarded the body of a fallen private during the
Battle of San Juan Hill in Cuba until his comrades could
recover his body.
Illustration from Under Fire

22. Black Buffalo soldiers, stationed at Fort Missoula, rode their 70-pound iron bicycles a grueling 1,900 miles from Missoula to St. Louis in
25th Infantry Bicycle Corps, Mansfield Library

23. Hamilton, Ravalli County census, 1900
In this primary source document,
several blacks are listed as jockeys.

24. Mary had been born a
slave in Kentucky. Her
husband was a trained
chef and worked in
White Sulphur Springs’
main hotel.
Mary, herself, cooked
fine dinners for private
parties given by the
town’s elite.
Mary and her husband
had five children. Two
of their children are
shown in the following
slides.
Mary Gordon, MHS Library vertical file

25. Mary’s daughter, Rose
Rose Gordon graduated at the top of
her class in She wanted to go to
medical School, but didn’t have the
money, so she became a physical
therapist and a practical nurse.
Rose Gordon, MHS Library vertical file

26. Rose also owned a café and was a great cook.
Rose’s Café business cards, MHS Library vertical file

27. Taylor Gordon left White Sulphur Springs, Montana, to
be a mechanic, chauffeur and chef
with the Ringling circus, and he was also
the president of the
Metropolitan Opera in New York
City.
He was a talented singer who
toured Europe and later
appeared on Broadway in
New York City. He returned
home to White Sulphur
Springs in 1959.
Mary’s son,
Taylor, was
Rose’s
Brother.
Taylor Gordon, Born to Be

28. MHS Library vertical file

29. Can you spot any African American children
In this Butte photo of the Garfield school?
Garfield School, Butte, MHS Photo Archives

30. Butte Miner, May 2, 1906
In 1942, 8,000 white miners refused to
work with a battalion of black miner-
soldiers who had been sent to Butte
to help increase copper production
during World War II.
Polk City Directory, Butte, 1906

31. Walter Dorsey and his family ran a grocery store in Helena, which was the best on the East Side.
Dorsey Family, MHS Photo Archives

32. Julian’s family were all slaves
in Virginia. After the Civil War,
his family moved to Laramie,
Wyoming, where Julian learned
how to be a baker and
confectioner. He came to
Helena in 1887 and worked
there for more than 60 years.
Julian Anderson, MHS Library vertical file

33. Montana Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs, Butte, 1924
Montana Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs, Butte, MHS Photo Archives

34. There were 8,000 Black
nurses in the U.S. in
1943 during World War
Two. At that time, the
Navy did not accept
any Black nurses, and
the Army would accept
only 56 nurses.
Octavia helped change
the system, and later
rose to the rank of
Captain. She
returned to Helena after
the war and worked at
St. Peter’s Hospital for
many years.
Octavia Bridgewater, MHS Library vertical file

35. Jame Crump served
In the Union Army at 14, and was the youngest
Civil War
veteran in
Montana
James Crump married a
freed slave, Clarissa, in 1869.
James Wesley Crump, Norman Howard Collection

36. Was born a slave in
Virginia and came
west with her owner.
She learned of the
Emancipation on her
way to Fort Benton on
a steamboat.
Married James Crump in 1869 and lived in Helena.
Clarissa Jane Crump, Norman Howard Collection

37. Social gathering in the Crumps’ yard, 9th Avenue, Helena Illustrated, Norman Howard collection

38. Norman Howard was the grandson of the Crumps
Norman Howard was the grandson of the Crumps. Norman believed that discrimination in Montana made it tough for Blacks, because they were sometimes excluded from restaurants, bars, and barbershops.
Norman Howard, Helena Independent Record, December 9, 1979

39. This African Methodist Episcopal church was built in 1916 in Great Falls.
The congregation grew large in the 1940s because of the many black soldiers stationed at Malmstrom Air Force Base.
Union Bethel AM E Church, Great Falls, National Register files (SHPO)

40. Alma Jacobs (right) and family in Lewistown, c
Alma Jacobs (right) and family in Lewistown, c. 1920, MHS Photo Archives

41. Alma Jacobs, State Librarian, Great Falls, MHS Photo Archives

42. Memorial Plaza, Great Falls, courtesy Ken Robison

43. In 1973, voters in Great
Falls elected Geraldine
Travis to the
Montana House of
Representatives. Ms.
Travis was the first
African American to
serve in the Montana
Legislature.
Geraldine Travis, Montana Legislature Historical Highlights at

44. Two-Year-Old Nathan Jones, Great Falls Tribune, February 4, 2007

45. Unidentified African-American woman, Philipsburg,
, MHS Photo Archives