Since 2005, former Montana legislator Bob Brown has conducted oral history interviews with a variety of political figures in Montana. The interviewees range from state legislators, lobbyists, attorneys and journalists, to Montana Constitutional Convention delegates and officials in administrative and financial branches of the Montana State government. Interview topics include Montana and the Anaconda Company, the recurring sales tax debate, mining, elections, deregulation, and the legislative process over time. The original interviews are held as Oral History collection OH 396 at Archives and Special Collections, Mansfield Library, University of Montana-Missoula.
This collection includes 91 interviews.
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John Lahr Interview, April 27, 2007
John Lahr
John Lahr discusses the workings of the Montana Power Company during the 1960s up until the 1980s. Included are stories of interaction between former legislators, governors, and other lobbyists and subjects such as territorial integrity, the Constitutional Convention, relationship with the Anaconda Company, and history ... Read More
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John Mercer Interview, April 2, 2010
John A. Mercer
John Mercer describes his early experiences in the Montana House and fellow legislators including Dave Brown, Francis Bardanouve, Jack Ramirez, John Vincent, Hal Harper, Bob Thoft, John Harp, Fred Thomas, and Fred Van Valkenburg. He talks about his leadership philosophy as Speaker and the role ... Read More
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John T. Hoag Interview, September 1, 2010
John T. Hoag
John T. Hoag talks about living on Lake McDonald in Glacier National Park. He reminisces about spending time with two Montana senators, Tom Walsh and Burton K. Wheeler, and their families.
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John Vincent Interview, April 22, 2010
John C. Vincent
John Vincent, describes his interest in political science and how that influenced him to run for public office. He discusses his leadership roles in the Montana House of Representatives as Speaker of the House, Minority Leader, and Majority Whip. He talks about some of the ... Read More
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Judy (Rippengale) Paynter Interview, August 1, 2008
Judy (Rippengale) Paynter
Judy (Rippengale) Paynter discusses her experiences relating to financial affairs in the Montana legislature over more than 25 years. She explains her fiscal responsibilities including budget preparation, tax increases, and revenue estimation. She discusses Governors Schwinden, Stephens, Racicot, Martz, and Schweitzer comparing administrations and their ... Read More
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Karl Ohs Interview, August 4, 2007
Karl Ohs
Former lieutenant governor and legislator, Karl Ohs, provides an in depth look at his involvement as a negotiator during the Freemen standoff near Jordan, Montana in 1996, the Freeman trial, and the aftermath.
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Kent Kleinkopf Interview, May 7, 2021
Kent Kleinkopf
In this interview, Kent Kleinkopf talks about being from Idaho, his education, as well as his move to Montana with his wife, a Montana native. He discusses working for Ted Schwinden as Assistant to the Commissioner when Schwinden was State Lands Commissioner. Kleinkopf summarizes working ... Read More
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Kirk J. Miller and Lance Melton Interview, May 6, 2024
Kirk J. Miller and Lance Melton
This interview is with Kirk Miller and Lance Melton regarding their experiences with public education and political educational organizations in K-12 education in Montana. Kirk Miller talks about his work as a Montana educator; his professional experience with the Montana Board of Education, including as ... Read More
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Lawrence K. Pettit Interview, May 20, 2021
Lawrence K. Pettit
Larry Pettit talks about growing up in Utica, Montana. Pettit discusses chairing the Young Democrats while attending the University of Montana, and later earning a master’s degree at Washington University in St. Louis and a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin. Pettit mentions his work ... Read More
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Leslie Eskildsen Interview, July 8, 2005
Leslie Eskildsen
Leslie Eskildsen explains his personal relationships with prominent Montana legislators, congressmen including Mansfield and Metcalf, and governors Babcock, Judge, Schwinden, especially during his terms in the Montana House of Representatives from 1954 to 1966. He describes issues with the Montana State Penitentiary in Deer Lodge ... Read More
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Lloyd Crippen and R. Lewis Brown, Jr. Interview, April 4, 2005
Lloyd Crippen and R. Lewis Brown Jr.
Lloyd Crippen and R. Lewis Brown, Jr. describe how they became connected with the Anaconda Company, Crippen initially through his father-in-law and Brown after army service, law school and government work focused on labor relations. They recall experiences working for the Anaconda Company including reviewing ... Read More
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Lloyd C. "Sonny" Lockrem Interview, March 29, 2008
Lloyd C. Lockrem
Lloyd C. "Sonny" Lockrem of Billings, Montana, tells of early experiences that peaked his interest in politics and running for the legislature, including being in the Marine Corps and working in a family construction business. He details his relationships with former lobbyists, particularly from the ... Read More
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Mae Nan Ellingson Interview, July 25, 2022
Mae Nan Ellingson
Mae Nan Ellingson discusses her early life and work at her family’s drive-in restaurant in Texas. Mae Nan talks about her interest in history and political science that began in high school in Texas. While attending junior college she met her future husband. In 1967 ... Read More
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Magnus Aasheim Interview, July 7, 2005
Magnus Aasheim
Magnus Aasheim describes his initial interest in politics, his first campaign for the election to the House of Representatives in 1959, his first legislative session, and his experiences during the Montana Constitutional Convention. He discusses the various governors that he served with and his impressions ... Read More
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Marc Racicot Interview, July 7, 2023
Mark Racicot
In this second of two interviews, Marc Racicot discusses his successful campaign running as a Republican for attorney general of Montana. Racicot recalls his plans to run for reelection but instead deciding to run for governor of Montana. His successful election and service as governor ... Read More
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Marc Racicot Interview, June 9, 2023
Mark Racicot
Marc Racicot discusses his early years in Montana and his father’s career as a high school teacher and coach around Montana. Racicot chronicles his involvement in politics beginning in high school, covering his undergraduate school at Carroll College and his attendance at the military law ... Read More
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Marion Wheeler Scott Interview, August 8, 2013
Marion Wheeler Scott
Marion Wheeler Scott, daughter of former U.S. Senator Burton K. Wheeler, discusses her father’s career, reputation, and her family’s views of and relationships with various politicians during the time. Scott describes what it was like to grow up as the daughter of a prominent Montana ... Read More
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Marshall Murray Interview, April 24, 2005
Marshall Murray
Marshall Murray explains how he became interested in politics and the influences on his choice of party affiliation. He recalls working with former Montana governors and their personalities. Influential legislators, lobbyists, and mentors are discussed. The interview ends with Murray's explanation of his role in ... Read More
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Matt Himsl Interview, April 22, 2005
Matt Himsl
Matt Himsl begins with his arrival in Kalispell, Montana, in 1945 and recalls his 60 years of community service including 24 years as a state legislator. He gives his impressions of and interactions with governors and legislators including Wellington D. Rankin and Governors Nutter, Aronson, ... Read More
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Mike Halligan Interview, July 29, 2009
Mike Halligan
Mike Halligan discusses his twenty years serving in the Montana State Senate and why he became involved in politics. He talks about fellow legislators Chet Blaylock, Jean Turnage, Francis Bardanouve, Bill Norman, Joe Mazurek, and Bruce Crippen and lobbyists with whom he worked. He reflects ... Read More
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Neil Lynch Interview, November 16, 2007
Neil Lynch
Niel Lynch discusses his career in politics including a positive experience with the Anaconda Company, lobbyists like Lloyd Crippen, his relationships with governors including Forrest Anderson and Tom Judge, serving as the Montana Senate majority leader, and legislators he knew such as Gordon McOmber and ... Read More
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Norris Nichols Interview, April 21, 2005
Norris Nichols
Norris Nichols describes his career in Montana politics and the family influences that persuaded him to run for the legislature. He goes on to describe his relationships with various Montana governors, politicians, and lobbyists before moving into a description of the Anaconda Company's heavy influence ... Read More
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Orvin Fjare Interview, September 28, 2005
Orvin Benonie Fjare
Orvin Fjare begins by describing how he became interested in politics. He explains how the Anaconda Company's support helped him get elected to the U.S. Congress in 1954. Later he describes how the Anaconda Company's intense oversight and pressure led him to break off the ... Read More
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Pat Williams Interview, November 20, 2015
Pat Williams
Pat Williams remembers his childhood in Butte, Montana, and early tenure in the Montana state legislature in the mid-to-late 20th century. Williams recalls growing up working in his father’s restaurants in Butte, and the changing Butte culture from his childhood to the present. He discusses ... Read More
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Pat Williams Interview, November 23, 2015
Pat Williams
Pat Williams recalls serving as a representative from Butte, Montana, in the Montana legislature, and serving in the U.S. House as a representative from Montana from the 1960s through the 1990s. He discusses the Montana delegation from Butte and his own actions, as well as ... Read More
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Paul T. Ringling Interview, May 30, 2013
Paul T. Ringling
Paul Ringling discusses his grandfather, Alf T. Ringling, one of the five original brothers who started the Ringling Brothers Circus in Baraboo, Wisconsin, in 1884. He explains how the circus started, the merger with the Barnum and Bailey Circus, and how his family became ranchers ... Read More
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Rick Hill Interview, September 19, 2017
Rick Hill
Rick Hill discusses his work in Montana government and politics, and his tenure as Montana’s congressman in the United States House of Representatives during the latter half of the 20th century. He recalls his childhood in Minnesota, how his political identity developed during college, and ... Read More
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Robert Poore Interview, April 27, 2005
Robert Poore
Robert Poore discusses the interaction between the Anaconda Company and the city of Butte, Montana. He describes the Columbia Gardens Amusement Park. He discusses his relationship with the William A. Clark family (his wife's grandfather was Francis Wharton, Clark's "right-hand man"), the John Ryan family, ... Read More
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Robert S. Gilluly Interview, April 27, 2005
Robert S. Gilluly
Robert S. Gilluly begins with a discussion of his family's experience in journalism and then discusses his experiences working for The Great Falls Tribune, the Missoulian, and the Ravalli Republican. He extensively addresses the issue of press control by the Anaconda Company. He talks about ... Read More
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Robert "Ty" Robinson Interview, March 23, 2005
Ty Robinson
Robert "Ty" Robinson discusses his recollections of former Montana governors that he met while working as a lobbyist, the influences of the Montana Power Company and Anaconda Company on Montana politics, and various significant politicians. He provides various anecdotes of his time working in politics ... Read More
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Sidney Armstrong Interview, May 21, 2021
Sidney Armstrong
Sidney Armstrong discusses her early life in Helena and her family which is of Irish descent. Sidney talks about attending the International School of Geneva during high school and her attendance at the University of Montana in Missoula. She explains her close relationship with former ... Read More
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Stan Stephens Interview, November 17, 2005
Stan Stephens
Stan Stephens begins the interview with a description of his career in broadcast journalism. In 1969, he was elected to the state senate and served for 16 years before running for governor, an office he held from 1989-1993. The interview covers his political campaigns and ... Read More
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Stephen A. Doherty Interview, August 30, 2019
Stephen Doherty
Steve Doherty describes his time serving in the Montana State Senate from 1993 to 2001. He talks about attending school to become an attorney, then working as one in Great Falls, Montana, his hometown, for a number of years before running for a seat in ... Read More
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Ted Schwinden Interview, August 18, 2006
Ted Schwinden
Former Montana governor, Ted Schwinden, begins the interview by describing his growing interest in politics during high school and his activity in Roosevelt County. He discusses the legislature and provides stories about his dealings with other former governors and legislators including Forrest Anderson, Tim Babcock, ... Read More
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Thomas Judge Interview, May 26, 2006
Thomas L. Judge
Thomas Judge describes how he became interested in politics as a young man and his eventual election to the legislature. He describes the influence of the Anaconda Company and the Montana Power Company, coal development, the Federal Strip Mine Reclamation Act, and the Constitutional Convention. ... Read More
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Thomas Towe Interview, February 10, 2006
Thomas Towe
Thomas Towe begins by telling various stories about the Copper Kings and the Anaconda Company. This leads to a discussion on the development of the coal tax bill and the coal trust fund. He recollects various events during his time in the legislature including the ... Read More
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Tim Babcock Interview, April 29, 2005
Tim Babcock
Tim Babcock discusses his early political career, his relationship with Governor Don Nutter, his time spent as Montana's 16th governor, his relationship with other local and national politicians (Forrest Anderson, Hugo Aronson, Dwight Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, Wellington Rankin, Mike Mansfield and others), and the influence ... Read More
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Tom Rolfe Interview, September 27, 2005
Tom Rolfe
Tom Rolfe discusses how he became interested in politics as a young child, his continued activity as a teenager and young adult, and finally his role at the Republican National Convention of 1975, where he sought to nominate Ronald Reagan for president. Rolfe discusses this ... Read More
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Ward Shanahan Interview, March 10, 2005
Ward Shanahan
Ward Shanahan provides various anecdotes about his time working as a railroad association lobbyist including: former governors, important issues, watering holes, the Anaconda Company and Montana Power Company, many influential legislators, and his relationship with Wellington Rankin.
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W. Gordon McOmber Interview, March 23, 2005
W. Gordon McOmber
W. Gordon McOmber describes his affiliation with the Farmer's Union as a young politician, the effects of the Montana Power Company and the Anaconda Company on Montana politics, and his terms in the legislature. He details his relationships with various legislators, governors, and lobbyists. He ... Read More
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William Mathers Interview, Juy 7, 2005
William Mathers
William Mathers describes how he became interested in and involved in politics in Montana. He compares and contrasts the state government and parties of Texas and Montana and their influence over his party affiliation. He recalls partisan issues that were fought in the legislature including ... Read More