Christmas 1831

 As we head into the holidays, I thought you might like to take a break from serious pedagogical posts and read a brief account of one of the first Christmas celebrations in what is now known as Montana. This excerpt comes from a 1911 pamphlet that the Superintendent of Public Instruction in honor of Pioneer Day.

Montana's First Christmas and Those Who Participated.

"On Christmas day, 1832, was celebrated one of the first holidays of the kind in the Northwest. Just across the line in Idaho, Captain Bonneville's party of trappers, hunters, and pioneers had gone into their winter quarters. And they had earned their right to celebrate. Since May of that year they had toiled their way up the Platte across Wyoming and over the mountain ... and suffered hardships and were prepared to enjoy their rest in winter quarters among the ... Nez Perce. Rude cabins of logs were erected, together with a large barn for the horses. ... A short distance away were the lodges of the Nez Perces.

These hardy sons of the plains and forest did not forget Christmas.... On Christmas eve the festivities began with rude fetes and rejoicing. The lodge of the Nez Perce chief was surrounded and in lieu of Christmas carols he was saluted with discharges of musketry. The old chief was highly flattered and invited the whole company to a feast on the following day. ... Skins were placed on the ground and upon these was placed abundance of venison, elk and other game. There was a short prayer and then the entire company seated themselves ... and pitched into the feast. This was followed by a long series of games, running, jumping, wrestling, shooting at the mark and the like--between whites and Indians.  

 

 

Historical Picture Prompt Writing Contest

The Montana History Portal is hosting the 6th Annual Historical Picture Prompt contest. Using any photo in the Portal collection as a story prompt participants will write a fictional short story (650 words or less) and enter through our submission form. Winners will be chosen from grades 3-6, grades 7-12, and adult. Entries will be accepted starting January 5, 2026, and the deadline to enter is February 27, 2026.  You can start drafting your short story anytime, but the submission form will not open until January 5!

And save the date! The portal's annual Meme contest will be in May with the deadline for submissions May 13, 2026. We will share the details later, but in the meantime, check out some of last year's winners!

Come spend a week at the MTHS Library and Archives

 The MTHS Library and Archives reopens for business in March and is once again offering $1,250 stipends for Montanans interested in spending a week this summer at MTHS conducting research on a local history project (including a class project!) 

The Fine Print

The Dave Walter Research Fellowship will be awarded to up to two Montana residents involved in public history projects focused on exploring local history. The award is intended to help Montanans conduct research on their towns, counties, and regions using resources at the Montana Historical Society. Research can be for any project related to local history, including exhibit development, walking tours, oral history projects, building history or preservation, county or town histories, archaeological research, and class projects. Each fellowship includes a stipend of $1,250. 

Recipients will be expected to:

• travel to MTHS to conduct research
• spend a minimum of one week in residence conducting research
• provide a copy of their final product or a report on their completed project to the MTHS Library & Archives

Applications are evaluated on:

• suitability of the research to the Society's collections
• potential of the project to make a contribution to local history
• experience in conducting local history research

The application must include the following:

• project proposal, not to exceed 3 pages, describing the research including the specific MTHS Library & Archives collections you intend to use
• cover letter
• 1-2 page resume
• letter of recommendation

Applications must be sent electronically as one PDF document to mthslibrary@mt.gov. Deadline for applications is April 1, 2026.

Announcement of the awards will be made in spring. Questions about the fellowship should be directed to mthslibrary@mt.gov.  

Teaching with Primary Sources

 Donna McCrae, Head of Archives and Special Collections at the University of Montana Mansfield Library, pulled together this very handy list of websites that support Teaching with Primary Sources for a presentation she gave at the MFPE Educator Conference. She gave me permission to share it with you all.

SELECT WEBSITES WITH TEACHING GUIDES / LESSON PLANS

• Digital Public Library of America Primary Source Sets – Primary source collections exploring topics in history, literature and culture developed by educators, complete with teaching guides for classroom use.

 

• Library of Congress Classroom Materials – Curated thematic primary source sets, lesson plans and example presentations.

 

• DocsTeach - Features activities from educators from around the country based on documents found in the National Archives holdings. Filter by historical era, thinking skill, activity type and grade level.

 

• Smithsonian for Educators - Online lesson plans, interactive activities, and multimedia materials, tailored to various grade levels and subjects.

 

• EDSITEment: The Best of the Humanities on the Web - National Endowment for the Humanities site with lesson plans, teacher’s guides and media resources. Includes ideas and activities focused on local history.

 

• Digital Inquiry Group – Curriculum designed to engage students in historical inquiry. Each Reading Like a Historian lesson revolves around a central historical question and features a set of primary documents designed for groups of students with a range of reading skills. This site requires a log-in.

 

• Montana Historical Society Resources for Educators – Resources organized by skill level and by subject. Lesson plans are available for several subjects including civics, geography, art, mining history, and Indian Education for All.

 

• Newberry Library Classroom Resources - Digital Collections for the Classroom support key history and literature learning goals in critical thinking, analysis, close reading, and visual literacy. Includes lesson plans, skills lessons and contextual essays.

 

• National Park Service Teaching with Museum Collections – Includes lesson plans for teaching with objects. Regional lesson plans include Grant Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site, Nez Perce National Historic Park and Yellowstone National Park.

 

• National Park Service Teaching with Historic Places – Location, theme and state-based lesson plans. Includes guides for using and writing place-based ‘classic’ and ‘lightening’ plans.

SELECT WEBSITES WITH PRIMARY SOURCE CONTENT

• Library of Congress Digital Collections – curated sets of digitized content from the Library of Congress collections. Formats include (but are not limited to) photos, maps, pamphlets, audio, and moving images.

 

• Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) - Over 52 million keyword-searchable images, texts, video and sound files. Curated exhibitions with primary source content accompanied by contextual essays.

 

• Digitized Montana Newspapers – Landing page, hosted by the Montana Historical Society, for linking to digitized newspapers available via the public access portal for Newspapers.com, Chronicling America, and several other Montana newspapers.

 

• Chronicling America - A searchable digital collection of historic newspapers from across the United States dating from 1736 to 1963. Browse and keyword search options. Full image.

 

• Montana History Portal – Digitized content contributed by Montana libraries, museums, archives, and cultural institutions. Contents include maps, photographs, rare books, historic documents, school yearbooks, diaries and letters, oral histories, audio and video clips, paintings, illustrations and art. Curated Digital Exhibits pair primary sources around a theme or topic with narrative text.

 

• David Rumsey Map Collection – Over 142,000 digitized maps from around the world from the sixteenth to the twenty-first centuries.  

Adventure Labs

Looking for ways to engage students in place-based learning? Adventure Labs are interactive, location-based experiences similar to scavenger hunts, accessed through the Geocaching Adventure Lab mobile app. Unlike traditional geocaches, they don't involve finding physical containers but instead guide users through a series of virtual waypoints where they answer questions or solve puzzles to learn about a location's history, nature, or culture. The app uses geofencing to confirm you are at the location, and completing the series of stages earns a "find" for the Adventure.  

If you do not live in one of the communities where there is already an Adventure Lab established or if you are working with a group of people who are not physically able to take a walk, then use the exhibit format to take a virtual walk. Open the Adventure lab exhibit on a large screen or TV. Read each caption and then open the historic image full-size. Then enlarge the Google map and see how the same spot looks today. Ask participants about the changes or similarities they see. Which version of the image do they like best? Do they have memories to share about the places shown in the tour?

The Montana History Portal has created walking tour Adventure Labs for Lewistown, Butte, Great Falls, Kalispell, Virginia City, the University of Montana Campus, and the Montana State Capitol. There  is also an Adventure Lab for Native American Art at Montana State University. You’ll have to download the Adventure Lab app to see if there are others in your area. 

You might also consider having your class create an Adventure Lab in your local area. Two 14-year-old Girl Scouts recently partnered with the Montana Historical Society to create an Adventure Lab on the history of the Lewis and Clark County Hospital/Poor Farm in Helena. They loved the experience and recommended it as a way to connect young people with history in their community. To discuss creating Adventure Labs with your class, contact MTHS Interpretive Historian Melissa Hibbard. 

Plan ahead for the Civics Bee

The Mansfield Center is partnering with the National Chamber of Commerce Foundation to host the 2026 Montana Civics Bee for middle school students. Students who participate will strengthen their civics, writing, and public speaking skills, and form friendships with other young leaders along the way!   

 A brief overview of the Montana Civics Bee:  

• 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students must submit a 750-word (max) essay proposing their ideas for improving their community by February 3, 2026.
• Top-scoring essays will be invited to participate in a regional bee in Kalispell, Helena, or Miles City in spring 2026 for the chance to win cash prizes. Finalists from each regional bee will be invited to compete in the Montana State Civics Bee in Helena in early summer 2026 for the chance to win cash prizes at the state level. Here are the contest dates:
  • Miles City Regional Civics Bee: Saturday, March 28^th 
  • Helena Regional Civics Bee: Saturday, April 11th
  • Kalispell Regional Civics Bee: Saturday, April 25th
  • Helena State Bee: Saturday, June 6^th

The winner of the State Bee will be sent on an all-expenses paid trip to Washington, DC to compete in the National Civics Bee in fall 2026 for the chance to win $100,000 towards college.  

To apply, visit the National Civics Bee webpage and create an account to access the application portal. 

Even if you don't plan on having students compete in the bee, it's worth checking out the resources the Mansfield Center has gathered, including this list of Civics Resources for Teachers and essay writing guide and prompts. Having students identify a problem, describe the steps they would take to ameliorate it, identify the support they would need to bring their idea to life, and then connect their solution to founding principles and civic virtues sounds like an amazing assignment, whether you bring students to participate in the bee or not. 

Reach out to Kate Koenig at kate.koenig@mso.umt.edu with questions! 

Free PDs from Digital Inquiry Group (formerly known as SHEG)

Longtime readers will know how much I admire the Digital Inquiry Group (which used to be known as the Stanford History Education Group). I LOVE their resources (which are free, but registration is required). They include: 

• Reading Like a Historian Lessons, that engage students in historical inquiries that teach them "how to investigate historical questions by employing reading strategies such as sourcing, contextualizing, corroborating, and close reading."  
• Printable posters. My favorite is their Historical Thinking Chart, but they also have posters that focus on specific skills: Close Reading, Sourcing, Contextualization, and Corroboration.
• Over 140 examples of what they call History Assessments of Thinking (HATs), "easy-to-use assessments that measure students' historical thinking." Using HATs throughout the year is a great way to measure student growth with specific historical thinking skills.

I'm also a fan of their professional development. Through January 5, they are offering several FREE asynchronous online courses, all of which focus on digital literacy. If you complete a course and send me your certificate of attendance, I will award you renewal units (one unit per course hour.)