Lincoln Co. residents join in Montana Pioneers convention
Earlier this month, the Sons and Daughters of Montana Pioneers returned to historic Virginia City Aug. 4-5 for their 126th annual convention.
It was the eighth time the organization met in Virginia City. The first gathering was in 1947, followed by events in 1953, 1961, 1978, 1986, 1997 and most recently in 2008.
Lincoln County was well represented with Kera Perkins of Fortine, Dave and Dianne Hansen of Fortine, and Veronica Bovee-Anderson of Libby attending.
Montana Pioneers meets each August in various Montana towns to conduct business, learn the history of the area and honor a Montana history teacher. This year’s honoree, Montana history teacher Eric Chaon of Great Falls High School, talked to the assembled members about how he encourages love of history and especially Montana history, among his students.
Luncheon speaker and Montana historian Ellen Baumler introduced the audience to Virginia City’s “spirited women,” storied female ghosts of Virginia and Nevada cities.
Banquet keynote speaker Dwight Smith, who is the husband of Norma Ashby-Smith from Great Falls, honored and portrayed the part of Ashby’s great-grandfather, George Beatty, who arrived in Bannack in 1862 and lived an extraordinary life as the first homesteader in Broadwater County.
Members wore period clothing to honor the organization's heritage for the official conference photograph, recreating the 1899 group photo taken on the steps of the Virigina City Courthouse. Members posed to match the 124-year-old black and white photo, which is in the Sons and Daughters of Montana Pioneer archives.
President Mike Collins of Helena said, “We wanted to show our continued focus on our pioneers, so arranged to take a 2023 convention photo mirroring SDMP’s 1899 convention photograph.”
The group also made a preservation donation to Virginia City’s Thompson Hickman Museum, a long-standing tradition of supporting museums at its convention sites.
To be a member of Sons and Daughters of Montana Pioneers, a person must be a lineal descendant of the state’s pioneer founders, who arrived in Montana prior to Dec. 31, 1868.
The organization’s mission is “To preserve the rich legacy, time-honored values and cherished traditions of those pioneers who dedicated themselves to establishing the great State of Montana.”
The organization is a nonprofit corporation in Montana and was registered on Aug. 9, 1935.
To learn more about the Sons and Daughters of Montana Pioneers visit