The Blaine County Journal News-Opinion - We've Got The County Covered

Austin Haney, most recently a summer Interpretive Ranger at the Bear Paw Battlefield, has been selected as a presenter for the Humanities Montana program. Haney recently joined about fifty presenters with Montana Conversations. Montana Conversations provides workshops and conversations on topics such as "current affairs, untold histories, native cultures, literature and more." Each year Montana Conversations provides presenters in communities across the state.

I spoke with Austin at the Blaine County Museum recently. He told how he was selected to be a presenter and shared about the two programs he will be giving.

Austin Haney says his passion for history is genetic

I met Austin in 2020 when he started his first summer as the Interpretive Ranger at the Battlefield south of Chinook. He told me then about the influence of his grandfathers who took him to visit many historical spots in the state and his mother's life-long desire to be a park ranger. As a youngster he loved to read history and as he grew so did his passion for the subject.

While still at home in Great Falls he began joining reenactors groups that focus on frontier history. He indicated living in Great Falls with The Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center so accessible had an influence on his interest in history. As a kid he joined frontier reenactor groups and even started a group that focused its activities around a period Austin felt was ignored by most enactors at the time. Enrolling at the University of Montana he began as a theater major. "That," he said, "lasted about two days. I switched to a history major and never regretted it."

All these experiences and influences continued to wet his appetite to learn more about frontier history. When Blaine County Museum Director Sam French recruited Austin to do some local presentations, he jumped at the chance. He said earlier, "I love to tell stories about history." Director French encouraged him to think about applying to be a presenter for Humanities Montana.

Montana Conversations is one part of Humanities Montana's program offerings

Since 1972 Humanities Montana has sought to "better infuse the humanities directly and effectively into public life." The group uses grants and special programs to reach into every corner of Montana to "support humanities-based projects and programs, eye-opening cultural experiences and meaningful conversations" to help connect and inspire mutual understanding. Montana Conversations, a part of Humanities Montana, connects "trained facilitators and experts to lead workshops and conversations on topics like current affairs, untold histories, native cultures, literature and more."

When Sam French, at the Museum, learned that John Knight would be in the area she arranged for Austin Haney and Knight to meet. John Knight is the Program Director for Montana Conversations. Austin said, "I told him about my ideas for a couple of historical presentations focusing on north central Montana." Turns out that Knight was looking for more programs about topics related to northern and eastern Montana. When Knight heard Austin's ideas he responded, "It's not if you can put these programs together but when you can." Within a month Haney submitted his proposal for two history programs and they were accepted. The programs are now posted on Montana Conversations' website along with programs of some additional fifty presenters.

Austin Haney will be presenting "Iron Dreams..." and "Beneath the Medicine Line..."

Haney shared he had a lot of ideas about programs he would like to present but settled on two: "Iron Dreams: Montana and the Pacific Railroad Surveys of 1853" and "Beneath the Medicine Line: a Northern Montana History Before 1889." He explained, "Both of these topics spoke to me. They're new, they're different and I felt they were good for my first programs." He added that he has spent nearly half his life "studying these and related topics about our region. Both these programs will have a 'nuts and bolts' core of information but I will adapt my talk to the group I am addressing."

Haney first presented "Iron Dreams..." several months ago at a public gathering at the Blaine County Museum. The story is very much about preparations for the railroad that would come in the 1880s. Isaac Stevens was tasked, among other things, to find a route for a transcontinental railroad. Austin said, "Stevens was everywhere in Montana but the around the Yellowstone region. He traveled from Eureka to Helena and Great Falls and everywhere in between. I even found a letter describing where he and his men stopped for lunch near Battle Creek right here in Blaine County." The survey was conducted 1853-55.

"Beneath the Medicine Line..." covers a wider period of history in our area (before 1859) and looks at the relationship between Canada and the United States. "Medicine Line," per Haney, "was the name the natives used to describe the international border with Canada. This presentation looks at Montana before settlement began in the 1870s to 1880s. My presentation focuses on native groups and lifestyles during that period and how the coming of the railroad in the 1880s and statehood for Montana in 1889 changed the area."

The main thrust of "Beneath the Medicine Line..." is how our north central area in the U.S. and south central Canada were so interconnected long before a well-recognized and defined international border existed. Haney said, "Over the years many of those things we shared in common have been lost. Figuring out how our two countries should interact is still a work in progress."

Austin added, "Both programs were picked up for presentations soon after they were posted on the Montana Conversations website. I will be presenting the "Iron Dreams..." program in a couple of weeks in Fort Benton and "Beneath the Medicine Line..." in Hamilton later in the year."

Scheduling a program with Montana Conversations

To learn about the topics available through Montana Conversations go online to http://www.humanitiesmontana.org. Click on "programs" and then click on "Montana Conversations." There you will find the presenters with the titles of their presentations. Click on a title to learn more about the topic and also see a short biographical sketch of the presenter for each topic. Once you find a topic you can click on "book a program" to complete the process. Per Sam French at the Blaine County Museum the typical fee is $75 for a speaker with Montana Humanities taking care of the pay and travel for the speaker.