Laurel outlook., 1944-02-09

Ine SCdCe peIIOu VI plOneerln
The session was at the home o
Mrs. B. l.. Price.
A short business meeting was helc
following roll call and the salute t
the flag. Mrs. G. l.. Morris wa
elected delegate to the county fed
Grafton meeting at Billings on Feb
10, and Mrs. S. S. Bliss and Mrs
Hugh Dickson were elected alter
mates. A letter from Mrs. j. Mel
vim Williams, chairman for Re-
Cross home nursing classes, wa.
read. She urged early enrollmen
for the instruction.
Opening the program, centerec
around Montana, Mrs. C.. L. Morri:
introduced Mrs. P. A. Johnston, whC
presented Montana Music anC
Songs" Actual copies of the print
ed words and music for songs once
sung throughout Montana had beer
borrowed from the Montana His
torical society at Helena and Were
used at the Laurel meeting.
"Waltz of Old Montana" written
by Walter G. Best of GAINESVILLE,
Iowa, was played at the meeting
Monday as a piano solo by Mrs.
Maude Spencer.
"L'Ensemble" words and music
we're written by Harry Mccartney.
Written of the west, it was dedi-
Gated to and was first sung at the
Fort Sheridan ball of Oct. 5, 1917.
At the meeting here Monday it was
sung by the Laurel choral group
composed of Almeda Paisley, Viola
Braswell, Ruth Wilcox, Marybell
Hoppel, Coralyn Albertus and Elsie
B. V. Friedman.
"The Mountain State" by Frank
l.. and Minnie C. Kern was dedicat-
ed to the public schools of Montana
and was the prize song at the State
Teachers association meeting Dec.
30, 1896, at Great Falls.
Words and music for Beautiful
Montana" were by A. H. Boucher
Of Butte, who also wrote Montana
Waltz" for orchestra. In a letter
to Mrs. Johnston he told of circum-
stances surrounding the creation Of
some of his Montana compositions.
He is now rs years old. A number
of a ago his wife urged him
to write the music he composed and
played. He eventually did so.
"When | was in Missoula l had such
good luck with Montana Walt
that | decided to write the words
for it," Boucher wrote Mrs. John
ston. 81 then published Beautiful
Montana, NV Homeland Where the
Bitter Root Flowers Crow state
song. l put the bitter root flower
on the cover and wrote the words
to match. 1t was adopted by the
state legislature"
Beneath Montana Skies" consist
ed of words by Mel Knoyle and mu-
sic by Bill Nokes.
Members and visitors at the
meeting, accompanied by Mrs. Spen-
Ger, sang Montana" for which
words were written by Charles C.
Cohan and the music by Joseph E.
Howard. Written and first pre-
scented in 1919 in Butte, it was ded-
icated to the Montana children's
home and is the present state song.
Cohan was associate editor of
the Butte Daily Miner. Howard
was a comedian and composer. They
wrote the words and composed the
music of montana" at a bohem-
an gathering Of theatrical people
in Butte a number Of years ago.
The song made an instant hit and
The authors gave it to the children's
home.
Towards company was playing in
Butte at the time. At a dinner,
Howard was seated at a piano and
'emarked to Cohan that Montana
should have a song. "You write the
words, Charles" he said, ga line at
| time and l will compose the mu-
;ic." The two went to work, and
n the course Of half an hour the
ong was written and the music
omposed. Later it was acclaimed
he official song of Montana, and
he children's home realized between
4 900 and $4,000 for the first sale.
In 1919 Cohan received a letter
rom a friend who was an officer
n the AEF of World war |. He
"When Montana troops par
ded through Paris a few weeks
go, they marched through the
ncient thoroughfares of the old
ity which their valOr had saved,
Montana a whole husky
attalion of them"
The song has never been Official
' adopted as the state song, but it
as been widely used.
"reminiscences of early days were
iven by Mrs. T. L. wilkins, a
resident of Virginia City
nd a resident here many years,
nd by E. l.. Fenton, Laurel's first
Mrs. Wilkins told of coming to
err present farm home south of
aurel in 1902 when she and Mr..
1ilkins bought the Grow Davis
lnch, which was well known over
She said, "Crow Davis
ouse was the worst I had ever
zen, but the neighbors did not have
nv better as most of them we're
abins with not more than two
)omS.
Laurel at that time was a small
Irg. There was a school house
here the Jail now stands; Nal
ms hotel was where the Sher-
wv Filings station is located; Joe