''Montana: The Magazine of Western History'' (formerly ''The Montana Magazine of History'') is a quarterly journal published by the

Montana Historical Society The Montana Historical Society (MHS) is a historical society located in the U.S. state of Montana that acts to preserve historical resources important to the understanding of Montana history. The society provides services through six operational ...

. It publishes articles about the history of

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...

as well as the

western United States The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the Wes ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. The magazine also publishes book and movie reviews. It is heavily illustrated with historic photos, maps, and

western American art Western American Art includes artistic work which depicts the subjects related to the Western American region, and was treated as impoverished, unwanted and unworthy art before the twentieth century, during which period it achieved respectability a ...

History

Inception and creation

In 1950, the Montana Historical Society's board of trustees appointed a special committee to create a quarterly journal. The committee included

Merrill G. Burlingame Merrill G. Burlingame (March 13, 1901 – November 14, 1994) was a history professor at Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana who specialized in Montana history and the history of the American West. He was instrumental in the founding ...

Joseph Kinsey Howard Joseph Kinsey Howard (February 28, 1906 – August 25, 1951) was an American journalist, historian, and writer. He wrote extensively about the history, culture, and economic circumstances of Montana. One of the state's most noted authors of nonfi ...

, Anne McDonnell, H. G. Merriam, Albert Partoll, Paul Phillips, Lucinda Scott, and Norman Winestine. The committee agreed that the magazine should reflect the history, culture, and economics of

. They named it ''The Montana Magazine of History.'' To save on publishing costs, they chose a small format, , slightly bigger than ''

Reader's Digest ''Reader's Digest'' is an American general-interest family magazine, published ten times a year. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, it is now headquartered in midtown Manhattan. The magazine was founded in 1922 by DeWitt Wallace and his wi ...

''. They set the price of a subscription at three dollars a year. Albert Partoll volunteered as acting editor for the first issue, which appeared in February 1951. It featured a wood-grain cover and commemorated the white settlers of

Montana Territory The Territory of Montana was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 26, 1864, until November 8, 1889, when it was admitted as the 41st state in the Union as the state of Montana. Original boundaries T ...

Name change

In 1951, K. Ross Toole was appointed director of the Montana Historical Society (MHS), and he assumed the position of editor for the magazine. Toole increased the page size and added photographs and illustrations. By 1956, MHS distributed the magazine to more than fifteen thousand readers. With the Spring 1955 issue, Toole changed the name to ''Montana, The Magazine of Western History,'' signifying a shift in focus to the entire North American West. Eventually, the comma was dropped from the title.

Magazine of Western History

At first, most of the members of ''Montana's'' editorial board came from within the state. But in the 1970s, editor Vivian Paladin began to invite historians with national reputations to serve on the board. Her efforts positioned the magazine as a scholarly journal. Yet she continued to illustrate articles heavily, and she published readable articles for a popular audience. ''Montana's'' reputation as a scholarly journal of western history was cemented in 1984 when the

Western History Association The Western History Association (WHA), a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, was founded in 1961 at Santa Fe, New Mexico by Ray Allen Billington et al. Included in the field of study are the American West and western Canada. The Western History ...

chose it as a benefit for their members.

Editors

*Albert Partoll (1951) *K. Ross Toole (1951–1957) *Michael Kennedy (1958–1966) *Vivian Paladin (1966–1978) *William L. Lang (1978–1989) *Charles E. Rankin (1989–2001) *Clark Whitehorn (2001–2006) *Molly Holz (2006–2018) *Diana Di Stefano (2018–current)

Awards

Articles in ''Montana'' have won seven Wrangler Awards, seven Spur Awards, three awards from the

, and two awards from the

Forest History Society The Forest History Society is an American non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of forest and conservation history."Forest History Society." Echo Project. Center for History and New Media, George Mason University. http://echo.gmu. ...

. In 2014, the magazine was inducted into the

Montana Cowboy Hall of Fame The Montana Cowboy Hall of Fame is a 501(c)(3) hall of fame organization. Its stated goal is to ""To honor our cowboy way of life, American Indian cultures, and our collective Montana western heritage. It confers the honour of induction on an ann ...

References

External links

*{{Official, https://mhs.mt.gov/pubs/Magazine1 History magazines published in the United States Magazines established in 1950 Magazines published in Montana Academic journals published by non-profit organizations of the United States Quarterly journals History of the United States journals