Montana

Item Details

Helena, MT, Department of Publicity of the Bureau of Agriculture, Labor and Industry of the State of Montana, 1909, paper wraps

VG

[MONTANA]  [RESOURCES]  [PROMOTION] J. H. Hall.  Scarce promotional booklet titled Montana (Helena, Montana: Department of Publicity of the Bureau of Agriculture, Labor and Industry of the State of Montana, 1909).  Printed by the Independent Publishing Co., State Printers.

Illustrated paper wraps; [4], 216 pp; illustrations from photographs; charts and tables.  Cover wraps are detached from the body of text, but present and could be pasted back down along the spine; front cover has a piece missing at upper right corner and the wrapper has several tears at top and bottom of spine.  The interior is clean and the text block is solid.  VG condition.  [26-1038]

The Foreword states that this is the first publication of the publicity branch of the Bureau of Agriculture, Labor and Industry as a result of the Legislative Assembly’s act instructing J. H. Hall as Commissioner of the Bureau to “collect data ‘upon the agricultural, commercial, mining, labor or other industrial resources of the State or upon the educational and social interests or sanitary conditions of the people of the State,’ and to provide for the publication and publicity of reports containing such statistics.”  The result was this booklet which, it was hoped, would give “a general idea of the resources of Montana and suggesting the advantages which it possesses and the opportunities which it offers to the homeseeker.”  The Bureau was to act as a clearing house of information for the entire state.

This 1909 publication provides great detail about the state and its resources in general but also has broken the state down by the various counties.  Each county has a good amount of text about its resources and opportunities for growth, accompanied by photo illustrations.  The last page (216) lists Montana county fairs and highlights two other events.  “SEE MONTANA!  Come and See for Yourself the Products of the Soil, the Live Stock and the Exhibit of the Minerals at the Montana State Fair at Helena, September 27 to October 2, 1909” and “ATTEND THE DRY FARMING CONGRESS!  And Examine the Exhibits at the Second International Dry Farming Exposition to be Held at Billings, October 26, 27 and 28, 1909.”

Interestingly, only one institution, Los Angeles Public Library, has reported having an original 1909 copy to OCLC.  We could find none available in the on-line market.  There are a few Annual Reports from the Bureau during this time period (mostly 1912), but not for 1909 alone, and this copy says nothing about being an annual report.