Welcome to The Dirt on the Past from The Extreme History Project and Gallatin Valley Community Radio, KGVM. Whether digging up a site or dusting off the archives, we bring you some of the most fascinating and cutting edge research in history and archaeology, and discuss why it matters today. Join co-hosts, Crystal Alegria and Nancy Mahoney as we converse with professionals in the fields of history, archaeology, and anthropology who bring the past…into the present.
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The Stories We Tell about Ourselves with Anthony Wood
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We sat down with Anthony Wood to talk about his research focus on Black history in the west. We talk about his new research along with his book, Black Montana: Settler Colonialism and the Erosion of the Racial Frontier, 1877–1930. We dive into storytelling, history-making, and the stories that we tell about ourselves and what those stories and hist…
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Disturbing the Sleeping Buffalo with Sally Thompson
1:00:44
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Join us as we speak with author Sally Thompson about her new book, Disturbing the Sleeping Buffalo: 23 Unexpected Stories That Awaken Montana's Past. The past still lingers along old trails, and among the people who live here today. Some, such as anthropologist and storyteller Sally Thompson, are better equipped to notice the traces of history lurk…
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Join Nancy and Crystal as they discuss the history of pockets! We delve deep into the fascinating history of pockets, exploring how these seemingly mundane accessories have shaped human lives and society over centuries. Drawing insights from Hannah Carlson's "Pockets: An Intimate History of How We Keep Things Close" and Barbara Burman and Ariane Fe…
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April is Archaeology Month in Montana! In honor of this, join Nancy and Crystal as they discuss a significant archaeological site located in southwest Montana called the Barton Gulch site. The oldest occupation of the Barton Gulch site is dated to 9400 BP. Nancy and Crystal discuss the remains of earth ovens found at Barton Gulch, and talk about th…
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Historic Photographs with Michael Fox
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Join us as we talk with Museum of the Rockies (MOR) Curator, Michael Fox, about historic photographs and cameras in the MOR collection. We look at two historic cameras dating to the late 19th century and 1930s time period. We then dive into a series of historic photographs that capture the historic west through photographic imagery. Historic photog…
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Join us as we talk with Mark Sullivan, a #1 New York Times bestselling author who wrote The Last Green Valley about a family, the Martels, that flee the Ukraine in 1944 to arrive and eventually settle in Bozeman, MT. We discuss the families harrowing journey as they, along with thousands of others make the Long Trek. Join us for this important conv…
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Sauropods, Museum Education and Fossils for Kids with Ashley Hall
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Join us as we talk with Museum Educator Ashley Hall about her career as a museum educator at the Museum of the Rockies, her research on Sauropod feet and her books including Fossils for Kids: A Junior Scientist’s Guide to Dinosaur Bones and Ancient Animals, and Prehistoric Life on Earth and Prehistoric Worlds: Stomp Into the Epic Lands Ruled by Din…
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American Burial Ground with Sarah Keyes
1:02:50
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We talked with Historian Sarah Keyes about her new book, "American Burial Ground: A New History of the Overland Trail." We delve into the history of the Overland Trail, discussing the 6,600 migrants who perished along the treacherous journey westward, their final resting places often marking the landscape of Indigenous land. Keyes' explains how the…
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The Myth of the West with Betsy Gaines Quammen
1:00:43
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1:00:43
Join us as we talk with the author of True West: Myth and Mending on the Far Side of America, Betsy Gaines Quammen. We discuss her book and what she learned about America as she spent time in small towns and big cities throughout the West, talking with people about their beliefs on land, politics, liberty, and self-determination. Betsy tells us abo…
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The Hagen Site: An Archaeological Village Showing Transition from Farming to Bison
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Join us as we discuss the Hagen Site, a National Historic Landmark located on a bluff above the Yellowstone River north of Glendive, Montana. This archaeological site is significant because it documents the establishment of a permanent village by a people in transition from the Eastern Woodlands to a Plains bison culture. We dive into the Museum of…
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John Bozeman: The Myth, the Man and the Legend. The Dirt on the Past Podcast: Museum Edition
1:25:22
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1:25:22
Join us as we talk with Michael Fox, the curator of history at the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman, MT about John Bozeman. Bozeman is the namesake for the town of Bozeman, Montana and instrumental in creating the Bozeman Trail, an overland route in the Western United States, connecting the gold rush territory of southern Montana to the Oregon Trai…
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Historic Red-Light Districts in Butte and Bozeman, MT. The Dirt on the Past: Museum Edition
1:22:27
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Join us for a discussion on historic red-light districts in Butte and Bozeman, MT with guest Chelsea Hogan. Chelsea is the Museum of the Rockies Director of Education and Programming and she is the co-producer of the Museum's Haunted Mountain Theatre. We discuss how Haunted Mountain Theatre is incorporating a story about a Butte Madam into their sh…
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Join us this week as we talk with Kerri Maher about her new novel, All You Have to do is Call. This story honors the heroines of the Jane collective, a group of women who provided safe, clandestine health services in the pre-Roe v. Wade era. We discuss the book, but also dive into the history of this time and the real women of the Jane Collective i…
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The National Register with Lesley Gilmore
1:15:45
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Join us for our conversation with historic preservation architect, Lesley Gilmore on the National Register of Historic Places process. We discuss what it takes to nominate a property for listing, the rigorous evaluation process, and the immense value that this recognition brings. We also highlight some misconceptions of the National Register proces…
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Join us as we talk with Pete Brown about all things Montana SHPO! Pete Brown has been Montana’s State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO) since 2019. His work at the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) began in 2002 when he served as the Historic Architecture Specialist. We talk with Pete about his job as SHPO and what that entails on a dail…
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Women in Medieval Europe with Dr. Danielle Mead Skjelver
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Join us as we discuss women who followed medieval mercenary armies with Dr. Danielle Mead Skjelver. During the late medieval period, it was not uncommon for women to travel with mercenary armies, either as wives or as camp followers. These women often provided essential support services to the soldiers, such as cooking, cleaning, and nursing. Some …
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The Montana Archaeological Society with Nancy and Crystal
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Join Nancy and Crystal as they discuss the most recent Montana Archaeological Society Annual Meeting, highlighting presentations and awards. The Montana Archaeological Society (MAS) is a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation, study, and understanding of Montana's rich archaeological heritage. The society was founded in 1958 and is m…
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Join us as we talk with Tim Urbaniak about his new book, Men of the Cave: The Excavation of Empty Gulch. We discuss the 1937 archaeological excavation of Empty Gulch, now known as Pictograph Cave State Park. This project was financed by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and employed a group of men, and one woman, to excavate this significant …
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The Los Angeles Red-Light District with AnneMarie Kooistra
1:06:38
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Join us as we have a wide-ranging conversation about the history of red-light districts, including the Los Angeles Red-Light District during the 1920's and 1930's. AnneMarie Kooistra is a historian who has conducted extensive research on the history of prostitution in Los Angeles during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Her researc…
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The Dirt on the Past History Minute - Bronze Age Women Stronger than Today’s Elite Female Rowers
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Join Crystal and Nancy, co-hosts of The Dirt on the Past podcast, for a history minute where they discuss how Bronze Age women had stronger arms than today's elite female rowers, due to grinding grain for hours a day. "This is the first study to actually compare prehistoric female bones to those of living women," said lead researcher, Dr Alison Mac…
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Imperial Zions with Amanda Hendrix-Komoto
1:15:37
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Join us as we talk with Amanda Hendrix-Komoto about her new book, Imperial Zions: Religion, Race, and Family in the American West and the Pacific which was published in 2022. We discuss the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, focusing in on the women of the historical narrative including the wife of Joseph Smith. We talk abo…
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The Dirt on the Past History Minute - Lizzie Williams
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Join Crystal and Nancy, co-hosts of The Dirt on the Past podcast, for a history minute!By The Extreme History Project
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The Dirt on the Past History Minute - Chaco Canyon
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Join Crystal and Nancy, co-hosts of The Dirt on the Past podcast, for a history minute!By The Extreme History Project
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The Dirt on the Past History Minute - Sarah Bickford
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Join Crystal and Nancy, co-hosts of The Dirt on the Past podcast, for a history minute!By The Extreme History Project
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Join us as we speak with Micah Chang about his time working on the first joint archaeological field school between the University of Montana and Montana State University. This field school, initiated by the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest, was held to immerse students in federal archeology. Students conducted field surveys and carried out arch…
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A Sense of Place with Sarah Rosenberg
1:08:10
1:08:10
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Join us for our conversation with Sarah Rosenberg, the Historic Preservation Officer for the City of Bozeman, MT. We discuss all things historic preservation with Sarah including her vision to tell stories of the underrepresented communities and promote the protection of intangible heritage. We do a little myth busting about what you can, and canno…
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Join us as we talk with filmmaker, Kimberly Hogberg about her film, The Story of Us: The Women who Shaped Montana. This short film was a collaboration with The Extreme History Project, so we are so excited to talk about the film and its debut on Montana PBS! We discuss the film and what goes into creating a historical documentary including the fund…
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Yellowstone Revealed with Francesca Pine-Rodriguez
1:13:25
1:13:25
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Join us for a conversation with Francesca Pine-Rodriguez, the Director of the nonprofit, Mountain Time Arts that is based in Bozeman, MT. We discuss a program led by MTA, Yellowstone Revealed, a series of place-based projects led by a group of inter-tribal Indigenous artists and scholars that happened in Yellowstone National Park during the summer …
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Digging into Pseudoscience with Crystal and Nancy
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Join Nancy and Crystal as they discuss the mythology and true archaeology surrounding the Runestones in the Americas and archaeological evidence of early Norse Settlements before Columbus. We use the series America Unearthed on the History Channel as an example of how to spot entertainment versus scientific evidence that supports archaeological or …
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The Woman they Could Not Silence with Kate Moore
1:18:40
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Join us as we talk with Kate Moore, a New York Times Bestselling Author about her new book, The Woman They Could Not Silence: One Woman, Her Incredible Fight for Freedom, and the Men Who Tried to Make Her Disappear. This is a narrative, non-fiction page-turner about Elizabeth Packard who was a housewife and mother of six in 1860, when her husband o…
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Caleb Gayle talks with us about his new book, We Refuse to Forget: A True Story of Black Creeks, American Identity, and Power. This book tells the story of the Creek Nation, a group that historically owned slaves and accepted Black people as full citizens. The story is told through the lens of a few people, but most prominently a man named Cow Tom,…
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The Chinese Experience in Montana with Mark Johnson
1:06:22
1:06:22
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Mark Johnson recently published, The Middle Kingdom Under the Big Sky: A History of the Chinese Experience in Montana. We discuss the book, including experiences of Chinese women in Montana. We also talk about Mark's new project in collaboration with the Mai Wah Museum, to translate Chinese headstones in cemeteries located in Helena, Bozeman, Billi…
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Ukranian Megasites with Bisserka Gaydarska
1:12:26
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Archaeologist, Bisserka Gaydarska, discusses Ukranian Mega Sites with us this week. The Trypillia megasites of Ukraine are the largest known settlements in 4th millennium BC Europe and possibly the world. With the largest reaching 1.2 square miles in size, megasites raise questions about their origins and purpose. Current theories assume maximum oc…
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American Zion with Betsy Gaines Quammen
1:29:12
1:29:12
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Betsy Gaines Quammen discusses her book, American Zion: Cliven Bundy, God & Public Lands in the West. Our discussion explores how the Bundy family mix spiritualism, patriotism, and wild places to assert possession over western federal lands. We discuss the myth of the cowboy, militia conceptions of public land in the west, wilderness, and Mormon hi…
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Birthing the West with Jennifer Hill
1:07:15
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Join Nancy and Crystal for a conversation with Dr. Jennifer Hill as we discuss her new book, Birthing the West: Mothers and Midwives in the Rockies and Plains. This book delves into the history of childbirth and reproduction in the west, focusing on the mid-1800s through the 1940s in the Dakotas, Wyoming, and Montana. We talk about Jennifer's resea…
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A Genetic History of the Americas with Jennifer Raff
1:08:46
1:08:46
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Join Nancy and Crystal as we talk with author and geneticist, Jennifer Raff, on her new book, ORIGIN: A Genetic History of the Americas. We discuss the genetic history of the first peoples in the Americas, who they were, current theories on how they arrived, and why they made the crossing. We delve into how they dispersed south and how they lived b…
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Finding Harriet Tubman with Julie Schablitsky
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Join us as we talk with Dr. Julie Schablitsky about the recent discovery of the spot where Harriet Tubman’s father, Ben Ross, had his home, and where Harriet would have spent some of her childhood. Harriet Tubman was born as Araminta Ross in March 1822 on the Thompson Farm in Maryland. She and her mother were enslaved by the Brodess family and move…
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Race and the Wild West with Laura Arata
1:27:56
1:27:56
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Join us as we talk with Dr. Laura Arata about her book, Race and the Wild West: Sarah Bickford, The Montana Vigilantes, and the Tourism of Decline, 1870-1930. We discuss the life of Sarah Bickford, a black woman who grew up enslaved in Tennessee and then traveled to Montana Territory after she was emancipated. Sarah settled in the gold rush town of…
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Join Nancy and Crystal as they discuss the new series, 1883. This is a prequal to the popular, Yellowstone series that premiered in 2018. Yellowstone is an American drama created by Taylor Sheridan and John Linson that follows the fictional Dutton family, owners of the largest cattle ranch in Montana. The prequal, 1883, follows the origins of the D…
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Who owns the past and the objects that connect us to history? We discuss this and so much more with Chip Colwell as we talk about his book, Plundered Skulls and Stolen Spirits: Inside the Fight to Reclaim Native America's Culture. Our conversation revolves around NAPRA, repatriation of human remains, and ultimately human dignity and the importance …
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Before Yellowstone with Doug MacDonald
1:08:25
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Join us for this timely conversation with Doug MacDonald on his book, Before Yellowstone: Native American Archaeology in the Park. As Yellowstone National Park celebrates its 150th anniversary in 2022, we discuss the deep history of people living in this region. The archaeological research done by Doug and his team of students from the University o…
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The Year in Review with Crystal and Nancy
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Join us as we recap our year of podcast episodes. We discuss what we've learned from our amazing guests, and some highlights from our second season of podcasting. We dive into the why we think this podcast is important and our take-aways from the year. Join us for this final conversation of 2021!By The Extreme History Project
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Forget the Alamo with Chris Tomlinson
1:12:09
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Join us as we talk with Chris Tomlinson about his new book, Forget the Alamo: The Rise and Fall of an American Myth, co-written with Bryan Burrough and Jason Stanford. Every nation needs its creation myth, and since Texas was a nation before it was a state, it's no surprise that its myths bite deep. There's no piece of history more important to Tex…
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Archaeology of a Chinese Community with Christopher Merritt
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Join us as we talk with Utah State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO) with the Utah Division of State History, Christopher Merritt, about his work as a SHPO and his interest in historic Chinese communities in the West. We talk specifically about a ghost town called Terrace, UT. Terrace was once a bustling town located along the transcontinental r…
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Archaeology from Africa to Montana with Jack Fisher
1:21:55
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Join us as we talk with archaeologist Jack Fisher about his career as an archaeologist. We discuss his ethnoarchaeological research among the Efe people in the Ituri Forest in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, his work at First People's Buffalo Jump in Montana, his research partnership with John Parkington of the Department of Archaeology at th…
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Forensic Anthropology with Dr. Lilly White
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Join us for a conversation with Dr. Lilly White on her work as a forensic anthropologist. We talk about how she became interested in the field, the cultural and historical traditions around death and dying, Lilly's work during the pandemic as a condolence specialist, and what her work as a forensic anthropologist entails. Lilly received her PhD in …
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Cemeteries in The West with Ellen Baumler
1:04:51
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Join us as we talk with historian Ellen Baumler about her new book, The Life of the Afterlife in the Big Sky State: A History of Montana's Cemeteries. We talk about burial customs, headstone symbolism, the history of cemeteries in the west, boot hills, and cultural identity reflected in western cemeteries. Ellen Baumler was the interpretive histori…
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Ancient Footprints with Matthew Bennett
1:04:01
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Join us for a conversation with Dr. Matthew Bennett, the lead scientist on a recently published article in the Journal Science that examined a set of human footprints preserved on an ancient lakeshore in New Mexico's White Sands National Park that date to between 21,000 and 23,000 years old. We discuss the fossilized human footprints, but we also t…
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The Bon Ton Building with Crystal and Nancy
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On this podcast, Crystal and Nancy dig deep into the history of a historic structure in downtown Bozeman. This building is significant because it currently houses Nancy's boutique, Moka, along with three other businesses including Alara Jewelry, Plume Bridal and Visions West Gallery! We explore the history of this building through the historic char…
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Join us as we talk with Anthony Wood about his new book, Black Montana: Settler Colonialism and the Erosion of the Racial Frontier, 1877-1930. Anthony talks with us about his work on the Montana African American Heritage Resources Project and how this inspired him to delve deeper into the history of Montana's Black communities. His book explores th…
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