The headline in the Bear Paw Mountaineer in 1918.
Veterans Day was last week. The holiday always lands on the eleventh day of the eleventh month in recognition of Armistice Day, which was the day World War I ended in 1918. Woodrow Wilson announced the end of the war to the nation, and the holiday, Armistice Day was established. The day was later changed to Veterans Day, when we honor the men and women who serve in our military. Researching our community's history this week, I discovered that The Mountaineer ran a front page story on the dedication of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on this Wednesday 100 years ago. The soldier was disinterred from his resting place in France and buried in DC this week a century ago.
Three years before that, The Mountaineer ran several short stories covering the potential for the United States to enter the war in Europe. That changed in the April 12th, 1917 issue. A few days after congress declared war, the front page of our little town's paper was dominated by stories detailing world events. Woodrow Wilson's speech to the nation ran under the title: "Speech From the Throne." The feature ran opposite a short article covering the denunciation of Wilson's words in the German Press. Scattered across the page were announcements from Washington regarding the need for ships, money, and food. My personal favorite is a short article entitled, "Not Unwise to Let Me Serve" regarding former President Theodore Roosevelt's desire to serve in the war efforts in Europe. In the issues that followed, and through the duration of the war, The Mountaineer ran articles weekly featuring news of the war and efforts to adjust personal spending to help with the war effort.
The November 14, 1918 issue of the Mountaineer led with the headline: "Big Sandy Joy Crazed" in its account of the town's response to the news of the armistice. According to the paper, locals woke to the sound of sirens, whistles, and church bells celebrating peace. "The first thing that greeted our eyes was a rope stretched across Main Street, from which Old Glory proudly floated in the breeze, we all devoutly thanked God that we were American." The story goes on to tell of a patriotic fervor that swept the town. Throughout the day, locals fired their guns in the air. An impromptu parade broke out. The parade met each train that pulled into the depot and sang the Star Spangled Banner as well as other patriotic tunes until it departed. The town then repeated the performance for the next train that arrived. Each time, local gunman fired into the air to greet and send off the trains. The town then met near the depot, listened to speeches and music from a community band, and then burned an effigy of the kaiser on a funeral pyre. The town adjourned to enjoy a large meal for lunch and then again to a dinner that was paid for by local boys who raised money that afternoon to buy beef for a barbecue. All the local businesses were closed, quite simply because no one wanted to do anything but celebrate. The article concludes with the simple statement: "It was a grand day."
Though the US only participated in the war for around a year and a half, 116,516 soldiers died. According to the Montana Genealogy Trails website, this included 6 Big Sandy residents: August Jappe, Orville C. Ross, Wm. H. Murphy, Author E. Beebe, George Huebschwerlen, and Dirk Den. Ouden.
