It seems when anything untoward occurs in the Flathead Valley, even a simple traffic accident, blame is immediately cast on the “Californians” who’ve moved here.
Which is pretty ironic.
Given our current demographics, odds are even the loudest of Montana’s detractors aren’t any more “local” than their neighbors from Sausalito.
Consider a previous column of mine —“Anybody Here from Montana?”— revealing fewer than half of all residents age 25 and older are native to the Treasure State.
Or as I put it, a dusty cowboy in Murdoch’s checkout line has a better chance of being from Hackensack.
California has indeed contributed to Montana’s population influx — as has Texas, Nevada, Colorado, Washington, Idaho, Arizona, Utah, Oregon, even Florida (I find it amusing, if not telling, that our dyspeptic disparagers never blame Texans for the fender benders).
The West Coast “interlopers” are by no means the first newcomers made to feel unwelcome in Montana, which is a valuable lesson for our younger generations.
A newly revised (Sept. 2024) student-teacher user guide prepared by the Montana Historical Society — “Coming to Montana: Immigrants from Around the World” — contains both historical narratives and an outline for classroom presentation.
It begins with the obvious: Montana is overwhelmingly “white with a very small immigrant population.” Which wasn’t always the case.
“Montana was once much less homogenous than it is today,” the learning guide educates, “a rich mix of Indian peoples and immigrants from across Europe, Asia, and the eastern [United] states.”
One-hundred years ago, in fact, Montana had more immigrants than any state west of the Mississippi except one. To the extent two-thirds of Montana’s residents in the 1920s were immigrants or else had an immigrant parent.
The incomers, the guide continues, included Jews arriving directly from Germany, or say New York and St. Louis, bringing their family business connections to help develop Montana’s banking industry.
Chinese immigrants, meanwhile, brought expertise in hydraulics to expand Montana’s mining industry, when not establishing much-needed grocery stores, restaurants, laundries, and tailor shops.
These same Asian settlers joined migrants from Japan, Italy, and Slovenia in building hundreds of miles of railroad to connect Montana to the outside world; with thousands more coming from Norway, Sweden and Finland; Ireland, Scotland and England; Poland, Croatia and Serbia; and neighboring Canada and Mexico.
Up until President Trump issued an indefinite refugee ban last year, Montana was welcoming families fleeing strife in Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen, Venezuela and the Congo.
“Montana’s story has been one of intermingling cultures,” the learning guide teaches. “Neighbors have embraced each other’s traditions, festivals, and foods …
“It’s important to note, however, that Montana was not a multicultural paradise. Prejudice abounded.”
As with passing a Montana law against interracial marriage. And a special tax placed on men employed in the laundry business. Chinese men, obviously.
Before being shown the door, Chinese settlers made up 10 percent of Montana’s non-Indian population. Today, barely 1 percent of Montana’s total population identifies as Asian.
When World War I broke out, German Americans who farmed extensively in Montana saw their ministers banned from preaching in German. Montana communities quickly followed suit, hosting book-burnings to destroy their neighbors’ German-language books.
American Indians, African Americans, and Mexican migrants were also specifically targeted, all three ethnic groups through the 1960s refused service by many Montana restaurants and businesses.
Racism reared its ugly head in the 1990s as well, when a Billings extremist organization committed a string of hate crimes. Threatening graffiti was painted on Native American homes and a black church, while a rock was thrown through a Jewish family’s window.
What made these incidents remarkable, the guide points out, was the community organizing in support of the victims. A Montana painters’ union volunteered to paint over the graffiti, while thousands of homes and businesses in Billings displayed menorahs in their windows as symbols of solidarity.
Without a doubt, the good in Montana far outweighs the bad. Yet in the last few years we’ve become as divided a state as we are a nation.
Even worse, Montana is becoming disparaging and unwelcoming all over again. You see it and hear it every day, right here in the Flathead Valley.
Which goes to show it’s not the Californians who should go back to where they came from.
John McCaslin is a longtime journalist and author who lives in Bigfork.