Greetings, Beacon Nation! Call me a grinch, but I’ve always bristled at the sight of wreaths, ornaments, lights and trees materializing in department stores and on neighbors’ front lawns before Thanksgiving. So, imagine my surprise when, a week before Thanksgiving, while navigating the narrow corridor along Whitefish Lake’s eastern shore on my way to run the dogs, a sedan the size of a lunch box trundled around the bend hauling a Griswoldian evergreen larger than a locomotive; but instead of the sight evoking my default disdain, I squeezed over to the shoulder and watched with childlike wonder as this titan of a tree brushed past.

“Good for you,” I thought, my eyes twinkling.

Trying to locate the source of this adult-onset holiday spirit, I remembered that, more than a century ago, Northwest Montana wore the unlikely crown as “Christmas Tree Capital of the World.”

With the holidays just around the bend, I’m here to share a little bit of history with you in this Monday edition of the Daily Roundup.

Beginning in 1924 and lasting for much of the 20th century, Northwest Montana led the American Christmas tree industry. The Tobacco Valley, in particular, provided a prime location for cutting and shipping trees, given its proximity to both the densely forested Kootenai River and the Great Northern railroad line.

Because Christmas trees are a second-generation forest product, few Christmas trees existed among Northwest Montana’s wild forests until the 1920s, by which time national forests east of the Mississippi were being heavily logged. Eastern and Midwestern markets were desperate for trees, and Northwest Montana, with its abundance of Douglas fir, which are known to hold their needles longer, began to feed the need.

Northwest Montana’s Christmas tree craze crested in 1956, when 4.2 million trees came out of Montana, about 80% of them harvested from Flathead and Lincoln counties. But since then, the region has still had occasion to show off its stuff on a national stage.

In 1958, for example, during the annual Christmas celebration on the White House lawn, President Dwight D. Eisenhower hit the lights on a 75-foot Engelmann spruce felled on the Kootenai National Forest. In 1970, the U.S. Forest Service began the tradition of providing the U.S. Capitol’s annual Christmas tree; every year since, a different national forest has been chosen each year to provide the so-called “People’s Tree.” And Montana, with its sprawling forested parcels, has been a frequent source.

In 1989, to commemorate Montana’s centennial, a 60-foot Engelmann spruce from north of Libby was selected as the People’s Tree. In 2008, a 78-foot sub-alpine fir from the Bitterroot National Forest made the trip to the Washington. On Nov. 8, 2017, Northwest Montana regained its edge as the Christmas Tree Capitol of the World, when a 79-foot tall Engelmann Spruce was harvested in the Yaak and escorted through the cities of Troy and Libby before its delivery to the U.S. Capitol grounds on Nov. 27 (four days after Thanksgiving) following a 3,000-mile journey.

With that much holiday spirit percolating through our local forests, it’s hard to believe I’m so late to the party. But from here on out, I intend to celebrate early and often.

I’m Tristan Scott, here to raise your holiday spirit with the rest of the Roundup.

This holiday season, celebrate the spirit of our community by shopping local. Every purchase you make from a neighborhood business helps support local jobs, families, and the unique character that makes the Flathead Valley such a special place to call home. From thoughtful gifts to festive experiences, our local shops have everything you need to make the season bright. Here’s some information on how to keep it local this holiday season.