7/3: Helena's Very Impressive Capitol & Cathedral

From Kalispell near Glacier National Park, Steven and I headed southeast toward Helena, Montana's state capital, as we were on a quest to see as many of the US statehouses as we could. Just as we did the day before en route to Glacier, we passed field upon field of these bright yellow crops. How we wished we knew what these and other crops were as we pass farms. Sadly, our knowledge of almost any crops was basically zilch except for the easily identified corn and wheat. P.S. Thanks to both Lezlie and Janina who identified the crop as canola. Lezlie added that Montana sells the crop to my native Canada who converts it into canola oil!

Swan Lake: 

A little further on we came to Salmon Lake where we read that with its crystal clear water, forested hillsides, grassy shores, and abundance of fish, it attracts some of Montana's rarest birds like Yellow Warblers, the Great Blue Heron, Bald Eagles, and more. It was hard to imagine a more beautiful lake than this one! Unfortunately, there was a large amount of traffic along Highway 200, likely because it was the holiday weekend. 

By the early afternoon, we reached Helena where we went directly to the capitol, considered the crown jewel of Montana architecture. Located at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, the statehouse had a panoramic view of the Helena Valley. Explorers Lewis and Clark called the area Prickly Pear Valley when they transversed it in 1805. The fight over the location of Montana's capital was one of the ugliest in Montana's history after Montana became a state in 1889. Two mining millionaires spent more than three million dollars to woo the 52,000 male voters in the general election of 1892! Helena won out by fewer than 2,000 votes. The "American Renaissance neoclassical Capitol," made with sandstone and granite from a Montana quarry, was completed in 1902.  

Atop the dome of Montana copper was a 17-foot-high personification of liberty called Montana who was wearing a liberty cap to symbolize freedom and holding three other classical symbols: a shield to represent the US, a laurel wreath to symbolize victory, and a torch to light the people's way. 

Directly in front of the Capitol was an equestrian statue of Thomas Meagher, an influential Irish Revolutionary and Union Army Officer who twice served as acting territorial governor of Montana.  

Steven and I were flabbergasted that we didn't have to go through any security whatsoever on entering the statehouse. That was unlike any of the other statehouses we've visited since we began our 'tour' of our country's capitols. It was amusing to read in the self-guiding capitol booklet we picked up that the columns in the French Renaissance-styled Rotunda were hollow to accommodate electrical wiring!

Four decorative paintings above the Rotunda depicted some of Montana's contributors: The Indian Chief, The Cowboy, The Trapper, and The Prospector. 

We ascended the aptly named Grand Staircase to the third floor.

There, the painting Driving the Golden Spike documented the completion of the Northern Pacific Railroad's transcontinental line at Gold Creek, Montana in 1883, a significant event in the country's history that I, as a native-born Canadian, wasn't aware of!

On the third floor balcony was a statue of Mike and Maureen Mansfield; he served five terms in the US House of Representatives, was the longest-serving Senate Majority Leader who served from 1961-1977, and ambassador to Japan.

Through closed doors, we peered into the former Senate and Old Supreme Court Chamber, now a committee hearing room. The columns, like all in the Capitol, looked very impressive but were actually scagliola which meant a plaster technique to mimic Italian marble! Surrounding the ceiling was a series of original murals.

If I hadn't read the columns weren't 'real' marble, I would never have known as they looked so realistic. 

The Jeanette Rankin statue honored the first woman to be elected to the US Congress. Two years after Montana granted women the right to vote in 1914, Rankin, a peace advocate and social worker, was elected. Her very first vote was in 1917 when she, with 55 other representatives, voted against US entry in WW 1. But, as the only member of Congress in 1941 to also oppose US entry in WW II, her political career ended. However, her commitment to nonviolence never faded. As an 87-year-old activist in 1967, she led a protest against the Vietnam War in Washington, DC. 

The Montana Statehood Centennial Bell celebrated Montana's 100th birthday in 1989. It came from a church in the St. Ignatius area and was donated by a farmer who collected bells. 

On the opposite side of the Rotunda was the original House Chamber but the Senate Chamber since 1912. 

We Proceed On was a monumental bronze relief mural that dominated one wall of the Senate and depicted Lewis and Clark at daybreak as they prepared to embark on their upriver journey through Montana's Missouri Breaks. Note Sacagawea standing in the middle of the scene.

The attractive stained-glass skylight in the Senate was a reproduction.

The murals around the ceiling documented more chapters from Montana's early history. 

Unlike the Old Court Chamber whose chandelier was a reproduction of the original, this one in the Senate was original.

Down a hallway was the Lobby of the House of Representatives with six more paintings that had been commissioned to depict yet more important events in the state's history. Montana artist Edgar Paxson painted the works in 1912. 

I read that the creek in the bottom lefthand corner of The Border Land could have been symbolic of the border between peoples and specifically Native American-White interaction. The Native American's gesture may have signified peace or possibly halt - certainly two very different meanings! 

Two great moments converged for the Lewis and Clark Expedition in late July 1805 as depicted in Lewis and Clark at Three Forks: their arrival at the Three Forks that made up the headwaters of the Missouri River and Sacagawea’s recognition of her people’s hunting grounds from which she had been kidnapped five years previously. The stream in the right mid-ground represented the importance of the geographical discovery. 

Apparently, Sacagawea’s pointing motion wasn't a gesture that either the Hidatsa, her captors, or the Shoshone, her people, would have made. Clark, on the left, and Lewis flank Sacagawea; to the right is her husband and interpreter Toussaint Charbonneau. 

The House of Representatives did feature original solid Vermont marble columns and glass skylights!

Dominating the chamber was a painting called Lewis and Clark Meeting Indians at Ross' Hole. The event took place in 1805 when the explorers met the Salish Indians in the Sula Basin area in southwestern Montana. The expedition leaders were anxious to reach the Pacific before winter snows made that impossible.

Beside the statehouse was the Montana Historical Society with Herd Bull in front that was the work of Sioux artist Benji Daniels and Billings sculptor James Hadcock.

The 2.5-ton bison skull was welded of recycled sheet metal and measured 24 feet wide by 7 feet high. A sign informed us that it served as an "important symbol of the way of life for Montana's first inhabitants, the spirit of the West for those who followed, and the impact of nature on all who have called Montana home."

Also on the museum property was the bronze sculpture entitled Symbol of the Pros.

A few blocks away was the Original Governor's Mansion. 

As I recall, next door was the very attractive headquarters for Montana Democrats. 

Appropriately, one of the Donkeys Around Town was located by the building!

A few blocks away was the Cathedral of St. Helena that was modeled after the Votive Church of the Sacred Heart in Vienna and completed in 1914. We were very surprised and delighted to find that, in this era of Covid-19 where almost all churches seemed to be closed, the cathedral was open. As it was one of the few churches we'd entered in several months, we took advantage of its open doors.

The stunning stained-glass windows were made in Munich. 

The exquisite columns were made of Carrara marble. 

A sign said the cathedral was open almost twelve hours daily during the week but fewer hours on the weekend. Those who couldn't attend Mass were invited to celebrate Sunday instead as a household church by taking time to pray together, reflecting on Scripture readings of the day, praying the Rosary, and making a spiritual Communion. That wasn't a term I was familiar with but made perfect sense. 

I know it had been a long, long time since we'd entered a church let alone a cathedral because of the coronavirus, but I was especially struck by the beauty of the St. Helena Cathedral. I'll show my ignorance, or perhaps big-city bias when I say both Helena's statehouse and cathedral frankly amazed me as their elegance was not something I expected in the small city of Helena or the state of Montana. 

Next post: Later that afternoon I became even more entranced with Helena, also known as the Queen City of the Rockies, when we strolled through the Historic District, sought out yet another carousel, and fascinating sculpture park. By the end of the day, I was almost ready to move to Helena, I was so taken by what we saw!

Posted on November 16th, 2020, from yet another gorgeous and sunny day in Denver - not sure how sunny it is now in Helena, though! I hope that you stay well, stay healthy, and connected with family and friends.