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3/10/2025
“Great Falls This Week” is reported and written by Matt Hudson. Send your news and tips to [email protected].
A painting’s historical moment adds gravity to the prized piece
The painting shows an Indigenous woman leading a convoy, her horse laden with a child and supplies from camp. Flanked by an elderly fellow traveler, she has ceremonial paint on her face, suggesting that they packed up and left that morning.
“When you get painted, you’re supposed to wear your paint until the sun goes down,” Dugan Coburn, director of Indian Education at Great Falls Public Schools, told Montana Free Press.
Coburn and a group of Indigenous community members studied the painting, a work of Charles M. Russell called “Women of America.” The group was formed at the request of the C.M. Russell Museum to share Indigenous cultural perspectives about the painting.
“Women of America” is a special piece. It’s a large painting at 20-by-30 inches, and it’s watercolor, which is a departure from the oil paint more commonly used in other highly prized pieces. It has the classic Russell composition — a rolling foreground hill that gives way to a mountainous, big-sky view for miles in the background. The colors of the landscape, as well as the butte, place it undeniably in northcentral Montana. It’s among Russell’s celebrated depictions of Indigenous cultures with whom he interacted from his home base in Great Falls.
The painting is perhaps the most notable item up for sale this spring at The Russell, the western art auction hosted by the museum that has been a mainstay Great Falls attraction since 1969. The 2025 event is March 20-22 and is part of the larger Western Art Week celebration around town. This year’s auction, which raises money for the museum’s operational budget, has the largest selection of historic works in the event’s history.
Chris Warden, executive director of the C.M. Russell Museum, called “Women of America” breathtaking and a significant painting given its depictions of Indigenous women during its time in history.
“We wouldn’t be honest if we didn’t look at some of them and say, ‘We sure wish they could grace the walls of this museum,’” Warden told MTFP last week. “And ‘Women of America’ is a piece that you could build an entire gallery around.”
Russell painted “Women of America” in 1924, toward the end of his life. At that time, Russell’s fame allowed him to be “picky about what was coming off of his easel,” according to Duane Braaten, the museum’s director of art and philanthropy, who spoke in a video produced about the piece.
It was four years after the passage of the 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote. But the amendment didn’t extend suffrage to Indigenous peoples, who weren’t yet considered U.S. citizens. A bill for that cause, the Indian Citizenship Act, was discussed and passed in the same year Russell completed “Women of America.”
While many artists titled their paintings plainly (think, “Girl with the Pearl Earring”), Warden believes that Russell made a deliberate tribute to Indigenous culture with this title. At a time when politicians debated the rights of both women and Indigenous peoples, Russell sought a more inclusive definition for the women of America.
“We really feel that what Charlie was doing in this piece was sharing with the world the important role that women play in sustaining society,” Warden said. “And in this case, it’s an example of Indigenous women and the generations and traditions of what Indigenous women have done to sustain Plains Indian culture, and really a tip of the hat to women everywhere for what they do to make society work.”
When Coburn looks at “Women of America,” he sees the family units. The women in the foreground carry children. The elderly woman seems to be giving advice to the lead rider, and a foal walks alongside. Even the dogs seem to keep close to their owners, Coburn said. This caravan of women carries the responsibility of moving their community livelihoods from one location to another.
“The women are in charge of what they’re doing in moving that camp,” Coburn said. “Just another cultural layer of women being in charge.”
He pointed to another detail in the painting: the deep, well-worn trails over which the caravan travels. It’s a reminder that these women weren’t breaking new ground on a distant frontier. This was a regularly traveled path for these women of America — since long before there was America.
“I really like that because it’s like the Indian Highway kind of thing,” Coburn said. “It’s their road.”
Following the Trail
Keeping up with rapid developments in federal spending cuts has been a challenge for newsrooms around the country. In many cases, it’s tough to illuminate the local information in the midst of big national news.
And the details might change in the span of a day.
Following news in February that the federal government fired 360 probationary U.S. Forest Service workers, I tried to verify rumors about staff reductions at the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center, which is part of the USFS. Center Director Duane Bushi told me he was unable to comment and referred me to the national USFS media relations staff. When asked for specific staff impacts at the Interpretive Center, an unnamed USFS spokesperson sent a general statement that was identical to the one my colleagues received nearly a month ago.
“As part of this effort, USDA has made the difficult decision to release about 2,000 probationary, non-firefighting employees from the Forest Service,” the statement said in part, referring to cuts across the country.
The Forest Service is a division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The spokesperson didn’t respond to follow-up questions.
I reached Elizabeth Moore, executive director of the Lewis and Clark Foundation. She shared that the center had one employee resign and one termination of a probationary employee, which is the group targeted by federal cutbacks.
That left four federal employees to run the Interpretive Center, along with a dedicated team of volunteers, according to Moore. As a result, the center plans to cut back on operating hours and close its doors on Tuesdays (the center is already closed Mondays, according to winter hours).
It’s not yet clear if that was the extent of the cutbacks at the Interpretive Center. On March 6, national outlets reported that a federal civil service board ordered the USDA to temporarily reinstate 5,600 probationary employees who had been laid off.
I haven’t heard an update on the status of the Interpretive Center employee, but there are sure to be developments in this storyline in the future.
Photo Op
Larry Stimac said that his arms were up to the task of holding the flags at a demonstration on March 4 in front of the Cascade County courthouse. About 25 people joined the “March 4 Liberty” event last week to protest the Trump administration’s moves to curtail federal government operations. Stimac said that his family name comes from the eastern European region, and he hopes to see an end to the war in Ukraine that benefits the country.
Calling all photographers: Submit a photo for Great Falls This Week to [email protected].
Give Me a Break
Great Falls city officials are urging Cascade County commissioners to minimize a forthcoming tax break for the Calumet refinery and expressed disappointment about how the county has involved the city in the decision.
The county will vote this week on a tax break for $6.1 million worth of new equipment at the refinery. The county is obligated to grant the benefit under state law, but it can choose to set the tax reduction at 80%, 90% or 100%.
Over the life of the tax benefit, which would run through 2038, Calumet would save $564,807 at the 80% tier and $741,769 at the 100% tier. While Cascade County is the only local government that votes on the benefit, the tax break also applies to property taxes paid to the city and the school district.
County officials notified the city of the pending tax break in January. According to discussions at the March 4 city commission meeting, county officials told the city that they were busy with travel and couldn’t meet in person, but they extended an invitation to a county work session. That wasn’t the working relationship that some city commissioners hoped for.
“I think it’s very disappointing that the Cascade County Commission would treat the city commission with that kind of disrespect,” City Commissioner Rick Tryon said.
Commissioner Susan Wolff said that she wanted to see Calumet providing more community benefits for Great Falls. She pointed to agreements with Google in The Dalles, Oregon, where she previously lived and worked. There, tax benefits came with agreements that Google would pay into funds that support community projects and economic development.
“We need to see some support in this community,” Wolff said at the meeting. “You’re a major employer. You see benefits and you see other major employers who are out supporting the schools.”
“I don’t see Calumet anywhere,” she added.
The city drafted a letter to the county expressing its wish to set the tax benefit at an 80% reduction. The letter said that any reduction in property tax liability harms the city’s ability to fund public safety. The city also noted that Calumet currently has tax protests before the Montana Tax Appeal Board, which may lower Calumet’s tax liability even more. It’s the company’s second tax protest since 2017.
During the protest, millions of dollars in tax proceeds are held in escrow and not distributed to local governments until the matter is resolved.
City Commissioner Joe McKenney noted that, even with tax benefits, Calumet and its Montana Renewables subsidiary are still the city’s largest taxpayers and should be recognized for that impact. But he pointed to a political challenge: the potential for another public safety levy request that could be put before voters in the coming years.
“What makes it extra hard is that we know there is a possibility of another public safety levy coming up,” McKenney said. “How in the world do we ask our homeowners to pay a little more when we do an abatement?”
McKenney supported the 80% tier alongside the rest of the commission.
The Cascade County work session was March 5. No city official accepted the county’s invitation to appear in person (there was attendance via Zoom, but MTFP didn’t see the full list of participants). The Calumet abatement was on the agenda, but there was little discussion about the details, though county Chief Financial Officer Trista Besich mentioned the city’s letter and request for the 80% tier. County Commissioner Joe Briggs was absent.
County commissioners will hold a public hearing and vote on the tax benefit during its regular meeting on March 11.
5 Things to Know in Great Falls
Among a long list of federal lease terminations on the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) website is the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol station in Shelby. The property owner, a Connecticut-based LLC, confirmed to MTFP that the federal agency terminated its lease at the 16,000-square-foot site near the Toole County Airport. The lease was worth $363,559 annually, and the property owner said CBP had been a tenant for 20 years.
The Cascade County Treasurer’s Office will not process vehicle transactions from March 13 through March 16 as the county rolls out a new vehicle services system, according to a press release. This move is in step with the state Motor Vehicle Division offices. On March 12, the county will only process registration renewals. The new system will offer more online services, electronic payments and other benefits and is the final phase of a multi-year transition, according to the county.
The Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center will host a grizzly bear event on March 13 called “Grizzlies of Montana: Then and Now.” Center Director Duane Buchi will discuss grizzly encounters by the Corps of Discovery. Chad White, bear management specialist for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, will talk about the bears today, including how to mitigate bad encounters with humans. The lecture is free, and doors open at 6:30 at the Interpretive Center.
On March 3, the Great Falls Public Library Board of Trustees met in closed session to discuss a personnel matter. According to meeting documents, a staff member who left the library in November complained about the actions of library staff. The details of the complaint haven’t been released to the public, and library Director Susie McIntyre declined to comment on the personnel matter. Library personnel are working with the city’s human resources department to work toward a resolution.
Cascade County commissioners will consider a contract for a new solid waste disposal site near Belt. The former Belt-Armington site closed in December amid a lease dispute with the landowner. The new lease would use land owned by James and Shirley Warehime, who own a few parcels of land just outside Belt, along Highway 89. The proposed contract would last through 2045, according to county documents. The commission meeting is March 11 at 9:30 a.m.
