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4/28/2025
Memorial highway to honor Great Falls Ojibwe leader
Jim Loud Thunder Gopher was a large man. He stood at six feet, seven inches and weighed more than 300 pounds. That’s according to his granddaughter, who also said that Loud Thunder Gopher had a black bear as a pet and had no trouble exploring the wilds of North America.
“He used to go up north into northern Canada. That’s where he used to hunt musk ox and moose,” said Mary Gopher-Parenteau, the granddaughter who lives in Great Falls.
Loud Thunder Gopher also loomed large in reputation as a community and cultural organizer who practiced and encouraged Ojibwe traditions at Hill 57, the historical site on the outskirts of Great Falls where the so-called landless Indians lived. For his contributions to Indigenous life at the site that would eventually become part of a federally recognized Little Shell Band of Chippewa Indians, the Montana Legislature passed a bill this year to dedicate a mile of nearby highway to Loud Thunder Gopher.
House Bill 448 passed both chambers of the Legislature and awaits final approval from Gov. Greg Gianforte as of April 25.
Freshman Rep. Jane Weber of Great Falls sponsored the bill. She told Montana Free Press that she received requests to carry the bill from people in her downtown district and began learning Loud Thunder Gopher’s story. Weber said she found support from the Little Shell and the Montana American Indian Caucus in the Legislature. She credited Sen. Susan Webber of Browning for paving the way in 2023 and extending highway dedications to people not just in law enforcement.
“I think Susan broke the ice, because most of the memorial highway dedications have been officers who have died in the line of duty,” Weber said.
Loud Thunder Gopher came to Hill 57 shortly after the 1918 flu pandemic. It was home to people from multiple tribes, including the band of Chippewa that would ultimately become the Little Shell. Helena resident and Little Shell elder Dan Pocha said that the Indigenous people who collected there early escaped federal deportation by staying in the Great Northern Railroad’s space.
“A lot of our ancestors were forced and loaded onto cattle cars and sent to Canada,” Pocha said. “But they could not pick up natives off the railroad right of way.”
Loud Thunder Gopher was Ojibwe, of the Crane Clan. He maintained a sweat lodge and organized round dances, Pocha said. Gopher-Parenteau said that after the United States granted sovereignty to Indigenous peoples in 1924, Gopher organized voter drives with people who often didn’t speak English.
“He had that designation to work with other nations,” Gopher-Parenteau said.
That was a serious designation, symbolized by a 13-star U.S. flag that an American officer in the early 19th century gave to the Loud Thunder Gopher’s ancestor. The flag has been passed down through generations as a symbol of friendship between the American and Chippewa nations. In the 1940s, Loud Thunder Gopher continued this tradition and joined a delegation that traveled to Washington, D.C., in hopes of securing land for the landless Indians of Montana.
“Loud Thunder Gopher’s contributions, teachings and legacy are paramount to the practices of the Ojibwe culture in northcentral Montana for urban Indians living off of the reservation in Great Falls,” said Richard Parenteau, Mary Gopher-Parenteau’s husband. Both are enrolled members of the Little Shell tribe.
If Gianforte signs the bill, a mile of roadway that spans the Northwest Bypass and Vaughn Road will be officially dedicated to Loud Thunder Gopher’s memory, with signs identifying the honor. That portion of the road passes Stuckey Road, where the Little Shell tribe owns land and operates on the former Hill 57 site.
Pocha, who testified in support of the dedication bill, said that Loud Thunder Gopher reminded him of a quote that’s often attributed to Sitting Bull. It said in part, “The warrior is not someone who fights, because no one has the right to take another life. The warrior, for us, is one who sacrifices himself for the good of others.”
“In the eyes of Chief Sitting Bull, Jim Gopher was a warrior,” Pocha said.
Photo op
After a blessing, representatives from the city, county and Little Shell governments posed for a photo to celebrate the groundbreaking of a ceremonial center for the tribe. In his remarks, tribal Chairman Gerald Gray recognized the history of this area, where Indigenous peoples lived on the outskirts of Great Falls in the area known as Hill 57.
Now, this ceremonial center will add to the tribe’s current footprint below and above Mount Royal.
“This place will be a place of communion for our people to come together,” Gray said.
The tribe also plans to construct an 18-acre housing complex near the site off of Stuckey Road, as well as a large resort and hotel atop Mount Royal.
Calling all photographers: Submit a photo for Great Falls This Week to [email protected].
School board candidates make pitch to voters
Candidates spoke to members of the public last week ahead of the election for three seats on the Great Falls Public Schools board of trustees. Incumbent board members Paige Turoski and Gordon Johnson, as well as challengers Tony Rosales and Craig Duff, answered several questions on April 23 at a forum hosted by Great Falls Rising.
All of the candidates praised the quality of education in the district, supported parental consultation in curriculum decisions and complimented the Morningside CORE charter school, which is nearing the end of its first year.
When asked about anticipated funding gaps, two-term trustee Gordon Johnson said that a school levy may be proposed to voters in the coming years as COVID-era assistance ends.
“We’re going to be running a shortfall here,” Johnson said. “And the possibility of a levy in May of 2026, I think, is going to be real. And if it’s going to be real, then we have to start sharing this information with the public right away.”
Turoski, also a current trustee, commended the district’s use of COVID funds and said that she wanted to see a balanced approach to a potential voter levy.
“In order to approve a levy, I would have to see a decent proposal that would help with the costs of the district and not be a burden on taxpayers,” she said.
Turoski added that she would like to see the Montana Legislature allow school districts to receive more inflationary increases for annual base funding. She commended the passage of the STARS Act that will fund teacher raises.
Duff also commended the passage of the STARS Act. He said that he’s concerned with potential cuts to special education funding and said that at the local level, a levy campaign will require community buy-in.
“I think the best we can do is really be honest and transparent with the community and explain our financial situation,” Duff said.
Rosales also called for a “realistic levy” request. He said that he wanted to see more funds directed toward instruction than administrative budgets. He also called on the district to look at ways to independently raise funds. He suggested the creation of an endowment fund or another kind of community-funded effort.
“The first is to be more analytical in terms of where we’re putting that money, and the second is to find more innovative ways to find revenue,” Rosales said.
A recording of the full forum can be found here. Candidate Q and As are available from Kids Education Yes and The Electric. The deadline to return ballots for the all-mail election is May 6.
5 things to know in Great Falls
On April 15, the Great Falls City Commission approved $2.5 million in bond financing to fund improvements at Great Falls Fire Rescue’s training center. The majority of the money will go toward tearing down and replacing the training tower, which has deteriorated to the point of being unusable. Annual debt payments on the bonds are estimated to be about $239,000, which will be covered by money that was previously reallocated from the Great Falls Public Library. Read more about the training center here.
Give Great Falls, a fundraising event benefitting local nonprofits, kicks off this week. It’s hosted by the Great Falls Area Community Foundation, which said in a press release that a record 64 nonprofits are participating. The week will include fundraising events, and a schedule can be found at the Give Great Falls website.
An e-bike equipped with specialized equipment will be around Great Falls to assess the quality of the River’s Edge Trail system. Contractor Roadway Asset Services is conducting the study, and the data will help local government agencies create a trails inventory and prioritize maintenance. Data collection began April 21 and will last another week.
The Great Falls-Cascade County Historic Preservation Advisory Commission and The History Museum will honor four projects for the 2025 Preservation and Legacy Awards. Honorees include the Baatz Building, the Strain Building, Silver Crest Trails Association and the Electric City Conservatory. An award ceremony is set for 1 p.m. on May 10 at the Celtic Cowboy Dark Horse Hall.
NorthWestern Energy announced donations of $1,800 to NeighborWorks Great Falls and Family Promise from a basketball shot fundraising event that took place at the Home and Garden Show. For every basket made by an attendee, NorthWestern committed $1 to the organizations.
Public notice
The city of Great Falls has multiple board openings and is seeking candidates. Those include the Great Falls Audit Committee, Business Improvement District Board, Tourism Business Improvement District Board, Great Falls Housing Board, Library Board of Trustees and the Parking Advisory Commission. Candidates must apply by May 20. More information on each board and application information can be found here.
Candidate filing is also open for city commissioner, mayor and municipal judge. As of April 23, the candidates for mayor are incumbent Cory Reeves and challenger Jasmine Taylor. The current commissioner candidates are incumbent Joe McKenney and challengers Mathew Pipinich and Pete Anderson. The sole candidate so far for municipal court judge is Mark Dunn, who currently serves in that role. Interested candidates can find more information here.
