Montana's State Song: "Montana"

A Song About Montana Pride

Montana's state song, "Montana," is a story about music, community, and pride in the Treasure State.

How the Song Was Created

In 1910, a traveling theater company led by composer Joseph E. Howard brought a musical called The Goddess of Liberty to Butte, Montana.

After the show, local host Mrs. E. Creighton Largey teased Howard for using the song "Illinois" instead of something about Montana. She challenged him, along with newspaper editor Charles Cohan, to write a brand-new song to celebrate their home state.

Howard and Cohan stepped into the music room and, in about thirty minutes, came back with the main melody and first words to a song they called "Montana." They finished the rest of the music and lyrics that night so they could premiere the song in Helena just two days later, on September 29, 1910.

The Song's Big Debut

When the company performed in Helena, important guests filled the theater, including Governor Edwin L. Norris, U.S. Senator Thomas Carter, and railroad leaders James J. and Louis Hill of the Great Northern Railway.

The audience loved the song so much that Howard had to sing it again and again—reports say he did twelve encores before the rest of the show could continue.

After the performance, Governor Norris invited Howard and Cohan to the Montana Club and asked to hear "Montana" one more time. When the song ended, he announced that "Montana" should be the state's anthem, even though it would not be made officially the state song by law until many years later.

Helping Montana Children

Howard and Cohan did not keep the rights to the song for themselves. They chose to donate "Montana" to a charity, and it was given to Montana Children's Home and Hospital in Helena, which later became Shodair Children's Hospital.

Railroad leader James J. Hill ordered hundreds of copies of the song for the Great Northern Railway, and the money from those sales became some of the first funds the hospital received from the song.

Shodair began in 1896 as a home for orphaned and abandoned children and later became a children's hospital and, today, a center for psychiatric care and genetics for Montana families. This means Montana's state song is not just about pride; it also helped support kids in need across the state.

Becoming the Official State Song

The day after the Helena performance, Howard sang "Montana" with the Black Eagle Band from Great Falls at the Montana State Fair. Around 10,000 people were in the crowd, and before the song ended, many were singing or humming along, making "Montana" instantly popular with people from across the state.

Even though governors and citizens treated it like a state anthem starting in 1910, "Montana" did not become the official state song until February 20, 1945, when the Montana Legislature and Governor Sam C. Ford passed a law to recognize it.

Today, Montana also has other official songs, including a state ballad and a state lullaby, but "Montana" remains the main state song that many people still know and sing.

What the Lyrics Mean

The lyrics were written by Charles Cohan, and the melody was composed by Joseph E. Howard.

The song calls Montana the "Treasure State" and "Glory of the West," describing its beautiful mountains, clear blue skies, and the "hearts so true" of its people.

It also mentions the bitterroot flower, Montana's state flower, and talks about how each place has a special plant that brings hope and memories.

For sixth graders, you can think of the song as a musical postcard from Montana to the rest of the country—a way of saying, "This is our home, and we're proud of it," in words and music that have been sung for more than a century.