Helena, the capital of Montana

Gold-camp capitals

Montana’s first capitals were mining camps. When Montana Territory was created in 1864, its first legislature met at the gold camp of Bannack. In 1865 the seat of government moved to Virginia City, another gold camp, where it stayed for ten years. In 1875 the territorial capital moved again, to Helena.

Temporary capital

When Montana became a state in 1889, its constitution did not settle where the capital would be. Helena was named the temporary capital, and the permanent location was left for the voters to decide.

The capital fight

The decision took two elections. In 1892 seven cities were on the ballot and none won a majority, so the top two, Helena and Anaconda, met in a runoff in 1894. The campaign was one of the most bitter in Montana history. It became a proxy fight between the state’s two great copper magnates: Marcus Daly, whose Anaconda company had built the town of Anaconda, and his rival William A. Clark. Helena won the runoff and became the permanent capital.

Building the Capitol

The Legislature required the Capitol’s architects to live in Montana, so the architects chosen, Charles Bell and John Kent, moved from Iowa to Helena. The cornerstone was laid on July 4, 1899, and the building was dedicated on July 4, 1902. It is a neoclassical building of sandstone and granite with a copper dome. East and west wings, faced with Montana granite from a quarry at Clancy, were finished in 1912.

The statue on top of the dome, a female figure now called “Montana,” is something of a mystery. It arrived without anyone knowing who had ordered it, and its sculptor, Edward Van Landeghem, was identified only in 2006.

Inside the Capitol

The House chamber holds one of the Capitol’s treasures: Charles M. Russell’s large mural of Lewis and Clark meeting the Salish people at Ross’ Hole. Earthquakes in 1935 damaged the building, including the rotunda’s original glass floor.

Visiting

The Montana Historical Society offers guided tours of the Capitol, which start at the information desk on the first floor.