Offered in this lot is a collection of Montana Political Ephemera circa Pre-Statehood to 1964, seventeen (17) pieces. Notable are two information cards of particular historical significance. A pre-Statehood (1889 was the year of statehood) "Constitutional Convention, Order Of Business" information card. In 1864, while still a territory, Montana held its first constitutional convention. The first constitution intended for Montana's statehood was written at this six-day meeting, but was lost on the way to the printer and so was never subject to a vote. A second constitution was written and ratified in 1884, but due to political and financial reasons by the jockeying for positions of advantage in the Great Plains and Intermountain West by railroads and mining interests. Congress failed to take any action to approve Montana's admission to the Union. That document consequently never attained legal force. In 1889, Congress passed an enabling act that finally permitted the people of Montana to be admitted to the Union after adopting and ratifying a constitution, and the third constitution for the incipient state was written and ratified later that year. It entered into force on November 8, 1889, when Montana became the 41st state admitted to the Union. The second information crd of significant historiacasl importance is a card listing the Montana legislatures Standing Committees of the Fifteenth Session 1917-1918. This was the legislative session the prosecuted the first impeachment and subsequent banishment from office Judge Charles Crum. Judge Crum was an outspoken proponent of the US Constitutional right to free speech though was caught up in the anti-German hysteria during World War I which America eventually entered in 1918.
These pieces of Montana Political Ephemera are in good overall condition, age tanning, foxing and slight tearing noted on some pieces. Largest piece measures 8.5"W x 14"L