My research, presentations and publications on Montana history center on the extraordinary lives of two relatives. One is a mining tycoon that added spectacular color to the richest hill on earth, and the other is a long term U.S. Senator for the Treasure State who once led the nation’s largest Irish-American organization and worked closely with FDR to enact portions of the president’s proposed Second Bill of Rights.

In writing their stories I came upon an extensive body of material on the legislative history of capitalism in the United States and how those laws impacted wages and working conditions of Montana residents. In this section you will find material on my relatives, and in my tourism equity pages you will see me draw upon the economic history that they experienced – and sometimes generated.

Side note: this section includes my most widely searched post – the interpretation of a Salvador Dali painting commissioned by the daughter-in-law of my wealthy relative’s second wife.