Montana Christmas Trees--A "Capitol" Idea

The hopes of an era have been placed onto the boughs of towering trees from Montana forests when they became national symbols in Washington, D.C.

In 1958, Americans prayed for peace as the Cold War saw the proliferation of nuclear weapons and a spruce from Montana glowed outside the White House.

GREAT FALLS TRIBUNE

Selling Montana mystique: One wreath at a time

In 1989, a tree from Montana was a symbol of freedom as the Cold War began to end with the fall of the Berlin Wall.

And 19 years later, Americans again hoped for peace and better times ahead as lights shined bright on a Montana tree outside the U.S. Capitol.

“Montana Tannenbaum,” a new exhibit at the Montana Historical Society, highlights those three trees from Montana that have been national or Capitol trees. The trees are slices of life, a glimpse into eras in Montana history and industry, world events and holiday celebrations.

‘From the Christmas Tree Capital of the World’

Called “Ike’s Tree,” in 1958 a 100-foot Montana spruce (trimmed to 75 feet) from the Kootenai became the 26th National Christmas Tree and glowed outside the White House.

That year, Dwight Eisenhower was president, life expectancy was just shy of 70 years, the homicide rate was 4.5/100,000. The country’s first satellite went into orbit, a B-47 accidentally dropped an atomic bomb in South Carolina, the Army inducted Elvis Presley and unemployment in Detroit hit 20 percent during what became known as the Eisenhower Recession. The post-World War II baby boom ended, and the John Birch Society was founded. The U.S. Supreme Court ordered Little Rock, Ark., schools to integrate. The world population was 2.9 billion. The peace sign debuted to protest atomic weapons.

Red Stout, a sawyer, wrote to apply for the job of cutting the tree “for Ike and the White House” and “the honor to do the job to me would be the greatest, for Ike is the greatest president we have ever had.”

The exhibit includes a hard hat from Libby’s museum such as Stout would have worn.

Selected for its “near perfect proportions,” the tree took root in 1878, years before the tradition of states providing Christmas trees to Washington, D.C., began in

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