Country singer Charley Pride was discovered in Helena in 1963. At the time, he was a smelting plant worker and semi-pro baseball player, but when he sang “Lovesick Blues” for Red Foley and Red Sovine at the Helena Civic Center, they encouraged him to pursue a career in music.
PICTURE SHOWS : CHARLES LINDBERGH PICTURED AT LONG ISLAND NEW YORK
From 1993 to 1995 and 1997 to 1998, Dan Mortensen was the World Saddle Bronc Riding Champion. The Billings native was inducted into the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum’s Rodeo Hall of Fame in 1997.
Sitting Bull, the Hunkpapa Lakota leader, is perhaps most famous for his role in Custer’s Defeat at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. Throughout his life, he spent significant portions of time in southeastern Montana.
An MSU alumnus, Carroll O’Connor acted in dozens of movies and television shows throughout his career. His most popular role was playing Archie Bunker in All in the Family.
Actor J.K. Simmons attended the University of Montana, where his father was director of the School of Music. In 2014, Simmons’ role as a music instructor in Whiplash earned him an Academy Award and other accolades.
In 1913, author Dorothy Johnson moved to Whitefish. Three of her stories—The Hanging Tree, A Man Called Horse, and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence—were made into films.
Morgan Earp, brother of the legendary Wyatt Earp, was a law officer in Butte from 1879-1880. He was involved in the 1881 Gunfight at the OK Corral.
In 1935, Robert Marshall founded the Wilderness Society, a non-profit land conservation organization that is dedicated to protecting natural areas and federal public lands in the United States. In 1964, Montana’s Bob Marshall Wilderness was named in his honor.
Senator Burton K. Wheeler posing for a picture in his office. (Photo by George Karger/Pix Inc./Time Life Pictures/Getty Images)