Editor's Note: Gary Wilson leaves a legacy

Historians tell us that we need to know where we came from if we are to know where we are and where we’re going.

If that’s the case, we in Havre and the Hi-Line know a lot more about ourselves because of the work of Gary Wilson.

Wilson wrote several books on the colorful and sometimes bizarre history of this place we call home. He wrote books on the area, wrote newspaper articles and spoke to groups about the characters who helped build this place.

He was the go-to guy for any facts about the how the Hi-Line has developed over the past century.

We lost Gary to cancer last week. North-central Montana is a lot poorer because of his death, but in his books and writings he left behind a legacy that will educate and entertain Hi-Liners for generations.

Gary moved to the city he loved from Washington State. He fell in love with Havre and was fascinated by its history. He meticulously researched everything he wrote, spending hours in the courthouse looking up legal papers of old, studying microfilm versions on early-day newspapers and talking to people who could recall what their parents and grandparents told them of the early days around here.

Havre was probably the last of the Wild West towns. Long after other cities were tamed, Havre, well into the 20th century, remained a city full of bawdy bars where fights took place daily, prostitutes sold their wares on the street corners, rum-runners ran the city government and shootouts were not uncommon.

All of this was reported in detail in his first and best-selling book “Honky Tonk Town.”

I often marveled that such a wild city could be transformed into the friendly, neighborly, Norman Rockwell-type place it is today.

Putting on his professorial look, Gary would proclaim that “today, Havre has a thin veneer of civilization.”

He was sure, the rock ’em, sock ’em atmosphere of the cowboy days was hidden just beneath the surface,

His biggest passion was the preservation of Fort Assinniboine, the massive fort that housed soldiers charged with keeping the peace between Indian tribes in the last 19th and early 20th century.

A few ramshackle buildings remained on the site of the old fort.

When he was tapped as president of the Fort Assinniboine Preservation Association board, the fort’s future looked very gloomy. He convinced a small cadre of volunteers to join him in applying elbow grease to restore some of the buildings, or at least to make sure they didn’t fall apart. any further

He knew every last fact about the fort and delighted in giving tours to guests and military history experts who came from across the country for Wilson-led tours. He went after grants, donations and any other source of funding.

The future of the fort is much brighter today because of Gary’s work.

Sadly, Gary never got to complete his last book (he’s had several “last books”) that was going to be about the fort’s history. Some younger historian will have to pick up the mantle and move forward with that project.

A Saturday morning tradition for me was to have breakfast with Gary in PJ’s Restaurant in downtown Havre, He’d have pie, drink coffee, tease the waitresses and together we’d straighten out the world’s difficulties. Every issue from the Hill County Courthouse to Baghdad would be on the table. Havre and the world still had some problems when we got done, but we solved most of them.

He would talk about the things he didn’t like — phony people, taking the Lord’s name in vain, the tea party and downstate politicians who didn’t have Havre’s best intentions in mind.

And he’d talk about the things he loved — fellow Hi-Line historian Toni Hagener, Havre, every square inch of it and every last person, and his beloved First Lutheran Church.

Saturday mornings will seem empty. Living History weekend will seem dull without Gary fretting about whether everything was in place. Disputes over historical facts will be boring without having Gary there to arbitrate every dispute.

But Havre is a lot richer because of the great work he left behind in the form of his many books, newspaper articles and lectures about the crazy background of this wonderful community.

Thanks, Gary.

(John Kelleher is managing editor of the Havre Daily News. He can be reached at [email protected], 406-265-6795, ext. 17, or 406-390-0798.)

Historians tell us that we need to know where we came from if we are to know where we are and where we’re going.

If that’s the case, we in Havre and the Hi-Line know a lot more about ourselves because of the work of Gary Wilson.

Wilson wrote several books on the colorful and sometimes bizarre history of this place we call home. He wrote books on the area, wrote newspaper articles and spoke to groups about the characters who helped build this place.

He was the go-to guy for any facts about the how the Hi-Line has developed over the past century.

We lost Gary to cancer last week. North-central Montana is a lot poorer because of his death, but in his books and writings he left behind a legacy that will educate and entertain Hi-Liners for generations.

Gary moved to the city he loved from Washington State. He fell in love with Havre and was fascinated by its history. He meticulously researched everything he wrote, spending hours in the courthouse looking up legal papers of old, studying microfilm versions on early-day newspapers and talking to people who could recall what their parents and grandparents told them of the early days around here.

Havre was probably the last of the Wild West towns. Long after other cities were tamed, Havre, well into the 20th century, remained a city full of bawdy bars where fights took place daily, prostitutes sold their wares on the street corners, rum-runners ran the city government and shootouts were not uncommon.

All of this was reported in detail in his first and best-selling book “Honky Tonk Town.”

I often marveled that such a wild city could be transformed into the friendly, neighborly, Norman Rockwell-type place it is today.

Putting on his professorial look, Gary would proclaim that “today, Havre has a thin veneer of civilization.”

He was sure, the rock ’em, sock ’em atmosphere of the cowboy days was hidden just beneath the surface,

His biggest passion was the preservation of Fort Assinniboine, the massive fort that housed soldiers charged with keeping the peace between Indian tribes in the last 19th and early 20th century.

A few ramshackle buildings remained on the site of the old fort.

When he was tapped as president of the Fort Assinniboine Preservation Association board, the fort’s future looked very gloomy. He convinced a small cadre of volunteers to join him in applying elbow grease to restore some of the buildings, or at least to make sure they didn’t fall apart. any further

He knew every last fact about the fort and delighted in giving tours to guests and military history experts who came from across the country for Wilson-led tours. He went after grants, donations and any other source of funding.

The future of the fort is much brighter today because of Gary’s work.

Sadly, Gary never got to complete his last book (he’s had several “last books”) that was going to be about the fort’s history. Some younger historian will have to pick up the mantle and move forward with that project.

A Saturday morning tradition for me was to have breakfast with Gary in PJ’s Restaurant in downtown Havre, He’d have pie, drink coffee, tease the waitresses and together we’d straighten out the world’s difficulties. Every issue from the Hill County Courthouse to Baghdad would be on the table. Havre and the world still had some problems when we got done, but we solved most of them.

He would talk about the things he didn’t like — phony people, taking the Lord’s name in vain, the tea party and downstate politicians who didn’t have Havre’s best intentions in mind.

And he’d talk about the things he loved — fellow Hi-Line historian Toni Hagener, Havre, every square inch of it and every last person, and his beloved First Lutheran Church.

Saturday mornings will seem empty. Living History weekend will seem dull without Gary fretting about whether everything was in place. Disputes over historical facts will be boring without having Gary there to arbitrate every dispute.

But Havre is a lot richer because of the great work he left behind in the form of his many books, newspaper articles and lectures about the crazy background of this wonderful community.

Thanks, Gary.

(John Kelleher is managing editor of the Havre Daily News. He can be reached at [email protected], 406-265-6795, ext. 17, or 406-390-0798.)