Montana's DAR Markers . . . Honoring Where History Was Made

DAR Constitution Hall in 1926, the Montana Copper Spade continues
to be used for special events yet today.
The design of the spade is credited to Organizing (first) Regent of
the Silver Bow Chapter, NSDAR Mrs. Jennie Stilwell Tallant, known
as the “Grand Dame” of Montana Daughters for her large tea parties
and musicales and for hosting numerous DAR meetings. For this
Montana gift, she selected Montana copper for the blade and wood
from a tree on the Lewis and Clark Trail in Montana for the handle.
Blue and white ribbons from the Mary Washington Colonial Chapter
of New York City were tied to the spade’s handle as a symbol of
recognition of all sections of the country participating in the memorable
event.
Montana DAR history records suggest that Organizing Regent of
the Yellowstone Park Chapter, NSDAR, Mrs. Hugh J. (Georgiana
Cole) Miller was “instrumental in securing the copper from the
Anaconda Mining Company for the spade….”
It was on the 12 th anniversary of the founding of the National
Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, in a “blinding
afternoon rainstorm” on October 11, 1902, that DAR President
General Mrs. Charles Fairbanks and number of other members broke
ground for the DAR Memorial Continental Hall to be built in the
memory of the men and women who struggled against the tyranny of
Great Britain. The event drew several hundred Sons and Daughters of
the American Revolution, who gathered under a tent for the program.
Mrs. Fairbanks is quoted as having said, "We go forth in the rain to our
duty but our ancestors did more during the Revolution."
At the conclusion of her speech, Mrs. Fairbanks, accompanied by
Mrs. Mary S. Lockwood, one of the DAR’s founders:
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