Sons and Daughters of Montana Pioneers honored as Heritage Guardians

The Montana Historical Society will honor the Sons and Daughters of Montana Pioneers with the prestigious 2022 Heritage Guardian award during a ceremony Friday, Aug. 19, in Butte.

MHS Director Molly Kruckenberg will present the award at a brief ceremony during the group’s annual meeting at the Hotel Finlen. The award recognizes the outstanding commitment, effort, and impact in preserving Montana’s historical and cultural heritage for current and future generations. Awardees are chosen by the MTHS Board of Trustees.

“Montana’s history cannot be accurately told without the stories of the early European settlers who came to our state,” Kruckenberg said. “The Sons and Daughters of Montana Pioneers has worked diligently to ensure those stories are saved and shared. We are pleased to honor their work with the Heritage Guardians Award.”

The Sons and Daughters of Montana Pioneers was founded in 1892 and is comprised of sons, daughters, and direct lineal descendants of the men and women who resided in Montana on or prior to Dec. 31, 1868.

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Since then, the Sons and Daughters of Montana Pioneers (SDMP) has been protecting, safeguarding, and preserving Montana history. The group stores a historically significant collection of photographs, books, reference works, meeting minutes, correspondence, financial records, digital assets, and artifacts in its office in the Montana Historical Society building in Helena.

Foremost among its accomplishments is the donation of the land on which the Montana Historical Society sits just east of the Montana State Capitol. Along with help from veterans’ organizations, the Sons and Daughters group was instrumental in establishing a permanent home for the Montana Historical Society.

SDMP also supports the James Kovatch/SDMP history scholarship at the University of Montana-Western, the Montana History Teacher of the Year Award, and a history room at Bannack State Park. Additionally, members perpetuate preservation of Montana history by donating their time, knowledge, family heirlooms, and records to local museums statewide. In 2001, members planned, gathered, and edited “Dreams Across the Divide,’’ a collection of 90 Montana pioneer family stories.

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