Student Agricultural Clubs in Montana (2/6/2026)

“…really wonderful work is being accomplished by the boys and girls of the Treasure state through their agricultural clubs.”
  Dawson County Review, December 6, 1917

What types of agricultural clubs existed in Montana during the first few decades of the twentieth century? Let’s explore.

Agricultural Clubs in the Early Days

Look at the headline below. This headline and the accompanying article were published in the Phillips County News in Malta, Montana. When do you think this was published? The answer is July 19, 1905.

Figure 1. From the Phillips County News, Malta, Montana. July 19,1905

The article was submitted by Dick Crosby of the United States Department of Agriculture. The rather lengthy article tells about the success of boys’ agricultural clubs in Illinois, Iowa, Ohio, Texas, Indiana and New York. Colleges of Agriculture, Farmers’ Institutes and some progressive school superintendents were primarily responsible for starting this club work (See this Footnote if you are not familiar with Farmers’ Institutes. See this Footnote to learn about the role of a school superintendent in starting corn clubs). The unstated purpose of this article was to educate the public about agricultural clubs and to subtly suggest that other states should establish such clubs.

Some seeds are slow to germinate. This was the case in Montana regarding agricultural club work. Articles about agricultural club work, primarily corn clubs, were published in a few Montana newspapers between 1905 and 1910 but they primarily told of corn club activities in other states. There are some indications that some schools in Montana had corn clubs during this time but they are not officially documented.

Two events happened in Montana in 1910 that advanced the cause of club work.

An article in The Daily Inter Lake of Kalispell (August 5, 1910) advocated for boys’ and girl’s club work. The first sentence of the article reads, “Within recent years a new method of agricultural education has been devised in the form of boys’ and girls’ clubs.” Apparently, the message from the 1905 article needed to be reinforced. See Figure 2.

Figure 2. From The Daily Inter Lake of Kalispell, Montana, August 5, 1910.

The second 1910 event was a corn show. Even though wheat was the major crop in Montana, a corn show was sponsored by the Montana Farmers’ Institutes and the Great Northern Railway. One purpose of the show was to demonstrate that corn could be grown in Montana. The show was held in Billings in December of 1910. However, there was county competition prior to this; typically held in local schools. The top corn exhibits at the county level were selected to compete in Billings.

An interesting aspect of the contest was the different categories in which corn could be entered. The categories were:

• Corn grown at an altitude under 2,500 feet
• Corn grown at an altitude between 2,500 feet and 3,000 feet
• Corn grown at an altitude between 3,000 feet and 3,500 feet
• Corn grown at an altitude above 3,500 feet

James J. Hill of the Great Northern Railway put up $1,000 in prize money. Boys under the age of 18 could exhibit 10 ears of corn. But girls were also allowed to enter the contest. An article in the Billings Evening Journal (December 5, 1910) listed the exhibitors in the Billings contest. Numerous female names were on the list. See Figure 3.

Figure 3. County Corn Club winners who competed in the Billings Show.
From the Billings Evening Journal, December 5, 1910.

The winning entry was from Ignatius O’Donnell of Billings who received $100. The 2^nd place entry was Grace Henshaw from Rancher, Montana who received $25. See Figure 4.

Figure 4. Ignatius O’Donnell of Billings took first place in the Billings Corn Show.
Image from The Montana Cooperative Extension Service: A History 1893-1974.

In 1909 M. L Wilson left Iowa to homestead in Montana. He had grown up on a farm and had a B.S. degree from Iowa State College. In 1912 he was hired as the first state agricultural extension agent in Montana. He was stationed in Custer County. Here he promoted club work with young people. He was identified as being the first county agent to start club work in Potter’s Twenty Years of Club Work in Montana, 1914-1934.

With the passage of the Smith-Lever Act in 1914 what we know as 4-H Club work was formalized. Miss Augusta Evans from Illinois was recruited to direct the club work in Montana. By mid-1915 2,939 young people were enrolled in club work. Girls’ Canning Clubs and Boys’ potato and corn clubs were established across the state along with other agricultural clubs such as Pig Clubs and Garden Clubs

Figure 5.  From the Stevensville (MT) Register, March 11, 1915

In a letter to the Dawson County Review (October 11, 1917) under the heading ”GIRLS OF AGRICULTURAL CLUBS ARE PLEASED WITH VISIT AT THE STATE FAIR” three girls from Dawson county share their experiences at the state fair. One interesting aspect of the letter was how the girls signed the letter. See Figure 6.

Figure 6. Signatures on a letter to the Dawson County Review (October 11, 1917) from three members of the agricultural clubs in the county.
It appears these girls were members of four different agricultural clubs.

Agricultural Clubs Associated with High School Vocational Agricultural Programs

In the History of Agricultural Education of Less Than College Grade in the United States (Stimson & Lathrop, 1942, p. 270) we learn:

… agriculture was introduced in the grade schools of Montana in 1899. Within a few years agriculture also was being taught in the high schools. The Beaverhead County High School at Dillon had a “complete” course in 1906. The Billings High School instituted a course in agriculture in 1907, as did the Fergus County High School in 1910. By 1915-6 many of the high schools were teaching agriculture.

Student clubs for agricultural students were organized in the schools teaching agriculture. What do you think the clubs were called? How about Ag Clubs or Agricultural Clubs. Prior to the FFA being established there were “ag clubs” in the Montana schools. A sample of newspaper articles verify this. Often there were multiple articles published for specific ag clubs but only one example was selected to be included in the following table.

The Montana agricultural clubs operated until the National FFA was established. On April 1, 1930 Montana was granted Charter Number 38 by the National FFA  (See the Charter Application here). Twenty-six Montana schools were charter members of the Montana FFA. In the History of Montana FFA booklet (Shelhamer, 2020, p. 7) stated that J.E. Border was instrumental in bringing the loosely organized “Ag Clubs” into the Future Farmers of America. He was the first State Advisor and served as the State advisor until 1937. The designation as an “Agricultural Club” faded away and was replaced by the name of Future Farmers of America.

Closing Remarks

The history of student agricultural clubs in Montana is similar to that of many other states except some states had a variety of names for the agricultural clubs. The agricultural clubs in Montana provided a sense of unity and belonging. Education was also a top priority. The development of agricultural leaders was an outcome of the clubs. Hopefully, the same is true of our agricultural student organizations today.

References

Burlingame, Merrill G. & Bell, Jr., Edward J. The 4-H Story in Montana. The Montana Cooperative Extension Service: A History 1893-1974.

Shelhamer, Van (2017). History of Montana FFA.

Stimson, R. & Lathrop, F. (1942). History of Agricultural Education of Less Than College Grade in the United States. Vocational Division Bulletin No. 217. Federal Security Agency. U. S. Government Printing Office.