Contact: Ariel Overstreet
Media Director
Montana Cowboy Hall of Fame & Western Heritage Center
arieloverstreet@gmail.com
(406) 930-1317

Montana Cowboy Hall of Fame announces 2009 Legacy Award Inductions

Wolf Point – Today the Montana Cowboy Hall of Fame & Western Heritage Center (MCHF&WHC) announced its second class of the 1860-1920 Legacy Award inductions.

The award honors historical figures that have had an impact on Montana's Western Heritage. This year’s class includes 14 inductees from 12 districts across the state.

The inductees were chosen from a slate of nominations solicited from the public and MCHF&WHC Trustees. Nominees could have included men, women, ranches, stage coach lines, animals, hotels--anything or anyone who made their mark in the state of Montana before 1920, no matter the year of death or closure.

Trustees voted on the nominees in March and the results were tabulated in April.

The winners of the 2009 Legacy Award are:

District 1 (Daniels, Phillips, Roosevelt, Sheridan, & Valley Counties):
     Harry Rutter &
      William Henry Smith*

District 2 (Dawson, Garfield, McCone, Prairie, Richland, & Wibaux Counties):
     Daniel & Susan Haughian

District 3 (Carter, Custer, Fallon, Powder River, Rosebud, & Treasure Counties):
     Andy Jones

District 4 (Blaine, Choteau, Hill, & Liberty Counties):
     Louis Shambo (Chambeau, Shambow)

District 5 (Cascade, Glacier, Pondera, Teton, & Toole Counties):
     James Willard Schultz

District 6 (Fergus, Golden Valley, Judith Basin, Musselshell, Petroleum, & Wheatland Counties):
     William I. Hughes & 
      W.E. “Limestone” Wilson*

District 7 (Big Horn, Carbon, Stillwater, Sweet Grass, & Yellowstone Counties):
     John B. Kendrick

District 8 (Broadwater, Jefferson, & Lewis and Clark Counties):
     Fannie Sperry Steele

District 9 (Gallatin, Meagher, & Park Counties):
     Byron Roger Sherman

District 10 (Flathead, Lake, Lincoln, & Sanders Counties):
     Frank Bird Linderman

District 11 Mineral, Missoula, & Ravalli Counties):
     The Sacred Medicine Tree of the Salish

District 12 (Deer Lodge, Beaverhead, Silver Bow, Granite, Madison, & Powell Counties):
     Clyde Hunter Smith 

*Denotes a tie in votes cast by district's trustees 

2008 Legacy Awards

The first round of Legacy Awards, voted on by the MCHF&WHC Trustees in 2008, honored cowboys, cowgirls, establishments, organizations, outlaws and a horse. The 51 inductees served as the Foundational Members of the Montana Cowboy Hall of Fame.

Notable inductees included Sitting Bull, Evelyn Cameron, the N Bar N Ranch, Charles M. Russell, Plenty Coups, Granville Stuart, Nelson Story and the Grant-Kohrs Ranch.

2008 Inductees

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