Northern Great Plains History Conference 2026
Draft Program
Please note that this schedule is subject to change.
Wednesday, 28 October 2026,
4:30 — 6:30 p.m.
Opening reception, the Leigh Lounge in the Student Union Building (751 W Grant St, Bozeman, MT 59715)
Thursday, 29 October
8:30 — 10:00 a.m.
1. Culture in the Military (Sponsored by the Society for Military History) (Alumni Legacy Lounge)
Chair/Commentator: Rosemary Moore, University of Iowa
Barry M. Stentiford, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, “Loyalist Forces in the American Revolutionary War: A Failure of Trust”
David B. Kothe, Colorado State University, “American Civil War to the Meuse-Argonne in 1918: A Comparison of the Evolving Battle Tactics and Leadership of the Union Army and the American Expeditionary Force (AEF)”
Marie Julien Danga, University of Bertoua (Cameroon), “Cameroon within the Free French Military Structure, 1940–1945”
Ezekiel Bucks, Black Hills State University, “The Illusion of Strategy: Reassessing U.S. Intervention in the Korea War through Cultural Narratives”
2. Euro-American Expedition and Settlement (SUB Room 233)
Chair/Discussant: Molly Rozum, University of South Dakota
Ty Reese, University of North Dakota, "Fires, Floods, & Frozen Bison: The Early 19th c. Red River of the North"
Michael Mullin, Augustana University, "Meet Me at the Falls: A Cartographic Exploration of the Trails Identifying the Falls of the Big Sioux River before Euroamerican Settlement"
Lisa Payne-Ossian, Des Moine Area Community College, "The Mississippi Proved No Barrier: Exploitation & Exposition of Native Americans Within the Dubuque Area, 1788-1973"
3. Women in Montana (Sponsored by the Women’s History Interest Group) (SUB Room 235)
Chair/Discussant: Mary Murphy, Montana State University
Victoria Lyons, Independent Scholar, "Bucked Out of the Arena: The End of the Female Rough-Stock Competitor"
Amy McKinney, Northwest College, "Harriet E. Cushman's Multifaceted Legacy: From Agricultural
Extension to Cultural and Educational Advocacy"Gerry Boychuk, University of Waterloo, "Seventh Time Lucky: The Legislative Passage of the Suffrage Constitutional Amendment in Montana 1913"
4. Celebration of Scholars Undergraduate Research Papers (Procrastinator Theater)
Chair/Commentator: William J. Hansard, Dickinson State University
Emma Gillig, Dickinson State University, “The Silent Sentinels”
Joshua Jiminez, Dickinson State University, “Fall of the Roman Empire: Causes and Consequences”
Grant Kees, Dickinson State University, “Theodore Roosevelt’s Explorations:”
Kylie Zeller, Dickinson State University “Worth It: The Impact of Charles Worth on Fashion”
Thursday, 29 October
10:30 a.m.–12:00 p.m.
5. The 20th Century U.S. Military (Sponsored by the Society for Military History) (Alumni Legacy Lounge)
Chair/Commentator: George Eaton, U.S. Army (Ret.)
Stephen A. Bourque, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College (Emeritus), “The Connections of James L. Collins and His Influence on the World War II U.S. Army
Hal Friedman, Henry Ford Community College and Henry Ford College, “Mobile Forces and Static Bases: Navy Basic Post-War Plan 1 and Harry Hill’s Conception of Postwar Naval Defense, October 1945”
Jayson A. Altieri, Air University, “Oscar Deuce and the DUCKBUTTS: The True Story of the United States Air Force’s O-2 Skymaster Aircraft Self-Deployment to South Vietnam”
Leah Salazar, George Washington University, “The Continuous Nightmare: The Second Korean War”
6. Cultural and Political Representations of Women (Sponsored by the Women’s History Interest Group) (SUB Room 233)
Chair/Commentator: Susan Kollin, Montana State University
Elisabeth Kluin, University of South Dakota, "From Baby Dolls to Boxed Barbies: The Cultural Evolution of America's Favorite Blonde Icon"
Candace Mooers, Concordia University, "Representations of Women in the Harem in Contemporary Arab
and Iranian Art"Tracie Grube, Texas Christian University, "Keep It Clean: The Fifth Streeth Settlement, University Settlement, and the Cleanliness of the Mind and Body"
7. Battle of Greasy Grass or the Little Bighorn (Sponsored by the Society for Military History) (SUB Room 235)
Chair/Commentator: Alan Anderson, King’s College London/Norwich University
William Bain, Independent Scholar, “The Enemy of My Enemy: The Role of Crow Army Scouts at the Battle of Little Big Horn and the Legacy of Falsehoods”
Dakota Wind Goodhouse, North Dakota State University, “The Greasy Grass Fight”
Aaron Barth, Independent Scholar, “An Irish-American Memory of Little Bighorn: Patrick Byrne’s 1926 Soldiers of the Plains”
8. Montana’s 1972 Constitution (Part I) (Sponsored by Friends of the Montana Constitution) (Procrastinator Theater)
Chair: William G. Thomas III
Commentator: Rylee Sommers-Flanagan, Upper Seven Law
Brad Snow, Montana State University, “Pushback Under the Big Sky: Political Opposition to the Proposed 1972 Constitution”
Emily Arendt, Montana State University, Billings, “‘A Broad Grant of Power’: The 1972 Montana Constitution and Higher Education”
Cody Ferguson, Houseal Lavigne Planners, “Clean and Healthful: Montana's Constitutional Experiment, 1972-Present”
Thursday, 29 October
12:00 p.m.–1:30 p.m.
Society for Military History Luncheon
Location TBA
Thursday, 29 October
1:30 p.m.–3:00 p.m.
9. Capture and Repatriation in World War II (Sponsored by the Society for Military History and the Women’s History Interest Group) (Alumni Legacy Lounge)
Chair/Commentator: Jerry Martin, Independent Scholar
Fia Larsen, Minnesota State University, Mankato, “Enemies in the Home Front: German Prisoners of War in Minnesota during World War II”
Devlin M. Scofield, Northwest Missouri State University “Ambiguous Absence: Repatriation and the Search for Missing Alsatian Conscripts after 1945”
Erik Carlson, Florida Gulf Coast University, “‘The Missing Link’: Henry R. Hoolsinger’s Search for the Answers Concerning the Death of His Son in the Pacific War”
10. Making Tribal Co-Management Meaningful at National Parks (Sponsored by the Northern Grasslands Interest Group) (SUB Room 233)
Chair/Discussant: Will Wright, Augustana University
Will Wright, Augustana University, “Mako Sica: The Origins of the 1976 CoManagement Agreement between the Oglala Lakota Nation and Badlands National Park”
Christina Gish Hill, Iowa State University, ‘Wade in with Both Feet’: Surrendering Power to Make Co-Management Meaningful at Mount Rushmore”
Shane Doyle (Apsáalooke), The Nature Conservancy, “Intertribal Co-management in the 21st Century: How Native-led Nonprofits Have Teamed up with Yellowstone”
11. Western Tourism and Imaginaries (SUB Room 235)
Chair/Commentator: Robert W. Galler, St. Cloud State University
Peter Schweppe, Montana State University, "Thinking into Nature: Modernity and European Imaginaries of the American West"
Cathy Wurzer, Minnesota Public Radio, “Joseph Parmley, Roads, and the Yellowstone Trail”
Dustin Gann, Southeast Missouri State University,"Mining the Land and Marketing the Aftermath: The 20th century evolution of southeast Kansas"
12. Montana’s 1972 Constitution (Part II) (Sponsored by Friends of the Montana Constitution) (Procrastinator Theater)
Chair/Moderator: Paul Lachapelle, Montana State University
Rylee Sommers-Flanagan, Upper Seven Law “The Montana Constitution Road Show”
Thursday, 29 October
UNSTRUCTURED FIELD TRIPS, MORE INFORMATION TO COME
Thursday, 29 October
SOCIETY FOR MILITARY HISTORY HUDDLE
Location and time TBD
Friday, 30 October
8:30 — 10:00 a.m.
13. Ancient and Medieval Warfare (Sponsored by the Society for Military History and the Upper Midwest Ancient History Network) (Alumni Legacy Lounge)
Chair/Commentator: Dan Powers, University of Utah
Avery Sage, Independent Scholar, “Paper Tiger: The Disintegration of the Western Roman Military under the Theodosian Dynasty”
John Riggs, Independent Scholar, “Warfare, Religion, and Governance in Medieval Japan”
Donald M. Gibson, Independent Scholar, “The Viking Influence on the Bayeux Tapestry”
14. Newspapers and Media (Sponsored by the Women’s History Interest Group) (SUB Room 233)
Chair/Discussant: James Naylor, Brandon University
Heather Mulliner, Montana State University, "Fort Belknap Notes and the Work of VISTA Volunteers in the Rural American West"
Amelia Fischer, University of Minnesota, Duluth, "The Language of Newspapers During the Holocaust: How Newspaper Reporting Influences Public Perception"
15. Wilderness and Conservation (SUB Room 235)
Chair/Commentator: Will Wright, Augustana University
Carter Berg, Montana State University, "Wilderness by Degrees: The Making and Unmaking of Wilderness in Yellowstone"
Caleb Pennington, University of Wisconsin, Superior, "Green Narratives: How American Industry Appropriated What It Meant to Be an Environmentalist"
Corinne Neustadter, Montana State University, America’s Billion-dollar National Forest: The evolution of Colorado’s White River National Forest”
16. Experiences in the Civil War (Sponsored by the Society for Military History) (Procrastinator Theater)
Chair/Moderator: Maureen Lahey, Independent Scholar
Brie Swenson Arnold, Coe College, “‘Such a Crisis as This’: John & Mary Ely’s Civil War”
Mike Burns, U.S. Air Force, “Making the Claim: The Southern Claims Commission and the Connection of Civilians, Soldiers, and the Environment in Civil War Virginia”
Matthew M. Stith, University of Texas at Tyler, “‘The Cruel Alligator and Ravenous Garfish’: At War with Fauna in the Southwestern Confederacy”
Friday, 30 October
10:30 a.m.–12:00 p.m.
17. Experiences of Captivity in the 18th and 19th Century United States ((Sponsored by the Society for Military History) Alumni Legacy Lounge)
Chair/Commentator: Kathy Mason, University of Findlay
Nasih Alam, North Dakota State University, “How Do the Captives Speak?—A Look into American History of Captivity, 1791–1890”
Paul Carpenter, Independent Scholar, “Galpin and the Liberation of Dakota War Lake Shetek Captives in 1862”
Emily Warren, Sam Houston State University, “Starvation, Disease, Despair: The Hidden Horrors of Civil War Captivity”
18. The Missouri, America’s Longest River: A Cultural and Environmental History (SUB Room 233)
Chair/Discussant: Jon Lauck, Middle West Review
Bree Gallagher, State Historical Society of North Dakota
Clark Whitehorn, University of Nebraska Press
Mark Fiege, Montana State University
Ann Vlock, University of Nebraska
Jeffrey Johnson, Providence College
Taylor Brorby, Montana State University
19. Inside the Classroom and Beyond (SUB Room 235)
Chair/Commentator: Amy McKinney, Northwest College
Travis Carioscia, Montana State University, "Drilling Towards an Uncertain Future: Montana State University and the Last Frontier"
David Burrow, University of South Dakota, "USD and the War Behind the Scenes of the Great War"
Caleb Szajkowski, Montana State University, "A History of Higher Education and Land-Grant Institutions in the American West"
20. Plants and People in the West (Sponsored by the Northern Grasslands Interest Group) (Procrastinator Theater)
Chair/Moderator: Micah Chang, Montana State University
Meeri Kataja, Montana State University,, "Hard Climate, Tough Soil: Developing Alaska Agriculture with Northern European Knowledge"
Rebecca Hupp, University of Oklahoma, “'Nebraska Chicory is Good:' The Nebraska Chicory Industry and the Promotion of Nebraska, 1890-1900"
Abigail Dittmer, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, "The Beets would Rot in the Ground:" Mexican Labor, Sugar Beets, and Belonging in the High Plains"
Friday, 30 October
12:00 p.m.–1:30 p.m.
Women’s History Interest Group Luncheon
Location TBA
Friday, 30 October
1:30 p.m.–3:00 p.m.
21. U.S. Conflicts with the Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota People in the 19th Century (Sponsored by the Society for Military History) (Alumni Legacy Lounge)
Chair/Discussant: Jennifer Stohl Powell, Immigration Law Center of Minnesota
Jennifer Stohl Powell, Immigration Law Center of Minnesota, “Immigration, the 1851 Traverse des Sioux and Mendota Treaties, and the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862”
William Bain, Independent Scholar, “The Marshall Trilogy and U.S. Treaties with the Dakota and Lakota People”
Todd Powell, Director, Military History Library, “Little Crow and the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862”
22. World War II and Incarceration (SUB Room 233)
Chair/Discussant: Peter Schweppe, Montana State University
Katie Montana, Montana State University, "Grieving Rites as Methods of Religious Survivance in Topaz Interment Center's Japanese Buddhist Community"
Kimberly Redding, Carroll University, "German Enemy Aliens in US Detention, 1942-48"
Maria Scannell, Carroll University, "Behind Enemy Lines? German Prisoners-of-War and German-American Communities"
Natalie Belsky, University of Minnesota, Duluth, "Evacuee Encounters on the Soviet Home Front during the Second World War"
23. Myth and Memory: New Old Stories of the American West (SUB Room 235)
Chair/Commentator: Molly Rozum, University of South Dakota
Sara Lampert, University of South Dakota, “Stag Dance and the Queer West Reimagined”
Amanda Hendrix-Komoto, Montana State University, “The Lives and Afterlives of Mormon Polygamy”
Erik J. Freeman, Idaho State University, “Frank Grouard: Reimagining Race and Belonging in the Nineteenth-Century American West”
24. Ancient and Medieval Politicking (Sponsored by the Upper Midwest Ancient History Network) (Procrastinator Theater)
Chair/Moderator: Graham Wrightson, South Dakota State University
Rosemary Moore, University of Iowa, "Marius' Reception in Valerius Maximus and Plutarch: Popular Commander, Strict Disciplinarian, or Both?"
Avie Freeman, University of Missouri, "The King Said So: Rhetoric and the Construction of Authority in 1399"
Graham Wrightson, South Dakota State University, "Creating a Crisis and Avoiding Reconciliation: Eumenes II of Pergamum (Schemenes!) and the Instigation of the Hellenistic-Roman Wars"
James Chlup, University of Manitoba, "P. Licinius Crassus’ Campaign in Aquitaine in 56 BCE (Caesar, Bellum Gallicum 3.20-27)”
Friday, 30 October
3:30–5:00 p.m.
25. Battle Experiences in the Era of the World Wars (Sponsored by the Society for Military History) (Alumni Legacy Lounge)
Chair/Discussant: Alan Anderson, King’s College London/Norwich University
Jeff Schultz, Luzerne County Community College, “Against the Bolos: Three Battles of the ANREF, 1918–1919”
Jonathan Epstein, City University of New York, “The Battle of the Lys, May 24–28, 1940: The Last Stand of the Belgian Army and the Salvation of the British Expeditionary Force”
Jeffrey Foss, Independent Scholar,, “Command Failure in the Bulge: Eisenhower, the ‘Dazed’ First Army, and the Transfer of U.S. First and Ninth Armies to Montgomery”
26. Spooks & Spirits Through Spectacles: Search for Sources of the Supernatural (SUB Room 233)
Chair/Discussant: Erik Johnson, Dickinson State University
Stefanie Aulner, Dickinson State University, “No Longer Alone in the Silence: The Influence of Modern Spiritualism on Feminism and Northern Great Plains Women”
William J. Hansard, Dickinson State University, “‘All kinds of things happened; which could not happen; only, they did.’ Theodore Roosevelt and the Supernatural”
Alexandra M. Hect, Dickinson State University, “Connecting the Unexpected: Theodore Roosevelt and the Supernatural in Archival Collections”
27. Gender and Race at Home and Abroad (Sponsored by the Women’s History Interest Group) (SUB Room 235)
Chair/Commentator: Brie Swenson Arnold, Coe College
Mackenzie Dahlberg, Minnesota State University, Mankato, "Fighting White Supremacy: How Black Women Resisted Segregation in the United States and South Africa"
Emily Binder, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, "Overcoming Barriers to Whiteness in the Lebanese Community of Kearney, Nebraska"
Amber Alexander, University of Nebraska, Kearney, "Beyond Rosie: Unrecognized Women on the Nebraska Home Front"
28. Archives, Archaeology, and the Public (Procrastinator Theater)
Chair/Moderator: Heather Mulliner, Montana State University
Abigail Coupe, Montana Historical Society, "Imperfect Systems and Great Responsibility: Government Information and Historical Research"
David Woodward, University of Minnesota, Duluth, "From Ledger to Loam: Integrating Textual and Material Records of Labor in Morgan Park, Minnesota (1913-1970s)"
Fazle Rabbi, North Dakota State University, "Archives Beyond the University: Community Impact in Fargo-Moorhead"
Friday, 30 October
6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Banquet and Keynote Speaker TBA
Inspiration Hall, Norm Asbjornson Hall (W Grant St, Bozeman, MT 59715)
Saturday, 31 October
8:30 — 10:00 a.m.
29. The 20th Century U.S. Military in the West (Sponsored by the Society for Military History) (Alumni Legacy Lounge)
Chair/Discussant: A.J. Curtis, Kansas State University and Air Force Reserves
Nicholas Tuma, Nebraska National Guard Museum, “The Nebraska National Guard and the Omaha Streetcar Strike, 1935”
George Eaton, U.S. Army (ret.), Ammunition Storage for the Los Angeles Port of Embarkation, 1942”
Troy Hallsell, U.S. Air Force, “A ‘Museum of Government Folly’: The Safeguard Anti-Ballistic Missile System in North Central Montana, 1968–1977”
30. Rural Health and Industry (SUB Room 233)
Chair/Discussant: Lori Ann Lahlum, Minnesota State University, Mankato
John Bessai, Independent Scholar, "Medicare, Public Obligation, and the Prairie State: Saskatchewan's 1962 Doctors' Strike in the Northern Great Plains"
Bryce Tellmann, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology,"Antecedents of the North Dakota Mill and Elevator"
31. LGBTQ History on the Plains (Sponsored by the Women’s History Interest Group) (SUB Room 235)
Chair/Commentator: Angela Smith, North Dakota State University
Larry Peterson, North Dakota State University, "The Gay 90s: Gay and Lesbian Presence at Concordia College, Moorhead State University, and North Dakota State University, 1990-2000"
Killian Clink, Minnesota State University, Mankato, "The Failed Human/Gay Rights Ordinance in Mankato, Minnesota in 1987"
Sadie Marsh, Minnesota State University, Mankato, "Correlation between Pronatalism and the Regulation of Sexuality in the United States"
32. U.S. Civil-Military Relations since the 19th Century (Sponsored by the Society for Military History) (Procrastinator Theater)
Chair/Discussant: Randy Mullis, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, Redstone Arsenal
Edward McInnis, University of Louisville, “No Country for a Standing Army: Resistance to a Professional Military in Antebellum America”
Glenn Robins, Georgia Southwest State University, “Reexamining the Singlaub Controversy: Civil-Military Relation Lessons for the 21st Century”
Benjamin Elliott, University of Minnesota, “Forging Officers: The Second Century+ of West Point Admissions and Selection, 1902–2027”
Saturday, 31 October
10:30 a.m.–12:00 p.m.
33. U.S. Veteran Experiences in the Twentieth Century (Sponsored by the Society for Military History) (Alumni Legacy Lounge)
Chair/Discussant: Joshua Howe, Montana State University
Jordan McIntire, New South Associates, “The National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers: An Early Model for Veteran Care”
Anthony R. Taylor, Sr., Howard University, “Beyond the Battlefield: How Black World War I Veterans Reshaped Local Power in Postwar America”
Malinda Weidenbach, Independent Scholar, “Public Policy, Public Perception, and the Treatment of U.S. Veterans of the Vietnam War”
34. Religion and Identity (Sponsored by the Women’s History Interest Group) (Room 233)
Chair/Commentator: Amanda Hendrix-Komoto, Montana State University
Emily Foertsch, North Dakota State University, “Rewriting the Woman Who Wrote God: Misogyny, Authority, and the Making of Mary Barker Eddy”
Joseph Orser, University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire, "Neither Native nor American: Missionary Anxiety and Shifting Identities in Siam"
Matthew Stump, Montana State University "Having No Reservations: All Aboard the Oregon Trail of Tiers The Principle Sins of Elijah 'The Prophet' Smith (1840-1912)"
35. Theory, Practice, and the U.S. Joint Force in the mid-Cold War, 1955-1970 (Sponsored by the Society for Military History) (SUB Room 235)
Chair/Commentator: Robert T. Davis II, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College
Thomas E. Hanson, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, “What did They Know and When did They Know It: Counterinsurgency and the U.S. Army, 1955–1965”
Sean N. Kalic, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, “Fear of a Red Moon: The U.S. Air Force Campaign to Weaponize Space, 1957–1967”
Martin G. Clemis, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, “Total Phenomenon: Clausewitz’s Trinity and the Vietnam War”
36. The Culture of Conservation (Procrastinator Theater)
Chair/Discussant: Mark Fiege, Montana State University
Angus Cummings, Montana State University, "The Buffalo 'Outlaws:' Creating Wildlife as a Public Resource"
Tom Rust, Montana State University, Billings, "'You Are Being Heard': Fan Mail, Television, and the Emotional Life of 1960s American Conservation”
Tom Isern, North Dakota State University, "Declensionist Narratives in Great Plains History"