LIFE

Havre historian leaves unique legacy

Kristen Inbody
kinbody@greatfallstribune.com
Found in a field, this stone has been restored to a place of honor at Fort Assiniboine. Gary Wilson worked for decades to preserve the fort near Havre.

Walking with Gary Wilson through Havre’s Fort Assiniboine was as close as one could come to seeing the fort as it was in its heydays in the 1880s.

His descriptions were vibrant, his research deep. He had a story, or 10, for every building.

Wilson, 74, died of cancer in August, but he left a unique legacy on the Hi-Line.

His quiet grit was remarkable. As he said during an interview last year in his role as president of the Fort Assiniboine Preservation Association, “When you have a dream about something, you don’t want to give it up.”

Candi Zion got to know Wilson through the Havre/Hill County Historic Preservation Commission “and then I started to buy his books. He had a real flair for writing local history.”

Wilson, a security guard until he retired, shared what he learned. Among his many projects was writing five books; his best known is “Outlaw Tales of Montana.”

He found colorful stories of outlaws and wild adventures in Hi-Line history.

“One thing that surprised me was the story about my husband’s grandmother, Hilda Redwing,” Zion said. “She was a very independent cattle rancher with her husband and knew Long George Francis, a notorious horse thief from the Hi-Line. Apparently they were quite close.”

In another of Wilson’s stories, Zion learned about an outlaw who holed up with his dead horse on land her husband had at the time.

“Gary brought more history to light,” she said. “History is a passion for me, so it was really fun knowing Gary.”

Of course to know Wilson was to learn about Fort Assiniboine.

Historian Gary Wilson walks toward the Fort Assiniboine Guardhouse, which still has metal bars on the windows as it did when it housed prisoners.

“He made that place alive, and all the renovation work they did, he was huge in that,” Zion said. “They would have had a hard time if they hadn’t had him. He offered a lot.”

When she visited him at Park Place Health Care Center in Great Falls, Wilson “with all his problems, was just so worried about getting his book written and what was going to happen at the fort,” Zion said. “We assured him his love and passion would carry on in all of us.”

Wilson was a grandfatherly mentor to Becky Miller through the preservation commission, where he “spread his passion for history and for historic preservation and Fort Assiniboine.”

“The thing that stands out is he was so passionate about the fort, and he would never let you forget,” she said. “If something needed to be done, he wouldn’t let it go by the wayside, from the smallest job to the biggest projects. He talked to the right people, and he wouldn’t let it rest until whatever project was done.”

Wilson was a tour guide at the fort every summer, and he wouldn’t leave his house in case someone needed a tour. If a call came requesting his services, he dropped everything to drive to the fort a few miles south of Havre and do his tour.

“He donated his time, his gas money, any tips,” Miller said. “He was really interested in keeping the fort alive and preserving it for the next generations.”

Wilson helped organize the Old Forts Trail, a pathway for tourists to see historic forts in Montana and Canada. He was instrumental in setting up the local preservation association, Miller said.

“He started a spark for me and others about the fort, and we’ve made great strides,” she said. “The project we’re doing now was a dream of Gary’s.”

Zion and Miller are working on the application to elevate the fort’s listing on the national historic registry from a place of local significance to a place of national significance. It will mean another lifeline, a way to help ensure the fort is valued by future generations.

“It’s a three-part project, and we just received funding for the last phase after two years working on it,” Miller said. “If we can get that recognition, we can pursue more grant options. It’s been a huge task, and he was instrumental. It was something he wanted done before he passed away, but it’s something we’re going to complete.”

For at least the past decade, Kate Hampton worked with Wilson in her role as community preservation coordinator with the Montana Historical Society.

Wilson guided her around Beaver Creek County Park and Havre’s historic Mason hall. She said she wishes she had taken his Fort Assiniboine tour.

“Missed opportunities break your heart,” she said.

“He was, hands down, the expert,” she said. “He put so much time and effort into telling the complete story of Fort Assiniboine and how important it was not just to Havre and Montana but also to the whole nation,” Hampton said.

Gary Wilson was “extraordinarily committed” to preserving Fort Assiniboine near Havre, said Martha Kohl of the Montana Historical Society. “He knew so much,” she said. “He probably did a dozen interpretive signs for the fort. He love that place.”

“He was such a kindhearted, gracious and enthusiastic person, always had a kind of insight I never would have come up with on my own,” Hampton said. “He was so good to me and good to the historical preservation community statewide. He led the way in exhaustive documentation and research. That’s invaluable to all of us.”

Hampton is working with Wilson, Zion and Miller on the national recognition.

“We were so sorry this project didn’t come to fruition before his passing, but hopefully he’ll be looking down on us knowing we’re doing this in his honor,” she said. “We will keep his legacy going.”

Reach Tribune Staff Writer Kristen Inbody at kinbody@greatfallstribune.com. Follow her on Twitter at @GFTrib_KInbody.