Beautiful Montana Plateau Has a Dark Secret

Montana Klan meetings were once held on Square Butte.

During Christmas and Easter, a lighted cross sits atop a towering butte between Laurel and Park City, MT. The rocky plateau climbs hundreds of feet above the surrounding landscape, and the glowing cross is easily visible from Interstate 90.

The big white cross perched on the southern edge of the butte now represents Christianity. 100 years ago, crosses of a different kind were used on this windswept knoll for meetings of the local Ku Klux Klan chapter.

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In the 1920s, there were thousands of Klansmen in Montana.

I went down a rabbit hole to find out more about this regrettable note in Montana's (and our nation's) history. Much is behind paywalled newspaper stories, but I did find several interesting articles, including this Carrol College thesis by Anne Sturdevant, whose research noted there were nearly 3,000 Ku Klux Klan members in Montana in the 1920s, with members in 46 out of 56 counties. 

Did the KKK in Montana begin in Billings?

IntermountainHistories.org shared how the Klan originally gained popularity in Billings before expanding across the state. Recruitment efforts didn't always go well; the group was largely rejected in Butte.

The best source I found regarding Klan activity on Square Butte comes from the massive, 761-page book, Laurel's Story, A Montana Heritage. Written and compiled by Elsie Johnston (1902 - 1997), the book encompasses Johnston's twelve years of research, compilation, and editing.

Just a paragraph describes the KKK's activity on Square Butte.

On pages 30 - 31 of the volume, Johnston details Square Butte. Including how a Montana college professor classified these buttes as 'remnant areas,' places with virtually undisturbed native range plants that haven't been impacted by livestock.

The present cross on Square Butte was placed there in 1953 by the Methodist Youth Fellowship for its Easter Sunrise services.

Regarding the KKK burning crosses on the butte, Johnston noted:

...At one time, the Klan held meetings on the Butte and a 4-inch pipe is still in the ground there, that held the Klan's burning cross at the time of their meeting in 1925. 

On a lighter note, the current cross received electricity in the 1950s when a local named Donald Hoppel "acquired 1,750 feet of wiring" that he connected to a power box in a sugar beet shack down below and ran it up the side of the steep butte.

The 400+ acre property is owned by the state of Montana as School Trust land. It's my understanding that the land is currently leased; call the Montana DNRC office in Billings for access details.

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