Charles M Bair family Museum to open May 1
Posted by: Groundspeak Premium Member T0SHEA
N 46° 27.982 W 110° 19.076
12T E 552368 N 5146092
About midway between White Sulfur Springs and Harlowton and just south of Highway 12 on Highway 294 is an art lover's dream - an 11,000 square foot ranch house filled with art and antiques, quite an anomaly in this rustic setting.
Waymark Code: WM10877
Location: Montana, United States
Date Posted: 03/19/2019
Published By:Groundspeak Premium Member saopaulo1
Views: 0

Though Charles Bair could have been remembered as a sheep rancher, running as many as 300,000 head of sheep on the Bair Ranch, his story runs much deeper - as far afield as the Alaskan Gold Rush, where Bair made his fortune by investing in a ground thawing device. Thereafter he plowed his money into oil, mining, banking and real estate. He ultimately bought this ranch, which his daughters, Marguerite and Alberta, who were world travelers and art lovers, filled with antiques and art works. Their growing collection forced the ranch house to expand to accommodate it, ultimately growing to 11,000 square feet and 26 rooms.

The daughters wished to share their collection with the world and, three years after the last surviving daughter, Alberta, died in 1993, the family home was opened as the Bair Family Museum. In 2011 the 7,000 square foot Charles M. Bair Family Art Museum was opened. Open Memorial Weekend through October, the museum is in a completely pastoral setting half a mile north of the little hamlet of Martinsdale, allowing visitors to stroll the grounds, even picnic on the patio by the gift shop and visitor centre. Inside the gift shop one may purchase souvenirs of the museum, Meagher County and Montana. Tours of the house are guided only, while one may tour the adjacent art museum at their own pace. Family photos and memorabilia are displayed in the Bair Barn.

As well as the large permanent collections of the museum and the art museum, there are also many temporary exhibits which pass through, comprised of a wide ranging array of subjects, including early Native American stone artifacts, Plains Indian ledger art, paintings, woodcut prints, photographs, photogravure images and much more.

Below is one of many ads placed in local newspapers advertising the museum, this one to announce their third birthday party event, which was to take place July 17th and 18th, 1999. It appeared on Page 10 of the July 16, 1999 issue of the Big Timber Pioneer. The ad notes that admission to the museum was free during the event and that cake and coffee were provided. Following that is a news article announcing the opening of the museum, which took place May 1, 1996. Ad goes Here
Charles M Bair family Museum
to open May 1
Big Timber Pioneer | April 12, 1996
The Charles M. Bair Family Museum opens to the public on May 1 in Martinsdale. The ranch home of the Bair family, Charlie and Mary and their daughters, Alberta and Marguerite, is a repository of antiques, paintings and Indian artifacts that reflect the lives of one of the most intriguing and affluent families in Montana.

Visitors begin their tour in the Visitor Center—formerly the bam. A picture of Charles Bair and an eight-foot picture of a train of his wool first greet the visitor. The Visitor Center also offers a gift shop filled with unique gifts and mementos of your visit and displays portraying the family life of the Bairs as well as a history of the wool industry.

All tours through the Bair family home are guided by a docent. Upon entering the home, you’ll see a bench in the foyer with a number of hats. Alberta, the second Bair daughter, always wore a red hat in her later years.

She would stop and put on a hat before answering the door bell. If it was someone she did not want to see, she would say, “Oh, I am so sorry, I was just going out.” If the visitor was a welcome one, the greeting would be, “Oh, do come in. I just got in myself.”

From there the docent leads the tour into the Pine Room, the Bair’s favorite room where the family lived and informally entertained. This room is filled with Indian artifacts, and the knotty pine on the walls and ceilings took two years to obtain from California.

To the north of the Pine Room is the “office,” added in the early ‘60s. One of the features of this room is a wall of signed photographs of U.S. Presidents and their wives, reflecting Bair’s continued interest in politics.

The formal Dining Room is a virtual storehouse of predominately Paul Storr Silver and features a Duncan Phyfe table. A short hallway leads to the Living Room where the crystal chandelier dominates the room. This formal room also has two ums, or “perfume burners,” next to and above the fireplace, purportedly from the royal summer palace in Holland. Two bedrooms and a bathroom feature gold fixtures and Norwegian rose marble.

While the Museum opens on Wednesday, May 1, there is a public grand opening with light refreshments, entertainment and guided tours from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. on Thursday, May 2. The last guided tour through the home will be at 3:00, and Governor Marc Racicot will speak at 4:00 p.m.
From the Big Timber Pioneer
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Type of publication: Newspaper

When was the article reported?: 04/12/1996

Publication: Big Timber Pioneer

Article Url: [Web Link]

Is Registration Required?: no

How widespread was the article reported?: regional

News Category: Entertainment

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