The Montana State Legislature is made up of two chambers, the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Constitution of Montana limits the size of the Senate to no fewer than 40 and no more than 50 members and the size of the House of Representatives to no fewer than 80 and no more than 100 members. Each house is responsible for choosing its officers, creating committees and establishing its own rules. The Montana Legislature meets for 90 days every odd numbered year, beginning the first Monday in January, or the following Wednesday if the first Monday is New Years Day. The first State Legislature convened on November 23, 1889, fifteen days after Montana became a state. Each following Legislature has been numbered sequentially.
The 1st Montana Legislature met from November 23rd, 1889 to February 20, 1890. The leaders of the Senate were John Rickards (R-President). In 1889, voting irregularities led to a dispute over the outcome of legislative elections in Silver Bow County. The dispute was never resolved because the law didn't clearly explain how to certify the election of legislators. So each party sent its own five legislators from Silver Bow County to Helena, and Montana actually had a Democrat House and a Republican House, which met separately. The Speaker of the Democrat House was Charles Blakely, and the Speaker of the Republican House was Aaron Witter.
Sources:
Records of the Montana 1st Legislative Assembly consist of reports of House and Senate standing and special committees; House and Senate resolutions; House bills and journal; and miscellany including arrest warrants for and a proclamation against members absent without leave, governor's messages, and lists of committee members.
The collection is organized into three series, House of Representatives, Senate, and Miscellany.
The series House of Representatives is organized into three subseries, House Bills (arranged numerically by bill number), House Resolutions (arranged numerically by bill number), and House Journals (arranged chronologically).
The series Senate is organized into three subseries, Senate Standing Committee Reports (arranged alphabetically by committee name and thereunder chronologically), Senate Special Committee Reports (arranged alphabetically by committee name and thereunder chronologically), and Senate Resolutions (arranged numerically by bill number).
Collection is open for research.
The Montana Historical Society is the owner of the materials in the Research Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. Written permission must be obtained from the Research Library before any reproduction use. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all of the materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from the copyright owners.
[item description and date]. Montana Legislative Assembly (1st: 1889-1890) records, 1889-1890. Legislative Records 1. [box and folder number]. Montana Historical Society Research Center. Archives. Helena, Montana.
Acquisition information available upon request.
Bill Summers processed the collection in 1988
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the Montana Historical Society catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search under these terms.