Roundup Record Tribune & Winnett Times -

By Carol Schmidt, MSU News Service

Articles by two Montana State University history doctoral students were published in the recent issue of Montana: The Magazine of Western History.

The spring issue of the magazine included an article written by Micah Chang, “Oasis on the Hi-Line,” about the history of Sleeping Buffalo Hot Springs. Another, by Kirke Elsass, explores how the expanding use of cement in civic projects around the state advanced Montana’s economic development in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Catherine Dunlop, associate professor of history in the Department of History and Philosophy in the College of Letters and Science and the department’s director of graduate studies, said that because the magazine is the journal of record in Western American history, it is significant that the students’ work was published there.

“Both of these scholarly articles were peer reviewed separately, and that they were both published shows the depth of our department,” Dunlop said. She added that because the journal is also read by the public, it allows for public recognition of the students’ work, which is rare in an academic journal.

Chang’s article on the history of Sleeping Buffalo Hot Springs near Saco, in the Malta area, is part of his dissertation research into the history of the Hi-Line and Canada’s southern Prairie Provinces. While Chang was raised in California and has an undergraduate degree from the University of California, Berkeley, his mother’s family has origins in the area between Saco and Malta. His mother migrated to California and married Chang’s father, who has Cambodian , which Chang said explains his interest in both Western and Southeast Asian history. In the article Chang discussed the origins of the hot springs, caused by oil drilling in the early 20th century, and the transnational history of agriculture on the Hi-Line.

Chang said his article was written for a class taught by Mary Murphy, MSU history professor, and that he then presented it at a Montana history conference in Helena in 2019. Chang plans to finish his doctorate in spring 2023 and become a professional historian.

“Montana magazine occupies this really important space as both a peer-reviewed academic journal but also a magazine read by the public,” Chang said. “When it came out, I received notes from professionals at other universities, and my family was also able to read it, starting interesting conversations.”

Elsass’ article, “Cement’s Role in Modernizing Montana 1867-1960,” details the history of cement ¾ the material that binds together sand and gravel aggregate to make concrete ¾ and its underappreciated role in the modernization of the state.

“Concrete came to literally cement different communities and infrastructure in Montana,” Dunlop said.

A native of Wisconsin with an undergraduate degree in geology from Carleton College in Minnesota, Elsass previously taught middle- and high-school science in Michigan. He came to MSU to study environmental history and now studies the relationships between rocks and people. He said the research for the article contributes to his dissertation, which traces how modern cements changed built environments and thereby altered society across the country, including in Montana.

“I followed the development of cement production in the 19th century into the 20th century and will shift to looking at the histories of specific cement structures,” Elsass said. “Right now, I’m looking at basements, sidewalks and prisons.”

Elsass said he originally submitted his piece for the magazine’s emerging scholars contest. While he did not win, the editor worked with him to develop the article. “It meant a lot to me to see it in print,” he said.

Elsass plans to finish his doctorate in 2024 and would like to teach at the college level.

Dunlop said both writings demonstrated excellent historical research.

“This is the kind of research about contemporary, rural issues in Montana that a land-grant institution is interested in presenting,” Dunlop said. “Both offer long-term perspective of rural communities. Both are such important work.”

For more information about the graduate program in the Department of History and Philosophy, go to its website: https://www.montana.edu/history/graduate.html