Century of Butte Stories

Boston and Montana Band Started in 1887

By John Astle

(A column featuring stories from Butte's newspapers during the past 100 years).

Butte's world famous musicians, the Boston and Montana Band, were selected to play at the Democratic National Convention in Kansas City in 1900 when William Jennings Bryan received the nomination for the second time for President of the United States.

The selection was made because of the band's success at the 1896 Democratic convention in Chicago when they accompanied the Montana delegation. In Chicago they gave concerts at many of the large hotels and at the convention center. They were called the "Musical Giants of the Democratic Convention."

On their way home from the Kansas City convention in 1900, which Bryan did not attend, the band stopped at his home in Lincoln, Nebraska and serenaded the "Great Commoner" and his wife at midnight on July 7. Standing under a cluster of lights in front of the house the band began softly playing a popular serenade. Mrs. Bryan awoke her husband. He came out on the front porch dressed in gown and slippers to listen to the music.

The Boston and Montana Band was organized on Dec. 22, 1887 in a small log house in Meaderville, two years before Montana became a state. Six Cornishmen, Sam Treloar, Bill Jennings, Joseph Ivey, Charles Griffin, John Carbis, and Thomas Burt met on that cold December day to organize the Boston and Montana Band. Sam Treloar was the band director for over 60 years.

Prior to that first meeting, the idea had received commendation and support from Capt. Thomas Couch, general manager of the Boston and Montana Mining Company, from which the band took its name.

By 1890 the band had 28 members and a hall larger than the Knights of Labor building, in which they had been performing, was required. Band members raised the necessary funds to build a hall in Meaderville east of the Leonard Mine. This hall was used for rehearsals up to the time the band stopped performing.

The band accompanied the Montana Elks to Salt Lake City for the Elks National Convention in 1902. They took first place in competition against the top bands in the country. When news of the triumph reached Butte, mine and smelter whistles launched a city-wide celebration.

John Philip Sousa once said that the Boston and Montana Band "was an industrial wonder organization with an unparalleled record."

The band later became known as the Butte Mines Band.

Sam Treloar was born in Cornwall and studied with his mother, a gifted musician. He conducted a large choir in England and played in an opera orchestra. He came to Butte in 1885. In 1947, to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the band, a banquet was given in Treloar's honor. He died in Glendale, California in 1951. The band continued to survive but over the years slowly became silent..

It wasn't just the national recognition and appearance at national conventions that won Sam Treloar and his boys' the deep affection of the people of the Mining City. It was the music they played at home. The music they provided for every event and activity in Butte: summer picnic days at the Columbia Gardens, concerts given throughout the city from a portable bandstand, charity shows, parades, and music for every civic and service organization in the city.

Sam Treloar and the Boston and Montana Band were part of the everyday life of Butte for more than 60 years.

Copyright © 2000 John Astle