Historical Note - Week of February 7th
The Livingston Enterprise, January 9, 1892
The board of World’s Fair managers for Montana has made arrangements for the reception of minerals, petrifactions, fossils and other exhibits for display at the Worlds Columbian exhibition and would like mine owners and others interested to commence the collection of such exhibits as they wish to have displayed. By notifying the secretary of the fact that you have minerals for exhibition arrangements will at once be made for their examination, acceptance and shipment to the proper repository. The places where such exhibits will be received in Park county are Livingston, Big Timber, Cooke and Red Lodge.
A few weeks later the following appeared:
The Livingston Enterprise, January 23, 1892
Cooke City and the World’s Fair.
EDITOR ENTERPRISE: The New World Mining district is now officered and in the field for the world’s fair campaign. At a meeting of the citizens of Cooke, held at Nichols & Chittenden’s store on the 9th inst., presided over by John Connell, a committee on permanent organization was appointed by the chair as follows: Charles B. Jones, John P. Guest and Franklin B. Watson. This committee’s report, which was unanimously adopted, provides that a permanent executive board, composed of W.E. Nichols, John P. Connell, Amos R. Hague, Robert L. Morton and Alvin P. Vinnedge shall have charge of the collection and safe storage of all mineral specimens of this district designed for exhibit at the World’s Columbian exposition at Chicago in 1893. W.E. Nichols is chairman and Alvin P. Vinnedge secretary of the board. It is the fixed purpose of this board that the New World Mining district shall have an exhibit at this greatest of all international industrial shows commensurate with its merits. To this end they earnestly solicit the co-operation and sympathy of the interested public throughout Park county. It is none too early to make the start. Let each individual feel it incumbent upon him or herself to contribute his or her share, and the aggregate may easily be made the equal of anything in the state. Our great variety and quality of minerals gives an opportunity for display equaled by few and excelled by no community in the whole country.
ALVIN P. VINNEDGE, Secretary.
Cooke, Mont., January 11, 1892.
The New Worlds Fair of 1893 was held in Chicago, and the Montana exhibit received high acclaim for its life size silver statue of Justice. A wonderful article of the exhibit can be found here: "The Mines and Mining Building of the World's Columbian Exposition, 1893"
