As a member of the National Guard, you should all be familiar with our national symbol, the Concord Minuteman. This early day settler, complete with musket, has his hand on a plow and is looking toward the horizon as if to indicate that he is about to begin a journey. For the nation's first Minutemen, that journey began December 13th, 1636. The Concord Minuteman has symbolized our militia organization for many years. But what symbol do we have for the Montana volunteers? That symbol would be our very own, Enlisted Association sponsored, Montana Guardsman.

While the Montana National Guard was not established in the year of 1636, we do have a long and proud heritage. In the early 1890's, just after we became a state, the First Montana Volunteers were sent to the Philippines in response to the Spanish American War. Those volunteers mustered in Helena from all over the state before shipping out to San Francisco to embark for the war.

Our Montana Guardsman depicts a First Montana Volunteer in his 1890's garb, complete with rifle and backpack, with his right arm outstretched holding Admiral Dewey. Admiral Dewey, a wounded eagle, was found by guard members on their way to Helena and quickly became their mascot. Dewey was nursed back to health and taken to San Francisco for the journey to the Philippines. While he could not be taken aboard the ship at the port of San Francisco and was returned to Montana to be released, he has found his place in history.

The Montana Guardsman is the creation of famed western artist and sculptor, the late Bob Scriver of Browning. Who better to be commissioned for this great effort than a renowned Montana artist? Bob's strict artistic discipline resulted in his spending countless hours researching the military uniforms, canteens, rifles, bayonets, backpacks and cartridge belts worn by our Montana Guardsmen. His penchant for accuracy provided your Enlisted Association with a top-notch artistic work that depicts our volunteer roots and will memorialize them forever.

This project was a way to capture the history of the militia of Montana and give our members a symbol to be proud of. The plan is to erect a heroic life-size statue of the Montana Guardsman in front of the Headquarters, Montana National Guard in Helena, MT. In order to fund the project, a limited edition series of bronzes were commissioned with Mr. Scriver. The bronze replicas of the future life-size statue are available in several sizes, with the priority for sales being placed on members and former members of the Montana National Guard.

As I said earlier, the late Mr. Scriver was our artist. Sadly he passed away before completing the project. But he provided for completion of the life-size in the event of his death. As you might expect, the value of Mr. Scriver's artwork has increased since his passing. His widow gave the Montana Historical Society his bronze collection and all of the molds of that artwork were destroyed. To our knowledge, we hold the only molds of Scriver bronzes available for casting in the world. We will begin casting the limited edition series of bronzes again so if you want to purchase one of these collectors items please visit this website often. Sometime in the future you will find new information on the Montana Guardsman.

by CMS Roger Hagan