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Bigfork Area Origins

The planned Bigfork Museum of Art & History will celebrate the rich cultural heritage and artistic legacy of our community. Our exhibits and programs will bring history to life, showcasing the stories, artifacts, and art that shape Bigfork and the Flathead Valley. Renovation work is already underway by local volunteers, creating dynamic, interactive exhibits!

2023 Flathead Maritime Archeology Project:  Check out our Video Link below for this amazing new project!

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The BACC Cultural Heritage Projects

A series of articles & short documentary files about little-known aspects of the history, culture, and characters of Bigfork and the Upper Flathead Valley. Click on the articles or videos to learn more!

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Bigfork Origins

The Bigfork History Project was started by Ed Gillenwater and Denny Kellogg in 2015.  They took on the project as a way to preserve the rapidly disappearing shared stories and Bigfork Foundings.  The project continues each year as we research, interview, upload stories to the BHP website and develop tools to share the stories to a wider audience.

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written by Ed Gillenwater

The term “cultural landscape” refers to a geographical area that’s been shaped by both human acJvity and nature, exhibiJng a sense of historical and cultural values. Archaeology is one of the sciences used to research and record the elements of human history and culture that create a cultural landscape. MariJme or underwater archeology studies landscapes that are submerged underwater.

FMAP anthology
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Flathead Beacon Comment on FMAP

Flathead Lake is in the pilot phase of being “mapped” like never before, thanks to an ardent lakeshore resident with access to the world’s most state-of-the-art technology.

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Students

Bigfork HS students

High school students onboard Flathead Maritime Archaeology Project

Bigfork Eagle FMAP Article
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2023 Flathead Maritime Archaeology Exploration Project

The Bigfork Art & Cultural Center, BACC, has undertaken the unique challenge to systematically chart and document the archaeological evidence of the journey of human history that lies beneath the Flathead Valley Waters.

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FMAP summer 2023

August 2023 FMAP documentary preview

Produced by Edward Gillenwater, this video takes you through the history of our area from the perspective of the cultures that developed as a result of our wonderful Flathead waterways! Opening film from the NW History Museum Archives.

video produced by Edward Gillenwater
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Maritime Mysteries of the Flathead THE KEE-O-MEE PART ONE from the Daily Interlake Podcast w/ Jeremy Weber

Maritime Mysteries of the Flathead

THE KEE-O-MEE PART ONE

Maritime Mysteries of the Flathead THE KEE-O-MEE PART ONE
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Memory Lane

Long-time residents of the Bigfork area share memories and stories of their families and past events. These are the oral histories of this place and its people.

Bud Robinson

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A Montana Story

Gathering local histories, archives and sharing these stories & events that shaped our local area through our permanent Bigfork History Project.

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Wagon Ride
Painting
Bigfork Book

Meet our Contributors

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Ed Gillenwater

Bigfork History Project Founder & Lead Researcher/editor

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Denny Kellog

Bigfork History Project Founder, Historical Lead, & Producer

Tabby Ivy

Tabby Ivy

Bigfork History Project Founder/producer

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Fugro

FMAP

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Fugro

We are the world’s leading Geo-data specialist, collecting and analysing comprehensive information about the Earth and the structures built upon it.
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Calvin Mires

Lead FMAP Marine Archaeologist

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Calvin Mires

Dr. Calvin Mires is a maritime archaeologist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. He has over 24 years of teaching and research, leading and participating in more than 50 underwater projects around the world – ranging from Ancient Greek and Roman shipwrecks and 17th and 18th century pirate ships to 19th century steamships and World War II airplanes. Currently, he is working with Department of Defense’s Department of POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) to locate, identify and recover the remains of those Killed in Action (KIA) during WWII in the Pacific Theater – and working at WHOI with biologists and oceanographers to investigate and understand the ecological impacts of shipwrecks (and other underwater cultural heritage) to an area’s biodiversity and possible pollutants. His research has been widely published in peer-reviewed journals such as  Journal of Maritime Archaeology, the International Journal of Nautical Archaeology, Historical Archaeology, Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, Trends in Ecology and Evolution, and Marine Ecology Progress Series.

 

Dr. Mires is excited to be returning to Montana – where he grew up outside of Helena, attended the Davidson Honors College at the University of Montana, worked at the  Villager Restaurant in East Glacier and hiked summers at Glacier National Park. After college, his parents moved to Polson and worked at Salish-Kootenai College, where he and his family spent many holidays and summers. So although he has travelled away, Montana always is calling him back. For example, his Master's thesis was on Glacier National Park’s early tourist steamboats, most of which were built on Flathead Lake. He is now even more pleased to be supporting and helping the Big Fork Cultural Center’s Flathead Maritime Archaeology Project in their goals for documenting and preserving Flathead Lake’s amazing history and heritage.  

Email: info@baccbigfork.org

Schoolhouse Corner

Founded in 1893, The Swan River School has been a beloved landmark in the Bigfork community for over 125 years. In the spring semester of 2018, the students of Mrs. Emslie’s 5th grade glass undertook a project to tell part of their school’s rich history, in the form of short video documentaries that they researched, wrote, shot, and edited themselves.

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Bigfork Art / Cultural Center

We are an creative and educational hub in Bigfork that inspires people of all ages through a wide variety of workshops, lectures, and learning opportunities. BACC shares cultures through art and story stewardship. This is BACC’s way of bridging the connection between our past and the future we wish for our children, ourselves, and our world. As determined by the Internal Revenue Service Code, Bigfork Art and Cultural Center is a 501(c)3 organization, exempt from federal income tax. Bigfork Art and Cultural Center's tax identification number is 366212000. 

525 Electric Avenue
Bigfork, Montana

406.837.6927

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Bigfork Art \ Cultural Center