For the Record: Photographing Montana’s Historic Bridges, Powerhouses, and Missile Sites, Inside & Out

Kristi Hager
Over the past 20 years, Hager photographed dams, power plants, missile sites, and bridges across Montana for the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) and Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), which are now archived in the Library of Congress.

Kristi Hager:

For the Record: Photographing Montana’s Historic Bridges, Powerhouses, and Missile Sites, Inside & Out

MILLIKAN AND HELD GALLERIES, June 7 - July 12, 2024

Opening Reception: June 7th, 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

Artist Talk: 6:30 p.m.

When Montanans go outside to experience the natural world, it is not without traveling along the roadways, hiking under powerlines that span valleys, fishing below dams, or floating under a bridge. Utility infrastructure is ubiquitous and familiar. Some of it features in our scenic photos and memories. These places are relatable and recognizable, part of our perception of Montana.

Over the past 25 years, artist Kristi Hager has photographed dams, power plants, missile sites, and bridges across Montana for the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) and Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), which are now archived in the Library of Congress.

One of Hager’s mandates, aside from straight documentation of the site, was to produce an image of the highest aesthetic quality. This effort resulted in a vast archive of over 600 images. Many of the structures have continued to weather, disintegrate, or be actively dismantled. Some are no longer extant. Hager’s documentation of these historic structures provides a valuable resource for researchers and historic preservation efforts, while acting as a significant, almost poetic, visual record of Montana.

Hager says, “When I curse the wind, gumbo, barbed wire, 30 pounds of equipment, wet shoes, cold hands, hot sun, whatever unforeseen adversities, I think of Evelyn Cameron and stop whining. These photographs are not personal interpretations of the bridges. They are historical documents for national and state archives. Since these bridges will be gone someday, I feel a responsibility to make each view count.  Each bridge is documented with a minimum of 10 views:  two portals, two elevations, four diagonals, one context, and one or more structural details. As I work my way around a bridge, I consider what historians will want to know about how this bridge was constructed. I consider the folks who drive across the bridge regularly, how they see it from a distance, what they see from the bridge deck, how they will want to remember it. I consider the people who never will see this bridge in person. I want to make it look as beautiful as it is, with no spin.”

Recently, Tom Ferris scanned Hager’s original 4 x 5 inch photographic negatives, printing them on archival Hahnemuhle paper as 16 x 20 inch images.

The Missoula Art Museum worked with Hager to organize this exhibition, which is traveling under the auspices of the Montana Art Gallery Directors Association (MAGDA) and will travel to Explore the Arts in Hamilton; Holter Museum of Art in Helena; and MonDak Heritage Center in Sidney through 2025. Generous funding for this project provided by the Montana History Foundation.

Locations Photographed

 

Bridges:

  1. Antelope Coulee Bridge, off south frontage road near Vaughn, reinforced concrete.
  2. Bridge Street Bridge, 1911, Bigfork. Lake County, Swan River, pin-connected Pratt truss.
  3. Blaine Creek Springs Bridge, 1892, secondary hwy 249, near Ennis, Madison County, pin-connected Pratt through truss. HAER MT 63-5
  4. Dearborn River High Bridge, 1897, Stearns-Augusta Rd, Lewis and Clark County, pin connected Pratt half-through truss, only one in Montana, possibly USA
  5. Fred Robinsons Bridge, 1959, US Hwy 191, Fergus County, Missouri River, deck plate steel girder
  6. Hardy Bridge, 1931Old US Hwy 91, Missouri River, three-span Warren through truss
  7. Morelli Bridge, 1881, Reeder’s Alley, Helena, timber stringer
  8. Virgelle Ferry, Virgelle, Chouteau County, Missouri River, cable pulley
  9. Heron Bridge.  Built 1920, moved to current site in1952, Heron Road, near Heron, Sanders County, Clark Fork River, cantilevered deck truss, HAER MT 114-6, Montana’s only
  10. Natural Pier Bridge, 1916, south frontage road off I-90, near Alberton, Mineral County, Clark Fork River, two-span riveted steel Warren through truss.
  11. Pompey’s Pillar RR Overpass, near Pompey’s Pillar, Yellowstone County, pony truss
  12. Poplar River Bridge, 1913, Old Scobey Road, near Scobey, Daniels County, Pratt pony truss.
  13. Puglsey Bridge, Pugsley Road, near the Tiber Dam, Liberty County, over the Marias River, cable stayed suspension bridge.  Montana’s only
  14. Swiftcurrent Bridge, 1929, Many Glacier Road, Glacier National Park, Glacier County, Swiftcurrent Creek, concrete.  HAER MT 150-4
  15. Triple Bridges, AKA The Scenic Bridge, 1928, Old Hwy 10 near Tarkio, Mineral County, Clark Fork River, riveted Pratt deck truss.

 

Powerhouses:

  1. Cabinet Gorge Powerhouse, turbine Pit, near Noxon, Sandaers County
  2. Morony Powerhouse, transformer, near Great Falls, Cascade County
  3. Mystic Powerhouse, West Rosebud Road, Stillwater County
  4. Rainbow Powerhouse, generating floor, near Great Falls, Cascade County
  5. Rainbow Powerhouse, generator, near Great Falls, Cascade County
  6. Rainbow Powerhouse, overview, near Great Falls, Cascade County
  7. Ryan Powerhouse, overview, near Great Falls, Cascade County
  8. Transmission lines, Rainbow-Ryan-Morony, near Great Falls, Cascade County

 

Missile Alert Facilities (MAFs):

  1. Papa, Missile Alert Facililty, 564th Airborne Squadron out of Malmstrom Air Force Base, north of Great Falls, Pondera County
  2. 564th Airborne Squadron out of Malmstrom Air Force Base, north of Great Falls, Pondera County
  3. Quebec, Launch Facility, 564th Airborne Squadron out of Malmstrom Air Force Base, north of Great Falls, Pondera County
  4. Romeo, launch control capsule, missileer poem, 564th Airborne Squadron out of Malmstrom Air Force Base, north of Great Falls, Pondera County
  5.  Sierra, launch control capsule, 564th Airborne Squadron out of Malmstrom Air Force Base, north of Great Falls, Pondera County
  6. Tango, launch control capsule, 564th Airborne Squadron out of Malmstrom Air Force Base, north of Great Falls, Pondera County