Distinctly Montana Magazine

64 D I S T I N C T LY M O N TA N A M A G A Z I N E • S U M M E R 2 0 2 5 voters, hired this new Cornish band to stand by at Renshaw Hall. They played patri- otic music to glorify Clark's pro-labor, pro-tariff-reform, an- ti-Chinese speech. Clark felt confident he would win. After seeing the election re- sults, Clark believed his foe, Anaconda Compa- ny mogul Marcus Daly, rigged the election. Clark next sought the U.S. Senate after Montana's 1889 statehood. To add insult to injury, Daly cost him another election. Legislators, not the voting public, sent sena- tors to Washington at the time. So, in 1893, Clark bribed them for votes. Daly found out. He offered the legislature more mon- ey for votes against Clark! Clark saw his opportunity for vengeance in 1894, when voters decided between Helena or Anaconda as the state capital. Clark knew how badly Daly wanted Anaconda, home of his smelter, to win. Clark championed a campaign for Helena to end them all. The two dumped exorbitant sums into their "Capital Battle." Be- tween all the pro-Helena or pro-Anaconda rallies, parades, and demonstrations, Montana bands had never been busier. When Helena won by less than 2,000 votes, the B&M Band rode with Clark on his private train to celebrate. As they stepped out at the Helena depot, cannons fired. When Clark climbed aboard the wagon to take him to the city center, a crowd un- fastened the horses to personally pull his buggy. The band fol- lowed Clark in an impromptu parade through the new capital. After the sun went down, the real celebration unleashed itself on Main Street. As many as fifteen thousand spectators lined the streets. The air smelled of gunpowder from all the fireworks. The B&M Band took the coveted lead spot in the parade. Five oth- er bands marched. So did flambeau clubs, a Goddess of Liberty,

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