Farewell to the Montana Club and a clientele straight out of ‘Yellowstone’

The Montana Club, a celebrated bar, dining room and meeting place in Helena that was founded in 1885 by frontier movers and shakers – four years before Montana became a state – will close its doors after a final toast on March 29.

The club, which also occupies a notable place in black history, has been in financial difficulties in recent years, leading to a bankruptcy filing in November. (The club is not associated with the Montana Club restaurant chain.)

Before it was reorganized in 2018 as a cooperative open to the public, the private club attracted an elite membership that would have felt right at home on the TV series “Yellowstone” – the mining, ranching and timber barons, and bankers, politicians and lawyers in charge. the state’s fortunes over the years. (In fact, Cole Hauser, a star of the show, is a descendant of Samuel Hauser, a territorial governor of Montana and founder of the club, according to Charles Robison, its current president.)

“For a long time, everyone who shaped the state belonged to the Montana Club,” Robison said.

That said, one of the club’s most important figures was a bartender who made culinary history there a century ago.

Julian Anderson was a bartender at the club for sixty years from 1893. He served not only the members, but also many famous guests, including Theodore Roosevelt. Mr. Anderson quietly entered posterity in 1919 by becoming only the second black bartender in the United States to publish a cocktail book entitled “Julian’s Recipes.” (The first was Tom Bullock of St. Louis, who wrote “The ideal bartender” in 1917.)

Mr. Anderson’s legacy lives on today. He was one of the inspirations for “Juke Joints, Jazz Clubs and Juice,” the latest work by Toni Tipton-Martin, whose books chronicle black contributions to American cuisine.

“When I heard about Julian’s 1919 recipe book, I knew I had to add it to my collection of rare black cookbooks,” Ms. Tipton-Martin wrote in an email. “Like Tom Bullock’s collection, Anderson’s catalog of classic cocktails formalizes a background behind the bar that can inspire the next generation.”

Mr. Anderson, whose parents were enslaved, was especially famous for his mint juleps. The coin came from his own backyard. He died in 1962 at the age of 102. His portrait still hangs in the club’s second-floor dining room.

The building has four owners. In 2022, three of them filed a lawsuit for unpaid assessments and interest against the Original Montana Club Cooperative Association. The association, which manages the dining and events facilities, owns just over half of the property: a 1905 building designed by architect Cass Gilbert after the original club burned down. This conflict ultimately led to the bankruptcy filing. The building and liquor license are now up for sale.

There may still be hope for the establishment. “Certainly, there are people interested in buying the club as a business and reopening it,” said Mr. Robison, a lawyer and lobbyist from Montana who had his wedding rehearsal dinner there. “It’s possible this isn’t the last night.”

The farewell on March 29 starts at 4 p.m. and lasts until closing time. Mr Robison confirmed that mint juleps will be served.

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