Lines That Shaped Montana

“Lines That Shaped Montana” is the title of retired journalist Kim Briggerman’s presentation at our October 14 meeting of Rotary Club of Missoula. 

Kim grew up in the Bonner area on both the Road to the Buffalo and the original Mullan Road. 

“I owe a huge debt of gratitude to history-loving teachers like Larry Burlingame at Bonner School, Hal Stearns at Sentinel High and K. Ross Toole, Harry Fritz and David Emmons at the University of Montana,” he says. 

Kim met his wife Linda Biggs when both were first-year school teachers at Valier in 1981. By 1984, they were married and teaching at Hall School near Drummond, where they began raising the first two of four daughters, all of whom have now gifted their parents with ten energetic grandchildren. 

“I had worked part-time sports at the Missoulian through college,” Kim explained. “And in 1986 shifted back to the newspaper business, first at the Independent Record in Helena, then at the Missoulian for the next 33 years. I was the beat writer for the Grizzlies when they won the Division I-AA football championship in 1995 and when they played for the title in 1996.”

In 2006, Kim switched from sports to the news department where he completed the last 14 years of his journalism career. In 2024, he was appointed to succeed his old high school teacher, Hal Stearns, on the board of the Montana Historical Society. 

“I’m active with our Bonner Milltown History Center, which includes the popular weekly coffee sessions in Bonner that we call Old Roads and Rabbit Holes,” he said. 

Our speaker is hosted by Tim Berry.