Carnival Capers at the Capitol

This year's St. Paul Winter Carnival continues through Sunday, and although I'm sure the remaining events will be full of frozen fun, I doubt any will match the wacky escapade from the 1917 Carnival that involved my great-grandfather, G. Oliver Riggs.

First, a bit of background.  From 1911 to 1914, Riggs lived in Havre, Montana, where he organized and directed both adult and boys' bands.  He also played cornet in the Montana Cowboy Band.  Louis W. Hill, the son of railroad magnate James J. Hill, liked the Cowboy Band so much, he paid for them to travel to land shows in Minneapolis and Chicago in 1912 to perform with a group of Blackfeet Indians from Glacier.

G. Oliver Riggs is in the back row, second from the right.

Riggs moved back to Crookston in 1914 to direct adult and boys' bands in that northern Minnesota city.  But he stayed in touch with cowboy band, and in 1917, members of the band (renamed the Havre Cowboy Band) invited him to join them in performing at the St. Paul Winter Carnival, organized by – who else – Louis W. Hill.

Here's where the story gets good.  On the fourth day of the carnival, the Havre Cowboy Band joined with other visitors from Montana and from Oregon – about 300 in all – to "call" on the governor and the legislature at the State Capitol.

According to an article in the Jan. 30 issue of the St. Paul Daily News, "Business at the Capitol was suspended from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. while the Westerners took possession of the building, firing their pistols, giving Wild West whoops and singing their songs to the accompaniment of a band and drum corps."

That would so not happen today, for a variety of reasons.

The article goes on to explain how the group first played, sang and fired pistols in the rotunda, quickly attracting the attention of clerks and other employees, who gathered in the balcony to watch.  Then the rowdy group moved upstairs, greeted Gov. J.A.A. Burnquist in his office, and was invited to enter the senate chambers.

"... in a few moments the senate chamber was packed with Westerners picturesquely dressed, who sang and cheered while the cowboy band played and the Glendive (Montana) fife and drum corps performed.  The Havre cowboys, becoming enthusiastic, emphasized their music with frequent pistol shots that reverberated against the ceiling and caused the senators to put their fingers in their ears."

 

After the show was over, the Westerners gathered on the front steps of the Capitol for a photo shoot.  The Minnesota History Center has a photo of the group in its online database.

I didn't know anything about this event until yesterday, when I found the article while researching at the history center library.  I wish I'd known about it last month, when I took my first official tour of the Capitol while chaperoning Sebastian and a group of his classmates from Northfield Middle School.

The sixth graders were respectful and asked some good questions while we were in the empty senate chamber.  Sebastian liked it so much, he added "politician" to his possible careers list, along with national parks ranger.  Maybe now he'd like to add cowboy musician?