A reality based independent journal of observation & analysis, serving the Flathead Valley & Montana since 2006. © James Conner.

2 July 2015

Helena’s memorial to Confederate soldiers

There’s a memorial (a granite fountain) to soldiers of the Confederacy in a public park in Helena — and two city commissioners want it renamed (they propose a naming contest) to honor something else. Montana Cowgirl has the story.

The memorial was given to the city in 1916 by the United Daughters of the Confederacy. Several members had relocated to Helena from the south. A defender of the memorial, Richard Alberts, argued in a letter to the editor of the Helena Independent Record (link to letter at MT Cowgirl):

This fountain is there as a “Thank You” to the City of Helena for providing the survivors of a very bitter war, which probably destroyed most of their well being and possessions, a place where they could build a future. It just happened that the people saying “Thank You” were the Daughters of the Confederacy. The fountain is not a flag which represents the losing side in the conflict; and, unfortunately, there are those who don’t want their uncompromising reasons for the war to be forgotten. The fountain is an appreciation of a chance to build a future, and to provide “a spirit of union with no feeling between the old North and South;” this is what the Daughters of the Confederacy did not want to be forgotten. There is a big difference in reason between the flag which flew over the South Carolina Capitol and the fountain in Hill Park.

Believe that and you will believe anything. Those Daughters of the Confederacy were not thanking Helena for providing an opportunity to build a future — they were thanking their ancestors for waging war to preserve slavery.

Military service is not intrinsically virtuous. No one should take pride in a forebearer’s service in the Confederate army. No matter how well great uncle Buford fought, he fought in an outlaw army in a dishonorable cause. Like the treasonous generals who led him, Buford was a traitor. Had Buford remained a loyal American, Union soldiers would not have bled and died in that tragic and terrible war. Buford has blood on his hands, and a fountain in a park cannot wash them clean.

Tear down that Confederate memorial. Recycle the granite in the spirit of beating swords into plowshares.