May 28, 2006
May 28, 1993
Residents of the town of Ismay decide to rename their town Joe, as in Joe, Montana, for the upcoming National Football League season after quarterback Joe Montana of the Kansas City Chiefs. On July 3, the name becomes official with a Joe Montana Celebration. In October, twenty-two of the town’s twenty-eight residents are flown to Kansas City free of charge to meet the future Hall of Fame quarterback.
This was not the first time citizens of Ismay consider changing the name of the town. In 1912, in the aftermath of the Titanic disaster, Ismay residents discuss a name change in response to the cowardice of J. Bruce Ismay, a White Star Line executive who boards a lifeboat during the sinking while women and children drown in the icy Atlantic.
From Montana Dateline by Ellis Roberts Parry
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5 responses to "Montana Link to the R.M.S. Titanic?"
Bozeman has the Molly Brown bar: http://www.mollybrownbozeman.com/
However, I don’t know if the bar is connected to the unsinkable Molly Brown, the famous American survivor of the Titanic disaster.
I hate to disappoint, but the town of Ismay has no such link to the cowardly Mr. Ismay of Titanic mifortune. The community was named for Isabel and May Earling, daughters of railroad president Albert J. Earling. The community unofficially changed its name to Joe in 1993 in an effort to honor the football star and lure tourists. A small tidbit, having grown up in the area your’s truly was at one time the section foreman for the Ol’ Milwaukee Road (The Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad Company) in Ismay (or Joe), MT. Neighboring communities Baker (originally named Lorraine) and just over the state border, Marmarth, North Dakota, were also named in this fashion. And knowing the good folks of Ismay, had their town actually been named for the self-centered shipline president, they’d most certainly changed the name to something else long before No. 16 was ever wearing Irish green, much less 9′er/KC red.
Ok is it my computer or is the Molly Brown website just a page that opens and has a picture with a quote? Should I be able to click on that to open the page? Not working on my end…
According to Roberta Carkeek Cheney’s Book, Names on the Face of Montana, Ismay’s first post office was established in 1907. One can assume that the naming of the community (the combination of the two daughters’ names-Isabel and May) occurred around this time. The Titanic sank in 1912 and this tragedy was likely the most dramatic “media” event(news print journalism)occurring during the year. Of course, J. Bruce Ismay’s cowardice was duly noted in newspapers around the world. Citizens of Ismay may have suggested a name change at this time just so that no one would ever associate their community with the man who saved himself while 1500 lives were lost when the great ship sank in the icy North Atlantic.
Ellis Roberts Parry
Montana Dateline
Another Correction…
Joe Montana wore number 19 as a Kansas City Chief. The Chiefs had retired the number 16 belonging Len Dawson. Joe Montana never wore number 16 when he attended Notre Dame. He wore number 3.
Ellis Roberts Parry
Montana Dateline
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