Land of Locomotives
MSUB Library Lecture Series, Fall 2025
Information
All lectures are Tuesdays evenings at 6:30pm in Library 231. Free and open to the public.
Library 231 is accessed from the upper lobby connected the Library and the Liberal Arts Building.
Free event parking is at the MSUB Parking Garage.
Lectures
The Railroad Shaped Our Town
October 7, 6:30pm, Library 231

Explore the early history of Billings illustrating the railroad’s impact in planning, designing, and promoting the settlement of Billings. Our historian explains why the railroad built away from the Yellowstone River and why it placed its tracks in the middle of the downtown. The program demonstrates how the city of Billings is still shaped by choices made by the Northern Pacific Railway in 1882.
Speaker
Lauren E. Hunley has spent nearly 20 years in the museum field. Earning her Master of Arts in Learning & Visitor Services in Museums and Galleries through Leicester University in England, she’s worked for both small museums and national museum service organizations. She is the author of 101 Museum Programs on a Shoestring Budget and has presented at numerous museum conferences. She is currently the Community Historian at the Western Heritage Center in Billings, Montana, and serves on the Board of Directors for the Mountain-Plains Museums Association and the Montana Association of Museums. Her recent projects include Conquering Diseases of the Past, Saints & Sinners: Women Breaking Tradition, and Baá Hawassiio & Ènomóhtåhéseh: Healthcare on the Crow & Northern Cheyenne Reservations. Her work was instrumental in the Western Heritage Center receiving the 2021 Mountain Plains Museums Association’s Leadership & Innovation Award and the Mountain Plains Museums Association Education Committee’s 2021 Award for Excellence in Programming for the joint Moss Mansion/Western Heritage Center Youth Volunteer Program. Baá Hawassiio & Ènomóhtåhéseh: Healthcare on the Crow & Northern Cheyenne Reservation further won the Museums Association of Montana’s 2022 award for professional accomplishment for a new exhibition.
Railway Mania: Fraud, Corruption, and the Making of the Transcontinental Railroads
October 14, 6:30pm, Library 231
In this presentation, Dr. Cody Patton delves into the underbelly of the Gilded Age transportation revolution by exploring the corporate fraud, political corruption, and economic disasters that accompanied the construction of America's transcontinental railroads during the nineteenth-century.
Speaker
Dr. Cody Patton is an assistant professor of modern American history at MSUB, specializing in the fields of business and environmental history. Dr. Patton was born and raised in the railroad town of Ogden, Utah, where the local museum in the old Union Pacific train depot played a significant role in sparking his interest in history from a young age. Dr. Patton earned his BA in history from Utah State University and went on to receive a PhD in modern American history from The Ohio State University. Currently, Dr. Patton is working on writing a book on the history of the American brewing industry and teaches courses on the history of Montana and the West, American Environmental History, and the Gilded Age and Progressive Era.
From Boxcar Libraries to Bootleggers: How Trains Became Crucial Community Builders in the Copper-King Era
October 21, 6:30pm, Library 231
In this lecture, Labuskes will use her internationally best-selling novel The Boxcar Librarian to highlight the many ways trains acted as connective tissue in Montana during the 1920s. The novel was inspired by Missoula’s own Ruth Worden, who created the Lumberman’s Library to bring books to lumberjack camps via the railroads that mining companies already had in place. Those books—and magazines, newspapers, and music—provided a bit of relief and entertainment to workers who lived harsh, isolated existences in Montana’s wilderness. That impulse to help neighbors and build community can be found in many examples throughout this era where Montana was weathering a painful depression—long before droughts and bank closures hit the rest of the country. Labuskes will explore all the ways trains played a role in that history while also answering what exactly the “bootleg lady of Glacier Park” has to do with any of it.
Speaker
Brianna Labuskes is a USA Today, Wall Street Journal and Globe and Mail best-selling author who writes historical fiction and psychological thrillers. She has published more than a dozen novels; her work has been translated into more than twenty languages worldwide; and she has sold over a million copies of her books. Brianna got her start in political journalism, and thus knows way too much about the Ways and Means Committee. Brianna’s historical fiction often focuses on the ways that books and stories can give voice to the powerless and bring light to even the darkest times. She lives in Pennsylvania with her dog, Jinx.
Is There a Future of Restarting Southern Passenger Rail in Montana?
October 28, 6:30pm, Library 231
Imagine passenger trains running through southern Montana, connecting both urban and rural areas within the state and beyond. Restoring this service—lost when Amtrak's North Coast Hiawatha route was cut in 1979—is a key priority for the Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority. In December 2023, the North Coast Hiawatha route was accepted into FRA's Corridor ID (CID) program, but there is still more work to do. Learn how the Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority is navigating a complex and shifting policy landscape to advocate for safe, reliable and sustainable passenger rail service.
Speakers
Rep. Denise Baum
Representative Denise Baum (HD 45) was first elected to the Montana House of Representatives in 2022 and was re-elected in 2024 to her second term. HD 45, bordered on the north by the Rims, covers north-central Billings and encompasses the MSU Billings campus, Rocky Mountain College, the downtown hospital corridor and the North Park area. During the 2025 legislative session Rep Baum served on the following committees: Judiciary, Agriculture and Transportation, where she served as the Vice-Chair. Rep Baum is a current member of the Transportation Interim Committee and is running for re-election to the House in 2026. Rep Baum is a former detective with the Billings Police Department who retired in October 2024 after serving the Billings community for 21 years. Rep Baum enjoys all things outdoors, especially camping, hiking, fishing and looks forward to returning as an active hunter this fall with her husband and son.
Rep Baum continues to focus her attention on public safety and all things transportation, especially restoring passenger rail service to southern Montana. In 2025, Rep Baum carried HB 848 which would have provided state funding for the Big Sky Passenger Rail Foundation, moving Montana forward into restoring southern passenger rail service. HB 848 passed the House but was narrowly defeated in the Senate. Rep Baum continues to work on funding legislation for passenger rail during the interim committee.
Jess Peterson

Jess Peterson hails from homesteaders on both sides of his family that took the train to Montana and started the good life that Jess and his family enjoy today. He is a 5th generation rancher. In 2007, he established Western Skies Strategies (WSS), a public policy, executive management and strategic communications firm. WSS also assists NGOs, ranchers, land managers, investors, telecommunications and energy companies navigate the local, state and federal process. He currently serves as the Executive Director for the Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority. Jess balances this work with his yearling and haying operation. J2 Bar Land & Livestock is based in Hysham and assisted by 6th generation ranchers Cadence and Chloe. Jess is an alumnus of Gonzaga University and Miles City Community College. He serves on the Chair of the Billings Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, Vice President of the Producer Partnership Board of Directors and former chair of the Montana Land Reliance Future Montana Committee.