Billings — President Donald Trump is set to visit Kalispell Wednesday, marking Montana's 19th presidential visit.
No president has come to the Treasure State more than Trump. The upcoming trip will be Trump's fifth to Montana as president, marking even more visits while campaining for office.
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Though presidential visits to Montana have been few and far between, the state's history with the nation's chief executives stretches back more than 140 years.
Bill Dutcher of the Yellowstone Historical Society and former general manager of MetraPark has been a spectator to several of those presidential visits.
"It's a beautiful picture with Sacrifice Cliff in the background," Dutcher said.
Dutcher described watching a presidential aircraft arrive.
"I remember thinking, well, there's always a headwind or a tailwind, you're never on time, right? At the airport, you're never exactly on time. And I looked at my watch when it thundered right over our heads, and it was exactly the time they said," Dutcher said.
Montana's presidential history dates to 1883, when then-President Chester Arthur visited the Greater Yellowstone region. Prudence Ladd, president of the Yellowstone Historical Society, put that visit in perspective.
"He was the very first president to come to Montana territory because we weren't a state until '89," Ladd said.
Nearly all of Montana's major cities have hosted presidential visits, with Billings perhaps seeing more than any other.
In 1963, President John F. Kennedy deplaned at Billings Logan International Airport. Ladd noted the significance of that visit.
"President Kennedy was here two months and two days before he passed away, is when he came and spoke in Billings," Ladd said.
In 1982, President Ronald Reagan visited the Billings fairgrounds. Dutcher described that visit.
"He went around in a restored Wells Fargo stage coach and went around and then he went and had a lunch after his talk," Dutcher said.
Montana has also hosted Presidents Teddy Roosevelt, William Taft and Harry Truman. President Franklin D. Roosevelt made a stop in Montana to view construction of the Fort Peck Dam as part of his New Deal.
In 1995, Montana played host to then-President Bill Clinton for a town hall meeting in the MTN television studios.
Now, Kalispell is set to write the next chapter in Montana's long history of presidential visits.
Related: The U.S. Presidents who visited Montana while in office
