Author’s Book Features State’s History
Montana author Roberta Beute made a guest appearance at the Roosevelt County Library in Wolf Point on Tuesday, July 8.
Her book As It Was: A Common Thread was a longtime mission for the woman, who now resides in Great Falls.
Beute collected information for 30-35 years including conducting many interviews with senior citizens.
“It’s kind of a lifelong project. I probably started the history in the 1970s,” she said.
She finally decided to write the book, and the nearly 500page work was completed in 2021.
“If I didn’t write this down, who’s going to?” Beute said of her inspiration for authoring her first book. “Everything’s been positive. I haven’t received any negative feedback.”
The book, which is in the Library of Congress, includes history that goes back as far as Christopher Columbus. Beute details the moving of livestock to Montana and the role of the fur trade in the region.
“The last few chapters bring everything current,” she said.
The book is a collection of factual stories from some of the pioneers who opened trails leading to the interior of the continent.
The author said she has received letters from all across the country regarding readers finding relatives or other valuable information by reading the book.
She has donated many sets of the books to libraries and schools on the Hi-Line.
“I wrote the book so it will be read,” Beute said of the donations.
She was born in Stanley, N.D., and then her family moved to Cut Bank. After another move back to North Dakota, she then lived in Glasgow until her junior year in high school. She graduated from Havre High School.
She graduated from Montana State University - Northern in Havre with a major in business and a minor in diesel technology.
Beute is in the process of gathering information for a second book. During her time in Wolf Point, she was compiling additional information regarding Chick Ferguson’s rodeo photography work.
“I have a lot of materials, as long as I live long enough,” Beute said of future books.
