K. Ross Toole

Who was K. Ross Toole?

Kenneth Ross Toole was an American historian, author, and educator who specialized in the history of Montana. Perhaps the best-known and most influential of the state's twentieth-century historians, Toole served as director of the state's historical society, authored several noted volumes of state history and social commentary, and was a popular professor at the University of Montana for 16 years. He supported environmental protection for Montana's resources, and voiced strong support for labor unions and farmers over big business, especially targeting the railroad and mining industries. These views frequently came into conflict with those of the Anaconda Copper Company and some Montana politicians, most notably Governor J. Hugo Aronson. Toole's views on the role of corporate dominance in Montana history were often controversial, and have been hotly debated by historians.