The Big Sandy Mountaineer -

By Vance Butler

A little history of how the Big Sandy Gun and Ammo show started in Big Sandy.

During the 1990’s the Kidd Brothers of Big Sandy organized a gun show every January in Havre at the MSU Northern Student Union building. Jean Butler, being a Watkins Products Dealer asked them if she could set up in a booth there. They allowed her to set up in the hallway. It was at this time that her young son Kirkley would go along to help but mostly to go and admire all of the guns. Kirkley developed a friendship with an avid hunter and prairie dog shooter with the name of Brian Harwood of Thompson Falls who was a dealer at the gun shows.

At that time Brian did most of his hunting in the Jordon area. Kirkley told him to check out the hunting around Big Sandy as it would not be as far to go. It took a few years for Brian to finally come to Big Sandy to hunt with Kirkley and Vance at the farm that he kept coming back he enjoyed it so much.

In October of 2012 Brian was returning from the Lewistown gun snow and he stopped by Vance’s to talk about the great gun shows that the Kidd Brothers had put on in Havre. Brian always enjoyed being there even if it was in January. That is when they got the idea to have a gun show in Big Sandy. With Brian’s connections to other dealers and Vance being able to rent the Jerry Martin Memorial Hall in Big Sandy, a plan was put in place and a date was set for January 25, 26 and 27 of 2013.

With the participation of several area dealers and collectors as well as those from Butte, Helena, Lincoln and Thompson Falls, the gun show turned out to be quite successful.