Missoula City Band revives Buffalo Bill–era music at Fort Missoula concert

The Missoula City Band performed a program of Buffalo Bill–era music and patriotic selections at Fort Missoula during a public concert; the date was not specified in the transcript. The program included arrangements of tunes associated with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West shows, period-style instrumentation and guest vocalists, and concluded with an acknowledgment of Indigenous territories and a tribute to veterans.

The concert’s director, identified in the transcript as Gary (band conductor), described the set as a recreation of music performed by bands a century or more ago and said, “We're not a recreation band, but we we have some similarities to it.” He said the group was using instrumentation typical of the era — piccolo, E-flat clarinet, B-flat clarinets, alto horn/F horn, E-flat cornet, B-flat cornets, trombones, and multiple tubas — and noted the sound difference from a modern concert band.

The program mixed shorter mounted-band-style tunes and longer selections. The band performed pieces the conductor associated with Buffalo Bill, including marches and ballads, and played arrangements prepared from material unearthed by Mike Masterson and arranged for the band by Don Harmillo. Gary said of hearing the original scoring, “It’s so cool to hear what it was, how it was intended.”

Guest performers included vocalist Gretchen Smith and singer Scott McKenzie, who led sing-along sections and patriotic numbers. The transcript also names Josh Hungate as the band’s euphonium player and references percussionists Michael and Wendy. The band’s production partner Ron Charles and company Emtek were thanked for recording or broadcasting support.

Organizers used the stage time to make two community acknowledgments: the historical museum at Fort Missoula offered respect for the Indigenous peoples who care for the place, and event staff asked veterans in the audience to stand for recognition. The museum’s remarks in the transcript were paraphrased in the performance as an acknowledgment of the Salish and Kootenai peoples’ connection to the land.

The band promoted its regular summer schedule during the show, inviting the public to attend the Modern Park Band Chill series, held weekly through mid-August according to the transcript. The concert emphasized local music heritage rather than formal policy or government action; no motions, votes or formal municipal decisions were taken.

Program and personnel details mentioned during the performance included historical context about Buffalo Bill’s mounted band, an attribution of a longtime historical conductor (Bill Sweeney) for the Buffalo Bill band pieces, and the discovery of previously unarranged music in a doctoral thesis credited to Mike Masterson. The band said the full city band would appear later in the evening for an extended patriotic set.