Saturday afternoon, about 60 people gathered in front of the historic iron Fort Benton bridge. It was their biggest turnout yet. The group was mostly seniors, and opened with a prayer, followed by the pledge of allegiance.
Organizer Bonnie Jo Cook is a 6th-generation resident of Fort Benton. She's 74 years old and began organizing protests for the first time in her life, this year. Her rally was one of 30 planned across the state, alongside the national "No Kings" movement. Cook says in rural communities, it's important for people to come together. She hoped to create a space where all feel able to share their voice.
"There's a combination of all of us – independents, Democrats, Republicans – but again, we care about what's going on with the country."
Protester Mike O'Hara chairs the board of a local hospital. He's concerned about cuts to Medicaid.
"A lot of our services that we give to the community, they all come under that. They're low-income people, and if we don't take care of them, nobody's going to take care of them.
He says he feels it important to stand up and defend democracy. Other protesters held signs calling for equality and constitutional rights. No one mentioned President Donald Trump directly.
But protests looked different in cities. In Missoula, a few thousand people marched through downtown. Many carried signs explicitly criticizing Trump and his administration.
Valerie Steichen says she was motivated to show up after getting laid off from her job with the Small Business Administration. The agency is downsizing like most other federal departments. Steichen said new tariffs also negatively impacted the clients she worked with.
“I love the United States of America and my heart is broken.”
Protestors rallied across the state in small towns and cities, including Billings, Bozeman, Dillon, Fort Benton, Helena, Hamilton, Kalispell, and Lewistown.