Confederate Memorial Fountain (Helena, Montana)

Confederate

The Confederate Memorial Fountain was commissioned in 1915 by the Winnie Davis Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy to commemorate confederate civil war soldiers. The fountain was erected in Hill Park in the city of Helena, Montana, and dedicated on September 5th, 1916, making it the only monument to the Confederacy in the Northwestern United States. It consisted of a square stone base with a plinth in the center. On the plinth rested the basin, and out of the basin rose an octagonal prism which was the fountainhead, and also had the inscriptions carved on it. In the wake of the Charleston church shooting in July of 2015, some city officials broached renaming the fountain the "Civil War Memorial Fountain," but the Lewis & Clark County Heritage Tourism Council argued for its preservation as a historic monument. However, after the white supremacy rally in Charlottesville, Virginia in August of 2017, the fountain was removed in response to general protest, as well as a letter signed by members of the Native American Caucus, the Montana House of Representatives, and the Montana Senate delivered to city officials calling for the removal of the fountain. It was replaced in April of 2020 by the Equity Fountain.

Inscription:

"A Loving Tribute to Our Confederate Soldiers," and "By the Daughters of the Confederacy in Montana, A.D. 1916."

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