Hipólito Rafael Chacón | The Original Man

Published: August 25, 2008

The Life and Work of Montana Architect A.J. Gibson

The Montana Museum of Art and Culture in Missoula, in partnership with The University of Montana Press, recently published the first complete biography of Albert John Gibson, Missoula County’s best-known and most beloved architect.

Author Hipólito Rafael Chacón, a UM professor of art history and art criticism, worked with the university’s Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library K. Ross Toole Archives and the Historical Museum at Fort Missoula Book to create this in-depth study of the architect and builder.

Although Gibson was not a nationally known architect, “it is a story of national importance, for the majority of our architects are local and regional figures,” Chacón writes in the preface. ”Most of the buildings we inhabit are the works of individuals who have literally given form to our world, and yet they remain unsung.”

Gibson’s legacy and work have endured for more than a century and include the first five buildings on the UM campus in Missoula, the Daly Mansion near Hamilton, and the Ravalli County and Missoula County courthouses.

His meteoric rise as an architect/builder in the 1890s was remarkable, given that he had no professional training in the field. In less than two decades, he designed and built a broad range of buildings, from modest, private homes to grand residences and significant civic structures.

From the 1880s to the 1910s, Gibson defined great architecture in western Montana and northern Idaho. He reshaped downtown Missoula from a rustic accumulation of buildings to a more civilized space, with structures that reflected the latest architectural styles.

When he started the project, Chacón says 56 buildings were attributed to Gibson in Missoula and surrounding communities. By the time he finished, the list stood at 90 structures in Montana, Idaho and Ohio, and included 144 designs – “no small feat for a self-taught architect who was only active in the field for 18 years.”

An ally in this biographical undertaking turned out to be Gibson’s wife, Maud Lockley (the daughter of a newspaperman), whose “steady documentation, jovial commentary and keen photographic eye” yielded rich insights into Gibson’s personal life.

In addition to architecture, Gibson’s other great passion was automobile travel. He and Maud set many records and earned a reputation as Montana’s automotive pioneers. Their lives ended tragically on New Year’s Eve 1927, when a train struck their car.

The book is chockfull of photographs and architectural drawings, as well as other materials from public and private collections. Together with Chacon’s writing, they offer a rich portrayal of Gibson’s life and his impact on Montana towns.

Book signings are slated for 11:30 a.m. Sept. 14 at the University Congregational Church of Christ, located at 405 University Ave. in Missoula; and at 7 p.m. Sept. 16 at Fact & Fiction, located at 220 N. Higgins.

A traveling exhibition of the same title opens Sept. 18 at the Holter Museum in Helena and continues through Oct. 19. The exhibit, organized by the Montana Museum of Art and Culture, features architectural models, facsimiles of drawings and photographs. It coincides with the annual conference of the Montana chapter of the American Institute of Architects, which is sponsoring the traveling exhibition.

During 2009, the exhibition travels to the Daly Mansion in Hamilton to celebrate the historic home’s centennial. In March and April of 2010, the exhibition arrives at the Montana Museum of Art and Culture to mark the centennial of the Missoula County Courthouse.

The Original Man is available for purchase at the Montana Museum of Art and Culture, located in UM’s Performing Arts and Radio-Television Center, and Far Country Press in Helena is distributing the book statewide.

For more information, call 406-243-2019 or visit www.umt.edu/montanamuseum.