Artists of the Silver Dollar

ST. IGNATIUS — There are unexpected treasures to be found inside the unassuming Silver Dollar Bar in St. Ignatius.

Visitors looking for a cold beverage and delicious burger will be greeted by friendly patrons and staff, and place their order. As they take a seat or pick up a pool cue, their eyes may be drawn to the intriguing, intricate murals overhead, depicting historical and spiritual themes of tribal culture and local landmarks. Every detail tells a story as they wrap around the room.

The murals, each by a different local artist, were commissioned by the Silver Dollar’s owner, Doug Morigeau. The native artists he chose to feature are prime representatives of the extensive artistic community and rich heritage throughout the Mission Valley.

Dwight Billedeax’s mural on the east wall is the brightest thing in the bar. A long line of silhouetted warriors breaches the horizon, most on horseback, each a unique character. They are contrasted against a fluorescent background that practically throbs with color when lit with UV light.

Billedeaux taught art at Salish Kootenai College and was one of the college’s founders. He also taught preschoolers, and says sometimes they are even better artists. His fine arts background includes studying under several major artists at the Academy of Arts in San Francisco before serving in Vietnam. His art can be found everywhere, from museums to schools to bars, front yards, and family and friends’ homes, in the illustrations of the Living in Harmony Color Book and in the collection of historic interviews, “I Will Be Meat for My Salish.”

A 144-foot mural above the lockers in Frenchtown High School is Billedeaux’s portrayal of the Salish version of the “Trail of Tears” when they were moved away from the Bitterroot Valley after the Hellgate Treaty was signed. Giant portraits of local historic figures watch over games and activities at the Tribal Fitness Center in St. Ignatius, with smaller ones on display at the Longhouse. Though retired from the college, Billedeaux still teaches ancient skills, including flint knapping, painting with natural paints, and making shields, to SKC Native American Studies students at the Agnes Vanderburg Camp each spring, as he has for 40 years.

Billedeaux’s sculptures, paintings and floor mosaics are an integral part of the beauty of SKC’s campus and Woodcock fine arts building. A portrait of his wife’s grandfather, John Peter Paul, hangs in the nursing school building that bears his name. Outdoors, three sculptures captivate the imagination,as much for their construction and their stories as for their subjects. A giant bison was made by hand-twisting 10 miles of salvaged telephone wire; an Indian freeing an eagle spirit, made from the frame of a 1975 Chevy Malibu with stove pipe for a vest and arm bands; and “The Protector,” a figure whose shield is now honored with a handprint, the sign of having survived “hand-to-hand combat” with a cowboy who tried to pull it off with a horse.

Gerald Weaselhead depicts St. Ignatius and the Mission Mountains as home to a thriving, active tribal community in his Silver Dollar mural that wraps around two walls. The glow of hearth fires light tipis, silhouetting the families inside, with the St. Ignatius Mission shown in the distance. Details include a white buffalo, a skull, a highly decorated warrior and a cat, in honor of a special feline that once made the Silver Dollar home.

Weaselhead started drawing as a child, learning from family members. He is well known as a “quick-draw” artist, often asked to draw people on the spot. He received no formal training, but he learned about such basics as shading and how to mix colors from the renowned artist Tony Salvador. Weaselhead says his mind is always busy, making it possible for him to bring an empty page to life in an instant. He is continually called upon to whip out portraits, illustrations, wood carvings, and even Halloween decorations. His sister, Violet, has a collection of hand-made birthday cards from him. He makes cribbage boards and belt buckles from antlers, tans hides for the drums he then paints, and carves pipes from soapstone, some of which were caught up in the People’s Center fire.

Weaselhead has sold oil paintings in parks and on sidewalks as people watched him create and eagerly bought the pieces before they were dry. More of his work can be seen at the Club Bar in Ronan, the Branding Iron in Charlo, many area homes, and as far away as Chicago and Massachusetts, as Weaselhead has often used his artwork to pay for travel expenses across the country.

A third mural in the Silver Dollar is a testament to life moving on. It was begun several years ago by an artist who frequented the establishment. His life changed, with family, work, and other commitments making bars no longer a part of his life, leaving a beautiful, haunting, unfinished image behind.