New Northwest -- Supplement. Constitution of the State of Montana [caption title]

[Deer Lodge, Mt.], 1889. Good.. Large broadsheet, 26 x 20.5 inches. Old folds. Separation at some folds with slight losses affecting several words in six lines of text. Light toning and soiling. A rare supplemental issue of the New Northwest printing the newly-passed Montana State Constitution. Montana held its constitutional convention in July and August of 1889, finally receiving admission to the Union in November that year. The state constitution printed here includes a thirty-one item Declaration of the Rights of the People of the State of Montana, which begins with a statement that "All political power is vested in and derived from the people...is founded on their will only and is instituted solely for the good of the whole." It also includes clauses about the right to bear arms; the right of all citizens whether alien or native to own property and mining rights; and addresses water rights in the state.

The New North-west was published in Deer Lodge from 1869-1897 under the auspices of James Hamilton Mills, an Ohio native who worked for the Montana Post for several years prior. The town, located in the same region as Helena, Anaconda, and Butte, was a mining hub whose major local employer today is the state prison. Runs of the newspaper are held at a handful of institutions in OCLC, all but the Montana Historical Society appearing to be relatively sparse.