Sunny day on the University of Montana campus along Memorial Row, with tall pine trees lining the left side and a paved walkway with street lamps on the right.

Memorial Row

Memorial Row

On the north side of the University of Montana campus, two rows of evergreen trees run from the corner of the Oval to Eddy Avenue. They form Memorial Row, along what used to be the path of Van Buren Avenue.

Their history stretches back to 1919 following the end of World War I. That's when the university planted the original thirty-two trees to honor men and women, connected to UM, who died in service during the war. Some lost their lives in combat, but many more died of influenza during military training in Missoula and elsewhere.

The Forestry School nursery supplied the Yellow Western Pines. They are also known as Ponderosa Pines and are Montana's state tree. Originally, a white T-board stood in front of each tree, with the name of person whom it honors. Twenty-nine of the original trees remain, and the university has planted some replacement trees.

Permanent Name Markers

In 1925, UM replaced the original boards with 35 name plates atop concrete markers. At the same time, UM added a memorial tablet on a boulder near the edge of the Oval closest to Memorial Row. It lists 21 of the 31 1919 honorees, those who were faculty, alumni or undergraduates. By 1925, the university had increased the number of names on the official list to 35, and sometime later, it grew to 37.

A Living Memorial

An aerial photograph from 1941 shows the Memorial Row trees 22 years after they were planted.

An aerial photograph from 2002 shows how the trees and the UM campus have grown.

A satellite photograph from Google Earth shows Memorial Row in approximately 2007. Construction of Don Anderson Hall is underway in the lower right hand corner.

Center Sidewalk

In the fall of 2009, UM added a new, wider sidewalk, running down the center of Memorial Row.

New Name Marker Monument

In October, 2010, UM took inventory of the name markers to determine which ones were missing and to dig up the ones that had sunk below ground level.

Over the years, 11 of the bronze markers had disappeared. School of Visual and Media Arts Professor Brad Allen cast new plaques to replace the missing ones. UM commissioned plastic patterns and Allen used those to make the molds. The Western Montana Military Officers Association made a contribution to help defray the cost of replacing the markers.

On October 18, 2011, UM installed a new monument for the name markers. The low dolomite slab displays 26 remaining original name markers along with the 11 replacement markers. 

Barry Chandler, the owner of “Written In Stone” of Proctor, Montana, selected the rock base from the Chief Cliff Quarry near Flathead Lake. He also carved the inscription and mounted the markers.