Joseph Kinsey Howard (1906-1951) was an American journalist, historian, and author, who wrote extensively about the history, culture, and economic circumstances of Montana. His landmark 1943 book, Montana: High, Wide, and Handsome, was a respected account of Montana history that has influenced later generations of historians. He was the author of numerous other historic and literary works, and was a vocal, articulate and persuasive advocate for a variety of social, economic and environmental reforms.

Born in Oskaloosa, Iowa, February 28, 1906, Howard spent his early childhood years with his family in Lethbridge, Alberta. In 1919 he moved with his mother to Great Falls, Montana, where he graduated from high school in 1923. He immediately landed a job as a reporter for the Great Falls Leader, one of the city’s two daily newspapers at the time, and was promoted to news editor in 1926, at age 20.

Beginning in the mid-1930s Howard authored numerous non-fiction articles for national publications, including The Nation, Harper’s Magazine and others. He was also a stringer covering Montana issues for Time and Life magazines. He wrote book reviews for The New York Times and short stories, published in The Saturday Evening Post, Esquire, and others.

In 1944 Howard left the Leader to become a staff member of the Montana Study, a research project largely funded by the Rockefeller Foundation. He left in 1946 to return to writing full-time, publishing his second volume, Montana Margins: A State Anthology, that same year.

He devoted the remainder of his life to writing, promoting the arts in Montana, and teaching writers workshops. Aided by the support of Guggenheim Fellowships in 1947 and 1948, he devoted considerable effort to the writing of a history of Métis leader Louis Riel and his resistance movements against the Canadian government.

Howard died on August 25, 1951 after suffering a heart attack at age 45.