Roll of Honor
Incident
City Marshal Commodore Downing succumbed to injuries sustained on August 22nd, 1895, when was struck by a streetcar at the intersection of 2nd Avenue South and Second Street South. He and two officers were making their rounds when a bicyclist crashed on the street. They were standing near the streetcar rails when they stopped and turned to look at the cyclist who had fallen. The other officers noticed the streetcar approaching and yelled at Marshal Downing to watch out, inadvertently prompting him to jump backward in front of the streetcar. He suffered a broken leg and other injuries after being pushed approximately 20 feet. He was taken to his home to recover but died of complications on November 7th, 1895. Marshal Downing had previously served as the sheriff of Cascade County.
Survivors
He was survived by his wife and daughter.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-MT-15DB0446- Stewardship
- Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
- Added to badge.nw
- April 2, 2026
- Last updated
- July 23, 2026
Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.
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Tributes
131 years is a long time for a name to go unread. Not today.
City Marshal Downing gave the Great Falls Police Department 3 years.
Thank you for your service to the Great Falls community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
City Marshal Commodore Perry Downing is one of 10,088 officers lost to accidents in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 31% of all 32,508 officers honored here.
In MT, 34 of 142 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 23.9% of this state's fallen. That is 7.1 percentage points below the national rate of 31%.
At Great Falls Police Department, 1 of 6 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 16.7% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Commodore Perry Downing's cause is highlighted.
How Commodore Perry Downing Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Commodore Perry Downing is highlighted in Nov.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
5 officers from Great Falls Police Department are honored on badge.nw.
