The Old West: Montana History

With its nicknames of Big Sky Country and the Treasure State, the old west history of Montana runs deep.

HUMAN HISTORY
The first human inhabitants of what became Montana were nomadic bands that followed the mammoth, the buffalo, and other herd animals. Indeed, archeologists have found evidence of tribal culture thriving west of the Rocky Mountains as early as 9,000 years ago.

Montana's modern human history began in the 17th and 18th century. With the introduction of horses and guns by whites, Indian cultures changed. Blackfeet, Shoshoni, Crows, and smaller tribes fought, built alliances, or moved away.

Human existence in the Rockies as early as 9,000 years ago.

GOLD RUSH, FUR TRAPPERS, CATTLE RANCHING
In the early 1800's, fur trappers came to Montana following in the wake of Lewis and Clark. Exploring, hunting, trapping, and trading, they brought to Montana land a new attitude: exploitation.

With the gold rush of the 1860's, Montana drew seekers from all over the west and from populated centers in the east. This bonanza influenced Congress to create Montana Territory in 1864.

With the gold rush of the 1860's, Montana drew seekers from all over.

Over the next two decades, the migrants that arrived engaged in open range stock raising, foreshadowing today's high plains cattle ranching and wheat farming industries. Montana's ranchers and farmers became a national industry with the arrival of transcontinental railroads during the 1880s. Physically and psychologically, these lines linked Montana with the nation and led directly to statehood in 1889.
Railroads to Montana also established a mineral resources industry comprising of gold, silver and copper. This industrial boom attracted an extremely diverse ethnic population to Montana's towns and cities.

Montana reaches statehood in 1889.

HOMESTEAD HISTORY
Montana's next wave of immigration were homesteaders, settling in Montana's western national forests and across its central and eastern dry-land prairies. But when severe drought swept Montana from 1917 to 1923, together with plummeting market prices and banks demanding repayments, the state entered a depression from which it did not recover until World War II. One old-time homesteader near Geraldine recalled: "One year we was blowed out. Next year we was hopped out by the hoppers. Third year we was dried out. I harvested a whole acre of wheat in my one bushel basket to feed one milk cow that we kept." (Portrait of Montana, from a video produced by Ted Turner, 1980).

Towards the latter part of the 20th century, lumber, oil, natural gas, and the coal industries developed in Montana. In the seven major counties law, accounting, healthcare, and retail grew, as did university towns. Tourism, too, emerged economically as second to agriculture.

"One year we was blowed out … third year we was dried out."

HISTORY, HERITAGE AND CULTURAL TOURISM
Something of a political revolution took place in 1971. Montanans acted by replacing their outdated 1889 constitution with a new one. The new constitution expanded the governor's powers, modernized the legislature, and enabled voters to enact and repeal laws by initiative and referendum.

Today, as with its history, Montana's greatest asset is "Montana land." Much of Montana remains unspoiled, bedecked with spectacular scenery, pure water, and wide open spaces. Montanans have a chance to turn the state's resources toward the healthy perspectives of history, heritage, and cultural tourism.

Historically, and today, Montana's greatest asset is "Montana land."