Montana is a state in the United States. The name Montana comes from the Spanish word meaning “mountainous” and was first used when the area was designated a territory in 1864. Montana entered the Union on November 8, 1889, as the 41st state. Helena is the capital. Billings is the largest city. Montana is called the Treasure State because of its mineral wealth
Introduction to Montana - Video
Montana’s two main river systems are the Missouri River and its tributaries, which flow east to the Mississippi River, and tributaries of the Columbia River, which flow west into the Pacific Ocean. The Missouri and its major tributary, the Yellowstone River, are the principal rivers in eastern Montana. The Missouri begins at the confluence of the Gallatin, Madison, and Jefferson rivers, near the town of Three Forks. Other tributaries below Three Forks include the Sun, Teton, Marias, Smith, Judith, Musselshell, and Milk rivers. The Yellowstone rises south of Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, flows north into Montana and diagonally across the southeastern part of the state before joining the Missouri in North Dakota just east of the state border. Main tributaries are the Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone, the Bighorn, the Tongue, and the Powder rivers, all of which also originate in Wyoming. A tiny area of Montana is drained by the Belly and Saint Mary rivers, which, rising in Glacier National Park, flow northeast out of the state and into the Saskatchewan River in Canada. Their waters eventually reach Hudson Bay. Flathead Lake, with an area of 495 sq km (191 sq mi), is Montana’s largest lake, and the largest natural freshwater lake in the contiguous states west of the Mississippi River.
In western Montana, as compared with the eastern plains area, winters tend to be milder while summers are cooler. Precipitation is more evenly distributed throughout the year in the west, and it is cloudier and somewhat more humid in all seasons. In addition, the growing season is shorter in the west, where some intermountain areas experience only 50 to 100 days without frost a year. Eastern Montana has colder winters, warmer summers, less cloudiness, the heaviest precipitation in late spring and early summer, and considerably higher average wind velocities. Frost-free periods in the east and in the state’s low-lying river valleys range from 120 to 150 days per year. Climatic extremes in Montana are great. The lowest official temperature on record, -57°C (-70°F), occurred in 1954. In 1937 the warmest temperature of 47°C (117°F) was recorded. July mean temperatures range from about 22°C (about 72°F) in southeastern Montana to about 16°C (about 60°F) in the higher southwest. January means vary from less than -14°C (6°F) in the northeast to about -4°C (about 24°F) in the valleys of western Montana. Most of the eastern plains section and the larger valleys of the west average about 380 mm (about 15 in) of precipitation a year, while the higher mountain districts can receive more than 1,300 mm (50 in). Snowfall normally is heaviest in the mountains of the west, with as much as 7,600 mm (300 in) falling in some years. Storms of several types occur in Montana. Summer hailstorms may cause severe crop and property damage.
Introduction to Montana - Video
Native Americansmade Montana their home about 12,000 years before the European settlers found the 'Big Sky Country'. The Kootenai and the Salish lived primarily in the western part of the state. The Blackfoot, Flathead, Assiniboine, and Crow lived primarily in the eastern part of the state. Many other Native American groups, such as the Sioux, Gros Ventre, and Cheyenne also spent time in Montana. In addition, nomadic tribes, including the Nez Perce from the west and the Arapaho and the Teton from the south and east, wandered in and out of the region. Although present-day Montana had not been formally explored, France claimed all the land lying to the west of the Mississippi River, which included present-day Montana. Colonial rivalry had gradually developed between France and Great Britain over lucrative fur-trading posts and land west of the Appalachian Mountains. In 1754 the French and Indian War broke out between the French and the British. As the war progressed, the British gained a superior position, and the French asked for aid from the Spanish. In return for Spain’s aid, in 1762 France ceded its ally land, which included Montana. With the rise of Napoleon in France at the end of the 18th century, France reclaimed the land ceded 38 years earlier through the Treaty of San Ildefonso. In 1803 in a transaction called the Louisiana Purchase, the United States acquired this territory from France. The Louisiana Purchase was roughly bounded by the 49th parallel to the north, the Rocky Mountains to the west, the Mississippi River to the east, and the Gulf of Mexico to the south. After the Louisiana Purchase, President Thomas Jefferson sent out an expedition to explore the land acquired in the purchase and to search for a water route to the Pacific Ocean. Explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark left from St. Louis, Missouri, on their historic quest in May 1804. On April 26, 1805, they entered Montana above the mouth of the Yellowstone River and followed the Missouri River westward. When the expedition reached Great Falls, the explorers had to carry their canoes and gear over about 29 km (about 19 mi) of treacherous cataracts and rapids. Next, Lewis and Clark entered the steep canyon that they named the Gates of the Mountains. In July 1805 the expedition reached the headwaters of the Missouri River, called the Three Forks. They named the branches of the headwaters the Jefferson, the Gallatin, and the Madison rivers. They continued their journey on the Jefferson River. By a circuitous route they crossed the Rocky Mountains, and in mid-September they traversed Lolo Pass into Idaho and left Montana. The following spring the Lewis and Clark Expedition reentered Montana and separated so they could fully explore and chart the area. Lewis took a northern route along the Blackfoot, Marias, and Missouri rivers, and Clark went southeast along the Jefferson and Yellowstone rivers. On August 12, 1806, they met again below the mouth of the Yellowstone, and they left Montana. Montana’s first fur-trading post was established in 1807 by Manuel Lisa on the Bighorn River. It was known by a variety of names, including Fort Remon, Lisa’s Fort, and Fort Manuel. From this outpost, trappers traded with the Crow. David Thompson, a Canadian explorer and trapper for the North West Company, established a fort near Libby, Montana. The discovery of gold in Montana brought many white settlers to the region. The first recorded evidence of the presence of gold in Montana was written in John Owen’s diary in 1852. However, it was not until James and Granville Stuart and Reece Anderson found gold at Gold Creek in 1858 that prospectors began coming to Montana. The gold rush began in full force in 1862, when strikes were made on Grasshopper Creek. Hundreds of miners poured into Montana. Boomtowns thrived and declined as new discoveries of gold were made and as the old sites became depleted. Bannack, the first of the boomtowns, had a population of about 500 in 1862. It changed its name to Bannack City in 1864 when its population reached 1,000. Virginia City was founded on the site of a sizable 1863 strike, and it quickly grew to a city of about 10,000 people. Helena was founded at Last Chance Gulch after strikes were made there in 1864. In 1863 Idaho Territory was created, including present-day Idaho, Montana, and most of Wyoming. Montana was made a territory on May 26, 1864. A popularly elected bicameral legislature was given the authority to make laws, and the legislators sent one non-voting delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives to speak for Montana’s interests. From 1864 to 1875, Virginia City acted as the territory’s capital. In 1875 the capital was moved to Helena. In 1851 United States government officials met with Great Plains tribal leaders in Fort Laramie, Wyoming, and negotiated the Fort Laramie Treaty, which was meant to resolve conflict among hostile Native American groups and between Native Americans and whites. This treaty established territorial claims for the Blackfoot in north central Montana, for the Crow in the Yellowstone Valley, and for the Assiniboine in northeastern Montana. Four years later, Washington territorial governor Isaac Stevens opened negotiations with the Flathead, Kootenai, and Pend d’Oreille (primarily in Idaho), and later with the Blackfoot. Stevens intended to remove Native Americans to reservations. In exchange for ceded lands, Stevens promised the Native American groups improvements to reservations and annuities. The Flathead, Pend d’Oreille, and Kootenai agreed to share the Jocko Indian Reservation, which covered about 518,000 hectares (about 1,280,000 acres) to the south of Flathead Lake. The Flathead, who were reluctant to leave the Bitterroot Valley, inserted a clause into the treaty that allowed them to stay in their home for a temporary period. The Blackfoot also signed a treaty that bound them to a region in northern Montana. By 1868 nearly one-quarter of Montana had been set aside for reservations. However, whites frequently violated the treaties by using Native American land. As Montana became more populated during the gold rushes in the 1860s, white settlers and Native Americans clashed. Although the incidents were generally minor—a stolen horse or missing livestock—occasionally settlers or Native Americans were killed. In response to these incidents, the white immigrants demanded federal protection. In 1866 the army established Fort C.F. Smith, its first post in Montana. Later forts were built along the Mullan Road, near the Bozeman Trail, and to the east of Helena. The gold rush also provoked conflict between the Sioux in Montana and the white settlers. The Sioux were opposed to settlers using the Bozeman Trail, which crossed Sioux territory in the Great Plains region, to reach mining districts. The federal government attempted to negotiate with the Sioux at Fort Laramie in 1866, but the Sioux broke off the talks. Throughout the next few years, the Sioux regularly attacked settlements and travelers along the Bozeman Trail. In 1868 the government and the Sioux met at Fort Laramie again and signed a treaty, which closed the Bozeman Trail and provided a reservation for the Sioux in the Black Hills in Dakota Territory. Some Sioux were dissatisfied with this agreement, including Sioux leaders Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse. This group continued to live near the Bozeman Trail. In 1874 gold was found within the boundaries of the reservation in the Black Hills, which brought in white prospectors. Some Sioux left the reservation to join Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse. In 1876 the United States government sent troops, including Lieutenant Colonel George Custer and his regiment, to relocate this group to the reservation. On June 25, 1876, a Sioux force under Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse defeated Custer’s troops at the Little Bighorn. Although the Sioux were victorious in this famous battle, the United States sent reinforcements, and Crazy Horse gave up his arms in 1877. Sitting Bull conceded victory to the United States in 1881. In 1875 rich silver mines were discovered at Butte. William Andrews Clark bought Butte’s first silver mine and completed construction of the first smelter and stamping mill in 1876. A year after the silver discovery, Marcus Daly, an experienced miner, bought his first silver mine. The growing silver industry was boosted by the arrival of the railroad in Montana. Processed silver was easily transported to national markets, and by 1883 the Montana Territory had become the second largest silver producer in the nation, a position it maintained until the 1890s. Daly purchased the Anaconda Mine, near Butte, where copper, not silver, was discovered. The Anaconda Mine had one of the world’s richest copper veins. Daly developed a copper treatment center and expanded his operations regularly. Due to the proximity of natural resources such as water and timber and the availability of inexpensive labor, the Anaconda Mine soon became one of the leading copper producers in the country. The copper industry was extremely competitive. In 1898 Daly’s Anaconda Copper Company became embroiled in litigation about mining with Fritz Heinze, the owner of the Montana Ore Purchasing Company. Heinze, who had first worked for Daly as an underground surveyor, purchased the rights to land bordering Daly’s mines and laid claim to rich veins of copper he had seen inside Daly’s mines. The law permitted a mine owner to follow an ore vein under the land of another owner. In 1899 the Standard Oil Company bought control of Anaconda and incorporated it into a holding company, Anaconda-Amalgamated. Anaconda-Amalgamated filed suit against Heinze; however, Heinze’s influence over local judges and newspapers prevented a judgment against him. In 1903 the state legislature bowed to the pressure of Anaconda-Amalgamated and passed a change-of-venue law, enabling judges in other districts to hear controversial cases. This ended Heinze’s influence, and in 1906 he sold his Butte holdings to Anaconda-Amalgamated and moved to New York. In 1866 Montana’s acting territorial governor, General Thomas Francis Meagher, held the first constitutional convention and made the first petition for statehood. However, Montana’s population was still too small to change its territorial status. A second constitutional convention was held in 1884, but the Congress of the United States refused to consider statehood for Montana. Finally, in 1889 a third constitutional convention was held, and Montana was admitted to the Union as the 41st state on November 8, 1889. Montana’s constitution of 1889 limited the authority of the governor and granted each county one state senator. Although larger counties complained that more rural areas were getting a high level of representation, rural communities argued that they needed the voice to counteract the mining lobby. The first decade of Montana’s statehood was dominated by a rivalry between the mining magnates, who were known as the copper kings. Marcus Daly’s Anaconda Mine had one of the world’s richest copper veins. When William Clark began to have copper interests in addition to silver, he and Daly clashed over control of the industry. Clark unsuccessfully ran for the U.S. Senate in 1890 and again in 1893. In 1894 when Montana voters were given the opportunity to choose the state’s permanent capital, Daly campaigned in favor of moving the capital to Anaconda, while Clark maintained that Anaconda was ruled by mining interests and that the capital should remain in Helena. The people voted to keep the state capital in Helena. In 1900 Clark ran for senator and was elected. Nonetheless, Daly charged that Clark had run a corrupt campaign, which led to an investigation by the Senate Committee on Privileges and Elections. The committee found wrongdoing and voted unanimously to deny Clark his seat in the Senate. Montana attracted many immigrants. Its population grew from 39,159 in 1880 to 142,924 in 1890 and to 243,329 in 1900. The population growth was made possible by the completion of the railroads. Farming spread slowly, until the U.S. Congress passed the Enlarged Homestead Act of 1909. This legislation provided 130 hectares (320 acres) of public domain land in Arizona, Colorado, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming to settlers who pledged to cultivate half the land. Immediately after the passage of the act, land offices processed between 1,000 and 1,500 homestead land claims per month. Thousands of merchants, farmers, and professional people entered the state to acquire cheap land.
Largest city: Billings
State Nickname: Big Sky Country
Montana Motto: Oro y Plata
State bird: Western Meadowlark
State flower: Bitterroot
State tree: Ponderosa pine
State Animal: Grizzly bear
State Fish: Blackspotted cutthroat trout
State butterfly: Mourning cloak
State Seal (Coat of arms)
Montana became 41st state on
Median Household Income (2015 est.)
Governor: Steve Bullock (Democrat)
Current Montana time
Area of Montana
Highest point: Granite Peak