Montana
About Montana
History of Montana
Native Americans were the first inhabitants of Montana. Groups included the Crows in the south-central area, the Cheyenne in the southeast, the Blackfeet, Assiniboine and Gros Ventres in the central and north-central area and the Kootenai and Salish in the west. The smaller Pend d’Oreille and Kalispel tribes were found around Flathead Lake and the western mountains, respectively.
Subsequent to the Lewis and Clark expeditions and after the finding of gold and copper in the state in the late 1850s, Montana became a United States territory (Montana Territory) on May 26, 1864 and the 41st state on November 8, 1889.
Fort Shaw, (Montana Territory), was established in the spring of 1867. It is located west of Great Falls in the Sun River Valley, and was one of three posts authorized to be built by Congress in 1865. The other two posts in the Montana Territory were Camp Cooke on the Judith River and Fort C.F. Smith on the Bozeman Trail in southcentral Montana Territory. Fort Shaw, named after Colonel Robert G. Shaw, who commanded the 54th Massachusetts, one of the first all African-American regiments, during the American Civil War, was built of adobe and lumber by the 13th Infantry. The fort had a parade ground that was 400 feet square, and consisted of barracks for officers, a hospital, and a trading post, and could house up to 450 soldiers. Completed in 1868, it was used by military personnel until 1891.
After the close of the military post, the government established Fort Shaw as a school to provide industrial training to young Native Americans. The Fort Shaw Indian Industrial School was opened on April 30, 1892. The school had at one time 17 faculty members, 11 Indian assistants and 300 students. The school made use of over 20 of the buildings built by the Army. In 1902, a group of female students from the school began playing basketball and traveled throughout Montana, defeating high school teams and some college teams. In 1904, the girls’ basketball team traveled by train to the St. Louis World’s Fair. Over a period of five months time the team was challenged by numerous other basketball teams and won every contest, returning to Fort Shaw with the “world champion” trophy. On May 1, 2004 a monument in honor of the basketball team was unveiled at the entrance of the present-day Fort Shaw Elementary School.
The Enlarged Homestead Act of the early 1900s greatly affected the settlement of Montana. This Act expanded the land that was provided by the Homestead Act of 1862 from 160 acres to 320 acres. When the latter Act was signed by President Taft, it also reduced the time necessary to prove up from five years to three years and permitted five months’ absence from the claim each year.
In 1908, the Sun River Irrigation Project, west of Great Falls was opened up for homesteading. Under this Reclamation Act, a person could obtain 40 acres. Most of the people who came to file on these homesteads were young couples who were eager to live near the mountains where hunting and fishing were good. Many of these homesteaders came from the Midwest and Minnesota.
Montana was the scene of the Native Americans’ last effort to keep their land, and the last stand of U.S. Army Lt. Colonel George Armstrong Custer was fought near the present day town of Hardin. Montana was also the location of the final battles of the Nez Perce Wars.
Cattle ranching has long been central to Montana’s history and economy. The Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site in Deer Lodge Valley is maintained as a link to the ranching style of the late 19th century. It is operated by the National Park Service, but is also a 1900-acre (7.7 km²) working ranch.
Montana
Alberton Belgrade Big Sky Billings Bozeman Butte Choteau Colstrip Columbia Falls Cut Bank Darby Dillon Ennis Essex Forsyth Gardiner Glendive Great Falls Hamilton Havre Helena Kalispell Laurel Lewistown Libby Livingston Lolo Miles City Missoula Montana City Polson Red Lodge Roundup Shelby St. Regis West Yellowstone White Sulphur Springs Whitefish Wibaux
