Montana State History - Montana, state in the western United States, the northernmost of the Rocky Mountain states. Montana is called the Treasure State because of its mineral wealth. 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.
Although many people consider Montana completely mountainous, two-thirds of the state is part of the Great Plains. From the majestic peaks of Glacier National Park in the northwest to the comparatively level terrain near the eastern border the Montana landscape is one of great beauty, an ever-changing panorama of forest and prairie, highland and broad valley.
Montana’s history has been turbulent. The region experienced an early and active fur-trading era. With the discovery of gold it developed a vigorous and wealthy mining frontier and later saw a brief but exciting period of the open-range cattle industry. Eventually, dryland and irrigated agriculture spread into many parts of the state. Today despite the arrival of urbanization and modern society, much of the old flavor of the frontier West survives in Montana.
The first wave of migration and settlement into Montana occurred when gold was discovered in Bannack (1862) and Alder Gulch (1863), south of Butte. Montana became a fusion of frontiers that included settlers who had originally gone to California and Oregon in the 1850s. The migration of eastern settlers, southern-born Civil War veterans, and foreign-born such as the Chinese came at the same time.
Montana was created as a territory in 1864. The area was formed from Washington Territory west of the Continental Divide and Nebraska Territory east of the Continental Divide. Statehood was granted in 1889.
After 1865, cargo and people destined for the gold camps arrived in Montana by steamboat up the Missouri River. Steamers usually left St. Louis or Sioux City in late March or early April and arrived at Ft. Benton, Montana, between May and July. The Mullan Road began in Ft. Benton and continued to the mines some 100 to 200 miles away. In 1867 the total number of people entering and leaving Montana by way of the Missouri River and Mullan Road routes was about 5,000.
Beginning in 1869 Montana territorial officials began advertising for settlers. An agent in New York was contracted to print pamphlets on the territory for distribution in Germany and Scandinavian countries. According to the 1870 U.S. census, Montana's population consisted of 18,306 whites, 1,949 Chinese, and 183 blacks. The estimated Native American population was 19,300. By 1872 the Montana Immigration Society was established in Helena, and by 1875 another immigration society was holding meetings in Bozeman. The agent for Bozeman was commissioned to bring immigrants into Big Horn and Yellowstone counties.
By 1883 the Northern Pacific Railroad was completed. From 1882 to 1883 the railroad sent out 2,500,000 pieces of literature advertising land for sale. Immigrants from northern Europe were sought as they could adapt to the climate and conditions of Montana, though only a few came. An English colony was established in Helena and the Yellowstone Valley in 1882; a few French came to Missoula County; and a few Dutch families settled in the Gallatin Valley in 1893. The most notable settlement was that of Finnish lumbermen east of Missoula in 1892. Italians and Germans settled in Fergus and Park counties, and many Germans came from North Dakota and Canada.
The cattlemen of Montana were primarily English and Scotch, although they drove cattle owned by the Germans. The sheepmen were also of English and Scotch origin.
American migrations included 506 individuals from Ripon, Wisconsin. This group of 115 families settled near Billings in 1882. Many southerners came to the state and settled in the Bitterroot Valley, and many immigrants from Oregon arrived driving cattle.
The smelters and mills of the Anaconda Copper Mining Company in Anaconda and Great Falls at first drew Scandinavian and Irish workers to the area. After 1900 a heavy influx of workers from the Balkan countries arrived. The Montana coal mines of Cascade, Carbon, and Musselshell counties were worked by the Irish, Poles, and Italians.
Native American - Some Native American Agency records are microfilmed and can be examined through the National Archives-Pacific Northwest Region (see page 9); FHL in Salt Lake City; and the University of Montana in Missoula, Montana. These agency records are very important and should not be overlooked when conducting Native American research. For a discussion of Native American ownership of land, see the Native American section for Oregon, which will explain some of the terms used below.
- Billings Area Office, Billings, Montana (1912–52). These records document the activities of the federal government as trustee of tribal lands and resources. Record sources include general decimal files, grazing leases, records concerning education, health, tribal enactments, irrigation, land transactions, forestry, soil conservation, agricultural extension, and road construction.
- Blackfeet Agency, Browning, Montana (1875–1959). Records include general correspondence, grazing permits, oil and gas production reports, census records, birth and health records, ledgers, abstracts of accounts of individual Indians, tribal council records, records concerning education, road, forestry, irrigation, credit, welfare, and rehabilitation programs. This agency was established in 1855 for the three bands of the Siksika Native Americans.
- Crow Agency, Crow Agency, Montana (1874–1959). This agency was established in 1869 and administered the affairs of the Mountain and River Crows. The River Crows were originally under the control of the Fort Peck Agency, but they gradually came under the control of the Crow Agency. Record sources include general correspondence and decimal files, student case files, school censuses, tractbooks, maps of the Crow reservations, grazing leases, building plans, annuity payrolls, ledgers for accounts of individual Indians, records of goods issued to Indians, census rolls, Indian court dockets, records concerning irrigation, forestry, Civilian Conservation Corps, and road programs.
- Flathead Agency, St. Ignatius, Montana (1875–1960). Records include general correspondence and decimal files; correspondence; reports and censuses concerning schools; grazing permits; leases; records concerning allotments and land transactions, and other records concerning land, irrigation, Civilian Conservation Corps, engineering, and road and forestry programs; ledgers for accounts of individual Indians; census reports; records concerning relief, welfare projects, and cases; Indian police and court records; credit program files; tribal accounts; and annuity payrolls. This agency was established in 1854 principally for the Flathead, Upper Pend d'Oreille, and Kutenai tribes. Lower Kalispells moved onto the Flathead Reservation in 1887, and Spokane moved to the reservation in 1894. In time, the distinctions became ignored and all were known as Flatheads.
- Fort Belknap Agency, Harlem, Montana (1877–1969). Records include general correspondence and decimal files, correspondence concerning education, school reports and applications, grazing permits, leases, ledgers for accounts of individual Indians, correspondence and reports about health and welfare, census rolls, family history cards, traders' licenses, police and court records concerning roads, land sales, Civilian Conservation Corps work, and financial matters. This agency was established in 1873 and had jurisdiction over the Gros Ventre and Upper Assiniboine along the Milk River.
- Fort Peck Agency, Popular, Montana (1871-1959), formally known as the Milk River Agency. Agency records include general correspondence and decimal files, school reports, records of 4-H activities, grazing permits, mining leases, ledgers for accounts of individual Indians, credit rehabilitation ledgers, industrial status reports, census records, medical reports, registers of Indians, birth and death records, welfare relief case files, tribal council records, and records concerning land allotments and sales, forestry and range management, irrigation, and road construction. This agency had jurisdiction over the Lower Assiniboine and Sioux, principally Yanktonai, Native Americans.
Indian schools were set up to further the education of the Native American youth. Two important schools whose records should not be overlooked are the Chemawa Indian School in Chemawa, Oregon, and the Fort Shaw School in Cascade County, Montana. These schools attracted students from many states. (For a more detailed account of the Chemawa Indian School, see Oregon—Native American section.) The Fort Shaw School was established in Fort Shaw in 1892 as a non-reservation school and closed in 1910. Its records consist of letters received, registers of pupils, rosters of employees, and cashbooks. A major Native American Collection is the James McLaughlin Papers. Major James McLaughlin was an Indian agent for some time in the Dakotas, Montana, and Wyoming Territory. He kept careful records of his dealings with many tribes. His papers include Native American family data and locations of specific families. Many families had become scattered during their subsequent relocation to reservations. Therefore, the James McLaughlin Papers are an excellent source for locating many of these scattered families. This collection consists of 30,000 pages with an index containing 15,675 cross-reference cards.
A guide to the James McLaughlin Papers is published and entitled Guide to the Microfilm Edition of the Major James McLaughlin Papers by Rev. Louis Pfaller (Richardson, N. Dak.: Assumption College, 1969).
A very important Native American collection for Montana, as well as Idaho, Oregon, and Washington, is the Pacific Northwest Tribes Missions Collection of the Oregon Province Archives of the Society of Jesus, 1853-1960. This massive collection of Jesuit records includes births, marriages, deaths, censuses, land records, church records, histories, and newspaper clippings. The following tribes are recorded in these records: Blackfoot, Cheyenne, Coeur d'Alene, Colville, Crow, Flathead, Kalispell, Kootenai, Nez Perce, Spokane, and Umatilla.
The following Jesuit missions are part of this collection: St. Mary's Mission (1841-1908), located in Stevensville, Montana, served the Flathead; St. Ignatius Mission, Montana (1854-1960), in the Flathead Valley, served the Kalispell along with the Flathead Reservation; St. Peter's Mission, Montana (1859-98), which was near the Blackfoot Reservation; Holy Family Mission, Montana (1890-1914), which was located on Two Medicine River a few miles from the Blackfoot Agency at Badger Creek; St. Joseph Labre Mission, Montana (1883-97), served the Northern Cheyenne near the present town of Harlem; St. Francis Xavier Mission, Montana (1887-1960), worked among the Crow; Sacred Heart Mission, Idaho (1842-1960), worked among the Coer d'Alene and was located near the town of De Smet; St. Joseph's Mission, Idaho (1874-1958), served the Nez Perce; St. Ignatius Mission, Washington (1845-55), on the Pend Oreille River, served the Kalispell (later removed to Flathead Valley of Montana); St. Paul Mission, Washington (1845-65), near Kettle Falls on the Upper Columbia River, ministered to the Kettle (or Colville); St. Francis Regis Mission, Washington (1845-1945), worked among the Chewelah; St. Mary's Mission, Washington (1886-1960), near Ellisford, served the Okanogan and Colville; and St. Andrew's Mission, Oregon (1888-1960), in the Pendleton area.
These records are on microfilm with a copy at the FHL and the originals at the Crosby Library, Gonzaga University, Spokane, Washington, which is where the Oregon Province Archives is now located. For a guide to the microfilm collection, see Robert C. Carriker and Eleanor R. Carriker, Guide to the Microfilm Edition of the Pacific Northwest Tribes Missions Collection of the Oregon Province Archives of the Society of Jesus (Wilmington, Del.: Scholarly Resources, 1987).
Other Ethnic Groups - The discovery of gold in Montana brought many Chinese into the region during the early 1860s. These Chinese were from the province of Kwangtung around the Canton area. The 1870 U.S. census of Montana Territory counted 1,943 Chinese, representing about 10 percent of the total population. By 1880 the number had declined to 1,765, but by 1890 had risen to 2,532.
By the 1870s there were a number of Chinese mining operations in western Montana. As placer mining declined during the late 1870s and 1880s, the Chinese moved into other fields such as railroad construction and business which served not only the Chinese population but the white majority as well. Montana's largest communities of Chinese were in Butte and Helena.
The most important institution in the Chinese community was the Joss House or Temple, which served the religious (Confucianism) as well as the social needs of the community. Butte's Chinatown had two Joss Houses. Another important institution was the Masonic temple.
The Chinese contributed much to the development of Montana, especially in the building of the Northern Pacific Railroad, which opened the state up to further development. Little remains of Montana's Chinese era. The failure of the community was due to racism, discriminatory laws, immigration laws, as well as the shortage of Chinese female emigrants in western America. For an excellent treatment of Montana's Chinese, see “Kwangtung to Big Sky: The Chinese in Montana, 1864-1900,” Montana: The Magazine of Western History 1 (Winter 1988): 38. The best method of researching the Chinese in Montana is county sources such as land, tax and court records, and federal census enumerations.
Finnish immigrants came to Montana in 1892 to work in the lumber mills and settled in Milltown, five miles east of Missoula. After 1900 Finnish immigrants came directly from Finland, and achieved a population of 570 in 1915.
Back to top |
