First Peoples.....Study of Montana’s first peoples must be sensitive to their ancient historical origins. Tribal peoples practiced oral history traditions, with elders passing tribal stories to grandchildren, long before their contact with Europeans in the late 1400s A.D. and the advent of written records. Today’s tribal historians practice story-telling and modern historical documentation together. They also use petroglyphs and pictographs from ancient times, some just recently discovered, as evidence of aboriginal culture.......

Pre-History.....Montana is a land of broad dimensions, generally low rainfall, and two sharply contrasting regions, the west forested and mountainous, the east a high, wide, barren prairie. Its 147,138 square miles make it as large as New England, with New York and half of Pennsylvania thrown in. It houses a low population density of 5.66 per square mile. Glacier Park, in the northwest corner of the state contains "Triple Divide Peak." a high, water origin peak, from which water flows into three drainage systems: the Saskatchewan; which flows into the Arctic Ocean; the Columbia, which flows into the Pacific; and the Missouri, which flows into the Atlantic.......

The Gold Seekers.....
With the discovery of gold in the 1860s came the brief, but critical period of placer mining. Gold drew seekers from all over the west and from the eastern population centers. Unlike most fur traders, the gold seekers, and the business people who lived off them, saw the Indians as obstacles. By 1870 the placer-mining boom had pushed Montana’s non-Indian population above 20,000. But many of these “shortimers” left. The lucky ones with their “piles” and the unlucky ones with their empty pokes were gone by the early 1880s.......

The Stockgrowers.....
The next migrants washing into the state started Montana’s open-range stock-raising industry (1870-1887). Stock-raising spread white ranchers across the federal-domain grasslands and foreshadowed today's high-plains cattle ranching and wheat farming industries. Charlie Russell perhaps best depicted that open-range lifestyle. The ranchers' and farmers' Montana 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.....

The Industrial Miners
The arrival of the railroads to Montana in the late 19th century also made possible the rise of industrial mining. The industrial revolution in Europe and across the Atlantic created a demand for Montana's mineral resources. In a mining sequence that moved from gold, to silver, to copper, Butte developed into a nationally significant urban center during the 1890s. It is important to remember that Butte had electric lights and telephone service before the city of Denver. Atop “the richest hill on earth,” and spreading to the communities of Anaconda and Great Falls, the Anaconda Company became the dominant corporate power in Montana .......

The Homesteaders.......
Montana's next wave of immigration featured the forest and high-plains homestead boom. (1906-1918). Both experienced farmers and adventurers with no agricultural background filed on homesteads in the state's western national forests and across its central and eastern dry-land prairies. The immigrants’ euphoric optimism was matched only by Montana's high level of boosterism. Homestead towns sprouted throughout the state, fueled by lucrative international agricultural markets, a wet weather cycle, and banks with easy credit......

World War II and the Cold War......
As with the rest of the nation, World War II really shook Montana up! Not only did we send a disproportionate number of our young men and women into the armed forces, but many other Montanans emigrated to the West Coast for high-paying jobs in the war industries. Federal expenditures increased in the state. For example, the Federal government built East Base at Great Falls (later Malmstrom Air Force Base). After the war, Montana continued to be the site of military readiness........

Postwar Prosperity: Montana in the Mainstream :1945-1970......
With a heavy reliance on federal spending, Montana gradually integrated into the national and international economy, participating in the prosperity that the rest of the nation experienced after World War II. Young people left farms and ranches to find new opportunities in the small cities. The Anaconda Company gradually released its grip on Montana’s politics, journalism, and extractive industries. Though it did operate the efficient but environmentally devastating Berkley Pit on the northern edge of Butte (1955-1980), the company’s major interests moved out of Montana.......

The 1970s: A Decade of Political Change.....
In 1970, with energy resource development burgeoning and agricultural prices soaring, Montana was in the midst of an uncharacteristic prosperity. Montanans responded with one of the most dramatic political innovations of its history. Some have dubbed it a “political revolution.” For years, Montana’s cumbersome, outdated 1889 constitution had been under attack. Finally the state acted. A special election was called. Montanans elected a hundred, private-citizen delegates (office holders were not eligible) to a constitutional convention (ConCon) in 1971........

Montanans Struggle at the Close of the Century......
Ever since the Fur-Trade Era, Montana has reacted to national and international economic forces, sometimes by in-line dancing, but more often by knee-jerk or some other less explainable response. As America began to rebound economically in the 1980s and 1990s, the state enjoyed little of this national prosperity. The state's agriculture suffered from softening agricultural prices, compounded by a drought cycle in the 1990s. The fall of oil prices internationally brought less demand for Montana’s coal. Indeed the nation was shifting to a post-industrial economy, creating less demand for Montana’s traditional products........

Montana’s Future: Looking into the Twenty-first Century
At the start of the new century, Montanans are slowly recovering from a regional depression, which evolved into a recession. The state has rebounded before. Still, historians must ask, "What does Montana society have to look forward to?"
The future of any society rests on an assessment of its assests. Montana's greatest assest is its vaunted "Montana land". Much of Monana's "modern" era can be seen as a discussion of definitions and uses of land.....

Montana’s Legacy : Building the Future on the Past
As a final note to an overview of Montana History, one must celebrate the great legacy of Montana’s past. For in the state's past, lies the key to its future. The First People’s, the fur traders, the gold seekers, the stockgrowers, and the homesteaders were all attracted to Montana's rich, diverse, beautiful landscape. Though the land and people were exploited, and vast resource wealth taken out of the state, the land remains. For an informed, determined and visionary populace, there is still time. Much of Montana remains unspoiled, bedecked with spectacular scenery, pure water, and wide-open spaces......

INTRODUCTION.....Welcome Montana History Teachers (and MH buffs)! Our homepage will be a symbolic representation of Montana's history. Like tributaries flowing into a river, Montana's cultural epochs have formed through time the "river" that is our Montana History. During 2001, we will activate a growing educational resource of Montana History teaching materials My name is Dale Waniata, Christa McAuliffe Fellow for 2000-2001. My project is to develop the Montana History Website, a resource and clearinghouse for Montana's teachers. This website will offer a variety of materials to enhance the teaching of Montana History......