On May 26, 1864, President Lincoln signed an enabling act creating Montana Territory. Twenty-five years later, on November 8, 1889, Montana became the forty-first state. Numerous Native American tribes, including Crow, Cheyenne, Assinboin, Atsina, Blackfoot, Kutenai, Pend d'Oreille, Kalispel, and Flathead, lived in the vast area we now call Montana. Meriwether Lewis, William Clark, and the members of their expedition were the first explorers to document a journey through Montana and the lands of the Louisiana Purchase. Soon, forts were established to facilitate regular fur trading with Native American tribes. Missionaries and trailblazers followed.
The discovery of gold in the early 1860s sped the creation of Montana Territory. As settlers and gold prospectors entered Montana in the 1860s and 1870s conflicts with the Indians arose. Perhaps the most famous clash between Native Americans and the United States military occurred in Montana on June 25, 1876. On that day, Sioux and Cheyenne defeated Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer's 7th United States Cavalry regiment at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, also known as Custer's Last Stand. A year later, the Nez Percé's Chief Joseph surrendered in the Bear Paw mountains of Montana after traveling over 1,000 miles across Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Montana.
Lured by gold in the 1860s and copper in the 1880s, mining brought many settlers to Montana. Rich grazing lands for cattle and sheep attracted other pioneers. Irene Binderies recalls her memories of moving to Superior, Montana as a young girl:
My family came to Superior from Missoula in 1898, when I was about 14. My father had been editor of several of the larger Montana papers, among them the Butte Miner. Our former environment had been so different from the one we found here that the mining atmosphere made quite an . . . impression on my brothers and sisters and me, at first mainly of shock."Social Life in and about Superior,"
Superior, Montana,
Mabel Olson, interviewer,
between 1936 and 1940.
American Life Histories, 1936-1940
Learn more about Montana in American Memory:
- Read more accounts of pioneer life in Montana. Search the collection American Life Histories, 1936-1940 on pioneer, homestead, Montana. Or, click on a state in the WPA Life Histories' map to browse a list of interviews conducted in that state.
- Search these American Memory collections on Montana to view additional Montana scenes including Glacier National Park:
- Examine bird's-eye view maps of Montana towns through the collection Panoramic Maps, 1847-1929. Follow the instructions presented with the map, and zoom in on an area of the map to see houses, churches, horse drawn carts, and much more in fine and accurate detail. See, for example, Helena in 1875, Miles City in 1883, or Butte about 1884.
