History of Montana

The recorded history of Montana begins in 1803 with the signing of the Louisiana Purchase Treaty in Paris. The Treaty transferred the control of Montana to the United States and it remained a territory of the nation for over twenty-five years.

The region around Montana has been inhabited for thousands of years. Before the arrival of the Europeans, Native Americans including the Blackfoot, the Sioux, the Shoshone, the Arapaho, the Kootenai, the Cheyenne, and the Salish inhabited the region. The region began to be explored in earnest after Montana passed to the United States under the Louisiana Purchase (1803). The treaty was signed on April 30, 1803 by Robert Livingston, James Monroe, and Barbe Marbois at Paris. The United States Senate ratified the treaty on October 20. Next year, on March 10, 1804, a formal ceremony conducted in St. Louis, Missouri, transferred the ownership of the territory from France to the United States of America.

The Lewis and Clark expeditions in 1805 traveled westwards, and Francois Antoine Laroque, along with his North West Company of Canada, explored the Yellowstone River.

Gold and copper were discovered in the region in the late 1850s. Thereafter, on May 26, 1864, Montana became a territory of the United States. The parts of the region that are now under Montana belonged to the Oregon Territory (1848-1859), Washington Territory (1853-1863), Idaho Territory (1863-1864), and Dakota Territory (1861-1864). It remained a territory for twenty-five years and it was only when the federal government passed the Enabling Act of 1889 that Montana was admitted to the Union. The constitution was ratified by the voters and on November 8, 1889, President Benjamin Harrison proclaimed Montana as a separate state.

Sidney Edgerton was the first governor of the state. However, he was driven out of the region and the next governor Thomas Francis Meagher died a mysterious death.

Cattle ranching became increasingly popular in Montana. The discovery of silver at Butte (1875) and copper in the region boosted the economy of the state. The setting up of the Amalgamated Copper Company (later renamed Anaconda Copper Mining Company) was a major event. The coming of the railroads in the 1880s, including the Great Northern Railroad (1889), the Northern Pacific Railroad (1883) from Minneapolis, and the Union Pacific Railroad (1881) from Denver also enhanced the economic structure of Montana.

The coming of the railroads was a boon for the agricultural homesteaders. The population increased and also the number of farms. But this period of prosperity did not last long as the calamitous drought of 1919 and the consequent dust storms seared the fields. By the 1920s, the farms disappeared rapidly. The condition worsened with the fall in the wheat prices after the First World War. Also in the next few years, by 1926, half of the state's commercial banks failed.

The Great Depression of the early 1930s further deteriorated the financial conditions. But Montana, already accustomed to such conditions, took vigorous steps to revive the economy by undertaking farming, silver mining, financed irrigation and other public works projects. The development of hydroelectric power helped stimulate the economy. Major multipurpose dams generating power were built in Montana such as Fort Peck, Hungry Horse, and Canyon Ferry.

The economy grew after the Second World War with the oil boom of the early 1950s. Tourism became the third-largest industry in the state with Yellowstone and Glacier national parks, and the Flathead Lake as the largest tourist attractions.