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Montana's Recent Human History

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Several other tribes of Plains Indians came to Montana in the 1800s -- the Northern Cheyenne, the Sioux, the Chippewas, the Crees, and the Metis. Tragically, these diverse tribes shared a common fate -- as non-native expansion encroached from the east, the new settlers "drove them from their lands, reduced them by war, disease, and alcohol, and shattered their native cultures" (Malone and Roeder, Montana: A History of Two Centuries). 200 years later, Native Americans constitute just six percent of Montana's population, and mostly well on one of Montana's seven semi-autonomous reservations. The burgeoning North American fur trade after 1805 was the driving force behind non-native expansion into Montana, and the conflict with native tribes that resulted.

Trappers, traders, and homesteaders who flocked to Montana did not find an easy life awaiting them. Drought in summer and unending drifts of snow in winter probably made them wish they’d never left home. But even before Montana actually became a state, in 1889, early European settlers in the area were able to test Montana's reputation as "the treasure state." Butte became the biggest mining camp in the West, and between the 1880s and the 1980s produced $2 billion worth of copper and other precious metals. Montana's other natural resources, of beaver, buffalo, wood, and coal, also became increasingly important to the national economy. Its vast open spaces also served for agricultural and cattle grazing purposes.

Several especially significant battles between Native Americans and European settlers occurred in Montana in the mid- to late-1800s: among them, the Battle of Little Bighorn in 1876, in which the Sioux and Northern Cheyenne defeated Lt. Col. Custer. Another landmark event in Montana's history took place in 1883, when the last spike was driven in for the Northern Pacific Railroad.

The rise of the "copper kings" around the turn of the 20th century also marked a famous chapter in Montana's more recent history. The political intrigue and economic exploitation associated with copper in Montana have also characterized other aspects of the state’s recent history. There has been ongoing conflict between the desire to utilize the state’s natural resources and the desire to preserve its natural beauty. Conservation movements gained significant victories in the 1970s, for which both residents and visitors to Montana will be forever grateful. Currently, Montana has two national parks and a national recreation area, ten national forests, fifteen wilderness areas, eight national wildlife refuges, 60 state parks, and seven state forests. The headwaters of many rivers, born as melting snow pours down the slopes of Montana's mountain ranges, flow fresh and clear, south and east from Montana. The landscape offers countless opportunities for the visitor or resident to stop dead in his tracks, stunned by a sudden vista of mountain, valley, and endless sky.

Resources:

Northern Plains. Lincolnwood, Illinois: Exxon Mobil Travel Guide, 2006.

Tirrell, Norma. Montana. Oakland, California: Compass American Guides, Inc., 1997.

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