Native Americans were the first inhabitants of the area to become known as the state of Montana.
The Lewis and Clark Expedition of 1804-1806 was the first group of white explorers to cross Montana. Trappers brought alcohol, disease, and a new economic system to native populations.
The discovery of gold brought many prospectors into the area in the 1860s, and Montana became a territory in 1864. The rapid influx of people led to boomtowns that grew rapidly and declined just as quickly when the gold ran out.
As more white people came into the area, Indians lost access to their traditional hunting grounds, and conflicts grew. The Sioux and Cheyenne were victorious in 1876 at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, and Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce won a battle in the Big Hole Basin (1877).
During the 1880s railroads crossed Montana, and the territory became a state in 1889. Hardrock mining also began at this time. Butte became famous when silver and copper were discovered. The Anaconda Copper Company, owned by Marcus Daly, became one of the world’s largest copper mining companies and exercised inordinate influence in the state.
Photo Courtesy of the World Museum of Mining
Montana’s post-World War I depression extended through the 1920s and right into the Great Depression of the 1930s. Then, President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “New Deal” brought relief to the state in the form of various projects and agencies. As across the nation, World War II broke the hold of the Great Depression on Montana. The war brought additional federal monies to the state, but drew young people into the service and into wartime industries on the West Coast.
Post-war or “modern” Montana (1945-2000) has been characterized by a slow shift from an economy that relies on the extraction of natural resources to one that is service-based. Such traditional industries as copper, petroleum, coal, and timber have suffered wild market fluctuations and unstable employment patterns. Agriculture — while dependent on weather, a declining workforce, and international markets — has remained Montana’s primary industry throughout the era.
The full article can be found on the official montana.gov website