History

Present day Montana is nothing like it used to be. It used to be filled with indigenous peoples of several Indian tribes. Some of the most popular of these tribes include the Blackfoot, Crow, Cheyenne, Assinboine, and Salish. These were the most well known of the tribes because they were often encountered by the Europeans when they came to America. East of the continental divide, Montana was part of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. not long after that, it became a part of the Lewis and Clark trail in the 1850's, closely followed by the great gold rush. Montana became the forty fourth territory in May 1864, then became the official forty first state in November 1889. The first permanent white settlers that took over the land where French Jesuit Missionaries. They taught the Salish about agriculture, Roman Catholic Christianity, and medicine. The Salish became so interested in the "Black robes" as they nicknamed them, that they allowed them to live among the tribes people with no issues.

After the first missionaries settles with the Salish in what is now the present day Stevensville area, Major John Owen set up a trading post and military base right outside of the area the Jesuits claimed. This area, claimed Fort Shaw, was one of the first territories that was passed by congress to be built on. When the fort eventually closed, it was converted into a school by the government to teach industrial skills to the young Natives in the area. The fort was a perfect place for such because there were many people to attend and it was already fully equipped with a trading post, hospital and barracks for sleeping.

The great homestead act of 1890 was one of the best things that happened to Montana. It expanded the land owned by the people from 120 acres to 320 acres per individual. With this newer act, you only had three years to claim it and you could only be gone five months of the year once you have staked a claim to it. In 1908 when Montana was opened for homesteading in Great Falls, a person could claim forty acres. Most of the people that participated were young couples from the Midwest, eager to live near the mountains where fishing and hunting would be plentiful. There were many issues at this time as the Indian's fought to keep hold of their land.