Abstract:
When Montana Territory was established in 1864, it was a land of Indian tepees.
Most of the plains of Montana were unsettled during 1860ies. The last frontier was vast
stretch of open country in Eastern Montana, homeland for Crows, Cheyennes, Sioux,
Blackfeet and last herds of buff alo. As American settlers pushed westward and reached
plains of Montana, they inevitably came into confl ict with Indian tribes that had long been
living on the land.
Colonization of Montana proceeded slightly later. Montana’s development was initiated
by the miners from the fi rst gold diggings of 1862. Main obstacle for rapid colonization
of Montana was the fact that it was remote. Montana was huge block of land and its
population tripled in the 1880s. When Prospective gold-diggers fl ooded into the Rocky
Mountains, the relentless pace of continental expansion inevitably heightened confl icts
with Indians. In Montana the Blackfoot and Crow were forced to leave their tribal lands.
Montana was the setting of the fi nal episodes of the Indian Wars.
Relocation of Indian, new cities, churches, newspapers, schools and farming changed
Montana forever. Railroads linked once isolated Montana with the rest of the world. End
of Indian Wars, destruction of buff alo cause disappearing of frontier and old Montana.
Transformation of Montana form wilderness to statehood took place during 1864-1889
