1743: Pierre De la Verendyre discovered Rocky Mountains 1795: Yellowstone River named by James Mackay 1803: U. S. acquired most of Montana in Louisiana Purchase 1807: Manuel Lisa built first fur fort on Yellowstone River 1832: First steam boat arrived at Fort Union 1841: Father Pierre Jean de Smer established St. Mary's Mission in Bitteroot Valley 1846: U. S. acquired the balance of Montana in Oregon Treaty 1862: Gold discovered at Grasshopper Creek 1864: Montana declared official territory; Butte founded 1872: Yellowstone National Park created by Congress 1876: Lt. Col George Custer and 210 men annihilated at Battle of Little Bighorn 1877: Indian wars ended in Montana; copper mining began in Butte 1880: Utah and Northern Railroad entered Montana 1889: Montana became 41st state 1910: Congress created Glacier National Park; forest fires devastated western Montana 1914: Montana women won right to vote 1916: Jeanette Rankin elected first woman in U. S. Congress 1919: Oil discovered in Cat Creek field 1921: Wave of bank failures began 1935: Works Progress Administration WPA: began projects; series of earthquakes hit central Montana 1943: 70 coal miners killed in Smith Mine disaster 1959: Earthquakes hit upper Madison Valley 1961: Nation's first ICBM missile command established at Malmstrom Air Force Base 1972: New state constitution adopted 1980: Volcanic fallout from Mt. St. Helen eruption blanketed Montana; Anaconda Copper Company closed Montana operations 1988: Montana economy affected by U. S. and Canada Free-Trade Agreement; forest fires swept through Yellowstone National Park 1994: 4,500 wildfires burned 286,000 acres 2000: 1,000,000 acres and 320 homes destroyed by wildfires in Bitterroot Valley; 19,600,000 acres state and federal land closed due to fire hazard 2001: Electricity industry deregulated; wildfires burned throughout Montana