Montana Timeline History
Swedish gold panners in 1860s Montana. The Montana gold rush began in 1862

arrow Montana Timeline History

arrow 1743: Pierre De la Verendyre discovered Rocky Mountains

arrow 1795: Yellowstone River named by James Mackay

arrow 1803: U. S. acquired most of Montana in Louisiana Purchase

arrow 1807: Manuel Lisa built first fur fort on Yellowstone River

arrow 1832: First steam boat arrived at Fort Union

arrow 1841: Father Pierre Jean de Smer established St. Mary's Mission in Bitteroot Valley

arrow 1846: U. S. acquired the balance of Montana in Oregon Treaty

arrow 1862: Gold discovered at Grasshopper Creek

arrow 1864: Montana declared official territory; Butte founded

arrow 1872: Yellowstone National Park created by Congress

arrow 1876: Lt. Col George Custer and 210 men annihilated at Battle of Little Bighorn

arrow 1877: Indian wars ended in Montana; copper mining began in Butte

arrow 1880: Utah and Northern Railroad entered Montana

arrow 1889: Montana became 41st state

arrow 1910: Congress created Glacier National Park; forest fires devastated western Montana

arrow 1914: Montana women won right to vote

arrow 1916: Jeanette Rankin elected first woman in U. S. Congress

arrow 1919: Oil discovered in Cat Creek field

arrow 1921: Wave of bank failures began

arrow 1935: Works Progress Administration WPA: began projects; series of earthquakes hit central Montana

arrow 1943: 70 coal miners killed in Smith Mine disaster

arrow 1959: Earthquakes hit upper Madison Valley

arrow 1961: Nation's first ICBM missile command established at Malmstrom Air Force Base

arrow 1972: New state constitution adopted

arrow 1980: Volcanic fallout from Mt. St. Helen eruption blanketed Montana; Anaconda Copper Company closed Montana operations

arrow 1988: Montana economy affected by U. S. and Canada Free-Trade Agreement; forest fires swept through Yellowstone National Park

arrow 1994: 4,500 wildfires burned 286,000 acres

arrow 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

arrow 2001: Electricity industry deregulated; wildfires burned throughout Montana

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