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“Michael Johnson has found Rose Gordon’s voice, and all Montanans should applaud. Johnson presents the important Gordon family, and Rose’s own life and times, through her own words and in the context of Montana and the nation’s racial environment. The result is rare insight and marvelous reading—I came to love Rose, her words, and Johnson’s work.” —Ken Robison, author of Cold War Montana and Historic Tales of Whoop-Up Country

Rooted in the railroad and ranching industries, Glendive, Montana, lies in the lower Yellowstone Valley about thirty miles from the North Dakota border. First and foremost a railroad town, Glendive's development and architecture reflect its Northern Pacific heritage and the spirit of its residents. Discover the history of "Gate City" of the Yellowstone Valley in this lively guide to Glendive's historic buildings.

Founded in 1890 against the backdrop of the lush Bitterroot Valley, the town of Hamilton emerged with the growth of western Montana's timber, railroad, and agriculture industries. Hamilton owes its early history to copper baron Marcus Daly, whose Anaconda Company sawmill and private Bitter Root Stock Farm dominated the community through the late nineteenth century. The drama of the twentieth-century apple boom and the saga of the battle to find a cure for Rocky Mountain tick fever enrich the town's more recent past. Offering detailed architectural and historical insights on the buildings and historic sites of both Hamilton and the surrounding Bitterroot Valley, this informative guide will entice readers to explore "the jewel of the Bitterroot."

Founded in 1891 as a railroad town for the transcontinental Great Northern Railway, Kalispell, Montana, faced bitter disappointment when the railroad relocated its route to the north in 1904. Most towns suffering similar fates fell into decline, but not Kalispell. Designated the Flathead County seat in 1894, Kalispell—named for the region's Q’lispé tribe—retained its status as regional center of trade and grew to become a gateway to Glacier National Park. Discover the fascinating history and architecture of this leading town of northwest Montana.

In the geographic center of Montana sits Lewistown, the seat of Fergus County. Founded in the 1870s by Métis traders, Lewistown grew rapidly during the homesteading boom. Its population tripled between 1900 and 1910, then doubled again by 1920, as this advantageously located rail stop and commercial center expanded to become the thriving hub of central Montana. The architectural heritage of Lewistown awaits your discovery.

Since 1865, the Montana Historical Society has pursued its mission to collect and protect items of significance to Montana’s past for the pleasure and education of residents and visitors. A History of Montana in 101 Objects showcases the remarkable collection of artifacts preserved at the Montana Historical Society. This assemblage of objects and interpretive essays, accompanied by beautiful photographs by MHS photographer Tom Ferris, draws attention to the diversity of experiences—the triumphs and the sorrows, the everyday struggles and joys—that made Montana.

A History of Montana in 101 Places outlines how community organizations, everyday folks, and local, state, and federal governments have made and remade the Last Best Place. 101 Places features diverse locations that embody major cultural, economic, and political developments in the history of the state. Indigenous cultural sites share space with battlefields, schools, farms, taverns, and mines as these places come together to tell Montana's story.

The first comprehensive history of the Fort Peck Indian Reservation commissioned by the tribes themselves, The History of the Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, 1600–2012 is an authoritative scholarly exploration of the struggles and triumphs of the Native Americans who were relegated by the federal government to a reservation in northeastern Montana in the late 1880s. Written by five scholars of Native American Studies,including tribal members, the narrative traces Assiniboine and Sioux tribal history from pre-contact with whites through the brutal early reservation period, two world wars, the turbulent 1960s, and into the 21st century. Drawn mostly from primary sources, including federal archives and private materials, this book is a benchmark in the publication of tribal histories with a native point of view. Copublished with Fort Peck Community College.

In the 1930s and 1940s, four Farm Security Administration photographers were detailed to Montana to document the effects of the Great Depression on the state. Traveling throughout the state, Arthur Rothstein, Marion Post Wolcott, Russell Lee, and John Vachon captured the many ways the Depression altered Montana's rural and urban communities, changed its agricultural and industrial economies, and affected the work and play of its residents. Rothstein, Wolcott, Lee, and Vachon's photographs are both stunning pieces of art and important historical documents. Today these striking images present an unforgettable portrait of a little-studied period in the history of Montana, documenting both the hardships Montanans experienced and their faith in a brighter future. Selected from the FSA Collection at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., the photographs in Hope in Hard Times offer viewers an unparalleled look at life in Montana in the years preceding the United States' entry into World War II.

Recorded by Kootenai elders and illustrated by Kootenai artists from the Flathead Indian Reservation in western Montana, these Kootenai stories were originally intended to help educate young tribal members about their history and culture. The collection includes "How Marten Got His Spots," in which Marten learns a hard lesson in obedience; "Coyote and Trout," in which Coyote discovers the consequences of greed; "Little Weasel's Dream," in which a child learns the importance of listening to his elders; and "Tepee Making," an illustrated lesson in tepee construction. For centuries, Kootenai children and adults gathered on cold, dark winter nights to share and learn from stories like these. Co-published with Salish Kootenai College Press.

Weddings make for great—and sometimes startling—stories: the woman who escaped from her bedroom window to run off with a neighboring rancher; the priest who planned to combine an eighth-grade graduation ceremony with a wedding mass; the couple who courted for years by mail before managing to overcome the vast distance that separated them; the wedding guests who played cards while waiting for the bride’s grandparents to arrive on a delayed train; the mail-order bride who jilted the man who sent for her; the couple who married on the main pavilion of the 1905 Flathead County Fair; the couple who exchanged their vows at a Great Falls gun show.

The story of the Salish people's relationship to the buffalo—including their role in protecting the species—is preserved in this collection, which includes all extant interviews by the Montana Writers Project with Salish elders from the Flathead Reservation. This well-rounded book offers bison-related cultural legends, discussion of traditional lifeways, and biographies of important figures on the reservation, offering a glimpse into tribal life as it was lived in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and reinforcing the significance of bison to Montana's Salish people. Co-published with Salish Kootenai College Press.

Suffragist, social worker, lifelong peace activist, and tireless advocate for political reform, Jeannette Rankin is often remembered as the first woman elected to the United States Congress and as the only Congressperson who voted "no" to U.S. involvement in both world wars. Rankin's determined voice shines in this biography, written by her friend, Norma Smith.

In this collection of essays from the 1994 Little Bighorn Legacy Symposium, an outstanding array of scholars discuss the battle's context, historical significance, and cultural impacts from both white and Native American perspectives. Contributors include Richard A. Fox, Jr., Paul Andrew Hutton, Edward T. Linenthal, and Richard S. Slotkin. Essays examine such diverse topics as the environmental context of the northern plains, new archaeological discoveries about the battle, how Custer has been portrayed in art and the movies, and the battle's symbolic legacy.

In Mary Quequesah's Love Story, a tale from the buffalo-hunting era of the nineteenth century, a young woman confronts the difficulties of love. After Mary's husband leaves her, a wise old woman dreams of Mary's sorrow and tells her how to win him back.

Mining Childhood offers a child’s-eye view of Butte, Montana, from 1900 to 1960, the six decades marking Butte’s fame as the “Richest Hill on Earth.” The biographical stories presented here remind us that children were not sheltered from the "adult" world around them; rather, they were shapers of that world. Children were keen observers and active participants in community life, and their accounts of work, play, family, schooling, ethnicity, and neighborhood life offer fresh perspectives on Montana's mining city in all its complexity.

Collector and historian Thomas Minckler spent a half century gathering nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century letters and documents, vintage photographs, rare books, and paintings. He shares these collections in Montana: A Paper Trail. Minckler’s decades of researching and contextualizing items in his collection uncovered innumerable valuable insights on Montana history. Each artifact’s unique paper trail reveals a journey that contributes to the fascinating story of Montana.

From Alder to Yellowbells, sixty native Montana plants are featured in this fascinating and informative guide, now in a new, easy-to-use format. Learn how Indigenous people and early settlers of the Rocky Mountain West used these native plants for food, medicine, and religious rituals. Each illustrated entry also gives a detailed description of the plant and its habitat and range.

Montana Place Names from Alzada to Zortman explores the origins of more than 1,200 place names in the Big Sky State. Written by Montana Historical Society staff and drawing on the expertise of historians from around the state, this book includes detailed descriptions of towns and cities, geographic features, parks and battlefields, properties on the National Register of Historic Places, and more. A full-color map and extensive index help readers to locate each place, and historic images reveal the Montana of yesteryear.

Montana’s Charlie Russell brings to life the Montana Historical Society’s world-class collection of paintings, drawings, sculptures, bronzes, and illustrated letters by the Treasure State’s famed Cowboy Artist. Using advanced digital technology, each of the 230 pieces in the Society’s permanent collection has been meticulously photographed to bring to life, in vivid color, Russell’s artistic mastery. Carefully researched scholarship illuminates the stories behind each artwork. The result is a catalog of Russell’s art as you’ve never seen it before!

An imposing symbol, Montana's Capitol reflects the values and aspirations of the Treasure State's founders. Its neoclassical design echoes the architecture of early Greece and Rome, while the murals and statues that embellish the building's grand interior spaces commemorate important events and people in the state's history. Lavishly illustrated with both historic and modern photographs, Montana's State Capitol: The People's House provides a long overdue tribute to the crown jewel of Montana architecture. Essays explore the construction of the Capitol and the creation of the sculpture and murals that adorn its halls, including one of artist Charles M. Russell's most admired works. Published to honor the building on its centennial anniversary, Montana's State Capitol will provide readers with a fresh appreciation for this "Temple of Democracy."

"Montana: Stories of the Land includes the 'Indian side of the story.' It offers Indians' perspectives not just on the settlement era of Montana history, but on the Depression, World War II, and the 1972 Constitutional Convention. . . . This text tells all the stories of the land." —Professor Walter C. Fleming, Chair of the Native American Studies Department, MSU

“As Lou Mandler’s sprightly written, extensively researched biography reveals, Fraser was the rare politician: a hard-working, imaginative visionary with pragmatic flexibility. He rightfully claims the title as ‘Billings’s greatest mayor.’ ” ~Keith Edgerton, MSU–Billings

When Evelyn Cameron first rode into Miles City in the dark blue divided riding skirt she had ordered from California, oh, the scandal it caused. Ellen Baumler tells that story and more in this expanded volume of the most funny, bizarre, and interesting episodes from Montana’s history.

For more than one hundred years, the Arlee Fourth of July Celebration, or Powwow, on the Flathead Indian Reservation has brought people together to honor the traditions of the Salish. Over a Century of Moving to the Drum: Salish Indian Celebrations on the Flathead Indian Reservation, by Salish teacher and spiritual advisor Johnny Arlee, offers a tribute to this longstanding community event. Lavishly illustrated with pen and ink sketches of powwow scenes and photographs of powwows in the 1940s, the main narrative is based on interviews Arlee conducted with Salish elders in the 1970s. Excerpts of the interviews—and interviews with modern powwow participants—round out the volume. Copublished with Salish Kootenai College Press.

Step into the world of the Kootenai and Blackfeet peoples, whose traditional territories included the area that is now Glacier National Park. In this book, the Kootenai and Blackfeet Tribes share their traditions—stories and legends, foodways and hunting techniques, games and spiritual beliefs. Readers will discover the rich history of the people who called the Crown of the Continent home.

The Quest showcases seventy-one arresting photographs by Dr. Richard Buswell. This powerful collection brings readers into an evocative and contemplative space, where images of deteriorating past are captured to bring out their hidden beauty. The abandoned material things of everyday life take on new energy through his camera lens, strange and wonderful. This is a journey into a world suspended between a receding past and the magical present.

The Red Corner chronicles the meteoric rise and decline of Communism on the prairies of northeastern Montana. During the 1920s and early 1930s, Sheridan County boasted a government largely run by Communists, a Communist camp for local youth, and an official newspaper of the Communist Party USA—the Producers News. By the mid-1930s, however, Communist influence in the region had waned, and area residents soon came to regard the county’s embrace of Communism as a shameful period in its history.

"In Searching for Yellowstone [Schullery] has given us a refreshingly unhyperbolic look at the place he loves, and has thus notably honored its beauty, its mystery, its people, its past—and its future." —New York Times Book Review Searching for Yellowstone: Ecology and Wonder in the Last Wilderness traces Yellowstone's social and ecological history from the Pleistocene to the present in a seminal work that the press is pleased to bring back into print.

If ghosts are the restless spirits of those who died violently or suddenly, then Montana's turbulent frontier history offers a rich setting for these haunting stories. This wonderful collection—based on oral testimony, diaries, journals, and newspaper accounts—presents an eerie history of the state's legendary mining towns. In addition to their ghoulish intrigue, these stories combine to provide new perspectives and a great appreciation for Montana's past.

Railroads brought more to Montana and the West than passengers and a fast way to get back to “civilization.” The coming of the “iron horse” invigorated existing towns, created new ones, and generated employment on the railroads and in the communities through which they passed. Ties, Rails, and Telegraph Wires provides a window into the lives of the laborers, engineers, firemen, conductors, water tank operators, station agents, telegraphers, and section crews, as well as the town folk and rural residents who came to count on the railroads for employment, transportation, shipping freight, sending mail, and more. Heavily illustrated with dozens of railroad-related historic photographs, the book includes stories about the railroads told by Western writers such as Ivan Doig, Mary Clearman Blue, and Alice Munro. Let Ties, Rails, and Telegraph Wires put a face and a place to “Waiting for a Train.”

Ambitious, enterprising, and abusive, Nelson Story was an early Montana pioneer who made a fortune while making enemies and building the town of Bozeman. This biography covers the sweeping scope of Story’s exciting life, from his sojourn to Montana Territory in the 1860s with a Texas cattle drive and his savvy profiteering during the gold rush to his involvement in government contract fraud and his role in the development of Bozeman. A complex figure, Story possessed vision and entrepreneurial genius, but was also a ruthless businessman who was willing to resort to violence to achieve his goals.

In 1824, Brigadier General Henry Atkinson and Indian Agent Benjamin O'Fallon traveled up the Missouri River, accompanied by 475 soldiers of the First and Sixth Infantry regiments. Their mission was to negotiate peace treaties with tribes along the Missouri River, and to secure these tribes' promise to trade exclusively with American traders. It was hoped this combination of military power and proffered friendship would put an end to Indian attacks on American fur trappers and traders. The full record of this early military expedition is now available in Wheel Boats on the Missouri. The journals of General Atkinson and Major Stephen Watts Kearny describe the trip from St. Louis to Fort Atkinson in the fall of 1824, the expedition from the fort to the Yellowstone River and back in 1825, and the return of a portion of the troops to St. Louis in 1826. In addition, the diary of Angus Lewis Langham, the expedition's secretary, describes the passage of the wheel boat Antelope from St. Louis to Fort Atkinson in early spring of 1825. This fully annotated volume also includes a discussion of the early use of the wheel boat to travel the Missouri River and the expedition's financial records.

Several federal laws, state laws, implementing regulations, executive orders, policies, and guidelines have been enacted to regulate and manage cultural resources. This document appends the Montana SHPO Consultation Guide and provides an overview of laws and regulations relevant to preservation of cultural and historic resources in Montana.

Several federal laws, state laws, implementing regulations, executive orders, policies, and guidelines have been enacted to regulate and manage cultural resources. This document appends the Montana SHPO Consultation Guide and provides an overview of laws and regulations relevant to preservation of cultural and historic resources in Montana.

Your Opportunity to Comment on Proposed Changes to Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act.

Montana properties added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2025 and 2026

A guide to researching information necessary to nominate a property to the National Register of Historic Places.

Summary

The Montana 250 Commission has been busy looking for ways to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the founding of the US including a lot of educational programming. They've funded the Civics Bee competitions, National History Day, prizes and teacher training, and traveling exhibits. They've also worked with OPI to sponsor the Seal of Civic Literacy and the Montana Challenge. If you teach middle school or high school and didn't have your students participate in any of these programs this year, consider them for next year!

If you are changing schools, please re-subscribe using your new address! We'd hate to lose touch. Also, it's time for my annual end of year survey, where I ask teachers to share their favorite lesson or strategy. Participation has been down the last few years, and I think that's a shame because y'all do really cool stuff and other teachers should know about it. So--I hope you'll take a moment to share with us your favorite lesson plan, strategy or resources. Teacher recommended strategies, lesson plans, and other resources (whether created by MTHS or by someone else) are reliably readers' favorite posts to Teaching Montana History. I’d also appreciate your feedback on the services and resources MTHS.

Looking for a fun end-of-the-year project? This year's National Christmas Tree is coming from US Forest Service Region 1, which included Idaho, Montana, and North Dakota, and the Forest Service is recruiting 10,000 hand-made ornaments to send to the capitol.

Last week we hosted our final Social Studies Third Tuesday for the year. Three MTHS Teacher Leaders in History--Jodi Delaney (Helena, grades 4-5), April Wills (Culbertson, middle school), and Cynthia Wilondek (Bigfork, high school)--talked about cemetery projects they conduct with their students. It was fascinating and inspiring! You can watch the recording here. (Please forgive the fact that I kept opening up different files during their presentation. I was trying to gather links to resources to share with participants in a follow up email and thought I could do it without disrupting the proceedings. I was wrong!)  

April is National Poetry Month! Last week I focused on reading poetry. Below are a few lessons that ask students to write poetry as a way of better understanding Montana history. I'll list them in grade level order (elementary first).

April is National Poetry Month! Here are some poets that are worth teaching in your Montana history class (and/or Montana history-related content to teach in English class).

We are in the process of reviewing all of our PowerPoints and PDFs to make sure they are ADA compliant, which means a couple of things: You may encounter links we've broken inadvertently (particularly to PowerPoints). If you do come across a broken link, please let me know ASAP and I'll get you the information and get it fixed. We are trying to be vigilant, but I could use your help catching things. As I look over our many offerings, I have rediscovered some old favorites I think are worth sharing, particularly as we come to the end of the year.

One of my favorite lessons in the Montana: A History of Our Home curriculum is "Introduction to the Early Contact Period," Part 2 of Unit 2, "Montana's First People" (find it beginning on page 8 of this document.) I love this lesson so much that we also feature it in the Montana's First Peoples hands-on history footlocker under the title "Who Lived in Montana in 1804?". The lesson begins with a narrated slide show, “Introduction to the Early Contact Period,” which provides background information about some of the resources used by Plateau and Plains tribes and seasonal rounds.

In honor of the semiquincentennial (250th anniversary of the founding of the United States), Sons and Daughters of Montana Pioneers approached the Montana 250th Commission with the idea of creating a test, modeled on the US citizenship test, focusing on students' knowledge of Montana history, geography, and government. Thus, the Montana Challenge was born. Any student grades 6-12 can take the Montana Challenge. They do not need to be working towards a Seal of Civic Literacy (more on that below.) Those who pass with 80% or higher will receive a certificate and will be entered into a drawing for a $25 Visa gift card. Thanks to the Sons and Daughters' generosity, we have THREE HUNDRED of these gift cards to distribute to students. Prizes will be awarded in May 2026 and December 2026.

The Montana 250 Commission has been busy looking for ways to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the founding of the US including a lot of educational programming. They've funded the Civics Bee competitions, National History Day, prizes and teacher training, and traveling exhibits. They've also worked with OPI to sponsor the Seal of Civic Literacy and the Montana Challenge. If you teach middle school or high school and didn't have your students participate in any of these programs this year, consider them for next year!

If you are changing schools, please re-subscribe using your new address! We'd hate to lose touch. Also, it's time for my annual end of year survey, where I ask teachers to share their favorite lesson or strategy. Participation has been down the last few years, and I think that's a shame because y'all do really cool stuff and other teachers should know about it. So--I hope you'll take a moment to share with us your favorite lesson plan, strategy or resources. Teacher recommended strategies, lesson plans, and other resources (whether created by MTHS or by someone else) are reliably readers' favorite posts to Teaching Montana History. I’d also appreciate your feedback on the services and resources MTHS.

Looking for a fun end-of-the-year project? This year's National Christmas Tree is coming from US Forest Service Region 1, which included Idaho, Montana, and North Dakota, and the Forest Service is recruiting 10,000 hand-made ornaments to send to the capitol.

Last week we hosted our final Social Studies Third Tuesday for the year. Three MTHS Teacher Leaders in History--Jodi Delaney (Helena, grades 4-5), April Wills (Culbertson, middle school), and Cynthia Wilondek (Bigfork, high school)--talked about cemetery projects they conduct with their students. It was fascinating and inspiring! You can watch the recording here. (Please forgive the fact that I kept opening up different files during their presentation. I was trying to gather links to resources to share with participants in a follow up email and thought I could do it without disrupting the proceedings. I was wrong!)  

April is National Poetry Month! Last week I focused on reading poetry. Below are a few lessons that ask students to write poetry as a way of better understanding Montana history. I'll list them in grade level order (elementary first).

April is National Poetry Month! Here are some poets that are worth teaching in your Montana history class (and/or Montana history-related content to teach in English class).

We are in the process of reviewing all of our PowerPoints and PDFs to make sure they are ADA compliant, which means a couple of things: You may encounter links we've broken inadvertently (particularly to PowerPoints). If you do come across a broken link, please let me know ASAP and I'll get you the information and get it fixed. We are trying to be vigilant, but I could use your help catching things. As I look over our many offerings, I have rediscovered some old favorites I think are worth sharing, particularly as we come to the end of the year.

Interesting Articles from the Montana Free Press Do you subscribe to the Montana Free Press? I've recommended it before and I'm recommending it again. Here are a few of the fascinating articles they've published recently.

With the help of the Montana 250th Commission, the Montana Office of Public Instruction has created a Seal of Civics Literacy to recognize students who demonstrate strong knowledge of civics and active engagement in their communities, reflecting Montana’s commitment to meaningful civics education. Applications to receive the Seal of Civics Literacy are due to OPI by May 1, 2026. To earn the Seal students must: complete the OPI's version of the U.S. Naturalization (USCIS) test with a score of 80% or higher. complete the required .5 credits of Civics courses during high school as approved by the Board of Public Education. EITHER perform 40 hours of community service OR perform 20 hours of community service while also passing the Montana Challenge test created by the Montana Historical Society and the Sons and Daughters of Montana Pioneers.

In honor of the semiquincentennial (250th anniversary of the founding of the United States), Sons and Daughters of Montana Pioneers approached the Montana 250th Commission with the idea of creating a test, modeled on the US citizenship test, focusing on students' knowledge of Montana history, geography, and government. Thus, the Montana Challenge was born. Any student grades 6-12 can take the Montana Challenge. They do not need to be working towards a Seal of Civic Literacy (more on that below.) Those who pass with 80% or higher will receive a certificate and will be entered into a drawing for a $25 Visa gift card. Thanks to the Sons and Daughters' generosity, we have THREE HUNDRED of these gift cards to distribute to students. Prizes will be awarded in May 2026 and December 2026.

League of Women Voters guest speakers will travel to speak to your students about the history of suffrage, the voting process, and medial literacy.

The Montana 250 Commission has been busy looking for ways to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the founding of the US including a lot of educational programming. They've funded the Civics Bee competitions, National History Day, prizes and teacher training, and traveling exhibits. They've also worked with OPI to sponsor the Seal of Civic Literacy and the Montana Challenge. If you teach middle school or high school and didn't have your students participate in any of these programs this year, consider them for next year!

Bring a Virtual Guest Speaker into Your Class for Montana Constitution Day On March 22, 1972, all 100 delegates to the Montana Constitutional Convention signed a new constitution for the State of Montana. And just as we celebrate Constitution Day in the U.S. on September 17 to commemorate the September 17, 1787, signing of the United States Constitution, the Friends of the Montana Constitution are calling on Montanans to commemorate our State Constitution every year on March 22 – Montana Constitution Day!

With the help of the Montana 250th Commission, the Montana Office of Public Instruction has created a Seal of Civics Literacy to recognize students who demonstrate strong knowledge of civics and active engagement in their communities, reflecting Montana’s commitment to meaningful civics education. Applications to receive the Seal of Civics Literacy are due to OPI by May 1, 2026. To earn the Seal students must: complete the OPI's version of the U.S. Naturalization (USCIS) test with a score of 80% or higher. complete the required .5 credits of Civics courses during high school as approved by the Board of Public Education. EITHER perform 40 hours of community service OR perform 20 hours of community service while also passing the Montana Challenge test created by the Montana Historical Society and the Sons and Daughters of Montana Pioneers.

League of Women Voters guest speakers will travel to speak to your students about the history of suffrage, the voting process, and medial literacy.

If you are changing schools, please re-subscribe using your new address! We'd hate to lose touch. Also, it's time for my annual end of year survey, where I ask teachers to share their favorite lesson or strategy. Participation has been down the last few years, and I think that's a shame because y'all do really cool stuff and other teachers should know about it. So--I hope you'll take a moment to share with us your favorite lesson plan, strategy or resources. Teacher recommended strategies, lesson plans, and other resources (whether created by MTHS or by someone else) are reliably readers' favorite posts to Teaching Montana History. I’d also appreciate your feedback on the services and resources MTHS.

Looking for a fun end-of-the-year project? This year's National Christmas Tree is coming from US Forest Service Region 1, which included Idaho, Montana, and North Dakota, and the Forest Service is recruiting 10,000 hand-made ornaments to send to the capitol.

Last week we hosted our final Social Studies Third Tuesday for the year. Three MTHS Teacher Leaders in History--Jodi Delaney (Helena, grades 4-5), April Wills (Culbertson, middle school), and Cynthia Wilondek (Bigfork, high school)--talked about cemetery projects they conduct with their students. It was fascinating and inspiring! You can watch the recording here. (Please forgive the fact that I kept opening up different files during their presentation. I was trying to gather links to resources to share with participants in a follow up email and thought I could do it without disrupting the proceedings. I was wrong!)  

Allen M. Jones, Montana's current poet laureate, has a challenge for kids ages 7-12: Write a story that's less than 300 words based on an interview with a family member, then send it to him to read. Because he's a writer, not a historian, he proposes that students write their stories in first person. He has great prompts: "Tell me about a problem you had when you were growing up or when you first moved to Montana." "Was there something you really wanted that you couldn't have?" "Did you ever do something that you shouldn't have, and then try to get out of trouble?"

April is National Poetry Month! Last week I focused on reading poetry. Below are a few lessons that ask students to write poetry as a way of better understanding Montana history. I'll list them in grade level order (elementary first).

One of my favorite lessons in the Montana: A History of Our Home curriculum is "Introduction to the Early Contact Period," Part 2 of Unit 2, "Montana's First People" (find it beginning on page 8 of this document.) I love this lesson so much that we also feature it in the Montana's First Peoples hands-on history footlocker under the title "Who Lived in Montana in 1804?". The lesson begins with a narrated slide show, “Introduction to the Early Contact Period,” which provides background information about some of the resources used by Plateau and Plains tribes and seasonal rounds.

When You Know Better, Do Better We recently reprinted the Teachers Guide for Montana: A History of Our Home, the fourth-grade curriculum we published in 2023, and we used this as an opportunity to update the content. Most of the updates were straightforward: We added answers to discussion questions, updated the spellings of tribal names to align with recommendations from our Tribal Stakeholder Group, and converted the PowerPoints to Google Slides because we heard from some teachers that they couldn't open PowerPoints on their school computers.

Every spring, I ask folks to share their favorite Montana history of IEFA lesson, the one they would absolutely do again. Read on for the responses from elementary school teachers with some notes from me, in brackets. Stay tuned for the responses from middle and high school teachers. 

If you are changing schools, please re-subscribe using your new address! We'd hate to lose touch. Also, it's time for my annual end of year survey, where I ask teachers to share their favorite lesson or strategy. Participation has been down the last few years, and I think that's a shame because y'all do really cool stuff and other teachers should know about it. So--I hope you'll take a moment to share with us your favorite lesson plan, strategy or resources. Teacher recommended strategies, lesson plans, and other resources (whether created by MTHS or by someone else) are reliably readers' favorite posts to Teaching Montana History. I’d also appreciate your feedback on the services and resources MTHS.

Make a Meme It's official, the Montana Meme Contest is BACK in 2026! Choose and caption any photo from the Montana History Portal for your chance to become the top meme like the one included here from 2025. DEADLINE: Find photos and submit your entry at https://www.mtmemory.org/pages/memecontest by Wednesday, May 13, 2026. There are three age categories: 10 to 18 years old. 19-40 years old. 41-120 years old. This year, teachers can submit student entries work as a group! SELECTION: On Friday, May 15, 2026, the finalists’ entries will be posted to a collection on the Portal site and opened for voting. VOTING: The voting period will run from Friday, May 15 – Wednesday, May 20, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. (MST). The winning memes will be the top two entries in each age group with the most “likes” at the time the voting period ends.

In honor of the semiquincentennial (250th anniversary of the founding of the United States), Sons and Daughters of Montana Pioneers approached the Montana 250th Commission with the idea of creating a test, modeled on the US citizenship test, focusing on students' knowledge of Montana history, geography, and government. Thus, the Montana Challenge was born. Any student grades 6-12 can take the Montana Challenge. They do not need to be working towards a Seal of Civic Literacy (more on that below.) Those who pass with 80% or higher will receive a certificate and will be entered into a drawing for a $25 Visa gift card. Thanks to the Sons and Daughters' generosity, we have THREE HUNDRED of these gift cards to distribute to students. Prizes will be awarded in May 2026 and December 2026.

IEFA Related Links Here are a few interesting, and hopefully useful, links for you! OPI has created an updated Powwow Guide: Your Guide to Understanding and Enjoying Pow Wows (updated 2025) Register for "We Are All Related: Planting the Seeds of Knowledge, Growing our Montana Story," the 2026 Indian Education for All Best Practices conference, March 23 – 24, in Helena and East Helena. While most of the conference will be held at the East Helena High School, the conference will move to the new Montana Heritage Center on Monday, from 2:30 p.m.-4:30 p.m., where experts will walk participants through the Montana Homeland gallery, an exhibit that covers Montana history from the Ice Age to the modern day.

Looking for a fun end-of-the-year project? This year's National Christmas Tree is coming from US Forest Service Region 1, which included Idaho, Montana, and North Dakota, and the Forest Service is recruiting 10,000 hand-made ornaments to send to the capitol.

Land, Leadership, and Legacy: George Washington and Montana Identity Teacher Institute August 5 (Helena) OR August 7 (Billings) At this FREE workshop, teachers will have the opportunity to hear from historical scholars about George Washington’s agricultural leadership, the 1880 visit by Chief Plenty Coups to Mount Vernon, and the modern-day connection to Montana’s apple orchards. Attendees will also have the opportunity to learn the importance of Indigenous perspectives in shaping regional identity and history. Educators will walk away with ready-to-use resources and insights to help students think critically about the connections between the land, leadership, and legacy of George Washington and make meaningful connections to Montana’s history and the present day.

Teaching Montana’s Constitution: A Summer Workshop for Educators will bring together Montana teachers for an in-person professional development opportunity focused on incorporating the story of Montana’s Constitution in their social studies, history, ELA, and/or government curriculum. Fast Facts Dates: June 14-16, 2026 Place: MSU Billings Campus Renewal Units: 12 Cost: FREE! Lodging, two meals per day, and travel stipend provided Target Audience: Middle and High School social studies and ELA teachers Registration link: Register - Teaching Montana’s Constitution

I've had several teachers reach out to me to ask where they can buy a set of tribal nation flags like we have in our Montana First Peoples: Essential Understandings footlocker. I've found two sources: Tribal Nations Maps sell 4x6 inch tabletop flags for $10 each. They come with a base and stand. TME Flags also sells sets of the tribal flags and the Montana state flag with a wooden base to hold the complete set. Cost is $109 but if you order 12 or more sets there is a 15% discount. When I wrote them, the link they gave me was for their large flags, but you can simply use the contact form to order.

Make a Meme It's official, the Montana Meme Contest is BACK in 2026! Choose and caption any photo from the Montana History Portal for your chance to become the top meme like the one included here from 2025. DEADLINE: Find photos and submit your entry at https://www.mtmemory.org/pages/memecontest by Wednesday, May 13, 2026. There are three age categories: 10 to 18 years old. 19-40 years old. 41-120 years old. This year, teachers can submit student entries work as a group! SELECTION: On Friday, May 15, 2026, the finalists’ entries will be posted to a collection on the Portal site and opened for voting. VOTING: The voting period will run from Friday, May 15 – Wednesday, May 20, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. (MST). The winning memes will be the top two entries in each age group with the most “likes” at the time the voting period ends.

Social Studies Tuesday Join MTHS Teacher leaders in History on March 17 from 4:30-5:30 p.m. for a discussion on Engaging Students in Community Study. Why is it important to engage students in documenting and studying local history? What are some easy ways to get students thinking about their own lives, families, and neighbors as part of history? Learn about projects, strategies, and resources you can use to have your students research close to home. Register for this session.

Webinar on Indigenous Women Attend the OPI IEFA webinar on March 3rd at 4:00 p.m. where we will be sharing IEFA resources to support instruction about Indigenous women. Educators can receive one renewal unit for attending the webinar. Zoom link: https://mt-gov.zoom.us/j/88561388687?pwd=pyP4AX3RQlPiY1y1v3257utTIkbLS2.1 Resources from MTHS MTHS has several lesson plans and other resources on focused on women's history.

Have you ever wanted to research a Montana or US history topic and share the details of your discovery with your students, including images and other primary resource materials as references? Now is your chance! Spend April 3 and 4, 2026, with the Montana History Portal staff learning how to create various types of digital exhibits using content from the History Portal.

NEH Summer Institutes and Landmarks Workshops The NEH is once again funding Landmark workshops (one week) and institutes (one to four weeks) for teachers this summer. The Institutes are designed to help teachers "deepen their understanding of significant topics in the humanities and enrich their capacity for effective scholarship and teaching." The Landmark workshops are designed to help teachers "incorporate place-based approaches to humanities teaching and scholarship." Everyone I know who's participated in one of these has found it inspiring and rejuvenating. Some people have gone so far as to call them life changing.

Evaluating Student Argumentation in Historical Research Educators Workshop Not only is the workshop free, but travel stipends will be awarded! The two-day workshop is intended for grades 6-12 social studies educators in North Dakota and Montana. Educators will learn about strategies for primary source analysis and historical interpretation in student-led research and how to evaluate these works. These workshops are a collaboration between Montana Historical Society and the State Historical Society of North Dakota. These workshops are sponsored in part by the Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources Great Plains Region, coordinated by the National Council for History Education.

There are four workshops happening this September that you may be interested in: one on Japanese Internment, two on the New Deal, and, of course, the Montana History Conference.

Free registration is now open for the Smithsonian's 2026 National Education Summit. This free in-person and online multi-day event will be held July 14–16, 2026. It is designed to unite leading voices in education under the theme "Together We Thrive: Towards a More Perfect Union." Four session tracks will equip you with classroom-ready ideas as we prepare for the United States’ Semiquincentennial in 2026.

Looking for a fun end-of-the-year project? This year's National Christmas Tree is coming from US Forest Service Region 1, which included Idaho, Montana, and North Dakota, and the Forest Service is recruiting 10,000 hand-made ornaments to send to the capitol.

Last week we hosted our final Social Studies Third Tuesday for the year. Three MTHS Teacher Leaders in History--Jodi Delaney (Helena, grades 4-5), April Wills (Culbertson, middle school), and Cynthia Wilondek (Bigfork, high school)--talked about cemetery projects they conduct with their students. It was fascinating and inspiring! You can watch the recording here. (Please forgive the fact that I kept opening up different files during their presentation. I was trying to gather links to resources to share with participants in a follow up email and thought I could do it without disrupting the proceedings. I was wrong!)  

Last week we hosted our final Social Studies Third Tuesday for the year. Three MTHS Teacher Leaders in History--Jodi Delaney (Helena, grades 4-5), April Wills (Culbertson, middle school), and Cynthia Wilondek (Bigfork, high school)--talked about cemetery projects they conduct with their students. It was fascinating and inspiring! You can watch the recording here. (Please forgive the fact that I kept opening up different files during their presentation. I was trying to gather links to resources to share with participants in a follow up email and thought I could do it without disrupting the proceedings. I was wrong!)  

I've had several teachers reach out to me to ask where they can buy a set of tribal nation flags like we have in our Montana First Peoples: Essential Understandings footlocker. I've found two sources: Tribal Nations Maps sell 4x6 inch tabletop flags for $10 each. They come with a base and stand. TME Flags also sells sets of the tribal flags and the Montana state flag with a wooden base to hold the complete set. Cost is $109 but if you order 12 or more sets there is a 15% discount. When I wrote them, the link they gave me was for their large flags, but you can simply use the contact form to order.

One of my favorite lessons in the Montana: A History of Our Home curriculum is "Introduction to the Early Contact Period," Part 2 of Unit 2, "Montana's First People" (find it beginning on page 8 of this document.) I love this lesson so much that we also feature it in the Montana's First Peoples hands-on history footlocker under the title "Who Lived in Montana in 1804?". The lesson begins with a narrated slide show, “Introduction to the Early Contact Period,” which provides background information about some of the resources used by Plateau and Plains tribes and seasonal rounds.

IEFA Related Links Here are a few interesting, and hopefully useful, links for you! OPI has created an updated Powwow Guide: Your Guide to Understanding and Enjoying Pow Wows (updated 2025) Register for "We Are All Related: Planting the Seeds of Knowledge, Growing our Montana Story," the 2026 Indian Education for All Best Practices conference, March 23 – 24, in Helena and East Helena. While most of the conference will be held at the East Helena High School, the conference will move to the new Montana Heritage Center on Monday, from 2:30 p.m.-4:30 p.m., where experts will walk participants through the Montana Homeland gallery, an exhibit that covers Montana history from the Ice Age to the modern day.

April is National Poetry Month! Last week I focused on reading poetry. Below are a few lessons that ask students to write poetry as a way of better understanding Montana history. I'll list them in grade level order (elementary first).

April is National Poetry Month! Here are some poets that are worth teaching in your Montana history class (and/or Montana history-related content to teach in English class).

Make a Meme It's official, the Montana Meme Contest is BACK in 2026! Choose and caption any photo from the Montana History Portal for your chance to become the top meme like the one included here from 2025. DEADLINE: Find photos and submit your entry at https://www.mtmemory.org/pages/memecontest by Wednesday, May 13, 2026. There are three age categories: 10 to 18 years old. 19-40 years old. 41-120 years old. This year, teachers can submit student entries work as a group! SELECTION: On Friday, May 15, 2026, the finalists’ entries will be posted to a collection on the Portal site and opened for voting. VOTING: The voting period will run from Friday, May 15 – Wednesday, May 20, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. (MST). The winning memes will be the top two entries in each age group with the most “likes” at the time the voting period ends.

Make a Meme It's official, the Montana Meme Contest is BACK in 2026! Choose and caption any photo from the Montana History Portal for your chance to become the top meme like the one included here from 2025. DEADLINE: Find photos and submit your entry at https://www.mtmemory.org/pages/memecontest by Wednesday, May 13, 2026. There are three age categories: 10 to 18 years old. 19-40 years old. 41-120 years old. This year, teachers can submit student entries work as a group! SELECTION: On Friday, May 15, 2026, the finalists’ entries will be posted to a collection on the Portal site and opened for voting. VOTING: The voting period will run from Friday, May 15 – Wednesday, May 20, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. (MST). The winning memes will be the top two entries in each age group with the most “likes” at the time the voting period ends.

Voting Ends April 5 Two Central Montana powerhouses are squaring off in the Montana Madness championship, each vying to be named Montana’s BEST Best Place: Fort Benton and First Peoples Buffalo Jump. Fort Benton National Historic Landmark had a relatively easy road through Montana Madness, a tournament created by the Montana Historical Society. Fort Benton dominated the Bearcreek—the site of Montana’s largest coal mining disaster in the Sweet 16—and won handily against Lewis and Clark Caverns in the Elite 8. In the Final Four, it beat the powerhouse Going to the Sun Road by 82 votes. First Peoples Buffalo Jump started the tournament well, taking out its neighbor, C. M. Russell’s Home and Studio, by almost 300 votes. It dominated Grant Kohrs Ranch in the Elite Eight but barely squeaked out a win over Pictograph Cave in the Final Four. Only nine votes separated the two ancient Indigenous sites.

We are in the process of reviewing all of our PowerPoints and PDFs to make sure they are ADA compliant, which means a couple of things: You may encounter links we've broken inadvertently (particularly to PowerPoints). If you do come across a broken link, please let me know ASAP and I'll get you the information and get it fixed. We are trying to be vigilant, but I could use your help catching things. As I look over our many offerings, I have rediscovered some old favorites I think are worth sharing, particularly as we come to the end of the year.

One of my favorite lessons in the Montana: A History of Our Home curriculum is "Introduction to the Early Contact Period," Part 2 of Unit 2, "Montana's First People" (find it beginning on page 8 of this document.) I love this lesson so much that we also feature it in the Montana's First Peoples hands-on history footlocker under the title "Who Lived in Montana in 1804?". The lesson begins with a narrated slide show, “Introduction to the Early Contact Period,” which provides background information about some of the resources used by Plateau and Plains tribes and seasonal rounds.

Under-Told Stories Our January Third Tuesday Professional Development session focused on resources to incorporate under-told stories into your classroom, particularly the histories of African Americans, women, and Chinese immigrants. We captured the links mentioned in this Google Doc, but here are a few highlights. African American History PBS Learning Media has taken the hour-long documentary, Hidden Stories: Montana's Black Past (PBS link) and broken it into shorter segments with discussion questions and a graphic organizer. Here are links to the excerpts and here are links to teaching resources.

When You Know Better, Do Better We recently reprinted the Teachers Guide for Montana: A History of Our Home, the fourth-grade curriculum we published in 2023, and we used this as an opportunity to update the content. Most of the updates were straightforward: We added answers to discussion questions, updated the spellings of tribal names to align with recommendations from our Tribal Stakeholder Group, and converted the PowerPoints to Google Slides because we heard from some teachers that they couldn't open PowerPoints on their school computers.

Do you know a middle or high school (grades 7-12) teacher who does an exemplary job teaching Montana history? Please nominate them for the 37th Montana Statehood Centennial Bell Award by completing this very simple form, which will take less than two minutes to complete. Nominations are due April 13.

The Montana Historical Society (MTHS) is now accepting nominations for its annual Heritage Keeper Awards, recognizing individuals and organizations whose extraordinary efforts preserve and promote Montana's rich historical and cultural heritage. The Society's Board of Trustees will select up to two recipients for the Heritage Keeper Award. In exceptional cases, an outstanding nominee may instead receive the Heritage Guardian Award—the Society's highest honor, bestowed only when merit warrants special recognition.

Webinar on Indigenous Women Attend the OPI IEFA webinar on March 3rd at 4:00 p.m. where we will be sharing IEFA resources to support instruction about Indigenous women. Educators can receive one renewal unit for attending the webinar. Zoom link: https://mt-gov.zoom.us/j/88561388687?pwd=pyP4AX3RQlPiY1y1v3257utTIkbLS2.1 Resources from MTHS MTHS has several lesson plans and other resources on focused on women's history.

Under-Told Stories Our January Third Tuesday Professional Development session focused on resources to incorporate under-told stories into your classroom, particularly the histories of African Americans, women, and Chinese immigrants. We captured the links mentioned in this Google Doc, but here are a few highlights. African American History PBS Learning Media has taken the hour-long documentary, Hidden Stories: Montana's Black Past (PBS link) and broken it into shorter segments with discussion questions and a graphic organizer. Here are links to the excerpts and here are links to teaching resources.

Our friends at the Montana History Portal have some great activities and new resources available. Historical Picture Prompt Short Story Contest is in full swing Get your story writing skills ready! The Montana History Portal is hosting the 6th Annual Historical Picture Prompt contest. Using any photo in the Portal collection as a story prompt participants will write a fictional short story (650 words or less) and enter through our submission form. Winners will be chosen from grades 3-6, grades 7-12, and adult. Entries will be accepted starting January 5, 2026, and the deadline to enter is February 27, 2026. For more information, photos, and submitting your entries, go to the Montana History Portal Contest page.

Under-Told Stories Our January Third Tuesday Professional Development session focused on resources to incorporate under-told stories into your classroom, particularly the histories of African Americans, women, and Chinese immigrants. We captured the links mentioned in this Google Doc, but here are a few highlights. African American History PBS Learning Media has taken the hour-long documentary, Hidden Stories: Montana's Black Past (PBS link) and broken it into shorter segments with discussion questions and a graphic organizer. Here are links to the excerpts and here are links to teaching resources.

Thank you to those of you who have taken our end-of-the-year survey! There are still two prizes left to give out so if you haven't had a chance to tell us what you think of Teaching Montana History and to share your favorite lesson plan or teaching strategy, please do so through this link..

One of my favorite lessons in the Montana: A History of Our Home curriculum is "Introduction to the Early Contact Period," Part 2 of Unit 2, "Montana's First People" (find it beginning on page 8 of this document.) I love this lesson so much that we also feature it in the Montana's First Peoples hands-on history footlocker under the title "Who Lived in Montana in 1804?". The lesson begins with a narrated slide show, “Introduction to the Early Contact Period,” which provides background information about some of the resources used by Plateau and Plains tribes and seasonal rounds.

When You Know Better, Do Better We recently reprinted the Teachers Guide for Montana: A History of Our Home, the fourth-grade curriculum we published in 2023, and we used this as an opportunity to update the content. Most of the updates were straightforward: We added answers to discussion questions, updated the spellings of tribal names to align with recommendations from our Tribal Stakeholder Group, and converted the PowerPoints to Google Slides because we heard from some teachers that they couldn't open PowerPoints on their school computers.

Situated west of the Continental Divide, the town of Missoula got its start in 1860 as a trading post called Hellgate, supplying miners with produce, flour, other trade goods, and lumber. Missoula's designation as county seat in 1866 and the arrival of the Northern Pacific in 1883 and the Milwaukee Road in 1909 cemented the town's role as a center of commerce. Its economy diversified further when Missoula became home to the state university—now called University of Montana—in 1895 as well as the U.S. Forest Service's regional district headquarters for the Rocky Mountains in 1908. With a flourishing downtown district and well-preserved historic homes, Missoula's streetscapes today reflect the town's abundant history, thanks, in part, to a successful historic preservation program that has protected much of the community's rich architectural legacy. Explore Missoula's buildings, parks, and historic sites through this guide.

The gold-rush town of Virginia City, purchased by the State of Montana to preserve for posterity, makes a fitting first subject for the Montana Mainstreets series. Historic Virginia City was Montana's second territorial capital and the center of trade for Alder Gulch, the site of the richest placer mines in the world during the 1860s. When the gold deposits played out and the state capital moved to Helena in 1889, Virginia City became frozen in time. Today, Virginia City attracts visitors from all over the world, who marvel at its intact frontier architecture and the seeming immediacy of the gold rush era. If walking down Virginia City's streets is like a trip back in time, the road map for that journey is Guide to Historic Virginia City.

As part of the Indian Reading Series, a collection of authentic material cooperatively developed by Indian people, How the Morning and Evening Stars Came to Be offers three explanatory and cautionary tales from Montana's Assinboine people. Recorded by Assiniboine storytellers and illustrated by Assiniboine artists from the Fort Peck and Fort Belknap Indian Reservations, these traditional tales have been handed down for generations and were designed to teach youngsters the tribe's history and culture. These lively and engaging stories will appeal to anyone who is interested in exploring the world of the Assiniboines. Co-published with Fort Peck Tribal Library.

“The pages of Montana Moments overflow with enjoyable historical vignettes that cover nearly everything important that’s happened in Montana’s history. Newcomers will find an excellent introduction to what makes Montana tick, while Baumler’s careful research and entertaining writing style will delight old-timers. —Harry Fritz, University of Montana, Missoula

Remarkable stories from Montana’s historical highway markers combine with easy-to-follow maps, historical photos and sketches, and geological information to illuminate the paths of Montana’s past and present. This guidebook alerts travelers about places that merit a stop and allows them to read about the site at their leisure. Travelers can refer to descriptions and historical photographs to learn about Montana’s past as they journey across the state.

Written by one of the foremost experts in frontier military history and reviewed by members of the Nez Perce Tribe, Nez Perce Summer, 1877 details the dozen armed encounters between U.S. Army troops and a desperate body of Nez Perces during the tension-filled summer of 1877. A meticulously researched narrative, this definitive history of the Nez Perce War chronicles a people's epic struggle to survive spiritually, culturally, and physically in the face of unrelenting military aggression. Sixteen maps detail troop and Indian movements and skirmishes, while forty-nine photographs further illuminate this dramatic conflict.

Frank Thompson's lively memoir details his experiences in the upper Missouri country at the beginning of the Montana gold rush. A young man at the outset of the Civil War, Thompson supported the Union cause but realized that military life was not for him. Turning to the frontier, he headed west from St. Louis in 1862, arriving aboard the first steamboat ever to reach Fort Benton, in what would later become Montana Territory. Thompson's sojourn was relatively brief—he returned east after only two and a half years. But in that time he hunted for gold, ran a Bannack City mercantile business, traveled to the Pacific Coast and back, served in Montana's first territorial legislature, and became a speculator in mining properties.

Fueled by the glitter of Black Hills gold, the Great Sioux War of 1876–1877 transformed the vast northern plains from Indian and buffalo country to the domain of miners, cattlemen, and other settlers. Keyed to official highway maps, this richly illustrated guide leads the traveler to virtually every principal military landmark associated with the war, from Fort Phil Kearny where the Sioux besieged soldiers sent to guard the Bozeman Trail in the 1860s to Fort Buford, the site of Sitting Bull's surrender in 1881.

The Turtle Who Went to War includes five stories from the Indian Reading Series, a collection of authentic material cooperatively developed by Indigenous people. These traditional Sioux tales, originally designed to help educate young tribal members about their history and culture, include elements of friendship, bravery, loyalty and revenge. Recorded by Indigenous storytellers and illustrated by Indigenous artists, these entertaining stories are perfect for reluctant readers and offer a fascinating way for readers of all ages to learn about the Sioux. Co-published with Fort Peck Tribal Library.

Every spring, I ask folks to share their favorite Montana history of IEFA lesson, the one they would absolutely do again. Read on for the responses from elementary school teachers with some notes from me, in brackets. Stay tuned for the responses from middle and high school teachers.