Facts

In 1895 "Treasure State" became the first nickname to gain wide appeal. It appeared on the cover of a promotional booklet published by the Montana Bureau of Agriculture, Labor, and Industry. "Treasure State" was chosen because of Montana's status as the country's foremost producer of metallic treasures - gold, silver, and copper.

Grizzly Bear

Montana Melody

Western Meadowlark

Blackspotted Cutthroat Trout

Bitterroot (Lewisia Rediviva)

Duck-billed Dinosaur

Sapphire and Agate

These gemstones were added in 1969.

Bluebunch Wheatgrass

Montana

Visit the Montana Secretary of State website for information about the State Seal and the State Flag.

Ponderosa Pine

*Although created as one of Montana’s nine original counties, the first territorial legislature administratively attached Big Horn County to Gallatin County. The legislature changed the name of Big Horn County to Custer in February 1877 following the June 1876 Battle of the Little Big Horn. Big Horn County experienced a rebirth of sorts when, in 1913 during Montana’s county splitting heyday, the name was reused for a new county.

**The territorial legislature changed the name of Edgerton County to Lewis and Clarke County in 1867, fixing the spelling of "Clarke" at a later date.

Initially, only the territorial legislature could create an incorporated municipality (a city or town). Each of the following ten municipalities were created from 1864-1885 via a special act passed by the territorial legislature.

The 15th Territorial Legislative Assembly convened in Helena in 1887 and passed "An act relating to the formation of municipal corporations" establishing, among other things, a legal process allowing a majority of voters to incorporate a city or town. This legal provision was incorporated into state law in 1895 as well and continues through to the present Montana Code.

For more information on the Secretary of State, please visit the Secretary of State's History of the Office website.

 At-Large

1st District

2nd District

At-Large

Seat #1

Seat #2

For resources on Montana State Legislators, visit the Montana Legislature's Facts and Statistics website. 

The Library & Archives also has some resources available about Montana State Legislators available in our Reference Room. Please contact us by submitting a research request.

We put together some Montana Firsts for to help researchers and, perhaps, spark conversation and debate. The allocation of "first" often depends on definition and personal perceptions of the topic, and primary sources sometimes contradict each other. This is not a definitive list but a work in progress organized by broad category.

We anticipate hearing from researchers in regards to other "firsts." If you have one not on our list, please contact us at mthslibrary@mt.gov. 

Opera

• First opera performed in Montana was "Pinafore." It was performed during the winter of 1879-1880, in Helena, as a charity benefit for public school and public library with Laura E. Howey, later Librarian of State Historical Society. (Contributions to the Historical Society of Montana, Vol. VI (1907) p. 26A)

Flour mill

• St. Mary's Mission 1845-46

McDonald's

• First McDonald's Restaurant in Montana constructed on August 19, 1969 at 1046 Grand Avenue, Billings. Followed shortly by the construction of the 1729 10th Ave South Great Falls. (McDonald's regional office in Illinois, November 23, 1987)

Higher Education

• The first institution of higher learning in the Territory of Montana, The Montana Collegiate, opened its doors in 1880. It owed its existence to the broad vision of Hon. Conrad Kohrs, Hon. W.A. Clark, Gov. S.Y. Hauser, Mr. S.E. Larabie and others, and was located in Deer Lodge. Soon it was decided that it would be preferable to place the college under a religious denomination. The Montana Collegiate was soon taken over by the Presbytery of Montana on August 23, 1882. Under the Presbyterian auspices "The College of Montana" opened its doors on September 10, 1883. (History of Higher Education in Montana, 1883-1958, Rock Mountain College)

• Montana's first professional organization for training teachers, known as the Madison County Teacher's Institute, organized in Virginia City in April 1875. The Teacher's Institute did not approach the sophistication or intense training of a teacher's college or normal school. However, it did provide a vital service to a fledgling society of professionals on the frontier.  Membership in the association was open to "any practical teacher, school officer or friend of education" who subscribed to the association's constitution and bylaws. The Teacher's Institute was dedicated to the "improvement of its members in the science and art of teaching and the general advancement of our educational interests." The group's intention was to meet annually for 3 or more days at a time, though records only exist for meetings in 1875, 1876, 1878, 1881, 1883, and 1884. The meetings of the Institute consisted of lectures, exercises, and very practical discussions concerning everything from educational methods to textbooks and corporal punishment. Judging by the minutes, the group's discussion appears to be lively and at times contentious, but a professional atmosphere and camaraderie is also evident. The Madison County Teacher's Institute is a very early and significant example of the people of Montana Territory developing a means to advance the educational profession despite the isolated, frontier nature of their community. (The Institute's constitution and meeting minutes are available in Small Collection 439 at the MHS Research Center.)

Public Schools

• The first formal school on record seems to have been at Fort Owen in Bitterroot in 1862. The pupils were Indian children and the children of the employees at Fort Owen. The first term opened in early winter and continued until February 28, taught by a Mr. Robinson. (Firsts; vertical files)

• The firsts schools for white children appear to have been in the major mining camps. During the winter of 1863 and 1864 Miss Lucia Darling, a niece of Governor Edgerton, taught school in Bannack. Miss Kate Dunlap opened a school in the Nevada City district of Alder Gulch the summer of 1863. (Contributions to the Historical Society of Montana, Volume V., p. 196)

• The public high school movement began when Helena opened a three-year course in 1876, and graduated its first class of three young ladies in 1879. The single course was called "Collegiate Course," and was strongly college preparatory. (Firsts; vertical files)

Counties

• The first Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Montana set the boundaries for nine counties in the Territory in 1865.  These counties were Missoula, Deer Lodge, Beaver Head, Madison, Jefferson, Edgerton (later Lewis and Clark), Gallatin, Choteau, and Big Horn.  Big Horn County was attached to Gallatin County for legislative and administrative purposes.  Big Horn County covered almost 1/3 of the state, stretching from Canada to Wyoming.  By 1889 this county had been divided into Dawson and Custer counties.  Big Horn county ceased to exist until 1913, when a new Big Horn County was created.   (Acts, Resolutions and Memorials of the Territory of Montana Passed by the First Legislative Assembly, 1865, p528-530; Roberta Cheney, Names on the Face of Montana, p 22.)

Elected Officials

• The first woman elected to the office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction was May Trumper.  She was in office from 1917-1929. (May Trumper vertical file)

• The first woman elected to the office of State Treasurer was Edna Hinman.  She was in office from 1954-1956 and again from 1960-1964.  She was also the first female Clerk of the Supreme Court.

• The first woman elected to the office of State Auditor was Andrea Bennett.  She was in office from 1985-1983.

• The first woman to serve on the Montana Supreme Court was Justice Diane Barz.  She served from 1989-1991.

• The first woman to serve as both Lt. Governor and Governor was Judy Martz.  She was in office from 1997-2000 and 2001-2005, respectively.

• The first women elected as Chief Justice of the Montana Supreme Court was Karla M. Gray.  She served from 2001-2008.

• The first woman elected to the office of Secretary of State was Linda McCulloch.  She began her term in office in 2009.

Lawsuit

• The first lawsuit in Montana was held at Hell Gate in March, 1862, an action brought by "Tin Cup" Joe against Baron O'Keefe. A row broke out between the litigants while the trial was taking place. Guns flashed-and the court and jury took to their heels. "Tin Cup" had the better of the suit --or the heavy artillery. (Firsts; vertical file)

Legislature

• The first session of the Montana Legislature was held at Bannack, Montana on December 12, 1864. (Firsts; vertical file)

• The first law signed by Territorial Governor Sidney Edgerton, and therefore the first laws passed in Montana, was an act to incorporate the Missouri River Rocky Mountain Wagon Road and Telegraph Company. It was signed November 27, 1864. (Firsts; vertical file)

• The laws of the Montana Territory were first printed in 1866 under the supervision of Edward R. Neally by authority of Acting Governor Thomas Francis Meagher who was empowered by the legislative assembly on January 31, 1865, to have the laws printed. (Firsts; vertical file)

• The first women elected to the Montana Legislature were Maggie Smith Hathaway and Emma A. Ingalls.  They were elected in Nov. 1916 and their terms began in Jan. 1917.  (Maggie Smith Hathaway and Emma Ingalls vertical files)

Post Office

• Hell Gate in Missoula County was established in 1862 as a part of Washington Territory. This post office was in existence until 1866. (Montana Post Offices & Postmasters, Dennis J. Lutz, 1986)

Public Buildings

• The first public building erected by the State of Montana was turned over to the governor in March of 1894. The reform school, located in Miles City, was erected, under the provisions of an act approved March 1, 1893, by a board appointed by the governor consisting of J.W. Strevell, C.R. Middleton and H.B. Wiley. (New Northwest, Deer Lodge, March 24, 1894)

First White Children Born in Montana

Gold Creek

• According to the autobiographical sketch written by Alvina T. Pelkey in 1923 and published in The Report of the Historian of the Society of Montana Pioneers for 1924 "I was born at St. Louis Missouri, on the 22nd day of May, 1845. When but fourteen years of age, I was married to Augustus G. Pelkey in St. Louis and it was there that our first child was born. In April, 1861, when this child was six months old, with others we decided to go to Montana..... Six months of travel and we reached the Missoula valley in the fall, wintering through a hard winter. The men found no work that winter. In the spring of 1862 we went to Gold Creek where our second child (Mary Louise) was born, the first white girl in that part of Montana, her cousin, Jeff Pelkey, being the first white child of Montana."(Alvina and Augustus Pelkey; Vertical Files)

Alder Gulch

• H. I. Wilson of Sheridan, Madison County, claims that he was first boy born in Alder Gulch on April 26, 1864. However, pioneers claim that the first white child born in Alder Gulch was Jefferson Doggett on October 29, 1863. (Alder Gulch; Vertical Files)

Who was the first white woman in Montana?

There are many contenders for this distinction. Several possibilities include:

• The Missoulian newspaper reported that "in the spring or summer of 1855 Henry G. Miller and his wife Minnie accompanied Dr. Lansdale, who was an agent for the Flathead, from Fort Hall to this country." The article explains that "Mrs. Miller was born in Vermont and brought up Mormon, and resided with her parents at North Ogden, Utah, at the time of her marriage, contrary to their wishes, and which resulted in the departure of the newly-wedded couple for Fort Hall, in order to escape the Mormon wrath. Mrs. Miller was not more than sixteen years of age when she came to this county, and remained here for more than one year without seeing a women, other than Indian squaws and half-breeds of the country." (Missoulian, January 20, 1875)

• According to the Silver State newspaper, Mrs. Alva Mason was the first white woman to set foot on Montana soil. Mrs. Mason was married to Hugh O'Neil in Utah and the young couple came to Montana on horseback, arriving at Fort Missoula on August 20, 1858. The news article continues, "Being the first white women in Montana and the first one the Indians had ever seen, she was held by them in great wonder and accorded all respect of a princess of their own people." (Silver State, Deer Lodge, January 28, 1915)

• The February 24, 1941 Montana News Association News Inserts, reported that Mrs. Tom Brown was the first woman in Montana. The article explained that when Mrs. Brown was a young girl in Scotland a Lord was taking his lady out to the Selkirk (Red river) settlements, wished to engage a maid to go with them. She was the only one in her village bold enough to go. Mrs. Brown explains "we went to the Red river; it was very lonesome there, and most of the time I had to stay inside the stockade, and it was there I met my man and fell in love with him. The lady who had brought me from Scotland objected to our marriage. After her death I was offered my passage home but declined it to marry my man" The family left the Red river settlement in 1857 to go to Colville, and their road took them through the northwestern part of what is now Montana. They spent one winter at the Hudson’s Bay post on the Pruin River on the Jocko reservation. (Montana News Association News Inserts, February 24, 1941 (1))

Women

Run a State Agency

• Mrs. M. L. Cunningham was appointed Matron-in-charge of the Montana Deaf and Dumb Asylum in 1893. (First Annual Report of the Deaf and Dumb Asylum to the State Board of Education, year ending December 1, 1895, Helena, MT, State Publishing Company, 1896, p. 7-9)

Elected to Public Office

• Helen Piotopowaka Clarke, 1848-1923, the first woman elected to public office in Montana. Miss Clarke was elected Lewis and Clark County Superintendent of schools in 1882, again in 1884. She was the daughter of an employee of the American Fur Company and a Blackfeet woman. She was educated in the East where she had a brief career as an actress before returning to Montana to become a teacher. (Helena Independent Record, June 15, 1995)

• Jeannette Rankin, 1880-1973, was the first woman elected to the U.S. Congress. Rankin was a pacifist, suffragist, prohibitionist, and social activist. As congresswoman she voted against declaration of war in 1917 and again in 1941. (Jeannette Rankin; Vertical Files)

Homesteading

• Margaret Macumber, first women to file for a homestead after the passage of the homestead law on September 8, 1870. The homestead file was for half of the southeast quarter and the east half of the Northeast quarter of section 24, two south, range 5 east, in Gallatin County. (Kalispell Times, September 19, 1918)

Sports

• Barbara Meyer, a Valley county native and daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Roman Stein of Glasgow, was Montana's first certified lady jockey. (Glasgow Courier, August 6, 1970)

Incarceration

• Felicite Sanchez, first women ever incarcerated in the Montana Penitentiary, 1878. She was sentenced to three years by the District of Missoula county for the crime of manslaughter. According to the newspaper account "she arrived about noon on Tuesday in charge of Thomas K. Andrews, Deputy Sheriff. Being taken by the officer, she put her feet on the stove and proceeded to roll a cigarette, which she fabricated with great skill and smoked with manifest enjoyment." (New North-West, Deer Lodge, December 6, 1878)

Organizations

• Florence Fogler, of Billings, was the first woman elected to the American Insitute of Electrical Engineers ("Roundup Tribune", January 10, 1916)

Perform a marriage

• Mrs. John Duff was the first woman Justice of the Peace to perform a marriage in Montana. She presided over the marriage of John Hahn of Missoula and Ethel Tritt of Chinook. ("Harlem News", May 14, 1915)

Stenographer

• Judge W. I. Lippincott of Butte was the first stenographer in Montana. He transcribed the stenographic notes of the 1884 Constitutional Convention and created a complete record of the convention. (W. I. Lippincott; Vertical Files)

Agriculture

• The first crop of wheat was grown in Gallatin county in 1864 on the farm owned by John J. Thomas. The farm was located on the East Gallatin river about three miles northeast of Belgrade (Bozeman Daily Chronicle, June 16, 1915)

• The first threshing machine was run for the first time in Gallatin valley during the summer of 1865 by Ben F. Bisel . (Bozeman Chronicle, February 15, 1920)

Homestead

• David D. Carpenter of Helena, first person in Montana to file for a homestead after the passage of the homestead law on August 1, 1868. The homestead file was on a tract on the outskirts of Helena, part of which later became the property and grounds of the old Lewis and Clark County Hospital. (David Hilger papers, 1867-1935, Small Collection 854)

• Margaret Maceumber, first women to file for a homestead after the passage of the homestead law on September 8, 1870. The homestead file was for half of the southeast quarter and the east half of the Northeast quarter of section 24, two south, range 5 east. (Kalispell Times, September 19, 1918)

Oil

• Montana's first oil discovery was made August 10, 1864, twelve and half miles northwest of where the Bozeman trail crosses the Big Horn river in what is now Big Horn County. According to David B. Weaver "a search for water by thirsty members of an emigrant party led to a stagnant pool covered over with petroleum." (Firsts, vertical file)

The list below gives basic information about when specific railroads first began operating in Montana.

• 1881 – Utah & Northern (Butte)
• 1883 – Northern Pacific
• 1889 – Montana Central (Butte – Great Falls)
• 1890 – Great Northern (Havre), 1892 (through Montana)
• 1893 – Butte, Anaconda & Pacific (Butte-Anaconda)
• 1894 – Chicago, Burlington & Quincy (Billings)
• 1909 – Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul (through Montana)

Episcopal Church

• When thousands of gold seekers swarmed into Alder Gulch in 1863 Thomas J. Dimsdale was among them. In 1863, Dimsdale read the Episcopal Church service to a gathering of people from various denominations and startled the congregation when he asked the lord to bless Queen Victoria of England instead of President Lincoln. In September of 1866 Dimsdale died, and left as a legacy the start of the first Episcopal Church in Montana. (Montana Standard, November 4, 1971)

Christian Service

• The Daily Ravalli Republican reported that the first Christian religious service in Montana took place on September 20, 1835, in the deep West Fork area of the upper Bitter Root. The service was preformed by Rev. Samuel Parker, who had branched off from the Marcus Whitman expedition en route to Idaho and Washington. (Daily Ravalli Republican, March 27, 1964)

Electricity

• The first electric light was installed at the Alice Mine in Butte in 1880. (Montana Standard, May 5, 2004, C1)

• On August 28, 1882 the first electric lights ever seen in Montana were switched on in downtown Helena. It was reported that "Miss Stella Knight, the little daughter of Mayor Knight, president of the company (and mayor of Helena), had the honor of setting free, by the delicate touch of her little hand up the lever of dynamo machine, the mighty electric current which in a moment flashed along the wire and blazed forth in brilliant light from every lamp..." There was enough current for forty lamps in all, and these lit the heart of the business district, that stretch of Last Chance Gulch which is now the south half of the downtown mall. (McCahon, Dennis, Helena Almanac)

Telegraph

• First line was Virginia City to Salt Lake November 2, 1866 

Telephone

• The first commercial telephone was in Butte in 1882.

• Rocky Mountain Bell was incorporated February 26, 1883

• First inter-city call was Butte to Great Falls 1895

• First out of state call was Missoula to Mullan, ID 1897

Transportation

• John Gillie was the owner of the first factory built car in Butte. Mr. Gillie acquired his auto in 1900 from the "Mobile" Company of America. The factory was located at Kingsland Point, Philipse-Manor-on-the-Hudson, N.Y. John Brisben Walker was president and William A. Bell vice-president of the company. (Montana Standard, Butte, February 14, 1937)

• In 1913 the Montana Legislative Assembly passed legislation requiring that every person owning a motor vehicle in the state register that vehicle with the Secretary of State's Office.  The first vehicle registered with the Secretary of State's Office was registered by E. C. Largey of Butte in 1913.  (RS250 Montana Secretary of State Records, Box 17, Folder3]

• The first concrete highway was between Butte and Anaconda, October 2, 1920

• The first steamboat arrived in Ft. Benton in 1859

Typewriter

• The first typewriter was brought into Montana in 1885 by Judge W. I. Lippincott of Butte. It was a Remington typewriter brought in by bull train at a cost of $235 and was for Joe Rosenthal. It was soon sold to Jude DeWitt and later to J. Ross Clark. (W. I. Lippincott, Vertical Files)

Interscholastic Meet (Track and Field and Declamation)

• Held at Montana State University, Missoula. May 19 and 20, 1904.
• Track portion of event - Over 100 athletes participated representing 19 different schools.
• Declamation portion - 18 participants representing 18 schools. (Missoulian May 15; May 19-20)

Jockey

• Barbara Meyer, a Valley County native and daugter of Mr. and Mrs. Roman Stein of Glasgow, was Montana's first certified lady jockey. (Glasgow Courier, August 6, 1970)

• Galt, William Wylie; Captain, U.S. Army; WWII; Geyser, Judith Basin County, MT. [SEE: entry under Buried in Montana for additional information]
• Ruhl, Donald Jack; Private First Class, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve; WWII, Columbus, Stillwater County, MT. He is buried in Greybull, Big Horn County, WY. [SEE: entry under Entered the Service in Montana for additional information]

• Galt, William Wylie; Captain, U.S. Army; WWII; Stanford, Judith Basin County, MT.
• McLennon, John; Musician, U.S. Army; Indian Campaigns; Fort Ellis, MT. He is buried in Rock Springs Cemetery, Rock Springs, Sweetwater County, WY. Gallantry in action at Big Hole, MT, August 1877.
• Moran, John; Captain, U.S. Army; Philippine Insurrection; Cascade County, MT. [SEE: entry under Buried in Montana for additional information]
• Parrish, Laverne; Technician 4th Grade (medic) U.S. Army; WWII; Ronan, Lake County, MT [SEE: entry under Buried in Montana for additional information]
• Powers, Leo J.; Private First Class, U.S. Army; WWII; Alder Gulch, Madison County, MT. [SEE: entry under Buried in Montana for additional information]
• Ruhl, Donald Jack; Private First Class, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve; Butte, Silver Bow County, MT.
  PFC Ruhl was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for gallantry in action on Iwo Jima island, February 1945
• Schauer, Henry; Private First Class, U.S. Army; WWII; Scobey, Daniels County, MT. He is buried in Salem, Marion County, OR. PFC Schauer was awarded the Medal of Honor for gallantry in action near Cisterna di Littoria, Italy, May 1944. He died in 1997.
• Smith, Cornelius Cole; Corporal, U.S. Army; Indian Campaigns; Helena, Lewis and Clark County, MT. He is buried in Evergreen Memorial Park, Riverside, Riverside County CA. Gallantry in action at White River, SD, January 1891.

• Cable, Joseph A.; Private, U.S. Army; Indian Campaigns; Custer Battlefield National Cemetery, Crow Agency, Big Horn County, MT. (Memorial stone only.) Gallantry in action at Cedar Creek, MT, October 1876.
• Coonrod, Aquilla; Sergeant, U.S. Army; Indian Campaigns; Custer Battlefield National Cemetery, Crow Agency, Big Horn County, MT. Gallantry in action at Cedar Creek, MT, October 1876.
• Cummins, Andrew Johnson; Sergeant, U.S. Army; Spanish-American War; Lewistown Cemetery; Lewistown, Fergus County, MT. Gallantry in action at Santiago, Cuba, July 1898.
• Fegan, James; Sergeant, U.S. Army; Indian Campaigns; Custer Battlefield National Cemetery; Crow Agency, Big Horn County, MT. Gallantry in action at Plum Creek, KS, March 1868.
• Galt, William Wylie; Captain, U.S. Army; WWII; Mount Olivet Cemetery, Great Falls, Cascade County, MT. CPT Galt was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for gallantry in action at Villa Crocetta, Italy, May 1944.
• Garland, Harry; Corporal, U.S. Army; Indian Campaigns; Fort Missoula Post Cemetery, Missoula, Missoula County, MT. Gallantry in action at Little Muddy Creek, MT, May 1877.
• Himmelsback, Michael; Private, U.S. Army; Indian Campaigns; Fort Missoula Post Cemetery, Missoula, Missoula County, MT. Gallantry in action at Little Blue, NE, May 1870.
• Hogan, Henry; First Sergeant, U.S. Army; Indian Campaigns; Custer County Cemetery, Miles City, Custer County, MT. (Dual recipient) 1SG Hogan is one of only 19 men in U.S. history to receive two Medals of Honor, and one of only 14 men to receive the medal for two separate actions. One earned at Cedar Creek, MT; October 1876, the other at Bear Paw Mountain, MT, in February, 1877 during battles with the Nez Perce Indians.
• Hunt, Frederick D.; Private, U.S. Army; Indian Campaigns; Montana Veterans Home Cemetery, Columbia Falls, Flathead County, MT. Gallantry in action, Cedar Creek, MT, October 1876.
• Kreher, Wendelin; First Sergeant, U.S. Army; Indian Campaigns; Custer Battlefield National Cemetery, Crow Agency, Big Horn County, MT. Gallantry in action at Cedar Creek, MT, October 1876.
• Leonard, William; Private, U.S. Army; Indian Campaigns; Mayn Cemetery, White Sulphur Springs, Meagher County, MT. Gallantry in action at Muddy Creek, MT, May 1877.
• McCann, Bernard; Private, U.S. Army; Indian Campaigns; Custer Battlefield National Cemetery, Crow Agency, Big Horn County, MT. Gallantry in action at Cedar Creek, MT, Oct 1876.
• Moran, John E.; Captain U.S. Army; Philippine Insurrection; Highland Cemetery, Great Falls, Cascade County, MT. Awarded for gallantry in action in Luzon, Philippines, September 1900.
• Parrish, Laverne; Technician 4th Grade (medic), U.S. Army; WWII; Mountain View Cemetery, Ronan, Lake County, MT. The citizens of Ronan, MT recently erected an ornate but appropriate monument to Tech 4 Laverne Parrish, at Parrish’s gravesite. He earned the Medal of Honor posthumously for gallantry in action in the Philippines in January, 1945, while administering first-aid to 37 wounded soldiers while under fire. His original nondescript flat dark gray government-issue headstone had only the letters “MH” and nothing more to denote he was a Medal of Honor recipient: no gold engraved medallion, no words spelled out in full, just the plain and vague letters “MH.”
• Powers, Leo J.; Private First Class, U.S. Army; WWII; Holy Cross Cemetery, Butte, Silver Bow County, MT. PFC Powers was awarded the Medal of Honor for gallantry in action near Cassino, Italy in February, 1944. He died in 1967.
• Pym, James J.; Private, U.S. Army; Indian Campaigns; Custer County Cemetery, Miles City, Custer County, MT. PVT Pym earned his Medal of Honor during the Battle of the Little Big Horn (Custer’s Last Stand), 25 – 26 June 1876. LTC George Armstrong Custer commanded the entire 7th Cavalry Regiment. Pym was in B. Company, 7th U.S. Cavalry. Captain Thomas
• McDougal commanded B. Company; he was also in charge of the 7th’s pack trains. Because of the slow pace of the mule pack trains, McDougal (and Pym) arrived on the battlefield after Sioux warriors destroyed Custer. McDougal reinforced Major Marcus Reno and Captain Frederick Benteen on what is now known as “Reno Hill” at the Custer Battlefield National Monument, Crow Agency, Big Horn County, MT. Pym risked his life by leaving the steep hill and making the perilous trip down to the Little Big Horn River to get water for the wounded soldiers. Pym died in 1893, age 41 years.
• Veuve, Ernest; Farrier, U.S. Army; Indian Campaigns; Missoula Cemetery, Missoula, Missoula County, MT. Awarded for gallantry in action at Staked Plains, TX, November 1874. Note: A “farrier” took care of the horses’ hooves.

Montanans have historically served their country in higher numbers than most states. Our state has paid a dear price in earning its place in American military history. This section contains statistics showing the numbers of Montanans listed as casualties for the major wars of the 20th & 21st centuries.

A major secondary source for the history of Montanans in military service is Montana in the Wars, compiled by Chester K. Shore (American Legion and Auxilary of Montana, 1977). The several sources listed below may be examined for more detailed information about this subject, including lists of names of Montanans lost in World War II and the recent Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

Source: Chester K. Shore, Montana in the Wars (American Legion and Auxilary of Montana, 1977), p. 69.

Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard

Source: http://www.archives.gov/research/arc/ww2/navy-casualties/montana.html, checked 11/13/2009.

Army

Source: http://www.archives.gov/research/arc/ww2/army-casualties/montana.html, checked 11/13/2009.

Source: Chester K. Shore, Montana in the Wars (American Legion and Auxilary of Montana, 1977), p. 164.

Source: Chester K. Shore, Montana in the Wars (American Legion and Auxilary of Montana, 1977), p. 174.

Source: http://icasualties.org/, checked 4/4/2013.

This data is for informational purposes only and all sources must be evaluated by the reader as to accuracy.

Source: http://www.icasualties.org/, checked 4/4/2013.

This data is for informational purposes only and all sources must be evaluated by the reader as to accuracy.

Our list of military forts does not include fur trade or privately-run forts but strictly military-operated forts. The information was compiled from K. Ross Toole and Merrill G. Burlingame, A History of Montana (New York: Lewis Historical Pub. Co., 1957), Vol. 2, p. 150, Don Miller and Stan Cohen, Military & Trading Posts of Montana (Missoula: Pictorial Histories Publishing Company, 1979), and Encyclopedia of Historic Forts: The Military, Pioneer, and Trading Posts of the United States (New York: MacMillan Publishing Company,1988).

Ancestry.com scanned post returns for the forts. Post returns were "a type of personnel report" made monthly by commanding officers of posts and they "show the units that were stationed at a particular post and their strength, the names and duties of the officers, the number of officers present or absent, a listing of official communications received, and a record of events." You can either search for a person or by post. If searching by post, be search to check the box "Exact" for both the Post Name and the Return Period.

Fort C. F. Smith

Established: 1866
Location: On Bighorn River, some ninety miles from mouth, on crossing of Bozeman Road
Named For: Charles Ferguson Smith, Major General of Volunteers

Camp Cooke

Established: 1866
Location: South bank of Missouri just west of mouth of Judith River
Named For: Brigadier General Philip St. George Cooke

Camp Reynolds / Fort Shaw

Established: 1866 (1867)
Location: On Sun River some twenty miles west of the Missouri
Named For: Colonel Robert G. Shaw

Fort Ellis

Established: 1867
Location: Three miles east of Bozeman
Named For: Colonel Augustus Van Horne Ellis

Fort Benton

Established: 1870
Location: Present town of Fort Benton
Named For: Took name of fur fort named for Senator Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri

Camp Baker / Fort Logan

Established: 1869 (1877)
Location: 18 miles northeast of Diamond City, 15 miles west of White Sulphur Springs
Named For: Major E. M. Baker of Fort Ellis; Fort Logan for Captain William Logan, killed in Battle of the Big Hole

Camp (Cantonment) Porter

Established: 1873
Location: 3 miles above the mouth of Glendive Creek along the banks of the Yellowstone River

Fort Missoula

Established: 1877
Location: Five miles south of Missoula
Named For: Took name of town

Fort Keogh

Established: 1877
Location: On Yellowstone at mouth of Tongue River
Named For: Captain Myles W. Keogh, 7th Cavalry, killed on Bighorn with Custer

Fort Custer

Established: 1877
Location: At junction of Little Bighorn with the Bighorn
Named For: Major General George A. Custer

Helena Barracks

Established: 1877
Location: On Helena Fair Grounds about 3 miles outside city
Named For: Took name from town

Fort Assiniboine

Established: 1879
Location: Six miles south of Havre
Named For: Took name of Indians

Camp Loder

Established: 1879
Location: On Lodge Pole Creek near Fort Musselshell

Camp Poplar River

Established: 1880
Location: 2 miles north of the Missouri, on site of the present day town of Poplar
Named For: Took name of river

Camp Porter

Established: 1880
Location: Established on Yellowstone River near Glendive Creek, on site of the present day town of Glendive

Fort Maginnis

Established: 1880
Location: Judith Basin some twenty miles northeast of Lewistown
Named For: Montana Representative to Congress, Martin Maginnis

Camp Crook

Established: 1890
Location: Near what is now the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation (old Tongue River Indian Agency)

Camp Merritt

Established: 1890
Location: On Lame Deer Creek, near present town of Lame Deer in Rosebud County and what is now the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation (old Tongue River Indian Agency)

Fort William Henry Harrison

Our list of U.S. Presidents who have visited Montana while in office is likely incomplete. Visitors to our Reference Room can find more information in the Presidents Vertical File. 

Know of a visit we're missing? Contact us at mthslibrary@mt.gov to let us know. 

Chester A. Arthur

Yellowstone National Park, September 1, 1883

Theodore Roosevelt

Montana, May 27, 1903
Helena, April 12, 1911

William Howard Taft

Butte, Anaconda, and Helena, September 27, 1909

Woodrow Wilson

Billings, Livingston, Helena, September 11, 1919

Warren G. Harding

Dillon, Butte, Helena, Livingston, Gardiner, June 28-July 2, 1923

Calvin Coolidge Livingston

Yellowstone National Park, August 27, 1927

Franklin D. Roosevelt 

Two Medicine, Glacier National Park, Fort Peck Dam, August 5-6, 1934
HiLine, October 3, 1937

Harry S. Truman

Butte, June 8, 1948
Big Sandy, Havre and Great Falls, May 12, 1950
Kalispell (Hungry Horse Dam), October 1, 1952

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Missoula, September 22, 1954

John F. Kennedy

Billings, September 25, 1963
Great Falls, September 26, 1963

Lyndon B. Johnson

Great Falls, September 16, 1964
Butte, October 12, 1964

Richard M. Nixon

Kalispell, Libby 1971

Gerald Ford

Libby (Libby Dam dedication), August 23, 1975

Ronald Reagan

Billings, August 11, 1982
Great Falls, October 28, 1982

George H. W. Bush

Helena, September 18, 1989
Billings, July 19-20, 1990

George W. Bush

Great Falls,  2005

Barack Obama

Belgrade, August 2009

Donald Trump

Great Falls, July 5, 2018
Billings, September 6, 2018
Missoula, October 18, 2018
Bozeman, November 3, 2018