1864 • May 28 – Montana Territory created from portion of
Idaho Territory and
Dakota Territory • May 28 –
Bannack selected as first territorial capital • June 22 –
Sidney Edgerton appointed first governor of Montana Territory • July 21 – Gold was discovered in "Last Chance Gulch" which resulted in the settlement of
Helena, Montana. • August 9 – The Upper East Gallatin Association formed to officially establish the city of
Bozeman, Montana • October 24 – Montana's first congressional election sends Democrat
Samuel McLean to the
U.S. Congress as Montana's first territorial delegate, cementing the territory's reputation as a
Democratic Party stronghold. • December 3 – Gold is discovered at
Confederate Gulch in the
Big Belt Mountains. • December 12 – The first territorial Legislature Assembly of Montana convenes in
Bannack, Montana. • December 30 – Territorial Legislative Assembly names
Virginia City as the first incorporated town in Montana.
1865 • February 2 –
Historical Society of Montana incorporated at
Virginia City, Montana. • February 5 – Governor Edgerton approves the Montana Territorial Seal designed by Francis M. Thompson (effectively the seal used by the state of Montana) • February 7 –
Virginia City, Montana becomes the second capital of Montana Territory • March 24 – Congress authorizes the Blackfoot Treaty of 1865 (signed in October at
Fort Benton, Montana) by which the
Blackfoot tribes ceded all lands south of the
Missouri and
Teton rivers and west of the
Milk river to the
Rocky Mountains to the U.S. Government. • Summer – Frank L. Worden and Captain Christopher P. Higgins began construction of lumber and flour mills five miles east of Hell Gate. Known as Missoula Mills, this became the site of
Missoula, Montana • September 1 – U.S. Army forces engaged about 300
Hunkpapa,
Sans Arc, and
Miniconjou Lakota Sioux at Alkali Creek, near
Broadus, Montana during the
Powder River Expedition. • September –
Thomas Francis Meagher appointed territorial governor of Montana • October 14 – The first regular mails arrived in
Helena, Montana via
stagecoach from
Corinne, Utah.
1866 • Thomas J. Dimsdale,
Virginia City, Montana publishes the first edition of
The Vigilantes of Montana in book form. The first book ever published in Montana. • July –
Green Clay Smith appointed territorial governor of Montana • July 10 –
Camp Cooke, the first
U.S. Army post built in Montana located on the Missouri River, at the mouth of the
Judith River was named for General
Philip St. George Cooke, the commander of the
Department of the Platte at the time. • August 12 –
Fort C. F. Smith established on the
Big Horn River to protect the
Bozeman Trail. • August 23 – Cattleman Johnny Grant sells his
Deer Lodge, Montana ranch to cattle baron
Conrad Kohrs. • November 2 – The first telegraph messages to and from Montana are sent from
Salt Lake City to
Virginia City and back to President
Andrew Johnson by Governor
Green Clay Smith. • December –
Nelson Story arrives in
Paradise Valley with first herd of
Texas Longhorn cattle driven north on the
Bozeman Trail from
Texas.
1867 • May – Montana Territorial militia establish
Fort Elizabeth Meagher near
Bozeman, Montana. • July 1 –
Thomas Francis Meagher, Territorial Governor mysteriously dies in the
Missouri River near
Fort Benton, Montana. • August 27 – U.S. Army establishes
Fort Ellis just east of
Bozeman, Montana garrisoned with five companies of the
2nd Cavalry Regiment to protect the Gallatin Valley.
1868 • July 29 – Fort Smith evacuated, beginning the closure of the
Bozeman Trail to white settlers as a result of
Red Cloud's War. • November 6 – Red Cloud signs
Treaty of Fort Laramie, which required abandonment of all forts along the Bozeman Trail.
1869 •
James Mitchell Ashley appointed territorial governor of Montana territory • August 23 – Prominent Helena rancher Malcolm Clarke was killed at his ranch home near the mouth of the Prickly Pear Creek by a band of Piegan Blackfeet. • September 6 – David E. Folsom, Charles W. Cook and William Peterson of
Diamond City, Montana, a gold camp in the
Confederate Gulch area of the
Big Belt Mountains east of
Helena, Montana begin the
Cook–Folsom–Peterson Expedition which was the first organized expedition to explore the region that became
Yellowstone National Park. • November 20 – The first
Crow Indian Agency was established on Mission Creek just east of
Livingston, Montana.
1870 • January 23 –
Piegan Blackfeet are
massacred on the
Marias River by the
U.S. Army 2nd Cavalry Regiment under the command of Major Eugene Baker. • August 16 – Civilian members of the
Washburn–Langford–Doane Expedition depart
Helena, Montana en route to
Fort Ellis to link up with a U.S. Army escort for the first official exploration of the Yellowstone region. •
Benjamin F. Potts appointed territorial governor • September 29 –
Henry Comstock, a discoverer of the
Comstock Lode died (suicide) in Bozeman
1871 • June 30 – the
Hayden Geological Survey of 1871 enters Montana Territory en route to the Yellowstone region via
Fort Ellis to spend 45 days exploring what was to become
Yellowstone National Park in 1872. • September 13 – The first issue of the weekly
Avant Courier newspaper, the precursor of the
Bozeman Chronicle was published in Bozeman. • November 4 – President
Ulysses S. Grant issued an Executive order directing the removal of the
Flathead Indians from the
Bitterroot Valley to the
Jocko reservation.
1872 • March 1 – President
Ulysses S. Grant signs the bill establishing
Yellowstone National Park, portions of which are in
Gallatin and
Park counties, Montana. • June 5 – The
U.S. Congress establishes the
Flathead Indian Reservation for
Bitterroot Salish,
Pend d'Oreille and
Kootenai tribes and opens the
Bitterroot Valley to
homesteading. • July 23 – Col.
John A Haydon leads a
Northern Pacific railway survey party from
Fort Ellis, east of present-day
Bozeman, Montana. Haydon's supply train consisted of almost seventy wagons with rations for 105 days and a small herd of beef cattle. Haydon's military escort, commanded by Major Eugene Baker, Second Cavalry, consisting of four companies, 187 men, of the Second Cavalry, and four companies, 189 men, of the Seventh Infantry. • August 14 - The Battle of Pryor's Creek takes place with a war party formed with as many as a thousand warriors of
Lakotas,
Cheyennes,
Arapahos and
Kiowas to go upstream on the Powder river. This war party led by
Sitting Bull,
Red Cloud and
Crazy horse attacks Haydon's railroad survey party and its military escort. By mid morning the attack was over and no one in the railroad party was injured. • August 4, 1873 –
George Armstrong Custer encounters
Sitting Bull and
Crazy Horse at the
Battle of Honsinger Bluff, also known as the Second Battle of Tongue River. • November 25 – Brothers Will and Robert Sutherlin begin publication of the
Rocky Mountain Husbandman in
Diamond City. It was the leading agricultural publication in Montana for over forty years.
1874 • January 9 – Fire destroys most buildings and businesses in
Helena, Montana. • August –
Helena, Montana selected as the territorial capital replacing
Virginia City, Montana.
1875 • July 8 – W.C. Shippen, a
Methodist minister in
Helena, Montana has the "Hanging Tree", a tall, dead
Ponderosa Pine cut down. Ten men had been hanged on the tree which stood at the corner of Broadway and Davis streets; the last being J.L. Compton and Joseph Wilson on April 30, 1870, for robbery and murder. • December 6 – The
Federal Indian Bureau issues a proclamation that any Indians found off their respective reservations as of January 31, 1876 would be considered hostile. This set the stage for the
Great Sioux War of 1876.
1876 • March 17 – The
Battle of Powder River takes place between forces of the U.S. Army and
Northern Cheyenne near present-day
Broadus, Montana. • June 17 –
Lakota and
Northern Cheyenne tribes under the leadership of
Crazy Horse engage U.S. Army forces under the command of Brigadier General
George Crook at the
Battle of the Rosebud. • June 25–26 – Forces under the command of Lieutenant Colonel
George Armstrong Custer,
7th Cavalry Regiment are defeated at the
Battle of the Little Bighorn by a large force of
Lakota,
Northern Cheyenne, and
Arapaho tribes during the
Great Sioux War of 1876. • August 28 – General
William Tecumseh Sherman ordered Colonel
Nelson A. Miles to establish a U.S. Army
cantonment at the mouth of the
Tongue River, a strategic point along the
Yellowstone River, near present-day
Miles City, Montana. Work soon began on the army post, which would officially be named
Fort Keogh on November 8, 1878. From headquarters here, General Miles effectively operated against the
Sioux forces led by
Sitting Bull and others. • October 21 – Colonel Nelson Miles and the
5th Infantry Regiment encounter Sioux chief Sitting Bull at the
Battle of Cedar Creek.
1877 • January 7–8 – Colonel
Nelson Miles attacks winter camp of
Crazy Horse on
Tongue River at the
Battle of Wolf Mountain. • February 19 – U.S. Army establishes
Fort Missoula to protect growing settlements in the area • May –
Sitting Bull and a small band of Sioux refuse to surrender to the U.S. Army and escape to
Wood Mountain in Southern
Saskatchewan, Canada. He remained in exile for many years finally surrendering in July 1881. • August 9–10 –
Nez Perce inflict heavy casualties on
U.S. Army at the
Battle of the Big Hole during the
Nez Perce War. • August 31 – A band of Nez Perce move north out of
Yellowstone into
Gardiner and burn the Henderson Ranch. Units of the
2nd Cavalry Regiment under the command of Lieutenant
Gustavus Doane drive them back into the park. • September 13 – Nez Perce escape capture from the U.S. Army
7th Cavalry at the
Battle of Canyon Creek near
Billings, Montana. • September 23–25 – Nez Perce trying to escape capture engage soldiers at
Cow Creek, Montana delaying their flight north. • October 5 –
Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce surrendered to Colonel Nelson Miles at the
Battle of Bear Paw near the
Bear Paw Mountains ending the Nez Perce War.
1878 1879 • January 29 – The
Secretary of War preserved the site of the
Battle of the Little Bighorn as a
U.S. National Cemetery to protect graves of the 7th Cavalry troopers buried there. Today the site is the
Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument. • May 9 –
Fort Assinniboine established near
Havre, Montana on the
Milk River by the
18th Infantry Regiment.
1880 • March 9 –
Narrow gauge tracks of the
Utah and Northern Railway reach
Monida Pass from
Ogden, Utah to become the first railroad in Montana Territory. • June 11 –
Jeannette Rankin is born, near
Missoula. • Summer – Twenty-seven-year-old photographer
Frank Jay Haynes makes first visit to Montana traveling on the steamboat "Far West" from
Bismarck, North Dakota to
Fort Benton, Montana. • Summer – Lumberman and rancher
Augustus Barrows establishes the stage stop of
Ubet, Montana in the
Judith Basin. • September 6 – Actor
Joe Rickson, who appeared in 90 silent films, is born in Clearcreek in the
Bear Paw Mountains. • November 18 –
Marcus Daly turns on Montana's first electric light in the Alice Mine near
Butte, Montana. • December 4 –
Dillon, Montana is established as a railroad camp on the
Utah and Northern Railway and is named after the company president,
Sidney Dillon. • DHS Ranch in
Fergus County established by A.J. Davis,
Samuel Hauser, and Granville Stuart. • Sixteen-year-old cowboy artist
Charles M. Russell arrives in Montana from
St. Louis.
1881 • July 5 – Tracks of
Northern Pacific Railroad reach
Glendive, Montana. • December 26 – The first
Utah and Northern Railway train reaches
Butte, Montana.
1882 • March 24 – The Minnesota and Montana Land and Improvement Company is formed by
Frederick H. Billings and other investors to plat the city of
Billings, Montana in advance of the arrival of the
Northern Pacific Railroad. • March 15 – Major Jacob Klein, commanding a combined force of the
18th Infantry and
2nd Cavalry Regiments drove
Chippewa and
Cree Indians, and Canadian
Metis out of the U.S. into
Wood Mountain during the
Milk River Expedition • November 22 – Tracks of
Northern Pacific Railroad reach
Livingston, Montana.
1883 • March – Territorial Governor,
Benjamin Franklin Potts, approved a charter for the
Town of Missoula •
Paris Gibson with the backing of railroad magnate
James J. Hill founds the city of
Great Falls, Montana. • August 7 – The first eastbound train of the
Northern Pacific Railroad crosses the
Continental Divide at
Mullan Pass. • September 8 –
Ulysses S. Grant participates in the Golden Spike ceremony at
Gold Creek signifying the completion of the transcontinental
Northern Pacific Railroad.
1884 • July – Montana Stockgrowers Association established by major ranch owners to deal with
rustling and
vigilantism on the
open range. • September 3 – The
Anaconda Copper Mining Company opens a
copper smelter in
Anaconda, Montana. • September 11 – The
Society of Montana Pioneers was founded in Helena.
James Fergus was elected the first president. • November 26 – President
Chester A. Arthur issues an Executive order establishing the
Tongue River Indian Reservation.
1885 •
George Bird Grinnell hired noted explorer (and later well regarded author)
James Willard Schultz to guide him on a hunting expedition into what would later become
Glacier National Park • July 3 –
Samuel Hauser appointed 7th Territorial Governor • October 6 – the weeks long, bloodless Cramer Gulch War starts between rival Missoula logging factions near
Beavertail Hill.
1886 • January 25 –
Montana Central Railway established by
James Jerome Hill eventually to become part of the
Great Northern Railway. • November 15 –
Silver is discovered in the
Castle Mountains by Lafe Hensley. The boomtown of
Castle is founded.
1887 •
Winter of 1886–87 – The worst winter in history in the northern plains. Up to 75% of open range cattle perished on Montana ranches • October 16 – Great Northern Railway tracks reach
Fort Assinniboine near present-day
Havre, Montana. • October 31 – The first train of the
Great Northern Railway enters
Great Falls, Montana. • November 4 –
1st Cavalry Regiment force under the command of Brigadier General
Thomas H. Ruger engage
Crow renegades in the
Battle of Crow Agency. • November 19 – The
Montana Central Railway is completed between
Great Falls and
Helena, Montana.
1888 1889 • March 13 – The last session of the last Territorial Legislature adjourns in
Helena, Montana. • November 8 –
Montana granted statehood as 41st state in the
United States of America. ==See also==