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1968 near wilsall montana at what is now known as the anzick site named for the discoverers 2 the human remains of a male infant found at the anzick site along with clovis culture artifacts establish the earliest known human habitation in what is now montana in 2014 a group of scientists released the results of a major project in which they successfully reconstructed the genome of the anzick boy providing the first genetic evidence that the clovis people were descended from asians and are related to modern native americans 3 4 most indigenous people of the region were nomadic following the buffalo herds and other game and living by seasonal cycles several major tribal groups made their home in and around the land that later became montana the scout in winter crow 1908 by edward s curtis the crow also known as the apsáalooke were the first of the native nations currently living in montana to arrive in the region around 1700 ad they moved from alberta to south central montana and northern wyoming in the 19th century crow warriors were allies and scouts for the united states army 5 6 the modern crow indian reservation is montana s largest reservation located in southeastern montana along the big horn river in the vicinity of hardin montana the cheyenne have a reservation in the southeastern portion of the state east and adjacent to the crow the cheyenne language is part of the larger algonquian language group but it is one of the few plains algonquian languages to have developed tonal characteristics the closest linguistic relatives of the cheyenne language are arapaho and ojibwa little is known about the cheyenne people before the 16th century when they were first recorded in european explorers and traders accounts 7 the blackfeet reservation today is located in northern montana adjacent to glacier national park prior to the reservation era the blackfoot were fiercely independent and highly successful warriors whose territory stretched from the north saskatchewan river along what is now edmonton alberta in canada to the yellowstone river of montana and from the rocky mountains east to the saskatchewan river their nation consisted of three main branches the piegan the blood and the siksika in the summer they lived a nomadic hunting lifestyle and in the winter the blackfeet people lived in various winter camps dispersed perhaps a day s march apart along a wooded river valley they did not move camp in winter unless food for the people and horses or firewood became depleted 8 the assiniboine also known by the ojibwe exonym asiniibwaan stone sioux today live on the fort peck indian reservation in northeastern montana shared with a branch of the sioux nation intermarriage has led to some of the people now identifying as assiniboine sioux prior to the reservation era they inhabited the northern great plains area of north america specifically present day montana and parts of saskatchewan alberta and southwestern manitoba around the us canada border 9 they were well known throughout much of the late 18th and early 19th centuries images of assiniboine people were painted by such 19th century artists as karl bodmer and george catlin the assiniboine have many similarities to the lakota sioux in lifestyle language and cultural habits they are considered a band of the nakoda or middle division of the sioux nation pooling their research historians linguists and anthropologists have concluded the assiniboine broke away from the lakota and dakota sioux bands in the 17th century early tribal treaty territories in montana the gros ventre are located today in north central montana and govern the fort belknap indian reservation gros ventre meaning big bellies in french is a name of unknown origin the people call themselves autonym a ani or a aninin white clay people perhaps related to natural physical formations they were called the atsina by the assiniboine the ajani has 3 682 members and they share fort belknap indian reservation with the assiniboine though the two were traditional enemies the ajani is classified as a band of arapaho they speak a variant of arapaho called gros ventre or atsina the kootenai people live west of the continental divide the kootenai name is also spelled kutenai or ktunaxa ˈ k uː t ən eɪ they are one of three tribes of the confederated salish and kootenai tribes of the flathead nation in montana and they form the ktunaxa nation in british columbia canada there are also kootenai populations in idaho and washington the salish and pend oreilles people also live on the flathead indian reservation the smaller pend d oreille and kalispell tribes originally lived around flathead lake and the western mountains respectively the territories of the different tribes were defined by multiple and varied treaties with the united states generally shrinking their land boundaries with each revision 10 the ojibwe and cree people today jointly share the rocky boy s reservation in north central montana rocky boy s reservation was created after most of the others as a home for some of the landless tribes who did not obtain reservation lands elsewhere the creation of the reservation was largely due to the efforts of the chippewa leader stone child aka rocky boy the little shell chippewa also have a presence in montana however they do not have a reservation other native people had a significant presence in montana though today do not have a reservation within the state these nations included the lakota the arapaho and the shoshone the kiowa and the kiowa apache claim an early history in the late 17th century as nomadic hunters between the yellowstone and missouri 11 louisiana purchase edit main articles french and indian war treaty of paris 1763 new spain louisiana new spain treaty of aranjuez 1801 new france louisiana new france columbia district and louisiana purchase from frank bond louisiana and the louisiana purchase government printing office 1912 map no 4 on april 30 1803 the louisiana purchase treaty was signed by representatives of the u s at paris france the united states senate ratified the treaty on october 20 and president thomas jefferson announced the treaty to the american people on july 4 1803 12 the area covered by the purchase included much of the present day united states between the continental divide and the mississippi river encompassing the great plains including part of what is now montana particularly the missouri river drainage the rights to the louisiana purchase territory cost the u s 15 million which came out to an average of 3 cents an acre 13 67 on march 10 1804 a formal ceremony was conducted in st louis missouri to transfer ownership of the territory from france to the united states of america the lands of present day montana were practically unknown and too distant from the seats of power for this political boundary change to have much impact upon them but the louisiana purchase would prove a sea change for the area 14 lewis and clark expedition edit main article lewis and clark expedition the louisiana purchase sparked interest in knowing the character of the lands the nation had purchased including their flora and fauna and the peoples who inhabited them president thomas jefferson an advocate of exploration and scientific inquiry had the congress appropriate 2 500 for an expedition up the missouri river and down the columbia river to the pacific ocean 15 he had envisioned an expedition of this nature since at least the early 1790s due to his driving interest to secure a route for the u s to trade interests on the pacific coast 16 jefferson tapped his personal secretary meriwether lewis to lead the expedition and lewis recruited william clark an experienced soldier and frontiersman who became an equal co leader of the lewis and clark expedition they were to study map and record information on the native people natural history geology terrain and river systems the expedition floated up the missouri river making winter camp near the mandan villages east of the present border of montana and north dakota the following spring the corps of discovery ascended to the headwaters of the missouri river obtained horses from the shoshone people to cross the continental divide eventually floating down the columbia river to the pacific ocean 17 on the return trip heading east through present day montana in july 1806 after again crossing the continental divide the corps split into two groups so lewis could explore and map the marias river and clark could do the same on the yellowstone river while proceeding down the yellowstone clark signed his name 25 miles 40 km northeast of modern day billings the inscription consists of his signature and the date july 25 1806 clark named the pillar after jean baptiste charbonneau nicknamed pompy the son of sacagawea a shoshone woman who had helped to guide the expedition and along with her husband toussaint charbonneau had acted as an interpreter clark s inscription is the only remaining physical evidence found along the route that was followed by the expedition 18 in the meantime lewis group descending the marias met a small party of piegan blackfeet their initial meeting was cordial but during the night the blackfeet tried to steal their weapons in the ensuing struggle two men were killed the only native deaths attributable to the expedition to prevent further bloodshed the group of four lewis drouillard and the two field brothers fled over 100 miles 160 km in a day before they camped again 13 71 72 lewis s and clark s separate parties rejoined one another at the confluence of the yellowstone and missouri rivers on august 12 1806 thus reunited and heading downstream they were able to quickly return to st louis during the trip the expedition spent more of its time in what today is montana than any other place 13 73 first settlements edit main articles district of louisiana louisiana territory missouri territory treaty of 1818 oregon treaty kansas nebraska act nebraska territory dakota territory and idaho territory st mary s mission was the first permanent european settlement in montana through interactions with iroquois between 1812 and 1820 the salish people learned about christianity and the jesuit missionaries known as blackrobes who worked with native tribes teaching about agriculture medicine and religion interest in these blackrobes grew among the salish in 1831 four young salish men were dispatched to st louis missouri to request a blackrobe to return with them to their homeland in the bitterroot valley the four salish men were directed to the home and office of william clark of lewis and clark fame to make their request at that time clark was in charge of administering the territory they called home through the perils of their trip two died at the home of general clark the remaining two secured a visit with st louis bishop joseph rosati who assured them that missionaries would be sent to the bitterroot valley when funds and missionaries were available in the future again in 1835 and 1837 the salish people dispatched men to st louis to request missionaries but to no avail finally in 1839 a group of iroquois and salish met father pierre jean desmet in council bluffs iowa the meeting resulted in father desmet promising to fulfill their request for a missionary the following year desmet arrived in present day stevensville on september 24 1841 and called the settlement st mary s mission 19 construction of a chapel immediately began followed by other permanent structures including log cabins and montana s first pharmacy in 1850 major john owen arrived in the valley and set up camp north of st mary s in time major owen established a trading post and military strong point named fort owen which served the native people settlers and missionaries in the valley military history edit main article list of military installations in montana fort benton edit one of the first permanent settlements in montana was fort benton established as a fur trading post in 1847 it was named in honor of senator thomas hart benton who encouraged settlement of the west the u s army took over the commercial fort in 1869 and a detachment of the 7th infantry remained in the town until 1881 its location on the missouri river marked the farthest practical point upriver that steamboats could navigate with the arrival of the first steamboats in 1860 the town of fort benton began to develop outside the fort s walls and developed into a major trading center over the next 27 years until it was supplanted with the arrival of railroads in the montana territory an original blockhouse still remaining in the largely reconstructed fort is the oldest building in montana still on its original foundations giving rise to the town s reputation as the birthplace of montana fort ellis edit built near the head of the gallatin valley fort ellis played an important role in many of the early indian conflicts in the territory elements of the 2nd cavalry stationed here took part in both the marias massacre and the great sioux war of 1876 77 it also provided a staging location for many missions of exploration and survey into the region that became yellowstone national park fort shaw edit fort shaw was established in the spring of 1867 located west of great falls in the sun river valley two posts built at the time were camp cooke on the judith river and fort c f smith on the bozeman trail in south central montana territory fort shaw was built of adobe and lumber by the 13th infantry the fort had a parade ground that was 400 feet 120 m square and consisted of barracks for officers a hospital and a trading post and could house up to 450 soldiers the soldiers mainly guarded the benton helena road the major supply line from fort benton which was the head of navigation on the trigger missouri river to the gold mining districts in southwestern montana territory the fort was decommissioned in 1891 the following year 1892 the 20 buildings on the site were adapted for the fort shaw indian industrial school the school boarded young native people to assimilate them teach them english and educate them in modern technology it had as many as 17 faculty members 11 native assistants and 300 students montana territory edit main articles organic act list of organic acts montana territory admission to the union and list of u s states by date of admission to the union swedish gold panners in 1860s montana the montana gold rush began in 1862 20 after the discovery of gold in the region montana was designated as a united states territory montana territory on may 26 1864 and with rapid population growth as the 41st state on november 8 1889 the reorganization of the idaho territory in 1864 showing the newly created montana territory montana territory was organized from the existing idaho territory by act of congress and signed into law by president abraham lincoln on may 28 1864 the areas east of the continental divide had been previously part of th...