Montana is the fourth largest state of the United States. Only Alaska, Texas, and California have larger areas than Montana. Helena is the state capital, and Billings is the largest city.
Eastern Montana is a land of broad plains. The view from these vast plains has earned Montana a nickname, The Big Sky Country. On the plains, herds of cattle graze on the prairie grasses, wheat grows in the fertile soil, and wells bring up petroleum from under the ground. This area also has the nation’s largest coal reserves.
Western Montana is a land of tall, rugged mountains separated by broad river valleys. Glacier National Park, in northwestern Montana, has mountain peaks so steep and remote that they have never been climbed. The name Montana comes from a Spanish word meaning mountainous. Early travelers, who saw the sun glistening on the lofty, snow-capped peaks, called the area the Land of Shining Mountains. These mountains contained a wealth of gold and silver, which gave the state another nickname, the Treasure State.
Early Montana was home to many Native American groups. But after gold was discovered in Montana in 1862, and great numbers of eager prospectors rushed to the area. Mining camps sprang up overnight, and wealth came to the territory. But the gold also brought problems. Outlaws spread terror in the mining camps until groups of citizens called vigilantes took the law into their own hands. The vigilantes hanged many outlaws and drove others away.
Montana was the scene of another struggle—the last efforts by Native Americans to keep their land. The last stand of Lieutenant Colonel George A. Custer was fought in Montana against Sioux and Cheyenne. In addition, the final battles of the Nez Perce War were fought in the state.
The mountains, the battlefields, the old gold camps, and the vast, lonely distances of Montana still make a visitor feel close to the American frontier. In the state’s capital, Helena, the main street is called Last Chance Gulch. The name comes from a gold camp that once stood on the site. Even today, when a basement is dug for a building in Helena, the digging sometimes produces gold dust.
People
Population.
The 2020 United States census reported that Montana had 1,084,225 people. The state’s population had increased 10 percent over the 2010 census figure of 989,415. According to the 2020 census, Montana ranks 44th in population among the 50 states. Montana has about 68,000 Native Americans, most of whom live on reservations. Native Americans—people once commonly known as Indians—make up about 6 percent of the state’s population.
About 55 percent of Montana’s people live in urban areas. Billings, Missoula, and Great Falls are the only cities in Montana that have more than 60,000 people. Montana has five other cities with a population of more than 10,000. They are, in order of population, Bozeman, Butte, Helena, Kalispell, and Belgrade. Montana has five metropolitan areas—Billings, Bozeman, Great Falls, Helena, and Missoula.
Most of Montana’s cities began as mining towns or as centers of trade for farm and ranch areas. Butte grew from a mining camp. So did Helena, the state capital. Missoula developed as an agricultural trade center.
Schools.
Montana’s first schools were started in mining camps in the early 1860’s. They had private teachers who charged tuition. The Roman Catholic Church set up a boarding school for Indigenous (native) children in the Flathead Valley in 1864. The Legislature provided for free public schools in 1893 and for county high schools in 1897.
An elected superintendent of public instruction and a Board of Public Education, appointed by the governor, supervise Montana’s public schools. The board is composed of 11 members. The superintendent serves a four-year term. Montana’s two largest universities are Montana State University and the University of Montana. For the number of students and teachers in the state, see Education (table: U.S. students, teachers, and school expenditures).
Libraries.
The library of the Montana Historical Society in Helena features the world’s largest collection of materials on the history of the Montana region. The library at the Montana State University campus in Bozeman has large collections of materials on famous Montanans, Yellowstone National Park, and Montana agriculture and ranching. The University of Montana library has collections on Native Americans, political figures, and the Northern Pacific Railroad.
Museums.
Montana’s Museum, operated by the Montana Historical Society in Helena, features exhibits on the state’s history and culture. It includes a collection of paintings and sculptures by the cowboy artist Charles M. Russell. Great Falls also has a Russell museum. The Museum of the Rockies, in Bozeman, focuses on the natural and cultural history of the northern Rocky Mountains region and has a large collection of dinosaur fossils. Montana State University operates the museum, which includes a planetarium. The Museum of the Plains Indian, near Browning, has collections of historic and contemporary arts of the northern Plains people. The World Museum of Mining is in Butte. Big Hole National Battlefield, near Wisdom, and Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, near Crow Agency, each have a museum.
Visitor’s guide
Few states equal Montana in attractions for outdoor recreation. People from all over the world travel to Montana to fish, camp, and hike. Montana’s mountains and lakes are perfect for winter activities, such as ice fishing, snowshoeing, snowmobiling, and skiing. Lovers of the outdoors also enjoy the state’s national parks, national forests, dude ranches, ski lodges, summer resorts, and other attractions. Montana’s wide-open spaces are home to a wide variety of birds and animals that are no longer found in many other states. Trips to old ghost towns, battle sites, and points along the Lewis and Clark trail in Montana interest history enthusiasts.
Montana’s Western heritage is reflected in the rodeos and Native American ceremonies that are held throughout the state. Almost every Montana town has a rodeo. Nationally ranked riders compete for large cash prizes in some rodeos. In others, hometown cowboys and cowgirls show their skill. Rodeo owners buy wild horses in a May Bucking Horse Sale in Miles City. Native Americans on Montana’s reservations perform colorful dances and ceremonies.
Land and climate
Land regions.
Montana has two major land regions. They are (1) the Great Plains and (2) the Rocky Mountains.
The Great Plains
of Montana are part of the vast Interior Plain of North America that stretches from Canada to Mexico. In Montana, this high, gently rolling land makes up the eastern three-fifths of the state. The land is broken by groups of mountains rise sharply from the plains. These ranges include the Bears Paw, Big Snowy, Judith, and Little Rocky mountains. In the southeast, wind and water have created badland areas of gullies and columns of red, yellow, brown, and white stone.
The Rocky Mountains
cover the western two-fifths of Montana. This is a region of unusual beauty. The valleys have flat, grassy floors, and the mountains are forested with fir, pine, spruce, and other evergreens. In southwestern Montana, valleys may extend 30 to 40 miles (48 to 64 kilometers) between mountain ranges. In the northwest, most valleys are narrow—from 1 to 5 miles (1.6 to 8 kilometers) wide. Snow covers the higher mountains 8 to 10 months each year. There are many permanent snowfields and a few active glaciers in the higher mountain ranges. The glaciers that once covered this land carved the highest mountains into jagged peaks. The glaciers retreated, leaving many clear, cold lakes.
There are more than 50 mountain ranges or groups in this area. The most important ranges include the Absaroka, Beartooth, Beaverhead, Big Belt, Bitterroot, Bridger, Cabinet, Crazy, Flathead, Gallatin, Little Belt, Madison, Mission, Swan, and Tobacco Root. The highest peaks rise in south-central Montana north of Yellowstone Park. Granite Peak in Park County is the highest mountain. It rises 12,799 feet (3,901 meters).
Faults (fractures in Earth’s outer rocky shell, along which movement has taken place) create the danger of earthquakes in this region. The worst quake period recorded was in 1935, when more than 1,200 shocks were felt in 80 days in the Helena area. In 1959, in southwest Montana, an earthquake caused a landslide that blocked the Madison River and formed what is called Earthquake Lake.
Rivers and lakes.
Montana is the only state drained by river systems that empty into the Gulf of Mexico, Hudson Bay, and the Pacific Ocean. The Missouri River system drains into the Gulf of Mexico by way of the Mississippi River. The Columbia system includes the Clark Fork and drains into the Pacific Ocean. The Belly, St. Mary’s, and Waterton rivers reach Hudson Bay through the Nelson-Saskatchewan river system.
Montana’s most important rivers include the Missouri and its branch, the Yellowstone. These rivers drain about six-sevenths of the state. The Missouri starts in southwestern Montana at Red Rock Creek, which eventually becomes the Jefferson River. At Three Forks, Montana, the Jefferson, Madison, and Gallatin rivers meet, and from this point the river is called the Missouri. The Missouri flows north past Helena, then through a deep scenic gorge called the Gates of the Mountains. It then curves east. Fort Peck Dam, on the Missouri in northeastern Montana, is one of the largest earth-fill dams in the country. The Missouri leaves Montana at the North Dakota border. The main tributaries of the Missouri in Montana are the Marias, Milk, Sun, and Teton rivers.
The Yellowstone flows north out of Yellowstone Park and then runs east and somewhat north. It joins the Missouri in North Dakota. The chief branches of the Yellowstone—the Bighorn, Clark Fork, Powder, and Tongue rivers and Rosebud Creek—flow into it from the south.
The Continental Divide winds through Montana. This height of land separates the westward-flowing and eastward-flowing waters. The major rivers west of the divide are the Kootenai and the Clark Fork of the Columbia. The chief branches of the Clark Fork are the Bitterroot, Blackfoot, Flathead, and Thompson rivers. The western streams drain only about one-seventh of the land, but they carry more water than the eastern Montana rivers.
Montana’s largest natural lake is Flathead Lake, which covers about 189 square miles (490 square kilometers) in the northwest. The state’s largest artificially created lake is Fort Peck Lake, on the Missouri River, which covers 383 square miles (992 square kilometers). Other important lakes include Canyon Ferry Lake and Hungry Horse and Tiber reservoirs. Yellowtail Dam, which was completed in 1966, creates a lake 71 miles (114 kilometers) long in Montana and Wyoming.
In 1967, army engineers began building the Libby Dam on the Kootenai River in northwestern Montana. The dam, which went into full operation in 1975, produces 525,000 kilowatts of power and provides flood control. It created Lake Koocanusa, which is 90 miles (145 kilometers) long and extends 42 miles (68 kilometers) into Canada. The dam is part of the Libby Dam hydroelectric project, which was completed in 1984. The $373-million project was made possible by the Columbia River Treaty between Canada and the United States.
Plant and animal life.
Forests cover about one-fourth of Montana. Common trees include alders, ashes, aspens, birches, cedars, firs, larches, pines, and spruces. Flowers include asters, bitter root, columbines, daisies, lilies, lupines, mountain avens, poppies, and primroses. Grasslands cover much of the state.
Montana has large numbers of big-game animals. Deer are found both on the plains and in the mountains. Antelope and pronghorns live on the plains. Bears, elk, moose, mountain goats, and mountain sheep are found in the mountains. Such small fur-bearing animals as beavers, minks, and muskrats are also found there. Common game birds include wild ducks and geese, grouse, pheasants, partridges, and turkeys. Montana’s many high, cold streams and lakes are famous for grayling and trout, two kinds of game fish.
Climate.
Montana’s climate varies considerably from one area to the other because the state is so large and has such great differences in elevation. The region west of the Continental Divide has cooler summers and warmer winters than the area east of the divide. 
In the western part of the state, the average January temperature is about 22 °F (–6 °C). Eastern Montana’s January average is around 14 °F (–10 °C). July temperatures average 65 °F (18 °C) in the west, and 71 °F (22 °C) in the east. The state’s record high temperature of 117 °F (47 °C) was recorded at Glendive on July 20, 1893, and at Medicine Lake on July 5, 1937. Before Alaska became a state in 1959, Rogers Pass had the lowest temperature ever recorded in the United States, –70 °F (–57 °C) on Jan. 20, 1954.
Most of Montana, except the western edge, has annual precipitation of 13 to 14 inches (33 to 36 centimeters). The western mountain areas receive more moisture than the plains. Snowfall in Montana ranges from 15 inches (38 centimeters) to 300 inches (760 centimeters) annually.
In winter, a chinook wind sometimes blows down the eastern mountain slopes. This warm, dry wind often melts the snow and exposes grazing land, allowing ranchers to graze cattle for part of the winter.
Economy
Service industries play a major role in Montana’s economy. Taken together, they account for the largest portion of the gross domestic product—the total value of goods and services produced in the state in a year. Service industries also employ most of the state’s workers.
In the rural areas of Montana’s plains, major economic activities include cattle ranching, wheat farming, and the mining of coal, natural gas, and petroleum. In the mountains, metal mining and logging are important.
The federal government owns about 30 percent of the land in Montana. Federal agencies control livestock grazing, logging, and mining in those areas.
Natural resources
include reserves of minerals and large areas of cropland, grassland, and forestland.
Soil.
The soils of northern Montana are a mixture of clay, sand, and gravel left by melting glaciers. Much of the soil in the south was formed from the sediments of shallow seas that covered the area millions of years ago. Soils deposited by floods lie along the rivers and in the western valleys. The mountain soils formed as mountain rocks eroded. In a few areas, fertile loess (fine-grained topsoil) lies in a thick layer.
Minerals.
Montana has huge deposits of two important minerals—coal and petroleum. Montana’s coal reserves lie under much of the plains region. Petroleum deposits also lie under the plains. Some of the petroleum deposits contain natural gas.
The western mountains of Montana have large ore reserves containing copper, gold, lead, platinum, silver, and zinc. Palladium and platinum are found in the mountains of south-central Montana, as are extensive gold and silver deposits. Other reserves include clay, gemstones, gypsum, limestone, molybdenum, and talc.
Grasslands.
Much of Montana is used for grazing. The most important grasses are buffalo grass, blue grama, and Western wheat grass.
Forests
cover about one-fourth of Montana. Most of these forests are available for commercial use. However, some forests are not available for logging because they stand in national parks and other reserves, are too poor in quality, or grow too far from transportation. Cedar, Douglas-fir, pine, spruce, and western larch are important trees for logging.
Service industries
account for the largest part of the state’s employment and gross domestic product. Billings is Montana’s leading financial center. Billings, Great Falls, and Missoula are the leading centers of health care. Hotels, restaurants, and retail trade establishments are scattered throughout Montana. Many of them are in the Billings, Bozeman, and Missoula areas. 
State government offices are based in Helena. Government services also include the operation of military bases and Indian reservations. Malmstrom Air Force Base lies near Great Falls. Seven Indian reservations lie either partially or completely in Montana.
The transportation industry is vital to Montana because goods must often be shipped great distances to reach markets. Oil pipelines are an important part of the transportation system.
Manufacturing.
Much of Montana’s manufacturing is dedicated to processing its farm, forest, and mined products. Montana has four petroleum refineries, one in Great Falls and three in the Billings area. The state has many sawmills, especially in the mountainous regions of far western Montana. Baked goods, meat, and milk are major food-processing products. Other products made in Montana include concrete, fabricated metal products, and machinery.
Mining.
Coal, natural gas, and petroleum are among the state’s leading mined products. Almost all of Montana’s coal is subbituminous (soft) coal, obtained from surface mines in Big Horn and Rosebud counties. Fallon, Richland, Roosevelt, Sheridan, and Wibaux counties—all within the Williston Basin in eastern Montana—lead in petroleum production. Leading gas producers include Blaine, Hill, and Phillips counties in the north and Big Horn and Fallon counties in the southeast.
Montana’s metals output varies widely, depending on prices and labor conditions. The state is an important source of copper, molybdenum, and silver. Many mines in the Rocky Mountain region yield metal ores. Some of the ores contain more than one type of metal. Stillwater and Sweet Grass counties have the nation’s only mines that yield palladium and platinum. Montana leads the nation in the production of talc.
Agriculture.
Farms and ranches cover about three-fifths of Montana. Livestock products account for about half of Montana’s farm income. Ranchers throughout the state raise beef cattle, the leading livestock product. Dairy cattle are mainly raised in the river valleys of western Montana. Sheep graze in many parts of the state. North-central Montana has many hogs. 
Crops also produce about half of Montana’s farm income. Wheat is the state’s leading crop, and Montana ranks as one of the leading wheat-growing states. Wheat production is heaviest in the north-central and northeastern parts of the state. Barley and hay are also important crops in Montana. Farms in the area north of Great Falls grow much of the barley. Hay grows throughout Montana. The state also produces lentils, peas, potatoes, and sugar beets.
Electric power and utilities.
Plants that burn coal provide about half of Montana’s electric power. Hydroelectric plants produce most of the remaining power. 
Transportation.
Montana has an extensive system of roads. Billings and Bozeman have the busiest airports. Railroads provide freight service. The Utah & Northern, Montana’s first railroad, entered the area in 1880.
Communication.
Montana has dozens of newspapers. The largest papers in the state are the Billings Gazette, the Great Falls Tribune, and The Missoulian.
Government
Constitution
of Montana went into effect in 1973. It replaced a constitution that had been adopted in 1889. Amendments may be proposed by (1) a two-thirds vote of the State Legislature, (2) a petition signed by 10 percent of the state’s qualified voters, or (3) a constitutional convention. To be adopted, a proposed amendment must be approved by a majority of the citizens voting in an election.
A constitutional convention may be proposed by either a two-thirds vote of the Legislature or a petition signed by 10 percent of the state’s qualified voters. Approval of proposals by a majority of the voters in an election is required in order to call a constitutional convention. The Constitution requires that the people vote at least once every 20 years on whether to call a constitutional convention.
Executive.
The governor and lieutenant governor of Montana serve a four-year term and may be reelected any number of times. But they may not seek reelection for the same office if they have already served for 8 years in any 16-year period. These officials can only be reelected by write-in vote. The governor has powers of appointment involving key officials in executive departments and many state institutions. The governor also has strong veto powers over legislation. For example, the governor may veto individual items in an appropriation (money) bill and sign the rest of the bill into law.
The attorney general, auditor, secretary of state, and superintendent of public instruction are elected to four-year terms. These officials follow the same term limits as the governor and lieutenant governor.
Legislature
consists of a 50-member Senate and a 100-member House of Representatives. Each of the 50 senatorial districts in Montana elects one senator, who serves a four-year term and may serve no more than two terms in 16 years. Each of the 100 representative districts in the state elects one representative, who serves a two-year term and may serve no more than four terms in 16 years. 
Regular sessions of the State Legislature are held in odd-numbered years. Sessions begin on the first Monday in January and are limited to 90 legislative days. Special sessions may be called by the governor or the Legislature.
Courts.
The highest court of appeals in Montana is the state Supreme Court. It consists of six associate justices and one chief justice. Justices of the Supreme Court are elected by the voters to eight-year terms. The trial courts for major civil and criminal cases are the district courts. District court judges are elected to six-year terms from each of 22 judicial districts. Municipal courts and justice of the peace courts handle less serious cases.
Local government.
Most of the state’s 56 counties elect county commissioners to govern the county. Most counties elect three commissioners to six-year terms. Many of Montana’s cities and towns have a mayor-council government. Several other cities in Montana, including Bozeman, Great Falls, and Helena, use the commission-manager system.
Revenue.
Taxes provide less than half of the state government’s general revenue (income) in Montana. Most of the rest comes from federal grants and programs. Much of the tax revenue in the state comes from income taxes and taxes on mineral production. The state government also taxes motor fuels, tobacco products, and other items. Montana has no general sales tax.
Politics.
In the early days, the Democratic Party dominated Montana politics. Many people voted Democratic because they came to Montana from the traditionally Democratic South.
During the 1900’s, the Republican and Democratic parties shared power in Montana. Most of the state’s governors were Democrats. Most of the Republican gubernatorial victories took place in the last half of the 1900’s. In presidential elections, Montana has given its electoral votes to the Republican candidate more often than the Democratic candidate.
History
Early days.
Before the white settlers arrived, two groups of Native American tribes lived in the region that is now Montana. The Arapaho, Assiniboine, Blackfeet, Cheyenne, Crow, and Gros Ventre (also called Atsina) tribes lived on the plains. The mountains in the west were the home of the Bannock, Flathead, Kalispel, Kootenai, and Shoshone tribes. Other nearby tribes such as the Sioux, Mandan, and Nez Perce hunted in the Montana region.
Exploration.
French trappers may have visited the Montana area as early as the 1740’s. The American explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark led their expedition across Montana to the Pacific Coast in 1805. They returned in 1806 and explored parts of Montana both going and coming. After 1807, fur traders became active there. In 1841, Jesuit missionaries established St. Mary’s Mission, the first attempt at a permanent settlement, near what is now Stevensville. In 1847, the American Fur Company built Fort Benton on the Missouri River. The town that formed there is Montana’s oldest continuously populated town.
The United States got most of what is now Montana as part of the Louisiana Purchase (see Louisiana Purchase). The northwestern part was gained by treaty with the United Kingdom in 1846. At various times, parts of Montana were in the territories of Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, Dakota, Oregon, Washington, and Idaho.
The gold rush.
In 1862, prospectors found gold on Grasshopper Creek in southwestern Montana. Other gold strikes followed, and wild mining camps grew around the gold fields. These included Bannack, Diamond City, Virginia City, and others.
The mining camps had almost no effective law enforcement. Finally, the citizens took the law into their own hands. One famous incident involved the two biggest gold camps—Bannack and Virginia City. The settlers learned that their sheriff, Henry Plummer, was actually an outlaw leader. The men of Bannack and Virginia City formed a vigilance committee to rid themselves of the outlaws. These vigilantes hanged 21 men, including Plummer, in January 1864. The vigilantes adopted as their symbol the numbers 3-7-77. These numbers may have referred to dimensions of a grave—3 feet wide, 7 feet deep, and 77 inches long. Or they may have been associated with masonic ritual because many of the vigilantes were members of the Masons, a fraternal organization. Many outlaws were hanged or driven from Montana.
Many of the early prospectors came from the South, some from Confederate Army units that broke up early in the American Civil War (1861-1865). One of the major gold fields was called Confederate Gulch, because three Southerners found the first gold there.
During the boom years, gold dust was the principal money. For example, missionaries did not pass collection plates at services. They passed a tin cup for gold dust. Chinese laundries even found gold in their wash water when they had finished washing the miners’ clothing.
Sidney Edgerton, an Idaho official, saw the need for better government of the wild mining camps. At the time, Montana was part of the Idaho territory. Edgerton traveled to Washington, D.C., to lobby for territorial status. Montana became a territory on May 26, 1864, and Edgerton served as its first governor.
The cattle industry
began in Montana in the mid-1850’s, when Richard Grant, a trader, brought the first herd to the area from near Fort Bridger in southwestern Wyoming. In 1866, Nelson Story, a cattleman, drove a thousand longhorn cattle from Texas to Montana. Story’s herd started the Montana cattle industry in earnest. The coming of the Northern Pacific Railroad in 1883 opened the way to the eastern markets and caused even more growth. However, disaster struck the cattle industry in the bitterly cold winter of 1886-1887. Cattle died by the thousands during the severe winter. Ranching continued after this, but on a smaller scale.
Indian fighting.
Two of the most famous campaigns in the American conflicts known as the Indian Wars were fought in the Montana Territory. On June 25 and 26, 1876, Sioux and Cheyenne warriors wiped out part of the 7th Cavalry Regiment under Lieutenant Colonel George A. Custer. This battle, known as “Custer’s Last Stand,” was fought near the Little Bighorn River in southeastern Montana. The last serious conflicts in Montana started when the U.S. government tried to move the Nez Perce from their lands in Oregon. Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce led his band toward Canada through Montana. They fought several small battles in Idaho, and then a two-day battle at Big Hole in southwestern Montana. Troops under Colonel Nelson A. Miles accepted Chief Joseph’s surrender about 40 miles (64 kilometers) from the Canadian border. See Indian wars (Little Bighorn) (The Nez Perce War (1877)).
Statehood.
Between 1880 and 1890, the population of Montana grew from about 39,000 to nearly 143,000. The people of Montana first asked for statehood in 1884. Montana was admitted to the United States as the 41st state on Nov. 8, 1889. Joseph K. Toole of Helena became the first governor of the state. 
Much of Montana’s growth during the 1880’s and 1890’s came because of the mines at Butte. The earliest mines produced gold. Then silver was discovered in the rock ledges of Butte Hill. Later, the miners found rich veins of copper. Miners came to Butte from Ireland, the United Kingdom, and other areas of Europe. Smelters were built in Anaconda and Great Falls, and more men were hired to operate them. Butte Hill became known as the Richest Hill on Earth.
Marcus Daly and William A. Clark led the development of Butte copper and controlled many of the richest mines. The two men became rivals in both business and politics. The great wealth produced by the mines gave both men great power. Daly built the town of Anaconda and spent large sums of money in a campaign to make it the state capital. Clark opposed Daly’s plan, and the voters picked Helena as the capital.
Clark wanted to be a U.S. senator, but Daly opposed him. In the campaign of 1899, Clark was accused of bribery. He won the election but resigned rather than face an investigation by a Senate committee. Two years later, Clark won his Senate seat in a second election. He was helped by F. Augustus Heinze, another mineowner. Heinze had arrived in Butte long after Daly and Clark became millionaires. But Heinze became wealthy through clever use of mining law and court suits.
First Daly, then the others sold their properties to a single corporation, which became the Anaconda Company. The company organized an electric power company, built a railroad, and constructed dams. It also controlled forests, banks, and newspapers. Anaconda became so important in the life of the state that Montanans referred to it simply as “The Company.”
Progress as a state.
During the early 1900’s, Montana made increasing use of its natural resources. New dams harnessed the state’s rivers, providing water for irrigation and electric power for industry. The extension of the railroads assisted the processing industries. New plants refined sugar, milled flour, and processed meat. In 1910, the U.S. Congress created Glacier National Park, which became an attraction for tourists.
Jeannette Rankin of Missoula, a leader in the campaign for women’s rights and a pacifist, was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1916. She was the first woman to serve in Congress. She won fame in 1941 as the only member of Congress to vote against U.S. entry into World War II (1939-1945). 
Depression years.
During the Great Depression of the 1930’s, demand for the state’s metals dropped because of the nationwide lag in production. Drought contributed to the drop in farm income brought on by the Depression. However, state and federal programs continued to develop Montana’s resources during the 1930’s. The building of the giant Fort Peck Dam helped provide jobs. Completion of the dam in 1940 provided badly needed water for irrigation. Other projects included insect control, irrigation, rural electrification, and soil conservation. Construction of parks, recreation areas, and roads also continued under government direction.
The mid-1900’s.
Montana’s economy boomed during World War II (1939-1945). The state’s meat and grain were in great demand, and its copper and other metals were used in the war effort. After the war, lower prices for grain reduced agricultural income. Many people moved from farming areas to towns and cities to find jobs. Some small farming towns were abandoned.
Montana’s petroleum industry expanded rapidly in the early 1950’s, when major oil fields were discovered in the Williston Basin along the Montana-North Dakota border. Wells in the new Montana fields began pumping oil in 1951. In 1955, the Anaconda Aluminum Company opened a $65-million plant in northwestern Montana, and aluminum products became important to the state’s economy. During the 1960’s, Anaconda spent more than $50 million to improve operations at the Butte mines and to make better use of the remaining ore there.
Tourism grew as an important source of income in Montana during the mid-1900’s. The state developed more parks and historic sites, and private developers opened dude ranches, summer resorts, and skiing centers. Such ski areas as Big Mountain, near Whitefish, helped extend the tourist season through winter.
The state’s irrigation and water conservation programs were also expanded. In 1966, Yellowtail Dam on the Bighorn River in southern Montana was completed. This dam provides water for electric power, irrigation, and recreation. Work began in 1967 on the $373-million Libby Dam hydroelectric project on the Kootenai River in northwestern Montana. The power plant there began operation in 1975. The project was completed in 1984.
The late 1900’s.
In 1972, Montana voters narrowly approved a new state Constitution. The Constitution went into effect in 1973.
Montana’s gas, oil, and coal industries expanded rapidly during the 1970’s, when an energy shortage developed in the United States. Coal production increased sharply, from less than 3 million to almost 40 million tons per year. Huge, open-pit strip mines operated at Colstrip and other southeastern Montana sites. The Montana Power Company built four coal-fired electric power plants at Colstrip. A 30 percent coal severance tax contributed needed funds to the state. But in the early 1980’s, fuel prices fell, and Montana’s production leveled off.
Montana’s traditionally important industries experienced major difficulties during the 1980’s. Farmers suffered hardships brought on by drought, insect pests, and low farm product prices. The lumber and mining industries reduced their work forces. But the economy improved in the 1990’s, as farm problems eased and the state’s construction and manufacturing industries gained strength.
In 1997, the Legislature passed a bill deregulating the generation and sale of electric power. Government officials believed the action would result in increased competition among electric companies and lower rates for customers.
The early 2000’s.
In 2000, voters elected the state’s first woman governor, Judy Martz. Martz held office from 2001 to 2005.
In the early 2000’s, Montanans grew increasingly concerned about electric costs and services. After deregulation, the state’s largest electric company, the Montana Power Company, had sold its generating plants and dams to Pennsylvania Power and Light and its transmission and distribution facilities to NorthWestern Energy. In 2003, NorthWestern Energy declared bankruptcy. The company emerged from bankruptcy in late 2004.
