Montana
Art, History & Archaeology Sites & Museums

Referring to the Rocky Mountains which pass through the west of this northern state, Montana takes its name from the Spanish word for ‘mountain.’ Despite this, the eastern half of Montana is largely flat, forming part of the Great Plains. By the 19th century, various indigenous communities lived in Montana, including the Crow, Cheyenne, Assiniboin, and Blackfoot. The United States secured Montana through the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, with fur trappers and Christian missionaries among its first European residents. The discovery of gold in the 1860s resulted in rapid immigration into Montana, which then became a state in 1889. Growing conflict between the European American arrivals and indigenous peoples resulted in clashes like the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876.