# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Montana

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​MONTANA, a north-western state of the United States, situated between latitudes 44° 26′ and 49° N., and between longitudes 27° and 39° W. from Washington. It is bounded N. by the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Alberta and Assiniboia; E. by North Dakota and South Dakota; S. by Wyoming and Idaho; W. by Idaho. Montana has an area of 146,572 sq. m., 796 sq. m. of which are water surface. (For map, see Idaho.)
Physical Features.—The Rocky Mountains cross the state from north-west to south-east, and with their spurs and outlying ranges occupy nearly one-third of its area in the west and south-west; the remaining portion is occupied chiefly by the Great Plains. The main range of the Rockies follows the boundary line between Montana and Idaho west and north-west from Yellowstone Park in Wyoming to Ravalli county, then turns east-north-east to Lewis and Clark county, and from there extends north-north-west into Canada. From where the main range turns east from the Idaho boundary line the crest of the Bitter Root Mountains continues on that line with a downward slope to within one degree of latitude from the Canadian border. This range of mountains, which was formed by a great fault, has a maximum elevation at its southern end of about 9000 ft. above the sea. On its slope, which rises abruptly from the Bitter Root Basin, glaciers have cut cañons between high and often precipitous walls, and between these cañons are steep and rocky ridges having peaked or saw-toothed crest lines. To the east and north-east of the Bitter Root Mountains is a considerable basin or peneplain dissected by short ranges having a north-west and south-west trend. To the south-east of this basin are the greatest mountain masses of the state; lofty and rugged ranges radiate in all directions, and in many instances rise to heights of 10,000–11,000 ft., the highest peak in the state being Granite Peak (12,834 ft.) in Carbon county. Deep and narrow cañons are common, and, at higher levels, glaciers, carved out amphitheatres, or “cirques” and “U”-shaped troughs. In the north the Rocky Mountains consist principally of two parallel ranges, the Lewis and Clark Range to the east, and the Livingston Range to the west, which were formed by a great overthrust; between them is the Waterton-McDonald valley, 8–15 m. wide. The east slope of the Lewis and Clark range is marked by long high spurs, and the valleys between them end in radiating cañons that are crowned with bold cliffs. On the higher summits the range rises to 8500–10,400 ft. above the sea, but in the wind-gaps only to 5500–6500 ft. The Livingston range is less rugged and more massive. Like the Lewis and Clark range, its crest is broken by numerous U-shaped wind-gaps and its West slope is cut by glacial troughs containing long narrow lake basins. Extending far to the eastward, especially in the south of the state, are isolated mountain groups. Among these are the Bear Paw Mountains, in the north central part, which occupy a tract 40 m. long and 20 m. wide that on the western side rises abruptly from the plains and reaches an elevation in Bear Paw Peak of 7040 ft. above the sea. The Great Plains in Montana slope from about 4000 ft. (above the sea), at the foothills of the mountains, to 2000 ft. in the north-east of the state. The valleys of the principal streams are deeply eroded; bluffs are common along their borders, and buttes elsewhere on the plains. The main range of the Rocky Mountains separates that part which is drained west into the Columbia river and the Pacific Ocean from that which is drained east into the Missouri and Mississippi rivers and the Gulf of Mexico, and from a very small part which is drained north-east into Hudson Bay; the water-parting which in Montana separates the drainage into Hudson Bay from the drainage into the Gulf of Mexico crosses only the north-west of Teton county. The principal rivers east of the Rockies are the Missouri and three of its tributaries; the Yellowstone in the south-east, the Musselshell in the middle, and the Milk in the north. The Missouri is formed by a union of the Jefferson, the Madison and the Gallatin. It flows first east-north-east and then nearly east until it passes into North Dakota. Its channel is generally erratic and constantly shifting; its bed is sandy and its water muddy. In contrast, the Yellowstone is a stream of bright clear water running over a gravelly bed and among numerous forest-clad islands. The Missouri is navigable for small boats to Fort Benton in Chouteau county, but farther upstream near Great Falls, Cascade county, to which it is navigable at high water, it falls 512 ft. in 10 m. The Yellowstone is navigable for about 300 m. The principal rivers west of the Main Divide of the Rockies are the Clark Fork of the Columbia and its principal tributary, the Flathead, which rises in British Columbia. Montana has a few mineral springs, the best known being the Lissner Springs at Helena. Small lakes and waterfalls, the result of glacial action, are numerous in the mountains. There is, however, only one large lake in the state—Flathead (or Selish) Lake, which may be regarded as an enlargement of Flathead river; it is 27 m. long, has an average width of 12 m., and a depth of more than 1000 ft.
Geology.—In the Great Plains region the geological structure is very simple, consisting of nearly horizontal strata of Cretaceous rock in the middle and western portions, and of Tertiary rock on the eastern border, but in the mountain region the rocks have been folded and faulted until the structure is intricate and obscure. Some of the deeper cañons show rocks of nearly all ages. The higher elevations are mostly either Archean or Paleozoic formations projecting above Tertiary deposits. In the Bitter Root Valley is a large deposit of Quaternary. Fossil remains of mammals, fish and reptiles found in the Tertiary deposits of south-western Montana are preserved in the Carnegie Museum at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and in the museum of the university of Montana. They include the mandible of a mastodon and a portion of a vertebra of a large fish, both found in the Lower Madison Valley; the skull and other parts of a dog (Mesocyon drummondanus), found near Drummond, Granite county; the skull of a Poatrephes paludicola, found near New Chicago, Granite county; a portion of the skull of a Mesohippus latidens, found near the confluence of the three forks which form the Missouri river; and a portion of the skull of a Hyrachyus priscus, found near Lima, Beaverhead county. In the region east of the Crazy Mountains, in Sweetgrass county, are marine beds of upper Cretaceous or lower Tertiary formation containing fossils of Dinosaurs and ​Mosasaurs, and in the museum of the university of Montana is the greater part of the skeleton of a Dinosaur which was found here. Interesting fossil remains have also been found in Carboniferous formations in the south-west of the state.
Fauna.—The native fauna is not sharply distinguished from that of the surrounding states. The bison, which once ranged the plains in large herds, have been exterminated; the moose and the elk are found only occasionally in the wilder regions; mountain sheep, antelopes, black and grizzly bears, wolves, coyotes and lynx (“wild cats”) are also becoming rare. Black-tailed and mule deer are still favourite game for sportsmen. Geese, ducks and grouse are numerous about the lakes and rivers. Several kinds of fish, among which are trout, salmon, grayling and white fish, inhabit many of the lakes, rivers and mountain streams, and a government fish hatchery at Bozeman, Gallatin county, restocks waters in which the supply has been diminished.
Flora.—The Great Plains are covered for the most part only with bunch grass which grows in tufts, leaving the ground visible between, and except in May and June presents a yellow and withered appearance. Mixed with the bunch grass are occasional patches of sage brush. Most of the bluffs along the principal river valleys, especially those in the south-east, are entirely bare of vegetation, but on the bottom lands along the rivers and streams considerable patches of cottonwood and willows are common. The mountain valleys are covered with little except grasses; on the higher parts of the mountains there are barren rocks or only a scant growth of timber; but many of the lower mountain slopes, especially those along the western border, are clothed with heavy timber, yellow pine, red fir and tamarack being the principal species.
Climate.—The climate is generally dry, although less so on the mountains and in the Flathead river basin than on the Great Plains, and is subject to sudden changes and to great extremes of temperature; but the temperature varies more than the amount of precipitation. In the west the climate is generally delightful, it being there greatly affected by the warm, dry “Chinook” wind which blows from the Pacific Ocean; to some extent the wind modifies the temperature nearly to the eastern border. It is the prevailing wind of winter in the mountains and in consequence the periods of cold, though often severe, are short. In the east the winters are often long and very cold, and the summers dry and hot. The mean annual temperature ranges from 37° F. in the north-east to 47° in the sheltered valleys among the mountains. On the Great Plains a range of extremes within a year from −40° F. to 100° is not unusual, but in the mountain valleys the range is rarely greater than from −20° to 90°. The records from 1880 to 1907 show a maximum range from 117° at Glendive, near the eastern border, in July 1893, to −63° at Poplar, about 80 m. north by west of Glendive, in January 1885. The amount of precipitation is greater in the north-west and on the mountains, because in the one case the mountains of lower elevation are a less obstruction to the moisture-bearing winds from the west, and in the other the mountains condense the moisture; the mountains which stand in isolated groups upon the plains are frequently in summer the focus of local thunder showers. The average annual precipitation ranges from 10 to 15 in. on the Great Plains to 20 in. or more in the north-west, and over limited areas in the higher mountain region. Nearly one-half of the rain falls during the four months from May to August inclusive. Storms endangering life and property occur only in the east, caused by a high north wind with snow or rain and a low temperature.
Soil.—In the river bottoms the soil is for the most part a black clayey loam lacking in natural drainage, but on the “bench lands” higher up there is a deep layer of sandy loam beneath which is a bed of gravel. Some of the best soil is in the mountain valleys, for these valleys were once lakes and rich deposits of alluvium were made in them. The mountain slopes are often bare or covered only with a thin layer of mould.
Agriculture.—The rainfall is sufficient for good grazing, but except in the Flathead valley cultivation was long considered to be dependent on irrigation; and consequently farming was only incidental to stock raising and mining until after 1870, and as late as 1900 the ratio of improved farm land to the total land area was less than in any other state or territory except New Mexico, Wyoming, Arizona and Hawaii. In 1906 the farm area was almost equally divided between “dry” farming and farming under irrigation, three-fourths of the wheat produced was grown without irrigation, and the dry farming was very successful with the comparatively new and valuable crops of durum, or macaroni wheat, and Russian barley, which is used in straw for winter feed to sheep and neat cattle. The counties where dry farming had been carried on on the largest scale were Missoula, Ravalli, Flathead, Cascade, Fergus and Gallatin, where cereal yields, though not nearly so large as from irrigated lands, were high compared with the average for the country. But even where dry farming was successful, the increase of crops made possible by cheap irrigation seemed to be inducing farmers to abandon it. Among the larger privately irrigated tracts are: 16,000 to 18,000 acres in Yellowstone county, fed by a canal built by the Billings Land & Irrigation Company; about 35,000 acres of orchard land in the Bitter Root Valley, in Ravalli county, irrigated by canals from Lake Como, a natural reservoir; and 100,000 acres in Missoula county, to be watered from a 28 ft. dam across the Clark Fork (or Missoula River) at Bonner. Private irrigation by pumping was first successfully introduced about 1901, and in 1906 a state report estimated that 125 pumping irrigation plants were in use in the state. Boring for underground water supply to be used in irrigation was tried on a small scale. An area of 16,000 acres in Missoula county is watered by a ditch 10 m. long built in 1902–1905 by the co-operative Grass Valley-Frenchtown Irrigation Company, and the Teton Co-operative Canal Company in 1906 began work on a diversion canal from the Teton River, whose waters are to be stored by a dam 62 ft. high and 2100 ft. long. But more important than private and co-operative undertakings are the Federal irrigation projects. In 1894 Congress passed the Carey Act, under which Montana received title to 1,000,000 acres of arid land on condition that the state would reclaim it by providing an adequate supply of water; the state accepted the offer, created an irrigation commission, and provided means for securing the necessary funds. Furthermore, Congress in 1902 appropriated the receipts from the sales of public lands in the state to the construction of irrigation work. In 1899 there were 6812 m. of irrigation canals and large ditches in the state; the irrigated acreage had increased from 350,582 acres in 1889 to 951,154 acres in 1899, when about 84% of the irrigated area was in the south-west. The great Federal projects were not begun until after 1900. Among them are: the Huntley project in Yellowstone county, begun in 1904 and practically completed in 1908, covering land formerly in the Crow Indian reservation, the irrigable area being 28,921 acres; the Lower Milk river project (and the subsidiary St Mary project), in Chouteau, Valley and Teton counties, by which the water of St Mary river is stored and diverted to the headquarters of the Milk river to irrigate an area of 300,000 acres; the Sun river project (Teton, Lewis and Clark, Chouteau and Cascade counties), by which, as the ordinary flow of that river is already utilized for irrigation, the flood waters are stored and carried to the higher bench lands of the district; in Montana (Dawson county) and North Dakota (McKenzie county), the Lower Yellowstone project; and the Blackfeet project, to irrigate the Blackfeet reservation in Teton county.
In 1900, 11,844,454 acres, or 12·7% of the area, was included in farms; of this, 1,736,701 acres, or 14·7%, was improved; 54·7%, of the improved farm land was irrigated; 79·4% of the irrigated land was used for growing crops and 20·6% for pasturage; the total acreage of all crops was 1,151,674, and of this 755,865, or 65·6%, was irrigated. In the same year there were 13,370 farms exclusive of those on Indian reservations; of these, 6665 contained less than 175 acres each; 1289 contained more than 1000 acres each; 8043 contained some irrigated land, the average amount being 118 acres; 11,592 were worked by owners or part owners, 624 by cash tenants, and 606 by share tenants.
Of the total acreage of all crops in 1899, 875,712 acres, or 76%, were hay and forage, and 254,231 acres, or 22·1%, were cereals; of the cereal acreage 52·7% was oats, 36·2% was wheat, 9% was barley, and 1·3% was Indian corn. In 1909 the oat crop was 15,390,000 bushels from 300,000 acres; the acreage of wheat in 1909 was 350,000 and the production 10,764,000 bushels; the acreage of barley in 1909 was 50,000 acres, and 1,900,000 bushels were raised; the acreage of Indian corn in 1909 was 5000 acres, and 175,000 bushels were grown.
Sugar beets were first grown in Montana at Evans, Cascade county, in 1893 without irrigation. In 1906 a refinery (with a daily slicing capacity of 1200 tons) was built at Billings, Yellowstone county. Russians, with experience in beet-growing, and Japanese are furnished by the sugar company to the growers for the bunching, thinning, hoeing and topping of the beets. In 1906 sugar refineries were projected at Hamilton, Kalispell, Chinook, Laurel, Missoula, Dillon and Great Falls; and in 1907 the crop was so large that 12,000 freight cars were needed to carry it and the railways had a car and coal “famine.”
The east is devoted chiefly to stock raising; for cattle, horses and sheep thrive well on the bunch grass except when it is covered with snow. The principal sheep-raising counties are Custer, Yellowstone, whither many sheep are brought to be fattened, Rosebud, Beaverhead, Valley, and Meagher. In 1909 the number of sheep in Montana was 5,747,000, being exceeded only by the number in Wyoming; the number of cattle was 922,000, only 80,000 being milch cows, and the number of horses 319,000.
Lumber.—The woodland area was estimated in 1900 at 42,000 sq. m., much of which had been burned over. It is confined mainly to the mountain slopes, and in March 1909 31,858·9 sq. m., more than three-fourths of this total, had been set apart in the following “national forests”: Absaroka (980,440 acres), Beartooth (685,293 acres), Beaverhead (1,506,680 acres in Montana; and a smaller area in Idaho), Bitterroot (1,180,900 acres), Blackfeet (1,956,340 acres), ​Cabinet (1,020,960 acres), Custer (590,720 acres), Deerlodge (1,080,220 acres), Flathead (2,092,785 acres), Gallatin (907,160 acres), Helena (930,180 acres), Jefferson (1,255,320 acres), Kootenai (1,661,260 acres), Lewis and Clark (844,136 acres), Lolo (1,211,680 acres), Madison (1,102,860 acres), Missoula (1,237,509 acres) and Sioux (145,253 acres in Montana; 104,400 acres in South Dakota). A large part of the woodland contains no trees fit for lumber; nevertheless the value of the lumber was $3,024,674 in 1905. More than one-half of the product is yellow pine and the remainder is principally red fir and tamarack. There is scarcely any hardwood timber in the state.
Minerals and Mining.—Mining has been the leading industry of Montana ever since the discovery of gold in 1862. It contains the largest copper producing district in the world, and in 1907 mined more copper than any other state or territory except Arizona; this metal constituted nearly three-fourths in value of the state's mining products in 1907, the total value being $60,663,511 and that of copper $44,852,758. The most important copper mines are in Silverbow, Broadwater, Jefferson and Beaverhead counties. Gold was discovered in Deerlodge county as early as 1852 but very little mining was done until ten years later. In 1863 the famous Alder Gulch in Madison county was discovered and in the next year, Last Chance Gulch in the south of Lewis and Clark county. In 1865 the product reached its maximum, as the value of gold and silver combined (the value of the silver being relatively small) was $18,000,000; the production then decreased and in 1903 the value of the gold was only $1,800,000. Then copper mining rapidly developed and considerable gold was obtained from copper ores. Until the development of copper mining, silver was produced only in small quantities along with gold, but as much more silver than gold was obtained from the copper ores the value of the silver product increased from $2,630,000 in 1881 to $24,615,822 in 1892. The product then fell off, but in 1907, when it amounted to 9,317,605 fine ounces, valued at $6,149,619, more than nine-tenths of it was derived from the copper ores in Silverbow county. It was in 1882 while Marcus Daly was sinking a shaft at Anaconda in preparation for milling gold and silver ores that he discovered the first rich copper ledge. Other discoveries about Butte followed, and the output of copper increased from 11,011 long tons in 1883 to 129,805 long tons in 1906, more than 99·6% from Silverbow county. The industrial and political life of Montana have been strongly influenced by the copper industry and by the tremendous wealth controlled by the copper interests; in the industry three men were long dominant—Marcus Daly, William A. Clark and F. Augustus Heinze; later the Amalgamated Copper Company gained control of a large part of the mines.
Coal was discovered in Montana before 1880, when 224 tons were mined. In 1907 the output was 2,016,857 tons, and in 1908 1,920,190 tons. The coal underlying the east half of the state, the “Great Plains,” is lignitic and of inferior quality, but that in the mountain districts is bituminous and generally suitable for coking. The principal fields are: the isolated Bull Mountain deposit, 45 m. north-east of Billings, in Yellowstone county; the large Clark Fork field in Meagher, Sweet Grass, Yellowstone and Carbon counties; the small but valuable Rocky Fork field in the south central part of Carbon county; the Red Lodge field in Carbon county; the Yellowstone field, chiefly in Gallatin and Park counties; the Trail Creek deposits, 10 m. south of Bozeman; the Cinnabar field in south Park county; the Great Falls field in Cascade county; and the West Gallatin, the Toston and the Ruby valley fields. The output steadily increased until 1895 when it was 1,504,193 short tons; but from then to 1905, when it was 1,643,832 short tons, the quantity varied little from year to year. From 1905 to 1907, when the output was valued at $3,907,082, the increase in production was steady.
Granite, sandstone and limestone are abundant in the state, but have been little developed. Granite was quarried in 1907 to the value of $102,050. Limestone quarried in the same year was worth $124,690; and sandstone was valued at $39,216. Some light grey sandstone found in Rocky Canon, Gallatin county, looks much like the Berea (Ohio) sandstone; and a sandstone quarried at Columbus, Yellowstone county, was manufactured into grindstones equal to those made from the Berea stone. Gypsum in Carbon county and in Cascade county is worked for plaster. Sapphires are found in several gulches, especially on Yogo Creek, 16 m. from Utica, Fergus county, where blue stones are found, and on Rock and Cottonwood creeks, where green, yellow, red and blue sapphires have been found. Many of the sapphires are shipped to Switzerland for watch jewels and for bearings. In 1907 the total value of precious, stones was $229,800.
Manufactures.—With the exception of the smelting and refining of copper, manufacturing is in Montana a decidedly minor industry. In 1905 the total value of the “factory” product was $66,415,452, and the value of the copper (by state reports) was $48,165,277. Lumber and timber products, which ranked second, increased in value from $2,846,268 in 1900, to $3,024,674 in 1905. Flour and grist mill products rose during that period from $937,462 to $2,003,136; and malt liquors increased in value from $1,267,331 to $1,731,691. In 1905 the value of the products of the factories of Anaconda and Great Falls was 63·5% of that for the entire state.
Transport.—Montana is served by three transcontinental railways: the Great Northern traversing the north, the Northern Pacific traversing the south-east, south and south-west portions, and, north of the Northern Pacific, the Chicago, Milwaukee & Puget Sound, an extension of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St Paul to Seattle and Tacoma, practically completed in 1909; branch lines of the Great Northern, from the north, connect with the Northern Pacific and the Chicago, Milwaukee & Puget Sound at Butte, and with the Northern Pacific at Laurel. The Oregon Short Line from the south connects with the Northern Pacific, the Great Northern, and the Chicago, Milwaukee & Puget Sound at Butte, and the Burlington system, also from the south, connects with the Northern Pacific at Billings, Yellowstone county. The Butte, Anaconda & Pacific railway carries ore from the mines at Butte to the smelters at Anaconda. The first railway was the Oregon Short Line, which was completed by the Union Pacific Company from Ogden, Utah, to Butte in 1881. The Northern Pacific reached Helena two years later and the railway mileage in the state increased from 106 m. in 1880 to 4012·62 m. in 1909. River transport has been of relatively little importance since the advent of railways.
Population.—The population of the state increased from 39,159 in 1880 to 243,329 in 1900, and to 376,053 in 1910. In 1900, 67,067 were foreign-born, 11,343 were Indians, 2441 Japanese, 1739 Chinese and 1523 negroes; most numerous among the foreign-born were 13,826 Canadians, 9436 Irish, 8077 English, 7162 Germans and 5346 Swedes. The Indians are mostly members of the following tribes: the Piegan, the Crow, the Salish (or Flathead), the Sioux, the Assiniboin, the Arapaho Atsina (miscalled Grosventres) and the Northern Cheyenne. The Piegans, with small remnants of a few other tribes, numbering (1900) about 2060, occupy the Blackfeet reservation in the north-west of Teton county, the Crows, numbering 1857, occupy the Crow reservation in the south central part of the state; the Salish, with small remnants of the Pend Oreille, the Spokan, the Lower Kalispell and the Kutenai, numbering 1837, occupy the Flathead reservation in the north of Missoula and the south of Flathead county; Assiniboins and others of Sioux stock, numbering about 1793, occupy Fort Peck reservation in the south-east of Valley county: Atsina and Assiniboins, numbering about 1429, occupy Fort Belknap reservation in the east of Chouteau county; and the Northern Cheyennes, numbering about 1357, occupy Northern Cheyenne reservation in the south-east of Rosebud county. Many of the Indians are engaged in stock-raising; the Crows have an irrigation system and are extensively engaged in farming. Roman Catholics are more numerous in Montana than Protestants, having 72,359 communicants out of a total of 98,984 of all denominations in 1906, when there were 7022 Methodists, 4096 Presbyterians, 3290 Protestant Episcopalians and 2029 Baptists. In 1900 the urban population (i.e. population of places having 4000 inhabitants or more) was 69,989; the semi-urban (i.e. population of incorporated places having less than 4000 inhabitants) was 30,270; and the rural (i.e. population outside of incorporated places) was 143,070. The rural population was therefore in that year 58·8% of the total, and the urban was only 28·7% of the total, but from 1890 to 1900 the urban increased 185% while the rural increased only 55·6%. The principal cities are: Butte, whose population increased from 10,723 in 1890 to 30,470 in 1900 and to 39,165 in 1910; Great Falls (1910) 13,948; Helena, the capital, (1910) 12,515; and Anaconda (1910) 10,134.
Administration.—The state is governed under a constitution adopted in 1889, a month before Montana's admission into the Union. The requirements for amending this constitution are: an affirmative vote in each house of the legislature of two-thirds of its members, followed, not less than three months later, by an affirmative vote of a majority of the electors voting thereon at a general election; or, by a like vote of each house of the legislature and of the electorate, a convention may be called to revise or amend it, a revision or amendment in this manner requiring the ratification of the electorate not less than two months nor more than six months after the adjournment of the convention. General suffrage is conferred on every male citizen of the United States who is twenty-one years of age and who has lived in the state one year, and in the county thirty days immediately preceding an election, the only exceptions being idiots or insane persons; a woman who has the qualifications for suffrage that are required of a man, may vote at any school district election ​and if a tax-payer she may vote on all questions submitted to the tax-payers of the state or of any political division thereof.
The officers of the executive department are the governor, lieutenant-governor, secretary of state, attorney-general, treasurer, auditor and superintendent of public instruction, each of whom is elected for a term of four years. No person is eligible to any of these offices who shall not have lived within the state for two years next preceding the election; no person is eligible to the office of governor, lieutenant-governor, attorney-general or superintendent of public instruction who is not thirty years of age; no person is eligible to the office of secretary of state, treasurer or auditor who is not twenty-five years of age; no person is eligible to the office of attorney-general who has not been admitted to practice in the supreme court of the state; and the treasurer is ineligible to his office for the immediately succeeding term. The governor’s powers are limited. As in other states he is commander-in-chief of the militia. With the advice and consent of the senate he appoints various administrative officers. With the approval of the majority of a board of pardons (composed of the secretary of state, attorney-general and auditor), he may pardon offences or commute punishment, and remit fines and forfeitures. He may veto any bill passed by the assembly, or in the case of a bill making appropriations of money he may veto any item of it, and no bill or item of an appropriation bill which he vetoes within five days (Sunday excepted) after it has been presented to him, can become a law or part of a law unless passed over his veto in each house by a two-thirds vote of the members present. Under an amendment to the Constitution adopted in 1906 his veto power does not extend to measures referred to the people by the legislative assembly or by initiative and referendum petitions. Without his approval, also, no order or resolution of either House, other than to adjourn or relating solely to the business of the assembly, can take effect until passed again by a two-thirds vote as in case of a bill.
The legislature consists of a senate and a house of representatives. Except when called in special session by the governor it meets (at Helena) on the first Monday of January in odd numbered years only, and the length of its session is limited by the constitution to sixty days. Senators are elected, one from each county, for a term of four years; representatives are elected, one or more from each county according to population, for a term of two years. The qualifications for a senator are that he be at least twenty-four years of age and have resided in his county or district at least one year next preceding his election; for a representative there are no qualifications other than those required for suffrage. The action of the legislature is much restricted by the constitution: a long list of cases is named in which that body is prohibited from passing any local or special laws; it is prohibited from delegating to any special commission power to perform any municipal functions whatever; from making any appropriations for charitable, industrial, educational or benevolent purposes to any person, corporation or community not under the absolute control of the state; and from authorizing the state to contract any debt or obligation in the construction of any railway, or to lend its credit in aid of such railway construction. In 1906 an amendment to art. 5, sec. 1 of the state constitution, authorized the initiative and referendum, but two-fifths of the entire number of counties must each furnish for initiative petitions signatures amounting in number to 8% of the whole number of votes cast for governor at the election last preceding the filing of the petition; for referendum petitions two-fifths of the counties must each furnish as signers 5% of the legal voters; and any measure referred to the people shall be in full force unless the petition for the referendum be signed by 15% of the legal voters (whose number is that of the total votes cast for governor, &c., as above) of a majority of the whole number of counties, but that in such case the law to be referred shall be inoperative until it is passed at the popular election.
The administration of justice is intrusted to a supreme court, an increasing number of district courts, and at least two justices’ courts in each organized township, besides police and municipal courts. The supreme court is composed of a chief justice and two associate justices elected for a term of six years. It holds four sessions a year at Helena and has both original and appellate jurisdiction. For most district courts there is only one judge, but for the more populous there are two; they are all elected for four years. These courts have original jurisdiction in cases at law and in equity in which the value in controversy exceeds $50, in criminal cases amounting to felony, in all matters of probate, in actions for divorce, &c., and appellate jurisdiction in cases arising in the inferior courts. Justices of the peace are elected for two years and have civil jurisdiction in several classes of actions in which the amount demanded does not exceed $300, and in such cases as petit larceny, assault in the third degree and breach of the peace.
For purposes of local government the state is divided into counties; each county into townships, school districts and road districts; and there are incorporated cities and towns. The county officers are a board of three commissioners, a treasurer, a sheriff, a county clerk, a clerk of the district court, an attorney, a surveyor, a coroner, a public administrator, an assessor, a superintendent of schools, and in some instances, an auditor. The commissioners are elected for six years, the other officers, for two years. Among the commissioners’ powers and duties are: the management of county property; the levying of taxes; the equalizing of assessments; the division of the county into townships, school districts and road districts; the laying out and management of public highways and ferries, and the care of the poor. The township is of minor importance, its principal officers being two justices of peace and two constables. Municipal corporations are classified according to population; those having 10,000 inhabitants or more are cities of the first class; those having less than 10,000 but more than 5000 inhabitants, cities of the second class; those having less than 5000 but more than 1000 inhabitants, cities of the third class, and those having less than 1000 but more than 300 inhabitants towns. In a city of the first class, a mayor, two aldermen from each ward, a police judge, and a treasurer who may be ex officio tax-collector are elected, and an attorney, a clerk, a chief of police, an assessor, a street commissioner, a jailer, a surveyor, and, where there is a paid fire department, a chief engineer with one or more assistants, may be appointed by the mayor with the consent of the council. The officers of cities of the second and third class are the same, except that the clerk is ex officio assessor. In towns only a mayor and aldermen are elected, and the mayor with the consent of the council appoints a clerk who is ex officio assessor, a treasurer who is ex officio collector, and a marshal who may be ex officio street commissioner. The principal municipal officers hold office for two years.
A wife may hold property and make contracts as if she were single, and neither husband nor wife is accountable for the acts of the other. The husband is required to support himself and his wife if he is able to do so; if he is unable, his wife is required to assist him. On the death of either husband or wife at least one-third of his or her property passes to the other. Recognized causes for divorce are adultery, extreme cruelty, wilful desertion, wilful neglect, habitual intemperance or conviction for felony. The homestead of a head of a family consisting either of a farm not exceeding 160 acres or $2500 in value, or of a house and lot—the lot not exceeding 1/4 acre, and the house and lot not exceeding $2500 in value—is secured against debtors except in case of judgments obtained before the homestead was recorded as such, in case of labourers’, mechanics’ or vendors’ liens, and in case of a debt secured by mortgage; if the owner is a married person the homestead cannot be mortgaged without the consent of both husband and wife. For the settlement of disputes between labourers and employers there is a state board, appointed by the governor and consisting of an employer of labour, a labourer and a disinterested citizen. Upon application of either or both of the parties, provided the employees be not less than twenty, this board is required to inquire into the cause of the dispute, with the aid of two expert assistants, who shall be nominated by the parties, and to render a decision, which is binding for at least six months upon the parties to the application.
Charitable and Penal Institutions.—These are a state prison at Deer Lodge, managed by contract; a reform school at Miles City, an industrial school at Butte, an orphans’ home at Twin Bridges, the soldiers’ home at Columbia Falls, a school for deaf and blind ​at Boulder, and an insane asylum at Warm Springs, managed by contract. They are all under the supervision of a state board of charities and reform. The state also has a bureau of child and animal protection.
Education.—The public school system is administered by state, county and district officers. The common school of each district is under the immediate supervision of a board of trustees; but a state text-book commission determines what text-books shall be used in these schools; the state superintendent of public instruction prepares the questions that are used in examining applicants to teach, passes judgment on publications for use in school libraries, and advises with the county superintendent of schools. A county board of education examines applicants for teachers’ positions and pupils applying to enter high schools. The county superintendent advises the teachers, and holds teachers’ institutes. Each school district is required by law to keep its school open at least three months a year and all children between the ages of eight and fourteen are required to attend for the full term; if unemployed they are required to continue in school until they have attained the age of sixteen. In 1908 fifteen of the counties had a county high school, and there were also 10 accredited city high schools in 1908. The state educational institutions are the university of Montana (1895), at Missoula, the normal college at Dillon, the college of agriculture and mechanic arts (1893) at Bozeman; and the school of mines (1900) at Butte. They are all under the supervision and control of the state board of education, which consists of the governor, the state superintendent, the attorney-general and eight other members appointed by the governor for a term of four years, two retiring annually. The entire educational system is maintained very largely out of funds derived from lands appropriated by Congress for that purpose.
Finance.—About one-half of the revenue for state and county purposes is derived from a general property tax. All taxable property in each county except that of railways in more than one county is assessed at its full value by the county assessor. The franchise, roadway, roadbed, rails and rolling stock of railways in more than one county are assessed at their full value by the state board of equalization. The assessment rolls of the county assessor are subject to alteration by the board of county commissioners sitting as a county board of equalization and the assessments as between counties are subject to alteration by the state board of equalization. The state legislature biennially fixes the rate of taxes for state purposes; the amount of this levy is now limited by the Constitution to 21/2 mills on the dollar. The board of county commissioners fixes the rate of county taxes and levies those taxes; and the county treasurer collects the taxes of the state and those of the county. Among the other sources of revenue are a poll-tax of two dollars on each man between the ages of twenty-one and sixty, licences, an inheritance tax, rent of state lands and the income from invested funds received from the sale of state lands.
The state had a bonded debt in 1909 of $384,000, authorized by popular vote in November 1908; by the constitution the aggregate indebtedness of the state was limited to $100,000 except in case of war, invasion or insurrection, or in case a measure authorizing a greater indebtedness should be submitted by the legislature to the electorate and should receive a majority of the votes cast. The constitution limits the indebtedness of a county to 5% of the value of its taxable property and that of a city, town or school district to 3%, except that the question may be submitted to a vote of the tax-payers affected when it is deemed necessary to construct a sewerage system or procure a water supply.
History.—The first exploration within the borders of Montana was made in 1743 by Sieur de la Verendrye, who in that year led an expedition up the Missouri river to the Great Falls and near where Helena now stands; the first exploration in that part of the state which lies west of the main range of the Rocky Mountains was made by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark in 1805. That part which lies east of the mountains was included in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803 and became successively a part of Missouri Territory in 1812, of Nebraska Territory in 1854, of Dakota Territory in 1861 and of Idaho Territory in 1863; that which lies west of the mountains became successively a part of Oregon Territory in 1848, of Washington Territory in 1853 and of Idaho Territory in 1863. In 1864 Montana Territory was created, and in 1889 this Territory was admitted to statehood. The report of Lewis and Clark attracted many traders and trappers, and within a few years the Missouri Fur Company, the Rocky Mountain Fur Company, the Hudson Bay Company and the American Fur Company had established fortified trading posts on the Missouri, the Yellowstone, the Marias, the Milk and other rivers; the most prominent among these was Fort Benton, which was established in 1846 at the head of navigation on the Missouri, and was made the headquarters of the American Fur Company. In 1841 Father Peter John De Smet (1801-1872), a Belgian Jesuit missionary established Saint Mary’s Mission in Bitter Root Valley, but, as the Indians repeatedly attacked the mission, it was abandoned in 1850. Fort Owen was, however, established in its place and continued for several years the chief settlement west of the mountains.
The development of Montana was scarcely begun when the discoveries of gold were made at Bannack, Beaverhead Valley, in 1862, at Virginia city, Alder Gulch, in 1863 and at Helena, Last Chance Gulch, in 1864. Several thousand people now rushed in, and before the Territorial government was created, the gold districts and the roads thereto suffered from a reign of lawlessness. The citizens organized a “vigilance committee” and hanged many of the outlaws. Many traders and trappers were butchered by the Indians, who became still more troublesome after the invasion of the Territory by the gold-seekers, and the surveying of railway routes had been undertaken. Treaties and military operations were at first of no avail, but in 1876 the United States government took steps to reduce them to submission, and Generals George Crook (1828-1890), Alfred Howe Terry (1827-1890) and John Gibbon (1827-1896), with 2700 troops (besides the Crow scouts) were sent against the Sioux under Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse and others. On the 17th of June General Crook with 1000 men defeated a large force of the Indians near the Rosebud river. On the 22nd of June General George A. Custer was sent up the Rosebud, and on the morning of the 25th passed over the divide of the Little Big Horn, where the Sioux were soon discovered. Custer divided his regiment into four commands, his own comprising 262 men. Continuing a few miles down stream, he came upon what was supposed to be a single Sioux village; the Indians, however, proved to number from 8000 to 10,000, including 2500 to 3000 warriors. Custer was soon completely surrounded and the entire command, save a single Crow scout, was slaughtered. This was, however, the beginning of the end of the Indian troubles. On the 29th of September a band under American Horse was defeated and their leader killed; in October some 5000 Indians surrendered; and on the 22nd of April 1877, 2000 more under Crazy Horse laid down their arms. General Crook and Colonel Nelson A. Miles especially distinguished themselves. In October 1877 the Nez Percés under Chief Joseph after a masterly retreat from Idaho of over 1000 m., probably unequalled in Indian warfare, were hemmed in by greatly superior forces and captured in the Bear Paw Mountains in Chouteau county.
In most of the territorial or state elections the Democrats, or the Democrats and Populists united, have been triumphant, a Republican governor having been elected only in 1892; but the contests have often been ardent and bitter. In 1889 the Democrats were charged with fraud in the 34th election precinct of Silverbow county, and, the dispute remaining unsettled, two legislatures were seated. Each legislature elected two senators to the United States Senate, which, having a Republican majority, seated the Republicans. More notable, however, was the feud between W. A. Clark and Marcus Daly, both Democrats. William Andrews Clark (b. 1839) removed in 1856 from Pennsylvania to Iowa, in 1862 to Colorado and in 1863 to Montana, where he became the wealthiest mine-owner. Marcus Daly (1842-1900) went from Ireland about 1857 to New York City, and thence to California and Nevada, and in 1876 reached Butte, Montana. In 1882 he discovered one of the richest copper deposits in the world. Clark aspired to be a United States senator, but by ridiculing Daly, provoked a powerful opposition. Clark was one of the two Democratic claimants who had been denied a seat in the senate in 1890. Three years later he was again nominated, but Daly prevented his election. Clark secured his election to the senate in 1899, but Daly furnished to the Committee on Elections and Privileges such evidence of bribery and fraud that it decided against seating him. Daly died on the 12th of November 1900, and in 1901 Clark was elected senator for the full term, which expired in 1907, when he was succeeded by Joseph Moore Dixon (b. 1867), a Republican.
The governors of Montana have been as follows:—
Territorial. :
| Sidney Edgerton | | 1864–1865 |
| Thomas Meagher (acting) | | 1865–1866 |
| Green Clay Smith | | 1866–1869 |
| James Monroe Ashley | | 1869–1870 |
| Benjamin F. Potts | | 1870–1883 |
| John Schuyler Crosby | | 1883–1884 |
| B. Platt Carpenter | | 1884–1885 |
| Samuel Thomas Hauser | | 1885–1887 |
| Preston Hopkins Leslie | | 1887–1889 |
| Benjamin F. White | | 1889– |
| State. |||
| Joseph Kemp Toole | Democrat | 1889–1893 |
| John Ezra Rickards | Republican | 1893–1897 |
| Robert Burns Smith | Democrat and Populist | 1897–1901 |
| Joseph Kemp Toole | Democrat | 1901–1909 |
| Edwin L. Norris | ” | 1909– |
Bibliography.—United States Geographical and Geological Survey of the Territories (Washington, 1872–1874); material indexed in the various bibliographies (e.g. Bulletin 301) of the U.S. Geological Survey; Annual Reports of the Bureau of Agriculture, Labor and Industry of the State of Montana; Samuel Fortier, Irrigation in Montana (Washington, 1906), being Bulletin No. 172 (revised) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, office of Experiment Stations; the Reports of the United States Census; H. H. Bancroft, The History of Washington, Idaho and Montana (San Francisco, 1890); Joaquin Miller, An Illustrated History of the State of Montana (Chicago, 1894); M. A. Lersen (ed.) History of Montana (Chicago, 1885); Alice Harriman, Pacific History Stories, Montana Edition (San Francisco, 1903); Robert Vaughn, Then and Now; or Thirty-six Years in the Rockies (Minneapolis, 1900); T. J. Dinsdale, The Vigilantes of Montana (Virginia City, 1866), and the Contributions to the Historical Society of Montana (Helena, 1876 sqq.).