Big Sky Country

Statehood:
November 8, 1889
(41st)

Motto:
Gold and Silver

Under the word "Montana", on a blue field, is the state seal. The seal shows some of Montana's beautiful scenery and tells what people were doing in pioneer times. The pick, shovel and plow represent mining and farming. In the background a sun rises over mountains, forests and the Great Falls of the Missouri river. A ribbon contains the state motto "Gold and Silver". Flag adopted 1905 amended 1981.

 

About

 






image courtesy of Kremlin Montana's History- The People, Their Land, Their Stories

The railroads were the engine of settlement in the state. Major development occurred in the 1880s. The Northern Pacific Railroad was given land grants by the federal government so that it could borrow money to build its system, reaching Billings in 1882. The federal government kept every other section of land, and gave it away to homesteaders. At first the railroad sold much of its holdings at low prices to land speculators in order to realize quick cash profits, and also to eliminate sizable annual tax bills. The speculators in turn parceled out the land on credit to farmers and ranchers eager to develop operations near a railroad. By 1905 the company changed its land policies as it realize it had been a costly mistake to have sold so much land at wholesale prices. With better railroad service and improved methods of farming the Northern Pacific easily sold what had been heretofore "worthless" land directly to farmers at good prices. By 1910 the railroad's holdings in North Dakota had been greatly reduced. Meanwhile the Great Northern Railroad energetically promoted settlement along its lines in the northern part of the state. The Great Northern bought its lands from the federal government—it received no land grants—and resold them to farmers one by one. It operated agencies in Germany and Scandinavia that promoted its lands, and brought families over at low cost.

The village of Taft, located in western Montana near the Idaho border, was representative of numerous short lived railroad construction camps. In 1907-09 Taft served as a boisterous construction town for the Chicago, Milwaukee, & St. Paul Railroad. The camp included many ethnic groups, numerous saloons and prostitutes, and substantial violence. When construction was finished, the camp was abandoned.

In 1882 the Northern Pacific platted Livingston, Montana, a major division point, repair and maintenance center, and gateway to Yellowstone National Park. Built in symmetrical fashion along both sides of the track, the city grew to 7,000 by 1914. Several structures built between 1883 and 1914 still exist and provide a physical record of the era and indicate the city's role as a rail and tourist center. The Northern Pacific depot reflects the desire to impress the tourists who disembarked here for Yellowstone Park, and the railroad's machine shops reveal the city's industrial history.

 

Name From To Successor
Big Blackfoot Railway 1910 1916 Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway
Big Horn Railroad 1905 1916 Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad
Big Horn Southern Railroad 1888 1897 Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad
Billings and Central Montana Railway 1912 1921 Northern Pacific Railway
Billings and Northern Railroad 1902 1907 Great Northern Railway
Burlington Northern Inc. 1970 1981 Burlington Northern Railroad
Burlington Northern Railroad 1981 1996 Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway
Butte, Anaconda and Pacific Railway 1892 1985 Rarus Railway
Butte, Wisdom and Pacific Railway 1913 1914 Southern Montana Railway
Camp Creek Railway 1911 1914 Northern Pacific Railway
Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad 1894 1970 Burlington Northern Inc.
Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railway 1901 1907 Leased the Burlington and Quincy Railroad
Chicago, Milwaukee and Puget Sound Railway 1909 1912 Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway
Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway 1912 1928 Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad
Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway of Montana 1905 1908 Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway of Washington
Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway of Washington 1908 1909 Chicago, Milwaukee and Puget Sound Railway
Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad 1928 1982 Burlington Northern Railroad
Clearwater Short Line Railway 1898 1914 Northern Pacific Railway
Coeur d'Alene Railway and Navigation Company 1886 1897 Northern Pacific Railway
Drummond and Philipsburg Railroad 1887 1888 Northern Pacific and Montana Railroad
Elliston and Southern Railroad 1896 N/A
Gallatin Valley Railway 1910 1918 Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway
Gallatin Valley Electric Railway 1908 1910 Gallatin Valley Railway
Gaylord and Ruby Valley Railway 1897 1899 Northern Pacific Railway
Gilmore and Pittsburgh Railroad 1907 1939 N/A
Great Falls and Canada Railway 1889 1901 Montana and Great Northern Railway
Great Falls Terminal Railway 1912 1914 Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway
Great Falls and Teton County Railway 1912 1914 Great Northern Railway
Great Northern Railway 1890 1970 Burlington Northern Inc.
Helena, Boulder Valley and Butte Railroad 1886 1888 Northern Pacific and Montana Railroad
Helena and Jefferson County Railroad 1883 1898 Northern Pacific Railway
Helena and Northern Railroad 1886 1888 Northern Pacific and Montana Railroad
Helena and Red Mountain Railroad 1886 1899 Northern Pacific Railway
Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railroad 1944 1961 Soo Line Railroad
Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railway 1913 1944 Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railroad
Missoula and Bitter Root Valley Railroad 1887 1888 Northern Pacific and Montana Railroad
Missoula and Hamilton Railway 1911 1916 Northern Pacific Railway
Missouri River Railway 1906 1914 Northern Pacific Railway
Montana Railroad
Montana Railroad
1894 1910 Chicago, Milwaukee and Puget Sound Railway
Montana Railway 1881 1898 Northern Pacific Railway
Montana Central Railway 1886 1907 Great Northern Railway
Montana Eastern Railway 1912 1928 Great Northern Railway
Montana and Great Northern Railway 1901 1907 Great Northern Railway
St. Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba Railway
Montana Southern Railway 1917 1940 N/A
Montana Southern Railway 1893 1897 Gaylord and Ruby Valley Railway
Montana Union Railway 1886 1898 Northern Pacific Railway
Montana Western Railway 1986 2003 Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway
Montana Western Railway 1909 1970 Burlington Northern Inc.
Montana, Wyoming and Southern Railroad 1909 1955 N/A
Northern Pacific Railroad 1864 1896 Northern Pacific Railway
Northern Pacific Railway 1896 1970 Burlington Northern Inc.
Northern Pacific and Montana Railroad 1888 1898 Northern Pacific Railway
Oregon Short Line Railroad 1897 1987 Union Pacific Railroad
Oregon Short Line and Utah Northern Railway 1889 1897 Oregon Short Line Railroad
Rarus Railway 1985 2007 Butte, Anaconda and Pacific Railway
Rocky Fork and Cooke City Railway 1886 1898 Northern Pacific Railway
Rocky Mountain Railroad of Montana 1881 1898 Northern Pacific Railway
St. Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba Railway 1879 1907 Great Northern Railway
Shields River Valley Railway 1908 1914 Northern Pacific Railway
Soo Line Railroad 1961 Still exists in Montana as a lessor of the Missouri Valley and Western Railroad
Southern Montana Railway 1914 1917 Montana Southern Railway
Utah and Northern Railway 1878 1889 Oregon Short Line and Utah Northern Railway
White Sulphur Springs and Yellowstone Park Railway 1910 1980 N/A
Yellowstone Park Railroad 1905 1909 Montana, Wyoming and Southern Railroad