|
"Count us in on
your 18-day journey! Our kids love to run and the challenge
would add
new interest to our existing program.
We look forward to joining you!"
─────────────────────
"Our 3rd grade team would love to join you in your 2008
challenge.
We will be introducing your life to our students and use
your story to inspire
our young ones on the importance of fitness and living a
healthy lifestyle."
─────────────────────
"Thanks so much for putting together such a wonderful
site for the kids. Our 3rd and 4th graders are excited to be
a part of it all.
Thanks for all your hard work!"
─────────────────────
"I am going to sign up all of my PE classes!! I'm definitely
going to share your site with the other PE teachers in my
school district." |
Montana History:
At the beginning
of the 19th century the Crow Indians occupied the south
central portion of present-day Montana, the Cheyenne the
southeastern corner, the Assiniboin and Atsina the
northeastern corner, the Blackfoot the central and north
central area, and the Kutenai the northwestern corner. The
Pend d'Oreille had a territory around Flathead Lake, the
Kalispel were in the mountains west of there, and the
Flathead occupied the Clark Fork and Bitterroot valleys. The
southwestern corner was disputed territory. The Flathead
were later forcibly moved to their present reservation in
the Flathead valley. Most of the other tribes now live on
reservations within their respective territories.
The first white explorers known to have set foot in Montana
were the members of the Lewis and Clark Expedition
(1804–06). Fur trappers and traders followed, setting up
forts to trade with the Indians. The only early trading post
to survive as a present-day town was Fort Benton, which was
established in 1846 and became an important port on the
Missouri River. Roman Catholic missionaries followed the fur
traders and in 1841 established Saint Mary's Mission near
present-day Stevensville, believed to be the first permanent
settlement in Montana. Trailblazers carved the northern
Overland Route to Montana from the east, the Bozeman Trail
from the southeast, and Mullan Road westward from Fort
Benton, the head of navigation for steamboats on the
Missouri.
 Gold prospectors flocked in after rich placer deposits were
discovered in the early 1860s. Montana Territory was
established in 1864 with Bannack, in Grasshopper Creek, its
first capital, and Virginia City, in Alder Gulch, its
second. As pressure from white settlers increased, the
Indians fought to protect their hunting grounds. The Dakota
(Sioux) and Cheyenne won their last major victory in June
1876 at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. A band of Nez
Percé under Chief Joseph won a battle in the Big Hole Basin
the following year and fled toward Canada, only to be met
and defeated by U.S. troops a few miles south of the
international boundary.
Hard-rock mining began in the 1880s, and Montana became a
state on Nov. 8, 1889, with Helena as the capital. Butte
began as a gold camp, but shaft mining commenced when vast
deposits of copper were discovered there. Butte subsequently
became known as the “Richest Hill on Earth,” and the world's
largest smelter was built at nearby Anaconda. The so-called
War of the Copper Kings was won by Marcus Daly, whose
Anaconda Company became one of the largest mining
conglomerates in the world. The company smashed the mining
unions, influenced the state legislature, acquired almost
all of Montana's daily newspapers, and virtually controlled
the state for three-quarters of a century.
Cattle and sheep grazing in Great Plains Montana started in
the 1860s, when herds were driven overland from Texas. The
vast grasslands seemed ideal for cattle, but a severe winter
in 1886–87 virtually wiped out the herds. Beginning around
1900, homesteaders began pouring into the plains country to
bust the sod and grow grain on dry land. After a few years
of bumper crops and high prices, a series of dry years
brought financial disaster and mass exodus.
Oil and natural gas production began in Great Plains Montana
in 1915, expanded greatly in the 1950s, and peaked in the
1960s. Coal mining, which began in the days of coal stoves
and steam locomotives, increased dramatically in the 1970s.
The closing of the copper mines at Butte, the smelter in
Anaconda, and the copper refinery at Great Falls in the
early 1980s marked the end of the copper century and a
turning point in Montana's history. The state no longer
relies so heavily on the primary economic sector; more
emphasis is placed on tourism and on new and innovative
businesses that provide jobs without causing deterioration
of the state's magnificent mountains, crystal waters, and
wide-open spaces.
Source: Montana
(2007). In Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved November 3,
2007, from Encyclopedia Britannica Online:
http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-79114 |
