Historical Notes

Montana's southwest corner witnessed much of the state’s formulative years, and the old west of movie screens played out here in real time.

First there were the indigenous peoples and fur trappers and then after a couple of decades of quiet times, the sound of eureka echo throughout the nation. At the height of summer 1862 gold was discovered on Grasshopper Creek.

Other discoveries followed…not only gold but silver and copper. Finding these precious metals propelled Montana towards territorial status and eventually statehood. Along the way ranchers, cowboys, outlaws and prospectors populated these valleys and mountains leaving behind their stories and memories. In more modern days other notable events and people left their marks.

Newspapers were established and narratives told. And many writers have since chronicled events and carried the earliest remembrances forward.

What follows, is the collection of historical notes of those earlier days as well as well as events of recent times that are leaving their mark in the annals of Montana’s southwest.