Montana History Series

Montana’s history is rich, colorful, and full of excitement in this fully-illustrated volume.  See how Jedediah Smith and Jim Bridger blazed trails and made their names under the Big Sky. Read about the day John Colter ran naked for his life, Blackfeet Indians fast on his heels.  Watch as Hugh Glass is mauled by a grizzly before being left to die alone by his ‘friends.’ Have a toast with rowdy Mike Fink before he shoots a tin cup of whiskey from your head. And meet James Beckwourth, a former slave who became at home in the mountains of Montana. Discover how the Native American tribes were pushed from their lands by westward expansion, first by Europeans and then Americans. Find out how Montana’s Indian tribes shook off their settled ways of life to become nomads of the Great Plains, hunting buffalo, stealing horses, and encountering whites and each other for the first time.  Learn of the Blackfeet, and their warrior ways. Discover the peaceful Shoshone, and how they were pushed from their lands. And find out about other, lesser known tribes like the Kootenai, Pend d’Oreilles, Gros Ventre, and Assiniboine.  Montana comes alive from the time of the dinosaurs to the mid-19th-century in this exciting first volume of the state's history, Tribes and Trappers. Start the journey to find out how Montana came to be what it is today. Continue that journey in Priests and Prospectors and then Braves and Businessmen. Keep it going into the 20th-century with Hustlers and Homesteaders and get ready for a new volume in March 2015. What are you waiting for? Montana awaits!

Montana comes alive from 1840 to 1870 in this mesmerizing second volume of the state's history, Priests and Prospectors. Montana in 1840 was a very quiet place. Indians roamed about as they wished and there were few white men around. The 1850s saw some increased activity, but things largely stayed the same. Then on a hot summer day in 1862 one man struck gold and everything changed. Discover the journey that Montana took from a sleepy backwater of less than 700 people to a thriving territory of more than 20,000 residents. Montana grew a lot over those thirty years in the 19th century and you’ll be in on all the details. Learn about Indians and the priests they sought; road builders and the hardships they endured; gold prospectors and the life they led; and politicians and the territory they created. Like the first volume in this Montana history series, Tribes and Trappers, this second volume also takes a biographical approach. Montana’s history is told through the stories of the people who lived here, and from those stories we’re better able to understand how the state came to be what it is today.

Montana's history is rich, colorful, and full of excitement in this fully-illustrated third volume of the state's history.  Montana Territory had 20,595 people in 1870 and the vast majority were Indians. Those Indians would fight for their lands, and much of the territory's focus was on the Indian Wars raging across the state. By 1900 there were 243,329 people in the State of Montana. The numbers would only continue to rise as more and more businessmen got interested in the state's natural resources. Mining dominated the 1880s and 1890s, even as politics were changing both locally and nationally. The Panic of 1893 took the wind from the silver industry in the state, but copper mining remained strong. And mining men like Marcus Daly and William A. Clark did everything in their power to get their way politically. It was a raucous time in the state over these three decades, and its people and places are all profiled. Like the first and second volumes in this Montana history series, Tribes and Trappers and Priests and Prospectors, this third volume takes a biographical approach. Montana's history is told through the stories of the people who lived here, and from those stories we're better able to understand how the state came to be what it is today. Discover why Montana is called "The Last Best Place" in this third volume of Montana history – buy this book right now!

Montana from 1930 to 1960 was a very interesting time. The state had already been suffering economic depression for ten years when the Great Depression hit the nation. Montana suffered just as much as the rest of the country, but it was also rescued by the federal New Deal programs. You’ll hear about that in this fifth volume of the state’s history, but you’ll read about a whole lot more as well. There’s farming in the dust, cattle grazing on the creeks, and the ups and downs of organized labor. Learn about flight, the start of radio, and the rise of Big Oil and the CIA. World War II is discussed in detail, as are the state’s and the nation’s politics. A lot happened in Montana during these years, just like a lot happened in the country. The interstate highway system was built, the international banks rose to prominence, and the Indians’ lands were stolen once again. Montana’s history in the 1930s, 40s, and 50s is rich, colorful and full of life. Discover what happened, and how it continues to shape our lives today.

Nearly all of the politicians profiled in this book served in the military and fought in the nation’s wars.  Most who served in our nation’s wars did not become politicians, however. They were common people for the most part, and we profile several of them. The war this time was Vietnam. A total of 32,689 Montanans served in the conflict and 267 died in it. That’s just a small part of this book of Montana history

Explore Montana history from 1990 to 2020 in this first modern history of the state. Learn about the tourists that flocked to the state, many of whom eventually transplanted here. Meet the politicians that governed and represented through deregulation, foreign wars, and economic hardship. Discover the stories of common people overcoming everyday odds to make it in the Treasure State. Enjoy all that the Big Sky has to offer in this historical work.