The Beautiful State of Montana

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Montana Essay

Montana is a part of the country that many people do not know much about its history. Montana is divided into two parts, East and West. Eastern Montana is part of the Northern Great Plains and has played pivotal roles in American history since the early 1800’s. Western Montana is a history made up of gold rushes and the Copper King Marcus Daly. The history of Montana is that of many tales from Montanan Indian Tribes going back hundreds and thousands of years before American expansion into the region. On the other side we have white settlers from areas throughout the US and European countries, especially settlers from Germany and the Scandinavian countries. The settlers were brought to Montana by the promise of the American Dream of having a chance at striking it rich from mining or having the chance of owning your own piece of land from the Enlarged Homestead Act.

Before Montana was a state, before it was even part of the Dakota and Idaho territories, and before Lewis and Clark traveled through region on their way to the Pacific, Montana was inhabited by seven Indian tribes. On the Great Plains, there were the Blackfoot Indians, the Crow Indians, the Assiniboine Indians, and the Northern Cheyenne Indians. In the Rocky Mountains, the three main tribes were the Salish Indians, Kootenai Indians, and Pend d’Oreilles (pond-oray) Indians which would later makeup of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Nation, the three tribes are also known as just as the Flathead Indians. Much of the history of Montanan Indian tribes before American expansion into the region is fairly vague because of the lack of a written language. However, we have been able to learn much about them with passing of stories and...

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... is mainly technology, though in some places, the technology might be 15 to 20 years behind the rest of the country. The ranchers in farmers of Eastern Montana continue to fight the environment, but they have learned how to survive and be successful. The people that live their today, show us the true American spirit of showing how we can be fighting against all odds, but still come out on top.

Montana today is place that is still very similar that of a hundred years ago. Ranching and farming out east, mining still goes on in Butte, fishing is big along the western rivers, and now there is a new boom, with oil and natural gas throughout the state. As John Steinbeck said, “I’m in love with Montana. For other states I have admiration, respect, recognition, even some affection. But with Montana it is love. And it’s difficult to analyze love when you’re in it.”

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