A Century of Montana History in Her Placenames

Abstract

Abstract

The placenames of Montana are a rendering of its local history in poetic form. Echoes of the men and women who came to stay mingle with the echoes of those who came but did not stay. The Indian on a buffalo hunt; the fur-trapper building his trading post; the cattleman riding in the dust kicked up by a thousand longhorns; the miner with his dream of wealth; the dryland farmer praying for rain; the lonesome settlers from other lands and other states; the railroaders pushing westward; and the newcomers with industry and oil-each one has added to the history of the region, and that history can be read in the stories of Montana's placenames.