at Boulder, and an insane asylum at Warm Springs, managed by
contract. They are all under the supervision of a state board of
charities and reform. The state also has a bureau of child and
animal protection.
Education.—The public school system is administered by state, county and district officers. The common school of each district is under the immediate supervision of a board of trustees; but a state text-book commission determines what text-books shall be used in these schools; the state superintendent of public instruction prepares the questions that are used in examining applicants to teach, passes judgment on publications for use in school libraries, and advises with the county superintendent of schools. A county board of education examines applicants for teachers’ positions and pupils applying to enter high schools. The county superintendent advises the teachers, and holds teachers’ institutes. Each school district is required by law to keep its school open at least three months a year and all children between the ages of eight and fourteen are required to attend for the full term; if unemployed they are required to continue in school until they have attained the age of sixteen. In 1908 fifteen of the counties had a county high school, and there were also 10 accredited city high schools in 1908. The state educational institutions are the university of Montana (1895), at Missoula, the normal college at Dillon, the college of agriculture and mechanic arts (1893) at Bozeman; and the school of mines (1900) at Butte. They are all under the supervision and control of the state board of education, which consists of the governor, the state superintendent, the attorney-general and eight other members appointed by the governor for a term of four years, two retiring annually. The entire educational system is maintained very largely out of funds derived from lands appropriated by Congress for that purpose.
Finance.—About one-half of the revenue for state and county purposes is derived from a general property tax. All taxable property in each county except that of railways in more than one county is assessed at its full value by the county assessor. The franchise, roadway, roadbed, rails and rolling stock of railways in more than one county are assessed at their full value by the state board of equalization. The assessment rolls of the county assessor are subject to alteration by the board of county commissioners sitting as a county board of equalization and the assessments as between counties are subject to alteration by the state board of equalization. The state legislature biennially fixes the rate of taxes for state purposes; the amount of this levy is now limited by the Constitution to 212 mills on the dollar. The board of county commissioners fixes the rate of county taxes and levies those taxes; and the county treasurer collects the taxes of the state and those of the county. Among the other sources of revenue are a poll-tax of two dollars on each man between the ages of twenty-one and sixty, licences, an inheritance tax, rent of state lands and the income from invested funds received from the sale of state lands.
The state had a bonded debt in 1909 of $384,000, authorized by popular vote in November 1908; by the constitution the aggregate indebtedness of the state was limited to $100,000 except in case of war, invasion or insurrection, or in case a measure authorizing a greater indebtedness should be submitted by the legislature to the electorate and should receive a majority of the votes cast. The constitution limits the indebtedness of a county to 5% of the value of its taxable property and that of a city, town or school district to 3%, except that the question may be submitted to a vote of the tax-payers affected when it is deemed necessary to construct a sewerage system or procure a water supply.
History.—The first exploration within the borders of Montana was made in 1743 by Sieur de la Verendrye, who in that year led an expedition up the Missouri river to the Great Falls and near where Helena now stands; the first exploration in that part of the state which lies west of the main range of the Rocky Mountains was made by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark in 1805. That part which lies east of the mountains was included in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803 and became successively a part of Missouri Territory in 1812, of Nebraska Territory in 1854, of Dakota Territory in 1861 and of Idaho Territory in 1863; that which lies west of the mountains became successively a part of Oregon Territory in 1848, of Washington Territory in 1853 and of Idaho Territory in 1863. In 1864 Montana Territory was created, and in 1889 this Territory was admitted to statehood. The report of Lewis and Clark attracted many traders and trappers, and within a few years the Missouri Fur Company, the Rocky Mountain Fur Company, the Hudson Bay Company and the American Fur Company had established fortified trading posts on the Missouri, the Yellowstone, the Marias, the Milk and other rivers; the most prominent among these was Fort Benton, which was established in 1846 at the head of navigation on the Missouri, and was made the headquarters of the American Fur Company. In 1841 Father Peter John De Smet (1801-1872), a Belgian Jesuit missionary established Saint Mary’s Mission in Bitter Root Valley, but, as the Indians repeatedly attacked the mission, it was abandoned in 1850. Fort Owen was, however, established in its place and continued for several years the chief settlement west of the mountains.
The development of Montana was scarcely begun when the discoveries of gold were made at Bannack, Beaverhead Valley, in 1862, at Virginia city, Alder Gulch, in 1863 and at Helena, Last Chance Gulch, in 1864. Several thousand people now rushed in, and before the Territorial government was created, the gold districts and the roads thereto suffered from a reign of lawlessness. The citizens organized a “vigilance committee” and hanged many of the outlaws. Many traders and trappers were butchered by the Indians, who became still more troublesome after the invasion of the Territory by the gold-seekers, and the surveying of railway routes had been undertaken. Treaties and military operations were at first of no avail, but in 1876 the United States government took steps to reduce them to submission, and Generals George Crook (1828-1890), Alfred Howe Terry (1827-1890) and John Gibbon (1827-1896), with 2700 troops (besides the Crow scouts) were sent against the Sioux under Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse and others. On the 17th of June General Crook with 1000 men defeated a large force of the Indians near the Rosebud river. On the 22nd of June General George A. Custer was sent up the Rosebud, and on the morning of the 25th passed over the divide of the Little Big Horn, where the Sioux were soon discovered. Custer divided his regiment into four commands, his own comprising 262 men. Continuing a few miles down stream, he came upon what was supposed to be a single Sioux village; the Indians, however, proved to number from 8000 to 10,000, including 2500 to 3000 warriors. Custer was soon completely surrounded and the entire command, save a single Crow scout, was slaughtered. This was, however, the beginning of the end of the Indian troubles. On the 29th of September a band under American Horse was defeated and their leader killed; in October some 5000 Indians surrendered; and on the 22nd of April 1877, 2000 more under Crazy Horse laid down their arms. General Crook and Colonel Nelson A. Miles especially distinguished themselves. In October 1877 the Nez Percés under Chief Joseph after a masterly retreat from Idaho of over 1000 m., probably unequalled in Indian warfare, were hemmed in by greatly superior forces and captured in the Bear Paw Mountains in Chouteau county.
In most of the territorial or state elections the Democrats, or the Democrats and Populists united, have been triumphant, a Republican governor having been elected only in 1892; but the contests have often been ardent and bitter. In 1889 the Democrats were charged with fraud in the 34th election precinct of Silverbow county, and, the dispute remaining unsettled, two legislatures were seated. Each legislature elected two senators to the United States Senate, which, having a Republican majority, seated the Republicans. More notable, however, was the feud between W. A. Clark and Marcus Daly, both Democrats. William Andrews Clark (b. 1839) removed in 1856 from Pennsylvania to Iowa, in 1862 to Colorado and in 1863 to Montana, where he became the wealthiest mine-owner. Marcus Daly (1842-1900) went from Ireland about 1857 to New York City, and thence to California and Nevada, and in 1876 reached Butte, Montana. In 1882 he discovered one of the richest copper deposits in the world. Clark aspired to be a United States senator, but by ridiculing Daly, provoked a powerful opposition. Clark was one of the two Democratic claimants who had been denied a seat in the senate in 1890. Three years later he was again nominated, but Daly prevented his election. Clark secured his election to the senate in 1899, but Daly furnished to the Committee on Elections and Privileges such evidence of bribery and fraud that it decided against seating him. Daly died on the 12th of November 1900, and in 1901 Clark was elected senator for the full term, which expired in 1907, when he was succeeded by Joseph Moore Dixon (b. 1867), a Republican.
