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Article: Montana
- Article from:
- Dictionary of American History
- Author:
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MONTANA
MONTANA.
A land of contrast, Montana's 147,138 square miles contain both vast prairies and towering heights (including the 12,799-foot Granite Peak, the state's highest elevation). Much of the history of the state, which is poor in water but rich in natural resources, has been connected to the extractive industries and the problem of aridity.
First Peoples
More than twelve thousand years ago, small bands of hunters and gatherers lived in present-day Montana in the northern Rocky Mountain foothills and in the Great Plains that lie east of the Continental Divide. The region was part of the Louisiana Purchase when the Lewis and Clark Expedition crossed it in 1805, following the ...