Show THE STORY OF auit STATES STATE montana tile the mention ot of Nilon montana talla lilt immediately nied lately brings to mind the hie custer Alas massacre sacre as one of the roost most dramatic incidents in findlan warfare it occurred in 1876 the centennial year when special emphasis was being laid on me ins cause ot of peace throughout the world if the sioux indians had been driven into montana by the gold miners and the united states slates government took steps to foice them back into their re reservations ions general custer with willi less leas than llian men set out to round up tit the tribes which wore were on tho the warpath karpath war path and at the little bighorn was ambushed liy by sitting bull and warriors ulister and all his troops were killed soon after tula this massacre the indians were defeated and many 0 of them lied fled to canada gold cold was disco discovered verea in montana Alon tana as early carly as by the halfbreed half breed francois finlay inlay Ii near hell gate river tills however created little stir and it until five years later when john silverthorn discovered gold in fit quantities that mining settlements tle ments sprang up tip in the mountains this region had been part ol of nebraska territory which in 1863 was subdivided and became a portion of idaho territory the next year it was organized as the alie sepal separate territory ot of montana virginia city was trie capital and here in was issued the montana post the first newspaper of the state in ill 1874 the capital was changed to helena and 10 years later a state con n was adopted the state was not taken into tile union however until 1889 Alon montana tana comes from the spanish adjective meaning mountainous its area is square miles making it the third largest state of the union |