Historical Markers/Interpretive Sign

1. After the Roundup - Historical Marker

Miles City, Southeast Montana

D. J. O’Malley grew up living at frontier forts because his stepfather served in the 19th Infantry. More Info

2. Cattle Brands - Historical Marker

Historical highway marker depicting various cattle brands. More Info

3. Bannack State Park Campground

Bannack, Butte Area

Bannack was the site of the state’s first big gold strike in 1862 and the birthplace of Montana’s government. Gold was discovered in Grasshopper Creek on July 28, 1862. This strike set off a massive gold rush that swelled Bannack. More Info

4. Bozeman Trail - Historical Marker

Norris, Bozeman Area

In 1840, the Oregon Trail was the primary emigration route across the northern part of the United States. More Info

5. Bearcreek

Washoe, Red Lodge Area

Platted in 1905 by George Lamport and Robert Leavens, Bearcreek was the center of an extensive underground coal mining district. More Info

6. Buffalo Country Historical Marker

Glasgow, Northeast Montana

Buffalo meant life to the Plains Indians, and the mountain Indians used to slip down from the hills for their share, too. More Info

7. Adobetown

Virginia City, Butte Area

Placer riches in Alder Gulch spawned many colorful communities. Among them, Adobetown flourished briefly as the center of mining activity in 1864. In that year alone, miners extracted over $350,000 in gold from nearby streams. More Info

8. Camp #44 of the 1873 Yellowstone Expedition

Billings, Billings Area

In June, 1873, a Northern Pacific Railroad surveying party escorted by 1,500 soldiers, including the 7th Cavalry under the command of George Armstrong Custer, and 526 civilians, left Dakota Territory for the Yellowstone Valley. More Info

9. Atlantic Cable Quartz Lode Historic Marker

Anaconda, Butte Area

Location: West of Anaconda This mining property was located June 15, 1867, the name commemorating the laying of the second transatlantic cable. More Info

10. Bannack Historical Marker

Dillon, Butte Area

The Lewis and Clark Expedition, westward bound, passed here in August 1805. The old mining camp of Bannack is on Grasshopper Creek about twenty miles west of here. More Info

11. Beaverhead Rock

Dillon, Butte Area

On August 10, 1805, members of the Lewis and Clark expedition pushed their way up the Jefferson River’s tributaries toward the Continental Divide and the Pacific Ocean beyond. More Info

12. Badrock Canyon

Flathead Area

The Great Northern Railway was constructed through Badrock Canyon in 1891. More Info

13. Boulder Hot Springs Historical Marker

Boulder, Helena Area

For centuries Native Americans have been coming to these pure, flowing hot water springs for rest and healing. More Info

14. Anaconda Historical Marker

Anaconda, Butte Area

Location: East edge of Anaconda Selected by Marcus Daly as a smelter site in 1883 because of an abundant supply of good water, Anaconda was the home of the Washoe Smelter of the Anaconda Copper Mining Company until 1980. More Info

15. A Permanent and Substantial Road

Bigfork, Flathead Area

In the early 20th century many roads in Montana were constructed by convicts from the state prison in Deer Lodge. More Info

16. Belt Jail

Belt, Great Falls Area

Lewis and Clark or early trappers named nearby Belt Butte for its girdle or rocks. More Info

17. Bozeman Pass

Livingston, Livingston Area

Sacajawea, the Shoshone woman who guided portions of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, led Captain Wm. Clark and his party of ten men over an old buffalo road through this pass on July 15, 1806. More Info

18. A Montana Crossroads Historical Marker

Loma, Havre Area

The Missouri River once flowed northeasterly through this valley to Hudson Bay. More Info

19. Captain Meriwether Lewis

Dupuyer, Great Falls Area

Captain Meriwether Lewis of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, accompanied by three of his men, explored this portion of the country upon their return trip from the coast. More Info

20. Columbus

Columbus, Red Lodge Area

The town of Columbus is located about 9 miles west of here. More Info

21. Blackfeet and Buffalo

Choteau, Great Falls Area

In the days of the fur traders and trappers immediately following the time of the Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804-06) all of this country bordering the Rocky Mountains was buffalo range and the hunting grounds. More Info

22. Chief Plenty Coups Statue Marker

Red Lodge, Red Lodge Area

Crow country once ranged from Three Forks to the Black Hills, from the Musselshell to the Big Horn Mountains. More Info

23. Black Eagle Falls

Great Falls, Great Falls Area

The uppermost of the Great Falls of the Missouri bears west of this point. More Info

24. Bear Mouth Historical Marker

Drummond, Southwest Montana

Location: West of Drummond Bear Mouth, across the river to the south, was a trading point for the placer camps at Beartown, Garnet, and Coloma located in the hills north of here. More Info

25. Browne's Bridge

Apex, Butte Area

Browne’s Bridge was constructed as a toll bridge by Fred Burr and James Minesinger in late 1862 and early 1863. More Info

26. Camp Disappointment

Browning, Great Falls Area

The monument on the hill above was erected by the Great Northern Railway in 1925 to commemorate the farthest point north reached by the Lewis and Clark Expedition, 1804-06. More Info

27. Gallatin Valley - Historical Marker

Bozeman, Bozeman Area

Captain Wm. Clark, of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, with a party of ten men, passed through this valley July 14, 1806, eastward bound, and guided by the Shoshone woman, Sacajawea. More Info

28. Kootenai River

Libby, Northwest Montana

The river is named for the Kootenai tribe that lived and hunted in this part of Montana and adjoining territory in Idaho and Canada. More Info

29. Captain Wm. Clark

Greycliff, Livingston Area

You are now following the historic trail of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. On his return from the Pacific in July 1806, Captain Clark camped for six days about forty miles downstream, near Park City. More Info

30. Big Hole Battlefield National Monument

Wisdom, Southwest Montana

Big Hole National Battlefield is a memorial to the people who fought and died here on August 9 and 10, 1877; combatants in a five-month conflict that came to be called the Nez Perce War of 1877. More Info

31. The Mission Mountain Wilderness

Charlo, Missoula Area

The mountains rising to the east lie in the Mission Mountain Wilderness Area and the Mission Mountain Tribal Wilderness. More Info

32. Glendive - Historical Marker

Glendive, Southeast Montana

A yachting party consisting of Capt. Wm. Clark, of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, six of his men, Sacajawea and her child floated by here August 1, 1806, navigating a craft made by lashing together two hollowed-out cottonwood logs. More Info

33. Butte Historical Marker

Butte, Butte Area

The “greatest mining camp on earth” built on “the richest hill in the world.” More Info

34. Ekalaka - Historical Marker

Ekalaka, Southeast Montana

Some people claim an old buffalo hunter figured that starting a thirst emporium for parched cowpunchers on this end of the range would furnish him a more lucrative and interesting vocation than downing buffalo. More Info

35. Fort C.F. Smith

Saint Xavier, Billings Area

The ruins of this military post are about 25 miles west of here. In August 1866, two companies of soldiers guided by Jim Bridger established the fort on a plain overlooking the Big Horn. More Info

36. Madison Valley - Historic Marker

McAllister, Bozeman Area

Settlement of the Madison Valley followed on the heels of the Gold Rush to Alder Gulch in the mid 1860s. More Info

37. Fort Maginnis Historical Marker

Lewistown, Central Montana

Fort Maginnis, the last army post created in Montana, was built about 8 miles north of here in 1880. More Info

38. The Humbug Spires Primitive Area

Butte, Butte Area

Named for its unique granite peaks, this primitive area is part of a geologic system of large-scale volcanic intrusions known as the Boulder Batholith, which extends north beyond Helena and south into Idaho. More Info

39. Jim Bridger, Mountain Man

Bridger, Red Lodge Area

Jim Bridger arrived in Montana in 1822 as a member of a Rocky Mountain Fur Co. brigade. More Info

40. Elling Bank

Virginia City, Butte Area

Bankers Nowland and Weary set up business in this brick-veneered building, one of the town’s oldest stone structures, in 1864. More Info

41. Jefferson Valley

Twin Bridges, Butte Area

The Lewis and Clark Expedition, westward bound, came up the Jefferson River in August 1805. More Info

42. Junction of the Hell Gate & Big Blackfoot Rivers

Bonner-West Riverside, Missoula Area

An important Indian road came east through the Hell Gate and turned up the Big Blackfoot. More Info

43. Continental Divide Elevation 6325 Historical Marker

Helena, Helena Area

MacDonald Pass joins two other Continental Divide crossings as vital links between east and west in Montana. More Info

44. Madison Hotel - Historical Marker

West Yellowstone, Big Sky/Yellowstone Area

The Forest Service granted Jess Pierman a special-use permit to build a hotel and restaurant here in 1910. More Info

45. Hurry Honyocker Hurry! Historical Marker

Havre, Havre Area

Honyocker, scissorbill, nester … He was the Joad of a quarter-century ago, swarming into hostile land; duped when he started, robbed when he arrived. More Info

46. Virginia City

Virginia City, Butte Area

All of Montana has the deepest pride and affection for Virginia City. No more colorful pioneer mining camp ever existed. More Info

47. Surrounded by Wilderness

Columbia Falls, Glacier Park Area

You are at the gateway to the upper Flathead River, which drains Glacier National Park, the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex (the “Bob”) and the southeastern corner of British Columbia. More Info

48. Father De Smet

Whitehall, Butte Area

The Lewis and Clark Expedition passed here, westward bound, August 2, 1805. Captain Lewis named the Boulder River “Fields Creek” for one of the party. More Info

49. Fort Chardon Historical Marker

Big Sandy, Havre Area

Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark passed through this area (1805) on their expedition to the Pacific Ocean, and the landscape here remains much as they described it. More Info

50. Junction of Big Horn & Yellowstone Rivers

Custer, Billings Area

The area which surrounds the mouth of the Big Horn River as it enters the Yellowstone 13 miles east of here is one of the most significant areas in the early history of Montana. More Info

51. Junction

Custer, Billings Area

The frontier town of Junction was just across the Yellowstone River. More Info

52. Garryowen

Garryowen, Billings Area

Garryowen, the old Irish tune, was the regimental marching song of the 7th Cavalry, General Custer’s command. More Info

53. Fort Peck Indian Reservation Historical Marker

Poplar, Northeast Montana

Fort Peck Indian Reservation is the home of two tribes, whose forefathers were living in this vicinity when Lewis and Clark came up the Missouri. More Info

54. Lewis & Clark Expedition

Whitehall, Butte Area

On August 1, 1805, the Lewis and Clark Expedition camped at a point 200 yards west from this spot, on the south bank of the river facing the mouth of the creek which flows into the river from the north. More Info

55. The Bob Marshall Wilderness Country (“The Bob”)

Missoula Area

Location: Junction MT 200 & 141 North of here lies the second largest wilderness in the lower 48 states. More Info

56. Metropolitan Meat Market

Virginia City, Butte Area

George Gohn was one of the first to arrive at Alder Gulch in 1863 where he and Conrad Kohrs set up a meat market in a log cabin. More Info

57. Nevada City

Nevada City, Butte Area

A ghost town now, but once one of the hell roarin’ mining camps that lined Alder Gulch in the 1860s. More Info

58. First Discovery of Gold in Montana Historical Marker

Gold Creek, Southwest Montana

Location: East of Gold Creek Opposite this point, a creek flows into the Clark Fork River from the west. In 1852, a French halfbreed, Francois Finlay, commonly known as “Benetsee,” prospected the creek for placer gold. More Info

59. Lewis Minus Clark Expedition

Missoula, Missoula Area

On their return trip from the Pacific Coast, the Corps of Discovery split into two parties at Travelers Rest (just south of Missoula, Montana) on July 1, 1806 More Info

60. Lennep Mercantile Historical Marker

Lennep, Central Montana

Built in 1914 by M. T. Grande, this building housed a grocery store with a small supply of dry goods. More Info

61. Cooke City

Cooke City-Silver Gate, Big Sky/Yellowstone Area

In 1868 a party of prospectors came into this country by way of Soda Butte Creek. They found rich float but were set afoot by Indians. More Info

62. Emigrant Gulch

Emigrant, Livingston Area

A party of emigrants who had traveled with a wagon train across the Plains via the Bozeman or Bonanza Trail arrived in this gulch August 28, 1864. More Info

63. Claggett Hill Trail Historical Marker

Winifred, Havre Area

In 1866, the U.S. Army established Camp Cooke on the west bank of the Judith River near here to protect local settlers from Indian raids. More Info

64. Fort Fizzle Historic Site and Picnic Area

Lolo, Southwest Montana

To block the Nez Perce from entering Montana, Captain Rawn, 7th Infantry, with thirty enlisted men and four officers from nearby Fort Missoula, entrenched themselves behind log breastworks in a small opening along the Lolo Creek drainage. More Info

65. Ingomar Public School Historical Marker

Ingomar, Central Montana

As hundreds of farmers and ranchers homesteaded the arid, treeless plains of northwestern Rosebud County, the townsite of Ingomar was platted along the tracks of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway in 1912. More Info

66. Robbers' Roost

Sheridan, Butte Area

In 1863, Pete Daly built a roadhouse on the stage route between Virginia City and Bannack to provide entertainment for, man and beast. More Info

67. Red Lodge

Red Lodge, Red Lodge Area

Coal was discovered in the Rock Creek Valley nearly two decades before Red Lodge was established as a mail stop on the Meteetsee Trail in 1884. More Info

68. Pfouts & Russel (Rank's Drug-Old Masonic Temple)

Virginia City, Butte Area

Paris Pfouts, Vigilante president, and Virginia City’s first mayor was instrumental in laying out the town. More Info

69. The Ruby Valley

Alder, Butte Area

The Ruby River was called the Passamari by the Indians and became known as the Stinking Water to the whites in the pioneer days. More Info

70. First Methodist Episcopal Church of Chester

Chester, Havre Area

The first two decades of the twentieth century saw railroad promotion and homestead settling along Montana’s Hi-Line. Chester was one of the first communities to spring up along the new Great Northern Railway Line in the 1890s. More Info

71. The Montana-Utah Road

Dell, Butte Area

Interstate 15 is the latest in a series of roads that have traversed this area since prehistory. Although used for generations by Native Americans, the first recorded use of this route was by the Lewis and Clark Expedition on August 10, 1805. More Info

72. Dinosaurs Historical Marker

Jordan, Northeast Montana

Difficult to believe now, but 80 million years ago the middle of our continent was a shallow sea. More Info

73. Yellowstone River Trading Posts

Hysham, Billings Area

Even before the Lewis and Clark Expedition returned to St. Louis in 1806, enterprising fur traders looked to the upper Missouri and Yellowstone rivers as a source of profit. More Info

74. Traveler's Rest Historic Marker

Lolo, Southwest Montana

Location: South of Lolo The Lewis and Clark Expedition, westward bound, camped at the mouth of Lolo Creek September 9th, 10th, 1805. More Info

75. Liquid Gold Historical Marker

Vandalia, Northeast Montana

Water is the lifeblood of Montana. During the state’s early settlement, the rivers provided transportation and trading routes; later they sustained the livestock and crops of ranchers and homesteaders More Info

76. Lewis & Clark Portage Route

Great Falls, Great Falls Area

To avoid the series of waterfalls along the Missouri River north of this point, the Expedition portaged their canoes and several tons of baggage, crossing the highway right here. More Info

77. Cow Country Historical Marker

Roundup, Central Montana

In the 1880s, days of the open range, many a roundup outfit worked this country. More Info

78. Sun River

Augusta, Great Falls Area

The Sun River was called the Medicine River by the Indians in the days of the Lewis and Clark Expedition (18O4-06). More Info

79. J.A. Bookman General Store Historical Marker

Ingomar, Central Montana

J. Abraham “Abe” Bookman came from Ireland with his wife, Anna, and brother-in-law, Simon Sigman. More Info

80. The Three Forks of the Missouri - Historical Marker

Three Forks, Bozeman Area

This region was alive with beaver, otter and game before the white man came. It was disputed hunting territory with the Indian tribes. More Info

81. Flathead Reservation

Ravalli, Missoula Area

The Native Americans on this reservation belong to the Salish, Kalispel, Spokane, Kootenai and Pend d’Oreille tribes. More Info

82. Fort Union Historical Marker

Bainville, Northeast Montana

Fort Union, one of the largest and best-known trading posts of the fur days, was located on the Missouri near the mouth of the Yellowstone, about 14 miles southeast of here. More Info

83. Greening Bank Historical Marker

Ingomar, Central Montana

Completion of the ‘’Milwaukee Road” brought hundreds of homesteaders to Ingomar during the 1910s. By 1914, wood-frame homes and a small commercial district proclaimed the town a permanent settlement. More Info

84. Nez Perce Sikum Historical Marker

Lolo, Southwest Montana

Location: Highway 12 West of Lolo Sikum is the Nez Perce word for horse. The Nez Perce people were introduced to the horse in the 1730s. The word “appaloosa” was created by white settlers. More Info

85. Medicine Tree Historical Marker

Darby, Southwest Montana

This Ponderosa Pine has been standing guard here on the bend of the river for nearly 400 years. More Info

86. Targhee Pass

West Yellowstone, Big Sky/Yellowstone Area

This pass across the Continental Divide takes its name from an early-day Bannack Chief. Free trappers and fur brigades of the Missouri River and Rocky Mountain Fur companies were familiar with the surrounding country... More Info

87. In Memoriam Historical Marker

Frazer, Northeast Montana

In the summer of 1837, an American Fur Trading Company steamboat laden with trade goods made its way from St. Louis to Fort Union. More Info

88. Pierre Wibaux - Historical Marker

Wibaux, Southeast Montana

In 1876, this was strictly buffalo and Indian country. There wasn’t a ranch between Bismarck, North Dakota, and Bozeman, Montana. More Info

89. Ingomar Historical Marker

Ingomar, Central Montana

Upon completion of the Milwaukee Railroad in 1910, Ingomar became a hub of commerce in the area bounded by the Missouri, Musselshell and Yellowstone Rivers. More Info

90. Fort Connah

Saint Ignatius, Missoula Area

Fort Connah, the last of the Hudson Bay Co. trading posts established within the present borders of the United States, was built about 1/4 mile east of here. More Info

91. The Vision Quest Historical Marker

Harlem, Havre Area

High points such as mountain tops and tabletop buttes are considered powerful and sacred areas by many Indian peoples. More Info

92. Hell Gate & Missoula

Missoula Area

In the Indian days, the mountain tribes had a road through here which led across the Continental Divide to the buffalo. More Info

93. Lewistown Historical Marker

Lewistown, Central Montana

This area, the final hunting ground for Montana Indians, was the site of battles fought over the buffalo. More Info

94. The Shambo Stagecoach Station

Monida, Butte Area

The historic Shambo waystation was once located on the opposite side of Shambo Pond. The station served as a livery and overnight stop for the Monida and Yellowstone which acted as a link between the railhead at Monida, Montana, and Yellowstone. More Info

95. Marias River Historical Marker

Loma, Havre Area

The Lewis and Clark Expedition camped at the mouth of this river just east of here June 3, 1805. More Info

96. Last Chance Gulch Historic Site

Helena, Helena Area

The city of Helena started as a group of placer miners’ cabins and Main Street follows the bottom of Last Chance Gulch. More Info

97. Dupuyer

Dupuyer, Great Falls Area

Dupuyer, a colorful frontier cattle town, and 1880s stop on the Fort Shaw-Fort Macleod Trail, is the oldest town between Fort Benton and the Rocky Mountains. More Info

98. Fort Benton

Fort Benton, Havre Area

Capt. Clark with members of the Lewis and Clark Expedition camped on the site of Fort Benton June 4, 1805. More Info

99. Kalispell-Somers Railroad Spur Line

Kalispell, Flathead Area

In 1901, Great Northern Railway tycoon James J. Hill and local businessman John O’Brien joined forces to build and operate a 11-mile railroad line to a sawmill on the north shore of Flathead Lake. More Info

100. E57B The Last Electric Locomotive Historical Marker

Harlowton, Central Montana

The Milwaukee Road’s 656-mile electrified railroad ended at 11:40 P.M. June 15, 1974, when Engineer Art Morang stopped the E57B & E34C on the Harlowton Roundhouse Track. They were the last operating locomotives of the original 84 locomotives. More Info

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