Montana’s history and topography is rich in archaeological evidence of its past. Montana contains Glacier National Park, “The Crown of the Continent”, and parts of Yellowstone National Park, including three of the park’s five entrances. Other federally recognized sites include the Little Bighorn National Monument, Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area, and Big Hole National Battlefield. The CSKT Bison Range is managed by the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and the American Prairie is owned and operated by a nonprofit organization. Federal and state agencies administer approximately 31,300,000 acres (127,000 km2), or 35 percent of Montana’s land. The U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service administers 16,800,000 acres (68,000 km2) of forest land in ten National Forests.
On a steep plateau, overlooking the Missouri River in 1828, men of the newly-formed Upper Missouri Outfit, would build a trading post near the confluence of the Missouri and Yellowstone Rivers. Fort Union would come to be known as one Read More …
The site is especially significant because it is the first dated occurrence of Oxbow components in Montana. Furthermore, the occupations span the millenia of notable climatic change from late Altithermal to Medithermal conditions. Informative paleoenvironmental data enhance the archeological results. Read More …
Clovis, with its distinctive biface, blade and osseous technologies, is the oldest widespread archaeological complex defined in North America, dating from 11,100 to 10,700 14C years before present (BP) (13,000 to 12,600 calendar years BP)1,2. Nearly 50 years of archaeological Read More …
Archaeological excavations by the University of Montana (UM) at the Little Trail Creek Site (24PA1081) in the Gallatin National Forest near Gardiner, Montana, yielded burn features, as well as associated lithic, faunal, and ethnobotanical artifacts, that date to between 1,000-1,300 Read More …
The National Park Service’s Midwest Archeological Center and Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site staffs conducted geophysical investigations and construction project monitoring at the Fort Union Trading National Historic Site in Roosevelt County, Montana, and Williams County, North Dakota. Read More …
The Buffalo Road Trail was used for centuries by Columbia Plateau Indians to access buffalo hunting grounds east of the Continental Divide. Peeled trees, rock cairns, and unique stone features represent archaeological signatures of the trail’s antiquity and demonstrate its Read More …
Western History is often understood primarily from the perspective of the United States westward expansion as reflected in the concept of manifest destiny. Rarely do we have the opportunity to view this period through the eyes of native artists who Read More …
Fort Owen was part of recent historical western expansion into Montana, influencing both the cultural and environmental landscape of the state and the fort’s own existence. The Fort Owen collection provided the opportunity to research the history and archaeology of Read More …
On the Clearwater and Lolo National Forests, in the mountains of Northern Idaho and Western Montana, there is an ancient trail system that has been used for hundreds of years as a land bridge between the Columbia River basin and Read More …
The local residents of Missoula, Montana are mostly unaware of the historical treasure found relatively in their back yards. The Rattlesnake Creek drainage represents a remarkable collection of historical archaeology sites that have been preserved due to the intervention of Read More …