Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
pensive land. By the late 1880s, there were nearly 700,000 head of cattle in the state. Wheat
farming was popular until an extended drought and a drop in market prices after World War
I ruined many farmers, who were forced to abandon their land.
Montana's post-World War I depression extended through the 1920s into the Great De-
pression of the 1930s. President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal then brought relief to
the state in the form of various projects and agencies: the building of Fort Peck Dam, the
Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), the Works Projects Administration (WPA), and the
Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA). These “alphabet agencies” mark the first
real dependence of the state on federal spending in the 20th century, a reliance that would
build through the rest of the century.
Since World War II, Montana can be characterized by a slow shift from an economy
that relied on the extraction of natural resources to one that is service-based. Such tradition-
al industries as copper, petroleum, coal, and timber have suffered wild market fluctuations
and unstable employment patterns. Agriculture has remained Montana's primary industry
throughout the era. Tourism supplanted mining as the state's second-largest industry in the
early 1970s. This era also saw an important shift in the state's transportation system from
railroads to cars, trucks, and highways.
Today, Montana's history is what contributes to its current way of life. Gone are the days
of the Wild West, but each year thousands of visitors flock to see a real ghost town or an
Indian battlefield. Large ranching operations hark back to the days of the cowboy, and the
same rivers Lewis and Clark navigated now take white-water boaters for a thrilling ride.
Throughout Montana's history, one thing has remained constant: the appreciation by those
who live here for its wide-open spaces, breathtaking scenery, and Western way of life.
Like Montana, Wyoming is a young state with a long history. Both states share many of the
same historical traits—cowboys and Indians, cattle barons and miners, railroads and ranch-
ing. As the least populous state in the union, some parts of Wyoming have remained un-
changed since the first settlers came into the area, allowing those who live and visit here
today a glimpse into the state's rich and varied past.
Geology and Early Life Forms
Much like Montana, Wyoming's geologic history includes the creation of the Rocky Moun-
tains and the impact of glaciers on the landscape. Of course, Yellowstone National Park is
the state's biggest geologic claim to fame, created when a series of three massive volcanic
