History Clues on the Montana Highway Map

It is funny how much history is recorded on a state highway map.  If you take any given region and read the names, there are all kinds of clues to what went on there.  For example, if you look at the south eastern part of Montana you can spot all sorts of references to the Sioux Indian War, including the Battle of the Little Big Horn.  There is Custer, the town and Custer County named for Lt.Col. George Armstrong Custer; the town of Garryowen is named for the marching song of the Seventh Cavalry; Miles City is named for Colonel Nelson A Miles; the town of Terry is named for General Alfred H. Terry and Sheridan County is named for General Philip Sheridan, who also played a major role in that part of Montana History.

If you were to go the other side of the state in the southwestern corner, the region that is known as the Gold West Region, you can find all sorts of names that reflect the history of that region. The clues to the areas history from the names on the map are not as obvious as the ones in the east, but they are there if you look for them.  The small town of Clancy was named for the prospector William Clancy; Anaconda comes from the Anaconda Copper Mining Company; Gold Creek gets its name from the discovery of gold there; Philipsburg was named for Philip Deidesheimer, the inventor of square set mine timbering; and Walkerville bears the name of the Walker Brothers who operated the Alice Mine.

Across the entire state there are names of Railroad employees and their families, postmasters of tiny towns and ranches who settled the area.