Setting
Montana 1948 is set in Mercer County, Montana. Mercer County is in the Northeast corner of Montana,
12 miles from Canada and 10 miles from North Dakota. The temperatures are extreme, once reaching 106 degrees in July and -40 in January. Mercer Country has flat plains and the only trees that grow are the ones that have been planted by people. On the western edge of the
county and extending into two other counties was the Warren Indian reservation. It was the rockiest, saddest land in the county. In 1948 much of the reservation was unpaved and the huts look like they couldn't hold back a breeze.
Many of David's weekends are spent at his grandfather’s ranch. He has a horse their named Nutty. He is most peaceful here because its open and almost never ending. He can fish, shot guns, ride his horse and do everything he wants at the ranch. It's set in the summer of 1948 in Bentrock, Montana (in Mercer County). Bentrock has a population of less than 2000 people. Bentrock is mostly farm and ranch country. The land is dry and sparse, with plains, gullies, ravines, and low rocky hills. It is located on the Knife River, a very dull body of water often freezing over by Thanksgiving. The town is a relatively tranquil area of Montana. The town stood for social order, good manners, the chimed schedules of school and church and was made for storekeepers, teachers, ministers, for the rule-makers, the order-givers and the law enforcers. The town is not
huge and David says "[he] could be out in minutes, whether I walked, biked, ran, or followed the railroad tracks just on the other side of our backyard."
1.On a map of the USA locate Montana. (Note: Bentrock, Montana is NOT a real town)
2.Look at http://nd.water.usgs.gov/lewisandclark/photos/culbertson.htmlandhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/69467269@N00/249256999/.Describe
the countryside.
Brief
history of Native American history in Montana The Indians encountered by Montana's first white explorers probably French traders and trappers from Canada arrived from the east during the 17th and 18th centuries, pushed westward into Montana by the pressure of European colonization. In
January 1743, two traders, Louis-Joseph and Francois Vérendrye, crossed the Dakota plains and saw before them what they called the "shining mountains," the eastern flank of the northern Rockies. However, it was not until 1803 that the written history of Montana begins. In that year, the Louisiana Purchase gave the United States most of Montana, and the Lewis and Clark expedition, dispatched by President Thomas Jefferson in 1804 to explore the upper reaches of the Missouri River, added the rest. On 25 April 1805, accompanied by a French trapper named Toussaint
Charbonneau and his Shoshoni wife, Sacagawea, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark reached the mouth of the Yellowstone River near the present-day boundary with North Dakota. Shortly thereafter, the first American trappers, traders, and settlers entered Montana. The territorial period was one of rapid and profound change. By the time Montana became a state on 8 November 1889, the remnants of Montana's Indian culture had been largely confined to federal reservations. A key event in this transformation was the Battle of the Little Big Horn River on 25 June 1876, when Lieutenant Colonel George Custer and his 7th US Cavalry regiment of fewer than 700 men were overwhelmed as they attacked an encampment of 15,000 Sioux and Northern Cheyenne led by Crazy Horse and Chief Gall. The following year, after a four-month running battle that traversed most of the state of Montana, Chief Joseph of the Nez Percé tribe surrendered to federal forces, signaling the end of organized Indian resistance.
1. Why do you think the Native Americans were removed to the Reservations?
2. How do you think the white government was able to overpower the Native Americans?
3. Find out some information about Chief Crazy Horse and why he became famous.
Montana 1948 is set in Mercer County, Montana. Mercer County is in the Northeast corner of Montana,
12 miles from Canada and 10 miles from North Dakota. The temperatures are extreme, once reaching 106 degrees in July and -40 in January. Mercer Country has flat plains and the only trees that grow are the ones that have been planted by people. On the western edge of the
county and extending into two other counties was the Warren Indian reservation. It was the rockiest, saddest land in the county. In 1948 much of the reservation was unpaved and the huts look like they couldn't hold back a breeze.
Many of David's weekends are spent at his grandfather’s ranch. He has a horse their named Nutty. He is most peaceful here because its open and almost never ending. He can fish, shot guns, ride his horse and do everything he wants at the ranch. It's set in the summer of 1948 in Bentrock, Montana (in Mercer County). Bentrock has a population of less than 2000 people. Bentrock is mostly farm and ranch country. The land is dry and sparse, with plains, gullies, ravines, and low rocky hills. It is located on the Knife River, a very dull body of water often freezing over by Thanksgiving. The town is a relatively tranquil area of Montana. The town stood for social order, good manners, the chimed schedules of school and church and was made for storekeepers, teachers, ministers, for the rule-makers, the order-givers and the law enforcers. The town is not
huge and David says "[he] could be out in minutes, whether I walked, biked, ran, or followed the railroad tracks just on the other side of our backyard."
1.On a map of the USA locate Montana. (Note: Bentrock, Montana is NOT a real town)
2.Look at http://nd.water.usgs.gov/lewisandclark/photos/culbertson.htmlandhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/69467269@N00/249256999/.Describe
the countryside.
Brief
history of Native American history in Montana The Indians encountered by Montana's first white explorers probably French traders and trappers from Canada arrived from the east during the 17th and 18th centuries, pushed westward into Montana by the pressure of European colonization. In
January 1743, two traders, Louis-Joseph and Francois Vérendrye, crossed the Dakota plains and saw before them what they called the "shining mountains," the eastern flank of the northern Rockies. However, it was not until 1803 that the written history of Montana begins. In that year, the Louisiana Purchase gave the United States most of Montana, and the Lewis and Clark expedition, dispatched by President Thomas Jefferson in 1804 to explore the upper reaches of the Missouri River, added the rest. On 25 April 1805, accompanied by a French trapper named Toussaint
Charbonneau and his Shoshoni wife, Sacagawea, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark reached the mouth of the Yellowstone River near the present-day boundary with North Dakota. Shortly thereafter, the first American trappers, traders, and settlers entered Montana. The territorial period was one of rapid and profound change. By the time Montana became a state on 8 November 1889, the remnants of Montana's Indian culture had been largely confined to federal reservations. A key event in this transformation was the Battle of the Little Big Horn River on 25 June 1876, when Lieutenant Colonel George Custer and his 7th US Cavalry regiment of fewer than 700 men were overwhelmed as they attacked an encampment of 15,000 Sioux and Northern Cheyenne led by Crazy Horse and Chief Gall. The following year, after a four-month running battle that traversed most of the state of Montana, Chief Joseph of the Nez Percé tribe surrendered to federal forces, signaling the end of organized Indian resistance.
1. Why do you think the Native Americans were removed to the Reservations?
2. How do you think the white government was able to overpower the Native Americans?
3. Find out some information about Chief Crazy Horse and why he became famous.