Distinctly Montana Magazine

88 D I S T I N C T LY M O N TA N A M A G A Z I N E • S P R I N G 2 0 2 5 article and photos by BRYAN SPELLMAN G E T T O K N O W G E T T O K N O W A C O U N T Y A C O U N T Y G A L L A T I N C O U N T Y G A L L A T I N C O U N T Y W ITH THE CREATION OF MONTANA TER- RITORY IN 1864, the new legislature quickly created nine new counties. Gall- atin was one of the nine. Located roughly where it is today, it was the southeasternmost county for the new territory with the exception of a very large emp- ty area that stretched to the Dakota line, called Big Horn County. The population of Big Horn County in 1870 was 38, so small that administration was handed over to Gallatin County. Of course Montana did not begin in 1864. Nor even in 1805 when Lewis and Clark came through the area. But prior to white settlement, many different indigenous tribes used what they called the Valley of Flowers as a communal ground for hunting, relaxation, gathering food, recreation, and commerce. What they called the Valley of Flowers we now call the Gallatin Valley. In time, trappers started making their way through the area, most notably Jim Bridger and John Bozeman. Both were looking for shortcuts to the Montana gold fields of Bannock and Virginia City. Bozeman left his mark by giving his name to the town that has from the beginning been the seat of Gallatin County. Today Gallatin County covers an area of 2,632 square miles, and with a 2022 estimated population of 124,938, it is the second most populous county in the state of Montana. The county num- ber is 6. As noted above, when John Bozeman scouted out the Boze- man Trail in 1863, he was attempting to provide a shortcut from the Oregon Trail to the gold fields of Virginia City. By August of 1864, he had platted a town along that route, which he named Bozeman. The original travelers, of course, were miners looking for gold. But they couldn't help but notice the valley of flowers that the Native Americans had so prized, and it wasn't long be- fore agriculture began to spring up around Bozeman's City. In 1871, the first newspaper was published under the name The Weekly Avant Courrier. By '72, there was a cemetery and a li- brary. In 1873 the first Grange meeting in Montana Territory was held in the town of Bozeman. The railroads were moving west and in 1883 the Northern Pacific reached Bozeman. Ten years lat- BOZEMAN

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