In 1864 John Bozeman established the Bozeman Trail as a branch of the Oregon Trail; the town of Bozeman, Montana soon followed. In 1996 localauthor Phyllis Smith published a book entitled Bozeman and the Gallatin Valley: a History. The following is her Introduction:

The Blackfeet looked upon this valley as one of their prime hunting grounds and were not happy with those they regarded as intruders entering the area – Crow, Flathead, or Shoshone hunters, European explorers, adventurers, fur trappers, American settlers. The Blackfeet vigorously fought to keep these interlopers out of what they regarded as their territory. The resulting bloody skirmishes belied the often-stated description of the region as a “valley of the flowers,” peaceful and idyllic.

After Lewis and Clark traversed the area, however, the Blackfeet found it more and more difficult to police the territory. Soon, fur trappers and adventurers cautiously moved through the area, with a watchful eye for Blackfeet sign. Catholic priests, European noblemen, artists, and curious naturalists followed. Discovery of gold southwest of the Gallatin Valley in the mid-1860’s led to serious settlement a few years later by farmers, ranchers, blacksmiths, and merchants, all eager to start a new life on the high plains and just as eager to supply the booming gold camps with agricultural produce and mining supplies. Add to this cultural mix men on the run from military service during the Civil War, both northerner and southerner, Democrat and
Republican, Mason and Catholics, law-abiding and outlaw. They were soon followed by railroad men, Indian fighters from the military, bankers, coal miners, barley malters, pea canners, lumbermen and the ever-present real
estate promoters.

The new businessmen and farmers, hoping to attract capital and sales for their various enterprises, produced pamphlets proclaiming the Gallatin Valley “The Egypt of America.” Speculator John Bozeman predicted it would become the “Garden of Montana.” Often quoted is the story of traveler Colonel Robert G. Ingersoll who, upon reaching the crest of Bozeman Pass where he saw fields of brilliant green and fold, asked his stagecoach driver, “What is that, sir?” “That is the Gallatin Valley,” answered the driver proudly. “Ah,” mused Ingersoll, “it is a dimple on the fair cheek of Nature.” As in other parts of Montana and the West, come people came to prey on others; to rob, exploit, and destroy what they regarded as their private colony; to get rich, and then get out. Some new settlers flourished and some did not, driven away by unexpected frigid winters, lack of water, changes in fashion, collapse of markets, and adjustments in technology.

Many who thought they were hear to stay were forced to leave for opportunities elsewhere. The beaver men never intended to stay. Would-be gold-seekers from the States came “to see the elephant,” a then-common expression meaning “to see the world and gain experience of its sin and glitter, generally at some cost to the investigator.” Satisfied or not, they went back home to farm again. Early Blackfeet visitors did not have such choices; they died in tragic numbers from successive smallpox epidemics.

Most Chinese laborers stayed in the valley just long enough to build the railroad; as elsewhere in the West, they were strongly encouraged to leave once the job was completed. British horse breeders came to raise thoroughbreds but did not reckon with the violent winter of 1886-1887; they left, leaving little trace of their residence. Men from England, Wales, and Eastern Europe came to mine coal; few stayed after the mines closed. Just after the turn of the last century, families looking for cheap farming land tried tilling unclaimed parcels with meager soul and water resources; they, too, were forced to leave the area. John Wesley
Powell, early director of the U.S. Geological Survey, predicted this would happen, but few listened to his warning.

Families from the Netherlands moved in to grow barley for malters near the new little town of Manhattan; they settled together in a tightly knit society that flourishes today. Adding to the cultural mix, a small but exuberant German community formed in Bozeman in the 1880s and 1890s; they became saloon-keepers, brewers, and merchants; their love of robust songs led to the formation of bands, choral groups, and a symphony orchestra. Settling in a remote area off any previously beaten western track, Bozeman and Gallatin Valley residents hustled to make a living, grabbing at any opportunity that would assure them a stable economy. They welcomed federal money with the establishment of military Fort Ellis and Yellowstone National Park. They fought for a railroad line through the valley, and sold goods to nearby Indian reservations and military forts. They tried for the brass ring of state capital but settled for a land-grant college instead.

New migrations in the late twentieth century caused the Gallatin Valley and surrounding region to grow in population while much of the state, especially its eastern counties, lost people. Many of these newcomers brought their businesses with them by way of computers. Or they became fishing and hunting guides, leaving a hectic way of life behind. Some found other way to serve an expanding tourist industry. Others did not reckon with the weather or the limited job market, and drifted out of the Gallatin Valley soon after they arrived.

On Bozeman sidewalks, most people still look one another in the eye when they pass and say “Good morning.” In the country, motorists salute one another with a brief hand lifted off the steering wheel. When the British horse breeders came to the Gallatin Valley in the 1880s, they reported back home that the air here was like dry champagne. It still is.”

Bozeman is a town and community rich in history and tradition. Each summer brings the Sweet Pea Art Festival, farmer’s markets, Music on Main, The Gallery Walk, Shakespeare in the Parks, and a vintage car show. Winter brings the Banff Film Festival, skiing at Big Sky, Bridger Bowl, and Moonlight Basin, intramural hockey, and the Christmas Stroll. Main Street and the surrounding historical district remind residents of Bozeman’s roots as a stop on the Bozeman Trail (and by 1883 a stop on the Northern Pacific Railway), complete with extravagant mansions and red light district.

Somewhere between the mansions and the brothels were the cowboys. The ranchers and farmers who gather still in little cafes for mid-morning coffee and in smoky bars for two-step dances and pool. On the walls of these bars and cafes you will find brands, some burned into the wood, others painted on the walls, each one a tribute to a man who earned his living from the land. One of Bozeman’s legends, Nelson Story, stands in front of Willson School on Main Street, captured in bronze and forever remembered for being a cowboy. In the mid 1800s Story drove a herd of 3000 Texas Longhorns through Indian country, against the wishes of the U.S. Army, to be a rancher, here, under the Big Sky.

Bozeman is an eclectic mix of farmers, ranchers, intellectuals, college students, and seasonal residents. We are very different people, here for very different reasons, who often have little in common. But, we all have one thing we share: we all live here. And most of us would never live anywhere else.