Montana Emigration and Immigration
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Online Records[edit | edit source]
- 1500s-1900s All U.S. and Canada, Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s at Ancestry; index only ($); includes those with Destination of Montana; Also at MyHeritage; index only ($)
- 1862-1867 Index of Wagon Train Emigrants From Minnesota to Montana; index only
- 1865-2009 Montana, Granite County Records, 1865-2009 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images
- 1880-2009 Montana, Cascade County Records, 1880-2009 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images
- 1894-1954 - United States, Border Crossings from Canada to United States, 1894-1954 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images
- 1895-1954 Border Crossings:From Canada to U.S., 1895-1954 at Ancestry; index & images ($)
- 1895-1956 United States, Border Crossings from Canada, 1895-1956 at MyHeritge; index & images ($); includes those with Destination of Montana
- 1895-1964 All U.S., Border Crossings from Mexico to U.S., 1895-1964 at Ancestry; index & images ($); includes those with Destination of Montana
- 1897-1903 Klondike Pioneers From Montana; index only
- 1920-1939 Germany, Bremen Emigration Lists, 1920-1939 at MyHeritge; index only ($); includes those with Destination of Montana
- 1923-1956 Montana, Manifests of Immigrant Arrivals and Departures, 1923-1956 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images
- Germans Immigrating to the United States at MyHeritge; index only ($); includes those with Destination of Montana
- Italians Immigrating to the United States at MyHeritge; index only ($); includes those with Destination of Montana
- Russians Immigrating to the United States at MyHeritage; index only ($); includes those with Destination of Montana
Background[edit | edit source]
- Pre-statehood settlers of Montana were trappers, missionaries, miners, cattlemen, farmers, and lumbermen. They came primarily from the mid-western states, although refugees from Confederate states came to the early mining camps.
- Some immigrants from Europe came to work in the mines, and others joined mid-westerners in homesteading parts of eastern Montana.
- Between 1910 and 1920 a homestead boom brought thousands of settlers, but years of drought in the 1920s caused many of them to leave the state.
- In 1920 nearly half the Montana population was foreign-born. Most immigrants were from Germany, Canada, Ireland, Norway, England, Sweden, or Austria.
- Many overseas immigrants to Montana came through the port of New York or other East Coast ports.
In-Country Migration[edit | edit source]
- In the 1860s, many gold seekers took steamboats from Saint Louis to Fort Benton, Montana, where they joined the Mullan Wagon Road leading to the camps.
- Other settlers traveled from the east by way of the Northern Overland Road, or the Bozeman Cutoff and other branches of the Oregon Trail.
- From the west, some took the Mullan Road at its terminus in Walla Walla.
- Others took an older route from Salt Lake City.
- The era of steamboats and trails finally came to an end in the 1880s when transcontinental railroads from Utah and Minnesota reached Montana.
- In the 1890s and 1900s, the building of branch railroad lines encouraged new mining and homesteading.
Immigration Records[edit | edit source]
The Family History Library and the National Archives and its regional centers have passenger lists or indexes for various United States ports. The years covered in the lists and indexes at the Family History Library vary by port but range from 1820 to 1940. More detailed information on U.S. immigration records can be found in United States Emigration and Immigration. The Family History Library and the Public Archives of Canada have some passenger lists for Canadian ports for 1865 to 1900. The Family History Library and National Archives have Canadian border crossing records, 1895 to 1954.
Society of Montana Pioneers[edit | edit source]
References[edit | edit source]
- Montana Research Outline. Salt Lake City, Utah: Intellectual Reserve, Inc., Family History Department, 1998, 2001. (NOTE: All of the information from the original research outline has been imported into the FamilySearch Wiki and is being updated as time permits.)