Previous to that time
western Montana and Idaho formed a part of Washington Territory,
of which Olympia was the capital, and Montana, east of the
mountains, belonged to the Territory of Dakota, of which the
capital was Yankton, on the Missouri. Langford makes clear the
political uncertainties of the time, the difficulty of enforcing
the laws, and narrates the circumstances which led to the
erection in 1864 of the new Territory of Montana, comprising the
limits of the present State.*
* The Acts of Congress organizing Territories and admitting
States are milestones in the occupation of this last West. On the
eve of the Civil War, Kansas was admitted into the Union; during
the war, the Territories of Colorado, Nevada, Dakota, Arizona,
Idaho, and Montana were organized, and Nevada was admitted as a
State. Immediately after the war, Nebraska was admitted and
Wyoming was organized as a Territory. In the Centennial Year
(1876) Colorado became a State. In 1889 and 1890 North and South
Dakota, Montana, Washington, Idaho, and Wyoming were admitted as
States. In the latter year Oklahoma was carved out of the Indian
Territory.
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