Montana West Popular Books
Montana West Biography & Facts
Montana ( mon-TAN-ə) is a landlocked state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It borders Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, and Saskatchewan to the north. It is the fourth-largest state by area, the eighth-least populous state, and the third-least densely populated state. Its capital is Helena, while the most populous city is Billings. The western half of the state contains numerous mountain ranges, while the eastern half is characterized by western prairie terrain and badlands, with smaller mountain ranges found throughout the state. Most of Montana first came under American sovereignty with the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 and was explored by the Lewis and Clark Expedition shortly thereafter. Fur trappers followed and were the main economic activity in the area until gold was discovered in 1852. The ensuing gold rush, along with the passage of the Homestead Acts in 1862, brought large numbers of American settlers to Montana. Rapid population growth and development culminated in statehood on November 8, 1889. Mining, particularly around Butte and Helena, would remain the state's main economic engine through the mid-20th century. Montana has no official nickname but several unofficial ones, most notably "Big Sky Country", "The Treasure State", "Land of the Shining Mountains", and "The Last Best Place". Its economy is primarily based on agriculture, including ranching and cereal grain farming. Other significant economic resources include oil, gas, coal, mining, and lumber. The health care, service, defense, and government sectors are also significant to the state's economy. Montana's fastest-growing sector is tourism, with 12.6 million tourists (as of 2019) visiting the state each year. Etymology The name Montana comes from the Spanish word montaña, which in turn comes from the Latin word montanea, meaning "mountain" or more broadly "mountainous country". Montaña del Norte ('Northern Mountain') was the name given by early Spanish explorers to the entire mountainous region of the west. The name Montana was added in 1863 to a bill by the United States House Committee on Territories (chaired at the time by James Ashley of Ohio) for the territory that would become Idaho Territory. The name was changed by representatives Henry Wilson (Massachusetts) and Benjamin F. Harding (Oregon), who complained that Montana had "no meaning". When Ashley presented a bill to establish a temporary government in 1864 for a new territory to be carved out of Idaho, he again chose Montana Territory. This time, representative Samuel Cox, also of Ohio, objected to the name. Cox complained that the name was a misnomer given that most of the territory was not mountainous, and thought a Native American name would be more appropriate than a Spanish one. Other names, such as Shoshone, were suggested, but the Committee on Territories decided that they had discretion to choose the name, so the original name of Montana was adopted. History For thousands of years, various indigenous peoples have inhabited the land that is now Montana. Historic tribes encountered by Europeans and settlers from the United States included the Crow in the south-central area, the Cheyenne in the southeast, the Blackfeet, Assiniboine, and Gros Ventres in the central and north-central area, and the Kootenai and Salish in the west. The smaller Pend d'Oreille and Kalispel tribes lived near Flathead Lake and the western mountains, respectively. A part of southeastern Montana was used as a corridor between the Crows and the related Hidatsas in North Dakota. As part of the Missouri River watershed, all of the land in Montana east of the Continental Divide was part of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, except for a tiny portion in the northeast that is part of the Hudson Bay drainage. Subsequent to and particularly in the decades following the Lewis and Clark Expedition, European, Canadian and American traders operated a fur trade, trading with indigenous peoples in both eastern and western portions of the area. Though the increased interaction between fur traders and indigenous peoples frequently proved to be a profitable partnership, conflicts broke out when indigenous interests were threatened, such as the conflict between American trappers and the Blackfeet. Indigenous peoples in the region were also decimated by diseases introduced by fur traders to which they had no immunity. The trading post Fort Raymond (1807–1811) was constructed in Crow Indian country in 1807. Until the Oregon Treaty of 1846, land west of the continental divide was disputed between the British and U.S. governments and was known as the Oregon Country. The first permanent settlement by Euro-Americans in what today is Montana was St. Mary's, established in 1841 near present-day Stevensville. In 1847, Fort Benton was built as the uppermost fur-trading post on the Missouri River. In the 1850s, settlers began moving into the Beaverhead and Big Hole valleys from the Oregon Trail and into the Clark's Fork valley. The first gold discovered in Montana was at Gold Creek near present-day Garrison in 1852. The Gold rush in the region commenced in earnest starting in 1862. A series of major mineral discoveries in the western part of the state found gold, silver, copper, lead, and coal (and later oil) which attracted tens of thousands of miners to the area. The richest of all gold placer diggings was discovered at Alder Gulch, where the town of Virginia City was established. Other rich placer deposits were found at Last Chance Gulch, where the city of Helena now stands, Confederate Gulch, Silver Bow, Emigrant Gulch, and Cooke City. Gold output between 1862 and 1876 reached $144 million, after which silver became even more important. The largest mining operations were at Butte, with important silver deposits and expansive copper deposits. Montana territory Before the creation of Montana Territory (1864–1889), areas within present-day Montana were part of the Oregon Territory (1848–1859), Washington Territory (1853–1863), Idaho Territory (1863–1864), and Dakota Territory (1861–1864). Montana Territory became a territory of the United States on May 26, 1864. The first territorial capital was located at Bannack. Sidney Edgerton served as the first territorial governor. The capital moved to Virginia City in 1865 and to Helena in 1875. In 1870, the non-Indian population of the Montana Territory was 20,595. The Montana Historical Society, founded on February 2, 1865, in Virginia City, is the oldest such institution west of the Mississippi (excluding Louisiana). In 1869 and 1870 respectively, the Cook–Folsom–Peterson and the Washburn–Langford–Doane Expeditions were launched from Helena into the Upper Yellowstone region. The extraordinary discoveries and reports from these expeditions led to the creation of Yellowstone National .... Discover the Montana West popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Montana West books.
Best Seller Montana West Books of 2024
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Willow
Linda Lael MillerNewly married to a US marshal, a woman must choose between her outlaw brother or the love she has dreamed of all her life in this vivid historical romance from New York Times bests...
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Folly and Glory
Larry McMurtryIn this brilliant sagathe final volume of The Berrybender Narratives and an epic in its own rightLarry McMurtry lives up to his reputation for delivering novels with “wit, grace, a...
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Last Bus to Wisdom
Ivan DoigNamed a Best Book of the Year by the Seattle Times and Kirkus ReviewThe final novel from a great American storyteller.Donal Cameron is being raised by his grandmother, the cook at ...
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North To The Bitterroot
Ralph ComptonBetween Kansas City and Montana Territory were a thousand ways to dieand a few bold men who would never turn back.Miners dug for fortunes. Soldiers died on open plains. And a few b...
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Telegraph Days
Larry McMurtryFrom the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Lonesome Dove comes a big, brilliant, unputdownable saga of the Old West, told in the spunky courageous voice of a young woman named Nelli...
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Journey Of The Mountain Man
William W. JohnstoneSmoke Jensen is on the trail to Montana to rescue a relative from a range war in this gritty Western adventure by the USA Today bestselling author.Smoke Jensen couldn't have cared ...
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Badlands
C. J. BoxIn C.J. Box's New York Times bestseller, Badlands, the town of Grimstad used to be a place people came from but were never headed to. Now it’s the oil capital of North Dakota. With...
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The Flood Girls
Richard FifieldFebruary 2016 Indie Next List Pick This snappy, sassy redemption story set in smalltown Montana is “a wild and crazy debut novel by a talented young writer” (Jackie Collins), fille...
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Tough Talking Cowboy
Jennifer RyanReturn to Montana as a toughtalking cowboy meets his match in Jennifer Ryan’s newest Wild Rose Ranch novel.ExArmy Ranger Drake McGrath has come home to Montana, locked in a battle ...
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American Wolf
Nate BlakesleeA NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER The enthralling true story of the rise and reign of OSix, the celebrated Yellowstone wolf, and the people who loved or feared her. Before m...
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A Death in Eden
Keith McCafferty"Keith McCafferty is a topnotch, firstrate, can'tmiss novelist."C.J. Box, #1 New York Times bestselling author When scarecrows appear in the cliffs above Montana's famous Smith Riv...
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The Bitterroots
C. J. BoxA riveting new novel from New York Times bestselling and Edgar Awardwinning author C. J. Box.The ties that bind can burn you.Former sheriff’s investigator Cassie Dewell is trying t...
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Sweet Thunder
Ivan DoigA beloved character brings the power of the press to 1920s Butte, Montana, in this latest from the best storyteller of the WestIn the winter of 1920, a quirky bequest draws Morrie ...
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Rhino Ranch
Larry McMurtryIn his signature his elegiac prose, Rhino Ranch finds Larry McMurtry bidding a final farewell to his multibook hero, Duane Moore, and the rapidly changing town of Thalia, Texas.T...
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Cold Hearted River
Keith McCaffertyIn the sixth novel in the acclaimed Sean Stranahan mystery series, Montana's favorite detective finds himself on the trail of Ernest Hemingway's missing steamer trunk. “Keith ...
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Ralph Compton Showdown At Two-Bit Creek
Joseph A. West & Ralph ComptonIn this Ralph Compton western, home is a battlefield....Buck Fletcher, infamous shootist, was once a boy raised in a cabin near TwoBit Creek in Montana. Returning home to pay his r...
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Back of Beyond
C. J. BoxEdgar Awardwinning and New York Times bestselling author C.J. Box delivers a thriller in Back of Beyond about a troubled cop trying to save his son from a killer in Yellowstone, no...
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Dancing at the Rascal Fair
Ivan DoigThe central volume in Ivan Doig's acclaimed Montana trilogy, Dancing at the Rascal Fair is an authentic saga of the American experience at the turn of this century and a passionate...
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The Bangtail Ghost
Keith McCafferty"Keith McCafferty is a topnotch, firstrate, can'tmiss novelist."C.J. Box, #1 New York Times bestselling authorIn Montana's Gravelly Range, paw prints and a single whisker discovere...
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The Berrybender Narratives
Larry McMurtryLarry McMurtry's major fourvolume series follows the Berrybender familyaristocratic, English, and fiercely out of placeon their journey to see the American...
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Calder Grit
Janet DaileyCentered on a ruthless family that rivals the Duttons on the hit TV show Yellowstone, the drama of the powerful Calder clan continues to rage in 1909 Montana. As the countryside e...
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The First Day of Eternity
Charles G. WestRaised by Crow Indians. Enlisted by the US Army. Legendary scout Cody Hunter returns to the mountains where he lost his familyand makes a shocking discovery that will change his li...
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Restless Rancher
Jennifer RyanIf you like badboy heroes, western settings, and a sexy, sassy heroine you will love Jennifer Ryan's newest Wild Rose Ranch book! Perfect for fans of Diana Palmer, Linda Lael Mille...
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Montana
William W. Johnstone & J.A. JohnstoneTwo families. Nine generations. One stretch of land under the Big Sky of Montana Territory. From national bestselling authors William W. Johnstone and J.A. Johnstone, a bold new sa...
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Texasville
Larry McMurtryWith Texasville, Larry McMurtry returns to the unforgettable Texas town and entertaining characters from one of his bestloved books, The Last Picture Show. This is a Texassized sto...
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Lonesome Dove
Larry McMurtryThe Pulitzer Prize–winning American classic of the American West that follows two aging Texas Rangers embarking on one last adventure. An epic of the frontier, Lonesome Dove is th...
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The Ploughmen
Kim ZupanAn NPR Best Book of 2014A Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers selectionA "bleak and brilliant" (Minneapolis Star Tribune) debut novel ,"one of the finest evocations of life...
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The Men Who United the States
Simon Winchester“Simon Winchester never disappoints, and The Men Who United the States is a lively and surprising account of how this sprawling piece of geography became a nation. This is America ...
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Preacher and the Mountain Caesar
William W. JohnstonePreacher isn’t going down without a fight in this classic Western novel from the New York Times and USA Todaybestselling author of Cheyenne Challenge. One...
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Treasure State
C. J. BoxINSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER#1 New York Times bestselling author C. J. Box's Treasure State finds Cassie Dewell in Montana on the trail of a con man.Private Investigator Cassi...
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Hollywood
Larry McMurtry"One thing I’ve always liked about Hollywood is its zip, or speed. The whole industry depends to some extent on talent spotting. The hundreds of agents, studio executives, and prod...
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Lone Women
Victor LaValleNATIONAL BESTSELLER Blue skies, empty landand enough wideopen space to hide a horrifying secret. A woman with a past, a mysterious trunk, a town on the edge of nowhere, and a...
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Dog Run Moon
Callan WinkIn the tradition of Richard Ford, Annie Proulx, and Kent Haruf comes a dazzling debut story collection by a young writer from the American West who has been published in The New Yo...
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War Of The Mountain Man
William W. JohnstoneUSA Today bestselling author: Smoke Jensen has taken on plenty of outlawsbut this time, it's personal . . .Big Max Higgins ran the outlaw town of Hell's Creek up in ...
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The Highway
C. J. BoxThe inspiration for the hit ABC television series Big Sky. Winner of the Edgar Award for Best Novel, the New York Times bestselling author of Back of Beyond and Breaking Point and ...
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Ridgeline
Michael PunkeThe thrilling, longawaited return of the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The RevenantWinner of the 2022 Spur Award for Best Western Historical NovelWinner of the 2021 David...
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Calder Brand
Janet DaileyFans of the hit TV show Yellowstone and it’s two prequel series, 1888 and 1923, will fall in love with the first book in this Western ranching saga filled with romance, adventure, ...
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The Lonesome Dove Series
Larry McMurtryThe timeless, bestselling fourpart epic that began with the Pulitzer Prizewinning Lonesome Dove takes readers into the lives of Augustus McCrae and Woodrow Call, two toughasnails T...
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English Creek
Ivan DoigIn this prizewinning portrait of a time and placeMontana in the 1930sthat at once inspires and fulfills a longing for an explicable past, Ivan Doig has created one of the most capt...
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The Outlander
Gil Adamson“A remarkable first novel, full of verve, beautifully written, and with all the panache of a great adventure.” Michael OndaatjeIn 1903 a mysterious young woman flees alone across t...
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Custer
Larry McMurtryThis lavishly illustrated volume reassesses and celebrates the life and legacy of the West’s most legendary figure, George Armstrong Custer, from “one of America’s great storytelle...
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The Wandering Hill
Larry McMurtryThe second volume in Larry McMurtry's fourpart historical epic featuring the Berrybender family as they continue their journey through the West during the 1830s.In The Wandering Hi...
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Ride with Me, Mariah Montana
Ivan DoigThis greathearted novel is the finale of Ivan Doig's passionate and authentic trilogy about the McCaskill family and their alluring Two Medicine country along the hem of the northe...
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Streets Of Laredo
Larry McMurtryFrom the Pulitzer Prize–winning author Larry McMurtry comes the final book in the Lonesome Dove tetralogyan exhilarating tale of legend and heroism, Streets of Laredo is classic Te...