The Railroads That Built Montana
From the Northern Pacific's golden spike at Gold Creek in 1883 to the Milwaukee Road's electrified crossing of the Rockies, Montana's railroad history shaped the towns, economies, and cultures of the state. Explore 18 articles covering depots, disasters, labor struggles, and the abandoned corridors that still mark the landscape.
Interactive Railroad Map
The Bear Creek Coal Trains
The Smith Mine disaster of 1943 killed 74 miners in Carbon County. The Montana, Wyoming and Southern Railroad had been hauling coal from Bear Creek since 1906.
The Custer Creek Train Wreck of 1938
Flash flooding washed out a bridge over Custer Creek on June 19, 1938. The Milwaukee Road's Olympian passenger train plunged into the gap, killing 47 passengers.
The Golden Spike at Gold Creek
On September 8, 1883, Henry Villard drove the final spike completing the Northern Pacific Railway at Gold Creek, Montana, in the presence of Ulysses S. Grant.
The Butte, Anaconda and Pacific Railway
The BA&P was the first major electrified railroad in America, hauling copper ore 26 miles from the Butte mines to the Anaconda smelter beginning in 1913.
The Jawbone: Richard Harlow's Impossible Railroad
Richard Harlow built the Montana Railroad from Lombard to Lewistown largely on credit and promises, earning it the nickname 'The Jawbone.'
The Discovery of Marias Pass
John Frank Stevens discovered Marias Pass in December 1889, walking alone in temperatures of -40°F to find the lowest crossing of the Continental Divide.
The Milwaukee Road Electrification
The Milwaukee Road electrified 440 miles of mountain railroad from Harlowton to Avery, Idaho, creating the first major mainline electrification in America.
Sodbusters and the Railroad Land Promoters
The Northern Pacific sold its land grant acres to homesteaders with promotional literature promising adequate rainfall. The drought years of the 1910s proved otherwise.
The Chinese Forerunners of the Northern Pacific
An estimated 15,000 Chinese laborers graded the Northern Pacific right-of-way through Montana's mountains in the 1880s, building the Chinatowns of Helena and Missoula.
The Iron Horse and the Blackfeet Nation
The Great Northern Railway crossed Blackfeet territory under an 1895 agreement that ceded the mineral strip along the Rocky Mountain Front.
See America First: The Great Northern and Glacier Park
James J. Hill's Great Northern Railway created Glacier National Park's tourism industry with the 'See America First' campaign and a chain of grand lodges.
The St. Paul Pass Tunnel
The Milwaukee Road bored 8,771 feet through the Bitterroot Range at St. Paul Pass, completing the key engineering achievement of its Pacific Extension.
The Longest Ghost: Abandoning the Milwaukee Road
When the Milwaukee Road abandoned its Pacific Extension in 1980, it left the longest ghost railroad in America stretching across Montana.
The End of the Steamboat Era at Fort Benton
The arrival of the Great Northern Railway at Fort Benton in 1887 ended the steamboat trade that had sustained the farthest inland port in North America.
Forty-Five Hours Through the Mountains: The Empire Builder
The Empire Builder, inaugurated in 1929, remains America's most popular long-distance train, running daily from Chicago to Seattle through Montana.
The Richest Hill on Earth: Butte, 1914
The dynamiting of the Butte Miners Union Hall on June 13, 1914, ended thirty years of union recognition and began six years of National Guard occupation.
A Town Every Ten Miles: The Northern Pacific and the Making of Montana
The Northern Pacific platted towns across Montana in the 1880s, including Billings, Miles City, and Glendive, establishing the urban geography of the state.
The War of the Copper Kings
Marcus Daly, William A. Clark, and F. Augustus Heinze fought for control of Butte's copper from the 1880s through 1906, with railroads as weapons of war.